WEDNESDAY
June 24 2015 Vol. 106 No. 49
OPINION 10
Ideas for a cleaner city ARTS 18
Fighting Nazis with humour SPORTS 19
Yu the man There’s more online at
vancourier.com MIDWEEK EDITION
THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
Tap dancers ‘get a life’ All-female troupe aged 45 to 86 Cheryl Rossi
crossi@vancourier.com
CANADA DAZE Soccer fans poured into downtown Sunday as part of a record-breaking B.C. Place crowd of 53,855 who watched Canada pot a 1-0 win over Switzerland. The victory means local fans will get another chance to display their fervour as Canada plays England Saturday at B.C. Place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter final match. See City Living page 6. PHOTO REBECCA BLISSETT
Hundreds call cops with terror tips
VPD attributes increase to vigilant public, prevention program Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
Without an explanation from an expert to understand the sharp increase in Vancouver police files related to potential national security threats, the statistics alone seem shocking: From 14 files investigated in 2012 to 262 in 2014. And police say they are on pace this year to investigate another couple hundred calls in Vancouver where officers follow up on reported suspicious activity, which could include an abandoned package in a public place to purchases of chemicals to tips on alleged terror plots.
But as members of the VPD’s criminal intelligence unit explained in an interview, the statistics don’t represent the whole story or explain how an increase in calls is actually a good thing. “We are getting more calls and a very small amount of those calls really result in anything that needs to be taken to a higher level,” said Insp. Mike Serr, when asked if the public should be concerned about the spike in statistics. “Vancouver’s safe. It is a safe place and we’ve got a lot of people working to ensure it remains safe.” Serr and two of his officers, detective constables Colin Small and Ian Jackson, attribute the increase in calls to two main factors: A heightened vigilance by the public about potential terrorist threats, citing recent plots to detonate bombs at the B.C. Legislature and the murder of reservist Cpl. Nathan Cirillo in 2014 at the cenotaph in
Ottawa; and the relaunch of a VPD-led counterterrorism program dubbed Operation Securus, which trains businesses to report suspicious activity to police. “No one should be alarmed by these numbers,” Serr said of the statistics, which he also believes can be attributed to the ongoing training of officers in counterterrorism. “We want the public to be engaged, we want them to be aware, we want them to phone us — even if it’s something that appears to be inane or not serious — and we’ll take a look at it.” Serr said the vast majority of calls turn out to be nothing of significance, citing an example where a person is observed taking photographs of a building. “It may turn out just to be a tourist who just happened to be interested in taking pictures,” he said, but declined to discuss any cases that led to higher level investigations. Continued on page 4
The narrow hallway outside a dance studio near the Marine Drive Canada Line station feels stuffy on a hot Tuesday night as women pull off their shirts and don white vests and black sequined tails. A gently hunched white-haired woman who’s juggling multiple items drops her purse to the floor. I hand it to her and say, “Gravity is a pain sometimes.” “All the way down,” she replies. Moments later, 14 women of the more than 25-year-old dance group Razzmatap rehearse one of the 10 numbers they’ll perform June 27 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre. Their moves are lyrical, their faces wistful as they dance to “Try to Remember” from the musical comedy The Fantasticks. That song gives way to show tune “Bring on the Men,” and then suddenly the club hit “Party Rock Anthem” drops. All of the dancers fall into chairs except that white-haired woman, Grace Inglis. At age 86, Inglis takes centre stage to perform a solo to the song’s chorus: “Everyday I’m shuffling, shuffling, shuffling.” The number, about putting your mother into a nursing home, is one of 10 that the award-winning group of dancers, ages 45 to 86, will perform Saturday night.
First steps
Jan Kainer began dancing in a class led by her mother in the 1950s when she was four. More than three decades later, Kainer, an elementary school teacher, followed in her mother’s footsteps by starting a class for her daughter and friends. Parents told her they wanted a class, too, so Kainer started a tap class for adults at the Kerrisdale Community Centre in 1987. Eventually, Kainer convinced her adult dancers to compete, exercising her creativity through choreography and costumes. The group of 18 women is composed Continued on page 8
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