vancouver courier july 23 2014
DESCRIPTION
Vancouver Courier July 23 2014TRANSCRIPT
Christopher [email protected]
Despite the city’s eviction notices, camp-ing protesters at Oppenheimer Park have nointention of leaving.
“I have sworn myself that I’m going tostay here until the last person on our listgets subsidized housing,” said Anthony Gui-tar, one of four coordinators of the park oc-cupation movement, which they are callingHomes for the Homeless. “If that takes tillthe [civic] elections in November, so be it.”
OnTuesday, July 15, park rangers handedout eviction notices to people sleeping inOppenheimer Park. Downtown Eastside
residents like Guitar who opposed theeviction occupied the park earlyWednes-day morning around 1 a.m. in support oftheir cause. Some residents are in nearbysingle-room occupancy hotels but have setup tents at the park, arguing the quality ofhousing in the area has to be improved.
The eviction notice from the city saidcampers had to remove all permanentstructures by 7 a.m. July 20. No force hasbeen used to back up the notice.
“I pay $550 for a dungeon,” said Guitar,who lives in an SRO.“The place is bug in-fested.There is no air circulating in the build-ing and what not. It’s not properly cleaned.There’s a lot of damage in the building.”
Police and park rangers surrounded Op-penheimer Park Monday morning accom-panied by social workers offering shelterbeds to homeless campers. Guitar believesthe presence was an intimidation tactic.
A statement from the city said it supports “theright to gather and carry out peaceful protesthowever, our parks are there for the enjoymentof everyone and we are requesting that the struc-tures be removed from Oppenheimer Park.”
In response to the city’s eviction notices,campers served police and park rangerstheir own eviction notice telling them theland is unceded Coast Salish territory.Guitar said all 25 campers at the site are ofindigenous background.
A group of protesters showed up at cityhallTuesday morning to propose a mo-tion at the 9:30 council meeting. AudreySiegl, a former resident of the DowntownEastside and a member of the MusqueamIndian Band, read out requests for the cityto respect the park as Coast Salish land andto cease issuing evictions for park residents.Siegl said the city needs to better servehomeless residents.
City council agreed to have Coun. KerryJang, city manager Penny Ballem and mem-bers of senior staff meet with tenters aboutthe situation at the park.The meeting wasstill in progress at press timeTuesday.
Continued on page 5
Audrey Siegl, a formerDowntownEastside resident andmember of theMusqueam Indian Band, spoke at city council Tuesday as part of a delegation supporting theprotest inOppenheimer Park. PHOTODANTOULGOET
NEWS8The other Robertson joins race
STATEOFTHEARTS 17Zulu not for sale
SPORT 19Big play at Little League
MIDWEEKEDITION
WEDNESDAYJuly 23 2014Vol. 105 No. 59
There’s more online atvancourier.com
Oppenheimer protest digs inTHE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
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Fairmarket value for Arbutus Corridor remains a subject of debate. PHOTODANTOULGOET
News
NaoibhO’[email protected]
Although the city says it’sprepared to pay what it calls“fair market value” for theArbutus Corridor lands, it re-mains uncertain if a deal canbe reached with owner CP.
The mayor’s office re-leased a statement Sundaysaying the city had anindependent appraisal doneof the rail corridor, whichstretches from the FraserRiver to False Creek, andwas prepared to offer whatit calls “fair market value.”
In a letter to residentsalong the line dated July 15,Mayor Gregor Robertsonwrote: “Unfortunately, todate CPR has not beenreceptive to our offers.TheCity will continue to worktowards reaching a reason-able, fair agreement withCPR that is reflective of theArbutus Corridor [OfficialDevelopment Plan].”
CP spokesperson EdGreenberg told the CourierMonday: “CP responded tothe mayor last week in writ-ing that we are prepared toenter into meaningful con-versations with the city. Andif the city wishes to make anoffer at fair value, CP wouldbe pleased to receive it.”
Greenberg went on to say,“CP has had a number ofindependent appraisals overthe years done on the corri-
dor and we are prepared todiscuss the line. Discussionson where we go from herewill be with the city andwe prefer to have the directdiscussions with the City ofVancouver.”
Mayor Robertson couldnot be reached for com-ment by the Courier’s printdeadline.
CP announced in earlyJuly that “encroachments”on its property, includingcommunity gardens, shedsand other structures, had tobe removed by July 31.
“We have been talking forover a decade and it’s ourposition that unless there isan offer [from the city] forreal constructive conversa-tions, we will continue tomove forward with our planto use the corridor,” saidGreenberg.
The definition of “fairmarket value” is unclearand how to determine itdepends on who’s asked.It’s been the crux of theimpasse between the cityand CP for years.
As the debate over thevalue of the land continues,gardeners along the line areasserting the importance oftheir work.
Maureen Ryan of CypressCommunity Garden said itsmembers are waiting for CPto pinpoint its property linesin that area.
“The community gardens
are very important for thecity ofVancouver and theneighbours in Kitsilano.People feel very, verystrongly about the prospectof having these beautifullandmarks taken away inthe middle of the hot sum-mer when plants are aboutto be harvested,” she saidTuesday. “We understandcompletely what CPR cando on their private property.We are trying to work withthe gardeners and othercommunity gardeners to ad-dress this situation and hopethe city and CPR wouldcontinue negotiations.Weput years and years andyears into making theselandmark gardens.”
But Ryan said CP hasbeen clear about its July 31deadline, at which point Cy-press Community Gardencould lose its water line.
“We are doing our besthour-by-hour to preservethis asset,” she said.“We willhave to move our water line.We will do our best to pro-tect and monitor the plant-ings, the trees, the shrubs,but we will not be able to goon CPR’s private property.”
Meanwhile, anothergroup of gardeners is or-ganizing a “Garden Party”from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., July26 between Maple Streetand Fir Street along theSixth Avenue railway tracks.
twitter.com/naoibh
‘Fair value’ forArbutusCorridor at stakeGardeners prepare for July 31 deadline
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A B.C. Supreme Courtjudge found no evidencethat Mayor Gregor Rob-ertson was in conflict ofinterest over the lease of citybuilding to HootSuite.
But Justice ChristopherHinkson took issue with thelevel of secrecy surroundingthe deal in his July 21 writ-ten verdict.
The court petition led byCedar Party mayoral candi-date Glen Chernen soughtRobertson’s disqualificationfrom office for failing todisclose a direct or indirectpecuniary conflict of inter-est. Hinkson said there wasno evidence that “modestcampaign assistance” givento Robertson by the socialmedia company in 2011was linked to the leaseand option to purchasethe property and he wrotethat a big city mayor’s jobincludes interacting withcorporations to help benefit
the community.The 5 East Eighth Ave.
building was put on theblock in February 2012,three months after Hoot-Suite hosted Robertson’s re-election campaign “Twittertown hall” two days beforethe civic vote.
The formerVancouverPolice building was assessedat $9.619 million, while anappraisal set it at $9.95 mil-lion.A $7.5 million offer wasthe highest of the four re-ceived by the April 13, 2012deadline, so the city pulledit from the market. On May15, 2012, an agent for Hoot-Suite offered $7 million. Citycouncil met behind closeddoors on June 27, 2012 andagreed on a five-year leasewith an option to purchasefor $9.3 million.
“While the [VancouverEconomic Commission]and the City ofVancouverboth have the corporategoal of maintaining qualityemployers inVancouver, theCity ofVancouver has a pol-
icy of only selling or leasingproperty at (or if possibleabove) its fair market value,unless it is to a non-profitorganization, which wouldnot include HootSuite,”Hinkson wrote.
“The agreement negoti-ated by the Real EstateDepartment with HootSuitesatisfied the Real EstateDepartment’s mandate ofrealizing at or above fairmarket value for city-ownedproperty.”
Hinkson rejected the no-tion by Robertson’s lawyerJoseph Arvay that Chernenand his fellow petitionersacted maliciously or wereengaged in scandalous oroutrageous conduct.
“While it is true thatI have found that theirpetition lacks legal merit, theproceedings are at an earlystage, and the process fol-lowed by the city in leasingthe property was somewhatshrouded in secrecy until apoint after which the petitionwas filed,” Hinkson ruled.
He noted that the cityinitially refused to providelease and option details viaFreedom of Informationuntil after an inquiry wasscheduled by the Office ofthe Information and PrivacyCommissioner.The cityfinally revealed in Januaryof this year that the deal in-cluded a seven-month rentholiday, $17 per square footlease rate and $700,000 ten-ant improvement allowance.
“Additionally, the peti-tioners have learned thatHootSuite also enteredinto a contract with thecity, that was not put outto tender and bid, wherebyit is paid on a monthlybasis for services involvingsocial media managementand tracking,” Hinksonwrote. “The city has re-fused to disclose the valueof this contract.”
In February, city hall
revealed via FOI that Hoot-Suite paid $692,145.80 forrent, parking and propertytaxes in 2013, slightly lessthan the $698,922 paid bycity hall to HootSuite underthe tenant improvementallowance clause. City hallalso spent $42,438.92 oftaxpayers’ money to useHootSuite software in 2013,including $1,667.34 for themayor and his staff.
twitter.com/bobmackin
Challenge tomayor overHootSuite deal flopsBut judge notes city hall secrecy
News
Re-elected Vision VancouverMayorGregor Robertson gives his victory speech in 2011 at the SheratonWall Centre. OnMonday a judge ruled hewas not in a conflict of interest involving socialmediacompanyHootSuite. PHOTODANTOULGOET
A4 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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News
Continued from page 1The Courier visited the site
around noon Monday.Allan Lee, who sleeps at
various parks and occasionalFirst United Church, spenthis first night at Oppen-heimer Park on Saturday.
“Most of us, we needhomes,” said Lee. “Whysend that stuff [evictions]when they should be help-ing us out... that’s whatthe government’s sup-posed to do.”
Despite the evictions andevents at the park includingthe UGM barbecue July 26and Powell Street FestivalAugust 1 to 3, the group hasno intention of moving.
Stella August, an activ-ist from DTES Power ofWomen, was at the parkwith other members to sup-port the cause.
“Eviction notices here areillegal,” said August. “Theyhave no authority to take thehomeless out of here.Thisis Indian territory.This issacred land.We’ll fight toothand nail to get homes.”
Homes for the Homelessinsists Oppenheimer Park isn’ta park, but rather Oppen-heimer Field, and campers
cannot be evicted. Guitar citedthe lack of walk lights andsigns with the speed limit of30 kilometres an hour, whichare present at every park.
Guitar said social mediahas greatly helped boosttheir cause.
“We’re putting outrequests for what we need,”said Guitar. “It’s been avery useful tool. People havebeen dropping us off water,fruit, vegetables; all thethings a person needs.We’redoing very well right now.”
Guitar said the best thing
would be for the city toprovide everyone at the parkwith subsidized housing.
“Out of everyone that isstaying here we do have alot of different situations,”said Guitar.“We need to betreated as people and not theway we’re being treated.We’renot being treated with respect.People have to stand up.”
“Places like this ain’tanybody else’s,” added Lee.“It’s everybody’s ground,not just one person.”
—with files from Mike Howell.twitter.com/chrischeungtogo
Supporters donating food
AnthonyGuitar of Homes for theHomeless plans to stay atOppenheimer Park as long as it takes, even until the civic elections inNovember. PHOTODANTOULGOET
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An estimated 400,000people watch the Celebra-tion of Light fireworksfrom the shores of EnglishBay. Despite throngs ofpeople gathering outsidetheir windows, businessesin the area say the extra pe-destrian traffic is worth it.
The non-profit Vancou-ver Fireworks Society op-erating the fireworks callsit the city’s biggest eventand the world’s largestoffshore fireworks com-petition. Many businessesschedule additional staffto combat crowds. Busi-
nesses with views advertisealternatives for a quieterexperience.
“Between fireworks andPride, it’s definitely thetwo busiest weeks of theyear,” said Trish Ashbee,manager of the EnglishBay Milestones.
“It’s a bit crazy,” saidAngel Requrntel, a man-ager at the Tim Horton’son Davie. “But we haveextra bodies so it’s OK.”
She noted the problemof limited washroomsavailable.Vanita Mahin-dru, manager at the Mac’sconvenience store onDavie, agreed.
“We should have somewashrooms outside forthis particular night,” saidMahindru, explaining thatnot everyone who visitsthe store is a customer.
“It’s all hands on deck,”said Milestones managerAshbee. She has workedthere for five years and hasnot experienced any majorproblems.
People wishing to escapethe crowds often visit therestaurant. “[The view ofcrowds] is pretty awe-some,” said Ashbee. “Ev-eryone herds up Denmantowards Robson. I thinktheVPD are pretty goodabout that and facilitating.”
Ashbee noted driv-ing a car through crowds
on fireworks evenings isimpossible.The city advisesVancouverites not to drivein the area because vehicleaccess will be restricted dueto street closures, not tomention the large numberof people arriving to andleaving the area on foot.
Many also escape in-doors at the Boathouse onBeach Avenue, which of-fers a special three-coursemenu for firework nights.
“You can experiencethe fireworks inside,” saidmanager Regan Tavares,who said she didn’t evenknow what crowds werelike last year because shewas so busy working inside
the restaurant.A number of hotels with
views of the bay, such asthe Rosedale on Robsonand Sheraton VancouverWall Centre, advertiserooms to book for fire-works evenings. Prices arehigher and rooms oftenbook up quickly.
VPD media relationsofficer Sergeant RandyFincham said significantpolice presence will be felton the streets, parks andbeaches.
“Our officers will bethere to assist both busi-ness owners and thosethat are coming down toenjoy the fireworks,” saidFincham in an email tothe Courier.
The VPD consideredcrowds generally well-be-haved during a Wednesdayevent last year despite afew incidents. Officerscarried out hundreds ofliquor pour outs in theEnglish Bay area as well asacross the transit network.Two Surrey teens were ar-rested after a fight. Mediaalso reported that a manon rollerblades was tryingto fight two police horses.
The competing coun-tries this year are the U.S.,France and Japan.TheU.S. kicks off the eventSaturday, July 26.
twitter.com/chrischeungtogo
Fireworks a goodproblem for businesses
News
An estimated 400,000 people typically turn out to English Bay towatch the Celebration of Light fireworks each year. PHOTODANTOULGOET
Between fireworks andPride, it’s definitely the twobusiest weeks of the year.– Trish Ashbee
Annual evening explosions bring abig boom to theWest End
A6 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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News
NPAmayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe is a longtime media executive and former reporter.PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
12TH&CAMBIE
My bunk detector red-lined twice this month.
What’s a bunk detector?Pretty much the same
thing as a B.S. detectorthat some of my journal-ism profs used to talkabout way back in the day.
Bunk just sounds better.Redlined?For those of you who
drive a car with a tachom-eter, you’ll be familiar withthe red zone — a.k.a. thedanger zone — that indi-cates maybe you shouldstep off the gas a wee bitor change gears.
This it how it works:When somebody sayssomething that is com-pletely false or inferssomething based onassumptions that is alsocompletely false, my bunkdetector goes off.
It went off this monthfor two reasons.
Reason number one: Iread something by a mediacommentator who inferredthat NPA mayoral candi-date Kirk LaPointe willessentially get favourablecoverage from the Courierbecause one of the seniorstaff at Glacier Media— which owns the Courier— is on the NPA’s boardof directors.
That commentator wasCharlie Smith at the Geor-gia Straight.This is whathe wrote:
“[LaPointe] might tilt a
little left for the CBC, go abit harder right on CKNWRadio, and know thatno matter what, he’ll betreated fairly by his formercolleagues at the VancouverSun. Glacier Media outletsshouldn’t be a huge prob-lem, given that one of itsexecutives is on the NPAboard of directors.”
Interesting, since whenI originally read that para-graph, Smith said the Sunwould treat LaPointe with“kid gloves.” Hmmm, thatallegation is now missingfrom his copy. Guess mycolleague at the Sun, JeffLee, got to him.
Now onto the Gla-cier/NPA connection:Yes,Peter Kvarnstrom, who isGlacier’s president of B.C.operations, is a member ofthe NPA’s board of direc-tors.Yes, he has an officeupstairs.
For what it’s worth,I can assure you he hasnot interfered with mycoverage of civic politics.I barely see the guy and,quite frankly, I don’t wantany exclusive NPA newsfrom him. I’m sure hefeels the same way.
When I was the firstreporter to break the newsthat LaPointe was beingcourted by the NPA, thatscoop did not come fromKvarnstrom or anybodyin the NPA; I won’t giveaway trade secrets but youmight be surprised how Ifound out.
Reason number two mybunk detector redlinedthis month:When newssurfaced about Mayor
Gregor Robertson separat-ing from his wife, a fewreporters in this town werenotified several weeksbefore the mayor’s officeissued a statement aboutthe break-up.
I was not one of them.Even if I were, I
wouldn’t have written any-thing about it because themayor’s personal matterdoesn’t affect public policyor the day-to-day runningof the city. Full stop.
But when I learned Iwas left out of the loopbecause Kvarnstrom wasa member of the NPAboard, I wasn’t too happy.I guess the thinking bythe Vision camp was newsof the mayor’s break-upwould cause me to boltupstairs like a dog anddrop this bone of personalinformation at the feet ofmy master.
So let me say this: If Iwas ever told by any ofthe owners/managers ofGlacier Media to writea favourable story abouta candidate or an issue— or share informationgiven to me in confidence— I would turn off mycomputer, pack up a fewthings and call it a day.
Also: If political typesin this city or any otherconspiracy theorists have aconcern with my coverageof civic issues, then callme. But before you do,make sure you have evi-dence — you know, facts.
Otherwise, all you’reputting out there is pure,unadulterated bunk.
twitter.com/Howellings
Assumptions on civicbeat addup to bunk
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A7
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One of the NPA’s failedmayoral contenders willrun for a council seat inthe November electionand says he wasn’t disap-pointed he didn’t get thenod from his party to beits leader.
Ian Robertson, a formerpark board commissioner,announced his inten-tions to return to politicsMonday alongside KirkLaPointe, whom theparty’s board of directorschose over Robertson asits mayoral candidate.
“I’m thrilled that Kirk’sthe guy,” Robertson toldthe Courier at the EnigmaRestaurant at 10th andTrimble on the city’s WestSide. “You know, I kind oflook at this as being verysimilar to a sports team.I’ll equate it to football.Not everybody can be thestarting quarterback.”
Robertson was a parkboard commissioner from2005 to 2011 and was itschairperson in 2007 whenhe and other membersled the restoration ofStanley Park after it wasdevastated in a windstorm.Robertson decided not toseek re-election in 2011so he could focus on hiscareer as sales directorwith Rocky Mountaineerand spend time with hisfamily.
“I never ruled out areturn and the timingis right for me to comeback,” he said, noting hisintention was always torun for council but mem-bers of the NPA boardconvinced him to put hisname forward as a mayoralcontender.
Though the party hasyet to roll out specifics ofits platform, Robertsonsaid issues that concernhim are beautification ofthe city and crime andsafety. He wouldn’t statehis position on VisionVancouver’s call for an endto whales and dolphins incaptivity at the VancouverAquarium. Nor would hediscuss the debate aroundKinder Morgan’s proposalto twin its pipeline fromAlberta to Burrard Inlet.
“As the campaignrolls out, you’ll be hear-ing more from the NPAon what our particularpositions will be on thesekey issues,” said Robert-son who will continue asexecutive director for theTourism Industry Associa-tion of B.C.
But Robertson andLaPointe did weigh in onthe occupation of Op-penheimer Park by tenterswho say they are home-less and protesting “thehousing crisis created by
three levels of colonialgovernments,” accordingto a news release authoredby members of the Mus-queam and Haida nations.
The city issued an evic-tion notice to tenters andRobertson said he supportsthe move. He said cityparks are for the enjoymentof everyone “and we needto make sure that our parksare open, they’re accessibleand they’re safe.”
But LaPointe saidthe NPA’s position onthe occupation is not todisregard legitimate is-sues involving vulnerablepeople who require atten-tion. LaPointe said betterprograms are needed forhomeless people, althoughthe party is holding backon releasing details untillater in the campaign.
“We’ll have very clearprinciples and prioritieson it,” said LaPointe, whocriticized Vision Vancou-ver’s promise to find someform of shelter by 2015for all people living on thestreet. “In my view, it’s acallous promise that theycan’t keep, and they keeppushing along the notionthat they’re going to be thesolvers of this.”
City manager PennyBallem, who was hired byVision Vancouver, told citycouncil earlier this monththat it wasn’t “magicalthinking” to believe streethomelessness could beeradicated by March 2015.
The last homeless countin March of this year re-vealed Vancouver had thelargest homeless popula-tion in its history, with538 living on the streetand 1,260 in some form ofshelter for a total of 1,798people.
Robertson, who is norelation to Mayor GregorRobertson, joins currentNPA park board commis-sioner Melissa De Genovain campaigning for acouncil seat. De Genovaannounced her intentionsJuly 18 along with GeorgeAffleck and Elizabeth Ball,who are seeking re-elec-tion as councillors.
John Coupar is alsoseeking re-election forpark board and Fra-ser Ballantyne for schoolboard. More NPA candi-dates are expected to berolled out before the endof the month.
The election is Nov. 15.twitter.com/Howellings
NPAmayoral contendernowa council candidateIan Robertson’s concerns includebeautification of the city, crime and safety
Former park board commissioner Ian Robertson joined NPAmayoral candidate Kirk LaPointe Monday toannounce he is seeking a council seat with the party. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
A8 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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News
Jennifer [email protected]
An upcoming special parkboard meeting to discusstheVancouver Aquarium’spolicy on marine mam-mals promises to be asscorching as Second Beachsand on a hot day.
The Saturday morningpublic meeting is a chancefor those on both sides ofthe cetaceans in captivity is-sue to share their views withtheVision-controlled board.
According to a parkboard communicationsspokesperson, as of July22, only one email andno phone calls had beenreceived on the issue. Forty-eight people had registeredto speak Saturday.
If there is not enoughtime to hear all speakersSaturday, the board willreconvene at a later date,possibly Monday.
A board-contractedreport on what is happeningat other aquariums, particu-larly those without whalesor dolphins, is expected tobe released this week priorto the meeting and will bereviewed Saturday.
The aquarium, whichlast month unveiled the firstphase of its approximately$100-million expansion, willmake a presentation.
Once the full expansion iscompleted, the aquarium isset to include larger whale
and dolphin tanks.“Imposed changes to our
current agreement withthe park board about theanimals in our care will se-verely hamper the aquari-um’s ability to educate andinspire the public aboutocean issues — to conductmeaningful, conservation-based research,” read anunattributed statementfrom the aquarium in re-sponse to a Courier requestfor an interview.
Mayor Gregor Robertsonsaid in April he is person-ally opposed to keepingcetaceans at the facility andhe put the onus on the parkboard to come up with adecision about the ongoingcontroversy.
Niki Sharma, a parkboard commissionerrunning for council withVision in the municipalelection in November, haspublicly questioned thepractice of keeping themarine mammals.Visionpark bard chair Aaron Jas-per, outgoing Vision parkboard commissioner SarahBlyth and Vision vice-chairConstance Barnes, who isseeking the federal NDPnomination for Vancouver-Centre, have all stated theyoppose keeping whales anddolphins in captivity.
Barnes said no decisionswill be made until everyonewho registered to speak hasbeen heard, but she expects
the board ultimately willwant cetaceans gone fromthe aquarium.
“In my opinion, that isthe goal, how do we workwith the aquarium to phaseout whales and dolphins incaptivity,” Barnes said.
Barnes said she recogniz-es the aquarium does greatrescue work, but said shehas questions about whetherthe aquarium should be fol-
lowing a rescue and releasepolicy as opposed to rescueand keep. She said she hasfurther questions aboutbreeding and trading.
According to Barnes,the board needs to makea decision sooner ratherthan later.
“We are not in a positionto hold off on anything justbecause it is an electionyear, I think this is an issue
that we have heard loud andclear needs to be addressednow,” she said.
Barnes stressed thateven if the board decidedto phase out the marinemammals, the belugasat the Aquarium wouldremain there until the endof their lives, likely another30 years.
“They are not releasable,”she said.
The special public meet-ing takes place Saturday,July 26, at 9 a.m. at thepark board boardroom,2099 Beach Ave.
Those interested inspeaking at the meetingmust register by noon, Fri-day, July 25.
To register or for moreinfo go to vancouver.ca orcall 604-257-8158.
twitter.com/Thuncher
Park board to discuss aquariumCommissioner expects board will phase out whales and dolphins
Ameeting to discuss the Vancouver Aquarium’s policy ofkeepingwhales in captivity is being held July 26 at the park boardboardroom. PHOTODANTOULGOET
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A9
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Theweek in num6ers...
4.5Down from six, the new numberof storeys proposed for amixed-use development to be builton the Stong’sMarket site in
Dunbar.
353Inmillions of dollars, the surplusbudget the B.C. government
finished the fiscal yearwith, thefirst surplus budget since the
2008-09 recession.
4The current number ofNPAcandidates running for city
council after former park boardcommissioner Ian Robertsonannounced his candidacy on
Monday.
2The number of announced
candidateswith the last name“Robertson” running in theNov.
15municipal election.
4The number of nights aweek theKitsilano Showboat hosts freeoutdoor shows throughout the
summer.
9The number of runs scored bySouth Vancouver in a LittleLeague gameMonday againstLittleMountain that earnedthe team a berth to the B.C.
Championship.
Michael [email protected]
It is not often that I find myself in a PointGrey church hall seated between a lankyNDP MLA and former federal Liberalleadership candidate.
This was the case last week when I joinedDavid Eby and Joyce Murray at a town hallto discuss the “impending sale and devel-opment” of the nearby Jericho Garrisonproperty.
I put impending sale and development inquotation marks since there has not beenany formal federal announcement on thefuture of the lands.
However, last year it was reported thatthe lands were being sold by the Depart-ment of National Defence to CanadaLands Corporation (CLC) a federal crowncorporation that oversees the disposition ordevelopment of federal surplus properties.
MP Murray recently met with CLC offi-cials in Ottawa and thought some decisionswere likely imminent. She organized a townhall meeting to begin a process of commu-nity input.
I was invited to provide a developer’sperspective on the future of the propertyand was surprised by the turnout. Given thehot sunny evening, I expected 20 people toshow up.The number was closer to 200.
The 21 hectare Jericho Garrison extendsfrom Highbury Street westward betweenWest Fourth and Eighth avenues. A 15.5hectare provincial government property isimmediately to the west.The current federaluses are expected to end in 2017. Portionsof the provincial lands are leased for com-munity uses until 2020.
While there are fears that the federalgovernment will do whatever it wants withthe lands since this is the federal prerogativefrom a zoning perspective, previous CLCprojects including Garrison Crossing inChilliwack, Garrison Lands in Calgary, andRockliffe in Ottawa have each gone througha planning process involving a considerableamount of community input. However, justlike the performance of your investmentportfolio, whatever happened in the pastmay not necessarily happen in the future.
An issue related to these lands is thepotential for native land claims. However,last year it was reported there had been abusiness agreement between the federalgovernment and First Nations which wouldallow the sale of this property.
In advance of the meeting, I anticipatedmany wanted the lands to become parkland.Others would worry there might be a forest
of highrises.While I told the audience development
was inevitable, there would be an opportuni-ty for community input and redevelopmentcould be a good thing.Twenty-five years agoI rezoned the land immediately east of theJericho Garrison. Based on that and subse-quent discussions, I know there are manyPoint Grey, Kitsilano and Dunbar residentsready to move out of single family homes.
Most do not necessarily want to moveto UBC or downtown. Instead they wouldlike to remain closer to home. A plannedcommunity on the Jericho Lands could be avery attractive place to live.
I will never forget two conversations Ihad when I was developing the highrise atthe corner ofWest Fifth and Highbury. Onewas with an older gentleman who askedwhy we developers always made the secondbedroom in an apartment so small.
When I told him it was generally thoughtof as a den or guest room he stopped me.“No it’s not” he said. “It’s his bedroom!”
Ever since, whenever I build a twobedroom apartment for empty nesters andseniors, I include two master bedrooms.
The other conversation was with alongstanding Kitsilano resident seeking anupper floor view apartment. Unfortunatelythey were all sold. She responded howironic it was that for decades she and herhusband had been active in the communityfighting against highrise buildings, but nowthat they were ready to move into one, theycouldn’t find one.
I suggested to the audience that a newcommunity on the Jericho lands shouldinclude smaller, cottage-style detachedhomes, condominium and individuallyowned townhouses, lowrise, midrise andhighrise apartments, similar in scale to thosein Kerrisdale.There should also be parksand an array of community facilities.
The remaining revenues from the saleof the land should be part of the federalcontribution to improved rapid transit outto UBC.
twitter.com/michaelgeller
The landof Jerichoposes anopportunity
Opinion
Les Leyne [email protected]
There was a particularly delicious aspectto the release of the public accounts lastweek, and the B.C. Liberals couldn’t resistthe opportunity to enjoy it.
The annual document dump is the finalword on the fiscal year ending March 31.Politicians argue about budgets year-round,but the public accounts are consideredthe day of reckoning.The numbers arecompiled by the comptroller general andaudited by the auditor general.
The argument over last year’s budgetwas particularly intense because it was anelection year. And one of the features ofthe B.C. Liberal campaign was the bud-get itself, which was advertised as beingbalanced.The New Democrat Oppositionrejected that view immediately and insistedthroughout the campaign that the balancedbudget claim was bogus.
The verdict was delivered last week, andit turns out the budget was balanced.Thegovernment was aiming for a very modest$153 million surplus and finished the year$353 million to the good.
It’s quite an accomplishment, given thatprovincial revenues were down a half-bil-lion dollars, even with a reasonable growthrate.They scratched and clawed enoughsavings out of a $44-billion budget to makeup for the shortfall and then some.
Budget-cutting is an unpleasant exercisethat leaves a lot of people hurting. But infiscal terms, the overall result is a significantaccomplishment.The only other provinceto balance that year was Saskatchewan.B.C. emerged from deficit financing a yearahead of Alberta and is at least four yearsahead of Ontario, which is running $12billion in the red this year, with most of itsindicators running in the wrong direction.
And what heightened the satisfaction wasto review all the NDP claims over the pastyear that it couldn’t and wouldn’t be done.
There are pages and pages of them, allof which the Liberals promptly released.There are 34 NDP MLAs and nearlyevery one of them is on the record assur-ing people that the 2013-14 budget couldnever, ever be balanced.
Then-leader Adrian Dix spent monthsdriving the point home. “It was clearly amajor deficit budget,” he said in March2012. “Of course it’s pretty clear, on theface of it, that this is the fifth deficit budgetin a row.
“The only person in B.C. who thinksthe budget is balanced is Premier
[Christy] Clark.”His successor, John Horgan, echoed the
theme: “I guess it speaks to how difficultthe past number of months have been forthe Liberals that their glimmer of hopewas that they were all able … to vote for abudget that everyone acknowledges isn’tbalanced.”
Even after losing the election, they con-tinued to insist it wasn’t balanced.
NDP MLA Shane Simpson told thelegislature in July 2013: “This budget isnot balanced. It will not be balanced nextyear when we come to the end of the year.There’s no doubt in my mind about that.This budget will not be balanced, but a lotof people will be hurt along the way in theeffort to find that balance.”
NDP MLA Mike Farnworth chimed in:“It has no credibility in its budget, and it’snot balanced. It wasn’t balanced in Febru-ary and it’s not balanced today.”
Apart from confirming the fact that a lotof smoke gets blown over budgets, the now-certified balanced budget also recalls an-other issue from the campaign.The NDPhad a valid reason for insisting it wasn’t bal-anced. It was because they couldn’t bringthemselves to promise they would balanceone, if elected.
Liberals were touting a balanced budget.The NDP was leery of committing to one.So the best way to neutralize the Liberaladvantage was to insist it simply didn’texist. Other issues took over the campaignand the election seemed to be decided onother things. But it was interesting thatthe New Democrats — who generallyfavoured more services, not less — couldn’tbring themselves to commit to balancing abudget.
It was partly because they also couldn’timagine themselves saying “No” to all thevalid demands for more services.That’sa bloody-minded exercise at which theLiberals have learned to excel.
twitter.com/leyneles
B.C. Liberals revel inbalancedbudget
The government wasaiming for a verymodest $153 millionsurplus and finishedthe year $353 millionto the good.
A plannedcommunity on theJericho Lands couldbe a very attractiveplace to live.
A10 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
LETTERS TOTHE EDITORLetters may be edited by the Courier for reasons of legality, taste, brevity and clarity.Send to: 1574West Sixth Ave.,VancouverV6J 1R2 or email [email protected]
COURIER STORY: “Sex-positive candidate withdraws amid online controversy,”online only.idspispopd: So in other words, she and [VisionVancouver] decided she should stepdown because they were concerned about a reaction that never happened and wasunlikely.bryson430:The park board is basically political training wheels.This woman didn’tcare about making the parks better, she cared about starting her own political career.She bowed out for a stupid reason but it’s probably best for us all that she did.
COURIER STORY: “New branch head welcomes all to Carnegie library,” July 18.JordanWong:Thanks for taking up this challenge.When I was a kid I used to go to this libraryand watched people play chess while my grandma was out shopping in Chinatown.Therewas an entire floor of people playing chess and checkers,which was pretty cool. It felt like acommunity gathering space and kind of a shelter away from the mess outside where you couldunwind an read a book or play Sudoku.Everyone needs that.
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VANCOUVER THIS WEEK IN HISTORY
July 23, 1914: The S.S. Komagata Maru, a Japanese steamship that had brought 376passengers, mostly Sikhs who were British subjects hoping to settle in Canada, isforced to leave Vancouver after spending two months in port. Due to laws meantto keep Asian immigrants out of Canada, passengers were denied entry and forcedto return to India. Thousands of people cheered from the docks as the ship sailedaway. Indian police later killed 19 passengers during a riot that ensued upon theKomagata Maru’s return. The B.C. legislature unanimously passed a motion formallyapologizing for the incident on May 23, 2008.
Komagata Maru leavesVancouver
WEB vancourier.comFACEBOOK TheVancouverCourierNewspaperTWITTER @vancouriernews
have your say online...
Grousingoverco-housingTo the editor:
Re: “Sidewalk cyclists deserve zero toler-ance,” June 6.
The ground-breaking ofVancouverCedar-Cottage Co-housing’s developmentmight have been good day for Ericka Ste-phens-Rennie, spokesperson forVancouverCedar-Cottage Co-housing, but it was abad day for our neighbhourhood.
Despite Brian Jackson, the city ofVancouver’s manager of planning anddevelopment statement that “he workedwith city planners to find creative ways toaddress community concerns”, none of themajor issues about having a 31-unit, four-story, in-facing condominium developmentdumped into the middle of a single-familyneighbourhood have been addressed.
Vision councilor Kerry Jang gave a hintof his political agenda when he said co-housing makes good use of land.Would hisphilosophy see all single family neighbour-hoods converted to multiple-residentialuse? An apartment tower on every cornerwould make even better use of the land ifthat’s his vision for the city.
Ironically, another one of Coun. Jang’sassertions, that one of the biggest problemswe have in our city is loneliness, isn’t borneout in my neighbourhood. It’s a testamentthat community is alive and functioningand doesn’t have to be mandated.
Throughout the entire rezoning process,bitterly and overwhelming opposed by theneighbours, the Cedar-Cottage co-housingpeople, the city planners and the politiciansnever did get it and they still don’t.
How can damaging the quality of life ofothers to create an ideological lifestyle ofyour own be a good thing?
Erika’s statement of being “excited to betaking this step together as a community,with the neighbourhood and the city” wasa positive and naive spin on this embattledproject.The few neighbours I talked towere hardly excited, more like resigned.
But you don’t have to agree with yourneighbours or even like them that much.What works in our neighbourhood ispatience, tolerance, and a sense of hu-manity. No doubt this will be extended tothe co-housing people, as it has been to
others, once they move in.How forgiving we’ll be on November
15th is another matter.Rod Raglin,
Vancouver
MPonCP’scorridorplansTo the editor:
Re: “CP wants Arbutus Corridorcleared,” July 4.
I was surprised to learn that CanadianPacific Railway (CP) has issued evictionnotices to community gardeners along theArbutus Corridor inVancouver Quadra.I was even more surprised to learn thatthese evictions are to take effect on July 31,2014, providing barely one month notice.
It is my understanding that CP currentlydoes not hold any permits or permissionsfor development along the corridor. Lastmonth CP representatives advised a publicmeeting of Arbutus residents that theywould be conducting surveying activi-ties along the line and that they have nopermission from the City ofVancouver forother activities.
Vancouver citizens have voluntarily im-proved some of the track right of way areas,turning unsightly garbage-strewn weedtangles into gardens that provide fresh foodand flowers and benefit the communityspace. Can the CP surveyors not workaround these objects?
The July 31st deadline for clearing thegardens is unreasonable and will waste thework that has been invested in this season’sgarden production.The corporation’sdecision to issue notices to remove gardensand sheds, without adequate time tomake other arrangements, appears to be athoughtless one that fails to meet the stan-dards of good corporate citizenship.
I request that CP Rail show respectfor our community by cancelling theseevictions and inviting affected communitymembers to work with them to find asatisfactory way forward.This will allow fora better understanding of all the relevantland use interests and issues, and a solutionthat accommodates both CP’s require-ments and those of the local communities.
Joyce Murray, Member of ParliamentVancouver Quadra
Tracy wins Molson IndyVancouverJuly 25, 2004: Canadian racecar driver Paul Tracy completes 85 laps of a makeshiftcourse around the old Expo 86 site in just over an hour to win the 2004 MolsonIndy Vancouver. The fifteenth instalment of the annual Champ Car race turned outto be the last, with race organizers announcing they were pulling the plug on thecontroversial and noisy event shortly afterward. Molson Sports and Entertainmentpresident Jo-Ann McArthur said uncertainty over the race’s future due to theconstruction of the Olympic Village and new condo towers made it too difficult toattract major sponsors.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A11
DEVELOPINGSTORY
NaoibhO’[email protected]
Henriquez Partners Ar-chitects has drawn up a newdevelopment proposal forthe Stong’s site in Dunbar.
The firm is hosting apre-development permitapplication open house July31 to outline the revisedplan, which falls within zon-ing regulations.The site inquestion includes propertiesfrom 4508 to 4560 on Dun-bar Street and 3581West30th Avenue — the cur-rent locations for Stong’s,McDermott’s Body Shopand two parking lots.
In October 2013, thecity rejected a rezoningapplication that HenriquezPartners Architects had filedon behalf of landowner Har-wood Group for a six-storeymixed-use building on thesite. Neighbourhood criticsargued it was contrary toDunbar’s community vision,which calls for a four-storey
limit on buildings.Brian Jackson, the city’s
manager of planning and de-velopment, recommended theproponent pull the applicationin light of the opposition.
“[The new proposal] isfor a four-and-a-half-storey
building that’s completelycompliant with the C2zoning for a sloped site likethat, which allows for somepart of a fifth storey becauseof the measurement ofheight,” Jackson told theCourier Monday afternoon.
“It would [include] grade-related retail, which couldbe a Stong’s grocery storeor it could be demised intosmaller retail stores.”
Henriquez Partners Ar-chitects had indicated previ-ously that financial viability
was a key reason for theearlier six-storey proposalfor the land.
“They must have applieda sharper pencil in termsof their pro forma anddetermined that they couldmake it work with a smallerbuilding,” Jackson said.
The application, whichhas yet to be filed, would befor a development permit. Incases where an applicationis compliant with the zoningbylaw, it does not go to thedevelopment permit board.
It would be a decision ofthe Director of Planning— Jackson, or a staff personacting on his behalf.
“But the public sign goesup and the public does getan opportunity to providecomment prior to any deci-sion being reached,” he said.
If the applicant has madeadditional design refine-ments suggested by theplanning department, suchas reducing the “bulk” at thesouth end of the building,Jackson suspects it will be amore palatable proposal toDunbar residents, as well asthe planning department.
“I don’t know, in theversion that they’ll be takingforward next week, whetherthey’ve done that or not,”Jackson said.
Once Henriquez PartnersArchitects files an applica-
tion with the city, it willlikely be processed within14 weeks.
The firm did not returna call by the Courier’s printdeadline.
The open house runsfrom 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. July31 at Dunbar CommunityCentre, 4747 Dunbar St.
Meanwhile, a companycalled Dunbar Partnership,owned by Dunbar residents,has acquired propertiesnearby, located at 4219-4295 Dunbar St.
It’s hosting a meeting onJuly 29 seeking “input onfuture plans for the pro-posed redevelopment of theblock before it files a devel-opment permit applicationwith the city.
“Unlike past applicationsin the neighborhood, whichsought approvals via rezon-ing of subject properties,Dunbar Partnership willbe pursuing a developmentpermit approval that willnot seek density over andabove what is contemplatedin theVancouver zoningbylaw and Dunbar Com-munityVision,” the DunbarPartnership wrote in a letterto residents.
Some design concepts willbe presented at its meeting. Ittakes place from 5 to 8 p.m.,July 29 at Dunbar Commu-nity Centre in room 212.
Smaller building focus of revised Stong’s proposalOpen house scheduled for July 31 at Dunbar Community Centre
News
Henriquez Partners Architects is hosting an open house on July 31 to discuss the new proposal for 4560Dunbar St. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET.
A12 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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CITY LIVING
Rebecca [email protected]
Barry Leinbach likes touse the word “believe” a lotwhen he’s talking about theKitsilano Showboat. He be-lieves in the talent that per-forms four times a week onthe outdoor stage, believes ingiving opportunity to youngperformers, believes in mul-ticulturalism, and when hehands you a big round blueand white Showboat buttonhe’ll say:“Now you are abeliever, too.”
Kitsilano Showboat hasbeen a part of Leinbach’sentire life. He joked that hewas born with the passionas his mother Bea Leinbachdidn’t let pregnancy stopher from running the show,something she had beendoing since the mid 1940s.For “Captain Bea,” as sheis better known to anybody
who’s ever visited KitsilanoShowboat, having childrenmeant three more volun-teers and performers to addto the long list. Before hebecame vice-president andproducer, Leinbach spentumpteen hours in everypossible role at Showboatfrom selling programs tooperating sound when thebooth used to be in thewheelhouse room on top ofthe stage (“We’d all hangout the window for theentire show — it was verydistracting for people!”).
Showboat runs everyMonday,Wednesday,Friday and Saturday nightsat 7 p.m. in the summer— weather permitting.Leinbach said one of theworst things about his jobis obsessively checking theweather on unpredictabledays, and making the call tocancel and leaving an apolo-getic message to the publicon Showboat’s answeringmachine. A woman did give
him a tip, though — if hecan see the North Shoremountains across the Inletthen the show can go on;if they’re shrouded in mist,best to cancel.
Clouds only produced adusting of rain half-an-hourafter Friday’s show endedso people were treated to anhour-long performance bythe Precision Dance Acad-emy and another hour fromthe Spirit of the South SeasPolynesian dance troupe.
When Leinbach was onstage to introduce the Spiritof the South Seas, he talkedabout the group’s 30-year his-tory of performing at Show-boat but then interruptedhimself to call out to Miles,one of the summer students,to get a wet rag to clean asmall spill on the stage.
“Showboat is very real,we don’t put on any airs,”Leinbach said. “Showboatcan be a little bit cheesy,fun, entertaining and alittle bit magical. Put it all
together and you have just awonderful evening.”
Part of the magic was ap-parent when Leinbach men-tioned how many peoplehave happy memories ofspending their childhood atKitsilano Showboat. As ifon cue, Maria Sttefanidis,mother of one of the youngdancers from Precision,overheard.
“I came here as a kid, wewould walk down here fromEighth andVine. I said tomy kid last year, this is mydream!” she said. “You’reliving my dream, dancing atthe Showboat! And I’m 45years old now!”
Leinbach beamed as helistened to Sttefanidis andwhen she left, he leaned overto say,“See what I mean?”
It’s the 79th year of theKitsilano Showboat. It wasfounded by the late BertEmery who envisioned anoutdoor theatre that wouldsit on the edge of the thenfour-year-old Kitsilano Pool
where, at the time, peoplecould practically swim bythe stage.When Showboatwas built in 1935, it was atemporary structure that hadto be built up and torn downevery summer season until1963 when it was replacedby a permanent stage.The temporary backdrop,given a fresh coat of cheerybaby blue and white paintevery year, was found in thebackyard of the Leinbach’sKitsilano home during theoff-season, much to thedelight of all the children onthe block.“I was the mostpopular kid in the neigh-bourhood because I hadShowboat in the backyard,”Leinbach remembered.“All4x8 sheets of plywood fromthe backdrop would be onthe roof of the car becausethat’s how you transportedeverything in those days.You didn’t have a truck, youwould have a roof rack andmy dad would bring it homeon the 1961 Mercury.”
While the way peopletransport sets has mostlychanged these days, thespirit of the Kitsilano Show-boat has not. Built duringthe Great Depression,Showboat provided a venuefor entertainers who wereout of work because localtheatres didn’t have moneyto pay them, and it provideda place for an entertain-ment-thirsty but brokeaudience to go. It’s still 100per cent volunteer-run,including the entertainment.There is no admission butShowboat does accept dona-tions, collected by passingaround a jam tin from theoldWoodward’s store.
Leinbach’s message toVancouver: “Come downand see what’s happening.If it’s your thing, enjoy theshow. If it’s not, enjoy theview of the mountains, thecity, the swimmers in thepool and everything else.We believe in what Show-boat’s doing.”
Community
Kits Showboat believes in fun
1 2
3 4
1. Kitsilano Showboat, in operation since 1935, is basically an amphitheatre that sits at the same level as the Kitsilano Pool. 2. Spirit of the South Seas, a Polynesian dance troupe, has performed at KitsilanoShowboat since the 1970s. 3. Precision Dance Academy performers kicked off the entertainment this past Friday evening. After the school’s hour-long performance, Spirit of the South Seas entertained foran hour. 4. Maria Sttefanidis, right, dresses daughter Anghelikki Sttefanidis, age three, backstage before her performance with the Precision Dance Academy. Seemore photos at vancourier.com or scanthis page with the Layar app. PHOTOS REBECCA BLISSETT
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A13
urbansenior
Documentary filmmaker Jack Silberman with an image from his latest documentary in the background.PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
Documentarymakerfocuses under the skinJennifer [email protected]
Humble is the word thatmost comes to mind to de-scribe Jack Silberman.Thesoft-spoken documentaryfilmmaker deftly turns eachconversation away fromhimself and on to thosearound him. It takes prob-ing to get him to discussanything about himself orhis career — and there is alot he could say.
Silberman, 67, has pro-duced, written and directedmore than 50 documen-taries.
His work, for whichhe has earned at least 60international awards, hasbeen aired on televisionnetworks around the world,including the NationalGeographic and Discoverychannels.
His documentaries covera range of topics he’s pas-sionate about, from forestpractices to whaling tohow indigenous people are
treated.“He makes important
films,” said writer, pro-ducer and photographerVince Hemingson, who hasworked with Silberman onvarious documentaries overa period of 25 years.
Hemingson said Sil-berman’s genuine curios-ity about the individualsfeatured in his films helpsthem to open up and thatmakes for powerful mo-ments on camera.
“One of Jack’s greateststrengths as a director is hisability to connect with peo-ple no matter who they areor where they are or whattheir social circumstancesare,” Hemingson said.
Silberman’s calm de-meanor creates a positiveenvironment for his crewsas well.
“In the entire time I have
known Jack I don’t think Ihave ever heard him raisehis voice,” said Hemingson.“On any film productionhe is this wonderful centreof calm.”
The pair’s latest col-laboration wasTheTattooProject: Body, Art, Im-age documentary, whichHemingson produced, andSilberman directed.
Silberman and twocamera crews went behindthe scenes of the makingof a table top book thatinvolved 11 photographersshooting 100 heavily tat-tooed individuals over athree-day long-weekend, in2010. According to Silber-man, theVancouver shootwas his most enjoyable todate.
“It is very interesting tosee the creative process inaction,” Silberman said.
“Right before our eyeswe’re watching a very goodportrait photographerwork with someone whohas a beautiful piece of arton their body and in theprocess, figuring out howbest to tell the story of thatperson.”
He was also moved thatsome of the people hadnever before shown theirtattoos in public.
Silberman doesn’t haveany tattoos of his own, andhe said as a child growingup in Cleveland, Ohio,he never saw anyone withbody art.
But this isn’t his firstdocumentary about tattoos.
He travelled to Borneoto work with Hemingsonon the 2003 documentaryTheVanishingTattoo aboutancient tattoo practicesamong the Iban people.
The recentVancouverproject, however, changedthe way Silberman viewsbody art. He came to seetattoos as fine art expres-sions of inner life.
“Those images thatpeople wear have a lotof personal meaning forthem,” he said.
The plan is to releaseTheTattoo Project as anhour-longTV broadcastand a two-hour long DVD,but post-production isn’tcomplete yet.There is aKickstarter campaign toraise $90,000 to fund thefinal stages. If the campaignis successful, the film willcome out around Christ-mas, Silberman said.
Silberman has lots ofother subjects he still wantsto tackle. Next he will beworking on a feature lengthdocumentary about theproblem of sexual violenceagainst women in India.
twitter.com/thuncher
A14 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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BEST BUY - CORRECTION NOTICENEWSPAPER RETRACTION FOR THE BEST BUY JULY 18 CORPORATE FLYERIn the July 18 flyer, page 5, the Bose QuietComfort® 15 Acoustic Noise-Cancelling Headphones (WebCode:10173935) were advertised with an incorrect price. Please be advised that these headphones are $296.99 NOT$269.99, as previously advertised. Also we would like to clarify the Asus TF701T Transformer Pad (WebCode:10275831) advertised on page POP 3. Please be advised that this tablet DOES NOT come with a keyboard, aspreviously advertised. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our valued customers.
July 23 to 25, 2014
1.The Cinematheque screens theVan-couver premiere of French writer-directorAlain Guiraudie’s The King of EscapeJuly 23, 25 and 27.The 2009 feature,which preceded his international break-through Stranger by the Lake, is describedas “a rambunctious and unabashedly car-nal comedy” about a 16-year-old schoolgirlwho runs away with a gay, middle-agedtractor salesman. Show times and info atthecinematheque.ca.
2. Expect to get a contact high if you’rewithin a two-kilometre radius of FortuneSound Club when rapper DizzyWrightdrops by.The Flint, Michigan hip hop art-ists performs July 24 with guests NorthwestDivision, Dysfunqtional, J.West, Juvi Dizzle,Vicky Chand and Sailor Gerry.Ticketsat Red Cat, Zulu, Beatstreet, DIPT andbplive.ca.
3. The Queer Arts Festival returns to theRoundhouse Exhibition Hall and Perfor-mance Centre July 23 to Aug. 9.This year’stheme is ReGenerations, which organizerscall “a defiant reframing of the Nazi con-cept of ‘Degenerate Art’” and “a celebrationof our queer heritage – fecund, generative,and innovative, handed down by artistsacross generations and national boundar-ies.” Highlights include Sunny Drake’sone-man show X, ColinTilney celebratinghis 80th birthday with a solo harpsichordrecital, and the exhibit Queering the In-ternational, curated by Laiwan and AnneRiley. Details at queerartsfestival.com.
1
Arts&Entertainment GOTARTS? 604.738.1411 or [email protected]
For video and web content,scanpage using the Layar app.
2 3
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A15
KUDOS&KVETCHES
What’s in a name?The Granville Strip was
once again turned intomakeshift ball hockeycourts last Saturday forthe annual Five Hole forFood fundraiser.The char-ity event typically attractsa diverse crowd of mediatypes, bloggers, a fewslumming NHLers and, ofcourse, politicians.
As usual, Mayor GregorRobertson came out for agame but, sadly, his mainopponent in the upcom-ing election did not. NPAmayoral candidate KirkLaPointe also plays net fora CBC beer league team,and no doubt spectatorswould’ve enjoyed seeing thetwo face off in a non-debatesetting. Possibly he didn’tthink his 0.848 save percent-age was ready for publicscrutiny although that’s nottoo shabby for a 56-year-old.
Team K&K admit to hav-ing mixed feelings about hiscandidacy. On the one hand,we realize it’s good for boththe city and for democracy ingeneral to have such a highlyaccomplished candidate run-ning for office. On the other,we feel a tinge of regret theNPA’s mysterious backroomdecision makers didn’t pickIan Robertson instead andthus deprived us of the com-edy gold of a Robertson vs.Robertson race.
It was probably a wisemove.This is a city, afterall, where an unknownindependent named James
Green managed to winenough votes to cost sup-posed COPE frontrun-ner Jim Green the 2002election.Voters probablyshouldn’t be trusted todistinguish between twomiddle-aged dudes with thesame surname. Not every-one is as well informed onmunicipal affairs as regularCourier readers are, andwe’re not going to pretendthere aren’t people whosee “Affleck” in a headlineand expect the story willbe about the new Batman.It’s safe to say that many ofthem only head to the pollsout of a vague sense of civicduty and simply check thebox next to the name of theperson that sounds familiar.
Former park board com-missioner Ian Robertsonhas since announced he isinstead running for counciland will no doubt receive abump from folks who thinkthey’re actually voting forthe handsome bike lanesguy. With this in mind andstill two months to go forparties to find potentialnominees, we’ve a fewhumble suggestions basedon some other prominentcandidates’ last names.
Someone named Louieor Louis: If there’s onething we learned from thesuccess of the Louis CKsitcom Louie, it’s that there’sa lot of confusion over thespelling of this name.WithVision Coun. RaymondLouie pretty much a shoo-in and COPE warhorseTim Louis running again,it might behoove the otherparties to find a Louie (or
Louis) of their own. And ifthe NPA can’t find some-one here inVancouver withthe surname, maybe oneof their developer friendscould toss in a discountedcondo so that an out-of-towner could parachute in.
Kris from EXO:Whilesigning up the 23-year-oldsinger of a Korean boy bandmay seem like a long shot,theVancouverite — whosereal name isWuYifan — isno longer a member due toa dispute with their label.While most of his core fansare underage,Wu could stillscore plenty of votes frompeople unaware that simi-larly named school boardtrustee SophiaWoo has beenbooted out of her party.He also was the captain ofthe SirWinston secondarybasketball team and so hasproven leadership skills.
James Reimer: It wouldlikely take some convincingto get Optimus Reim to runagainstVision incumbentAndrea Reimer, but theToronto Maple Leafs goalienonetheless seems uniquelyqualified for a career inmunicipal politics. He’saccustomed to taking cheapshots from disgruntledcity residents, avoiding themedia, being surrounded bygeneral incompetence andseeing large sums of otherpeople’s money wasted.Plus he’s a millionaire andcould actually afford to livehere. And surely even theprospect of sitting throughmarathon rezoning hearingshas to be more appealingthan yet another doomedseason with the Leafs.
Arts&EntertainmentA16 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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Zulu Records ownerGrantMcDonagh says there are nowplans to close the Kitsilano store down. PHWOTODANTOULGOET
Arts&Entertainment
Cheryl [email protected]
Half the property ZuluRecords occupies onWestFourth Avenue is up for salefor $3 million.
“We have too much space,”said Grant McDonagh,owner of both the businessand the two buildings.“Themusic industry has changed.CDs don’t sell like they usedto. It’s really that simple.Theystill sell, but it was the major-ity of our square footage.”
McDonagh was reluc-tant to speak to the Courierabout the listing.
“I feel like I’d like to beclear with the public…Thebuildings are for sale but at thesame time we cannot can’t saywhat are definitive plans are,”he said.“Zulu is staying inbusiness.We’re planning to bein business for the future. It’snot about Zulu.”
McDonagh is weighingvarious options.
“There are options outthere on what our futurecan be within the buildings,as is, or within a smallerlocation, or one of the build-ings. I don’t know.” he said.“It’s too early to tell thepublic.That’s why we didn’tput it out ourselves.”
The portion of Zuluthat’s closer to Maple Streetis for sale. MacdonaldCommercial’s listing states:“The property has 25 feetof frontage onWest FourthAvenue, for a total area of
2,625 square feet (can becombined with the adjacentlot for 50 feet of frontage,and a total area of 5,250square feet).”
The buildings are zonedby the city to allow retail,commercial and residentialuse.The zoning generallyallows building heights offour storeys outright, with
the potential for five storeyswith relaxations.
The half closest to Mapleincludes two one-bedroomrental suites on the secondfloor and has housedVid-eomatica Sales since 2011when the longtime movierental and sales businessdownsized to a DVD andBlu-ray sales business.
McDonagh said whateverhappens,Videomatica andZulu will continue.
“We’re sticking together,”he said.
McDonagh started Zulua block east onWest Fourthin 1981.The record storerelocated to the block be-tween Maple and Cypress in1999 and expanded into the
adjoining building in 2001.Realtor Barb Burrows
says the property went onthe market about a monthago. She said the listing hasreceived “some interest.”
The five-block strip ofWestFourth Avenue betweenVineand Burrard streets has lostVideomatica movie rentalshop and three book stores in
the past four years.But McDonagh doesn’t
want Zulu lovers concernedabout the disappearance ofhis record shop.
“There is still a musicindustry,” said McDonagh,who started working in arecord store in 1979. “Someof the smaller stores in townare doing well.”
Zulu to survive despite sale listingIconic music store to persevere as one building goes on market
Dîner en Blanc is returning for its third year to atop-secret location inVancouver on Aug. 21. As always,tickets are extremely limited, but event organizers atThe Social Concierge have expanded the event from2,600 attendees to 3,200.
This means everyone sitting en blanc on the side-lines might finally manage to score a ticket. Here’show to do it:
1.Visit the Dîner en BlancVancouver website atvancouver.dinerenblanc.info
2. Sign up on the waiting list before noon, July28. At that time, every registered person on thewaiting list will receive an email with their personalregistration code.
3. OnWednesday, July 30 at noon, access to thee-platform store indicated in the registration email willbe made public, allowing guests to purchase ticketsfor $35 dollars per person plus $5 International EventMembership Fee.
As always, tickets will be sold on a first-come-first-serve basis and only online.
Close to 40 of these events will take place in Europeand North America this year. Established in Parisover 25 years ago, Dîner en Blanc takes the pop-upconcept to its most refined extreme, setting up anentire temporary banquet at secret location. As in allprevious years, attendees must dress entirely in white,or will not be permitted on site. Elegance, according toa press release, is encouraged.
Tickets released forDîner enBlanc
WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A17
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THEATREREVIEW
Usually I’m not con-cerned about whether a playattributed to Shakespearewas actually written byShakespeare. Cymbeline,however, does make onewonder. “A tragedy goneright” is how some havedescribed it — although allthat’s tragic about it is itspotential for things to gowrong. But they don’t; theygo very, very right.
Under the direction ofAnita Rochon, making herBard debut, not only is thisnot a tragedy (although itis subtitled TheTragedy ofCymbeline) it is, at times,almost a farce. Rochontakes some two dozenDramatis Personae andmelts them down to seven,making some very quickand very funny changesnecessary. Anton Lipovetskyplays three roles: Cloten, theson of the Queen; Post-humus, husband to Imo-gen; and Arviragus, King
Cymbeline’s son.There aremoments when two of thesethree characters are involvedin the action at the sametime. “Boys!” shouts Mor-gan (Shawn Macdonald),and Lipovetsky darts acrossthe stage, dons a fur wrap,and is suddenly Morgan’shunter/gatherer son — al-though not really, becausehe’s actually the long-lostson of Cymbeline.You getthe idea. It’s complicated.Read the synopsis.
And although the play is
titled Cymbeline, arguablyImogen, his daughter (Ra-chel Cairns) and Posthu-mus, her husband, are, likeRomeo and Juliet or Antonyand Cleopatra, the centralcharacters. No one muchcares about King Cymbe-line except that his fierceopposition to the marriageof Imogen and Posthumussets the story in motion.Posthumus, with promisesto return for Imogen, goesinto exile in Italy wherehe meets Iachimo (Bob
Frazer), a villain to rivalIago in Othello.
Young Rochon, co-direc-tor of The Chop — a fresh,innovative theatre companyin town — show’s her chopswith inventive staging. Allthe performers are on stageall the time.When notdirectly involved, they sit inshadows upstage; a fully vis-ible trunk holds the variouscostume changes — a wrap,a skirt, a cap — all of whichare put on in full view.Theperformers double — or
triple — as both charactersand musicians. In additionto playing four roles, Ben-jamin Elliott composed themusic, inspired by classicalmusic, bluegrass, Baroque,pop and bird song.
In this season’s Equivoca-tion, Judith (Rachel Cairns)might have remindedShagspeare, her father,that women disguised asboys are audience pleasers.Indeed, Shakespeare does itagain here in Cymbeline withImogen disguised as Fidele.Naturally, she bumps intoPosthumus and you canimagine how it all ends.
There are certainlyreasons why Cymbeline isseldom studied, read orproduced: it’s uneven. Andalthough forgiveness is amajor theme, it doesn’tresonate as deeply as, forexample, it does in TheTempest. King Cymbeline(Gerry Mackay) is simplynot a character writ largeenough to resound with anyintensity.
But this productiongives a lot of scope to theperformers — most notablyRachel Cairns, whose Imo-gen is full of longing for her
exiled husband then furiousat his disdain for her afterIachimo dupes Posthumusinto believing she has beenunfaithful.
Outstanding once again isBob Frazer, whose wilinessin Imogen’s bedroom is socreepy to watch as he sneaksup on her, stealing the ringgiven to her by Posthumusand spotting a mole underher exposed left breast — adetail that will convince Post-humus of his wife’s infidelity.
Shawn Macdonald’sQueen is terrifically over thetop and leaves absolutely nodoubt as to which characterhe is at any given moment.Lipovetsky shines mostbrightly as the goofy butdangerous Cloten.
Shakespeare was, appar-ently, experimenting withform with this play.Theresult is a bit of a mixed bagbut not entirely satisfyingexcept in terms of this Bardproduction that is clever,funny and handsome.
For more reviews, go tojoledingham.ca.
Cymbeline runs until Sept.17 at Bard on the Beach.Fortickets, call 604-739-0559 orgo to bardonthebeach.org.
Bard’s Cymbelinemore farcical than tragicArts&Entertainment
The seven-member cast of Cymbeline play a total of 24 different characters. PHOTODAVIDBLUE
A18 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
HOUSING MATTERS
To apply or learn more, visitwww.bchousing.org/HAFIYou can also contact BC Housing:Phone: 604-433-2218Toll-free: 1-800-257-7756
Are you a low-income senior or a personwith a disability who wants to live safelyand independently in the comfort ofyour home?
Do you have difficulty performingday-to-day activities?
Does your home need to be adaptedto meet your changing needs? If so,youmay be eligible for financial assistanceunder theHomeAdaptations forIndependence (HAFI) program.
Find out today if you are eligibleand if youmeet all of the requirementsas a low-income homeowner or as alandlord applying on behalf of aneligible tenant.
When Lorie andWalter bought theirhome in Port Alberni 13years agothey slowly began renovating theunfinished basement to accommodateWalter’s changing needs as hismuscular dystrophy advanced.
“The basement was a black hole whenwemoved in,” recalledWalter. “After12years of skimping and saving, wemade the downstairs completelywheelchair accessible, except forthe bathroom. It was way too small.I could only stand for about a minuteand a half without collapsing inthe shower stall and I could nolonger pull myself out of the tub inthe upstairs’bathroom, even withLorie’s help.”
Through funding from BC Housing’sHome Adaptations for Independence(HAFI) program,Walter and Loriewere able to work with a contractorto transform the space. A wall wasremoved to make room for a wheel-in shower with benches, grab barswere installed, and the vanity andfixtures were relocated.
I just slide into the shower now,” saidWalter. “I feel safer and no longerdread trying to wash myself. Whatwas previously a dangerous chore forme is now a welcome treat.”
Walter and Lorie hope to spend therest of their lives in their home.
The HAFI program provides financialassistance to help eligible low-incomeseniors and people with disabilitiesadapt their homes so they cancontinue to live independently.
Make Your Home Safefor Independent Living
“
HAFI Funds HomeModificationsfor Disabled Man
LITTLE LEAGUE
Megan [email protected]
Walnut Grove —Trail-ing by a run in the bottomof the fourth, the SouthVancouver all-stars blewopen the game against LittleMountain with eight runsand a dramatic three-runhome run off the bat ofEvan March.
March, 12, came to theplate for his second timethat inning after SouthVanhit through their line-upand, to the continued frus-tration of Little Mountain,scored all eight runs withtwo outs on the board.
On a 3-2 pitch, March’sshot carried the ball justdeep enough to round thebases with ease and giveSouthVan a 9-1 lead.
“I saw there was a run-ner on first and third andI wanted to get the ballin play,” said March. “Ijust wanted a single so therunners could come home.I saw the ball right in mystrike zone, I loaded backand crushed it.”
His homer bounced offthe top of the outfield fenceand was brought to hisparents in the stands.
“I was thinking, ‘I wish itcould go on forever,’” saidSouthVan manager Brian
Perry. “I was worried at thatstage because we were down1-0 but then everything justclicked.”
Returning to the LittleLeague B.C. Championshipfor the first time since 1978,SouthVan entered Mon-day’s round-robin gamewith a clean 2-0 record.Little Mountain, the B.C.champions in 2010, fell to1-1 at George Zarelli Dia-mond where North LangleyLittle League hosts thetournament this week.
The semifinals are July26 and the final game is at
noon, July 27.Little Mountain opened
scoring with a single run inthe second inning on a se-ries of unusual plays. LiamStanley was hit by a pitchbut rounded the bases fromfirst on a dribbler off thebat of Trew Petersen.Whatshould have been a routineput-out to first was knockedout of the glove of firstbaseman Emma March asher glove (and the ball in it)caught Petersen in the faceand the ball was knockedloose. On heads-up baserunning, Stanley scored the
go-ahead run.Perry came onto the field
to argue the play, but theumpires ruled the runnerarrived before the ball.
Starting SouthVan pitch-er Joseph Sinclair workedhis count up to 65 and
threw six strikes in threeinnings with no hits andno runs earned.The five-foot-eight left-hander wasawarded the win and will sitfor the next two games.
OnTuesday, after theCourier’s print deadline,
SouthVancouver playedBeacon Hill (2-0) and LittleMountain playedWhiteRock (1-1). SouthVancou-ver has a byeWednesdayand Little Mountain playsTrail at 11 a.m.
twitter.com/MHStewart
1. Evan March (centre) crossed home plate amid his South Vancou-ver teammates after he clocked a three-run home run. The LittleLeague B.C. Championships continue all week at George ZarelliDiamond and are hosted by North Langley Little League.2. South Vancouver pitcher Joseph Sinclair threw six strikes in threeinnings in a 9-3 win over Little Mountain at the B.C. Championshipsin Walnut Grove on July 21. PHOTOS CHUNG CHOW
Big bats carry SouthVancouverover LittleMountain all-starsSouthVan Little League back at provincials after 38-year drought
Sports&RecreationGOT SPORTS? 604.630.3549 or [email protected]
Megan [email protected]
No one has any trouble telling theMarch twins apart on the ball dia-mond. One twin, tall and leggy, playsfirst base and pitches while the other,already barrel-chested at 12, catches.
Both play for SouthVancouver butthe first baseman, Emma March, isone-of-a-kind on her all-star team asthe only girl.
“The boys treat me like one of themand they respect me because I’mgood,” she said Monday after SouthVan beat Little Mountain in a round-robin game at the provincial tourna-ment. She went one for three at theplate and scored in a 9-3 win.
“When I started in Minors, they put
me on first base and I’m a girl so I canstretch for the ball and they saw that.It became my primary position.WhatI love most is when it’s a tight playand you know that the throw needs toreach me fast, and I stretch as far as Ican to reach the ball. I love it.”
Emma is one of two girls at the B.C.Little League Championship, thisweek inWalnut Grove, and she hopesthe other female all-star,T.J. MurdochfromTrail, will join the provincial se-lects girls baseball team. Emma playsfor the peewee team, which travels andcompetes against boys.
The March siblings will go intoGrade 7 next year at Corpus Christielementary and are not the only twinson the SouthVan all-star team. Mat-thew and Daniel Suarez play second
and third base and both batted .167against Little Mountain.
“With Evan and Emma, they have agood connection,” said manager BrianPerry. “It took me a year or so to tell[Daniel and Matthew] apart.”
Emma, who wears bright nail polishfor big games, said anyone who hasteased her for getting additional atten-tion for playing among boys soon seesonly what matters most.
“In the beginning of the season,they’d make fun of me, like, ‘There’sa boy staring at you, Emma, you havean admirer.’ They’d tease me,” shesaid, knowing the ribbing was mostlyfriendly banter.
“But after I hit two home runs inDistricts, they stopped.”
twitter.com/MHStewart
SouthVan line-up counts two sets of twinsEmma March is one of two girls at Little League championship
SOUTH VANCOUVER 09LITTLE MOUNTAIN 03
Fans of the South Vancouver all-stars wear jerseys for twins Emmaand Evan March. PHOTOMEGAN STEWART
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A19
Sports&Recreation
GOLF
Megan [email protected]
At the Canadian JuniorBoys Championship nextweek on the BattlefieldCourse at Legends on theNiagara,TrevorYu willset his sights on playing“lights-out” golf.
What does that mean forthe 17-year-old memberof the Marine Drive GolfClub?
“Lights-out means ev-erything is going your wayand the best thing to do isjust try to get out of yourown way and let thingshappen,” he said this week.“Often it’s kind of a flash— you don’t really realizewhat you’re doing untilthe end of the round.”
The St. John’s secondarystudent qualified directlyfor the national champi-onship with a win at theCN Future LinksWesternChampionship July 1 to 4.He shot five-under par over
three rounds at the 211-partournament at the Birch-bank Golf Course inTrail.
This will beYu’s fourthtrip to nationals. In 2012,he won the juvenile titleand astounded specta-
tors when he carded acourse record (for com-petitive golfers of all ages)7-under-par 64 at Os-prey Ridge Golf Club inBridgewater, N.S.
“Sometimes you just
have those rounds whereit’s lights-out and that daywas one of them,” he said.“For one or two weeks, I’llhave rounds like that in ayear. I’d like to have themmore often but it’s always
good to have them.”Although not yet in his
senior year,Yu has com-mitted to play for NCAADivision 1 Oregon StateUniversity. His immediategoal is to win the Cana-
dian junior national title.“I’ve been working
really hard on my gamerecently, some pretty regi-mented and efficient prac-tice,” he said. “I’m reallyorganized, not necessarilypractising for a long dura-tion of time but focusingon what I need to work on,like little things in my golfswing. I’m trying to keepmy right leg a little quieterthrough impact and alsorelaxing my arms whenI’m swinging.”
A calm golfer whostrives for effortless-ness and understandsit’s a game that shouldbe enjoyable,Yu knowscompetition will be deepat junior nationals.
“I try to keep it reallylight when I play. I neverget too angry when I’m onthe course. At the end ofthe day, it’s just a game,really. I’m out there tohave fun.”
The Junior Boys Champi-onships run July 29 to Aug.1 in Niagara Falls, Ont.
Twitter.com/MHStewart
Yuaims to shoot the lights outNot yet in Grade 12,TrevorYu already committed to PAC 12 Oregon State
Trevor Yu, the 2012 Canadian juvenile champion, will compete at his fourth national championship nextweek in Niagara Falls, Ont. PHOTO DAN TOULGOET
Donnici atNationalsCrofton House
graduateMarie Donnici,18, finished second at theCN Future LinksWesternChampionship in Trail witha 16-over-par 232 over threerounds. Prince ofWales’15-year-old Natalie Chu tiedfor third at 17-over.Surrey’s Songeun Lee
won the girls tournamentwith a 14-over-par 230 andqualified directly for theJunior Girls Championshipin Thornhill, Ont.Donnici and Ashley Cai,
bothmembers at the PointGrey Golf Golf and CountryClub, qualified for the JuniorGirls Championship.
A20 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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A24 THE VANCOUVER COURIER WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014
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