WEDNESDAY
July 1 2015 Vol. 106 No. 51
FAMILY CALENDAR 9
Pooch portraits
STATE OF THE ARTS 15
Taxi cab confessions SPORTS 16
Field hockey grit There’s more online at
vancourier.com MIDWEEK EDITION
THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
Worry over water levels Low supply meets high demand
Jane Seyd
jseyd@nsnews.com
CANADA EH Vancouverites by the thousands will be out in the sun celebrating Canada Day today as the country marks its 148th birthday since Confederation. The flag many will be waving marked its 50th anniversary earlier this year. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
VPD sees huge drop in Taser use Police watchdogs say decrease linked to strict guidelines, Dziekanski case Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
Vancouver police have seen a steady decline in the use of a weapon the RCMP made infamous for deploying it in the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski in 2007 at Vancouver International Airport. According to Vancouver Police Department statistics, officers fired a stun gun 47 times at suspects between 2010 and 2014, for an average of nine times per year. That’s a significant decrease when compared to the 93 times police fired the weapon, commonly referred to as a Taser, in all of 2006. “It is tough to say that there is a specific reason [for the decline] but the use of
Tasers is relatively new still, when you consider the use-of-force options that have been and are available to police officers,” said Const. Brian Montague, a media liaison officer with the Vancouver Police Department, in an email to the Courier. “We are constantly trying to improve our training, and part of that is understanding the limitations of use-of-force options. The Taser, while in some cases can be a useful tool, is far from the magic answer to every encounter where police need to take immediate control of a violent individual.” Montague said officers assess the type of offence, weapons involved, actions of the offender, other force options available and “small details like the type of clothing worn
by a suspect” before firing a stun gun. “The Taser’s limitations and the officers understanding and knowledge of those limitations are likely a big factor, along with other training in mental health, crisis intervention and de-escalation, and use-of-force options,” he said. Freedom of Information documents posted on the VPD’s website indicate the department was equipped with 150 conductive energy weapons, or stun guns, in 2014. A total of 128 officers are certified to use the guns, according to the department’s annual report on use of the Taser, which is filed with the police services division of the Ministry of Justice. Continued on page 5
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An unusually hot, dry start to the summer, with no rain in sight means officials are keeping a close eye on Metro Vancouver’s water supply. A warm, dry winter that resulted in below-normal snowpack and rainfall has combined with soaring water use across the region as temperatures have risen. “We’re monitoring the situation daily,” said Darrell Mussatto, chairman of Metro Vancouver’s utilities committee. Water reservoirs — including Seymour, Capilano and Coquitlam — that serve Metro Vancouver’s 2.4 million residents are currently sitting at about 83 per cent full, which is near the low end of a normal range. But the forecast for a hot dry summer and current water use patterns aren’t encouraging. “We’re at historic lows of our creeks and streams running into our reservoirs,” said Mussatto. In addition, “we are using 17 per cent more water than we were last year,” he said. Year round, Metro Vancouver sucks up an average of one billion litres of water a day. The current average is closer to 1.5 billion litres, with a season high so far of 1.57 billion litres on June 13. On the plus side, Mussatto said the region has made positive changes to water use patterns in the recent decades. The amount of water used per capita has dropped significantly, for instance. In the mid-1980s, before conservation made a dent in public consciousness, Metro Vancouver users flushed, sprinkled and showered their way through 743 litres per capita daily and almost double that in summer. In contrast, the average per-capita water use in 2013 was about 471 litres. But because the region’s population has also boomed, so has overall water consumption. Our overall use of a billion litres a day is more than 25 per cent higher than it was 30 years ago. Continued on page 7
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
News
Pot shops ‘tone deaf’ to neighbourhoods
Meggs says dispensaries ignored neighbourhood safety during debate Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
Ah, what the heck, I’m going to prattle on about pot shops again. After all, I sat through three of the four rounds of public hearings that were called to hear what people had to say about city staff’s proposal to regulate illegal marijuana dispensaries. So much was said by so many people. But I have to say there were way too many stories about how cannabis is a proven medicine, how it helped family and friends get through or turn around an illness and how marijuana should be legalized. Yep, kinda heard that before. And, as far as I could tell, that really wasn’t the point of this whole exercise. Apparently, Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs didn’t think so, either. In voting in favour of the regulations, along with his Vision colleagues and
Although Coun. Geoff Meggs voted in favour of new regulations for pot shops, he tore a strip off the operators of the illegal marijuana dispensaries. PHOTOS DAN TOULGOET
Green Party Coun. Adriane Carr, Meggs tore a strip off dispensary operators who must have thought they were arguing for the regulation of marijuana instead of the regulation of businesses. Before he ripped into the operators, Meggs
mentioned how touched he was by the stories of dispensary customers and the difficulties they experienced in managing their health conditions. Some of the stories, he added, were heartbreaking. Then this:
“I just want to say to the dispensary operators that I thought many of you were completely tone deaf to what was the fundamental issue here in front of this council, in terms of neighbourhood protection and so on. There has not been a consistent
record of good neighbourly behaviour by the dispensaries in this city and that’s what drove us to make the steps that are in front of us now. We saw an exponential growth in the number of dispensaries, which were clearly heading their sales towards children, which were clearly undermining the viability of business districts.” Meggs said council heard from business improvement associations worried about negative impacts to legitimate businesses. Council also heard, he said, from residents living near dispensaries who experienced second-hand marijuana smoke and concerns from parents about children exposed to the pot shops. “I say to the people who are running dispensaries: You better listen to those statements as carefully as you listened to the submissions of people who have health problems. Because it’s to protect those neighbourhoods and those communities, those business dis-
tricts, that we’re taking the steps we are today,” Meggs said. “I’m very unhappy, personally, that we didn’t hear very much about the crime and safety part.” That said, he pointed out the new regulations give police some oversight over who gets a business licence, a process that includes criminal record checks and reviewing whether an existing pot shop has been in trouble with police. “So I’m pleased that there are measures in this bylaw to give the police strength and oversight of these dispensaries — not the oversight that Minister [Rona] Ambrose wants, but if Minister Ambrose wants a viable policy, she’ll have to craft it,” he said of the federal health minister, whom he criticized for being “completely out of touch” with the realities of marijuana use in B.C. and the rest of the country. Sheesh, councillor, tell us what you really think. @Howellings
W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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News
Questions linger about use of force
Continued from page 1 The VPD uses the X26 model built by Taser. The X26c sells for $1,000 each on the company’s website. In 2014, officers fired the Taser nine times at a person. In those cases, police reported that five suspects were under the influence of drugs or alcohol and four were carrying a weapon. Four were considered “emotionally disturbed.” The suspects were all men, aged 19 to 59, according to the annual report. Police said the gun was “effective” in eight of the cases in gaining the suspects’ “compliance.” In four of the cases, the probes from the gun broke the skin of suspects, with one suffering “non-trivial injuries.” The report doesn’t elaborate on the injury. The report also indicates a stun gun “was displayed but not discharged at a subject” 55 times, inferring that a suspect surrendered instead of being shot with the weapon. That happened 38 times in 2013, the same year officers fired the Taser six times, with no suspects suffering “non-trivial injuries.” In 2012, police fired the weapon seven times, including in a Nov. 13, 2012 incident in which officers, paramedics and firefighters responded to a call involving a distraught man, armed with a large butcher knife. According to a report by the Independent Investigations Office, the man had “significant and visible injuries” when police arrived. Officers were unsuccessful in getting the man to drop the knife, so they twice fired a Taser at him. He was subsequently restrained in handcuffs. The man was pronounced
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Vancouver police are equipped with 150 conductive energy weapons, or Tasers. Use of the weapon has dramatically declined over the past decade. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
dead in hospital, 51 minutes after he was hit with the Taser. Richard Rosenthal, the chief civilian director for the independent agency, cleared three Vancouver police officers of any wrongdoing, saying the man died of self-inflicted injuries caused by the knife he used on his abdomen and neck. An autopsy concluded his death was attributed to “sharp force injury to the neck with significant blood loss and secondary injury to the abdomen.” Toxicology tests found the presence of methamphetamine and amphetamine. Josh Paterson, executive
director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, is skeptical of what’s behind the drop in Taser use by the VPD, saying it’s difficult to explain without data on whether other kinds of use-of-force incidents have increased, decreased or stayed constant. “Does this mean more serious uses of force are taking place, or does it mean police are getting better at de-escalating incidents? We don’t know,” Paterson said in an email to the Courier. “That being said, if this data reflects that officers are showing much more restraint in using Tasers, then that is encouraging.”
In reading the documents provided by the Courier, Paterson said the civil liberties association is concerned that more than half of the incidents in the last two years involved people thought by police to be addicted or emotionally disturbed. “We continue to be concerned about the use of Tasers on people who are having mental health issues, rather than using other techniques,” he said. “We also note a high proportion of incidents were considered medically high risk — as we’ve learned in B.C., Tasers are dangerous weapons.” Lawyer Douglas King
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of Pivot Legal Society, which has been the city’s main police watchdog for several years, said the high profile of the Dziekanski case is obviously a factor in why Vancouver police aren’t using the Taser as much as they did a decade ago. Last week, RCMP Const. Kwesi Millington, who used a Taser on Dziekanski, was sentenced to 30 months in prison for perjury and colluding with his fellow officers at an inquiry into the man’s death. Officers fired a Taser several times at
Dziekanski, who died after the incident at the airport in 2007. “Given everything that happened in the Dziekanski case, obviously the [police] departments are media shy to do anything that might end up in front page headlines of an officer killing somebody with a Taser,” said King, noting the drop in the VPD’s Taser use isn’t completely surprising. “Tasers were touted for so long as being safe, but then people kept dying. So if you don’t feel like you actually have control over the use of the weapon itself, and it’s not producing the result that you want, then no department is going to be too comfortable using it.” King also believes strict guidelines for Taser use, which were brought in after the Dziekanksi case, is a factor in the VPD’s use of the weapon. But he, like Paterson, is curious if police are using other use-of-force options that are replacing the Taser, including deployment of police dogs. Pivot released a report in June 2014 that indicated there were 14.75 police dog bites per 100,000 persons in Vancouver in 2011 compared to 12.73 in Abbotsford, 2.5 in Victoria and 2.34 in West Vancouver. “Certainly, it’s always been a question in our minds whether or not there is a correlation between the decline in Taser use and an increase in police dog bites,” King said. “But it depends if you’re getting officers in a situation who before would have said, ‘Oh, I’ll go in and Taser that person.’ Whereas now, they call the dog squad.” @Howellings
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
News
Parents rally for aboriginal school CLASS NOTES
Cheryl Rossi
crossi@vancourier.com
In focus
Parents worried about the closing of Sir William Macdonald elementary held a rally last Thursday. They don’t want the aboriginal focus school there discontinued. Macdonald elementary is one of the schools identified for closure in a recently released report commissioned by the Minister of Education. Special adviser EY’s report states 68 students were enrolled at Macdonald in 2014-2015, meaning it was only at 25 per capacity. The report notes the school on East Hastings Street near Victoria Drive is rated as high risk in the case of an earthquake, but it remains unfunded for seismic mitigation. In 2010, the Vancouver School board projected annual savings of $275,000 if Macdonald was closed. Diana Day, co-vice chair of the District Parent Advisory Council and a speaker at the rally, says of 35 of 70 students enrolled at Macdonald attend the aboriginal focus school.
Diana Day wants an aboriginal focus school for secondary students. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
The focus school welcomes students of all backgrounds and the only kindergarten class in the school is part of the aboriginal focus school. Curtis Clearsky of the Aboriginal Focus School’s Parent Advisory Committee sent a letter to the VSB June 17 asserting the board has made minimal effort to support the success of the program. The Aboriginal Focus School PAC held a related press conference June 23.
The press release states the PAC wants the VSB to commit immediately to prevent the closure of the aboriginal focus school, dedicate money to further develop the succession of the school together with aboriginal families and the community. Day doesn’t believe the VSB would terminate the aboriginal focus school. She was heartened to see the VSB’s superintendent and trustees from all three par-
ties attend the rally. Day noted parents from outside the neighbourhood and the district send their children to the focus school because it’s the only one of its kind. The aboriginal focus school accommodates students in kindergarten to Grade 4. Day wants an aboriginal focus school for secondary students. “Once kids switch to Grade 5, they’re pushed out
into the mainstream schools and it’s not always culturally safe for them. Although there are some changes, it’s not fast, and we’re still losing kids in Grades 7, 8 and 9,” she said. “There were 251 aboriginal youth last year in alternative programs in Vancouver.” The VSB says it isn’t currently discussing closing Macdonald. Jen Hill, community engagement coordinator, told the Courier school and district staff have been in touch with the PAC to discuss members’ concerns. Hill noted the VSB created the aboriginal focus school as part of its ongoing development of programs that contribute to the academic success and positive self-esteem through cultural awareness for aboriginal students as part of its Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement. The Courier’s phone calls and emails to Clearsky were not returned.
Annex axed
The Vancouver School Board is closing Maquinna Annex for a savings of $154,080. The annex at East Fourth Avenue and Renfrew Street has seen declining enrolment for years, with 109
students in 2008-2008 and 29 in 2014-2015. Parents could send their children to the annex or Chief Maquinna elementary on East Second Avenue near Slocan Street for Grade 3. In early March, 34 students were enrolled at the annex. Then parents transferred children to the main school, decreasing enrolment at the annex to 22 by the end of April. “After discussion with school and district administration about the educational and social opportunities available at the main school compared to the annex, parents of all remaining students ultimately chose to have their children attend the main school next year,” the June 17 report states. Staff from the annex will be employed elsewhere in the district. The StrongStart Early Learning Centre at the annex is moving to Maquinna elementary. The VSB hasn’t decided how to use the annex in the future. The report states the board hasn’t closed the school under the official definition of the School Act. Options for the building will be considered in the VSB’s Long Range Strategic Facilities Plan. @Cheryl_Rossi
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W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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News
Stricter sprinkling rules a possibility
Continued from page 1 (About 60 per cent of that is residential, while 40 per cent is commercial or industrial use.) During heat waves, that use can spike to daily water use of between 1.5 and 2 billion litres per day. What are people doing with all that water? They’re watering their lawns, washing their cars, even taking more showers than usual, said Mussatto. If the current trend continues, Metro Vancouver may have to buy more water from B.C. Hydro’s Coquitlam reservoir. While the local government controls Seymour and Capilano reservoirs, Coquitlam is managed by B.C. Hydro. In 2014, Metro Vancouver asked B.C. Hydro to set aside 50 billion litres for water supplies, worth $630,000, and ended up using 33 billion litres. This year Metro Vancouver has asked for 68.2 billion litres of water and has budgeted $862,000. Water administrators may
That glass of water we take for granted in Vancouver is becoming a more precious resource thanks to lower supply and a hot, rainless start to summer. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
also consider moving from current Stage 1 sprinkling regulations — which allow sprinkling three times a week — to Stage 2, which would cut sprinkling to once a week. Residential lawn sprinkling for even-
numbered addresses is limited during Stage 1 to Monday, Wednesday and Saturday mornings from 4 to 9 a.m., while oddnumbered addresses are allowed to sprinkle Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday
mornings during the same time period. But even that is not without problems, said Mussatto — when everyone in the Lower Mainland turns on the hoses at the same time, local water storage reservoirs can drop precipi-
tously low in short order. “It puts a very big drain on the delivery system,” he said. Mussatto acknowledges not everyone follows the rules when it comes to water use. Policy makers know that water meters are one effective tool in changing
people’s water use patterns. Currently, those caught watering their lawns outside the designated permitted times risk a $250 fine. Mussatto said if extended hot, dry summers and low snow pack become the “new normal” in Vancouver, issues like water metering may have to be reconsidered in the future, along with other potential long-term, expensive solutions like raising the height of the Seymour Falls dam. For now, however, taking more water from the Coquitlam Reservoir and changing water consumption patterns are preferred by policy makers. “Are we using it to water lawns and wash our cars?” said Mussatto. “Maybe that’s a conversation we’re going to have to have as a community.” Mussatto said with that in mind, he’s changed his own water use patterns. “I didn’t even think about watering my lawns,” he said. Washing the car has also been ditched, and “the 10 or 15 minute showers are gone.”
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
News
Your chance to save Vancouver heritage
City asks public for help in updating 30-year-old heritage register Naoibh O’Connor
noconnor@vancourier.com
Heritage expert Donald Luxton discovered 30 years ago that if you ask the public to suggest important local historical sites, interesting gems may be uncovered. That’s what happened in the mid-1980s when Vancouverites were canvassed for Vancouver Heritage Register recommendations as it was being completed. “Interesting things came out of the nomination process,” he told the Courier. “The best one was a building we had never seen or heard of, which was an old road house just north of Kingsway. It was one of those halfway to New Westminster kind of road houses where you stayed when it was a two-day trip. We didn’t even know about it, but the building actually faces what is now the alley — it’s a very early building, very unusual. That’s the kind of thing that can show up.” It landed on the heritage registry with a B designation. Luxton, of Donald Luxton & Associates Ltd., is the lead consultant for the city’s Heritage Action Plan, a plan whose objectives include updating the Vancouver Heritage Register. As part of the update, the public is again being asked to nominate a site to the register. Nominations were opened on May 23 and will continue to be accepted until Sept. 14. “It’s a chance for people to participate and be heard about what they think is important, which is always interesting,” said Luxton, who added that it’s meant to encourage people to get engaged in the process, as well as potentially submit information or documents the city is unaware of. “It tells us, first of all, about sites we may not yet have considered or don’t know about or for which people have some more information, which is sometimes interesting. They’ll come forward and volunteer — ‘Oh that was my grandmother’s house and here are a whole bunch of photos,’” he said. “More information is great. That helps us evaluate sites and it gives us an indication of what people feel is important, as well. If everybody is nominating the Waldorf
A former road house at 3845 Dumfries St. was added to the city’s original heritage register thanks to a suggestion from the public. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
or a bunch of theatres or who knows what, it tells us what people really value.” Luxton compared it to the Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s Places That Matter plaque project process. “You can get a sense of what people think is important and therefore value and therefore will support retention of, or promotion of... And every once in a while, we come up with an absolute gem of a building or information on a building that’s really invaluable. It’s churning up the information.” The register update is designed to cast a wider net on what is considered heritage compared to 30 years ago. The existing list is somewhat buildingfocused, although it does include some landscape, some monuments and some public works. Worldwide, Luxton said, there’s been a movement towards understanding what’s culturally valuable, as opposed to narrowly defining heritage as just buildings. “So we think there will be a lot of people nominating things other than buildings — if so that’s great. We don’t know what we’ll do with that when it happens, but
we’re hoping that people do take a very much broader approach to it. So we’re looking at even the intangible cultural heritage like things that aren’t even physically there — events and celebrations that might have value to people. They may not end up on the register, but we maybe look at it in terms of what does that mean in terms of commemoration or celebration.” Five themes, based on Parks Canada’s national themes, are being used to inform the heritage update: Settling Vancouver, Resource Economy, Community Life and Neighbourhoods, Governing the city and building a Coastal Culture. Luxton said they’re working on a system to determine how to best evaluate the sites, since the evaluation system is also 30 years old. Heritage activist Caroline Adderson is hopeful Vancouverites will submit nominations before the deadline. She calls the heritage register one of the few tools the city has to try and save older buildings. Adderson’s personal list would include buildings such as heritage schools — particularly Point Grey
secondary, number one on Heritage Vancouver’s 2015 endangered sites list. She would also like to see
industrial buildings on Terminal Avenue recognized, as well as some character houses.
To nominate a site, go to vancouver.ca and search for Heritage Action Plan. @naoibh
W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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Family
The Four Legged Flower Power photography project will raise funds for Big and Small Rescue.
Dog pictures and Stanley Park reading CALENDAR
Sandra Thomas
sthomas@vancourier.com
Mount Pleasant
A non-profit dog rescue organization has teamed up with photographer Tanya King and florist Hilary Miles for a fundraising project dubbed Four Legged Flower Power. Inspired by a recent initiative that saw animal photographer Sophie Gamand shoot photos of pit bulls wearing flower crowns as a way to soften the public perception of the breed, King will do the same for all dogs at a cost of $50 with proceeds dedicated to the spay and neuter program and veterinary bills at Big and Small Rescue. The photoshoot takes place July 5, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Canine Adventure Den, 650 Industrial Ave. A similar event takes place the day before in King’s Maple Ridge studio. For more informa-
tion, look for the Four Legged Flower Power page on Facebook.
Stanley Park
The Sammy Squirrel and Rodney Raccoon Summer Reading Series launches today, July 1, in Stanley Park and will continue each Saturday through the summer at 2 p.m. just past the artists/ painter circle near the entrance to the park. Vancouver children’s author and teacher Duane Lawrence will read from his second book, Sammy Squirrel & Rodney Raccoon: To the Rescue. The book follows on the success of Sammy Squirrel and Rodney Raccoon: A Stanley Park Tale. Lawrence says both books were inspired by Stanley Park, the Hollow Tree and the iconic Sylvia Hotel in the city’s West End. In both Stanley Park Tales, the Hollow Tree acts as a community centre for all of the animals living in the woods in and around the park. For more information, visit duanelawrence.ca.
West Point Grey
Parents are invited to an evening organized to help them have fun while getting inspired about new ways to support their child’s learning at home. This special evening is just for parents — there is no childcare available. Parent’s Night Out takes place July 29 from 6:45 to 7:45 p.m. at the Point Grey Branch of the Vancouver Public Library, 4480 West 10th Ave. Register by calling 604665-3982.
Strathcona
Meanwhile, the Strathcona branch of the VPL will be bringing special programs to MacLean Park this month. Enjoy the sunshine and a host of story times, summer reading club activities and more during Library in the Park, July 15, 22 and 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the park located at 710 Keefer St. at Hawks Avenue. For more information on this free event, call 604-6653957.
Coal Harbour
While Canada Place is always a hub of activity on Canada Day, the action continues throughout July and August with free outdoor movies. Every Thursday night, starting July 9, Fresh Air Cinema will set up a three-storey-tall inflatable screen at the north point of Canada Place in a space large enough to accommodate 1,000 movie lovers. It’s a spectacular setting and movie goers can bring whatever they need to make themselves comfortable, including blankets and lawn chairs. Popcorn and beverages will be available to purchase, but there’s no alcohol or smoking permitted at this family-friendly event. The lineup includes Despicable Me (July 9), Austin Powers (July 16), Mean Girls (July 23), The Lego Movie (July 30), The Proposal (Aug. 6), Back to the Future: Part II (Aug. 13), Dumb and Dumber (Aug. 20) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Aug. 27). @sthomas10
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
Opinion Racial divide an ‘Other’ Learn the tricks of the problem to solve real estate trade Jessica Barrett Columnist
jessica.barrett@gmail.com
It was the eve of National Aboriginal Day, and a bald eagle sat high atop a tree overlooking Stanley Park’s Malkin Bowl. The symbol was not lost on the concertgoers who alerted each other to this sentry, who, like us, settled in for the show. It was perfect, considering the lineup: Ottawa’s A Tribe Called Red, whose mix of traditional powwow chants and electronic music is some of the most innovative sound coming out of this country. Supported by Vancouver’s blonde-haired, blue-eyed Blondtron and her racially diverse band of booty-shaking backup dancers, and the traditional aboriginal Git Hayetsk Dancers, the whole night seemed a fitting representation of West Coast diversity — complete with a distinct racial divide as impermeable as it was subtle. At first, looking at the crowd gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling familiar to those who pride themselves on being part of Canada’s multicultural makeup. I’ve never been at a mainstream event in Vancouver headlined by an aboriginal act, and I’ve seldom seen such a strong representation of aboriginal people in the crowd — almost 50 per cent. But then I noticed how we self-segregated. People clung to their own kind, standing right next to, but worlds apart from each other; distinct and separate tiles in the cultural mosaic. Race is a topic that makes Canadians profoundly uncomfortable. While our neighbours to the south have robust and messy conversations about race and racism — especially in the midst of their unfolding crisis — here, we shy away from this entirely. We are so worried about offending each other that we rarely talk about our differences at all, save to celebrate the multicultural-ness that has formed the core of an otherwise vague national identity. Nowhere is this more evident than how we speak about and to First Peoples, or rather, don’t. All decent people are rightly horrified by the stories of residential school survivors, of missing and murdered women, of deplorable living conditions on reserves. We shake our heads at the statistics and stories of the disproportionate amount of aboriginal people in prisons and in foster care. We are appalled by revelations of past wrongs — government condoned science experiments on aboriginal children, for instance. Good God. But I don’t think we know what to do with this information, how to let it sink into and change our everyday interac-
tions. At least, I don’t. I feel paralyzed by the scope and scale of the grief, shame, guilt and horror. Unlike other marginalized groups of whom I consider myself a proud ally — for example LGBTQ people or other visible minorities — I don’t have a lot of contact with First Nations people in my everyday life. Just writing this makes me feel uncomfortable. It challenges my perception of myself as a culturally sensitive, inclusive person. Because I know if I delve into the conscious and unconscious choices that have formed my social circles, I’ll have to confront my own bias, my own discrimination. To be brutally honest, I probably avoid First Nations people because I don’t know how to talk to them about their experience of, well, being First Nations. Or even if I should. And I don’t know where to turn for guidance. It’s really hopeful to see a movement among educators to include the stories of residential schools in curricula. I am glad our children will learn about this history the way I learned about the Chinese head tax, Japanese internment and the Komagata Maru. Perhaps that will help future generations bridge the gap that seems to exist between Canadians of various immigrant backgrounds and our first peoples, who, absurdly, are cast in the role of the ultimate Other. But what about those of us who are long out of the classroom? Where can we learn? In Vancouver, we are very good about giving lip service to First Nations. We proudly display Haida art at the airport. We start every carnival, picnic and community meeting with the acknowledgement that we are on Unceded Coast Salish Territory. But we rarely unpack these words, discuss what they really mean and what, if anything, we might do about it. Without that, they ring hollow — just a rote uttering to assuage white liberal guilt. We have so much work to do because the real test of where we’re at as a society is not gauged by official declarations and apologies but when we’re squished up against each other in everyday life. Like when, for example, you’re at a concert on the eve of National Aboriginal Day, and the young woman next to you turns to her friends and screams “Happy National Aboriginal Day! We’ve been waiting for centuries for this, these people don’t even know how bad it’s been.” And you want to turn to her and say: “You’re absolutely right. I don’t.” But you don’t know how to do that, either. So instead you stay silent, and stay on your side of the invisible line that separates you. @jm_barrett
Michael Geller Columnist michaelarthurgeller@gmail.com Have you recently bought or sold a home? If you were a buyer, did you pay more than you wanted because you were told there was a competing bid on the property? If so, you are not alone. Many of us have encountered this real estate strategy even though it may be contrary to the Canadian Real Estate Association Code of Ethics. More specifically, a realtor cannot tell a prospective buyer about another bid unless they know for a fact it was formally submitted in writing. To address this practice, new rules come into effect in Ontario today (July 1) to make real estate bidding wars more transparent and so-called “phantom bids” a thing of the past. Under these rules drawn up by the Ontario government and Ontario Real Estate Board, real estate agents will no longer be allowed to tell a potential buyer there is a competing offer unless that offer is signed, sealed and delivered. If someone has suspicions about the validity of a competing offer, his doubts can be taken to the Real Estate Council of Ontario and the listing agent will be required to show proof. If the agent has fabricated the offer, he or she may be liable for a substantial fine or jail time. According to a recent Toronto Star story, officials in British Columbia say they haven’t received many complaints about phantom bids and therefore do not believe similar rule changes are needed, adding there are ethical codes in place that prohibit agents from using deceptive practices. However, based on my experience and discussions with real estate agents in preparation for an interview tonight on CBC’s The National, similar rule changes in B.C. would be of benefit to potential buyers. Realtors tell me that while more sophisticated buyers often know when “phantom offers” are being fabricated, first-time buyers are more easily duped. They could benefit from new legislation. Since the Vancouver real estate market is even hotter than the weather, this may be a good time to discuss other real estate practices. Recently, some Vancouver media have expressed alarm over the fact that
properties are selling well above their listing price. What they do not realize is that in many cases, the listing price is deliberately set below market value as a strategy to obtain multiple offers. Once the offers have been received, it is not uncommon for agents to play one off against another. Some of these agents then boast in their real estate listings about the many properties they sold above listing price. As I observe the Vancouver market, I am reminded of a New Zealand television program I watched during a 2007 trip called School of Home Truths. It followed 13 potential house buyers and sellers as they learned how to successfully play the real estate game under the tutelage of a critic of the real estate industry, a psychologist and financial expert. Through the use of hidden cameras, the students and real estate agents were observed and evaluated on their performance. One episode opened with a classic card trick to reveal how some real estate agents, like good magicians, can make you think you are in control, when you really are not. Through a hidden camera we see an agent telling a prospective purchaser what a “nightmare” a property has been to sell, and why the vendor will likely accept significantly less than the asking price. Another agent encourages a prospective vendor to list a home with her noting, “I really don’t have to work for a living because my husband is an importer.” The program stresses the importance of not letting your emotions take over when buying a home, and how to carry out an initial inspection of a house. The teachers then grade the students on their performance. “She didn’t even check the shower for water pressure,” exclaims one teacher in justifying a student’s poor mark. I suspect it is just a matter of time before we have a similar program in Vancouver. In future columns I will discuss alternative approaches to buying and selling homes, outdated real estate commissions, and what I learned about real estate agents from the book Freakonomics. @michaelgeller
The week in num6ers...
9
The average annual number of times Vancouver police used stun guns between 2010 and 2014, down from a high of 93 times in 2006.
1.5 250 30 45
In billions, the approximate number of litres of water Metro Vancouver residents consume during an average summer day.
In dollars, the fine Vancouver residents risk for watering their lawns during non-permitted hours.
The current age of the Vancouver Heritage Register. The city is seeking public input to improve the evaluation of potential heritage sites.
The percentage of Vancouver bicycle commuters who are female, according to a recent report from HUB.
32
The number of new contemporary dance pieces being performed at the 27th annual Dancing on Edge Festival, running July 2-11 at venues across the city.
W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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Inbox LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Park board need to step up to the plate on disability access
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
Chief Dan George laments Confederation
July 1, 1967: A celebration at Empire Stadium to mark Canada’s 100th birthday turns awkward when keynote speaker Chief Dan George points out to the crowd of 30,000 that Confederation hasn’t exactly been an unqualified success story. George, an author, Oscar-nominated actor and former chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, begins his now-famous speech “Lament for Confederation” with the words: “Today, when you celebrate your hundred years, oh Canada, I am sad for all the Indian people throughout the land.” The soliloquy is widely credited for helping start the first wave of First Nations political activism and waking up nonaboriginal Canadians to their plight.
Simon Fraser reaches mouth of the Fraser July 2, 1808: Thirty-five arduous days after departing from Prince George by canoe, North West Company explorer Simon Fraser reaches the mouth of the B.C. river that now bares his name. Reaching the end of the 840-km journey turned out to be a bit of a disappointment for him. Not only was it not the mouth of the Columbia, the river he thought he was descending, but he also met a hostile reception from Musqueam warriors, who promptly chased Fraser and his party back upstream all the way to what is now the town of Hope.
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Re: “More seats on deck at Nat Bailey Stadium,” June 17. The public consultations on the expansion of Nat Bailey Stadium were extremely limited in outreach and designed to ensure that well-connected area residents were once again able to quash any legitimate possibility at building a modern facility for all citizens that would accommodate everyone equally. B.C. Stats and the City of Vancouver’s own demographic analysis reveal that 17 per cent of the citizens of Vancouver are impacted by some form of disability. Sixty-four years after opening as Capilano Stadium, the number of fully accessible seats at the city-owned Nat Bailey Stadium will balloon from 40 to 58 and none will be in the upper grandstands. By comparison, the City of Winnipeg’s Shaw Park, home to the Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball Club, has multiple elevators for people with disabilities to access all levels of the stadium and every washroom, water fountain, concession and even payphones are fully accessible. They have a mothers lounge for nursing mothers and those with small children, plus unisex facilities. So how do they deliver more for less? Winnipeg has a ward system of municipal representation and no elected park board with inflated egos and bloated budgets to hijack priorities like Vancouver. From Nat Bailey Stadium, you can look out at the vacant, once publiclyowned Little Mountain housing site that well-heeled area residents were finally able to close and bulldoze displacing hundreds from their homes with the land eventually sold-off to Vision backed private developers once the poor were gone. The other view is of Queen Elizabeth Park, a memorial to colonialism, the money-losing Bloedel Conservatory and where a zip-line was needed to prop up Vancouver Park Board losses. George Brissette, Vancouver
More developers should think locally, not globally
Re: “Wanted: Nice, rich and ‘local’ homeowners,” June 17. Enjoyed reading the article about Bruce Langereis. Finally a developer with a backbone. He didn’t seem to impress Malcolm Hasman too much though. That’s because he’s a developer who only cares about how much money he’s making off his next sale and not about the city of Vancouver. I’m tired of reading articles about the developers who are trying make us all
Barry Link
ddhaliwal@vancourier.com
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Green ‘fee and dividend’ proposal is the way to go
Re: “Elizabeth May’s carbon-tax plan unrealistic,” online only. The Greens’ “fee and dividend” proposal is similar in many respects to B.C.’s existing carbon tax. The main difference is that B.C.’s carbon tax, though revenue-neutral, distributes less than half of its revenue to individuals. The Green proposal would refund 100 per cent of revenue to all, equally. As an example, using the current carbon tax rate of $30 a tonne, each adult would receive about $350 a year under the Green proposal, providing a small boost to the local economy, while maintaining the incentive to reduce fossil fuel use. Administration costs would be minimal because payments are deposited electronically using the same system that is used for various other federal and provincial payments to individuals. Blaise Salmon, Victoria
ONLINE COMMENTS Trust in trustee is tenuous
Re: “Outgoing chair lost board’s confidence,” June 26. So Green trustee Janet Fraser gets to decide who the chair will be... because she made such intelligent and informed choice the first time round. Sandy, via Comments section
•••
Christopher Richardson lost confidence? How about Janet Fraser holds balance of power but no other trustee wants her as chair? Ken Denike, via Comments section
East is Eden for public ed
Re: “West Side teens chose East Side public school,” June 26. John Oliver had a bad reputation for years due to a number of factors, but with the arrival of Tim McGeer, the principal, and enthusiastic students and teachers, JO has completely turned around and is a fantastic school. As the PAC chair for the past two years, I may be biased but I find the students to be polite and kind, the teachers to be helpful and inspiring, and the general atmosphere to be inclusive and caring. I also have a son at Tupper and I’m happy with both of the schools. East Side schools are the best! Anne, via Comments section
have your say online...
FLYER SALES
Dee Dhaliwal
think that our fair city isn’t being sold out to foreign buyers. How then do they justify all the developing that’s going on, and who’s doing that developing. Look along the Cambie Corridor! Vancouver is disappearing as the city that I grew up in. Jeanette Edwards, Vancouver
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
Living
Cookbook sequel a bounty of recipes Win free copy of Ocean Wise Cookbook 2 in Courier contest
Sandra Thomas
Ocean Wise Dungeness Crab Tacos with Radish Sprouts
sthomas@vancourier.com
The second issue of the popular Ocean Wise Cookbook was released last week with even more recipes using sustainable seafood. The book follows on the success of Ocean Wise Cookbook: Seafood Recipes that are Good for the Planet, published in 2010. Both books were compiled and edited by Vancouver-based writer and former caterer Jane Mundy, who said while it was tough to find enough recipes to fill the first volume, that certainly was not the case with Ocean Wise Cookbook 2. Ocean Wise is a nationwide conservation program created to help businesses and their customers make environmentally friendly choices. The Ocean Wise symbol next to a seafood item at a restaurant or shop assures shoppers that option is deemed sustainable. The program, founded by the Vancouver Aquarium and the now defunct C Restaurant in Vancouver in 2005, launched nationally in 2009. The Ocean Wise Cookbook2 includes recipes from some of the best chefs in the country, including Warren Barr of the Wickaninnish Inn, Jason Bangerter of Langdon Hall and Ned Bell of YEW Restaurant and Bar located in the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver. The Fairmont Hotel is also credited with embracing
Prep time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 10 minutes Substitutions: Maple syrup is a great substitute for honey. Tacos: Juice and zest of 1 lemon, divided 2 tbsp (30 ml) miso paste 2 tbsp (30 ml) Dijon mustard 2 tbsp (30 ml) honey 1 cup (250 ml) canola oil 1 ripe avocado Sea salt Freshly ground pepper 3/4 cup (180 ml) fresh cooked Ocean Wise Dungeness crab 6 crispy wonton shells • Set aside 1 tsp (5 ml) of lemon juice for the avocado. Mix remaining lemon juice with lemon zest, miso paste, mustard, honey, and canola oil in a blender to make the dressing. Mash avocado with a fork. Season with 1 tsp (5 ml) lemon juice, salt and pepper. • Mix about 1/4 cup (60 ml) dressing into the Ocean Wise crab meat and taste, adjusting as needed. Refrigerate the remaining dressing for up to two weeks — it’s great on salads.
The Ocean Wise Cookbook 2 features 40 species of seafood, from oysters to octopus, pink salmon to sturgeon and a few seaweed recipes. Want to win a free copy? See the story for details. PHOTO JENNIFER GAUTHIER
the program in its infancy. The new cookbook features 40 species of seafood, from oysters to octopus, pink salmon to sturgeon and a few seaweed recipes. According to Mundy, kelp is
the new kale. Many chefs submitted recipes featuring seafood and fish they sourced locally, such as P.E.I. mussels and Lake Erie pickerel. Keep in mind one of the best conserva-
tion methods is to diversify by eating many kinds of sustainable fish. And while the cookbook doesn’t hit the shelves and online book stores until July 6, Mundy provided the Courier with
To serve: 2 radishes, thinly shaved 1/2 cup (125 ml) radish sprouts • Put crab-meat mixture into the wonton shells until they’re bursting with crab. Spoon the avocado mixture onto a plate and place assembled tacos on top. Garnish with radish slices and sprouts. Pairing Suggestion: Tom Firth: Tantalus Old Vine Riesling. For more information and recipes, visit oceanwise.ca.
a recipe to share. As well, the Courier is giving away a signed copy of the cookbook to the 10th reader to email me at sthomas@vancourier.com and answer the following question: What
is the number one problem facing the world’s oceans? The winner, who will be announced July 3, must be able to pick the cookbook up at the Courier’s office on West Fifth Avenue.
Emergency watering: even a small dose can save some plants GARDENING
Anne Marrison
amarrison@shaw.ca
With wells going dry, city water restrictions tightening and no rain predicted for the foreseeable future, it’s not the best time to contemplate all the water shortage preparations that would have helped so much had we only done them in the spring. More useful right now is figuring out ways of using the little bit of water that still comes our way. Conventional watering advice is to give infrequent thorough drenchings. But in desperate times this becomes impossible unless one picks a few favourites and leaves the others to their fate. Luckily, even small doses of water can stop a plant from dying. Grey
Pop bottles can be used as DIY watering bulbs.
water is very useful and most is relatively clean. I’m thinking of left-over tea, boiled-egg and vegetable water, what’s left over from rinsing dishes, washing clothes or the cold clean water that runs down the drain while waiting for hot water to kick
in. All good for flushing toilets too. Years ago, when our water supply came erratically from a five-foot well down in the bush, we plugged the bath and got a water bonanza from a week of showers. Showering with cold water up to your
knees is not fun. But on weekends, we put a hose in the bath, connected a small portable pump and used the shower water for watering the vegetable garden. Later we harvested a very decent crop — though we did discover that pole beans watered once weekly are stringy unless picked much earlier than normal. Grey water isn’t clean enough for leafy vegetables or dwarf beans, but it’s very effective for trees, shrubs or berry bushes especially if you get it directly down to the roots. Standard garden equipment includes deep-root watering spikes, which can attach to a hose. The low-tech way is to plunge a crowbar into the soil (or in a pinch a sharpened piece of wood) and pour water
down the hole. Best to cover the hole afterwards so it stays open for future use. Container gardeners may be interested in watering bulbs. Lee Valley Tools sell porous ceramic spikes, which can screw onto various water containers such as soft drink bottles or wine bottles. With food crops, priority should always go to anything currently forming fruit or the edible part of the crop. Other extra-needy plants include shallow-rooted ones such as rhododendrons and blueberries. Any tree, shrub or perennial plant in its first year also has an increased need for water. Meanwhile, the tougher characters include anything with taproots, tubers or bulbs. Filagree, lacy or needle-like leaves, grey
leaves or succulent or waxy leaves also withstand drought well. So do lawns — and they do green up when (if?) fall rains arrive. People wanting to be prepared next spring, in case next year is like this, could start early mulching vegetable beds with grass clippings in-between the rows. The clippings can be spread closer into the rows as vegetables sprout. Soaker hoses are a good investment too, though it’s best to remember the soaking is less effective towards the far end of the hose. Sprinklers are not. Sprays of water evaporate super-fast. Anne Marrison is happy to answer garden questions. Send them to her via amarrison@shaw.ca. It helps if you include the name of your city or region.
W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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Twenty three years ago, my identity and life changed forever — for the better. My first child was born and I became a father. I instantly understood unconditional love and was responsible for the care of someone whose wellbeing was more important than my own. When our children are still toddlers, we imagine their unlimited potential. What will they learn? What talents will they discover? What will they create? As my children learned and grew, I learned and grew with them. As they
discovered the world, I rediscovered it through their bright and curious eyes. The universe and life itself had become more wondrous to me. I understood what it must have been like for my own parents during numberless hours shared in Stanley Park and in the playgrounds around Burnaby and Vancouver. My dad set the bar high for patience and generosity. Later as a busy young adult, I wondered how he could have been so free with his time. When I became a father myself, I understood. It came naturally with a
father’s love, and the more unconditional and pure that love, the more easily it would flow. My children taught me much about giving out and giving forward without expectation. They taught me how to love more fully and unconditionally, and they taught me how to forgive. They may not realize that it was they who helped me through the loss of my mother. They embodied my parents’ legacy. The love my mother and father gave to me in our life together was the love I now give to each of my children and the love that they will give forward to others.
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
Arts&Entertainment
GOT ARTS? 604.738.1411 or events@vancourier.com
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July 1 to 3, 2015 1. Get your contemporary dance fix as the 27th annual Dancing on the Edge Festival pushes the boundaries of contemporary dance with 32 innovative new works by more than 70 dance artists. The convergence of Canada’s best dance artists and choreographers runs July 2 to 11 at venues across the city. For a full schedule of events, got to dancingontheedge.org. 3. The Vancouver International Jazz Festival ends with a bang and buffet of free performances around Granville Island July 1, including the Jen Hodge All Stars. Expect a raucous, sassy time when Hodge and Co. perform a set of old timey jazz in the vein of Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke and Bob Wills, 5:30 p.m. at the Railspur District Stage. Details at coastaljazz.ca. 3. Clocking in at five hours-plus and violent as heck, Anurag Kashyap’s 2012 film Gangs of Wasseypur has been described as Indian cinema’s The Godfather. The Cinematheque hosts the Vancouver premiere of part one and two of this colourful, hyperkinetic and often darkly humorous epic about rival criminal clans, July 1 to 5. Details at thecinematheque.ca.
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W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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Arts&Entertainment
Cabbies offload on life in the driver’s seat Indian Summer Festival heats up with week of art, food, music and ideas STATE OF THE ARTS Cheryl Rossi
crossi@vancourier.com
It all started three years ago with Larry Claypool. Sirish Rao flagged his cab, heard stories from the Vietnam vet who later worked with a landmine program in Cambodia and asked him to pull over so they could just talk. Then Rao learned about Helen Potrebenko, who drove taxi in Vancouver in the 1970s and published an autobiographical novel called Taxi! “It’s a brilliant, really sharp scathing commentary on working class life, on the role of women in lowpaid dangerous jobs,” said Rao, artistic director and co-founder of the Indian Summer Festival. “Suddenly, it struck me that we have people in Vancouver whose experience driving cabs had led them to create some amazing narratives. So he created an event called In the Driver’s Seat: Stories from the Cab for the Indian Summer Festival, which runs July 9 to 18. “We always feel that cab drivers must be psychologists of some kind because you’ve got someone literally on a couch behind you, and as Larry once said, ‘Either they talk to you with the intensity that you would never talk to a stranger, they thought that they would never see you again so they give you everything that’s on their mind, or they forget you exist.’” Claypool returned to the U.S. from Vietnam and wound up in Kent, Ohio the day the infamous Kent State shootings happened. “So between that and the war, I’d had my fill of Richard Nixon and the U.S. government and it was time to leave,” Claypool said. After Ohio, he travelled to the South of France, where he fell in love with French women and then moved to Montreal to meet their Canadian counterparts. He then studied at York University in Toronto, and at In the Driver’s Seat he will read from the novel he’s writing about the unique community he encountered in a high-rise building there. He will also present photos from his series Larry’s Window, pictures of people on the street and his customers. Claypool started driving
The Indian Summer Festival hosts In Driver’s Seat: Stories from the Cab, July 10.
cab as a “pick up, throw away job” in 1978. It’s a job he’s picked up between a five-year stint in South America and eight years in Southeast Asia, working in the wild animal trade. Four or five current and former cab drivers will speak at the July 10 event at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. They’ll talk about their lives and how driving cabs affected their creative output, followed by a Q&A with the audience. “I kind of felt like sharing
the experience I had of being in a cab and then meeting this incredibly gifted storyteller and very interesting human being that I would have only seen in that mirror,” Rao said. “It’s kind of nice to be in the driver’s seat, so to speak, and sit face-to-face and hear them speak about their work and their lives.” Audiences will encounter Keith McKellar, who became entranced by Vancouver’s neon era when he drove cab in the 1970s. His book Neon Eulogy incorporates line
drawings of the disappearing neon in Vancouver and jazz riff tales from the streets. They’ll also meet Pav Nagra, a 22-year-old fulltime business student who started driving cab a year ago and has been developing a standup routine to give his passengers an experience, rather than a mere ride. “His dad drives cab, his uncle drives cab, so he said that he grew up watching the world through the rear window of a cab and for him, the street is where he feels completely at home,” Rao said. “He’s got a sort of philosophy of what being a cab driver is and he does want to break some of the stigmas around it because this is what his family does, this is what he does,” Rao continued. In addition to presenting the stories of cab drivers, Indian Summer is a festival of art, food, music and ideas. There’s an event called 5 x 15 at the Imperial, July 18, that will feature five speakers, including award-
winning journalist Naresh Fernandes talking about the global media landscape, restaurateur Meeru Dhalwala of Vij’s highlighting how insects are a high-protein, sustainable food, and Patrick Stewart of the Nisga’a First Nation speaking about aboriginal culture, colonialism and his punctuation-free 52,000 word PhD thesis in Grammatical Resistance. “It’s follows on to be a vintage Bollywood dance party, so that’s always a good thing,” Rao said. The Strings that Bind Us, July 15 at the Orpheum, will feature Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, India’s master of the sarod, a lute-like instrument with 19 fretless strings, play-
ing with his two sons and violinist Jeanette BernalSingh of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. “This idea of worlds meeting is very key to the way we put this festival together,” Rao said. “Vancouver is for sure an extremely diverse city with a lot of interesting people in it, but perhaps not enough cross-pollination,” Rao said. “We want science and art to meet. We want South Asia and Europe. It doesn’t mean that you find an easy common ground, it means that you actually explore if there is good friction.” For more information, see indiansummerfest.ca. @Cheryl_Rossi
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Get soccer balls into the hands of children in Syrian refugee camps!
Michel Ibrahim has until July 22 to raise enough money to pay the custom fees on a shipment of donated soccer equipment destined for Syrian children living in refugee camps in Lebanan. He’s offering several perks to donors including a free haircut at his West Vancouver Barber Shop, registration in an August 9 soccer workshop and an extensive soccer camp for an entire team of young players. To contribute, go to
/fc4syria
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THE VANCOUVER COURIER W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5
The Courier presents Vancouver’s Elite Graduating Athletes of 2015
Megan Ma PAST
MAGEE LIONS AND VANCOUVER HAWKS
PRESENT
ERIC HAMBER ARTIFICIAL TURF PLAYING FIELD
FUTURE
NCAA DIV. 1 ALBANY GREAT DANES
F
rom her vantage point in the middle of the pitch, Megan Ma can step in to take control of almost any aspect of the game. When her team has the ball, the centre-fielder can set up and distribute on attack. When defending, she’s tracking, disrupting and stealing the ball to regain possession. Rare in a time of sport specialization, the five-foot-three talent has been developing these play-making and play-breaking skills in two games, soccer and field hockey. Ultimately, she chose one over the other and this fall will play in the NCAA for the Div. 1 Albany Great Danes. “That was one of the hardest decisions in my life,” said Ma, 18. “In the end, I feel field hockey was the right decision because there are so many opportunities that I felt were leading me there.” Said the one-time setter, “Quitting volleyball first was hard enough. My love of sports in general is just absolutely something I can’t describe.” Selected to Team B.C. for the past four seasons, Ma made top-tier Blue team in 2012, but before she played a single game she broke her ankle during an Okanagan road game with her high-performance soccer team. “I was going in for a tackle and something went wrong. It didn’t feel good — I was kind of in shock,” she said. “It didn’t feel horrible at first but I hear that noise, that crunching noise.”
Ma tried to return to the field, but the swelling and pain had become too much. Back in Vancouver the next day, she found out it was broken and would need a cast for six weeks. The timing was terrible. Unable to train with the provincial field hockey team, Ma took herself off the roster. She nonetheless attended practice and joined the team in learning about sport psychology by keeping a performance journal. At the national tournament, held in Surrey at Tamanawis Park, she sat on the bench and kept stats. “It was pretty hard, watching on the sidelines and not being able to play,” said the 18-year-old who competed for the Magee Lions and has had the same Vancouver Hawks teammates since she was seven, playing at practising at the artificial turf beside Hamber secondary. The team reached the national final and won. Her teammates and coaches made sure Ma was recognized for her commitment off the field and told to come back on it for the award ceremonies. “I got a gold medal, too. The fact they called me over, I was surprised but was very touched,” she said. The next season she was a reserve player on the U18 provincial team and for the next two years, including this one, she was back on the Blue. In 2014, she won gold at nationals. – Megan Stewart
PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
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W E DN E SDAY, J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 5 THE VANCOUVER COURIER
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Sports&Recreation
GOT GAME? Contact sports editor Megan Stewart at mstewart@vancourier.com or 604-630-3549
Stores foolish to ignore half of city’s cyclists Regardless of gender, no two bicycle owners are alike SPOKE & WORD Melissa Bruntlett
melissa@modacitylife.com
A week doesn’t go by without female friends asking me about Vancouver’s best bike stores and repair shops. With each and every question like this, I can’t come up with more than a handful of places to recommend. Whether they realize it or not, many shops give the impression their female customers have no idea what they want or what services their bikes need. On countless occasions, I’ve shown up at a repair shop and the male mechanic takes one look me and my upright bike and assumes I couldn’t possibly know what I’m talking about. I don’t profess to be a mechanic, but I understand the basics and I know my bike. It’s not just customers. Bike mechanics aren’t immune to discrimination either.
Jessica Baba, mechanic and master wheel builder at Dream Cycle on Commercial Drive, has trained and worked extensively in the bike industry for three years. Yet she still meets customers who assume her male counterparts have more skill and experience than she does. “I’ve had male customers call into the shop asking for the wheel builder, and when I explain it’s me, some have taken some convincing and I’ve even had one hang up on me,” said Baba. The industry is changing, largely because the number of women riding in this city is growing each year. Data from HUB’s Bike To Work Week 2015 report shows that 45 per cent of Metro Vancouver cyclists are women. What business would alienate nearly haft the market? It’s time for bike shops to offer products and services equally focused on their female and male clientele, something Sidesaddle hopes
Andrea Smith, left, and Lucas Gallagher, co-owners of Sidesaddle bike store, cater to women by not making any assumptions about their cycling experience or bike knowledge. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
to achieve. Co-owners Andrea Smith and Lucas Gallagher opened in late May to combine their previous bike shop experience both as mechanics and salespeople to offer their customers something different and special. “Women have been
underserviced in the industry, and our shop will focus on being approachable, not assuming anything about people and meeting them where they’re at,” said Smith. They realize a woman’s bike knowledge can vary from person to person,
and Smith is among a preciously small group in Vancouver as a female bike shop owner. According to an informal count by online magazine The Tyee, of 35 bike shops in the city, only one is female-owned and three others are run by husbandand-wife teams. The bike community at large also needs to recognize the growing quotient of women working in the industry who bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that should not be disregarded. In Baba’s experience, having female mechanics help women feel more at ease. She said, “When I’m repairing a woman’s bike, they appear more eager to learn about their bike and how to maintain it.” Bike shops and their employees, both male and female, need to realize no two bicycle owners are alike. By making novice and experienced riders --- regardless of gender --- feel equally
welcome is important in building customer loyalty as well as improving the overall bike culture in our city. “Society would benefit from more people cycling, and the easiest way to bring that out is to make women feel comfortable,” said Gallagher, adding that he and co-owner Smith feel it’s important to take gender out of the equation. There is hope. Everyone I have met feels thing are changing, albeit slowly. As interest in bicycles grows with younger generations, there is a noticeable shift from viewing bikes as toys to seeing them as a reliable means of transportation. As Smith said, “It’s an exciting time for cycling and women.” I couldn’t agree more I am hopeful for the positive changes to come, not just for me but for my daughter, too. Melissa Bruntlett is a cofounder of Modacity and is inspired to live a happy life of urban mobility.
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