Vancouver Courier June 5 2015 by Vancouver Courier

FRIDAY

June 5 2015 Vol. 106 No. 44

SENIORS WEEK 18

Why Dal does well MUSIC 24

Levitation fest’s witchy ways SPORTS 29

FIFA World Cup schedule There’s more online at

vancourier.com WEEKEND EDITION

THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908

No feds at pot talk

Harper government says dispensaries are illegal Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

At least 65 people have signed up to speak at a public hearing next Wednesday to weigh in on whether the city should regulate the growing number of marijuana dispensaries in Vancouver. More speakers are expected to register as the hearing nears, but the biggest critic of the city’s proposal — the federal government of Stephen Harper — has not committed to send any representatives to city hall and likely won’t participate. In an email exchange this week with Health Minister Rona Ambrose’s ofﬁce, the minister’s press secretary Michael Bolkenius told the Courier that Ambrose already outlined the government’s opposition in a letter sent in April to Mayor Gregor Robertson. Bolkenius reiterated Ambrose’s position that dispensaries, of which there are more than 80 at the city’s last count, are illegal and will remain illegal under the Conservatives. Bolkenius urged the public to attend the hearings to voice their views on the proposal. “These stores have absolutely no regard for the rule of law and have been caught selling marijuana to kids — they represent part of [Liberal leader] Justin Trudeau’s plan to legalize marijuana and make it available just like alcohol and cigarettes,” he wrote. Joyce Murray, the Liberal MP for Vancouver-Quadra, said the partisan shot at Trudeau amounts to “political trash talk” by the Conservatives, whom she blamed for allowing dispensaries and marijuana use among young people to ﬂourish. “The reason that the city is having to regulate the dispensaries is because of this government’s policies and failure of leadership on the issue of marijuana,” said Murray, noting she supports the city’s move to regulate the pot shops. The federal Liberals, she said, want to see a national policy shift where marijuana is “properly regulated and controlled” to address Canadians’ health needs and curb organized crime’s involvement in the marijuana trade. Continued on page 8

HEADS UP Technologist and blogger John Biehler will demonstrate the power of 3D printing at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire June 6 and 7 at the PNE Forum. He says the technology is already changing everything from manufacturing to medicine. See story page 6. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

Restless youth in a divided city Housing a ﬂashpoint between haves and have-nots Jen St. Denis

jstdenis@biv.com

Brandon Williams is doing just as Vancouver real-estate industry insiders suggest. He lives and works in Vancouver but soon he, his wife and his baby will move to Maple Ridge to pursue the dream of owning a house with a yard. Only, in his family’s case, it will be half a yard because the Williamses are planning on teaming up with another couple to buy a house with two suites. It’s the only way they’ll be able to afford a house, even in the lower-priced suburbs.

He admits he’s not thrilled about the move. When his wife returns to work from parental leave, they’ll make what he thinks should be “more than enough money to afford a place.” “I’m pretty excited about our future,” Williams said, “but I wish our future could be in Vancouver.” Housing in Vancouver has become a symbol of a growing divide among the generations and among the rich, poor and middle classes. But beyond the hot-button issue, measures of income disparity show that British Columbia also has the highest level of income inequality

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F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News

Mayor asks premier for housing help 12TH&CAMBIE Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

You’ve probably heard Mayor Gregor Robertson is out there campaigning for a speculation tax. I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. So, it seems, did every other journo in this town. But all of us wanted to see the letter he sent to Premier Christy Clark in which he called for the tax. No, said his ofﬁce staff, we can’t provide the letter until we receive a reply from the premier. They waited and waited and waited and no reply came. So, on Wednesday, we received the letter. It’s two pages and the mayor addresses more than a speculation tax, including a hike to the property transfer tax on “the most expensive properties.” Here’s what I ﬁgured you’d want to read: “The single biggest step the province could

Mayor Gregor Robertson’s office released a letter Wednesday he wrote to Premier Christy Clark, requesting a speculation tax to stop the “flipping” of properties. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

do to address the soaring housing costs in Metro Vancouver is to generate thousands of new housing units that are affordable for lower and middle income taxpayers. Even a sharp correction in the housing market won’t

enable opportunities for people to rent or buy without an increase in supply of housing geared to low and middle incomes.” “Such a program could include a program to stimulate the creation of market rental hous-

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ing across the province; increase provincial investments in social housing by building on the success of B.C. Housing’s partnership with the city on the 14 sites, to increase the stock affordable to families with lower household

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incomes; and stronger support for non-proﬁt and co-operative housing operators to assist them to maintain, improve and expand their share of the housing market.” The mayor goes on to say the city set aside $61 mil-

lion in the city’s 2015 capital plan to invest in housing and support the new affordable housing agency. He said the city “would welcome the opportunity” to partner with the province on new affordable housing geared to families, ﬁrst-time buyers and seniors. And with a federal election this fall, Robertson suggested he and Clark collaborate to call for more housing from the feds. Now to the speculation tax… “In addition, we think it is timely for the province to ensure that B.C. taxpayers see some beneﬁt from the remarkable rise in residential land values in many parts of the province. We believe there is a strong case for the province to curb unwarranted speculation through a series of measures…” The measures include: An increased property transfer tax on the most expensive properties, with the proceeds invested into affordable housing. Continued on page 4

THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

News Province mum on reply Continued from page 3 Taxation measures to discourage the quick resale or “flipping” of new housing, which would reduce speculation and help “level the playing field” for first-time buyers. Amendments to the Vancouver Charter and the Community Charter, if necessary, to strengthen the ability of municipalities to track property ownership and ensure timely occupancy of vacant units. He ended with this: “Our generation had the good fortune to enter the housing market at the beginning of a long, steady climb in housing prices. We have a responsibility to ensure that the next generation can share in the benefits,

and have the opportunity to pursue their aspirations right here in B.C.” I sent off an email to the premier’s press secretary Sam Oliphant Wednesday morning for a reply. He said “our office will reply to the mayor’s office directly soon.” He also promised to have someone from the finance ministry contact me regarding Robertson’s request for a speculation tax. When I wrote a story about this issue May 25, the emailed statement I received then from the ministry said that while the province recognizes home ownership in B.C. “can be challenging for some people, governments need to be careful that any tax would

have the desired effect, without undermining the equity that people may have built up in their homes.” Oh, and for the record, Robertson’s letter was dated May 22, the same day that condo marketer Bob Rennie pitched the idea for a speculation tax in his annual address to the Urban Development Institute. And, yes, Rennie hosted a $25,000-a-plate luncheon in 2014 to help fund Robertson’s reelection campaign. And, yes, last time I checked Rennie was the Liberals’ chief fundraiser and is chummy with Clark. Speculate away on those connections. @Howellings

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F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News Musqueam development revised Open house gives look at changes DEVELOPING STORY Naoibh O’Connor

noconnor@vancourier.com

A revised rezoning application for the Musqueam Indian Band’s proposed mixed-use development on its 22-acre site on University Endowment Lands goes to an open house June 17. The site, located between University Boulevard and Acadia Road, is known as Block F. The provincial government returned the land to the Musqueam under a 2008 reconciliation agreement. An initial rezoning application was filed in September 2013 and the UEL formally accepted it in December 2013. Numerous changes have since been introduced in response to issues raised by UEL administration and through community feedback. The 2013 version called for four towers between 18 and 22 storeys, as well as other residential buildings including three-storey townhomes and midrise buildings. The latest plan features four 18-storey towers, and buildings ranging in height from three to 12 storeys. A four-storey 120-room hotel had been considered, but that’s been eliminated in favour of rental residential uses in the 12-storey building. “There was significant feedback from the community with regards to the hotel and the dynamics it would create in that neighbourhood,” explained Stephen Lee of the Musqueam Capital Corp. “They thought it would benefit UBC and other uses as opposed to the

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A view of the Musqueam Indian Band’s proposed development, looking north. RENDERING COURTESY OF ROSITCH HEMPHILL ARCHITECTS

community itself. Based on that feedback we made adjustments to the plan.” The development contemplates creating about 1,250 residential units, which will attract an estimated population of between 2,150 and 2,500 people. In the revised application, the site of the combined community amenity building has been moved to a more central location adjacent to the three-acre park and the village square. Wetlands measuring .7 acres are on the other side of the park. “We wanted to ensure there was a lot of open space and green space, including the wetlands, which is of signiﬁcance to Musqueam. It’s quite a feature of the development and to the community as well,”said Lee, who noted that in the original submission the

community facilities were more spread out. “There were two spots contemplated and the feedback was to create a heart [of the community]. We wanted to therefore bring a more central facilities to the residences, as well as to the broader UEL community. So the community amenities building was consolidated to the present site to accommodate that.” The building will house a gymnasium/sport court, ﬁtness centre, meeting rooms, indoor gathering space, covered outdoor gathering space, a coffee bar/kitchen and ofﬁce. While some community feedback focused on the proposed development’s density and building heights, Lee said they had to balance that with issues such as creating enough open space and park space, as well as the econom-

ic return of the project. UEL manager Jonn Braman said the open house is designed to introduce the revised proposal to the community and comments will be accepted until June 30. “If the community comments require substantial changes to the proposal by the applicant, that would change the length of time or the duration, so there’s no set timeline,” he said. The UEL’s community advisory council has a working group that has been reviewing the proposal, but it only met Wednesday night to discuss the revised application. A representative from the group could not be reached by the Courier’s print deadline. The open house runs from 4 to 8 p.m. at Norma Rose Point elementary school, June 17. @naoibh

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News

Blowing minds with 3D printing

Technologist shows off latest at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire

p with metal will also be on E hand. Unfortunately, the m machine that prints designs3 with pancake batter onto a m griddle that he ordered for o $150 won’t get to him in time for Mini Maker Faire. t o Biehler says GE and Airbus recently printed a jet t engine out of metal. In their r quest to cut fuels costs, he said major airplane manu- b facturers are using thousands o of 3D printed parts, such as s components that hold wires t in place, to make their planes g b stronger and lighter. He notes printing objects with 3D printers is an additive, not a subtractive process. Instead of a form being carved from a material (subtractive), only that form is fashioned from the raw material. “It’s a very good manufacturing method that doesn’t have a lot of waste, because we only use what you need,” Biehler said. One of the most heartwarming stories he tells is tells is about Enabling the Future initiative. The project started with a carpenter in South Africa who saw online a hand a Seattle man had fashioned for a cosplay costume and asked if there was a way they could collaborate to make him a replacement for the ﬁngers he had lost. Continued on next page

Cheryl Rossi

crossi@vancourier.com

Replacement body parts 3D-printed with live cells are one of the possibilities that excites John Biehler most. “I have a clip of a human heart valve that’s being 3D-printed,” said Biehler, a technologist, consultant and blogger. It’s one of the many videos he’ll share at the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire, June 6 and 7 at the PNE Forum. “With 3D printing they can actually grow the cells from your own body so that your body won’t reject it,” Biehler noted, adding researchers aren’t yet at the implant stage. The other prospect that fires his imagination is 3D printing in space. Biehler says both NASA and the European Space Agency want to create a colony on the Moon. He has a video that reveals the European Space Agency proposes using a tent that’s shored up with a “concrete” wall printed from available water and moon dust. “It’s a pretty compelling video,” he said. “They figured out a lot of the hard stuff already.” Biehler, also an instructor, traveller and photographer, first used 3D

“We really want to show people what’s possible with it and get people excited about this technology,” says John Biehler about 3D printing. He’ll share its potential at Vancouver Mini Maker Faire this weekend. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

printing to create custom camera mounts. Now he’s been named as a top 3D printing innovator and inﬂuencer by multiple organizations because he’s so swift and proliﬁc when it comes to sharing new developments.

Biehler will describe and demystify the current state of 3D printing in a talk on Saturday using photos, videos and physical samples. He’ll moderate a panel about establishing a maker space on Sunday, and he’s wrangled owners of homemade to

high-end 3D printers to populate a 3D Printing Village at the event so visitors can see printers in action. “We really want to show people what’s possible with it and get people excited about this technology,” Biehler said.

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He’ll show onlookers 3D printers can fashion forms out of more than plastic. Biehler has printed the tree character Groot from the Guardians of the Galaxy movie with bamboo ﬁlament, and items that have been printed

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F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News Event not just for geeks

Continued from previous page Fast-forward a couple of years and now Enabling the Future matches volunteers with 3D printers with people, mostly children, in need of prosthetic hands. Biehler said some of these kids were shunned on the playground until they received a superhero-themed hand. “And now they’ve become like a superhero on the playground and so their self-esteem and their confidence has gone way up, and if they break a finger or they

grow, it’s easy enough to reprint and upgrade that at a very minimal cost, if not basically free,” he said. “They’re blowing away people that were in prosthetics because… a typical prosthetic hand with very limited functionality would start at $10,000.” Vancouver Mini Maker Faire includes two full days of talks and showcases makers’ technological, craft and other inventive creations. More than 70 of the exhibits include a free or lowcost hands-on activity,

from learning to solder with the Vancouver Hack Space, programming a robot with Brickbots or learning to weave with The Craft Lab. “The main thing of Maker Faire is it’s not just for geeks,” Biehler said. “There’s lots out there for everybody and we try to make it as accessible as possible and, basically, just bring your questions and an open mind and come see some really cool stuff.” For more information, see makerfaire.ca. @Cheryl_Rossi

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News Compassion Club hopes to stay Continued from page 1 Such a policy would reduce marijuana access to young people, she said, adding that “the federal government hasn’t put a proper regime in place to keep children safe.” The city’s proposal calls for an annual $30,000 licence fee for dispensary operators, criminal record checks of operators and keeping pot shops 300 metres from schools and community centres. The proposal is unprecedented for a Canadian municipality and further complicates the already confusing laws related to a person’s right to obtain marijuana for an illness. Tied to a court ruling in 2001 that made possession possible for patients is the federal government’s move in 2013 to have all marijuana cultivated for medicinal purposes come from a government dispensary and delivered by mail. That law is now the subject of a legal challenge, with pot shops in Vancouver continuing to proliferate, growing from 29 in October 2013 to 85 in April. None of the dispensaries are licensed by Health Canada, endorsed

by a medical body or associated to any legitimate health service provider. In 1997, the B.C Compassion Club became the ﬁrst pot shop to open in the city. It now has 50 employees and has added an apothecary where herbs other than marijuana are used in treatments. The business also offers acupuncture and massage. Jamie Shaw, communications coordinator the Compassion Club and president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries, signed up to speak to council. Shaw said her ﬁve minutes at the microphone will focus on amending the regulations to “grandfather” the shop’s right to remain at its location at 2995 Commercial Dr. “We’re part of the fabric of the neighbourhood, so we’re hoping that they realize it’s kind of arbitrary to make us move,” she said, referring to a recommendation in the proposal that says a pot shop can’t be located within 300 metres of a school. The Compassion Club is across the street from private school Stratford Hall, where Shaw said dispensary staff has

visited to discuss cannabinoids with a Grade 12 biology class. Students have also visited the dispensary and apothecary as part of their education, she said, noting the school opened after the pot shop was already on the block. Shaw said she will also ask council to consider reducing annual licence fees for nonproﬁts and to continue to allow marijuana-laced products such as brownies and ice cream for sale. The city’s proposal says only marijuana oil could be for sale. The Vancouver Police Department, which is expected to have a senior ofﬁcer on hand to answer questions during the hearings, hasn’t said whether it supports the city’s proposal, although Supt. Mike Porteous told reporters after a recent council meeting on the topic that “any kind of regulation helps because it’s completely the Wild West right now.” Over the weekend, someone used a stolen van to smash through the front door of the Stressed and Depressed Association at 1353 East 41st Ave. About 30 minutes later, a similar

break-in occurred at Canna Clinic Marijuana Dispensary at 2347 East Hastings. Police arrested a man about an hour after the break-ins as he tried to flee from a van. Police were also kept busy Monday, responding to a robbery at the Green Room marijuana dispensary, 1057 Seymour St. Const. Brian Montague, a VPD media liaison officer, wouldn’t disclose what was taken in the three incidents but said it’s usually drugs and cash. Meanwhile, a group calling itself Coalition For Dispensary Free Communities has surfaced online. But at deadline, it wasn’t clear who was behind the group, which urges people to sign a petition to rid the city of pot shops. “We are a group of concerned citizens who have come together to gather opposition, to stand up and say ‘No’ and to tell the mayor and council to prohibit these illegal businesses,” said a message on the group’s website. The first night of the hearings begins at 6 p.m. at city hall. Speakers can sign up in advance or at the door prior to the meeting.

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F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News Vancouver’s city manager says the news that embattled FIFA president Sepp Blatter is stepping down is “terriﬁc.” “The perception that there is a problem has been around for a long time and I think it’s starting to be addressed,” said Penny Ballem by phone from Ottawa.

“The position of the City of Vancouver is that it is very appropriate and we hope it gets addressed and FIFA moves on to become an organization that is free of that.” FIFA’s Women’s World Cup starts in just a few days in cities across Canada, including Vancouver. But the world’s attention has been captured by the arrest

last week of several highranking FIFA ofﬁcials on racketeering and bribery charges brought by the United States Department of Justice. While Blatter was not among those arrested, the charges have drawn attention to long-standing questions around how the soccer body operates. —Jen St. Denis

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A10

THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

Opinion

Micro housing units are worth a try

Big business becomes economic dinosaur

Allen Garr Columnist

Geoff Olson Columnist

agarr@vancourier.com

Basically I was trying to figure out whether or not size matters. Or, more to the point, whether it matters more than anything else. So there I was the other morning wandering about my house with a tape measure. I wanted to determine what 145 square feet looked like. That is the size of each of the 43 micro units (more like nano units) UBC is planning to build as an experiment. It is the first step in an attempt to help out the 6,000 students on their wait list and looking for affordable, accessible housing. It turns out that 145 square feet is smaller than my dining room. It also turns out, as I discovered after trekking up to my corner grocery store, it is about the same size as a parking stall. And in that parking stall-sized unit the university plans to have a bed, a desk and chair, a kitchen area with a stove, sink and a small fridge and a bathroom complete with sink, shower and toilet. Yikes! This is just the latest example of densification as a way of dealing with the crisis of housing affordability in Vancouver. On the question of size, it is less important than — as the old real estate cliché goes — location, location, location. And it is the location of these units that makes this idea a good one. At least it is worth a try. An 145 square foot space on the Downtown Eastside, slightly more than your average single room occupancy hotel room, would be an improvement but still a major challenge given the sketchy surroundings in much of that neighbourhood. According to UBC’s Director of Student Housing Andrew Parr, that will not be the case at UBC. The modest (tiny) living spaces will be located in buildings that include separate quiet rooms for studying, lounges to hang out with friends, a workout room and sound-proof practice rooms for music students. There will also be a 24hour concierge at the front desk. And the views from the windows will range from 120 feet to the next building for some units and all the way to the Gulf Islands for others. The main buildings — there will be four of them up to 12 storeys high — will be on top of a major bus terminal, so public transit a few steps away. There are secure lockers for bicycles. The new aquatic centre is right next door. A coffee shop is just a slurp away and the Student Union Building is down the block.

The buildings will also have a mix of units from two to three bedrooms down to studios and these small units. And if all that isn’t appealing, consider the cost. This bit of space will rent for between $670 and $690 a month when it is ﬁnally built in 2019, which by today’s standards is reasonably affordable.

When it comes to housing, our culture is hooked on space. Unlike folks in Europe or Asia, we think bigger is better. Smaller is unthinkable. Or at least it was. When it comes to housing, our culture is hooked on space. Unlike folks in Europe or Asia, we think bigger is better. Smaller is unthinkable. Or at least it was. But then nobody thought that when Yaletown was developed it would appeal to anyone other than singles or couples. People wanting to raise families would surely move to the suburbs. But, guess what? Families with young children moved in in great numbers only to discover that the city’s planners were so sure this wouldn’t happen that they didn’t build any public schools. Parr says we are at a stage in Vancouver where a single family home on a 50 by 150 foot lot “is no longer a goal.” People are finding co-operative housing or rentals more acceptable. You may quibble with that but now we see the experiment at UBC. There will be a mockup available to be walked through by the fall of this year. Students can see how it feels and give feedback. In the event that the 43 units are finally built and nobody comes, or if they do, they find the space too constricting, UBC is hedging its bet. Parr points out units are being built so one will be adjacent to another and they will be constructed in such a way that the adjoining wall can be knocked out to make a bigger single living space. @allengarr

The week in num6ers...

In thousands of dollars less the annual salary a typical 25- to 44-year-old Canadian earns for full-time work compared to their 1976 counterparts.

61 145

Millions of dollars the city says it has set aside in its 2015 capital plan to invest in housing and support a new affordable housing agency.

The size, in square feet, of 43 micro units UBC is planning on building as an experiment to accommodate its growing student population.

mwiseguise@yahoo.com

It was no regular ivory tower exercise when professors Martin Gilens of Princeton University and Benjamin Page of Northwestern University posed an intriguing question: does the U.S. government represent its people? By combing through 200 public opinion surveys over 20 years, and measuring them against policies written into law, they found an answer: the desires of 90 per cent of Americans have made no impact whatsoever on the deciders and their decisions. In their words, “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy.” It would be an interesting question to ask of Canadian government. I suspect the figures would look better for Joe and Jane Average, but not by much. Participatory democracy south of the border has been iffy from the start. As in, if you’re a white male property owner. The 1776 Declaration of Independence was engineered by, for, and about this demographic, and voting rights were grudgingly extended to women and enforced for blacks late in the game. Even today with an African-American at the top, Barack Obama’s White House is about as far removed from the average working American’s reality as Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Perhaps the Gilens-Page findings are not so much a condemnation of the United States’ counterfeit democracy as of hierarchical institutions in general — whether they are left or right, governmental or business, profit or non-profit. (Some of the biggest, most inefficient bureaucracies are found in the private sector rather than in the public sector.) Former Harper’s magazine editor Lewis Lapham outlined this long-standing problem in his seminal 1988 book Money and Class in America. “Having listened to a good many selfcongratulatory speeches at annual conventions, I have been struck by how often the objectives announced as the institution’s primary reasons for being prove to be precisely those promises on which it cannot make good… The legal profession preens itself on its concern for justice, and yet most lawyers devote their lives to preserving whatever interest, just or unjust, pays the highest fee. The military believes that it preserves the nation from harm, that

Number of bands playing at this weekend’s Levitation Festival with the word “black” in their name, while four bands have the word “dead,” three “witch” and one “warlock.”

without it nothing is safe, and yet... by its deranged stockpiling of weapons it constitutes a constant threat to the world’s peace. Prisons supposedly protects society; in fact they serve as spawning grounds for accomplished criminals. The media assume that they unite society, binding it together with the lines of communication and understanding, and yet most of their efforts result in suspicion and rancor,” Lapham wrote. The unacknowledged threat to law enforcement agencies is not widespread crime but squeaky-clean streets, just as the biggest threat to health charities is not the diseases they lobby against but their total elimination. And, of course, mutual animosity serves the interests of political parties far better than any sort of agreement or cooperation — hence Stephen Harper’s continued political survival. When a large institution professes to have a particular purpose or goal — conveyed in glossy brochures decorated with laughing couples or in television ads adorned with cherubic babies — it is safe to assume that the central message comes down to two words: feed me. Hierarchical organizations may begin with the best of intentions, but they often end up as dinosaurs with massive bodies and tiny brains. The best and brightest become nerve ganglia in entities lumbering toward an evolutionary dead end. Yet this leaves opportunities open for the shrews scampering below. In Europe, thousands of workers are literally picking up the pieces shattered by years of bankster-engineered fraud and government austerity programs. At over 500 sites across the continent, they are reclaiming abandoned factories and offices and turning them into profitable cooperatives. Cooperatives occupy a grey zone between the top-down central planning of socialist states and the monopoly capitalism of neoliberal states. They are much more laterally organized, by workers who not only have a stake in the profits but a voice in the business decisions. As a bonus, these organizations are without the extreme income disparities found in most large corporations. Even though cooperatives are economic rather than political organizations, they offer a worthy lesson for those labouring in any big dinosaur of an institution. If those the top are no longer listening, it’s time to start conversing with those at your own level. @geoffolson

Number of bicycles, in the thousands, that are reported stolen in Vancouver each year.

Out of 24, the number of teams competing in Canada this month for the FIFA Women’s World Cup that are coached by women.

F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A11

Inbox LETTERS TO THE EDITOR City’s Urban Forest Strategy is(n’t) for the birds

CO U R I E R A R C H I V E S T H I S W E E K I N H I S T O R Y

Vancouver sails into Shanghai

June 4, 1998: Two Canadian navy ships sailed into Shanghai today to breathe fresh air into bilateral ties in the first visit by a Canadian warship to China since 1988. The frigate Vancouver and operational supply ship Protecteur arrived from Japan and later also visited Russia and South Korea after a five-day stop in the Chinese city as part of a tour to show Canada’s commitment to security in the Asia-Pacific region. The arrival on the ninth anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square massacre was purely coincidental, according to Canadian military officials.

Canucks unveil new mascot June 4, 2001: The Vancouver Canucks unveil their first official mascot, an anthropomorphic orca whale named Fin fond of shooting mist from his blowhole, beating on a drum during stoppage of play, volunteering at Canuck Place and pretending to chomp on people’s heads. Management was reportedly leaning towards drafting Johnny Canuck as the NHL team’s new mascot, but ultimately decided that a giant, axe-wielding lumberjack might not go over as well with children. The name Fin was chosen through a contest asking for fans’ suggestions.

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As a naturalist and a birder, I listen with interest when the City of Vancouver engages in public relations activities such as the recent “City Bird” competition. The Peregrine falcon is a worthy winner — even if it may not breed in Vancouver, as some grumps have pointed out. (Given their habitat requirements, it’s also unlikely that Western Grebes or Barn Owls breed within city limits any longer.) I’m also very interested in the “green” branding efforts the mayor and city staff have pushed out, as well as statements about how important it is for us to maintain our “urban forest.” Mayor and council might be interested to know that a smaller cousin to the Peregrine Falcon, the Merlin, does breed within Vancouver city limits. The Merlin is a wonderful, fierce bird, about the size of a crow, called by some the “Harley Davidson of the falcon world” because of its strong and direct flight. This spring I have watched several times with admiration as a pair of Merlins from a site at West 17 Avenue. in Dunbar has zoomed high to defend their nesting site against bald eagles flying overhead, with ensuing aerobatic maneuvers as the huge enemy is escorted away. So it was with dismay that I observed this past Friday (May 29) two large, at least 40-metre tall, conifers felled not 50 metres from the very similar trees our pair of Merlins have been so vigorously defending. Did the property at 3904 West 17th Ave. (or thereabouts — the house had been demolished already) have a permit? And on what grounds was that permit granted? Does “green” not include the needs of birds? Does their “urban forest [strategy]” not include the largest trees on the block? One of the trees chopped down was a Douglas Fir with a circumference at base of around four feet; the second was a cedar of about two feet. Suddenly, a stretch that looked almost like a healthy urban forest was half what it was. All the mayor’s branding makes me sick when I see how little it means to anything that can’t afford to pay big money. I guess we should be inviting birds that nest on high-rise windowsills, since the ones that need trees for their nests (and not just Merlins, but Black-capped Chickadees and Downy Woodpeckers) are rapidly losing their homes at the whims of developers wanting to maximize profits. How about some actual consideration for birds and other nature, instead of just talk? Christine Adkins, Vancouver

Barry Link

ddhaliwal@vancourier.com

blink@vancourier.com

PUBLISHER

EDITOR

Tara Lalanne

DIRECTOR SALES & MARKETING

tlalanne@vancourier.com

TheVancouverCourierisadivisionofLMPPublicationLimitedPartnership. Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40025215. All material in the Vancouver Courier is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without permission of the publisher. This newspaper reserves the right to reject any advertising which it considers to contain false or misleading information or involves unfair or unethical practices. The advertiser agrees the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising out of error in any advertisement beyond the amount paid for such advertisement. We collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Statement which is available at vancourier.com.

Re: Nienke Van Hasselt’s comment in the May 29 edition. What is so “unreal” about teachers being asked to pay for parking? I work at two hospitals and I have to pay for parking if I take my car to work. I don’t think many employers offer free parking to their employees. So why should teachers be the exception? Beheroze Sattha, Vancouver

ONLINE COMMENTS Should I stay or should I go?

Re: “Is it time to leave Vancouver?” June 3. My wife and I are turning 30, and we had to take our two kids with us to Edmonton because we didn’t want to be raising a family in a 900-sq. ft. condo in the suburbs. We both found jobs in our ﬁelds that paid substantially higher than what we were earning, and now we have our own house and a mortgage payment lower than what we were paying in rent in New West. Are we happy though? No. The GVRD is where we are from, where our parents and grandparents were born, where all our relatives and friends live and where we have a lifetime of memories. We had to leave it behind so a bunch of old people can be guaranteed that their investment in real estate can continue to appreciate without any limits on foreign ownership. We aren’t the ﬁrst of our friends and we certainly won’t be the last. I can’t imagine how this city will continue to function while all the skilled and trained young people of our generation move away or struggle with perpetual adolescence brought on by an overburden of debt caused by the ridiculous housing market. Braden Morrison, via Comments section

•••

I have to admit, I don’t really understand the argument here. If owning property is super important to your deﬁnition of happiness, there are lots of places in Canada where you can ﬁnd detached houses for under $400,000. It’s no failure to move there, if that’s what you value. Like it or not, [Bob] Rennie is right: property in big cities is scarce and expensive. Government intervention can make it a bit easier on the least fortunate, but there’s no bringing down prices of single-family homes. Rent in Vancouver has barely been affected by the real estate bubble. If you like Vancouver, do what most of us do and keep renting and invest your money elsewhere. If career opportunities are better in Toronto, go for it! Blue Jays games are a blast. Just please stop framing a tough personal decision as a failure on Vancouver’s part. Big J, via Comments section

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Reality check on free parking

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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A12

THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

Feature Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods, average individual income 1970 WEST VANCOUVER NORTH VANCOUVER COQUITLAM BURNABY

VANCOUVER

RICHMOND

SURREY DELTA

Average individual income compared with the Vancouver area average of $5,220

Protesters at a May 24 rally in Vancouver called for action on affordable housing. PHOTO JEN ST. DENIS

VERY HIGH — 140% to 215% of the average income

LOW — 60% to 80%

HIGH — 120% to 140%

VERY LOW — 27% to 60%

MIDDLE INCOME — 80% to 120% NOTES: CENSUS TRACT BOUNDARIES ARE FOR 1971. AVERAGE INDIVIDUAL INCOME IS FOR PERSONS 15 AND OVER AND INCLUDES INCOME FROM ALL SOURCES. SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO; STATISTICS CANADA CENSUS PROFILE SERIES, 1971

2005 WEST VANCOUVER NORTH VANCOUVER COQUITLAM BURNABY

VANCOUVER

SURREY

RICHMOND DELTA

Average individual income compared with the Vancouver area average of $36,123 VERY HIGH — 140% to 503% of the average income

LOW — 60% to 80%

HIGH — 120% to 140%

VERY LOW — 40% to 60%

MIDDLE INCOME — 80% to 120% NOTES: CENSUS TRACT BOUNDARIES ARE FOR 2006. AVERAGE INDIVIDUAL INCOME IS FOR PERSONS 15 AND OVER AND INCLUDES INCOME FROM ALL SOURCES. SOURCE: UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO; STATISTICS CANADA CENSUS PROFILE SERIES, 2006

Income polarization in Vancouver has increased over the past 30 years, according to a 2012 study by David Ley and Nicholas Lynch. The trend has also occurred in Toronto and Montreal.

B.C. most unequal province in Canada

Continued from page 1 A recent BMO study found affluent people in this province owned a house worth on average $3.9 million, whereas wealthy people in Ontario owned homes worth an average of $1.7 million. The Business Council of B.C. and B.C. Chamber of Commerce tackled the issue in a series of panel discussions and a 2013 report, which suggested modest investments in early childhood education, improving access to post-secondary education, introducing a tax credit for low-income working families and steady, predictable increases to the minimum wage. In a new book, A Better Place on Earth: The Search for Fairness in Super Unequal British Columbia, reporter Andrew MacLeod places much of the blame for B.C.’s spiking inequality on the B.C. Liberals. “They’ve had lots of policies that have exacerbated the gap,” MacLeod said. For instance, MacLeod writes that after the Liberals came into power in 2001 they implemented a 25 per cent income tax cut, while at the same time cutting welfare rates and reforming the welfare system. The income tax cut disproportionately benefited high-income earners; meanwhile, low-income earners in B.C. currently pay “significantly more” taxes than their counterparts do in

Ontario, Alberta or Quebec. From 1976 to 2001, B.C. was usually below the Canadian average in terms of inequality levels, including the period when the right-leaning Social Credit Party was in power, MacLeod noted. “Then in 2001 we sort of spike above it,” he said. Paul Kershaw would like the conversation around fairness to centre less on class and more on generational differences. The University of British Columbia professor has created a lobby group for Canadians under 49 called Generation Squeeze. Kershaw hopes to push policymakers to consider the needs of millennials and generations X and Y, who he calculates receive around a third fewer government services and beneﬁts than retirees. Despite the protests of boomers who say they too had to eat toast for supper at a second-hand table when they were young, Kershaw said young people today are operating under a completely different ﬁnancial reality. “A typical 25- to 44-yearold earns $9,000 less for fulltime work today compared with 1976,” he said. “They pay more than double in tuition, and after going to school longer to get a job that pays thousands less, they have to pay hundreds of thousands more for

the privilege of living in an average home.” Housing is an important piece of this generational angst, and Kershaw believes we should be looking at a wide range of policies to make housing more affordable — from rental assistance for the working poor to a speculation tax or a tax on houses worth more than $1 million. But Kershaw said there’s a limit to how much government policy can limit home price increases. Helping families with the enormous cost of child-care and making parental leave more generous would also help young people handle non-housing costs. “It’s probably no coincidence that Generation Squeeze has evolved out of work in Vancouver,” Kershaw said. “The epicentre of where it is most challenging to be a young adult today — on the continent — is in Vancouver.” While boomers who have amassed wealth in their homes will understandably want to pass on that wealth to their children, “we probably need to think about distributing that” more widely, Kershaw said. “Young people are going into debt trying to live in the region, and all the data shows [people] 55 and over have reaped that reward in this country.” @jenstden

F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A13

Opinion

City hall needs to do proper research Housing policy appears to have been drafted on the back of a napkin

Mike Klassen Columnist

mike@mikeklassen.net

When it comes to addressing housing affordability in Vancouver, are politicians choosing “belief” over research? Anecdotal reports were the foundation of at least two city council initiatives in recent weeks. First there was their plan for a snitch website to report unoccupied homes, and then came the mayor’s surprise call for a speculation tax. Both ideas looked like they were drafted on the back of a napkin, which is not how you make good public policy. The trend toward governments resorting to emotion instead of evidencebased decision making is the premise of a book by Hamline University professor David Schultz called American Politics in the Age of Ignorance. Schultz argues that state and local governments are less “engines of innovation” than replication — merely copying ideas or programs that have been formulated (and often failed) elsewhere. In the case of the City of Vancouver, a policy to

protect older rental stock from demolition is having a direct impact on the city’s ability to house families and grow the economy, say development industry representatives. The so-called “Rate of Change” demolition moratorium to protect existing rental buildings was approved by the last NPA majority council in 2007. It was a questionable, albeit politically expedient, policy back then. Today, with the city’s shamefully low rental vacancy rate, Rate of Change is negatively impacting housing supply by limiting property owners from rebuilding their sites. Preventing old buildings from demolition is a core tenet of Vision’s housing policy, but is it exacerbating the city’s biggest challenge — namely, where to house all the people who cannot afford to buy real estate here? Snitch websites and calls for higher taxes on empty houses are ideas aimed to please Vision’s political base. Conversely, removing barriers that would allow aging rental stock to be replaced with new, denser

Realtor David Goodman argues there are “dizzying levels of red tape” for developers at city hall. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

market rental buildings would alienate some of the party’s supporters. How any politician can support redeveloping old rental properties — with their inevitable displacement of tenants — is a real conundrum. Particularly for Mayor Gregor Robertson, who has frequently shown his solidarity with renters in low-rise buildings. Arguably, it is those

Open Houses: OTC Bus Barns and Adjacent Sites The Oakridge Transit Centre (OTC) and adjacent sites at 41st and Oak are changing and we want you to be part of the process. Planning for the OTC has been underway since June 2014 and three site concepts were presented to the public in February 2015. Drop by this ﬁnal round of open houses to review the draft concept plan and emerging policies, and speak to City staff and the project team. Thursday, June 18, 2015, 5:30 - 8:30 pm or Saturday, June 20, 2015, 11 am - 3 pm VanDusen Botanical Garden Floral Hall, 5251 Oak Street Following these open houses, staff will draft the Policy Statement which will guide future land use, building types and heights, density, transportation, sustainability, and public beneﬁts. The Policy Statement will be presented to Council for consideration later this year.

credentials as a defender of renters that could help him pull it off. If Vancouver city council really wants to tackle low rental vacancy rates and meet the nearly endless demand for rental housing, development advocates say it is time to be bold. This will mean higher density allowances within neighbourhoods zoned for rental buildings, as well as near

rapid transit stations and traffic arterials. Real estate agent David Goodman, publisher of The Goodman Report and principal of HQ Commercial, follows the rental development business closely. Unlike most in the development industry he is not shy about publicly criticizing the city’s bureaucratic approach. In a recent opinion column Goodman described “dizzying levels of red tape, disincentives, financial extractions, sustainability requirements and other demands” made by city officials. Add this to a “snail’s-pace vetting process involving at least two to three years of difficult city negotiations,” and you can begin to understand the reluctance to build rental here, even if it was profitable to do so. Goodman says the city’s political class needs to stop treating property developers as pariahs and more as partners. When the city’s vacancy rate is less than one per cent, and families with decent household incomes are prepared to throw in the towel and move away, you

better work side by side with the folks who can solve the problem. Another occasion to “believe” what is driving the low availability of rental housing is the mayor’s familiar refrain that senior levels of government must provide more ﬁnancial incentives. It is the theme of a campaign promoted by the Big City Mayors Caucus, of which Robertson is the current chair. The evidence shows instead that the federal and provincial governments have poured hundreds of millions into the city through rental assistance, shelter aid for seniors, emergency housing for homeless, and the SRO renewal initiative in the Downtown Eastside. Senior levels of government, at least for the time being, are committed to provide assistance to those with low incomes rather than making investments in the rental housing market. It appears that Robertson’s council will need to set aside the napkins and rely upon sound evidence about supply and demand — and not Ottawa or Victoria — if it wants to tackle the city’s rental housing dilemma.

Open House: Hastings Mill Park playground renewal The Vancouver Park Board is upgrading the playground at Hastings Mill Park. Improvements include new play equipment, surface materials and universal accessibility. Drop by an open house to see the proposed concept design and playground equipment options. Wednesday, June 10, 2015 4 pm – 7 pm Hastings Mill Park (beside existing playground) 1575 Alma Street (at Point Grey Road) TO LEARN MORE AND TAKE THE ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE: vancouver.ca/hastings-mill

FOR MORE INFORMATION: vancouver.ca/OTC or phone 3-1-1 Visit: vancouver.ca Phone: 3-1-1 TTY: 7-1-1

Burrard Bridge Upgrade and North Intersection Project We want to hear from you: attend an open house or complete an online survey Saturday, June 6, 10 am - 2 pm Tuesday, June 16, 7 - 9 pm Roundhouse Community Centre, 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver FOR MORE INFORMATION: vancouver.ca/burrardbridgenorth

A14

THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

Community

Human solutions for human problems Sixth in a series on Vancouverites who are SBNR — spiritual but not religious PACIFIC SPIRIT Pat Johnson

PaciﬁcSpiritPJ@gmail.com

Every Sunday morning at 10:30, a cluster of likespirited people ﬁle into the senior centre at Oakridge. To the untrained eye, it might look like the people — older and whiter, on average, than the general population — are gathering for a church service. They are decidedly not. This is the meeting of the B.C. Humanist Association (BCHA). While not all humanists are atheists, most are, according to Sue Hughson, immediate past-president of the organization. The Sunday morning meetings are a matter of convenience, she says — lots of people are free at that time — and the purpose is obvious. “That’s about community,” she says. “That’s what religion does really well. That’s something people are looking for.” For generations, Vancouverites have found community through involvement in a church or other religious organization. Smaller and smaller proportions of us now do. Many people explore alternative ways to ﬁnd community. These humanists bond over their shared lack of religion and devotion to a few core principles. Hughson, a veterinarian who lives in East Van, says humanism goes back as far as the Greek thinkers though the modern movement stems from the Enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries. Her philosophy is neatly summed up as “human solutions for human problems” or, as the American Humanist Association puts it, a “rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art and motivated by compassion.” It’s a pretty thinky group. Since they don’t tend to sing or pray, they have to do something, so talking about ideas is central. They bring in speakers like Armin Navabi, a former Muslim from Iran and the founder of Atheist Republic, Eugenie Scott, one the foremost voices against the teaching of creationism in U.S. public schools, and Richard Carrier, a proponent of the “Christ myth theory.”

B.C. Humanist Association member Sue Hughson wishes for a world free of “old supernatural belief systems.” But she often finds common cause with people who subscribe to them. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

The BCHA dabbles in some areas conventionally left to clergy. They have two chaplains at Kwantlen College, though they lack the resources to expand this program. Hughson herself recently led a God-free funeral service for a centenarian member of the association and they would like to get into humanist marriage ceremonies. To perform

marriages in B.C., you need to be either a clergyperson or a marriage commissioner, and the province has yet to recognize humanist ofﬁciants under the clergy category. “We’re still looking at getting government ofﬁcials to even come to have a dialogue about this,” she says. “No, we’re not a religion, but freedom

of religion also means freedom from religion and let’s look at us as secular community leaders.” But doesn’t abandoning religion equal abandoning ritual along with it? Hughson says emphatically no. “I would say that the opposite is true. It leaves us room to make new ritual and I also think it gives us room to keep what’s cultur-

ally relevant,” says Hughson, who left her role as BCHA president to devote more time to her new position on the board of Dying with Dignity Canada. For example, maintaining ancient traditions even after abandoning the theology that underpins them is a learning opportunity. Who doesn’t like returning to a celebration like Christmas

or Passover, with familiar traditions and songs? “But also to say,” she adds, “What about these prayers, what do they mean? What’s relevant in the way we live our lives today? What’s good about it? What’s bad about it?” Raised in a nominally Christian home in the Maritimes, Hughson read the ancient Greek myths alongside Bible stories to her children when they were younger. “I don’t think anyone in Western culture can consider themselves educated if they don’t know this basis, the basis of all our literature,” she says. “You can look at it and say, these are interesting stories. What do you think of these as stories? But you also need to know that for many, many people in our culture, they will look at these books and say, these are our reason to die or to [base our] life on and we are able to say to our children, we don’t subscribe to that. What do you think?” While she wishes for a world free of “old supernatural belief systems,” she often finds common cause with people who subscribe to them. In her community involvements, Hughson works closely with people who are devoted believers, she says, and while they sometimes laugh about “this whole Jesus thing” or other differences, she finds commonalities in other places, like the (now court-ordained) right to physician-assisted death. And, of course, just because they share humanism doesn’t mean the Sunday morning meetings are filled with ideological harmony. Their group is getting more diverse, younger and attracting a wider ethnic mix. And it’s growing — a fact that reflects opinion polls that indicate British Columbians are among the least religiously affiliated people in Canada. This weekend, Hughson and hundreds of others will participate in a major conference of atheist scholars and thinkers here in Vancouver, called Imagine No Religion. The event features such prominent figures as Richard Dawkins, a deity of the New Atheist movement. If you thought of skipping church to attend, you’re late for this bandwagon. The conference is sold out and the wait list is closed. @Pat604Johnson

F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

Volunteer grandparents

Volunteer grandmother Ruth Nyman and her “granddaughter” Xaria. The Volunteer Grandparents program matches kids without grandparents to seniors who love kids.

KATHLEEN SAYLORS kathleen.saylors@gmail.com Memories of grandparents often include playtime at the park, story time and fresh baked cookies. For kids without grandparents, these are missed opportunities. Seniors without children also feel the loss. That’s where the Volunteer Grandparent program steps in. The program matches kids lacking biological grandparents in Metro Vancouver with seniors looking to make a difference. It also provides companionship. Program director Veronica Grossi said the initiative was founded in 1973, after a social worker named Margery Anderson took two back-to-back calls at a crisis centre. “One [was] from a single parent who was struggling with their child and was feeling very alone, and the second call was a senior that was feeling very isolated,” she said. It was this coincidence that sparked the program. The program currently runs two streams — one for seniors to match with families and another that places seniors in schools. Grossi said the program helps seniors stay involved in the community and provides a sense of connection. “For the senior, staying engaged with the community and being able to share their experience and skills, that is really rewarding,” she said. That was certainly the case for Ruth Nyman who became involved with the program after facing some regrets of her own. “I don’t have any children of my own and I was feeling the regret of that to be honest, and feeling, ‘Oh gosh I wish I could have kids in my life in some way,’” Nyman said.

Today Nyman is “grandmother” to Xaria. The two were matched when Xaria was six-and-a-half, and Nyman said the two “clicked immediately.” “She is nine and she’s a very active, outgoing little girl. She’s very social and physical, very friendly and so we just hit it off.” Nyman said she likes the youthful energy of kids and the way they see the world. “There are certain things you only do with kids, like she’ll say, ‘Let’s play a game of thumb wars.’ I didn’t even know what that was before I had a child in my life,” Nyman said. Patricia Dent, a volunteer grandmother in the school program, has been working with the group since 1998. She volunteers at Grandview elementary helping students in a literacy program read every Thursday morning. Dent had always been around kids as part of her job as a medical secretary at B.C. Children’s Hospital and wanted a way to give back after she retired. “I’d been retired about a year and wanted to do some volunteer work anyways. I like being with children,” Dent said. “It’s good to feel a part of that.” Grossi said one of the best experiences for her came this year when she received a photo from a young woman’s wedding. “The photo showed an adult getting married and beside her was her mom and her [volunteer] grandmother,” Grossi said. “Just to see that, to get a photo, and see just how longterm these relationships can last, is very touching.” For more information on the program, visit volunteergrandparents.ca.

“Optimizing Brain Fitness” Learning Workshop Join Legacy Senior Living and Rosemary Moritz, Founder & Instructor of the PERK Program for an interactive learning session on “Optimizing Brain Fitness”.

Tuesday, June 16th 2 pm to 3 pm “Brain Fitness Workshop” 611 West 41st Avenue Vancouver, BC (across from Oakridge Centre)

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

A life of struggle Jackie Hooper is a mental health advocate, writer, artist, and former Courier columnist.

KATHLEEN SAYLORS Kathleen.saylors@gmail.com

Jackie Hooper, who last year won a Courage to Come Back Award, is still going strong at 88.

Sitting in her comfortable living room, Jackie Hooper tells the story of her life. Now 88, she grew up in Vancouver, watching the city change from a town of 250,000 people to what she now describes as a “cosmopolitan” city.

PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

Hooper’s living room is covered in paintings. When the Courier arrives, the lively senior is searching for a place to hang another painting — a landscape featuring what she will later tell me are her primary inspirations, the mountains and ocean. “There’s no space left. I’ll have to get the manager up here to create a spot for it,” she said. “I’ve got a hammer and nail all ready for him.” Hooper was born in North Vancouver, where she lived with her mother and sister. Hooper talks about growing up poor during the Great Depression. “But that was just the way it was then. Everyone was in the same boat,” she said. Hooper went to King George Secondary in the West End. Promptly upon graduating, she enlisted in the military to help with the war effort, lying about her age of course. Only 17, she wasn’t able to go overseas and instead was sent to Halifax, where her job was to drive the “injured, but not too injured” soldiers home once they arrived in Canada. It was an interesting job, she said, despite the atrocious roads. “When I drove them, I would ask, do you want me to get you there real fast or take my time, since they were injured. They always told me to get them home as fast as possible.” Jackie Hooper, as seen in this vintage photo, once wrote columns for the Vancouver Courier Newspaper. PHOTO SUBMITTED

When Hooper moved back to Vancouver, she took her B.A. in economics and geography at UBC. After school she worked as a photogrammetrist. “There’s a new word for you,” she laughed. She made maps from aerial photographs and was responsible for surveying much of the North Shore.

Celebrate Spring at Shannon Oaks!

Hooper eventually had to leave mapping because of eye problems so went back to school to study library science. She then worked in a library, supporting her two sons and husband as he recovered from cancer. Around this time, three things happened which would ultimately shape the course of the rest of her life. Hooper’s best friend betrayed her, leaving her out of work. Her younger son became involved with a gang and her marriage was crumbling. This series of events caused depression and Hooper described how she spent the next several years in and out of One West inpatient care at UBC as she struggled.

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F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

and achievement “There were quite a few suicide attempts,” she acknowledged, adding despite those attempts, she liked living at UBC One West. “It was like heaven.”

We love our mountains These days, Hooper said, she mostly spends time sitting out on her balcony and drawing. and we prize The art on the walls represents a fraction of her work. There are stacks more around the the seagull’s apartment. call One of her favourite things to do now is make

When she left the program, she noticed a gap in health care. Over the next few years, along with help from Costal Health, she started a housing project for ex-patients in an apartment building at Pendrell and Bute in the West End known as the Hooper Apartments. Her efforts for mental health care saw her awarded the Courage to Come Back award last year — six recipients across various categories are recognized for their advocacy work.

The real win, Jackie said, was the $1 million cheque given to Coastal Health at the ceremony. It funds a great deal of their work, she said, including more residences and a resource centre. Jackie was also a Courier columnist years ago – how many, she’s not exactly sure. Her column, “Hopping Around,” included advice for the urban senior.

the four-mile walk to UBC, where she treats herself.

“There’s a MacDonald’s out there, so I’ll get a coffee. It’s the best coffee in the city, I think. Starbucks is too bitter,” she said. It takes her about an hour and a half to walk round-trip, but she loves it anyway. When asked why she likes Vancouver, she refers to a sheaf of poetry sitting on the side table. “My Vancouver poem says it all,” she muses before handing me a copy. “We love our mountains and we prize the seagulls call. The ocean’s at our doorstep in its shades of grey and blue. We admire our harbour, its problems far and few.”

Tell Your Story

An introduction to memoir writing for seniors

Wednesday, June 10, 1:00pm – 3:00pm Every life holds many stories. So why not make yours into an engaging memoir? The retirement community of Tapestry at Arbutus Walk is excited to present expert advice on turning your life experiences and family history into an engaging read. Join us with Paula Brook on Wednesday, June 10 for a memoir writing workshop. Paula’s career has spanned three decades of magazine editing, column writing and book publishing. She now focuses on the art of memoir through sharing her experiences and hearing your stories. Whether you are a seasoned writer or have always wanted to flex your creative writing muscles, Tapestry is here to facilitate recording your legacy in your voice. Attend this program to get motivated and have fun! Limited seating available, please RSVP to Tapestry at Arbutus Walk at 604.736.1640.

DiscoverTapestry.com Tapestry at Arbutus Walk 2799 Yew Street, Vancouver

604.736.1640

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

Super senior Study will try and determine factors for their longevity SANDRA THOMAS sthomas@vancourier.com Vancouver’s favourite big band leader suspects there are several reasons for his longevity. “I still sing and I’m still blowing my horn, playing the saxophone and clarinet, which is good for the diaphragm,” said the 97-year-old Dal Richards over the phone Tuesday afternoon. “And I lead a pretty healthy lifestyle. I walk a mile every day and I still take singing lessons.” Richards, who has entertained hundreds of thousands of fans over the years, continues to book gigs, including an appearance at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival June 18. Last year, Richards played the Paciﬁc National Exhibition for his 75th and ﬁnal time after deciding to take a break. So it’s no surprise that when Richards hit the age of 85, he was invited to take part in what’s become known as

the Super Seniors Study, a research project created to determine why some people live cancer-free into their 80s, 90s and beyond 100. The study’s lead investigator, Dr. Angela Brooks-Wilson of the B.C. Cancer Agency and Simon Fraser University, said some of these amazingly healthy super seniors could be genetically protected from cancer-causing mutations. Brooks-Wilson also heads up Cancer Genetics at Canada’s Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre. “There is also lots of evidence from other studies that lifestyle behaviours, such as not smoking, eating a balanced diet, cutting down on alcohol and getting regular exercise, play a huge role in not getting cancer,” said Brooks-Wilson. “Quitting smoking is key. I don’t want seniors to think that because they smoked for a few years when they were younger that everything is doom and gloom. It’s never too late to quit.”

...a research project created to determine why some people live cancer-free into their 80s, 90s and beyond 100.

In the ﬁrst phase of the project, Brooks-Wilson and her team painstakingly gathered detailed information from 500 healthy men and women aged 85 to 109, mainly in the Vancouver area. The seniors provided medical, family and lifestyle information, as well as a blood sample, and were

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F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

study looking for volunteers The original study, which Richards took part in, was based on research completed with seniors living in B.C. and in particular Greater Vancouver. Phase two is accepting new super seniors from across Canada and beyond. Volunteer super seniors must be 85 years or older and have never been diagnosed with cancer, cardiovascular disease or stroke, dementia, major lung disease or diabetes. Anyone 100 years or older is invited to take part even if they live with, or have

Dal Richards, age 97, is just one “super senior” taking part in a study on longevity and health. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

tested for physical and mental function. Brooks-Wilson and co-leader Dr. Denise Daley, of St. Paul’s Hospital and the University of B.C., will compare the genes of these super seniors to those of more than 100,000 men and women, some who have cancer and others who don’t. Brook-Wilson said it had been assumed for years that seniors who live to an old age, while managing to avoid diseases such as cancer, had fewer genetic markers for the disease than the average person. Turns out that’s not the case. “We already know that many people who live to an incredibly healthy old age actually do have gene sequences that contribute to cancer in the general population, but for some reason they do not develop the disease. We suspect there is something that protects them from getting sick by overriding the cancer-causing genes,” said Brooks-Wilson. The ultimate goal of this research is to identify possible genetic “override switches,” which could eventually lead to the development of anti-cancer drugs. It’s possible that such drugs, combined with a healthy lifestyle, could help other people have a lower risk of getting cancer. “It’s still 70 to 75 per cent lifestyle,” said Brooks-Wilson. “But the rest is genetic and that’s what I’m interested in.” Phase two of the super senior research project received the ﬁrst Great Canadian Innovation Grant presented by the Canadian Cancer Society. Funding comes from a group of donors who responded to the society’s appeal to raise $200,000 in one week to fund an innovation grant. BrooksWilson said thanks to this funding the study is looking for even more seniors to take part. But the project needs additional funds to continue its research and she’s hoping more donors will step up to help.

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survived, any of those diseases and are able to decide for themselves whether they want to join the study. Any seniors who meet the criteria and are interested in taking part in the study can call (toll free) 1-888-6758001, extension 8151. Anyone wishing to donate to the project can contact study coordinator Ruth Thomas at rthomas@bcgsc.ca. Visit cancer.ca for more information.

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

Community

DISTINGUISHED WOMEN: The YWCA Women of Distinction Awards celebrate extraordinary women leaders, while supporting the social agency’s vital programs and services that improve the lives of thousands of people each year across Metro Vancouver. The 32nd installment welcomed a record crowd of 1,400 guests to the Vancouver Convention Centre for an inspired night of recognition and philanthropy. Hosted by Global TV’s Randene Neill, the event honoured 69 nominees feted for their achievements and contributions in the community. They were Emily Molnar (arts and culture), Laurie Schultz (business), Natacha Beim (education), Jan Christilaw (health), Heather MacKenzie (community), Alexandra Greenhill (technology), Tzeporah Berman (environment), Krista Thompson (non-profit), Liisa Galea (technology) and Selin Jessa (youth). Since the awards inception in 1984, YWCA Vancouver has honoured more than 300 deserving women. FRIENDS FOREVER: Friends For Life Society opened the doors to its West End home to help people with HIV/AIDS two decades ago, originally providing compassionate care from a small apartment on Beach Avenue. Increased demand for services saw the charity move to a Victorian house on Barclay Street. The Diamond Centre For Living was born, improving the quality of life for thousands. Twenty years later, the non-profit continues to provide complementary health and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as those living with cancer, cystic fibrosis, Hep C and ALS. Recently, the charity marked its 20th years with a garden party staged at Coast Plaza Hotel’s rooftop terrace. Executive director Kim Angel, along with board chair Paula Parker, welcomed business and community leaders to the posh cocktail party produced by the Social Concierge. TRUE COLOURS: 150 guests gathered at the Roundhouse Community Centre for the third annual Pride Legacy Awards to support and celebrate leading lights in Vancouver’s LGBTQ+ community. Based on the eightcolour rainbow flag created by Gilbert Baker, eight trophies were presented to outstanding individuals for their significant efforts in building community and equality for all. Yours truly presided over the ceremonies, presented by the Vancouver Pride, Society, and honouring 24 finalists. Recipients of the 2015 awards were Jody Jollimore (health), Pat Hogan (lifetime achievement), Scott Fullerton (sport), Don Presland (volunteer), Ryan Hunter (safe spaces), David C. Jones (arts), Al Houston (community leader) and Caroline Doerksen (youth). The colourful evening concluded with a tearful tribute to Little Sister’s Jim Deva, a community champion who passed away suddenly last fall.

email yvrflee@hotmail.com twitter @FredAboutTown

Awards chair Shannon Susko, right, congratulated entrepreneur Alexandra Greenhill, co-founder of myBestHelper, on her Women of Distinction Award. After a successful career as a physician, Greenhill created the technology to match working families with child and elder care.

Accompanied by his husband Cole Bennett, right, Scott Fullerton, was recipient of the sports legacy award for his decade of volunteerism with the Vancouver Gay Volleyball Association and West End Slo-pitch Association.

From left, environmental advocate Tzeporah Berman received a YWCA Women of Distinction Award from gala host Randene Neill and B.C. Hydro’s Debbie Nagle. Sixty-nine nominees were feted for their achievements and contributions in the community.

Friends for Life board chair Paula Parker and executive director Kim Angel, right, fronted the charity’s 20th anniversary celebrations — An Enchanted Garden Party — at the Coast Plaza Hotel rooftop terrace.

The Wine in the Garden event featuring wineries from Bottleneck Drive in Summerland raised $5,000 for the VanDusen Gardens educational programs. TH Wines’ Tyler Harlton raised a glass with VanDusen executive director Shawn Mitchell

Ryan Hunter was recognized for creating safe, inclusive and accessible spaces for trans people, Don Presland for his extensive volunteer work in the community and David C. Jones for his commitment to the arts.

MP Hedy Fry and West End personality Connie Smudge helped mark Friends for Life Society’s two decades of providing compassionate care to those living with life threatening illnesses.

Sergio and Wendy Lisogar Cocchia opened their newest restaurant C Prime restaurant, a modern Italian steakhouse, at their Century Plaza Hotel in the West End.

F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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Living

Prune and hack black knot away

Anne Marrison

amarrison@shaw.ca

Q: I have three beautiful plum trees two to three years old. One tree has a large number of growths. The other two trees are also getting this growth. Can this be managed or will I have to cut down the trees at the end of the season? Duncan Cronkhite, Aldergrove A: You won’t have to cut down your trees. All that’s needed is regular pruning each winter. The ﬁrst pruning might be fairly extensive. But later prunings won’t be as bad because fewer spores will be able to spread. Your plum trees have black knot. It’s a common fungal disease, which in time can kill plum, damson and sometimes cherry trees. Black knot spreads from wild and cultivated cherries and plums when spores mature in spring and drift around on the wind. Pruning out the blackknot infected area is the easiest and most inexpensive way of controlling it. You need to remove the small infected branches about three inches nearer the trunk than the knot extends If you have any very large infected trunks or big branches that you don’t want to lose, you need to get a chisel or a dremel and hack the knot out. This often works, but not always — it depends how much extra wood you have room to take. Afterwards you could be left with a heck of a hole. In this year’s dry and warm summer, the crater may dry fast. Nowadays, using pruning paint is generally

Black knot is a common fungal disease, which in time can kill plum, damson and sometimes cherry tree. Native evergreens such as Douglas firs grow far too large to be suitable or safe for the average city lot.

considered unnecessary. But if your tree shows a prolonged or very fast drip, you might check if your local garden centre does stock it. The cans of old-fashioned pruning paint used to go dry quite fast when stored — a good thing to be prepared for. Gardeners in black-knot infested areas routinely check plum trees each winter and prune them if they ﬁnd infection.

Q: Do you have any suggestions of who may want a small, but rapidly growing Douglas ﬁr tree, which my husband planted in our ﬂower garden. I would like to donate it before it gets to be too big. It is currently about four feet tall and has new growth on its branches. Gill Edwards,Vancouver A: If you can dig it up and get it in a pot without

damaging the root, you might keep it for a few years as an outdoor potted Christmas tree. Native evergreens such as Douglas ﬁrs grow far too large to be suitable or safe for the average city lot. Needles and cones plug gutters and litter patios. Big branches fall in storms and can dent cars (and people). Because they also seed around abundantly, Doug-

las firs are often viewed as weeds. That’s why it may be difficult to arouse interest from plant clubs or landscapers. Assuming you do get it potted-up in good shape, you might ask if the Vancouver Park Board could use it. The VanDusen Garden may also have helpful advice. Where Douglas firs fit in well is on large rural acreages away from houses.

These trees freshen air and are a beautiful haven for wildlife. I wonder if you have any relatives on a large rural property who, at Christmas, might be receptive to a potted tree with a few ornaments. Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions. Send them to her via amarrison@shaw.ca. It helps if you give the name of your city or region.

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

News New hotels for bees

blebees, nest in groups, one type of bee – solitary pollinator bees – do not have hives and need to ﬁnd their own nesting spaces. Enter bee hotels, which are intended to be sustainable nesting spaces for these introverted bees. These structures have small hollow holes that provide a space for these animals to lay their eggs. “Bees need two things to make more bees – they

It’s creating quite the buzz: now bees have another place to rest their weary wings. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and cosmetics ﬁrm Burt’s Bees have installed three bee hotels at Fairmont locations in downtown Vancouver and another 13 across the country, the chain announced June 2. While some bees, including honeybees and bum-

need food in the form of ﬂowers and a place to nest” said Vicki Wojcik, research director of Pollinator Partnership, which is also involved in the project. Solitary bees do not make honey. Instead, they are involved in pollination. The role of solitary bees is becoming more important as honeybees are being killed off due to a condition called colony collapse disorder.

“Solitary bees are a critical part of sustainable urban food production and habitat loss is a real impediment to bees’ ability to pollinate much of the food that we rely on across Canada,” said Fairmont Brand vicepresident Jane Mackie. This is not the ﬁrst time Fairmont and Burt’s Bees have helped bees ﬁnd a place to rest. The partners have promoted an initiative called Wild for Bees since

2004, and in 2014, they installed the ﬁrst bee hotels at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto and four other locations across the region. The other bee hotels built this year are in Whistler, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa and Quebec City. Wojcik said everyone can get involved in ensuring solitary bees have a safe place to rest. “If every Canadian household were to build a

bee hotel, we would have close to 17 million new bee habitats,” she said. “If each of these was used by one bee to make a nest for 10 baby bees, that’s 170 million more native bees to pollinate our food and ﬂowers.” National Geographic has created a website to help educate people about bee hotels and show them how to build their own. — Emma Crawford Hampel

“Did you know our proposed expansion follows the existing route for most of the way?” - Carey Johannesson, Project Lead, Land & Right-of-Way, Trans Mountain Expansion Project.

The proposed Trans Mountain Expansion follows the existing

route or other linear infrastructure for 90% of the way.

OF THE ROUTE IS ON THE EXISTING RIGHT-OF-WAY.

That means less than 100 kms needs to be moved to undisturbed lands. These reroutes will be made to improve safety and address environmental considerations, and will accommodate changes

10%

(or 98km) WILL REQUIRE NEW ROUTING.

in land usage since the pipeline was originally built in 1953. We’ve been talking with the public, stakeholders, landowners and Aboriginal communities along the proposed corridor to hear their concerns. We expect you will ask questions. We’ve made

17%

WILL FOLLOW OTHER LINEAR INFRASTRUCTURES, SUCH AS HYDRO, TELUS, RAILWAYS AND HIGHWAYS.

adjustments in many places to address the concerns we’ve heard. Our intention in all of our planning is to minimize the impact on residents, communities and the environment, while ensuring that safe construction and operations are possible.

For more information, go to TransMountain.com/planning-the-route Email: info@transmountain.com · Phone: 1-866-514-6700

Committed to safety since 1953.

F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

Arts&Entertainment

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GOT ARTS? 604.738.1411 or events@vancourier.com

1 June 5 to 9, 2015 1. In Unscripted (Hour), Playwrights Theatre (PTC) invites audience members to get under the covers of playwright Dave Deveau’s work with performances from the Queen of East Van, Isolde N. Barron, songs from Elbow Room Café: The Musical with Anton Lipovetsky, a dance lesson with Michel Guimond from Not So Strictly Ballroom and relationship stories in the “Longterm Love Booth.” Then dance the night away. The theatrical dance party takes over Grandview Legion, June 7, 7-11 p.m. Tickets at brownpapertickets.com. Details at playwrightstheatre.com. 2. Sub Pop recording artist King Tuff rocks the Rickshaw June 7, 10 p.m., along with Cosmonauts and locals Dead Ghosts and the Courtneys as part of the high-ﬂying Levitation Festival. Tickets at ticketweb.ca. Details at levitationvancouver.com. 3. The Surfrider Foundation and Vancity Theatre celebrate World Oceans Week and get wet for a double bill of beachy documentary delights, June 7. Bag It follows “everyman” Jeb Berrier as he embarks on a global tour to unravel the complexities of our plastic world and its effects on our oceans, environment and bodies. Afterwards, Bruce Brown’s classic 1966 ﬁlm The Endless Summer hitches a ride with a group of surfers who travel the world in search of the perfect wave. Bag It screens at 4:15 p.m. while The Endless Summer hangs ten at 6 p.m. Details at viff.org. 4. When Sufjan Stevens isn’t writing beautifully quirky U.S. state-themed albums and mixing stripped-down folk with electronics, he’s often exploring the tender regions of his faith, heart and personal history. His latest, Carrie & Lowell, occupies the latter, dealing with themes of childhood, loss and grief through the narrative of his stepfather (Lowell) and mother (Carrie), who was bipolar, schizophrenic and suffered from drug addiction and substance abuse. Expect a thoroughly moving performance when angelic-voiced Stevens plays the Orpheum, June 9. Helado Negro opens. Details at livenation.com. PHOTO GRAHAM SPENCE PHOTOGRAPHY

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

“You’ll leave Godspell a believer in the transporting power of musical theater” —USA Today

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Arts&Entertainment

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Three witches and a warlock: an informal guide to the Michael Kissinger

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get caught in our web…

v a n c o u r i e r. c o m

This weekend, Vancouver’s bearded and bohemian turn on, tune in and drop out for the Levitation Festival — a trippy co-pro between Timbre Concerts and Austin Psych Fest, June 5 to 7. Held at Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl and several indoor dens of iniquity across the city, the three-day fuzz fest features dozens of droney, riff-prone, psychedelically inclined bands from all four hazy corners of the continent. But peruse the extensive lineup close enough and, much like staring at a magic eye portrait, patterns begin to emerge. Particularly when it comes to band names.

Back in black

Rock ‘n’ roll’s cozy relationship with the forces of darkness has never

been a secret, so a certain number of bands at Levitation Fest with “black” in their names shouldn’t be a surprise. But ﬁve bands? That’s some serious hoodoo going on. Texas outﬁt the Black Angels takes its name from the Velvet Underground’s “The Black Angel’s Death Song” and are self-described purveyors of “Native American drone ‘n’ roll.” So they have that going for them. Blackbird Blackbird is the musical cloak worn by San Francisco-based wünderkind Mikey Maramag, who plays “a unique style of dreamy folktronica” as opposed to your standard issue dreamy folktronica. Local acts Black Wizard and Black Mountain represent on both the black and longhair front. While Atlanta’s long-serving garage rockers Black Lips are known for their enjoyably chaotic live shows and once released

an album called We Did Not Know the Forest Spirit Made the Flowers Grow, which sounds like something you’d discover written down on a Rockaberry Cooler-stained napkin in your back pocket but couldn’t remember when you wrote it or what it meant. Who’s missing: Black Sabbath is the most obvious choice, followed by the Black Keys, Frank Black and country star Clint Black, who would really blow people’s minds.

Dead zone

Though not as nuanced or fashionable as the colour black, dead is also a popular word choice for badass bands at Levitation. Vancouver’s Dead Quiet and Dead Ghosts play stoner rock and lo-ﬁ garage with a country vibe, respectively. Continued next page

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F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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bands descend upon Levitation Festival

most commonly used words by bands at this weekend’s psychedelic music fest Continued from page 24 Fronted by Portland, Ore. husband-wife team of Fred and Toody Cole, Dead Moon formed way back in the 1980s and deliver a rough-and-tumble brand of rootsy punk. Ironically, Toody Cole might be the most life-afﬁrming name we’ve heard since Benedict Cumbersnatch. And Washington, D.C. trio Dead Meadow combines an unholy brew of early-’70s hard rock, ’60s psychedelia, J.R.R. Tolkien and H.P. Lovecraft, which would normally equate to years of celibacy, but presumably not if you’re in rock band — even one that has been known to wear robes. Who’s missing: And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Dead Milkmen, Deadmau5, Death, Death From Above 1979, Dead Can Dance, Dead or Alive, the Dead Boys and the Grateful Dead, some of which wouldn’t be able to perform anyway on account of several members being, well, dead.

Every witch way

With so many black and dead bands, is it any wonder there are three witch bands haunting Vancouver

Washington, D.C.’s Dead Meadow is one of four bands with the word dead in its name playing this weekend at the psychedelically inclined Levitation Festival.

this weekend? The simply named Witch sees Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis putting down his guitar and getting behind the drum kit (his ﬁrst instrument) for some good old fashioned stoner rock. California trio L.A. Witch plays what L.A. Weekly (no relation) describes as “haunted surf rock.” And, despite its name, All Them Witches is not a supergroup formed by members of Witch and L.A. Witch but a Nashville musical coven that gets its name from

Roman Polanski’s 1968 ﬁlm Rosemary’s Baby. Lest anyone accuse Levitation of sexism, the Warlocks also cast their rock ‘n’ roll spell over the festival. Who’s missing: Witch Mountain, Acid Witch and Iron Witch. I don’t even know what these bands sound like, but based on names alone they seem like a perfect ﬁt.

Vice is nice

What’s most surprising, however, is the lack of bands at Levitation

who opted to abstain from naming themselves after controlled or illicit substances. No Ghost Bong, no Black Opium, no Dead Stoner Witch. Then again, I made those up. White Poppy has arguably the most trippy and suggestive name at the festival and comes courtesy of overachieving Canadian “ambient/ psych-pop multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter/producer” Crystal Dorval. Los Angeles band Gateway Drugs de-

scribes its music as “drug pop.” And deceptively marketed Tobacco is the messed-up electronic, psychedelic funk project of Thomas Fec, frontman of experimental Pittsburgh

outﬁt Black Moth Super Rainbow, which gave me a contact high just from typing. Details at levitation-vancouver.com. @MidlifeMan1

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

Arts&Entertainment THE FOURTH OPEN HOUSE FOR THE RIVERVIEW LANDS VISION PROCESS WILL FEATURE A PANEL OF WELL KNOWN EXPERTS. The Panel will discuss major themes stakeholders and the public have expressed the greatest interest in. This includes mental health and wellness, complete communities and economic sustainability. Our Panel will be moderated by Gordon Price, Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University. Panelists include: •

Dr. Julian Somers – Professor of Health Sciences, SFU and former Director of the SFU Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction

•

Darrell Burnham – CEO of Coast Mental Health

•

Brent Toderian – President, TODERIAN UrbanWORKS and former Chief Planner at the City of Vancouver

•

Tsur Somerville – Director at the UBC Centre for Urban Economics and Real Estate

Date:

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Time:

6:30pm - 7:00pm - Sign In 7:00pm - 7:10pm - BC Housing Introduction 7:10pm - 9:30pm - Panel Discussion

Place:

Executive Plaza Hotel, Coquitlam 405 North Rd, Coquitlam

For more information, please visit www.renewingriverview.com t. 604.216.7057 e. questions@renewingriverview.com

HIGHBURY INTERCEPTOR AIR MANAGEMENT FACILITY

PUBLIC MEETING Please join us for this open house and presentation to learn more about the Highbury Interceptor Air Management Facility. TUESDAY JUNE 9 2015, 6:00 TO 8:00 PM MUSQUEAM RECREATION CENTRE 6777 Salish Drive, Vancouver 6:00 – 6:30 pm Open House 6:30 – 7:15 pm Presentation with question and answer period 7:15 – 8:00 pm Staff available for additional questions The proposed design for the Highbury Interceptor Air Management Facility has been revised based on input from local residents, the Vancouver Park Board, and the Musqueam Indian Band. Both Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Park Board staff will be available to answer questions and listen to your comments. The presentation and group discussion will begin at 6:30 pm. For those that cannot attend the meeting, an online survey will be placed on the project website. FOR MORE INFORMATION

Metro Vancouver Information Centre at 604-432-6200 or icentre@metrovancouver.org Project information can also be found here: www.metrovancouver.org (search: “Highbury Interceptor”)

Entourage limps to big screen MOVIE REVIEW

Julie Crawford

jcrawfordﬁlm@gmail.com

It’s hard to hate Entourage, the new extendedHBO-episode dressed like a feature ﬁlm, but it’s easy to feel a little sorry for it. It clearly doesn’t know, despite the determined partying going on onscreen, that the dude party is over: like the phrase “bromance” (coined in the ’90s) or the garish soft-porn of Maxim, recently rebranded into something new. Guys doing guy things is only worth watching if there is something else going on, some hint of irony, some tongue-in-cheek acknowledgement that we all need a high-dose injection of testosterone in our lives once in a while. The HBO series excelled at this in the beginning when it took gentle pokes at Hollywood entitlement as our boys climbed the sticky ladder to success. But Vince (Adrian Grenier), half-brother Johnny (Kevin Dillon), their manager E (Kevin Connolly) and driver Turtle (Jerry Ferrara), once eager puppies, have been somewhat neutered by success. Everyone just looks tired. Not to worry: the boys’ history is quickly explained

in case you didn’t follow the show, which was based loosely on Mark Wahlberg’s early exploits in Hollywood (how loosely, only his priest knows). The action starts — where else — on a yacht in Ibiza, so there’s no time to wonder where the boobies are at. Vince is celebrating the death of an amicably failed marriage and embarking on his first directing gig, a futuristic remake of the Jekyll and Hyde story. The film is over-budget, much to the dismay of new studio head Ari (Jeremy Piven), who green-lit the project. Funding for the movie is coming from Texas moneybags Larson (Billy Bob Thornton), who proudly proclaims that he never watches the movies he finances. Smart man. Meanwhile, E is having a baby with his ex (Emmanuelle Chriqri), Turtle makes a play for a UFC star Ronda Rousey and Johnny/ Drama is reduced to competing for parts with Chad Lowe and the short guy from Married With Children. Spot-the-celeb is as entertaining as the film gets. There’s Gary Busey explaining literature to muscleheads; Haley Joel Osment is Larson’s buffoonish son; Bob Saget tries not to sleep with girls from his daughter’s middle

school; billionaires Warren Buffet and Mark Cuban make appearances, along with athletes such as Mike Tyson and Russell Wilson, actors Jessica Alba, David Spade, Armie Hammer, Jon Favreau and music icons T.I. and Pharrell. Emily Ratajkowski is Vince’s bland not-quite-love interest. Wahlberg, acting as producer, manages to plug both his Ted sequel and his Wahlburger’s reality show during his walk-on, a shameless bit of self-promotion that seems right at home in a film about Hollywood. Greg Louganis sets gay rights back a few years by agreeing to a thankless cameo as former assistant Lloyd’s (Red Lee) future husband, a plot point that pretty much dies on the vine. And the best line in the film occurs after an angry Liam Neeson gives Ari the finger, leading Ari to plead “Hey Schindler, leave no Jew behind!” But that’s about it. Entourage is destined to join Sex and the City as a smart show that tried to make a big play at the box office but instead reminded us of just how redundant it had become. And by the time the boys do that trademark slo-mo saunter across the red carpet, we’re wishing they’d make a speedier exit. Entourage screens at International Village.

F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A27

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START NOTHING: 7:30 a.m. Sun. to 1:16 a.m. Mon., 11:08 a.m. Tues. to 4:14 a.m. Wed., 4:43 p.m. Thurs. to 7:16 a.m. Fri., and after 3:06 p.m. Sat. PREAMBLE: Remember, Mercury is still retrograde until Thursday afternoon, so those of us in the western hemisphere should not start any new projects nor relationships before Thursday evening, June 11 (Friday, June 12 for Europe, Asia). We become what we are. Leo is considered the gambling sign. My son has a Leo Moon. Even at 6 and 7 years old, he kept pestering me to play cards – for money. When you take a chance, win or lose, you know that life is vibrant and powerful. Perhaps that is what attracts gamblers. People who bet their house on a business know this intensity. If a Sagittarian ever cheats in a career (e.g., a Sage lawyer lies to a judge) soon they will abandon that career.

The main accent lies on travel, communications, stationery, ofﬁce systems, paperwork and details, errands and casual acquaintances. Don’t start any new projects nor relationships before the evening of June 11. Like the last one, this week is relatively easy, smooth and pleasant. You start with a streak of popularity, social delights, entertainment or just simple happiness, Sunday.

Avoid major new starts before June 11. That day, several weeks of delays, mistakes and indecision end (technically – though you might ﬁnd the indecision lingers). This is another easy, pleasant week. The main emphasis lies on intellectual activities, far travel, foreign cultures, higher education, law, social rituals, and gentle love. A past ﬂame might still appear, though the chances are declining. Strictly avoid law suits.

Remember, start nothing new before Thursday. This day ends weeks of back-tracking, delays, mistakes and second-guessing, especially in money zones. The entire week ahead is rather stable, easy and pleasant. Work in the morning coolness. Money ﬂows swiftly to you until late June – make sure you aren’t spending it more swiftly. You might hear news of a new employment or earnings project, perhaps Wednesday.

Avoid all new starts before Thursday. The main accent lies on mysteries, sex, ﬁnances, health diagnoses and lifestyle changes, commitment and consequence. These might not be the best things to plunge into, even after Thursday. Seek answers in your subconscious, in your intuition. This is another relatively problem-free, smooth and pleasant week. Sunday’s for home, family – don’t attempt to do too much.

Remember, Gemini, start nothing new until Thursday (or later). Your energy, charisma and magnetism, determination and will power, are tops during this easy, affectionate week. Whether you see it or not, someone is attracted. You feel friendly, loving, and a bit restless – travel appeals. Communications, writing, calls, paperwork, errands go well, and could introduce you to admirers or compatible proto-friends.

Thursday afternoon ends several weeks of delays, mistakes and indecision, especially in relationships, contracts, career and dealing with the public. If anyone has promised to “deliver the goods” since May 18, don’t rely on them/it. With your marriage and your romance planet both in your marriage sign, love could become serious. This can also indicate a business or relocation opportunity.

Remember, Cancer, don’t start anything big, new before June 11 (Thursday). The general accent remains on background activities, quietude, rest, contemplation – and on interfacing with head ofﬁce, government, and institutions. It’s an easy, gentle week. Your money picture grows brighter now to early October. You’ll have more than usual, enough to buy a few luxury items.

The main accent lies on work, chores, drudgery and daily health. Eat, dress and sleep sensibly. The past few weeks might have been frustrating, with work glitches, but those delays and mistakes end Thursday. You’ll get twice as much accomplished from the 12th to 20th of this month as you did for the last three weeks. Now or the remainder of June might bring word that a project or job is coming to an end.

Thursday will end several weeks of delays, indecision and mistakes – but avoid new starts, new relationships until Thursday. A former ﬂirtatious friend might appear during this easy, pleasant week. If so (or if one has appeared since mid-May) this could be, eventually, a wedding prospect. Venus entered Leo last Friday, so you will have a run of good hair days until early October.

Remember, start nothing big and new before Thursday. The main emphasis, this week and next, lies on romance, creativity, gambling, sports, pleasure and beauty. A former ﬂame might appear, but it’s getting late. Look on romance, et al, with a bit of scepticism until late June. This is one of your luckiest relationship years in a decade – until August, the best prospects will tend to come from groups that you enter or belong to.

Remember, start nothing important before Thursday. (Actually, both Wednesday and Thursday aren’t bad for new starts, as long as there’s nothing speculative or creative involved.) The main accent, this week and next, lies on status, prestige, ambitions, career, interfacing with power people, bosses and authorities. You might feel undecided about your career direction, and bosses/judges are temperamental, impatient.

Wait until Thursday to start anything, Pisces, especially in home, landscaping, child-related, relationship, relocation, public, contractual or negotiating zones. The home-related factors clamour for attention, perhaps even “push” you to spend on them, or too “get busy.” Be sceptical about these urges (especially the spending ones). Your work has expanded over the last 10 months.

Monday: Jerry Stiller (88). Tuesday: Michael J. Fox (54). Wednesday: Prince Phillip (94). Thursday: Adrian Barbeau (70). Friday: Chick Corea (74). Saturday: Aly Sheedy (53). Sunday: Stefﬁ Graf (46).

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

Sports&Recreation

GOT GAME? Contact sports editor Megan Stewart at mstewart@vancourier.com or 604-630-3549

Bike theft denies us more than our property Police, city must do more

SPOKE & WORD Chris Bruntlett

chris@modacitylife.com

I had been cycling in Vancouver for less than 12 months when my bike was stolen. Since then, our family has experienced that alltoo-familiar anger, frustration and helplessness on four different occasions, including — on two separate instances — the theft a double-wide trailer with two kid’s helmets. While rampant theft may be considered inevitable in a growing cycling city, there are proactive steps our ofﬁcials can take to minimize its effects, beginning with the simple act of recognizing bike theft is much more than petty larceny. More than 2,000 bicycles are reported stolen in Vancouver each and every year, according to police, but the fact that we treat bike theft as trivially as other property crime, such as a phone or television set, ignores the larger ramiﬁcations. When you consider the wider societal conditions at play, it becomes shockingly clear that bike theft directly

Even the risk of theft keeps potential cyclists from riding. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

affects our transportation patterns, impacting our public health, economy, environment and quality of life as well as congestion on our roads and transit systems. In 2014, McGill University completed a study on bike theft in Montreal. Researchers found that just 36 per cent of victims reported the crime to the police, and seven per cent failed to replace their stolen bike, reverting to other less active forms of transportation. If 2,000 stolen bikes represents only one third

of the thefts in Vancouver, the problem is really much worse. Those 2,000 bicycles suddenly become more than 5,500 each year, or an average of 15 stolen bikes each day. If seven per cent of those lifted bikes are never replaced by their owners, then every year another 400 Vancouverites miss out on the beneﬁts of getting on a bicycle. Now consider the more subtle ways the mere threat of bike theft inﬂuences our choices. According to TransLink, 45 per cent of cyclists avoid bike

trips for chores such as shopping, and 86 per cent of potential cyclists never get on a bike — both because of the risk of theft. Our family, for example, seldom rides anywhere we feel our bikes are at risk, opting instead to use public transit or a car-share program. We also know many friends who are hesitant to invest in a bicycle that suits their individual needs, choosing instead to pedal around on an inexpensive, uncomfortable, and ill-ﬁtted machine. Or worse yet, some refuse to invest in a bike at all. Frustratingly, there are parallels between how authorities treat victims of bike

theft and bike collisions. In both cases, officials focus on small, relatively insignificant things one can do to avoid becoming a victim of crime, such as using a better lock or helmet. But these attitudes illustrate an inability or unwillingness to tackle the complexity of the problem and apprehend the criminals responsible. For a step in the right direction, look south along Interstate 5 to our friends in Portland, who continue to sit at the forefront of North American bike policy. The mayor and police chief recently joined for the Bicycle Theft Task Force, a team that includes the city’s department of transportation, police bureau, local bloggers and advocacy groups. They have been allocated all kinds of valuable resources, including a devoted website and Twitter feed, and most importantly, two officers who will spend 20-hours per week working the bike theft beat. As Vancouver’s cycling numbers continue to surge, we appear to have become resigned to the inevitability of bike theft in our city. It doesn’t have to be that way. If we are truly serious about growing mode share and creating transportation equality, we must tackle bike theft with an entire array of solutions. It will require buy-in from

municipal and provincial governments, the regional police forces, and advocacy groups such as HUB. The task may seem daunting, but — as we’ve seen in Portland — all it requires is a leader (or two) willing to step up and lead the charge.

Happy behind bars? Vancouver Police arrested a man twice last month after he was accused of stealing four bikes on three separate occasions in two days. Devon Reid L’Heureux, 32, was charged with break and enter on May 24. He is accused of entering a home near Broadway and Trutch Street where he stole a bike and helmet before fleeing. Officers had followed L’Heureux to Kitsilano because in the morning he was suspected of having two stolen bikes in his possession but could not be charged because of limited evidence. After he was in custody overnight, on May 25 L’Heureux returned to Kitsilano and is accused of entering a second home and stealing a mountain bike. Four hours after leaving jail, he was apprehended by the K9 police team at First Avenue and Blenheim Street. Police recommended additional charges. — Megan Stewart

F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

GROUP canada CAN china CHN new zealand NZL netherlands NED

Sports&Recreation

A 0 0 0 0

Female coaches crack ‘grass ceiling’

B 0 0 0 0

GROUP germany GER ivory coast CIV

norway NOR thailand THA

GROUP japan JPN switzerland SUI

Cameroon CMR ecuador ECU

GROUP usa USA australia AUS sweden SWE nigeria NGA

JOCK & JILL

GROUPS & FIXTURES Updated at noon, Thursday June 4

C GROUP 0 brazil BRA 0 south korea KOR 0 spain ESP 0 costa rica CRC

E 0 0 0 0

d GROUP 0 france FRA 0 england ENG 0 colombia COL 0 mexico MEX

F 0 0 0 0

VANCOUVER BC Place

EDMONTON Commonwealth Stadium

0 0 0 0 0 0

TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD TBD

6 4

WINNIPEG Winnipeg Stadium

OTTAWA Lansdowne Stadium

CAPACITY: 33,000

CAPACITY: 54,000 2

CAPACITY: 56,000

GROUP MATCHES DATE GROUP

06.6 3pm A CAN 0 v 0 CHN 2

MONTREAL Olympic Stadium

CAPACITY: 61,000

CAPACITY: 24,000

VENUE

mstewart@vancourier.com

BEST FOUR ADVANCE TO 2nd STAGE

MONCTON Moncton Stadium

CAPACITY: 10,000

SECOND STAGE ROUND of 16 DATE GAME

VENUE

v 3ACD 4

NED 2

20.6 1pm 1 1B

07.6 10am B NOR

THA 4

4.30 2 2A

2C 2

6pm A NZL 1pm B GER

CIV 4

21.6 10am 3 1E

2D 6

08.6 1pm D SWE

NGA 3

1pm 4 1F

2E 5

4pm C CMR

ECU 1

4.30 5 1A

v 3CDE 11

4.30 D USA

AUS 3

22.6 2pm 6 2B

2F 4

3BEF 2

7pm C JPN

SUI 11

5pm 7 1D

09.6 10am F FRA

ENG 6

23.6 7pm 8 1C

1pm E ESP

CRC 5

1pm F COL

MEX 6

4pm E BRA

KOR 5

11.6 1pm B GER

NOR 4

3pm A CHN

NED 2

4pm B CIV

THA 4

6pm A CAN

NZL 2

12.6 2pm D AUS

NGA 3

4pm C SUI

ECU

5pm D USA

SWE 3

cancer has now been cut off, but a “grass ceiling” still exists in the world’s most popular sport. The sexist limits placed on women especially affects leadership roles and Carrie Serwetnyk, a former Canadian player and the ﬁrst women inducted into the country’s soccer hall of fame, has spent years advocating for equal opportunity at all levels of the game. Soccer Canada has shut her out, ignoring her efforts no doubt because she knows there are better people to hire for key roles already occupied by warm bodies — in this country and in every organization that is part of FIFA, including FIFA itself. Because, while there are eight female coaches at this World Cup, none of those country’s national soccer associations is led by a woman. The World Cup begins Friday in Edmonton as Canada takes on China. The complete schedule is printed here and will be updated each Friday. @MHStewart

Megan Stewart

Third Place Teams

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v 3ABF 11

Twenty-four teams have arrived in Canada for the FIFA Women’s World Cup and, in a remarkable historical benchmark, one third of the teams count a woman as head coach. Those leaders are Amelia Valverde for Costa Rica, Clementine Toure for the Ivory Coast, Vanessa Arauz for Ecuador, Silvia Neid for Germany, Pia Sundhage for Sweden, Martina Voss-Tecklenburg for Switzerland, Nuengrutai Srathongvian for Thailand, and Jill Ellis for the U.S. This increase in female coaching staff is an important shift that marks the possibility for a life-long career in sport for women once they retire from active play or for others who never competed at an elite level. (An international cap isn’t a requirement to successfully lead an international side, as it wasn’t for Canada’s John Herdman.)

Japanese national team striker Yuki Ogimi, alongside her interpreter, has a laugh with reporters after arriving at the Vancouver airport on June 1. Japan plays Switzerland in Vancouver at B.C. Place, 7 p.m. June 8. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

These eight coaches are equal to the players in their inﬂuence as role models. Playing isn’t the only option for young girls and women. They can lead, too. They can coach and they can become involved in sport however they so desire. But of course it isn’t

that simple. Not when the president of the international governing body for soccer once encouraged women to objectify themselves by wearing shorter, tighter and, one can presume, prettier uniforms in order to appeal to a broader audience. That misogynist

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER F R I DAY, J U N E 5 , 2 0 1 5

The Courier presents Vancouver’s Elite Graduating Athletes of 2015

aron Mah knows there will be a few crashes on his way to the top. The first all-round Canadian champion gymnast films those falls and posts the videos online, sharing them with thousands of followers like a trail of breadcrumbs to remember where he came from. In one hyperkinetic sequence of fails, Mah face-plants off a pummel horse. In another, he swings over the high bar, looking for the one-hop-and-half-turn of a skill since incorporated into his routine, already the most difficult among Canadian competitors his age, but in the clip he posted on Instagram last month Mah misses his grip and is pitched backwards. His momentum flings him over the bar, 10 feet in the opposite direction where he hits the layered padding at Phoenix Gymnastics, the club he’s trained at since he was a child. In another clip, this one a slowmotion sequence of Mah taking off, flat as a board, to spin twice and flip twice before sticking his landing, he flexes another muscle — humour — when he writes that his tumbling is like his coffee. “#DoubleDouble,” reads the punchline. “Gymnastics is the hardest sport in the world,” said Mah. “What separates gymnastics from every other sport is that there are no limits to what you can do. Gymnastics is constantly evolving and the athletes need to keep improving in order to raise the bar and stay ahead of their competitors.” The adrenaline and danger makes gymnastics an extreme sport. “The amount of physical stress that is put on your body is unparalleled,” he said. A student at Magee secondary

where he studies in the SpArts program to accommodate up to 30 weekly hours of training at the club in Hillcrest Park, Mah finished second all-around at the 2014 Elite Canada Championship and won the all-around Canadian title later that year. He accepted a NCAA Div. 1 scholarship and by the end of the summer will be training with Brett McClure at the University of California, Berkeley. “The culture around extreme sports and gymnastics, it’s very, very similar,” said McClure, “A lot of them are adrenaline-seekers who push the envelope constantly.” Still growing at 17, Mah’s coaches know the next step in his development means he must get stronger. “That’s the first thing on my list,” said McClure, who added that despite years of daily training, many freshmen are relatively weak. “That first year will be a struggle.” But McClure believes Mah could wear the Maple Leaf at future Olympic Games. “Once he gets stronger and capable of handling more, it will set him up on a platform to take off.” Mah, “is one of those guys who really likes challenges,” said Phoenix Gymnastics coach Sasha Pozdniakovu, listing characteristics like “good mannered,” and “persistent,” along with, “He’s really brave and he loves doing tricks.” And, said the coach who’s known Mah for four years, “He knows how to fall. He says it’s fun.” — Megan Stewart

Aaron Mah PAST

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On June 6, walk to change the lives of LGBTQ refugees. Visit STRUTvancouver.ca Premiere sponsor:

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