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Business in Vancouver Issue 1140

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and shipper of carrots;•an October 2010 agreement with Latin America’s Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest baking company, which bought fresh bread divisions in the past year from George Wes-ton Ltd. and Sara Lee Corp.;•a July 2010 agreement with Swiss food manufacturer Nestlé S.A.; and•a May 2009 deal with the Danish food giant Danisco, which Dupont (NYSE:DD) bought in June for US$6.3 billion.

Pakit and Enwave’s recent success in land-ing multinational partners provides lessons for owners and decision-makers at small and medium-sized companies who have similar aspirations.

month when it signed a partnership to help PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE:PEP) develop packaging technology.

That followed Enwave Corp. (TSX-V:ENW) signing its fifth major pact with a multinational in June. Enwave’s technology quick-dries food using microwaves and a vac-uum system that neither heats nor removes as many nutrients as other drying technology.

Enwave’s agreement gave Kellogg Co. (NYSE:K) exclusive rights to use Enwave’s system for 12 months to produce cereals and cereal bars.

Previous Enwave partnerships with multi-nationals include: •a December 2010 deal with Grimmway Farms, the world’s largest grower, producer

Food partnerships go global>Vancouver startups sign deals with multinationals

>Technologies from Pakit and Enwave innovating in arenas that have been static for decades

By Glen Korstrom

Major investment in research and de-velopment and patenting innovative

technology has paid off in partnerships with multinational food manufacturers for two upstart Vancouver technology companies.

Pakit Inc. created a buzz earlier this see Partners, 6

pakit Ceo dwayne Yaretz: his company signed a partnership deal with pepsiCo earlier this month to allow the pop and snack food giant to use its innovative packaging technology

full disclosure

Piracy plundering B.C. shipping revenue Somali pirates are costing local shipping companies big dollars, but the sharp spike in high-seas hijacking is also helping boost business for a local security firm: 4-5

slaughterhouse inspection changes raise concerns in b.C.’s ranching community 3

u.s. ports riled over prince Rupert’s shipping success 6

World comes shopping for b.C. coal companies 7

Cross-border energy-efficiency m&a action set to heat up 8

scheming over streaming 10

labour strife looms for pne 13

erin Chutter’s siberian cobalt connection 14

Cherry point coal port runs into state debate 14

ladner on vancouver viaduct futures 24

milke on a new think tank for tired, old ideas 25

Resource industry rock star mark o’dea is back in business with a new precious metals venture 27

INSIde

Biggest festivals and cultural events 12

Biggest office supply firms 16

August 30–September 5, 2011 • Issue 1140 BIV.COM $3.00LocaL. BuSineSS. inteLLigence.

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contentSColumnistsCascadian Connections 8

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next iSSueFull DiSCloSureBIV takes a closer look at the $100 million investment B.C. has made in a computer system installed to track personal student information, which has been plagued by problems from day 1. The software’s provider plans to stop servicing the system and Education Minister George Abbott is sitting on a report that his ministry commissioned for $250,000 to advise it on how to best to proceed

The Blue eDiTionWhere and when to invest company money in marketing( S ub S c r ib e r S o nly )

FinAnCeA chat with Farid Novin, senior representative of the Bank of Canada, on trouble ahead and the B.C. economy

Biggest women-owned businesses

Chinese buyers eye new acquisition targets in Canada

Casinos told to reduce cash on hand

MLA Iain Black steps down to take over board of trade

Radiant Communications posts quarterly loss, CEO resigns

Cameco launches hostile takeover bid for Hathor

Vancouver affordability erodes further: RBC

One in three workers foreign-born by 2031: StatsCan

Digital media program links industry, academia

B.C. lags country in salary growth: survey

Canadian consumers increasingly using mobile media to shop

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correction

In BIV ’s latest Surrey Report (issue 1138; August 16‑22), businessman Sher‑rold Haddad’s first name was incorrectly spelled as Charrold in a photo caption accompanying the story “Bureaucracy busters.”

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Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 20112

HST loss lambastedB.C.’s rejection of the harmon-ized sales tax (HST) will hurt a lot of local businesses and convince manufacturers to move to Ontario or another province that has the HST, according to Andrey Pavlov, an associate professor at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business.

“I just can’t see why any manufacturing business would choose to move here or remain here,” Pavlov said. “We don’t have very much manufacturing to begin with; we’re going to have even less now.”

According to Elections BC, 54.7% of voters cast “Yes” ballots to extinguish the HST.

On top of additional taxes many businesses will pay under the reversion to the old PST/GST regime, Pavlov emphasized the costs busi-nesses will face to switch their accounting systems.

“It’s terrible because you pay the cost of switch-ing twice. You go to HST, you figure it out, it’s finally run-ning smoothly, and now you have to pay, again, the cost of going back.”

Pavlov said that while he’s very disappointed with the referendum result, he’s not surprised. “The government did a terrible job explaining why the change was needed. And then there were political forces in our province that seized that opportunity and went against something that is really good for our province – and they did it for political gain.”Friday, August 26

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Meat of this matter raising concernCattle ranchers want B.C. slaughterhouse inspections similar to Alberta’s, which they say are more efficient

By Glen Korstrom

Union leaders and political crit-ics claim Stephen Harper’s

Conservative government is put-ting British Columbians’ health at risk as part of a misguided effort to save money.

But cattle ranchers believe that a Canadian Food Inspection Agency decision to return meat-packing plant inspection respon-sibilities to Victoria could result in a more streamlined and cheaper regime.

The B.C. government has con-tracted Ottawa to inspect prov-incially regulated meat-packing plants for more than a decade.

Even though they’re not con-sidered part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s (CFIA) core mandate, Ottawa subsidizes those inspections.

That will stop by 2014, the CFIA announced earlier this month.

“The B.C. government is go-ing to have to put up some extra money to keep up the good work of the inspections or they could cut them back to where they’re mean-ingless,” said Bill Freding, who owns Southern Plus Feedlots and is president of the BC Association of Cattle Feeders.

He hopes that Victoria will look

to Alberta where he said the prov-incially regulated beef-slaughter-house inspection system is more efficient and just as safe as in Brit-ish Columbia.

“The federal government has lots of requirements. They make it pretty sticky and pretty expensive just to comply, not that the regula-tions have improved safety at all,” Freding said.

“There might be a head inspect-or who will say you need this door to be three feet, six inches and not three feet wide.”

Five years ago, B.C. had at least three federal ly inspected beef slaughterhouses – all of which have since gone out of business, Fred-ing said.

The closest federally inspected beef slaughterhouse is now in Al-berta. That means that if a B.C. cattle rancher wants to sell his beef outside of B.C., he has to ship the live cattle to Alberta to be butchered.

If the rancher sends his cattle to one of the 48 provincially regulated slaughterhouses – some of which process poultry and hogs only – he must sell that meat within B.C.

Those slaughterhouses, how-ever, are far more convenient be-cause many of them are in mobile trailers.

Freding hopes that the ban on selling meat from those slaughter-houses outside B.C. will change as B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan strengthen their New West Part-nership – an agreement aimed at liberalizing trade and eliminating trade barriers between the three provinces.

Agriculture Union – PSAC president Bob Kingston and Van-couver Quadra MP Joyce Murray have criticized the CFIA decision to pull out of inspecting provincial-ly regulated slaughterhouses. They argue that the move will increase risk to consumers of consuming E. coli, listeria, salmonella and other food contaminants.

B.C. Health Minister Mike de Jong was not available to respond

to that criticism, but B.C. health ministry spokesman Stephen May told Business in Vancouver “there will not be a reduction in safety standards.”

He said the ministry has been aware of the CFIA’s decision since last year and that, starting early this year, the B.C. government launched a review of provincial meat-inspec-tion services.

“[B.C.’s ministry of health] will be providing options for the next steps by the fall,” May said. “We are confident that we will find a solution that works well for pro-ducers and processors while keep-ing the safety of meat products paramount.”

Cathy Airth, the CFIA’s as-sociate vice-president in its oper-ations branch, also told BIV that the transition likely won’t streamline bureaucracy. “It was a long-stand-ing service that was well entrenched and didn’t have huge management oversight,” Airth said. “The prov-ince may step up and say they’d like to take some of our staff.”

According to the BC Cattle-men’s Association, B.C.’s cattle industry has primarily cow calves and the province’s 4,086 cattle ranches account for about 4.5% of Canada’s cow-calf herd. •gkorstrom@biv.com

“We are confident that we will

find a solution that works well

for producers and processors

while keeping the safety of

meat products paramount”

– Stephen May,spokesman,

B.C. health ministry

Bill Freding, president of the BC Association of Cattle Feeders: “the B.C. government is going to have to put up some extra money to keep up the good work of the inspections or they could cut them back to where they’re meaningless”

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 3NewS

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Locals grapple with global piracy plagueThe proliferation of murder and hijacking in waters off Africa’s Somali coast is affecting virtually every shipping company doing business in B.C.

By Jenny Wagler

For most British Columbians, pirates are the stuff of children’s

books and Johnny Depp movies, but the romanticized villains are prov-ing to be an all-too-real problem for B.C.’s shipping companies.

Pirate attacks, ship hijackings and hostage-takings off Africa’s So-mali coast and throughout the In-dian Ocean have escalated rapidly since 2008. Somali pirates domin-ate the violence. According to a re-port on piracy by the International Maritime Bureau, a division of the International Chamber of Com-merce, pirates killed seven seafarers and took 353 hostages in the Somali area in the first six months of 2011. As of the end of June, pirates were holding 20 vessels for ransom and 398 crew members hostage.

More than 13,000 kilometres away in B.C., that violence is rock-ing the province’s local and foreign-owned shipping companies.

“Those particular waters, be-cause they include access to and from the Suez Canal, pretty much impact every [shipping] company that is doing business here in B.C.,” said Stephen Brown, president of the Chamber of Shipping of British Columbia. “They’re all international traders and that’s a large piece of the world’s oceans.”

Canada has participated in multinational naval efforts to police the area with warships, but Brown said the efforts aren’t solving the problem.

“We’re talking about an area the size of Europe with something be-tween 15 and 20 warships to cover it, which is obviously not very much.”

Weekly piracy riskFor Vancouver-based energy ship-ping company Teekay Corp. (NYSE:TK), Somali pirate attacks are a weekly risk.

“We have a significant number of vessels trading in that area or transit-ing – at least one a week and some-times two or three,” said Graham Westgarth, Teekay’s executive vice-president for innovation, technol-ogy and projects. To date, he said, no company ship has been attacked.

“We’ve been approached [by pir-ates] but then if the vessel exhibits some awareness, often the skiffs just

leave and look for a softer target.”Westgarth said ships use a range

of industry-advocated pirate-deter-rence practices that include using fire hoses to create a water curtain around a ship.

He said Teekay’s vessels are also changing their routes significantly to allow them to sail through safer areas, such as the west coast of India.In addition, Westgarth said the com-pany started hiring armed guards six months ago to protect what it deems to be high-risk pirate targets: slow ships with low-lying decks that can easily be boarded.

Westgarth said those measures can add up to $100,000 and four or five days travel time to each ship’s voyage. But he pointed out that re-fusing to trade in the area isn’t an op-tion for many shipping companies.

“Most of the oil that goes to Europe comes from the [Persian] Gulf. If you stop trading there then pretty soon, Europe would run out of energy.”

Lost opportunitiesAside from hurting B.C.’s few locally based shipping companies such as Teekay, Somali piracy is affecting international shipping companies with B.C. operations that dominate

the province’s shipping industry.The operational base for Hong-

Kong-based Fairmont Shipping (Canada) Ltd. is in Vancouver, where approximately 45 employees manage 22 ships worldwide.

Samuel Tang, vice-president of Fairmont’s shipping and operations department, said when the piracy problem erupted, Fairmont decided to avoid operating in the area – and thus gave up those business oppor-tunities. The driver behind the deci-sion, he said, was simple economics: the area’s sky-high insurance pre-miums could cost a company as much as $150,000 per voyage for a ship weighing 46,000 deadweight tonnes.

But he said avoiding that high-risk, high-insurance area stopped being viable in December 2010, when London underwriters rad-ically increased the size of the area where anti-piracy insurance is re-quired. Since then, he said, the whole Indian Ocean is subject to war-risk premiums. That eliminated Fair-mont’s ability to navigate around the danger areas – and the extra costs.

“If the entire Indian Ocean is in-cluded, then you can’t avoid it; one way or the other, you’ve got to cut through it.”

Safety at a premiumTang said the company has operat-ed in the Indian Ocean a few times since December, but mostly near India, well away from the piracy epicentre.

He said the risk-averse company will likely pay both armed guards

and an optional layer of insurance (kidnap and ransom) when it has to run ships in the area.

Tang emphasized that it’s the menace of multimillion-dollar ran-soms that makes Somali piracy so much more threatening to compan-ies than, for example, the long-stand-ing piracy problem in the Malacca Strait.

In Southeast Asia, he said, pirates

just rob ships and leave.“In [the Malacca Strait], if you’re

unlucky, your losses are confined and can be calculated, but in Somali areas, it could be disastrous.”

Tang noted that even compan-ies with kidnap and ransom insur-ance can’t be sure their coverage will be sufficient for pirates’ escalating demands.

Labour woesBesides their financial impact on the industry, Brown emphasized that pirates are taking a human toll – and one that’s making it trickier for ship-ping companies to recruit seafarers worldwide.

Somali pirates, he said, have killed more than 50 seafarers since piracy erupted in the region. In the past year, Brown said, pirates have been regularly torturing seafarers to pressure ransom negotiators.

“Some of the documented torture methods are hoisting crew members upside down in refrigerated com-partments on the vessel until they’re near death, daily beatings and even in one case, a public execution in full view of a warship.”

Brown added that piracy is undermining the recruitment and retention of seafarers in the Philip-pines and other developing coun-tries and convincing ships’ officers from developed countries to leave the industry.

While Westgarth said Teekay has yet to be affected by piracy’s impact on recruitment, Tang said the prob-lem is exacerbating a global labour shortage for seafarers.

Westgarth added that if piracy continues to flourish, the industry’s future talent pool will be seriously compromised.

“There will be a long-term impact in this area, as young people will not wish to enter the profession.”

Pirate-driven growthBut while piracy is hurting the busi-ness of B.C.’s shipping companies, it’s helping drive one local company’s exponential growth.

Launched in 2008, Vancouver-based Canadian Sea Marshals Tac-tical Teams (CSMTT) provides armed four-man security teams for ships travelling in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden and throughout the In-dian Ocean.

“In [the Malacca Strait], if

you are unlucky, your losses

are confined and can be

calculated, but in Somali

areas, it could be disastrous” – Samuel Tang, vice-president,

shipping and operations department, Fairmont Shipping (Canada)

Dave Jackson, president of Canadian Sea Marshals Tactical Teams: “we are highly trained, and my back goes up immensely when I get people calling us mercenaries”

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 20114 NeWS

Full disclosure

Dave Jack son , C SMT T ’s president and director of operations, said it’s the first company in Canada to target this business area.

He said CSMTT has grown from “a four-man show” to its current 75 employees and expects to hit 150 by Christmas.

“I’d say in the last three months it’s just sort of exploded.”

Jackson added that CSMTT is projecting fiscal 2011 revenue of $6 million. He said the company hires ex-Canadian Forces personnel, cur-rent reservists and police officers. CSMTT then provides them with additional training – particularly in their legal obligations under Can-adian law if they’re defending a client against a pirate attack.

Jackson said besides managing rapid recruitment, the company’s chief challenge is keeping abreast of, and adapting to, a host of new

insurance-driven rules being applied to the emergent security industry off the coast of Somalia.

“Part of the frustration of this whole industry is that we’re governed by so many different rules, so many different policies, yet the pirates have zero rules.”

The fledgling industry has been slapped with the “mercenary” label in the international media, but Jack-son said his company is anything but that.

“We’re not going into a country and trying to destabilize it, which is the primary purpose of a merc. We’re highly trained, and my back goes up immensely when I get people calling us mercenaries.”

As to whether the company has a future without a thriving Somali piracy trade, Jackson said he’s work-ing on other business options, but declined to disclose what.

“But piracy – it’s not going away. Definitely not.”

No end in sightWestgarth said pirates have started using captured ships as “mother-ships,” travelling up to 1,000 miles off the Somali Coast before launch-ing their attack skiffs. “The more deterrents you put in place, the more inventive the pirates become.”

Westgarth, Tang and Brown agreed that in the short term, com-panies’ best defence against ever-in-creasing attacks is to engage armed guards. Brown said that thus far, no ship carrying armed guards has been hijacked.

But B.C.’s shipping industry is calling for broader solutions than what the private sector can provide.

“It’s a situation that needs reso-lution,” Westgarth said, “and the

Ric

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Pirate attacks on the rise off the coast of Africa Annual cost of worldwide piracy estimated at up to $12 billion, most of which is incurred in the Somalia area

BC’s oldest law � rm is...

SouRce: icc inteRnationaL maRitime BuReaun Attack n Attempted attack n Suspicious vessel

industry hasn’t got the wherewithal to do that; it’s really up to govern-ment and navies to do that.”

Westgarth and Tang are advocat-ing a warship blockade of Somalia’s coast to stop pirates from leaving shore. Westgarth added that nav-ies policing the area need broader powers to capture – and hold onto – pirates.

Where does piracy currently rate on shipping companies’ agendas?

Neck and neck with low shipping

rates for top position, according to Westgarth. “But I would say piracy is number 1 because that actually has an impact on people.”

In January, the Oceans Beyond Piracy project, funded by Louisville, Colorado-based non-profit One Earth Future Foundation, esti-mated the annual cost of worldwide piracy at between US$7 billion and $12 billion, with the bulk of that in-curred in the Somalia area. •jwagler@biv.com

Graham Westgarth, Teekay executive vice-president: Europe depends on trade serviced via shipping lanes off Somalia’s coast

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 5NewS

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Port dispute heats upPrince Rupert’s booming cargo business triggers U.S. allegations that the port has lax security and unfair rail subsidies and tax advantages

By Jenny Wagler

South of the border, rumblings are growing of an American

investigation into whether the Port of Prince Rupert’s successful con-tainer business has unfair advan-tages over U.S. ports.

Richard Lidinsky is chairman of the Washington, D.C.-based Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), which regulates American water-borne commerce.

He said he’s expecting the U.S. Congress, soon after it reconvenes in September, to ask the FMC to launch an investigation into the Port of Prince Rupert’s container business.

In 2010, the Port of Prince Ru-pert’s container volumes grew by nearly 30% to more than 340,000 TEUs (20-foot equivalent container units). In September 2010, Prince Rupert was named North America’s fastest-growing container port by London, U.K.-based Drewry Ship-ping Consultants.

Lidinsky said the concerns he’s been hearing from West Coast members of Congress centre around:

•a harbour maintenance tax that gets slapped on containers com-ing through U.S. ports that has no equivalent in Canada;•a belief that Prince Rupert port security is more lax than security at U.S. ports; and•differing rail structures on both sides of the border that give advan-tages to Canada.

“This all leads up to the fact that people have alleged that a ship-per coming from, let’s say Shang-hai through to the Chicago area, is paying up to $600 a box less [if it’s

shipped through the Port of Prince Rupert] than if that same box had come through Seattle.”

Lidinsky said Canada isn’t be-lieved to be breaching NAFTA or any other bilateral agreements. But he said the U.S. wants to establish whether the FMC has jurisdiction over U.S.-bound cargo arriving through a Canadian port.

“It needs to be established be-cause we have statutes that deal with preference – one shipper over another shipper – and dis-crimination,” he said. “It’s a general

regulatory framework that we’re trying to clarify.”

Lidinsky said one suggested “solution” to levelling the alleged unequal playing field would be to have the U.S. require U.S.-bound containers being shipped through Canada to pay the harbour main-tenance tax – “to equalize the treat-ment [of cargo].” But he said NAFTA makes that difficult to legislate.

Lidinsky said there’s no push for confrontation with Canada.

“We’re not trying to erect any kind of barrier or wall in Canada,” he said.

“If the shipper wants to come through Canada, that’s his choice. If he feels he gets a better shipping deal coming through Rupert than through Seattle, that’s his choice. But we want to make sure he’s doing it by the rules and those ports can compete equally for that cargo.”

However Shaun Stevenson, vice-president of marketing and business development at Prince Rupert Port Authority, said the American con-cerns are unfounded.

“If [FMC] did complete some study into the movement of U.S. goods through Canadian ports, they’d find they’re moving through the safest entry points into North America in our security and proto-cols – and as well that Canadian ports and transportation systems aren’t subsidized.”

Stevenson said efficiencies for shippers are at the heart of the port’s success.

“We’re about a day and a half, minimum, closer to Asia than any other West Coast port and with the efficiency of the rail system, you can save four to eight days compared to other West Coast routes,” he said.

Gary LeRoux, executive direc-tor of the Canadian Association of Port Authorities, said he saw no merit in the proposed American investigation.

“It’s clearly the silly season in Washington if this is the kind of in-vestigation they’re thinking about launching.”

He argued that it’s rich to see American ports complaining about being disadvantaged, given that they receive more government funding than their Canadian counterparts.

“We’d love to have all the lar-gesse heaped on their ports by lo-cal, federal and state governments. We don’t have the luxury here in Canada.”

LeRoux added that issues such as the harbour maintenance tax need to be solved within the U.S. rather than in Canada, and argued that the proposed investigation will only hurt American shippers and consumers.

“If Congress wants to go to Wal-Mart and tell them, ‘You shouldn’t take the best price and the fast-est route to get your shirts on the shelf … because the American con-sumer wants to pay more,’ then go ahead. Because that’s what they’re saying.” •jwagler@biv.com

In 2010, London, U.K.-based Drewry Shipping Consultants named the Port of Prince Rupert North America’s fastest-growing container port

According to CEOs at Pakit and Enwave those lessons include: •making a strong connection on a technical level with someone in the target multinational partner who can be a champion within the global company’s research and develop-ment team;•being prepared for long delays and slow progress as approval for the technology works its way up the chain of command; and•being f lexible about how the

process evolves. Both CEOs believe their technol-

ogies are “disruptive” – a modern-ization that revolutionizes a niche that has gone decades without sig-nificant innovation. And they say it’s because their technologies are such a radical departure from what’s avail-able in the market that partnering with global food giants is so import-ant. Their involvement prompts ma-jor food manufacturers in different subsectors to consider adopting the technology.

from Food, 1

Partners: Multinationals take time Pakit CEO Dwayne Yaretz told Business in Vancouver that the company has thus far invested about $90 million in developing its technology.

It has patented a process for producing egg-carton-like, three-dimensional moulded shapes from cellulose fibres sourced from sugar cane or biomass. The finished prod-uct can replace plastic or other paper products.

“In many cases we’re cheaper. We use far less energy and far less water,” Yaretz said. “So we are environment-ally sustainable.”

Yaretz could not reveal de-tails of how PepsiCo might use his

packaging technology, but he con-firmed that the testing agreement provides revenue for Pakit. Given that the company is under court pro-tection from creditors, its deal with Pepsi comes at a good time.

Enwave’s corporate filings show that it racked up $24.5 million in ac-cumulated losses up to March 31.

But a private placement with Ca-naccord Genuity Corp., Lauren-tian Bank and Clara Securities has helped it raise $12 million.

Enwave co-CEO John McNichol told Business in Vancouver that his company will likely not generate a profit until at least next year.

However, some of the $7.1 million

in losses that Enwave accumulated in 2011’s first quarter could be re-versed. It paid $5.5 million to the University of British Columbia in March to buy patents for its technol-ogy and immediately wrote off that cost. If Enwave hadn’t bought the patents, it would have had to pay the university 20% of all future royalties resulting from their use.

McNichol, who pointed out that the price for the patents would have risen once revenue was rolling in from deals signed, said Enwave ex-pects to have between seven and eight multinational agreements in the pipeline by year’s end. •gkorstrom@biv.com

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 20116 NeWS

Mining majors zero in on B.C. coal stocksAnglo American and Xstrata are increasing their position in B.C.’s mineral-rich northeast amid booming Asian demand

By Joel McKay

Two mid-sized deals in the last month are further

evidence that global mining firms are showing a renewed interest in B.C.’s black rock resources.

On August 17, U.K.-based mining giant Anglo Amer-ican (LSE:AAL) announced a deal to take full control of the Peace River Coal Part-nership, which operates the Trend mine near Tumbler Ridge.

A week earlier, Switzer-land-based diversified min-er Xstrata (LSE:XTA) paid $147 million to buy privately held First Coal Corp. and take control of its exploration properties in northeast B.C.

“They see the potential, particularly in British Col-umbia; there are huge oppor-tunities there,” commented Allen Wright, president and CEO of the Coal Association of Canada.

Both deals revolve around high-quality metallurgical coal used to make steel, and come amid ongoing demand for the mineral from growing economies such as China.

“The supply-demand pic-ture right now is tight,” said Wright. “I just don’t see the demand lessening over the next little while.”

Mike Plaster, a coal ana-lyst at Salman Partners in Vancouver, agreed.

“From what we’ve seen the fundamentals for the coal markets are still fairly robust, and on the metallurgical coal side of things the spot prices have held in there fairly well despite the recent [market] concerns,” said Plaster.

Earlier this month, spot coal prices topped out at US$304 per tonne for pre-mium-grade steel-making coal.

Although Plaster said that’s lower than the quar-terly contract rate of US$315 per tonne, it’s still far above a US$225 price per tonne dur-ing the same period last year.

Wright and Plaster agreed the Anglo and Xstrata deals are likely opening salvos in what could be long-term in-vestment in the province.

Anglo’s decisions to buy full control of Peace River

Coal represents a significant about-face for the company, which only a year ago had put its 75% stake in the partner-ship up for sale.

Meantime, Xstrata, which has interests in more than 30 operating coal mines, told Business in Vancouver the First Coal deal represents “an opportunity to grow Xstrata Coal’s coking coal assets within Canada, an attractive investment destination with a relatively stable regulatory and fiscal regime.”

Both deals come less than a year after U.S.-based Walter Energy (TSX:WLT) bought Western Coal for $3.3 billion, acquiring three mines near Tumbler Ridge and paving the way for it to become the world’s largest pure-play metallurgical coal producer.

B.C.’s reigning coal pro-ducer, Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B), also has plans to expand its portfolio in the province.

The company, which al-ready operates five coal mines in southeastern B.C., is work-

ing on a feasibility study to re-open its Quintette mine near Tumbler Ridge.

Teck said in July that, as-suming permits are received soon and development pro-ceeds as planned, Quintette could be back in production in 2013.

Other players such as the U.K.’s Anglo Pacific Group, London, Ontario’s Fortune Minerals (TSX:FT) and Van-couver-based Compliance Energy (TSX-V:CEC) are ad-vancing coal projects else-where in B.C.

Said Wright: “If you add up all the companies that

say they are going to de-velop mines, you could easily double the production in the province.” •jmckay@biv.com

“If you add up all the

companies that say they

are going to develop

mines, you could easily

double the production

in the province”

– Allen Wright,president and CEO,

Coal Association of Canada

Coal shipped from Walter Energy’s Willow Creek mine is evidence of a renewed interest from large companies in B.C.’s mineral resources

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 7NewS

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BY THE NUMBERS Losses are shown in brackets. Graph information by Stockwatch.

Conifex Timber Inc. (TSX-V:CFF)

▲95% ($7.2m) ($0.48)Branching out: Conifex posted a $3.6m loss in the second quarter even though lumber revenue increased 105% compared with the same quarter in 2010. The company delivered a record 83% of second-quarter shipments to export markets, as operating rates improved to 55% of production capacity compared with 22% last year. Conifex finished the quarter with $7.8m in cash and cash equivalents.

Revenue: $48m6 months 2011

Net income 6 months 2011

Earnings per share 6 months 2011

Absolute Software Corp. (TSX:ABT)

▲13% ($1.1m) ($0.03)Anti-theft success: The computer security company saw a revenue increase in 2011 thanks to significant growth in sales contracts and a near doubling in cash from operations. Absolute reduced its annual loss 86% to $1.1m in 2011 compared with 2010, while commercial sales of theft recovery products grew 16%. Absolute finished the year with $28.8m in cash and cash equivalents.

Revenue: $72mFiscal 2011

Net income Fiscal 2011

Earnings per share Fiscal 2011

Western Wind Energy Corp. (TSX-V:WND) Figures in U.S. dollars

▲9% ($1.6m) ($0.03)Trade winds: Western Wind’s revenue increase was attributable to an 18% increase in energy production, which was partially offset by an 8% decrease in price. Meantime, the company’s operating expenses climbed to $4.7m in the first half of 2011 compared with $3.3m the year, primarily due to an increase in stock-based compensation. The company finished the period with $936k in cash.

Revenue: $1.6m6 months 2011

Net income 6 months 2011

Earnings per share 6 months 2011

$4

$6

$8

$10

$12

A O D F A J

$2

$3

$4

$5

A O D F A J

$0.00

$0.50

$1.00

$1.50

$2.00

A O D F A J

CasCadian ConneCtions

Michael ButlerCross-border M&A action set to accelerate in North America’s energy-efficient sector

Large-scale energy effi-ciency is rapidly becom-

ing a focal point for many sustainability programs throughout the United States and Canada.

In May 2011, Victoria an-nounced a comprehensive new municipal energy-ef-ficiency program aimed at saving its municipal gov-ernment $750,000 over the next 10 to 15 years. With the

effects of the global reces-sion still fresh in the minds of businesses and govern-ments, many enterprises and other government entities are looking to follow suit as the economy heads into another downturn during the second half of 2011.

In response to this new demand, B.C. energy servi-ces providers such as Wil-lis Energy Services and

SymbiAudit are rolling out new programs and offer-ings designed to streamline energy efficiency for large enterprises and government entities. The capital mar-kets also have their finger on the pulse of this trend. Throughout the United States and Canada, invest-ors are shifting their focus from capital intensive sus-tainability projects such as

biofuels and solar sectors and moving to the less-capital-intensive energy-efficiency sector. As robust as the ener-gy-efficiency sector is from an investment standpoint, we believe the sector will explode with M&A trans-actions across North Amer-ica in 2011’s third and fourth quarters as major managed energy services providers look for strong acquisition targets. That will generate tremendous cross-border opportunities for energy effi-ciency and managed services providers.

We expect demand for acquisitions to be driven by large managed energy service providers, whose custom-ers across all market sectors are being affected by the ris-ing costs of energy. While the services these companies provide are helping to allevi-ate some of these costs, their customers are starting to demand services that allow them to react almost instant-ly to cost-price increases and spikes in use.

In order to efficiently meet customer demand, many managed services providers are looking to acquisition as a quick solution. Building the technology from the ground up would be both expensive and time-consuming, and in order to deliver these servi-ces to customers as soon as possible, we expect the large energy services companies to gain the product capability through acquisitions.

In addition to increasing customer demand, France-based Schneider Electric’s recent purchase of U.S.-based Summit Energy Services for $268 million (priced at

approximately four times rev-enue) is likely to push other energy companies toward energy-efficiency acquisi-tions. This transaction is the strongest signal to date that the energy-efficiency sec-tor is ready to go to market and is putting pressure on other large corporations in the energy services sector to

respond strategically. More-over, it’s a strong indication that managed energy ser-vices providers are looking beyond geographic location and are willing to engage in cross-border transactions to acquire the best possible technology.

Likewise, energy-effi-ciency companies are be-ginning to look for potential acquirers. While energy-effi-ciency products may be ready to go to market, there are sig-nificant barriers to entry, in-cluding the expense and time required to establish a foot-hold in the crowded man-aged energy services market. While the product/technol-ogy is ready, many compan-ies are having a hard time accessing large corporate cli-ents that already work with established managed energy services providers. For B.C.

companies looking to break into U.S. markets, and vice versa, the benefits of a cross-border acquirer include the added incentive of expanding their potential market.

Customer demand for real-time energy-efficiency technologies is likely to drive managed energy services providers to begin looking for deals in 2011’s second half. Fear of losing out on the most scalable, easily in-tegrated technologies will force competitors to act quickly, particularly in light of the Schneider/Summit transaction.

As in that transaction, we expect to see strong cross-border activity as acquirers seek out the most compre-hensive, market-ready ener-gy-eff iciency solutions, regardless of geographic lo-cation. Moreover, we antici-pate increased demand for data analytics providers with the capacity to collect and distill large quantities of real-time data.

With its strong clean-tech sector, we expect to see a great deal of cross-border in-terest in B.C. companies in the energy-efficiency space. In anticipation of increased deal volume and competition for top targets, we recom-mend that energy-efficiency providers in B.C. begin con-sidering their financing and acquisition options. •

Michael Butler is CEO of Cascadia Capital (www.cas-cadiacapital.com), a Seattle boutique investment bank that serves domestic and global clients. Butler leads the firm’s sustainable industries practice.

We expect demand

for acquisitions to be

driven by large managed

energy service providers,

whose customers are

being affected by the

rising costs of energy

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 20118 Finance

InsIder TradIng

The following is a list of the largest stock trades made by corporate executives, directors and other company insiders of B.C.’s public companies filed by the week ending August 18. The information comes from a com-pilation of required reports filed with the BC Securities Commis-sion within five calendar days of a change in an insider’s holdings.

Insider: Jim Pattison, directorCompany: Canfor Corp. (TSX:CFP)Shares owned: 27,182,850Trade date: August 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15Trade total: $14,556,983Trade: Purchase of 1.5 million shares over six days at prices ranging from $9.513 to $9.8861 per share through Great Pacific Capital Corp. Acquisition follows the purchase of 536,300 shares from August 3 to 5.

Insider: Lloyd Miller, IIICompany: Atna Resources Ltd. (TSX-V:AA)Shares owned: 9,787,133Trade date: August 8Trade total: US$1,942,710Trade: Sale of 2.5 million shares at US$0.77 per share.

Insider: Norman Pitcher, COOCompany: Eldorado Gold Corp. (TSX:ELD)Shares owned: 29,851Trade date: August 8Trade total: 1,304,131 (net)Trade: Sale of 100,000 shares at prices ranging from $17.85 to 18.02 per share following the acquisition of 100,000 shares for $4.88 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Paul Wright, president and CEOCompany: Eldorado Gold Corp. (TSX:ELD)Shares owned: 210,665Trade date: August 8, 10Trade total: $1,300,980 (net)Trade: Sale of 400,000 shares at prices ranging from $18.25 to $19.20 per share following the acquisition of 400,000 shares for $4.88 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Bradford Cooke, chair-man and CEOCompany: Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX:EDR)Shares owned: 1,187,837Trade date: August 10, 11Trade total: $873,600Trade: Sale of 90,000 shares over

two days at prices ranging from $9.50 to $10.10 per share.

Insider: Nancy Woo, vice-president, investor relationsCompany: Eldorado Gold Corp. (TSX:ELD)Shares owned: 30,875Trade date: August 9Trade total: $521,150 (net)Trade: Sale of 50,000 shares at prices ranging from $18.03 to $18.30 per share following the acquisition of 45,000 shares for $7.78 per share and 5,000 shares for $7.12 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Salvadore Garcia, vice-president, MexicoCompany: Goldcorp Inc. (TSX:G)Shares owned: 0Trade date: August 16Trade total: $503,500 (net)Trade: Sale of 25,000 shares at US$50.87 per share following the acquisition of 25,000 shares for US$30.73 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Dawn Moss, vice-president, administration, and corporate secretaryCompany: Eldorado Gold Corp. (TSX:ELD)

Shares owned: 22223Trade date: August 8Trade total: $460,248 (net)Trade: Sale of 34,334 shares at prices ranging from $18.25 to $18.33 per share following the acquisition of 34,335 shares for $4.88 per share through the exercise of options.

Insider: Paul Reynolds, president and CEOCompany: Canaccord Financial Inc. (TSX:CF)Shares owned: 847,658Trade date: August 9, 10Trade total: $338,793Trade: Sale of 32,839 shares indirectly owned for $10.3168 per share.

Insider: Paul Skayman, senior vice-president, operationsCompany: Eldorado Gold Corp. (TSX:ELD)Shares owned: 0Trade date: August 10Trade total: $287,186 (net)Trade: Sale of 20,000 shares at prices ranging from $19.20 to $19.28 per share following the acquisition of 20,000 shares for $4.88 per share through the exercise of options.rchu@biv.com

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GRoCERy BILLS oN thE RISEB.C.’s July inflation at 1.7% year-over-year

▲14.4% ▲7.2% ▲4.9% ▲2.3%

July prices (fresh

vegetables)

July prices (meat)

July prices (grocery

bills)

July prices (restaurant

meals)A significant increase in the cost of fresh vegetables (14.4%) and meat (7.2%) propelled grocery bills 4.9% higher, while restaurant meals cost 2.3% more in July compared with the same month last year. Despite lower prices for natural gas (-3%), shelter costs rose 1%, an increase driven by higher insurance premiums (17.2%), electricity bills (6.7%) and property taxes (4.8%). the cost of household operations rose 3.2%, while furnishings were comparatively less expensive (-4.2%). Prices dropped for women’s (-9.6%) and children’s (-14.4%) clothing.

Rate of B.C. price increases slowsInflation in B.C. dipped to 1.7% between July 2010 and July 2011, down from a 2.7% year-over-year increase in the previous month. One of the main drivers for the increase in consumer prices was a 9.5% rise in energy prices with gasoline costing 13.1% more than a year ago.

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-33, August 19

Non-resident entries to B.C. advances in JuneNon-resident entries to Canada via B.C. advanced 0.5% (seasonally adjusted) in June. Accounting for roughly three-quarters of total entries, the number of travellers from the U.S. rose 1.7%, largely due to a sharp increase in same-day visits (4.6%).

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-33, August 19

Boomers to keep swelling age of B.C. labour forceIn 2010, people 55 years and older accounted for 15.1% of B.C.’s labour force. By 2031, that proportion is forecast to swell to 23.1% as the last of the baby boomers reach retiremeent age in 2031. Between 2010 and 2031, the labour force participation rate for B.C. is expected to fall 3.8 percentage points to 61.7%.

-BC Stats Infoline, Issue 11-33, August 19

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 9finAnce

By Nelson Bennett

If you’ve watched an Alliance Films trailer on your computer,

tablet or smartphone recently, fol-lowed live debates in the parlia-ment of Trinidad, or listened to prayers broadcast live from Saudi Arabia during Ramadan, you have NetroMedia to thank.

The Victoria-based company specializes in delivering audio and video for clients around the world through its streaming platform.

“We’re the piece between the content creator and the audience,” said NetroMedia CEO Che Pink-erton. “We’re like a large antenna for the Internet.”

NetroMedia recently worked with IT City in Saudi Arabia to provide live broadcasts of prayers this month for Ramadan.

The IT City contract is all part of NetroMedia’s expansion into the Middle East. The company plans to open an office in Riyadh in about a month from now.

“That’s exciting for us,” Pink-erton said. “We had planned this for a year, and obviously the Arab spring is a concern for us in terms of safety, so we’ve delayed it a bit. But we believe the time is right for that region.”

He added that Africa is an-other market with great growth potential.

“Places like Africa and the Middle East are just getting their wind,” Pinkerton said.

“The growth there, the busi-ness adoption, the leap-frogging of technology is nothing less than spectacular.”

Now 10 years old, NetroMedia was founded by Matthew Carson – the company’s director of tech-nology. It now employs 40 people worldwide, 13 of whom are based in Victoria and three in Vancouver.

The company started out pro-viding local webcasting, mostly for conferences. Pinkerton came aboard in 2003 as CEO.

“After the tech meltdown, we looked at where our best position

could be and went into stream-ing,” he said.

It turned out to be a good move.

“We’ve been profitable every year that we’ve been in business,” Pinkerton said. “Last year, through the recession, we were at least 40% [up in revenue].”

With broadband’s increased

availability, streaming became the most common way of transfer-ring audio and video files. Com-panies like Netflix have their own streaming distribution platforms. NetroMedia provides a streaming platform through its global con-tent delivery network for small- to medium-sized clients.

“Conventional broadcasters, globally, are our bread and butter,” Pinkerton said.

“They have a terrestrial distri-bution sometimes or maybe they’re Internet only, and we do their [In-ternet and mobile] distribution for them.”

In addition to on-demand and pay-per-view services, Netro-Media does live streaming for concerts, conferences and even prayers and sermons for religious organizations.

The broadcasting of live prayers from Saudi Arabia during Rama-dan is just the most recent example. In fact, Pinkerton said faith-based broadcasters were among the first clients to use streaming.

“One of our very first clients many, many years ago was a faith broadcaster,” he said.

“Really, faith broadcasters, no matter where they are in the globe, are really early adopters of technology.”

NetroMedia offers a wide var-iety of features, including ad-in-tegration, geo-control (blocking specific countries, regions or cit-ies) and a user agent detection that optimizes the content according to what kind of mobile device some-one is using. The use of streaming for distributing audio and video files continues to grow, thanks to the increased use of smartphones and tablet computers.

“Obviously, it’s exploding, and we were in smartphones long be-fore there were tablets. NetroMedia was an early adopter and one of the leaders of mobile streaming.”

Pinkerton added the next big opportunity for growth is likely to

come from over-the-top television (OTT), which broadcasts TV via the Internet.

Mark Goldberg, a telecom-munications consultant, said OTT provides greater opportunities for smaller content creators around the world to reach new audiences and for audiences to find a greater range of content than they current-ly get from dedicated content pro-viders (Netflix, for example).

“I think the real opportunity is the personalization of entertain-ment,” Goldberg said.

“They’re permitting anybody who has video content anywhere in the world to distribute that con-tent to viewers anywhere in the world. In an increasingly frag-mented video marketplace, they’re enabling folks who are producing and archiving content to reach audiences wherever those audi-ences might be.” •nbennett@biv.com

body makes it look like a takeoff on Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro model. But a solid hinge lets Elitebook’s 12-inch-wide screen dis-play pivot, allowing it to flip around and close over the keyboard.

Suddenly it’s a tablet – though a somewhat thick one – running Windows 7. Like earlier Windows tab-lets, it can be used with a stylus, but it also responds to finger taps.

Options include various Intel Core i5 and i7 pro-cessors, conventional hard drives or solid-state storage. HP also offers a close cousin, the Elitebook 2560p, minus the pivoting touchscreen, starting at $1,099. The com-pany claims that both are built to military standards of durability and are resistant

While Apple’s Macin-tosh computers re-

main a minority taste (about 14% in Canada), the com-pany has a majority market share for personal comput-ers that sell for more than $1,000.

In June 2009, market research company NPD reported that Mac sales ac-counted for 91% of the rev-enue in this “premium” price segment. Out of date but probably still the case. There’s a higher profit mar-gin in selling a premium computer than in selling a low-priced one. As a result, PC manufacturers are refus-ing to cede the high-end to Apple. Here are two recent challengers.

At f irst g lance, HP ’s Elitebook 2760p ($1,499 and up) magnesium/aluminum

to dropping, vibration, dust and high temperatures.

The 2760p weighs in at 1.8 kilograms – just under four pounds. It’s got both a small touchpad and what HP calls a Pointstick, the small rub-ber-nubbin pointing device standard on IBM and Le-novo ThinkPads.

The design and built quality are solid and per-formance is good, with video speed benefiting from Intel’s current generation of chips. (Older Intel video chip sets were somewhat anemic performers.) Nice touch: a pop-out antenna to extend wireless range. Less nice: no USB 3.

Turn it into a tablet and you get a touch device that can run all those standard Windows applications. The problem is that Windows

really isn’t designed for big fat clumsy fingertips. The upcoming Windows 8 hope-fully will do a better job in this regard.

Samsung has been tak-ing on Apple on a variety of fronts, including iPhone- and iPad-challenging smart-phones and tablets. Its Series 9 laptop ($1,599) targets Apple’s light and slim 13-inch Mac-Book Air ultraportable lap-top. Unlike HP’s Elitebook, it avoids mimicking Apple’s

metallic silver look, opting for a striking brushed char-coal Duraluminum case. Samsung claims it’s aircraft-grade aluminum: light but strong.

Like Apple’s Air it’s slim and light, with ports hidden away behind little doors. (In both cases, the ports are a bit hard to access – a case of style trumping usability.)

More simi lar it ies to the Air: a big, glass-coated touchpad with integrated buttons and a backlit key-board. Unlike the MacBook Air, the Series 9 has a wider display with a matte finish, making it more viewable in bright light. And while both the Series 9 and the Mac-Book Air require dongles to connect to a wired net-work port, Apple’s product (and HP’s Elitebook) also needs a dongle to plug into an HDMI external project-or or high-def TV; the Ser-ies 9 has a mini-HDMI port built in.

The 13-inch Air has a full-sized SD card slot;

Samsung’s Series 9 includes a less-useful microSD slot. Like the Air and HP’s Elite-book, the case lacks room for an internal optical drive. Samsung provides a three-year warranty standard; Apple makes that an added-cost option.

Its Intel Core i5 processor and 128-gigabyte solid-state drive provide perky per-formance: Windows 7 boots up in about 20 seconds.

In the spring, when Sam-sung released the Series 9, Apple’s MacBook Air was using Intel’s last-generation Core Duo processor. Since then, Apple upgraded its Air models to the newer Core i5 generation. And that puts Samsung in a bit of a bind: a MacBook Air with a simi-lar processor, same-sized solid-state drive and same amount of memory costs $1,299. •

Alan Zisman (www.zisman.ca) is a Vancouver educator and computer specialist. His column appears weekly.

HIgH-TecH OffIce

AlAn ZismAnNew notebooks tackle Apple at premium end of PC market

Samsung has been taking

on Apple on a variety of

fronts, including iPhone-

and iPad-challenging

smartphones and tablets

Island company in the stream Global demand for NetroMedia’s audio and video streaming platform is growing rapidly

With broadband’s increased

availability, streaming

became the most common

way of transferring

audio and video files

“The real opportunity

is the personalization

of entertainment”– mark Goldberg,

telecommunications consultant

Che Pinkerton, CEO of netromedia: “we’re like a large antenna for the internet”

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201110 Technology

Chinatown hustleAnthem Properties Group is moving forward with Union, the project in Victoria’s Chinatown formerly known as Bambu.

Amadon Group launched Bambu in late 2005 and shelved the project when fast-rising con-struction costs and moderating demand led to the conclusion that the economics of the $45 million project wouldn’t pencil out. An-them has rejigged the develop-ment’s configuration and brought it back to market with 133 units in two five-storey blocks. B.C.’s Major Projects Inventory pegs the new construction cost at $20 million.

Speaking last year, Sylvia Yung, Anthem vice-president of communications, said the chan-ges give the project an efficient design with fewer unit sizes. The simple arrangement contributes to the lower cost and promises to be an easier sell to buyers less bamboozled by a plethora of lay-out options.

The initial release compris-es 130 suites. These are primar-ily one-bedroom units, with 12 suites offering two bedrooms and a den. Three loft-style units with two bedrooms are being held for a later release.

The total size of the develop-ment is 35,500 square feet. The cheapest units start at $239,900 for 491 square feet – or approxi-mately $489 a square foot.

Detached home valuesThe press release announcing An-them’s launch of Union described the property as appealing to buy-ers “seeking exceptional value.” Given that it’s been a while since homes hit the Vancouver market at less than $500 a square foot, one can see the appeal.

But the latest housing af-fordability report from RBC

Economics underscores the dis-proportionate role of Vancouver in skewing affordability measures in the province (and, in turn, mak-ing projects such as Union seem attractive by comparison).

“Measures for all housing types are now either at or very close to their worst levels on record,” re-port authors Robert Hogue and Craig Wright stated. “Such poor affordability almost entirely re-flects the sky-high market valua-tions in the Vancouver area.”

Detached home values are exactly that – detached.

“The RBC measure for bunga-lows jumped by a whopping 10.4 percentage points – a record – in the second quarter to an all-time high of 92.5%,” Hogue and Wright reported.

“With the bar set so high, own-ing a home is a dream that only the area’s highest-earning households

can contemplate.”Or perhaps not. The report tips

foreign buyers as driving the up-ward momentum, and while this has had a knock-on effect on all manner of properties condos re-main more affordable than last year – by a percentage point.

While still well above the 25-year average, the average con-dominium requires just 47.1% of a household’s monthly income. That’s just less than half what a two-storey home requires, but chances are the buyer seeking a two-bedroom home isn’t putting in offers on condos.

Bellstar takes ComoxCalgary-based Bellstar Hotels and Resorts Ltd. has added another B.C. resort to its management portfolio. This time it’s Comox Bay Marina & Residences, a natural fit given the popularity of Vancouver

Island with Alberta buyers.Bellstar previously managed

Miraloma on the Cove in Sid-ney, but its management contract ended last year when Miraloma’s owners converted the develop-ment to condos. Howard Land

Group recently approached Bell-star to manage the Comox project, which is set to open in early 2014.

“We looked at the plans, we looked at the condos, we looked at

the size of the resort, we looked at the market in Comox and we de-cided it is a fit for us,” said Bellstar COO Ralf Strub.

Strub said the addition of Co-mox opens opportunities for Bell-star to become more active on Vancouver Island. It was meeting with a second resort owner last week, and it’s in discussions with a third property. The latter two are operated by the developer, who sees value in having an outside management company.

“They understand it’s a differ-ent skill set,” Strub said.

Bellstar looks forward to be-ing back on the Island following the termination of the Miraloma agreement.

“We want to add the Island again to our portfolio as a hub and make it more worthwhile than it is with one resort,” Strub said. •pmitham@telus.net

Real estate Roundup

Peter MithaMAffordability top of mind for developers and buyers; report underscores how much Vancouver skews market

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Power in Union: simple and affordable configurations at the Union development in Victoria buoy anthem Properties’ hopes that the project will be more successful than when it originally hit the market in 2005

“Such poor affordability

almost entirely reflects the

sky-high market valuations

in the Vancouver area”– robert hogue and Craig Wright,

economists, rBC economics

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 11Real estate

Biggest Metro Vancouverfestivals and cultural events

Ranked by attendance at most recent event

Rank '11 EventWebsite

Event hostPhone

Venue(s) Nature of event Event manager Date of mostrecent event

Next eventdate

Attendance:most recent/previous

1 HSBC Celebration of Lightwww.celebration-of-light.com

Vancouver Fireworks FestivalSociety604-642-6835

English Bay Fireworks competition Andrea Dowd-Dever

July 30, Aug.3, Aug. 6, 2011

2012 1,000,0001,500,000

2 The Fair at the PNEwww.pne.ca

Pacific National Exhibition(PNE)604-253-2311

PNE Fairgrounds The 17-day fair at the PNE is the largest annualticketed event in B.C.

Jeff Strickland,vice-president,operations

Aug. 20-Sept.5, 2011

Aug. 21-Sept.6, 2010

937,4851

937,485

3 Vancouver Pride Paradewww.vancouverpride.ca

Vancouver Pride Society604-687-0955

Downtown Vancouver Annual gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendercelebration

NP July 31, 2011 Aug. 5, 2011 640,000640,000

4 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festivalwww.coastaljazz.ca

Coastal Jazz & Blues Society604-872-5200

Various indoor andoutdoor venues inVancouver

Internationally acclaimed jazz festival featuring thefull spectrum of jazz, blues, funk, world andelectronica dance music

NP June 24-July3, 2011

June 22-July 1,2012

520,000525,000

5 CelticFest Vancouverwww.celticfestvancouver.com

Celtic Fest Vancouver Society604-683-8331

Various venues indowntown Vancouver

Western Canada's biggest annual Celtic festival withabout 50 events over five days

R. Albano March 2011 March 14-18,2012

250,00002

6 Bright Nights in Stanley Parkwww.vancouverparks.ca

Vancouver Park Board604-257-8531

Stanley ParkMiniature Railway

Christmas train and lights display. Joint event withBC Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund as afundraiser for the Burn Fund

Vancouver ParkBoard

Nov. 2010-Jan.2011

Dec. 2011-Jan.2012

200,000200,0003

6 Canada Day at Canada Placewww.canadaplace.ca/canadaday

Canada Place Corp.604-775-7200

Canada Place Canada Place's marquee event including a traditionalcitizenship ceremony, musical performances andinteractive displays and family events

NP July 1, 2011 July 1, 2012 200,000200,000

8 Vancouver International Film Festivalwww.viff.org

Greater VancouverInternational Film FestivalSociety604-685-0260

Various venues inVancouver

International film festival Alan Franey Sept. 30-Oct.15, 2010

Sept. 29-Oct.14, 2011

148,000149,000

9 Vancouver Christmas Marketwww.vancouverchristmasmarket.com

Vancouver Christmas MarketInc.604.924.4506

Queen ElizabethTheatre Plaza

Cultural event Malte Kluetz Nov. 24-Dec.24, 2010

Nov. 24-Dec.24, 2011

125,0001

125,000

10 Canada Day in Surreywww.canadaday.surrey.ca

City of SurreyNP

Cloverdale MillenniumAmphitheatre

One of the largest Canada Day celebrations in MetroVancouver

Donnelly &Associates

July 1, 2011 July 1, 2012 100,000125,0004

11 Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festivalwww.dragonboatbc.ca

Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon BoatFestival Society604-688-2382

False Creek andCreekside CommunityCentre

Live world music, dragon boat racing, food fromaround the world, activities for kids, marketplace andmore

Ann Phelps June 10-12,2011

June 15-17,2012

100,000100,000

12 Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festivalwww.bardonthebeach.org

Bard on the BeachShakespeare Festival604-737-0625

Theatre tents inVanier Park

Annual Shakespeare festival staging fourprofessional productions in open-backed theatretents against a spectacular natural backdrop

NP June-Sept.2011

June-Sept.2012

90,00079,000

13 Cloverdale Rodeo and Country Fairwww.cloverdalerodeo.com

Cloverdale Rodeo andExhibition Association604-576-9461

Cloverdale Rodeo &Exhibition FairGrounds

The country fair features family-friendlyentertainment and activities, while the CloverdaleRodeo offers up world-class rodeo action and thesecond-largest payout in Canada

Dave Melenchuk May 20-23,2011

May 18-21, 2012 77,00072,000

14 Festival of Lights at VanDusen BotanicalGardenwww.vandusengarden.org

VanDusen Botanical Garden604-257-8335

VanDusen BotanicalGarden

Annual light display with 1.4 million lights, DancingLights on the Lake, Gingerbread Wood, Make-a-WishCandle Shrine, Santa's Living Room, Gold Chain Walkand more

VanDusenBotanical Garden

Dec.2010-Jan.1,2011

Dec. 9,2011-Jan. 1,2012

72,00060,0005

15 Caribbean Days Festivalwww.caribbeandays.ca

Trinidad & Tobago CulturalSociety of B.C.604-515-2400

Waterfront Park B.C.'s first, original and major annual Caribbeancultural event. This free, two-day outdoor festival,features Caribbean and multicultural food, music,arts and crafts

ManchanSonachansingh

July 23-24,2011

July 28-29,2012

48,00048,000

16 Summer Night Marketwww.summernightmarket.com

Lions Communications Inc.604-278-8000

12631 Vulcan Way,Richmond

Multicultural night market festival Paul Cheung May 18-Sept.18, 2011

Summer 2012 48,00045,000

17 Word on the Streetwww.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/vancouver

Rebus Creative604-684-8294

Vancouver LibrarySquare and CBC Plaza

Literary festival to buy books, attend author readings NP Sept. 26, 2010 Sept. 25, 2011 40,0001

40,000

18 Richmond Maritime Festivalwww.richmondmaritimefestival.ca

City of Richmond604-718-8040

Britannia Shipyards,National Historic Siteof Canada

Maritime-themed entertainment exhibits, displaysand demonstrations, heritage boats, island city

Sandi Swanigan Aug. 5-7, 2011 Aug. 10-12,2012

40,00020,000

19 Vancouver International Fringe Festivalwww.vancouverfringe.com

First Vancouver TheatrespaceSociety604-257-0350

Granville Island B.C.'s largest theatre festival features over 500shows in 11 days at venues on and around GranvilleIsland

NP Sept. 8-18, 2011 Sept 7-17, 2012 31,26222,000

20 Vancouver International Children'sFestivalwww.childrensfestival.ca

Vancouver InternationalChildren's Festival Society604-708-5655

Granville Island Week-long festival of performing arts and culture foryoung audiences

Katharine Carol May 30-June5, 2011

May 28-June3, 2012

30,00045,000

21 Theatre Under the Starswww.tuts.ca

Theatre Under the Stars604-734-1917

Malkin Bowl, StanleyPark

Musical theatre productions James Cronk July 8-Aug. 20,2011

July 6-Aug. 18,2012

30,00036,000

22 Vancouver Playhouse International WineFestivalwww.playhousewinefest.com

Vancouver PlayhouseInternational Wine Festival604-872-6623

VancouverConvention Centre

Premier wine event and among the biggest, best andoldest wine events in the world

Harry Hertscheg,Trish Metcalfe

Mar. 28-Apr. 3,2011

Feb. 27-Mar. 4,2012

25,00025,000

23 Push International Performing ArtsFestivalwww.pushfestival.ca

Push Festival Society604-605-8284

Various venues inVancouver

International performing arts festival NP Jan. 18-Feb. 6,2011

Jan. 17-Feb. 5,2012

24,43924,000

24 MusicFest Vancouver6

www.musicfestvancouver.caVancouver Summer FestivalSociety604-688-1152

Various venues inVancouver

Annual feast of classical, jazz and world musicpresentations for 10 days in August in over 40 events

Morna Edmundson,administrativedirector

Aug. 6-15, 2010 Aug. 5-14, 2011 19,82215,0007

25 Fort Langley Cranberry Festivalwww.fortlangley.com

Fort Langley BusinessImprovement Association604-888-8835

Fort Langley Cranberry festival Shirley Stewart Oct. 9, 2010 Oct.r 8, 2011 15,00020,000

Sources: Interviews with representatives from the above events and BIV research. NRNot ranked NP Not provided 1 - 2010 figure 2 - Did not hold a festival in 2010, due tothe Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games 3 - 107,000 train riders 4 - 2009attendance 5 - Historical average 6 - Formerly Festival Vancouver 7 - Ten-dayfestival attendance

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Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201112 LiSt

By Glen Korstrom

Job action from unionized work-ers won’t interrupt Vancouver’s

second-largest cultural festival, but once the Fair at the Pacific Nation-al Exhibition (PNE) ends, a strike could disrupt Vancouver Giants hockey games, concerts and the final sporting events at the temporary Empire Field stadium.

“The employer has walked away from the table and at the moment there aren’t even more talks sched-uled,” said CUPE Local 1004 busi-ness agent Steve Varty. “We are weighing our options, up to and in-cluding taking a strike vote after this year’s fair is finished.”

Varty represents nearly 4,000 ticket-takers, security guards, car-penters, labourers and other workers who watched their three-year con-tract end at the beginning of 2011.

“We did not walk away from the table,” retorted PNE CEO Mike Mc-Daniel when told of Varty’s com-ments. “We’ve been bargaining for a while now and made quite a bit of progress.”

McDaniel told Business in Van-couver that hostile union insinua-tions that there could be a strike stem from being in what he called the “unfamiliar territory” of not hav-ing a contract in place by the start of the annual fair.

It’s impractical, however, to be-lieve that any headway on a new con-tract could be made during the fair because both PNE executives and union staff are working long hours to ensure the success of the 17-day event.

Any glitch in the fair would be costly given that about $25 million of the PNE’s $45 million annual rev-enue comes from the fair. The PNE has been a tradition in Vancouver for 101 years, and this year will host free concerts from performers such as

Kenny Rogers (August 29), Donny Osmond (August 30) and Hall and Oates (September 2).

But Varty told BIV the absence of an agreement prior to the start of this year’s PNE is a warning sign of gruelling negotiations ahead.

“We’re far apart on wages. The employer is offering 1.5%, 1.25% and 1% while we’re looking for a cost-of-living increase. They say they can’t afford that.

“Job security ties into con-tracting-out issues. About 50% of

our full-time members are laid off every October or November for the entire winter. We want the PNE to be forced to use our members con-tractually more throughout the winter.”

Varty and McDaniel agree that the City of Vancouver has a 25-year master plan for the city-owned PNE site that includes improvements such as “greening,” a new building and potentially a 3,700-vehicle park-ade – roughly the same number of parking stalls the PNE currently has

on one level. Varty wants the union’s members

to be contractually entitled to do that construction and renovation work.

If the two sides fail to reach an agreement soon after the fair’s Sep-tember 5 finale, the union could strike by mid-September and threat-en the:•September 23 Vancouver Giants home opener at Pacific Coliseum;•September 24 Vancouver White-caps soccer game – the final event at the temporary Empire Field sta-dium; and

•September 25 Pearl Jam concert at the Pacific Coliseum.

When the final whistle sounds at Empire Field, the PNE will pass management responsibility for the site to the Vancouver Park Board.

Workers will take about three months to dismantle the provincial-ly owned stadium, which the PNE manages on city-owned land.

The artificial turf will be ex-panded to make way for two slightly smaller football-style playing fields that are aligned east-west instead of north-south.

“There are still discussions about whether we could put in some [base-ball diamonds]” McDaniel said.

Four lighting towers will remain, but McDaniel said their brightness will likely be reduced because the field will no longer need broadcast-quality lighting.

The 28-year-old BC Place Sta-dium is scheduled to reopen for the September 30 game between the BC Lions and the Edmonton Eskimos. •gkorstrom@biv.com

PNE braces for strike action following its annual 17-day fairVancouver Giants Western Hockey League games among events that could be disrupted as union workers seek cost-of-living raise and better job security

“We’re far apart on wages”

– Steve Varty, business agent,

CUPE Local 1004

Second Amtrak train to Seattle gets extensionCanada Border Services Agency (CBSA) will continue to provide – and fund – border clearance services to Amtrak’s second daily train, which runs between Vancouver and Seattle.

The train began as a pilot project in 2009, in the build-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics. Post-Olympics, neither CBSA nor Amtrak was keen to foot the bill for border clearance services.

Last year, those services cost CBSA $600,000.Thursday, August 25

Iain Black quits politics to join board of tradeLiberal MLA Iain Black has decided to step away from politics to promote business in Vancouver.

On Wednesday, Black was named president and CEO of the Vancouver Board of Trade, effective October 3.

“I am really excited about this opportunity,” Black told Business in Vancouver.Thursday, August 25

B.C. commutes are longest in CanadaWith average daily com-mutes of 38 minutes, B.C. and Ontario residents are spending the most time commuting in the country, according to a survey by Workopolis.

B.C.’s commute is high-est for time spent, but not for distance travelled.Wednesday, August 24

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Fair game: this year, Vancouver’s second-largest cultural festival, the Fair at the PNE, includes free concerts from performers such as Hall and Oates

Do

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August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 13LiSt

Proposed coal port faces U.S. backlashPublic opposition targets $500 million Washington state facility that would compete head-on with Port Metro Vancouver

By Jenny Wagler

A proposed bulk terminal in Cherry Point, Washington

state, that would compete with Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) for dry-bulk exports is facing public and political opposition.

In late February, marine termin-al operator and stevedoring com-pany SSA Marine announced it had launched the environmental review process for a $500 million terminal project to handle coal, grain, potash and other dry-bulk commodities. (See “Cherry Point terminal could lure more B.C. port business south” – issue 1116, March 15-21.)

The proposed facility would ac-commodate 48 million tonnes an-nually of open-storage commodities like coal, plus six million tonnes of grains, potash and other closed-storage commodities. It would also initially have at least 25 million tonnes of coal-handling capacity.

As Washington state election races gain momentum, candidates in and near Whatcom county, where the Cherry Point project is proposed, are criticizing the project.

Whatcom County Council, in conjunction with state and fed-eral regulatory authorities, will

ultimately decide if the project will proceed. Whatcom County Council won’t face an election until 2014.

The terminal, however, is a hot issue in area mayoral races.

American media have reported that in Bellingham, Whatcom County’s largest city, two out of four mayoral candidates, including incumbent Dan Pike, are opposed to the large coal terminal. But they would entertain options for a small-er multi-cargo facility.

Two counties over in the Snohomish County city of Edmonds,

local media reported that all three mayoral candidates oppose the pro-ject. Edmonds mayoral candidate Dave Earling told Business in Van-couver in an email that he has ser-ious concerns about the proposed terminal.

“I’m all for jobs and economic development, but there are serious impacts to our community given potential train traffic along our city’s waterfront,” he said. “I support the current solution of Whatcom County and the state government doing a complete environmental

assessment of this proposal.”Media reports track further

pushback from a group of 160 doc-tors from Whatcom County, who claim the new terminal would erode local health. The group wants a study of the effect on local health from coal dust and diesel from trains and ships, as well as the im-

pacts of added railroad noise and disruption of emergency traffic at rail crossings.

An online petition protesting the project, launched in March by Bellingham-based non-profit group Resources for Sustainable Communities, has gathered 1,317

signatories and been forwarded to state representatives.

“The choice … is one between continued pursuit of a bright and promising future and a turn to-ward a past anchored in extractive behaviors that have left us polluted, degraded, and mired in ecological, economic, and social debt,” the peti-tion argued in its final paragraph.

According to staff at her com-munications department, Washing-ton Gov. Chris Gregoire has taken no position on the project.

Earlier this year, PMV COO Chris Badger told Business in Van-couver that a terminal at Cherry Point would mean new competi-tion for the port’s dry-bulk termin-als and require it to demonstrate a competitive advantage.

Duncan Wilson, Port Metro Vancouver’s director of communi-cations and government affairs, offered no assessment of the signifi-cance of the backlash the project is facing in the United States.

“I can’t say, because I’m not familiar with the U.S. regulatory process, but we’re certainly aware of the ongoing discussions in the U.S., and we’re following them closely.” •jwagler@biv.com

“I’m all for jobs and

economic development, but

there are serious impacts

to our community given

potential train traffic along

our city’s waterfront”

– Dave Earling, mayoral candidate,

Edmonds, WA

Environmental groups, doctors and local politicians in Washington state are opposing a proposed terminal at Cherry Point

Cobalt coup in Siberian outbackLocal juniors bank on demand for high-tech gadgets in the search for a strategic metal

By Joel McKay

Booming consumer de-mand for cellphones,

laptops and iPads has helped a local junior mining com-pany close a once-in-a-life-time deal in Siberia.

In late July, Puget Ven-tures (TSX-V:PVS) shed its rookie reputation to become Global Cobalt Corp., a mine developer with a key cobalt project in Russia’s Republic of Altai .

By way of a reverse take-over, Puget has not only land-ed what it believes to be a very large cobalt deposit in an under-explored region of Si-beria, but also a $400 million deal to develop infrastructure to support an eventual mine.

Erin Chutter, Puget’s 37-year-old president and founder, told Business in Van-couver her company has spent the last four years scour-ing the globe for large cobalt projects.

The company was coming up short when a shareholder

mentioned a project called Karakul in a remote part of southern Siberia.

“It was almost disbelief,” Chutter said of the find. “We’ve been looking for pri-mary cobalt assets all over the world … and then the ele-phant shows up in a place no one has heard of.”

The Altai Republic is a little-known region within the Russian Federation that shares borders with Kazakh-stan, Mongolia and China.

Chutter said the region is looking to make the most of its mineral deposits, notably Karakul.

The company will need to

drill the deposit to bring it in line with Canadian resource estimate standards, but Chut-ter believes it could become one of the largest primary cobalt deposits outside of the Democratic Republic of Con-go, where the majority of the world’s cobalt is produced.

The metal is traditionally

used in alloys that are manu-factured into aircraft engines, but is increasingly being found in new high-tech gadg-ets such as cellphones and batteries.

Ongoing consumer de-mand for those technolo-gies has prompted a few local mining companies to seek out cobalt-rich deposits to take advantage of this emer-ging market.

Even the London Metals Exchange (LME) caught on to the demand for the metal, launching a cobalt futures trading platform in Febru-ary 2010.

The Republic of Altai is so keen on cobalt that it and the

federal government of Rus-sia have committed to spend $400 million over the next five years to help Chutter and her team build a mine at Karakul.

“The infrastructure fund-ing is viewed as a way for Al-tai to leap over some of the growing pains of an emer-ging economy,” she said.

But her company isn’t the only local outfit to tap into the race for cobalt riches.

Vancouver-based For-mation Metals (TSX:FCO) is about to begin building its cobalt project in Idaho.

Once in production, the mine is expected to supply 15% of North America’s de-mand for high-purity co-balt, which will be used in jet engines.

Jonathon Lee, an analyst with Byron Capital Markets, believes Formation is under-valued at $1 per share given the size of its project and its ability to serve a niche part of the cobalt market.

Despite the fervour for metal, he said that no two co-balt deposits are alike, with different types serving differ-ent markets.

That being the case, Lee said investors should con-tinue to tread carefully. •jmckay@biv.com

“[Investors] definitely

have to do [their]

homework”– Jonathon Lee,

analyst,Byron Capital Markets

Ric

ha

Rd

La

m

Puget Ventures founder Erin Chutter: “we’ve been looking for primary cobalt assets all over the world … and then the elephant shows up in a place no one has heard of”

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201114 NeWS

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Startup StrategieS

Troy FimriTeHow to prepare for financial success

preparation and planning are essential for creating

confidence for both potential and current business owners. These two elements are a springboard for future suc-cess. A miscalculation many small and medium-sized en-terprises (SMEs) make is not planning properly, doing the right research or knowing where to go for the critical information before mak-ing major financial and time commitments.

According to Industry Canada data, of the 130,000 new small businesses start-ing up each year in Canada, 93% don’t make it past their first year. That staggeringly high failure rate is very in-timidating to potential entre-preneurs. However, there are ways to improve the chances for success.

The first step is a solidly detailed business plan. Ask-ing a professional to flesh out the business plan and pro-vide feedback can be very valuable.

A poorly thought-out business plan can be detri-mental to the business’ direc-tion and weaken the chances of securing investor support.

Another tool available to new businesses, once a solid business plan is developed, is exploring the value of a customized market valua-tion and business analysis. These reports allow new-business owners and invest-ors to review the potential stability and profitability of their business.

Essentially it is an ap-praisal on the worth or po-tential worth of the business and an analysis of how the performance of the busi-ness’ industry and the wider economy might affect the business’ performance and success in the future.

A question that many small-business owners may wonder about is, why bother spending extra money on a valuation report when I am just starting out?

Entrepreneurs are alive with amazing ideas, but they may not have a background in financing or understand the market they are entering.

If an SME wants to raise additional money, either as debt or equity, it will need to know how much the com-pany could be potentially worth in the market before it can approach a bank or an investor. I strongly be-lieve having industry specific

information through a busi-ness valuation can solidify plans and allow SMEs to be better equipped to make informed decisions and improve the value of their business.

Products should be de-signed for different stages of business development that can help a company raise startup capital, partners sell out of a partnership, business owners who are planning to retire or investors looking to enter a new industry.

We recently had a client who was looking at pur-chasing a cheque-cash-ing franchise and wanted to understand what he was investing in. The client re-marked that the market valuation was affordable in-surance that allowed him to enter the industry with confidence.

Reflecting on the deci-sion to have a report pre-pared, the client commented that it was an excellent re-turn on investment. The re-port solidified that this was a profitable industry to ven-ture into. Our client received a concise report written in plain language that he could understand and use to make decisions immediately.

As an entrepreneur, I understand that a small-business owner has to wear many hats when first start-ing out and throughout the growth of his or her business. A lot of stress can be involved when investing time, money and energy into an idea. De-veloping a solid plan and having as much knowledge as possible through business valuation tools can mean the difference between success and failure. •

Troy Fimrite is the CEO of Atlin Institute, which helps small and medium enter-prises better understand their business value. He is also a previous BIV Forty under 40 winner. Contact him at 855-999-0019; www.atlin.com.

A poorly thought-out

business plan can be

detrimental to the

business’ direction and

weaken the chances of

securing investor support

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August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 15Small buSineSS

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Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in The List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Richard Chu, lists@biv.com.

>Next week: Women-owned and women-managed businesses

Biggest office supply firms in B.C.Ranked by total staff in B.C.

Rank '11 Company nameAddress

Top local executive(s) No. locations:in B.C./in Canada

Products and services Year founded/Headquarters

Ownership No. B.C. staff'11/'10

1 Staples Business Depot6 Staples Ave, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 4W3P: 905-737-1147 F: NP www.staples.ca

Steve Matyas, president, StaplesCanada

42325

Supplier of office supplies, business machines, officefurniture and business services to small business andhome-office customers

1991Richmond Hill, ON

Staples Inc. (Nasdaq:SPLS)

1,6501

1,7001

2 Grand & Toy4560 Tillicum St, Burnaby V5J 5L4P: 604-324-5151 F: 604-323-7581www.grandandtoy.com

Justine Harrison, area vice-president 554

Offers quality products and services from dynamicinteriors and the latest technology to a wide range ofoffice and facility supplies

1882Don Mills, ON

OfficeMax 13565

3 Monk Office800 Viewfield Rd, Victoria V9A 4V1P: 250-385-0565 F: 250-384-3851 www.monk.ca

James McKenzie, president and CEORoss Hill, CFO and COO

1010

Office supplies, business machines and technology,office furniture

1951Victoria

James McKenzie andRoss Hill

1302

130

4 Mills Basics1111 Clark Dr, Vancouver V5L 3K5P: 604-254-7211 F: 604-254-7484 www.mills.ca

Brad Mills, CEO 4NP

Long history of delivering outstanding service and thehighest-quality office products and printing tocustomers

1949Vancouver

Mills family 10599

5 FedEx Office Canada Ltd2 St Clair Ave W, Toronto M4V 1L5P: 416-323-3305 F: 416-323-1687 www.fedex.ca

Jose Yamazaki, country managingdirector

416

Paper for printers/copiers, wide selection of paper andcard stocks, designer papers, business stationery withmatching envelopes, announcements, invitations,résumé paper, brochures, common office supplies andmore; standard and custom rubber stamps

19843

TorontoCorporation 75

75

6 Canon Canada Inc6390 Dixie Rd, Mississauga, ON L5T 1P7P: 905-795-1111 F: 905-795-2130 www.canon.ca

Gary Stewart, branch manager, B.C.region

114

Highly respected Canadian market leader in businessand consumer imaging equipment and solutions

1973Mississauga, ON

NP 6060

7 Costless Express4

94B Glacier St, Coquitlam V3K 6B2P: 604-444-4467 F: 604-444-4302www.costlessexpress.com

Calvin Johnson, CEO 1NP

Over 40,000 items available for free next day deliverywith no minimum order at the lowest delivered price

1989Coquitlam

Privately held 4132

8 ImagePath Printing Solutions Inc3784 Napier St, Burnaby V5C 5Z9P: 604-299-1040 F: 604-299-1043www.primeimage.com

Joe Russo, presidentHoward Stoker, vice-president ofsalesChris Straub, director of service

NPNP

Office machines, printers, service, supplies, IT 2004Burnaby

Joe Russo, ChrisStraub and HowardStoker

3020

9 E Madill Office Co2290 Holdom Ave, BurnabyP: 877-527-2003 F: 866-754-1856 www.emadill.com

Ehren Madill, owner 22

Provider of office supplies, furniture, technology,cleaning and break-room supplies/products

1997Ladysmith

Independent, private,employee owned

2423

10 Office Essentials12851 Clarke Pl, Richmond V6V 2H9P: 604-276-9909 F: 604-276-9949www.officeessentials.com

Tim Hartford, president 11

Specialize in providing corporate, education,government and hospitality industries with a widevariety of computer and point-of-sale consumableproducts including printer and toner service andhardware on an "as needed" or cost-per-copy basisand specialty paper products

1989Richmond

Privately held 212

21

11 Dragonfly Business Solutions Inc1190 Melville St Suite 430, Vancouver V6E 3W1P: 604-689-5554 F: NP www.dragon-fly.ca

Andrew BonnarJason Bonnar, owners

11

Xerox office products and software, Xerox productionprinting products, document management solutions,resale of paper supplies and printer cartridges, sale ofcopiers and printers

2003Vancouver

NP 2113

12 Canadian Office Supplies Inc13900 Maycrest Way Unit 250, Richmond V6V 3E2P: 604-522-6607 F: 604-522-9974www.canadianofficesupplies.com

Toma Doo, presidentJennivine Doo, partner

NP1

Office supplies and furniture, technology, printerservice, printing and custom stamps, break-room andjanitorial supplies, rewards program and free gift withevery order over $100

1989Richmond

NP 1616

13 Total Office Supply Ltd371 Alexander St Suite 103, Salmon Arm V1E 4N2P: 250-832-8622 F: 250-832-8522www.totalofficesupply.ca

Tracey Jakobsen, owner 11

Full office supply, office furniture and print/designdivisions with outside sales staff

1987Salmon Arm

Privately owned 1110

14 G Trasolini Business Products Inc4005 2nd Ave, Burnaby V5C 3X1P: 604-298-6160 F: 604-298-3792 www.trasolini.com

Gerardo Trasolini, president NPNP

Over 16,000 office products; specialize in photocopyand computer paper, laser printer and fax service andrepair, toner cartridges (new and manufactured), datastorage tapes

1986Burnaby

Family owned 82

8

15 Canadian Business Distributors Inc9780 197B St Suite 201, Langley V1M 3G3P: 604-807-0884 F: 604-513-1356www.canadiandistributors.ca

Odell Boivin, president 1NP

Providers of office supplies, toners, cartridges,ribbons, fax films, inks, shipping supplies, boxes, officefurniture, janitorial supplies, break-room supplies andbusiness supplies

2000Langley

Private 86

16 Ink Toner Cartridge Ltd333 West Broadway, Vancouver V5Y 1P8P: 778-371-9554 F: 604-708-8158www.inktonermart.com

Adam Bai, manager 3NP

Ink toner cartridges, printer toner and cartridges, ink-jet ink, laser-jet toner cartridges, new and refill printerrepair

2007Vancouver

NP 66

16 Queens Stationery3034 Edgemont Blvd, North Vancouver V7R 2N4P: 604-987-0422 F: 604-987-5020 NP

John Lekakis, managing partner NPNP

Office essentials, school supplies, greeting cards,business services, full-service Canada Post outlet

1988North Vancouver

Privately held 62

6

17 GBC Canada5 Precidio Crt, Brampton, ON L6S 6B7P: 800-463-2545 F: 800-422-7135www.gbccanada.com

Tom Cowden, regional manager 17

Document and presentation solutions, ranging frombinders and index tabs to pocket folders to mediapackaging and tote boxes; document binding,lamination solutions, information packaging andtechnical service

1947Brampton, ON

ACCO Brands Corp. 45

Sources: Interviews with above firms and BIV research. Other companies may haveranked but did not provide information by deadline. NR Not ranked NP Notprovided 1 - BIV estimate 2 - 2010 figure 3 - In Canada 4 - Acquired Frogfile OfficeEssentials Inc. in October 2009

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Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201116 LiSt

By Joel Mckay

Despite Vancouver’s inter-national reputation as one

of the nicest places on earth to set up shop, many of the companies that fill office space downtown are born and bred on the West Coast.

“Vancouver is a v ir tua l ly closed market,” said Tony Astles, executive vice-president, B.C., at Bentall Kennedy. “In terms of the percentage of tenants or square footage available, there’s almost a non-existent amount of new ten-ants that come in from outside Vancouver.”

There are a number of rea-sons for that, said Astles, notably the city’s pricey labour and lease rates.

On top of that, Vancouver is not known as a head-office city.

In fact, major corporations are more apt to set up satellite offices in the Terminal City than move their headquarters here.

But that doesn’t mean property managers and brokerage firms are investing all their time and money marketing to potential tenants far and wide.

Rather, the city’s existing ten-ant base is so fluid that vacancy rates remain tight.

That means property managers and brokerage firms have very simple marketing plans:•l ist avai lable space online; and•keep in touch with existing cli-ents’ growth prospects.

“If you have good head-lease space today and a broker who’s active with it, you’re going to find someone for it,” explained Glenn Gardner, a corporate real estate adviser with Avison Young in Vancouver.

According to Avison Young’s mid-year 2011 Metro Vancouver office market report, the down-town core will face “constrained” office supply until mid-2014 when new towers come on the market.

At mid-year, the downtown va-cancy rate remained at 5%.

Unoccupied AAA office space downtown tightened further in the first six months of 2011 to 1.3%.

Gardner said a healthy down-town vacancy rate would be about 10%, adding that the current situa-tion is tough on both tenants and landlords.

“If you’re a tenant and you want to expand, it’s difficult to do that. … The reverse of that is if you’re a landlord and you have a tenant you want to keep and you can’t find space for them, then they

have to go find space somewhere else,” he said.

The situation is so constrained that Gardner suggests compan-ies in search of more than 5,000 square feet of space need to start looking 10 months in advance.

All this might lead tenants to believe that property man-agers and brokerage firms don’t work very hard at marketing their properties.

But Gardner said that’s simply not the case.

“At the end of the day, unless there’s a tenant in your building that needs your space, you have to market it.”

Astles agreed.In addition to advertising

properties to tenants and brok-ers, Bentall, which is B.C.’s largest commercial property manager, also makes sure its office space is pleasing to the eye.

“The marketing of the prop-erty actually flows right into the space itself … its state of readiness is critical to our marketing initia-tives,” said Astles.

From detai ls about how a building operates to its sustaina-bility initiatives, the quality of its elevators and the finish on door handles, Bentall makes sure its cli-ents have every piece of informa-tion they need.

“We go to ex t raord inar y lengths to make certain our prod-uct has a great experience when you arrive at it,” said Astles. “It’s kind of related to the residential notion of ‘staging.’”

Gardner added that off ice space located close to rapid-tran-sit nodes is also easier to market to clients.

But when all is said and done, real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank Devencore said its Van-couver clients care about one sell-ing feature more than any other ñ price.

“As much as the green move-ment is making headlines, cost is the number 1 driver for these guys,” said John Wu, an associate vice-president with Devencore.

Because vacancy rates down-town are so low, companies only move if they have to.

That means Devencore not only helps companies locate new office space, but also outlines how a space can help a business cut costs.

“You can’t control revenue but you can control costs.” •jmackay@biv.com

This article is reprinted from the Blue Edition magazine, which will be delivered in the next issue of Business in Vancouver (1141; Sep-tember 6-12).

contents

event

Cutting through the noise 2Tight budgets and the ever-harder task of catching the public’s eye are driving a trend toward stunt-based advertising

Spaced out 4Low downtown vacancy rates cause property managers and brokerage firms to find new ways to market office space

Show then tell 6Award-winning marketing campaigns amplify B.C.’s credit union strengths

Stage presence 8Small businesses get creative with traditional and digital strategies

Star power 10When fighting to get your product noticed, sometimes it pays to hitch your brand to a celebrity

Brand awareness 12Splurging to bring Manchester City to town could help future player-recruitment efforts for the Whitecaps

Business Excellence Breakfast Series

Investment in marketingPanel discussion with three of Vancouver’s top marketersWednesday, September 21

7:30 a.m. Buffet breakfast 8–9 a.m. Panel discussionSFU Segal School of Business 500 Granville Street (at Pender)BIV subscribers $49 Non-subscribers $59

Register at www.biv.com/events

Bentall Kennedy executive vice-president Tony Astles: a well-designed building can help attract new tenants

Avison Young real estate adviser Glenn Gardner: office space that moves the fastest has the best access to transportation

Do

min

ic S

ch

ae

fe

r

ric

ha

rD

La

m

Spaced outWith downtown vacancy rates at multi-year lows, few companies want to move locations, prompting property managers and brokerage firms to find new ways to market office space

“Unless there’s a tenant in

your building that needs your

space, you have to market it”

– Glenn Gardner, corporate real estate adviser,

Avison Young Vancouver

“As much as the green

movement is making

headlines, cost is the number

1 driver for these guys”– John Wu,

associate vice-president,Newmark Knight Frank Devencore

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Boardroom Strategy

Mike DesjarDinsHow to make better business decisions faster

Very rarely do I hear from CEOs and executives who are worried they will not

be able to plot a strategy that makes sense for their company.

More often than not, their greatest chal-lenge lies in execution of the plan. One of the core issues in execution that holds back progress is ineffective decision-making sys-tems that result from a limited understanding of how decisions are made, who has the abil-ity and responsibility to make decisions and what criterion is being used to make those decisions.

The ability to make clear, definite and timely decisions can be the difference between leading and lagging the competition. If key people in your organization are in decision paralysis, what effect is that having on over-all progress? Can you afford the extra time it’s taking to make decisions in your competitive industry?

So what can you do about it? Take a good look at how your decision-making culture might be slowing down the execution of your strategic plan by starting to understand which of these common blocks may be holding you back from making timely decisions.

A general fear of making the wrong deci-sion. Are people hesitant to make a decision for fear that it might not be the best one? Help remove the fear of making the wrong decision (which typically leads to analysis paralysis) by encouraging a norm of being solution-focused – let people know that there is more than one way to do most things and, although it’s im-portant to understand why something went wrong when it does, how problems are han-dled is what’s most important. If a decision turns out to be the “wrong” one, help people move quickly into solutions instead of blame or apathy.

Over-concern for other people’s feelings. Leaders with a high concern for relationships tend to avoid making decisions that might cause discontent. Help people balance their relationships with their co-workers and what’s best for the company by working with them to look at the cause and effect of their decisions on the organization as a whole and putting a focus on clear, honest communication about what’s to come.

A lack of clarity around who is respon-sible for making decisions. From unclear lines of reporting and authority to haste when leaving weekly team meetings, consider how leaders in your company may be slowing down decision-making and, in turn, execu-tion of your plan, by leaving teams of people unclear about who is responsible to make the decisions required to advance projects.

The people responsible for outcomes do not have the autonomy they need. Take a look at your plan, noting who is responsible for executing your most important initiatives. Then, consider if those people have the auton-omy they need to make the decisions required to get the job done and, more importantly, if they understand that they have the autonomy to do so. It’s difficult to make timely decisions when you’re expected to get approval every step of the way.

The executive leadership team is not lead-ing by example. Leading by example around decision-making is key. Do you stick by the decisions you make? Do you hold it together when things don’t go as planned and look to

solutions instead of blaming and focusing on what went wrong? Do you allow people the autonomy to make important decisions and coach them and support them to do so? People are looking to the leadership team for cues on what’s expected of them, so make sure you “walk-the-talk” by modelling the behaviour you want to see from others.

People don’t understand how to evaluate options and make a decision. Help people be-come more confident at making decisions by offering them an empowerment framework (tinyurl.com/empowerdecisions) to help guide them to make decisions that are consistent with the organization’s goals and values.

Not taking the time to clarify how deci-sions are going to be made. One of the best

ways to improve decision-making across your organization is to be clear up front about “how” decisions will be made. There are four distinct decision-making styles that are active in most organizations. By clarifying in ad-vance what style is appropriate for the deci-sion at hand, leaders, teams and individual contributors can feel empowered to act quickly and effectively.

Here are the four different styles:•Autocractic (decide and tell): As the leader, decide unilaterally and announce your de-cision to your team or the company overall. Ask for whomever you are communicating with to repeat back his or her understanding of what you have said to make sure you have been clear.•Consultative (decide after consultation or recommendation): Pull together as much in-formation as possible from key people before making the decision, then once you have made your mind up get reactions prior to making the final decision.•Team (followers share in the decision): There are three ways to have a team in involved in a decision: majority vote, where the leader has one vote and gives up veto power; consen-sus, where everyone has to agree after a discus-sion; and consensus with a silver bullet, where the leader will most likely work with consensus but maintains the power to veto the decision.•Delegation (delegate the decision with clear parameters): Delegate the decision. Be clear about parameters of freedom. Ask the team or individual to paraphrase the decision so you know you have been clear up front.

Speeding up and improving the quality of decisions made throughout your organization has a profound effect on the ability to take on greater strategic challenges and opportunities. Share this column with your senior team and key leaders as a way of framing a conversation around what’s getting in the way of decision-making in your organization. •

Mike Desjardins is the CEO at ViRTUS (www.virtusinc.com), an organizational development consulting firm with expertise in strategic plan-ning and implementation, leadership develop-ment, change management and succession planning for medium to large organizations. He regularly blogs at www.mikedesjardins.com.

If a decision turns out to be the “wrong”

one, help people move quickly into

solutions instead of blame or apathy

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Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201118 ManageMent

Lawsuit against big tobacco gets fast-tracked Supreme Court of Canada judgment clears way for simpler showdown

By Glen Korstrom

The B.C. government’s 13-year court battle to collect billions

of dollars in compensation from tobacco giants Imperial Tobacco Canada Ltd., Rothman’s, Benson & Hedges Inc. and JTI-Macdon-ald Corp. has frustrated observers for taking so long.

It did inch closer to a conclu-sion on July 29, however, when the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled that the federal government cannot be considered a third-party defendant in provincial

government lawsuits that at-tempt to recoup health-care

money spent on people who have diseases caused by smoking.

B.C. launched its lawsuit against those

cigarette manufactur-ers in 1998 and the case has

been bogged down in courts ever since.

The court action’s snail pace, however, did not prevent New Brunswick (in 2008), Ontario (2009) and Newfoundland (2011) from launching similar lawsuits against the tobacco giants.

Nor is it expected to deter Que-bec and Alberta from launching lawsuits later this year.

“I am pleased with the [SCC] court decision,” Barry Penner told Business in Vancouver on August 18, mere hours before he stepped down as the province’s attorney general so he can spend more time with his family.

“The court has unanimous-ly ruled that the tobacco manu-facturers are not entitled to shift their blame for their conduct to the federal government. The rul-ing allows the B.C. government to continue to focus on what has al-ways been the central issue in this litigation – the wrongful conduct of the tobacco industry.”

Legal insiders say that the

recent SCC judgment clears the way for a one-on-one battle be-tween B.C. and big tobacco com-panies – a legal showdown that will be simpler without the com-plexity of having the federal gov-ernment involved.

“Any time that there are fewer litigants in the mix, its always eas-ier to reach some sort of accom-modation and the trial will move a lot quicker if it goes to trial,” said Wally Oppal, who was B.C.’s at-torney general between June 2005 and June 2009.

The long grind to get to this point, however, is a symptom of a legal system run amok according to Oppal, who has been critical of how long it is taking for the Crown to lay charges against rioters who vandalized and looted Vancou-ver’s downtown core on June 15.

“Its an embarrassment,” said Oppal of B.C.’s long-running court battle against large tobacco

see Active, 20

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August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 19Law

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Trouble

BUYER’S ALERTCompanies listed below, which are not members of the Better Business Bur-eau, have failed to respond, as of August 19, 2011, to Better Business Bureau of Mainland B.C.’s efforts to mediate complaints from August 1 to August 12, 2011. In some instances, the com-pany may have taken care of the complaint and con-sidered the matter closed, or may believe the complaint is unjustified; however, if the BBB has not received a response, records cannot reveal either position. Please note that BBB members must respond to customer complaints that are brought to their attention. Source: BBB.1 Stop Drycleaning Services, DeltaAarons Sales and Lease, SurreyBaby Planet Boutique, Salmon ArmBudget Rent A Car Of B C Ltd., RichmondCleaning Connect, SurreyCraftwood, LangleyDating Site Builder, VancouverDelaware Design, New WestminsterDial An Appliance Service Ltd., New Westminsterdvdlink.ca, SurreyE Q 3, VancouverEmpire Vehicle Solutions Inc., SurreyEnjoy & TV, BurnabyEuropean Smarthome Construction, SummerlandHeritage Mountain Interiors, AbbotsfordImozi Canada Inc., VancouverIndulge Living, VancouverIntegrated Combat Equipment Inc., North VancouverJolly Days Fashion, BurnabyKlahanie Development Ltd., West VancouverLenscrafters, BurnabyLifan Canada, North VancouverLifetime Carpentry, SurreyNails Sky, RichmondNomorerack Retail Group, VancouverNor Pac Marketing, New WestminsterOceanside Mechanical Ltd., CoquitlamOnsite Digital Photography, LangleyOpenboxco.com, SurreyOur Little Secret Corp., VancouverPatterson Plumbing & Heating, AbbotsfordPeoples Card Services, VancouverPetcetera (Head Office), RichmondPG Dynamic Tune-Up & Auto Repair, Prince GeorgePitt Meadows Athletic Club, Pitt MeadowsPocket Bike Canada, RichmondProTrade Global Markets, SurreyRacket Shack, North VancouverRani Iron and Aluminum Works Ltd., North VancouverRollies.com, VancouverShaw Cablesystems Ltd.,

KelownaSina Travel & Tours, RichmondSkyline Motel Kamloops, KamloopsSmartone Services, VancouverStar Rebates, BurnabySunsations Tanning, VancouverThe Pretty Boutique, VancouverThe Running Room, Maple RidgeTip Top Tailors, LangleyTop Quality Home Service, BurnabyTop Tech Computer Inc., RichmondValley Blinds Inc., SurreyWillow Dental Care, LangleyThe following compan-ies have responded to the BBB subsequent to being published:Antiquity Day Spa, Port CoquitlamCanada China Air Express Inc., RichmondCrossRoads Management Ltd., SurreyDevon Arnold Painting, North VancouverLewis Mechanical Group Ltd., LangleyMichelin North American (Canada) Inc., LangleyNewport Vacuums Inc., Port MoodySpotlight Jewellers Inc., AbbotsfordStock Market Magic, Vancouver

Who’S GETTinG SUEdThese corporate writs were filed with the B.C. Supreme Court registry in Vancouver. Information is derived from notices of civil claim. Civil claims have yet to be proven in court.

Defendants: Amco Energy Ltd. and Manjit Singh Sahota and John Doe #1 and John Doe #2 2500–10104 103 Ave., Edmonton and 1121 King George Blvd., Surrey

Plaintiff: Bank of Montreal 8156 Main St., Vancouver

Claim: $318,700 related to a counterfeit cheque; an accounting; a tracing; damages for conversion of funds; a injunction; and a declaration and order that any interest in assets are held in trust for the bank.

Defendants: Glentech Developments Ltd. and Glentech Transport Ltd. and Glentech Western Group Ltd. and Lorraine Brown and Randy Walter Brown aka Randy Brown and Ranta Enterprises Ltd. 305–2692 Clearbrook Rd., Abbotsford and 102–5300 50 St., Stony Plain, AB and 29665 Sangara Ave., Abbotsford

Plaintiff: Roynat Inc. 300–666 Burrard St., Vancouver

Claim: $230,537 for a judgment from the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta against Glentech Developments, Glentech Transport, Glentech Western Group, Lorraine Brown and Randy Walter

Brown; $213,142 against Ranta; and a declaration the plaintiff is entitled to take possession of leased goods.

Defendants: Ram Construction Ltd. and Gurdawara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar 7881 128 St., Surrey and 7938 128th St., Surrey

Plaintiff: Westrade Electric Ltd. 200–879 Marine Dr., Surrey

Claim: $148,316 for electrical services and materials for the construction of a community centre; and a builder’s lien for $148,316.

Defendants: Hong Che aka Judy Che and Wei Guo Chen Box 12077, 2250–555 W. Hastings St., Vancouver

Plaintiff: Royalty Group Realty Inc. Box 42290, 700–595 Burrard St., Vancouver

Claim: $118,048 for breach of a listing contract; a declaration that La Van Lack Atmore, Barristers and Solicitors, holds $118,048 in trust for Royalty; and an order.

Defendants: Gillian Hoi Lam Poon and Tony Ka Chun Chang 1607–9133 Hemlock Dr., Richmond

Plaintiffs: Wan’s Holdings Ltd. and EEC Online Ltd. and Efunfactory Distribution Ltd. 300–5900 No. 3 Rd., Richmond

Claim: $113,481 for loans.

Defendant: Evergreen Power Corp. carrying on business as EPC Renewables Corp. 800–885 W. Georgia St., Vancouver

Plaintiff: Pricewater-houseCoopers LLP 700–250 Howe St., Vancouver

Claim: $76,288 for debt related to tax services.

Defendant: David Taylor 440–755 Burrard St., West Vancouver

Plaintiff: J. Wong Inc. 301–1080 Howe St., Vancouver

Claim: $73,099 for income tax services.

Defendants: Empirica Energy Inc. and British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority and Bernard Aaron Rokstad and Christopher John Hardwick 211–1015 Austin Ave., Coquitlam and 333 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver and 4990 217B St., Langley and 1114 Dublin St., New Westminster

Plaintiff: 0713318 B.C. Ltd. dba Retro Specialty Contractors 1400–1125 Howe St., Vancouver

Claim: $71,627 for debt related to fibre-reinforced polymer for microwave station projects; and a builder’s lien for $71,627.

Defendants: Ditner

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companies. “Its right out of Dickens’ Bleak House.”

That Dickens novel, pub-lished in instalments in 1952 and 1853, documented long-running litigation in Eng-land’s Court of Chancery.

“If somebody came here from another planet, it would be hard to explain why things have taken so long. It really goes to show you what’s wrong with our system when it takes that long to resolve a particular issue,” Oppal told BIV. “You wonder after a while what the purpose of it all is.”

He stressed, however, that B.C.’s lawsuit against big tobacco companies will not be thrown out of court for taking so long. That’s because lawyers have been

active providing discoveries and making arguments to various courts. They have not been sitting on their hands, he said.

Some success is that Vic-toria and the tobacco manu-facturers have resolved disputes surrounding con-stitutional and jurisdiction-al issues.

In September 2005, the SCC confirmed the consti-tutional validity of B.C.’s 2001 law, the Tobacco Dam-ages and Health Care Costs Recovery Act, which B.C. specifically implemented to allow it to pursue the recov-ery of health-care costs from big tobacco companies.

Victoria then launched a similarly named but broad-er Health Care Costs Re-covery Act in 2008, which came into effect April 1, 2009.

That act compels lawyers and insurers to notify the B.C. government each time they launch a lawsuit where costs have been incurred by the provincial health-care system because of possible third-party wrongdoing.

Victoria may then join the action to ensure the ministry’s right to recover the health-care costs is pre-served. If it is appropriate, the government can also launch its own action.

Between April 1, 2009, and Apri l 30, 2011, the Health Care Costs Recovery Act spurred the province to open 8,153 cases, according to the B.C. Ministry of the Attorney General.

Of those, 2,814 cases have been closed and the province has recovered $6.2 million. That includes $2.4 million in the first year and $3.8 during the fiscal year 2010-11. •gkorstrom@biv.com

Active court case: Lawyers have not been just sitting on their hands over the years

from Lawsuit, 19

Former B.C. attorney general Barry Penner believes that a recent Supreme Court of Canada judgment will help a lawsuit that the provincial government launched against large tobacco companies focus on the wrongful conduct of the tobacco industry

“if somebody came here

from another planet, it

would be hard to explain

why things have taken

so long. it really goes to

show you what’s wrong

with our system when it

takes that long to resolve

a particular issue”

– Wally Oppal,former attorney general,

Province of British Columbia

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201120 LAw

Trouble

Ventures Ltd. and Mark Jerome Koch and Edward Ditner 9830 110 Ave., Fort St. John and 740 Wallace Cres., Comox and Site 12, Comp 191, SS 2, Fort St. John

Plaintiff: Paccar Financial Services Ltd. Box 49314, 2600–595 Burrard St., Vancouver

Claim: $62,643 for debt under a vehicle lease agreement; and damages.

Defendant: Corinne Zajac 907–990 Beach Ave., Vancouver

Plaintiff: Doug Kerr Contracting Inc. dba Kerr Construction 1220–1200 W. 73rd Ave., Vancouver

Claim: $51,490 for related to renovation work; and a builder’s lien for $51,490.

Defendants: Deltalok Inc. and Beon Top Enterprises Ltd. and 542072 B.C. Ltd. and Hun Su Kim 1010–1030 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 1472 Camridge Rd., West Vancouver

Plaintiff: Business Development Bank of Canada Box 6, 200–505 Burrard St., Vancouver

Claim: $46,494 for debt; enforcement of Kim’s guarantee; and enforcement of 542072’s guarantee.

Defendants: Dhillon & Pumpco Enterprises Inc. and Tawinder Dhillon and Jagdeep Singh Dhaliwal

1885 E. 36th Ave., Vancouver and 2055 E. 37th Ave., Vancouver and 3270 Sparrow Dr., Abbotsford

Plaintiff: WRW Concrete Construction Inc. 1500–1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver

Claim: US$41,261 for debt for the purchase of a 1999 Mack truck with a mounted concrete pump; a declaration Pumpco’s conveyance of the truck was fraudulent and is void; and an order.

Defendants: Allan Morris Kyle and Kylenet Holdings Ltd. 300–1681 Chestnut St., Vancouver and 201_2083 W. 33 rd Ave., Vancouver

Plaintiff: Kenneth King Fai Ho 3280 E. 19th St., Vancouver

Claim: $35,000 for debt.

Defendants: Genie Flooring Ltd. previously known as Steam Genie Ventures Ltd. and Christian H. Schumacher aka Christian Schumacher and Hyo-Jung J. Cho aka Hyo Jung Cho Box 41117, 2529 Shaughnessy St., Port Coquitlam and 1804 Jacana Ave., Port Coquitlam

Plaintiff: Business Development Bank of Canada Box 6, 505 Burrard St., Vancouver

Claim: $32,820 for debt; and all necessary accounts, directions and

inquiries.

Defendant: Samira Amini 2505 Westhill Dr., West Vancouver

Plaintiff: The Capitol Residences Ltd. Partnership 833 Seymour St., Vancouver

Claim: Specific performance of the purchase agreement for a property, arising from non-completion of the agreement after repeated time extensions, or, a declaration that Amini has not complied with the terms of the agreement; forfeiture of deposits paid; and damages.

Defendants: Mackenzie Thomas Robinson and Black Stripe Enterprises Ltd. dba Library Square Public House and ABC Co. 202–1339 Graveley St., Vancouver and 1300–777 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver and address unknown

Plaintiff: Maria Del Coral Rodriquez Zaldivar 1907–1408 Strathmore Mews, Vancouver

Claim: Damages for injuries sustained after a bottle at Library Square Public House hit the plaintiff.

Defendant: Rosenau Transport Ltd. 1002 Wharf St., Victoria

Plaintiffs: Unified Valve Ltd. and Levoir Investments Ltd. 1000–840 Howe St., Vancouver

Claim: Damages for losses caused when hazardous substances, which were stored on the premises in breach of the lease agreement, caught fire.

Defendants: Hemmera Envirochem Inc. and 0763974 B.C. Ltd. 3–2025 Bowen Rd., Nanaimo and 205–2922 Glen Dr., Coquitlam

Plaintiffs: 494743 B.C. Ltd. dba Flame Engineering & Construction and Satpal Kaur 400–900 Howe St., Vancouver

Claim: Damages for Hemmera’s breach of contract for environmental monitoring of the Kaur Lands, and for 0763974’s negligence in building a trench that caused water to flow onto the Kaur Lands.

Defendant: South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority aka TransLink 1600–4720 Kingsway, Burnaby

Plaintiff: Glenn Senft 911 Montroyal Blvd., North Vancouver

Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when Senft hit his head on a door passageway into the Seabus that was lower than the standard height and neither marked nor padded.

Defendants: Sylvia Chan

and Alice Lee and Sablok & Sablok and Akash Sablok 624 Slocan St., Vancouver and 6470 Gladstone St., Vancouver and 6180 Fraser St., Vancouver

Plaintiff: Reliable Mortgages Investment Corp. 300–1681 Chestnut St., Vancouver

Claim: Damages for fraud and/or conversion against Chan and Lee for a forged power of attorney used to obtain an unenforceable mortgage; an order against Lee; damages for negligence and/or for negligent misstatement against Sablok & Sablok and Akash Sablok.

Defendants: TJX Canada dba Winners and Riokim Holdings (Strawberry Hill) Inc. 1700–666 Burrard St., Vancouver and 1100–505 Burrard St., Vancouver and 12010 72nd Ave., Surrey

Plaintiff: Deborah Therrien 1100–1133 W. Broadway, Vancouver

Claim: Damages for injuries sustained when Therrien slipped and fell on bubble bath fluid on the floor.

Defendants: Whistler Mountain Resort Ltd. Partnership and Gravity Logic Inc. 2500–700 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 1800–1095 W. Pender St., Vancouver

Plaintiff: Blake Jamieson 2020–650 W. Georgia St., Vancouver

Claim: Damages for injuries suffered from a fall off a mountain bike at the A-Line Rock Drop; an in-trust award for Jamieson’s family and friends; loss of income earning capacity; and future care.

Defendants: Lion Petroleum Corp. and Minaz Devji 800–885 W. Georgia St., Vancouver and 385 Inglewood Pl., West Vancouver

Plaintiff: Eran Friedlander 670–999 Canada Place, Vancouver

Claim: An order against Lion, arising from breach of the finder’s fee agreement, or, an order against Devji, or, an order against Lion or Devji, or, damages.

Defendant: Terminal Forest Products Ltd. 2800–666 Burrard St., Vancouver

Plaintiff: Black Mount Logging Inc. Box 500, 1367 Winnipeg St., Squamish

Claim: Damages for breach of a purchase agreement for a forest licence.

Defendants: Bjoern Zubel aka Bjorn Zubel and EP-CM Project Management GMBH and EP-CM Project Management Canada Ltd.

6742 Auburn Dr., Huntington Beach, CA and 500–2200 Cambie St., Vancouver

Plaintiff: EP-CM Project Management USA LLC and Frederick Paul Kallina III 7301 Mirage Dr., Huntington Beach, CA

Claim: Recognition and enforcement of a judgment related to a shareholder dispute.

Defendants: Jaspal Sidhu and Harpreet Sidhu and The Royal Bank of Canada and Tri-City Kitchen Cabinets Ltd. and Inc. No. 0700141 and 413927 B.C. Ltd. and Inc. No. 0412927 5736 120th St., Surrey and 33rd floor, 1055 W. Georgia and 7750 128th St., Surrey and 16586 84A Ave., Surrey and 959 Stewart Ave., Coquitlam

Plaintiffs: Julian Lanci and Michael Dacunha 406–2088 Madison Ave., Burnaby and 15578 110th Ave., Surrey

Claim: A declaration the plaintiffs hold a 54% stake in the property; an order; a declaration for an ownership in the Como Lake property; an order; an injunction; orders; and damages.

Defendants: Peter Adam and Dean Norman Burke dba Eagle Eye Towing and Gold Key Sales and Lease Ltd. and Payless Auto Towing Ltd. and BCAA Insurance Corp. 619 Queens Rd. E., North Vancouver and Box 2422 Garibaldi Highlands, Squamish and Box 10424, 1300–777 Dunsmuir St., Vancouver and 619 Queens Rd. E., North Vancouver and 4567 Canada Way, Burnaby

Plaintiff: Karen Ruby

Kernaghan 700–375 Water St., Vancouver

Claim: Damages for injury sustained after the plaintiff tripped over a tow cable.

Defendants: Jaspreet Singh Sohi and Four Season Trucking Ltd. and Manjit Kaur Dhanda 13222 98th Ave., Surrey and 11533 92nd Ave., North Delta and 5668 Manitoba St., Vancouver

Plaintiffs: Huu Quoc Tieu and Xuan Van Ngo 166/13D Pham Phu Thu St., Ward 4, District 6, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Claim: Damages for a motor vehicle accident that resulted in a death.

Defendant: Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. 1200–200 Burrard St., Box 48600, Vancouver

Plaintiff: Ahmet M. Kadioglu 1751 Berkley Rd., North Vancouver

Claim: Brought under the class proceedings act: a declaration the charged “YR Tax” for the plane ticket contravenes the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act; an injunction; an order; recovery of the unjust enrichment; and punitive damages.

Defendant: Dr. Kurt Samer Inc. 320–702 Fort St., Victoria

Plaintiff: Murray Robert Judson, by his litigation guardian, Robert Judson 2020–650 W. Georgia St., Vancouver

Claim: Damages for injuries sustained following anesthetic care. •

LawsuiT of The week

Cat’s death sparks legal fracasA legal wrangle between a Vancouver man and several vet-erinarians over the death of a beloved cat has landed in B.C. Supreme Court.

According to a July 4 B.C. Supreme Court notice of civil claim, Vancouver resident Robert Anderson has alleged that Island Veterinary Hospital Ltd., Central Victoria Veterinary Hospital Ltd. and veterinarians Patricia Rosenstein, Suzanne Smith, Lana Bisset, Sally Moore, John McCleary and Blair Gurney are at fault for the death of a 10-year-old long-hair cat named Min Min.

According to the suit, Robertson, who claims to be Min Min’s owner and a client of Island Veterinary Hospital, brought the cat to the veterinarians on June 28, 2009, after Min Min became sick.

The veterinarians initially diagnosed Min Min’s condition as “antifreeze poisoning,” according to the suit, and Robertson asked them to “do what it takes” to cure Min Min.

Later that night, the cat was transferred to Central Victoria Veterinary Hospital for further treatment.

Robertson alleges the cat then failed to receive the proper medical attention.

On June 30, Robertson made arrangements to transport Min Min to another hospital where, allegedly, the cat was found to have a number of health conditions and died shortly after surgery on July 2. Robertson is seeking damages for anguish and mental distress, loss of companionship and for the actual value of Min Min. He is also seeking special damages for veterin-ary costs, alleging that the hospitals and veterinarians were negligent in their treatment and diagnosis of Min Min.

According to a notice of response filed July 29, the veterin-arians have denied Robertson’s claims.

The veterinarians allege that Robertson instructed them not to try any “heroics” to save Min Min prior to the cat’s death.

On top of that, the defendants allege that Robertson wasn’t even Min Min’s owner and therefore is not entitled to recover damages for the cat’s death.

Attention Subscribers

Delivery NoticeDue to Labour Day, September 5, the next issue of Business in Vancouver may be delivered a little later than usual.

certified general accountantGeorge Wilson-Tagoe, BSc., CGA

For more information visit: www.wilson-tagoe.com

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combined with cutting edge IT• Network of experienced

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August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 21LAw

Jo McFetridge and Brendan Hodge are associates at Lawson Lundell

Katherine Adamkowski, David Belanger and Yaz Jallad join Noise as strategic account director; director, strategic services; and web application developer, respectively

David Greer joins Webtech Wireless as vice-president, marketing

Work With us & groW a career

Glacier Media Group is growing. Check our job board regularly for the latest openings:

www.glaciermedia.ca/careers

Careers• www.employmentinvancouver.com • E-mail: employpaper@biv.com • Tel: 604-688-8828 • Fax: 604-669-2154

PeoPle on the MoveEmail your For the Record information to: fortherec-ord@biv.com. Please include a high-resolution, colour head-shot where possible.

•AdvertisingKatherine Adamkowski, David Belanger, Carolyn Fung, Yaz Jallad, Ken Lee and Kelsey Bradburn have joined Noise as strategic account director; director, strategic services; account manager; web appl ica-tion developer; junior web developer; and office co-ordinator and administra-tive assistant, respectively. Adamkowski was previ-ously group media manager at Ogilvy One. Belanger was previously director of interactive at Signals and art director for the Bank of Canada. Fung was previ-ously account co-ordinator at Cossette and account executive at Trampoline Branding. Jallad was previ-ously lead Flash developer at Engine Digital. Lee was previously a freelance CSS and HTML web developer. Bradburn was previously receptionist at National Bank Financial.

Chris Dallin has joined Karacters’ Design Group as director of branding and design. He was previ-ously leader of brand strat-egy at Red Rocket Creative Strategies.

•EnergyM i c h a e l C h e u n g h a s been appointed CFO at Zongshen PEM Power Sys-tems Inc. He was previously

vice-president of business development and investor relations at the company, CFO of PenderFund Cap-ital Management Inc. and an audit and assurance manager at Pricewater-houseCoopers LLP.

•FinanceDavid Smith and Duane Tup Chong have been appointed to the board of CFA Vancouver. Smith is managing director at Pinnacle Fund Canada Administration Ltd. and Tup Chong is a senior man-ager at KPMG LLP.

•LegalJo McFetridge and Brendan Hodge have joined Law-son Lundell as associates in the corporate commer-cial group. Both completed their articles at the firm and were called to the B.C. bar in 2011.

•ResourcesGeorge Paspalas has joined Aurizon Mines Ltd. as president and CEO and a

board member. David Hall has retired as president and CEO but remains chair of the board. Paspala was previously COO at Silver Standard Resources Inc., president and CEO of Pla-cer Dome Africa and exec-utive vice-president and senior vice-president, pro-jects, technical develop-ment, at Placer Dome Inc.

Tom Yip, vice-president and CFO of Silver Stan-dard Resources Inc., has resigned. Matthew Free-man, the company’s corpor-ate controller, will assume his responsibilities in the interim.

Stan Bharti and Peter Tagliamonte have been appointed to the board of United Silver Corp. Bharti is founder and executive chair of Forbes & Manhat-tan Inc. and Tagliamonte is president and CEO of Sulliden Gold Corp.

Ross McCutcheon, Steve Cook and Alistair Maxwell

have been appointed to the board of Stratton Resour-ces Inc. McCutcheon is managing partner of Mait-land & Co., Cook is a tax partner at Thorsteinssons LLP and Maxwell was pre-viously president and CEO of Clarus Securities Inc.

Brian Hambleton-Jones has been appointed chair of the advisory committee at Sono Resources Inc. He was the founder of Uramin and co-founder of Nuclear Energy Uranium Corp. and NiCo Corp.

Harold Galbriath has been appointed mining manager at International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. He was previ-ously mine manager for ASARCO LLC and mine superintendent for Glamis Marigold Mining Co.

Tanvir Khandaker has joined the board of Apella Resources Inc. He is prin-cipal and group manager of KDR MORGAN Ltd. Inc., chief portfolio strat-egist of KDR Resources Alpha Fund and previ-ously founded and managed R o u s h a n K h a n d a k e r Group.

Ja r i Pa a k k i h a s b e en appointed CEO of Anglo Swiss Resources Inc. and David Constable has been appointed chair of the board. Paakki was previously vice-president of exploration and project development at Blackstone Ventures and senior geologist at Teck Cominco Ltd. Constable was previously interim CEO at Anglo Swiss.

Robert Dzisiak has been appointed to the board of Tanzania Minerals Corp. He is president and CEO of R.J. O’Brien & Associ-ates Canada Inc. and was

previously president and CEO of CFG Canada and president of retail oper-ations at Refco Canada.

Rick MacInnis and Lin Kramer have joined Selwyn Resources Ltd. as general manager and mine oper-ations manager, respectively. MacInnis was previously v ice-president of oper-ations for Gammon Gold. Kramer was previously a mine manager at Buyrus International, Agrium and Rio Tinto.

•TechnologyDavid Greer has joined Webtech Wireless as vice-president, marketing. He was previously director, marketing and sales, at MB Foster Associates.

CoMPanies on the Move•Name changeGreystar Resources Ltd. has changed its name to Eco Oro Minerals Corp. and will commence trading as TSX:EOM.

Western Copper Corp. has changed its name to West-ern Copper and Gold Corp. and will continue to trade as TSX:WRN.

•New in TownGSky Plant Systems has moved to Suite 601, 318 Homer Street, Vancouver.

Thierry has opened at 1059 Alberni Street, Vancouver.

hats offBusiness in Vancouver wel-comes submissions from local small businesses and large corporations alike that dem-onstrate examples of corporate philanthropy and community

involvement in the Vancouver area. High-resolution images are also welcome.

TD Bank Group donated $100,000 toward the con-struction of the second Canuck Place Children’s Hospice in Abbotsford.

White Spot Restaurants raised almost $47,000 for the Zajac Ranch for Chil-dren through its Pirate Pak Day, which sold a record 21,627 Pirate Paks.

The 2011 Scotiabank Van-couver Half Marathon/5K Charity Challenge helped raise $37,093 for the Fragile X Research Foundation of Canada; $28,664.27 for the Alzheimer Society of BC; and $28,460 for the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation – Camp Kerry.

T he R BC Fou nd at ion donated $30,000 to the Zajac Ranch for Children toward its therapeutic rid-ing program.

Teekay Shipping (Canada) Ltd. donated $15,000 to Jun-ior Achievement BC to go toward youth business edu-cation programs.

HomeStars donated $1,520 t o t h e D a v i d S u z u k i Foundation.

The Royal Columbian Hos-pital Foundation presented a certificate of recognition to McLean Budden for its platinum $15,000 sponsor-ship of the foundation’s SHINE Gala.

Design Roofing & Sheet Metal Ltd. has fed over 10,000 residents in and around the Downtown East-side through its monthly sa ndw ich d is t r ibut ion initiative. •

Dave Mason, vice-president, McLean Budden; Adrienne Bakker, president and CEO, RCH Foundation; and David Davies, vice-president, McLean Budden

Linda Smith, equestrian director, Zajac Ranch for Children; Manny Ahluwalia, investment adviser, RBC; Rupinder Chahal, RBC branch manager, Mission; and Jodi Pritchard, mobile mortgage specialist, RBC Royal Bank

Chris Dallin joins Karacters’ Design Group as director of branding and design

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201122 For the record

BUS NESSLEADERSTOURNAMENT

Presented by

®

Vancouver’s deal making and corporate growth community

sPonsored by

AssociAtion sPonsor

Networking on the greensDeal-makers hit UBC fairways in BIV-Association for Corporate Growth event

A full slate of business golfers took part in

the Business Leaders Golf Tournament on August 23 at the University Golf Course.

The tournament was a partnership between the Vancouver chapter of the Association for Corpor-ate Growth and Business in Vancouver.

It s 14 4 pa r t ic ipa nts

included businesspeople in-volved in mid-market M&A deals and senior business decision-makers from vari-ous sectors.

The golf day culminat-ed in networking, dinner and awards. Participants raised more than $2,000 to help team members from Powerchair Football Can-ada travel to international competitions. •

Kirsten Richter, Kirsten Richter Consulting; and Robert Napoli, First West Capital and president, ACG Vancouver

Beau Olmstead, RBC Royal Bank; Mark Lewis, Borden Ladner Gervais; and Michael Cunningham, QGolf Club

Valerie Mann, Lawson Lundell; Elizabeth Model, Downtown Surrey Business Improvement Association; Sabrina Gawley, WestPark; and Colleen Collins, Beedie School of Business, SFU

Michael Hwang and Rick Bessex of Audi; Lee Davis from PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Paul Harris, Business in Vancouver

Mark Ireton of Canadian Western Bank; Janice Frome, Business in Vancouver; Michael Willems, the BMW Store; and Andrew Mortimer-Lamb, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Vancouver

Omar Ladak, Noverra Capital Partners; Jason Harris, Hamilton Duncan Armstrong & Stewart; Peter Howells, BMO Bank of Montreal; and Robert Napoli, First West Capital

Rob Berzins, Canadian Western Bank; Sergio Custodio, Fasken Martineau; Darin Postma, Turner Construction; and Hank Gregory, Merrill DataSite

Cole Orobetz, Avrio Ventures; Blair Johnston, Business in Vancouver; Julie McGill, CAI Capital Management; and Vern Blair

David Frost, McCarthy Tetrault; Andrew d’Eca, Angus One; Kerry MacDonald, Business in Vancouver; and Armin Sahota, Angus One

Tyler Smyrski, Yellow Point; Lauren Looi, Beedie School of Business, SFU; Stefan Ferris; and Todd Patchell

Next BIV eVeNts

Blue breakfast panel: Investment in marketingWhat are companies doing with their marketing budgets in this era of rapidly changing marketing solutions?

Join us on September 21 at the SFU Segal School of Business to hear what Vancouver’s top mar-keters have to say.

Panellists include Lawrie Ferguson, chief marketing and public relations officer, Coast Capital Savings and Steve Mossop, president, Ipsos Reid West

Fastest-growing companies awards dinnerSeptember 27 at the Fairmont Waterfront.

For more information visit www.biv.com/events

Photos: briAn hAwkes

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 23EvEnts

Cartoon by riCe

What’s your opinion?BIV welcomes readers’ opinions. All letters, including those sent by e-mail, must include the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number.Business in Vancouver, 102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2. Fax: 604-688-1963. E-mail: news@biv.com. We reserve the right to edit for brevity, clarity and legality.

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Business in Vancouver is published by BIV Media Limited Partnership at 102 East 4th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5T 1G2. Telephone 604-688-2398; fax 604-688-1963—For reprints: Veera Irani 604-608-5115E-mail addresses: SuBSCRIBE@BIV.CoM, ADS@BIV.CoM, NEWS@BIV.CoM, LETTERS@BIV.CoM TWITTER@BIZINVANCOUVER • WWW.BIV.COm • WWW.BIVINTERACTIVE.COm

Is there a lesson for Vancouver and its municipal election in the re-

cent referendum? No, not the HST. I’m talking about the August 13 Se-attle vote on proceeding with a $2 billion tunnel to replace the earth-quake damaged Alaskan Way Via-duct along the city’s waterfront.

The 60% of Seattle voters who basically said “do it” were fed up with a decade of political wrangling (including more than 700 commun-ity meetings) over what to do about the two-kilometre elevated highway that runs between downtown and Elliott Bay. While there was only minority support for the tunnel, there was also no widespread sup-port for any of the alternatives – re-building it, turning it into a surface boulevard or building a huge bridge over the bay. The referendum mes-sage was “just move on,” supporting the business leaders and freight haul-ers who wanted it built even though its $4 tolls are expected to cut present traffic volumes by half.

Voters were also fed up with Se-attle Mayor Mike McGuinn, who came into office as a Sierra Club-backed tunnel opponent, but who could never convince the voters there was a better alternative. His ap-proval ratings are now in the ditch.

Replacing the elevated freeway sometime after the tunnel’s expected completion in 2015 will be 22 acres of – stop me if you’ve heard this before – housing, cafés, shops, bike paths and public spaces.

It is tempting to spin a cautionary tale about voter response to the City

of Vancouver’s slow but steady move to tear down the 39-year-old Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts and replace them with a surface boulevard and 20 acres of – wait for it – housing, cafés, shops, bike paths and public spaces.

While our viaducts are in relative-ly good repair (unlike Seattle’s), they serve about a third of all vehicle trips coming into downtown through this “downtown neck,” around 40,000 trips, which is about what the com-pleted Seattle tunnel is expected to handle.

But there are three big differen-ces between the two cities’ viaduct removal plans that suggest that Van-couver’s project will go ahead with no political blow-back.

The first is cost. Back-of-the-en-velope estimates suggest Vancouver’s demolition and removal costs would be in the $100 million range, with a wild card cost for cleaning up con-taminated soil. Proponents say the freed-up land would add $150 mil-lion in real estate value, much of it going to the city. The key difference, of course, is that we won’t be digging a tunnel, only a surface boulevard and some new transit capacity.

And that’s because of the second

reason: Vancouver has discovered the Law of Disappearing Traffic – and lived through it, starting with the fight that stopped the freeway that got the viaducts built in the first place. That law says that when streets are blocked to cars, traffic will find another way. It was prov-en in Vancouver when the viaducts were closed for 22 days during the Olympics and when Cambie Street was slowed to a trickle for many months.

“Nothing fell apart,” said Van-couver city engineer Peter Judd. “There was congestion, but the sys-tem functioned.”

The city’s traffic engineer Jerry Dobrovolny is equally confident about removing the viaducts.

“We can mitigate traffic,” he said. “There’s no reason they have to stay.”

And that leads to the third differ-ence between Vancouver’s and Se-attle’s viaduct debate: so far at least there are no political or business voices speaking out against remov-ing the viaducts, while a growing chorus of approval is coming from the likes of former city planner Larry Beasley, starchitect Bing Thom and neighbours in Strathcona and Chinatown.

Some candidates in the upcom-ing municipal election may take this one on as something to oppose, but they would do so at their polit-ical peril.

As long as we’ve got our freeways just outside the city, we’ll be fine. •

Peter Ladner (pladner@biv.com) is a founder of Business in Vancouver and a former Vancouver city council-lor. His book, The Urban Food Revo-lution: Changing the Way We Feed Cities, will be published by New Soci-ety in October 2011.

At LArge

PETEr LAdnErA viaduct no longer runs through it

“We can mitigate traffic. There’s

no reason they have to stay” – Jerry dobrovolny,

traffic engineer,City of Vancouver

PubLIc OfferIngs

TimoThy rEnshAWAdding up summer 2011 math problems

the new school year is just around the corner, but B.C.’s

teaching corps has been hard at work educating the masses for a good part of the summer break.

Summer school’s focus this year: Labour Relations 101 – How to alien-ate everyone in the lead-up to con-tract negotiations.

Some excerpts from this year’s curriculum.

As the world careers dangerous-ly into another economic car crash, kick-start negotiations with de-mands better suited for an episode of Fantasy Island: 26-week fully paid leaves of absence to provide compas-sionate care to anyone; another five days paid bereavement leave atop the five already in hand; five annual paid days for professional activities; and on and on.

Aforementioned sitcom pilot will be put to the test now as bar-gaining gets underway in earnest with opportunities to disrupt classes mere days away. However, it would be a safe bet that not many parents would be amused by teacher de-mands thus far.

From lessons in labour relations to carbon dioxide story time: the B.C. government’s plan to achieve public-sector carbon neutrality is proceeding apace, but the casualties are starting to pile up.

Being under that government mandate, public schools also figure heavily in this yarn.

As pointed out in “Smoke and mirrors” (Full Disclosure – issue 1139; August 23-29), the provin-cial government’s Pacific Carbon Trust (PCT), which was established in March 2008, has thus far trans-ferred $18 million in taxpayer funds from public institutions like school districts and health-care units that have been unable to meet carbon-neutral targets to bankroll carbon-reduction initiatives of B.C.’s top greenhouse gas emitters.

The cash-strapped Surrey school district, whose rapid growth leaves it no chance of being carbon neutral, had to cut a $500,000 cheque last year to the PCT.

So the green math problem here:

scarce financial resources are being taken out of the province’s school system and invested in a govern-ment-mandated market for carbon dioxide.

The shell game would be at least somewhat palatable were the re-allocation of tax dollars changing the weather, convincing companies to clean up their acts or being ap-plied to programs subject to some form of meaningful measurement. But it’s batting zero for three in that inning.

Last but not least on the summer school math program is BC Hydro, which recently took an enthusiastic shin-kicking from a government re-view panel.

Recommendations from the panel included cutting 1,200 jobs and more than $800 million in spending in a top-heavy Crown corporation that has increased staff numbers 41% in the last five years, but watched its productivity fall.

The findings underscore some of the questions raised previously in this space (“Site C in need of plan B” – issue 1135; July 26-August 1) about imprudent Hydro spending.

Atop that Public Offerings laun-dry list: why invest $10 billion in a mega-power project that will dis-place cheaper energy with more ex-pensive energy?

The answer to that and other questions raised herein is that bet-ter training in math basics needs to start in our public school system, and especially with those who are doing the teaching. •

Timothy Renshaw (trenshaw@biv.com) is the editor of Business in Van-couver. His column appears every two weeks.

Aforementioned sitcom pilot

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Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201124 Comment

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Time: 7:00 am Registration & Networking 7:30 am Buffet Breakfast 8:00–9:00 am Panel Discussion

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Mark MilkeA new think tank for tired, old ideas

for those who love high taxes, large government for its own

sake and think the private sec-tor should be eyed suspiciously on principle, they’ll be happy to hear there’s a new think tank in Canada.

As of September, the Broad-bent Institute will open its doors. It’s named after Ed Broadbent, former leader of the federal New Democrats.

I’ll take a wild guess that instead of talking about “free money” (via higher taxes and more debt) and free love of government as the solution to all that ails us, the new think tank will offer up its policy in slightly different terms.

Instead:•recommendations on tax in-creases will be dressed up as “fair”;•an expansion of government will be justified “compassionate”; and•restrictions on personal free-doms – say, gag laws at election time, which Broadbent always fa-voured – will be justified as pro-moting civility.

Early media reports on the im-petus for the Broadbent Institute note how it’s meant to be a left-ist counterpart to the Manning

Centre for Building Democracy. The Manning Centre, founded by Preston Manning and led by the same, is not a think tank. Still, it has tried to help conservative and libertarian groups be more effective.

Full disclosure: in addition to my day job at the Fraser Institute, I’ve also worked with Manning and his centre. So I am not an im-partial observer.

The new think tank might be justified by some as bringing “bal-ance” and/or to counter existing biases. Fair argument. Moreover, on principle, I favour more voices in the marketplace of ideas. So I welcome any new voice, including the Broadbent Institute.

That noted, the “need” for an-other interventionist think tank escapes me. Such a mindset is al-ready rife in much of academia, the bureaucracy, among too many politicians and somewhat preva-lent in the media. Also, for every one group that wants govern-ments to be more careful with their economic and other inter-ventions, there are already 100 on the other side, often financed by tax dollars.

As for bias, biases can be created

out of ignorance or be a result of studying what works. I’ll argue the “bias” for market-friendly policy, moderate tax regimes and sensible regulation originates in the latter; they also benefit citizens who have some pre-existing rights that should not be infringed upon by governments.

In contrast, much of what Broadbent stood for in the 1970s and 1980s didn’t work and that’s connected to a core belief based on a faulty reading of how the world functions. Self-described progressives often think that if only enough tax dollars and smart people – by which they normally mean themselves – were in the same room, all private problems could be solved via public means, i.e., the levers and institutions of government.

Some examples: under Broad-bent, the NDP loved nation-alization and/or public-sector monopolizat ion of the com-manding heights of the economy. Targets included automobile in-surance companies, energy com-panies and health-care delivery.

The first example still lives on and prevents open competition for consumer insurance policies.

The second was disastrously cost-ly. Petro-Canada’s creation in the 1970s, urged on by the NDP, cost $14 billion in wasted taxpay-er money according to journalist Peter Foster, who wrote a book on the subject.

The third – the hysteric op-position to private involvement

in health care – has always been about protecting government unions, not about universa l health-care coverage. After all universal health care exists per-fectly well in Europe where a mix of private and public delivery and insurance is the norm.

To see how ridiculous NDP op-position to the private sector has long been, consider Broadbent’s 1980s-era opposition to free trade.

He was always against open mar-kets, even though free trade boosts incomes, creates jobs and has, around the world, lifted millions out of poverty.

If the new Broadbent think tank advocates what its namesake pushed for in the 1970s and 1980s, it will be unfortunate proof that bad ideas are never buried. They’re just on life support until a new generation unfamiliar with the devastation wrought by the previ-ous incarnation of such ideas tries to revive them.

Broadbent was leader of the federal NDP between 1975 and 1989. That year, history finally gave up on most of the policies Broad-bent tried so hard to introduce in Canada, and which he and his col-leagues were regrettably too suc-cessful in getting implemented via Pierre Trudeau’s government. That Broadbent quit as NDP lead-er just as the Berlin Wall fell is probably just coincidence, albeit one rich in historical irony. •

Mark Milke is the editorial board chairman of C2C Journal (www.c2journal.ca), Canada’s journal of ideas. His column appears monthly in Business in Vancouver.

If the new Broadbent think

tank advocates what its

namesake pushed for in the

1970s and 1980s, it will be

unfortunate proof that bad

ideas are never buried

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 25comment

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Breakfast, Luncheon, Dinner MeetingsThe Better Choice for BC Families: Integrating Prevention into HealthcareSeptember 8, 2011, 11:45 AM: The Honourable Michael de Jong, Minister of Health, Province of British Columbia. $79 members and guests/ $110 future-members (+HST). The Four Seasons Hotel, Park Ballroom, 791 Georgia St West. Vancouver. reservations@boardof trade.com. www.boardoftrade.com.

Economic Outlook by Scotiabank’s Chief EconomistSeptember 13, 2011, 5:45 PM: Scotiabank’s Chief Economist provides an update on his team’s economic forecasts and the current state of the world economy. $30 for first time guests. Coyote Creek Golf Course, 7778 152 Street. Surrey. ldaschuk@telus.net. www.fvepc.com.

You and UBC: A Partnership That Can Transform Our WorldSeptember 14 , 2011 , 1 1 :45 AM: Professor Stephen Toope, President & Vice-Chancellor University of British Columbia. $69 members and guests/$96 future-members(+HST). The Fairmont Waterfront, Waterfront Ballroom, 900 Canada Place Way. Vancouver, BC. reservations@boardoftrade.com. www.boardoftrade.com.

Success Through Motivation: How an Inspired Workforce Helps your Bottom Line September 20, 2011, 11:45 AM: Tracy Redies, President and CEO, Coast Capital Savings. Individual tickets $69 for members and guests; $96 future members. The Sutton Place Hotel- Versailles Ballroom, 845 Burrard Street. Vancouver, BC.

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Tough Talk for Tender Causes - Survival Mentality: What’s Really Essential to your Organization?September 28, 2011, 3:00 PM: Lisa Martella, Executive Director, A Loving Spoonful (TBC), Jeff Norris, Chief Advancement Officer, Office of Advancement at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Richard Pass, Chief Executive Officer, Ronald McDonald House BC and Yukon. $49 members and future-members (+HST). Pan Pacific Vancouver, Crystal Pavilion, 999 Canada Place. Vancouver, BC. reservations@boardoftrade.com. www.boardoftrade.com.

conferences, conventions, traDeshowsReal Estate OUTLOOK 2012September 10, 2011, 9:00 AM: Since its inception 19 years ago, The RE AL E STAT E OU T LO O K Conference has established itself as the quintessential real estate outlook for the serious investor or homeowner. Fine central venue, seasoned presenters and quality exhibitors. 1 pair of 2 day tickets = $147 (reg $197). Renaissance Vancouver Harbourside Hotel, 1133 West Hastings Street. Vancouver. 1-800-691-1183. http://www2.jurock.com/outlook2012/index.html.

YWCA Health + Fitness Centre Open HouseSeptember 12, 2011: The YWCA Health + Fitness Centre is one of downtown’s most popular corporate facilities. Join us for the Open House and enjoy some complimentary

workouts. Ask about our September promotion. Free!. 535 Hornby Street. Vancouver. 604 895 5777. ywcahealthandfitness.com.

The World MoneyShow VancouverSeptember 19, 2011, 8:30 AM: Learn how to best position your portfolio for profit in 2011 and beyond. As this new era of investing unfolds, smart investors know it’s imperative to stay informed and educated. Free admission. Vancouver Convention Centre , 1055 Canada P lace . Vancouver. 800-970-4355. http://www.moneyshow.com/tradeshow/vancouver/world_moneyShow/main.asp?scode=023199.

7th Annual Connections to Employment Job FairSeptember 21, 2011, 10:00 AM: Exhibitors include WorkSafeBC, Sears, Staples, Canada Safeway, Home Depot, London Drugs, Dairy Queen/Orange Julius, Coast Plaza Hotel, Edgewater Casino, T&T Supermarket, Natural Factors, UPS Canada, Spectra Energy, JW Research, and TD Canada Trust. Admission is free. Vancouver Public Library, Library Square, 350 West Georgia Street. Vancouver. Carol Cordeiro, Marketing Specialist, PICS Vancouver: 604-324-7733, carol.cordeiro@pics.bc.ca. www.pics.bc.ca.

iTech Infrastructure Technology SummitSeptember 22, 2011, 8:30 AM: Featur ing a comprehensive conference program , large exhibitor area and live product demonstrations, iTech Summit offers the educational content IT professionals need to maximize their business operations. Passes valued at $295 are free for qualified IT. Vancouver Convention Centre, 1055 Canada Place. Vancouver. Jennifer Wittkopp, 905-948-0470. www.itechsummit.ca.

Internet Marketing Conference - IMC Vancouver October 3, 2011, 7:30 AM: Expand your knowledge, improve your skills and become a better manager of digital media, marketing & communications. Connect with an international community of digital marketers. 2-day pass $995 until Sept 9th; $1195 after. Renaissance Vancouver Hotel, 1133 West Hastings St. Vancouver. Registration Support:

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HR Tech Group: Human Capital SymposiumOctober 26, 2011, 8:00 AM: Tech industry event on best HR practices to grow your business (revenue, talent, leaders). Featuring keynote Don Bell, Co-founder of Westjet Airlines: $275 before Sept 30th; $350 after. Sutton Place Hotel, 845 Burrard St. Vancouver. Allison Rutherford, HR Tech Group: 604-874-2653; arutherford@hrtechgroup.com. www.hrtechgroup.com.

courses, workshops, seMinarsHelp Your Business Client Navigate the U.S. Tax SystemAugust 30, 2011 , 1 1 :00 AM: Chartered Accountants in Canada can learn how to help clients looking at U.S. business opportunities in this seminar. $25 (includes lunch). Sheraton Vancouver Guildford Hotel, 15269 104th Avenue. Surrey. Mary Doherty, VSH Marketing Coordinator: 360-305-6177 or doherty@vshcpa.com. http://vshvancouverseminar.eventbrite.com/.

Canadian Securities Course (CSC)September 8, 2011, 8:00 AM: Be qualified to apply for licensing as a mutual funds salesperson. Sign up for the CSC at Ashton College. Contact an Admissions Adviser now. Ashton College. Vancouver. 604-899-0803 / info@ashtoncollege.com. www.ashtoncollege.com.

20/20 SMART Session: Effective Workplace LearningSeptember 13, 2011, 8:00 AM: In this Smart Session, you will benefit from new insight into practical and effective workplace learning practices tailored to fit the needs of small to medium sized employers. $45 CME members; $65 Non-members. Hampton Inn & Suites, 19500 Langley Bypass (Route 10). Surrey. Kimberly Hall: kimberly.hall@cme-mec.ca, 604-713-7809. www.bc.cme-mec.ca.

BIV’s Blue Breakfast: Investment in MarketingSeptember 21st, 2011, 7:30am: The upcoming Business in Vancouver’s BLUE breakfast panel will be discussing what companies are doing with their marketing budgets in this era of rapidly changing marketing solutions. The focus will be on how traditional media like print, direct mail and broadcast are faring against email, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogging. BIV Subscribers $49; Non-subscribers $59. SFU Segal School of Business, 500 Granville St (at Pender). Register online at www.biv.com/colour or contact Azadeh Hollmann (604-608-5197; ahollmann@biv.com).

Foundation in Sustainable Community DevelopmentSeptember 15, 2011, 9:00 AM: This course addresses the confusion surrounding sustainability and presents the certificate’s vision of sustainable community development and related principles. $900. 515 W. Hastings St. Vancouver. Joshua Randall, 778-782-5254. http://www.sfu.ca/city/course1popup.htm.

Achieving Growth and Building Value: Strategies for Business OwnersSeptember 15, 2011, 6:30 PM: Learn how to operate more efficiently, make better business decisions, make managers more effective and turn business success into personal wealth. Speakers: Dave Lee and Mark Wardell. No Charge. 100 - 1676 Martin Drive. White Rock. dave_lee@scotiamcleod.com. www.dave-lee.ca.

CTT+ Train the Trainer CourseSeptember 19, 2011, 8:30 AM: Anybody who needs to train groups of people in an effective and efficient manner can benefit from this course. For those looking to show instructional presentation skills for their MCT designation. $995/person. 555 Seymour Street. Vancouver. Bart Simpson: 888-480-1629, bart@trab.com. www.trab.com.

HR Metrics Benchmarking Service - Demo & OverviewSeptember 28, 2011, 9:00 AM: If you are looking to learn more about the HR Metrics Service, sign up for this 1-hour online demo. Complimentary. Liz Whalley, Metrics Specialist, lwhalley@bchrma.org. http://www.bchrma.org/content/events/ls/details.cfm?EventID=035-252.

Applications in Sustainable Community Development September 30, 2011, 9:00 AM: Through field trips and presentations by sustainability project champions, you will explore the application of sustainability principles in a variety of programs, projects and business ventures. $600. 515 W. Hastings St. Vancouver. Joshua Randall, 778-782-5254. http://www.sfu.ca/city/course2popup.htm.

CAPS Vancouver Speaker School: So You Want to be a Professional Speaker!October 28, 2011 , 8:30 AM: Become a professional speaker! Learn from the industry’s best in this 2 day workshop to cover: how to run a speaking business, finding engagements, marketing yourself, topics, niches and keynotes versus workshops. Members & Guests: Fri & Sat: $397 / Fri only: $325. Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue, at SFU, 580 West Hastings St. Vancouver. ggarcia@twentyseven.com or 778-785-0257. http://capsvancouver.com/.

gaLa eventsBig Sisters GalaOctober 6, 2011, 5:30 PM: Join Big Sisters for an inspiring evening as we raise funds to help match 180 girls on the waitlist with a supportive mentor. Event will feature a champagne reception, auctions, dinner and live entertainment by Paramount. $250. Pan Pacific Hotel (300 - 999 Canada Place). Vancouver. Kelly: 604-873-4525 x302 or kmorrison@bigsisters.bc.ca. www.bigsisters.bc.ca.

networking functionsVancouver AM’s 35th Birthday CelebrationSeptember 23, 2011 , 5 :00 PM: Celebrate Vancouver AM’s 35th Birthday! You are invited t o Va n c o u v e r A M To u r i s m Association’s Reunion of the Decade. Entertainment by Dal Richards’ Trio. $50 + HST - Cash Bar. Terminal City Club, 837 West Hastings Street. Vancouver. 604-738-5506; office@vancouveram.ca. www.vancouveram.ca. •

Daily business news at www.biv.com August 30–September 5, 201126 DatebookGuarantee the publication of your listing for $50 per issue (plus hst). 604-608-5189 or datebook@biv.com www.bivdatebook.com

Mark O’DeaBy Joel McKayGold

star Fresh off the $2.3 billion sale of Fronteer

Gold, Mark O’Dea is back in the junior

mining game with another precious

metals venture

Mission: To build

Vancouver’s next junior

mining success

Assets: A strong

technical background

and penchant for

deal-making

Yield: The $2.3 billion

sale of his previous

company, Fronteer Gold,

to Newmont Mining

Newfoundland’s fabled cod fishery gave Mark O’Dea his first taste of

entrepreneurialism at the age of 12.At the time, O’Dea was too young

to work on the fishing boats, but that didn’t stop him from wandering down to the wharf armed with a razor-sharp knife and a bucket, where he would eagerly await the arrival of the mor-ning catch.

He wasn’t the only one.Other boys waited to sift through

the fish heads that would be dumped into table-sized bins on the dock, each of them clambering for Atlantic cod tongues, which could be frozen, bagged and sold as a delicacy at markets in St. John’s.

O’Dea earned $0.60 per dozen and, when he was old enough, found a berth on a fishing boat and learned what hard work was really about.

“That was good work-ethic prac-tice,” O’Dea recounted, speaking to Business in Vancouver during an inter-view at his office in Vancouver’s Guin-ness Tower.

Although his fishing days are long gone, the Vancouver-based execu-tive hasn’t given up on the natural re-source game. The 43-year-old has just launched a new company, his fourth, months after his previous venture, Fronteer Gold, sold to Newmont Min-ing (NYSE:NEM) for a blockbuster $2.3 billion.

Although the Fronteer sale was O’Dea’s largest to date, it wasn’t his first. Late last year, he sold the company’s

uranium assets to Paladin Energy (TSX:PDN) for $260 million.

Both deals revolved around metal deposits that had yet to be trans-formed into mines, earning O’Dea a new level of respect among deal-mak-ers in Vancouver’s cutthroat junior mining sector.

In June, a relatively unknown shell called Drexel Resources (TSX-V:DX) (now called Blue Gold Mining) saw its share value soar 510% after it was revealed that O’Dea planned to take a large position in the company.

So how does he do it?“There’s no overnight success,” ex-

plained O’Dea.In fact, his formula for a winning

junior mining company is simple: a good project plus talented people and a lot of hard work equals success.

“Good projects build good com-panies,” he said. “The harder I work the luckier I get, and the harder you work in this business and the more deals you do, the more opportunities get shown to you.”

O’Dea’s latest venture is called Pi-lot Gold (TSX:PLG), which was spun out of Fronteer earlier this year as part of the Newmont deal.

O’Dea, who assumed a chairman’s role in the new venture, said Pilot has already garnered interest from invest-ors thanks to the way the company was structured from the outset.

Not only did Newmont take a 20% stake in the company, but also the Fronteer team was able to transfer

more than a dozen precious metal pro-jects from its portfolio into Pilot’s.

Two of those projects are in Turkey and count mining giant Teck Resour-ces (TSX:TCK.B) as a 60% joint-ven-ture partner.

On top of that, O’Dea was able to transfer 18 jobs from Fronteer into Pi-lot, allowing him to keep intact the team that built Fronteer into a multi-billion-dollar success.

“What we like about the story and this new company is we’re not start-ing from scratch,” he said. “We’ve got a great base from which to grow and build our resources the same way we did at Fronteer.”

O’Dea’s interest in mining began at a young age while listening to his grandfather’s stories about prospect-ing for hard-rock treasure in On-tario’s outback. At university, he took a geology course out of curiosity and was hooked. “I loved the fact that you could go tell a story from an outcrop of rocks.”

After graduating from Carleton University with a bachelor of science honours degree in geology, O’Dea spent time hunting for valuable rocks in the mountains of B.C. before leav-ing for Australia and New Zealand, where he earned a PhD in structural geology from Monash University.

O’Dea said he was on track to be-come a professor, but in 1997 he de-cided to come back to Vancouver and try his hand at the business side of mining.

“I didn’t even know what stock options were or what equity was,” he joked.

Fortunately, his strong technic-al background outweighed what he didn’t know about running a public company. In 2000, he entered former Goldcorp (TSX:G) founder Rob Mc-Ewen’s global contest to find the next six million ounces of gold at the com-pany’s Red Lake mine in Ontario.

O’Dea didn’t win, but he came in second and caught the attention of two Toronto investors who want-ed him to lead a new venture called Fronteer.

“It was a complete thrill and scary and terrifying on the one hand be-cause I didn’t know anything about public companies,” said O’Dea.

Dan Wilton believes O’Dea’s “un-believable” technical background underwrote Fronteer’s eventual suc-cess. He also said O’Dea had more business skills than he was willing to admit.

“Mark is one of the better people I know at telling a story and getting people to buy into it,” said Wilton, managing director at National Bank Financial’s global metals and mining group in Vancouver. “But ultimately what separates people who are able to bring these things to a conclusion from those who perpetually work on projects is you have to deliver results, and that’s one thing the Fronteer team has always been able to do.” •jmckay@biv.com

DiD you miss these recent eDitorial profiles?

Check them out at

www.biv.com/profiles

Jamie GarrattGrowing marketing agency championing social media and the digital arenaIssue: August 23

Larry BergMapping out the business flight plan for Vancouver’s award-winning airportIssue: August 9

Don KayneCanfor CEO and his game plan for developing new markets for B.C. lumberIssue: August 16

Ric

ha

Rd

La

m

Pilot Gold chairman Mark O’Dea: “good projects build good companies. The harder I work the luckier I get, and the harder you work in this business and the more deals you do, the more opportunities get shown to you”

August 30–September 5, 2011 Business in Vancouver 27Profile

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