vancouver courier february 6 2015

PACIFIC SPIRIT 12Lent 101

SPORTS 25All in the b-ball family

FEATURE 14Youth gone rural

WEEKENDEDITION

FRIDAYFebruary 6 2015Vol. 106 No. 10

There’s more online atvancourier.com

THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908

[email protected]

Mayor Gregor Robertson and his 10city councillors should know by Juneof this year whether they’re not earningenough money, too much money or justthe right amount.That’s because all 11 politicians

unanimously agreed Tuesday to have anindependent panel review their salaries— and those of park board commission-ers — to see whether they’re being fairlycompensated.But amid the debate and considerable

media attention paid to the issue thisweek, there was no mention that citycouncil already received a pay raise thisyear — and the year before and the yearbefore that.Every January, as per a policy es-

tablished 20 years ago, a pay raise forcouncil kicks in at the beginning of eachyear. This year it was 0.82 per cent, lastyear was 3.24 per cent.In an email exchange with the city’s

communications department this week,it acknowledged that the salaries of themayor and councillors posted on thewebsite did not reflect the pay increase.The accurate annual salaries are

$155,612 for the mayor, $68,551 forcouncillors and an additional $2,852 permonth for the deputy mayor, a positionheld by Vision Coun. Andrea Reimerfor this year; the mayor’s salary was$149,503 in 2013 and the councillors’rate was $65,860.The city says the increases are based

on a formula that involves calculatingthe average weekly rate for B.C. Up untillast year, the calculation was based on aformula recommended by an independentpanel in 1995 that decided councillors’salaries should reflect what the averagefull-time employee in Vancouver earns.

The salary would be adjusted annuallyto track changes in wages as reported toStatistics Canada, with the mayors’ salaryat 2.27 times that of a councillor.Last year, however, wage data was

collected under the voluntary NationalHousehold Survey, which replaced themandatory long-form census, causingVision Coun. Raymond Louie to speakout last year on whether the new datawas truly reflective of all wage earners.Response rates to the survey, as Louie

learned in reading an analysis by Uni-versity of Toronto professors, varied bylocation, socioeconomic status, culturalorigin and family status, with peoplewith higher status jobs and higherincomes responding more than singleparents and renters.Council’s move to review its salaries was

mentioned by the mayor in December andcame in the form of a motion Tuesdaydrafted by Vision Coun. Geoff Meggs,who said it was in response to the evolvingand increasing responsibilities expected of

council and park board commissioners,including Reimer and Louie appointeddeputy mayor and acting mayor.“If people are doing more work, normal-

ly they get more pay but none of us wantedto make that call on what that should beand how it should be done,” Meggs toldreporters after Tuesday’s meeting.In Toronto, city councillors earn

$105,397 per year while Mayor JohnTory will collect $177,499 this year. InCalgary, Mayor Naheed Nenshi pullsin $216,401 per year and his council-lors earn $115,297. Edmonton MayorDon Iveson’s salary is $176,145 and hiscouncillors earn $99,994.In the case of Toronto and Calgary,

Meggs said it’s difficult to compare thesalaries of councillors because those citieshave ward systems, where councillors havetheir own staff. Vancouver councillors rep-resent an at-large system and don’t havefull-time personal staff to help respond toemails and requests for meetings.

Continued on page 7

Council gets raise before review

Bringingart homeCheryl [email protected]

Artist Jazmin Sasky paints with apurpose.“I didn’t want to do it just as a regular

painter who [exhibits] in a gallery and getscommission, that was not the journey forme,” she said. “Forme, it was more withmeaning and helping and creating social ef-fects, affecting life and people and donatingthemoney... This project puts together allthe values I believe as an artist.”Her latest passion project, Home is

Love, will exhibit paintings that reflectthe stories of approximately 50 singlemothers, with partial proceeds of the salessupporting the YWCACause We CareHouse under construction for low-incomesingle mothers and their children.Sasky asked single mothers associated

with the Y to discuss their ideas abouthome, and then she interpreted theirstories into a series of 12 paintings,which will be exhibited Feb. 12 to 15at the donated Westside Grand galleryand event space at 1928 West Broad-way. The women ranged in age from14 to 35 and most were immigrant andaboriginal women.“They are looking at a place to be

safe,” she said.Continued on page 13

SINGLEHOME Jazmin Sasky surveyed 50 singlemothers for her exhibition Home is Love, whichwill help raisemoney for the YWCA CauseWe CareHouse. PHOTODANTOULGOET

Salaries below comparableCanadian cities

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News

12TH&CAMBIE

[email protected]

Getting a yes or no answerout of a politician is like,well, trying to get a yes or noanswer out of politician.I tried Monday.I was assembled with a

gaggle of other media typesat the Waterfront transitstation downtown to listento Mayor Gregor Robertsonand six other regional may-ors tell reporters why peopleshould vote Yes in thespring plebiscite on transitand transportation.This, of course, is the

plebiscite that will askMetro Vancouver residentswhether they think it’s agood idea to pay another0.5 per cent in the provin-cial sales tax to help pay fortransit and transportationupgrades in the region. Ifyou’re on the voters’ list,you should get a ballotmailed to you sometime inmid-March.One after another, Rob-

ertson and the mayors fromSurrey, NewWestminster,

Coquitlam, Port Coquitlamand the two Langleyslooked into the cameras andimplored people to supportthe tax hike to curb conges-tion in the region.Electoral Area A direc-

tor Maria Harris, whorepresents areas of MetroVancouver that do not liewithin an incorporated mu-nicipality including the Uni-versity of B.C. lands andthe University EndowmentLands, joined the mayors atthe news conference.You’ve probably read or

heard the mayors’ pitch, thecommon message being onemillion people will moveinto the region over the next30 years and upgrades totransit, roads and bicyclingand pedestrian infrastruc-ture is a must to avoid LosAngeles-like gridlock. Heck,they say, it will only cost theaverage household about35 cents per day for morebuses, better roads andmore transit options.Let’s get some more

math out of the way beforeI get to that yes or no ques-tion I posed to Robertson.(Incidentally, the ironyof me asking a yes or no

question to a politician whowants residents to vote Yesto a Yes or No question isnot lost on me.)A 0.5 per cent increase

to the existing seven percent sales tax will translateto $225 million per year tohelp pay for the $7.5 billion

plan which will be built outover 10 years.But — and it’s a big

but — the plan’s imple-mentation relies heavilyon money coming fromthe provincial and fed-eral governments. WhileTransportation Minister

Todd Stone has talkedabout “funding one thirdof major new rapid transitprojects and the replace-ment of the PattulloBridge, provided that theyfit within the provincialcapital plan and strongbusiness cases can be made

for the investments,” thefeds have been silent.So to the question I asked

Robertson: Voters prob-ably have a lot of ques-tions. But can you actuallyguarantee if they vote Yes,that everything in the planwill be built and they’ll getwhat’s in the plan. Can youguarantee that?Robertson: “This funding

is specific to the operationand the capital from thelocal governments to makesure that this plan happens.We still need capital fromthe federal and provincialgovernments to build outsome of the major projectslike Broadway [subway] andSurrey rapid transit, and the[new] Pattullo Bridge. Wewant to ensure though thatas local governments, we’reputting our share forwardand this plan funds the localneeds. We’re going to needadditional funding fromthe provincial and federalgovernments to finish off allthe big projects.”So was that a Yes or No

on the guarantee?Voters will have to

decide.twitter.com/Howellings

Transportation plebiscite raises questions

Mayor Gregor Robertson acknowledged at a news conferenceMonday that a 10-year plan to curbcongestion inMetro Vancouver cannot be fully implementedwithout funding from senior levels ofgovernment. PHOTODANTOULGOET

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015 THE VANCOUVER COURIER A3

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TheCity of Vancouverwill host neighbourhoodmeetings, use social mediaand reallocate some of itsstaff as part of its campaignto educate voters and helpsecure a region-wide Yesvote in the spring plebisciteon transit and transportation.But the city will not

spend any extra money inits drive to urge voters tosupport a 0.5 per cent taxhike to help pay for a $7.5billion plan that includes asubway along the Broadwaycorridor, said Jerry Dobro-volny, the city’s transporta-tion director, who outlinedthe city’s role in the Yescampaign at a city councilmeeting Tuesday.“We’ll use existing city

staff and we’ll use existingbudgets,” said Dobrovolny,noting the mayors’ councilon regional transportationwill do “the lion’s share ofthe work” in engaging andeducating the public aboutthe plan.The mayors’ council

devised the $7.5-billion,10-year plan and createda secretariat to steer a Yes

campaign that includesthree staff from Vancouver.Five other city staff con-tinue to do presentations onthe plan and will meet withgroups of 10 or more, ifthey have questions.“Call us and invite us

out, we’re happy to meet inperson,” Dobrovolny said.“It’s a valuable way to havethe conversation becausewe can drill down into yourneighbourhood and be morespecific [about the plan].”In addition, he said, all

the city’s 311 operators areequipped with informationregarding the mayors’ plan,including how to access themayors’ council website andensure a person is registeredto vote in the plebiscite.Vision Vancouver Coun.

Andrea Reimer pointedout that in early 2013 therewere 300,000 unregisteredvoters in B.C. Reimer saidElections B.C. was able toregister 170,000 of thosebut she was concerned thebalance never did get regis-tered and won’t vote in theplebiscite.“The answer from Elec-

tions B.C. is, in fact, ‘Wedon’t know yet,’’’ repliedMichael Buda, executive

director of the mayors’council, who was presentat city council. “They’rewaiting to hear final regula-tions from [the provincial]cabinet. They’re ready towork quite closely with usto come up with some goodsolutions to that.”Vision Vancouver Coun.

Kerry Jang said he was wor-ried the need for a Yes votewill be lost in non-Englishspeaking communities,particularly in the Chinesecommunity where theyaren’t hearing both sides ofthe debate on the proposedtax hike.“I want to make sure that

we have ample opportunityto reach out to the Chinesemedia and that we givethem plenty of opportunityto meet all sorts of folksand there’s a real strategyfor ethnic media,” Jang toldcity staff after learning thecity’s 311 system providesaccess to 165 languages.The city is pushing a Yes

vote because city councilwent on record last monthof supporting the 0.5 percent tax hike, saying therewas an urgent need to cutcongestion in the region.Metro Vancouver’s popu-

lation will increase bymorethan 1million people and600,000 jobs over the next30 years. The plan calls fora subway along Broadway,a light rail transit systemin Surrey, a new PattulloBridge and 25 per cent morebus service, including an 80per cent increase to night busservice across the region.If the Yes side wins,

the tax hike translates toabout $125 a year for anaverage household and $50per year for low-incomeshouseholds, both averagesdepending on how muchpeople purchase.The No TransLink Tax

group leading the No cam-paign says municipalitiescould use revenue collectedfrom future growth insteadof pushing a 0.5 per centhike to the seven per centsales tax.“TransLink, Metro Van-

couver and municipal rev-enues are going to grow byan average of 4.8 per centa year,” says a statementon the No side’s website.“They can fund the wholeplan if they only grow at 4.3per cent. No programs needto be cut, spending just hasto grow a little slower.”

VancouvergearsupforvoteNews


UBC is updating plans to implement the precinct vision.This is needed to respond to changes in the area and to guide newdevelopment and programming opportunities on the remaining sites.

Please join us at a public open to learn more about the vision and proposed uses for theremaining sites and provide your ideas on proposed ways to achieve the vision.

Public OpenHouse – February 10University Boulevard Precinct Planning

Date: Tuesday, February 10, 2015 Time: 11:00am – 2:00pmPlace: 2nd Floor Foyer, The Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall

Refreshments will be served.

Can’t attend in person?An onlinequestionnaire will be available fromFebruary 10 – 23.

This first of public consultation alsoincludes a public workshop.Visitplanning.ubc.ca to sign up for theworkshop or to learnmore.

For additional information on theproject, contact:Aviva Savelson,SeniorManager, Consultation,Campus + Community Planningat [email protected] 604-822-9984

This notice contains important information which may affect you. Please ask someone to translate it for you.

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News

CLASSNOTESCheryl [email protected]

The Vancouver SchoolBoard hopes to startconstructing an elemen-tary school at InternationalVillage in May, a year laterthan planned.The board had hoped to

see the new kindergartento Grade 7 school openDecember 2015. Now it’saiming for December 2016.Foundations for the

school need to be builtthrough the parkade at theFirenze condo tower at thecorner of Abbott Streetand Expo Boulevard. JimMeschino, VSB directorof facilities, says this wasincluded on the land title.“It just became something

that people either forgotor didn’t want to acknowl-edge,”Meschino said.Firenze was completed in

2007.The VSB filed a petition

in B.C. Supreme Court asa last resort after months offailing to gain access to theparkade. The board wantedto maintain an amicablerelationship with the futureschool’s neighbours.The board settled with

the strata before their courtdate, Jan. 13.Meschino only shared the

aspects of the settlementthat he said were “commonknowledge.”He said the board cor-

responded with the strataabout construction in 2013.It discussed concerns withthe strata last Februaryand hosted an open housewith Francl Architects inSeptember. He notes theschool will be cantileveredfive metres into the adja-cent park.“To keep it away, as

far as possible, from theresidents,” Meschino said.“And we’re putting a greenroof on so they’re lookingdown at something nice.”The multi-storey school

will accommodate 510students.

The VSB secured parkingwith 24-hour security acrossthe street for six monthsfor the stalls that will beaffected.Those unconcerned with

parking will receive a “tokenamount” of money permonth instead. Residentswill also be permitted torent out VSB parking stallsearlier in the day than statedon the land title.Meschino says residents

of Firenze were concernedconstruction of a school ad-jacent to their tower wouldnegatively affect their landvalues.He said a structural engi-

neer for the strata workedwith the school board’sstructural engineer and al-layed residents’ concerns.Meschino said he

couldn’t disclose what theboard spent on legal costs.The resolution doesn’t

solve the school board’sproblems.“Even when we finish

International Village, we’reprojecting that we’ll still beshort school space in theWest End-downtown core,”Meschino said.“The reason schools lag

is because the provincewon’t fund a new schooluntil the population getsthere,” Meschino said.“We’re always trying tocatch up with the schoolpopulation that’s alreadythere.”The VSB is working with

the city on the proposed sitefor an elementary schoolin Coal Harbour. Anotherelementary school is meantto be built in SoutheastFalse Creek.“The land that’s right

beside the Coal HarbourCommunity Centre, rightat the foot of Broughton,is designated for a school,a 69-seat childcare andfive floors of non-markethousing,” Meschino said.“The city has never beenable to move forward on thechildcare and the housingbecause the school occupiesthe base.”

twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi

Board settleswith reluctant strataInternational Village schoolconstruction begins in May

Constructionof anewelementary school at International Villagehasbeendelayedbyayear.PHOTODANTOULGOET


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Jen St. Denis andTimothy RenshawBusiness in Vancouver

A suite of measuresdesigned to fix troubledlabour relations at Vancou-ver’s port has instead stirredup acrimony and threats oflegal action.“This has clearly been

a rushed process, and…that’s why they ran such aprofoundly flawed process,”said Lisa Martz, a lawyerwith Gundmundseth Mick-elson who is representingseveral trucking companies.On Jan. 23, Port Metro

Vancouver released thelist of companies it hadawarded licences to, accord-ing to its revamped trucklicence system. The changesreduced the number oftrucks in the fleet.The measure was

intended to reduce persis-tent undercutting in theindustry, which has erodedtrucker wages. In March2014, truckers went onstrike for a month to protestlow wages and long waittimes at terminals.Under the new system,

truck owner-operators wouldno longer hold their ownlicences to access port termi-nals. Those licences insteadwould be held by truckingcompanies who would spon-sor owner-operators.Many trucking compa-

nies were caught off guardwhen they learned they hadreceived no licences, whichmeant they had effectivelybeen put out of business.An estimated 600 peoplewho work in the truckingindustry could be out oftheir jobs.Martz sent a letter to Port

Metro Vancouver, the B.C.Ministry of Transportationand the federal Ministryof Transport outliningwhat she views as seriousproblems with the way thelicense reform was handled.Those problems include

the short time allocated tothe companies to complywith new requirementsand the lack of an appealsprocess.Martz also questioned

whether Port MetroVancouver, a federal body,should have had authorityover the new truck licens-ing system at all, given thatthere was a planned transferto a provincial commis-sioner who will oversee theport trucking system.That commissioner,

Andy Smith, was namedon February 3. Smith iscurrently the president andCEO of the B.C. MaritimeEmployers Association(BCMEA), which rep-resents ship owners andterminal operators.Gavin McGarrigle, B.C.

director for Unifor, ques-tioned whether Smith wasthe right choice for the jobgiven his current role. Uni-for represents approximately400 of the container truck-ers who work at the port.“At first glance it appears

to be a blatant conflict ofinterest…my understand-ing is he’s going to continue

to serve as the chair of theBCMEA,”McGarrigle said.“This is the group that repre-sents terminal operators.”Staff at the BCMEA

confirmed that Smith wouldcontinue in his current role.Smith has a lot of expe-

rience with the shippingindustry, but should resignfrom his current positionbefore taking on the truck-ing oversight role, McGar-rigle said.“Mr. Smith is giving con-

sideration to how to conducthis role at the British Co-lumbiaMaritime EmployersAssociation (BCMEA) toensure he is not in a conflictor biased situation,” wroteMinistry of Transportationstaff in an email.Shippers have also

raised concerns over thenew truck licensing systemand the rapidly escalatingcosts of shipping productsvia containers.Prior to his retirement at

the end of June last year,Western Canadian Ship-pers’ Coalition (WCSC)Chairman IanMay said that100 per cent of the coali-tion’s members were seek-ing break bulk and othercontainer alternatives forshipping their cargo becauseof the added costs result-ing from new pay rates forcontainer truckers followingthe truckers’ strike.Not much has changed

on that front.WCSC chairmanDavid

Montpetit said the same per-centage ofWCSCmembers,most of whom export woodproducts to theUnited Statesand Asia, are still pursuingalternatives to containers.He estimated that over

the past five years costs forshipping via containers hasdoubled.Those rising costs will af-

fect more thanWCSCmem-bers and other exporters.AsMontpetit pointed out,

themore his members divertproduct from containers tobreak bulk, themore seriousthe domino effect will be onimporters who use containersbecause they’ll bear the extracosts of containers return-ing empty to Asia and theUnited States.He said its biggest upside

is the reduction in the num-ber of licences for truckersaccessing the port and agreater accountability inthe system because licenceownership is in the hands oftruck owners not drivers.

[email protected]/jenstden

Trucker troublescontinuing at port

Container trucks awaiting loads at a Port Metro Vancouver container terminal. PHOTOCHUNGCHOW


Public Hearing:February 17Vancouver City Council will hold a Public Hearing on:

Tuesday, February 17, 2015 at 6 pmCity Hall, 453 West 12th AvenueThird Floor, Council Chamber

to consider heritage and zoning amendments for thefollowing locations:

1. 1601 Comox Street (Grace Court)To add the existing building to the Vancouver HeritageRegister in the ‘B’ evaluation category and designate itas a protected heritage property.

2. 1546 Nelson Street (Urquhart Residence)To add the existing building to the Vancouver HeritageRegister in the ‘C’ evaluation category and designate itas a protected heritage property.

3. 1010 East 21st Avenue (Wickson House)To add the existing building to the Vancouver HeritageRegister in the ‘C’ evaluation category and designate itas a protected heritage property.

4. 275 Kingsway (333 East 11th Avenue)To rezone 275 Kingsway (333 East 11th Avenue) fromC-3A (Commercial) District to CD-1 (ComprehensiveDevelopment) District to permit the development of a14-storey mixed-use building, containing ground-floorcommercial spaces and a total of 202 secured, for-profitaffordable rental housing units. A height of 42.4 metres(139 feet) and a floor space ratio (FSR) of 8.66 areproposed.

5. 5508-5542 Oak StreetTo rezone 5508-5542 Oak Street from RS-1(One-Family Dwelling) District to CD-1 (ComprehensiveDevelopment) District to permit the development ofthree four-storey residential buildings, containing a totalof 19 dwelling units. A height of 13.1 metres (43 feet) anda floor space ratio (FSR) of 1.20 are proposed.

6. 5430-5450 Oak StreetTo rezone 5430-5450 Oak Street from RS-1(One-Family Dwelling) District to CD-1 (ComprehensiveDevelopment) District to permit the development oftwo four-storey residential buildings, containing a totalof 12 dwelling units. A height of 12.2 metres (40 feet)and a floor space ratio (FSR) of 1.20 are proposed.

7. 6070-6090 Oak StreetTo rezone 6070-6090 Oak Street from RS-1(One-Family Dwelling) District to CD-1 (ComprehensiveDevelopment) District to permit the development oftwo three-storey residential buildings, containing a totalof 12 dwelling units. A height of 10.7 metres (35.1 feet)and a floor space ratio (FSR) of 1.00 are proposed.

FORMORE INFORMATION ON THESE APPLICATIONS:vancouver.ca/rezapps or 604.873.7038

Anyone who considers themselves affected by the proposedby-law amendments may speak at the Public Hearing.Please register individually by 5 pm on Tuesday, February 17,2015 by emailing [email protected] by phoning 604-829-4238. You may also register inperson at the door between 5:30 and 6 pm on the day ofthe Public Hearing. You may submit your comments by [email protected], or by mail to: City ofVancouver, City Clerk’s Office, 453 West 12th Avenue, ThirdFloor, Vancouver, BC, V5Y 1V4. All submitted comments will

be distributed to Council and posted on the City’swebsite. Please visit vancouver.ca/publichearingsfor important details.

Copies of the draft by-laws will be available forviewing starting February 6, 2015 at the City Clerk’sOffice in Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue,Third Floor, Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to4:30 pm. All meetings of Council are webcastlive at vancouver.ca/councilvideo, and minutesof Public Hearings are available at vancouver.ca/councilmeetings (posted approximately twobusiness days after a meeting). For real timeinformation on the progress of City Councilmeetings, visit vancouver.ca/speaker-wait-times or@VanCityClerk on Twitter.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON PUBLICHEARINGS, INCLUDING REGISTERING TO SPEAK:vancouver.ca/publichearings

Visit: vancouver.ca Phone: 3-1-1 TTY: 7-1-1

News

Continued from page 1“We don’t have the

ability, in my view, to dothe job that people expectof us in terms of replyingto correspondence andthings like that,” he said.“Our clerical staff arewonderful but there’s notenough of them.”NPA Coun. George

Affleck, who operates acommunications firm, saidhe will wait for the conclu-sions of the independentreview of the salaries butsaid he is “comfortable”with his earnings as a citycouncillor.Affleck said he is “the

least paid councillor”in Vancouver becauseRobertson appointed allhis Vision councillorsto the Metro Vancouverboard, where they earnmore money as directors.Louie, for example, isvice-chairperson of MetroVancouver and earnsmore than $35,000 peryear in that job.Green Party Coun. Adri-

ane Carr said she decidedto run for council, not forthe money, but to work onbehalf of residents. Carrsaid the job of a council-lor is “more than full timework” and is swampedwith requests from peoplerequiring her help.Meggs’ motion, which

Carr helped draft, asksfor the independent panelto consider adding morestaff to help councillorsrespond to citizens’ needsin a more “appropriateand timely way.”The mayor, who said

he puts in 80 to 100hours a week in his job,wouldn’t say whether heor his councillors shouldbe paid more and willleave that answer to theindependent review. Hedid say, though, the jobof councillors is moreinvolved than it was 20years ago when the lastcompensation review wasconducted.“Certainly with email,

with cellphones, withsocial media and withthe engagement we needaround the city and theneighbourhoods, it’simportant that there’sand independent look atcompensation,” Robert-son said.Park board commis-

sioners earn $8,000 peryear and their compensa-tion packages will be partof the review because theVancouver Charter man-dates council to establishthe salaries.

twitter.com/Howellings

Councillorslack staff


The City’s Planning Department is holdinga number of sub-area workshops as partof the Grandview-Woodland communityplanning process.

Join us at the next workshop on theHastings Street sub-area (between ClarkDrive and Kamloops Street).

Saturday, February 14, 201510 am -3:30 pm

Come and discuss community issues, reviewproposed policy options, and help plan thefuture of the neighbourhood.

The workshop is free, but you will need toregister to attend. A few days before theevent, there will also be an optional walkingtour of the sub-area.

To sign up for the workshop and for detailson the walking tour, visit vancouver.ca/gw.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:[email protected]/gwor phone 3-1-1

Grandview-WoodlandCommunity Plan

Grandview-Woodland Community Plan EventsWe want to hear from you. Help us to get the plan right!

Dundas Street

East Hastings Street

East 1st Avenue

Clark

Street

CommercialDrive

Victo

riaDrive

Nanaim

oStreet

Venables Street

Development Permit Board Meeting:February 10The Development Permit Board and Advisory Panel will meet Tuesday, February 10, 2015 at3 pm, Vancouver City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue, Ground Floor, Town Hall Meeting Room toconsider the following development permit applications:

8580 River District Crossing: To develop the site with a five-storey, mixed-use buildingcontaining retail on the ground floor, a three-storey townhouse podium, and a total of65 dwelling units over two levels of underground parking with vehicle access from the lane.

8538 River District Crossing: To develop the site with a 19-storey, mixed-use building with athree-storey podium containing retail and grocery stores on the first two storeys, and a total of296 residential units over three levels of underground parking with vehicle access from the lane.

3488 Sawmill Crescent: To develop this site with a five-storey, mixed-use building containingretail on the ground floor, a three-storey townhouse podium, and a total of 61 dwelling unitsover two levels of underground parking with vehicle access from the lane.

8533 River District Crossing: To develop this site with an 18-storey, mixed-use buildingconsisting of retail use on portions of the first four storeys and a total of 258 dwelling units overthree levels of underground parking with vehicle access from the lane.

Please contact City Hall Security (ground floor) if your vehicle may be parked at City Hall formore than two hours.

TO SPEAK ON AN ITEM: 604-873-7469 or [email protected]

The Oakridge Transit Centre (OTC) at 41stand Oak is changing and we want you to be

part of the process.

The City, at therequest of TransLink,is creating a PolicyStatement to guidefuture redevelopmentof the site. The policywill set principles and

objectives to guide land use; sustainability;transportation; density; building types andheights; public benefits; and phases ofdevelopment.

Drop by an open house to learn more aboutthe project and how ideas gathered atpublic events last year have influenced earlyconcepts. It’s your chance to speak with Citystaff and the project team and offer yourfeedback.

Thursday, February 12, 2015, 5:30 -8:30 pmandMonday, February 16, 2015, 5:30 -8:30 pm

VanDusen Garden Visitor Centre5251 Oak Street, Vancouver

FOR MORE INFORMATION:vancouver.ca/OTC or phone 3-1-1

Open House: OTC Bus Barns(Oakridge Transit Centre)

37th Avenue

41st Avenue

OTC SITE

OakStreet

Willow

Street

Vancouver’s2015 BudgetReview the draft budgetand share your thoughts

The City ofVancouver’s annualbudget outlineshow tax dollarsand funding willbe invested tohelp provide theservices that ourresidents value,

such as the operations and maintenanceof streets, parks, community centres,libraries and police and fire services.Spending is aligned with the priorities ofour community and City Council, with thegoal of delivering a high level of servicesas efficiently as possible. Over the past fewmonths, citizens have shared their viewson services and priorities with us througha questionnaire to help inform the budgetprocess.

The draft of the 2015 budget will beavailable online at vancouver.ca/budgetstarting February 11, 2015.

Learn more and provide your feedback inthe following ways.

COME TO A PUBLIC DIALOGUE:

Wednesday, February 18, 2015, 6 -8 pmVancouver City Hall453 West 12th Avenue, Ground FloorTown Hall Meeting Room

City finance staff will present anoverview of the draft budget and beavailable for discussion.

SEND QUESTIONS OR COMMENTSTO STAFF OR COUNCIL:

• Email finance staff [email protected]

• Email Council [email protected]

SPEAK AT A COUNCIL MEETING:

Presentation of draft budget to Council

Tuesday, February 24, 2015, 9:30 amVancouver City Hall453 West 12th AvenueThird Floor, Council Chamber

To speak at the February 24meeting, sign up by emailing:[email protected] phoning 3-1-1

Come to the Council meeting on March 3,2015 to hear Council’s decision on thebudget (9:30 am at City Hall, 453 West 12thAvenue, Third Floor, Council Chamber).

Questions? Phone 3-1-1

Hastings Street Sub-Area Workshop

Visit: vancouver.ca Phone: 3-1-1 TTY: 7-1-1

Open House:Proposed Sign for Telus Garden

Drop by an open house to learn more about a proposalto install a 7.5 x 11 metre sign on the west façade ofthe Telus Garden building at 520 West Georgia Street,facing Seymour Street.

The proposed sign would be located between the16th and 18th floors of the building and is retractable.It would be lowered from dusk to 11 pm daily and userear projection technology which is viewable in low-light conditions. The sign would display video art and

community programming and announcements, with limited brand recognition for businessesat Telus Garden.

City staff will be at the open house to answer questions and collect your feedback.

Wednesday, February 11, 2015, 5 -8 pmWestin Grand Hotel, 433 Robson Street, Allegro Boardroom, Vancouver

FOR MORE INFORMATION:former.vancouver.ca/rezapps (see 520 West Georgia Street) or phone 3-1-1

GranvilleStreet

Seym

our Street

West G

eorgiaStreet

Richards

Street

SOAPBOX

[email protected]

There is a referendumcoming, and we all needto vote “no.”Well-informed citizens

are privy to TransLink’sproposed infrastructureimprovements that wouldefficiently move trafficand people throughoutthe city. Our knee jerkreaction is to shout, “greatnews,” but we need to bewiser this time.TransLink has intro-

duced a childish idea ofincreasing taxes to payfor this billion dollarproject. Hmm, in a timewhen all low and middle-income earners are alreadystruggling just to pay forgroceries? How about thefact that Canadians havemore debt per capita thanour American friends?How about the fact thatTransLink’s record ofcapital management seemson a level with Zimba-bwe? TransLink, like mostCanadian governmentorganizations, contin-ues to lose your money,waste your money, or paythemselves highly inflatedsalaries.Government institutions

continue to self-endorsetheir very own vacationand retirement packages,far exceeding the privatesector. Then, when theseinstitutions get financiallyjammed, they simply askfor more. This sounds likethe mafia, but without therisk of jail.A new website has just

been launched (no-TransLinktax.ca, spon-sored by the CanadianTaxpayers Federation)to educate voters as towhy their No vote is themost ethical and trulyCanadian choice. Thewebsite reveals that in2013, TransLink’s CEOreceived $275,000 more

than our premier, and$140,000 more than thePrime Minister. Specificto industry, TransLink’sCEO earned $150,000more than the CEO of theToronto Transit Commis-sion. We paid this manwith our tax dollars whileChildren’s Hospital suf-fered, while VGH remainsunderfunded, and whilemany schools lost theirphysical education andmusic programs.In Canada, we pay some

of the highest income tax-es on the planet. Considerthat Hong Kong has a flattax of 16 per cent. Yetsomehow, with this ethicalrate of income tax, HongKong has paved roads andsocial services that areintact. In the Netherlandsand Denmark, they payhigh income taxes like wedo, but they actually getvalue for their tax dollarswith excellent infrastruc-ture, free education anda world-class healthcaresystem. No, Canada’shealthcare is not free. Yes,the University of BritishColumbia just increasedtheir tuition, yet again.Here in Canada, we also

pay high property taxes.And note, we were givenno break on the percent-age of tax paid on ourhomes while the valuesskyrocketed during alargely foreign real estatepurchasing boom. Next,when we buy a bottle ofbooze, we pay twice whatour friends down southpay, simply because ofoutrageous taxes. Then,we are flooded with park-ing meters throughoutthe city, and when we goto Stanley Park with ourkids, we pay even moreto meters to park ourvehicles. We must alsosubsidize doctor sala-ries, and pharmaceuticalcompany margins withMSP, bearing in mind thatthose medical premiumsjust went up,yet again.

Consider too, that CanadaPost recently increasedits postage rates by 37per cent, vastly outpacinginflation.It continues. Canadian

institutions like ICBC andB.C. Hydro were caughtin the past to be overstaff-ing by as much as 30 percent. That is fraud andtheft. Have any of you everheard of FedEx, GoogleInc., or any other multina-tional company overstaff-ing by 30 per cent?B.C. Ferries has also

caused declines in realestate prices for our GulfIsland residents becausefares keep escalating.Canadians are taxed tothe hilt and simply cannotafford to go on vacation.This is sad, and this is notCanadian.Canada is quickly

becoming a nation whereelected officials demon-strate financial ignorance aswell as disregard for theircountrymen. We are $614billion in debt, and ourunions hold us ransom for$300 billion in unfundedliabilities and “benefits.”When citizens ac-

knowledge the politicallandscape as well as theattitudes of governmentorganizations in Canada, itcomes as no surprise thatTransLink is on the prowlfor your wallet.Our upcoming referen-

dum is not about having atrain or not having a train.This vote, should youchoose to participate, isabout ethics, financial pru-dence and respect for allCanadians. TransLink’srequest for increased taxa-tion is not only irrespon-sible and audacious, it isconvincingly immature.Ryan McCleery is a

former investment adviser,venture capitalist, and agraduate of The NaturalGourmet Institute in NewYork City. He is passionateabout topics related to ethics,finance and nutrition.

Saying ‘No’ to TransLinkis the newCanadianway

OpinionA8 THE VANCOUVER COURIER FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015

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I’m a video editor, so I just sit at a computer for nine, 10hours at a time and then to actually stand up is a bit of arelief…When I was a little kid, I was either going to become aprofessional goalkeeper and play for Liverpool or become anartist... By artist I was thinking paints and finger paints and

making colourful things, big. I guess I’ve kind of gone digitalon that score. Now I push pixels around. I enjoy it. I feel thatI’m lucky to be able to practice my craft andmake a living atit, support my family.

twitter.com/Cheryl_Rossi

PHOTOCHERYLROSSI

by Cheryl Rossi, inspiredby Brandon Stanton’sHumans Of New York


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Theweek in num6ers...

68.5In thousandofdollars,theannual salariesof citycouncillors. An independentreview isunderway to

see if theyarebeing fairlycompensated.

8In thousandsofdollars,theannual salariesof parkboardcommissioners.An independent review isunderway to see if theyarebeing fairly compensated.

225Inmillionsofdollars, the

annual amounta0.5per centincrease to the current sevenper cent sales tax is expected(if approved) to raise for transit

upgrades.

53According toa recentpoll, thepercentageofCanadianswhothink Liberal leader JustinTrudeauprobablyhasgood

taste inmovies.

5ThenumberofOscar-

nominatedanimated shortfilms, aswell as fourmorethatwere runners-up, beingscreenedat Vancity Theatre

beginningFeb. 6.

5.5Inhundredsof thousandsofdollars, theamountofmoneyraised for children’s charitiesat the latest instalmentofVancouverCanucks’ annual

Diceand IceGala.

[email protected]

When a strange craft glided over Huff-man prairie in 1905, the general man-ager of Dayton’s rail line and his chiefengineer ordered the conductor to stopthe train while they and the passengerson board watched in astonishment.Piloting the strange Ohio craft — one

of the world’s first flying machines— was a man by the name of OrvilleWright.In his 1994 book Alternative Science,

author Richard Milton writes: “FromDecember 1903 to September 1908, twoyoung bicycle mechanics from Ohio re-peatedly claimed to have built a heavier-than-air flying machine and to haveflown it successfully. But despite scoresof public demonstrations, affidavits fromlocal dignitaries and photographs ofthemselves flying, the claims of Wilburand Orville Wright were derided and dis-missed as a hoax by Scientific American,The New York Herald, the U.S. army andmost American scientists.”Cut to over a century later. In Decem-

ber 2014, Cho Hyun-ah, vice presidentin charge of in-flight service at KoreanAir, had a meltdown over the way shewas served macadamia nuts in a first-class cabin of her employer’s airline.Hyun-ah allegedly struck a flight at-

tendant and ordered the plane back tothe gate of a New York airport as it wastaxiing for takeoff so she could boot outthe chief flight attendant. As a result ofher “nut rage,” the airline executive losther job and was charged with endanger-ing flight safety. South Korean prosecu-tors are recommending a three-yearprison term.It’s a testament to human adaptability

that you can pack a few hundred peopleinto a pressurized metal tube and flingthem partway across the globe withoutstories of meltdowns becoming as routineas in-flight Adam Sandler films. But NewYork Times writer Frank Bruni suggestsotherwise. In a recent article, he insistsit’s bad up there and getting worse.“There are few better showcases of

Americans’ worst impulses, circa 2014,than a 757 bound from New York toLos Angeles or from Sacramento to St.Louis. It’s a mile-high mirror of our tal-ent for pettiness, our tendency towardselfishness, our disconnection from oneanother and our increasing demarcationof castes. It’s a microcosm at 30,000 to

45,000 feet,” he writes.I haven’t flown either route but I’ve

done a fair bit of airline travel across theU.S. and Canada and have very rarelywitnessed the kind of behaviour thatBruni infers as typical for the Orcs incouch class.“Courtesy is dead. The plane is its

graveyard,” he concludes, working therhetorical wa-wa pedal harder than RexMurphy on Screech. Sure, it’s easyto insist that U.S. passengers deservebetter from the airlines and each other,when in fact their plane ticket priceshave dropped 50 per cent in real dollarssince 1978. On both sides of the border,passenger flight has become the aerialequivalent of bus rides to middle-classcustomers. The sense of entitlement infirst class is correspondingly higher.In the public mind, it’s not just

normal but necessary for relatives to jetacross the country for Thanksgiving andChristmas. As a result, what was oncebreathtaking has become banal. In amuch-viewed comedy routine on You-Tube, Louis C.K. mocks an imaginarypassenger who complains of waiting ona runway for 40 minutes: “Oh my God,really? What happened then, did you flythrough the air like a bird, incredibly?Did you soar into the clouds, impossi-bly? You’re sitting in a chair in the sky.You’re like a Greek myth right now.”Myths are impossible by definition.

According to Richard Milton, a mainroad and a rail line bordered the Wrightbrothers’ testing ground in Dayton. Sofor years, thousands of people had wit-nessed their flying experiments.It didn’t matter — experts had con-

cluded that heavier-than-air flight wasthe stuff of Icarus and other fictionalfrequent flyers. Ergo, there was no needto investigate claims of success.Eventually, U.S. president Theodore

Roosevelt ordered public trials at FortMyers, to settle the rumours once andfor all. In 1908, the Wright brotherswon official credibility when the armyand scientific press accepted their flyingmachine as reality rather than myth.Two brothers taking turns in chairs in

the sky. And a hundred years later, mil-lions of people follow their lead, spewingcarbon compounds and complaining ofcattle-car conditions, with the occasionaltantrum over service. But mostly, po-litely enduring what was once consideredimpossible.

geoffolson.com

Flying theunfriendlyskies in the 21st century

Opinion

Allen [email protected]

If you were still wondering what Vi-sion Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robert-son chose to publicly apologize for in thelast few days of the municipal electioncampaign, go no further than JusticeMark McEwan’s Supreme Court rulinghanded out last week.That’s the decision that smacked city

hall for its shenanigans surrounding acontroversial and complex land swap inYaletown and the public hearing into thedeal.Specifically, the justice said the public

hearing process “the city adopted was un-fairly restrictive, in presenting the publicwith a package of technical material thatwas opaque.”The city attempted to limit the pub-

lic’s engagement by limiting the publichearing to only one of the two pieces ofland involved in the swap, (one ownedby the developer, the other owned bythe city). McEwan criticized the city for“limiting the comment on the integratednature of the project, and in failing toprovide an intelligible (i.e. where do thenumbers come from?) financial justifica-tion for it.”In fact, comparing the values assigned

to the two pieces of land in the January2013 land exchange contract between thecity and the developer, Brenhill Develop-ment Ltd., and the values estimated byB.C. Assessment, there appears to be adifference of at least $50 million in thedeveloper’s favour.Part of the deal was a commitment by

the developer to construct a building onits property at 1099 Richards St. thatwould replace an 87-unit social hous-ing development on the city land at 508Helmcken (across the street and adjacentto a public park) that the developer wasabout to acquire.Brenhill would also add an additional

75 units of “low market rental” (300- to350-square-foot units to be rented outat $1,100 a month) which would signifi-cantly increase the density allowed on theRichards Street site.That additional density should have

been approved by council before thedevelopment permit was issued. It seemsit wasn’t.To cover this apparent error, city staff

subsequently slipped in a bylaw (number10870) in an appendix to a West EndDevelopment plan series of amendments

(an area to the west of Yaletown) thatremoved the requirement for council toapprove the density increase.McEwan said it was asking too much

of residents to expect them to pick up onthat bylaw manoeuvre.In the end, the court quashed the

bylaw 10870 and the developmentpermit on the building under construc-tion at 1099 Richards. Construction wasstopped.By doing that, McEwan sent shock

waves through the development commu-nity and the city and threw the future ofmore than a dozen major projects now inthe works into question.In response, the city planning depart-

ment, under its director Brian Jackson,quickly produced a report on Friday totry to make changes to at least deal withthe bylaw that was quashed and givemore certainty to projects and decisionsbrought into question by the SupremeCourt ruling. He wanted that approvedfollowing a new public hearing.Between the staff report being written

and it finally turning up at council onWednesday, it had to be withdrawn andre-written at least twice.Meanwhile, councillors were being

inundated with emails expressing concernabout the confusion raised by the seem-ingly impenetrable technical language inthe document and the consequences ofthose proposals in the light of the courtruling.Jackson’s defence of the report and

recommendation it should go directly topublic hearing were stopped dead.A council motion wanted the report

sent back to staff to, among other thingsas Coun. Kerry Jang said, “change thelanguage to be more a little more accessi-ble.” It would then come back to council.There were also several demands to

include more detail — the kind that wassadly lacking during the public hearingaround the land swap — so that peoplecould actually figure out what was atstake for them and their neighbourhoodsin any future public hearing.The kind of sloppy indifference to the

public’s right to know and be effectivelyconsulted is not unique to this land-swapcase. It has been a pattern of behaviourtypical of the Vision administration.Only time will tell, as they say, whether

that behaviour will change as a result ofJustice McEwan’s ruling and whetherRobertson will hold true to his promise.

twitter.com/allengarr

Sloppy city hall led toYaletown ruling


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COUR IER ARCH IVES THIS WEEK IN HISTORY

Feb. 4, 1885:Moodyville, a former sawmill onBurrard Inlet locatedonwhat is nowtheNorth Vancouverwaterfront, installs the first land-basedelectric lights northof San Francisco. The alcohol-free company town,whichwasonce thebiggestlogging exporter in thenewprovinceof BritishColumbia, sawmanyother firsts inthe region, including the firstwedding and first school. By the early 1890s, however,heavy logging andaglobal depressionhaddepletedboth available trees andfortunes, and themill closed in 1901.

Lights switched on for the first time

WEB vancourier.comFACEBOOK TheVancouverCourierNewspaperTWITTER @vancouriernews

have your say online...

LETTERS TOTHEEDITOR

Hail to the chiefRe: “Search for Vancouver’s next

police chief begins,” Jan. 30.Firstly, I would like to thank Chief

Constable Jim Chu for his many years ofservice to the City of Vancouver and theVancouver Police Department. He is,hands down, the best chief of police thiscity has ever seen. May the policies thathave been instituted under his tenure becontinued by the new chief.I sincerely hope the Vancouver Police

Board disregards the questionable adviceof former mayor Sam Sullivan that theyconsider hiring a non-police officer tolead the department.Any new recruit, and any present

member of the police department musthave the opportunity to aspire to be-come the chief constable. Clearly, hiringoutside the force didn’t work for theRCMP because career bureaucrat Wil-liam Elliott never grasped what it meantto rise through the ranks.I worked as a civilian at the VPD

many years ago and remember clearlyhow one high ranking officer, who wasnever a rank and file police officer, beingelevated from a civilian position at thestation, never garnered much respectfrom the police officers because he hadnever walked in their shoes.

Linda Hull, Vancouver

ONLINE COMMENTS

Former director of planningresponds to columnRe: “Building form should follow ‘fit’

not ‘finance,’” Feb. 4.I think it might be important to clarify

something in Michael Geller’s articleregarding his reference to me.I participated in the “When is big too

big” event Michael mentions after rec-ommending to SFU that it was a criti-cally important subject to discuss. Formany years before that event, and in theyears since, I’ve stressed the importanceof ensuring as part of “density donewell” that the city not allow overbuildingof development relative to a site’s urbandesign context.I’ve stated on the record on many occa-

sions that answering the “how big is toobig” question is the most important issuein urban design in Vancouver today.One of my most important messages

over the years to Vancouver city coun-cil, and now to cities around the world,is that you never let the aspiration forpublic benefits through density bonus-ing determine the right level of density.You always do the proper urban designfirst and then do the math to determine

what level of public benefits that densitywill provide for. It’s never the other wayaround, which I refer to as “letting thetail wag the dog.”Michael’s comments suggested that

I believed that planners and politicians“would never let the tail wag the dog.”To be clear, my comments at the eventwere that I, and in my observation mypredecessors Larry Beasley and RaySpaxman, didn’t let public benefits de-termine the appropriate density.For all three of us, it was a first prin-

ciple. I suspect all three of us and ourstaff teams got significant pressure to doso on a regular basis, but we didn’t bendto that pressure. We always determinedthe level of density and urban design wewere prepared to support first.To be clear, some might disagree with

the level of density we were preparedto support based on our urban designanalysis, and that’s fair, but the point iswe didn’t let the public benefits influ-ence or drive that decision. I continueto remind politicians that I work with ofthe big dangers of letting that happen.So saying that dismissingMichael”s

comments was “precisely what I did”doesn’t really do justice to the conversation.

Brent Toderian,via Comments section

Yaletownand commentaryRe: “Yaletowners beat city hall in

court,’” Jan. 30.This decision highlights yet again

the shortcomings of the spot rezoning,backroom dealing, CAC anti-planningprocess. All of these deals are “donedeals” long before the posturing publichearing. This is an inherent flaw.Perhaps this process itself can be

challenged. Isn’t it sad that the city thathas had a worldwide recognition forenlightened planning is now forcing itsresidents to conduct the planning anddevelopment process in the courts?

Bill McCreery, via Comments section•••

Great, another victory against social hous-ing in Vancouver. Good work everyone!

Big J, via Comments section•••

While the city claimed in the publichearings that these developments wouldprovide much-needed social housing,this was simply not true. No social hous-ing was ever involved in any of thesedevelopments.No increase in “affordable” housing

was planned either.All that was planned was a replace-

ment of the 87 existing units at JubileeHouse. Note that in their public state-ments now, the city and developerBrenhill no longer refer to these devel-opments as providing social housing.That too was a sham.CityHallWatch, via Comments section

MP defects days after re-electionFeb. 6, 2006:On the samedayStephenHarperwas sworn in asCanada’s newprimeminister, re-elected Vancouver Kingsway LiberalMPDavid Emerson crossedthe floor to join theConservativeParty’sminority government andwaspromptlynamed thenewMinister of International Trade. The cabinet position addedanother$71,322 tohis base salary of $144,300. Emersonwas also given responsibility forthePacific Gateway trade initiative and the 2010 VancouverWinterOlympics.Althoughagrassroots “De-elect Emerson” campaignwasquickly launchedandthe Liberal Party askedhim to repay thenearly $100,000 in campaigndonationshehad received. Emerson remaineddefiant in the faceof public outrage.He choseretirement rather than seek re-election in the 2008 federal election.


Community

PACIFIC SPIRIT

Pat [email protected]

An old joke has a fatherasking his son what he willgive up for Lent. The kidreplies “spinach,” to whichthe father says that thepurpose of the exercise isto deny oneself somethingenjoyable, like candy.“Your mother and I

have given up alcohol forLent,” the father says.“But I saw you drink

wine with dinner lastnight,” the son rejoinders.“Yes, well, we gave up

hard liquor,” says thefather.“OK,” says the son, “I’ll

give up hard candy.”Beyond this joke and

a vague awareness of theconcept, I can’t say that I

was ever really consciousof what Lent is all about,or notice any of my friendsbehaving differently dur-ing this period.But I’ll admit it was a

bit jarring for me the firsttime I saw people walk-ing around with crossesdrawn on their foreheadswith ash. It is a traditionI had never encounteredbefore a couple of yearsago, when some outreach-ing Catholics decided tocelebrate the beginningof Lent in a public way,by offering passersby theancient rite.Ash Wednesday — this

year on Feb. 18 for Catho-lics — marks the begin-ning of the Lenten season.Lent is a 40-day period ofrepentance, prayer, fast-ing, confession and otherpreparations that Chris-tians undertake in advance

of Good Friday and EasterSunday, the most sacreddays in the Christiancalendar. (That calendar,of course, differs betweenChristian groups, primar-ily the Eastern Orthodox,who use the Julian calen-dar, and Roman Catho-lics and other “Western”Christians, who follow theGregorian.)The traditional ritual

on Ash Wednesday is thatthe faithful come forwardduring the celebration ofmass and a priest dips histhumb in ashes (madefrom the palm frondsdistributed at the previ-ous year’s Palm Sundayservices) and creates thesign of the cross on eachforehead, while sayingsomething to the effectof “Thou art dust and todust thou shalt return.”The intention is clear: to

remind the faithful of theirmortality as they begin sixweeks of contemplationand repentance. Believerswill leave the ash cross ontheir faces all day as a signof humility.Even now that I un-

derstand its roots andmeaning, I admit I stillfind it odd and fascinatingto see a human being withan ashen cross drawn ontheir forehead. It is sucha primitive act, using themost basic of tools — athumb and some ash — atonce so overt, yet evoca-tive of an apparent spiri-tual devotion most peopledo not wear so openly incontemporary society.According to the Chris-

tian Gospels, the 40-dayperiod of Lent symbolizes,at least in part, the 40 daysthat Jesus is said to havespent fasting in the desert

and being tempted by thedevil. The word “Lent”in English basically meanssimply “spring,” based ona Germanic root word forlong, in the sense that thisis the time in late winterwhen the days begin tolengthen.Because this 40-day

period involves abstinenceand fasting, many Catholicsocieties initiate a last hur-rah before the beginningof Lent. Most familiarmay be Rio’s Festival orMardi Gras in New Or-leans, which means simply“fat Tuesday,” the last daybefore the observant cutback on food, particularlymeat, and some other joysof life. Eastern Christianstend to be stricter, gener-ally speaking, some elimi-nating all animal productsfrom their diets for theLenten period.

Each Sunday in Lenthas special meaning, as doseveral other days, withthe intensity increasing asEaster nears. In Britain,the fourth Sunday has be-come Mothering Sunday— what we call Mother’sDay — a derivative of a500-year-old celebrationof the “Mother Church.”Then Holy Week is the

culmination, leading up toEaster Sunday on April 5.For observant Chris-

tians, the coming weeksare a time of reflection andself-denial. For others …well, don’t be surprised if,later this month, you see aneighbour walking by witha cross on their forehead.They are perpetuating anancient ritual that out-wardly symbolizes thebeginning of a significantspiritual journey.twitter.com/Pat604Johnson

Ancient Christian ritual goes publicLent marks the start of a spiritual journey of abstinence and fasting for many Christians

The cross onwhich Jesuswas crucified, depicted here in stained glass at Christ Church Cathedral downtown, is reproduced in ash on the foreheads of the faithful tomark the start of Lent. PHOTODANTOULGOET


News

Continued from page 1Sasky’s canvases have

been likened to windows inhomes to reflect scenes oflove, resolve and tenderness.One of Sasky’s vibrant

paintings depicts a mothersitting on a bathroom floorwith her child, holding herhand up, signalling stop.“That’s the strongest

piece in the exhibition,”Sasky said. “One of momstold me that when she de-cided to leave her husband,she was very, very calm,after all the storm andthe feelings, she was very

calm.”That resonated with

Sasky, who was raised bya single mother in BuenosAires after her father, whowas verbally and physicallyabusive to her mother, leftthe family. (She says herfather has come a long wayand she enjoys a great rela-tionship with him today).Another painting por-

trays a mother sitting onthe floor, playing with herdaughter. This image wasinspired by the story of anaboriginal woman whoseparents hadn’t known

how to raise her becausethey had been taken awayto residential schools aschildren.“She had no clue how to

be a mother,” Sasky said.Sasky invited representa-

tives of the Y to her firstforay in telling women’sstories through art, theHonouring Women: EveryWoman, a Life Story toTell exhibit she mountedat the Jewish CommunityCentre in 2013.Chantelle Krish, manag-

er of advocacy and publicrelations for the YWCA

Metro Vancouver, says sheand others were impressedby Sasky’s passion, paint-ings and approach, so theyasked her to work with theY on a fundraising cam-paign.Sasky’s paintings will

be priced from $2,000 to$4,000, and one-quarterof their sale will supportCause We Care House.Cause We Care House

is an initiative of the Y, theVancouver Public Libraryand the City of Vancou-ver, with a budget of $25million. The Y’s capital

contribution is $10.08 mil-lion and as of Wednesdayafternoon, the non-profitneeded to raise $650,000for the project that saw itsgroundbreaking last month.Located at 720-730

East Hastings St., it willbe located atop a newlibrary and will include 21units of housing alongsidespace for medical services,employment services and amom-and-tot program. Thebuilding is expected to openin spring 2016 and Krishsays priority will be given tolow-income single mothers.

“We run seven afford-able housing communitiesfor single mothers andtheir children across MetroVancouver and there’salways waitlists,” Krishsaid. “So there’s definitelya need.”The opening night

reception runs from 6p.m. to 9 p.m. Guests canRSVP to [email protected] or 604-895-5826. Visitors can alsoview the paintings Feb. 13to 15 from 10 a.m. to 3p.m. To preview the paint-ings, visit jazminsasky.com.

‘She hadno cluehow to be amother’


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[email protected]

It’s a viewMatt Caversnever gets tired of.As he pedals to work at the

Persephone Brewery in Gib-sons down the back roads ofthe Sunshine Coast, a quickglance up reveals the soaringheights ofMt. Elphinstonelooming overhead.“Seeing that,” he says, “it

means so much to me.”His life today in the

rural community is simpleand fulfilling. He makes amodest wage as an assistantbrewer. He grows fresh veg-etables in his backyard.It couldn’t be further

from the life he left behind.Cavers grew up in

Richmond and attendedUBC, where, up until a fewyears ago, his focus was onfinishing his PhD in humangeography.“I always assumed I’d

makemy livelihood in thecity,” he says. “The plan wasto be an academic or sometype of intellectual worker.”During hisMasters pro-

gram, Cavers began splittinghis time between Vancouverand the Sunshine Coast,where his wife Sheena grewup. By 2013, three years intohis PhD and with a babyon the way, he decided hewasn’t coming back.And so Cavers, much to

the chagrin of his parents,gave up a bright academiccareer to drive a deliverytruck, paint kegs and brewbeer in the country.“I don’t have a PhD and

I don’t care,” says Cavers.“I’m happy, my familyis happy. That’s moreimportant.”Cavers is one of a grow-

ing number of young Van-couverites who are fleeingthe city not for the suburbs,as in previous generations,but for a humble, bucolicexistence in the country.According to B.C. Stats,

Vancouver has seen youngpeople aged 20 to 30 leavethe city in recent years,despite the overall popula-tion growing. Between 2010and 2013, the city saw a netloss of 1,125 young peoplein that age bracket, whilesimultaneously growing bymore than 20,000 people.While B.C.’s rural popu-

lation fell sharply after apeak of 667,112 in 1996, it

has climbed steadily from2006 to 2011, growingfrom 602,187 to 609,363,according to StatisticsCanada’s census data.For Todd Serious, lead

singer of punk rock bandThe Rebel Spell, the ridicu-lous cost of living in Vancou-ver prompted him to leavethe city behind andmove tothe tiny town of Lillooet.According to the Real

Estate Board of GreaterVancouver’s year-end stats,the average price for adetached home in the Cityof Vancouver topped $1million in 2014. By com-parison, Lillooet’s medianhome price is just $198,000.“It was a fight to find a

place that was affordable [inVancouver], it was a fight tofind a job with somany otherqualified people compet-

ing for the same job,” saysSerious, who is a youth careworker when not on tour withhis band. “It woreme out.”For $600 per month,

Serious and his partner renta two-bedroom detachedhouse sitting on two acres ofland, surrounded by nature.“There’s no mould, no

bed bugs, and the landlord’snot going to bulldoze itand build condos,” he says.

“We’ve even got a decentgarden going.”Serious says he had no

difficulty finding work intown, where he works part-time at the local rec centre.“As soon as I moved

here… I started gettingrecruited to do jobs, and Icould ask for the money Iwanted,” he says.“You don’t need to work

as much here, and you’re not

giving up hours of your day torun errands, because all youhave to do is cross the street.”Today, Serious’ commute

is a 10-minute bike ride intotown. When he does have todrive — like when his bandis on tour, for instance — hehas a van that he’s con-verted to run on recycledvegetable oil.“I’m much better, health-

wise,” Serious says.

YoungVancouverites flee city‘I don’t havea PhD and Idon’t care’

Facing a climate of economic and environmental uncertainty,many young people are exploring self-sufficient rural lifestyles, intent onworking less and havingmore con-trol over their own lives. ILLUSTRATIONROBMANGELSDORF

FeatureA14 THE VANCOUVER COURIER FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015

Feature

“I’m outdoors all thetime, I spend a lot of time inthe mountains.”Not long after Serious

and his partner moved toLillooet two years ago, hisdrummer followed suit.“There’s a little cluster of

freaks in town now,” saysSerious. “There’s a recon-figuration going on. Peopleare feeling ground down bythe city, and they’re start-ing to realize there’s moreout there. Life is a lot lesscompetitive here.”Of course, if there’s a

downside to rural life, it’sthe lack of excitement. Un-like Vancouver, there aren’tdozens of bands playingshows at dozens of barsevery night, nor are thererestaurants open around theclock in every direction.But small town life is

not that bad a deal, Seri-ous insists.“It’s probably not what

you think at all,” he says.“There’s culture reachingout of the city.”This isn’t the first wave of

young people to turn theirback on themany trappingsof urban life in favour of asimpler rural existence, andit most certainly won’t bethe last. The counter culturemovement of the 1960s and’70s saw thousands of youngpeople moving “back to theland” to pursue an idealisticgoal of self-sufficiency andenvironmental connected-ness.But Dona Brown, a

history professor from theUniversity of Vermont, saysthe movement started muchearlier. In her book, BackTo the Land: The EnduringDream of Self-Sufficiency,Brown argues the move-ment began as early as the19th century as city dwellerssought an escape from thegrind of city life.The movement has its

roots in “a deep lack ofconfidence in the structuresof society as [they] exist,whether that’s [now] orback in 1907, or all thesedifferent time periods,” sheexplains in a recent You-Tube interview.“If you could take some

control of your own life inyour own hands, you couldfeel safer and more secure,”Brown says.“It’s almost always been

about self-sufficiency.”While the “hippie”

generation may have heldlofty utopian goals of start-ing communes and radi-cally restructuring society,the current crop of young

people fleeing the city are,once again, realists. Facinga climate of economic andenvironmental uncertainty,many young people are ex-ploring self-sufficient rurallifestyles, intent on workingless and having more con-trol over their own lives.Clare Kenny is one of

them. A bookseller livingin Vancouver, her and herpartner began exploring thepossibility of leaving thecity for an idyllic life in themiddle of nowhere almost10 years ago.“City living didn’t make

any sense to us, we felt likewe didn’t have anythingmore to learn,” she says.“And we felt demoralizedabout what our culture isdoing to the planet.”Vancouver’s rapidly in-

creasing cost of livingmeantstaying here would be a lifeof wage slavery. So Kennyand her partner decided tosee if it was possible to some-how build a house for free.“Our culture teaches us

to separate our real livesfrom our work lives andhouses are such intimateparts [of our lives]. We livein them and for them. Soeveryone’s life is struc-tured around a mortgage,”she says. “We wanted toexplore other options, butwe were urban people, wedidn’t have any skills.”So the couple took a

10-day workshop to learnhow to build all-natural cobhouses, made from clay,sand, straw and water.“It totally changed my

life,” she says. “It was soincredibly empowering.”Cob homes can be built

for next to nothing, incor-porating only the materialsfound on the building site.They take time and labour,but little in the way of ex-pensive building materials.“This is something you

can do with your hands andfeet, you don’t even needpower tools,” says Kenny.Kenny and the other

workshop participantsdecided to pool their effortsand create the MudgirlsNatural Building Collec-tive in an effort to help eachother get free of the cityand get homesteading. Thegroup is proudly anti-capi-talist, and offers workshops,labour and advice on a slid-ing scale to anyone interest-ed in building a cob house,so they have the power andknowledge to exercise theirright to provide themselveswith shelter.“Our approach is more

the activist/educationmodel,” says Kenny. “Wewant you to learn how to doit, and do it for yourself.”The time is right to

leave the city, says Kenny.Advances in technologyhave enabled people to liveoff-the-grid and off the landwith little impact to theirstandard of living. Solar andmicro-hydro systems—necessary for life in manyinfrastructure-free rural areas— are cheaper andmoreefficient than ever, while tele-commuting allows workersto earn an income from justabout anywhere in the world.After helping build more

than 20 cob houses as partof the Mudgirls Collective,Kenny is finally gettingaround to building her ownhome on Lasqueti Island,where she and her partnerplan to move in the nextcouple of years once it’scompleted.Despite the similarities

to back-to-the-land move-ments of the ’60s and ’70s,Kenny sees the currentwave as somewhat lessnaive.“It strikes me that I don’t

know anyone who is doinga neo-commune thing,which is interesting. Com-munes were such a big partof the homesteading wavein the ‘60s,” she says. “Thepreciousness and power ofthe idea of real estate hassomething to do with it, Ithink, and amodern aversionto anything deemed “hippy.”“It’s a less idealistic wave,

to be sure.”For Cavers at least, the

decision simply came downto how he could provide thebest, happiest life for himselfand his family. A busy careerthat monopolized his timein a claustrophobic city thatdrained him of his energydidn’t havemuch appeal.“It’s not as driven by

idealism, getting in tune withnature and all that,” he says.“People want to be in a beau-tiful, more peaceful place.”Far from being isolated

in his comparatively smallcommunity, Cavers says hefeels more connected.“I walk around and I

know lots of people here. Igo to the grocery store andI’ll recognize someone, andthey’ll recognize me. It’sgreat to have these con-nections, I don’t feel soanonymous here.”And for anyone thinking

about making the move,Cavers has one piece ofadvice:“Just do it.”

to headback to the land

1. Clare Kenny of theMudgirls Natural Building Collective shows off hermuscles earned constructinga cob home. 2.Matt Cavers brews a pilot batch of beer on Persephone Brewery’s test system. Caversdecided to leave his PhD program to take the assistant brewer position at the Gibsons craft brewery.

1

2


[email protected]

Q: Am enjoying themild winter so far, buthave noticed that most ofmy crocus have been dugup with the sprouts lefton the ground. I cov-ered them with screenbut something just digsunder and eats the bulbs.I can understand newlyplanted bulbs beingmore vulnerable, but Ihave areas in the gardenwhere crocus have beenfor several years withoutany problems until thisyear. Do you think it’ssquirrels?

Jean Lee,Coquitlam

A: Squirrels are morelikely than any other ani-mals to attack crocus (andtulip bulbs) — but volesalso dig and eat bulbs.Sometimes voles ventureinto mole tunnels and arehugely difficult to deterbecause they attack bulbs

from underneath.Squirrels can usually

be thwarted by placinga sheet of wire on top ofthe bulbs and weighingit down with a rock orsomething else heavy. Butonce they get established,crocuses do indeed resistbeing dug up because theywork their way down into

the ground.Vegetable mesh bags are

safe places to plant newcrocus bulbs inside. Cay-enne pepper might be an-other deterrent. Last yearI scattered pepper thicklywithin the earth all downa wide row of early peaseed. I wondered whetherthe cayenne would burn

the pea seed but insteadall the peas came up andthe voles ate none.I haven’t tried cayenne

on crocus bulbs but itshould work equally well.

Q: I have three blue-berries in pots. Theyare about three to fouryears old now, and last

summer one of themdidn’t have very manyberries on it — and it isthe tallest about 1.2 mincluding the pot. Whenis the best time/way toprune them. They arenot very bushy-looking,more tall and spindly.

Maureen Kitto, Langley

A: Blueberries are bestpruned in late in late win-ter — so you can do it anytime now. Because they’rein containers, they’ll needto be taken out everyfew years and their rootspruned as well as thebranches.But don’t feel you have

to prune all your bushesright now. Your largestblueberry bush that hadvery few berries last yearshould be pruned, but ifthe other two are still do-ing well, you could leavethem until their berry cropdwindles.It’s best to prune out

any weak straggly stems orany stems growing hori-zontally. Cut these weakstems down to strong, newbuds. Any old, low, un-

productive growth at thebase of the plant shouldalso be cut back.It’s best to keep the

centre of blueberry plantsopen. If your largest blue-berry bush is very tall andspindly, there may not beenough space or stem toopen-up the centre. Butif any of your plants arequite bushy, it’s somethingto aim for.I wonder how big the

containers are that holdyour blueberries. Thebigger your containers,the bushier your blueberryplants will be and themore berries you’ll get.Half-barrel size would beideal.Generally, blueberries

don’t need a lot of prun-ing. But once they arethree or four years old,it’s useful to remove onebranch a year — this willstimulate the roots to keepnew stems emerging.Anne Marrison is happy

to answer garden questions.Send them her via [email protected]. It helps ifyou can mention your city orregion.

Protect your crocuses fromattackersSquirrel! It wantsyour bulbs

Crocus bulbs need to be protected from critters like squirrels and voles.


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Community

Sisters Sharon and Leanne Chanwere amongthe Canadian friends and donors helpingchildren access healthcare in Cambodia andMyanmar. A reported 20,000 childrenwill benefitfrom the net proceeds.

MarquisWine Cellars owner John Clerides andwine industry lawyerMarkHickenwelcomednews of the B.C. government’s about-face onwholesale wine prices. Themarkup planned forApril has been scaled back.

From left, gala co-chairDianne Carruthers-Wood, event founderNinaCassils and clinical directorHelen Catton saw $125,000 raised at the sixthTaste theWorld fundraiser, benefitting Angkor Children’s Hospital.

ICE BREAKER: A capacity crowd gath-ered for the Vancouver Canucks 15th an-nual Scotiabank Dice and Ice Gala stagedat the Hotel Vancouver. Players and seniorbrass once again fronted the gaming tablesfor the off-ice fundraiser benefitting theCanucks for Kids Fund. Daniel and HenrikSedin and Kevin Bieksa mugged for photoswhile winger Alex Burrows held court in theVIP poker room. Funny money in hand, at-tendees mingled with their favourite playersbefore sitting down to a sumptuous dinnerand auction. Hosted by Corner Gas creatorBrent Butt, the evening generated morethan $550,000 for local children’s charitiesincluding the Canuck’s Autism Network,B.C. Children’s Hospital and the CanuckPlace Children’s Hospice. The impressiveresults fuelled a win for the club the nextday skewering the hapless Buffalo Sabres.

INSPIREDHEALTH:Hundreds cametogether for the annual Taste the Worldfundraiser, a signature event for AngkorChildren’s Hospital. Party founders Johnand Nina Cassils welcomed a capacitycrowd to the sixth running of the food andwine grazer held in collaboration with theImport Vintners and Spirits Association.Chaired by Cinnamon Russell and DianneCarruthers-Wood, the charity event, whichraised a reported $125,000, will providehealth care to millions of disadvantaged kidsand their families in Cambodia andMyan-mar. An appreciative Helen Catton, clinicaldirector of the hospital, thanked the roomof oenophiles, tastemakers and philanthro-pists for their generous support, sharingmore than 20,000 kids will benefit from thesix-figure haul.

WINEWARS:Wine enthusiasts andindustry professionals converged at ScienceWorld for the third annual Grape Debatepresented by alumni UBC, Wines of B.C.and Tourism Vancouver. A panel of wineexperts representing the trends and terroircamp came well equipped with argumentsto defend their position on what shoulddrive a winery’s decisions. While it wasclear the terroir side would rule the night,the biggest celebration came hours earlierwith news the B.C. government wouldreduce the wholesale markup of higher-priced wines under new liquor reforms an-nounced last fall. News spread throughoutthe geodesic dome with industry leaders,wine fans and more than 30 B.C. wineriesraising their glass at the post-debate tasting.Among attendees were John Clerides andMark Hicken, who led the public outcry.

Canucks forward Zack Kassian fronted thegames table at the hockey club’s annual Diceand Ice Gala held at the Hotel Vancouver andpresented by Scotiabank.

Tinhorn Creek’s SandraOldfield tackledwhether wine producers should follow trends— cultivating different varietals in response toconsumer preferences—or let the land dictatewhich grapeswill produce the best wines.

Canucks brass Todd Jeannotte and Canucks forKids Funds’ AlexMitchellwelcomed a capacitycrowd to the off-ice charity event that generated$550,000 for local kids charities.

Lugaro’sClara Agopian opened her newest bou-tique GlobalWatch Company. TheWest GeorgiaStreet concept store specializes in timepieces byLongines and Glashütte Original.

Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini and his partner,Martine Argent,tested their luck at the blackjack tables. The biggest winners of the nightwere the event’s beneficiaries, including Canuck’s AutismNetwork, B.C.Children’s Hospital and the Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

email [email protected]@FredAboutTown



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Valentine’s Day for the kidsAlthough Valentine’s Daymay be geared towardadults, children are quitedrawn to the celebrationas well. Perhaps it’s thepromise of candy orchocolate that gets theirattention, but Valentine’sDay annually appeals tothe younger set.

For those who want toinclude youngsters intheir fun, they can explorethe many enjoyable andclever crafts and otheractivities available.

Learning games

Valentine’s Day can beturned into a learningopportunity for children.One idea is to create an“Attracting Love” gamethat illustrates the powerof magnets and thelaws of attraction. Fillan empty glass jar withvarious items made intoheart shapes. These caninclude small pieces ofpipe cleaner, paper clips,paper, and even aluminumfoil hearts. Put the topon the jar and shake upthe contents. Let childrenguess which items willbe attracted to a magnet,then have them test theirtheory with a strongmagnet rubbed on theoutside of the jar. Seewhich hearts are attractedto the magnet.

Dessert fun

Invite youngsters intothe kitchen to try theirhands at differentrecipes, making sure thatthey have a chance tosample their handiworkafterward.

Faux chocolate trufflesmade with chocolatesandwich cookies canbe a tasty treat for littlehands. Start by mashingup some Oreo® cookies,then add them to a bowlwith one 8-ounce packageof cream cheese. Mix untileverything is incorporatedinto a sticky batter.Truffles can be made intoballs or heart shapes.Place on a wax paper-covered cookie sheet andrefrigerate for an hour, oruntil the truffles are firm.

Crafts

Children can have funcutting out cupids,making coloring pages ordoing just about any otherValentine-inspired craft,like making their owncards.

Another craft idea isto write secret lovenotes with invisible ink.Lemon juice can be usedas invisible ink. Havechildren write a messageby dipping a cotton swabor their finger in lemonjuice and then writingwords on a white piece ofpaper. Once the papershave dried, an adult canreveal the message byplacing thepaper in frontof a heatsource, suchas an iron ora light bulb.The messagewill magicallyappearand revealthose secretsentiments.

Children can

get crafty by making giftsfor the special people intheir lives. Combine theconcept of valentineswith the ambiance of acandle. For an even saferalternative, opt for anLED-flame candle insteadof traditional candles.

Kids can glue foamconversation hearts, soldat many craft stores, tothe outside of the candle.Wrap the middle of thecandle with ribbon, andthey’ve just created aneasy, heartfelt gift.

Valentine’s Day is justaround the corner and theholiday presents manyopportunities for childrento share in the fun andfestivities.

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Monday: Joe Pesci (72). Tuesday: Laura Dern (48). Wednesday: Burt Reynolds (79). Thursday: Judy Blume(77). Friday: Peter Tork (73). Saturday: Florence Henderson (81). Sunday: Matt Groening (61).

You remain popular, ready for life and adventure,flirty and optimistic…socially, you’re a winner! Youcould meet someone in a group who later becomesa romantic partner, even a lifetime love (especiallyFeb. 8 — if an old flame — or Feb. 12, 13, or 17).But avoid belligerent people, dark alleys and bikerclubs…don’t be lured to danger by a sweet (orlustful) notion.

Love, romance, creativity, speculation, beauty andpleasure call you for 10 more days. You might beattracted to a co-worker. Gemini and Aquariusplay key roles. Great week for a family vacation.By Wednesday, recent mistakes, false starts anddelays fade, freeing you to march forward. Yourenergy and charisma blossom Sunday/Monday.

Remain ambitious, clean and dutiful, Taurus.By Wednesday onward you can charge forwardonce again: delays and mistakes end, especiallyin career zones. People are talkative andfriendly toward you all week. For three years (‘15through 2017) your assets will grow more slowly,investments need to be made with care and study.

Recent delays, mistakes and misdirection fade awayWednesday— from this day on, you can marchforward without lingering vines holding you back.The 10 days ahead continue to feature home, family,security, food and shelter, retirement and lots of restand relaxation. (My apologies to single parents amongyou: in your case, my advice is to bond with your oldestchild, put some duties on his/her shoulders.)

Wednesday ends three weeks of mistakes, falsestarts, confusion and delay. It hasn’t been adifficult time, though, as February is almost alwaysa month of expanded thoughts, understanding andmellow mood. You might have been so lost in yourthoughts you didn’t even notice the slow-downs.In your career, someone is criticizing your efforts;someone else is supporting you.

Errands, travel, communications, paperwork, siblingsand casual friends fill this week. Your home lifemixes the sharp and the sweet. Wednesday endsrecent delays and mistakes— you can charge aheadwithout worry. Wishes can come true Sunday/Monday.Many others feel frustrated or “alone” Sunday, butyour mood is bubbly, optimistic— life’s fresh, you’repopular, and a friendly romance might arise.

Your subconscious rises to the surface; hunchesincrease, intuition deepens. But this is not alwaysa good thing. Look skeptically at yourself: do youdetect greed, lust, a hunger for power? If so, lightenup, dance away from deeper thoughts. (Somehowthey follow a downward path — have for a year now;soon, this will end.) On a brighter note, Wednesdayends three weeks of delays, confusion and false

Recent delays and confusions end Wednesday, soget ready to charge ahead. The main accent lieson possessions, money, rote learning and sensualrelationships. (Take care with the last — unionsformed from mere sensuality usually turn toboredom.) You’ll spend lots of time socializing,chatting, dealing with paperwork, perhaps you’lltake a short trip out of town.

Three weeks of delays, mistakes and false starts endsWednesday, so you can charge ahead with anythingnew. This “restart” of your projects begins in a waythat hints you’ll drop something or someone, andbegin with something/someone new— on a solidbasis. Relationships are the prime focus this week andnext. Sunday/Monday bring casual friends, errands,trips, visits and communications.

Your energy, magnetism and clout remain high—and by Wednesday, when three weeks of delaysand mistakes end, your effectiveness soarsalso. Prepare to start something significant, arelationship or a project, from Feb. 11 to 17. Yourmoney picture continues to be active and fortunate— unless you spend. (As soon as you spend, you’lloverspend.)

Ten more days of drudgery, chores and nigglinghealth problems, Virgo, then a fresh breeze willbring opportunities, new horizons and relationships.Sunday/Monday bring money matters — unprofitablyto Sunday afternoon, then profitably this eve/night.Buy only routine items Monday. Errands, trips,visits, communications and paperwork fill Tuesday/Wednesday — most things go quite well, but avoidlegal, political arguments.

Continue to lie low. You can learn a new psychicmethod now, or discover that you “have it.” Bespiritual, charitable. Wednesday ends three weeksof slowdowns and confusion (though these didn’taffect you a lot). You might discover, midweek,that you have a neglected, government-admin-institutional chore to perform, such as paperwork,tax forms, etc. Well, dive in and do it, eitherTuesday/Wednesday or Friday.

START NOTHING: 3:58 a.m. to 11:05 p.m. Monday, 9:32 p.m. Wednesday to 8:46 a.m. Thursday, and 7:15 a.m. to2:24 p.m. Saturday.

PREAMBLE: Having said last week that Hillary Clinton should not run for president for personal reasons, she mightwin a July 25 (not 26, perhaps) nomination. But she will probably lose the federal election, especially if Jeb Bushopposes her. More later.….

There’s a degree in the zodiac that describes a person “surrounded by servants, never friends.” I had a client theother day born in this degree. I didn’t mention this interpretation because it’s too negative. But near the end ofour session, she said, “Let me tell you something. You won’t believe this,” and I almost blurted out, “You have nofriends!” But she continued, “I’m surrounded by people Monday to Friday” (she ran a fairly large supply firm) “buton the weekend: no one. I have no friends.”


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1.We’ve said it here before, the premise toVancouver filmmakers Joel AshtonMc-Carthy and Bryant Boesen’s documentaryTakingMy Parents to BurningMancould easily be a horror movie. Turns outattending a debaucherous, drug-fuelled artsfestival in the middle of the desert with yournearly retired mom and dad can also be aheartwarming and bonding experience. Thefilm screens Feb. 7 at the Rio Theatre alongwith AshtonMcCarthy’s feature lengthcomedy After Film School (Feb. 6 and 7) aspart of a fundraiser to send both films tofestivals. Details at riotheatre.ca.

2. Fusing Chinese, Indian, Jewish and Cen-tral Asian music in the spirit of improvisa-tion, the genre-defyingOrchid Ensemblepresents From ADream for an early cel-ebration of the 2015 Chinese New Year. Itall goes down Feb. 8, 2 p.m. at Pyatt Hall.Tickets at brownpapertickets.com. Detailsat orchidensemble.com.

3.Gentle giantRon Funches brings hisstandup act to the Rickshaw Theatre, Feb.7, along with his co-stars in the NBC com-edy seriesThe Undateables, Brent Morinand Rick Glassman. Local funny dude DinoArchie hosts the event, which is part of themonthly Is This a Joke? comedy series.Tickets at Highlife, Red Cat, Zulu or tick-etweb.ca. Details at rickshawtheatre.com.

4. It’s one of the categories that will sinkor propel you to greatness in your office’sAcademy Awards pool —Best AnimatedShort Film. Bone up on the nomineesas Vancity Theatre screens all five of thisyear’sOscar-nominated AnimationShorts, including A Single Life from theNetherlands, as well as four runners-up,Feb. 6 to 21. If you really want to domi-nate, Vancity is also screening this year’sOscar-nominated live action shorts. Detailsand show times at viff.org.

1

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Arts&EntertainmentKUDOS&KVETCHESPoll positionWhen Canadians head to

the polls, perhaps in the fallor even sooner, they’ll havea lot to consider. Do theywant the handsome but un-proven offspring of a formerprime minister running thecountry? Or the unicorn-likerarity of a bearded NDPleader? Or a return to statusquo with a Beatles-lovingConservative paradox whoonce shook his young son’shand when he dropped himoff at school?A new poll released this

week helpsmake the decisiona little easier by clarifyingthe issues that really matter.According to an article intheNational Post and severalother news publications inneed of quirky, fun-lovingcontent to fill their depletedpages and generate desper-ately needed web clicks, Ca-nadians feel StephenHarperis the best candidate to run acorporation, Justin Trudeauwouldmake a great travelbuddy, and ThomasMulcairwould be the candidate mostlikely to lend them $100.Abacus Data, “an in-

novative, fast growing publicopinion andmarketing

research consultancy”that somehow gets paid tocome up with these kinds ofpolls, surveyed 1,005 Ca-nadians about which of thethree federal politicians bestfit a number of descriptors.For instance, Liberal leaderTrudeau rated high in the all-important categories of “trustto choose a goodmovie towatch (53 per cent), preferto have babysit your kids (44per cent), most able to sur-vive in the wilderness (42 percent) and trust to look afteryour pet (40 per cent).”Not surprisingly, Harper

got topmarks for “best suit-ed to be the CEO of a largecompany (47 per cent), giveinvestment advice (46 percent), give career advice (41per cent), give advice to yourchildren about their future(37 per cent) and negotiate acontract on your behalf (38per cent).”WhileMulcairrated somewhere betweenthe two, scoring well on thecaring, generosity and, we’reguessing, manscaping front.However, in our opinion,

the survey did not go farenough in asking irrelevantyet revealing questions aboutthe candidates. For instance,who would you rather sleepwith if you bumped intothem in the chill-out room

of a Skrillex concert andyou felt in a vulnerable placepersonally but converselyuntethered by society’sconstraints and judgementdue to the fight you had withyour partner and the kalei-doscope of drugs you hadingested hours before?Or which federal leader is

most likely to wear boxers,briefs or go commando?We also think it’s im-

portant to consider whichcandidate you would enlist torecreate the handheld 1989music video for the Zit Rem-edy’s “EverybodyWantsSomething” from the TVshowDegrassi High?Whowould be Snake,Wheels(RIP) or Joey Jeremiah?These are the things that

need to be considered wheneligible voters (all 61 pa-thetic per cent of you) headto the polls. Although, ofcourse, one doesn’t vote di-rectly for the prime ministerbut anMP who representstheir party for your constitu-ency. And what if that MP istotally not nearly as good atchoosing a movie to watchor would make a totallylame babysitter or wouldprobably get eaten by a bearif stranded in the wildernessfor too long… ohman.

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Arts&Entertainment

MOVIEREVIEW

Julie [email protected]

Fairytale locales, gor-geous characters andcharmed circumstances:Love, Rosie is the perfecttonic for all the heavy view-ing you’ve been doing overthe holidays, so long asyou’re not expecting much.Alex (Sam Claflin of

Hunger Games fame) andRosie (Lily Collins) havebeen friends forever andever. They’ve spent yearsavoiding what is patently,maddeningly obvious toeveryone else: that theyare meant to be more thanbuddies.The film opens with a

30-year-old Rosie about togive a speech that she’ll re-gret forever. Flashbacks toher drunken 18th birthday— and the kiss that startedit all — set the scene of mis-communication and missedopportunities.Alex and Rosie make a

pact to head to to Bostonto attendmed school and ahotel management pro-gram, respectively. A baddecision on grad night ruinseverything for Rosie, whosomehow keeps a very bigsecret (impossible in this ageof technology) from her veryhurt best friend.The film is a lesson on safe

sex if ever there was one.It seems that whenever

one of them is free and

single, the other is spokenfor. Alex gets involved witha series of blonde mistakes(Tamsin Egerton andBradley Cooper’s currentsweetheart Suki Water-house), while Rosie’s at-tempt to make a real familyresults in a relationship withGreg (Christian Cooke),a man who is all abs, nosubstance. It takes somecontinent-hopping and afew failed marriages to getthem in sync.The film’s soundtrack

is too literally tied to thenarrative (Salt N Peppa’s“Push It” plays during achildbirth scene, while LilyAllen’s “F*** You” accom-panies a breakup tantrum).And occasionally the filmforgets itself and falls intoa Bridget Jones brand offarce: an S&M scene, whichresults in Rosie dragging abedframe through town isstarkly out of place.Director Christian Ditter

(French for Beginners) fanciesbacklit kissing scenes and

shots of a bucolic England,which is actually CountyWicklow, Ireland. It’s allvery pretty.So what if some of the

cars are of the wrong vintageand Rosie’s friend (JaimeWinstone) sports the samehaircut for a decade? Thetarget audience of youngadults and women-of-a-cer-tain-age-who-are-satisfied-just-staring-at-Sam-Claf-lin’s-pillowy-lips won’t care.Thank goodness for Col-

lins, who by now is tiredof the Audrey Hepburncomparisons, I’m sure.She’s beguiling even whenthe originality of the script— adapted from CeceliaAhern’s novelWhere Rain-bows End— is not. Collinsand Claflin share a work-able chemistry that beefs upthe story.It is what it is: a predict-

able rom-com with lovelylocales and winningly sweetcharacters; the perfectchoice pre-Valentine’s Day.Love, Rosie opens Friday.

Love,Rosieonly likeable

Lily Collins andSamClaflin star in the good-lookingbutpredictable rom-com Love, Rosie.


February 3Anjali Grewal 4

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Arts&Entertainment

Show:Petuniaand theVipers, Feb. 6at the ImperialwithMissQuincyand theShowdown.Poster artist: Local artist/musicianJennyRitter producedtheoriginal painting for this poster,whichwill beon sale ina limitedprint runat thegig.

Show:FunkSchwey,MagikSpells, DiscoFuneral andHighlandEyeway, Feb. 7at theEmerald.Poster artist:unknown.

Show:SouthVanBigBand, Feb. 7atPat’sPub.Poster artist:SVBB’sbassist Paul Freemanselflesslyfeatureda tenor saxophone in the gigposter hedesignedforhisband’supcoming show.

Sendhigh-res jpegsorPDFs forPosterof theWeekconsideration [email protected].

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The Lover’s ArtValentine’s Eve Concert8 pm | Friday, February 13, 2015Ryerson United Church (Kerrisdale)

Vancouver Chamber Choir | Linda Lee Thomas, pianoTerence Dawson, piano | Jon Washburn, conductor

An early Valentine’s treat, with lovesongs and lifesongs from Johannes Brahms,Alice Parker, Leonard Bernstein and Carl Orff. Wonderful duo-pianists TerenceDawson and Linda Lee Thomas join Jon Washburn and the Vancouver ChamberChoir for a delightful evening of musical highlights. Bring your sweetheart!

www.vancouverchamberchoir.com1-855-985-ARTS (2787)

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BASKETBALL

Megan [email protected]

Jessica Hanson is oneof those enviable athleteswho comes by her talentand passion honestly.Recruited by universitieson both sides of the bor-der, the senior at LittleFlower Academy has beenblessed by nature and,having grown up court-side with one of Canada’smost successful basketballcoaches, the 17-year-oldhas also been nurtured.She is the daughter of

two sports professionals— mom Theresa playedbasketball and is thedirector of athletics andrecreation at the Univer-sity of B.C. Dad Kevinalso played elite bas-ketball, is now the headcoach of the men’s UBCThunderbirds and is oneof the winningest coachesin Canadian college anduniversity history.Last week Hanson an-

nounced she, too, will bea Thunderbird and hadaccepted an offer fromUBC women’s basketballhead coach Deb Huband.“At first, I really wanted

to go away and kind ofget out of Vancouver butwhen it came down tomy decision, I realized Idon’t want to leave what Ihave here. It’s special, theconnections I have, andVancouver is a great city,”Hanson said this week.She is also being pursued

by the UBC track and fieldteam, which competes inthe U.S.-based NAIA ina competitive season thatdoesn’t overlap with thewinter basketball schedule.Hanson, a high jumper,competed at the 2013 Cana-da Summer Games and isone of Canada’s top 10 highjumpers for her age group.Although her parents

have a deep connection toUBC, the decision aboutHanson’s future was en-tirely up to her.“One hundred per

cent,” said Kevin, whohas coached his daughtersince Grade 3 at Kerris-dale Annex and will seeher through the playoffsone last time with theLFA Angels.“I’m really happy she

chose UBC. She hadopportunities at severalschools, there were fiveDivision 1 schools thathad talked to her in theStates. One, the Uni-

versity of Portland, wasquite seriously looking ather. They signed anotherguard.”In Canada, the Uni-

versity of Alberta andUniversity of Saskatche-wan, where national teamcoach Lisa Thomaidisleads the program, werealso very interested.“Education for her has

been number one for herthe whole time so it’s veryimpressive that her gradeshave now shot up. She’svery focused that way,”said her father, who nowappreciates what familiesexperience when recruit-ers come knocking.

“As a parent, you reallywant the head coach to betalking to you, to get toknow you because you’retrusting that coach, thatperson to be in charge ofyour kid’s life for five moreyears, basically,” he said.Still, the decision was

all hers.“I did not know what

she was going to do untilshe left the room, cameback in and said, ‘I’m go-ing to UBC,’” said Kevin.Hanson was shoot-

ing hoops at UBC’s WarMemorial Gym as soonas she could handle aball. She was two yearsold when her dad moved

from the Langara Falconsto the T-Birds, and in hisoffice is a photo of herwearing the No. 6 jerseyof Erica McGuinness, theall-time leading scorer atUBC, and the daughterof T-Birds assistant coachShaun McGuinness.“I’ve grown up in that

gym, my earliest memo-ries are watching there.Erica McGuinness, shewas like my role model,”she said. “I think I’ll getthat number next year.”In the photo, the over-

sized jersey reaches Han-son’s feet. She hopes towear it again now that it fits.

twitter.com/MHStewart

By Megan Stewart

Sports&RecreationGOT SPORTS? 604.630.3549 or [email protected]

UBCbrings in anotherHansonJessica Hanson commits to T-Birds

1.JessicaHanson (No. 11) is coachedat Little FlowerAcademybyher fatherKevinHanson,who is alsotheheadcoachof themen’sbasketball teamat theUniversity ofB.C. 2.Thecoach, seated, addressestheLFAAngelsduringa timeout Feb. 3.PHOTOSDANTOULGOET

1

2

Senior B.C. basketball rankingsIn senior boys AAAA for the final week before city and zone

playoffs begin,Vancouver College hung on toNo. 1 while thetie for second also returned for another week. Terry Fox andOak Bay share the No. 2 spot. PortMoody, last week’s secondNo. 2, slips to No. 4 only to share it with HeritageWoods. TheChurchill Bulldogs climbed one toNo. 5,Mt. Boucherie isNo. 7,Walnut Grove is No. 8, Kelowna is No. 9 and the Kitsi-lanoBlueDemons return to the top 10 in the final slot.In boys AAA, the Tupper Tigers cap off a meaningful,

emotional week by jumping from No. 4 to clinch No. 1.McMath is No. 2, followed by Abbotsford, St. Tomas More,Charles Hays, Fleetwood Park, McNair, South Kamloops,Robert Bateman and Nanaimo.No Vancouver teams are ranked in boys AA, but four teams

crowd the single-A table, leading with St. Patrick’s, which isNo. 1 for the third week in a row. Immaculata,Maple Ridgeand Richmond follow in order for a second week. St. John’sgave up sole possession of No. 5 to share it withWest PointGreyAcademy, jumping up fromNo. 8. Credo Christian isNo. 7 and Vancouver’sKingDavid is tied at No. 8 with Dun-can Christian. Abbotsford Christian is No. 10.No Vancouver teams are ranked in girls AAA or single-A this

week. In AA, the No. 4NotreDame Jugglers have the edgeonNo. 5Little Flower Academy for the second week. Duch-ess Park is No. 1, followed by Immaculata andHoly Cross. St.ThomasMore is No. 6, followed by Vernon.

Drummed up in a genius marketing campaign to unite anentire country around a city most of the population loves tohate (but love to see the Leafs suck, year after year after year),the Raptors sloganWe The North, has also been appropri-ated here. Repurposed by a Kingsway graphic designer, WeThe East Van appeared this season on the warm-up gear ofthe Tupper Tigers. Just three blocks east of Main Street onKing George Avenue, Tupper runs a proudly hardworkingbasketball program. And now that I’ve saturated two issueswith coverage of the Tigers, I’ll let you know this will likelycontinue since they’re ranked No. 1 in the province (seeabove) heading into the city championships next week.

JerseyoftheWeek:WetheEastVan

Tupper TigersNikoMottus (No. 22) and Santi Ubial (No. 20)


BASKETBALL

Megan [email protected]

The No. 1 and No. 2 se-nior girls basketball teamsvying for city supremacywill meet Saturday nightin the VSSAA champi-onship final at Britannia

secondary. For the firsttime in three years, thetitle won’t be a contestbetween Britannia andKitsilano.Instead, the undefeated

Britannia Bruins host theChurchill Bulldogs (6-1in the regular season) at7:30 p.m. Feb. 7.The Bruins finished

the Tier I public school

league (the VancouverSecondary School SportsAssociation) with anunblemished 7-0 recordand in two playoff gamesthis week, outscored theiropponents by an average30.5 points on their wayto the final.This season marks the

fourth consecutive yearBritannia will play in the

senior girls city cham-pionship. From 2012through to last year, theBruins met and defeatedthe Kitsilano Blue De-mons. Before that, Kitsmet Point Grey two yearsrunning.The Bulldogs one loss

came at the hands ofBritannia, who trouncedChurchill 67-38 on Jan. 14.

Bruins gun for fourth city titleBritannia hosts senior girls city final Saturday night

Sports&Recreation

1. JohnOliver Joker Amarpreet Randhawa (No. 9) protects theball under pressure Hamber Griffin Shrina Guia (No. 7) in a seniorgirls basketball playoff game at Britannia secondary Feb. 3. TheGriffinswon 50-41 butwere eliminated in a semi-final by the hostBruins. 2. Jokers coach Pat Lee. 3.Griffins coach Jill Polukoshko.PHOTOSDANTOULGOET

1 2 3


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Sports&Recreation

WHEELWORLD

Kay [email protected]

As a technology andgadget junkie, I’m neverhappier than when newtech collides with thesports I love the most.New gear, especially when

it delivers innovation, issomething I get very excitedabout. And I was espe-cially happy the ConsumerElectronics Show, one ofthe biggest industry show-cases for tech developments,included many cycling toolsand products this year.A caveat here is that

new tech isn’t alwaysrealistic and definitely isn’talways realistically priced.But it’s fun to peek andimagine where the earlyadopters are going andthen follow the story asbleeding-edge innovationtransforms to leading edgeand into a form that worksfor consumers.On show last month atCES, which is held annu-ally each January in LasVegas, were a few itemsthat addressed both safetyand security, two concernsimportant to most cyclists.My favourites were the

Volvo smart helmet and theConnected Cycle pedal.The helmet is a perfect

marriage of the currentkeenness for fitness trackingapps and ongoing safetyconcerns. Volvo created aprototype that lets drivers

know when a cyclist is get-ting too close for comfort.The helmet uses fitnesstracking apps on the cy-clist’s smartphone to com-municate with Volvo cars inthe immediate vicinity. Thesystem lets drivers knowwhen cyclists are close,including when they’re inthe car’s blind spot.Conversely, the helmet

alerts cyclists when they’rein a risky spot too closeto the car. Perhaps mostimpressively of all, thesystem can actually takecontrol of the car and puton the brakes if a collision isimminent.This is very impres-

sive tech indeed, andthe innovation speaks tothe possibility of a timewhen, instead of jostlingfor space on the road,different users maintain aconstant awareness of oneanother and an apprecia-tion of respective spaces.Not quite so overtly

impressive but also veryuseful is the ConnectedCycle pedal, which aims toaddress the perennial urban

problem of bike theft. Thepedal, which is completelyself-powered, contains aGPS sensor that means thebike can be tracked if it’sever stolen.An encrypted key means

it’s only possible for thebike to be used and trackedby its owner. The pedal willalso track the rider’s activitywhile he or she is out andabout.As someone who’s lost

three bikes to theft over theyears, I particularly like thisidea — an anti-theft devicethat’s essentially built intothe bike. The pedal iscurrently a prototype, butthe company behind it isplanning a crowd-fundingdrive to make it a reality.This is one I’ll definitely bechipping in for.It’s nice to see tech ap-

plied to cycling in ways thatare practical, sensible andaddress real concerns forthose of us who are out onthe road day in and day out.Kay Cahill is a cyclist

and librarian who believesbikes are for life, not just forcommuting.

Cycling innovationsyou canplug inHelmet for safety,pedals for security

Developed by Volvo, a smartphone-enabled helmet couldwarnmotorists and cyclists when they are too close to each other.PHOTO YOUTUBE


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Vancouver’s newest river-front community is rapidlytaking shape on a 120-acresite in southeast Vancouverwith hundreds of homesbuilt, more than 1,250 indevelopment and thousandsmore anticipated.Approximately 7,000

homes, housing up to17,000 people, are expect-ed eventually in the RiverDistrict, which is boundedby Boundary Road, Ma-rine Way, Kerr Street andthe Fraser River.Developers earlier this

year spent millions of dol-lars to complete improve-ments to Marine Way, in-cluding new traffic signalsand more than a kilometreof medians with shrubs.They’re now poised to de-velop a town square thatwill add 160,000 squarefeet of retail space.“This site was one of

the largest, if not thelargest, rezoning since theExpo lands,” said Wes-group senior vice-presi-

dent Beau Jarvis. “It tookabout 10 years to obtainthe zoning and get anofficial development planwith the City of Vancou-ver while working with thecommunity.”

Polygon Homes boughtabout 15 acres of the sitein 2010.In 2012, it was first off

the mark by selling andrecently completing 234homes in the area once

known as East Fraser-lands.Polygon expects to fin-

ish building another 156pre-sold homes by sum-mer and recently startedselling another 145 homes

in a development it callsRhythm. The companyexpects to break groundon that project in thespring.Polygon is also in the

early planning stages oftwo more River Districtprojects that combine tohave 250 homes.The site’s master devel-

oper, Wesgroup, has evenmore ambitious plans.While most of Polygon’s

homes are townhomesor in low- to mid-risebuildings, Wesgroup’snear-term plans includedeveloping 700 homes intwo towers – a mid-riseand one that is slated tobe 18 storeys.“We’re moving forward

with the town square,”Jarvis said. “Maybe aquarter of the land is de-veloped, but, in terms ofdensity, there’s much lessthan a quarter of the sitedeveloped because there’ssome higher-density stuffthat we get into as weget closer to the townsquare.”The town square will

be accessible from MarineWay and include about140,000 square feet ofretail space with 20,000additional square feet ona second floor, making itpotential office space.Wesgroup has yet to

receive its developmentpermits but Jarvis expects“prior-to” letters fromthe city some time thismonth. Wesgroup couldthen file disclosure state-ments, launch its projectand start marketing realestate.Its 700 homes are likely

to be a mix of townhomesand units with one, twoand three bedrooms.While Wesgroup is the

site’s overall master devel-oper, its ParkLane Homessister company was a part-ner on Polygon’s projectsand has the same princi-pals as Wesgroup.“To date, most of our

buyers come from the im-mediate neighbourhoodof South Vancouver,”said Polygon CEO NeilChrystal .

twitter.com/GlenKorstrom

RisingRiverDistrict rampsup residential development120-acre site has hundreds of homes and more than 1,250 new ones in the development stage

Housing for around17,000 is expected tobebuilt in thenewneighbourhood.PHOTODANTOULGOET


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Automotive

BRAKINGNEWS

Brendan [email protected]

Ordinarily, Nurburgringlap times are like a properlyprepared steak: best takenwith a grain or two of salt.A lot can happen in theGreen Hell’s hundred oddcorners, with so many vari-ables that it’s hard to judgeperformance. Add in thatmany manufacturers fudgethe numbers with shavedtires and the like, and youget a free-for-all that de-serves a little suspicion.However, when it comes

to the above headline, well,some stories are just toodelicious not to believe.A 50-year-old Americanpony car just spankeda quartermillion-dollarItalian stallion around theworld’s most infamouscircuit. Film at 11.The Shelby GT350

was first shown at the LosAngeles Auto Show inNovember, with a race-prepped version revealedat the North American

International Auto Showearlier this month in De-troit. Both machines arepowered by a flat-plane-crank 5.2-litre V-8 (thecrankshaft appears flat incross-section, as opposedto the “+” shape normallyrequired for balance) pro-ducing somewhere around500 horsepower and 400footpounds of torque.Flatplane-crank V-8s pro-duce a characteristic harshsound, and were onlyreally previously foundin small displacementFerraris. Well, looks likeHenry Ford’s old grudgematch against Maranelloain’t over. Performancemagazine EVO is claim-ing that the GT350R hasjust posted a 7:32 aroundthe Nurburgring, which isahead of the 458 Italia’sunofficial time.What does this mean

to you? First, it showsjust how good the newMustang can be as a trackcar. Second, and maybeI should throw in the oldprofessional-driver closed-course disclaimer, perhapsit’s time to see what yournext convertible Mustang

rental car can really do.DEAcollects hugelicenceplate databaseIt’s for your own good.

You have nothing to fear.Now, pass the tinfoil,please. I need to make aprotective hat.Earlier last year, it was re-

vealed that the U.S. Depart-ment of Justice was seekingto house a huge database oflicence plate images, showingdate and time of travel. Nowit looks like the DEA alreadyhas that database, with hun-dreds of millions of licence

plates collected and stored inrecords going back to 2008.The images are collected

in a variety of ways, includ-ing automated licence platereaders used along the U.S.-Mexico border, and theprogram is reportedly usedto fight cross-border drugtrafficking. Data can beanalyzed to show the flow oftraffic to and fromMexico,and track the previous pathsof suspicious cars.Sounds fair enough, but

somewhat unnerving, es-pecially when you consider

the increasing amount oftelematics carried by theaverage car. “If you’venothing to hide, what’s theproblem?” is the com-mon refrain, but beingconstantly tracked by lawenforcement is disconcert-ing, to say the least.Meanwhile, if you’ll

excuse me I’ve just got to gopost all the places I’ve beenlast week on Facebook,a surely more benevolentinstitution. Oh wait.

MTVreport:Millennials actuallylike carsFor those of us old

enough to remember a timewhenMTV had even theslightest relation to music,the current trend amongyoung people to defer get-ting their licence and other-wise ignore the automobileis somewhat disturbing.The headlines come fastand furious, assuring usthat the age of car culture isover. There’s just one tinyproblem: it’s not.According to a study

done by MTV (no, I don’tknow why they don’t showmusic videos anymore),

three out of every four mil-lennials aged 18-34 wouldrather give up social mediafor a day than their car.Also, they’d rather give uptexting for a week instead ofdriving. Wait, can that beright? But it interferes withall that Grandpa Simpsonrhetoric about car-hatingyoung whippersnappers!Truth be told, these

results should be surprisingto no one. Everywhere I goin this industry, I see kidsstill interested in cars, justin different ways. We haveyoung racers like Scott Har-grove, the whole “stance”movement, drift culture,a greater interest in auto-motive photography, andthen the whole digital sideof things that lets you ownand drive highly detailedsupercars in video gameseven if your real-life wheelsare Mom’s Corolla.No matter how difficult

and expensive it is to own acar, there’s still a freedomthat comes with it, so whilecar ownership is perhapsless a rite of passage than itonce was, it’s still importantto the young. And that’sgood news indeed.

NewMustang ShelbyGT350might be amonster

Performancemagazine EVO is claiming that the GT350R has justposted a 7:32 around the Nurburgring, which is ahead of the 458Italia’s unofficial time.


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vancouver courier february 6 2015

Documents

acting mayor

mayor johntory

louie appointeddeputy

city councillors

mayor naheed nenshi

pay increase

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pay raise forcouncil