Vancouver Courier September 17 2015

PENNY BALLEM OUT AS CITY MANAGER FRINGE FESTIVAL CONTINUES TO CHARM AND CONFOUND VANCOUVER CANADIANS FLY WITH THE BLUE JAYS FEATURE SEATTLE ADVOCATE TALKS POT WITH CITY LEADERS

Local News, Local Matters

PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

THURSDAY

September 17 2015

There’s more online at vancourier.com

Tool time

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

News 12TH & CAMBIE

Nardwuar hijacks transit talk with Trudeau Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

This will blow your mind: I asked a politician a question and he didn’t answer it.

Yep, that really happened.

It occurred last week when I got an opportunity to ask Liberal leader Justin Trudeau some questions regarding his announcement that he will work with the City of Vancouver and provincial government — if his party wins the Oct. 19 election — to “extend rapid transit service along Broadway to Arbutus.”

That’s kind of a big deal, considering the price tag for a subway is in the $1.9 billion range.

I was surprised to get a turn at the mic because the way these things go, national reporters travelling with federal leaders usually hog question time. Thankfully, that didn’t happen, with yours truly the fifth in line to demander quelque questions a monsieur Trudeau.

But when I got to the mic, I screwed up. I committed a journalism faux pas

Nardwuar the Human Serviette gets quizzed by a member of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s campaign team about the type of questions he planned to ask at a news conference in Vancouver last week. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

by asking two questions in one. This never works because, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a response to one of the questions, not both. And that’s what happened.

My question: “How much of the $20 billion in transit infrastructure that you’ve announced today will go to

rapid transit along Broadway, and do you prefer that money go to a subway or light rapid transit?”

Trudeau: “Thank you, that’s an excellent question. Do I prefer subways or rapid transit, or light rail? I don’t think that’s an opinion that the federal government

should have. But we’ve been conditioned to look at the federal government as the one who decides which projects get built, even though the expertise is right here at city hall.”

So, yeah, he didn’t answer my “excellent question” and tell me how much Vancou-

ver would get for a subway.

I asked one of his staff to get back to me on this. As of Tuesday, I still hadn’t heard what kind of cash Trudeau would shovel Vancouver’s way, although he did mention $1.7 billion would be spent across Canada in each of the first two years.

But then I had a thought: Maybe Trudeau had every intention of telling me how much the Liberals would contribute to rapid transit in Vancouver but was rattled by the guy with the props who took the mic before me. And, come to think of it, I was a little off my game following the guy’s performance.

Damn you, Nardwuar the Human Serviette!

For those of you unfamiliar with the tartan tam-wearing, off-beat interviewer/musician/ memorabiliac, I recommend you Google him. This is the same guy who asked Mikhail Gorbachev this: That of all the political figures you have met, which one had the largest pants?

Nardwuar wasn’t interested in pant sizes when he spoke to Trudeau. His goal

was to get the Liberal leader to do what Jean Chretien, Paul Martin, Michael Ignatieff and Jack Layton had all done before him: the “hip-flip,” which is best described as a zany party toy that requires two people to use their hips to rotate a long plastic piece in a loop to cause the ringing of a bell.

Trudeau agreed to do the “hip-flip” after the news conference, much to the excitement of Nardwuar, whose disarming, respectfully polite approach also worked Monday with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, who was in Vancouver. Green Party leader Elizabeth May is next on Nardwuar’s list. Conservative leader Stephen Harper declined to do the “hip-flip” and, according to Nardwuar, had security carry him away.

So what’s the takeaway from all this?

Yes, I know, only ask one question at a time.

More importantly, bring props to news conferences to get quality time with a politician.

And maybe wear a tam. @Howellings

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News

Mayor calls for ‘fresh approach’ in dumping city manager Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier

The Vision Vancouverled city council that hired city manager Penny Ballem in 2008 to steer an ambitious agenda that included reducing the number of homeless people on the street and preparing Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympics decided Tuesday not to renew her contract.

Mayor Gregor Robertson didn’t use the word “fired” but made it clear that Ballem’s almost seven-year run as the city’s top bureaucrat was over, saying it was time for “a fresh approach as we would look to tackle some of the city’s toughest challenges.”

In making the decision, which occurred at an in-camera meeting Tuesday, the city must now pay the 65-year-old Ballem a $556,000 severance. Ballem had an open-ended contract and did not resign, according to the mayor, who spoke at a news conference at city hall.

“I don’t believe she had intentions to retire,” Robertson told reporters, who asked the mayor several times to give specific reasons for parting ways with Ballem. “Refreshing leadership is necessary and I think — without pointing specifically to changes that need to happen — I think there’s an opportunity with new leadership to address some of those concerns around a more collaborative approach as a city.”

Robertson said he promised in the 2014 civic election campaign to “do things differently,” referring to complaints from the public about lack of consultation at city hall and the pace of change in neighbourhoods.

He also said with the recent departures and retirements of chief engineer Peter Judd (April), general manager of community services Brenda Prosken (June) and head of planning Brian Jackson (November) that it was a good time to create a new leadership team.

Deputy city manager

Sadhu Johnston will serve as acting city manager while the city conducts an international search for a new manager.

Johnston was brought in under Ballem from Chicago and has been the city’s point person on council’s environmental plan to see Vancouver become the “greenest city in the world” by 2020.

The Courier attempted to reach Ballem on her cellphone but she was unavailable. She was at a city council meeting Tuesday morning and delivered a report on the FIFA Women’s World Cup, her last presentation as city manager.

All three NPA councillors said they first learned of the mayor’s intentions to not renew Ballem’s contract at an in-camera meeting following the morning public meeting. Councillors are prohibited from discussing in-camera matters but the NPA trio was clearly not happy with how they received the news.

“We were informed that she was leaving immediate-

ly,” NPA Coun. Elizabeth Ball told the Courier.

Ball said the NPA’s relationship with Ballem was “extremely positive and neutral.” She and her NPA colleagues Melissa De Genova and George Affleck said they were concerned the city was losing many of its leaders this year.

“It’s a difficult time for staff to transition,” said De Genova, noting she was worried about the effect on morale.

Ballem was perceived by some at city hall as a micromanager. When the mayor was asked by a reporter about critics describing her as a “bully,” Robertson said Ballem set an intense pace and was “a force of nature and got an enormous amount of work done here.”

Former head planner Brent Toderian, who was let go by the city a few years ago took to Twitter Tuesday, writing: “What goes around, comes around.”

For a longer version of this story, go to vancourier.com.

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

News

From Uganda to Vancouver: A Malcolm Atia spent two years in a refugee camp in Kenya Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

Malcolm Atia, 20, arrived in Vancouver a week ago after spending two years in a refugee camp in Kenya. He fled Uganda for fear of being persecuted under that country’s anti-gay laws. PHOTO MIKE HOWELL

Last Tuesday, Malcolm Atia was in a refugee camp in Kenya.

By Wednesday, he was in Vancouver.

And on Thursday, the 20-year-old Ugandan was among a crowd of refugees from Liberia, Somalia, Burundi and Syria who attended a news conference to learn about the progress of “Welcome House,” a $24.5-project on Victoria Drive that will serve as a one-stop housing and support centre for refugees.

“This is all very different for me,” said Atia, who is gay and fled Uganda for fear of becoming a victim of the

widespread hatred of gay people, largely fuelled by the country’s anti-homosexuality legislation.

The hatred was evident in his own family. His parents died when he was young, and he was raised by an aunt and uncle, who Atia said wanted to “turn me over to a mob to beat the ‘gayness’ out of me.”

Atia spent two years in a refugee camp in Kenya before Canada accepted him as a governmentassisted refugee. He flew from Kenya via London to Vancouver — a 17hour journey — and now resides downtown at a building operated by the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. “When I first learned I was going to Canada, I said ‘OK, that is good’ because no one will prosecute me for who I am,” he said, noting his dream is to attend a theatre arts program. “And maybe one day, I will be an amazing actor.”

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News

refugee’s story Atia’s story and those of other refugees have become more poignant in recent weeks as people worldwide were shaken by the photograph of three-year-old Alan Kurdi’s body washed up on a shore in Turkey.

The image intensified the struggle of Syrian refugees and the plight of 60 million people on the move from chaos and trouble across the world.

The global refugee crisis is now an issue for political leaders campaigning for votes in the federal election and inspired the City of Vancouver to host a forum last Tuesday on what residents can do to help refugees, including sponsorship and donations.

Mayor Gregor Robertson hosted the forum and was joined by two panelists, including Chris Friesen, the director of settlement services for the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. Friesen

spoke at last Thursday’s news conference, saying the project at 2610 Victoria Dr. is redefining a new international model for the integration of refugees.

When Welcome House opens in May, it will have room for up to 130 beds, settlement services, a medical clinic, support programs for victims of trauma, space for youth, classrooms, a daycare and a large kitchen and community room.

“We have had a constant stream of governments from around the world dropping by to see us,” he said, noting a 22-member delegation from Denmark visited the site last week. “So it has global attention, it’s providing hope and a promising practice of how refugees should be treated, should be served here in Vancouver and around the world.”

Majd Agha, 22, a Syrian refugee who arrived in Vancouver in June

2014 via a refugee camp in the Philippines, spoke at the news conference and said he was “jealous not to be staying here” when the facility opens.

But the New Westminster resident, who said he was treated well upon his arrival as a governmentassisted refugee and now has a job and attends school, urged the federal government to “do more” to take in refugees and reunite families left behind in war-ravaged countries.

Agha left his parents and two sisters in Syria.

“It’s just so horrible to be in a safe place but thinking about your family and your parents every single day and knowing that someday you might wake up one day knowing you might not be able to talk to them,” he said, telling the Courier after his remarks that the Canadian government denied his family tourist visas. “I feel homesick every day.” @Howellings

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

News

Four years on, Tool Library still building Naoibh O’Connor

library periodically offers workshops for a small fee — it’s in the midst of a Basic Bike Maintenance Workshop series, which finishes at the end of the month.

Stone wants the library to become a place that does more than just loan tools.

“I don’t just want this to be a tool rental store. I want it to be a community involvement hub. So we’re not just renting tools for cheap, we’re also fostering relationships with other like-minded organizations and having members of the community come in and learn to use a table saw, for example. So that would be cool to develop a bit more,” he said.

The need for a tool library has grown over the years given the rise in condo and apartment living. Residents are also increasingly open to the sharing economy.

“I think the trend of moving into smaller condos and apartments is making it difficult for people to own their own tools, so I think that trend is working in our favour,” Stone said, adding, “Space is one thing, especially in the city, but it’s also sharing a financial

noconnor@vancourier.com

When the Vancouver Tool Library marked its grand opening just over four years ago, it stocked an inventory of 400 tools. It now boasts 2,060 tools and close to 1,400 members.

Growth has been steady.

Greg Stone, for one, is pleased.

Stone took over managing the co-op, located at 3448 Commercial St., in March.

He works three-quarter time and has help from about 20 volunteers.

“Financially, we’re getting stronger and stronger and we’re tweaking our pricing system and our inventory to strengthen how we’re doing financially. And as far as members go, it’s been a pretty steady climb, pretty consistent,” he said.

Refining the inventory included holding a garage sale last spring. Tools that weren’t being borrowed were sold, and the library used some of the proceeds to invest in more popular tools.

The wide assortment of items available for loan ranges

Manager Greg Stone wants the Vancouver Tool Library to be more than just a tool rental service.

PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

from shovels, shop vacs and power washers to compressors, sanders and a lathe. It even recently acquired a sewing machine.

Table saws, drills and chop saws are among the most in-demand tools, though the most-borrowed list can fluctuate depending on the season. Stone said gardening tools were popular in the spring, and now that fall is approaching, members are taking out more home renovation equipment.

“So our floor section is getting used a lot and our dry walling tools are getting taken out,” he said.

Although the library launched with help from grants, it’s now sustaining itself.

“Our business model is working,” Stone said.

Members pay a one-time fee of $20 to join, an annual maintenance fee, a small loan fee for power tools (hand tools can be borrowed for no charge), and late fees.

“Our overhead isn’t that high, so the requirements to stay in the black are not crazy difficult to meet.”

The board is currently undergoing some changes, with a few new people taking positions, but Stone said the eventual dream is to move the tool library into a larger space with room for a workshop.

He expects the library will apply for grants again in the future, particularly in the case of a move.

Meantime, the tool

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resource. It’s so expensive to buy your own things and if you’re not going to use it all the time, it just makes sense to [borrow] it from us.”

The Cargo Bike Co-op just gifted a particularly useful item — a Yuba Mundo long-tail cargo bike capable of carrying 400 pounds plus the rider.

The bike co-op, which formed in 2008 in honour of community organizer and environmental activist Isobel Kiborn, hasn’t been very active in the past couple of years and the cargo bike was its only remaining asset.

“I had kept the cargo bike and used it in various parades and cargo bike demo rides and that kind of stuff but [the Cargo Bike Co-op] hadn’t really been doing much with it in the last year or two,” explained member Ron Richings. “So I found out about the Vancouver Tool Library. It was really a perfect fit for it… They’re happy to get it and we’re happy to give it to them.”

See vancouvertoollibrary. com for more details about its operation and lending practices.

Painting “Day Dreamer” by Robin Murray.

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News

Trudeau promises rapid transit along Broadway Questions raised why City of Vancouver allowed news conference on city property Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

If his party wins the federal election, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised last Thursday to work with Vancouver and the provincial government to extend rapid transit service along Broadway to Arbutus Street as part of a $20-billion investment in transit infrastructure across the country.

Speaking from the patio of a City of Vancouverleased building at Cambie and Broadway, Trudeau didn’t say specifically how much of the $20 billion would go towards a Broadway rapid transit line. The cost of a subway along Broadway has been estimated at $1.9 billion.

“We will quadruple federal investment in public transit over the next

decade,” said Trudeau, who fronted a stage crowded with more than a dozen Liberal candidates whose backs faced a postcard-like scene of the North Shore mountains. “The lack of federal funding will no longer be a roadblock to action.”

Though Mayor Gregor Robertson campaigned last fall for a subway, and the City of Vancouver’s senior engineering staff recommended a subway over a light-rail system, Trudeau told reporters he wouldn’t favour one over the other.

“I don’t think that’s an opinion that the federal government should have but we’ve been conditioned to look at the federal government as the one who decides which projects get built, even though the expertise is right here at city hall,” he said.

Robertson didn’t attend Trudeau’s news conference but told the Courier later that he welcomed news of investment in transit and hoped other federal parties would make commitments to the city’s infrastructure.

Asked about the city allowing a federal leader to make a political announcement on city property, Robertson said, “It’s public land, it’s city land and it’s available and accessible to all of the parties if they want to make announcements during this federal election.”

The patio on which Trudeau made his announcement is used by city engineering staff who work on the same floor.

After taking questions from reporters, Trudeau mingled with staff inside the office, posed for pho-

tographs and had a brief meeting in a room with chief engineer Jerry Dobrovolny and city manager Penny Ballem. (On Tuesday, the mayor announced that Ballem was leaving her position.)

Robertson’s office has strong links to the Trudeau campaign, with Robertson’s press secretary, Braeden Caley, serving as president of the B.C. chapter of the federal Liberals. But Ballem said Caley did not request the location for Trudeau’s news conference. She also said Caley’s role with the Liberals was cleared with the city solicitor.

“So I’m very comfortable with that,” she said, noting the request for use of the building was made to her office by a member of Trudeau’s campaign team.

Continued on page 19

Art at the Airport

A presentation about the collection at YVR

Thursday, September 24, 2:00 – 3:30pm Vancouver’s International Airport is home to a collection of monumental BC First Nations Art. Tapestry at Wesbrook Village and Vancouver International Airport (YVR) are pleased to partner on a presentation on this collection by YVR curator Rita Beiks.

YVR provides an international stage where thousands of travelers and visitors engage with the diverse collection of First Nations Art. This provides a great opportunity to showcase BC’s unique cultural heritage. Join us for this opportunity to hear from the YVR curator and learn about the collection. We welcome seniors and their families to attend this presentation and join us on a tour of our beautiful west side community.

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Opinion ALLEN GARR COLUMNIST

agarr@vancourier.com

Ballem’s exit a surprise despite ongoing rumours

S

hortly after Penny Ballem was hired as Vancouver city manager seven years ago — but long enough after she had the chance to put her stamp on the organization — two mid-level bureaucrats were passing each other in the hall and one said to the other, “How you doing?” The other replied, “I’m sleeping like a baby. I wake up every two hours and I cry.”

So will Penny be missed? Perhaps by a few. But I suspect more will be relieved than disappointed and there will be whole departments where there won’t be a wet eye in the house.

There is no doubt that Ballem made her mark on the city administration. She was, as one long-time senior employee observed, “brilliant in many ways.” But she could be a relentless bully, a screamer and a demanding micro-manager. Tuesday’s press release from the mayor announcing Ballem’s departure, which notes she was “driving transformative change across the organization,” hardly begins to describe her aggressive approach.

What was once a fairly flat administrative structure became extremely hierarchical.

Nothing, and I mean not even the small-

PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

est detail, got to council without her scrutiny. For some staff report writers presenting material to council, it seemed pointless to put anything down on paper given that she would change it anyway.

The information flow that existed between senior managers and inquiring journalists for the past several decades, came to a dead halt. Until recently, everything had to go through the dead zone known as “Corporate Communications.” It was a department that exploded in numbers and at one point had 32 employees. In fact, there were more people frustrating the demands of media than there were gardeners taking care of the city’s extensive parks system.

Her leaving would come as a surprise to many city hall watchers, even though it had been rumoured for months, if not years.

A number of folks recall Mayor Gregor Robertson saying privately that she would be gone after the last election.

Sources tell me Robertson tried to get council support to unload her after the election but couldn’t at that time.

But the fact is most people figured the Vision council would never listen to the growing avalanche of criticism.

Her most disastrous hirings or promotions included Brenda Prosken as general manager of community services — a nice person who was way over her head. And, of course, Brian Jackson, the head of the planning department who announced he will be leaving at the end of the year.

Between Jackson’s hiring and his management style, and Ballem’s heavy-handed treatment of that department, planners were demoralized and left in significant numbers after watching much of the creative energy in their department smothered.

They became part of an external lobby group, including former senior planners

Ray Spaxman and Scot Hein, who loudly proclaimed the city had lost its way and was more interested in money it could get from developers than any sense of design.

Even though Ballem publicly supported Jackson, he leaves a mere three short years into his first five-year contract, according to those close to him, because he could not stand Ballem.

If Vision is forever grateful to Ballem for anything, it was her Herculean effort to get them out of the messy financial tangle around the Athletes Village left over by the NPA. That said, there is at least indication she was pushed out. Robertson said, “Our city’s toughest challenges will benefit from a new approach and a fresh perspective.”

His announcement also notes, “In accordance with her contact Dr. Ballem will receive severance of $556,000.” That would be about 18 months’ pay, and, as I under-

stand it, it would only be paid if the city chose to break her contact. Expect that the city also bought a confidentiality agreement with that settlement. So nobody will say anything.

The timing of her leaving seems awkward. It leaves the city with three major positions either unfilled or filled temporarily.

The head of engineering Jerry Dobrovolny is an interim posting although he is considered quite competent. As I said earlier, Jackson, head of planning, will be leaving in few months, and then there is Ballem’s spot now being filled by deputy city manager Sadhu Johnston who has mostly been limited to the city’s Greenest City Agenda.

So will Penny be missed? Perhaps by a few. But I suspect more will be relieved than disappointed and there will be whole departments where there won’t be a wet eye in the house. @allengarr

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

Inbox letters@vancourier.com

Where is the Kudos & Kvetches column? It has not been seen for several weeks. I also want to add the newspaper is difficult to read with the two different kinds of newsprint.

Lynn Siddaway, Vancouver Editor’s note: K&K returns this issue.

PNE status concerns Re: “PNE loses charity status, faces sixfigure tax bill,” Aug. 20.

Bob Makin reveals in his article that the federal tax department revoked the PNE’s charitable status more than a year ago for failure to file.

During an all candidate’s meeting last November leading up the municipal election, Raymond Louie was asked publicly, “Why has the PNE not filed for Charitable Tax Status required to maintain non-profit status?” Councillor Louie responded that it was simply that the financial report was delayed and would be ready very soon and submitted to Canada Revenue.

Why has this financial report not been filed? What has caused this delay? Are the finances of the PNE not in order or not up to CRA scrutiny? How is it that all the same charitable activities at the PNE are continuing without non-profit status?

The PNE board, chaired by Louie, must reveal the PNE books to the public for scrutiny. Perhaps a forensic audit is in order.

And the buck stops with Vancouver city council that put Hastings Park and the PNE under the governance of the appointed and closed PNE board instead of the Vancouver Park Board, a publicly elected

Talk of the block Re: “Vancouver residents take action to calm neighbourhood streets,” Sept. 4.

Maybe if the City stopped messing with arterial roads, then motorists wouldn’t feel the need to cut down side streets! Case in point, King Edward Avenue. There is plenty of room to make it safer and quicker for drivers, but instead the City decided we needed yet another bike lane. Are you kidding Gregor?? jerry d? I really don’t see how more idling cars, sitting in gridlock, is supposed to make us greener? Vision Vancouver is ruining our City, one block at a time!

Brian Stewart via Facebook

Real estate check Re: “Vancouver real estate fuelled by wealth transfer,” Sept. 11, online only.

The only reason Mom and Dad are helping is because foreign investors drove up the price. A few months ago there were articles pointing the finger at people renovating and reselling as the reason prices keep getting higher. Wake up!

Sherri Reilly via Facebook

Welcome back Bulis Re: Pass It To Bulis: “We’re back!,” Sept. 14, online only.

Excellent. Looking forward to the season, whatever that may bring.

Peanutflower via online comments ••• “Now that the Canucks are a laughingstock, are we even necessary anymore?”

More than ever. Someone has to be sunshine amongst the gloom. Welcome back!

Kevin via online comments ••• Thank gawd Harry and Danny are back... going to need daily, heaping servings of laugh soup this season to stave off the depression that will surely consume me from seeing Brandon Prust (inexplicably) in a Canucks jersey.

Pudge via online comments

Over the next 4 months, we will be seeking input from the campus community on what actions UBC could take to achieve this ambitious target. We want to hear what your ideas are for reducing campus GHG emissions, particularly on: • Energy supply options • Energy use in buildings (e.g. building design, maintenance and operations) • UBC-owned vehicles • Individual behaviours UBC is on track to achieve the 2015 reduction target set out in the 2010 UBC Climate Action Plan. Join the conversation and help us set the stage for climate action success in 2020.

submit your ideas!

When: September 14 – 27 Where: planning.ubc.ca Questions? Please contact Gabrielle Armstrong, Senior Manager, Consultation at gabrielle.armstrong@ubc.ca or 604-822-9984.

This notice contains important information which may affect you. Please ask someone to translate it for you.

Public Open House

Library Garden - October 1 and October 8 UBC is undertaking a process to redesign the public green space between Memorial Road and Agricultural Road, in front of the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. This central location will bring together students, faculty, staff, residents, and visitors and will house the new Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre.

The introduction of the Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre to Library Garden provides a unique opportunity to re-envision one of the largest outdoor public spaces on campus.

1 Date: Thursday, October 1, 2015

Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm Place: 2nd Floor Foyer, The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall

2 Date: Thursday, October 8, 2015

Time: 11:00am – 2:00pm Place: Main Lobby, Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre, 6163 University Blvd

ADVERTISING

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Michael Kissinger

ddhaliwal@vancourier.com

mkissinger@vancourier.com

PUBLISHER

CITY 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.

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FLYER SALES

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Please join us at the public open houses to learn more and to tell us what is important to you about the space and what opportunities you see for its future.

Can’t attend in person? Online consultation will run from September 28 - October 12.

Visit planning.ubc.ca to learn more.

Chemistry

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EDITORIAL NEWSROOM

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Aquatic Centre

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ONLINE

UBC is beginning the process to develop a new Climate Action Plan for the Vancouver campus. Our climate action target for 2020 is to reduce our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from 2007 levels by 67%.

University Boulevard

Re: “Residents take action to calm city streets,” Sept. 4.

I would like to disagree here with Chris Bruntlett’s claim that no freeways running through the city of Vancouver is the cause for motor traffic spilling onto side streets. I have spent ample time in Mexico City as well as in Bogota, Colombia, where there are extensive networks of freeways and motorways running through both cities.

And you know what? The traffic in many of the side streets is ghastly, much worse than anything we would see here in Vancouver. It has been proven that more freeways means more vehicles and more congestion. Mr. Bruntlett needs to get his facts checked.

Aaron Zacharias, Vancouver

climate action plan 2020

Agricultural Rd

Freeway fighter

board. And the city council appoints the PNE board and its chairperson.

That a sitting city councillor, Louie, is the chair of the PNE board, looks like a conflict of interest to many people.

Citizens deserve to know just what is going on at Hastings Park. It is, after all, a public park and it should be governed publicly with the full knowledge of taxpayers.

Gale Tyler Vancouver

Walter Gage Road

LETTERS

public consultation

For additional information, contact: Gabrielle Armstrong, Senior Manager, Consultation, at gabrielle.armstrong@ubc.ca or 604-822-9984.

This notice contains important information which may affect you. Please ask someone to translate it for you.

A11

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Community

Small businesses make Fraser Street soar COMMENTARY

Mike Klassen

mike@mikeklassen.net

It has been more than 12 years since my family and I put down roots just off Fraser Street in the Mountain View neighbourhood, which

took its name from the nearby cemetery. During this time we have watched the area become more desirable, and local property values grow precipitously.

In 2014, the assessed price of detached homes in our area rose faster than in almost any community

in Metro Vancouver — an astounding 20 per cent.

A debate continues to rage on what is pushing the region’s real estate prices into the stratosphere, but what in particular is driving buyers’ interest in Fraser Street? It cannot be home prices alone.

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streets than ours in other neighbourhoods. The houses here are a hodgepodge of designs from the past 100 years of Vancouver home styles. Local park space, though terrifically popular, is in limited supply. Public amenities such as pools or community centres are not

within walking distance.

While I like to think we are a friendly community, we are probably indistinguishable from other areas of the city in this regard.

Yes, we hold a few block parties — particularly this time of year — but those gatherings are not what give

Mountain View its mojo.

Urban planners like to deconstruct what makes a great neighbourhood, and they get much of it right. Bus routes on Fraser Street and — East King Edward Avenue provide respectable public — transportation, for example.

Continued next page

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A13

Community

Transformation welcomed by residents And our boulevard trees provide some comforting green canopy.

However, some of those characteristics planners like — such as pleasing features in the area’s architecture — simply do not exist here. With the exception of the cemetery, you will have to go to a website (vancouverstreetstories.com) to locate any vestiges of Fraser Street’s beginnings.

Real estate here is in high demand mostly because of the area’s compelling, walkable shopping and services.

What we used to look for in other parts of the city — such as a grocery store or a café — is now practically at our doorstep.

Since it opened in 2011, Dean’s No Frills grocery store at the corner of East 29th Avenue has been transformative for

this community. Household staples that used to require a trip by car are steps away for residents in hundreds of nearby homes and apartment dwellers in the condo development above it.

Setting up a storefront in a retail district that has seen better days is a big leap of faith. Thankfully homegrown caffeine slingers JJ Bean Coffee Roasters saw fit to open a store at East 27th Avenue in 2013.

In mere weeks Prado — a personal coffee shop favourite — will open its third Vancouver store below a newly completed rental building at East 26th.

Fraser Street will always be compared with Main Street to the west, with its 20-plus contiguous blocks of retail shops, hip restaurants and speakeas-

ies. It may never resemble Main, but Fraser Street has attracted some popular places for dining and desserts — such as Graze Restaurant, Pizza Carano, Grand View Szechuan, Matchstick Coffee Roasters and the brand new Masayoshi Sushi Bar. If you want a table at French bistro Les Faux Bourgeois, then get ready to queue up. The same goes for breakfast at Jethro’s Fine Grub or for a scoop of the salted caramel at Earnest Ice Cream on a sunny afternoon.

For fine baked goods you can visit Sweet Salt, Merienda Bakery, European Breads or the elegant Bâtard Boulangerie.

Another popular gathering spot is Le Marche St. George, where the proprietor and an enterprising winemaker next door have

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planted wine grapes on the boulevards outside the shop.

The area’s retail evolution also includes many new health and wellness options, including East Side Fitness, Vancouver Mind-Body Centre, the Yoga Studio and Urban Healing massage therapy.

Every one of these small businesses, much to our delight, has hung their shingle since we arrived here in 2003, and more are sure to arrive over time.

I can even foresee a time when I can order a pint of craft beer or a glass of B.C.’s best wine just down the street. Hey, if they can put a man on the moon…

Vancouver is proudly a city of neighbourhoods.

Ours is immeasurably improved by the storefronts that are just steps away. @MikeKlassen

On Now at The Brick!

For more details go instore or online @thebrick.com.

Open House: Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Wednesday, September 23, 2015, 5 - 8 pm Norquay Elementary School, 4710 Slocan Street, Gymnasium The Norquay Village Neighbourhood Centre Plan was approved by City Council in 2010.

As a next step, a new zone (RM-9A) is being proposed for the Apartment Transition Area. This zone would allow four-storey apartments and stacked townhouses on specific streets behind Kingsway (see map).

City staff will be on hand to answer questions and collect your comments at the open house. We hope to see you there!

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Community CITY LIVING

Luxury and Supercar show reflects Vancouver’s fortunes Rebecca Blissett

rvblissett@gmail.com

Listing every type of car that gleamed on the greens of the VanDusen Botanical Garden as part of the Luxury and Supercar weekend would take up the allotted space for this article.

Most of the machines on display would be a natural part of any James Bond movie, including the world’s fastest snowmobile — appropriately called the SPECTRE. The supercars, usually flanked by local models who took four-hour shifts, included LaFerrari and Ferrari 488, a Lamborghini Huracán, the Canadian race car Magnum Mk5 and the Pagani Huayra, “Ella,” which looked like it had been paused as it folded between car and Transformer.

At the McLaren tent, famed auto designer Frank Stephenson, noted for bringing the Mini Cooper back to modern times, chatted to passersby while Vancouver sales executive for the British automotive company Michael Friskey answered questions about just how prevalent luxury cars are in this city.

“I believe Vancouver has the most super cars per capita in the world,” said Friskey.

“It’s not your imagination and it’s not the imagination of everybody I

1

2

3

4

1. David Ledlin, a Vancouver-based vintage automobile restorer, with the Berkeley B90 he recovered from scratch for a client. 2. John Picard was on hand to help his friends in the microcar section of Saturday’s car show. 3. This 1956 Ford Thunderbird, painted in “lilac lace” has many Best of Show titles to its name. 4. Ksenia Leontieva was one of the J. Li Models hired to show off some of the super cars.

See photo gallery at vancourier.com. PHOTOS REBECCA BLISSETT

talk to who says, ‘I turn this way, I turn that way and I see a Ferrari, I see a Lamborghini, I see a McLaren.’

I think it’s because of the growth in Vancouver. Real estate went up in price and people are getting a lot of equity out of their houses.”

The entry level McLaren is $219,500, a price tag for a car that, if you live in Vancouver, is less expensive and only slightly less roomy than most condos.

“I think that if you can

SOCIETY

afford to drive it, you should drive it,” Friskey added.

“Because you deserve the finer things in life.”

At the other side of the gardens, across from a glorious collection of pristine Ford Thunderbirds that ranged from the years 1955 to 2005, was a pod of vintage microcars. There was nary a model in site, but the history of the machines — both individually as well as the companies that made them — was enough to

draw in a crowd.

David Ledlin, a restorer of vintage cars and motorcycles, showed off his latest client project — a 1959 denim blue Berkeley B90 sports coup, one of 666 produced. It was discovered sitting in a field in Surrey, where it had been languishing for decades.

“Fortunately, the engine was out of it and in a little shed,” said Ledlin, who restored a 1932 Ford when he was just 13 years old. “There

was damage to the shell — everywhere from sitting out in the weather for 35 years.”

Next to the Berkeley was a cheery mint-green 1959 Messerschmitt that looked like it belonged on a sci-fi movie poster of the same era. Messerschmitt was a German aircraft manufacturing company that designed many fighter jets during the Second World War and, when the war ended and military demand had all but ceased, went

into car manufacturing.

“What is it like to drive?

I would say probably pretty frightening!” said John Picard, who didn’t have any of his own collection of European cars in the show but came along anyway to help out his friends who did.

Picard, who referred to the microcars as “devices,” admitted he was more interested in the older cars than the newer ones scattered about the gardens.

“After the 1991 models, I don’t think about cars much. It’s not so much about the style but, you’ll be hearing about OBD1 and OBD2 and those are the little computers that are in cars,” he said, referring to on-board diagnostics.

“In 1992, it starts with OBD2 and that’s theoretically when they can shut the car off by remote control and that’s when the car decides for itself what it wants to do. 1991 is the cut-off really for us dinosaurs.”

By that measure, Dave Walker is from the Carboniferous period.

Walker drove his beautiful right-hand drive 1929 Austin Seven over the Oak Street Bridge to the Luxury and Supercar Weekend after receiving an invitation from the show’s organizer.

“This is what I didn’t understand,” he said, laughing. “I didn’t fit into ‘Super’ or ‘Luxury.’” @rebeccablissett

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A15

Community PACIFIC SPIRIT

Soulful author explores existential angst

Pat Johnson

PacificSpiritPJ@gmail.com

Families who follow a faith tradition are likely to mark the passage into adulthood with some form of ritual — a confirmation ceremony or a bar mitzvah maybe. But often these are really just an excuse for a party or an extra deluxe birthday celebration. They do not incorporate anything beyond the most symbolic forms of initiation.

This, says psychotherapist Dave Waugh, is why we’re seeing an explosion of young adults experiencing a “quarter-life crisis.”

“The pain is quite grave when these existential questions come up — things like who am I really? What am I meant to be doing in life? What’s my purpose? Who’s going with me?” he says.

“I think religion helps to answer those big questions because… you could find your own crisis or life passages mirrored in some of the stories of the tradition.

But so many people are leaving [organized religion] now and are spiritual but not religious… and they say they have an innate spirituality, but often it comes up in crisis.”

I met Waugh earlier this summer, intending to speak with him about his new book Evolving Soulfully. But his family history instead made an irresistible story for Canada Day. I promised readers I would get to his book later in the summer.

Evolving Soulfully is not only about quarter-life crises. It is for anyone in a major life transition who feels stuck, says Waugh.

It could be a health issue, work or romance, but his

Psychotherapist Dave Waugh’s book, Evolving Soulfully, is for anyone in a major life transition who feels stuck, says the author.

PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

practice is especially centred on helping people transition through stages of life.

“The rite of passage between childhood and adolescence or adolescence and young adulthood or into midlife or into retirement — these are all profound transformational moments, but our culture tries to make it just a simple transition,” says Waugh. The failure to provide meaningful initiations, he says, can result in misguided actions with tragic consequences.

“We’ve all heard of, for instance, youth in Lynn Valley jumping off the cliffs there and into the river below,” he says. “That’s an ancient ritual that happens in some cultures, where the elders facilitate the jumping off of cliffs, and indeed some youths don’t make it, but it’s a meaningful rite of passage.”

Another, perhaps more frequent example in our culture, he says, is high speed car chases.

“If you see the car as horse-powered, these

youths are trying to power up and mythologically burst through into a bigger life, a meaningful life,” says Waugh. But with no elders supervising a structured initiation, the need for some proof of adulthood can emerge dysfunctionally.

In some First Nations cultures, boys or young men go on a “spirit quest” or “vision quest,” a practice Waugh has facilitated among some men locally, who go off alone with a restricted diet — maybe just water — for a

few days until they experience something meaningful.

“Traditionally, what would happen is the boy goes up the mountain and has a vision they don’t understand themselves,” Waugh explains. “Then they come back down to the village and… the boy sits with a circle of men and then he tells the story of what happened, maybe a serpent came or he dreamed of an acorn or some kind of symbol comes to him, like a mountain lion. The men in

the circle are listening very attentively and the men that resonate with the symbol that came to him, he goes into apprenticeship with and he gets like a new father who is a mentor to his soul.”

An example of a ritualized coming-of-age transition for young women Waugh has heard of is older women bringing a newly menstruating girl to a hollow tree that has a notch where her head pokes through.

“Then the women feed her as the moon is coming out, the sun is going down and she’s getting a resonance with the tree and nature saying that her body is going through great changes just like the changes of the season related to nature,” he says.

While some of these rituals may seem far out to contemporary urban dwellers, Waugh worries the absence of alternative means of initiation may be leading to physical side effects — “mysterious ailments that doctors seem to not be able to address, like chronic fatigue or adrenal fatigue or fibromyalgia.”

“There are so many of them that have a psychospiritual dimension to them,” he says. “There is such a thing as spiritual depression, when somebody doesn’t know why they’re here or what their gifts are.”

Ritually and intentionally asking and seeking answers to these existential questions is key to what Waugh’s work — and book — try to do, helping people cultivate a “soulful life of natural vitality, deep presence, intimacy, meaning and purpose.”

Evolving Soulfully will have its official launch at Banyen Books, Oct. 8, 6:30 p.m. @Pat604Johnson

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Feature

Left: The City of Vancouver estimates there are 100 illegal pot shops in the city. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET Tonia Winchester (above), who helped lead a campaign to legalize marijuana in Washington State, will speak about her experience at a Sept. 21 session at the Union of B.C. Municipalities’ conference in Vancouver. PHOTO COURTESY TONIA WINCHESTER

City politicians get pot talk on Washington State experience Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

Imagine the B.C. government going out on its own and creating a system within the province that taxes and regulates the use of recreational marijuana, without approval from the federal government.

That’s a thought that came up in conversation with Tonia Winchester of Seattle who helped lead the campaign in 2012 to have marijuana legalized in Washington State. As the outreach director for New Approach Washington, the former prosecutor was a member of a coalition of citizens that fought successfully to allow adults 21 and over to legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana for personal use.

That experience in promoting Initiative 502 is what Winchester will share when she speaks at a session Sept. 21 on the legalization of marijuana at the Union of B.C. Municipalities’ annual conference in Vancouver.

But does she really believe B.C. could go it alone?

“I understand that’s kind of a little more risqué or challenging but people said the same thing about Initiative 502 when it was on the ballot in 2012 — that we can’t go against this, it’s still federally illegal,” said Winchester by telephone from Seattle. “But we’ve seen the federal government take a stand back and say that as long as you’re operating within the structure of a legal system within the state, we’re going to stay out of this because we have larger fish to fry.”

Winchester acknowledged the difference between Canadian and U.S. government structures but is aware of Canada’s allowances for medical marijuana use.

In fact, Winchester spent six months in Nanaimo to oversee the development of the federal governmentapproved Tilray medicinal marijuana production facility. Privateer Holdings is Tilray’s parent company, and Winchester was the person responsible for submitting and obtaining the facility’s licence in

March 2014 from Health Canada.

Winchester’s visit to Vancouver comes as the City of Vancouver is processing 176 applications from people who want to obtain business licences to operate — or continue operating — illegal marijuana dispensaries. The city’s goal is to regulate dispensaries and set strict guidelines for operation but leave the regulation of marijuana to the federal government.

She called the city’s move “very bold” and said municipalities and provincial governments have to initiate change on the marijuana front in the absence of any progressive action from the federal government.

As a prosecutor in Seattle and Wenatchee, Winchester prosecuted people for marijuana possession.

But, she said, it didn’t take long for her to realize marijuana laws were too harsh and police resources could be better used to fight more serious crimes.

“I remember telling myself as I was signing complaints to be filed

that if I could change these laws, I would,” said Winchester, noting she left her job to work with New Approach Washington on the campaign to legalize marijuana. She is now selfemployed as a consultant.

In Washington State, the marijuana industry is overseen by a liquor and cannabis control board, which produces regular public statistics on businesses, including a list of stores and applications from potential operators. Statistics for July and August show sales of $100,892,091, which generated $24,582,848 in excise taxes.

When the new law came into effect, the board set a maximum of 334 licences for retail outlets in Washington State but set no limit on the number of producer and processor licences, although applicants were only given a 30-day window to apply.

Seattle has 19 stores allowed to sell marijuana for recreational use. And, so far, they aren’t generating the complaints of so-called medicinal marijuana shops

that opened in the wake of Initiative 502. Seattle grew from 45 of these shops to more than 100 in two years.

“With the licensed stores and the licensed growers, there’s been little to no concern about the way they’re running their businesses, or how they’re impacting communities,” said David Mendoza, a policy advisor to Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, who helped design and implement a package of marijuana-related bills to regulate marijuana. “But the grey [area] market has metastasized and that’s where we’re getting the complaints.”

The complaints include operators selling to minors, people smoking outside, the pungent smell of cannabis and increases in break-ins to vehicles in neighbourhoods with the shops. Seattle is working on bringing in more stringent rules that would see about 50 of these shops shut down. Others that opened prior to January 2013 received exemptions, pending they follow a set of new regulations.

“Next year, by July of 2016, the medical marijuana is supposed to be folded into the recreational and we’ve had legislation to ease that transition that passed earlier this summer,” said Mendoza, anticipating Seattle could eventually have about 60 fully regulated marijuana shops.

Now that Washington State has legalized marijuana and Alaska did the same earlier this year, the fact that B.C. is sandwiched between the two pot-friendly states is not lost on Winchester or her friends.

“I’ve heard more from my Canadian friends who are disappointed and say that Canada has always been known for being more progressive, and yet here we have Alaska and Washington beating B.C. in this movement,” she said. “I don’t know if any Americans are thinking it’s a bragging right but I definitely think it’s a question for B.C. to be thinking about because you guys have always been so far ahead of the curve.” @Howellings

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A17

Travel

Semiahmoo Resort a birdwatcher’s paradise Renovations include eco-friendly carpet made from discarded fishing nets

Sandra Thomas

sthomas@vancourier.com

Standing on the wooden boardwalk of Semiahmoo Resort Golf and Spa in Blaine, Wash., it was quickly apparent the damp, grey weather on this August day was no deterrent to the numerous red-throated loons, ducks, blue herons, grebe, gulls, double-crested cormorant, bald eagles and swallows dotting the surrounding land and ocean. Come winter, the resort is also known for the large flocks of all three species of scoters foraging for food. Meanwhile dozens of seals of various sizes had hauled themselves onto a wharf near the Semiahmoo Marina to escape the choppy waves of the ocean.

I was led on my birdwatching tour by the very knowledgeable and friendly Phil Calise, who also works as an engineer at the resort.

Ironically, the day of my

Semiahmoo Resort engineer Phil Calise is also an avid birder who helps visitors spot double-crested cormorant and red-throated loons.

PHOTO SANDRA THOMAS

birdwatching tour was the only rain the area had seen in months. Following the drought-like conditions

of the prior months, the rain was much-needed and welcome. Just the day before it was so hot we

enjoyed time at Semiahmoo’s pool swimming and sunbathing.

Besides swimming and

birdwatching, Semiahmoo Resort offers indoor and outdoor tennis courts, beach volleyball, a

squash/racquetball court, basketball hoops, fitness centre with an indoor track and two challenging public golf courses, including one designed

by Arnold Palmer. In the summer, backyard barbecues are held on Fridays and clambakes on Saturdays, providing guests an opportunity to mingle. The Semiahmoo Spit is made up of more than 300 acres of tidal land and about 1.5 miles of level pathways ideal for walking, biking, rollerblading, kayaking, clamming, sand sculpting, kite flying and picnicking. Our ground-floor room, which opened up to the lawn, beach and tidal pools, offered sweeping views of Drayton Harbour and its spectacular sunsets.

Inspiration for the recently completed renovations was taken from the surrounding landscape, including the deep blue carpets and warm sunsetyellow décor.

Continued on page 18

Seniors’ lifestyle talks + tables WED., OCT. 7, 2015 • 11AM-4PM VANDUSEN BOTANICAL GARDEN VISITOR CENTRE Lifetime is a free event that celebrates and educates the 55+ market. Join us for an amazing speaker line up moderated by Dr. Art Hister, and tables hosted by local businesses.

12PM Food – What’s New and Best for You,

by Liz da Silva 1:30PM Building Strength to Prevent Falls, by Yee Tse 3PM Aging 2.0 – Linking to Reputable Brain Info, by Dr. Julie Robillard Lifetime is a first come first served event, with limited seating. We ask that you please arrange your day around one speaker to allow room for others. Attendee registration not required.

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Travel

Architectural and artwork pay homage to area’s history

An abandoned boat pays homage to the famous fish cannery that once stood on the grounds of the Semiahmoo Resort.

PHOTO SANDRA THOMAS

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Continued from page 17 The lobby and common areas feature Net Effect, an eco-friendly carpet that supports small fishing villages in the Philippines by repurposing discarded fishing nets, collected by locals along the double barrier reef, into carpet tiles.

For those arriving in electric cars, the resort has installed Tesla and Sun Country Highway charging stations.

I was provided a tour of the resort to check out some of its new features and improvements and enjoyed my

sneak peak of a new private dining space with a wine tasting room and a theatre with plush seating ideal for a family movie night or corporate function. The theatre is open for reservations, as well as complementary movie screenings upon request, on Friday and Saturday nights.

Semiahmoo is built on the former site of the first salmon cannery in Whatcom County, constructed in 1881.

The resort’s many architectural details and artwork pay homage to that rich history

— the cannery was sold in 1982. So it’s no surprise the resort specializes in fresh seafood, including fish and oysters. We ate at Pierside Kitchen, which has an emphasis on fresh, seasonallyinspired cuisine showcasing the local bounty available in abundance due to its seaside location and proximity to nearby farms and ranches.

For a more casual evening, Packers Oyster Bar features up-scale pub food in a “coastal cottage” environment with walnut floors, a sprawling distressed wood

bar, leather arm chairs and artisan-inspired bar stools.

We were also invited to try a couple’s massage in the resort’s spa where our seaweed-inspired treatments provided a real Pacific Northwest experience and an opportunity to relax in the midst of an exceedingly busy summer.

Semiahmoo Resort is located about 45 minutes south of Vancouver at 9565 Semiahmoo Parkway. For more information, visit semiahmoo.com. @sthomas10

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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News

Other parties welcome says city Continued from page 9 Ballem echoed what Robertson said about allowing all parties to use city property. She said the Liberals were not charged for use of what is called the Crossroads building, which is located on the northwest corner of Cambie and Broadway. One of the candidates who joined Trudeau was Jessie Adcock, the city’s digital officer who took a leave to run in the riding of Port Moody-Coquitlam.

“I don’t think we’re taking a position,” she said.

“If the Prime Minister or the Leader of the Opposition wants to come and make an announcement that involves municipal issues — particularly municipal infrastructure which is a major serious public policy issue — we would absolutely make a location for them available.”

Added Ballem: “If we think it’s an appropriate setting and it’s not going to disrupt the public, we’re absolutely open to that.”

Ballem called Trudeau’s promise to invest in transit “unbelievably good news,”

Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was in Vancouver last Thursday to promise extending rapid transit along Broadway. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

saying that transit drives the economy and the city has “the best business case in North America” for a subway along Broadway.

“If every other party wants to come and stand on our deck and make the same announcement — great,” she said.

Asked about the choice of location for his news conference, Trudeau said it was important to have a prime minister and federal leaders work with municipalities on local issues such as a transit “and from time to time, apparently, that involves

borrowing their spectacular views of the city.” @Howellings

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

YVR

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A MONTHLY LOOK AT WHAT’S NEW AND NEWSWORTHY AT YVR.

ISSUE # 35 SEPT 2015

RIVERFEST: INSPIRED BY THE FRASER YVR will be celebrating BC and World Rivers Day at one of Metro Vancouver’s biggest celebration of the Fraser River – RiverFest. Inspired by the Fraser, RiverFest is a free family-friendly festival that consists of art, historical, environmental and conservation exhibits, entertaining interactive activities, tours of the Fraser River, delicious salmon samplers, the famous Lucille Johnstone Work Boat Parade and live music from the YVR Riverside stage.

Join the Fraser River Discovery Centre on the boardwalk overlooking the beautiful Fraser River in New Westminster on Thursday, September 24 to Saturday, September 26.

YVR IS PROUD TO SPONSOR the 13th annual RiverFest, a free family-friendly festival at the Westminster Quay Boardwalk.

LAST CHANCE TO JOIN THE SHORELINE CLEANUP YVR is hosting the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup at Iona Beach and we want you to join Team YVR and its efforts to protect and clean up the waterways that surround Sea Island. Free lunch will

For more information visit www.fraserriverdiscovery.org

Date: Saturday, September 19, 2015 Time: 10:00 a.m. Place: Iona Beach

YVR 2057: WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU! YVR 2057 is a multi-year planning and consultation process that is an integral part of creating Vancouver International Airport’s new Master Plan, a roadmap that helps guide us to our future destination. YVR is committed to involving stakeholders and the public in our future planning. Be a part of the discussion and take the YVR 2057 survey at yvr2057.ca. Phase 1 is open until September 30, 2015.

be provided to the volunteers.

Register by emailing community_relations@yvr.ca.

QUESTIONS? COMMENTS? Email us at insider@yvr.ca or find us on Twitter

@yvrairport

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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Community

Instrument maker goes for baroque

Christine Lyon

clyon@nsnews.com

Craig Tomlinson got into harpsichord making while the getting was good.

It was the 1970s. Baroque music was enjoying a revival and period instruments from the 17th and 18th centuries were in high demand.

“That’s when harpsichords worldwide were just selling like hotcakes, and luckily I got into harpsichord making right around then and kind of rode that wave,” he says.

By that point, Tomlinson had already been making musical instruments for a number of years. In the 1960s, he was into folk music, as many were at the time. He wanted to enhance his instrument collection, but the additions he had in mind weren’t readily available in stores — so he decided to make them himself. At age 16, he built his first instrument, an Appalachian dulcimer. As it turned out, he was quite skilled at crafting the fretted, stringed instruments.

“I became so efficient at building dulcimers that it

was taking basically less than a week to build each one. I wanted something with a bit more meat on it that I could make into a longer project.”

That’s when he made the jump from dulcimers, with four strings, to harpsichords, with upwards of 200 strings. He started with factory-produced kits, and after a few years graduated to making his own instruments from scratch.

Today, Tomlinson is a master craftsman of early keyboard instruments that predate the piano, including harpsichords, fortepianos, clavichords and virginals, all of which he makes in his West Vancouver studio.

His instruments are used in concert halls around the world by some of the bestknown players, ensembles and orchestras and two of his creations were used in Early Music Vancouver’s first ever presentation of Henry Purcell’s baroque masterpiece Dido and Aeneas at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in July.

One of them features a lid painting by Colombian artist Marco Tulio that fittingly

Craig Tomlinson estimates a fully decorated harpsichord, minus the lid painting, would take about 1,200 hours to complete.

PHOTO MIKE WAKEFIELD

depicts the final scene from Purcell’s iconic opera.

Worldwide harpsichord sales have tapered off since the 1970s spike, but Tomlinson says demand is still there.

“I think we’re still selling a lot of early keyboard instruments, but they’re just a lot more diverse, they’re not just harpsichords, they’re clavichords, virginals and things like that,” he says. His buyers include orchestras,

individual musicians and private collectors. Some of his creations have also been rented out for use in recording studios and on film sets.

All his instrument designs, materials and structure are based on surviving 17th and 18th century harpsichords from the French, Flemish, Italian and German schools of building. When starting a new project, his first step is to find a template. Both instru-

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ments featured at next week’s Dido and Aeneas concert, for example, are modelled after a two-manual French harpsichord built in Paris in 1769. Tomlinson visited the original, housed in a collection in Edinburgh, Scotland, and studied it in detail.

“I spent two weeks with the instrument, disassembled it and even took photographs of the inside, and virtually every little measurement was taken that I would need later on in my workshop,” he says. “Then I swung down to southern Bavaria where I buy wood and picked up my logs of spruce for the soundboards.”

“I basically use all European wood, so the same wood that was used on the originals I’ll use those on the copies,” he adds. That may be German spruce, yellow poplar, Swiss pear, Italian cypress or European beech, depending on the instrument. That said, some of the “little tiny action parts” involved in plucking the strings are made of local holly.

“A holly bush in Paris is almost the same as one in West Vancouver, thank goodness.”

Harpsichords are often adorned with elaborate decorations and Tomlinson takes care of all the finishing and gilding. His mother Olga, an accomplished artist who studied with members of the Group of Seven at the Ontario College of Art, paints flowers, birds and other traditional motifs on his soundboards.

The amount of time put into each instrument varies wildly, but Tomlinson estimates a fully decorated harpsichord, minus the lid painting, would take about 1,200 hours to complete. And since he usually has three or four pieces on the go at any given time, those hours may get spread out over the course of a year. Meanwhile, the price of each instrument reflects its size, materials, complexity and esthetic embellishments.

A single manual Italian harpsichord starts at $27,000, while a French double-manual with a lid painting could run close to $90,000.

“Think of cars,” Tomlinson compares. “It’s kind of like buying either a compact car or a Mercedes.”

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Opinion

NDP has history of helping Tories stifle Greens Geoff Olson geoffolson.com

In the 1979 film The Life of Brian, the eponymous hero played by Graham Chapman approaches a group of cloaked figures.

“Are you the Judean People’s Front?” Brian meekly asks them.

“F*** off, ‘Judean People’s Front’! We’re the

People’s Front of Judea!” spits the leader Reg, played by John Cleese.

“The thing we’ve all observed about the behaviour of revolutionary groups is that if they’re on the left, they tend to hate each other more than they hate the people originally intended to be the enemy,” Cleese commented in an interview on the Tunisian film set of

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The Life of Brian. “I’ve got a wonderful tract, a Stalinist tract attacking the Trotskyites, which is absolutely wonderful. The virulence!

They couldn’t have topped it if they were going after the National Front.”

Cleese’s remarks came to mind as I pondered our sorry political landscape in Canada. Harper’s reactionary regime is opposed by

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halting talks on the growing privatization of public health care. Within three weeks the NDP joined the Conservatives and the Bloc in a non-confidence vote, defeating Paul Martin’s minority Liberal government and triggering the next election.

In a 2006 article in The Walrus, “Fake Left, Go Right,” York Univer-

sity professor James Laxer insists the NDP acted as enablers to the Conservative party by limiting the subsequent election campaign to attacks on the scandal-plagued Liberals.

About the most Layton would say against Harper and his party is that they were “wrong in the issues,” commented Laxer.

Continued on page 23

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It’s time to tackle that renovation project that you’ve been avoiding all summer. Don’t worry, the GVHBA’s free Home Reno Show can help you out The kids are back at school and you’re finally ready to tackle that big renovation project you’ve been putting off — or maybe you just want to refresh that tired kitchen.

Whatever the case, the Greater Vancouver Home Builder’s Association Fall Home Reno Show Sept. 19 is the place to find great free advice, ideas and inspiration to help you get started.

“Our fall home renovation show is exclusively about

renovations and design,” says Bob de Wit, the association’s chief operation officer, adding last year’s fall renovation show saw more than 600 attendees. “We have education seminars all day long, including talks about money and legal issues, permits and how to select the best renovator for you.

We also have our Ask-a-Pro Expo, which are free oneon-one sessions people can book to get tips and advice

from renovators and interior designers.”

The expo offers a wide variety of products and services as well as manufacturers, suppliers and contractors available to answer questions.

Those who’ve already started planning a renovation are encouraged to bring along their plans for expert analysis.

You’ll also be able to see the latest trends in interior design renovation ideas from industry experts.

For more information or to preregister, visit gvhba.org. For the complete version of this story and home renovation tips, visit REW.ca/news.

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

FIRST IMPRESSIONS WORDS BY NIKI HOPE WESTENDER.COM

First look at Nordstrom Vancouver Pacific Centre opening Sept. 18 The new Pacific Centre Nordstrom opened its doors to media last Thursday revealing what will likely be a game changer in the downtown retail scene.

PHOTOS: DAN TOULGOET

The new 230,000-squarefoot, three-level store carries a number of exclusive-toCanada brands, but at the same time also offers many of the same designers currently available at other retailers.

What will likely distinguish Nordstrom could hinge on one word: service.

“We will open with a full-service concierge department,” said Nordstrom spokesperson John Bailey.

The store will also offer 24-hour fashion emergency service — meaning if you

have a middle of the night fashion fiasco, Nordstrom’s got you covered, literally.

You can dial up downtown Nordstrom for a fashion helpline that will deliver (for free, except of course the cost of the apparel) a new set of threads to get you through.

“It’s great for people who might lose their luggage on a trip to Vancouver and might need a great suit for the next morning, for that meeting that is really important, and so you can call that phone number and someone will be there to assist,” Bailey explained.

The store will also offer free delivery to downtown Vancouver, language assistants to help shoppers, and a VIP shopping room.

The space itself is a welcome departure from the claustrophobic, dark, box-like experience of the old Eaton’s/Sears building on the corner of Howe and Robson streets, replaced with windows that show off the city rather than trap shoppers in. The main floor features shoes, handbags, jewelry, beauty, and a coffee shop, and is peppered with art installations, including several by Canadian artists.

The second floor houses womenswear, including luxury designers and midrange lines, while the top floor has menswear and childrenswear, along with a full-service restaurant.

The childrenswear department includes a playhouse with a flatscreen TV. Meanwhile, men can get their shoes shined for a mere $2.50, or grab a booze-filled beverage

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Visit the contest link at vancourier.com. at Habitant, a cocktail lounge plopped right in the middle of the second floor.

“That’s very important to us, that we can satisfy the needs of the entire family here,” Chris Wanlass, a 23-year company veteran, who is running the new store, said during the Thursday morning tour. The Vancouver store opens Sept. 18.

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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Opinion

Greens could hold balance of power Continued from page 22 The NDP was understandably concerned that some of their traditional supporters might vote Liberal to deny the Conservatives seats in the House.

But Layton’s focused attacks on Stéphane Dion’s Liberal party resulted in a Pyrrhic victory. The NDP went from 19 to 29 seats in 2006, yet they no longer had the balance of power in a parliament presided over by a Conservative minority and Liberal opposition.

Laxer argued the NDP brass preferred a Tory win over a Liberal win, knowing a minority government of their own was a statistical outlier. This way they would no longer have to worry about drifting into the centrist space

already occupied by the Liberals. The next election might present a more binary proposition for the voters, at least in theory.

And it happened.

Thanks in part to Judean People’s Front/People’s Front of Judea-style sniping and Canada’s bottomlessly stupid firstpast-post voting system, a Harper majority resulted in both 2008 and 2011, with the NDP official opposition after the latter election.

In between elections, the Layton-Harper games of footsie continued.

“What the hell is wrong with Jack Layton that he can’t answer a phone call? He talks to Stephen Harper all the time,” Green Party leader Eliza-

beth May said in an April 2007 interview on CTV’s Question Period.

In May’s telling, only after giving up on the NDP leader did she agree with Liberal leader Dion to not run candidates in each other’s riding in the 2008 campaign. Layton predictably echoed Harper in condemning the deal.

Already, there are troubling signs that NDP leader Thomas Mulcair is taking a page out of the late Layton’s book of realpolitik. By deciding to skip any debates that don’t include Harper, he is helping the Tories sideline May. “This stinks to high heaven,” the Green leader told the Globe and Mail

in July. “Tom Mulcair has just killed the best opportunity that Canadian voters had to get accountability from a sitting prime minister from opposition party leaders in the forum that reaches the most Canadians.”

A cross-partisan campaign to stifle May signals why her voice is critically important in this election.

If enough Green candidates are elected, it’s conceivable May could hold the balance of power in a hung parliament. In which case, she would have a good chance of keeping the gravitas-free Trudeau from inflating into Harper Lite, or holding the NDP true to its long-negotiable principles. @geoffolson

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Community

Fame, celebrity all part of Instagram contest

Sandra Thomas

sthomas@vancourier.com

While the Vancouver Courier’s Instagram contest held in March was initially organized simply to allow owners an opportunity to show off their adorable pets, for one ruggedly handsome British bulldog, it was life changing.

Since placing first in the #vancourierpets contest, Rick James, also known as “Wiggle Bum,” has become something of a celebrity in this city and, fittingly, now has his own Instagram account @rickthebulldog.

Owner Amy Watkins says just like his namesake, Rick’s life has been a non-stop party of excess and fame since winning the contest. She notes Rick’s fanbase is growing and the 68-pound bulldog is regularly stopped on the seawall to pose for photos.

“This is no problem for Rick as he likes to sit and wait for his fans to come and adore him,” says Watkins.

Watkins adds Rick is long-

As the result of winning a previous Courier contest, British bulldog Rick James now has his own Instagram account and is involved in a love triangle.

ing for true love, and since winning the contest his new found fame has made him a popular match on “Tindog,” which is not without its own drama — the celebrity dog is at the centre of a messy love triangle with Hope and Camilla, two neighbourhood female bulldogs that love his confident swagger. Fame comes with a price though,

and these days Rick finds it hard to leave the house without bumping into his fans.

So let this be a warning to anyone considering entering the Vancouver Courier’s latest pet contest. On that note, are you proud of your dog, cat, parakeet, goldfish or ferret? The Courier’s new contest features a great prize pack from Pet Food ‘N More. As well, one pet will be chosen at random each week to be featured in print.

The winner of the Pet Food ‘N More prize pack will be announced Nov. 5. @sthomas10

Entering the Courier’s newest Instagram contest is easy: Follow the Vancouver Courier on Instagram @ VanCourierNews.

Post a picture of your pet to Instagram using the hashtag #vancourierpets.

The grand prize must be picked up at the Courier’s office, 303 West Fifth Ave.,

by Nov. 13.

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PACIFIC CENTRE

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

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How your brain adapts and evolves over a lifetime, depends on how you use it because the brain is capable of creating new synapses (connections between neurons) at any age.

The power to change your brain

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Instead of buying a new computer or smart phone when your old one can’t keep up with your needs, wouldn’t it be great if it had the limitless ability to

MISSING A TOOTH? Dr. Marianna Klimek

MK Pontic The ‘MK Pontic’ is a unique treatment option used to replace a single missing tooth that does not require reduction of the adjacent teeth. While not available for all individuals it can offer tooth replacement that is both cost effective and minimally invasive. It lasts for years at a cost of only

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The Cantilever Bridge with composite splint was conservative and successful restoration.

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We offer family and cosmetic dentistry, braces, dentures, implants and wisdom teeth extractions.

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upgrade its own hardware and software to meet the demands of the moment?

Your own brain already has this ability.

At birth, we are born with approximately 86 billion neurons and as they die, one by one, they are not replaced.

This has lead to the common assumption that our brains and therefore our capacity for thinking and remembering decline throughout adulthood.

Associated with this assumption is the belief that we are less capable of change as we age. That’s the way the majority of adults think and behave.

With time, we get stuck in habits of behaviour and thought; it gets harder to change our routine and how we see ourselves.

Although the actual of number of neurons (nerve cells) does not increase with age, up to adulthood, the human brain can increase to five times its size at birth.

The increase in volume is due to myelination (the outer insulation of nerve fibres) and the growth of connections (or synapses) between neurons.

The principle of “use it or lose it” applies to your brain as well as your body.

We know muscles that aren’t challenged will atrophy and become weaker.

If we don’t move through a full range of motion, we become stiff, and if we limit our activity, we lose our agility and balance.

How your brain adapts and evolves over a lifetime, depends on how you use it because the brain is capable of creating new synapses (connections be-

tween neurons) at any age.

Frequently used connections are reinforced and become stronger and more efficient. Seldom used connections are lost.

This creates habits of thought, which beget habits of behaviour and habits of feeling.

If we reinforce habits of drinking, smoking or using drugs when we are stressed or in response to particular situations, those habits become more entrenched over time as we strengthen the corresponding synaptic connections.

But if we stop the cycle, try out a new and healthier pattern of behaviour, and repeat that pattern repeatedly over time, we can reinforce an alternate neural pathway. The more we travel along this new connection of neurons, the more we strengthen the synapses until we have adopted the new and healthier habit.

The same principle applies to how we think about our selves, others and our world. It’s simpler and more efficient to hold onto assumptions and beliefs about others and our world, but too often it doesn’t keep up with the reality of change.

If we think of ourselves as being stuck in our ways, addicted to our attachments or incapable of positive change, we will live this self-fulfilling prophecy. Too often we limit our capacity for growth and happiness by our prejudices and unexamined assumptions; we see only evidence to reinforce our beliefs and are blind to evidence that

show them to be false.

Certain patterns of thought reinforce particular emotional states, and once in these states, those patterns are reinforced. Thoughts focussed on negativity, judgment, blame and hopelessness reinforce feelings of anger and sadness. Thoughts of appreciation, personal empowerment and a positive purpose beget happiness.

With a healthy brain that can literally change itself, each of us is capable of positive change. Which free upgrades will you choose?

At 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, I’ll be speaking on Emotional Wellness at the Bob Prittie Metrotown Library in Burnaby. I’ll talk about the key emotional health skills we all need to cope with life’s ups and downs; managing stress, difficult thoughts and feelings; recognizing the symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, mood and other psychological conditions — and where to find help.

This free presentation is provided by the Burnaby Public Library in collaboration with the Burnaby Division of Family Practice as part of our Empowering Patients public health education series. As space is limited, please register by calling 604-436-5400 or online bpl.bc.ca/events.

Dr. Davidicus Wong is a family physician. His Healthwise column appears regularly in this paper. You can read more about achieving your positive potential in health at davidicuswong. wordpress.com.

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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Community

Kitsilano summers inspire New Jersey musician Daniel J. Meyer grew up in Kitsilano during the ’70s and ’80s, which inspired his new album, Summer in Canada.

Emily Blake

emily_blake@live.com

Kitsilano has seen its fair share of change over the years, but New Jerseybased musician Daniel J. Meyer remembers what it was like growing up there in the ’70s and ’80s.

He captures this nostalgia on his new album Summer in Canada.

Meyer says some of his oldest memories include busking in front of Zellers at the age of five, trying to sneak into the Folk Festival and constantly riding buses.

He describes Kitsilano at the time as being like Greenwich Village on the beach.

“We grew up in a very bohemian world in this beautiful beach area with all these countercultural types and artists and working class people and were on the West Coast where everything could happen,” he says. “It wasn’t perfect but it had so much to it that was so awesome for kids growing up and had so much dimensionality.”

In “Kitsilano,” the first song he recorded on the album, he sings, “I grew up in a ramshackle house on West Third Avenue and in the backyard was a cherry tree whose roots could strangle you.”

The title track, “Summer in Canada,” captures what it was like growing up poor and being surrounded by tourists.

“We weren’t peasant poor but we didn’t have a lot of money and most people we knew didn’t have a lot of money,” he says. “There were so many tourists and they were just loving the city and thinking how awesome it was and we were just poor.”

Other songs on the album include “Jericho,” “Tomorrow” and “I’ll Still Kiss You.” Meyer and his brother lived in Vancouver until they moved to L.A. when he was 15 to live with his father. He describes himself and his brother at the time as “Leave it to Beaver delinquents” and says the move was to prevent them from getting into further trouble.

“All the things we were doing was to buy chilidogs at 7/Eleven,” he explains.

When he was in L.A., he played in a few bands that failed to make it big so he put down the guitar and moved to New York.

“It was probably the worst thing that could happen to me musically at the time because it made me want to walk away from the whole thing,” he says.

Now he lives in New Jersey with his wife and kids. After not picking up a guitar for almost 20 years he began recording

Summer in Canada, which he released in July.

“I didn’t play for years and years and years and I thought I was never going to play again,” he says.

“To my surprise all this music sort of just started pouring out.”

He says one benefit from his long break from

music is that technology has advanced so he can record everything himself.

“Basically everything that might have been in my head in the years that I wasn’t playing I wouldn’t have been able to accomplish without going to a super expensive studio,” he says.

He hopes people will relate to the time and place he sings about in his music.

“People are pining for the old days and a lot of people will tell you those old days weren’t that great, but there was something about them,” he says. “It’s about this

idyllic place that had a lot of stark elements to it and hoping that I can sort of convey through this story that the way you think about a place now isn’t the way it always was.”

You can listen to the album at danieljmeyermusic.com. @BlakeEmily

It’s time to show you care

$25 rebate available

Give your natural gas appliances the love they need this fall, and they’ll help keep your family safe and warm all winter long.

Our Trade Ally Network directory makes it easy to find a licensed gas contractor to inspect and maintain your appliances. And if your natural gas furnace, boiler or fireplace is serviced by September 30, you can get a $25 rebate.

Discover how to help your natural gas appliances run at their best at fortisbc.com/appliancecare.

FortisBC uses the FortisBC name and logo under license from Fortis Inc. (15-015.42 09/2015)

A28

THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

HAVE SOME FUN. LAUGH A TON. (our underwear makes bladder leaks feel like no big deal)

Absorbs faster than Depend* to help you feel comfortably dry.

Get laugh-all-you-want protection, with Always Discreet for sensitive bladders.

Because hey, pee happens. For coupons and your free sample,† go to alwaysdiscreet.com.

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

Arts & Entertainment

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GOT ARTS? 604.738.1411 or events@vancourier.com

1

Sept. 17 to 23, 2015 1. The Vancouver Fringe Festival continues until Sept. 20 with a barrage of do-ityourself theatre, including the sketch comedy stylings of Hip.Bang! Presents White Pants. Details at vancouverfringe.com.

2

3

2. Touchstone Theatre and Patrick Street Productions present the world premiere of The Best Laid Plans: a Musical, Sept.

19 to Oct. 3 at the York Theatre. Based on Terry Fallis’s political satire, Best Laid Plans follows a Liberal party speech writer tasked with finding a sacrificial lamb to run in a long-standing Conservative riding.

Things do not go according to plan. Tickets and details at thecultch.com.

3. As part of its Music Mondays series, Vancity Theatre screens James D. Cooper’s documentary The Who: Lambert & Stamp, which tells the story of the British rock group through the eyes of the men who discovered, mentored and managed them: Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp. It all goes down Sept. 21, 8:40 p.m. Details at viff.org.

3. Arcade Fire violinist Sarah Neufeld and saxophonist Colin Stetson teamed up for the instrumental album Never Were the Way She Was. Catch them at the Biltmore, along with Ryan “LoneWolf” Sawyer, Sept.

23. Tickets at Red Cat, Zulu and Highlife.

4. Tireless impresario Sara Bynoe is back at it with another edition of Teen Angst Night, the comedic reading series where everyday folk read from embarrassing old journals, poems, songs, essays, or homemade tattoos from their youth. The cringe-worthy event takes place Sept. 24, 8 p.m. at Cottage Bistro. Details at sarabynoe.com.

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5

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

E L A S T Vancouver Fringe O L G N I K R A P

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The Vancouver Fringe Festival runs until Sept. 20.

Spookeasy

At Waterfront Theatre Sept. 19, 20 Clay Mazing and Jasper Patterson don’t spook easily: half their props didn’t make it across the U.S. border (though a bunch of fake pistols and a pair of bullwhips did). Their tech guy was new to the show so the lighting cues were often random. But Mazing and Patterson more than rose to the opening night challenge and it’s possible the show was even funnier than it might have been. Funniest line? “What’s a guy without a gun?” “A Canadian?”

Some a-Mazing bullwhip work, damned fine singing

by Patterson and fascinating Japanese puppetry.

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At Carousel Theatre Sept. 18, 19, 20 Improv: why do they do

it? Adrenaline junkies, I guess. Every night will be different but every night will be on-the-edge-of-disaster craziness. Their first show opened with one of the best audience engagements ever.

I won’t spoil the fun on the chance it happens every night; it’s super-funny.

Chris Ross and Travis Bernhardt are quick, lively and very fast on the draw. Never an “uh” moment.

Shake the Sheets

At Carousel Theatre Until Sept. 19 Written by Mack Gordon and featuring Gordon and real-life partner Kaitlin Williams, Shake the Sheets came as a big surprise.

With that cast and that title, wouldn’t you expect a romantic little comedy?

Not so. Those sheets are on a bed in nightmare land in which the wife suffers night terrors. What does it all mean? Well, I don’t know. Between constantly C S shifting levels of reality, I was just as lost as the wife.

But very enthusiastic per- T formances by this young, A S engaging couple. e b i v a T b Z S T m i D y

1550 Marine Drive, North Vancouver 604-984-7191 • 604-984-4394 www.thedestination.ca

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

Arts & Entertainment

Fest exhilarating, unpredictable as ever

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Clockwise from left: Nashville Hurricane, Shake the Sheets and Spookeasy are at this year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival, which runs until Sept. 20.

The Exclusion Zone

At Waterfront Theatre Sept. 17, 19 and 20 Brooklyn’s Martin Dockery is back with his frenetic body language, gesticulating spidery fingers and the voice that peels wallpaper: a storytellers’ storyteller.

This time he’s inspired

by Geoff Dyer’s book Zona that in turn is about Stalker, a Russian film.

The book, apparently, is so much about nothing that it becomes “something.”

Somehow, Zona enticed Dockery to go to Chernobyl last October and into the 1,000 square mile Exclusion Zone where nothing ever happens anymore.

It’s always an exhausting but exhilarating ride with Dockery; he’s a one-man nuclear meltdown.

Fire in the Meth Lab

At Waterfront Theatre Until Sept. 19 “Meth can save your life.” Australian writer/ perform Jon Bennett will have you agreeing in this fast, furious and very funny show about addiction. It’s all about his older, bullying brother Tim and the various addictions that kept him in and out of prison.

You’ll laugh out loud, but Bennett ends up making an inspiring, generous-spirited message: Tim’s last addiction — I won’t ruin the surprise — keeps him calm, happy and safe and that’s all Jon wants for the brother whom he, surprisingly, deeply loves. Terrific show. See it.

Faroe Islands + Ostrich Arts Umbrella Sept. 17 and 19 With all of us sweating in the tiny, hotter-thanhell Arts Umbrella venue, it’s hard to assess Faroe Islands, the third in the Nicolas Billon trilogy, which also includes Iceland and Greenland. I learned nothing new: an idealistic activist’s hopes are dashed when her friend betrays the cause (“They’re only whales”). Yeah, that’s how it goes. Ostrich, the second piece, was written especially for this production and Billon shows us the ugly, dark side of the equation. Yeah, we know.

We drive cars and feel guilty at the gas pump.

The Birdmann in Momentous Timing

Performance Works Sept. 17 and 19 See it. Don’t miss it.

Australia’s Trent Baumann creates a unique, quirky world in which Birdmann looks for love but accepts that, maybe, we don’t need love, “We just need stuff.” It’s 21st century vaudeville with a Post Modern twist. A huge reveal at the end will fill you with joy and laughter. Baumann is one of a kind and the show is what every Fringe performer in this particular genre aspires to. I’d see it twice but would feel greedy depriving someone else of the great pleasure.

Oh, what the heck, I’m going to see it again.

Hip! Bang! Presents WHITE PANTS

Improv Centre Until Sept. 20 Hard on the heels of The Birdmann, WHITE PANTS disappoints.

Tom Hill and Devin Mackenzie are a couple of young guys with some funny sketch comedy material — the least of which is an extended riff on butt holes. Who cares?

Hill and Mackenzie are bold, they’re brave and if you’re college-age and have a drink in front of you, Hip! Bang! is probably really funny.

Nashville Hurricane

At the Revue Stage Sept. 18 and 19 Chase Padgett (6 Guitars) marries guitar virtuosity and storytelling in this not-to-be-missed show. Spontaneous and 100 per cent standing “O” the night I attended.

How this young-ish white guy can look like a gingerhaired genius somewhere on the autism spectrum, a self-serving manager, a tattoo-artist mother and an old black blues guitarist is amazing. The guitar picking alone is a storm of hurricane proportions. The story is funny and sad and ultimately uplifting: we are all miracles of chance and the possibility of it all coming together is infinitesimally small. Don’t waste it.

ishinaabe community and it’s up to her brother Shane (Andrew Martin) to take care of their family. Shane was supposed to move to the city for university in the fall and was desperately trying to convince his secret boyfriend (Harley Legarde-Beacham) to come with him. When forced to choose between devotion to his family or his desire to dictate his own future, what will he do?

No more shows.

Written by Will Eno, this is a biting, witty script that puts the characters — played by Maryanne Renzetti and Brad Duffy — in tight situations, including a coach explaining away huge season’s losses to the media (“I could not coach a gallon of water out of a paper bag”), and a couple of lonely souls being videoed for a dating service. Lots of room for versatility in performance and both performers really deliver the goods.

It’s episodic but all five scenarios hold together thematically.

For more reviews, go to joledingham.ca.

For more details, go to vancouverfringe.com.

two choirs ONE PURPOSE A BENEFIT CONCERT FOR FIRST UNITED CHURCH’S MISSION TO THE HOMELESS

Vancouver Va Welsh Men’s Choir

Friday, October 2nd, 7:30pm at ST. ANDREW’S-WESLEY UNITED CHURCH Burrard & Nelson, Vancouver, BC

TICKETS $25, $10 students, online from www.vwmc.ca (no fees) or call 604-878-1190 or from most United Church offices

Oh the Humanity, and Other Good Intentions Firehall Arts Centre

Canada’s Largest Male Voice Choir

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Arts & Entertainment

GET A SEASON SUBSCRIPTION

for ticket discounts!

KUDOS & KVETCHES

Downtown deerly departed

presents

BACH AND THE

BOYS A MO D ER N TAK E O N O KTOB E R FE ST Join us for a preconcert talk and stay for a community social after the show.

Beer, wine and treats will be served!

F R I DAY

OCTOBER 2 7:30 PM ST . JAMES COMMUNITY HALL

Featuring works by four generations of the Bach family culminating with JSB’s famous motet Singet dem Herrn!

3214 West 10th Ave. Vancouver TICKETS

$25 adult / $12 student musicaintima.org or 604.731.6618

Who among us didn’t spend at least five to seven seconds this summer — between Tinder swipes and stalking older but still sexy high school French teachers online — marvelling at the gift nature bestowed upon us, a.k.a. the “Downtown Deer,” when shaky iPhone videos captured it wandering the streets of Vancouver like, well, a lost deer? Who among us didn’t comment on said shaky videos on Facebook with what, at the time, were probably thought to be clever bon mots such as “Oh deer” or “Deer me”? And who among didn’t briefly let a little light into their bitter hearts and permit themselves to think for a second that everything was good and right in this cruel, cruel world?

Well, that flickering light was snuffed out for us this week upon learning that Downtown Deer, who we took to nicknaming Deerdra, had been hit by a car on the Stanley Park Causeway and died.

Could anything be more heartbreaking, notwithstanding photos of drowned

Downtown Deer and K&K’s sense of hope were both snuffed out this week.

refugee children and about a thousand other daily tragedies that don’t capture our short attention spans as we surf the Internet for any reason to express indignation, approval or emotionally manipulated positivity?

We think not. Which is why we’re going to take this moment to reflect upon Downtown Deer and what it meant to us.

Downtown Deer was just a deer. Not a great deer, not a wicked deer. It did not end homelessness or alleviate the burden of Vancouver’s soaring real estate prices. It did not help the Canucks win a Stanley Cup and it most definitely did not convince Canadian boy band B4-4 to

reunite, despite our tireless letter-writing campaign over the past five years.

But Downtown Deer did provide us with a distraction, however briefly, from the daily drudgery of life. It gave us something to talk about with our co-workers besides “Hey, let me tell you about my Crossfit workout” or “Does this look contagious?”

It gave us, in a word, hope.

And for that we thank you Downtown Deer. We will probably forget about you in a few weeks, and honestly we would have been way more stoked if there had been an East Broadway Badger video, but still. You were a good time. RIP. @KudosKvetches

STARTING

BUS ANYWHERE WITH A

ZONE FARE

Starting October 5, there will be just 1 zone for buses and HandyDART, all day, every day.

Whether you’re using cash, FareSavers, a monthly pass or a Compass product, you’ll only need to pay for 1-zone travel on buses.

Multi-zone transfers to SkyTrain and SeaBus will require AddFare if travelling weekdays before 6:30 p.m. Transfers to buses won’t require additional fare.

Learn more at translink.ca/onezone or call 604.953.3333

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A33

Community

MORE HOPE: Hope Couture, chaired by Marcella Cusano, raised $460,000 for the B.C. Cancer Foundation. The sophomore edition of the runway romp staged at the Fairmont Pacific Rim attracted 350 guests who attended the power lunch and fashion show in support of breast cancer research. Emceed by Global TV’s Chris Gailus, and orchestrated by stylist Tracey Pincott, the event kick-started fundraising efforts for the purchase of three vital pieces of equipment that will directly link patient diagnosis and treatment to labbased research. Attendees enjoyed a Japanese inspired luncheon before getting a first look at the fall and winter collections from Vancouver’s boutique retailers Bacci’s and Boboli.

Founded by past chairwoman Jane Young and presented by Peterson Development, the event has generated nearly $2 million towards the fight against cancer.

MORE PASSION: For the 12th annual Scotiabank Passions gala, more than 300 foodies from the business, media and philanthropic sectors filed into the Roundhouse Community Centre for one of the city’s top epicurean galas, sponsored by the Vancouver Courier. The Yaletown space provided larger digs for the popular culinary event that featured 25 participating restaurants and chefs delivering tasty plates to partiers. Yours truly and Sophie Lui emceed the unforgettable evening of music, wine and cocktails, and delicious hors d’oeuvres. Event founder Nathan Fong, gala chair Michael Barker Fyfe and Dr. Peter AIDS Centre executive director Maxine Davis hosted a special champagne reception kick starting the record evening that generated more than $140,000 for the Dr. Peter Centre, the West End residence dedicated to providing world class care to those living with HIV and AIDS. MORE CORNUCOPIA: Off the heels of a banner summer season, Whistler Resort, which celebrates its 40th anniversary of incorporation as Canada’s first resort municipality, prepares to keep the good times rolling with its 19th staging of Cornucopia, 11 days of food, drink and wellness offerings Nov. 5 to 15. At the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, one of the village’s venerable properties, Michelle Leroux, public relations manager for the grand old luxury hotel, hosted a preview of the celebrations to come. They included the hotel’s signature marTEAni Party, a sellout every year, Bubbles & Brunch, a classic favourite, and winemakers dinners showcasing Stoneboat Vineyard, Masi Agricola, Quails’ Gate Winery, Blasted Church Vineyards and Craggy Range Vineyard. More than 6,500 foodies are expected to the legendary festival of food and drink, presented by BlueShore.

email yvrflee@hotmail.com twitter @FredAboutTown

Marcella Cusano, accompanied by her husband Panos Andreou, chaired the sophomore edition of Hope Couture. The luncheon and fashion show netted the B.C. Cancer Foundation $460,000 for life saving equipment for breast cancer patients.

Cancer-free keynote speaker Zuri Scrivens credits Dr. Karen Gelmon’s targeted personalized treatment. Proceeds from the power lunch will fasttrack Gelmon’s work to better therapies for breast cancer patients in B.C. and around the world.

From left, the all-star team of Yoshi Tabo, Tara Thom, Andrea Vescovi and Ricardo Valverde helm False Creek’s newest eatery Ancora, which offers a unique mix of West Coast, Peruvian and Japanese fare in the former C Restaurant space.

CinCin executive chef Andrew Richardson raises a glass to the venerable Robson Street ristorante’s silver anniversary. The acclaimed chef marked 25 years with friends, patrons and avid food enthusiasts.

Tourism Whistler’s Mary Zinck and Fairmont Chateau Whistler’s Michelle Leroux toasted the resort’s 40th anniversary and record-setting summer season. The duo also provided a sneak peek of the municipality’s 19th epicurean extravaganza, Cornucopia, Nov. 5 to 15.

From left, Dr. Peter Jepson Young’s partner Andy Hiscox, Dr. Peter Centre executive director Maxine Davis and party chairman Michael Barker Fyfe welcomed more than 300 foodies to the 12th annual Passions fundraiser in support of individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

Staffers Robert Zach and Jamie Lauder have been providing exemplary service at the multiaward-winning CinCin Restaurant + Bar for the past 19 and 13 years respectively. The Italian hotspot celebrated 25 years with a mega party.

Sobo executive chef Lisa Ahier was a top chef from one of 25 restaurants that participated in Nathan Fong’s Passions Gala, one of the city’s landmark culinary events benefiting the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation. A record $140,000 was raised.

A34

THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

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Remember, start nothing new and significant before October 9. Protect ongoing projects, or reprise past ones. A former love might return – indications are that he/she is a good person. If you’re both single, re-bonding could be a good idea. (Use your own judgement, though – it you fought constantly, for instance, or it was an abusive relationship, ignore my advice.)

Start nothing new before Oct. 9 – it would wither in future, or tangle you in vines of indecision and delay.

Protect ongoing projects from supply shortages, delays, indecision and misunderstandings. A former teacher, lover, spouse, lawyer, school, or international contact/venture could re-appear. This is probably a good thing – in fact, it could be you who does the reappearing, you who seeks him/her/it out rather than the other way around.

Avoid all new, major starts, projects, relationships, before Oct. 9. (If any of these began before Sept. 17, they aren’t “new.”) Be alert for delays, missed meetings, mistakes with figures or phone numbers, supply shortages, etc. A former jib or duty might return – it could be a blessing, especially if you’re unemployed. But don’t let a “taker” or parasite back into your life.

Avoid new projects and new relationships before Oct. 9, Scorpio. Instead, protect ongoing projects from neglect, shortages, missed meetings and misunderstandings, and/or reprise projects from the past, especially in administrative, management, civil service, institutional, spiritual, warehouse and factory zones. You’re tired, so rest, contemplate. A sexy person might re-appear from the past, but this person proved to be a burden then, and would be again.

Remember, start no new projects nor relationships before Oct. 9. Instead, protect ongoing situations from delays, supply shortages, missed meeting, indecision, etc. Check all figures, on checks, envelopes, etc. A former love, or a former pleasure, hobby, creative or child-oriented situation might return. If love, chances are this is a deep love and a beneficial one.

Start nothing new before Oct. 9, Sage. Instead, reprise former projects and protect ongoing ones from misunderstandings, delays, shortages and neglect. Your charisma and energy soar Sunday – love could be in the air, someone might approach you. Chase money, pay old bills and collect money owed you Mon./Tues. But don’t buy anything major (clothes, cars, computers, etc.) – especially Tuesday, when lemons abound.

Avoid all new, major starts before Oct. 9 – e.g., buy nothing bigger than groceries, don’t start a new business or relationship, don’t change residences, don’t start renovations. (In that last, it can even be a good idea to let an ongoing “reno” project take a breather for 3 weeks, in case a carpenter builds the stairs backwards, etc.)

Avoid new starts, new projects and relationships before Oct. 9. Instead, protect ongoing situations from delays, misunderstandings and other snafus. You can reprise the past, especially in work and career zones. A former employer or job role might return, and it could be a good thing.

Your dreams, your hopes and wishes, have been put on hold since last April; now they will march forward for seven months.

Remember, start no new projects nor relationships – and buy nothing important – before Oct. 9. Be vigilant with errands, mail, calls – double-check figures, addresses, etc. – make a “To Do” list before you leave the house. In fact, keep a running list, and add to it as you go. A long-lost piece of mail, email, or note might float to the surface now. A friend might re-appear from the past, a fine person, but it’s not likely to develop much further.

Remember, Aquarius, start no new projects nor relationships before Oct. 9. An old flame (or teacher, or idea/life philosophy, travel destination, intellectual pursuit or cultural involvement) might re-appear, especially Wed. into early October.

Career, governmental or institutional delays of the past five months dissolve now, so look forward to solutions, progress (but wait until Oct. 9 onward to push these).

Remember, Virgo, don’t start anything new before Oct. 9, especially in money, earnings, sensual affairs and possessions. This is a poor time to start a rote learning class (i.e., where you accept the knowledge of others rather than seek your own answers). Watch for unexpected delays, check figures and instructions twice. A former money source might re-appear, or you could have a chance to buy something which “passed you by” when you first pursued it.

A former sexual attraction might appear.

Before you leap in, make sure that neither of you is already attached, and that you aren’t compromising morals or social ethics. If so, this could be a healing, beneficial intimacy. A former coveted investment opportunity might also return – and is probably beneficial. Secrets come to you over the weeks ahead, and, again, will benefit you.

Sept. 17: Cassandra Peterson (64). Sept. 18: Jason Sudeikis (40). Sept. 19: Adam West (87).

Sept. 20: Sophia Loren (81). Sept. 21: Bill Murray (65). Sept. 22: Joan Jett (57).

Sept. 23: Bruce Springsteen (66).

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A35

Sports & Recreation BASEBALL

Road to Toronto leads through Nat Bailey

Nine Blue Jays played for Vancouver Canadians Megan Stewart

mstewart@vancourier.com

Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman got his first win of the season last weekend after an improbable and successful return to the major leagues after knee surgery in March.

Dalton Pompey, a 22-year-old fielder who grew up one town over, clinched a win for Toronto by stealing bases.

Jays’ break-out star Kevin Pillar has been taking flight to make highlightreel catches in centre field for months, and Roberto Osuna, the 20-year-old Mexican closer, has saved 16 of 18 chances and allowed only one run in the month of August.

These players are part of a surging Blue Jays lineup that holds the lead in the American League East. All four played in Vancouver for the single-A Canadians and are among nine pitchers and position players drafted by Toronto since 2011 to move up through the ranks and dress for the Blue Jays. In the previous decade, 50 more prospects drafted by the Athletics moved through Vancouver on the way to Oakland.

“At the end of the day that’s why we do what we do,” said C’s manager John

Schneider. “Whether it can help our major league team with a player like Pillar or Dalton or Osuna or Sanchey [Aaron Sanchez] and guys like that, it’s really cool. And then if you also have them traded for a guy like Tulo or David Price, it’s almost just as cool but bittersweet.”

Since the C’s turned from class AAA to shortseason class A in 2000, 59 players have reached the big leagues after dressing for at least one regular season game in Vancouver. Once the Blue Jays took over as Vancouver’s MLB affiliate four years ago, Vancouver has seen would-be Jays come and others go, including pitchers Miguel Castro — who was traded in July to the Colorado Rockies as part of a package in exchange for two-time Golden Glove Award winning shortstop Troy “Tulo” Tulowitzki — and Noah Syndergaard — a first-round draft pick whom Toronto traded to the New York Mets in exchange for Cy Young-winning knuckleballer R.A. Dickey in 2012.

“In a perfect world, the guys you draft would all make the big league team but that’s not the way the game works.

The players understand

Baseball fans unwrap a Canadians-outfitted Marcus Stroman bobblehead Aug. 18 at Nat Bailey Stadium. In 2012, the Toronto Blue Jays pitcher appeared in seven games for Vancouver.

PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER

that,” said Schneider.

In the case of Pillar, he’s not counted in this tally of 59 because he was parachuted in for the postseason. In 2011, Pillar helped the C’s to their first of three Northwest League championship titles with four RBIs, two doubles and one homerun to top off his team-leading .391 batting average. In 2012 and 2013, the outfielder played extra games in the

Arizona Fall League. He debuted for the Jays Aug. 14, 2013 at the age of 24, but after 35 games in the field, was demoted the next season to the classAAA Buffalo Bison before eventually returning to Toronto and ousting home-town hero Pompey in centre field.

Pompey grew up in Mississauga and has continued to watch Toronto as an outsider. Despite starting

the 2015 season at centre field, he was sent to Buffalo and then class-AA New Hampshire before working his way back and eventually making the expanded Jays roster in September.

There has been no less drama on the pitchers mound.

The entire baseball world has followed the nearly unprecedented return of Marcus Stroman, an irrepressibly buoyant

24-year-old who completed a degree from Duke University while rehabbing his left knee. Written-off for the season, Stroman vowed he’d be back in time for a pennant race. He starts his second game of the season Friday as the Jays protect their division lead over the New York Yankees.

In Vancouver, Stroman pitched 11.1 innings over seven games and allowed eight hits and five runs. His ERA of 3.18 was slightly better than Roberto Osuna’s 3.20 average. The pair barely overlapped in Vancouver in 2012. Osuna debuted July 28, three days before Stroman jumped up to the class-AA Fisher Cats.

Before April 8 of this year when Osuna became the youngest pitcher to appear for the Jays, he got his start in Mexico City with the Diablos. Pitching well beyond his 20 years, he was 16 when he signed a $1.5-million contract with the Jays. He pitched five games in Vancouver, quickly advanced through the low-level minor leagues and was called up this spring to strike out Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.

For more on this story, visit vancourier.com/sports. @MHStewart

How four players travelled the Blue Jay way FIELDERS

2010 2011

2012

60 games

2013

5

86 games

17

10 games

42

15

2014

71 games

52

35 15

2015

96 games

53

142

Kevin PILLAR

11

42 games

4

5

115 games

70 games

30 111419

23

23

31

39

4

Dalton POMPEY PITCHERS

2011 2012

2013

2014

2015

LEGEND Gulf Coast Blue Jays

13

7

5

10 games

1

7

6

59 games

Roberto OSUNA

8

20

9

7 26 games

1

Lansing Lugnuts

Midwest League, Class A

Buffalo Bison

Mesa Solar Sox

International League, Class AAA

Arizona Fall League

Toronto Blue Jays

Leones del Escogido

Bluefield Blue Jays

Dunedin Blue Jays

Florida State League, Advanced Class A

American League, MLB

Dominican Winter League

Vancouver Canadians

New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Salt River Rafters

Diablos Rojos del Mexico

Appalachian League, Rookie

7 Marcus STROMAN

Gulf Coast League, Rookie

Northwest League, Short-Season Class A

Eastern League, Class AA

Dates are approximate. Graph by Tara Rafiq and Megan Stewart.

Arizona Fall League

Mexican League, Class AAA

As of Sept. 14, 2015

A36

THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Sports & Recreation GIANTS

Benson to return after surgery Timeline likely short but still undetermined

Giants winger Tyler Benson skates at training camp Aug. 26 before he was taken to a medical clinic for a lower-body “ailment.” He had surgery Sept. 9. PHOTO CJ RELKE/VANCOUVER GIANTS

Tyler Benson will miss at least the rest of the Vancouver Giants pre-season, but the WHL club said the left-handed winger will not be away for long.

On Sept. 9, the 17-yearold Edmontonian had surgery for an undisclosed “lower-body ailment.” The hockey club would not give further specifics or confirm Benson was treated for a cyst near his tailbone, as reported by News 1130.

“We’re really pleased that Tyler’s surgery went really well,” Giants general manager Scott Bonner said in a prepared statement.

“We feel that we have a strong team going into this season and we will look forward to Tyler’s return in the coming weeks.

“The health and wellbeing of our players is our highest priority as an organization. While it’s disappointing to see that

Tyler may miss some time, we want to make sure he is back at 100 per cent before he returns to the lineup.”

Benson was on a very short list of prospective Giants’ captains and is a potential first-round NHL draft pick. The Giants selected him first overall in the 2013 WHL Bantam Draft, and in 62 games during his rookie season last year, he scored 14

goals and 31 assists. He played for Canada twice this summer, winning bronze in the U-18 World Championships and gold at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial Cup. The Giants host the Kelowna Rockets at 7 p.m., Sept. 18, at Pacific Coliseum. The 2015/16 season begins Sept. 25 when the Giants welcome the Seattle Thunderbirds.

— Megan Stewart

: FIFA returns to B.C. Place

’86 25 81 1986 was the last (and only) time Canada’s men’s soccer team competed at the FIFA World Cup.

In dollars, the starting cost of one ticket to see Canada play Honduras at B.C. Place Nov. 13 in the first of six Round 4 qualifying matches for the 2018 World Cup. Mexico and El Salvador round out the group.

The FIFA ranking for Honduras. Canada is ranked 102.

“Vancouver has become my home now.

The fans, they’re my family. When I say it’s a dream to play in front of my family, it’s a dream to play in Vancouver and I couldn’t be more excited.”

— Whitecaps FC midfielder and Canadian national player Russell Teibert, speaking to reporters about Vancouver hosting the World Cup qualifier

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T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

20 VW 15

A41

today’sdrive Your journey starts here

Beetle

BY BRENDAN McALEER brendanmcaleer@gmail.com

Is nostalgia alone a good enough reason for a car to exist? Volkswagen certainly seems to think so — at least for now.

So, too, do Canadian car buyers, as the VW Beetle continues to sell in greater volume than something like the Golf Sportwagon. You’d buy the latter for its practicality, but the former’s appeal is mostly down to its link to the past.

And it’s a pretty tenuous link. The original Beetle was air-cooled, rear-engined, rear-wheel drive, simple and austere.

Here I’ve got front-wheeldrive, a turbocharger, heated leather seats and satellite navigation.

So it’s not the same sorta Beetle at all. But does it still charm like the original?

Design:

The previous reincarnation of the Beetle was unabashedly cutesy, from its starry-eyed headlamps to the vase mounted next to the steering wheel — looks like the flower child has grown up a little.

VW tweaked the shape of this car a few years back, giving it just a hint of aggression and a little bit of Porsche 911, if you squint.

And stand really far away.

And cover one eye.

Whether or not this shape is a faithful homage to the clattery original, it looks great. The Beetle Turbo is fun but fiercelooking and mid-level

cars like my Comfortline tester still retain a level of femininity not commonly seen in today’s market.

No, no, no, the designers tell us, what the buying public wants is a car that looks like Hannibal Lecter fitted with LED headlights.

Nuts to that. The Beetle’s rounded form is a bit harder edged than it was before, but it’s still a happy looking car. It’s pretty, not pretentiously aggressive.

Environment:

VW really toned down the retro on the inside of their new Beetle, with just a few nods to the original to be found. The bodycoloured panel crossing the dash immediately catches the eye, but aside from that, the rest of the car feels like a regular Golf with an extra tall roof.

For the most part, that’s a good thing. Compared to the previousgeneration front-driver Beetle, this car is far more cohesive inside, and no longer has a dash-towindshield distance big enough to host Oktoberfest. The rear seats are big enough — just — for an adult, and will accommodate a child seat.

The steering wheel rim is slightly thinner than the one in the Golf, perhaps a nod to the tiny steering wheels of the 1960s, but everything else is fairly conventional. Comfy seats too.

However, there are a few issues. Mostly, these are reheated complaints about the sixth-generation Golf, as the Beetle doesn’t have the VW’s latest updated platform.

Thus, the infotainment screen is small and a tad fiddly to use.

Continued on page 42

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A42

THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

today’sdrive Continued from page 41 Hooking up an iPod also requires one of VW’s proprietary cables, an irritant found throughout much of the VW/Audi range. Why not just a simple USB?

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The VW Beetle featrues retro styling, punchy turbo engine, good ergonomics and a comfortable ride.

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DRIVING MATTERS

The big news under the nose (not the tail) of this model year of Beetle is a new 1.8L four-cylinder turbocharged engine. With the old 2.5L engine gone, this means that every Beetle is a Turbo Beetle: you can have a thrifty turbo diesel, a GTI-like 2.0L turbo gasoline engine, or this one.

I have to say, it’s an absolute peach. Horsepower is rated at 170hp, with torque coming in early at 184lb/ ft. That’s a godly amount of forced induction grunt, and its available well down in the rev range, giving the Beetle far more off the line scoot than previously.

The transmission is a conventional 6spd automatic, not one of VW’s quick dual-clutch systems.

Not a bother — as soon as you get the Comfortline on the move, you find that this car isn’t about sporting intent much. It’s softer than a Golf, even an older one, and built to cruise. Get one with the 2.0L and a stick-shift if you want a little more zip, but this version’s the soft option.

That, like the exterior, isn’t really a problem. Rolling this doodlebug up the sea-to-sky, the only real complaint was the slight softness of the brakes, but the rest of the car was quite polished. Wind noise in particular was very well-managed, something you’d never say about a Beetle from the 1960s or 1970s. It’s quite comfortable and pleasant.

It isn’t, however, better than a Golf would be in any way. The seventhgeneration Golf is a sharphandling little car that puts a grin on your face, yet is also very comfortable. The Beetle has the grin plastered on its face already, but perhaps not one on its driver.

Mind you, step off the

winding roads and back into the city, and the Beetle’s poise comes back a bit. It doesn’t have much character apart from its exterior shape, but so too does it have few flaws. Even the visibility isn’t bad, through the lack of a backup camera is regrettable.

Retro looks without the retro driving experience — not exhilarating perhaps, but they built millions of the old one, so just buy one if you want that authentic feel. You’re probably going to want to commute in this one though.

Features:

Added on to my midlevel Comfortline tester were two packages: the tech package bundles together Fender-branded premium audio (very good) satellite navigation, and a blindspot detection system. The appearance package adds bi-xenon headlights, leather interior, and dual zone climate control.

All this stuff does drive the price up, with the outthe-door cost for this car at $30,740 plus taxes. For that kind of money, you might want to take a look at a GTI. Fuel economy for the 1.8T is pretty good. It’s rated at 9.9L/100kms city and 7.2L/100kms on the highway. Premium fuel is not required, although if you’re obsessive over longdistance thrift, be sure to check out the TDI option.

Real-world mileage was solidly in the high eights.

Green Light:

Retro styling; punchy turbo engine; good ergonomics; comfortable ride

Stop Sign:

Outperformed by Golf; previous-gen infotainment; no backup camera; no USB

The Checkered Flag:

Looks a bit like the original Beetle but drives nothing like it. That’s bad if you’re a purist, but great if you live in 2015.

Visit NEWMAZDA.CA today to browse our NEW & USED inventory.

RESERVE YOUR MAZDA TEST-DRIVE EXPERIENCE TODAY!

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†No Payments for 90 Days (payment deferral) offer is available on all new in-stock 2015/2016 Mazda models applies only to purchase finance offers on approved credit. No interest will accrue during the first 60 days of thee finance contract. After this period interest will begin to accrue and the purchaser will repay the principal and interest monthly over the term of the contract. Offer period September 1 – 30, 2015. ‡Based on a representativee example using a finance price of $22,715/$24,715 for the 2016 CX-3 GX (HVXK86AA00)/2016 CX-5 GX (NVXK85AA00) at a rate of 2.99%/2.49% APR, the cost of borrowing for an 84-month term is $2,488/$2,242 bi-weekly payment is $138/$148, total finance obligation is $25,203/$26,957. Taxes are extra and required at the time of purchase. **Starting from price for 2016 CX-3 GX AWD (HXXK86AA00)/2016 CX-5 GX AT AWD (NXXK86AB00) is $24,715/$29,215. As shown, price for 2016 CX-3 GT (HXTK86AA00)/2016 CX-5 GT (NXTL86AA00) is $31,315/$37,215. All prices include $25 new tire charge, $100 a/c charge where applicable, freight & PDI of $1,895 for CX-3, CX-5. PPSA, licence, insurance, taxes, downn payment (or equivalent trade-in) are extra and may be required at the time of purchase. Dealer may sell/lease for less. Dealer order/trade may be necessary on certain vehicles. Lease and Finance on approved credit for qualified customers only. Offers valid September 1 – 30, 2015, while supplies last. Prices and rates subject to change without notice. Visit mazda.ca or see your dealer for complete details. *To learn more about the Mazda Unlimited Warranty, go to mazdaunlimited.ca.

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1595 Boundary Road, Vancouver CALL 604-294-4299 Service 604-291-9666 www.newmazda.ca /DestinationMazdaVancouver

Your journey begins here.

@Destinationmzd Dealer #31160

The 2015 VW Beetle looks a bit like the original but drives nothing like it. That’s bad if you’re a purist, but great if you live in 2015.

T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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Automotive BRAKING NEWS

Barracuda leads Chrysler comeback

Brendan McAleer

brendanmcaleer@gmail.com

Thirty new Chryslers, and the Barracuda returns

Last week, Fiat-Chrysler dealers gathered in Las Vegas for an update on what’s coming down the pipeline for the company in the next few years. It’s been an odd time for FCA in the last while, with massive recalls, and a CEO that’s acting like a lovelorn middle school teenager and trying to merge with somebody, anybody. A little hope at the end of the tunnel is needed.

Rumour has it, FCA’s dealer-body got it, with something like 30 new models announced or hinted at. Some of these we’ve already expected, like the eight-passenger Grand Wagoneer SUV (perhaps a blue-collar rival to the Mercedes-Benz GL), and the Fiat 124 Spider, based on the Mazda Miata. Note to those who were hoping Mazda

would go turbocharged for their next MX-5: the Fiat version will still be built in Japan (so the doors won’t fall off), but will come with an Abarth version with stronzo turbo power.

Also exciting is the new Trackhawk version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee, a vehicle that’ll sit above the SRT version. Under its hood is the 707 horsepower supercharged V-8 out of the Hellcat cars, and really, swapping this beast into the hotselling Grand Cherokee just makes sense. With all-wheel drive, this thing is going to be absolutely monstrous off the line.

The new Charger was also shown, with roots stretching back to a 1999 concept car, all swoops and curves. More surprising was the announcement the Barracuda nameplate would return with a new rear-drive convertible. Both Charger and ‘Cuda will share their platform with the new Alfa-Romeo Giulia, but get Chrysler Hemi power.

The Barracuda nameplate is returning with a new rear-drive convertible.

With gasoline prices relatively low, a brace of new full-sizers could make for very profitable years for FCA. The product is there, or in the pipeline, if they can just get a handle on the recalls.

Tesla Model X nearing readiness

While pundits quarrel

over Tesla’s profitability, and the company burns cash like a SpaceX rocket, fans can’t get enough of the electric cars they produce. You can see why: unlike the stodgy eco-pods offered by most other manufacturers, Tesla has made the electric car sexy with swoopy styling, huge power output and perfor-

mance, and a healthy dose of early-adopter sheen for the image conscious.

In many ways, especially on the West Coast, the Model S is the new Porsche 911, a flagship of cutting edge capitalism.

However, it does snow here from time to time, so what about a crossover version?

The Model X seems like it’s been in the pipeline forever, leading some to wonder if those fantastical falcon-doors were too much of a flight of fancy to actually function.

However, the first models are due for delivery next month, and some pricing details and performance figures are leaking out.

As you might expect, the top-level Model X is pretty costly, with the fully loaded Signature trim costing $132,000 US, and an optional Ludicrous Mode for $10,000 on top of that. Oof. However, fully optioned as such, the Model X will blast to 100 kilometres per hour in 3.2 seconds, faster than almost any sportscar. Given how costly some of the German competition can get with options, be they AMG or M Power or Porsche, expect the Model X to be snapped up by those who already love their Tesla sedans.

! l a n i F y l e t u l o s b A

ON SPOTHE T FINA APPR NCE OVA L

LAST CHANCE FOR OUR 2015 CIVICS

HUR R FOR Y IN B SELE EST CTIO N

K IN WAL VE DRI Y AWA

$

2015 CIVIC

2,500

†

Cash purchase incentive on select 2015 models

Model shown: Civic Touring FB2F7FKNX

Get thye'rme gone! e before th

MSRP $17,245** includes freight and PDI.

Features available on select models include: • LaneWatch™ blind spot display • Multi-angle rearview camera • 7” Display Audio System with HondaLink™ Next Generation • Proximity key entry with pushbutton start • Continuously Variable Transmission

†$2,500 Honda cash purchase incentive is available on select 2015 Civic models (2D LX, 2D EX, 2D EX-L Navi, 2D Si, 4D DX, 4D LX, 4D EX, 4D Touring). Honda cash purchase incentive will be deducted from the negotiated price after taxes and cannot be combined with special lease or finance offers. **MSRP is $17,245 based on a new 2015 Civic DX FB2E2FEX including $1,495 freight and PDI. Prices and/or payments shown do not include a PPSA lien registration fee of $30.31 and lien registering agent’s fee of $5.25, which are both due at time of delivery and covered by the dealer on behalf of the customer. Offers valid from September 1st through 30th, 2015 at participating Honda retailers. Dealer may sell/lease for less. Dealer trade may be necessary on certain vehicles. Offers valid only for British Columbia residents at BC Honda Dealers locations. Offers subject to change or cancellation without notice. Terms and conditions apply. Visit www.bchonda.com or see your Honda retailer for full details.

Dealer #D8508

12th and Kingsway, Vancouver KingswayHonda.ca

Sales: 604.873.3676 Service: 604.874.6632

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER T H U R SDAY, SE P T E M B E R 1 7 , 2 0 1 5