Vancouver Courier March 11 2015 by Vancouver Courier

WEDNESDAY

March 11 2015 Vol. 106 No. 19

URBAN SENIOR 12

Hockey Night in Cuba THEATRE 20

Whipping Man leaves markk SPORTS 22

B.C. girls on the hardwood There’s more online at

vancourier.com MIDWEEK EDITION

THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908

Buying through the Bank of Mom and Dad

Home buyers seek help from parents Jen St. Denis

jstdenis@biv.com

If you live in Vancouver, are under the age of 40 and have your heart set on living in a detached house, you’re more likely than anywhere else in the country to turn to your parents for help. At least, that’s the best educated guess from observers of this city’s real estate market. Like the controversial issue of foreign ownership, there is no data available on the phenomenon. “The combination of very, very high house prices means that you have generations, whether it’s parents or the grandparents, who have a whole bunch of house equity,” said Tsur Somerville, a professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. “You’ve got kids for whom it is, given the incomes here, difﬁcult to [save].” In 2012, Vancouver’s median income was $71,140, according to Statistics Canada. Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Montreal all had higher median incomes. Chris Catliff, CEO of BlueShore Financial in North Vancouver, said his credit

union has seen an increase in the number of parents who want to use the equity in their houses to help their children buy into a detached-home neighbourhood. According to Catliff, the trend is linked to an increase in wealthy immigrant buyers who are buying homes as an investment, which has helped push prices up. Meanwhile, homeowners over the age of 55 who purchased homes in the 1970s or ’80s have seen a steep rise in their home equity. They are now increasingly using that equity to help their children buy a house, Catliff said. “The desire of parents is often to get their children and grandchildren into [detached-home] neighbourhoods, with great schools, and near them,” he said. Paul Eviston, a realtor who specializes in East Vancouver, said he has seen more parents helping children buy real estate over the past two years. Houses on the city’s traditionally lower-priced East Side are now regularly listed at over $1 million. “If you think about it now, to get into a reasonable detached home on a full city lot, your price point is about $1.3 million,” Eviston said. Continued on page 7

No vote punishes the young

Rising generation most to lose if plebiscite fails OPINION Jessica Barrett

Jessica.Barrett@gmail.com

HANGER ON Aerial silk performer Julia Siedlanowska poured drinks for participants of both the Hush Wedding Soiree and the Groom Show this past Saturday at Terminal City Club. See story on page 8. PHOTO REBECCA BLISSETT

There are many things a young urbanite considers when choosing your preferred location in neighbourhood-centric Vancouver. First, you need to determine where you ﬁt on the east-west continuum, or decide if you prefer the downtown peninsula. Then, you need to weigh your lifestyle priorities in terms of easy beach access, cheap rent or local amenities. But no matter where you choose to settle, you think about your proximity to transit. Yes, this is another column about that. Because in the debate leading up to next week’s referendum, I’ve been utterly unsurprised to hear the knee-jerk hue and cry coming from Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation about the proposed 0.5 per cent sales tax surcharge. And I expected a certain amount of indignation from suburban motorists who incorrectly believe public transit doesn’t beneﬁt them. But I have been surprised to hear a cer-

tain amount of protestation from young, urban professionals who avail themselves of the walkable, livable, human-scaled lifestyle made possible by a healthy public transit system. I mean, I get it. When our transit authority is paying not one, but two CEOs in a month what many 20 and 30-somethings are struggling to earn in a year, it is galling to be asked to pay more for a service that already takes a big bite out of your budget. It is also tempting to view a no vote as a means by which to punish provincial governments, past and present, for the short-sighted decisions made mostly by members of a generation reared in the era of the automobile — and with the outdated values that went along with it. But a no vote won’t punish them. It will only punish us. For those with decades still to go before hitting middle age are surely among the groups with the most to lose — or gain — from the outcome of this vote. Consider the growth projections for Metro Vancouver that predict an additional one million people will move to the region by 2040. Continued on page 9

THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

MADE IN CANADA

W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News

Yes side on ropes as vote nears

12TH&CAMBIE Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

Everybody loves a public opinion poll, right? Well, maybe not the Adrian Dix version of the B.C. NDP (little cheeky joke there for provincial politics watchers) and certainly not the Yes side that wants Metro Vancouver residents to support a 0.5 per cent tax hike to help pay for a $7.5 billion plan to cut congestion in the region. You probably heard/ read/saw the Insights West poll released Monday that showed the majority of 1,604 adult residents polled will mark a big X in the No box on their mail-in ballots. This from Captain Obvious: That can’t be good for the Yes side. To the results… Two-thirds of No voters believe there are other ways to fund transportation projects and are concerned the proposed tax hike will probably increase over time.

More than three in four No voters also say they have no confidence in TransLink to ensure transportation projects are implemented properly. Interesting to me was the category of people “definitely” voting No (37 per cent), where 43 per cent of respondents were 55 or older. Of the “probably” voting No crowd (18 per cent), 15 per cent were 55 or older. So that’s a lot of seniors. “They no longer commute and they’re sitting at home thinking about the next 10 or 20 years of their lives and asking themselves if they’re going to vote to give themselves a tax hike,” explained Mario Canseco, Insights West’s vicepresident of public affairs. “That’s one of the major problems [for the Yes side]. They really haven’t figured out how to crack that nut.” On the topic of seniors, billionaire businessman Jimmy Pattison’s acceptance last week to head up a “public accountability committee” to ensure funds raised under the tax will go to specific projects

More people plan to vote No than Yes for a proposed transit tax to help raise money to fight traffic congestion, according to a public opinion poll released Monday. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

didn’t exactly resonate with respondents. Only three per cent of No voters said Pattison’s involvement would sway them to the Yes side. Enough of that poll. I’ve been conducting my own unscientiﬁc poll at coffee shops, on soccer ﬁelds, at ice rinks, on my street and over dinner with relatives in Vancouver and

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in the suburbs. In no particular order, here’s the feedback: • I never asked for a new Port Mann Bridge and now I have to pay a toll every time I cross it. I don’t remember a plebiscite on that. And why is it that my friends who can afford to go to Whistler every other weekend don’t have to pay

a toll on that highway? • I just read a story in my local paper saying my property taxes are going up. Now they want me to pay even more tax in a plebiscite. Are they nuts? How about spending some money to get rid of all these damn chafer beetles destroying my lawn. • Yep, I get it. We have to

pay now so we’re not stuck in Los Angeles-style gridlock in the future. I’m all for it. It makes sense. I actually read the plan. Have you read the plan? You should. Vote Yes, and please pass the potatoes. • I don’t blame the mayors. It’s Christy Clark who called for this plebiscite. The mayors never wanted it. Conveniently, she and her government can stay in the shadows while mayors take on the unenviable task of urging people to pay more taxes. Nice one, Christy. • A subway sounds good. More buses sounds good. But who’s going to be left in this city to use all this stuff? Nobody can afford to live here anymore, especially all those young people. • The Surrey mayor said she was going to build rapid transit, regardless of the results of the plebiscite. So why should I vote myself a tax increase in the meantime? Doesn’t make sense. • Plebiscite, schmebiscite. Ballots will be mailed out next week. twitter.com/Howellings

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

News

Commuters weigh

7th Annual

Metro Vancouver residents will begin receiving

Great A-Mazing Egg Hunt

Mike Howell

mhowell@vancourier.com

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Even rain ort runs shine (no re funds)

The Yes badge Cheryl Lewis has pinned to her coat is a dead giveaway on how she’ll vote in the upcoming plebiscite on a proposed tax to help pay for transit and transportation upgrades in the region. Almost an hour into her morning commute from her home in New Westminster, Lewis joined a long queue of transit riders last Friday at the Commercial and Broadway transit hub waiting to board a B-Line bus to take her to her job at the provincial health authority near Broadway and Cambie. “This is going to be good for the climate, this is going to be good for air quality, this is going to be good for transportation and good for lower-income people who can’t afford cars,” she said in explaining why she will vote Yes in the plebiscite, which launches March 16 with ballots being mailed to Metro Vancouver residents. Lewis couldn’t be a better representative for the Yes side in the debate over whether supporting a 0.5 per cent increase to the existing seven per cent sales tax is the best funding tool to help pay for a $7.5 billion plan devised by the region’s mayors. She stopped using her car a year ago, likes the exercise she gets in walking to and

from transit stations and — just to amp up her strong belief in a Yes vote — she’s got plans for some artwork in her front yard to support the campaign. “We’re going to draw the planet, say it’s important and to vote Yes,” said Lewis from her place in line at the station, where Mayor Gregor Robertson,

“I don’t mind paying more, if it’s going to add good service and get me there on time.” – Jithin Philip some of his city councillors and medical health ofﬁcer Dr. John Carsley handed out pro-Yes pamphlets to transit users. Lewis was among a half-dozen commuters the Courier spoke to Friday morning who said they will vote Yes in the plebiscite. Supporters say they like the plan’s call for more buses, better service and a subway proposed to run from the VCC-Clark SkyTrain station to Arbutus. “I don’t mind paying

more, if it’s going to add good service and get me there on time,” said Jithin Philip, a health care worker who commutes daily from Delta to his job at Vancouver General Hospital. Brian Shankaruk and his 18-year-old daughter, Roan, live three blocks from the Commercial and Broadway transit station. After a short walk, they board a B-Line bus, with Roan taking about an hour —including walking and waiting —to get to the University of B.C. Her father’s commute is shorter, since he works near Cambie and Broadway. “It’s all good stuff,” Brian said of the mayors’ plan. “We’re going to talk about it some more. We’re just hoping it’s done well and there’s no waste. I’m probably a Yes, more than a No.” Further down the line, a commuter who would only give his name as Wayne, gave Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs an earful on why he will vote No in the plebiscite. He said he doesn’t trust the money will be spent on the projects in the plan. “My wife and I could handle the books better than they could,” he told Meggs, referring to TransLink’s questionable spending on such projects as the Compass Card system, which still isn’t operating.

W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News

in on transit tax plebiscite debate ballots in the mail March 16 “And why don’t the bicycle people pay taxes? They cause accidents, too, do they not? You should see how some of them ride their bikes.” Meggs: “So that’s why you’re voting No?” Wayne: “Mostly it’s because of the way people at TransLink spend the money. It’s wasteful.” Robertson’s visit to the transit hub came the day after he announced that billionaire businessman Jimmy Pattison will oversee a committee to ensure funds raised under a proposed tax would be spent on the projects identiﬁed in the mayors’ plan. Though the committee doubles up on what has already been promised by the provincial government, which has committed to annual audits on the money collected under the tax, Robertson said it’s about having an independent third party validate that the tax funds go directly to the projects. “I’m optimistic people will see this as another

Volunteers spent last Friday morning’s rush hour encouraging transit users at the Commercial and Broadway transit hub to vote Yes in the upcoming plebiscite on a transit tax. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

important step on accountability and ensuring that we get closer to a Yes vote,” the mayor told reporters after

CELLO ONIONS

visiting with commuters. In an interview with the Courier Thursday, Pattison said “I haven’t been asked

SUNKIST SMALL BC FUJI APPLES NAVEL ORANGES

to sway people’s votes. I’ve just been asked would I get involved in an accountability committee, if the Yes Side

wins. And I said yes I would.” Even if the Yes side wins, the plan still relies on substantial funding from

the provincial and federal governments to pay for $7.5 billion in projects and upgrades to be phased in over 10 years. All provincial Transportation Minister Todd Stone has committed to is “funding one third of major new rapid transit projects and the replacement of the Pattullo Bridge, provided that they ﬁt within the provincial capital plan and strong business cases can be made for the investments.” Meanwhile, Lewis said she plans to canvas on behalf of the Yes side but noted she’s worried about people rejecting the plebiscite without reading the plan or using the vote as an opportunity to cast a ballot against TransLink or the provincial government. “People are really not trusting of this,” she said before boarding a bus. “I’m really worried at how controversial this is. I’m worried about how people are so negative about it.” twitter.com/Howellings

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News

Arbutus line clear within two weeks

Gardeners salvage what remains of corridor plots Jenny Peng

jennypeng08@gmail.com

It’s just a matter of time before the soil in Penny Hurt’s remaining garden falls away after Canadian Paciﬁc crews cleared a third of her garden along its rail line. Her raspberry plots are hanging at the edge of a steep cliff where a pile of rock and wood debris have collected since the March 4 removal work by crews at Maple and East Boulevard broke the rock wall that held up the garden. Hurt quickly tried to salvage the remaining plots by installing 2x4 lumber to hold back the soil from tumbling down the slope. She’s waiting for CP to clear the debris before deciding how she will further stabilize the soil. CP spokesperson Jeremy Berry said in a statement to the Courier that it will continue to clear the cor-

Days after the removal work by CP, Penny Hurt continued planting onions and peas on the plot her family has managed since 1982. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

ridor for the next one to two weeks. Each of Hurt’s neighbour gardeners are facing different challenges with surviving sections of their plots.

“They’re sorry to see things go but they understand CP Rail are within their legal rights,” said Hurt. Days after the removal work by CP, Hurt con-

tinued planting onions and peas on the plot her family has managed since 1982. “CP made no effort to keep up their property at all. It was just left to

grow the weeds. In about ’92, the last freight train ran and continuing on,” reminisced Hurt. Howard Normann, the Vancouver Park Board’s manager of urban forestry, says approximately 15 to 20 smaller trees out of 60 tagged trees were moved by residents to salvage them. Twenty-ﬁve larger trees still need to be relocated to McCleery Golf Course by March 11. The park board is covering costs associated with the project. But some trees have already been lost. “Some trees we just can’t save,” he said. “From an economic standpoint, they are in no condition to be saved. They either have broken branches or are diseased or are too large. There are trees that have been planted against walls. There are trees that have been planted on angles. So we’re picking the healthiest trees and there are some, unfortunately, that can’t be saved.” The City of Vancouver

ﬁled a court injunction in October 2014 after talks between the city and CP about the sale of the land broke down. The city offered to buy it for no more than $20 million, with a plan to preserve it as greenway or to use it as a transportation corridor. CP, however, claimed the line through Vancouver’s West Side is worth $100 million due to its growth potential. After negotiations came to a standstill in the fall, residents living along the corridor became infuriated when the rail company started bulldozing gardens along the Marpole section of the rail line. In November, CP agreed to pause work on the corridor while legal proceedings were underway. By January, the Supreme Court of B.C. ruled in CP’s favour and dismissed the city’s application to halt clearing gardens and other obstructions along the Arbutus Corridor. Clearing work resumed in February. twitter.com/JennyPengNow

See Retirement More Clearly A seminar on enabling technology for low vision hosted by Tapestry at Wesbrook Village Friday, March 13, 1:30pm – 2:30pm Who among us hasn’t envisioned a retirement spent enjoying favourite pastimes, rich with choices and social engagement. But what happens when macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma or other conditions suddenly make seeing that retirement a lot less clear? At Tapestry, we believe in empowering our residents to realize their retirement goals and maximize their quality of life. Join residents who can share their stories of empowerment through technology. Learn about hand-held video magnifiers, smart reader systems, talking book readers, speech software for computers and large print keyboards for computers. From the comfort of our technology-enabled classroom, the team at Tapestry will facilitate education and access to experts in this field. Isn’t it time you saw your retirement clearly? Join us. This is a free event open to seniors and their families. Call Tapestry at Wesbrook Village at 604.225.5000 to register.

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W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News

Boomers transferring their wealth

Continued from page 1 That means the buyer would have to come up with $325,000 just for the down payment. “If someone’s coming out of a townhouse that’s worth maybe $700,000 and they’re going up $600,000, they’re going to have some of that equity but they’re probably going to need around $100,000 to make the jump.” That gift from the parent effectively lowers the home price, meaning that a $1 million home would get knocked down to $750,000 if the purchaser got a gift of $250,000 for a down payment from his or her parent. “As long as the parents are gifting the money, it’s not calculated into their total debt service ratio,” Eviston said. Many of the younger couples he sees buying houses worth over $1 million have high dual incomes, in the $300,000 range, and so can afford the hefty monthly mortgage payments.

Paul Eviston, a realtor who focuses on East Vancouver, says it’s increasingly common for parents to help their children buy houses priced over $1 million. PHOTO ROB KRUYT

That’s why RBC’s quarterly affordability index for Vancouver is perennially shocking but doesn’t tell the whole story, said Ryan Berlin, director of Vancouver research ﬁrm Urban Futures. RBC’s housing affordability index for Novem-

ber showed that it would take 83 per cent of gross household income to afford a detached home in Vancouver, compared to 56.3 per cent in Toronto. “What we are increasingly inclined to do is not [compare] incomes to price but incomes to payments,”

said Berlin. “[Banks] won’t lend to you if you’re spending more than 44 per cent of your gross income each month servicing debt. That includes your mortgage.” To get more detail on this trend, Urban Futures has ordered custom data from Statistics Canada but

the ﬁrm doesn’t expect to receive the data for several months. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has identiﬁed the issue for future study. “The boomers are the wealthiest generation in history, and they have savings, they have other

assets,” Berlin said. In a 2014 speech to the Urban Development Institute, condo marketer Bob Rennie said wealth transfer between generations is increasing and will help to keep real estate demand in Vancouver strong. Wealth transfer is part of the equation keeping detached-house prices in Vancouver very high, Somerville said. But there are also many other factors, such as scarcity of detached homes, pressure on the region’s land base and immigration trends. As for Vancouver residents who make much less than $300,000 and can’t rely on help from their parents? Well, buying a house in Port Coquitlam instead of Vancouver isn’t the worst thing in the world, Somerville said. “Are we creating a real divide between the haves and the have-nots?” Berlin asked. “Before we answer that question we should have more data.” twitter.com/JenStDen

THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

Community

1. Mahmood Aziz spent some quality time with friends Kayleigh Fell and Jason Tabo during The Groom Show on Saturday at the Terminal City Club. 2. Cigar merchant Catherine Crepeau was still fielding questions even past the event’s 10 p.m. end time. City Cigar was one of the four businesses offering mini-seminars on How to Be a Gentleman. 3. Persian Empire Vodka’s seminar on how to pick a good whiskey and brandy went over well with both men and women. 4. Cigar merchant Catherine Crepeau said she almost has a heart-attack when somebody considers throwing their cigars in the garbage, mistaking plume on their cigars for mould. When plume occurs, it’s the cigar’s oils surfacing and crystalizing which is said to make for a perfect cigar. 5. Joe Fallon of The Gastown Grooming Room not only explained different grooming tools to his audience but offered free neck tapers. See photo gallery online at vancourier.com. PHOTOS REBECCA BLISSETT

Learning the arts of the gentleman

The Groom Show rescues weddings for men CITY LIVING Rebecca Blissett

rvblissett@gmail.com

There was a wedding show at the Terminal City Club Saturday night but that’s not why the men — and this is important to note — eagerly stepped through the building’s doors. The Hush Wedding Soiree beckoned the ladies in their gowns and heels with glowing pink lights and tulle promises while the fellows veered off to the left at the top of the foyer stairs to The Groom Show. The two shows were divided by an acrobat who performed on aerial silks and, while dan-

gling upside-down, poured wine for the guests. But it was liquors, cigars, grooming and suit-ﬁtting that held the men’s attention by way of 15-minutelong mini-seminars held on rotation throughout the evening at the ﬁrst edition of The Groom Show. Kim Trehan, a wedding planner who operates Vancouver’s Soirée Planners, had the idea to highlight the men after noticing too many weddings where they were simply left out of having any say in shaping the day. “I see that so many things are geared towards the bride and I feel that’s unfair because if they didn’t have the groom, there would be no wedding,” she said. “Guys

don’t care about the large centrepieces, don’t care about the frills and bows and all the girly stuff shoved their way. They don’t care about having a Pinterest wedding, they care about having a meaningful day.” Trehan, who produced the show along with wedding photographers Jelger Vitt and Tanja Aelbrecht, said the day should be about the couple, with each having equal say in what they want. “Here the groom gets a show dedicated to him rather than standing off to the side at her show where his job is to carry the bag and the water bottle. No, no! Let the man be the man again,” said Trehan.

Men bought tickets to the show, as opposed to being coerced. And, Trehan pointed out, many were not actual grooms but instead regular guys (and some women) showing up to learn the way of the gentleman. Those who attended all four workshops were given a certiﬁcate that read: “Master in the Art of Being a Gentleman.” Seating was always full for the whiskey and brandy workshop, led by the grandsounding Persian Empire Vodka, while Joe Fallon of The Gastown Grooming Room not only explained different grooming tools to his audience but offered free neck tapers during the evening. BRAVOecho

Custom Suited showed how to ﬁt a suit for comfort as well as reuse a suit worn for a wedding. And then there was City Cigar where cigar merchant Catherine Crepeau captivated her audience with useful information about humidors, cigar choices and how she almost has a heart attack whenever somebody talks of throwing their cigars out when they mistake the aged cigar perfection of plume for mould. By the end of the evening, many women had migrated over to The Groom Show, naturally, as this is where the men were. The cocktail dresses, three-piece suits, and the clinking of glasswear gave the later hour the

feel of an actual wedding reception. “Honestly, it’s a lot more fun on this side,” said Kayleigh Fell, who was waiting for her fiancé Jason Tabo, a cigar aficionado, to finish questioning Crepeau. The couple’s friend who came along for the ride, Mahmood Aziz, was also impressed by what he learned from Crepeau and vowed never again to transport a cigar without a protective sleeve. “If you sit around here and really listen, you learn a little more,” he said. “But this is a bonding experience more than a learning experience. This is more of a social gathering for us.” twitter.com/rebeccablissett

W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

News Transit service still better than in other big cities

Continued from page 1 The generation just heading into the phase of life dominated by careers, kids and commutes will most tightly feel the squeeze of all those extra bodies, whether on transit or behind the wheel. Metro’s aging population will also put pressure on our transportation system. But it is hard to believe the likes of former TransLink CEO Ian Jarvis, interim CEO Doug Allen or former premiers Gordon Campbell and Glen Clark plan to spend their retirement Trip-Planning their way around the region. (Although I readily admit I could be wrong.) Rather than compare CEO salaries in a bid to justify the argument that TransLink’s governance structure is broken, perhaps we should focus on the fact that our transit system most

The generation just heading into the phase of life dominated by careers, kids and commutes will most tightly feel the squeeze of Metro Vancouver’s population growth, whether on transit or behind the wheel. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

deﬁnitely is not. Even with the odd SkyTrain shutdown and the Compass Card delays, we have far and away one

of the most user-friendly systems in the country. This is particularly true for those of us who have ﬂocked to the dense corri-

dors of Vancouver precisely because the option to bike, car share, walk and take transit are integral to our quality of life.

Kidney Transplants: British Columbians Have Spoken

From my home in near Fraser and Broadway, I have three major bikeways a mere pedal stroke from my door. I have an express bus and two rapid transit lines within walking distance. I can get virtually anywhere in the city in 20 minutes or less — the exception being excursions to the far West Side, where the B-Line during peak hours is, I submit, a nightmarish harbinger of things to come should the plebiscite fail. Heading eastward, I can be in deepest Burnaby in half an hour, in New Westminster in another 10 minutes and in Surrey 10 minutes after that. If I want to go on a hike, I can get to the North Shore Mountains using a combination of bus, bike or, amazingly, boat. Compare that to cities like Ottawa, where a $3.40 fare

gets you shoddy bus service that runs every half hour or more outside of peak hours (which really stings when it’s -30 with a wind chill). Or take Calgary, a sprawling city so underserved by transit and choked by trafﬁc congestion that running to the grocery store can take hours. Or Toronto, where disrepair on the subways and streetcars has many of my friends there ﬁguring they’ve got a 50/50 chance of getting to work on time on any given day. Maybe it isn’t fair to ask us all to step up to pay for the perceived mistakes and mismanagement of the powers that be. But sometimes in life you just have to cut your losses. It’s time to bury the hatchet with TransLink and the provincial government, and get moving on getting it right. twitter.com/jm_barrett

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

Opinion

Poor incentives for volunteer coaches

Art reflects life in the Downtown Eastside

Megan Stewart Sports editor mstewart@vancourier.com

Michael Geller Columnist michaelarthurgeller@gmail.com

What is $23.50 worth to you? Maybe a three-pack of T-shirts or half of one high-top sneaker? A drop-in yoga class? A couple hours at the driving range or two sleeves of tennis balls? For any one of the teachers coaching at the B.C. basketball championships this week or last, $23.50 is the value of their season. For Rick Lopez, a teacher and now vice-principal who coaches the Churchill Bulldogs senior boys basketball team, the hundreds of hours he puts in from late summer through this weekend amount to $23.50. But for Jennifer Eng, who coached the senior girls to the first city championship in Churchill history, her season is valued at even less. She’s a school alumnae, but not a teacher. Her season is worth $0. At least, that’s their value according to a new tax credit introduced by the B.C. Liberals. In its 2015 budget released in February, the government promoted a $500 tax credit for teachers and teaching assistants who volunteer as coaches. That’s a hefty, respectable sum worth a pair of Nikes and then some. It’s also a potential incentive to draw more teachers to extracurricular sports as well as an expression of gratitude for the dedicated lot who run practices, develop skills, draft game plans, arrange uniforms and travel, fundraise, counsel and advise, give teens memories they’ll have forever… all while public school boards are tasked with making drastic cuts. The Education Coaching Tax Credit is sold as a $500 tax break but it only provides “a tax benefit of up to $25.30 per eligible taxpayer.” To be eligible, a coach must put in 10 hours over the course of a year. Educators in the private school system who receive salary or a stipend to coach are not eligible. But then, they’re already compensated for work that’s considered voluntary in the public system. There are many more like Churchill’s Lopez and Eng. These two are prominent because their teams were crowned Vancouver city champions last month. There is no cash bonus for winning, and there are dozens of coaches at all grade levels and competitive ability

who continue to show up for each of the three school sport seasons. According to a B.C. Teachers’ Federation study on work-life balance released in 2010, three in every four male high school teachers work more than 60 hours a week at certain times of the year. For male and female educators, an average 45 per cent per cent of those extra hours are for extracurricular activities, including coaching. Some coaches I talk to say they are not supported or are minimally recognized by administration. “Teaching has never been more difficult and the expectations around the profession are at an all-time high,” wrote the West Vancouver school district superintendent Chris Kennedy on his blog, the Culture of Yes, earlier this year. “Do parents want their math teachers coaching volleyball for three hours a night or prepping their lessons? Of course, the answer is probably both.” Kennedy referenced data that showed the majority of high school coaches in his district are not teachers. In Vancouver, the majority of senior boys basketball coaches are not teachers. At one school, a coach was admonished for never attending teachers’ morning meetings. He was such a big part of the school and his players’ lives, his absence was noted. The missing detail: he’s not on staff. Retired teacher Tom Tagami says there are too many could-be coaches who leave school when the afternoon bell sounds, leaving a gap that’s either filled by a community volunteer or replaced outright by a competitive club. There are too few P.E. specialists entering the work force, he said. Then there are others who do not set a good example. “Should you have a job in a P.E. department if you’re not going to commit to an extra-curricular program in a school,” Tagami asked me. “There will be people who go through their entire careers [as a P.E. teacher] and never coach a team.” Their reasons are complex and varied. Undoubtedly $23.50 isn’t an enticement. If you play sports or if there are sports team at your school, thank the coaches for all they do. Coffee shops sell $25 gift cards. twitter.com/MHStewart

The week in num6ers...

37 7.9 83

The percentage of eligible Metro Vancouver residents who say they are “definitely” voting No in the upcoming transit plebiscite, according to a recent poll.

Inbillionsofdollars,theestimated net worth of Jim Pattison, who’s been tapped to ensure funds raised from a proposed tax increase would be used properly for transit improvements.

The average percentage of gross household income needed to afford a detached home in Vancouver, according to recent stats from RBC.

As I listened to an Elections B.C. official describe the voting process for the forthcoming plebiscite a single thought came to mind: I hope we never have to go through this again. What a colossal disaster this is turning out to be. Thanks, Christy. As the ballots are about to be mailed out, I have decided to again leave town. This time I am off to Paris and Morocco in search of more planning ideas to share at a forthcoming lecture entitled 12 Great Ideas for Vancouver from Around the World. It will be presented at SFU Harbour centre on April 1. But before I leave, I am participating in an art unveiling and panel discussion at 6 p.m. tonight (March 11) at Vancouver Community College’s downtown campus. It is organized by the Vancouver Biennale, a non-profit charitable organization that celebrates art in public spaces. It brings to Vancouver the works by internationally renowned and emerging contemporary artists that most people actually like. I agreed to participate in this event since the installation by artist Toni Latour titled “Let’s Heal the Divide” is intended to provoke discussion about the divide that has long existed between the Downtown Eastside and the rest of the city. For many years, I have been concerned with how little progress has been made in the Downtown Eastside despite the million dollars a day being spent on social services. Tonight’s panel, to be moderated by SFU’s Gordon Price, includes Sandra Seekins, a faculty member in art history at Capilano University, and Romi Chandra Herbert, co-executive director of PeerNetBC. Panelists are being asked to address the question whether art can be a catalyst for social change. To my mind, there is no doubt that art and artists can be positive agents of change, which is why I was pleased SFU’s Centre for Contemporary Arts decided to move into the Downtown Eastside. While at the time Jim Green and others worried an art school might lead to undesired neighbourhood gentrification, I was confident it could help regenerate what most regard as a very tragic part of the city.

The number of weeks remaining before CP work crews expect to have cleared any remaining community gardens from along the Arbutus Corridor line.

I say “most” since some Downtown Eastside community activists do not share my view that this neighbourhood is in desperate need of repair. While they urge the city to replace single room occupancy hotels with 5,000 suites of social housing (and city planners seem ready to oblige), they are not as troubled as I am by deplorable streetscapes with crumbling buildings, desolate, empty storefronts and open drug dealing. As Wendy Pedersen of the Carnegie Community Action Plan has told me on a number of occasions, if this is what it takes to keep the condo developers away, so be it. Tonight I will acknowledge that Toni Latour’s art installation may help focus attention on the divide that exists between the Downtown Eastside and the rest of the city, but it will not do much to cause social change. I am much more optimistic about another public art installation about to happen in Winnipeg’s inner city. As reported in Maclean’s magazine, this project by visual artist KC Adams titled “Perception” asked prominent indigenous Winnipeggers to pose for two photos: one during which they were to think negative thoughts including the racism they have suffered, and one while having happier thoughts. The artist then asked her models to label their photos, choosing words that reﬂect the way they are often perceived by the wider community, such as drug dealer or hooker. Viewers are then invited to “look again” at the second photo in order to see that the “hooker” is really “a mother, daughter, girlfriend, sister, high school graduate, working mom (who) loves apples and coffee and is social assistance free.” And so on. The artworks will appear on billboards, in storefronts and bus shelters and inaugurate an annual indigenous art project in a city long divided along racial lines. While it will take more than public art to heal the divides in the Downtown Eastside and Winnipeg’s inner city, I believe it can play a positive role. Sadly the same cannot be said for TransLink’s $30,000 contribution to the Main Street poodle installation that the No side loves to ridicule. Ignore them. twitter.com/michaelgeller

40 50

In thousands, the approximate number of cherry blossom trees within Vancouver city limits currently in bloom somewhat prematurely.

The anniversary being celebrated this year by Vancouver Community College.

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Inbox LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Health officer doctored the truth about transit changes

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

Bertuzzi sucker-punches Steve Moore

March 8, 2004: In a home game the Vancouver Canucks were losing 8-2 to the Colorado Avalanche, power forward Todd Bertuzzi tried to engage Steve Moore in a fight to avenge an unpenalized elbow to the head of Markus Naslund in their last meeting that gave the league’s leading scorer a concussion. After Moore declined, Bertuzzi grabbed his jersey and hit him from behind, driving his head into the ice and breaking three vertebrae. Bertuzzi was suspended for the rest of the season, ending the team’s playoffs hopes, and charged with assault causing bodily harm. He received a conditional discharge after pleading guilty. In August 2014, a civil suit filed by Moore seeking financial restitution was finally settled for an undisclosed sum.

Queen Elizabeth pours some cement

March 9, 1983: After visiting the west coast of the U.S., the HMY Britannia sailed into Vancouver with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip aboard as part of a royal visit. After an official welcome from Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the Queen pushed a button that started the pouring of concrete for the first piling on a pier that would become Canada Place, the Canadian pavilion at Expo 86. Construction on B.C. Place was also halted for the Queen to offer a ceremonial “invitation to the world” to come visit for the upcoming world fair, and she also opened the Graham Amazon Gallery at the Vancouver Aquarium while in town. ADVERTISING

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Re: “Letter: Medical Health Officer prescribes Yes vote,” March. 4. Dr. Carsley used his authority as Medical Health Officer to make a number of statements about the Transit referendum that are untrue. • “Vancouver will get more frequent busses and SkyTrain.” • “a No vote will delay critically needed transportation improvements.” • “Transportation improvements brought by the YES vote mean...” None of these statements can possibly be true. A Yes vote does not obligate TransLink to engage in one or any of these projects. The tax proposed does not provide sufficient funding for all of them. The question on the plebiscite has been altered from the desires of the Mayor’s Council to the priorities of the provincial government. There is no firmly costed plan in place to follow. TransLink has been subject to provincial interference since its inception. Successive ministers and premiers have built transit lines in little-used areas at high cost (Millennium Line), one has insisted TransLink purchase an expensive ticketing system to address a minor problem, others have built two under-utilized bridges over the Fraser with a third planned, completely without accountability. A No vote will not mean the end of the conversation. It will simply force the accountability for prioritizing our decision making back where it belongs — onto the provincial government, which appoints TransLink’s board, tells it what to do, and how to do it. Transit issues will not go away, and there are far better ways to address them than with an impotent popularity contest in the public domain. Andre Pekovich, Vancouver

‘Hey, check out that pig’

Re: “Transit tax battle includes pigs and a poodle,” March 6. It continues to amaze me how much credibility is given to Jordan Bateman’s mocking of TransLink, in particular the public art poodle at Main and 18th, in the name of saving taxpayers’ money. Where is his outrage at the hundreds of thousands of dollars spent at YVR on its amazing public art collection? That money was raised by a user fee set by an unelected board with no public input and no public accountability, overseen by a CEO paid more than the TransLink CEO. The media gleefully feeds at the trough of Bateman’s glib and superﬁcial award for waste to TransLink. Meanwhile Jim Pattison, 19 out of 22 of the region’s mayors,

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ONLINE COMMENTS Not buying what billionaire car salesman is selling

Re: “Jimmy Pattison to oversee funds for transit and transportation plan,” online only. Only in loony-toon British Columbia would it even be considered to involve a billionaire, whose riches partially come from selling cars, in ANYTHING to do with public transit. A second-year UBC accounting student who has to endure the system daily would be the better choice. Les Booze, via Comments section

•••

The mayors are going to wear this, and the B.C. Liberal government will wash their hands of the whole affair, even though it is of their own making. The referendum was a cowardly move by Christy Clark and Todd Stone, and I for one am not in the habit of rewarding stupidity or hubris. In a Hail Mary pass, the mayors said they are appointing a “blue-ribbon panel,” headed by Jimmy Pattison, to oversee how the tax revenue would be spent. My response: Oh great. Yet ANOTHER non-elected, unaccountable group of businessmen to run the show at TransLink. Stan, via Comments section

President’s choice for a new street name

Re: Kudos & Kvetches: “Road to swellness,” March 6. How about renaming one of our “tree” streets as Unter den Linden for Trevor Linden? Jak King, via Twitter

Praise for DTES pet project

Re: “Animals help humans connect with the community,” March 6. Wow, this was such a sweet article. I’m glad these animals found owners that care about them. doppleganger88, via Reddit

•••

I love everything about this. Nuff said. hyene, via Reddit

have your say online...

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MLAs from both sides of the legislature, the premier, the minister of transportation and leading business groups supporting the Yes campaign prefer to look at what auditors and credit-rating agencies say: “The Aa2 rating assigned to TransLink is supported by … solid governance and management practices” … and “track record of ﬁnding cost efﬁciencies.”— Moody’s, Nov. 2014. The latest (2012) independent audit of TransLink determined it was “not wasteful” and that compensation levels were “reasonable,” prompting then-Transportation Minister Mary Polak to call it “worldclass.” But, hey, check out that pig! Peter Ladner, Vancouver

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Welcome to Cuba’s LUCAS AYKROYD • LUCASAYKROYD@YAHOO.COM

I raise my stick in celebration after scoring the winning goal, set up by ex-NHLers Bernie Nicholls and Gary Leeman. The street hockey game on the M/V Louis Cristal’s upper deck is over, but as the sun glitters on the Caribbean Sea, my adventures on this cruise around Cuba are just beginning. What’s going on here? Bernie Nicholls, who won silver with Canada at the 1985 Worlds in Prague, plays street hockey on a recent Cuba Cruise trip. PHOTO: LUCAS AYKROYD

It’s hard to picture “hockey” and “Cuba” in the same sentence. But Cuba Cruise, a 2013-founded Calgary company, is pioneering innovative ways to experience this long time socialist nation that go beyond simply baking on a Varadero beach.

new

With historic changes afoot, it’s time to cruise around this Caribbean outpost

The week-long “Hockey Night in Cuba” theme cruise I took recently with a group of other travel writers circumnavigated the 110,000-square-kilometre island, making multiple stops.

I was living in two different worlds. By day, I delved into the legacy of Fidel Castro, Ernest Hemingway, and other revolutionary characters. By night, I devoured ribeye steaks and Caesar salad at the on-board Alberta Prime Steakhouse, worked out at the well-appointed gym, vied for karaoke supremacy and chatted with the retired hockey players who’d been invited on this voyage.

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It felt ironic that my introductory tour of Havana was in a red 1954 Chevy Bel Air. Old American cars have continued rolling through the Cuban capital since the U.S. trade embargo started in 1960, but the Obama administration’s loosening of travel restrictions means there’ll be more American visitors – and more modern vehicles – in this land of 11 million in the imminent future. Many reminders of the 1959 Cuban Revolution linger on. Blocky Soviet-era buildings and signs reading “Socialism or Death!” contrasted with the crumbling colonial glory of old Havana, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I stared up at the grey, 109-metre tower in Revolution Square, where a huge image of Che Guevara faces a statue of Jose Marti. Little-known abroad, Marti, a journalist and poet, became a national hero in Cuba’s 19th-century ﬁght for independence. At least in terms of statues, Marti surprisingly gets more exposure than Castro himself.

I just wished I’d had more time to explore Havana. Near the cruise ship terminal, I entered a small shop at the Hotel Conde de Villanueva, festooned with European soccer scarves, and watched a grizzled cigar maker rolling fat Habanos. I abstained, but enjoyed an espresso and a glass of rum.

Afterwards, I strolled along magically lit cobblestone streets. I admired Havana’s baroque cathedral and the Hotel Ambos Mundos, where Hemingway paid $1.50 a night for room 511 and wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls.

Our next stop was Antilla. My group took a bumpy twohour bus ride past banana plantations and cactus fences to Castro’s childhood farm in Biran, sweltering in 30-C weather. In a neat capitalistic touch, visitors are charged $10 U.S. to take photos. From the white marble family grave to the main house’s pink-tiled bathroom to the 1918 Ford parked next to the reconstructed cock-fighting ring, evidence of the revolutionary leader’s surprisingly affluent origins abounded. Lunch at the nearby Ranchon Alcala was characteristically Cuban. In an open-air restaurant with a thatched roof, I tucked into black beans and rice with roast chicken and tomato salad – and drank a can of Cerveza Cristal, the goto Cuban beer. In Santiago de Cuba, the country’s second-largest city, my highlight was visiting the 1638-built El Morro, a Spanish fortress intended to guard against pirates. Burgeoning with rusting cannons, it magnificently overlooks the Bay of Santiago and on this day a golden sunset illuminated the waves. Beneath an archway, four seated women sang “New York, New York” in exquisite harmony. Happily, the itinerary did include some beach time. During a stop in Montego Bay, Jamaica, I took a dip and relaxed on a chaise at the famous Doctors Cave Beach,

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I visited the ship’s bridge when we docked at the 1819-founded provincial capital of Cienfuegos. It was remarkable to watch Captain Goumas bring the vessel into port at 9.5 knots and work with his commanding ofﬁcers to maneuver it into place. (The experience is $20/adult.) In nearby Trinidad, celebrating its 500th anniversary this year, worlds seemed to collide. A tiny amusement park featured large, knock-off Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh images. An old man smoking a foot-long cigar in the historic centre accepted tips in exchange for his photo. Castro-style green army caps with red stars abounded – for sale in gift shops. Ah, so that’s what’s going on here. A warm rain falls in the main square as I prepare to head back to the ship, with all its North American comforts and familiar hockey talk. If fun, adventure, and history are what count, then clearly I’ve scored a hat trick in Cuba. For more information on Cuba Cruise’s different themed trips, visit www.yourcubacruise.com. Sailings run through late March.

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In the lead up to the event, the festival is now accepting submissions for the 2015 Haiku Invitational, presented by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. The cherry blossom theme for this year’s festival has been dubbed Connections: How do you connect to people, places, and moments of experience in the context of seeing cherry trees bloom? Festival organizers suggest budding poets let the spirit of making connections inspire

them while writing cherry blossom haiku. Much how the ephemeral nature of the blossoming cherry trees provides a lesson to celebrate life now, similarly, haiku captures a ﬂeeting moment in time with deep awareness and subtle appreciation. Judges for the 2015 Haiku Invitational are Michael Dylan Welch, Allan Burns and Katherine J. Munro.

The festival begins April 2 with the annual Cherry Jam Downtown Concert, which this year takes place from noon to 1:20 p.m. at the indoor concourse of the Burrard SkyTrain station. Highlights include a performance by the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra trio ensemble conducted by Ken Hsieh, the taiko and electric guitar duo LOUD, Langley Ukulele Ensemble and national yo-yo champion Harrison Lee. For more information visit vcbf.ca.

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MARPOLE The Marpole Museum and Historical Society invites the public to a lunch with Ron Hyde, author of The Sockeye Special, a story of the Steveston Tram Line, Saturday, March 14 from noon to 3 p.m. at St. Augustine’s Parish Hall, 8680 Hudson St. Admission is $10 and includes lunch. Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 604-261-0131 or at the door on March 14. For more information visit marpolehistorical.ca.

The Vancouver Public Library is offering a free Twitter workshop for seniors.

The Vancouver Public Library is offering a course designed to introduce seniors to Twitter.

KERRISDALE A free event at the Kerrisdale Seniors Centre, 5851 West Boulevard, promises to provide information on inflammation, downsizing and choosing a home support provider takes place Tuesday, March 31 from 2 to 3: 30 p.m. Good times. Dr. Cathy Sevik from the Cornerstone Health Centre is presenting Getting to the Root Cause of Your Symptoms: Inflammation; Susan Borax from Practically Daughters is leading a discussion dubbed Don’t let Your Stuff Prevent You From Moving; and finally, Youla Thomas from Comfort Keeps will offer advice on how to choose the most appropriate home support. Please register by March 24 by calling 604-541-8653.

Learn the basics of this popular social media platform, including how to set up and customize an account, and then begin following other Twitter users in this hands-on course. Twitter for Beginners for Seniors is offered from 10:15 to 11:45 a.m. March 27 in the training room of the Central Library, 350 West Georgia St. The session is free but registration is required by calling 604-331-3603.

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Finding peas for all size gardens Shelling, sugar/snap and soup peas are the major choices

Anne Marrison

amarrison@shaw.ca

Now that the weather’s beginning to dry a little, this is the ideal time to plant peas. Cool, loose soil encourages fast germination, there’s not enough moisture to rot pea seed and voles have little time for leisurely snacks on it or tiny shoots. For strong, healthy pea crops, it helps to apply a dusting of lime. Innoculants also play a role in increasing the food supply available to peas because it helps grow more nitrogen-ﬁxing nodules on their roots. The more of these in the soil, the richer it becomes, not only for the peas themselves but also for the next plants you grow in that place. Peas are one of the food crops that leave earth better than they found it. That’s why peas are sometimes used as a cover crop for loosening compacted soil and enriching it. But peas have formidable enemies. Voles love to eat

No matter what size your garden is, there’s likely a kind of pea that will fit right in.

peas and the traditional straight rows of food crops let them go directly from one snack to another. This happens more easily when peas are planted early when voles have few other food sources. Planting somewhat later is one protection.

Another is sprinkling red pepper over the peas themselves in the row. But not everyone wants to try this because voles that get red pepper in their eyes are in deep trouble and a great deal of pain. In this climate peas have

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few serious diseases. But one potential pea problem is enation. It reveals itself by dwarfed vines with distorted pods. Like many other virus diseases, it’s spread by aphids. Mildew is another illness. It’s especially distressing on snow/sugar peas where pods are usually eaten. This fungal malady is best dealt with on food crops by using home remedies. One is a 10 per cent solution of milk mixed in water and sprayed.

No matter what your size garden, there’s likely a kind of pea that will ﬁt right in. Broadly there are shelling peas, sugar/snap peas or soup peas. Some speed to maturity in 56 days, others dawdle as much as 78. It seems the pioneers liked to stretch their season by planting early, mid-season and late peas all at the same time. Then they could enjoy long harvests as different kinds ripened. This may

be worth trying today. Green Arrow is a longmaturing shelling pea which resists most pea diseases. One good mid-season variety is the snap pea Super Sugar Snap which resists enation and mildew as does Sugar Ann, which is somewhat earlier and has 60-centimetre vines that don’t need trellising. Some peas have fewer leaves which means that in wide plantings spring gales have less chance of toppling rows. The heritage shelling pea Lincoln is one of these. So is the Manitoba Pea and Sugar Ann. Both these are so dwarf that planting each type closely together means they intertwine solidly with each other and are said not to need staking, although picking is challenging. Since peas don’t mind growing closely together, wide rows grow well and can produce masses of crop. Some gardeners handle wide rows with one support down the middle plus pea netting. Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions. Send them to her via amarrison@ shaw.ca. It helps if you give the name of your region or city.

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Travel

American offers tours of holy Hindu city

Former missionary found new calling on the banks of the Ganges River Greg Middleton

Meridian Writers’ Group

VARANASI, India—This holy city, where Hindu pilgrims come to bathe in the River Ganges, is also the home of one of the best and most unusual guides in north central India. Jeremy Oltman came to India in 1977 as a wideeyed young American evangelist from Minnesota, determined to do good works and “save” Indian beggars, prostitutes and drug addicts. The omens for his mission weren’t good: “I remember my ﬁrst morning because it was Mother Theresa’s funeral,” he says. We are sitting in front of the Kashi coffeehouse, a chai stand with what may be the best coffee — real cappuccino — in Varanasi. It is a place I would never have found if Jeremy had not brought me here. “I came to India to be a social worker in Delhi at Sahara House, a drug rehabilitation house,” he says. “I didn’t like India at ﬁrst. All I saw were drug addicts, prostitutes, beggars and corrupt police.” It wore him down. Within two years he was burned out. He went north to Rishikesh, near the source of the Ganges, a beautiful place consid-

Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in India.

ered holy, and home to many Indian spiritual and yoga teachers. By then, he was no longer a Christian but a hardcore hippie, sporting dreadlocks and beads. He went to Rishikesh to learn Hindi and found a mentor, a man by the name of Raju, who suggested he write a Hindi study program for westerners. “I slowly realized that foreigners can’t really help anyone here, but that maybe we could be a catalyst, that we might be able to help Indians help Indians.” He and his new Indian wife eventually moved to Varanasi, where they opened a study centre for disadvantaged Indian women and children. He stopped telling Indians what to do and started showing them how something might be

possible. As he learned more about Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world, he would take his students on walking tours to both learn from them and

teach them what he had learned. It was not long before Indian and then western friends would say, “I have friends or relatives coming, would you take them on a walking tour?” His Indian friends discouraged him from including the usual tourist haunts and overpriced stores that give guides money back under the table — baksheesh. So, more and more, the tours became the secrets sights of Varanasi. Eventually, he opened his own business. “What I offer is knowledge and safety in a city that can be overwhelming,” he says. He offers to take me to somewhere where I, who have visited Varanasi half-a-dozen times, had

never been. And he does: Lolark Kund, the Sun Temple, hidden on a back street, constructed so you only see the image of the holy lingam (the phallic symbol of the Hindu god Shiva) as a reﬂection in the pool. Women seeking to get pregnant often

come here to bathe. I am impressed. In Varanasi, Jeremy is known to the locals as Jai, meaning victory in Hindi — which is what he has, in his way, found here. For more information on Jeremy Oltman’s tours, visit varanasiwalks.com. More stories at culturelocker.com.

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Hindu pilgrims flock to the city in order to bathe in the Ganges.

A new point of view.

CBC News Andrew Chang

Vancouver Weeknights at 5 & 6 pm cbc.ca/bc

@cbcnewsbc

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

Arts&Entertainment

GOT ARTS? 604.738.1411 or events@vancourier.com

March 11 to 13, 2015 1. Looking for signs of spring? Head down to Fortune Sound Club and catch the appropriately named Springtime Carnivore. Led by Greta Morgan, Springtime Carnivore delivers a dose of indie rock sunshine through a sheen of ’60s pop. Hear for yourself when the band opens for the Dodos, March 12. Tickets at Zulu, Red Cat and bplive.ca.

2. The first time we ever saw our father cry was when he took us the theatre to see Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, where Spock dies at the end. Expect to hear lots of dudes sniffling into their popcorn when the Rio screens Wrath of Khan, March 11, 9:30 p.m. to celebrate the prosperous, long life of Leonard Nimoy, which sadly came to an end last month. Details at riotheatre.ca. 3. Filmmaker Ruben Östlund received heaps of praise for last year’s biting and funny Force Majeure, which took the Grand Jury Prize in the Un Certain Regard competition at Cannes. The Cinematheque screens a retrospective of the Swedish satirist’s work, In Case of No Emergency: The Films of Ruben Östlund, March 12 to 14, 19 to 21. In addition to Force Majeure, films include Play (2011), Involuntary (2008) and The Guitar Mongoloid (2004). For details and show times, go to thecinematheque.ca. 4. Billed as “a visually spectacular meditation on new growth through the shedding of old skin,” Par B.L.eux’s Snakeskins is the work of Montréal-based choreographer and performer Benoît Lachambre. He’ll be joined on stage by dancer Daniele Albanese and musician/multi-instrumentalist Hahn Rowe for the multimedia dance piece, which runs March 12 to 14 at the Roundhouse Performance Centre as part of the Vancouver International Dance Festival. Details at vidf.ca.

W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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especially since it’s powered by three 429 Ford engines with a crowerglide clutch. But hey, thems the brakes. At least the Rajasthani style goat was absolute perfection and it paired well with the marinated lamb popsicles in fenugreek curry, which were spiced exquisitely, allowing the mango, tamarind and cardamom to shine through, much like Dirty Mary tore through that 200-metre mud bog with only a 6.1 L Cummins Triple Turbo engine, an estimated 1400 rear wheel HP, 48 RE Transmission, Dana 80 Differential and 33” Mud Terrain tires. Bravo. I’ll deﬁnitely be back.” twitter.com/KudosKvetches

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

Arts&Entertainment

Flawed Whipping Man still delivers insight

Paciﬁc Theatre takes on southern tale of slavery, freedom and faith THEATRE REVIEW Jo Ledingham joled@telus.net

Comparisons to Scarlett O’Hara’s return home after the fall of the Confederate Army are unavoidable in this Paciﬁc Theatre presentation of The Whipping Man: a former southern mansion

reduced to filthy rubble, smashed floors, exposed lath, an ornate chandelier fallen from the ceiling and resting askew on the floor. Furniture gone. All signs of gracious living wiped away. Drew Facey’s design immediately sets the scene: the white landowner, Mr. DeLeon, has fled to safety, leaving the place in the care of Simon (Tom Pickett), an old slave who waits for

his master’s return. First to return, however, is DeLeon’s son Caleb (Giovanni Mocibob) with a gangrenous bullet wound in the leg, followed by former slave John (Carl Kennedy) who has been looting the empty neighbouring mansions. But this is not Gone With the Wind for a multitude of reasons not the least of which is that Mr. DeLeon, the landowner, is Jewish and

has raised his slaves in that religion. The playwright, Matthew Lopez, in attempting to make comparisons between the persecution of Jews and African Americans slaves, parallels Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt and Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves. The exercise feels forced. And very long. Almost all of Act 2 is a protracted Passover Seder (using hardtack for matzo and celery from the derelict garden for bitter herbs), which, while giving Pickett an opportunity to sing “Go Down, Moses,” doesn’t move the plot along sufﬁciently to warrant the time spent. The production, however, directed by Anthony F. Ingram, is epic, historically interesting and visually wonderful under Lauchlin Johnston’s evocative and dingy lighting. And the performances by Pickett, Kennedy and Mocibob are excellent. Pickett is well-suited to the role of white-haired old Simon, a capable man with enough war experience to perform a leg amputation on young Caleb. This is, again, a protracted scene that’s grisly in the extreme and serves only to make the point

that Caleb is now completely dependent upon Simon and John. Pickett has the body language and the Deep South vernacular down to perfection, which, unfortunately, makes him difficult to understand on occasion. Mocibob doesn’t have a lot to do in The Whipping Man once the amputation scene is over. But he doesn’t overplay the role, either; no moaning and groaning from Caleb’s bed on the floor. And Mocibob has a very dramatic, revelatory moment late in the play that he executes flawlessly. Undisputed star of this show is Kennedy (as John) — the playwright’s most interesting character — whose every gesture, every line is riveting. John is a study in conflicting emotions, and Kennedy switches from moment to moment. He swaggers in with the food, drink and valuables John has looted from surrounding homes but is fearful about his newly won freedom. Kennedy’s body language is so revealing and ranges from his character’s drunken bravado and his explosive fury over his childhood treatment at the hand of “the whipping man” to a weaselling uncer-

tainty when some terrible truths are revealed. The Whipping Man is big. Sometimes it’s funny — sometimes to its detriment; it feels like “filler” to entertain us. Caleb’s horse having died, for example, Simon boils it up. The following scene — too long — shows the three men chewing what is obviously very tough meat. But there are some images in The Whipping Man that resonate long after the curtain falls: Caleb and John — slave-owner’s child and slave — were raised together as boys and were, says Simon, “like two peas in a pod.” They could, however, never be friends, Simon claims, “not when one of the friends owns the other” and not when one takes the whip from the whipping man and beats the other, “because he can.” Of one thing Simon is certain, “Freedom means more than broken chains.” Faith, loyalty and betrayal: it’s all here in The Whipping Man. For more reviews, go to joledingham.ca. The Whipping Man is at Pacific Theatre until March 21. For tickets, call 604-7315518 or go to pacifictheatre.org.

Carl Kennedy, Tom Pickett and Giovanni Mocibob appear in Pacific Theatre’s The Whipping Man.

The people have spoken Visit vancourier.com/STARS to see the winners of the 2015 Readers’ Choice Awards!

W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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ExoticCourier

Courier reader: Melissa Peatch Destination: Petermann Island, Antarctica Favourite memories of trip: Peatch recently went on a chilly two-week adventure with her aunt and uncle aboard the Akademik Sergey Vavilov (in background) that included a stop on Petermann Island, a bird sanctuary that is home to several thousand gentoo penguins. Send your Exotic Courier submissions with your name, travel destination, a high-res scenic photo featuring the Courier and a short description of the highlights of your trip to letters@vancourier.com.

You made incredible things happen! Community schools are the heart of many neighbourhoods. They provide safe places where children and youth can join after-school programs and where families can find the support they need. Margaret arrived in Canada as a refugee when she was six years old. She has benefitted from community schools all her life and now she is paying it forward. She graduates from high school this year and the sky’s the limit. “I believe that everyone is a hero and can save the world.” United Way funds community school initiatives in Burnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, Surrey and Vancouver. They were featured at this year’s Scotiabank & United Way Community Spirit Awards.

Margaret, student and Winnie Leong, Scotiabank

You help make our work possible. Thank you. 2015 United Way Community Schools Initiative video was proudly presented by Scotiabank

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

Sports&Recreation

GOT SPORTS? 604.630.3549 or mstewart@vancourier.com

1 By Megan Stewart

UBC women seeded 2nd at nationals

UBC Thunderbird Adrienne Parkin

1. Little Flower Academy’s Dyniel Rabang (No. 3) and Immaculata Mustang Amanda Grant (No. 9) reach for a loose ball in the senior girls AA B.C. Championship at the Langley Events Centre on March 7. 2. LFA’s assistant coach Doug Beers talks strategy while the team’s starters rest on the bench. 3. Angel Alessia Risi (No. 14) looks to pass under pressure. PHOTOS CHUNG CHOW

Angels make gutsy grab for B.C. crown

UBC-bound Jessica Hanson named championship MVP BASKETBALL IMMACULATA 68 LITTLE FLOWER ACADEMY 55 Megan Stewart

mstewart@vancourier.com

The juniors, who in past years lost opening games at the B.C. Championships, grew up and went on a three-game winning streak at the senior girls AA provincial tournament to reach the biggest ﬁnal of the season Saturday night. The No. 6 seed Little Flower Academy Angels fell just short of a B.C. title, losing to the No. 2 Immaculata Mustangs 6855 at the Langley Events Centre on March 6. “Before the game we were really calm. We felt really good about what we’re going to do today,” said Alessia Risi, one of four graduating seniors. “I’m just so proud of what

we did out there. We fought hard.” In the loss, LFA’s star guard and future UBC Thunderbird Jessica Hanson was named the tournament’s MVP. She averaged 30 points a game over the tournament. The Angels beat Vernon secondary in their opening game and also eliminated St. Thomas Aquinas in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Cross-town Catholic school Notre Dame, seeded eighth, did the Angels the tremendous favour of knocking off No. 1 Duchess Park in a 63-61 upset that pitted the two Vancouver schools against each other in the semifinals at the LEC on Friday night. The Angels prevailed in a 73-53 win over Notre Dame that set up the championship final against the Mustangs, who were playing up at AA after winning back-to-back single-A crowns. The two teams met at the B.C.

Catholics tournament earlier this year, and the outcome was an imbalanced 30-point victory for the Mustangs. With head coach Kevin Hanson three provinces away with the men’s UBC Thunderbirds at the CIS Canada West basketball championships in Saskatchewan, Angels assistant coach Doug Beers was running the bench. “He’s trained them for the last four years and it’s really hard for him to be away,” Beers said of Hanson. “He was getting texts all game long… That’s his job, it also kills him to be away.” The scrappy, physical play of the ﬁrst quarter put Little Flower in the lead 13-12. While still trailing by two points, ﬁve-footthree dynamo Dyniel Rabang put her body on the line at the top of the key and took a charge — and an elbow to the face — that snapped her back in a heap on the hardwood.

When the referee punched the air to signal the call, Rabang leapt in the air with her own clenched ﬁsts and a massive grin. “I knew that if I tried anything else but to get the charge, I would get the foul,” said Rabang. “So I got my feet set, I prayed and I took the charge, hit the ground and once I heard the call, I stood up, cheered and my whole team’s energy just lifted. “I think the fact that nobody thought we’d make it at all really is such an incredible thing. We played our hearts out and we did the best we could. There is nothing I regret. It was a great season.” After her major defensive stop down court, Jessica Hanson nailed a jumper to tie the game at 12. After denying the Mustangs again, Hanson was fouled and sunk one of two free throws for the go-ahead point to end the quarter. Continued on page 23

Talk about clutch. Canada West MVP Kris Young scored the winning basket with 7.8 seconds on the clock to help the UBC Thunderbirds to a come-frombehind 69-68 victory to beat the Saskatchewan Huskies for the women’s regional championship title at home March 7. The T-Birds are seeded second at the CIS women’s basketball championship, which begins Thursday at Laval University. In the Canada West ﬁnal, Young scored 13 of her 21 points in the fourth quarter. Trailing the majority of the night, Kitsilano graduate Adrienne Parkin nailed a three pointer with 17 seconds left to bring the T-Birds within one at 68-67. After a Saskatchewan shooter missed two free throws, Young grabbed the rebound and went coast to coast to hit a runner off the glass and in to put UBC in front with 7.8 seconds remaining “I just got the ball off the rebound and I know how much time was left so I just went in, and I saw Harleen [Sidhu] moving outside so I just moved in and scored,” said Young in a UBC release. “Adrienne’s three was the really big shot this game. We wouldn’t have been in the game if it wasn’t for Adrienne’s big clutch three.” Young ﬁnished with 21 points, eight rebound, six assists, three blocks and three steals playing the entire 40 minutes. “We had a bad start, you go through these kinds of periods of the game but you have to keep believing at some point you will get it going,” said UBC head coach Deb Huband. “We really picked it up in the second half. I think when we play defence the way we can, we make it tough on our opponents, and I think we saw that in the second half.” The CIS championship runs March 12 to 15.

Season ends for UBC men

Playing for bronze in the Canada West men’s basketball tournament, the Thunderbirds lost to the Fraser Valley Cascades 87-71 in Saskatoon March 7. The Cascades were dominant in the second quarter, outscoring the T-Birds 25-12, and UBC never recovered. The Thunderbirds lost back-to-back games in the regional tournament, suffering consecutive losses for the first time since November. Fraser Valley kept their double-digit lead intact though most of the third quarter, ringing up an 18-point lead before UBC got back in the game. The Thunderbirds finished the game shooting 27-for-56 (48.2 per cent) from the field, better than Fraser Valley’s 31-for-69 (44.9 percent), but were outperformed nearly two-fold in three-point shooting. Fraser Valley also had 32 points off turnovers to UBC’s nine. — Compiled with information from UBC

W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER

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Sports&Recreation Notre Dame Jugglers place in top 4

Continued from page 22 “We wanted to be the underdogs that could take it all,” said Rabang, who was described as the team’s emotional leader for her composure and passion. But critical mismatches in the paint ultimately created a hole out of which the Angels couldn’t climb. Immaculata’s sixfoot-two centre Nicole Hart did damage with 15 points and 14 rebounds, and the Mustangs’ player of the game Emma Johnson had 21 points, 17 rebounds and five steals. The squad from Kelowna grabbed 35 offensive boards — nearly half their total 71 team rebounds and one more than the Angels’ total defensive rebounds — for secondchance points that put LFA in a deeper deficit. On defence, Hanson and Risi held Immaculata’s star player Ashlyn Day to a scoreless first quarter. When Day finally scored, it was well into the second but she opened with a pair of trios

from opposite corners to snatch the lead away from Little Flower and give Immaculata a 30-23 advantage at half-time. She ﬁnished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. “I was face-guarding her and watching her the entire time,” said Hanson. “That was our game plan. It all starts on defence.” The teams were even with 18 points each in the third quarter, and Immaculata held a seven-point lead. Hanson had 13 of her game-high 31 points in the third quarter but LFA couldn’t regain the lead. Immaculata outscored LFA by six points in the fourth to win 68-55. Playing for bronze, Lauren Bondi scored 29 points for Notre Dame but the Jugglers lost 70-62 to St. Thomas Aquinas. The ﬁrst team all-stars included Notre Dame’s Jolene Robinson and Bondi as well as Immaculata’s Day and Johnson, and Zion Corrales Nelson from St. Thomas More Collegiate.

1. Notre Dame’s Jolene Robinson (No. 10) guards the senior girls AA B.C. Championship MVP Jessica Hanson (No. 11) in a 73-53 semi-final loss to Little Flower Academy at the Langley Events Centre on March 6. 2. In the same game, Little Flower forward Chanel Larrabure (No. 16) goes up for two points. PHOTOS RON HOLE

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5

Sports&Recreation

At any age, a bicycle built for two Duet Bike serves seniors living at Yaletown House

Chris Bruntlett

chris@modacitylife.com

Vancouver’s evolution into a cycling city has seen many unlikely winners, not the least of whom are the residents of Yaletown House, a non-proﬁt senior care facility located steps from the newly completed, 30-kilometre Seaside Greenway. In early 2009, as the city was making its ﬁrst investments in AAA — all ages and abilities — bike infrastructure, the staff at Yaletown House learned about a custom-built tricycle from Germany. This Duet Bike was designed to give people with limited mobility, including anyone in a wheelchair, a new way to get outside and experience the world around them. Within months, Yaletown House raised enough money to buy one of the

trikes. A generous donation came from Glen Paul, who recognized the potential to improve lives and who continues to volunteer to ensure the program’s on-going success. Six years later, volunteers regularly take out residents for a spin in one of two Duet Bikes — the second one purchased (again through fundraising efforts) to meet increased demand and to provide an added level of sociability and safety to each outing. Every ride begins with resident planning the route, including where, when, and how long they will stop. “Some just want to go shopping downtown, while others long to see the majesty of Stanley Park,” said Paul. As you can imagine, the sensory experience of getting back on a bicycle is both natural and exhilarating — even for passengers seated in their wheelchair in front of the person pedalling. Research has shown fresh air and natural

Glen Paul uses a Duet Bike to take 84-year-old Franco Modonese for a ride on the Sea Wall. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET

stimulants help reduce feelings of aggression and depression that can be experienced when living in a care home. Getting outside can also improve daytime alertness and improved sleep at night. Paul also stressed how valuable the bike can be for

families trying to navigate difﬁcult or awkward visits with a loved one who has dementia or Alzheimer’s. Families are encouraged to take their elderly relative for a spin, providing them with quality time together, potentially stirring up fond, long-forgotten memories

of riding a bike as a child, and making the visit more rewarding. But according to Paul, the Duet’s greatest advantage is its ability to break down social barriers. “It’s the perfect icebreaker, allowing people to feel comfortable striking up conversations with residents and vice versa. It also allows residents to participate as peers in the quintessential Vancouver activity — interacting on the Sea Wall — making them feel a part of the city,” he said. Fostering these connections is what makes an intergenerational community work, and why Yaletown House deserves to be commended for its proactive approach. While there isn’t another care facility in Vancouver currently offering a Duet Bike program, the concept is spreading quickly to (bicycle-friendly) streets around the world. Often dubbed the ‘Cycling Without Age’ movement, 18 different countries now

offer such a scheme, with Denmark (unsurprisingly) leading the pack with more than 150 rickshaws rolling across the cycle tracks of 37 municipalities. Inspired? You can channel that feeling. Yaletown House is actively seeking volunteers to take residents out on Duet Bike rides. In fact, it’s the single biggest barrier that keeps residents from using the trikes more often. Interested parties can contact Cori Witvoet to begin the application process. Reach her at 604806-4206. Our city can be a place where the elderly are welcome and celebrated. As our population continues to age, and city ofﬁcials continue to invest in safe, separated spaces for cycling, it’s only a matter of time before these Duet Bikes become a regular ﬁxture on our city’s plentiful bikeways. Chris Bruntlett is a cofounder of Modacity and is inspired to live a happy life of urban mobility.

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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, M A R C H 1 1 , 2 0 1 5