The week - March 19

Anti-Olympics teach-in

With the Vancouver 2010 Olympics less than one year away, groups around the province are ramping up efforts to shine a light on issues that will be ignored, exacerbated or otherwise impacted when the circus comes to town.

On Saturday March 21, an anti-Olympics teach-in is scheduled for Victoria, at which a number of groups anticipating impacts on their areas of activity will offer presentations on what the Olympics will mean to them.

Among the groups scheduled to participate are the Society of Living Intravenous Drug Users, Harm Reduction Victoria, Temporary Autonomous Shelter Collective, Prostitute Empowerment and Education Resource Society, and perhaps most intriguingly, members from the Hospital Employees Union.

Event co-organizer James Glickman says the intention is to get behind the propaganda and examine what the games will mean to real people.

As reported in the February 12 issue of Monday, the RCMP have been keeping tabs on the local activist community to ensure nothing goes awry when Gordon Campbell’s games kick off. But organizers of Saturday’s teach-in say they’re well prepared for the possibility the cops may make an undercover appearance at the event.

“We’re expecting infiltration at this point, so that’s certainly a danger,” say Glickman. “But we understand as a group, and we’re going to brief people there that we’re not here to do anything illegal or speak about any illegal activities. We are expecting some form of infiltration, even if it is just CHEK News.”

In February, Victoria city council gave third reading to a motion to set aside $150,000 plus in-kind contributions toward the staging of the first leg of the Olympic Torch Relay, which is set to begin in the Garden City.

Visit no2010victoria.net for more information or check the Monday calendar.

Bear-market blues

At least two prospective buyers of units at Bear Mountain’s Finlayson Reach condominium development have launched legal action against the developer to recoup costs related to what they claim to be a breach of contract.

The law firm of James, Emery, Hargreaves, Swan—on behalf of plaintiff Brian Chorney—filed a writ of summons on March 4, 2009, demanding the return of $61,490 from Bear Mountain Development Holdings Ltd., which was taken in 2005 as a deposit for a unit at Finlayson Reach.

Shedding a little more light on the situation is a statement of claim filed in late December 2008 by local realtors Dallas Chapple and Sam Sihota. In that document, lawyers for the pair claim that after entering into a purchase agreement for a unit at Finlayson Reach, the developers then offered a revised floorplan for the building under the same contract of purchase and sale. The plaintiffs did not agree to amend the contract under the new configuration, and on July 22, 2008 rescinded their interest in the property. According to the court filings, Bear Mountain has yet to return the deposit to the pair, despite attempts made on September 8 and 26, and on October 10, 24 and November 18.

Meanwhile, Bear Mountain’s director of real estate marketing, Dale Sproule, issued a press release last week noting that the resort would attempt to offload some of its surplus condo floorspace through what it called “Bear Market Pricing.”

TC mails VIM invites

There’s no denying that Victoria International Marina proponent Bob Evans exudes a certain confidence that his project will go ahead, despite the fact that it has yet to receive official government regulatory approvals.

And perhaps Evans is right, given that Transport Canada recently performed some public-relations work on his behalf. In the prelude to an open house hosted by Community Marine Concepts at the Delta Ocean Pointe Resort on Saturday, March 7, dozens of area residents received invitations to the event. Makes sense, right? But these were no ordinary invitations. While they were drafted on Victoria International Marina letterhead, they arrived in Transport Canada envelopes with postage paid by the Canadian taxpayer.

And why would the regulatory body tasked with assessing the marina-development proposal send out an invitation to an open house sponsored by the developer? In an e-mail to Monday, Transport Canada media relations manager Patrick Charette writes, “It has been done as a courtesy. Anyone who sent us a letter or e-mail regarding the proposed Victoria Marina was sent a copy of the proponents’ Open House invitation for their information.”

Transport Canada did not offer its advertising services to the office of Denise Savoie and the Victoria West Community Association when they co-hosted a February 17 public meeting on the subject.

Governance gambit

The City of Victoria unveiled plans last week to rejig its governance and decision-making model in an attempt to shake long-standing criticism that elected officials and city staff lacked a clear division of responsibilities and that few mechanisms were in place to determine whether policy objectives were being achieved.

The changes—which envision a new configuration of standing committees and a clearer separation of council’s policy-making role from staff’s policy-implementation duties—are to be fully implemented by July 1 and were based on suggestions from a $48,000 report authored by municipal governance guru George Cuff.

Evidently, Cuff drew the same conclusion of many folks whose paths cross the threshold of Pandora’s Box. Cuff’s team writes, “It is our view that the current approach to governance is relatively weak and does not realize the full advantage offered by planned public participation or even by a thoughtful step-by-step process of decision-making by council.”

And so what will be the measure of whether this new governance model proves a success? Mayor Dean Fortin tells Monday that the truest measure of its efficacy will be the rumblings on the street from those who must deal with City Hall’s functions

“Ultimately, the success that I really want is that the citizens of Victoria will say ‘Hey, my city hall is making better decisions and is taking action—that things are moving there,” says Fortin.

More specifically, Fortin hopes the new system will help the City deliver on recently highlighted priorities.

“Are we on the ground and delivering housing—whether it be for the homeless, or affordable homes for families? Is our downtown a better, more vibrant place to be? We have specific goals and measurements around each one of those, and that’s where the proof will be in the pudding.”

And how will City Hall determine which councillors are accorded what positions on the newly-formulated standing committees. “Leg wrestling,” says Fortin. “We’re going to leg wrestle for them.”

We’ll assume he’s kidding, but if not, the smart money is on Chris Coleman.

A chiefly contract

Despite being regular visitors to the Victoria Police Department website, Monday somehow failed to notice that the local police board has graciously posted the contract of new chief Jamie Graham for public perusal. So what can be gleaned from this 20-page document? Well, apart from having to deal with constant complaints about the various abuses of power by the men and women under his watch, it looks like a pretty sweet gig. Here are some highlights.

• Graham is signed on for a five-year term that ends December 31, 2013—a contract that can be renewed upon discussions between the chief and the police board.

• While a dollar figure for Graham’s salary is not included in the contract, it does note he will be paid 215 percent more than a first-class constable in his department. Consulting the trusty abacus, a first class constable on the force receives $76,822.72, so Graham should be looking at roughly $170,000 each year for his efforts to ensure we all traverse the streets at marked crosswalks and buckle our bike helmets.

• Graham is set to receive 240 hours of annual vacation with pay (that’s 30 days), plus up to another 80 hours (that’s 10 days) of paid vacation in lieu of overtime. Of course, even on the beach he’s supposed to be on duty and must leave contact information where he can be reached when away. Graham is also entitled to 11 stat holidays off with pay.

• The lucky son-of-a-gun also gets a ballistic vest.

CRD wants climate czar

The Capital Regional District has put the call out for a new staffer to manage programs that will help the region’s local governments achieve their goal of carbon neutrality by 2012.

The regional government is looking for a “climate action program coordinator” to develop programs that will help each of the member municipalities reduce their carbon output over the next three years.

The successful applicant will receive between $34.44 and $39.05 an hour for their efforts to save the world from the coming climate catastrophe.

(Insert joke about board member’s blowing hot air here).

Penner’s pet project

Special mention goes to the provincial environment ministry this week for its efforts to save citizens from their worst nature nightmares.

The office halls rang with praise when Monday received a press release from the ministry that began, “‘British Columbians shouldn’t have to worry about being harmed by dangerous, foreign animals like tigers pythons or alligators,’ said [Environment Minister Barry] Penner.”

Well thank goodness we no longer have to check the bowl for sharks before sitting down.