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Focus Magazine Nov/Dec 2016

Sept/Oct 2016.2

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  1. Nov-Dec 2018 Focus.pdf 4 Leslie Campbell | THE HEART AND SOUL OF FOCUS It’s an understatement to say that a lot has changed in Focus’ 30 years, but there’s been at least one consistent thread. 14 David Broadland | THE MAYORS’ MIlLION-DOLLAR COVER-UP Did Stan Lowe defame Mayor Helps and Mayor Desjardins? Or did the Police Complaint Commissioner pull his punches? 18 Ross Crockford | GREAT POLITICS VS. GOOD GOVERNANCE What will close the divisions laid bare by Victoria’s election? 20 Judith Lavoie | TENT CITIES MAKE THE HOMELESS MORE VISIBLE Anger is often directed at the leaders of tent cities, but they seem to get results. 22 Russ Francis | LNG CANADA—A STRANDED ASSET? Canada’s biggest-ever white elephant may never produce one gram of LNG—if we’re lucky. 24 Briony Penn | FEDS MOVE TO DIVIDE AND CONQUER LOCAL FIRST NATIONS Some local First Nations leaders fear the next rounds of “consultation” around the Trans Mountain pipeline may be even worse. 26 Russ Francis | VOTING FOR DEMOCRACY The horrors of proportional representation? Faster climate action, more women elected, lower debt, increased voter turnout. 28 Stephen Hume | ORCAPOCALYPSE The perils faced by killer whales forewarn of an uber threat—the unravelling of the ecosystems upon which humans also depend. 34 Kate Cino | CREATING ORDER OUT OF CHAOS Martina Edmonson begins each new piece with an internal investigation. 48 Mollie Kaye | ROCKIN’ OUT TO ANCIENT MUSIC Modern day minstrels, the Banquo Folk Ensemble is about to release another CD. 52 Monica Prendergast | HOW HISTORY HAUNTS THE THEATRE Echos of past performances reverberate through the years in our theatre spaces. 56 Amy Reiswig | MAMASKATCH: A CREE COMING OF AGE Recently nominated for the Governor General’s Literary Award, Darrel McLeod’s memoir will break hearts in the best possible way. 58 Gene Miller | WHAT, ME WORRY? To solve homelessness we need to build homes for the marginalized and support them. The only thing holding us back is… 60 Maleea Acker | ROBIN HOOD’S DREAM In the face of ecological disasters, art and science together can lead to hope and resilience. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | EVERY THING WE DO COUNTS Until governments get serious about tackling greenhouse gas emissions,citizens must take the lead.
  2. Will Victoria’s Old Town become a facade? Leslie Campbell’s article on Victoria’s Old Town is excellent! It addresses all the key issues. It should be required reading for anybody interested in Old Town. I write as a member of the Heritage Advisory Panel, and as a relatively new Victorian, a transplant from Vancouver. The Heritage Advisory Panel has been holding special meetings to discuss how we may encourage the City to pay proper attention to Old Town and respect the many regulations and guidelines that are already in place. Hal Kalman On reading Leslie Campbell’s lament over the “hollowing out” of Victoria’s historical architecture, mostly in favour of what amounts to Joni Mitchell’s “little boxes made of ticky-tacky,” I could not help but be reminded of China’s so-called Ghost Cities, where no apparent reason (at least from a western perspective) can be conjured up for their existence. All it will take here in Victoria, is that the appeal for these modern edifices becomes focused elsewhere (whereupon the developers will disappear like swamp gas) and voilà…we will have what amounts to the makings of our very own “ghost city,” with no apparent reason for its existence. Richard Weatherill Thank you for your well-written and most fair review of this matter. I can assure you there are few, if any, heritage buildings about to fall over or are in particularly poor shape. They can virtually all be redeemed to their earlier glory, and because an individual paid too much for a property does not entitle a new owner to simply up the density and change the overall character of the neighbourhood and city. Chris Le Fevre Heartfelt thanks for your extensive and conscientious review of the complex issues in play for the future of an historic precinct. “Will Victoria’s Old Town Become a Facade?” is indeed a very worthy topic as our community moves to a new City council. Also a salute to Stuart Stark and Pamela Madoff for continuing to uphold their important ideals and objectives for maintaining this unique and invaluable urban area. It is indeed a daunting challenge for these times in downtown Victoria, to come to grips with an array of evolving and interdependent issues: shifting retail, employment, and housing needs; escalating real estate pressures; seismic precautions; long-term strategies for tourism; refurbishment of historic buildings; and care for that ephemeral component of the soul of a city—community memory. In 1971, as a Victoria High School student, I first became involved in the early campaign to recognize, protect, and reuse the historic architectural buildings of downtown Victoria—collectively, the rare asset of an intact, contiguous 19th-century commercial city centre. Through my subsequent career as a Victoria architect and urban designer, the maintenance of Victoria’s Old Town remains a central concern. As a city planner, I worked centrally on the preparation of the Downtown Core Area Plan—and know fully that one of its primary intentions was to retain the physical character and the authenticity of Downtown’s vintage districts. A set of strategies were instituted, to encourage development to expand Victoria’s downtown east of Douglas Street—with greater allowances for building height and density in these areas, while tightly constraining increases in height and allowable density west of Douglas Street. Analysis demonstrated that growth of over 10,000 new residents and considerable office and commercial expansion (over a million square meters of new building floor area outside of the historic commercial district) was achievable, without compromise to the retention of older districts. Adaptation and renewal of our ever-struggling, but august Downtown is not a simple exercise: some innovations and compromises will be inevitable, but to what degree, and with what safeguards? At what point of change or redevelopment does an historic urban area begin to loose its essential integrity? What precautions are needed so that land speculators and developers do not begin to undermine or demolish delicate older buildings, in expectation of easy up-zonings, and for the convenience of parking lots (as have consumed so many older North American downtowns)? Use of a Bonus Density Transfer System is often applied by cities to help conserve historic areas and to pay for rehabilitation, while at the same time using transferred densities to help support desirable new development in under-utilized areas—such as Victoria’s North Douglas/Blanshard Corridor. Worthy places such as Quebec City, Old Montreal, and a multitude of historic European cities, hold to strict and intricate constraints to protect their antique centres—areas integral both to their tourist economies, and to their cultural identity. Without similar disciplined self-defense, in a time of hungry real estate appetite, Victoria runs risks of broiling its own Golden Goose. Chris Gower Landslide Lisa’s record as mayor Your article on Lisa Helps’ first term is difficult to see as anything other than a hatchet job. That’s because you selected three “moments” as defining her term and find that in all she lied, evaded her responsibilities, or did a bad job. Almost as a grudging afterthought, in two paragraphs within a 6-page article you write that it’s a tough, contentious and complex job, and she’s done good and bad things for the City. It’s a hatchet job because all of the “moments” concern relatively ephemeral matters which will be relegated to footnotes in a few years, if remembered at all. What’s glaringly missing are the things that she’s done that will last. They generally aren’t “moments.” They are the things that really matter, changing and affecting the lives of citizens and the health and liveability of Victoria. They are many and impressive. They aren’t acknowledged at all, let alone discussed… Each of the three episodes that you examined are interesting and, knowing your careful analytical skills, I accept that they are probably very accurately described. But will any of the three matters have a long-lasting impact on the City? Is your portrayal of character complete and rounded? And really, are they the best way to understand and evaluate the Mayor’s record prior to an election? In your opinion, is there really almost nothing that she’s done that’s positive? Because that’s the general message you conveyed. Surely that’s not credible. You know what change there’s been during Helps’ term. It’s been huge. She’s not responsible “personally” for all that, most particularly the economic boom, no mayor could be, because City governance is a group exercise with a lot which is out of the control of any municipality. But leadership is critical. She has led and not held back, and must be given credit or blame (depending on your views) for what Council has done overall. What do you think of the changes in the economic health of the City over that time, or the cycling network, or work on affordable housing, or on finally getting the sewage system in place, or the densification and influx of new residents and enterprises into the City, or the quality of public services, or the culture at City Hall with respect to the public, or collaboration with other municipalities or levels of government, or fiscal responsibility, or whether the council is forward-looking, or the nature and quality of development—always the biggest thing that any municipality has control over? And a whole lot more, obviously. Those are the things that have a lasting impact, some more than others. What do you think of her performance as the face and voice of the City? As you say, she has a tough and complex job and one which is inevitably contentious. I’m not a fan of everything she’s done. She’s done some things, like the statue removal, as a personal project and very flat-footedly. But on balance her motives have been sound. She’s been an intelligent, forward-looking, inclusive, open, gutsy and strong leader in a time of great change as this city matures. The city is better for it. Rob Garrard David Broadland replies: At the time we published the story, Police Complaint Commissioner Stan Lowe had not released his final report, which appeared on September 26. Lowe was very specific about what Mayors Helps and Desjardins did to cover up former VicPD Chief Frank Elsner’s misconduct. The mayors lied to journalists and they tried to hide allegations of sexual harrassment against Elsner from Lowe’s office. They were also provided with evidence about Elsner’s own attempt to cover up his misconduct. This latter conduct was judged to be the most serious of Elsner’s misconduct and warranted, in retired Judge Baird Ellan’s opinion, “dismissal from policing.” Yet Helps and Desjardins ignored this evidence. The mayors could have fired Elsner for cause. Instead, Mayor Helps, in spite of knowing the details of Elsner’s misconduct and hiding them from Lowe, told journalists that Elsner was the “best thing that’s happened to this town and Esquimalt in a long time.” The legal process that followed cost Victoria taxpayers close to $1 million. It’s true that Mayor Helps’ conduct was just a series of “moments.” But detailing such moments of serious political misjudgment and holding Helps accountable for those lapses are far more necessary to the long-term health of our municipal democracy than acknowledging Helps’ support of urban densification or protected bicycle lanes. See page 14 of this edition for a full account of Lowe’s final report. David Broadland Mayor Barb Desjardins told Black Press, “As two female mayors, I can tell you that I would not have allowed that not to be investigated.” She was referring to the sexual harassment claim against then Police Chief Frank Elsner that she and Mayor Helps investigated. Persecuting consenting personal behaviour, while masquerading as morality, to politically manipulate the public is a fascist tactic. The Me Too movement is critical for womens’ justice. But this one doesn’t clearly fit the mold. The Office of the Police Complaints Commission (OPCC) effectively saying to “trust us” is condescending and arrogant. We’re not hearing that a subordinate’s dignity or physical security was threatened, or their employment jeopardized. We deserve evidence that Chief Elsner’s tweets undermined public or personal security. That doesn’t require releasing potentially embarrassing material. I met Chief Elsner a few months into his new position. He was the first police chief to visit Our Place. He was invited by the Victoria Committee to End Homelessness (VCEH). Chief Elsner compassionately and humanely listened for two hours to the homeless, the poor, and their allies giving their experiences. He took to heart VCEH’s call to end “policing poverty”: end poor profiling, possession seizure, indiscriminate ticket issuance, “loitering” harassment and systematically arresting street substance users. Chief Elsner pledged to change policy. It was clearly starting to happen. A restorative justice approach is sufficient discipline—taking responsibility for immature social media and making amends, yes. Dictatorial guard changing, no. Mayors Helps and Desjardins were using this approach and it was working. They should have remained the ultimate arbiters, being democratically elected officials, presiding over their police departments. Maybe input from the Victoria Committee to End Homelessness, Together Against Poverty Society, Society of Living Illicit Drug Users and the Alliance Against Displacement should also have been included. Until actual personal or public harm is revealed, the effective outcome of the OPCC’s (sham?) “investigation” is the apparent coerced loss of a public official whose community benefit vastly outweighed his acknowledged indiscretion. Herding dispossessed people like cattle away from the civilized citizens’ glitzy new downtown—whether it’s Camp Namegans’ residents or just Victoria’s daily sufferers without privilege shuffling through our streets —is fascist. Some people of influence may not have liked Chief Elsner’s challenge to this Old Guard approach. That seems to be the real cover-up. Larry Wartels I wanted to share with you the response from Councillor Alto on September 18 to a query about why minutes were not taken of the City Family meetings. Mayor Lisa Helps was originally contacted but deferred to Councillor Alto, who answered: “When council approved the Witness Reconciliation Program in June 2017, it endorsed a program of work that was unlike anything the city had attempted before. In particular, the program acts in respect of the traditions shared with us by our nearest Indigenous neighbours, the Songhees and Esquimalt. Those Nations, like many of their neighbours, hold primarily to oral history and communication, using story telling as the primary means to share information, exchange ideas, and make important decisions. “Council acknowledged that this new way of working would be challenging for us, as we would need to put aside our dependence on the written word, and open our minds to different values and ways of working together. We would need to learn to trust an entirely different process. “In that spirit, there are no ‘Minutes’ in the conventional sense of our Western processes. We are present in the moment of gathering, and bear witness to the sharing conversation, understanding that one of our tasks is to act as a bridge, or translator, between the two conventions.” I think it’s important for Victorians to understand how Mayor Helps’ approach to governance is fluid and autocratic. She appears to have no issue with dismantling certain foundations of transparent governance. Particularly for work in which certain citizens were paid an honorarium for their contributions. I fail to see how minutes can be construed as an element of colonization, which is how Mayor Helps categorized the act of minute- taking in her request to contact Councillor Alto for comment. Anthony Danda Here is a response I got from one member of the City Family as to why minutes were not available for the public to read. It happened only after I accused them of secrecy. Charlayne Thornton-Joe wrote: “The City Family did not have minutes mostly because we were respecting the First Nation’s Tradition of oral history. Which means we talked, we continued to talk, we went to the Songhees First Nation Chief and Council and spoke, then to Esquimalt Nations Chief and Council and spoke. Our conversations were witnessed by those in attendance which we then shared with Council in a report.” I find this response unsatisfactory, to put it mildly. The monies came out of the public purse, to which we all contribute. Reconciliation is of supreme importance to all of us. City Family must be accountable to all of us, not only to one group, otherwise reconciliation can be turned into a double-edged sword. Anna Cal Fresh out of Domani In Focus’ last edition, Gene Miller suggested that there is an accelerating drama playing out in the communities of Greater Victoria, as he puts it, a “cultural battle about how to live with strong implications for land use.” My regular dog walks around north Gonzales in Victoria and over into Oak Bay seem to confirm this, judging by the lawns and utility poles festooned with signs exhorting passersby to “Stop Over Development by Oak Bay United Church—Respect our Neighbourhoods” and “Say No to Large Urban Village.” Clearly these proposals are seen by many residents as threats to their sense of home and community and “the social connections and relationships these places foster.” Why can’t we, as Gene once asked me in the checkout line at Capital Iron, just let people living in Fairfield and other established neighbourhoods put in secondary suites and the occasional garden cottage, rather than have to accommodate townhouses, and apartment buildings too? As he notes further in his column, story comes first, policy follows, as we try to make the story come true. As the “technocrat” who led the planning team at the City of Victoria which developed the Official Community Plan in 2012, rather than trying to foist some mechanistic abstraction on Victoria, we were trying to put into bylaw language the story about Victoria’s future that emerged through a year-long consultation with more than 6,000 city residents. The story was about the value Victorians put on the quality of this place, and how it could grow and change over time in a manner that respected its essential character, becoming even more a city with a lively, walkable downtown surrounded by humane neighbourhoods, each with a village centre that put a nugget of urbanity and a focus for community life within walking distance of everyone. Turning any vision—whether of a city’s future or, as I have been involved in for the past two years, a house—into reality requires shifting narrative gears to something more like a script, with inevitable and essential quantities and metrics. In other words a strategy. The strategy proposed in Victoria’s OCP calls for accommodating half of the forecast growth for the next 25 to 30 years, about 10,000 people, in the downtown core area; another 8,000 in 12 urban villages (all focused on existing places); with the remaining 2,000 people scattered throughout the remainder of the city’s neighbourhoods. It’s always possible that more people could choose to move to Victoria, but these estimates are consistent with what we have experienced over the past 25 years. Contrary to what Gene Miller asserts in his column, a close reading of the OCP reveals a more nuanced understanding of community than simply as a collective market for local retail. Anyone who wants to know what a Large Urban Village (LUV) looks like just has to stand in front of the Beagle Pub on Cook Street and look around—Cook Street Village, and the surrounding residential area within a 10-minute walk composed of single detached houses, duplexes, four-plexes, townhouses, and apartments is the model. Victorians said unequivocally back in 2010-2012 that they wanted more of this—the sense of community, the local identity, the opportunity for face-to-face transactions with neighbours and friends—throughout the city. Also, they wanted to be able to reach shopping and community services on foot, which means that if you want a grocery store similar to the Thrifty Foods at Ross Bay, you need a local market area in the order of 15,000 people. Roughly what you find in James Bay. What strikes me in all these numbers, particularly with respect to the urban villages and neighbourhoods, is just how modest they are outside of Downtown: about 80 people per year spread across Victoria’s neighbourhoods; 320 across 12 urban villages. If we want to keep shopping, schools and community services viable in some of Victoria’s neighbourhoods, in particular places like my neighbourhood Gonzales, where population has been flat or declining for years, these numbers are not likely enough. Victoria may have to try, as Gene Miller once advocated back in his Urban Development Institute days, to grab a bigger share of regional growth than forecast. In my view, this distribution of new growth is too canted towards the Downtown and urban villages, where the predominant house form in the future will be apartments, whether rental or ownership. That works well for seniors and young singles, but less well for families with children. While some families are choosing to live in apartments, the majority would prefer a home with a yard of some kind, a challenge to provide in Victoria’s high-cost housing market, where a 5,000-square-foot lot with a modest house can cost upwards of $700,000 to $1 million depending on the neighbourhood. If we want to provide more opportunities for families to live in Victoria, we need to find room for more affordable ground-oriented housing—secondary suites, garden cottages, duplexes, four and six plexes, townhouses and freehold rowhouses—what current housing jargon calls “missing middle housing” in Victoria’s neighbourhoods, and not just in Burnside, Hillside-Quadra, Oaklands and Jubilee; in Fairfield, Rockland, and Gonzales too. I don’t know if the obvious intimations of societal collapse surveyed so well in Miller’s column are behind the land-use conflict in Victoria’s waterfront communities. Similar dramas have played out repeatedly over the 20-plus years I have lived and worked here. There is constant tension between the desire of residents for community stability and control, and broader civic and regional challenges related to growth management, equity and social inclusivity. All of these dimensions need to be taken into account as we work our way through neighbourhood change and try to ensure that we maintain and enhance the qualities of community and place we love. Saying “Stop” and “No” are not in the long run effective or fair strategies to ensure we get the communities we want. My worry, as I look around the room at community meetings on the Gonzales Neighbourhood Plan, and see a lot of people of my vintage expressing genuine hostility to the possibility of accepting even a few of these housing forms in the neighbourhood, is that what purports to be a concern for community character and respect for neighbourhoods is just plain old entitled exclusion. As Pat Carney once wrote about the Gulf Islands, the galvanizing ethos all too often seems to be: “I’m all right Jack, now pull up the ladder.” Victoria’s waterfront neighbourhoods have some of the highest quality of life in the region, with access to the finest parks and views, along with easy access to transit, community amenities such as schools and, yes, shopping, on foot and by cycle. Their populations have been flat for years, and other neighbourhoods have taken on the lion’s share of the civic work of accommodating rental and social housing. Those of us who live in them, many old guys like Gene and I, who had the great good fortune to buy in 20 or 30 years ago when prices were still relatively affordable, shouldn’t squat on these neighbourhoods like dragons on a hoard of gold. Young people express a lot more acceptance of different housing forms in these communities, seeing in them the only conceivable way that they could ever possibly afford to live here. For the sake of healthy community life now, and future vibrancy, we need to welcome more people into our neighbourhoods, and let them evolve into richer, more complex places. Mark Hornell Public land and Northern Junk proposal With regards to Ken Johnson’s letter “Public lands being sold to Northern Junk developer,” it seems to me that the real controversy over the Northern Junk property begins with the decision to preserve two abandoned buildings that are certainly old but that hardly seem to have any real heritage value. I am trying to imagine Victorians from the 1860s, or the 1910s, or the 1950s, or even the 1980s understanding why Victorians in 2018 would go out of their way to keep these two Northern Junk buildings standing. They were tiny little warehouses and, let’s face it, they aren’t that pretty and represent a bit of an eyesore at the “Gateway to Victoria.” It seems to me that a lot of people in this region would be quite content to see the Northern Junk building knocked down and have that entire property turned into a green space that would also open up the view of the harbour instead of the proposed multi-storey structure that does the exact opposite. When council finally gets around to having a referendum on the borrowing of money that might be required for the new Crystal Pool, they might want to consider killing two birds with one stone and ask Victorians what their preference is for the fate of the Northern Junk property. Trevor Amon Will Premier Horgan protect our water? “All you need is two eyes to see it’s a bad idea to put toxic soils in a watershed looking down on the drinking water for 12,000 people.” This was John Horgan speaking to the Save Shawnigan Water rally at the BC legislature in 2015. A huge pile of 100,000 tonnes of contaminated soil sits in a quarry a few kilometres above Shawnigan Lake, awaiting a government decision. The soil contains hydrocarbons, sulphur, arsenic, chromium, lead and other heavy metals, all known to be dangerous to human health. About 12,000 people rely on the Shawnigan Lake watershed for their drinking water. In January 2017, Justice Robert Sewell of the BC Supreme Court found so many deficiencies with the Shawnigan site’s permitting process that he ordered the permit to be sent back to the Environmental Appeal Board. The government cancelled the permit soon after Sewell’s decision, but it put off the decision on whether to remove the mountain of contaminated soil at the site. Over 18 months later, as the approaching rainy season brings increased risk of leaching, government inaction is making the Shawnigan community increasingly anxious. Sewell found that the conduct of quarry owner Cobble Hill Holdings (CHH) and its silent partner Active Earth Engineering “compromised the integrity of the approval process.” He also found that CHH co-owner Martin Block “was not being truthful in the evidence he gave with respect to the nature of the relationship between Active Earth and CHH.” “It is quite clear that the information provided to the [Environmental Appeal] Board by Mr Block was false.” Justice Sewell’s findings confirmed a secret 50/50 partnership between the company and the engineers. The Shawnigan community is united in wanting the soil removed, and the long delay has many residents worried. “The contaminated soil should never have come here in the first place,” said Sierra Acton, Shawnigan area director at the Cowichan Valley Regional District. “It was completely opposed by the community even before the misleading evidence found by Justice Sewell. If the soil is not removed, it isn’t a question of if poisons will leach into the Shawnigan community drinking water, it’s a question of when. The community will not stand for it.” Where does the NDP government stand on this? Premier Horgan is on record against the contaminated site at Shawnigan numerous times. The big question now is will Premier Horgan be as good as his word? Will he order the removal of the contaminated soil to safeguard drinking water, as his government should? Or will he do nothing, and leave the soil where it sits, setting the stage for much more expensive remedial action down the road. This much is clear: the government may have changed, but it is “business as usual” at the Ministry of Environment. Despite the obvious conflict of interest, the Ministry still does not require that engineers be independent from the projects they are monitoring for the government. The site monitoring reports posted on the Ministry of Environment website are stamped by an engineer who was a partner at Active Earth Engineering at the time of the secret agreement denounced by Justice Sewell. The Ministry still appears to see no potential conflict of interest with this monitoring arrangement. Will Premier Horgan walk his talk and order the soil removal himself? Clearly, the fate of Shawnigan drinking water is in his hands. Blaise Salmon, Shawnigan Research Group
  3. Sept-Oct 2018 Focus.pdf 4 WILL VICTORIA’S OLD TOWN BECOME A FAÇADE? Leslie Campbell | Victoria City council will soon be faced with a controversial heritage conversion and demolition project in the heart of Old Town. 18 LANDSLIDE LISA’S RECORD AS MAYOR OF VICTORIA David Broadland | For this reporter, three key moments defined Mayor Lisa Helps’ controversial first term. 24 JUST BELOW THE SURFACE Ross Crockford | Will Crystal Pool become an election issue? Candidates say “Yes.” 26 FISH FARM ACTIVISTS COMPLAIN OF INTIMIDATION Judith Lavoie | The battle of the Broughton continues with surveillance on the seas. 28 A FALSE DICHOTOMY Russ Francis | As LNG Canada’s Final Investment Decision looms, a fatal error sits stubbornly at the heart of the government’s case for LNG. 30 MEDIA AND MEDICAL INDEPENDENCE Alan Cassels & Jim Wright | Can we trust health-related media to deliver clean, clear health advice? 32 TAKING BACK CONTROL OF RESOURCE EXTRACTION ON PUBLIC LAND Briony Penn | Can we undo, or fix, the 17-year-old Professional Reliance Model used to regulate BC’s resource industries? 34 WHAT DOES MY NEIGHBOUR’S CAR MEAN? David Broadland | The distance travelled in autos each day by CRD residents continues to grow, but there is a surge in the uptake of all-electric cars. 36 UNDER THE BIG SKY Kate Cino | Brent Lynch aims to capture fleeting moments of special grace. 50 BRINGING MUSICIANS HOME Mollie Kaye | Performance venues are desperately needed—what about your place? 54 MOVING BEYOND THE (DEAD) WHITE MAN SYNDROME Monica Prendergast | A gender equity and diversity report card for local theatre companies’ 2018-19 productions. 56 UNPRECEDENTED CRIME Amy Reiswig | Authors Elizabeth Woodworth and Dr Peter Carter see climate change in terms of a planetary emergency needing global mobilization. 58 FRESH OUT OF DOMANI Gene Miller | Rome imploded because of a loss of purpose, identity and moral vigour. What are we doing to avoid that? 60 MARION CUMMING’S INDOMITABLE SPIRIT Maleea Acker | One woman’s commitment to de-colonization. 62 THE PERPLEXING WILLINGNESS TO IGNORE REALITY Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | Floods, fires and Summer Limb Drop are good clues as to what needs to be done. Yet…
  4. July-August 2018 Focus.pdf 4 LUXURY CONDO DEVELOPERS CAN’T FIX AFFORDABILITY PROBLEM Leslie Campbell | A lack of balance on a June housing forum provides food for thought as to where the community needs to look for answers. 16 CITY MISLED ABOUT REPAIRS TO NEW BRIDGE David Broadland | FOIed emails show engineers forgot about a serious flaw until it was too late to fix properly. They then forgot that they had forgotten. 18 WHO ARE THE REAL PIPELINE FANATICS? Leslie Campbell | The fuzzy thinking of Canada’s mainstream political establishment is driving some good citizens to despair. 22 THE PEOPLE AT THE DIRTY END OF THE PIPELINE Judith Lavoie | Indigenous communities in the path of the oil sands and its pipelines have been left with no good options. 26 THE 100-YEAR FISHING WAR Briony Penn | The recent renewal of fish farm tenures is just the latest in a long saga of denial of First Nations’ fishing rights. 28 VANCOUVER’S ROLE IN THE CHINOOK-SEWAGE-ORCA DEATH SPIRAL David Broadland | Is Fisheries & Oceans Canada ignoring Washington State research on chemical contamination from sewage treatment plants? 30 CELEBRATING LIFE AND COLOUR Kate Cino | There’s a lot happening in Grant Leier’s bursting-with-colour paintings. 36 SHARING THE WEALTH Aaren Madden | First Nations artist Calvin Hunt’s first solo exhibition celebrates family, culture and a giving spirit. 48 COMING FULL CIRCUS Mollie Kaye | Aerialist Kaelyn Schmitt plans to ignite the circus arts scene in Victoria. 52 A SITE-SPECIFIC PLAY WITH STYLE, SUBSTANCE AND SCARES Monica Prendergast | Theatre SKAM and a cast of young people present the award-winning Concord Floral. 54 WINDOWS INTO THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL Amy Reiswig | Writer Eve Joseph stretches herself and her readers’ imagination and intellect in her new prose poetry book Quarrels. 56 SUMMER READING PICKS Amy Reiswig | Wild Fierce Life: Dangerous Moments on the Outer Coast; Listening to the Bees; Anna, Like Thunder 58 THE PLACE FORMERLY KNOWN AS VICTORIA Gene Miller | Would amalgamation lead to the creation of a place we care less about? 60 GABE EPSTEIN AND THE GORGE PARK COMMUNITY GARDENS Maleea Acker | Digging, planting and watering together produces food, strengthens community and helps the bees help us. 62 CONNECTING THE DOTS AT THE COUNTRY FAIR Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | The heavy carbon footprint of most manufacturing processes gives added incentive for re-using material goods.
  5. May-June 2018 Focus.pdf 10 David Broadland | THE WOUNDED WHITE ELEPHANT We should call the new bridge what it is. 16 Leslie Campbell | OAK BAY NEIGHBOURS WRESTLE WITH 98-UNIT DEVELOPMENT Oak Bay United Church’s plan to build affordable housing raises questions about proper consultation and density. 22 Ross Crockford | TWO SORTS OF TRUTH The debate over density at 1201 Fort is sure to be repeated. 24 Briony Penn | DEAR JUSTIN AND RACHEL Charged with criminal contempt of court while protesting Trans Mountain, the author writes to these leaders about leadership. 26 Alan Cassels | SPINNING THE WONDER DRUGS Why hope, hype and headlines should never substitute for clean, clear analysis. 28 Judith Lavoie | THE LNG PIPE DREAM, PART 2 Will methane asphyxiate Green support for the minority NDP government? 30 Ross Crockford | VICTORIA NEEDS…WHO? Slates are readying candidates for council jobs that few may actually want. 32 Mollie Kaye | GUTHRIE GLOAG SCULPTS THE WILD A BC biologist and artist wants his work to draw attention to what is here…and what is missing. 48 Mollie Kaye | HIDDEN UPSTAIRS ON HERALD STREET Local artists’ studios rarely seen by the public offer a glimpse into a disappearing world. 52 Mollie Kaye | CUARTETO CHROMA Four musicians are Canada’s—and Mexico’s—first graduate-level string quartet. 54 Monica Prendergast | UNO AND OUT Intrepid Theatre’s May and June theatre festivals liven up the local landscape. 56 Amy Reiswig | SARAH COX: BREACHING THE PEACE Mythic dam battle at Site C is a showdown between “progress” and those who would preserve the valley. 58 Gene Miller | TICK, TICK, TICK… Victoria may be stuck in time, but that could be what guarantees its survival. 60 Maleea Acker | STEWARD OF THE OAK MEADOWS Colleen O’Brien is restoring Playfair Park’s Garry oak meadows—allowing the rest of us a walk back in time.
  6. Volume 30 Number 4 March-April 2018 Focus.pdf 4 Leslie Campbell | MATH AND ETHICS ARGUE AGAINST TRANS MOUNTAIN If we’re going to lower emissions, allowing Alberta to increase fossil-fuel-related exports will harm the rest of Canada. 12 Mary-Wynne Ashford | ONE NUCLEAR BOMB IS TOO MANY Addressing the generational gap in understanding around nuclear disarmament. 14 David Broadland | WHY ARE CITY COUNCILLORS ACCEPTING A WORLD-CLASS BODGE? The City is refusing to provide records that would show who knew what, and when they knew it. 18 Leslie Campbell | DEVELOPMENT BESIDE GONZALES HILL PARK RAISES ALARM Is the CRD failing to steward its only regional park in the core of the city? 22 Alan Cassels | “DRUG HOLIDAYS” AND DEPRESCRIBING The growing movement to wind back excess medication. 24 Briony Penn | DID SAANICH’S EDPA POSE A THREAT TO PROPERTY VALUES? Was a real battle fought over an invented crisis? 28 Judith Lavoie | SHOULD FARMLAND BE RESERVED FOR FOOD GROWING? Marijuana greenhouses, wineries and monster houses are eroding BC’s already limited capacity to feed itself. 30 Pamela Roth | ARE THE CITY OF VICTORIA’S MARIJUANA REGULATIONS WORKING? And what will happen next summer when recreational cannabis becomes legal in Canada? 32 Aaren Madden | FORM AS MEANING(S) Four First Nations curators bring new perspectives to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s Pacific Northwest prints collection. 45 Mollie Kaye | Dana Statham Painter circumnavigates Vancouver Island. 48 Mollie Kaye | PLAYS WITH PURPOSE AND MEANING Zelda Dean sees theatre as a way to break down barriers. 52 Mollie Kaye | ORCHESTRATING A LIFE Conductor Yariv Aloni lands, learns, and leads in Victoria. 54 Monica Prendergast | NOT IN OUR SPACE Harassment, bullying and theatre culture. 56 Amy Reiswig | THE STRENGTH IN VULNERABILITY Claire Sicherman delves into the silent stories of her family’s traumatic past. 58 Gene Miller | AMALGACIDE Is the call for political amalgamation of CRD municipalities, at its core, motivated by toxic social impulses? 60 Maleea Acker | LOOKING AT THE TINY THINGS Mary Haig-Brown wants us to see vital connections in the natural world. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | WE DESERVE EVERYTHING WE’RE GOING TO GET Site C will help power up cannabis hot houses, Bitcoin mining, and LNG!
  7. Volume 30, Number 3 Jan-Feb 2018 Focus.pdf IMMIGRANTS LIKE CRISTINA, JOEY AND C.J. ARE MAKING CANADA GREAT We’re all immigrants, but the newest amongst us make great sacrifices to keep our country strong. Leslie Campbell BRIDGE DESIGN FLAW HIDDEN FOR A YEAR, THEN GIVEN QUICK-AND-DIRTY REPAIR The latest cover-up on the $115-million project raises the question: What needs to change at Victoria City Hall? David Broadland ON THE FRONTLINES OF THE OPIOID CRISIS Leslie McBain advocates for those struggling with addictions and the families who love them. Leslie Campbell WILL “SUNSHINE” FINALLY COME TO BC? Exposing Big Pharma’s dark influence on doctors who diagnose and prescribe. Alan Cassels ONE LESS THING TO WORRY ABOUT FOR BC GRIZZLIES The BC government has killed the grizzly hunt. But will Conservation Officers enforce the ban? Judith Lavoie #METOO: WHAT NEXT? Could a victim-centred approach be a better fit in cases of sexual harassment and assault? Mollie Kaye VICTORIA’S NEW POLICY ON SHORT-TERM RENTALS Unintended consequences of Airbnbs are leading to new measures to deal with the loss of housing stock. Pamela Roth IT’S WHAT’S INSIDE THAT COUNTS Lynn Branson’s reverent connection to her medium brings her wood carvings to life. Aaren Madden A DECOLONIZING DANCE The Dancers of Damelahamid confront us with the richness of Indigenous art, past and present. Robin J Miller STEPHEN FEARING: EVERY SOUL’S A SAILOR One of Canada’s most acclaimed songwriters plays Victoria—his new home. Mollie Kaye ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THEATRE AND MEMORY A Belfry production looks at the grief and panic of losing one’s life partner to Alzheimer’s. Monica Prendergast WHALE IN THE DOOR Author Pauline Le Bel’s personal journey of losses, learning, and hope for Howe Sound. Amy Reiswig BLOOD, SWEAT AND TAVISH CAMPBELL One man’s graphic video evidence spawns new awareness of fish farming dangers—and a government review. Briony Penn PANIS ANGELICUS Could Victoria be a civilizational lifeboat in these crazy, conflict-prone times? Gene Miller THE ART OF CONSERVATION: MARY SANSEVERINO Photography gives this ardent naturalist an excuse to go to the wild places. Maleea Acker OLD WAYS FOR NEW DAYS With a knack for making do, we can make ends meet and reduce our environmental footprint. Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic
  8. Volume 30 Number 2 Nov-Dec 2017 Focus.pdf 4 David Broadland | DID CRD STAFF COMMIT FRAUD AND/OR A BREACH OF PUBLIC TRUST? A shadowy group has launched complaints with the RCMP and several other public agencies. 12 David Broadland | THE ORCA FAMINE AND PUGET SOUND’S POISONED RIVERS Recent studies show how resident orca populations are affected by diminishing chinook runs and why the chinook are disappearing. 20 Leslie Campbell | FIRST THINGS FIRST: MAKING EVERY VOTE COUNT A referendum on electoral reform is coming next year. Terry Dance-Bennink of Fair Vote Canada explains why it’s important. 24 Alan Cassels | THE SWEET SMELL OF TRANSPARENCY Can a new government remove the stench of Big Pharma’s lobbying at the BC Legislature? 26 Judith Lavoie | WILD SALMON MAY GET RELIEF FROM OPEN-NET FISH FARMS Science and First Nations are stepping up the pressure to remove fish farms from BC coastal waters. 28 Ross Crockford | EMBRACE THE FIXCENTIVE We want to repair our assets. Why don’t our governments do the same? 30 Pamela Roth | WOODWYNN FARMS AND THE OPIOID CRISIS The organization appears to offer addicts a needed route to recovery while preserving farmland. What’s the hold up? 34 Aaren Madden | TRUE TO THE HEART Bi Yuan Cheng creates internal and external landscapes of truth, feeling, and sense of place. 50 Mollie Kaye | CHRISTOPHER BUTTERFIELD UVic’s music program turns 50 with one of its first grads at the helm. 52 Monica Prendergast | MURDER IN TWO OPERAS Pacific Opera brings two completely unique operas about past and current chapters in the Canadian story. 54 Amy Reiswig | THE LARGER CONVERSATION: CONTEMPLATION AND PLACE In his new book, award-winning writer Tim Lilburn begins the process of “personal decolonization.” 56 Briony Penn | BRUCE HILL: HIPPY EX-LOGGER AND WARRIOR FOR THE KITLOPE A ceremonial trip into grizzly territory with the Kitlope’s elder watchmen. 58 Gene Miller | CAUTION…HISTORY AHEAD Can Victoria survive its own bungling and folly? 60 Maleea Acker | FOR THE LOVE OF SALMON Peter McCully and his volunteer team are passionate about their work with the Goldstream Hatchery. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | ONE MAN’S TRASH: PART 2 We can recycle nearly everything. We still need to buy less stuff.
  9. Take down a parking lot and put up a paradise I sent this suggestion, which relates to Leslie Campbell’s recent editorial, to both NDP and Green Party leaders on July 10, as well as to City Hall. I would bring to your attention the fact that we in James Bay and other areas close to Downtown appreciate that both market rate and low-cost housing units are needed in our city. Parking for government officials and employees is rightly provided on a large asphalt-covered block, bounded by Kingston, Superior and Menzies streets, and these vehicles sit in the sun, rain and hail throughout the day. On weekends the parking lot is mostly vacant. I do not propose removing the parking lot. But I do suggest that at least one or more stories of housing units be built over the asphalt parking area. This would protect vehicles from the elements as well as derive income from rental of the suites. The green space where the Saturday James Bay Market is held could be left as-is for the enjoyment of new residents in the area and the new development. I and many others in the area would surely find an attractive architectural development much more pleasing to walk by than the present expanse of flat asphalt which is, in fact, an eyesore and an underutilization of valuable urban space. Dorothy Harvey Given your last editorial on affordable housing and Downtown parking lots, I thought you and Focus readers might be interested in a look at the website www.ZEDfactory.com. It is UK-based and promises low-cost homes—ZEDpods— with low energy bills, designed to be built over existing parking lots. Sam McCandlish Mayor Helps’ 1.5 percent solution Both of the articles “Tear down a parking lot and put up a paradise” and “Mayor Helps’ 1.5 percent solution” were most interesting. David Broadland suggests looking at Google Earth. I’d already done just that and was truly shocked how much of our city has been paved over. Broadland says that Victoria council’s bike lanes seem like “social engineering.” Some would call it leadership. If all the bike lanes are built for $16 million, that’s less than 19 percent of what we’re shucking out for the McKenzie Avenue interchange, and an even tinier part of what Stew Young regularly hoovers up for pavement in Langford. Copenhagen is indeed a good model for how far we can go with cycling. Looking at another European city, Ostrava in Czech Republic. Hardly anybody rides bikes, but 64 percent of people use the city’s tram, trolleybus and diesel bus routes. Trolleybuses work great in Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco. They’d also be perfect on heavily-used bus routes like Esquimalt, Quadra, Gordon Head and Crosstown. Have you noticed how noisy and fume-spewing diesel buses are? There’s one last way to get around, the only one which doesn’t need any mechanical aid at all. In Bilbao Spain, 60 percent of the population walks to work. Another surprising walker’s city is Paris, where unassisted footpower has a 47 percent market share. Have a look at the massive parking lots at UVic and Camosun, all empty for months in the summer, vacant public and private school lots, all the huge lots for employers like the hospitals and Dockyard. Victoria isn’t the City of Gardens, it's the City of Pavement. Louis Guilbault I appreciated David Broadland’s very detailed and disturbing article about Victoria’s new bike lanes, especially the costs involved. At my local cafe, when chatting with members of the Trippleshot Cycling Club before their regular Sunday ride, I was told they dislike the Pandora Street bike lanes, and those curbed on Cook Street near the Quadra turn, preferring a simple white line which they said “is less dangerous.” I read your informative, evidence-based Focus articles with great interest. We certainly need such well-researched journalism. Dvora Levin In his recent article and accompanying online video, David Broadland critiques the new Pandora bicycle lanes and the Biketoria initiative. While he presents a reasonable analysis of two survey methods, Broadland fails to mention the full range of data sources that informed Biketoria planning. Instead, his article implies that Mayor Helps and City staff used only these surveys to justify Biketoria. This is false. Broadland should speak to those who led Biketoria planning to learn about the extensive engagement, data collection, and analysis process it undertook. Biketoria involved a small army of urban planners, engineers, politicians, business people and community leaders—not to mention the sizeable public who support Biketoria, and voted for politicians who said they would enhance cycling in Victoria. Unfortunately, Broadland’s article also contains a few long-debunked arguments against cycling infrastructure. For example, his video implies that car emissions will increase because the Pandora bicycle lane will be underutilized. In response, any cyclist or urban planner would ask “well, how many people use a half-built bridge?” The intersection shown in the video is the end of the Pandora bicycle lane (at Cook Street) at one single moment-in-time on a single day. For someone with an interest in data collection methods, Broadland could use a refresher on how to conduct valid traffic studies— something he could learn from speaking with Biketoria’s leadership. Finally, his article suggests that many Victorians will never switch to a bicycle. While he cites no data to support this claim (even though relevant data exists), I encourage him to investigate any city he considers similar to Victoria that has pursued similar cycling infrastructure to Biketoria. Forget Copenhagen and Amsterdam; try to find cities that regret inviting in cycling. Through this investigation, I’m confident Broadland will warm to the range of benefits Biketoria will yield for Victorians. Who knows, he may even pull his bike out of the shed and give the Pandora bicycle lane a try. Critiques of government spending are in the public’s best interest. However, critiques should be balanced and include all the facts—not just those that support the author’s argument. Ross Graham David Broadland’s article on the wisdom of spending millions of taxpayer dollars on bike lanes gave valuable analysis to the debates I’m hearing all over the neighbourhood here in Fairfield. Most of us have one car, and do lots of errands on foot and by bicycle. Most of us are also appalled at the amount spent on the Pandora bike corridor. In Italy and in Spain, we noticed that bicyclists were protected by putting up a 10-inch by 6-inch cement barrier between the car lane and bike lane. In other cities, bicycles and pedestrians shared the sidewalk, with a paint colour showing which side was whose. Both formulas were a lot cheaper and safer than anything we have in Victoria. Poorly-thought-out spending is especially frustrating when we are told there isn’t sufficient money for more affordable housing, or food programs for low-income residents, or for subsidies/loans for solar panels, or for the city’s anti-violence programs for women and children. It also doesn’t leave us much money for regional transportation planning, a long-awaited dream of many living on the West Shore. I would be happy to provide a bus-only lane for the cost of some paint and a brush—thus giving the express buses in Duncan and Langford a chance to actually get Downtown and back faster, and convince more people to use them. This isn’t rocket science. Let’s give it shot. Judy Lightwater David Broadland’s article dismisses the findings from the 2011 National Household Survey (NHS) that 10.6 percent of City of Victoria residents cycle to work, implying that because it was a voluntary survey, it’s not good data. He then goes on to extensively use data from the 2011 CRD Household Travel Survey to make his argument that rates of cycling are significantly lower. What he fails to mention is that the CRD survey was also a voluntary survey. In addition, the CRD survey was based on a sample of 6172 households—about 3.5 percent of households in the region. By comparison, the NHS sampled about 30 percent of households in the region. So if Mr Broadland considers the NHS to be a poor data source because it’s a voluntary survey, how can he rely on another voluntary survey with barely one-tenth the sample size? Mr Broadland also ignores the fact that the 2006 Census included a mandatory question on commuting to work, and it found a similar result to the NHS—with 9.5 percent of City of Victoria residents cycling to work. Broadland’s article seems to imply that Victoria’s protected cycling lanes are just a pet project of Mayor Lisa Helps and were not based on evidence-based decision-making. Conveniently ignored are the hundreds, if not thousands, of cities across North America and around the world that are currently installing and expanding protected cycling networks. They are doing this, not as pet projects, but because the evidence in cities where these have already been implemented is that they lead to large increases in cycling by people of all ages. Steven Murray David Broadland replies: Steven, as I pointed out, the 2011 National Household Survey poses a single question about transportation to the person filling out the survey: What mode of transportation do you use to get to work? Respondents can choose only one travel mode, and only one per household. The NHS provides no information about how far they travelled, how other people in the household travelled, and misses all the other purposes for travelling—which actually constitute the majority of daily travel in our region. The CRD’s Origin Destination Survey is voluntary in the sense that when a household is contacted by phone and asked to participate, they can decline. If they agree to participate they are asked to provide extensive information about the travel behaviour of everyone in their household over a 24-hour period. This method is used around the world to understand the transportation dynamics of a community. The margin of error for the survey results is estimated at ±1.2 percent at a 95 percent confidence level. DB To Broadland, the installation of new, protected bike lanes in Downtown Victoria “carries a whiff of social engineering.” What is it, if not social engineering, that has fostered the supremacy of the private automobile for the past 50 years? As the planet and our province bake and burn, motorists are still subsidized, accommodated, and glorified—at the expense of public transit, biking, walking, and safe human-scale urban design. Broadland says that “Most people prefer to use four-wheeled motorized personal transport.” In the 1800s, most people preferred slavery, but thankfully it came to an end. He is worried about “that huge chunk of cash” required for bicycling infrastructure. It costs money to run a civilization. It’s about time that we who choose a healthy, non-polluting, practical form of transportation finally get a slice of the pie. Welcome to the 21st century, where people of all ages and abilities are able to traverse their cities by bicycle in protected car-free lanes. Anne Hansen David Broadland replies: Anne, the article states: “For people who drive a car, truck or van Downtown and don’t see themselves as likely to ever switch to a bicycle, the new situation feels like an attempt to force them to make a change they can’t or don’t want to make, and carries a whiff of social engineering.” That statement is a reflection of some of the positions expressed publicly about the Pandora protected corridor, which are controversial on a few levels. You missed the point of the article, which was not a criticism of bike lanes, but an appeal for a higher level of transportation planning that goes beyond simply responding to bicycle activists. My worry is not that a huge chunk of the Gas Tax Fund will be spent on bicycle lanes, but that none of it will be available to develop a realistic plan to mitigate our continued use of fossil-fuelled vehicles. Bicycles and walking have limited potential for helping us make the shift and meet our emissions goals. We need a huge investment in public transit. Please see “Difficult conversations on the steep descent ahead.” DB Here’s news for the Helps gang: The issue at hand is self-reliance, not telling the public how and where to live, and how and what to think. Hundreds of millions worldwide use cycling for transportation of kids, moving goods, shopping, schooling, getting to and from work—without bike lanes and patrolling brigades of police or intrusive legislation on what to wear. Utility is the focus, unlike the Helps’ model where public cycling has been hijacked. Victoria has over 450 kilometres of concrete sidewalks and more than 250 kilometres of paved roads for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers to determine how best to use. The mayor, her troops of worthies, curators and lobbyists have determined themselves to be the seers in the mix, arbiters of the correct, ever ready to treat the public purse as personal finance. Come October 2018’s municipal election, send a message. No one should have to tolerate a repeat of this. Brian Nimeroski Over the years I have appreciated much of the analysis done by Focus, but David Broadland’s recent article on Victoria’s new bike lanes (“Mayor Helps’ 1.5 percent solution”) contains so many fallacies that it would be impossible to counter them all in a short letter. But here’s an effort to deal with a couple of them. First of all, I admit to being an “avid bicycle commuter” similar to Mayor Helps. I am also a 63-year-old man who became a dedicated bicyclist at the age of 56. I moved to “hilly” Victoria from San Francisco 8 years ago. Broadland claims that the 10.6 percent mode share of cyclists in 2011 used in reports to justify the new bike lanes is inflated. This may be, but Broadland’s metric—using the percentage of total miles travelled by mode—is just as flawed and seems designed to minimize the positive impact of cycling. It makes sense that bicyclists travel less distance than drivers do to accomplish the same things. After all, if you are bicycling you are much more likely to shop locally and unlikely to whip up to Uptown to save 20 percent on toilet paper at Walmart. Broadland’s metric penalizes us for this. Broadland criticizes the cost of the project—which he claims will be $16 million—over twice as much as the City says it will cost. In the eight years I’ve lived in Victoria, this is the first time that any entity has spent any significant amount of money on bike infrastructure. Meanwhile, just off the top of my head, I can count three significant projects for automobile traffic within the CRD in the last few years—the McTavish interchange at $24 million, the Johnson Street bridge project at $100 million and counting, and the McKenzie interchange project at at least $85 million. So that’s at least $210 million for car infrastructure just in major projects. Maybe even $16 million for something that promotes a clear social good isn’t so much? Paul Rasmussen David Broadland responds: Paul, these are all good points, worthy of further discussion. I have responded in detail to your and other responses in “Difficult conversations on the steep descent ahead”. Thanks to everyone for their letters. DB How to lose at bridge, and pool As usual, great articles on the bridge and other infrastructure projects which make me relieved to be living in Ladysmith and not having to deal with the outcomes of decisions from the Greater Victoria politicians. Re the Broadland and Crockford pieces, I was brought up to believe there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers. Local politicians are generalists, interested hopefully in serving their communities, and are not experts in any or many subjects. Hence the need for expert staff and consultants who should not be afraid to speak truth to power and to provide open and honest advice to their political bosses. Unfortunately the pols have not been well-served in these respects, staff seemingly not being knowledgeable and consultants preferring to obfuscate and pass the buck so that future contract opportunities are not compromised. That said, politicians are culpable by not paying attention to the project and financial risks, believing that any form of cost-sharing from the provincial and federal governments is sufficient to justify any new inflated, ill-conceived and multiple-objective project, while ignoring required maintenance and reports that say the sky is not falling. The process regarding the new pool definitely shows the pols have not learned their lessons from the bridge project and are indeed over their heads. Counter-cyclical government spending may seem out-dated, but why compete and pay top-dollar for projects such as bike lanes and bridges when the private sector is already going gang-busters providing more housing and commercial/institutional space and ultimately tax dollars for the local governments? Politicians should cool their jets, do some more data gathering and planning, and ask all the questions they like until they get decent, clear responses from their very high-priced help. Tony Beckett Recently Mayor Lisa Helps was interviewed on CBC’s On The Island morning program. I was amazed to hear that the cost overruns for fendering on the new Johnson Street bridge would not cost taxpayers any money because they would be paid for out of the City’s contingency fund. That’s like claiming the family holiday was free because it was paid for out of the savings account not the chequing account. It’s scary to think we let these people manage multi-million dollar projects. If the contingency account is so flush with funds that this charge will have no impact, then City taxes have been historically too high. Otherwise, taxpayers will be on the hook for replenishing the contingency account so funds will be available when Victoria has a true emergency. There is no way the City can spend additional millions and taxpayers won’t be impacted. Steen Petersen Resurrecting music that got buried alive Dr Suzanne Snizek briefly mentioned a reference that weaves a strange thread from Jewish exclusion during fascism to Canada today. She said that “refugees fled to ‘friendly’ countries like Canada [where they] were not necessarily welcomed with open arms...” Prime Minister Mackenzie King turned away 907 Jewish refugees in the desperate 1939 MS St Louis’ journey. Hundreds perished in the Holocaust after the boat’s forced return to Europe. King met Hitler in 1937. Wikipedia has evidence King was sympathetic to Hitler. Many Nazis and their sympathizers fled East Europe, including Ukraine, after the war. The gifted Ukrainian pianist and patriot Valentina Lisitsa had her Toronto Symphony Orchestra performance axed in 2015 due to statements she made about the Ukrainian regime. She was not appreciated for being honest about the links between current Ukrainian violence and Western-denied Neo-Nazis. Read about the very disturbing history of Western support for fascism from World War II through the present in Blackshirts and Reds: Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism by Dr Michael Parenti. Larry Wartels HPV vaccine discussion continued Dr Gina Ogilvie and I would like to respond to Alan Cassel’s response to our critique of his column on the HPV vaccine. I can assure readers that we do not feel obligated to defend vaccines at all costs. Rather, we hold the tenet that individuals should make decisions based on the balance of scientific information and not cherry-picked criticisms from vaccine sceptics. Following up on that point, we would like to address the statement that: “parents should be aware of the controversies surrounding the research around the vaccine, the many unanswered questions and the growing number of girls around the world who appear (my emphasis) to be harmed by it.” Logically, if a vaccine causes serious side effects, we would expect that these occurrences would be more frequent in those who received the vaccine when compared to those who did not. As we noted in our earlier response, scientific studies from different populations, over a period of nine years, and involving more than one million pre-adolescent girls, adolescent girls and adult women show that this is not the case. Events and conditions reported as side effects (such as auto-immune diseases— including Guillain-Barre syndrome and multiple sclerosis—anaphylaxis, venous thromboembolism, adverse pregnancy outcomes and stroke) happen just as frequently in unvaccinated girls and women of the same ages. These events are sad and tragic, but extensive study shows that they are not caused by this vaccine. Alan Cassels also states that so far there is no proof that the HPV vaccine prevents cervical cancer. As we noted, there are excellent data from around the world that the vaccine effectively prevents the pre-cancerous lesions that precede all cervical cancers. We would not characterize these as “surrogate markers.” Not all these lesions will become cancers, but no cancer will occur without a preceding precancerous change. And, to conduct a study where we wait for women to develop cervical cancer to show the proof of the HPV vaccine compared to placebo would be highly unethical. Alan Cassels asks whether “given that 90 percent of HPV infections are asymptomatic and will clear within two years…is it possible that public health officials have reconfigured a small risk factor into a deadly disease?” Well—your readers can be the judge of that. Most infected women will in fact clear HPV infection; only a minority will have persistent infection leading to pre-cancerous changes. Most of these can be picked up through cervical screening and surgical procedures (colposcopies) will be used to treat these changes. In BC in 2014 around 16,000 of these surgical colposcopies were performed—procedures which, though clearly beneficial as they have been shown to prevent subsequent cancer development, are sometimes associated with complications for women’s future reproductive health, including leading to higher rates of low birth weight and preterm labour, as well as the inherent risks of the colposcopy treatment itself. Despite these interventions, in 2015, 178 cases of cervical cancer were diagnosed, and 42 women died from it. Is this acceptable? It might be to Mr Cassels, but we think this is a cavalier attitude. There are good data that the HPV vaccine prevents 100 percent of infections with HPV 16/18, the most oncogenic (cancer-causing) types, and has been shown to prevent a substantial proportion (20-45 percent) of pre-cancerous changes in vaccinated women. These reductions in precancerous lesions avert many thousands of colposcopies and, it is reasonable to presume, will reduce the number of women developing cervical cancer and the associated morbidity and mortality. In BC alone, even with fewer than 70 percent of eligible women vaccinated against HPV, we have seen a substantial reduction in pre-cancerous cervical lesions in the young women vaccinated in grades 6 and 9. Given [this] are we really still asking “does this vaccine work?” Our real question and focus should be: “How do we improve uptake of the HPV vaccine, so that all young women (and men) no longer develop HPV-related cancers?” We assert, based on the evidence, that the available HPV vaccines are both safe and effective. We hope that individuals who are wavering on the question of having their children vaccinated will make up their minds based on fact rather than innuendo. We also believe that publicly funding this vaccine is a sound use of finite health care resources. Dr Perry Kendall, Prov. Health Officer Dr Gina Ogilvie, professor, UBC Alan Cassels responds: To write me off as a “vaccine skeptic” who cherry picks his evidence, and relies on innuendo is an ad hominem attack and the lowest form of debate. There are still major questions around this particular vaccine’s efficacy and safety. One should always question the major cheerleaders of any drug or vaccine, because as vigorously as they say they are striving to improve public health, the history of medicine is littered with good (but disasterous) intentions. AC “Undue hardship” for whom? A developer is seeking permission to build a five-storey, 14-unit luxury condo building (“The Quest”) on a 10,588 square-foot residential lot at 2326 Oak Bay Avenue in Oak Bay. The plan includes underground parking: the entire size of the lot will be excavated by prolonged and extensive blasting to a depth of 12 feet. All existing trees, shrubs and topsoil would be removed. Not surprisingly the proposal violates many Oak Bay Official Community Plan objectives. As well, the proposal would result in the destruction of a significant, protected, approximately 200-year-old Garry Oak tree at 2340 Oak Bay Avenue. The Advisory Planning Commission considered the proposal on July 4, 2017. The developer’s consultant and Oak Bay staff agreed the protected Garry Oak is healthy and has many more years of life left and the proposal would destroy the tree. Since Garry Oaks are protected in Oak Bay, any alterations to the tree must comply with Bylaw 4326. The relevant clause in this case states that the tree at issue can only be removed if “a requirement to construct the building or structure in an alternate location would impose an undue hardship.” The 2326 property was purchased by the developer for $900,000. It is estimated that the total list price for the proposed development will be approximately $13 million. Alternate proposals have been previously suggested for this site that would not require destroying the tree. The developer would still make a tidy profit—albeit not as large as the one he’d earn by destroying the tree. This begs the question: Is requiring a developer to earn a slightly smaller profit in order to comply with Oak Bay’s Tree Bylaw an “undue hardship”? Or is the true “undue hardship” our community’s loss of a majestic iconic symbol of Oak Bay and our commitment to the environmental benefits of protecting and enhancing an urban forest, pursuant to Oak Bay’s Urban Forest Strategy? Mike Wilmut, Oak Bay Development process broken My neighbours and I have closely watched the development application process for the Truth Centre Property at 1201 Fort Street. It’s made many of us realize our city planning and development process is utterly broken. Abstract Developments intends to transform the park-like area of almost two acres into a dense apartment condo and townhouse complex. Most of the trees will be replaced by two large and out-of-place condo buildings, and a row of ten, three-storey townhouses. In total, 94 units. The community has stated its overwhelming opposition to the scale of the development. The proposed six-storey condo facing Fort dwarfs anything in the area. The wall of 10 townhouses with little setback dominates the small street. The scale of a second condo apartment in the rear is too massive. The architecture does not reflect the heritage corridor or the surrounding homes. The removal of trees is inconsistent with the Official Community Plan and denies Victoria a much-needed urban greenspace. The impact to wildlife is sobering. City Council heard us, sending Abstract back to the drawing board to address questions of scale, height, and heritage architecture. But Abstract’s response was to increase the proposed units from 93 to 94! If this proposal is accepted, Mayor and council will be promoting overdevelopment and demonstrating their lack of respect for neighbourhood input—even after Abstract has ignored theirs. Let’s hope they can repair the broken development process by saying “No” to Abstract’s proposal. Chris Douglas Gonzales Neighbourhood Plan I am forwarding you a note I sent today to Victoria City council about tomorrow’s meeting of the whole to consider approval of the draft Gonzales Neighbourhood Plan: The survey was full of leading and misleading questions. The public consultations were insufficient and were more akin to telling us your plans than listening to the needs and wishes of voters. The time span between alerting the public to your plans and bringing forward a draft plan for approval has been woefully inadequate. There is simply too much information for residents of the neighbourhood to have reviewed in order to have understood your plans and commented in a meaningful way. I contacted all councillors; only three bothered to respond. I have reached out several times directly to the council representative for the area and have yet to hear from Councillor Coleman. None of this supports approval. Neighbours have made the same comments. The proposed plan has many components that will significantly alter the community and it would be in everyone’s best interest to take the time for full and meaningful public consultations. The City has not done that. To date, the process has not earned you social license to proceed, and in fact promises to further alienate the public, many of whom see this plan as emanating from outside the community to serve someone else’s interests. Under the circumstances I implore you not to approve the draft plan unless and until full and proper public consultations have been completed. If this council is sincerely committed to transparency, accountability and public engagement, here is an opportunity to demonstrate that commitment. I recommend that you do so. Michael Bloomfield
  10. Volume 30 Number 1 Sept-Oct 2017 Focus.pdf 4 Leslie Campbell | ARE THE CRD’S CLIMATE CHANGE GOALS PIE-IN-THE-SKY? One key policy, densification of the core, makes little sense in the face of the CRD’s impotence in controlling sprawl. 14 David Broadland | DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS ON THE STEEP DESCENT AHEAD To create a realistic pathway to a low-carbon regional transportation system, science—not activism—needs to lead the way forward. 20 Leslie Campbell | BC BURNING A forest and fire ecologist discusses her research on how to reduce the damage being done to BC’s forests by fires. 24 Briony Penn | NEW GOVERNMENT WILL REVIEW “PROFESSIONAL RELIANCE” The practice may have played a leading role in creating some of BC’s most high-profile environmental blunders. 26 Alan Cassels | BETTER PROSPECTS FOR SUSTAINABLE HEALTHCARE? Our new provincial government faces a litmus test in how it deals with diabetes-mongering. 28 Judith Lavoie | TREES, AND THE CLIMATE FORECAST FOR VICTORIA Expect hotter summers and winter deluges. Retaining trees could reduce the worst impacts, including the cost of mitigation. 30 Briony Penn | BEACONS OF HOPE FOR THE SALISH SEA Can a swimmer, First Nations and Thomas Berger, QC, turn the tide on Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline? 32 Aaren Madden | THERE IS TRUTH HERE First Nations children’s art, created at residential and day schools, opens pathways for healing and reconciliation. 50 Mollie Kaye | THE BILLS, DECADE THREE The beloved Victoria-based Canadian roots band continues to evolve and thrive. 54 Monica Prendergast | HOMEGROWN, CANADIAN THEATRE Victorians can enjoy a wealth of made-in-Canada works being staged locally this fall. 56 Amy Reiswig | REFUGIUM: POEMS FOR THE PACIFIC Victoria poet laureate Yvonne Blomer combines literary forces to appreciate and protect our large salty neighbour. 58 Gene Miller | EXIT, DREAMING With David Butterfield’s passing, Victoria has lost one of its major investors in social capital. 60 Maleea Acker | BRING SUSTAINABILITY HOME A field trip to Northern Europe is “offset” by the ripple effect of knowledge gained. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | ONE MAN’S TRASH Could “garbage” soon become obsolete?
  11. In TCM it attacks exactly along the path of Shao Yang channel which belongs to Gall Bladder and Triple Warmer acupuncture channel. By using specific points in that channel and formulas, such as for example Xiao Chai Hu Tang, or its modification, the disease can be completely cured. It is done so, without the controversial vaccine, utilizing the body's own healing ability. It often makes me sad, and i feel overwhelmed seeing the task ahead,of public education almost impossible to achieve. Especially if the shingles treatment in TCM is not yet known to the medical society and the public. This and many other benefits of Chinese medicine can completely surpass modern medicine and it can be such a great complement in our modern reality. One of my teachers, Ikeda Sensei, predicted the Bird Flue, N1H1, and others and mentioned that those formulas that come from Shan Han Lun's (142-220 AD by Zhang Zhong Jing, Treatise of Cold Disease) will still work for those modern epidemics when applying the knowledge in TCM pathology of meridians and syndromes correctly. Such a heritage and chance to help public health we have in our reach. We just need to be open, and not prejudiced, against other medical systems. I enjoy reading your articles in Focus. I feel your work is a very much ground work of public awareness and healthy criticism of current medical system in our community. Thank you. Dr. Katrine B. Hegillman Dr. TCM, BSc. R.Ac.
  12. July-August 2017 Focus.pdf 4 Leslie Campbell | TAKE DOWN A PARKING LOT AND PUT UP A PARADISE Affordable housing—for low- and moderate-income people working Downtown—should be a City of Victoria priority. 14 David Broadland | MAYOR HELPS’ 1.5 PERCENT SOLUTION Local government’s response to reducing transportation emissionsmay be wishful thinking. Or foolish. 18 Judith Lavoie | TRANS MOUNTAIN: DONE DEAL OR DEAD IN THE WATER? The project faces stiff opposition from a new governmentand legal challenges by First Nations and others. 22 Ross Crockford | HOW TO LOSE AT BRIDGE, AND POOL Victoria’s council still needs to learn lessons for its next big project. 24 Alan Cassels | A POX ON THEIR HOUSE Confusion around chicken pox and shinglescould be costly to Victoria consumers. 26 David Broadland | DUMB QUESTIONS AND THEIR (POSSIBLY) PROFOUND CONSEQUENCES To not be misled by experts into making bad decisions, elected officialsneed to ask hard questions. Voters need to elect prosecutors, not patsies. 30 Aaren Madden | NAOMI CAIRNS Painterly techniques and lived experience imbue her marine landscapeswith a sense of place, time and abundance. 44 Mollie Kaye | GETTING NAKED WITH ARTIST NICOLE SLEETH Her paintings put female nudes in the “power position.” 50 Mollie Kaye | RESURRECTING MUSIC THAT GOT BURIED ALIVE Suzanne Snizek wields her flute as a weapon against bigotry and suppression. 52 Monica Prendergast | SHAKESPEARE SEASON “All the world’s a stage,” especially in the summer months. 54 Amy Reiswig | PAULO DA COSTA An out-of-the-box thinker, writer, editor and translator believesin daring to be different for the social good. 56 Bill Currie | DR TED ROSENBERG: GERIATRIC GAME-CHANGER Visiting seniors in their homes, Dr Rosenberg and his teamfocus on their quality of life. 58 Gene Miller | OH, GIVE ME A HOME Providing homes to those in need can be viewed as revolution insurance. 60 Maleea Acker | KIDS LEARNNING ABOUT THEIR LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS Monterey Middle School’s nature-focused programnurtures a sense of place and a caretaking ethic. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | PUTTING OUR SENSES IN ORDER Time spent in nature is time well spent.
  13. May-June 2017 Focus.pdf 4 Leslie Campbell | CASH-FOR-ACCESS FLOURISHES IN BC POLITICS Corporate donations and lobbying make meaningful climate action—and democracy—impossible. 14 David Broadland | DAZED AND CONFUSED ON THE JOHNSON STREET BRIDGE The project seems to be a complete fiasco. But is that just a perception created by something in the air? 20 Ross Crockford | WOW, LOOK AT ALL THE ZEROS How many big infrastructure projects can the City of Victoria tackle at once? 22 Judith Lavoie | A PERFECT STORM FOR VICTORIA RENTERS Low supply, increasing demand, higher rents, and “renovictions” —is any relief in sight? 26 Alan Cassels | HEALTH MINISTRY FIRINGS: A STUNNING LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY The Ombudsperson’s 500-page report delivers condemnation, but leaves us hungry for an answer to “Why?” 28 Briony Penn | AN ORWELLIAN PATH TO FRAUD IN BC’S FORESTS Management of public forests by the forest industry isn’t in the public interest. 32 Aaren Madden | ALL TOGETHER NOW Luke Ramsey’s multidisciplinary art practice is all about collaboration —with other artists, and with viewers. 48 Mollie Kaye | EINE KLEINE SUMMER MUSIC 30th ANNIVERSARY The June concert series celebrates the natural power and intimacy of chamber music. 52 Aaron Stefik | A STORY OF QUEER JUSTICE, VICTORIA 1860 Site-specific theatre brings history to life in Bastion Square. 54 Monica Prendergast | WTF? Be part of the change. Get off the couch and see live performances. 56 Amy Reiswig | EDEN ROBINSON: SON OF A TRICKSTER A coming-of-age story invites us to step out of the comfortable. 58 Gene Miller | PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME, VICTORIA As waves of newcomers arrive, opportunity and peril loom over our urban identity. 60 Maleea Acker | THE DEVASTATION AND RESTORATION OF TOD INLET A century ago, Robert Butchart’s cement works used the inlet as a dump; help is finally on the way. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Are we hurting ourselves when we oppose mixed housing?
  14. March-April 2017 Focus.pdf 4 Leslie Campbell | HOW THE REFUGEE CRISIS IS PLAYING OUT IN VICTORIA America is slamming its door on refugees. Will Canada open its wider? 14 Ross Crockford | A POOL OF MONEY, OLYMPIC-SIZED The City of Victoria wants to build a $70-million swimming pool but must first obtain consent from electors to borrow $60 million. 14 Judith Lavoie | SHAWNIGAN WATER FEARS SPILL INTO ELECTION Environment Minister Polak cancelled South Island Aggregates’ wastewater discharge permit, but will the bad taste left behind impact the provincial election? 16 David Broadland | VICTORIA’S ICONIC, WORLD-CLASS BLUNDER Project promoters are still claiming the new bridge will be “world-class” and “iconic.” Unfortunately, they may be right. 20 Judith Lavoie | BC’S CLIMATE DEBATE HEATS UP We analyzed the climate action strategies of BC’s political parties in the lead-up to May’s election. 24 Alan Cassels | LETTER TO VICTORIA’S SOCCER MOMS The “selling sickness” model is in full display in pushing grade 6 boys towards a questionable vaccine. 26 Briony Penn | WHALES OF THE SALISH SEA Despite all the noise, pollution and overfishing, the orca are still here. 30 Ross Crockford | TALES OF TWO BOOKSELLERS Mel Bolen and Jim Munro built monuments to the written word. 32 Aaren Madden | FULL CIRCLE Artist Susan Point has pushed boundaries for women and Coast Salish design. 50 Robin J. Miller | ROBB BERESFORD IS BACK IN TOWN Former Ballet Victoria star returns to Victoria with renowned Alonzo King LINES Ballet of San Francisco. 52 Amy Reiswig | SILKY SASS AND SECRET LIVES The Millies give voice to their daring, fun-loving, theatrical selves in a benefit for Hospice. 54 Monica Prendergast | ALICE MUNRO, WORD FOR WORD The Belfry gives us two stories from Canada’s beloved Nobel-winner. 56 Amy Reiswig | SACRED HERB / DEVIL’S WEED Andrew Struthers takes readers on a long, strange—and fun—trip through marijuana and human culture. 58 Gene Miller | COMMUNITY IS PERISHABLE And somebody should definitely do something about this sometime. 60 Maleea Acker | LOUISE GOULET: PLANT SALVAGER AND CONSERVATIONIST Preserving the flora of the Garry Oak meadow ecosystem in the face of development. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | EULOGY VIRTUES What makes people truly good?
  15. Jan-Feb 2017 Focus.pdf 4 David Broadland | HOW IS THE AMERICAN ELECTION LIKE ALBERTA’S OIL SANDS? North Americans are becoming increasingly innumerate and vulnerable to disinformation. 6 Blaise Salmon | LIBERALS NOT PROTECTING DRINKING WATER Any quarry can apply for a permit to accept contaminated waste, regardless of where it is located. 14 David Broadland | ALBERTA’S DEATH GRIP ON CANADA Trudeau linked approval of Trans Mountain to Alberta’s “cap” on oil sands emissions. Has that cap already been exceeded? 18 Judith Lavoie | NDP AND LIBERALS WALK A TIGHTROPE ON TRANS MOUNTAIN The road to election success in BC is paved with pipeline pitfalls. 20 Briony Penn | TRANS MOUNTAIN: WHEN THE BITUMEN HITS THE FAN British Columbians gear up with court challenges, protest plans, and voting campaigns to prevent the pipeline. 22 Leslie Campbell | GETTING GROWTH RIGHT The Capital Region’s population is expected to grow to 442,000 in the next 20 years. Where are we going to put everyone? 28 Alan Cassels | HIGH ON DRUG INDUSTRY DONATIONS? Policies friendly to the manufacturers of prescription drugs bear a lot of responsibility for the current opioid crisis. 30 Katherine Palmer Gordon | ON SHAKY GROUND Our correspondent was in Wellington, New Zealand when a M7.8 earthquake struck in November. Her experience illustrates what could be in store for Victoria. 34 Aaren Madden | THE FULLNESS OF EMPTINESS Karel Doruyter’s forest landscapes contemplate the monumental presence that can be found in places of isolation. 52 Mollie Kaye | DUBINSKY’S DELIGHT In honour of their 30th anniversary, the Lafayette String Quartet performs Shostakovich’s complete string quartet cycle. 54 Monica Prendergast | WITHER THE CRITIC? What role does theatre criticism play in a post-truth world? 56 Amy Reiswig | JAN ZWICKY: THE LONG WALK What do you really need on the long walk besides a humble, open mind and the courage to see? 58 Gene Miller | DOUGIE Douglas Street, once fully invested with life and social purpose, now seems diminished. 60 Maleea Acker | TOWARDS REWILDING A CITY CREEK Dorothy Field explains her passion for Rock Bay Creek, which once flowed from Fernwood to the Inner Harbour. 62 Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic | STEWARDSHIP IS ITS OWN REWARD Musings on making the transition away from fossil fuels.
  16. The brave new world of GMO salmon joins other absurdities like flooding the fertile Peace River Valley. WHEN IT COMES TO RANKING SPECIES dumb enough to skunk their own food supply, I’d say we’re far enough in front of the pack to be placed in a class all our own. Perhaps it all started some 30 centuries ago with the invention of currency, which turned everything into a measurable commodity and made way for the storing of wealth. The traditional fruits of bartering—fresh figs, fish and falafel, for example—had not been well suited for hoarding, but coins and tokens certainly were, and over time that changed everything. Along the way bigger players jumped in and shifted the focus to yields and profit. That led to the 19th century invention of synthetic fertilizers and rudimentary selective breeding in both plants and animals. Then food scientists started tinkering in labs and factories, which launched much grand-scale chemical cookery and the advent of “processed food.” The best known food-like product is probably Kraft Dinner, invented in the US in 1937 and shortly thereafter selling up to 70 million boxes annually in Canada. Corporate cookbooks also gained favour at this time. After the troubles of the Depression and war, homemakers reportedly found it comforting to be guided by professional instructions (that invariably called for a can of soup or box of cake mix). Times were favourable for the rising food giants, and for the remainder of the century they rolled out ever more modern foods that kept us all full and happy. And so we moved forward, one seemingly good and sensible step at a time to the place we are today, which is a dizzying height above the fertile land where we once all stood so solidly rooted. Feeding the planet has become a $7 trillion industry that’s been reconfigured so many times it’s now largely owned by 10 huge companies, according to Behind the Brands, a comprehensive 2013 Oxfam report. Every brand you cherish very likely belongs to one of these conglomerates. And that’s not all. Could you handle knowing how deeply the tobacco industry has insinuated itself into the food business? No? I’ll leave that for another time then. The Oxfam report slams every single one of the Big 10 for exploiting the environment, the workers, the food supply and the consumer. Workers are routinely squeezed out of decent wages and now-epidemic diseases such as diabetes and obesity are being directly linked to the consumption of junk food and pop. It’s obscene that we’re being harmed so knowingly and wilfully. All over the world we’re damaging the very systems that nourish us. In BC we have, among other degradations, the planned flooding of the fertile Peace River Valley and the ever-increasing threat to our food-rich coastal waters. Our government’s blinkered ambition to choose foreign coinage over local health and well-being is ruining us. (And this under the deceitful guise of helping China repair its contaminated environment.) There is no end to our food myopia. Last year in BC we ground 55,000 tonnes of wild Pacific hake into meal for poultry and farmed salmon after Russia, the anticipated buyer, became politically miffed and cancelled its order. That’s 55,000 truckloads of quality local food going into the grinder while we cross our fingers and eat mediocre farmed seafood from Asia. Then there’s the brave new world of GMO. Two months ago Canadian grocers gained federal permission to begin selling genetically modified salmon. AquaBounty, an American company, will “produce” the altered eggs in PEI, grow them to full size in Panama where they’ll also be processed, and ship the fillets back to Canada for sale. GMO labelling will not be required. I don’t know how this makes sense, but do watch for unlabelled, giant, farmed, Atlantic salmon coming soon to a store near you. The land-based scenarios are equally appalling. Clearly the industry doesn’t care about our health; they don’t have to because our need to eat keeps us tethered to them. But we can make choices and boycott the junk. We can support local food and farmland, and take advantage of long seasons and the option to garden. We can educate ourselves and help guide food policy. We must. Coins won’t save us when all the good food is gone. Trudy Duivenvoorden Mitic gets much of her family’s fruits and vegetables from her back yard garden. Gardening also helps keep her healthy and sane.
  17. Habitat Acquisition Trust volunteers help to save local frogs, salamanders and other amphibians. ONE NIGHT LAST SPRING, when John Potter and Joan Hendrick were out scanning a kilometre of dark, rainy road by their house in the Highlands, a woman stopped her car to ask if they were looking for something. “Yes,” replied Hendrick, “dead amphibians.” She laughs as she tells the story, but she can’t picture a rural road on a warm, wet night these days without thinking of the casualties likely happening around the region. “I didn’t understand,” she says, “until I started walking. You see them everywhere.” During summer’s heat, as residents enjoy the local lakes and the winding roads of Saanich and the Highlands, it’s easy to forget the creatures that live alongside in forests, fields and wetlands. But come September’s rains, amphibians like rough-skinned newts, long-toed salamanders and red-legged frogs will make a treacherous journey across these lanes of traffic. The region’s amphibians complete two migrations a year. In early spring, they move from upland forests to lower wetlands to find mates and lay eggs. In August and September, they journey in reverse, back to their winter forests. Unfortunately, many of the region’s rural areas have roads that bisect this migration route. On parts of West Saanich Road and Munn Road, the mortality of these species can be shockingly high. In one night in 2015, volunteers counted 369 dead amphibians (mostly Pacific tree frogs) on one curve of West Saanich. Almost 100 more were counted at the hot spot near the Potters’ house on Prospect Lake Road. Potter’s and Hendrick’s observational tasks are part of their work as long-term volunteers with Habitat Acquisition Trust (HAT), a non-profit conservation organization that helps to preserve and restore native ecosystems around the south island. HAT began its Amphibian Roadkill Project in 2015 and now coordinates with volunteers around the region. Volunteers—usually clad in raincoats and reflective vests—complete counts of amphibian mortalities, including species type and number and GPS location, recording the data on waterproof paper that HAT supplies. They also help amphibians across the road, picking up the slow-moving newts and salamanders and carrying them from one side to the other. Since learning the places where amphibians tend to migrate, Hendrick says that she’s become more careful. “I’ve been yelled at for hitting the brakes for a frog when driving,” she admits. More than 20 species of frogs and salamanders make their home in BC, with many concentrated in the southern part of the province, where low, temperate wetlands provide ideal habitat. The word amphibian means “double life,” and refers to their larval and adult stages, when they transform from aquatic, gilled animals into air-breathing, land-based animals. Amphibians are key players in the planet’s web of life. They eat insects, help to protect agricultural crops, and serve as prey for larger animals. But amphibian numbers are in decline world wide; their sensitive, porous skin makes them among the first casualties from pesticide run-off and other water pollutants, habitat change, and ecosystem fragmentation. Because they are so sensitive, they act as an indicator species, warning of potentially dangerous environmental conditions that could also harm human health. Despite their key role, Alanah Nasadyk, the Community Outreach and Development Coordinator for HAT, tells me that relatively little is known about breeding ground locations for amphibians in the region as well as the species that inhabit them. The Environmental Studies department at UVic came into being only in the late 1990s, she explains; for the Capital Region, knowledge of habitat and number of species is research that just hasn’t yet been done. Potter and Hendrick, along with other volunteers who patrol local roads, pass their information to HAT, who have created species maps for Highlands, Metchosin and the CRD as a whole, as well as hot spot maps where casualties tend to be particularly high. “We’re really relying on citizen science,” stresses Nasadyk. HAT hopes that zeroing in on hot spots could help convince governments to build amphibian tunnels to provide safe passage under, instead of over, roads, as well as to post signage, warning drivers of crossings. They would also like to see increased study of diseases specific to amphibians, which is where broader scientific collaboration comes into play. The results of the volunteer field work and HAT’s mapping efforts aren’t useful just to the region. HAT also works with the University of Victoria’s Microbiology Department, where the department’s lab focuses on applying what is known about human health to animal health. Some HAT volunteers recover the remains of amphibians who have died crossing the region’s roads. If they’re in passable condition, they donate them to UVic, where Caren Helbing, professor of microbiology and biochemistry, is happy to receive them. “It’s an exciting and critical partnership,” says Helbing, as HAT provides much of the fieldwork that the lab can’t always do. Helbing stresses that UVic’s research concentrates on non-lethal methods as much as possible. In one nook of the lab, four bullfrogs in various stages of transformation from tadpole to mature frog bump their noses against their plastic bucket. But the acquisition of a rare species, even if it’s no longer alive, is a welcome gift. Helbing’s lab recently completed the first sequencing of the frog genome. When I visit, she pulls out small test tubes of a white, nebula-like material floating in liquid: pure DNA, millions of strands in each vial. Using DNA pulled from species collected by HAT, Helbing’s lab is advancing research on how metamorphosis occurs in amphibians, how their health can indicate wider patterns of health in the animal world (in species such as Beluga whales, spot prawns and mussels), and the health of a region’s water supply. In the CRD, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) like polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which can act as endocrine disruptors, have recently been found in the region’s river otter populations. Endocrine disruptors change hormone levels in animals. Higher levels of thyroid hormone can disrupt or alter metamorphosis for amphibians and cause changes in sex organs and the development of tumours. Tracking the presence of POPs can help indicate amphibian health—and human health—around the region. HAT’s goal is primarily to raise awareness of impacts amphibians face not just through road mortality, but through the introduction of amphibian diseases from Europe and Asia. Many families buy foreign salamanders or newts as pets; diseases can accompany them. When the aquarium has served its purpose, too often the water is dumped into local waterways or down the toilet, which can spread fungal diseases like Bsal, an amphibian fungal disease responsible for significant amphibian deaths in other parts of the world. Helbing thinks it’s only a matter of time before these diseases reach North America, and wetlands like those in the Highlands. During my visit to Potter’s and Hendrick’s home, over a dozen bird species mob the feeders outside their windows. They also have a neighbourhood bear that visits from time to time. They boast of not having to mow a lawn, and it’s obvious that the region’s natural habitat is impetus to their need to volunteer, not only through amphibian counts but by installing bat boxes for HAT, restoring native ecosystems with the CRD and enjoying work parties on Haliburton Farm. “Your level of awareness,” she tells me, “really increases. There are lots of little creatures out there, you just have to look for them. You think of that on rainy, warm nights.” Maleea Acker is the author of Gardens Aflame: Garry Oak Meadows of BC’s South Coast (New Star, 2012). She is currently completing a PhD in Human Geography, focusing on the intersections between the social sciences and poetry.
  18. How is a city like an older guy’s memory? PETE SENDS YOU AN EMAIL titled “Be Smarter Forever.” Your indecisive forefinger wears an arc between “delete” and “open,” but anticipation is out-shouting your cautious angels and you’re seized by a reckless courage: “I’m immortal! I spit in Death’s eye! I’m gonna live for-ev-ah!” “Open.” Oops! Another dream of imperishability bites the dust. Mortal, according to Wikipedia, means “able to die, susceptible to death,” death-able, you might say—in any case, the natural prospect that makes “see-you-next-year” a real knee-slapper. Wikipedia references a condition called mortality salience, which is “when an individual becomes aware that his or her death is inevitable.” The term is commonly bandied in terror management theory, a field of study that claims, “mortality salience causes existential anxiety.” Existential anxiety, presumably, is less worry over running out of milk, more running out of heartbeats. A final notation states that religious fundamentalists are less vulnerable to the “manipulations” of mortality salience—yet another dividend of being Chosen instead of choosey. I can remember how, as an impatient and vital youngster, I would be offended and scandalized when my parents dragged me to family get-togethers and the oldsters did nothing, it seemed, but sit around sighing about their own and everyone else’s infirmities, declining health or medical crises. It felt like the opposite of living. Of course, my candle was long, then. Now, I’m somewhat closer to guttering, and have noticed that my own conversation with friends about our acquaintances increasingly features “decrepit,” “could hardly recognize her,” or “forgot his own name”—recalling the joke about the hard-of-hearing seniors: “I want a divorce.” “Did you look in the fridge?” What puts any of this in mind is a heavy, solid brass mortar and pestle—damn thing must weigh ten pounds—inscribed in Russian (Cyrillic) I can’t read, and which normally sits on a shelf in my place catching dust and the occasional suicidal yellowjacket. It was my grandparents’ and was given to my mom, the second of their five daughters, as a house present when she married. It was kid-proof, indestructible, and six-year-old me used it to experimentally pulverize everything from filberts to quartz pebbles. Consideration of this heirloom drew me impulsively to a cluster of framed family photographs—usually just wallpaper, but this day animated and meaningful. A photo of my young dad standing in a white t-shirt beneath a tree stirs an incongruous memory: my parents have driven us a hundred miles north of our New York City home for a Catskills resort vacation (“more Jews than cows”), where I hear for the first time in my life the phrase, “Rise and shine!” which, once back home, turns into menacing Professor Reisenschein in my kid’s written fantasies. There exists an archival photo of aging but still dashing virtuoso pianist Vladimir Horowitz, shown in profile, taking a bow at the conclusion of a January, 1943 recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall. The photo captures Horowitz, in tails, mid-bow beside the piano, and the enraptured audience on its feet, giving the pianist a standing ovation. A woman, thirtyish, but looking younger, girlish, stands and applauds adoringly from the lower balcony. This is my mother, Rose; the woman standing beside her, her sister Elise. Composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, Horowitz’s great friend, will die in two months and my mom will, to far less applause, give birth to me seven months after attending this concert. “Nothing distinguishes memories from ordinary moments. Only later do they become memorable by the scars they leave,” says the narrator in Chris Marker’s film, La Jetee. My mom’s parents, Mendel and Bessie, came from Russia; my dad’s, unknown to me, from Germany. For reasons he never explained with any persuasive clarity, my father, born in 1910, changed his name—“Americanized,” they called it—from Pfau to the characterless and ordinary Miller. As a young teenager under the spell of Erich Maria Remarque’s novels (Arch of Triumph, All Quiet On the Western Front, Heaven Has No Favorites, etc.), I imagined myself not Gene or the dreaded Eugene (bellowed, for maximum humiliation, “Yew-geee-un” by my mom in her most nasal Bronx twang in the most public places, of course), but Eugen (as in the German, Oy followed by the hard G of get, so, Oy-gen). Eugen Pfau: Man on the Bridge. Eugen Pfau: Courier at Midnight. Eugen Pfau: Amsterdam Rendezvous. My mom, inheriting her father’s passion for classical music (he endlessly reminded everyone that he had once shaken Toscanini’s hand at a New York Philharmonic Orchestra concert), studied violin for years at the Manhattan School of Music and fashioned herself a serious and talented musician. At the end of one impromptu family musicale (two of her sisters were pianists), my grandfather muttered to me, in a confidential but hardly inaudible whisper, this verdict: “Woodchopper.” Poor mom, a woodchopper, not a celestial prodigy, and clearly destined always to be in the balcony, never on stage, at Carnegie Hall. I’ve been narrating these bits of my own past well aware that each of us navigates in a “furnished void,” the subjective and almost fictional space of our own life. We grab at meaning, mostly through one form of story-telling or another. What at one moment feels edifice-like and substantial in its verity, the next seems evanescent, movie-like, speculative, almost imagined. We easily understand this about our own and other individual lives, but it’s equally true of wider human systems—organizations, institutions, social geographies. After all, what is history but fiction we all agree to believe? (Talk about managing terror!) This column has been making its meditative way toward a question, more of a proposition with a question mark, actually: Can whole cities, even as they appear to continue to function, lose their meaning and identity, and drop out of currency and public memory? I don’t mean that cities vanish; after all, there they are. But entire urban places do run out of “mission,” life force, story. Consider resource-based mill or mine towns in BC, whose ruins or residue are there to see. Or wickedly imagine Calgary post-oil. If you need more evidence, visit online the physical and social collapse of Buffalo, Detroit, Flint, Gary, Youngstown and others—once-great US places defined by their muscular industrial roles, their resources (steel, coal, human brawn) combined with the market gift of rail or a wide, flowing river or a lake port—in total, their “moment.”And when industry, economy, technology or mobility changed, the world’s regard shifted from these now-tragic legends towards other cities with more current or more durable aptitudes. Such places don’t die well or picturesquely—no Carthage with its photogenic columns and ruined stones on the hillside, or Atlantis, intact beneath the waves (coming sea-rise may someday create a hundred such). Today’s gut-punched cities finish without glory. Myth and memory hold on for the space of a long held breath and then are replaced by welfare lines, abandoned buildings, social anger, jungle law and the other telling signs of urban distress and disinvestment. Cities are simply accidents, or expressions, of the calculus of opportunity, and what is given by opportunity and circumstance can, and will, be taken back. “The ability of a city’s physical structure to organize and encode a stable social order depends on its [sustained] capacity to master and manipulate matter,” notes Mike Davis, in Dead Cities, a book of pensive essays about cities in human civilization. More quizzical subject-mate Italo Calvino in Invisible Cities exposes us to a string of fictional cities less geographic facts than emotional jurisdictions (“Cities and Desire,” etc). Calvino writes: “Cities, like dreams, are made of desires and fears. The catalogue of forms is endless: until every shape has found its city, the cities will continue to be born.” He might have added “and die.” After all, moods are not permanent. All of his cities are, of course, one city: humankind strategically or whimsically arranging itself on a landscape. And if you’re finding all of this a bit fanciful, I would ask: do you not see the entry sign, “Welcome to Vain Hope and Folly,” as you cross into the precious bubble of the Uplands—terror management at the urban scale? Intense discontinuity and dislocation are now affecting the world. It’s impossible to over-imagine the transformative impacts of globalization; the Internet; the massive jobs disruption of deindustrialization and technology; oligarchic consolidations of political and economic power; spreading citizen disappointment; and vast, unpredictable ecological payback from a stained and altered world. I have read some glorious, hopeful predictions, but they seem synthetic. I would put my money on messy. And somehow, in the middle of such churn, circumstances have conspired to sustain Victoria as a rare example of urban sanity and stability. This is our city’s role in destiny, our identity and our appeal in a jumpy world, our singular message: that traditions of civility and urbanity are not lost. Yes, but is it a local illusion, a fiction? Of course not. Will we endure? Yes, we will be this same place forever. A founder of Open Space and Monday Magazine, Gene Miller is currently promoting ASH, an affordable housing concept, and, with others, has initiated the New Economy Network.
  19. James Hoggan’s new book makes us look at our own communication practices, including our critical thinking, compassion and integrity. WHEN I WAS YOUNG, trolls were merely fearsome fictions hidden beneath bridges. Today they lurk under virtually every online news story, find their way into Twitter feeds and Facebook conversations, heaving insulting and ignorant comments, even rape and death threats into people’s personal space. They are no longer hiding, and the narrative world they inhabit is not safely contained by the covers of a book but is the story of our own daily lives. Internet trolls are just one manifestation of what PR guru James Hoggan identifies as a much bigger problem: the increasing pollution of the public square. In his new book I’m Right and You’re an Idiot: The Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up (With Grania Litwin, New Society 2016), Hoggan shines light into the dark places of contemporary communication, exploring what he calls “one of the most urgent and unexamined human relations problems of our time.” Ad hominem attacks, polarized and polarizing rhetoric, verbal shoving matches, misinformation and propaganda are not just nuisances, he argues; they are the noise that distracts us and allows us to waste time wounding each other rather than working together on slaying the real demons we all face. As Hoggan writes, “toxic conversations stall our ability to think collectively and solve the many dangerous problems that are stalking everyone on Earth.” Initially, Hoggan began his project looking at the toxic discourse impeding our ability to move forward on climate change. President of the Vancouver PR firm Hoggan and Associates, an operation he started in the basement three decades ago while completing his law degree in Victoria, Hoggan is also chair of the David Suzuki Foundation board, author of Climate Cover-Up: The Crusade to Deny Global Warming, and co-founder of the influential DeSmogBlog—a website dedicated to clearing the air of spin around climate science. He’s known Suzuki from back when the foundation was just being formed. “At that time,” Hoggan laughs during our phone interview, “it wasn’t cool for a businessman to be associated with David Suzuki.” Self-described as more right of centre than left, Hoggan got more and more interested, read voraciously on climate science and became convinced, as he tells me, that “you can’t argue with the reality of these problems.” Essentially, no matter where you stand on the political spectrum, we all live in the same environment, on the same planet. Invited to sit on the foundation’s board in 2003, Hoggan recounts how after a board meeting in Montreal, Suzuki asked him: “Why aren’t people paying more attention? There is enough evidence we are destroying the planet…How do we motivate the public to demand action?” That question was the first seed from which I’m Right grew. But Hoggan’s direction for a book aimed at understanding apathy in the face of facts was subtly changed when another seed was planted, this time under the Indian sun in far-off Dharamshala during an interview with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama. Yes, the environment was of topmost importance, the Dalai Lama told Hoggan, but he also said: “I think you acknowledge sometimes the Western brain looks more sophisticated, but in Tibet we operate from the heart and this is very strong. So combine these two…and then we will have real success.” The project then became, Hoggan explains, to write “a different kind of book,” one that wasn’t just about how to turn down the noise but how to tune into and educate the heart. The book is therefore not what you expect—at least not what I expected. Based on the title, I came to it thinking: “Yeah, why are all those aggressive, manipulative jerks out there being such aggressive, manipulative jerks? Let’s take ‘em down!” I imagined I’d have my outrage and indignation mirrored and see perpetrators satisfyingly shamed. On the contrary. While Hoggan does offer concrete examples and case studies of bad behaviour, I’m Right ultimately makes you look at your own communication practice, your participation in the public square, and calls you higher in terms of self-awareness, critical thinking, compassion and integrity. “Democracy doesn’t work on its own,” Hoggan tells me. “It’s not too late to change your own role in it.” To that end—helping us understand our role in shaping what goes on in the public square and demanding change within it—Hoggan interviews more than 20 of the world’s heavyweight thinkers: philosophers, professors, authors, facilitators, social and cognitive scientists. Just as scientists from many disciplines study pollution in our physical environment, these multidisciplinary experts delve into what underlies the polluted discursive environment in terms of human patterns of thought, action and reaction. Some names will be familiar, like Noam Chomsky, Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh or Joel Bakan, the writer and filmmaker behind The Corporation. Others might be lesser known locally but have incredible knowledge and wide-ranging experience on the global stage. “The reason it went that way,” Hoggan explains from his home office in Vancouver, “is because [the problem] is so complex. Who sits around thinking about the nature of public discourse?” He admits that we all kind of do in that we see it, whether in the rise of cyberbullying; in the divisive, racist and misogynist rhetoric of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign; when Enbridge conveniently deleted multiple islands from their map of the Douglas Channel (in order to make their tanker route appear less challenging); or when news outlets, including Victoria’s Times Colonist, shut down their online comments sections to dam the flood of verbal violence. The toxicity surrounds us, often draws us in, and we rarely have the time to cogitate deeply upon just what exactly is happening, why, and how to respond constructively. But Hoggan’s interviewees bring a diversity of perspectives and approaches to what is, at base, the subject of I’m Right—namely, Hoggan writes, “how we tell stories and how we treat each other.” The first half of the book describes and analyzes the polluted public square while the second half explores solutions and also issues some powerful challenges to change our behaviour, like Thich Nhat Hanh’s seemingly simple statement: “Speak the truth but not to punish.” While Hoggan’s book clearly has a sense of moral imperative, it’s humbling rather than preachy. In the same way that non-violent civil rights protests helped reveal status quo ugliness for what it was, Hoggan believes that civil dialogue can do the same and slowly replace acrimonious debate if we treat each other with more empathy and, above all, more curiosity rather than knee-jerk judgment. “That’s what is hopeful,” Hoggan says passionately, explaining how if people pay attention they can do more than just resist the new norms; they can change them. “As systems problems go—energy, financial, banking—one system that we can have influence over is social systems.” Despite the efforts of vested interests like government and industry to control the narrative, he says, “Public narrative needs to be community-developed not injected. We need public spaces.” Hoggan’s book can help us step in confidently, compassionately, unafraid. Writer and musician Amy Reiswig works by day (and sometimes into the night) as an editor for the provincial government.
  20. The past year’s theatrical highlights included ghosts, tears, music and silliness. THE SUMMER MONTHS are a bit quieter around town in regard to theatre. The Belfry always has a summer show and this year it’s a remount of the ever-popular Mom’s the Word. There are the outdoor options of the Greater Victoria Shakespeare Festival or Theatre SKAM’s SKAMpede. And, of course, the end of August brings us the Fringe Festival’s grab-bag of theatrical delights. Yet compared to many other months of the year, things slow down and Victorians turn their attention to nature-based activities, getaways and holidays. For me it is a good time to think back on the previous theatre season and reflect. I am a theatre educator in my work, so it feels only right that I consider what going to the theatre teaches me. What did I learn from this past season of local theatregoing and reviewing? Let’s begin with the two professional theatre companies in town: The Belfry and Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. I admit to missing the Belfry’s sell-out show of the season, the Leonard Cohen anthology Chelsea Hotel, that many seemed to love. Next season Artistic Director Michael Shamata has programmed a similar musical revue show, this time using the music of Joni Mitchell rather than Leonard Cohen. No doubt it will also prove to be popular. But my most memorable show of the Belfry season was Joan MacLeod’s The Valley. I interviewed MacLeod for my February Curtain Call column and am a big fan of her work. This play tackled the tough topics of mental health and police intervention. It brought these hot-button issues down to the level of the lives of two families and their struggles before and after a Vancouver Police officer has injured a young man suffering from anxiety and depression. MacLeod walks a fine line in not judging her characters. She gives us a story filled with compassion, complexity and a sense of hopefulness that, working together, we can support both those who are struggling to regain their mental health as well as those whose job it is to protect us from harm. The production was well-directed by former Belfry AD Roy Surette and the cast of four was compelling. I was moved to tears by the end, a testament to the empathy good theatre can evoke. Blue Bridge’s 2016 spring and summer season has just begun, so I can comment here only on their first production, Long Day’s Journey into Night. It was definitely a highlight of the year for me. Performing the play is like climbing Mount Everest for the four main actors in it, clocking in as it does at three acts and nearly four hours running time. Eugene O’Neill’s autobiographical play was not performed until after his death, according to his wishes, as it is so revelatory about himself and his highly dysfunctional family. The play is an emotional marathon for both performers and audiences. I saw it on Broadway in 2003 with Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Dennehy, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robert Sean Leonard. It was a shattering experience, so seeing it again I was definitely haunted by this memory. This happens often in theatregoing practice when seeing more than one production of the same play. The haunted sensation of seeing a play through your memory of a previous incarnation can be highly pleasurable or can be difficult, depending on context. Brian Richmond did an excellent job directing this Blue Bridge production with Toronto actors David Ferry and Kyra Harper as the parents James and Mary Tyrone, and Elliott Loran and Jacob Richmond as sons and brothers Edmund and Jamie. As the mother Mary slips back into her morphine addiction, the father and his sons fight and drink whiskey and spill secrets and resentments. The play leaves an audience with little hope of any improvement in the lot of this early 20th century Irish-American theatrical family. To lose oneself, as Mary does, in the dope-filled haze of past memories is a temporary balm that avoids facing the challenges lying ahead: poverty, illness and death. Great art such as O’Neill’s masterwork reminds us that denial is a tactic doomed to failure and that (as Leo Tolstoy opens Anna Karenina) each unhappy family is unhappy in its own unique ways. I left the theatre feeling drained but a little bit wiser, another gift theatre can provide. The one other professional company in town is Pacific Opera Victoria. They gave us a solid season but my highlight was The Barber of Seville for one reason. I took a group of my drama education students from UVic to see the show. I always take my students to the theatre. A comic opera felt like a good choice to introduce the art form to them and to encourage them to consider taking their own students to the opera and the theatre in future. Pacific Opera provides free classroom workshops for their shows so we were well prepared (including a viewing of the famous Bugs Bunny cartoon!) before we went. The production was terrific, but my memory of it is coloured by the pleasure of accompanying my students to the dress rehearsal and witnessing the enjoyment of their first time at the opera. Introducing young people to the performing arts has been a big part of my career. It feels very rewarding each time I am able to do so. The three most memorable non-professional shows I saw this season were all musicals. I find this remarkable as I am usually more drawn to plays than musicals. But the Phoenix’s Threepenny Opera, Canadian College of Performing Arts’ Into the Woods and the Victoria Operatic Society’s Spamalot were all first-rate. Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera, directed by Brian Richmond (a UVic theatre professor as well as founder of Blue Bridge Theatre), was a strong production of an important piece of pre-WWII German theatre. Brecht’s anti-capitalist and anti-fascist politics are in clear evidence, wrapped up in the entertaining plot and razor-sharp lyrics of Weill’s songs. The continuing relevance of these critical perspectives (President Trump?!) was what I carried out the door with me that night. At CCPA I enjoyed seeing one of my favourite theatre artist’s work performed by a group of talented students and capably directed by Sara-Jeanne Hosie. Stephen Sondheim is a notoriously difficult composer, but this cast tackled Into the Woods with plenty of gusto. This is another haunted show for me as I have seen productions of it in New York, Toronto and Vancouver. So, while I was definitely seeing and hearing some “ghosts” while watching this student production, I enjoyed the evident delight this young company took in tackling Sondheim’s heights. And the takeaway lesson here? Every fairy tale has an ending beyond its happy ending; “Sometimes people leave you/Halfway through the woods/You are not alone/Believe me/No one is alone.” Finally, I recently covered Eric Idle’s musical adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail renamed Spamalot. The musical was a huge hit on Broadway and in many subsequent remounts and tours. It proved to be a huge hit here as well in director Roger Carr’s skilled hands and with a terrific ensemble of actor/singers, designers and dancers. The show was a sellout at the MacPherson Theatre and rumour has it there will be another run of the show in the fall. Not all theatre has to carry a message or a lesson to be learned. I left the MacPherson with a big smile on my face and giggled all the way home. Sometimes pure silliness shared with a few hundred others can carry the day. Readers might be interested in performance theorist Marvin Carlson’s book The Haunted Stage: The Theatre as Memory Machine (University of Michigan Press, 2001) as the source for some of theatre educator Monica Prendergast’s thinking here.
  21. Six summer concerts offer a “less fearsome” way to start conversations about classical music. THE "MUSIC OF FRIENDS" is how chamber music is sometimes described, due to its requirements of good-natured give-and-take during performance. Goethe described the string quartet as “four rational people conversing.” Cooperation and connection are a fundamental part of the genre, and there is less separation between audience and performers than there would be in a large concert hall. It seems fitting, then, that the Victoria Summer Music Festival (VSMF) affords both performers and listeners ample opportunities to engage in musical conversation. Arthur Rowe, pianist and artistic director of the VSMF, says the delight of bringing together a community of musicians, together with the “human-scale experience” of chamber music, inspire him to create the programming for the festival, now in its twenty-first season. Rowe explains that while the concerts in the series typically sell out, and the enterprise has a very loyal following, chamber music provides a “less fearsome entry point” for those who might otherwise shy away from the perceived “stuffiness” of symphony concerts. He hopes a few more “newbies” will be inspired to attend concerts this year, all held at UVic’s Phillip T Young Recital Hall from July 26 to August 11. The formality often associated with classical music “is not something one feels in summer festivals,” Rowe remarks. “It’s a very open and friendly atmosphere; we try to encourage that personal connection with a pre-concert talk with the musicians who are featured that night.” The talks start around 6:40, concerts at 7:30. “A surprising number of audience members really enjoy them, and we get a pretty full house coming to the talks as well. There’s a loose, joking atmosphere discussing the music, and the performers take questions from the audience.” I had a few questions of my own for Rowe, regarding what exactly constitutes “chamber music.” At what point is a performance either too few, or too many musicians to fit the moniker? “We think of chamber music as anything that involves at least two players,” he explains. “The limit goes up to a nanette—nine players—and once you get to ten, you’re talking about a small chamber orchestra. There are a number of octets written as well; anything up to eight or nine is considered chamber music.” I then enquire about the two-performer thing. Rowe, as a pianist, has performed for decades, throughout the world and at the University of Victoria, where he is acting director of the School of Music. Does he see himself as an accompanist when he plays a duet with a violinist, for example? “A violin and piano is still chamber music, not a violin recital,” Rowe insists. So what constitutes a recital, then? A soloist? Rowe chuckles. “Yes, I’d say a soloist is giving a recital.” He says delineating between “recital” and “chamber music” also depends on the repertoire. “Certainly as a pianist, if you’re playing a showpiece with violin—or just a lovely lyrical ballad—you are, in a sense, trying to support the other instrument. Whereas if you’re playing a Brahms violin sonata, the piano is equal to—or even more important than—the violin. No matter what I’m playing, I think of it as an equal partnership. That doesn’t mean I need to be louder or heard more; it means we are both working together to create the best possible interpretation of that music.” The collaborative flavour of music performed without a conductor also seems to lead to a convivial atmosphere in the social circles of chamber music quartets and trios performing in Canada. Rowe explains that a few of the VSMF concerts have overlapping musicians, and the first concert of the series is a well-loved, double-bass-and-piano duo who bring together 18 bassists from across the globe to workshop and then perform on stage in an offering called “Basses Loaded.” Gary Karr is on the double bass, and Harmon Lewis, piano. This concert for VSMF will be their last, marking their official retirement. Karr will spend the month of July leading the 18 participants at the KarrKamp summer bass workshop. The concert will include Haydn’s String Quartet in E-flat major, also known as “The Joke,” due to its teasing of the audience with a series of “false” endings. Ravel and Coulthard will also be on the program. If you’re fortunate enough to be one of the 220 audience members taking in this farewell performance, it will likely be a memorable one. Another somewhat unusual offering on the VSMF menu is a concert featuring songs. That’s right—a singer in a chamber music festival. Again, I’m a bit surprised, thinking that somehow, singers can’t be part of “chamber music,” instead being relegated to “recitals” as soon as they’ve stepped away from an orchestra. Yet a little research yields the information that during the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, it was singers who anchored the “chamber music” experience, and the instruments just played along with the vocal lines. Of course this evolved into instrument-only compositions, but throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, vocalists were most definitely part of the chamber music mix. Mezzo-soprano Anita Krause will perform some of that 19th Century repertoire—Beethoven, to be exact—singing with the Duke Trio and offering Ludwig Van’s rarely performed Scottish Songs for Voice, Violin, Cello, and Piano. What a perfect Canadian offering, I enthuse. “And this is not a transcription,” Rowe explains, saying these songs were actually written originally for that format. So why is it so very rare to hear voices performing chamber music? “We think of chamber music as an instrumental thing,” Rowe says, “yet a number of composers, such as Schubert and Brahms, wrote for voice. The intimacy of a vocal program fits very well within the chamber music festival concept.” The real issue, says Rowe, is logistics. Outside of an academic setting, where you have a static pool of musicians and vocalists to draw from, touring quartets and trios don’t typically bring along a singer. It just so happens, though, that Krause is the wife of the Duke Trio’s cellist, Thomas Wiebe, making this grande finale concert a very “friendly” one indeed. There are six concerts being offered in the summer festival, with a “bonus” concert happening in October, performed by violinist James Ehnes and pianist Andrew Armstrong. “It’s a special fall concert that we wouldn’t ordinarily be putting on,” says Rowe. “James will be on a cross-Canada tour, and asked if there was any chance they could do something in Victoria. I knew we could present it, so I wanted us to be part of that, and I’m glad it’s worked out.” 2016 Victoria Summer Music Festival: “Basses Loaded XX,” Tuesday, July 26, 7:30pm; The Lafayette String Quartet, Thursday, July 28, 7:30pm; Cecilia String Quartet and Arthur Rowe, piano, Wednesday, August 3, 7:30pm; Ensemble Made in Canada, Saturday, August 6, 7:30pm; St John, Wei, Rowe, and Krause, Tuesday, August 9, 7:30pm; Duke Trio and Anita Krause, Thursday, August 11, 7:30pm. All summer concerts at Phillip T Young Recital Hall, UVic. In addition to the summer festival, the VSMF will offer an autumnal concert featuring acclaimed violinist James Ehnes and pianist Andrew Armstrong on October 20. Tickets: vmsf.org or call 250-294-7778. Writer and communication facilitator Mollie Kaye sings in what she now realizes could be called a chamber ensemble, performing close-harmony a cappella classics from the 1940s and ’50s.
  22. Dana Irving’s background as a mural painter and her love of coastal forests have resulted in a grand, sweeping style. IN DANA IRVING'S OIL ON CANVAS PAINTING “Special,” the Salish Sea laps onto a rocky shore. Not far from the water’s edge, a stand of wind-blown trees rises from mossy rocks. In just about the centre of the image, an island large enough for one lone tree is surrounded by the waves. Clouds sweep overhead. Any number of coastlines in this region could claim such a scene, and anyone who has scrambled over similar rocks knows that these are places teeming with life: growth and decay, wind and weather, salt and sun and rock supporting an intricate ecosystem. In confoundingly simple forms, Irving’s paintings evoke that multitude. Those clouds culminate in Art Deco spirals that, like the sand and waves, vibrate with sculptural plasticity. Stirred by the unseen wind, trees twirl branches that are represented in green swathes, like fine satin skirts woven thick with the richness of fondant. Information is economical and highly designed, but also highly evocative, speaking to the essence of place. Irving’s is a style that has been described as “Emily Carr meets Dr Seuss,” but could be taken further: Lawren Harris was certainly the host of that party, and one imagines it was held in the Art Deco splendour of Radio City Music Hall, circa its 1932 opening with Lolita de Lempicka bumping into Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton. Irving counts all as inspirations that are manifested in a visual language she uses to convey her deep appreciation for a place that she feels lucky to call home. The forests full of swaying trees near her North Vancouver home are not far from her door, and she hikes them at least twice a week. Nature has been an important part of her life since she was born in Prince George in 1959. She grew up roaming the outdoors with her two brothers. “We didn’t have any neighbours, and our playground was the woods,” she recalls. It grew into a love of the natural BC landscape that keeps her happily rooted. “I’m not too interested in travelling the world, really. I feel like there is so much here for me. These big cedars and Douglas firs, they’re just it for me—they’ve got the big skirts!” As a girl, however, she longed for broader horizons than Prince George offered. Her mother owned a clothing store and was a seamstress, and her father ran a lumber mill, always making things in his spare time. “My brothers and I just grew up knowing you can make stuff—and that it’s rewarding,” she says. Equally important was her parents’ recognition of her artistic tendencies. Though many parents would have balked at its seeming impracticality, “I was always encouraged to be an artist,” she appreciates. From the age of four, she was enrolled in “just about everything artsy they could think of,” she remembers, including music, which is still part of her life: She is a singer-songwriter who plays guitar and ukulele, and has released two CDs. She also took ballet with an “eccentric” Norwegian ballet teacher, an anomaly in Prince George, to be sure. “As a kid, I had not seen antique furniture or original paintings.” The woman’s persona and her house full of exotic finery made Irving realize, “I want more of that.” Growing up brought more small epiphanies. At 16, she came across a book of Lawren Harris paintings that stirred her. “I just thought it was an amazing way to interpret all these things I had grown up seeing: lakes and rivers and weather.” Later on, after becoming dissatisfied with interior design studies at Douglas College, she moved to Jasper, Alberta for a “gap” year. Surrounded by many of the very landscapes Harris painted and a milieu of artistic types, she took watercolour courses and did plein air painting. “I just got the bug from landscape and nature. The seeds got planted at that point,” she says. It prompted her to study at the Victoria College of Art from 1979-81, where she became immersed in the foundational skills of an artist, along with the knowledge that behind that one finished canvas hides countless hours of reaching toward excellence. That education served her well. Moving to Vancouver in search of work, Irving found employment with a high-end house painter. At the time, there was an affinity in the interior design world for faux marble finishes, trompe l’oeil effects and murals that mimicked old-world frescoes. The pair founded Famous Painters, a very busy company specializing in such techniques in the grand homes of Vancouver and occasionally beyond. “Because I was an artist and had been trained so well in realism and really classical stuff, murals just became a natural evolution,” Irving says. She created several around Vancouver, including the one on the side of the Stanley Lodge and in a few restaurants, often in a style wittily reminiscent of the monumental murals created in the 1930s by Diego Rivera and the like. Eventually the mural market waned, but her final project in 2001 helped her transition into a gallery artist. She was commissioned to paint the dining car on the Whistler Northwind, a luxury train which ran, fittingly, from Vancouver to Prince George. “The idea was to depict the journey,” Irving explains, adding, “It seemed fitting to use the Group of Seven style. I thought, ‘Oh, now’s my big chance. I can try that language on, see how it fits.’” It fit so well that, after painting similar scenes on canvas for a gallery owner friend on Saltspring Island, she sold six in two months. She’s represented there still and, here in town, at West End Gallery (with a show in September). Along with stylistic influences, compositional techniques she developed doing murals have found their way onto her canvases. Often, she says, murals were very wide and needed a cohesive element. She explains, “I’d do little scenes and then wrap some kind of ribbon around them. It seemed to evoke a wind or energy or weather. So that really influenced how I approached my work, no matter the shape.” In her current landscapes, that ribbon often reappears in the gestural forms of those dancing trees. Another legacy of her mural painting background is her tendency to plan out each composition very carefully. “I’ve talked to other artists who do very organic, in-the-moment abstract things and they never know what it’s going to be in the end,” she observes. “[My work is] much more calculated, but when I am finished it often reflects my feeling for the place, or the mood of the weather. It’s still there, somehow. It all comes through. It often surprises me.” Therein lies the deception of a simple visual language such as Irving’s. The experiences and influences it is distilled from are bound to convey more than colour and form. View Dana Irving’s work at West End Gallery (1203 Broad Street, 250-388-0009, www.westendgalleryltd.com). She will have a solo exhibition at West End for two weeks in September. Dates TBA. Find Dana Irving online at www.danairving.com. There you’ll find a link to a short YouTube video Sun Comes Out which showcases the parallels between her painting and music practices. As the parent of two small children with big dreams, Aaren Madden hopes she can have as positive an impact on their future success as Dana Irving’s supportive parents have had on hers.
  23. A First Nation’s claim to Vancouver Island’s rail corridor could spell the end of the E&N revival. RUN A TRAIN, OR LOSE THE CORRIDOR. That’s the latest message from the Attorney General of Canada, in its response to a First Nation’s lawsuit. The Snaw-Naw-As is calling for a return of the land taken from its reserve more than 100 years ago for the purpose of extending the E&N rail line to Courtenay. In December, it filed a civil claim in the BC Supreme Court against the Island Corridor Foundation and the Attorney General. This spring, the AG filed its response, sending a clear message to the ICF: the clock is ticking to fix the tracks and revive the railway. When the Right-Of-Way through Snaw-Naw-As territory ceases to be used for “railway purposes,” the land reverts to Canada in trust for the Snaw-Naw-As, reads the AG’s response. If successful, the lawsuit could remove a 1.4-kilometre section from the midpoint of the 225-kilometre railway line, ending any hope of reviving passenger service from Courtenay to Victoria. The ruling could also set a precedent for the other 12 First Nations whose reserves the corridor intersects. “The Island Corridor Foundation says it was founded to protect the Corridor. Unfortunately, they’ve also inherited a bunch of historical grievances,” said Snaw-Naw-As Chief Brent Edwards. These grievances date back to the creation of the reserve. In 1877, the Joint Indian Reserve Commission carved out the boundaries for what is now the Snaw-Naw-As reserve on the south shore of Nanoose Bay. At the time, a wagon road intersected the reserve. In 1912, the reserve was spliced a second time when the Canadian Pacific Railway was granted a 10.79-acre Right-Of-Way through the 140-acre reserve for $650. Today, that sleepy dirt road has grown into a four-lane, divided highway, effectively cutting the community in two, without so much as an intersection to connect both sides. Adding to the frustration is the E&N’s current state of limbo. It’s been five years since the emergency suspension of the E&N’s passenger rail service, and almost two years since the last freight train travelled this section of rail. For the 250 members of the Snaw-Naw-As, the unused corridor represents nothing but an opportunity cost. “That railway is in our way,” said Chief Edwards. “For us it’s really simple. That piece of property is not being used for what it was expropriated for…so the civil claim is basically asking to have that portion of property returned to us so we can make better use of it.” Hypothetically, the same logic could apply to the road: “If they invented flying cars, and they stopped using Highway 19, we would expect them to give that property back,” he said. “Snaw-Naw-As is really pushed to its limits of its ability to develop,” said Robert Janes, the lawyer representing the Snaw-Naw-As. For instance, the rail corridor monopolizes highway-side land that could be commercially developed. Where the tracks split off from the highway, they create a wedge of unusable land. Also, the Nation is working on building a new traffic light to better connect the community, but the adjacent rail crossing adds complexity and expense, Janes explained. “Snaw-Naw-As needs are such that it cannot just stand by and wait until some day somebody decides to do something about the railway,” said Janes. “My hope is the political actors behind the Island Corridor Foundation use this (case) as an opportunity to evaluate what really are their needs…We don’t anticipate there will be any significant rail traffic between Nanaimo and Comox at any time in the future.” To win its civil suit, the Snaw-Naw-As must convince the judge of a two-point argument: first, that rail is dead, at least running north of Nanaimo; and second, that in this scenario, the Snaw-Naw-As has an historical claim to the corridor within its reserve boundaries. We’ll look at the case for both. IN ITS NOTIC OF CIVIL CLAIM, the Snaw-Naw-As argues the Right-Of-Way through its territory is no longer being used for the railway, and there is no reasonable prospect that railway infrastructure will be restored to a condition sufficient to operate trains. It’s an argument the Island Corridor Foundation rejects entirely. “The railway continues to operate” according to its filed response. The ICF continues to maintain tracks and crossing signals, and continues to consult with stakeholders, it argues. Further, the ICF says it intends to refurbish the rail corridor, and has raised more than $20 million to do so. On this issue, the Attorney General takes no position, claiming no knowledge of the state of rail operations. It’s a conspicuous silence, considering track upgrades have been waiting on federal approval for more than four years, thereby tying up a matching provincial grant. To quickly recap: In April 2012, Infrastructure Canada pledged $7.5 million for the E&N, pending completion of five conditions. For instance, the ICF must confirm no further federal investment will be required, and must pass a federal project review. To this day, Infrastructure Canada will not say which of the conditions have been met, or give a timeline for a funding decision. Instead, it says only that it “is reviewing the (Snaw-Naw-As) lawsuit to understand any potential impacts,” according to a written response. It’s a bit of a circular argument: The federal government won’t hand over the money because of the lawsuit, and the lawsuit could win because of the lack of federal funding required to kickstart track upgrades. Meanwhile, regional funding commitments are now starting to unravel, poking holes in the ICF’s $20.9 million plan to upgrade the tracks. What’s more, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest the upgrade plan does not pass muster to begin with, and may not pass a federal review. So is rail dead? Officially, no. Realistically, maybe. IF THE ISLAND CORRIDOR FOUNDATION is eventually forced to abandon its mission to revive the rail line, the future of the corridor depends on whom you ask. According to the ICF, the answer is straightforward. “The corridor is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation as fee simple,” said ICF chair Judith Sayers. “I’ve never seen a court take away fee simple lands from anyone…If we ever get to that point where we can’t get the train going…then of course we’ll continue to use it as bike paths and trails.” This Plan B might not be realized without a fight, however. If the Right-of-Way reverts to Canadian ownership in trust for the Snaw-Naw-As—as the AG argues—it’s clear the First Nation will have little appetite for cycling trails. “How can we support people utilizing that as a recreational thoroughfare when we administrate poverty?” asked Chief Edwards. “One of the reasons we administrate poverty is our access to infrastructure and lands…are being hindered by a corridor that’s not being used.” Resentment toward the E&N is not unique to the Snaw-Naw-As. “Songhees does not support the Island Corridor Foundation,” said its Chief Ron Sam in an email. “We share the same frustrations of Snaw-Naw-As and other Nations whose lands this rail line impacts.” Judith Sayers says she can sympathize, though she doesn’t agree. She has a unique insight into the issue, as chair of the Island Corridor Foundation, but also as a former Hupacasath Chief and former chair of National Aboriginal Economic Development at UVic. “The E&N land grant has been a huge issue for most of the First Nations on Vancouver Island; it’s an outstanding issue that needs to be resolved,” she said. However, Sayers insists the federal government created these problems and needs to be the one to resolve them—not the ICF. “We’ve always looked at this as an opportunity for First Nations to have a say in the rail running through their communities,” Sayers said, adding the E&N promises new economic opportunities. Now, her challenge is to prove the case for rail, and convince her funders. It will be no small job and time is running out. Roszan Holmen, a producer for CFAX 1070, has covered the E&N and ICF’s challenges in previous Focus articles, including her Webster award-winning feature “More Red Lights Ahead?” (Dec 2014) and “Critical Crossroads for Rail on the Island” (May/June 2016).
  24. Business interests, scientists, environmental groups and First Nations call for new policy on the Island’s remaining old growth. WHEN THE BC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE and the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (AVICC) recently came out championing the protection of old-growth forests on Vancouver Island, it was hailed as a historic and tectonic shift by environmentalists. Yet it’s probably more accurately described in earthquake terms as “fault creep”—the “slow, more or less continuous movement occurring on faults due to ongoing tectonic deformation.” Political and business associations have finally caught up with the economic reality, climate change, public attitudes, business opportunities, and scientific data—and not a moment too soon. In typical island fashion, it takes a poster boy from elsewhere with home-spun prairie logic to signal that shift. Handsome Dan Hager, the head of the Port Renfrew Chamber and business owner of Handsome Dan’s Wild Coast Cottages, looked in his guest books one day and noticed that his guests were coming year round to visit old trees at the Avatar Grove. Since then, with just a handsome Saskatchewan smile and anecdotal stories of full beds and full-time staff, he’s managed to convince the entire BC Chamber of Commerce of the value of leaving old growth close to towns. This likely amuses botanist and Metchosin Councillor Andy Mackinnon. His 30 years of collecting compelling scientific data on the value of old growth on Vancouver Island is not as “hot” on the current media radar, although he’s being effective in other ways. With his own moniker the “fun guy” (pun on fungi, his research specialty), Mackinnon has spread his own charismatic mycelia alongside Hager’s in the slow and continuous movement towards improving Vancouver Island land use planning. Mackinnon, a forest researcher with the provincial government, has recently retired from public service and jumped into political life. He won a seat on Metchosin council in 2014 and has been looking for ways to get science back into policy and planning ever since. Mackinnon managed to get a resolution asking for a moratorium on the logging of old growth on Vancouver Island passed by his Metchosin Council, and then Colwood’s, this spring. That was subsequently endorsed at AVICC’s AGM in April. His advocacy was triggered by his frustrations as a government scientist. He says, “You felt you were gathering a lot of good information that wasn’t being incorporated into policy and management.” Mackinnon’s first priority was to stop the old-growth logging while Vancouver Island still had some left to save. His resolution for a moratorium was borrowed from the Ahousat chiefs—also known as the Hawiih of Clayoquot Sound— who had announced their own moratorium on industrial logging of old-growth forests in October last year. It hasn’t gone unnoticed by Mackinnon that the Ahousat have been slowly, more or less continuously, suggesting to Western governments the values of old growth. Their data goes back several thousand years. Their resolution included a community “Land Use Visioning” process intended to protect a traditional way of life while diversifying livelihoods. The mayor of Tofino shared this resolution with Mackinnon and he fashioned a similar moratorium for Metchosin with a request to the provincial government to revise the old Vancouver Island Land Use Plan. The resolution’s preamble states that old-growth forest is increasingly rare on Vancouver Island and has significant values as wildlife habitat, a tourism resource, a carbon sink and much more. It also noted that current plans on provincial Crown land call for logging the remaining old-growth forest outside of protected areas, Old-Growth Management Areas (OGMAs), and similar reserves, over the next 10-20 years. Mackinnon is not new to the science of why it is important to protect old growth. He was on the scientific team that wrote the provincial Old Growth Strategy (OGS) starting in 1989. At the time, the OGS was cutting-edge policy. The 1992 report began with the acknowledgement that old-growth forests “represent a wide range of spiritual, ecological, economic and social values” and outlined the framework to plan for conserving old growth. It was the time of the “war in the woods”—from Clayoquot Sound to Carmanah—and logging still constituted the dominant industry in parts of northern Vancouver Island. The same year, the NDP created the Commission on Resources and Environment to provide independent land use recommendations to cabinet for Vancouver Island, and the OGS was folded into this new Vancouver Island Land Use Plan (VILUP) and the Forest Practices Code. (Clayoquot Sound was excluded from VILUP because it came under a separate scientific commission.) According to Mackinnon, “those were exciting times with the opportunity to do broad land use planning and establish new protected areas.” Before 1992, only 6 percent of Vancouver Island had any protected status and what was protected was mostly rocks and ice at the top of mountains. By the end of the planning process in 2000, the protected areas reached 12 percent of Vancouver Island with a slightly better representation of diverse lowland ecosystems. That included some of the big, old trees in valley bottoms known as “productive lowland old-growth forests.” The VILUP decisions established the upper Carmanah Valley, the lower Walbran Valley, Tashish Kwoi and Brooks Nasparti Provincial Parks as large protected areas. The target of protecting 12 percent of the land base had come from the international Bruntland Commission and its landmark report Our Common Future. The report called for doubling the area of protected areas globally—which, at that time, also sat around 6 percent. Mackinnon supported the plan then because it at least doubled the protection and was achievable politically, but it fell short in many regards. Many scientists had recommended quadrupling the area protected to take in forest stand and ecosystem diversity, and climate change wasn’t being factored in yet. The compromise was partly addressed in a series of special management zones created to maintain areas of old growth and high biodiversity within forest tenures on Crown land. In 2001, with a change in provincial government from NDP to Liberal, the Old Growth Strategy and VILUP were sent to the shredders, special management zones were cancelled, and the Forest Practices Code was gutted. Since then, apart from a handful of tiny isolated groves, like Avatar Grove, being designated OGMAs or Land Use Objective areas, no ancient forests have been set aside in protected areas on Vancouver Island. In the absence of any provincial leadership on island old growth, the Sierra Club has taken the lead role in mapping island forests. Mackinnon says, “When people asked my ministry how much old growth there was left, I would have to say: ‘Go talk to the Sierra Club.’” Jens Wieting of the Sierra Club of British Columbia notes that, as of 2012, less than 10 percent of the productive lowland old-growth forests remain. These are the forests that businesses like Handsome Dan’s benefit from, not the older, scrubby trees in the mountain tops that the provincial government still includes in their tally of old growth. According to Wieting, the state of old growth on Vancouver Island is now an ecological emergency. Of that 10 percent that remains, only 4 percent has been set aside in parks or OGMAs and 6 percent is up for grabs. The Sierra Club’s recent Google Map press release visually shows how that remaining unprotected old growth is at risk. This situation has brought a return of the wars in the woods, with conflicts over Walbran, Klaskish and East Creek. The battle is being led by the Ancient Forest Alliance, Western Canada Wilderness Committee and others. These last watersheds of remaining unprotected old-growth lowland forest are where the greatest value are for all stakeholders. The stakes are even higher with an increased understanding of the value of these forests for sequestering carbon. Sierra’s data shows around 9400 hectares of Island old growth being logged annually and 17,000 hectares of second growth, some of it highly endangered ecosystems. Second-growth forests eventually become old-growth forests so we need to pay attention to these as well. Only saving old-growth forests is like only looking after elders and not nurturing the young. For forest ecologists, this is a compelling rationale for reopening the Vancouver Island Land Use Plan and reconsidering the mix of different forests and age classes of stands. This would entail planning for future reserves of old growth in forest types where there is hardly any old growth left, like the Douglas-fir forests of Vancouver Island where old growth has been reduced to 1 percent of the remaining stand. Wieting’s argument is that “with every new clearcut, more biodiversity of the original ecosystem disappears.” That’s the ecological argument for a new target of quadrupling protected areas—nature needs half. But what about the economic argument? The 1992 VILUP included a careful economic analysis with projections to 2012. What is most interesting is how accurate those projections were. They predicted continuing declines in the resource sectors and continuing increases in importance of tourism and other service industries like high tech and filmmaking, light manufacturing and pension and investment incomes. The plan states, “These shifts in economic structure will be reinforced by the in-migration of retirees to the Island, the aging of the resident population, increasing demand for and scarcity of wilderness recreation opportunities, technological change, and resource depletion.” According to the VILUP, back in 1992 forestry and logging provided 10,565 jobs (3.6 percent) on Vancouver Island. By 2012, StatsCan numbers show, that had declined to 4700. Pulp and paper mills employed 12,900 people in 1992, but by 2012 that had fallen to one-half of that. Compare that to 4800 jobs in the “information and cultural industries,” 9800 in the “arts, entertainment and recreation industries” and 5800 in the mysterious-sounding “personal and laundry services.” The largest employers—by far—on Vancouver Island are in the service industries with 20,000 to 50,000-plus jobs, per sector, in health, education, professional services, high tech, trade and tourism (accommodation and food services). Even the recent Vancouver Island State of the Economy report by the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance, in a curiously conservative analysis, points out the only fast growth areas are in the professional, scientific and high tech sectors—the people who fill up Handsome Dan’s Wild Coast Cottages. The age-old problem for northern Vancouver Island rural communities of boom and bust resource-based economies was pinpointed accurately in the 1992 plan, with various recommendations for diversification. In the ensuing years, though, there was minimal action taken to diversifiy. There was little public investment in a number of critical areas: infrastructure for making value-added wood products, transportation systems, an old-growth strategy, marketing of tourism to these areas, and creating value for ecosystem services. The BC Liberals weren’t, apparently, paying heed to the shifting economic landscape. New Zealand, with roughly comparable economic forecasts, land base and population, looked at its data back then and brought in a moratorium on old-growth logging while investing heavily in ecotourism infrastructure and marketing. Total tourism expenditure today in New Zealand is $29.8 billion, increasing at 10 percent per year. Vancouver Island tourism generates $2.2 billion annually. Better late than never, Mackinnon’s resolution will now go to the Union of BC Municipalities AGM in September. So far the provincial government hasn’t responded to his request for a meeting. With Hager working the business community on a modified resolution specifically referring to old growth close to settlements, both Mackinnon and Hager argue that it will be hard for the provincial government to ignore both local governments and the business sector. Once a moratorium is in place, Mackinnon would like to see innovative planning—with a foundation based on scientific principles—adapted for Vancouver Island. He points to the land use plans for Clayoquot Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest, both of which he participated in and which were spearheaded by First Nations. The Great Bear Rainforest Agreements in particular incorporated First Nations concerns, economic realities that included real conservation financing, and carbon credit projects for First Nations. As Jens Wieting suggests, “We have a lot to learn from what went on in both these regions—and fast, because climate change means that we have even less time to save rainforest as we know it.” As for Handsome Dan, he says, “I’m no treehugger and I don’t need to rely on any science. I just see the logic because the economics are black and white. The trees left standing are good for my business.” Hardly earthshaking, but a welcome tectonic nudge to an island that has so much natural capital to offer its inhabitants and the world. Briony Penn has been living on and writing about the BC coast pretty much all of her life. She is the author of the new book, The Real Thing: The Natural History of Ian McTaggart Cowan.
  25. New studies provide further evidence that cholesterol-lowering statins and other new drugs may be a costly dead end. THREE NEW STUDIES in the past few months are like nails in the coffin of the Cholesterol Hypothesis, which has only seemed to become more questionable as our knowledge advances. This hypothesis, simply put, posits that by measuring your blood cholesterol levels, and then altering those levels by taking cholesterol-lowering drugs, people can avoid heart attacks, strokes and an early death. Society has developed a near obsession with cholesterol over the last few decades, despite the fact that some patients with high cholesterol levels do not go on to develop heart disease, while many heart attack victims don’t have high cholesterol levels. The emergence of statins, a class of drugs designed to alter cholesterol levels, seems to have fuelled the obsession. Their ability to lower cholesterol has led to them being prescribed to many patients without cardiovascular disease—including the elderly, women, children and men—as a form of “primary prevention.” Statins now constitute the leading drug cost in all provincial drug programs, amounting to a cost of almost $2 billion annually in Canada. Unsurprisingly, it has been the juggernaut marketing of the pharmaceutical industry, and not the science, that has turned statins into one of the most lucrative classes of prescription drugs in the history of the world. High quality studies do show statins can effectively change your cholesterol levels. But they only show a modest effect in reducing cardiac events in people with established heart disease, and an even more modest effect for those at low risk of heart disease. Gordon B. (who asked that I not use his surname) from Kelowna had no personal or family history of heart disease, yet was put on Lipitor (atorvastatin) in 1997 at age 50. He told me, “My family doctor said I had elevated cholesterol levels, particularly with the bad cholesterol.” By “bad” cholesterol, he means low-density lipoprotein, or LDL. When Lipitor didn’t change his cholesterol levels he was switched to Crestor (rosuvastatin). He said the drug “worked almost immediately at lowering my bad cholesterol,” and he took it for nearly eight years before the side effects grew intolerable. “I experienced sleeplessness and erectile dysfunction (ED) at the onset, and later, anxiety, sharp abdominal pains, muscle weakness, and loose teeth,” he said. He believes that while “the sleeplessness and ED may have been coincidental,” the other side effects he attributed directly to Crestor. Now, with more than 20 years of statin experience behind us, those adverse effects are widely known. Part of the reason that statins grew to be so popular is that physicians and patients believed that the drugs were both very effective and very safe. Now with new research coming out, much of it highlighted at the American College of Cardiology’s annual conference in Chicago in early April, both those assumptions are being directly challenged. A Canadian-led study, the HOPE-3 trial, looking at the effects of statins mixed with various antihypertensives (drugs to lower blood pressure) in 12,000 patients, was published with much hoopla. The authors said their study provided an “extensive body of evidence of a significant clinical benefit in a broad group of persons of diverse ethnic backgrounds.” They reported that the risk of muscle pain, the most commonly-reported statin adverse effect, was “low.” How effective were statins in this trial? A close reading of HOPE-3 found that over five years, the rate of heart attack, stroke or heart-related effect was 3.7 percent on statins versus 4.8 percent on placebo, a difference of 1.1 percent. People taking the statins had an increased risk of cataracts (3.8 percent of patients on statins had cataract surgery, versus 3.1 percent on placebo) and muscle pain (5.8 percent on the drug versus 4.7 percent on placebo). In other trials, statin users also report higher rates of diabetes and memory loss. Dr John Abramson, a health policy expert from Harvard Medical School, looked at the HOPE-3 trial and told me the effects were meagre indeed: “91 people have to be treated with a statin for 5.6 years in order to prevent 1 non-fatal heart attack or stroke.” Another way to say this is 90 of the 91 people who take statins for that long won’t see a benefit (and some will experience adverse side effects). Another trial, called GAUSS-3, reported an unusually high level of statin adverse effects. The drug company Amgen, which makes an injectable LDL-lowering drug called evolocumab (Repatha), was testing its drug in a special type of population: people who don’t tolerate statins because of the muscle-related statin adverse effects. Evolocumab was extremely good at lowering LDL cholesterol over another non-statin drug, ezetimibe, often used for those intolerant of statins. But both drugs caused muscle symptoms in a significant number of patients: 28.8 percent of ezetimibe-treated patients and 20.7 percent of evolocumab-treated patients. It’s something else, however, that most concerns Dr Jim Wright of UBC’s Therapeutics Initiative in Vancouver. He told me the research so far hasn’t reported outcomes data from long-term studies of drugs like evolocumab (known as PCSK9 drugs) so no one really knows if these new drugs will ultimately prevent cardiovascular events. The PCSK9s can expertly lower LDL cholesterol, likely at a cost in excess of $10,000 per patient per year, but it’s premature to think about covering them through drug programs like Pharmacare. Dr Wright says there are some patients and physicians clamouring for approval for these drugs in BC but “paying for them through the public purse, without long-term outcomes data would be wrong.” A third study, this one looking at another class of drugs to alter cholesterol, was being carried out with much excitement, but then suddenly halted. The patients taking the drug evacetrapib lowered their LDL cholesterol by 37 percent and increased their HDL cholesterol by 130 percent compared with patients taking a placebo. (HDL is sometimes referred to as “good cholesterol” because it can transport fat molecules out of artery walls.) Dr Stephen Nicholls, the study’s lead author, told ScienceDaily that despite this effect on cholesterol, the drug had “no effect on clinical events.” Surprised and disappointed by the research, his team stopped the study. The lack of effect on cardiac events didn’t surprise Dr Wright who has seen other drugs in this class, known as CETP inhibitors, fail. In fact this is the third drug in that class that has failed in crucial clinical trials and been sidelined. What surprised Dr Wright most is how much money the industry has been pouring into drugs like the CETP inhibitors to chase lower LDL targets. “The study of evacetrapib was a huge trial,” he said, “and they abandoned a huge trial.” The vast amounts of money that companies like Eli Lilly have poured into these kinds of trials is mindboggling and, in Dr Wright’s opinion, it’s proving to be futile. “It tells you that they’re grasping at straws,” he told me. Three pretty definitive studies in one month have definitely revved up the need to rethink whether it is even worth bothering to chase lower cholesterol. Said Dr Wright: “This is strong proof that the cholesterol hypothesis is wrong.” It’s worth stressing that drug research trying to develop drugs to prevent heart attacks or strokes is a laudable, even commendable endeavour given the toll that heart disease takes on our society. Even drugs with small benefits in individuals could have a huge benefit for the population. Yet driving for lower and lower LDL targets, with new drugs aiming to replace statins, may well be a dead-end task (though lucrative for some pharmaceutical companies). It also seems that the one sure thing we have learned about the experience with statins is that we have an incomplete picture of their possible adverse effects. Even if costly drugs like the PCSK9s or the CETP Inhibitors get approved and are prescribed widely to people with high cholesterol, chances are we won’t know about the rates of adverse effects until they are used by many thousands of patients. For Gordon B. in Kelowna, the side effects stopped right after he stopped taking Crestor. He said the improvement to his health was “immediate.” He was left feeling happier, without the sharp pains and loose teeth. He has since been avidly following new research on cholesterol-lowering drugs and so I asked him what he would say to a relative, a friend, a stranger about his experience with statins. He didn’t hold back: “I’d tell them about the scam, the payola, the side effects, the class action suits” which, he says, are now well known in relation to statins. He adds that “the conversation with doctors who want to prescribe statins should be one-sided. Just say NO!” Research marches on. There are a raft of new drugs coming that may alter cholesterol levels. Given what we are learning, maybe more physicians and patients will think twice about eagerly tinkering pharmaceutically with cholesterol levels. Alan Cassels is a Victoria author and pharmaceutical policy researcher. He has written four books on the medical screening and pharmaceutical industry including the latest, The Cochrane Collaboration: Medicine’s Best Kept Secret.
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