WEDNESDAY
November 19 2014
Vol. 105 No. 93
CITY LIVING 13
Kits House-warming STATE OF THE ARTS 24
Chocolaty concert SPORTS 26
Orienteering express There’s more online at
vancourier.com MIDWEEK EDITION
THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
Parents take VSB to court Cheryl Rossi
crossi@vancourier.com
Mayor Gregor Robertson was re-elected Saturday night and his Vision Vancouver council team kept its majority at city hall. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
Re-elected Robertson now focused on winning transit referendum Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
Having secured his re-election bid Saturday night, Mayor Gregor Robertson is now putting energy into his campaign to urge Metro Vancouver voters to cast a ballot for one of his biggest priorities: a Broadway subway. Robertson told reporters Monday that a winning vote in next spring’s transit referendum would send a message to senior levels of government that a subway is needed along the Broadway corridor. “We need a strong positive vote for that,” he said, standing on a piece of land off Great Northern Way that would serve as part of the subway’s route. “That’ll
send the signal that we’re ready to roll here and we need those big investments overall from the federal and provincial governments, along with the operating funding to run the new system.” Robertson’s pitch for the subway is not new and, as he did during his re-election bid, he continues to answer questions about whether senior levels of government are prepared to pay for the $1.9-billion system. His main challenger in the mayoral race, Kirk LaPointe, repeatedly criticized him in debates, saying he was being disingenuous in his campaign to get a subway since he had no funding commitments from ministers in Victoria or Ottawa. “My sense is, as their budgets go into
the black and the capital [money] comes available, that those commitments are going to come forward,” the mayor said in response to the question of funding. Back in June, Robertson and mayors from around the region approved a 10-year transit plan that will cost $7.5 billion and include the construction of the 5.1-kilometre subway line from the VCC-Clark SkyTrain station to Arbutus. The plan relies on $3.9 billion from senior levels of government and funding mechanisms such as reallocating $250 million per year of the provincial government’s carbon tax, bridge tolls and possibly charging vehicle drivers for the distance they drive. Continued on page 5
One of the first duties of the newly elected Vancouver School Board could be to deal with a lawsuit from parents over the board’s sexual orientation and gender identities policy passed in June. Three Vancouver parents filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of B.C. Oct. 31 requesting the Vancouver School Board re-examine the revised policy. The lawsuit is reportedly supported by more than 175 affidavits from parents. Lawyer Masao Morinaga states parents Xiaofeng Huang, Yuen Cheng Li and Shaohui Li want the board to reconsider washroom and information sharing clauses in the policy. The policy uses the term trans with an asterisk and states: “The use of washrooms and change rooms by trans* students shall be assessed on a caseby-case basis” and “trans* students shall have access to the washroom and change room that corresponds to their gender identity.” The board will work to make singlestall, gender-neutral washrooms available. Morinaga calls the use of the term “trans*” vague and problematic because gender nonconforming is included under the term trans* in the VSB policy. “A lot of criticisms against the parents has been, oh, they’re just being fearful, fear mongering, what kind of a boy would pretend that he’s transgendered so that he can access these washrooms?” Morinaga said. “But it’s like how you wouldn’t want a man to access a woman’s washroom. Ninety-nine per cent of men, or maybe a hundred, would just go in and come out, but it’s a matter of comfort.” Morinaga, a lawyer with Lawrence Wong and Associates, acknowledged statistics indicate trans people face a greater risk of harm from others. “But harm is at the extreme point of the spectrum,” Morinaga said. “Many other students deal with body image issues, some people of modest religions, they cover themselves even in public. Continued on page 7
November 22 – December 24 Open daily 11am – 9pm*
(*Closes at 6pm on December 24)
The Plaza @ Queen Elizabeth Theatre West Georgia St & Hamilton St