FRIDAY
March 13 2015 Vol. 106 No. 20
PACIFIC SPIRIT 12
Good grief
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 20
Craft beer label controversy SPORTS 24
Wrestler makes big impact There’s more online at
vancourier.com WEEKEND EDITION
THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
Police chief backs Yes side Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
A drop in emergency response times, fewer fights between drunks on the Granville strip and more people taking transit are reasons Police Chief Jim Chu cited Wednesday in explaining his support for a 10-year plan devised by the region’s mayors to cut traffic congestion. Chu joined New Westminster Police Chief Dave Jones and fire chiefs from Vancouver and Surrey to call on voters to support a proposed 0.5 per cent transit and transportation tax to help pay for the $7.5 billion plan that includes downtown late-night bus service. “We believe late-night transit will provide a means for people to disperse to get home safely and that will improve public safety,” said Chu, noting some fights on the Granville strip are related to disputes over the limited number of taxis available once the bars close at 3 a.m. Late-night bus service, he added, will also likely motivate people who plan to drink downtown to leave their cars at home and take a bus to and from the bar. Over the past five years, he noted, emergency response times for Vancouver police increased by an average of one minute. He said traffic congestion plays a part in increasing the response times and warned that more officers will need to be hired to keep an average nine-minute response time if congestion continues at the current rate.
“That’s going to cost more money,” said Chu, who spoke to reporters from a parking lot across from the Surrey bus loop near city hall. “So your options are either to have the same number of police officers and a reduced level of service, a reduced response time or to spend more money on more police officers.” The involvement of Chu and emergency services chiefs in the Yes side camp comes three days after an Insights West poll showed a majority of respondents planned to vote No in the plebiscite, which begins next week when Metro Vancouverites receive ballots in the mail. Chu and Jones explained they were not urged by Robertson or the mayors’ council on regional transportation to join the Yes side. They said they made up their minds in mid-February after the city’s director of transportation, Jerry Dobrovolny, presented the plan to B.C. municipal chiefs. Jones acknowledged the role of a police chief is “a bit quasi-political at times” but said his department’s surveys and data show traffic congestion is getting worse in New Westminster. Also, he added, the constant flow of emails he receives from citizens every week saying that hiring more police officers and writing more tickets is not the way to curb congestion is further evidence a different approach is needed. Continued on page 7
Hadley’s voice will be missed
Remembering park board’s ‘eighth commissioner’ Sandra Thomas
sthomas@vancourier.com
Over the 14 years I covered park board as a beat, I witnessed the election of four new boards. During post-election interviews with the newbies, I always took pleasure in asking, “Have you met Eleanor Hadley?” The typical answer was, “No, why?” which brought me even greater pleasure because I had a pretty good idea of what the future held for each of these new commissioners. My response was always, “Just wondering.” Hadley passed away Friday after a brief illness. She was 93.
To consider Hadley “tenacious,” would be an understatement. To describe Hadley as simply a “park board watchdog” is also a disservice to her relentless determination to protect this city’s waterfronts and parks, in particular Stanley Park, which neighboured her West End home. Park board general manager Malcolm Bromley remembers an interview I conducted with him prior to his first park board meeting when I mentioned Hadley. “I thought ‘who could this Eleanor Hadley be?’” says Bromley. “Then I went to my first meeting and quickly found out.” Bromley says the park board is planning a permanent memorial for Hadley, but just what that will look like is yet to be determined. He notes Hadley had a particular bench at English Bay where she loved to sit, so that could be an option. Continued on page 9
FACE TIME Six-year-old Orla Eckert (foreground) and her 18-year-old nanny Courtenay Ford put concentrated effort into their project during a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery Wednesday. The VAG is holding daily family activities from noon to 4 p.m. until March 20. See vanartgallery.bc.ca for information.
PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
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