Vancouver Courier December 31 2014

WEDNESDAY

December 31 2014

Vol. 105 No. 104

NEWS 8

Year in quotes ENTERTAINMENT 14

Best films of 2014 SPORTS 17

Highlight reel There’s more online at

vancourier.com MIDWEEK EDITION

THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908

PHOTOS DAN TOULGOET

A2

THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Prices Effective January 1 to January 7, 2015.

While quantities last. Not all items available at all stores. We reserve the right to correct printing errors.

100% BC Owned and Operated PRODUCE

MEAT Organic

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2.98

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previosly frozen

Aspen Ridge Beef Stewing Meat

10.99lb/ 24.23kg

7.99lb/ 17.61kg

Sockeye Salmon Fillets

Extra Large Fuji Apples from Harkers Organics, BC

Romanesco from California

product of Canada

Organic

Fancy Ruby Grapefruit from California

and Black Kale from California

2/3.00

product of USA

Organic Green

2/3.00

product of USA

Choices’ Own Gourmet Pork Sausages Ocean Mama Shrimp Gyoza

assorted varieties

5.99lb/ 13.21kg

8.99 454g

GROCERY

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Liberté Greek Yogurt or Kefir assorted varieties

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32%

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3.79-3.99

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500g – 1L product of Canada

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325g product of New Zealand

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80 sachets • product of England

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A one-day count in March recorded 1,803 people either living on the streets (536) or in some form of shelter (1,267), making for the largest homeless population in the city’s history. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

mhowell@vancourier.com

If there were three issues that dominated the business of city hall in 2014, they were homelessness, transit and affordable housing.

At the beginning of the year, men and women were living on the street, transit riders were being passed up by buses at the Commercial Drive-Broadway hub and people were desperately searching for housing they could afford.

As 2014 comes to a close, nothing has significantly changed on those fronts.

But some good news may be coming, if you believe Mayor Gregor Robertson and his Vision team of six councillors who were re-elected in November for a third term.

First, the homelessness file.

A one-day count in March recorded 1,803 people either living on the streets (536) or in some form of shelter (1,267), making for the largest homeless population in the city’s history.

Since then, the city opened some temporary housing and B.C. Housing opened more of the social housing buildings it agreed to build on 14 city properties. More are expected to open early in the new year.

In September, the city’s chief housing officer Mukhtar Latif said about 200 of the 536 people on the street had moved into the former Biltmore hotel, the former Ramada on East Hastings and the Kingsway Continental. Some also moved into a new B.C. social housing building on Burrard Street.

Recently, the city also opened the former Kettle of Fish restaurant as a homeless shelter and moved some of the people from the Oppenheimer tent city into the former Quality Inn on Howe Street.

Despite the availability of

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“affordable housing agency” will look to use city land to build affordable housing.

Under the city’s former Short Term Incentives for Rental program, or STIR, 19 projects were built for a total of 1,329 market rental units.

But the criticism Robertson heard from opposition politicians and certain neighbourhood groups, including the West End Neighbours society, was that rents were too rich for the average renter.

The first project under the STIR program at 1142 Granville St. saw studio apartments go from $960 a month, as quoted in a city staff report, to upwards of $1,400 for a furnished suite.

Under the graduated version of STIR — called Rental 100 — new rules say average rents for initial occupancy cannot exceed the following specified rents by more than 10 per cent: • $1,443 per month for a studio • $1,517 per month for a one-bedroom • $2,061 for a two-bedroom • $2,743 for a threebedroom At his inauguration this month, Robertson said families renting homes in Vancouver deserve a better option than paying “palacesized rents for a postagestamp apartment.”

He continued: “Yes, rising prices are a consequence of growth and prosperity.

Affordability is a non-stop challenge in a city like ours.

But that doesn’t mean we have to allow working and middle-class families to be priced out of town.”

The mayor and his Vision team have ruled city hall for six years and get another four to make gains not only on affordability but also homelessness and transit. With a federal election called for next year, Robertson said you can expect him to push the city’s agenda “onto centre stage.” twitter.com/Howellings

ELLIOTT ST.

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shelters and housing, Robertson told reporters after his inauguration speech this month that he won’t know whether he’s met his goal of ending street homelessness by 2015 until another count is done in March.

On the transit file, Robertson has probably uttered the words “Broadway” and “subway” more than any others in the past year. Before, during and after his re-election bid, he has talked and talked about the need for a subway to run from the Vancouver Community College-Clark SkyTrain station to Arbutus and out to the University of B.C. But as NPA mayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe repeatedly pointed out during the election campaign, Robertson has not secured any funding from senior levels of government for the multi-billion dollar project.

Robertson’s response has always included the fact that the majority of the region’s mayors approved a 10-year, $7.5 billion transit and transportation plan in June that includes a $1.9 billion 5.1-kilometre subway line to Arbutus.

The mayors agreed to a referendum question this month to give Metro Vancouver residents an opportunity to vote on whether they will agree to a 0.5 per cent hike to the seven percent provincial sales tax to help pay for the plan.

“I’m very hopeful that if the referendum passes — people of Metro Vancouver speak loud and clear that we want a transit investment – that the provincial and federal governments will respond with the funding that’s needed,” Robertson told reporters after the meeting.

On the affordable housing file, Robertson promised during his re-election campaign that 4,000 units of rental housing will be built by 2018.

He also promised to increase the number of two and three bedroom apartments for families and ensure the city’s new

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

YearinReview

Grandview-Woodland Community Plan Events

We want to hear from you.

Help us to get the plan right!

Vision lost sight of park board

The City is holding a number of sub-area workshops as part of the Grandview-Woodland planning process.

CENTRAL PARK

Come and discuss community issues, review proposed neighbourhood policy options, and help plan the future of the following areas:

Sandra Thomas

Dundas Street

East Hastings Street

Victoria Drive

2

1

East 1st Avenue

East Broadway

Nanaimo Street

Commercial Drive

Clark Street

Venables Street

FOR MORE INFORMATION: vancouver.ca/gw grandviewplan@vancouver.ca Phone 3-1-1

1 Grandview

(east of Commercial Drive, between Broadway, Hastings Street and Garden Drive): Saturday, January 10, 10 am - 4 pm 2 Nanaimo Street (between Garden Drive and Kamloops, Pender Street to Broadway): Saturday, January 17, 10 am - 4 pm

Both workshops are free but you will need to register to attend. A few days before each workshop there will also be an optional walking tour of the sub-area.

To sign up for one or more of the sessions and for details on the walking tour, visit vancouver.ca/gw.

sthomas@vancourier.com

This was an interesting year for the park board, but then again that could pretty much sum up the past several years.

And while there was a lot going on in 2014, it was the tale of the whales that dominated much of the year since April when Vision Vancouver commissioners Constance Barnes and Sarah Blyth called for the end of cetacean captivity at the Vancouver Aquarium.

Their decision garnered impressive support, including from Mayor Gregor Robertson and other prominent politicians, as well as scientist Jane Goodall, but despite that momentum a proposed plebiscite was once again put on the back burner. Instead, the outgoing board recommended a controversial ban on cetacean breeding at the aquarium, which became grounds for legal proceedings. And, to the surprise of no one, that ban was

immediately rescinded at the last meeting of the Vision Vancouver-dominated park board.

The ongoing debate around the sex lives of cetaceans at the aquarium is just one of the controversial issues the newly elected commissioners inherited following the November municipal election, which saw Vision Vancouver lose its majority and the NPA take four of the seven seats.

NPA incumbent John Coupar was named board chair at the swearing in ceremony Dec. 1, replacing Vision’s Aaron Jasper who chose not to run again.

There had been some initial speculation Green Party commissioner Stuart Mackinnon might be named vice-chair, but instead NPA newcomer Sarah Kirby-Yung, a former vice-president of marketing and communications for the Vancouver Aquarium, was chosen. Mackinnon, who previously sat on the board from 2008 to 2011, is joined for the first time on the board by a second Green Party member, Mi-

chael Wiebe, director of the Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association and owner of a restaurant specializing in locally sourced ingredients. Also elected to the board was the NPA’s Casey Crawford and Erin Shum and the lone Vision commissioner Catherine Evans. Vision commissioner Trevor Loke was unsuccessful in a bid for re-election, as was Niki Sharma, who lost the race for a seat on council.

Meanwhile Jasper left the board to spend more time with his family, as did Blyth, who lost the 2015 federal NDP bid for Vancouver Quadra.

Coupar made a point at the swearing-in ceremony of reminding attendees the park board and city council are two separate elected bodies, something that’s becoming less and less obvious under the Visiondominated city hall. At one F time the park board did enjoy autonomy, including managing its own website, but even that’s since been absorbed into the city’s control.

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It was good news for West End residents this year when Nelson Park finally got a bathroom and the Courier was able to put an end to years of bad puns in headlines, including such nuggets as “Community leader raises stink over washroom plan” or “Nelson Park residents flush with relief.”

Speaking of parks, it was the unofficial renaming of Guelph Park that made news across the globe after the board agreed to allow a humorous, if not polarizing, sign to remain in place.

Even popular late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel got in the act when the park board voted to allow the Dude Chilling Park sign remain in place after some public consultation. For anyone not familiar with the now infamous art piece, it mysteriously appeared in Guelph Park on Brunswick Street at East Seventh in November 2012 as an exact replica of an official park board sign. The name pays homage to the Reclining Figure sculpture by Michael Dennis that lies in the park. In response to a news clip about the sign including Blyth, Kimmel announced in his opening monologue, “Between Dude Chilling Park and Rob Ford, I might have to move to Canada.”

It was good news for seniors when all three levels of government agreed to pitch in enough money to build a seniors centre adjacent to Killarney Community Centre, but just what the facility is going to look like when it’s finally built is still up for debate.

Finally, the ongoing discussions between the park board and a number of the city’s community centre associations regarding an interim joint operating agreement continued. And in November, superstar arbitrator Vince Ready, nicknamed “God” by some after successfully negotiating a settlement in the recent provincial teachers’ strike, stepped into the fray of the very public and litigious battle between six community centre associations and the park board.

In late October, Hastings, Sunset, Riley Park/Hillcrest, Kensington, Kerrisdale and Killarney community centre associations approached Ready asking for help in ending the lengthy dispute. The results of that meeting have yet to be announced. The associations broke off talks with the park board over the interim agreement more than a year ago after what they say were breaches of that contract. In October, the Renfrew Community Centre Association also dropped out of talks with the park board. twitter.com/sthomas10

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

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Notice of Development Permit Application - DP 14027

Public Open House

University Boulevard - Site B

You are invited to attend an Open House on Wednesday, January 7 to view and comment on a mixed-use development proposal for University Boulevard - Site B. Plans will be displayed for a new 6-storey mixed use building with retail/commercial uses on the ground floor and 5 storeys of residential rental accommodation for students, faculty and employees at UBC.

Date: Wednesday,January7, 2015 Time: 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM Place: War Memorial Gymnasium Lobby, 6081 University Boulevard Representatives from the project team and Campus + Community Planning will be available to provide information and respond to inquiries about this project.

The public is also invited to attend the Development Permit Board Meeting for this project to be held on January 21st from 5:00-7:00pm, at the Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS) Policy Labs A+B, 2260 West Mall.

For more information on this project, please visit: planning.ubc.ca/ vancouver/projects-consultations For further information: Please direct questions to Karen Russell, Manager Development Services karen.russell@ubc.ca 604-822-1586

“We’re all stressed

by Dad’s illness.”

Vancouver School Board meetings attracted large crowds this spring.

Proposals in the board’s preliminary budget to eliminate the band and strings program that served 52 of 92 elementary schools and the district’s athletic coordinator position brought parents, students, volunteer coaches and members of the community out to protest in droves.

Parents and support service workers implored the board not to eliminate two substance abuse prevention workers in schools and multicultural workers for the Vietnamese and South Asian communities.

In the end, the board took $2.5 million from its emergency reserves to maintain various programs and positions. The VSB trimmed more than $9 million to balance its budget.

The school board granted the elementary band and strings program a year’s reprieve, with the community to help the VSB find solutions to sustain the program without $630,651 from the board.

The VSB preserved the athletics coordinator position and eradicated only one substance abuse prevention worker position and one multicultural worker position.

Consultation about the future of the band and strings program continues.

Controversy concerning the board’s revision of its 10-year-old sexual orientation and gender identity policy caused much distress in 2014.

More than 200 people attended a raucous Lord Byng secondary parent advisory council meeting in

May, after then-PAC chair Cheryl Chang wrote a letter urging the VSB to delay passing its draft revised policy, which she considered “seriously flawed.”

Strife with the Byng PAC continued at its executive elections in June and into the fall. Chang resigned as PAC chair Oct. 3 and new executive elections happened Oct. 28.

The NPA expelled VSB trustees Ken Denike and Sophia Woo from the party June 13 over comments regarding the sexual orientation and gender identities policy. The pair joined a new civic party called Vancouver 1st, but Denike, Vancouver’s longest serving elected official, saw his streak of electoral success end Nov. 15. Woo lost her trustee seat, too. The pair filed a defamation lawsuit against the NPA and NPA Coun.

Elizabeth Ball in the B.C. Supreme Court, Dec. 18, claiming the NPA and Ball published statements that falsely painted them as homophobes who are intolerant of queer and gender variant communities to enhance the NPA party’s image in the lead up to the election.

The sexual orientation and gender identities policy passed June 16 at a crammed meeting at the school board office amid cheers and boos.

The Catholic Independent Schools of the Vancouver Archdiocese announced in July that it, too, had passed a gender policy.

Three Vancouver parents launched a lawsuit against the VSB, Oct. 31.

Board media spokesperson Kurt Heinrich said Dec. 12 VSB lawyers are preparing the board’s response for submission later this month.

Amid the sexual orientation and gender identities policy tumult, labour unrest between teachers

and their employers intensified.

Teachers started administrative-based job action in April. The B.C .Teachers’ Federation began rotating strikes in May and the B.C. Public Schools Employers’ Association instituted a partial lockout and docked teachers’ pay.

A full-scale strike started mid-June and summer school was cancelled.

Mediators said the parties’ positions weren’t close enough for them to work their magic and in July the VSB called for binding arbitration.

The first day of school, Sept. 2, came and went.

Teachers voted Sept. 10 in favour of suspending their strike if the government agreed to binding arbitration.

BCPSEA and the government continued to reject binding arbitration.

BCPSEA and the BCTF reached a tentative agreement Sept. 16. Teachers voted to accept a six-year collective agreement Sept.

18. Schools opened their doors to students, Sept. 22.

Only 80 people attended the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council’s school trustee candidates forum Oct. 23. At least half of those who attended were PAC leaders.

“We thought it would be full because of the strike,” said disappointed VDPAC chairperson Melanie Antweiler.

Those who attended wanted to know how wannabe trustees would handle funding problems.

The VSB expects to will grapple with balancing another multi-million dollar shortfall this spring.

Other parents told the Courier they’d attended because they remained concerned about the board’s revised gender identities and sexual orientation policy. twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi

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At an Oct. 1 press conference, (left to right) Chief Ian Campbell of the Squamish Nation, executive vice president of real estate at Canada Lands Robert Howald, Chief Wayne Sparrow of the Musqueam Indian Band and Chief Maureen Thomas of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation announced a joint venture partnership. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

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Proposals will change map of Vancouver

DEVELOPING STORY Naoibh O’Connor

noconnor@vancourier.com

Planning and development decisions and announcements that will change the face of large chunks of Vancouver marked 2014.

In February, council approved the Pearson Dogwood policy statement, which will guide redevelopment of the 25-acre site at West 59th Avenue between Heather and Cambie streets.

The land is destined for a mixed-use development that features healthcare housing and related services, housing, community amenities and park space.

Council’s decision, which paves the way for a rezoning application, came after the policy statement was revised to address concerns about the care and support of people with disabilities, including fears about institutionalizing them in the redevelopment of the property.

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) owns the property.

In September, it issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the sale and development of two parcels of the land — an almost six-acre portion that runs parallel to Cambie Street where the Dogwood Lodge Residential Care Home is situated, and about 16 acres on the western part of the site where George Pearson Centre is located.

VCH is keeping a 3.2-acre portion for proposed health care and community uses. An announcement on the result of the RFP is expected soon.

The future of a sprawling property in the centre in Vancouver was decided

in March when council approved the billion-dollar redevelopment of the 28-acre Oakridge Centre site after three days of public hearings.

Only Green Coun. Adriane Carr and NPA councillors George Affleck and Elizabeth Ball voted against the motion that passed in a 6-3 vote. The plan includes 11 residential towers, a civic centre with a community centre, a library, a seniors’ facility and a rooftop park.

In October, an historic land deal was announced: three Lower Mainland First Nations — Musqueam, Squamish and TsleilWaututh — partnered with a federal Crown corporation to acquire three former federal government properties worth $307.2 million that will be developed, including the 52-acre Jericho Lands in West Point Grey.

The Jericho lands, formerly owned by the Department of National Defence, sit between West Fourth Avenue and Highbury Street to the east and Eighth Avenue to the south. The Department of Defence will remain on site until December 2015.

(Property immediately to the west is owned by the provincial government.)

The Heather Street lands, located on Heather Street between West 33rd and 37th avenues, which is the site of the former RCMP E-Division headquarters, are also part of the deal. The RCMP will remain in one building until 2019. (The third, five-acre parcel is in West Vancouver) During a press conference, the three First Nations and Canada Lands Company also announced a joint venture partnership that establishes an equal inter-

est in the lands with 50 per cent collectively held by the aboriginal groups and the other half held by Canada Lands. Canada Lands will be project manager and oversee the redevelopment as well as the property management. Major decisions will require approval of both partners. The city’s manager of planning and development will report to council in January asking it to direct staff to treat the 52-acre parcel as a special study area or policy statement.

Other notable stories in 2014 included the formation of the Grandview-Woodland Citizens’ Assembly, which will produce recommendations for the Eastside neighbourhood’s community plan that will be presented to council next June. Council established it after residents panned the emerging directions for the community plan, which included the possibility of a 36-storey tower at Broadway and Commercial.

Neighbourhood complaints about various planning and development projects — too numerous and complicated to mention in this space — continued throughout the year.

Despite ongoing criticism about consultation and transparency directed at the Vision-dominated council, most Vision councillors were re-elected for another term mid-November. The Coalition of Vancouver Neighbourhoods, which is comprised of 25 resident groups, is seeking a meeting with Mayor Gregor Robertson to discuss its continuing concerns. The request was submitted immediately after the election. twitter.com/naoibh

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

The Year in Quotes could all find ourselves in one of those beds.

A speaker who was concerned about “institutionalizing” people with disabilities at a city council meeting in late January regarding the draft Pearson Dogwood Policy Statement, which was designed to guide redevelopment of the property.

What’s neat about this phase is it’s just so tangible now.

The work that we’ve been doing this far has all been on paper, whereas with this you can go to the site and watch these big machines work and you can watch the dirt move and it all feels very real now.”

Erika Stephens-Rennie before the groundbreaking ceremony in July for Vancouver’s first co-housing complex, which is being built in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage neighbourhood.

School spirit C O M P I L E D

B Y

C O U R I E R

S T A F F ,

P H O T O S

D A N

T O U L G O E T

Much was done and much was said in Vancouver this past year. Here’s the most compelling of what was said in 2014 as recorded in the pages of the Courier.

Last year I had a special needs boy that had a [support] worker, but then, on top of that, I had two students with fetal alcohol syndrome, a child with post-traumatic stress syndrome, a child that was LD [learning disabled] that wasn’t designated yet... so it was overwhelming. You start relying on some kids to help you with the slower kids, and that’s not fair.

Elementary school teacher of 19 years, Patricia Kenon, who taught Grades 3 and 4 at Mount Pleasant elementary last year.

Blood on the tracks

CP is doing what it said it would do; complete the necessary work, which includes the safe removal of vegetation and obstructions, to begin to get the track and infrastructure in the area up to federal operating standards.

An emailed statement from Breanne Feigel, Canadian Pacific’s spokesperson on the Arbutus Corridor file about the railway company move, in mid-August, to start clearing the disused line of “encroachments.”

We planted vegetables and some ornamental plants we were very fond of, and we loved it. They say it’s all for the good of the economy, but the plants can’t speak.

Amy Wexler, a longtime Marpole resident as she watched CP crews pull up vegetables and garden fencing along the rail line west of William Mackie Park by West 71th Avenue in mid-August.

Election selection

I want to start with a message to voters directly and that’s that I have heard you. While we have done a lot of good things very well in the past six years, there’s also some things we haven’t done particularly well. And for those, in particular, when I haven’t met your expectations, I am sorry and I know that if I’m re-elected again … that I can do better.

Mayor Gregor Robertson at a CBC mayoral debate a few days before the civic election.

You can hear it in the coffee shops, the pub, the offices, the soccer fields, the shop floors, the community centres — you can feel the desire for change in every corner of the city because the people know there is something t hat does not smell right at city hall. As my father would have said, ‘Aye Robbie, they’re trying to sell us beef stew with black bean sauce. But it’s really just a bucket of shit.’

NPA vice-president Robert Macdonald on the smell emanating from city hall.

We have rebuilt COPE. Even though we didn’t get anyone elected this time, people know about COPE. The people of Vancouver now know where COPE stands.

Mayoral candidate Meena Wong, after coming in a distant third place in the Nov. 15 civic election.

Frankly, I see this motion as very naïve at best — but not only naïve, but potentially very dangerous.

Vision Vancouver Coun. Tim Stevenson on Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr’s attempt to have council voluntarily adopt a set of guidelines to get the big money out of civic politics.

Vision is a tight group, they’re testy. We do have a professional relationship. But is there any warmth from Vision?

Zip. They are very cold to me, except for Tony Tang. He’s a very friendly person.

Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr on her relationship with the ruling Vision Vancouver council.

My credo in this election is anyone but Vision. I no longer

I know lots of kids that felt like giving up, got in trouble, skipped school, were doing drugs and didn’t care about anything. Many, like me, got involved in sports and it changed them. Now we have dreams of going to university and further to play sports.

Grade 9 student Colton Liu, whose mother helped him with sports to recover from a brain injury, on the aborted proposal to eliminate the athletic coordinator position in the Vancouver School Board’s 2014-2015 budget.

In any other city in the world, people would be wanting to debate policy between Vision and another party with me. Here, they just want to pick on the act. So when people just pick on the low hanging fruit, I have no respect on where it’s coming from.

— Condo king and Vision supporter Bob Rennie answering critics of his $25,000-a-plate luncheon for Gregor Robertson’s re-election bid.

believe in slates. I don’t think it’s working any longer. I’d like to see parties work with other parties. I’m not looking for ideologues of any stripe. I’m looking for people who can work with other people.”

Stewart Brinton, at a Hastings Community Centre election forum in November, on who he planned to vote for in the civic race.

Housing divided

It was a tough series of negotiations but there were meaningful achievements in this field for teachers and students.

BCTF president Jim Iker, urging teachers to vote in favour of a new six-year deal and end a lengthy strike. Eighty-six per cent of them voted in favour of the new contract.

Crime and prevention

The honest truth is, we got behind there. That got away on us and we’ve done a lot of work to bring it back.

City manager Penny Ballem on why police answered 729 calls in 16 months to the Marguerite Ford social housing building on West Second Avenue.

F

So this isn’t just a case of crime and punishment, this is about police officers taking the role of the justice system into their own hands and using dogs — not as tools — but as weapons against individuals. So, in addition to record keeping, we wantW to see changes into how police dogs are deployed.

Pivot Legal Society lawyer Douglas King on the need for clear guidelines on police using dogs on the job.

It’s a home where they don’t go outside to play and they sit in front of the television all day. And this breaks my heart when I see what is happening here. It’s ironic, isn’t it? The place is named after me and my own family can’t afford to have their kids here.

68-year-old grandmother Terry Tayler on her family not being able to afford to send their children to a daycare named after her.

We give them something else so they can go out and have p the same kind of feeling with it, but it’s not going to destroy f them as much. For me, really, it’s harm reduction.

Tyler Bigchild, who oversees the Drug Users Resource CenW tre’s brew co-op on Cordova Street.

It’s becoming increasingly impossible for many, many people — perhaps, even the majority — to contemplate living in Vancouver, never mind owning a place to live. It’s something that I’m very worried about because it seems to me that housing is a right and it’s important in a city that’s going to function properly.

Vision Vancouver Coun. Geoff Meggs at a meeting on affordable housing at the WISE Hall in May.

J A

They made it very clear to myself and others who reside in the park that we must go to these shelter ‘beds’ which are just mats on the floor. They said to us, quote unquote, ‘That is not our problem. Our problem is to get you in out of the weather. You don’t need to sleep.’

Oppenheimer Park squatter Scott Bonnyman on the city’s offer to find him temporary housing instead.

J

Institutions should be relics of history. The City of Vancouver should use all powers granted to it to reject institutionalization. Remember, we are all temporarily able-bodied. We

There’s this argument that this is a white thing, that this is a Western idea, that this is a Western pollution to traditional Chinese morals. And I really do want to make it a point that actually there are folks from all sorts of backgrounds, all sorts of cultures that are gender variant, that are homosexual.

— Dora Ng, who works with lesbian, bisexual, gay and trans youth at South Arm Community Centre in Richmond, on controversy concerning the Vancouver School Board’s revised sexual p orientation and gender identities policy.

W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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The Year in Quotes

I wanted to be part of that community where being a woman wasn’t mutually exclusive with being strong, and where short shorts could be enjoyed without harassment.

— Alisha Hackinen, a.k.a. Smackin’em, a roller derby player with the Terminal City Rollergirls.

I was so depressed. I lost my job, I was sad about my girlfriend and I had to give up all my friends because I was trying to stay clean.

Chico came at the right time in my life. — Downtown Eastside resident Rob Dumas on the little Shih Tzu with a big attitude he

adopted last year. PHOTO REBECCA BLISSETT

Is anyone listening?

It is outrageous in a democracy but not surprising that a political party in power tries to cut off direct access to both elected representatives and public servants by journalists who are a citizen’s frontline resource for finding out what’s going on, for presenting views and opinions for debate and for watchdogging those politicians’ integrity, including the handling of citizens’ taxes. While politicians may say it is more efficient to communicate this way, what they really mean is it is easier to manipulate public knowledge and debate.

Former Langara College journalism instructor and Globe and Mail reporter Ross Howard, on the City of Vancouver’s media policy.

Where is the transparency from city hall? You have started this project on the wrong foot by not involving the community... it did not get started on the right foot at all.

Michelle Sturino, a Residents Association Mount Pleasant (RAMP) director, criticizing the city at a January 2014 public meeting for not having the meeting about transforming the former Biltmore Hotel into temporary housing for the homeless and those at risk of homelessness months earlier.

We’re just completely disenfranchised, completely ignored.

And I know we’re not the only community in the city by far that feels that way, but certainly that’s how we feel about it at this point. There’s just no consultation process.

Joe McDermid, a spokesperson for Southlands Community Association, on dealing with the City of Vancouver on the redevelopment proposal for the Casa Mia property and the future of other heritage estates along Southwest Marine Drive, which are vulnerable to development.

It’s the largest development in the history of the city, I think, and they refused to approve it until it came back appropriately changed.”

Jill Weiss, chair of the city’s Persons with Disabilities Advisory Committee, lauds council in early February on revisions to the Pearson Dogwood policy statement.

I’m very supportive of Sarah, and it’s not news I don’t support keeping whales in captivity. But I also know the aquarium does really great work on the rescue and rehabilitation side as well as saving endangered species like the Panamanian golden frogs in the news last week.

Outgoing Vision Vancouver park board vice-chair Constance Barnes on her decision to speak publicly against keeping whales and dolphins at the Vancouver Aquarium.

But, we’ll very likely be bringing back the ones we already own that have been on loan to other accredited institutions.

Not wild whales.

Aquarium president John Nightingale regarding the ongoing expansion of the Vancouver Aquarium and increasing the number of whales at the facility.

We had to sort out the budget. And that meant some really tough decisions. Staff asked us did we want to close the farmyard and the petting zoo or the farmyard and the Bloedel Conservatory? Those were the kinds of decisions we were forced to make.

Outgoing Vision Vancouver park board chair Aaron Jasper on some of the challenges his two terms on park board presented.

Sports shorts

I’m working on being a good Vancouverite and getting to the yoga studio.

Rob Watson, a marathon runner who logs up to 200 kilometres over 13 training runs each week in addition to strength training and the occasional visit to a yoga studio.

It’s been there since Grade 8.

Mindy Minhas, the AAAA senior boys basketball B.C. champion with the Churchill Bulldogs and 2014 MVP, on the goals he added to a list five years ago to win the provincial title and be named tournament MVP.

City living

West End residents have been holding it since 2006 and they’ll be greatly relieved that this washroom is finally being built.

Spencer Chandra Herbert, NDP MLA for VancouverWest End on the installation of a washroom in Nelson Park years after the original washrooms were removed.

It’s a wonderful way to meet people. I’ve gotten a couple dates out of her.

Marpole dog owner Charlene Fitzpatrick on the true love of her life Roo, a Chihuahua Pomeranian cross.

It’s a double-edged sword. [Catnip] either gets them really excited and amped or it knocks them out and makes them comatose. But we think that cats should have the freedom to choose how they live their lives.

Matt O’Brien, one of the creators of the reality competition show Battle Cats, discussing the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Art as life

I don’t make a lot of money but I just don’t spend a lot of money and focus on being happy and not surrounding and filling my life with things. I’m so happy doing what I do.

“Sidewalk cellist” Clara Shandler.

Our society is very awkward or resistant to acknowledging grieving and the need for rituals and ceremonies. We’re generally told in our society you can have a little grieving period and then you have to move on and people don’t really want to hear about it, you know?

Poet Catherine Owen on the need to support a multitude of expressions of grief.

It was very hard, to say the least.

Something Fierce author and 2012 winner of the CBC Canada Reads contest Carmen Aguirre on finding out she wouldn’t receive $60,000 in owed royalties after her publisher, Douglas & McIntyre, declared bankruptcy.

Parks and pools

In order to succeed and meet your goals, it’s not about working on most things until you get it. It’s about working on that thing so you don’t get it wrong.

Noemie Thomas, named the 2013 Canadian female junior swimmer of the year.

So it became this really exciting opportunity to think about that space in a really different way. So it was fun to create that, but then there was also a massive amount of fire… Fire and water and a lot of blood and four guys in Speedos.

Production designer Drew Facey on the Jessie Award-winning work he did for Rumble Theatre’s Penelope.

tion is to work with the aquarium to find a solution. But in the end we are elected to speak for the people.

Outgoing Vision Vancouver commissioner Sarah Blyth on her public stand against keeping whales and dolphins at the Vancouver Aquarium.

The baseball gods are seriously mean, is all I can say, and that’s what I tell the kids. Competitive sport is about learning how to live. You’ve got to battle out there.

Wildcats softball coach Gary Kingman, two years after he survived cancer.

It’s a little gem that too many people have forgotten about that takes us out of our day-to-day routine. It’s like going somewhere [else] without leaving the city.

Noize Records owner Dale Wiese on the charms of Chinatown, where he opened his record store.

eBut we need to look at all of our options and the best op-

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

Opinion A plan B missing in Taxpayers’ diatribe Matthew Claxton Columnist

mclaxton@langleyadvance.com

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is a strange beast.

It exists to bash any and all attempts to raise taxes and to call attention to wasteful government spending. And sometimes that sends it down weird rabbit holes of stupidity.

Take the recent case of TransLink’s proposed 0.5 per cent hike of the PST. We’re going to get to vote on this sometime next spring, in a region-wide referendum.

The provincial government will be staying neutral, but business groups and unions are forming a Yes lobby already.

On the No side are a lot of people who hate TransLink on principle, and the Taxpayers Federation.

TransLink wants the money to expand transit service, of course.

More buses, more light rail in Surrey and out to Langley, money for bike lanes and pedestrian improvements.

But the Taxpayers Federation reminds us that TransLink hasn’t always been the best custodian of cash, calling it “a stunningly bad record of waste.”

I have no argument with the fact that TransLink is badly managed — their CEO is vastly overpaid for the job he is doing — or that it is badly governed.

In fact, let’s take a moment to remember some of TransLink’s greatest hits: Broken down SkyTrains!

Blaming trapped riders for making the problem worse instead of actually fixing the trains!

Overpaid executives!

A system of governance so needlessly complex it would make the court eunuchs of ancient Byzantium weep!

Some of the highest paid police in the country!

And in the big tent, the Compass Card system — massively over budget, behind schedule, hopelessly mired in technological bugs! A big hand, folks, it’s TransLink’s biggest blunder to date!

But… The Taxpayers Federation’s position has two closely related parts: 1) TransLink is wasteful and generally messed up (true) so 2) we should not give them any more money.

“Instead of finding efficiencies, TransLink Mayors want your family to pay $258 more in sales tax every year,”

It’s good to have a critical voice when TransLink is wasting money but the Taxpayers Federation needs to offer its own plan. says the Taxpayers Federation’s call to action.

The problem is the word “efficiencies.” They’re implying that we can find enough money to expand transit if we dig into the couch cushions and maybe fire some executive vice-presidents of made up do-nothing jobs.

You know what? I’m all for house cleaning. Hell, I’ll even put some of the Taxpayers Fed guys on a task force.

Let ’em loose with a dozen meat-fed forensic accountants hungry for blood.

Drag Victoria’s legislators kicking the screaming down here to clean up their mess. Let’s do it now!

And from that we’ll save how much?

Maybe $5 million a year? If we’re very, very lucky, maybe we could find $10 million or even $20 million in efficiencies?

Nothing to sneeze at, but it’s not enough.

We need enough to buy a whole lot of buses, to pay an expanded roster of bus drivers, mechanics, cleaners, and maintenance workers. We need serious capital cash to start building more rail lines.

Seriously, what’s the alternative?

We are drowning in fast-growing new communities, especially south of the Fraser in Surrey and Langley. Those cities planned for transit, and transit never came. The Port Mann expansion has helped, but commuters are choking on local gridlock, and students, the elderly, and the poor have little to no mobility across vast stretches of the Lower Mainland.

It’s good to have a critical voice when TransLink is wasting money, but the Taxpayers Federation needs to offer its own plan.

Because right now, it looks like it simply doesn’t care how, or if, we ever get better transit service at all.

The week in num6ers...

1.8 5.1

In thousands, the approximate number of homeless people living in Vancouver after a oneday count last March.

In kilometres, the length of a new SkyTrain extension out to Arbutus Street if the proposed 10-year, $1.9 billion transit and transportation plan is approved.

Columnist looks back on the year that was Michael Geller Columnist

michaelarthurgeller@gmail.com 2014 was my first year as a Courier columnist.

Since starting this column in May, I have enjoyed numerous Twitter and email exchanges with readers. While some columns garnered limited response, others struck a chord with many of you.

As we look forward to 2015, I expect that the topics that generated the greatest response in 2014 will continue to be of importance to readers.

In May, I wrote about the increasing number of older homes being demolished with a resulting loss of traditional neighbourhood character.

The city subsequently imposed a moratorium on the demolition of pre-1940s houses in Shaughnessy and new regulations related to demolitions elsewhere in the city. While some readers questioned whether government should be interfering with private property rights, others saluted these initiatives.

Rather than impose moratoria, I believe the city should offer incentives to preserve older houses. These could include permission to build a second home for sale with unused density, or subdivision of larger houses into suites. I predict we will see creative new zoning measures in 2015 to address this ongoing concern.

In June, I wrote about the dismal state of many streets around Vancouver with weeds growing through asphalt medians and along sidewalks. I was troubled by the increased number of unkempt properties and cigarette butts and other garbage strewn about the city.

While some thought I was being rather petty, many of you shared my concerns and this column attracted considerable media attention.

Sadly, the weeds remain and the city’s overall cleanliness has not improved.

If anything, areas like the Downtown Eastside are getting worse. I expect we will all have much more to say about this in 2015.

In July, following participation in a national planning conference, I wrote how well-designed cities can contribute to better health. I noted the irony that in trying to make cities and buildings safer and more accessible for those in wheelchairs, we were discouraging children from walking to school and the rest of us from using stairs.

As healthcare costs rise, we are go-

8 358

The percentage of people who successfully keep their New Year’s resolutions, according to a study by Forbes magazine.

The number of shopping days remaining until Christmas.

ing to have to look at innovative ways to improve public health. I predict many discussions on reducing healthcare costs in 2015.

As the municipal election campaign heated up at the end of the summer, we heard a lot of concerns about neighbourhood planning around Vancouver. My column suggesting that expert planners should have as much input as neighbourhood residents did not sit well with everyone.

In 2015, we will get to see if the city is going to change its approach to planning neighbourhoods, as well as how the Citizens’ Assembly model works out.

In September, I wrote about parking concerns, bicycle accidents and registration, and whether the mayors’ council really agreed to fund an underground subway along Broadway. All three articles generated considerable interest and I expect debate on these matters will continue in 2015.

As an electric car owner, I will be particularly interested in how older condominium and rental apartments accommodate the parking and charging requirements of an increasing number of electric cars.

As someone wanting better public transit, I will be awaiting the outcome of the transit referendum, or as one reader suggested I call it, the transportation referendum, noting TransLink has responsibility for roads as well.

A topic of great interest throughout the year was the impact of foreign buyers on the cost of housing. Following my October report from London, others questioned whether municipal governments could really address this issue without support from the federal and provincial governments. I predict this issue will not be going away.

And now for some resolutions.

In 2015, I resolve to explore the need for better management of public and private trees in the city; what to do about deteriorating conditions in the Downtown Eastside; how to improve community neighbourliness, and what to do with older social and public housing projects and whether governments should encourage longstanding residents to purchase their units.

Until then, thank you for your interest and comments over the past year and best wishes for a happy, healthy and humour filled 2015. twitter.com @michaelgeller

1

The number of years real estate consultant and property developer Michael Geller has spent as a Courier columnist.

17

The number of different instruments played during performances of Chelsea Hotel, a tribute to the music of Leonard Cohen running until Jan. 3 at Firehall Arts Centre.

W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A11

Mailbox A dam site for sore eyes To the editor:

Re: “Clark bets $8.7B on B.C. with OK for Site C dam,” Dec. 24.

I’m glad to see that the Site C dam project is finally moving ahead after 50 years of talk. The dam is going to take a full 10 years to build before it produces a single megawatt of power, so the sooner we get things going the better.

After all, who can imagine what the clean energy demands on our province’s power grid will be a decade from now in 2024? It could be LNG, it could be new, next-generation mines and processing plants, it could be something that’s not even on the radar yet. Whatever it is, having a robust supply of reliable, cleanly generated energy is an economic asset that gives us an ongoing edge in a world dealing with climate change and the need to lower carbon emissions.

Bravo to all those who worked to make Site C a reality.

Jimmy Pelk, Langley ••• It’s unfortunate that we didn’t build the Site C dam back in the 1980s. It’s true that we didn’t need the power from Site C back then, but in retrospect it would have been a lot less expensive to build and we could have been selling the

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

Blizzard of ’96 buries Lower Mainland

Dec. 28, 1996: Three days after only the seventh white Christmas on record in Vancouver, the city ground to a halt after being buried by snow. Vancouver received a record one-day snowfall of 35 centimetres and was forced to shut down public transit, including the SkyTrain, while a Canucks vs. Sharks game at GM Place was also cancelled. By the time the snow finally stopped falling and began melting on New Year’s Day, a total of 1.5 metres had accumulated, at least two people had died and property damage was estimated at $200 million.

Nirvana give final Canadian shows

Jan. 3, 1994: Alt rock icons Nirvana play the first of two sold-out shows at the PNE Forum. The concerts marked the fourth and final local appearance for the band, who had previously played at both the now-defunct Town Pump and Commercial Drive’s York Theatre in 1990 and the Commodore Ballroom at Halloween the following year. Nirvana was wrapping up the final leg of a North American tour in support of its third and final studio album, In Utero, which debuted at number one on the Billboard album charts. Three months later, lead singer and guitarist Kurt Cobain was found dead in his Seattle home from an apparent suicide.

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power for the past couple of decades and using the revenue to pay for the dam.

Dams in this province have always been built before we actually needed the power. We routinely sold that extra power — clean power — to various states and provinces that needed it. The revenue helped keep B.C. Hydro rates down and the dam-building process created good jobs. Plus, when we finally needed the extra power, it was there for us, ready and waiting.

But instead of staying a step ahead of the game, and ahead of population growth, we’ve been buying power from outside the province to top up the supply of power our current dams are no longer able to supply. That seems completely contrary to the province’s time-honoured tradition of keen foresight in energy matters and anticipating future energy needs.

We will never recoup the missed energy-revenue opportunities of the past but we can learn from the experience and get ahead of the game once again.

The need for power certainly isn’t going to get any less in the future. So let’s get ourselves back in gear and not miss out on the energy opportunities still to come. We need to build the Site C dam now because by the time it is built we will need every ounce of energy it can produce.

James McCartney, New Westminster

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters may be edited by the Courier for reasons of legality, taste, brevity and clarity.

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COURIER STORY: “Goodbye to Granville,” Dec. 24.

Dale Odberg: Great stories! Thanks and all the best to you in your new digs.

Main Street Brewing: Great to have @midlifeman1 with his “Crazy Horses” and @ VanCourierNews in the neighbourhood. Welcome to #MountPleasant #BreweryCreek lrothney: You guys rock! Welcome to Mount Pleasant.

ExploreMountPleasant: An early welcome to the ’hood! We look forward to seeing you in #MountPleasantBC soon.

Sharon Townsend: Thank you for being such a great member of the community.

Wishing you the best of luck in your new digs.

COURIER COLUMN: “Vision weakened by the 2014 election,” Dec. 19. jordanbober: Very disappointed, Allen, that you continue to suggest that Janet Fraser’s decision not to back Patti Bacchus for school board chair had something to do with Adriane Carr getting revenge on Vision. Greens make decisions based on a number of principles, revenge not being among them. And although she and Stuart Mackinnon did attend the meetings Janet had with both the Vision and NPA caucuses as supports to her, and support her in her decision, they did not goad her into making her decision.

Do you really think that Janet, who has three kids in public schools and has spent the last decade leading PACs and a community group is incapable of coming to her own conclusions about how best to proceed with a mixed school board in the best interests of students and the public school system?

COURIER STORY: “Sex ed in the afternoon delights,” Dec. 19.

Ancient Pagan: Cool! From a teenage viewpoint, it must be nice to have adults around who don’t disapprove of what you’re doing. It’s far better for the teenagers and society to sort out what’s real than to learn from others who don’t know what they’re talking about.

COURIER STORY: “Transit referendum set for March,” Dec. 19.

Eleanor Boyle: I’m voting “Yes” on the transit referendum to help Vancouverites get around town sustainably and enjoyably. Besides, while nobody’s perfect, TransLink has actually done an excellent job.

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Arts&Entertainment

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GOT ARTS? 604.738.1411 or events@vancourier.com

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Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, 2015

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1. Start 2015 on the right foot, preferably while sipping on a White Russian and wearing a ratty bathrobe. The Dude abides as the Rio screens the Coen brothers’ 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski Jan. 2, 11:30 p.m. as part of its Friday Late Night Movie series. It’s got it all: mistaken identity, bowling, porn empire tycoons, nihilists and an all star cast that includes Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Details at riotheatre.ca.

2. Shake off that New Year’s Eve hangover with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Salute to Vienna Jan. 1, 2:30 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre. The 20th annual event features European singers, dancers and full orchestra kicking out the jams with polkas and waltzes of our dawg J. Strauss.

Details at vancouversymphony.ca.

3. It’s your last chance to catch the Firehall Art Centre’s remount of Chelsea Hotel.

Inspired by the songs of Leonard Cohen, the musical tale of four feisty retired women sharing a home in Miami — wait, that’s Golden Girls — anyway… Chelsea Hotel runs until Jan. 3. For tickets and details, including its New Year’s Eve performance, go to firehallartscentre.ca.

4. Quebec filmmaker Stéphane Lafleur made a minor splash at Cannes with his coming of age film Tu Dors, Nicole. The droll comedy, which is said to harken back to the American independent cinema of the early ’90s à la Jim Jarmusch and Hal Hartley, breezily captures those responsibility-free summers between adolescence and adulthood in glorious black and white. It screens at Vancity Theatre Jan. 2 to 8. For details and show times, go to viff.org.

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Best films of 2014 Julie Crawford

jcrawfordfilm@gmail.com

Divorce, fragile gender roles, frigid climes and descents into madness all figure prominently in this year’s top 10 list; thank heaven for talking trees!

Here are 10 films you should have seen this year:

1. Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Michael Keaton is brilliant as Riggan Thomson, a former movie superhero who tries to revive his career by writing, acting, directing and ponying up the money for a Broadway play that seems doomed from the start. When he’s not dealing with his demanding star, his suicidal daughter, his panicky agent and his ex-wife (Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Ryan), Riggan is fighting off the gravelvoiced directives from his old character, Birdman, who won’t let the glory days die.

The camera is an interloper to these very talky, delightfully clever proceedings, following characters around to all the theatre’s nooks and crannies, glimpsing them at their most vulnerable.

2. Boyhood

The 12-year odyssey of Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is an exercise in filmmaking patience, not to mention a serious gamble (what if one of the actors got sick, backed

Michael Keaton soars in Birdman.

out?). But Linklater is to be commended for more than just his perseverance; the story of how Mason (Ellar Coltrane) navigates comingof-age as the son of divorced parents (Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette) flows naturally and is remarkably seamless. Coltrane even looks a bit like Hawke by film’s end. The year’s quietest movie turns out to be one of its most powerful ones.

3. Whiplash

The scariest movie of the year may have been The Babadook (see below) but the most intense was Whiplash, the story about a mentor-musician relationship perverted by power and ego. Andrew (Miles Teller) is a freshman at the most prestigious music school in the country, who idolizes Buddy Rich and wants to be one of the greats. Instructor Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons, a lock for Oscar) is the sadistic instructor who cajoles and debases his

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students — who isn’t happy until there’s blood on the drum kit — all in the name of cultivating greatness.

4. The Grand Budapest Hotel

It’s weird, it’s colourful, it’s wonderful: The Grand Budapest Hotel, from outof-the-box impresario Wes Anderson, tells the story of a fading European hotel and the intrigue brought about by concierge Monsieur Gustave’s (Edward Norton) liaison with an elderly guest (Tilda Swinton). Ever-loyal junior lobby boy Zero (Anthony Quinonez) never leaves his side. The production design is akin to an ultrastrange and candy-coloured children’s book, populated by a ridiculously impressive cast.

5. Ida

Every black and white shot in Pawel Pawlikowski’s Ida is like an exquisitely lit portrait; the imagery here often says more than words can express. A young woman raised in a Polish orphanage during the Nazi occupation learns the truth about her history just a week before she is to take her vows. The revelation could change everything. It’s a mystery, a rumination on loss and lineage and the infallibility of faith. The film stands on the strength of its principal actors, Agata Kulesza and Agata Trzebuchowska.

Continued on page 16

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4

Arts&Entertainment Year in film filled with thrills, chills Continued from page 14

into the superhero genre, which was, frankly, taking itself too seriously. Chris Pratt (The Lego Movie) again stars as a reluctant hero, accompanied by a motley posse of do-gooders (Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel et al) wise-cracking their way through the universe.

6. Selma

Most of us are familiar with the black-and-white news footage of the 1965 beatings in Selma, Ala., but director Ava DuVernay brings it back in blazing, potent, full colour.

The film elucidates the large-scale politicizing at work but also shines a light on Martin Luther King Jr’s (a sensational David Oyewolo) private struggles.

On Now at The Brick!

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7. The Babadook

Written and directed by Australian Jennifer Kent in her feature debut, The Babadook is the scariest film in years. Kent’s story of a sleep-deprived single mom (Essie Davis), her troubled son Samuel (Noah Wiseman) and the monster they unknowingly conjure from a children’s book circumnavigates many horror movie clichés while presenting a realworld portrait of trauma and unresolved grief. Davis gives a potent portrayal of a woman sliding into madness; the child actor

10. Force Majeure Swedish film Force Majeure asks uncomfortable questions.

who plays Samuel is unnervingly convincing. The Babadook is guaranteed to have you looking under the bed.

8. Snowpiercer

One of the most interesting flicks of the year was Snowpiercer, a futuristic action thriller with a decidedly art-house vibe, from director Bong Joonho (The Host). In the near future, and 17 years after an experiment to curb global warming has gone awry, the lone survivors of the planet huddle together on a perpetually moving train, circling an icy globe. The masses are crammed in the back, eating dubious gelatin

bricks while the well-to-do eat sushi and get massages in the front cars. The film boasts a great cast (Chris Evans, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Ed Harris), thrilling production design (with a nod to Terry Gilliam) and a dose of superbly choreographed violence. It’s an ever-changing spectacle — and one wild ride.

9. Guardians of the Galaxy

A trigger-happy raccoon.

A talking tree. A green heroine. On paper, it didn’t have the makings of a top-10 contender. Guardians, however, proved to be one of the most entertaining films of the year, breathing new life

Thanks to these valued provincial partners for making a difference with Special Olympics BC.

Ruben Ostlund asks an uncomfortable question in his Force Majeure: when push comes to shove, is your mate up to the task of protecting the family? Ebba (Lisa Loven Kongsli) finds out just what her workaholic husband Tomas (Johannes Bah Kuhnke) is made of during a ski holiday in the French Alps. When an avalanche threatens, Tomas bolts, leaving Ebba to save their two children. Ostlund’s whiteout alpine scenery is both breathtaking and foreboding.

Much of the film occurs in near-silence, though the body language of an emasculated Tomas and a disappointed Ebba speaks volumes. Expect the debate about responsibility, family and gender roles to continue long after you leave the theatre.

British Columbia

BRITISH COLUMBIA

6

Join our team and make a difference.

“Before I joined Special Olympics, I didn’t really know about myself, and I only had a few friends. But now, since I joined Special Olympics, I not only know about myself, but I have lots of friends.”

-Special Olympics BC – Vancouver athlete Alex

Get involved! Volunteer | Donate | Participate Email info@specialolympics.bc.ca | Tel 604-737-3078 | www.specialolympics.bc.ca | Facebook specialolympicsbc | Twitter @sobcsociety

W E DN E SDAY, DE C E M B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 4 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

A17

YearinReview

GOT SPORTS? 604.630.3549 or mstewart@vancourier.com

1

2

1. In March, the Churchill Bulldogs won the inaugural AAAA senior boys basketball B.C. Championship, the first in school history. PHOTO RON HOLE 2. In August, Emma March, a pitcher and first baseman with South Vancouver Little League, drew international attention as one of two girls at the World Series. PHOTO CHUNG CHOW

Girls pitch and Bulldogs win it

FIFA turf fight underscores sports sexism Megan Stewart

mstewart@vancourier.com

In addition to sweetheart storylines and Sochi’s twin toilets, there were small and significant delights from the sports world this past year. Plus, a big, sexist shortfall.

In Vancouver, a Little League team hit the international stage, a deserving basketball program won it all, a near-winless football program almost won the biggest game of all, the city continued its love affair with a Toronto franchise despite the end of a three-year winning streak, and a prince returned to reign. Plus: the turf double-standard.

Here’s what we learned in 2014.

1. We can all brag about throwing like a girl

In 2014, pitchers and Little League baseball players were pleased to say that, yes, they do

throw like a girl.

South Vancouver Little League first baseman Emma March was one of two girls playing for a B.C. pennant at the provincial championship this summer and then, on the international stage at Williamsport, Pa., 13-yearold fastballer Mo’ne Davis captivated the continent with her command on the mound and confidence in everything she did. She became the first girl to pitch a shutout at the World Series and was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. (Which I will single-handedly make a collector’s item.)

Davis and March bunked together at the international baseball championship as the only two girls in the tournament. South Vancouver Little League represented Canada and finished 0-3.

2. It was the best fun to have a dog in the fight

In past seasons, the Churchill Bulldogs have won recognition for their sportsmanship, highlightreel player Mindy Minhas and 2013 coach of the year Rick Lopez. But at the inaugural AAAA provincial champion-

ship in March this year, the Bulldogs played their best basketball at the best time and won the first B.C. title in the school’s history.

single-A and MLB teams are worth a box of crackerjacks.

5. We love Linden and… lobster

3. Losing is agonizing

Victory brings thrills, a loss means agony. This we know and this is what the varsity Hamber Griffins learned in November when they lost the Tier II B.C. football championship in a 7-6 nail-biter that saw the final four minutes on the game clock take three quarters of an hour to play out.

The coaches, including Bobby Gibson, were correct when they said the Griffins — who won their first playoff game and advanced to the championship after four losing seasons since launching in 2010 — have every reason to hold their heads high.

Many players, a gaggle of cheerleaders and a few coaches, too, cried during their post-championship huddle. Take a knee, embrace the agony. Let it fuel your next season, Hamber.

4. Threepeat is a word when it happens to your team

Hamber Griffins football coach Bobby Gibson

The Vancouver Canadians came close to winning four consecutive Northwest League championships but were swept in the best-of-three final this September. In our city, the success of the Canadians and their well-run front office (in addition to the beauty of Nat Bailey Stadium) has helped bolster the appreciation for the Toronto Blue Jays, a would-be contender in a self-aggrandizing sports market often loathed by ours but the Major League affiliate of the C’s.. As the only two professional baseball teams in the country, the

Trevor Linden returned to his princedom, this time anointed king as the Canucks president. No. 16 is still loved by his subjects, evidenced by no one setting a police car alight over a hockey game. Also, resale Canucks tickets are closer to affordable. If the first line lights it up, this could change. For now, enjoy the lobster rolls and pour one out for the unionized service workers who were dismissed in the name of gourmet fare.

6. If you’re a female soccer star, you’re worth less to FIFA

The 2015 Women’s World Cup will be played at B.C. Place and across the country on artificial turf fields, a surface male and female players consider substandard.

Women will have to play on the fake grass while men would never settle for the “mocksoil.”

Despite a lawsuit filed this year in Ontario over what international soccer

stars consider a doublestandard, neither Soccer Canada nor FIFA will spend the money to make the requested changes.

Because of this unnecessary embarrassment, turf may now be the most controversial and nonorganic produce sown in B.C. At an open house for a $10.5 million soccer upgrade at UBC, an engineer named Dave would not give his last name despite identifying himself as an expert consultant who designs soccer fields, including the ones planned at the university.

The plans (attractive, low-profile buildings and open space for the public) include two soccer fields, both of them grass, both which will be used by Canada Soccer and the Vancouver Whitecaps as well as the Thunderbirds.

“The irony isn’t lost on us,” said Dave of no last name. While the university and Whitecaps’ future is on grass, the future of the women’s World Cup remains on turf, which many players argue amounts to second-class material for elite competitors who should be recognized as equals. twitter.com/MHStewart

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