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This ad is made possible by Marlene Russo, lawyer and mediator
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April 2015 • FOCUS
contents
STERLING & GASCOIGNE
April 2015 VOL. 27 NO. 7
Certified General Accountants
4 PEEKING BEHIND CAMPAIGN CURTAINS
editor’s letter
4
Campaign finance reforms are welcome
but the Province refuses to restrict donations.
readers’ views
6
Leslie Campbell
10 AN EARTH DAY MESSAGE
Stephen Harper’s indifference to climate change could mean Canada will lose
the opportunity for clean energy investment and jobs.
Murray Rankin
12 AT A GLANCE
The sewage treatment and deer cull issues.
Leslie Campbell
14 THE FOX IS IN THE CHICKEN HOUSE
Victoria City Council has been fooled again on the Johnson Street Bridge project.
David Broadland
comment
10
at a glance
12
talk of the town
14
palette
26
the arts in april
30
curtain call
40
coastlines
42
urbanities
44
finding balance
46
Experienced • Knowledgeable • Approachable
18 SAVING GRACE
At a March longhouse ceremony, a cabinet minister promises change,
but First Nations are still wary.
Kim Sterling, CPA, FCGA
Accounting and Income Tax
for Individuals and Small Businesses
307 – 1625 Oak Bay Avenue
Katherine Palmer Gordon
250-480-0558
20 PETROSTATE CLAMPDOWN
www.sg-cga.ca
Critics of proposed “anti-terrorism” legislation see it as part of the
Conservative’s push to quell opposition to petroleum-related projects.
Judith Lavoie
Deborah Moncur
22 A-WORD CONVERSATION BEGINS
Certified Svaroopa® Yoga
Teacher
Academics weigh in on the amalgamation question.
Derry McDonell
26 A HAPPY NOTE
Using light and shadow, technique and subject matter,
Clement Kwan paints to bring joy to viewers.
Aaren Madden
40 PORTRAYING RACE ON STAGE
An upcoming production of Madama Butterfly encourages discussion
of how to represent race properly in theatre.
Monica Prendergast
42 SUPER UNEQUAL BC
Through statistics and personal stories, Andrew MacLeod delves into
the realities and costs of poverty in BC.
Amy Reiswig
ON THE COVER
“Young Riders” by Clement
Kwan, 40 x 30 inches, oil
on linen canvas. Kwan’s
painting won the “People’s
Choice Award” at the 2014
Sidney Fine Art Show. See
story on page 26.
BODY FRIENDLY yoga
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$102 incl. tax
Starts April 21
44 VICTORIA: iCAPITAL OF CANADA?
The task of positioning Victoria as a centre for innovation and investment
demands, among other things, desire.
Gene Miller
206 - 2186 Oak Bay Ave (above Ivy’s)
46 GOOD NEWS FOR PLODDERS
To register for classes:
Please email [email protected]
or phone 250-598-3529
More is not better, and actually, more could be worse, says one cardiologist.
Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic
April 2015 • www.focusonline.ca
www.heartofthevillageyoga.com
3
editor’s letter
Peeking behind campaign curtains
LESLIE CAMPBELL
Campaign finance reforms are welcome but the Province refuses to restrict donations.
C
ampaign financing disclosure statements from the November
2014 municipal elections are now available for your viewing
pleasure. While they prove that votes don’t exactly mirror
money invested in a candidate’s campaign, they are still unsettling
and provide a good argument for change.
In the November 2014 Victoria municipal elections, former Mayor
Dean Fortin spent roughly $40,000 more than Lisa Helps ($128,636
to $88,564), yet lost. Ida Chong, too, outspent Helps by $20,000
($108,120). Stephen Andrew spent about $49,000, most of it financed
by loans and himself.
In the hard-fought Saanich race, incumbent Mayor Frank Leonard
out-raised and outspent Richard Atwell by about $10,000 ($62,371
to $52,838). Newcomer Fred Haynes topped the spending among
candidates for Saanich council at $25,393. When you are running
against incumbents who have been in place for many years, the extra
money definitely helps level the playing field.
Fortin’s budget grew 168 percent between the 2011 and 2014 elections, indicative of the serious competition he faced, but also a trend
in BC’s local elections to raise and spend ever increasing amounts—
which so far has been allowable under the rules (or lack thereof).
Dr Kimberly Speers, who teaches at University of Victoria’s School
of Public Administration and with the national local government
program operated by the University of Alberta and Dalhousie University,
says, “Compared to other jurisdictions in Canada it’s kind of the wild
west out here in terms of financial rules.”
Speers also has hands-on experience, having coordinated the
campaign of Geoff Orr, the top-placing council candidate in North
Saanich (on a budget of about $5000). “It seems local governments
and citizens have been calling for changes to impose limits on
donations for some years. Other municipalities have dealt with this
by caps or some population formula,” she notes.
Avoiding ever costlier campaigns is crucial in a democracy,
where fund-raising ability and one’s own wealth should not determine who runs or who wins. So it’s with some relief the Province,
which has authority in such matters, has finally responded. Jackie
Tegart, the chairwoman of the Province’s all-party Special Committee
on Local Elections Expense Limits, told Vancouver Sun reporter Jeff
Lee, “We are hearing loud and clear from people that what is happening
at the municipal level needs to be reined in, that they believe there
need to be limits. People want to know that running for municipal
council is accessible and that you don’t have to be a millionaire.”
The committee is examining expense limit amounts for local elections candidates and third party advertisers. Though no further public
hearings are slated for Victoria, written submissions are invited until
April 17 (see www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/leel).
Unfortunately this government committee will not be reining in
or even considering the other side of the equation—contribution
limits—believing that limiting the expense side through a formula
involving a per eligible voter amount will suffice to put some
brakes on the mounting emphasis on fund-raising.
This means neither corporate nor union donations will be banned
as they have been in many other cities, some provinces (Quebec,
4
Manitoba and Nova Scotia) and in federal elections as well. Those
jurisdictions have also implemented limits on individual contributions. In Winnipeg, for instance, it’s $1500 for mayoral candidates
and $750 for councillors. Toronto limits donations to $2500 for the
mayor and $750 for councillors. Quebec now limits donations to
provincial political parties to $100 per year. Federally, there’s a $1500
annual limit per individual political donation.
How did the allowance of union and corporate donations play out
in this region’s recent civic elections? Fortin’s campaign drew close
to $49,000 (38 percent) from corporations and $38,000 (30 percent)
from unions—that’s double the union donations he had in the previous
election. Helps, raised close to $45,000 (51 percent) from corporations and businesses, and nothing from unions. Chong got $81,000
(75 percent) from corporations (about $22,000 from Matt McNeill’s
pub operations alone) and nothing from unions.
In Saanich, neither Atwell nor Leonard got union funding, but
Atwell raised approximately $15,500 (29 percent) from businesses
($10,000 of that from a company owned by A.L. Vandekerkhove),
while Leonard collected $33,600 (54 percent) from businesses.
Councillors Brownoff, Murdoch and Plant all received a large portion
of their donations from unions.
It may seem like small potatoes compared to what Vancouver
has endured, including its history-making $960,000 donation from
one business in the 2011 election, yet it should still give us pause.
Our elected officials should represent the voters, period. Businesses
donate—at the very least—to encourage business-friendly policies if
not outright favours; similarily unions donate to candidates they feel
are aligned with their values. Their assistance allows certain candidates to spend more on promotion—through advertising, brochures
and postage, websites, and so on. It makes for an advantage,
bought and paid for by special interests. And it makes it more difficult for elected officials to be unbiased—or seen as such.
The three top-spending council candidates in the 2014 Victoria
election—Marianne Alto, Ben Isitt, and Jeremy Loveday—all had
significant donations from unions. Isitt, for instance, received half of
his $26,527 in contributions from unions—and virtually all of that
from CUPE ($11,400). Same with Loveday ($8000 of union contributions of $10,811 with a total of $22,481 in contributions/expenses).
Nothing against unions or CUPE in particular, but the City of
Victoria does a lot of business with CUPE. It doesn’t look or feel right
to have candidates financed by them or corporations. Imagine if PCL
or MMM, the companies the City has contracted to build the problemplagued Johnson Street bridge, were donating large sums to one of
the candidates. It’s currently allowed—and it’s all wrong.
THE PROVINCE’S SPECIAL COMMITTEE on Local Elections
Expense Limits has admirably endorsed the principles of fairness,
neutrality, transparency and accountability in developing proposed
spending limits. The committee is comprised of eight MLA’s: five
Liberals and three NDPers, including Gary Holman, MLA for North
Saanich and the Islands. An interesting exchange took place at one
of their hearings in December.
April 2015 • FOCUS
Focus presents: Iyengar Yoga Centre
Spring in to Yoga!
FORTIN’S BUDGET GREW 168 percent between
2011 and 2014 elections, indicative of the serious
competition he faced, but also a trend in BC’s local
elections to raise and spend ever increasing amounts.
Committee member MLA Jenny Kwan attempted to get contribution limits on the agenda. Her motion read: “As a result of the
consultation undertaken by the committee, it was noted that a substantive number of submissions indicate that contribution limits and
donation source are central to the principle of fairness. The committee
therefore requests that consideration be given to expand the mandate
…to include consideration of these matters.”
Vice-chair Selina Robinson, an NDP MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville,
spoke in favour of the motion: “My concern is that these issues came
up as part of the concept of fairness. There were so many voices that
we heard that, as they talked about fairness as a principle…there was
definitely concern, and examples were provided where we wouldn’t
be able to achieve fairness if there was no consideration of donation limits and who was providing these donations.”
But all four Liberal committee members, with the exception of
Chair Tegart, spoke against the motion. Linda Reimer’s response was
typical: “I would like to see this committee stick with its mandate,
which was a result of the recommendations that came out of the Local
Government Elections Task Force and honours what they recommended for local government elections.”
It didn’t seem to matter that person after person coming forward
to speak at the hearings, or those writing in, had pleaded for
contribution limits.
When Kwan pushed for a vote on her motion, the three NDPers
were defeated by the Liberal members.
Though provincially the NDP gets massive donations from unions
(as well hefty sums from corporations “covering their bets” by donating
to both parties), they are ready to give that up. But the Liberals seem
paralyzed at the thought of managing without their corporate donations. And they realize that if they disallow them for municipal elections,
they’d be hypocritical not to accept such measures at the provincial
level. But they aren’t about to kill their golden goose. Thanks to
number crunching by the Vancouver Sun, we know that “Corporate
donors pumped $46 million into the Liberal Party coffers between
2005 and 2012.” As Dr Speers mused, “any changes they make at the
municipal level might come back to bite them in the butt.”
Still, the committee couldn’t completely avoid alluding to the issue
in a December report to the legislature: “The Committee heard strong
support for the imposition of contribution limits, including a ban on
corporate and union donations and a limit on the amount that can
be donated by an individual…Contribution limits were seen as important in terms of fairness among candidates but also for other reasons,
such as the need to avoid perceived undue influence and potential
conflicts of interest.”
The Committee will complete its work and make recommendations to the Legislative Assembly by June 12, 2015.
Leslie Campbell is the founding editor of Focus.
Remember you have till April 19 to get your 2¢-worth
in at www.leg.bc.ca/cmt/leel.
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
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5
readers’ views
The deer question
Thank you for the excellent story on Oak
Bay’s deer. There has been so much misinformation coming from Oak Bay’s mayor that
the majority of Oak Bay and other community residents do not know what to believe.
Ms Campbell’s article set most of the facts
straight out. There has been little other media
coverage of these fabrications and I knew that
Focus would not be afraid to investigate and
comment. Traps placed on private property,
obviously to protect gardens, are not helping
the deer/vehicle safety issue which the mayor
touted from the onset. These mistruths are
going to come back and haunt him.
Ingrid Brown
Thank you Focus for this stirring editorial.
It scientifically revealed the futility driving the
unconscious lurch to kill yet another animal
in the name of safety and beauty.
In January 2012, DeerSafe Victoria was
formed to provide unbiased information so
the community, SPCA and CRD representatives could make decisions free of special
interest influence.
The patient, respectful and diligent work
of DeerSafe’s co-founders Kelly Carson and
Jordan Reichert deserves particular mention
for their selfless and thoughtful volunteer
commitment in this continuing struggle. They
raise awareness that how we treat the defenceless is reflected in ourselves.
Larry Wartels
Editor: Leslie Campbell Publisher: David Broadland
Associate Editor: Rob Wipond
Sales: Huntly Ketchen, Bonnie Light, Rosalinde Compton
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6
I don’t usually write letters to editors but
I had to this time. Your wonderful, reasonable
and well-thought-out editorial letter concerning
the deer cull in Oak Bay is one that I hope
many people will read and ponder.
Although I’ve had “dear deer” chomp through
lots of my garden plants when I was a Saanich
resident, I’d never have voted in favour of a
cull, had that been on Saanich council’s agenda.
In my mind, we are the encroachers. The blacktailed deer have been on Vancouver Island far
longer than any of us who now have taken
over their territories for our own uses. As one
friend often says, the deer aren’t going away—
we have to learn to live with them. The fact
that we set the table and put out the tempting
(and easy) “salads” is our own folly. And, yes,
fences are the answer if one must have the
perfect garden. I do hope that reasoning such
as yours eventually prevails in the CRD and—
you never know—even in Oak Bay. Killing is
never an answer when it comes to wildlife and
humans colliding over territory. Co-existence
is by far the best solution.
Michele Crover
Thank you for telling the true story about
the mistruths, purposely botched statistics
and pure fabrication to promote fear mongering
and the need for a cull. Sadly the provincial government knew this and yet approved
a permit. Sara Dubois’ final comment that
“A real opportunity for leadership was lost
by Oak Bay” is indeed fitting.
Gerard Potvin
Thank you for telling it like it is. The mayor
of Oak Bay has had one plan from the onset
and despite scientific input from knowledgeable persons, he has steadfastly refused to
budge. What he is trying to prove is an unknown
but we have a good idea. Political gain perhaps?
Unlikely and more likely a fall. As you wrote,
Jensen trumpets safety yet all of the traps he
is hiding are on private property and none are
even near the area which had the most
vehicle/deer incidents.
What you did not address in your piece was
the complete lack of transparency shown by
the mayor along with mistakes, half truths and
pure fabrication, not to mention fear mongering
along the lines of deer attacking humans, children unable to play outdoors and, of course
the smelliest of all, deer poop in the parks.
Now the cull is completed and the mayor
of Oak Bay proudly states that the cull was a
success. That is like saying that shooting fish
in a barrel was a success. But what did it prove?
It brutally killed 11 innocent deer and may
have left a few orphan fawns who would still
need guidance in the world.
William Jesse
Bravo to the March editorial on this subject.
It was by far the most comprehensive article
I have read to date.
I have lived in Victoria for over 40 years.
There have been deer in Gordon Head all that
time yet to my knowledge there has never been
any discussion about a cull there. Like Oak Bay,
there are gardens, cars, fences, swimming pools,
back yards and children in Gordon Head. The
deer there urinate and defecate too.
It would certainly seem that this cull is
just another Oak Bay NIMBY exclusive mindset.
Still, there is no reason why the 25 deer being
culled in Oak Bay could not have been trapped
and transported back to the wilderness instead
of killed. This would be the humane solution
and also likely less costly.
Lynda Robson
Bridge’s seismic issue: is it fraud?
Once again your superb investigative journalism, this time regarding the seemingly
stealthy lowering of the seismic design standard of the new Johnson Street Bridge, has
rightly stirred up a hornet’s nest at City Hall
and in the public sphere.
As a long-time follower of the bridge saga
and Co-Director of the JohnsonStreetBridge.org
watchdog group, I am eternally grateful to
your magazine for your continued focus on
the minutiae of the new bridge’s construction,
as well as the politics surrounding it.
Now that there has been a definitive response
to your article with MMM Group’s March
20 letter to Jonathan Huggett confirming “that
the 1:2500 year event is not part of the seismic
design criteria specified in the JSB 2012 PDR
and was not analyzed in the design,” it certainly
begs more questions to be asked of the City
and its contractors.
Let me re-hash some germane facts and
dates that will help make sense of it all.
On June 14, 2010, MMM Group, in their
presentation to council, translated the seismic
design category of “Lifeline” into earthquake
magnitudes (M) from design seismic events.
This was done so as to not overwhelm the
audience (mayor and council) with technical
jargon they would not easily understand. In
its presentation MMM stated that after an
M6.5 earthquake the bridge must suffer no
damage, and after an M8.5 earthquake it must
not collapse, be available for emergency traffic,
April 2015 • FOCUS
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
Gail K. Perkins Inc.
Ruby
Gail
Photo by Gary Utley
yet need some unspecified amount of repair
at a later date.
In the same presentation MMM recommended that either a refurbished or a replacement
bridge must be “designed for an M8.5 earthquake,”and stated there would be “potential
for loss of major investment if seismic performance is reduced below M8.5.”
Brochures produced by the City of Victoria
and mailed to citizens in the run-up to the
November 2010 referendum stated that “The
bridge will be upgraded to a lifeline structure
able to withstand an M8.5 earthquake—the
highest standard of earthquake protection—
to ensure the safety of users, disaster response
capability, protection of investment and
post disaster recovery.”
In July 2012, MMM Group produced
the JSB 2012 Project Definition Report (PDR),
including in the project requirements the M8.5
lifeline standard: “Design to a lifeline standard (non-collapse after an equivalent M 8.5
seismic event).”
On August 17, 2012, MMM produced the
document referred to in your last article, JSB
Seismic Design Criteria, where they stated
the seismic design is to be based on an earthquake with a return period of 1000 years.
(This same return period standard was
confirmed by MMM’s recent March 20 letter
to Jonathan Huggett.) Gone was any reference to the M8.5 lifeline standard.
Considering all that, the following questions come to mind, though I am sure you and
other readers have more:
• What was the real purpose of the “M8.5
lifeline” standard? Was it simply for marketing,
added to appeal to non-technical councillors and the safety fears of voters, leading up
to the referendum, as well as being one more
way of making the refurbishment option appear
to be impossibly expensive?
• If it is a real standard, is there a formula
that can be used to calculate the expected
magnitude the current bridge design will
safely withstand?
• If the magnitude safety standard was
nothing but expensive, yet pointless marketing
window dressing, who can we hold accountable? Is it fraud? Would it invalidate the
referendum?
• Can a borrowing referendum be considered invalid if what is purchased is significantly
different from what was promised? I remember
that JSB.org sent an open letter to the City,
asking if it would be wise to use an existing
bascule mechanism rather than the untested
one which required aircraft tolerances. The
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readers’ views
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8
reply from the City was that they couldn’t
change the design because it would invalidate
the referendum. How is this different?
• If it hadn’t been specified as a requirement, but was a legitimate concern, would the
design of the bridge be any different than what
it is now? What return period would have
been used instead of 1000 years? 475 years?
• Is it ever wise to designate a moveable
bridge as a critical piece of infrastructure?
Points to ponder. In any event, with the City
asking for the project contingency fund to be
expanded by $4.8 million and more than $10
million outstanding in change orders from the
contractors, one thing’s for sure: We’ll never
be done talking about the bridge, even if it
really is completed in 2017, more than two
years late and likely 50 percent over budget.
Brian Simmons, JohnsonStreetBridge.org
Focus helps with data swirl
No one would question that we live in interesting times. The sheer volume of the data that
is available to us at any moment is unbelievably impressive by any measure.
Frequent statements in scientific and public
press or on the web speak about how the total
amount of recorded data doubles every 2, 5,
10 years (pick a number—it doesn’t matter).
And all the recorded data is merely a tiny subset
of unrecorded data we are exposed to every
moment of our existence. We all exist in a
constant whirlwind of data.
So what is our track record on managing
a data tsunami? In the long view, it must have
been pretty good. For the past 1000 centuries,
our species has survived and prospered to such
an extent that it has become the dominant
species on the planet. We could not have been
so successful if we had not been adept at identifying individual and collective threats. So we
start from a good foundation.
But many things suggest we may now be
losing our edge. Assessing the data swirl and
selecting useful data to be recorded and acted
upon now calls for skills that our current cognitive resources may lack. Technology has upped
the flow over the past few hundred years and
the past few decades have modified the very
size, shape and scope of the information whirlwind. It’s foolish to think that evolution can
keep pace with such rapid change.
At the end of the last millennium (2000),
the Globe and Mail performed an interesting
experiment. Each day during that year, they
printed what their editorial staff felt was the
most important front page of their paper during
the past century (i.e. best one of 100). I had
expected to see a summary of history by reading
them so I saved them (I’m a bit of a pack rat).
Half way through the year (I’m a slow learner)
I was surprised at the mundane content that
appeared in each day’s historic front page
section. Most days, the main historic headline
had little relevance and almost all the minor
historic headlines were of no interest from
our vantage point. These pages were the pick
of the best and almost all of them contained
no information of any long term use. (I still
have them should someone want to confirm
my assessment.)
There is no question we are going through
a paradigm shift as we move from the world
of hard copy to the world of electronic copy.
The same occurred about 100 years ago when
we moved to a world of personalized vehicle
transport, or 100 years before that when we
moved to a world where hydrocarbons replaced
muscle power.
In each instance, we failed to see the impacts
of the change and are still trying to determine
what we can do about the collateral damage
the changes incurred. Our primary medias
and social leaders have not shown that they
are capable of leading us through the data blizzard and we frequently have to rely on outliers
to distill and report on what is truly important to our long term liability.
Bad city design, climate warming, our alienation from the world’s plant and animal life
forms, our hydrocarbon fuel dependency,
wealth distribution issues, etc. are all issues that
reinforce why we collectively and individually
need to think about where we gather data and
how we use that data to survive and prosper.
Independent information providers such
as Focus Magazine often identify key trends
when the “big boys” have failed to see the big
picture. This does not always mean we slavishly should always believe their messages and
ignore the mass media and our leaders (after
all we have given them their power and
authority). It does mean that we must focus
on getting as much data as possible before we
follow an information highway that may be
leading us to an environmental, social or
economic cliff.
This suggests we all need to support those
independent magazines, blogs, speakers,
etc. They may operate on society’s edge, interpreting that flood of data raining down on us,
trying to extract and disseminate their version
of what the data tells us (and may often get
it wrong). But their initial digestion of the data
is a tremendous help to each of us. These alternative analyses can be valuable bricks for us
April 2015 • FOCUS
Focus presents: Rooster Interlocking Brick
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The timeless beauty of interlocking brick
to use when we each build our individual data,
information, knowledge, wisdom pyramids.
Since our belief structures ultimately control
our individual and collective activities and
objectives, it is critical that they are comprehensive and inclusive.
If you think about it, our evolution is built
on the success of the outsider’s ability to see
beyond the collective’s constrained vision.
Thank you Focus for continually expanding
our information base through your in-depth
analysis of our local world.
Jim Knock
BC’s expensive fish farms
UN scientists have documented that a majority
of species in our world oceans are in a diminished state and can’t sustain current harvest
levels. But it seems that fishers are slow learners
and it has only been in the last half century that
we in the Western world began to realize we
were overfishing the ocean, and that to be able
to access healthy seafood we need to increase
production by learning how to farm the seas.
Salmon farming in BC began in the mid
1980s and, with the benefits of applied research
and technology transfer, salmon farmers
became quick learners. In less than a half
century, aquaculture, guided by fish health
veterinarians, adopted best practices of animal
husbandry with significant gains in smolt
survival and herd health. Gains in feed conversion reduced costs and feed wastage (feeding
salmon is now almost as efficient as poultry
production and much better than pork).
Concurrently, market demand shifted—away
from canned salmon to delivery of fresh non
frozen fish that earn the premium prices. As
such, by its third decade, farmed salmon
production in BC has increased in value from
around $300 million to over $500 million.
Without our production (and even more from
Norway and Chile) consumers of Europe
and North America would not have the salmon
that our doctors advise us to eat.
In its early stages, salmon farming did make
some mistakes and still has much to learn,
but it has achieved remarkable results in just
three decades both in terms of responsible
husbandry and economic contributions. It
still requires ongoing monitoring but let’s
end the demonography.
James D. Anderson
LETTERS
Send letters to
[email protected]
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
Dallas Ruud with the Prices’ new interlocking brick driveway.
I
“
nterlocking brick speaks for itself. It is three times
the strength of concrete, it lasts a lifetime, it beautifies, it never cracks and is unaffected by roots, and
it is one of the oldest trades on the planet—Roman
roads are still around!” Rooster Interlocking Brick
owner Dallas Ruud speaks with the enthusiasm and
confidence of knowing his company installs a quality
product that homeowners love for how it complements
the beauty of their property at the same time as it
enhances the value of their home.
Dallas compares changing your home’s asphalt
or cement driveway and pathways to interlocking
bricks, to replacing melamine with granite countertops in your kitchen. The change is a dramatic one, and
always for the better. He says that with all of the styles
available, homeowners can feel confident and comfortable choosing to go with brick. He points out that
installing interlocking brick can bring a change in
lifestyle as, for instance, a beautiful new patio invites
homeowners to spend more time outdoors entertaining
friends and family.
Homeowner Gerard Price is one of Rooster’s happy
customers. In short, he says, “Dallas delivered on time,
on budget and to our expectations.” Gerard had chosen
to go with brick over asphalt to help ground the appearance of his new house, to offer a more interesting look
around the curves of his property, and because he
knew that the bricks would offer a natural irrigation
system around the Garry Oak trees on his property.
While Gerard initially hired Rooster to install an interlocking brickwork driveway and pathways around his
new home on the multilevel three-quarter-acre lot, in
the end he got much more.
Dallas had planned to liaise with a landscaper to
best showcase the multilevel property, but instead
Dallas suggested that he do the landscaping as well,
so that he could coordinate the entire job. The outcome?
Gerard was very pleased. “Dallas has an artistic eye.
He looked at our property and he had a vision. He
saw it in 3D and then he explained it to us.” The best
part is that, “What he delivered is exactly what he
described to us.”
These days “locally sourced” and “green practices”
are important to businesses and customers alike.
Rooster gets full marks for both. The company obtains
its bricks from Abbotsford Concrete Products, where
diamond blades are used to cut the wide array of styles
and colours of available brick. And, there is no waste
on the project. Any cut pieces of brick are ground
down and recycled.
Environmentally, the bricks offer a natural drainage
system. Dallas explains, “Unlike asphalt or concrete,
brick is semi-porous; the sand in the joints lets the
water soak into the ground below.” If tenacious roots
do manage to heave the ground, the bricks can be
lifted and reassembled, and owners are not left
with an unsightly patch of new asphalt or concrete.
“The Rooster team works together to deliver the
best possible product,” says Dallas with justifiable
pride. The crew is efficient, and does not leave the site
until the job is complete. “We can outlay and outperform anyone in the business.” Dallas says his company
lays the bricks to last, and his company will match any
warranty that clients find.
Call Rooster Interlocking Brick today, so that you
can enjoy the beauty that interlocking brick will bring
to your home now, and look forward to the enhanced
value of your home when it comes time to sell.
Rooster Interlocking Brick
Dallas Ruud, owner
250-889-6655
www.roosterbrick.com
9
comment
An Earth Day message
MURRAY RANKIN, MP
Harper’s indifference to climate change could mean Canada will lose the opportunity for clean energy investment and jobs.
I
n 2010, the House of Commons passed a
landmark bill, legislating binding greenhouse gas reductions to meet targets set at
Kyoto and establishing Canada as an international leader in arresting climate change.
This is no dream––it happened.
Called “an essential piece of legislation”
by Sierra Club Canada, the Climate Change
Accountability Act was built on scientific
assessments of the emissions reductions needed
to hold global temperature increases to 2
degrees Celsius and avert runaway climate
change. Under the bill, Parliament required
Canada to reduce emissions to 80 percent
below 1990 levels by 2050.
Introduced by the late NDP leader Jack
Layton nine years ago, it was then, and remains
today, the only piece of federal legislation ever
to mandate reductions in greenhouse gases.
Working across party lines, New Democrats
earned the support of every opposition party
in Parliament. So, what went wrong?
Passed resoundingly by the House of
Commons, the bill was killed by unelected
senators. Stephen Harper didn’t then hold a
majority in either chamber, but the momentary absence of a few Liberal senators provided
an opening. In a snap vote, the bill was defeated.
It was only 11 senators that prevented us
from rising to meet the defining challenge of
our time. It’s a defeat that has cost Canadians
five wasted years without federal government leadership on climate change.
On Earth Day 2015, let us think carefully
about the choice Canada faces this year.
Weeks after the federal election expected
in October of this year, the world will gather
in Paris to hammer out a new climate treaty.
Among much else, this election will decide
which candidate sits at that table as our
Prime Minister.
To understand the depth of Stephen
Harper’s indifference, consider that in 2013
his government failed to spend $321 million
budgeted by Parliament for “environmentally responsible” programs, while significantly
overspending the $438 million targeted to
fossil fuels. And while spending hardly any
of $22 million budgeted for satellite monitoring of land and water conditions in
oil-producing regions, the Conservatives
spent $24 million advertising Keystone XL
10
Canada’s historical greenhouse gas emissions and projections to 2020
Source: Environment Canada
and the oil sands in major US cities. Governing
is a question of priorities.
Laid out again in the Fifth Assessment
Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change, the risks of inaction are
clear, dire and potentially irreversible. Heat
waves will become longer and more frequent,
threatening food security. Extreme precipitation will become more intense, causing
devastating floods. Ocean acidification from
atmospheric carbon will threaten more than
a billion people who rely on fish as their main
source of protein. Desertification and rising
seas could uproot tens of millions worldwide
by 2050.
Updated with the latest scientific assessments, the Climate Change Accountability
Act is now back in Parliament under the leadership of Tom Mulcair. The world needs
Canada to bring a serious plan to Paris. This
bill is our blueprint.
Are such reductions possible? The answer
is a resounding yes, confirmed again in a
March 2015 report by more than 60 Canadian
experts. Laying out a plan to shift all Canada’s
electricity to renewable sources by 2035 and
meet our 2050 target, the report endorses
key policies we have proposed to move Canada
forward: internalizing costs through carbon
pricing and “polluter pay” laws; restoring
and enforcing environmental protections;
switching subsidies from fossil fuels to renewables; and using cap-and-trade to lower
emissions and raise revenue.
Our approach must also be guided by our
values. Environmental justice goes hand in
hand with economic and social justice. Energyefficient buildings and vehicles are important
in lowering emissions and promoting them
can reduce our footprint and improve our
quality of life. New investment in infrastructure and public transit can offer urban residents
quicker commutes and cleaner air. Tax credits
for energy-efficient retrofits can create thousands of skilled trades jobs and increase
efficiency, lowering Canada’s emissions and
home energy bills––crucial for low-income
families. At the same time, federal loan guarantees can help every community, including
First Nations, share in Canada’s blossoming
clean energy sector.
Stephen Harper’s choice between economic
wealth and environmental health—like his
choice between protection from violence and
protection of civil liberties—is beguiling but
false. In this century, economic prosperity is
inextricably tethered to the health of natural
systems. Our grandchildren must not only
live sustainably on this planet, they can
also live well.
Despite the absence of federal government
leadership, there are hopeful signs. From 2009
April 2015 • FOCUS
Focus presents: Broadmead/Oak Bay Hearing Clinics
ADVERTISEMENT
Don’t miss the Healthy Hearing Expo
to 2013, employment in clean energy grew by
37 percent and Canada built enough new renewable electricity capacity to power 2.7 million
homes. Clean energy now employs more people
than the oil sands. Imagine what’s possible with
a new and engaged federal government.
While Canada overall has captured just
one percent of the global market, Victoria is
ideally positioned to seize the opportunity
of clean energy. With deep-rooted research
centres like UVic’s Institute for Integrated
Energy Systems, a vibrant tech sector and an
educated, climate-conscious workforce, our
community will help lead Canada’s transition from fossil fuel dependence to sustainability.
Around the globe, the renewable energy
revolution will roll on, whether we join in it
or not. In 2010, for the first time, global net
investment in new renewable energy capacity
topped investment in fossil fuels––a trend
that has continued. After much finger-pointing
in Copenhagen in 2009, the world’s two
biggest emitters reached an agreement that
will see China’s emissions stabilized and
America’s reduced by 30 percent by 2030.
China now leads the world in renewable
energy investment. As the world turns the
corner on clean energy, Canada risks being
left behind.
This year, as countries aim to secure an
agreement to avert dangerous climate change,
the Prime Minister elected in October will
immediately face crucial decisions. His policy
at the Paris summit; what kinds of sustainable development laws he seeks to pass––these
choices will touch the lives of our children
and grandchildren.
This Earth Day, let’s commit to making
2015 the turning point in that fight.
Murray Rankin, MP for Victoria,
is a nationally recognized expert
in environmental and public
law, who has been involved in
many landmark legal cases in
British Columbia and the
Supreme Court of Canada.
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
A
udiologist Dr. Erin Wright is excited about
the upcoming Healthy Hearing Expo she’s
hosting on April 15. This will be the sixth year
for the Expo which allows people to explore the latest
developments in hearing aid technology.
Dr. Wright is the owner and audiologist of Broadmead
and Oak Bay Hearing Clinics—an independent audiology clinic that offer all manufacturers’ products.
She believes that each hearing aid has its advantages—and different ones suit different people.
“There are many factors to consider,” says Dr. Wright,
“including one’s ear shape, manual dexterity, one’s
ability to process words, whether or not one has
tinnitus, the need for controls on different ears, or for
different programs for different situations.” So having
access to all hearing aids is a distinct advantage in
helping her clients.
This respect for her clients also helps explain why
she created the Expo—it gives all Victorians a unique
opportunity to learn about the new technologies in
a “direct-from-the-manufacturer” way. “Many people
are comfortable relying on their audiologist’s recommendation,” she says; “but others like to gather more
information, looking at all the options out there to
learn more about what option might best suit them.”
And because manufacturers are always improving
their lines through intensive research and development, some of the advances are very impressive.
For instance, there’s the ReSound line that has
been working with Apple to create digital hearing
aids that connect directly to a cell phone. ReSound
produced the first open-fit hearing aids (similar to
behind-the-ear devices, but much smaller and almost
invisible) and, in 2008, the first remote-microphone
technology hearing aids—another first in the industry.
Then there’s Lyric, which is inserted right into
the ear canal—so it is completely invisible and worn
around the clock. Sold on a “subscription” basis, it
is renewed every 3-4 months.
Besides the manufacturers showing how technology
has advanced, Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing will
be at the Expo to inform people about their many
support services. There will also be free hearing
tests, lots of give-aways, and a draw for a pair of hearing
aids. Presentations by audiologists include Dr. Wright
herself speaking on “The effect of hearing aids on brain
function and cognitive ability” at 11:30 am. Other talks
include “What’s new in assistive hearing accessories?”
at 10:30 am; “Strategies to reduce your tinnitus, the
latest research and techniques” at 12:30; and “What’s
new in hearing aids for 2015” at 1:30 pm.
“It’s a fun no-obligation way to learn about the
many ways we can now help people manage hearing
loss,” says Dr. Wright.
Oak Bay and Broadmead Hearing Clinics have
always set their sights high. Their mission statement
Photo: Tony Bounsall
STEPHEN HARPER’S choice
between economic wealth and environmental health—like his choice
between protection from violence
and protection of civil liberties—is
beguiling but false.
Dr. Erin Wright, Au.D, Audiologist
is “embracing advanced technology and innovation
in order to improve the quality of life for each patient
through individually tailored solutions.” Whether
you have a long-term hearing loss or if you are just
noticing a lack of clarity with speech, Dr. Wright and
her team are prepared to find a solution to fit your
needs and your budget.
Statistics show that the average age of hearing
loss is 62—whereas the average age we obtain
hearing aids is 68. That six-year gap can mean a lot
of missed connections and frustration for both the
person losing his or her hearing and their loved ones.
Musician Randy Bachman, a patient of Dr. Wright’s,
reports he loves his hearing aids for normal conversations, meetings and especially when finalizing
sound mixes to make sure he hasn’t boosted the
“top end” of the music to intolerable decibels for
normal ears. This echoes many who’ve rediscovered
hearing through Dr. Wright. Bachman says, “The
world has become a different place and I didn’t
realize how many wonderful sounds I was missing
until I got my aids.”
Don’t miss the Healthy Hearing Expo, April
15, 10 am to 3 pm at the Victoria Conference
Centre. For more information call:
Oak Bay Hearing Clinic
1932 Oak Bay Ave (near Foul Bay Rd)
250-479-2921
Broadmead Hearing Clinic
4420 Chatterton Way, Suite 104
250-479-2969
www.broadmeadhearing.com
11
at a glance
Processing sewage treatment in the CRD
And you wonder why it all takes so much time…
THE WESTSIDE WASTEWATER TREATMENT and Resource
Recovery Select Committee (aka “Westside Solutions”) recently issued
the results of an online survey done during December and January.
The committee, with representation from Esquimalt, View Royal,
Colwood, Langford, and the Songhees Nation, is attempting to evaluate options and recommend sites for potential sewage treatment
and resource recovery for those communities. The survey, with
345 respondents, was conducted in conjunction with six open houses.
It found that most people place greatest priority on environmental
concerns. Treatment costs were chosen by the second highest number
of respondents as top priority.
Respondents also prioritized “build potential for resource recovery,”
and then listed the top three features as “odour control,” “hidden
from sight” and “minimizing costs to taxpayers.” People were definitely opposed to shipping the solids to another location, preferring
everything to be treated on the same site.
The Westside Solutions committee admitted that answers to some
of the questions indicate “it is clear that continuing to talk to citizens to have a common understanding of both the issues and solutions
is needed.” Towards that end, a series of roundtables and public
information sessions over the coming weeks is planned. (See
www.westsidesolutions.ca)
Meanwhile, the Eastside Wastewater Treatment and Resource
Recovery Select Committee was also attempting to move forward on
public consultation by selecting 10 members for the Eastside Public
Advisory Committee—one from Oak Bay, four from Victoria and
five from Saanich. It purposely includes activists who’ve been deeply
engaged in the sewage treatment question, as well as others new to
the issue. The only mandate this citizens group has is to advise on the
public consultation strategy of the Eastside’s process. Their first
meeting took place March 18.
One of the more interesting exchanges on the subject of processing
sewage, indeed of process itself, took place on March 11, at a meeting
of the CRD’s general sewage committee (aka Core Area Liquid Waste
Management Committee). Chair Nils Jensen was upbraided by several
committee members for how he conducted that meeting, and CRD
staff were reprimanded (again) as well.
Jensen had invited Stantec engineer Dr Robert Simm to come and
talk about gasification at the meeting. (Stantec is the CRD’s project
management consultant for the $788 million sewage treatment project.)
The chair spent close to half an hour interviewing Simm, somewhat
like he might lead a friendly witness for the prosecution in a trial in
which gasification was the accused (Jensen is a Crown prosecutor).
Saanich councillor Vic Derman, pointing out that it was the second
time in three meetings in which the chair had done such a thing, said,
“To sit here and listen to a back and forth between the chair and
speaker for half an hour before anyone even gets to ask a question—
and no presentation is given essentially—is just not appropriate.”
Esquimalt Mayor Barb Desjardins was visibly angry about the series
of events that had led up to the Stantec engineer’s appearance that
morning. She explained that one of the RFTIs (Request for Technical
Information) received by Westside Solutions—one that advocated
gasification as part of the treatment process—had been shared by
CRD staff with Seaterra commissioner Albert Sweetnam, who then
shared it with Stantec, who then called and questioned the technology
12
firm—“without consultation with the submitter, without consultation with Westside.” That proponent, she said, “has now withdrawn
their [RFTI] due to concerns about CRD and its research direction.”
She and Derman both stressed the need to get information from
sources with varying perspectives.
Saanich Mayor Richard Atwell followed up by questioning what
provision existed in Stantec’s contract that allowed them to review
the RFTIs submitted to the area subcommittees. CRD staff at the
meeting answered in part by noting the differences between “reviews”
and “evaluations,” and also reassured directors that Stantec’s contract
included confidentiality provisions.
But the complaints continued. Councillor Ben Isitt worried that
the process was amplifying concerns and suspicions. He characterized the process as “on the razor’s edge of going completely against
what staff has recommended” and admitted he himself was leaning
in that direction. “Engineers aren’t the people to advise on procurement. When you go that way you get completely risky processes in
terms of cost,” he said, noting that the real problem at the moment
was process. He warned Jensen that, “Staff have to be advised the
system isn’t working. We have to come up with a bonafide plan B
to consider alongside our plan A” by early fall to ensure funding. “I
think the chair has to collaborate with the dissidents on this committee
to give very clear direction to staff at our next meeting on the path
forward, because this isn’t it,” he stressed.
Mayor Lisa Helps then weighed in, emphasizing “the importance of collaboration and facilitating a process that’s not going to
get peoples’ backs up the minute they sit down at 9:05.”
“Point taken. Thank you,” said Chair Jensen before moving to the
next agenda item.
Leslie Campbell
Eleven down: the Oak Bay deer cull
Questions around costs and justification remain
DESPITE OAK BAY MAYOR NILS JENSEN’S attempts to put a positive spin on his municipality’s recent deer cull, to most—opponents
and proponents alike—there is little to cheer about in 11 dead
deer, especially given the community angst left in its wake.
One of the “lessons learned” according to a CRD press release is
that “Our mild coastal climate and the onset of an early spring resulted
in an abundance of food sources for the deer, which deterred some
from entering the baited traps.” Speaking with local wildlife biologists would likely have saved the CRD having to learn that lesson the
hard way.
Perhaps less predictable was that the traps were more attractive to
rats and raccoons than deer: “Raccoons and rats triggered the traps
on a regular basis. They also challenged the process by chewing the
nets, resulting in damage that required repairs.”
While the final budget for the cull is unknown as yet, it will
probably include contracted public relations services. The PR strategy
seemed to be for Mayor Jensen to repeatedly reference “aggressive”
deer and the rising number of deer killed in automobile accidents.
Trouble is there were no numbers for the former and paltry numbers
for the latter. ICBC showed 13 deer fatalities from auto accidents
in 2013. Compare that to Nanaimo whose mayor has so far rejected
the idea of a cull. In 2012 that city had an average of one deer-related
traffic accident a day, according to Mayor Bill McKay. In 2013 Nanaimo
April 2015 • FOCUS
reported 260 automobile-related deer fatalities. Saanich and Victoria
also have far higher deer-automobile accident numbers than Oak Bay.
The Oak Bay pilot project will be evaluated over the next month
by CRD staff who will report to the CRD Board in late April.
A compelling question about Oak Bay’s deer cull is: Why did the
Province allow it? The Province, which has responsibility for wildlife
management, theoretically requires a broad public education campaign
and other mitigation efforts—like speed reduction, as well as a public
consultation program and a deer count—before a cull is approved.
On the matter of public education, Oak Bay’s permit application
states: “The focus of the strategy has been largely centred on public
awareness and education.” That’s a claim with which many Oak Bay
residents would disagree. As Kerri Ward and Kristy Kilpatrick have
complained to the Province, “Residents have not been adequately
informed on suitable and effective means of reducing human/deer conflict.
Two CRD brochures (lacking information specific to urban environments) were sent out…No media campaign has ever been implemented
with information on urban deer or reducing human/deer conflict.”
As for the required deer count, the permit application (viewable
only at MP Andrew Weaver’s constituency office) shows that a count
taking place between April 8 and 16, 2014, during two hours each
day at dawn and dusk, found 26 deer on the busiest deer-day.
Other days included counts of 14 and 17.
A new report on the cull by Animal Alliance of Canada and Deersafe,
among many other criticisms, condemned the “Lack of transparency
and accountability with the Ministry, the CRD and the District.”
Barry MacKay, one of the authors of the report, came to Victoria
from Toronto to do his investigation. He later explained in a blog: “In
exploring the streets, parks, golf courses, and school grounds of
Oak Bay, I saw virtually no signs of the heavy browse lines or denuded
foliage one finds when deer populations are high. ‘What’s a browse
line?’ I was asked by locals. It is the line that appears at the highest
point deer can reach when consuming vegetation. If the vegetation is
denuded below that line, it means food for deer is getting scarce…In
Oak Bay, in spite of driving and walking through the community, I
saw one deer…These deer are not over-populated by any definition.”
MacKay’s and Liz White’s report takes the Province to task for
accepting at face value Oak Bay’s various justifications for moving
to kill deer, saying “It does not require proof of mitigation measure
implementation…It appears fairly evident that Ministry staff have
minimal involvement other than approving the permit and providing
training, equipment and traps.”
Asked to comment, Greig Bethel, a provincial public affairs officer
with Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations,
stated: “Ministry staff have worked with Oak Bay for many years
providing advice and expertise…There was extensive correspondence and discussion through the urban deer workshop, provincial
wildlife veterinarian and face-to-face meetings.”
At an upcoming Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal
Communities meeting in Courtenay (April 10-12), Oak Bay council
is hoping to pass a resolution requesting the Province to provide more
resources to cities, including conservation officers and urban wildlife
biologists, as well as build partnerships with Health Canada (ostensibly to explore the immunocontraception option), to address deer
populations. The Province will likely prefer to avoid all that,
letting municipalities deal with the divisive issue and its attendant
costs largely on their own.
Leslie Campbell
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
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13
talk
of the
town
Katherine Palmer Gordon 18 Judith Lavoie 20 Derry McDonell 22
The fox and the chickens
DAVID BROADLAND
Victoria City Council has been fooled again on the Johnson Street Bridge project.
O
IMAGE: CITY OF VICTORIA WEBSITE
ne of the great paradoxes of the
Island suggested the zone could produce
Johnson Street Bridge Replacement
an M9.0 earthquake and so the City might
Project is that as the costs go up and
want to consider—for more money—an
the benefits to taxpayers go down, the
even higher level of seismic protection.
company managing the project for the City
But last month I revealed here that an
of Victoria makes more and more money.
August, 2012 document authored by MMM
In a February 27 letter to the City, MMM
showed it had secretly lowered the standard.
Group asked for an additional $1.8 million.
The document, titled Johnson Street Bridge
Seismic Design Criteria, stated that the bridge
Although a precise account of MMM’s likely
could experience “possible permanent loss
total take on the project is not yet available,
of service” following an M7.5 earthquake.
the latest ask appears to push it close to $17
Just as surprising was the fact the document
million. Yet in 2010 MMM estimated their
included no commentary whatever on the
services would cost $7.8 million. Since then,
level of damage expected following a M8.5
while MMM’s bill climbed, the project
earthquake, or whether emergency vehicles
has undergone a continuous paring away of
would be able to use the bridge following
most of the original objectives of the project.
such a quake—a feature City councillors
Since mid-2010 the following changes
thought they had bought back in 2010.
were made: rail service across the bridge was
My article prompted a 50-minute backremoved from the project scope; the width
of the roadway was reduced and the safety Jonathan Huggett at a Victoria City Council meeting and-forth discussion between City councillors
and the project’s latest director, Jonathan
zone for bicycles eliminated; the navigational
Huggett, at a March 12 meeting.
channel was reduced to little more than its current width; the Wilkinson
Huggett referred to MMM’s seismic design criteria only once at the
Eyre signature-bridge architectural quality was downgraded to Nanaimo
meeting and then only refered to it as “a memo,” even though the docuLight Industrial; the material quality of the finished bridge was cheapment is listed in the construction contract for the project as a “Regulatory
ened to the point where it will now be structurally reliant on 4000
Document” that “forms part of the contract.” He avoided the contents
gallons of epoxy grout; and, instead of being removed, the concrete
of the document and instead expressed doubt that there would be any
piers of the existing bridge will be left in place, with unknown conseincentive to lower the seismic design criteria. “What would be the motive
quences. Will the narrow, unbraced concrete remnants fall into the
to reduce the design standard?” Huggett asked councillors. “Hardesty
navigational channel in an earthquake, and block it, hindering recovery?
and Hanover are not responsible for the construction costs of this bridge.
Even with all those reductions in scope, the overall cost of the project
They designed it. So if it turns out it costs more money, it’s not their
rose from $63 million in early 2010 to $92.8 million in 2012, and has
problem. And PCL didn’t design the bridge and they have a contract to
since risen to between $113 million and $120 million today, when
build the bridge and they’ll build whatever they’re told to build. So I’m
claims for more money from the various companies involved in the
at a loss to understand who might have suggested reducing the standard
project are included (see table on page 16). The City is in a “mediaand what possible advantage they would have got out of it.”
tion” process involving all the parties asking for more money and would,
As Huggett must have known, however, the contents of MMM’s
naturally, prefer that everyone believe these claims are all just a big putdocument wouldn’t have had any input from either PCL or Hardesty
on and will vaporize into a cloud of goodwill between the builder of
and Hanover—it was written solely by MMM in August, 2012. MMM’s
the bridge (PCL) and MMM, who are, right now, at each others’ throats.
position at that time is easily understood. The company was trying to
The latest loss in scope, which I wrote about last month, is the level
save the project. Before MMM published its seismic design criteria, all
of seismic performance MMM recommended to the City in 2010.
three companies bidding for the construction contract had indicated
Back then, MMM’s Joost Meyboom told City councillors the new
they couldn’t build MMM’s design on the City’s $66 million budget.
bridge should be built to a “Lifeline” standard that would enable
MMM’s challenge was to find some way to lower those bids.
immediate access to emergency vehicles following an “M8.5” earthLowering the seismic standard for the project would have had exactly
quake (read “magnitude 8.5”). Meyboom said that, compared to
the same effect—increasing the likelihood that the project could
an “M7.5” earthquake, “M8.5” protection would cost an additional
proceed—as, say, advising the City to accept a bid that had only a four“$8.5 million.” Councillors then voted to include the “M8.5” stanpercent contingency.
dard in the project, and that level of seismic performance was widely
Let me parse this point a bit, because it provides guidance on MMM’s
promoted by the City during the referendum campaign. In fact, days
credibility on the seismic issue. Why did MMM recommend that the
before the referendum, Meyboom emailed City staff pointing out
City accept a bid with a four-percent contingency? Was it because
that a new study about the Cascadia subduction zone west of Vancouver
14
April 2015 • FOCUS
IF I WERE A COUNCILLOR I would want to know if
Huggett, as a paid representative of the chickens, went
to anyone other than the fox for an opinion on whether
the fox was having the chickens for lunch.
MMM thought that was adequate? No. (I’ll provide proof for this later.)
It was done to ensure that at least one bid was within the City’s affordability ceiling (The other two bids ended up $16 milllion and $26 million
above the City’s budget). Otherwise the project likely would have been
dead, and if it had died the City would not have signed—in November,
2012—a $9.2 million contract with MMM for additional project
management and engineering.
Recommending that very small contingency, though, isn’t the only
proof that MMM were changing primary aspects of the project during
the procurement process in 2012 to keep the project alive. Throughout
the fall of 2012 they negotiated an agreement with Transport Canada
to remove a significant cost from the project’s scope: removal of the
existing bridge’s concrete piers. Although the only claim made for
leaving the piers in place has been that they would provide “marine
habitat,” an email from an MMM employee obtained by FOI shows
that the move to leave the piers in place was done to reduce the
scope of the project while the RFP was still open, in the hope of “maintaining a commercially competitive environment.” The takeaway from
that is that MMM were actively reducing the scope in the hope of
obtaining a viable bid.
So MMM had a financial motive to save the project by reducing the
physical scope, they engaged in that across a broad front, and this
appears to have included lowering the seismic performance.
Huggett, at the meeting, unable to see a motive, noted that the bridge
had been designed using the most stringent codes. He spent much time
listing these codes, but had apparently not noticed that MMM’s Seismic
Design Criteria prominently stated that the provisions of all those codes
were secondary to the stipulations of its own document.
Although most of the councillors at the March 12 meeting readily
accepted Huggett’s claim that there was nothing to be concerned about,
Councillor Ben Isitt asked that MMM’s Johnson Street Bridge Seismic
Design Criteria be projected on an overhead screen above the Council
chambers. (Unbelievably, this had to be retrieved from Focus’ website.)
When confronted with the actual document that was at the core of
the issue, Huggett had no explanation. In a quick reversal of their
earlier warm reception of Huggett’s comforting assurances, councillors passed Isitt’s motion asking Huggett to report back to them on
why what he was telling them was at odds with what MMM’s Seismic
Design Criteria stated.
In an unusual motion, Huggett was directed by council to meet with
me and answer questions I might have. But in the days that followed,
Huggett declined to meet and refused to answer questions posed to him
by email, stating that he would hold a technical briefing for all media
once he had responded to the council’s request for an explanation. As
this edition went to press, that technical briefing hadn’t taken place.
Instead, Huggett sought an explanation from MMM, and on March
20 MMM responded by letter to Huggett. That letter was then made
public. In part, it stated, “With respect to the bridge performance after
a 2500-year return period seismic event, we wish to clarify that the
2500-year event is not part of the seismic design criteria specified in
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
15
the JSB 2012 [Project Definition Report]
That “recommended” contingency
Likely cost of new JSB as of March 26, 2015
and was not analyzed in the design.”
amounted to four percent. Then, in March
That requires a little interpretation. A
2014, after PCL had submitted a change
March 2012 council-approved budget........$92.8 M
“2500-year return period seismic event”
order requesting an additional $9.5 million
in Victoria has a rough equivalence to
($7.9 million net) as a result of delays
Additional budget request
an earthquake with a magnitude of M8.5.
and costs they attributed to MMM, MMM’s
March 26, 2015.............................................$4.8 M
That equivalence, in regards to this project,
Joost Meyboom, in a letter to the City,
has been stated in writing by both MMM
stated that the design PCL submitted to the
PCL change order request
and Stantec.
City in its bid was “at best 10 percent
February 2014 (net amount).........................$7.9 M
So MMM’s letter admitted that it could
complete.” Meyboom then observed,“We
provide no documented evidence that enginote that it is not unreasonable for scope
PCL change order request noted
neers had considered what would happen
to vary by 30 percent from a 10 percent
in letter dated August 18, 2014..........$2.5 - $9.5 M*
to the bridge in an M8.5 earthquake. (It
design and that this is normally accounted
should be noted that in its critical review
for with appropriate contingency.” So
MMM request for more money
of MMM’s design, Kiewit Infrastructure’s
MMM first recommended that the City
in letter dated August 11, 2014.....................$2.4 M
engineers, who prepared a bid for the
accept a four percent contingency, and
construction contract, rejected the mechanthen later, when it suited their purpose,
MMM request for more money
ical concept, and instead proposed a design
suggested that it should have been 30 percent.
dated February 27, 2015...............................$1.8 M
in which the moveable part of the bridge
Should councillors now trust MMM?
was firmly attached to the supporting
Is
its
recent claim that the bridge will allow
Retaining wall on west side............................$1.1 M
bascule pier. Those engineers noted, “This
emergency vehicle access after an M8.5
method reduces seismic, mechanical
earthquake to be trusted? Or should counLikely cost to March 26, 2015..........$113 - $120 M
and maintenance related technical chalcillors trust what MMM said when it claimed
* Estimate. Amount requested has not been made public.
lenges in the design.”)
there could be “permanent loss of service”
Huggett apparently had some doubt
following an M7.5 earthquake, which is
about MMM’s admission of having conducted no analyses for a
the claim that’s included in the construction contract?
2500-year earthquake, because he then wrote back to MMM asking for
The second question is this: We live in a region of high seismic hazard.
an explanation. MMM responded with a second letter which boiled
What is the normal requirement for conducting seismic assessments,
down to this: because the bridge has been classified, on paper, as a “critwhen designing significant public infrastructure for our region? For
ical bridge,” there is an “inference” that “it is expected to be available
guidance on this, councillors might want to look to the Port Mann Bridge
for use by emergency and security/defense vehicles immediately following
Project in Vancouver. It has been built in an area that is considered to
a 1:2500 year earthquake.” MMM’s letter continued on to state: “…it
have a significantly lower level of seismic hazard than Victoria. Yet for
that project the Province required four separate seismic analyses for the
is not necessary (or required) to actually analyze the structure for a
2500-year return period earthquake—including a “damage assessment
1:2500 year earthquake for us to be able to confidently state that the
analysis.” Although both the Port Mann Bridge and the Johnson Street
JSB will be available for use by emergency and security/defense vehicles
Bridge have the same “Lifeline Structure” designations, the Port
following a large earthquake.”
Mann Project did four analyses, the Johnson Street Bridge Project did
Armed with these two letters, Huggett then made a presentation
none. Councillors, no doubt, would want to know: Why weren’t these
to councillors on the issue at a meeting on March 26. I’ll come back to
four analyses done for Victoria’s bridge?
that meeting later, but first I’d like to pose some questions that natuThe third question is whether a set of 2500-year analyses would have
rally arise from this situation, questions for which councillors serious
represented significant additional cost or not. The only significant variabout representing the public interest would want answers.
ables in such analyses are all related to the structure of the bridge
First off, MMM is saying that they didn’t do an M8.5 analysis because
itself. Those variables were all determined for the 1000-year analysis.
they have written on paper that the bridge is a “Critical Bridge” and
Since these variables wouldn’t change between a 1000-year analysis and
that, by definition, there is an “inference” that a “Critical Bridge”
a 2500-year analysis—its the same bridge in each analysis—why would
would provide the performance City council requested in 2010. But
there be any significant cost to running both sets of analyses? Wouldn’t
wouldn’t councillors ask themselves, “Since MMM cannot provide
councillors want to know how much it would cost an engineer to enter
an actual set of seismic analyses for an M8.5 earthquake, why should
a different value for spectral acceleration and then push the “analyze”
I believe their assertion? Has the information they have provided
button on the computer program? Since pushing the 2500-year button
me in the past been credible?”
seems to be the normal practice in southwestern BC—witness the
On the issue of credibility, MMM’s record is concerning. Let’s go
Port Mann Bridge Project—did the seismic engineers, in fact, push the
back to the contingency issue as an example. When councillors were
button and later say they didn’t because they didn’t like what they found?
asked to approve a $66 million construction contract with PCL in
By the way, the physical difference between a 1000-year event, for
December 2012, they were told: “The City’s Consultant, MMM Group,
which MMM claims an analysis has been done, and a 2500-year event—
has reviewed the contract documents prepared by [the City’s legal
which MMM admits it didn’t do—is very large. Last month I reported
advisor] and the City, including optimizations, contingency, project
here that the energy released in the 2500-year event was 10 times that
risks and the value engineering opportunities, and in their professional
of a 1000-year event. That was incorrect. According to the US Geological
opinion recommend that the City proceed with the project and enter
Survey, an M8.5 earthquake releases 31.6 times as much energy as a
into a contract with PCL Westcoast.”
16
April 2015 • FOCUS
M7.5 earthquake. Given that MMM’s Seismic Design Criteria state
that the bridge could sustain “possible permanent loss of service” in an
M7.5 earthquake, what would happen to it in an earthquake that
was 31 times more energetic? Surely, councillors would want to know
that, wouldn’t they?
Although Huggett’s initial response to the issue was to tell councillors they didn’t need to be concerned because everything was being done
according to code, at least having MMM’s letters in hand demonstrated
that he did follow council’s direction to find an explanation for the
discrepancy between his position that there was nothing to be concerned
about and the actual stipulations of MMM’s Seismic Design Criteria. If
I were a councillor, though, I would want to know if Huggett, as a paid
representative of the chickens, went to anyone other than the fox for
an opinion on whether the fox was having the chickens for lunch.
So how did councillors do?
On March 26, Huggett gave City council an update on the project’s
escalating costs. I have written about these cost escalations in detail
in previous stories and there’s nothing new on that front except that
costs have gone up by an additional $4.8 million. Following Huggett’s
presentation, Councillor Isitt noted that the project was “a disaster”
and said, “I do have grave concern’s about MMM’s performance.”
When Isitt asked Huggett whether MMM could be replaced as project
manager, Huggett told councillors that the one MMM employee
working on the job site was putting in long hours and said MMM “was
doing a good job.” Councillors’ refusal to approve the full $4.8 million
requested by Huggett amounted to closing the chicken coop door after
the hens had already been eaten by the fox. Although councillors still
refuse to acknowledge that the current cost of the project to City
taxpayers is in the range of $113 million to $120 million, councillors
being out of touch with reality on this project isn’t news.
The escalation update was followed by a long in camera meeting on
the City’s legal difficulties with MMM and PCL. Claims that the
City is in mediation with the various parties have been made for several
months now, and that has been useful to City staff in preventing councillors from asking, in public, substantive questions about the project’s
woes. Ostensibly this muzzle has been put on councillors to protect the
City’s position in any legal action that might occur if mediation fails.
At the same time, though, it prevents public discussion of who at
City Hall is responsible for decisions made that seem to have left the
City without any case for pursuing legal action against their project
manager, including holding MMM to account for its verbal recommendation to the City on the four percent contingency in the contract
with PCL. The record of several closed meetings on this project, obtained
by FOI, shows that advice given to councillors by City staff at these
hidden-from-the-public-eye meetings has usually led to decisions that
later turned out to be based on misinformation.
Following the March 26 closed meeting, Huggett presented his report
on the seismic issue to councillors. It was short and to the point. Huggett
blamed the issue on those raising it, calling media reports on the
issue “irresponsible.” He invoked MMM’s two letters as proof there
was nothing for councillors to be concerned about and expressed dismay
over the amount of time he’d spent not answering questions. Only
Councillor Isitt asked anything close to a substantial question, but
he, evidently, didn’t comprehend that Huggett hadn’t provided him
a substantial answer.
What seemed evident to this observer is that the fox has now infiltrated the chicken house, and the chickens can’t tell the difference
between a rooster and a fox.
David Broadland is the publisher of Focus Magazine.
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www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
17
talk of the town
Saving Grace
KATHERINE PALMER GORDON
At a March longhouse ceremony, a cabinet minister promises change, but First Nations are still wary.
I
n mid-January, under heavy pressure from
First Nations and their allies, the provincial government finally took action to halt
the building of a house on Grace Islet, a tiny
First Nations burial island in Saltspring Island’s
Ganges Harbour. The hard-fought battle
to protect the 18 graves on the island was at
last won, although not without casualties.
When First Nations in the region learned
in mid-2014 that construction was under
way on Grace Islet, despite the fact they had
repeatedly told the government it was unacceptable, they were appalled. So were many
local non-First Nations people. The provincial government had given the landowner its
blessing to build his home in the midst of a
cemetery, in utter violation of the cultural
principles and beliefs governing respect for
the dead in both First Nations and non-First
Nations communities.
Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural
Resource Operations Steve Thomson brushed
off protests and refused requests to revoke
the owner’s development permit, issued under
the Heritage Conservation Act. Although
that Act purports to protect ancient grave
sites, the provincial government permit did
exactly the opposite, not only allowing the
owner to build amongst the graves, but sanctioning the enclosure of two of them within
the house’s crawl space.
On November 10, driven to desperation,
Cowichan Tribes responded by threatening
an aboriginal title court case over the island.
Although Thomson denies that was his motivation, it was only then that he appointed
negotiators to attempt to find a solution to
the impasse. It was with palpable relief that
the government announced a few weeks later
that an agreement had been reached to purchase
Grace Islet.
Under the terms of the deal, the owner was
paid $850,000 for the land and a further $4.6
million to cover his costs and his “lost opportunity for enjoyment of the property.” The
Nature Conservancy of Canada has taken
over stewardship of the island and is now
working with First Nations and the government on a remediation plan for the removal
of the partly-built structure—without causing
further offense to the graves—and an ecosystem
conservation management plan.
18
News of the purchase was greeted with
muted relief by First Nations. On March 17,
at an event to recognize the agreement hosted
by Tseycum First Nation in Saanich, Chief
Vern Jacks looked Steve Thomson in the eye
and told him: “I want you to remember
tonight. What has been wrong must stop,
and it must stop now.” Although Jacks spoke
quietly, his words echoed in the rafters of the
hushed longhouse, packed with hundreds of
people who had come to witness the occasion. “The government must fix what it has
done wrong.”
Thomson responded by telling Jacks and
the other assembled chiefs and dignitaries,
“I personally want to express my sincere
regret for the disturbance that has been caused
to your ancestors.” He also promised: “I give
you my sincere commitment to work with
you to ensure that something like this never
happens again.”
He says he has already asked his staff to
look at how the Heritage Conservation Act
is implemented, specifically to avoid future
Grace Islet-type situations, and different
policy options. But no specific goals or timeline for the proposed review have been
provided, nor any details about how First
Nations will be involved. That isn’t an encouraging beginning to a process intended to bring
about significant change, and Tsartlip councillor Joni Olsen, for one, is sceptical about
how meaningful any such review will be.
Olsen points out that Thomson still maintains it was only last summer that it became
clear to him “conservation” of Grace Islet
was called for, based on the cultural and spiritual value of Grace Islet to First Nations and
its ecological values. But she says she met
with government officials at least seven years
ago, asking for the island to be protected for
precisely those reasons.
She’s far from the only one who has been
telling the government that for a long time.
As early as 2006 the importance of the grave
sites was established in archaeological reports.
Many letters were written to the government
explaining the importance of the issue to First
Nations, including a specific request by
Penelakut Chief Earl Jack in August 2012
that the government cancel the owner’s development permit. For Thomson to now suggest
he only recently realized how important
Grace Islet is to First Nations is, says Olsen
bluntly, simply not the truth.
Olsen’s brother Adam, interim leader of
BC’s Green Party, is also dubious, pointing
to the government’s less than stellar track
record to date in handling the Grace Islet
affair. If it had acted immediately when First
Nations first asked it to prevent development
on the island, for example, the costs involved
would have been far lower: “People need to
understand that it was a complete waste of
taxpayer dollars and that the government is
entirely to blame. There has been a complete
lack of political will to deal with this issue
for years, and this is the result.”
Olsen is far from ready to believe that
anything meaningful will happen soon, let
alone to celebrate the purchase of the island.
“Personally, no, I’m still very much grieving
for what has happened to our ancestors there
and how they have been treated. That hasn’t
been made right yet.”
Joe Akerman is a Saltspring resident of
Cowichan descent who runs the Facebook
Grace Islet page. Akerman also isn’t ready
to celebrate wholeheartedly just yet: “Obviously
the fact that the construction has been stopped
is good, but any other outcome was impossible to imagine, anyway. We also have lost
a great deal in this process. It’s been very
hurtful to be told over and over again for
years that our spiritual and cultural values
and our dead aren’t important. Until new
policies are in place and the law is changed,
and respect is really shown for these values
and for us over the long term, the promises
to change are still just words.”
Tseycum Chief Vern Jacks is adamant that
First Nations will hold Minister Thomson
accountable to his word. “He is going to have
to walk his talk,” says Jacks firmly. “We can’t
call this a success until we see real change.
The desecration of our graves everywhere
must stop now. The government can no longer
hide behind policies that say it’s OK to dig
up human beings—that goes against every
teaching of ours, and against all principles
of human decency.”
Jacks wants a committee of First Nations
to work with Thomson’s ministry and identify changes needed to the legislation, as
April 2015 • FOCUS
“
PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND that it was a complete waste of taxpayer
dollars and that the government is entirely to blame. There has been a complete
lack of political will to deal with this issue for years, and this is the result.”
—Adam Olsen
well as the way it’s currently implemented.
He’s hopeful that after the event in the longhouse, Thomson finally does understand
the importance of this work, but he is also
realistic: “If he just says, no, we can’t do
that, it’s not in our policies, this isn’t going
to get very far.”
Archaeology professor George Nicholas
is the director of Simon Fraser University’s
Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural
Heritage, or IPinCH, project. When the
conflict around Grace Islet was reaching its
height last fall, Nicholas and his IPinCH
colleagues penned a letter to Thomson
pointing out that there are good alternatives
available to “costly and divisive disputes
between those wishing to develop private
and public lands, and those who seek to
protect ancestral sites and burial grounds
essential to Aboriginal peoples’ wellbeing.”
Nicholas has a number of suggestions that
might help avoid future conflicts. “If BC
is serious about change, it really needs to
shift to a First Nations consent model instead
of simply asking for First Nations input,
then not taking that input into any serious
account,” he says. Nicholas also proposes
that people be more informed at time of
purchase if a property potentially includes
human remains or has other spiritual significance. “This is not at all well or consistently
done right now. It’s provincial government
legislation that prohibits disturbing graves
and archaeological sites, and the government needs to ensure the public understand
their responsibilities under it.”
First Nations people, says Adam Olsen,
have demonstrated repeatedly over many
years that they are ready to work with
landowners to find a way to protect sites
respectfully. “We are very understanding of
the concerns of private land owners. When
there is a good system in place, that conversation can happen to everyone’s satisfaction.”
Indeed, many non-First Nations landowners
have been strong allies in the battle for Grace
Islet. On March 17 at Tseycum, Union of
BC Indian Chiefs president Grand Chief
Stewart Phillip thanked the hundred-plus
non-First Nations people who had come to
witness this “very important moment in our
collective history. By working together,
change is achievable. Here tonight,” he
concluded, “we see that there is nothing we
cannot overcome together.”
Before he left the longhouse, Minister
Thomson told the room that what he had
seen and been told that night will be etched
in his memory. If that is true, then perhaps,
notwithstanding the poorly-managed process
to date, there is reason to be hopeful that a
situation like Grace Islet is now truly part of
history, not the future.
Katherine Palmer Gordon
worked for more than 15
years as a contracts lawyer
and First Peoples’ land claims
negotiator and facilitator, both
in New Zealand and BC.
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19
talk of the town
Petrostate clampdown
JUDITH LAVOIE
Critics of proposed “anti-terrorism” legislation see it as part of the Conservative’s push to quell opposition to petroleum-related projects.
20
PHOTO: PETE ROCKWELL
A
ctivism has been part of Ruth Miller’s
life for decades, but, for the first time
in her 82 years, the Victoria grandmother fears she could end up in jail.
The Conservative government’s proposed
anti-terror legislation (Bill C-51), which beefs
up Canadian Security Intelligence Service
(CSIS) powers, hands the RCMP increased
new powers of preventive arrest, and makes
fundamental changes to human rights, has
been loudly denounced by groups and individuals across Canada. Critics include four
former prime ministers and five former Supreme
Court Justices.
Miller sees the bill as part of an ongoing
effort by the Harper government to demonize those who disagree with him. “I think this
is an attempt to suppress dissent of all kinds
and we should remember that everything Hitler
did in Germany was legal. It may have been
immoral, but it was legal and I am afraid we
might go down the same route,” said Miller,
who has been a member of the Raging Grannies
for 15 years.
The group of mature women in flowery
hats, with a propensity for singing, would
certainly meet the criteria of trying to disrupt
the economy of Canada because they actively
protest against pipelines, Miller noted. “The
next thing you know I will have been popped
into jail,” she said.
The bill, which Prime Minister Stephen
Harper wants to see in place before the expected
October federal election, is drawing widespread
criticism because of its broad brush approach
to terrorism as “activities that undermine the
security of Canada,” as well as its lack of meaningful oversight of CSIS activities.
Although “lawful” protest is excluded from
action under C-51, anything from holding a
protest march without a permit to a wildcat
strike is technically unlawful and therefore
could become the subject of CSIS investigation and possibly even disruption.
The legislation lowers the Criminal Code
threshold from permitting police to arrest
someone they have good reason to believe will
take part in a terrorist activity, to allowing the
police to act if they think a terrorist activity
may be carried out.
The bill allows 17 government departments,
such as Health Canada, Canada Revenue
Bill C-51 protest in Victoria, March 14
Agency, Canada Border Services Agency or
Fisheries and Oceans, to share information
about individuals if the information is seen as
relevant to national security. And it allows
them to take actions such as blocking a citizen’s
financial activity. Some opponents fear that,
with phrases such as “[disclosure permitted]
to any person for any purpose,” information could also be shared with foreign agencies
such as the CIA.
According to Reg Whitaker, adjunct professor
of political science at the University of Victoria
and an expert on RCMP and privacy issues,
the bill allows “drift-net fishing” for information because the standard of evidence the bill
demands is so low. Speaking at a recent C-51
forum in Victoria, he said, “They have opened
it up in a way that destroys basic privacy protections. They have knocked down the barriers
between government departments sharing
information…It is so broadly drawn it imperils
freedom of expression,” he said.
The bill, Whitaker noted, would allow the
government to do almost anything it wants,
short of torture and rape. Clayton C. Ruby,
one of Canada’s leading lawyers and an Order
of Canada recipient, wrote recently, “CSIS
[will have] virtually unfettered authority to
conduct any operation it thinks is in the
interest of Canadian security,” with “virtually no oversight.”
Discomfort with the 60-page omnibus
bill was underlined by large turnouts at antiC-51 rallies across the country in March. More
than 1000 people turned out for the Victoria
demonstration—many of them middle-aged
and unused to taking part in demonstrations
against government.
“Once this bill goes through, we could be
arrested for chatting like this on the street,”
said Carole Sheridan, waving a placard indignantly. “The aim is to manipulate and control.
It has never been this bad in Canada,” she said.
Sheridan is afraid her five grandchildren
will grow up in a country where freedom is
curtailed and privacy protections thrown out
of the window.
There is mounting evidence that concerns
such as those of Miller and Sheridan are warranted
and not just paranoid imaginings.
Among recent revelations about the involvement of security agencies in protests is a
document showing CSIS prepared advice and
briefing materials to help senior federal officials deal with expected protests around energy
developments such as Northern Gateway. One
of the most startling portrayals of Conservative
attitudes came in 2012 from Joe Oliver, then
natural resources minister and now finance
minister, who in an open letter attacked “environmental and other radical groups” which
“threaten to hijack our regulatory system to
achieve their radical ideological agenda.” In
March this year, Oliver continued the theme
by accusing those opposing federally-approved
projects of abusing the concept of social licence
and damaging Canada’s national interest.
That followed on the heels of an RCMP
internal report describing the possibility of
violent anti-pipeline extremists working with
First Nations radicals to sabotage critical infrastructure. The report, which used language
casting doubt on the legitimacy of climate
change and its link to fossil fuels, said one of
the “most urgent anti-petroleum threat of
violent criminal activity is in northern BC,
where there is a coalition of like-minded violent
extremists who are planning criminal actions
to prevent the construction of the pipeline.”
Anyone who doubts that the RCMP or CSIS
already monitor those they see as possible troublemakers should take a look at Tim Takaro’s
brush with the RCMP. Takaro, a health sciences
professor at Simon Fraser University who was
present during the Burnaby Mountain Kinder
Morgan protests, was contacted by RCMP
through his daughter’s cell phone. They asked
him about photographs he took near the Burnaby
Mountain tank farm and told him they knew
he had been to earlier protest rallies.
April 2015 • FOCUS
“
THIS IS VERY CONSISTENT with the Harper government’s deliberate
efforts to gut environmental regulatory oversight of major project
development. I think, in many ways, this country is slowly sliding into a
police state.” —Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, Union of BC Indian Chiefs
“I find it really weird, kind of spooky and
intimidating,” Takaro said. “I think this new
bill, C-51, that the Harper government is trying
to ram through, this so-called anti-terrorist
bill, is very intimidating for people who are
protesting these large new infrastructure projects
that are destroying the planet.”
Carmen Cheung, BC Civil Liberties
Association senior counsel, believes people
are right to be alarmed as the bill proposes
radical legal changes, jeopardizing rights and
freedoms while promising little improvement
to public safety. According to Cheung, the bill
is not getting adequate debate in Parliament
and, in addition to the chilling effect on protests,
there are other problems that desperately need
attention, such as expanded preventive detention and no-fly lists.
“I am really not sure that no-fly lists improve
public safety. Someone is too dangerous to fly,
but not dangerous enough to arrest or to stop
going on a bus? It seems a very strange way to
approach public safety,” said Cheung, who
fears the new law will put additional pressure
on Muslim communities. “People should read
the bill, or at least read some of the commentary, and understand there’s a lot to be concerned
about. Canadians need to understand this bill,”
she said.
WHILE BILL C-51 IS THE CATALYST for
recent protests, many see it as part of a pattern
that has included firing or muzzling scientists,
gutting environmental, river and fish protections, and auditing the charitable tax status of
groups not aligned with Conservative policies—such as Dying with Dignity, Tides Canada,
and Environmental Defence.
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, leader of the
Union of BC Indian Chiefs, is convinced of
the connection. “This is very consistent with
the Harper government’s deliberate efforts to
gut environmental regulatory oversight of
major project development,” he said. “I think,
in many ways, this country is slowly sliding
into a police state,” said Phillip, surmising that
it points to Harper’s obsession with becoming
a petro-superpower.
Like other First Nations leaders, Phillip,
who was arrested during the Burnaby Mountain
protests, does not plan to change his behaviour and will jealously guard his constitutional
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
and legal rights. “Regardless of the Harper
government’s agenda, I shall continue to speak
out and protect the birthright of my grandchildren. If it means I am branded as a terrorist,
so be it. If I have to go to jail, so be it.”
Phillip is hoping Canadians will take action.
“I think people had better wake up and smell
the coffee and understand we are in desperate
need of a new national vision, one that is
more inclusive and willing to respect human
rights,” he said.
Tzeporah Berman, coordinator of the
Clayoquot logging blockades, lead negotiator
of the Great Bear rainforest campaign, and
ForestEthics campaign director, said Canadians
should be worried about C-51. “What we
are witnessing is the systemic erosion of
democracy,” she said.
People’s ability to obtain information and
participate in public processes, such as the
National Energy Board’s pipeline hearings,
is being dismantled, Berman claimed, accusing
the Harper government of eliminating independent environmental assessments, weakening
environmental laws, and changing the Fisheries
Act at the request of oil companies, all in a
quest to become an energy superpower.
“Over 2000 [federal] scientists have been
let go and the ones who remain are not allowed
to release information to the public. If they
want to speak to the press they have to have
permission from the Prime Minister’s office,”
she pointed out.
Berman feels the public is waking up to the
problems as they see scientists and professors
take to the streets. With the federal election
approaching, she hopes every Canadian is
prepared to vote strategically to ensure there
is not another Harper majority government.
That could pose a quandary for some voters
given the federal Liberal party supports Bill
C-51, although it is calling for amendments
to provide greater CSIS oversight. The NDP
and Greens oppose the bill.
Long-time reporter Judith
Lavoie does not give credence
to most conspiracy theories,
but as she researched Bill C51 she couldn’t help wondering
if someone was tracking her
activities.
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talk of the town
A-word conversation begins
DERRY McDONELL
Academics weigh in on the amalgamation question.
I
In the meantime, public debate on the pros and cons
n November, voters throughout Greater Victoria
of amalgamation is already underway, at least in some
said “yes” to studying some form of amalgamaquarters. On March 24, the Victoria Salon, a newly
tion in the Capital Regional District. Even in
formed public interest group, launched itself into the
municipalities where the ballot question was either
amalgamation issue with a public debate at Camosun
obtuse (Saanich) or clearly biased (Oak Bay), the overall
College that featured four speakers on the subject—
result endorsed considering, at the very least, how
two pro, two opposed—who managed to present a
greater service integration and cooperation among the
wide range of fact and opinion and left an inter13 municipalities could benefit the region as a whole.
ested audience with much to think about and further
North and Central Saanich, Sidney and Victoria went
research to pursue.
even further, endorsing a cost/benefit study of amalFor example, when UVic School of Public
gamation itself.
Administration Professor Jim McDavid cautioned
Since then, the Province has promised support for
against adopting amalgamation without a thorough
any local initiative to research, gather and prepare
“evidence-based” approach, taking into account local
public recommendations to the Province on the issue.
situations in the CRD, his UVic colleague, Professor
The Minister for Community, Sport and Cultural
Development, Coralee Oakes, told a March 10 break- CRD administrative boundaries Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly countered by noting that the
OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
fast meeting of local politicians and Amalgamation Yes
Development) recently released a world-wide study of civic governorganizers she is preparing a public announcement in April that will
ments that provides vast amounts of data and analysis of how effectively,
invite every municipality in the region to meet with her to discuss what
or ineffectively, regional governments in urban areas have performed,
steps they wish to take on the issue. She emphasized, however, that the
and why. “It’s available online now,” he added.
Province itself would not—and under current legislation legally could
The point was augmented during the post-debate question period,
not—draft nor implement any “top down” plan for amalgamation.
when Amalgamation Yes volunteer John Vickers told the panel more
“I haven’t got the green light from cabinet to make any changes to
than 300 amalgamations have taken place in Western Canada alone,
the Local Government Act,” said Oakes. “We can do supportive work
to assist local governments looking into it [and] we could possibly do
including 25 in British Columbia, and more are planned. “And we
a pilot project as well but we don’t [even] want to dictate what the study
haven’t heard of major complaints with any of them,” he said, adding,
should look like. You should tell us, at the grassroots level, what you
“There are clearly a lot of examples and models for us to examine if
want to do.”
we want to look at them.”
So exactly what have the local governments in the CRD done to
The debate for and against focused on two central themes: reprerespond to the November referenda and the Province’s response?
sentative regional government versus regional cooperation/service
Virtually nothing. In fact, Victoria City Council is the only municipality
integration, and top-down implementation versus grassroots-led implethat has taken any public action so far, having drafted the letter to
mentation. Speaking for the nay side, Oak Bay Councillor Tara Ney
Minister Oakes that resulted in the March 10 breakfast meeting.
(who also is an associate professor at UVic’s School of Public Administration),
Elsewhere, however, the silence has been deafening.
along with Professor McDavid, argued that ongoing service integraThe only other public voice on amalgamation is coming from the
tion, especially among police and fire services, was already providing
volunteer-led Amalgamation Yes group, the same folks whose highlya key regional benefit demanded by amalgamation proponents, and
organized work over the past two years led to the referenda in the first
that while the CRD board of directors admittedly has had difficulty
place—a fact that led to criticism from View Royal Mayor David Screech
delivering major projects like regional sewage and waste management,
and others skeptical of amalgamation, saying any further study into
many other worthwhile regional services and improvements have
it should not be led by a group with a clear bias on the issue.
resulted from specific CRD commissions and committees. They contended
For its part, Amalgamation Yes—since renamed Greater Victoria
that if the Province would simply give regional districts like the CRD
Conversation—says it’s concerned that far too much responsibility for
more jurisdiction—specifically over regional development and transdeveloping and presenting local opinion in the region is being
portation—municipal amalgamation wouldn’t be necessary.
pushed down to volunteer groups like itself.
The yea side, presented by Professor Brunet-Jailly and Amalgamation
“Local governments in the CRD have made it clear they are not going
Yes spokesperson Lesley Ewing, noted that the absence of an effecto fund the study at the grassroots level,” organizer Shellie Gudgeon
tive regional governance structure is costing the region numerous
told Oakes. “That puts the onus on volunteers like ourselves and, frankly,
opportunities for economic and social development and hindering the
we’re going to get burned out if that continues.”
development of necessary infrastructure as well. “Greater Victoria’s
Gudgeon would like to see the Province and municipalities encourage
population [350,000] is larger than that of at least seven of the official
neighbourhood associations to get involved and take ownership of the
largest cities in Canada,” Ewing pointed out, “yet it has no represengrassroots level of the study—an idea Oakes said she’d have her staff
tation on the national body that speaks for that large-city group. This
consider as part of its consultation process.
is costing us the opportunity to share in federal cost-sharing programs.”
22
April 2015 • FOCUS
Focus presents: Triangle Healing
ONE POINT on which both sides agreed was that the
current procedure of having municipal councils in
the region appoint directors to the CRD Board of
Directors is a major flaw in its governance structure.
Professor Brunet-Jailly went further. “The OECD study looked at
263 municipalities in the world and concluded that ‘forced’ amalgamations work better than those created by ‘bottom-up’ consensus,” he
said. This is based on demonstrated outcomes, “such as reduced urban
sprawl, reduced income/social inequity, better transportation planning,
and economic growth.”
The key to seeing the gap between the two approaches, he explained,
is to evaluate governance models on performance effectiveness (resultsbased outcomes of services provided), rather than simply on efficiencies
(i.e. cost containment). The latter is more commonly applied in North
American municipalities than elsewhere, he said, and that, along
with concurrent requirements for local-level sign-on to fiscal initiatives, has led to severe distortions. The most recent example is Ferguson,
Missouri, where local courts and police were found to be focused solely
on revenue-generation in order to make up for revenue shortfalls from
other sources in the city, especially taxes.
Professor McDavid observed that, in fact, with its insistence on local
approvals for regional initiatives (e.g., the current transit referendum
taking place in Vancouver), BC’s regional government structure is more
similar to the US model than that of any other province in Canada.
Councillor Ney also cited this requirement as the key reason the Seaterra
project was stalled.
One point on which both sides agreed was that the current procedure of having municipal councils in the region appoint directors to
the CRD board of directors is a major flaw in its governance structure.
“There’s a widespread public view that CRD directors are solely there
to represent the interests of their own municipality, not those of the
region,” noted Lesley Ewing, adding, “This is more evident when large
projects and/or major dollars are involved.”
Professor Brunet-Jailly said “the CRD’s poor reputation on major
projects like sewage treatment is primarily due to a lack of public
visibility,” he said. “Unlike municipal councillors, these people are not
seen to be accountable to the public. As a result, ‘face-to-face’
democracy at the CRD level doesn’t exist.”
Both sides agreed a switch to having CRD directors elected directly
by their constituents would go a long way to rectify the current situation. Still to be worked out, however, would be the electoral and
geographical boundary represented by each CRD director.
Another public debate is set to take place on April 21, when former
BC Premier Mike Harcourt is slated to be the keynote speaker. It starts
at 5 pm at the Victoria Conference Centre and reservations are required.
You can register here: www.greatervictoriaconversation.ca
In the meantime, Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says she is trying to
arrange for another meeting with Minister Oakes to clarify the next
steps in the consultation process. Stay tuned.
Derry McDonell has been writing and editing since his
UVic days in the 1970s. His career includes stints as Editor
of Monday Magazine, publisher/editor of BC Digest and
the first publisher of Canadian HR Reporter.
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23
Visit
Mrs. Outerbridge’s vision is kept alive by the
hard work of dedicated volunteers and Horticulture
Centre of the Pacific horticulture students.
For more information please contact us at 250475-5522 or email [email protected].
These pages have been made possible
by Marlene Russo, lawyer and mediator
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Creative
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palette 26 the arts in april 30 dance 40 coastlines 42
A happy note
AAREN MADDEN
Using light and shadow, technique and subject matter, Clement Kwan paints to bring joy to viewers.
“Fiery Flame” by Clement Kwan, 30 x 36 inches, oil on linen canvas
C
lement Kwan has an ingenious, hand-made easel against one wall
of his garage. Vertical two-by-four brackets hold two cross bars
that adjust to fit the size of his canvas. Another vertical beam
slides on a track in front. It holds a small, cushioned block of wood, also
adjustable along the vertical column, which supports his wrist while he
applies oil paint onto the canvas with brush or palette knife.
The wall behind is covered with notes, handwritten in Chinese
and posted over the course of many years. They are reminders to Kwan
on technique and purpose. “Don’t let the photo control you. You control
the photo,” one exhorts. (Reference photos—children among the goats
at the Beacon Hill children’s farm or cavorting in fairy costumes—
26
adorn a nearby bulletin board.) “Paint in space, not just on the canvas’
surface,” another urges. “What is the relation between light and dark?”
queries a third.
One note reflects Kwan’s raison d’etre. “Is this painting the meaning
of health, wealth and happiness? Is it good for people to look at;
does it give people happiness?” he translates. “It has to fit my standard,” he explains. Works in progress answer in the affirmative. A joyful
cacophony of children and goats adorn one canvas; a woman plays the
violin, immersed in its tranquil strains, on another.
For Clement Kwan, art making is a pursuit of light and joy. “Light
is life!” he smiles. In technical terms this is so in the vitality it brings
April 2015 • FOCUS
JOY AND HOPE are what I want to convey. That is
why in my paintings are dancing, music, children. Children
are so free; they express whatever they are feeling.”
—Clement Kwan
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to an image. Figuratively, the light he paints offers an affirming space
to the viewer: apple-cheeked children at play, bathed in sunlight; athletic
flamenco dancers immersed in the music; musicians equally so.
“Fiery Flame,” a large work depicting flamenco dancers, comes to
life with dashes of yellow, gold and red that seem to fly from the dancers’
swirling skirts. “My style is impressionism plus realism,” Kwan
states. “Somehow I find that if it is too detailed, it’s dead. It becomes…not
very vital.” Contrasts between loose brushstrokes and tight detail
“becomes energy,” he says.
That energy becomes
powerfully evocative in “Still
Playing.” This award-winning
portrait of the composer,
teacher and flautist Austin
Scott (see page 35) is all the
more poignant since Scott’s
passing last November. Kwan
had been playing flute with
his friend at his home only
last summer. His portrait
shows a virtuoso carried away
by the music, and taking audience and orchestra—who
recede into impressionism,
while Scott’s face is rendered
in crisp detail—along.
Kwan directs the viewer’s
eye with such detail. The face
of the young girl in the centre
of “Young Riders” (on cover)
captures the viewer’s eye before
the gaze casts about a bustling
scene of children, bikes and
balloons that Kwan witnessed
Clement Kwan
at the Oak Bay Tea Party.
Kwan is rightfully proud
of the People’s Choice Award this work received at the 2014 Sidney
Fine Arts Show. “It’s not easy to get—the juror might give you first
place, but that’s only his opinion. But the people voted that is ‘the
one.’ That means it has a spirit inside,” he says.
Kwan seeks that spirit in all of his work, and values the creative
freedom to do so. He was born in Southern China’s Guangdong Province
in 1955 and grew up in a small town. “My mother was interested in
writing, singing—all the arts,” Kwan shares, and she encouraged his
predilection for drawing. She also put him in music lessons—he still
plays most Chinese instruments, like the erhu (the lilting Chinese violin),
and his specialty is the Chinese bamboo flute.
It was his visual art talent that his mother encouraged the most, introducing him to local artists. One mentorship that began when Kwan
was in his teens continues to this day. Mian Situ is an artist two years’
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
27
28
April 2015 • FOCUS
Left: “Guitar Soloist” by Clement Kwan, 30 x24 inches, oil on linen canvas
Clement Kwan’s work can be seen at Peninsula Gallery, 100-2506
Beacon Ave, Sidney, 250-655-1282, www.pengal.com, and at
www.clementkwan.com.
Kids, music, dancing—not to mention galleries and libraries:
Aaren Madden hopes she never takes these joys of life
for granted.
“Dancing in the Sun” by Frances Beckow, acrylic on canvas
Kwan’s senior who got a coveted opportunity to attend the Guangzhou
Academy of Fine Arts. Situ would bring books back to the village to
share with Kwan: “Rembrandt, Sargent, and Russian artists.” Artists
could choose to study the calligraphic Chinese style of painting or
the western style, with its verisimilitude and 3D effect. Like Situ,
who is a successful artist living in Los Angeles today, “I chose the western
way—shadows,” says Kwan, with an enthusiasm for the dramatic effect
of chiaroscuro that has not waned.
Opportunities being limited in China, Kwan’s artistic training consisted
of a roughly six-month government program teaching mural painting.
“You needed lots of basics. Portraits and people, how to do shapes, the
space between the head, the body,” he says. Though brief, the teaching
was rigorous—“more so even than the art schools here,” Kwan observes,
“because they want you to do okay” at the end goal: painting propaganda murals of Mao Tse Tung and Chinese workers. Kwan did so for
a few years, and also painted scenery for a stage company. Creative
freedom was an unattainable dream.
However, it happened that Kwan’s father, brother and sister were
already residing in Victoria. In 1979, after greater leniency meant it
was possible to leave China with good reason, he and his mother joined
the rest of his family—and Kwan met his father for the first time. His
brother helped him get a job as a machine operator at Langford’s
Kennametal. “It was not a hard adjustment, because China’s conditions were so bad,” he says.
In his spare time, he basked in what was previously unattainable
living under communist rule. “Library—wow! Museum—wow! And
the galleries. You could see beautiful originals,” he recalls with awe.
“So I was always learning,” he says, even though he set painting aside
for a number of years.
After he had settled, married, and had a son and daughter, he picked
up his brush once more. In 1986, his family attended the first Sooke
Fine Arts Show and he thought out loud, “I could do this!” At his wife’s
encouragement, he entered the show the following year and sold both
paintings. Several awards and commissions followed, and after 27 years
at Kennametal, Kwan began painting full time in 2007. He attracted
gallery representation at Sidney’s Peninsula Gallery and in Calgary and
the United States. “With art, it is not easy to make a living,” he says,
quick to add, “Of course when you do something you like, that is worth
lots of money.”
For Kwan, that includes bringing others happiness. “Joy and hope
are what I want to convey,” he says. “That is why in my paintings are
dancing, music, children. Children are so free; they express whatever
they are feeling.”
“I feel life is very short,” he concludes. “My children are getting
older—I think, hmm, not much time! Something happy is important.”
Frances Beckow
RAPT WITH COLOUR: Acrylic works from imaginings
in the vibrant land of pattern and decoration
Plus CLAYWORKS by Nancy Alexander
April 21 - May 9
Opening Celebration April 24, 7- 9 pm
2031 Oak Bay Ave • 250 592 2760 • www.gagegallery.ca
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
29
visual arts
Continuing to April 9
SLIPPING GLANCE
Martin Batchelor Gallery
Figurative sculpture by Iris Nardini and
paintings on Mylar by Diana Brooks. 712
Cormorant Street, 250-385-7919,
www.martinbatchelorgallery.ca.
Continuing to April 12
A STUDY IN CONTRAST
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
The work of printmakers Sybil Andrews
and Gwenda Morgan. 1040 Moss St,
250-384-4171, www.aggv.ca.
Extended to April 11
REG DAVIDSON &
DON YEOMANS
Alcheringa Gallery
A serigraph retrospective by two Haida
masters. On May 1, Alcheringa will move
to its new home at 621 Fort Street, just
a minute’s walk from its previous location. 665 Fort St, 250-383-8224,
www.alcheringa-gallery.com.
Continuing to April 19
DEFINICIONES (DEFINITIONS)
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Carlos Colín generates dialogue around
human rights and established power
structures. 1040 Moss St, 250-384-4171,
www.aggv.ca.
Continuing to April 21
LITTLE TRAGEDIES
Dales Gallery
New paintings by Stephanie Harding.
537 Fisgard Street, 250-383-1552,
www.dalesgallery.ca.
Continuing to April 29
TWO POINTS OF VIEW
Goward House
Paintings by David Smith and Sokee
Lee. 2495 Arbutus Rd, 250-477-4401,
www.gowardhouse.com.
Continuing to April 30
FORTY QUILTS
Sawyer Sewing Centre
In honour of organizer Nancy Martens’
40-year friendship with Jeanne
Coverdale, who died of breast cancer
in September 2011, 40 quilts (17 made
by Martens) will be exhibited and then
distributed to cancer organizations.
Free, but donations welcome. Funds
raised go to the BC Cancer Foundation.
www.40quilts.wordpress.com.
Continuing to May 3
DOUBLE TAKE
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Mixed media drawings on aluminum
panel by Wendy Skog. Collaged paintings by Roberta Pyx Sutherland. 1040
Moss St, 250-384-4171, www.aggv.ca.
30
Continuing to May 3
MARIMEKKO, WITH LOVE
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
An examination of the iconic Finnish
design company. 1040 Moss St, 250384-4171, www.aggv.ca.
Continuing to May 30
ARTIFACTS
Sooke Region Museum
Featuring Sooke artists with unique
twists: painting on feathers, photograffia
(the art of overpainting photos) and old
artifacts made into art. Tues-Sun 9am5pm, Upstairs Gallery, 2070 Phillips Rd,
Sooke. 250-642-6745, www.sooke.gallery.
Continuing to May 31
TWO EXHIBITIONS
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
In Another Place, And Here: 8 local,
national, and international artists explore
relationships between geography, politics, identity–and photography. Kabuki:
Japan’s Dynamic Theatre in Prints features
works by 19th and 20th century ukiyoe masters and modern artists.1040 Moss
St, 250-384-4171, www.aggv.ca.
April 2–16
ROY GREEN: MIXMASTER
Polychrome Fine Art
A solo exhibition by the painter, poet
and performance artist Roy Green who
likens his work to channel-surfing with
a paintbrush, incorporating found objects,
symbols and text, chance and coincidence, spontaneity and improvisation
into a form of urban folk-art. Opening
April 2, 7-9pm. 977-A Fort St, 250-3822787, www.polychromefinearts.com.
April 2–30
IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD
Red Art Gallery
Opening reception April 2, 6-8pm.
April 16: Art Talk with UVic professor
Dr Robert Dalton. 2249 Oak Bay Ave,
250-881-0462, www.redartgallery.ca.
April 2–June 27
MAKING A SCENE!
VIC’S ARTISTS IN THE 60S
Legacy Art Gallery Downtown
The 1960s marked a growing awareness and pride in the contemporary visual
arts of Victoria. The opening of UVic’s
Gordon Head campus expanded local
arts education, which coincided with the
opening of new commercial and public
galleries. Both developments drew professional artists, often with international
roots, to Victoria. This exhibition features
a selection of work by artists including
Maxwell Bates, Henry Hunt, Eric Metcalfe,
Robin Skelton, and Ina D.D. Uhthoff. 630
Yates St, 250-721-6562 www.legacy.uvic.ca.
April 3–19
OBJECTIVELY SPEAKING
Xchanges Gallery
Diana Weymar’s exhibition considers
what we leave behind and what our
objects say about the way we live our
lives. Opening April 3, 7pm; artist’s talk
April 7, 7pm. Hours Sat & Sun, 12-4pm
or by appt. 6e, 2333 Government St.
(Behind Douglas St. Dairy Queen), 250382-0442, www.xchangesgallery.org.
April 7–13
TAPESTRY OF ISLAND ARTS
Tulista Park
Featuring pottery, bronze sculpture,
wood, fibre arts, paintings, watercolours,
collages, clay, metalwork, jewellery.
Opening April 7, 4-7pm. Hours 10am4pm, 9565 5th St, Sidney. 250-656-7400.
April 7–May 2
MODERN VISIONARIES
Eclectic Gallery
Maxwell Bates, Herbert Siebner, Pat
Martin Bates, Carole Sabiston, Myfanwy
Pavelic, Walter Dexter, Jack Wilkinson, Toni
Onley, Phyllis Serota and more. Reception
April 11, 3-5pm. 2170 Oak Bay Ave, 250590-8095, www.eclecticgallery.ca.
April 8–19
FED OF CANADIAN ARTISTS
Coast Collective Art Gallery
The Victoria chapter of the FCA presents
their annual juried Spring Exhibition.
Opening reception Apr 11, 2-4pm. Hours
Wed-Sun 12-5pm. 3221 Heatherbell Rd.
April 9–11
40 YEARS IN THE MAKING
Victoria College of Art
Victoria College of Art’s 40th year-end
student show and sale. Reception April
9, 7pm. 1625 Bank St (between Fort
and Richmond), 250-598-5422,
www.vca.ca.
April 11 & 12
PACIFIC BRANT EXHIBIT
Mary Winspear Centre
BC’s top wildlife and nature artists,
photographers and sculptors. April 11:
10am-5pm; April 12: 10am-4pm, 2243
Beacon Ave, Sidney. $5 / 12 & under free.
www.thebrant.ca.
April 11–25
COLIN GRAHAM ESTATE
Winchester Gallery
In addition to being the first
director/curator of the Art Centre (now
Gallery) of Greater Victoria, Graham was
also a painter. Opening April 11, 1-4pm.
John Graham, son of Colin, in attendance.
2260 Oak Bay Ave, 250-595-2777,
www.winchestergalleriesltd.com.
April 17–21
UVIC BFA EXHIBITION
Visual Arts Building, UVic
Showcasing the work of 35-plus graduating students. Reception April 17, 7pm.
Mon-Fri and 10am-5pm Sat. Info: 250721-8011, www.finearts.uvic.ca.
April 18 & 19
OAK BAY ARTISTS TOUR
Oak Bay
Paintings, pottery, jewellery, textiles,
photography and more. Noon-4:30pm.
Tour maps at www.oakbayartists.com,
www.recreation.oakbay.ca.
April 18-27
ART & PHOTOGRAPHY
1551 Broadmead Avenue
Photography by David McCoy; abstract
art by Linda Dickson, and figurative paintings and drawings by Sid Chow. Mon-Fri
11-4:30 pm, Sat & Sun 11-5:30pm.
April 21–May 9
RAPT IN COLOUR
Gage Gallery
Abstract and figurative paintings by
Frances Beckow, inspired by imagination, gratitude and the physical universe.
Reception April 24, 7-9pm. TuesSat 11am-5pm. 2031 Oak Bay Ave,
www.gagegallery.ca, 250-592-2760.
April 23–May 2
FIRED UP! PREVIEW
Madrona Gallery
Fired Up! artists display in Victoria
before their annual exhibit in Metchosin
during the last weekend in May. 606
View St, 250-380-4660, www.firedup.ca.
April 25–26
SAANICH PENINSULA ARTS &
CRAFTS SHOW
Mary Winspear Centre
The Society’s 62nd annual exhibit and
sale of local arts and crafts, featuring guest
artist Rande Cook. 10am-6pm on Sat; 104:30pm on Sunday. Admission $3 (children
with adults free). 2243 Beacon Ave.
April 27–May 3
STUDIO 30 SHOW & SALE
Tillicum Centre
Original paintings and cards for sale
by local artists. Daily demonstrations.
Open during mall hours. www.studio30.ca.
May 2 & 3
FAIRFIELD ARTISTS TOUR
Fairfield neighbourhood
Established and emerging artists display
paintings, pottery, glass, jewellery, textiles
and photography. Works for sale. 11am4pm. Free. Online map and info at
www.fairfieldartistsstudiotour.com/map.
April 2015 • FOCUS
April 4
IANA KOMARNYTSKA
McPherson Playhouse
Sacred Centre Dance presents a workshop and gala
show featuring multiple award-winning Komarnytska.
8pm. $25 at 250-386-6121, www.rmts.bc.ca.
www.sacredcentredancecompany.wordpress.com
April 11 & 12
CLEOPATRA
Metro Studio
Ballet Étoile presents a compelling portrayal of the
most powerful and notorious woman of the ancient
world. April 11: 7:30pm; April 12: 2pm, 1411 Quadra
St. 250-590-6291, www.ticketrocket.org.
April 24 & 25
BALLET WEST: MIXED REPERTOIRE
Royal Theatre
Salt Lake City, Utah-based Ballet West brings 18
dancers to Victoria in a program that emphasizes its
remarkable range. Mercurial Landscape is a beautifully
choreographed meditation for 8 couples set to Vivaldi’s
Four Seasons. This is considered to be one of dance
innovator William Forsyth’s masterpieces. Finally, Val
Caniparoli's The Lottery is a chilling tale of conformity
gone mad. Presented by Dance Victoria. 7:30pm. From
$29 at 250-386-6121, www.dancevictoria.com.
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
“Paper Parasols”
16 x 12 inches, acrylic on board
dance
“Old Faithful”
24 x 24 inches, acrylic on canvas
Throughout April
MOVIE SCREENINGS
Vic Theatre
Most screenings at 4, 7 or 9pm, 808 Douglas St.
Check listings at www.thevic.ca.
April 11 - 25, 2015
Opening reception 1 - 4pm, April 11, artist in attendance
“The Photograph”
24 x 12 inches, acrylic on board
Mondays in April
MOVIE MONDAYS
Eric Martin Pavilion
April 6: Pride; April 13: Wild; April 20: Alien Boy,
with discussion with Vic PD chief Frank Elsner and filmmaker Brian Lindstrom. Special event Fri April 24: Hedwig
and the Angry Inch. 6:30pm, Fort St. by Lee Ave. By
donation. More listings at www.moviemonday.ca.
Nancy Ruhl’s VICTORIA: Colours in Time
“Cherry Blossom Resurrection”
24 x 18 inches, acrylic on board
April 18
LOUD VOICES ON A QUIET STREET
Metro Studio
The premier screening of a documentary that acts
as a visual tour of Vancouver Island, following the
musical journey of eight artists. During intermission,
each musician will perform their music live. 6pm, 1411
Quadra St. $10 at 1609 Blanshard St, 250-590-6291,
www.ticketrocket.org. www.theatreonfilm.net.
MADRONA GALLERY PRESENTS
“Harbour Authority Building from the North”
16 x 16 inches, acrylic on board
April 8
AWARENESS FILM NIGHT: JUST EAT IT
Edward Milne Comm School, Sooke
A Farm and Film Gala co-presented by the Sooke
Region Food Community Health Initiative. Screening
of Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story and booths with local
products, seeds, produce, info on gardening, food security and zero waste. Speakers on local initiatives to
reduce food waste. Doors 6:45pm; film 7:30pm;
speakers until 9:30pm. 6218 Sooke Rd. By donation.
www.awarenessfilmnight.ca, www.sookefoodchi.ca.
“The 1011”
24 x 18 inches, acrylic on canvas
film
Featuring the wonderfully colourful and original
work of renowned Victoria-based artist Nancy Ruhl
606 View Street • 250.380.4660 • www.madronagallery.com
NancyRuhl.ca
31
“EIGHT” ANNABELLE MARQUIS, 40 X 60 INCHES, MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS
April 25–May 7
ANNABELLE MARQUIS: NEW PAINTINGS
West End Gallery
A talented painter from Montreal, Marquis first studied as a graphic designer
before turning to a painting career in 2006. Since then she has developed a dramatic
and distinctive style. As Robert Bernier has stated: “She creates visual ambushes,
pictorial scavenger hunts where rules are dictated by the tenuous thread that links
conscious to unconscious.” Creating a dynamic interaction of form, colour and texture,
the ensuing creations are spontaneous and magnetic. Opening reception, April
25, 1-4pm. 1203 Broad St, 250-388-0009, www.westendgalleryltd.com.
“EVOLVE 6” DALE DZIWENKA, 14 X 12 X 6 INCHES, CEMENT FONDUE AND STEEL
Throughout April
SCULPTOR DALE DZIWENKA
The Avenue Gallery
In 1992, after 10 years travelling the world, including long days in many
museums and galleries, Dziwenka returned to Canada. In Victoria, he started a landscape design firm; in between projects, he sculpted. Over the years, he has spent
extended periods in France working alongside the renowned late sculptor John McCarthy,
exploring sculpting techniques and ideologies. Working in wood, metal and stone,
most of Dziwenka’s pieces are abstractions of the human figure reflecting aspects of
life, hope, and humanity. 2184 Oak Bay Ave, 250-598-2184, www.theavenuegallery.com.
32
STILL FROM YOKO TAKASHIMA’S INSTALLATION “BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER,” 2015
April 9–May 30
IN SESSION - TWO
Legacy Art Gallery Downtown
Bridge Over Troubled Water is an interactive video and sound installation created
by Victoria artist Yoko Takashima in collaboration with UVic graduate Ruby Arnold.
Takashima filmed 40 volunteers singing the Simon and Garfunkel classic; her manipulation of these recordings allows faces and voices to blend and transform so that no
identical image or performance will ever be seen. Unexpected narratives and raw human
connections are forged between performer and viewer in this constantly self-generating installation. Opening reception April 9, 5-7-pm. 250-721-6562 www.legacy.uvic.ca.
“JAMES BAY DUO” NANCY RUHL, 24X24, ACRYLIC ON BOARD
April 11–25
NANCY RUHL: VICTORIA COLOURS IN TIME
Madrona Gallery
In Nancy Ruhl’s second solo exhibition at Madrona Gallery, she has built a
series of new paintings based on the ever changing landscape of Victoria. This collection reflects Ruhl’s passion for capturing the colour, heritage and style of Victoria
cityscapes and architecture. Ruhl explores the little details of life that many people
overlook, and through the process of painting these scenes she makes the viewer
aware of all the intimate places that make our city and region unique. Opening reception with artist April 11, 1-4pm, 606 View St. 250-380-4660, www.madronagallery.com.
April 2015 • FOCUS
Art and lasting memories...
“After in the Garden” by Tiffany Hastie
2 inches x 4.5 inches, acrylic
(This is miniature artwork with amazing detail)
Tiffany Hastie will be doing a 3-hour demonstration
in the gallery Saturday, April 18, 1 - 4pm
2506 Beacon Ave, Sidney
250.655.1282 www.pengal.com
ANNIVERSARY SHOW
New work by our regular artists—and new faces too
April 2 - 28
Opening April 2, 5 - 8pm
GALLUS DOMESTICUS - WE ARE THE KEEPERS
DIANA DURRAND
March 31 to April18
1010 Broad Street
778.432.4777
couchartgallery.com
Opening Thursday, April 2, 7 to 9 pm
Monday – Saturday, 10am – 6pm
2031 Oak Bay Ave • 250 592 2760 • www.gagegallery.ca
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
33
music
April 3
GOOD FRIDAY JAZZ VESPERS
Cadboro Bay United Church
Featuring Louise Rose & Jeff Poynter. Music that
swings and words to inspire. 7pm, 2625 Arbutus Rd.
By donation. www.cadbayuc.org.
April 4
ST JOHN PASSION
First Metropolitan United Church
JS Bach's oratorio tells the story of Christ's final days.
Peter Butterfield conducts the Vic Philharmonic Choir,
orchestra and soloists. 7:30pm, 932 Balmoral Rd. $30/
$15 at Ivy's Bookshop, Munro's, Tanner's, Long &
McQuade, www.vpchoir.ca and door if available.
Saturday May 2 & Sunday May 3
11am - 4pm
April 7
RANDY BACHMAN
Mary Winspear Centre
Bachman and his band are joined by surprise guests.
7:30pm, 2243 Beacon Ave, Sidney. $117.60 at 250656-0275, www.marywinspear.ca.
April 9–19
MADAMA BUTTERFLY
Royal Theatre
Pacific Opera Victoria performs Puccini’s opera. From
$25 at 250-386-6121, www.pov.bc.ca. (See page 40.)
fairfieldartistsstudiotour.com
Introduction to Teilhard de Chardin
with Margaret Walters
Teilhard’s ideas resonate powerfully now; many thinkers believe
we are on the cusp of a leap forward in consciousness.
Date: 4 Wednesdays, April 7 – 28
Time: 7pm – 9pm
Cost: $75 or $20 drop in
Location: Friends Meeting House (1831 Fern St.) Victoria
April 11
MICHAEL BURGESS
Victoria Conference Centre
The Canadian tenor gives his premier performance
in Victoria. Proceeds support tuition subsidies for the
Canadian College of Performing Arts. 8pm, 720 Douglas
St. $49.75 at 250-386-6121, www.rmts.bc.ca.
April 16
LAILA BIALI
Hermann’s Jazz Club
Canada’s acclaimed jazz singer, songwriter and
pianist performs with her band The Radiance Project.
Doors 6pm, show 8pm, 753 View St. $22 at Lyle’s Place
or Vic Jazz office (250-388-4423), $25.50 at 250-3866121, www.rmts.bc.ca, or at door. www.jazzvictoria.ca.
April 18
I AM IN NEED OF MUSIC
Alix Goolden Hall
Vic Symphony presents a celebration of the West
Coast literary community with readings of Joy Kogawa,
Susan Musgrave, George Bowering etc. 8pm, $20 at
250-386-6121, www.victoriasymphony.ca.
April 18
VICTORIA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
First Metropolitan United Church
Andrew Montgomery, winner of the 2015 Louis
Sherman Concerto Competition, will play Violin Concerto
in D by Hoffmeister. Plus works by Haydn and Tchaikovsky.
8pm, 932 Balmoral Rd. $20/ $15 at Long & McQuade,
Ivy’s Bookshop, La Tavola, 250-598-1966, at door or
www.victoriachamberorchestra.org.
April 25
VOCAME
Alix Goolden Hall
This German early music vocal ensemble performs
“Hildegard of Bingen: Songs and Visions.” 8pm, 907
Pandora Ave. $30 at 250-386-6121, www.rmts.bc.ca.
www.earlymusicsocietyoftheislands.ca.
April 26
JENNIFER SCOTT & FRIENDS
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Presented by the Universal Jazz Advocates and
Mentors Society. 2-4pm, 1040 Moss St. $25/ $20 at
250-384-4171, www.aggv.ca. www.u-jam.ca.
April 26
PIPE ORGAN CONCERT
Alix Goolden Hall
An annual concert by Irwin Henderson and David
Watson. 2pm, 907 Pandora Ave. By donation at door.
April 26
BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE
Mary Winspear Centre
Performing powwow rock, house remix, rockabilly,
and big love songs. 2:30pm, 2243 Beacon Ave, Sidney.
$68.25 at 250-656-0275, www.marywinspear.ca.
April 18
FRENCH MUSIC DELIGHTS
St Mary’s the Virgin Church
A concert by the DieMahler Chamber Group. 2:30pm,
1701 Elgin Rd. $25 at 250-386-6121, www.rmts.bc.ca.
www.diemahlerenterprises.com.
April 26
GREATER VIC YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Farquhar Auditorium, UVic
Includes Leonard Bernstein’s Candide Overture,
the Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms and more.
2:30pm, $10-25 at 250-721-8480, www.tickets.uvic.ca.
April 18
CAFÉ SUITE
The Forge Church
The annual concert and fundraiser for the Westshore
Community Concert Band, with refreshments, a
silent auction and door prizes. 7-9:30pm, 2612 Sooke
Rd. $12 at 250-382-2781, or at door if available.
April 27
MENDELSSOHN VIOLIN CONCERTO
Royal Theatre
Finnish violinist Elina Vahala with Victoria Symphony
debut. 8pm, From $30 at 250-386-6121, www.rmts.bc.ca.
Climate Justice: Love as Ecological-Economic Vocation
with Cynthia D. Moe-Lobeda, PhD
Humans face an unprecedented moral and practical choice:
Either we continue on the current track toward climate disaster
or we harness human genius and creativity to forge a sustainable relationship between us and our planetary home.
A partnership program with Christ Church Cathedral.
Date: Sunday, April 19 Time: 2 – 4pm Cost: $20
Location: Christ Church Cathedral, 930 Burdett Avenue
Please do not let cost deter you from attending.
Ask us about our scholarships.
[email protected]
250-220-4601 • www.earthliteracies.org
34
April 18
THE MUSICAL OFFERING
Church of St John the Divine
The Victoria Bach Ensemble presents Brandenburg
Concerto #5 and more. 7:30pm, 1611 Quadra St.
$15/$10. Cash at door. www.victoriabachensemble.com.
Sunday nights in April
FOLK MUSIC CONCERTS
Norway House
April 5: Sahara Jane, Ken Shorley; April 12: Lynn
McGown & Michael Pratt; April 19: In Honour of the
Founders Panel Concert (host Denis Donnelly); April
26: Ian Tamblyn. $5. Doors 7pm, 1110 Hillside Ave,
250-475-1355, www.victoriafolkmusic.ca.
April 2015 • FOCUS
“FOREVER PLAYING” BY CLEMENT KWAN, 24 X 30 INCHES, OIL ON LINEN CANVAS
April 29
GREAT SCOTT: MEMORIAL CONCERT FOR AUSTIN SCOTT
Alix Goolden Hall
I’VE SOMETIMES COMPLAINED that Victoria doesn’t have enough
eccentrics, but maybe I just don’t move in the right circles. Those
who flute and toot in the concert band community are staging a
memorial concert to mark the passing of one local man whose
talents—and somewhat legendary kookiness—added muchappreciated colour and texture to our placid city before his recent
passing at the impressive age of 94.
Austin Alan Scott, a professional flautist who began his life in the
US, got a memorial writeup in the Guardian acknowledging his gifts
as a musician, music teacher,
composer and arranger while
based in Nottingham,
England during the 1950s
and 60s. In 1966, he made
the move to British Columbia,
spending seven seasons with
the Victoria Symphony before
landing at the Conservatory
of Music. He served as a
faculty member for over 45
years, continuing to create
repertoire for woodwinds
and concert band.
While his musical contributions are prolific, personality
seems an equal part of his
legacy. Keith Fraser of the
Austin Scott; portrait by Clement Kwan Greater Victoria Concert
Band (GVCB), an organization in which Scott participated for decades, recounts, “He was
accident-prone, he was opinionated, he was just a unique individual.”
One anecdote features a total-loss auto fire, unwittingly set by Scott’s
own pipe. “The whole car was up in flames on West Saanich Road,”
Fraser recalls. Sharp and focused to the very end of his life, “Even during
his final stint at the hospital, he drove everyone crazy because he insisted
on playing his flute.”
While it’s too late for the rest of us to experience what were apparently trademark Scott behaviours, such as falling off the stage or
snapping his baton in half while conducting, the opportunity to enjoy
his beautiful compositions and arrangements—some of which will
be played by the 20-member Victoria Conservatory of Music Flute
Choir in the first hour of the “Great Scott” concert tribute at the end
of this month—should not be missed.
The second hour will feature GVCB’s full complement, playing
more of Scott’s works, which Fraser describes as “exceptionally
refreshing.” There will also be familiar selections by John Philip Sousa
and Percy Granger, idols of Scott’s whom he’d had the pleasure of
meeting personally. “It’s fitting that we’re including stuff that [Scott]
would have enjoyed playing and hearing,” Fraser says of the program.
Each year, a scholarship is awarded to a promising flautist at the
Victoria Conservatory of Music in Austin Scott’s name. All proceeds
from the memorial concert will benefit the scholarship fund.
Great Scott: a Memorial Concert for Austin Scott, Wed, April 29,
7:30 pm, Alix Goolden Hall, 907 Pandora Ave. By donation.
www.gvcb.ca/events or 250-881-3986 for more info.—Mollie Kaye
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
35
“A WALK IN THE PARK” TIFFANY HASTIE, 1.75 X 5.25 INCHES, ACRYLIC
April 18
ART ENCOUNTER: TIFFANY HASTIE'S GRAND VIEW IN MINIATURE
Peninsula Gallery
Born and raised on the West Coast of British Columbia, Hastie has always held
a deep appreciation for the natural beauty surrounding her. The permanence of landscape and architecture, when combined with the ever-changing light, provides an
endless source of inspiration and challenge. The average size of her work is smaller
than a bookmark, but usually the subject is the grand view. The tension she creates
when painting the grand view in miniature format engages the viewer on an intimate level. Artist’s demonstration from 1-4pm, along with a show of her work.
100-2506 Beacon Ave, 250-655-1282, www.pengal.com.
“GALLUS DOMESTICUS #6” DIANA DURRAND, MIXED MEDIA
April 2–April 18
GALLUS DOMESTICUS: WE ARE THE KEEPERS
Gage Gallery
Diana Durrand’s latest body of work is a mixed media installation of 16 elegant
chicken portraits, 22 life-size felt chicken wall sculptures, and dozens of black and
gold eggs containing information challenging the viewer’s ideas about a bird whose
very name has become a simile for fearfulness and stupidity. The show is an interactive celebration complete with soundscape of these barn and backyard birds, which
will both delight and inform the viewer. Reception Saturday April 2, 7-9 pm; TuesSat, 11am-5pm, 2031 Oak Bay Ave, 250-592-2760, www.gagegallery.ca.
“BARK TARTAN” JOAN CARRIGAN
April 2–28
ANNIVERSARY SHOW
*couch Gallery
Help celebrate one year at couch*! The gallery, owned by Tanya Horn, presents a
varied show featuring paintings, mixed media, sculpture and basketry from regular
couch* artists, as well as introduces some new faces. See works by Blythe Scott
(see cover story, Focus, Dec 2014), Emerson Schreiner, Michelle Miller, Jonathan
Gleed, Heather Jansch, David Rifat, Krystyna Jervis, Michael den Hertog, Joan Carrigan
(shown here) and others. Opening reception, April 2, 5-8pm.1010 Broad St, 778432-4777, www.couchartgallery.com.
“EVIDENCE OF SPRING” (DETAIL) TONY BOUNSALL, 20 X 20 INCHES, CONTEMPORARY MIXED MEDIA COLLAGE
April 11–May 7
CONVERGENCE
Martin Batchelor Gallery
Four artists, each approaching their work from their own unique process and
understanding, converge in one exhibition to showcase the dialogue that happens
between the artist, realism and abstraction. Contemporary mixed media collage from
Tony Bounsall, evocative abstract painting from Cheryl Taves, moody watercolour
portraits from Dawn Pearcey, and ink paintings on handmade Khadi paper from
Malcolm Pearcey, meet in a visual conversation at the crossroad of four individual
artistic paths. 712 Cormorant St, 250-385-7919, www.martinbatchelorgallery.ca.
36
April 2015 • FOCUS
“Eye of the Heart” 36 x 48 inches, oil on panel
“Bouquet lavande” by Annabelle Marquis, 48 x 36 inches, mixed media on canvas
WEST END GALLERY
Annabelle Marquis
A Solo Exhibition of New Paintings
April 25 – May 7, 2015
Open Daily
1203 Broad Street
westendgalleryltd.com
250-388-0009
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
Introducing
Laurie Skantzos
2184 OAK BAY AVENUE VICTORIA
250-598-2184
www.theavenuegallery.com
37
April 3 & 4
THE RESISTANCE: IMPROVISED
Intrepid Theatre Club
It is your job to discover who is and is
not a spy, then support the side you are
on in this improvised play. 8pm, 2 - 1609
Blanshard St. $12 at 1609 Blanshard St,
250-590-6291, www.ticketrocket.org.
April 8
THE FOUNDING FATHER
McPherson Playhouse
An original, bilingual play recounting
the life and times of Sir John A. Macdonald
and examining in detail how his vision
shaped Canada. 7:30pm, 3 Centennial
Square. Free, but reserve in advance at
250-386-6121, www.rmts.bc.ca.
April 8–11
A FISTFUL OF IMPROV
Intrepid Theatre Club
By studying great artists and theatrical
styles, then performing them with no
script, the Paper Street Theatre ensemble
presents an improvised Western. 8pm
nightly; 2:30pm matinee April 11, 2 1609 Blanshard St. Workshop offered
April 11, 11am-1pm for $25 ($20 with
ticket). $15, $20/ family (max 5) for matinee
at Ticket Rocket (1609 Blanshard St), 250590-6291, www.ticketrocket.org.
Workshop info: www.paperstreettheatre.ca.
April 10 & 11
CABARET SOOKE
Sooke Community Hall
Cabaret meets dark circus with over
20 acts, from mild to wild. Break out
dance party to follow with DJ. 19+ event;
I.D. will be checked at the door. 8pm,
2037 Shields Rd. $ 20 at Ticket Rocket
(1609 Blanshard Street), 250-590-6291,
www.ticketrocket.org.
Continuing to April 11
RING OF FIRE
Chemainus Theatre
A musical celebrating the lives Johnny
Cash sang about. 1-800-565-7738,
www.chemainustheatrefestival.ca.
April 14–May 17
VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA
AND SPIKE
Belfry Theatre
Winner of the 2013 Tony Award for
Best Play, this is Christopher Durang’s
cheeky homage to all things Chekhov.
The bucolic bliss of siblings Vanya and
Sonia is thrown into disarray when sisterturned-movie actress Masha comes home
with her new, rather dimwitted, lover in
tow, sparking a fiery bout of rivalry and
lust.1291 Gladstone Ave. 250-385-6815,
www.belfry.bc.ca.
38
readings & presentations
April 16
CALL MR ROBESON
Victoria Event Centre
UK actor Tayo Aluko brings back his
multiple award-winning one-man show
chronicling the life of Paul Robeson,
the African American actor, singer and
civil rights campaigner. Doors 7:30pm,
show 8pm, 1415 Broad Street. $20/$18
at the door or at www.eventbrite.ca. Info:
[email protected].
April 23–May 9
AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
Langham Court Theatre
This Pulitzer Prize and Tony Awardwinning play exposes a large family in a
spectacularly entertaining meltdown
during a hot August in Oklahoma. 3 hours
with 2 intermissions; mature themes and
coarse language. Suitable for ages 15+.
805 Langham Court, 250-384-2142,
www.langhamtheatre.ca.
April 24–May 30
THE MOUSETRAP
Chemainus Theatre
At Monkswell Manor, a snowstorm
traps curious guests, a police detective
and a killer in a series of betrayals and
murders. www.chemainustheatrefestival.ca,
1-800-565-7738.
April 28–May 6
HEDDA GABLER
Craigdarroch Castle
Working Class Theatre and Craigdarroch
Castle present Henrik Ibsen’s masterpiece
of psychology that will leave audiences
wondering what they would do if locked
in a gilded cage. Doors 7:30, show 8pm,
1050 Joan Cres. Note: seated event in
ballroom; 87 stairs, no elevator. $20 at
250-592-5323, www.thecastle.ca.
www.workingclasstheatre.com.
April 30–May 9
THE LAB VER. 2.0
Intrepid Theatre Club
Originally produced by SKAM in 2006
with audience and solo performer inside
a semi-trailer, this production is re-imagined by SKAM interns Colette Habel
and Chase Hiebert and obstructed by
SKAM. Habel and Hiebert have to use
six actors and they have to do it
indoors. 8pm, 2 - 1609 Blanshard St.
$25/ 15 at Ticket Rocket (1609 Blanshard
St), 250-590-6291, www.ticketrocket.org.
SEND YOUR LISTINGS
IN ABOVE FORMAT TO
[email protected]
by 15th of preceding month.
April 1
LIVE @ LUNCH
Royal BC Museum
A preview of the upcoming exhibition
Gold Rush! El Dorado in BC with Dr Lorne
Hammond. 12-1pm, Newcombe Hall.
By donation. www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca,
250-356-7226.
April 14
CULTURAL EVENING
Uplands Golf Club
The Canadian Club presents a dinner
and entertainment from the Viva Mexico
Folklore Dancers. 5:30pm, 3300 Cadboro
Bay Rd. $35/$40. Reservations at 250370-1837 or www.eventbrite.ca by April
3. www.thecanadianclubofvictoria.com.
April 2
AUTHOR READINGS
Red Brick Café, Sidney
Two award-winning authors, M.A.C.
Farrant and Stephen Hume, will read their
works at a fundraiser for the 2015 Sidney
& Peninsula Literary Festival. Doors 6:30pm,
2423 Beacon Ave, Sidney. Tickets at
Munro's Books in Victoria and Tanner's
Books, Sidney. www.sidneyliteraryfestival.ca.
April 2
HAVE WE GOT A STORY…
Royal BC Museum
Inspired by The Moth Radio hour,
stories will be told in honour of the
50th anniversary of the Wildlife
Photographer of the Year exhibition.
Museum staff and Victoria area storytellers will get the ball rolling with their
stories before opening the mic to the audience. Live music by Tuli Porcher and Charlie
Gannon of the Coastline youth music
ensemble. 7-9pm, 675 Belleville St. $5
at door, www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
April 8
POETRY WITHOUT BORDERS
Munro’s Books
Readings by Patrick Friesen, Rhona
McAdam, Inge Israel and Beth Kope.
Doors 7pm, 1108 Government St. 250382-2464, www.munrobooks.com.
April 9
POETRY READINGS
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
What Place, And Home is a collaboration organized by the City of Victoria
Poet Laureate, Yvonne Blomer. Participating
poets respond to the AGGV's current exhibition, In Another Place, And Here. 7-9pm,
1040 Moss St. Free. 250-384-4171,
www.aggv.ca.
April 11
TIP A FOOL
Union Club of BC
The 7th annual gala fundraiser for the
Citizens’ Counselling Centre. Local stars
serve an elegant dinner while making
fools of themselves–all in the name of
earning tips to support mental health
in our community. Silent and live auctions.
6:30pm, 805 Gordon St. Tickets:
www.tipafool.ca; for table sales contact
[email protected] or call Michele at 250727-9736. www.citizenscounselling.com.
PHOTO: TONY BOUNSALL
theatre
Aaron Shepard
April 14
ON THE ROAD
Munro’s Books
“The Art of the Fictional Travelogue”
with Margaret Thompson, Julie Paul,
Aaron Shepard and Charles Tidler. Doors
7pm, 1108 Government St. 250-3822464, www.munrobooks.com.
April 15
ALLIANCE INFO SESSION
St Patrick’s Church Hall
An information session hosted by Faith
in Action, and led by Deborah Littman,
the main organizer of the Metro Vancouver
Alliance, with the goal of creating a similar
group in Victoria: a broad based alliance
of union locals, faith communities, coops, neighbourhood houses, front line
poverty workers, and non-profits working
for social justice. 11am-1pm, 2060 Haultain
St. Bring a bag lunch. Coffee provided.
www.metvanalliance.org.
April 16
CITY TALKS
Legacy Art Gallery
Glyn Ford, Steering Committee of Unite
Against Fascism and former member of
the European Parliament, presents “How
Can the European Left Deal with the Threat
Posed by Xenophobia?” 7:30pm, 630
Yates St. Free. www.thecitytalks.ca.
April 17 & 18
ROCK & ALPINE GARDENS
Cadboro Bay United Church
The Vancouver Island Rock and Alpine
Garden Society’s annual spring show and
sale includes hundreds of entries covering
a broad botanical range. Refreshments.
April 17: 1pm-8pm; April 18: 9am-3pm,
2625 Arbutus Rd. By donation.
April 2015 • FOCUS
readings & presentations
April 18
GET READY, GET LOCAL
Victoria Conference Centre
Vancouver Island’s new local food and sustainable
agriculture expo. 11am-3pm, 720 Douglas St. $5/
under 12 free.
April 20
ASTIR WITH STORIES
1831 Fern Street
The Victoria Storytellers Guild invites you to hear
and tell stories. Doors at 7:15pm, stories start at 7:30pm.
$5/ students $3. Refreshments. 250-477-7044,
www.victoriastorytellers.org.
April 23
ROB TAYLOR
James Bay New Horizons
Taylor’s recent book, The Ones Who Have to Pay,
uses the poetry of Victoria’s volunteers for the Great
War to discover their motives, ideals and reaction
to military service. His illustrated presentation,
“Victoria’s Soldier Poets of the Great War,” will include
readings of the poems. 7.30pm, 234 Menzies St.
www.victoriahistoricalsociety.bc.ca.
April 25
AFRICAN DINNER
First Metropolitan United Church
Fundraising dinner supporting the Stephen Lewis
Foundation's Grandmothers to Grandmothers program.
Gourmet Ghanaian cuisine, silent auction, entertainment. 6pm, 932 Balmoral Ave. Contact Anne Bowd
at 250-391-7377, [email protected], for $60 tickets.
April 28
A BETTER PLACE ON EARTH
Bard & Banker Pub
Journalist Andrew MacLeod launches his new book
about inequality in BC. See interview page 42. 7pm,
1022 Government St.
Deadline May 1
CALL FOR WRITERS 50+
Submit by mail
The Cedric Literary Awards invites English or Frenchspeaking unpublished writers age 50 or better to submit
their book manuscripts by May 1, 2015. This is a
first-of-its kind juried writing competition in Canada.
A prize of $3000 will be awarded to each of the category winners (fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry),
and an additional prize of $3000 will be awarded to
a First Nations storyteller. Info, guidelines:
www.thecedrics.ca or contact Veronica Osborn, Executive
Director, at 250-370-0200, [email protected].
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
THE GALLERY
“TWild, Northern Land” by April Ponsford, 24 x 30 inches, acrylic on canvas
April 25 & 26
EARTH WEEK FESTIVAL
English Inn
Creatively United for the Planet’s fourth annual festival
is a free, all-ages event including live entertainment,
short films and documentaries, art and art-making,
electric car and bike displays, a silent auction and a
locally-sourced organic dinner and concert. Costumes
welcome. April 25: noon-9pm; April 26: noon-4pm,
429 Lampson St. www.creativelyunited.org/festival.
AT MATTICK’S FARM
April Ponsford
“VISTAS, From Reality to Abstraction”
March 31 – May 3
Public reception Saturday April 4, 1-4pm
109-5325 Cordova Bay Road
250-658-8333
www.thegalleryatmatticksfarm.com
Open 10am - 5:30pm every day
39
curtain call
Portraying race on stage
MONICA PRENDERGAST
An upcoming production of Madama Butterfly encourages discussion of how to represent race properly in theatre.
T
heatre scholar Harvey Young, in his
2013 book Theatre & Race, warns his
reader upfront: “To talk about race
feels dangerous. There is the possibility of
slippage, a verbal gaffe or, perhaps worse, a
sincere and honest opinion that does not jibe
with contemporary groupthink.” It is most
difficult to talk about the representation of
race on the stage when one is a member of
the dominant culture, as I am. Yet that is
what I wish to reflect on this month, in particular because April sees a remount by Pacific
Opera Victoria of the perennial favourite
Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini.
This wonderful opera has carried the
burden of the representation of race
throughout its history. There have been a
few occasions when the lead female role
of Japanese courtesan Cio-Cio San has been
played by a Japanese singer (or even a singer
of Asian heritage, although that, too, may
be seen an issue). But most usually a
Caucasian performer has played the role.
This might not have troubled audiences
a hundred years ago when Puccini premiered
his opera. These days, however, it is diffi- Korean soprano Jee Hye Han will play Cio-Cio San in POV’s production of Madama Butterfly.
cult for some audience members not to In 1965 Laurence Olivier played Othello in the film version of Shakespeare’s Othello.
squirm at least a little bit in discomfort
by Caucasian actors, complete with brown makeup and (generalized)
when presented with an obviously white performer in this role.
accents. I have no issue with the actors in these roles, as both were
I am delighted to see that Korean soprano Jee Hye Han is playing
just fine. My concern is with the choice made by Holmes, and estabCio-Cio San here in Victoria. Of course, Korea and Japan have had
lished in the history of this musical’s productions, to have white actors
a fraught history and a western audience should not “read” a Korean
in brownface play these roles. To the credit of the composer, the two
performer as Japanese without some foreknowledge of these
characters are given a song in the show that addresses the racism they
differences. But considering race in the casting of the role is as it
have to endure as British subjects who are treated as less than their
should be, in my view. Yet the issue of “playing race” remains an interEnglish counterparts. “How cool are their words and how cold is
esting one, filled with controversy.
their smile” the pair sing.
Last month, for example, I saw a very good production of the
The historically minded in my readership might remember that
musical The Mystery of Edwin Drood at Langham Court Theatre.
Composed by Rupert Holmes and originally mounted in New York
the traditional music hall genre was perfectly comfortable with what
in the mid-1980s, the show tackles Charles Dickens’ final and incomwe would perceive as racist portrayals, including minstrel shows with
plete novel, a murder mystery. The clever adaptation is set in a
white performers in exaggerated blackface. The historical frame in
19th century British music hall and the story is told by a troupe of
place in Drood does ameliorate the sense of discomfort somewhat,
but does not disperse it entirely.
music hall performers who are introduced to us throughout by an
A few other examples of what we academics like to call “problemomnipresent MC. This device allows the musical to be a lot more
atic” plays in regard to race may further this reflection. Othello by
lighthearted than the source material, including the insertion of many
Shakespeare is an obvious choice. Although Laurence Olivier was a
song and dance numbers along the way.
giant of the art of acting, his 1965 film version of the play does cause
Two of the characters in the musical, however, left me feeling a bit
some discomfort. The New York Times review of the movie expresses
uncomfortable. They are a brother and sister, the Landlesses, who
horror at Olivier’s performance as “shiny blackface with a wig of
we are told are from Ceylon. Their last name does not strike me as
kinky black hair…the insides of his lips smeared and thickened with
particularly Ceylonese, so my first thought was that they were
a startling raspberry red. Several times, in his rages or reflections, he
colonialists who had been sent back home by their parents. But when
rolls his eyes up into his head so that the whites gleam like small milk
they appear on stage they are both clearly portrayed as South Asian
40
April 2015 • FOCUS
WE HAVE HAD female Lears, Prosperos and Hamlets (quite
rightly!), so why not have a white actor play Othello, a black
actor play Hamlet, an Asian actor play Macbeth, and so on?
Should not talent alone be the only guideline for casting?
agates out of the inky face.” Cringe-inducing for sure. This performance would not be tolerated on most stages today.
When Patrick Stewart wanted to tackle this role he made the smart
decision to reverse engineer the entire play. He was the only white
actor in an otherwise all-black cast at Washington’s Shakespeare
Theatre. But is this the only solution available for a white actor
who wishes to play this terrific role? Or should it be off-limits now
to anyone but a black actor? We have had female Lears, Prosperos
and Hamlets (quite rightly!), so why not have a white actor play
Othello, a black actor play Hamlet, an Asian actor play Macbeth, and
so on? Should not talent alone be the only guideline for casting?
This attitude has come be known as “colour-blind casting” or “nontraditional casting” and has led to a white King Lear playing father
to a black Cordelia (in Derek Jacobi’s King Lear in 2010), and allblack productions of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (Yale
Repertory Theatre in 2009) and Tennessee Williams’ Cat on a Hot
Tin Roof (on Broadway starring James Earl Jones in 2008).
These productions spark debate on both sides. It may be historically inaccurate, for example, to have an African-American Willy
Loman in a play set in 1949. The American dream that Loman sees
implode on him was nowhere in reach for most black Americans at
that time. And biracial playwright August Wilson famously railed
against the idea of an all black Salesman in a public talk in 1997: “To
mount an all-black production of a Death of a Salesman or any other
play conceived for white actors as an investigation of the human
condition through the specifics of white culture is to deny us our
humanity, our own history.”
The rise of intercultural theatre practices over the past couple of
decades offers theatre artists the possibility of addressing and exploring
cultural differences on stage. At times intercultural theatre can fall
into the same imperialist trap as the portrayal of race. In effective
intercultural theatre there is an equal dialogue between two or more
distinct cultures. However, the appropriation of a cultural practice
that is then staged by the dominant culture and framed as progressively intercultural is just another version of the ongoing problem.
This was the issue with Peter Brook’s well-known version of The
Mahabharata in the 1980s. Even with a multiracial cast from over
15 different countries, Brook was castigated for attempting to universalize this Hindu epic through western sensibilities.
There are no easy answers to these conundrums. A thoughtful spectator brings critical questions, such as the ones I have shared, with
them to the theatre. So while we delight in the gift of Puccini’s genius
in Madama Butterfly, we can also reflect on how history, memory
and contemporary concerns always colour what we experience in
performance.
Monica reviews theatre for CBC Radio’s On the Island
and is currently on sabbatical leave from UVic, working
on books on dramatic ensemble as utopian spaces, drama
and theatre education in Canada, and the second edition
of her award-winning Applied Theatre (co-edited and
authored with Juliana Saxton).
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
VANYA AND SONIA AND
MASHA AND SPIKE
by Christopher Durang
“
Brainy and witty and
clever and cute...
VARIETY
WINNER OF THE
2013 TONY AWARD
FOR BEST PLAY
Apr 14 – May 17
2015
tickets 250-385-6815
or www.belfry.bc.ca
Belfry
Theatre
1291 Gladstone Ave
at Fernwood
41
coastlines
Super-unequal British Columbia
AMY REISWIG
Through statistics and personal stories, Andrew MacLeod delves into the realities and costs of poverty in BC.
T
PHOTO: TONY BOUNSALL
stats with personal stories. Alongside things
he Occupy movement (with roots in
like the Gini coefficient and the LICO (low
Vancouver) visibly highlighted the
income cut-off), for example, are individual
growing gap in wealth between the
lives, like a Victoria researcher who, despite
world’s richest—the so-called 1 percent—
being retirement age, has to keep working
and the 99 percent, meaning everyone else.
to afford a place to live because her oneWhile those looking at income globally might
bedroom apartment rent is $900 a month
say that even the poorest in Canada are better
(after being “renovicted” from a bigger place)
off than most, in A Better Place on Earth:
The Search for Fairness in Super Unequal
while her CPP and Old Age Security payments
British Columbia (Harbour: April 2015)
only come to about $960. One particularly
Andrew MacLeod questions that self-satismoving instance MacLeod relates is a woman
faction by focusing on details of how inequality
who, after being cut off from welfare for a
plays out here at home in BC. MacLeod,
reason she said was unfair, had no income,
The Tyee’s legislative bureau chief, hits us
lost her home and resumed prostitution.
where we live, drawing attention to harsh
Then, hoping to leave sex work, she returned
socioeconomic realities that many of us
to an abusive relationship where she was
either don’t realize, don’t care about, or feel
beaten badly enough to break bones.
powerless to affect. But as his title says, the
“Meanwhile,” he writes, government minissearch is for fairness, for solutions, and
ters in charge of policies and rates “make
MacLeod hopes to inspire a collective will
salaries 20 times greater than what an indito change—for everyone’s benefit.
vidual receives on welfare.”
“If we look at accumulated wealth, British
“People sometimes say, ‘Oh that’s just
Columbia is easily the most unequal province
anecdotal,’” MacLeod tells me. But anecin Canada,” MacLeod writes. As the book
dotal is real, and he aims to show how people’s
was going to press, BC’s richest 10 percent—
experiences are not simply the result of poor
about 450,000 people—held 56.2 percent
choices, as some often assert, but fit into
of the wealth, while the bottom half, or 2.25
larger societal trends and result from specific
Andrew MacLeod
million people, held only 3.1 percent.
policies. “I wanted to write something,” he
Down deeper, the province’s poorest 10
says “that was hard to argue with.”
percent had negative wealth, owing more than they owned, with a
What he’s hoping will be unarguable is not just BC’s inequality
median debt of $10,700. MacLeod cites numerous studies, including
problem but its danger to the economy and society overall. “[W]e all
the 2011 TD Economics special report Assessing the Financial Vulnerability
have a place in the picture,” he writes. While some of the effects of
of Households Across Canadian Regions which found that, on average,
inequality are visible—at homeless shelters or food banks, for example—
BC residents had the country’s highest debt-to-income ratio and debtMacLeod points out less visible impacts like people not taking prescriptions
service cost, and that BC was the only province with an average negative
because of cost; kids unable to participate in extra-curricular activities,
savings rate.
leading to social isolation; families living in substandard housing at the
With an annual budget of $45 billion and a GDP that MacLeod says
hands of “poverty pimp” landlords; workers making risky investments
is as good as anywhere, a province rich in both natural resources and
or taking out high-interest payday loans to afford housing costs. These
talented people, BC is also where the minimum wage leaves people
all lead to impacts in the health and mental health sectors, education,
thousands of dollars below the poverty line and where long-stagnant
child welfare and more. In the end, inequality affects us all, and MacLeod’s
welfare rates include housing amounts far out of touch with some of
book weighs the costs of action against those of inaction—costs that
the most expensive rents and real estate in the country. How did we
are fiscal but also ethical.
get here? And, more importantly, MacLeod asks, where are we headed?
Thus, the book is part number crunching and criticism but also awareMacLeod has been reporting on issues around homelessness and
ness- and question-raising. Why should we care? Do we have to accept
poverty for years. Studying at UVic in the early 1990s, he wrote for the
it? As pediatrician Barbara Fitzgerald, a teacher at UBC and presiMartlet and later became a full-time reporter for Monday Magazine
dent of the Mom to Mom Child Poverty Initiative Society, says: “When
before joining The Tyee. This book, his first, came out of a ten-part
I see a young child in my clinic who is living in a situation of poverty
series he wrote for The Tyee and reflects his ability to access everyone
and neglect, I ask myself how I, as a voting citizen, am responsible for
from the power-brokers who make or influence policy to those who
this.” MacLeod reminds us that the starting point for change is how
research and analyze it, to the poor who are most affected.
we each think about the system and about one another.
Assuring me he’s “just a reporter, not an activist,” MacLeod stresses
Inequality is clearly not just part of MacLeod’s beat as a reporter.
the book isn’t partisan but fact-based, and he balances charts and
Rather, he’s obviously someone who feels strongly that we’re all
42
April 2015 • FOCUS
“
WE’VE GOTTEN WHERE WE ARE through public policies
that led to one set of results, and we can achieve a different
result by either adjusting those policies or replacing them
with others that are fairer.” —Andrew MacLeod
connected. Born in Montreal, MacLeod grew up in Toronto and recalls
that in the 1980s, when mental health institutions were being closed,
there were noticeably more folks on the streets, even to a kid. But his
dad told him: “Don’t worry. This is Canada. We take care of people.”
In later years in BC, though—particularly after changes to the welfare
system in 2001—MacLeod realized that wasn’t really happening. “The
safety net just wasn’t there,” he tells me. A father of two kids, he’s sensitive to the situation of children and child poverty. For the last few years
BC has topped the country in that area as well.
In the book, MacLeod proposes over 30 solution-oriented ideas.
Some are things already being called for in the community, like raising
welfare rates and the minimum wage
(beyond the recent and insufficient 20cent hourly hike). Others are more unusual,
such as introducing a maximum wage or
even tying government wages to the provincial median income, giving policy-makers
incentive to help everyone, not just those
at the top, do better. (A seemingly outlandish
strategy, it’s actually been adopted in, of
all places, Alabama.)
MacLeod admits his proposals couldn’t
all be implemented, but his point is: It’s
not that hard to think of options. He
writes, “We’ve gotten where we are through
public policies that led to one set of results,
and we can achieve a different result by
either adjusting those policies or replacing
them with others that are fairer.”
MacLeod believes change is possible.
Citing the recent BC Liberal decision to end the clawback of child
support payments to people on social assistance, he tells me optimistically, “Change does happen, when the opposition is onside and when
the public demands it.” For MacLeod, citizen engagement is absolutely
critical for addressing inequality.
The book is therefore not a downer indictment of a broken system.
Yes, A Better Place on Earth forces you to confront some at times uncomfortable questions about society, government, economics and even your
own nature—your own level of acquisitiveness, your own commitment
to helping others, what you are willing to accept or act on—but ultimately, MacLeod hopes to get us asking, more positively: “What can
we imagine?” and “What can we do together?”
A Better Place on Earth is being launched on April 28 at 7pm, Bard
& Banker Pub, 1022 Government Street.
Especially in the spring, it’s hard for former Montrealer
Amy Reiswig not to superficially think BC is indeed one
of the best places on Earth, but she believes, with MacLeod,
that we all have a role in making it better for everyone.
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
Mary Winspear Centre
Sidney BC
April 11 10am - 5 pm
April12 10am - 4pm
Admission $5
Wildlife woodcarvers, woodturnings,
wildlife art, photography, sculpture
and demonstrations
Decoy floating on Saturday at 1 pm
Cocktail carving auction on Saturday
at 3pm
www.thebrant.ca
43
urbanities
Victoria: icapital of Canada?
GENE MILLER
The task of positioning Victoria as a centre for innovation and investment demands, among other things, desire.
T
here may be a fabled war going on in
the heavens between Light and Darkness,
but however great the celestial battle,
we can’t hear it. Conflict requires noise to get
our attention. I recently sent an urgent, anxious
email all in caps and the receiver wrote back:
“DON’T SHOUT AT ME!”
A silent and, but for this column, un-heralded
thunderclap was delivered on the big UVic
auditorium stage mid-February, when 300 of
us attended an evening “conversation” between
university Chancellor and CBC Radio personality Shelagh Rogers and internet wunderkind
Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of the photosharing app Flickr, founder of Slack, an online
group project-sharing tool whose company is
already valued at some unholy number, and
son of enterprising locals David and Norma
Butterfield (Shoal Point, Loreto Bay, and the
current Spirit Bay).
At the end of the conversation, a questioner
asked Butterfield something like this: “Why
don’t you move Slack from San Francisco
up to Vancouver?” Vancouver, admittedly, is
a hot city for online game development.
Butterfield’s answer—I paraphrase, but not
by much—was: “Because so much of the venture
capital and talent is in San Francisco.”
BOOM!
Peter Elkins, a new-to-Victoria go-getter, is
currently planning a local impact investing
event, based on the belief—elegant in its
simplicity—that investments deployed locally,
rather than in global funds, can earn comparable returns but deliver significant local
economic impact. Peter asked me to suggest
potential big-name speakers who champion
this idea. I put him in touch with a more knowledgeable Vancouver colleague, who replied:
“So just to play it back to you, Peter, you’re
looking to mount a conference that (a) touts
the benefits of local investment and (b) touts
the benefits and opportunities to invest profitably in Victoria. I don’t think the challenge
lies in finding interesting presenters. I think it
lies more in positioning Victoria as a centre
for innovation and investment rather than
government and retirement.”
BOOM!
So, what is required to make Victoria’s two
i’s Innovation and Investment, instead of
Intransigence and Inertia? How, in other words,
44
do you actually go about “positioning Victoria
as a centre for innovation and investment?” I
mean, the language is gorgeous: “Positioning
Victoria blah-de-blah, doodle-y-doo.” You
can’t but smile and bob your head affirmatively when you hear it. It’s tasty. It sounds
leaderly, visionary. It has its chin thrust forward
and it vibes “mission nearly accomplished,”
“job almost well done,” “problem practically
solved.” It’s a toe-tapper.
I have cynical Victoria friends—given my
sunny nature, people I try to see as infrequently
as possible—who would nastily respond with
questions of their own: “How can the dead
rise?” And “Tried levitating lately?”
You understand, of course, that the hidden
bomb, the crocodile in this particular river, is
“positioning,” even though the word has a
mellifluous sound that suggests carefully
arranged Calla lilies standing just so in the
vase, or rose petals tossed artfully around the
dining table place settings with that perfected
look of accident and abandon. There! Positioned!
But what if it’s not staging, but real work—
more like positioning the Sphinx in Centennial
Square? Gee, that might actually use up some
energy drinks.
I’m not about to offer the three-bullet blueprint on how to do it. Honestly, I’m not good
at that stuff. But there are folks who have
mental clarity and real skills at liberating such
goals from the dead weight of opinion, contradiction and pointless debate, and who are
remarkably adept at methodology—in this
case, setting up economic development,
marketing and capital attraction strategies and
then executing them.
That is, there are people we (the City) might
engage who could build a crystal-clear playbook around the goal of “positioning Victoria
as a centre for innovation and investment.”
These folks would do lots of relevant research,
filled with useful metrics; deliver a draft strategic
plan crammed with action items, performance
targets, a time-frame and a budget; and would,
given the go-ahead and commitment of adequate
resources from us, execute the plan in two
years, or three years, or four. In all likelihood
they would deliver exactly the outcome we
were hoping for: new local economic vitality
transforming downtown Victoria into a thrumming enterprise hub filled with thousands of
new creative, productive people living, working
and playing, making the streets safe, happy
and populous, filling offices, making downtown’s shops and businesses successful.
You know the kinds of creatives I’m describing.
For lack of a more evocative and prolix definition, let’s go with: Vancouverites—friendly,
fit, intelligent, unremittingly positive. They
network, they jog or bike, wear spandex, slurp
vegan lattes or whatever. They have MBAs,
they “do” spreadsheets and org charts and
structured process. They’re not programmed
for failure or tiny, symbolic victories. They
don’t think Victoria’s better the way it was.
They’re energetic, irresistible, unstoppable.
The planning team we might engage to
achieve this outcome would work productively (how could it not?) with all the logical
stakeholders: VIATEC, the Downtown
Victoria Business Association, the Chamber,
Business Victoria, the Greater Victoria
Development Agency, Downtown Victoria
2020, the Urban Development Institute, the
City, the media, and so on, but not be a creature of any of them. It would have one singular
job, one set of “measurables” and one goal:
“positioning Victoria as a centre for innovation and investment.” And yes, of course
I’m trying to make a point by beating this
phrase to death: namely that single-mindedness and intensity of purpose is how to
succeed. A recent magazine ad for software
systems giant SAP puts it succinctly:
“Complexity has a million ideas it can’t make
happen. Simple finishes what it starts.”
April 2015 • FOCUS
CITIES DEVELOP QUALITIES AND HABITS, just like people; and a threat
is anything that might interrupt the practice of normalcy, that set of assumptions and habits that drags us, and the city, through the day.
(I hasten to note that all of this is exactly
what Peter Elkins, without waiting to be asked,
is attempting to do.)
Of course, the umbrella-shakers and the
cane-thumpers would yell, “What? Who the
hell wants any of that? It’ll just make the lines
at the Dutch Bakery longer! They’ll clog the
aisles at London Drugs buying their off-therack orthotics. I’ll have to wait minutes for a
cashier so I can purchase my laxatives and
denture cleaner!”
And of course, there would be Victoria’s
predictable Lilliputian turf wars. Every relevant organization and interest would claim
this is their brief and this is exactly what
they are doing; or they would scream for an
advisory board and a seat on it—just to make
sure that our team is made less effective with
lots of “reporting to” and superfluous protocol
and everyone else’s agenda, baggage and noise.
When the times call for action, Victoria goes
for process. And more process. But I ask: Is it
possible that every other city in North America
is in competition with us for those economic
benefits, and is engaged in its own ambitious
attraction and capture strategy?
Which takes us the long way around to that
least measurable of qualities: desire. I think a
lot about desire—that hunger and need to
make something that’s living in your head real
in the world.
I was working on the computer last night,
looking at an architectural image. I wanted to
spin the image, try different “skins” or finishes
on its exterior, change the colours, alter the
floor plan…and thought: “I would love to
make these changes by voice command. There
should be an app for this!”
I’m not going to create the app. For me it
was idle impulse, not burning desire. But
someone will create the app (if it doesn’t already
exist). It’ll be called Morph, or some other
clever name, and I’ll bump into or stumble
over it eventually and think, “Damn, I had this
idea first!” But that won’t matter, because I
lacked the hunger to make it real in the world.
This is how desire works. It’s not whimsical,
or lazy, or self-satisfied, or abstracted, or amateur.
It’s galvanizing, ambitious, often impolite, a
bit monomaniacal, single-minded. Something
needs to be at stake or at risk—ego, reputation, money, self-image, prosperity, survival.
www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
It thrives in a competitive environment, when
the hot-breathing devils of risk and failure are
chasing it. Here in Victoria, we need somehow
to cultivate or intensify desire as a civic value
and virtue. Not a small challenge!
You know the biggest threat to the status
quo? The status quo itself. This isn’t paradox.
Consider the terms under which the natural
order operates, and you must acknowledge
the inevitability of disruptive or chaotic change.
The status quo, often mistakenly conflated
with order, stability and the way things are
supposed to be, is constantly being threatened
by novelty. This is how nature keeps the whole
system healthy. What else did you imagine the
word “dynamic” implied? Let’s quickly tick
off some synonyms: aggressive, changing,
energetic, forceful, lively, potent, powerful,
productive, progressive, vigourous.
Cities develop qualities and habits, just like
people; and a threat is anything that might
interrupt the practice of normalcy, that set of
assumptions and habits that drags us, and the
city, through the day. The prospect of change
can seem like a door opening onto the void.
Scary! But the harder we hold on, the faster
we sink.
It’s remarkable how little it takes to interrupt normalcy. A confession: for a couple of
weeks, several months ago, when a development down the street from me was under
construction, some tradesman was parking
his pickup in my “reserved” curbside parking
space in front of my home. I’d come back from
morning coffee, and there it was. Every day.
All day. It was a stone in my shoe. It so upset
my sensibilities that I could barely function.
That’s Victoria’s seductive charm: It projects
an atmosphere of immutability and makes us
willing accomplices. It feeds the delusion that
if we all just shut our eyes, ball our fists and
wish it so, things won’t change.
BOOM!
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Gene Miller, founder of Open
Space Cultural Centre, Monday
Magazine and the Gaining
Ground Conferences, is
currently co-writing 50 by 20
with Rob Abbott.
45
finding balance
Good news for plodders
TRUDY DUIVENVOORDEN MITIC
More is not better, and actually, more could be worse, says one cardiologist.
46
I wasn’t sure I’d read that
right but Carl J. Lavie, a cardiologist and study co-author
concluded, “These data
certainly support the idea that
more running is not needed
to produce extra health and
mortality benefits. If anything,
it appears that less running
is associated with the best
protection from mortality risk.
More is not better, and actually, more could be worse.”
A 2012 Danish study based
on 27 years’ worth of data
collected for the Copenhagen
City Heart Study concurs. It
found that women who jogged
at a “slow or average pace”
for just one to 2.5 hours per
week lived, on average, 5.6
years longer than both their
speedier and more sedentary
peers. For men the gain was
even more dramatic: 6.2 years.
Said Peter Schnohr, a cardiologist and one of that study’s
authors, “We can say with
certainty that regular jogging
increases longevity. The good
news is that you don’t actually need to do that much to
reap the benefits.”
This comes as propitious news for us plodders but it’s also generated a maelstrom of protest in the camp of robust running. That’s
understandable, given these studies had serious limitations including
measuring all-cause mortality without adjusting for irrelevant causes
such as accidental death. And even if the data had been adjusted,
lifespan is just one indicator of health and arguably not the best one.
The take-home message here is that a beneficial exercise routine
appears to be within most people’s reach. Start with just a few steps
and gradually add a few more. Move for health and fun rather than
performance. Sneak it into your balanced lifestyle. Do it with a friend
and once in a while share a coffee at the end of the road.
ILLUSTRATION: APRIL CAVERHILL
T
hree years ago I started
training for a 10K race only
because a close friend asked
me to be her running buddy. I’d
previously always evaded recruitment to running, being particularly
averse to exertion that sears the
heart and lungs and turns perfectly
normal legs into silly putty. And,
at the end of all the torment, what
do you have to show for it besides
malodorous armpits and laundry?
I’ve always thrived on purposeful
activity, having grown up on a
farm where muscles are naturally
toned while the work gets done.
I like to see progress, and if my
health and fitness are boosted in
the meantime, that’s a wonderful
bonus. In my own garden I’m
happiest when I’m pruning,
digging, composting and moving
stuff around. This coming Friday
my daughter and I are going to
bag and bring home a few hundred
pounds of horse manure for the
flower beds. Already I’m feeling
the thrill—but I digress.
The initial training for the
running race was the hardest, in
part because we were our own
guinea pigs. My friend had previously done some running but I’d
only ever chased after cows (long long ago) so my courage was fragile.
Still, we stuck to the grind and I generously salved myself with the
therapeutic oil of complaining, which has always worked well for
me. After several weeks of walk-running at the local high school’s
oval track, we graduated ourselves to the next level.
Out on the streets the running seemed easier and gradually we
worked up to a six-kilometre jog three times a week. That’s been our
routine for the last three years. We’re not speedy and don’t get too
obsessed with times and performance. Once in a while we’ll go a
bit further or run the lakes, but any more than that demands too much
from the body and the timetable.
Incredibly, it seems we’re doing exactly the right thing. A 2012
longitudinal study out of the University of South Carolina involving
52,000 participants concluded that the health benefits of running
were greatest for those who ran no more than 32 kilometres a
week at a gentle pace (about seven minutes per kilometre). These
runners, slowpokes like us, saw a greater reduction in their risk of
dying than participants who didn’t run at all and also those who
ran faster and further.
Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic is a writer, mother and
Master Gardener. Her books include People in Transition
and Ernie Coombs: Mr Dressup, and Pier 21: The Gateway
that Changed Canada (co-authored with J.P. LeBlanc).
April 2015 • FOCUS
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www.focusonline.ca • April 2015
47