4 September 18 – 24, 2014 WEVancouver.com

news

Operated by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation in partnership with the

West End Community Centre Association

West End CC870 Denman StreetVancouver, BC604.257.8333vancouver.ca/westendrec

Coal Harbour CC480 Broughton Street

Vancouver, BC604.718.8222

vancouver.ca/coalharbourrec

Barclay Manor1447 Barclay Street

Vancouver, BC604.257.8333

vancouver.ca/westendrec

Visit www.westendcc.ca to download the Recreation Guide.

Barclay ManorWest End Community Centre

Coal Harbour Community Centre

Fall into our new programs!

to download the Recreation Guide.

West End Community CentreCoal Harbour Community Centre

Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs! Fall into our new programs!

Fall registration has begun for all

programs.Register online, by phone or in person at

West End or Coal Harbour CC

Custom Made Foot Orthotics

$350.00

In-of� ce Medical Pedicure with Foot Massage

One Laser Session for Pain Management

All new consultations will receive one complimentary:

or

BACK TO SCHOOL

SPECIAL

Valid from September 1st to October 1st, 2014

• Foot Care • Corn • Calluses • Warts • Abnormal Toenails • Sports, WCB and ICBC Injuries • Bacterial and Fungal Infections

• House and Hospital Visits • Custom Made Foot Orthotics

Suite 1400750 West BroadwayVancouver

604-428-7868elitemedicalassociates.com

By Kelsey Klassen

Af� nor, a Montreal-based medical marijuana com-pany, is taking

over a controversial rooftop garden in Van-couver after the original operators went bankrupt.

Af� nor says it has purchased the assets belonging to Alterrus, which grew baby greens on the top � oor of the city-owned parking garage in the 500-block of Richards Street.

But don’t expect any pot to start popping up. Executive chairman Nick Brusatore says Af� nor only plans to grow food.

“The rooftop in Van-couver is all about sustain-able food, I can promise you that,” Brusatore told

WE Vancouver. “In fact, I supplied a letter to the city that made it quite clear that there will be no applications for marijuana. I don’t even like the marijuana markets. I can’t get a $100-million pur-chase order for marijuana in Canada but I can get one for

strawberries.”In an email,

the city con-� rmed that the � nal draft of the licence agree-ment signed by Af� nor was “only for the cultivation and production of food, including fruits, vegeta-

bles, edible herbs and legumes.”

When the greenhouse � rst launched in November 2012, Alterrus projected it could produce 150,000 pounds of pesticide-free leafy green vegetables and herbs to be distributed

to local restaurants and grocers.

The project – touted by Mayor Gregor Robertson as an example of Vancouver’s “booming clean tech sec-tor” – closed when Alterrus Systems Inc. and its subsid-iary Local Garden Vancou-ver Inc. declared bankrupt-cy on Jan. 21 after less than two years of operation.

Brusatore said Af� nor won’t face the same � nan-cial issues.

“There’s no pressure on this facility,” he said. “It’s paid for, cash. There’s no debt.”

Alterrus had a 10-year deal with the city to lease the property for $4,800 a month. When that deal was � rst announced, it prompted NPA Coun. George Af� eck to issue a press release at that time calling for the city to invite the auditor general for lo-cal government to examine the contract between Alter-

rus and the city.Brusatore says Af� nor has

the same agreement. He also says Af� nor ex-

pects to have the old facil-ity producing baby greens again within the next 60 days, and is working on a proposal to expand the facility with new struc-tures for the cultivation of mechanically-pollinated strawberries.

Brusatore says the crops will be sold to Choices Markets.

According to Brusatore, Af� nor has also recently met with the University of British Columbia and the University of the Fraser Val-ley to fund aquaculture and greenhouse projects with its equipment. He says the company ultimately hopes to utilize its connections with the universities to run new wave agriculture and vertical farming technology training programs out of the rooftop facility.

“I’m all about solving world hunger, world crop problems,” said Brusatore. “I’m just excited to do this. If this small company does nothing but create jobs and we learn more from it, but I don’t lose my butt, then that’s � ne.”

Af� nor, which became the � rst Canadian company to grow and sell marijuana in the United States in August, intends to market its vertical farming technol-ogy, along with Alterrus’ old greenhouse patents, to increase its stake in the medical marijuana market.

‘I’m not going to men-tion marijuana for the City of Vancouver [but] if the city is interested, now I can help you,” said Brusatore, “I can do it better than anybody for the city, and we could easily put the City of Vancouver as the instant leader as well.”

–With � les from Mike Howell

Marijuana company revives rooftop garden

Nick Brusatore

By Jen St. Denis

The owner of Save On Meats says that despite facing several lawsuits and

a tumultuous two years in which several of his busi-nesses were closed, sold, or relocated, it’s business as usual at his well-known Downtown Eastside diner and butcher shop.

Court documents show Mark Brand is being sued for $324,000 by restaurant sup-

plier Sysco Canada for alleg-edly failing to pay invoices between May 2011 and April 2013.

In a response, Brand says Sysco did not honour an agreement to give a discount to Save On Meats. Brand claims Sysco had agreed to charge him less because Save On Meats hires people with barriers to employment and operates a meals program for DTES residents.

Court documents also show Save On Meats has made arrangements to pay

back a total of $407,495 in taxes in arrears.

Brand has � led a coun-ter suit, claiming damages for misrepresentation and unlawful interference with contractual relations. 

In a separate lawsuit, Cintas Canada, a uniform supplier, alleges Brand owes the company $21,077. Brand counters in his court � lings that the contract was signed by an unauthorized staff member and is there-fore invalid.

Brand is also named in

two small claims cases. Joanne Grif� ths, who part-nered to buy and run a char-ity with Brand in 2012, � led a case in April 2014 claiming Brand owes her $3,000 after she decided she no longer wanted to be involved in the charity and agreed to be bought out in February 2013.

In documents � led with the court, Brand wrote that A Better Life Founda-tion is not in a position to pay Grif� ths now, but that Grif� ths is welcome to donate the $3,000 and get a tax receipt. The case is due to go before a mediator in November.

Calen Knauf, a graphic designer, started a small claims case against Brand in 2012, claiming Brand owes him $6,000 for a website.

According to a counterclaim Brand � led, the restaurateur claimed that missed “deliv-erables” on the project had caused him to lose $150,000 worth of business.

Court documents show that Brand’s counterclaim was dismissed after Brand failed to attend a mediation session in June.  

None of the allegations in these lawsuits have been proven in court. Brand nev-ertheless says all the lawsuits are without merit and he is con� dent he will win.

“We’re really good operators and we’re really honest, but we also won’t be bullied,” Brand said. “So I will never back down from a legal position.”

–Story courtesy of Business in Vancouver; with � les from Darryl Greer

Save on Meats owner responds to multiple lawsuits

Teachers to vote Thursday on new contract

BC teachers could be back in the classrooms as early as Monday should they choose to vote in fa-vour of a tentative six-year deal with the BC govern-ment on Thursday.

Mediator Vince Ready helped the BC Teachers’ Federation and the BC Public School Employ-ers’ Association reach the tentative settlement in the early hours of Sept. 16.

BCTF president Jim Iker said Tuesday afternoon that the provincial teach-ers’ union is recommend-ing its members ratify the contract.

“It was a tough series of negotiations but there were meaningful achieve-ments in this � eld for teachers and students,” said Iker. “A tentative deal includes hundreds of new teaching positions each year as the result of an annual education fund that will be used exclu-sively for bargaining with new members, a mutually agreed process to address any future court decision.” 

The public is prohib-ited from being told the complete details of the proposed deal until it is rati� ed by BCTF members, although leaked details are rumored to include a 7.25 per cent pay raise for teachers over six years, $108 million set aside to address class size and com-position grievances, and an education fund of $480 million over � ve years with $400 million for BCTF members and $80 million for CUPE school support workers.

A beaming Premier Christy Clark called the six-year agreement historic at her own afternoon press conference on Tuesday.

“We’ll have � ve years in which we can sit and talk about the things that really matter and that’s improving education for children in classrooms,” she said.

The Vancouver School Board has complained that costs of previous col-lective agreement settle-ments were downloaded to school districts.

“Clearly, we made the commitment at the beginning of this that the increases are within our budget parameters, so it is the provincial government that is funding this particular settlement,” Education Minister Peter Fassbend-er said at the Tuesday press conference.

–With � les from Andrew Fleming and Cheryl Rossi

20 September 18 – 24, 2014 WEVancouver.com

arts

Making the ArtsMore Accessible®

celebrating 5 years and over

5.5 million people’s love affair

with culture

Free arts and culture activities happening in a community near you! Plan your weekend at culturedays.ca

Enter the Black Press Culture Shapes Our CommunityPhoto Contest to win prizes. http://bit.ly/culturedays2014

CultureDays.caSeptember 26, 27 & 28, 2014

Smell ‘n’ tell

Natural gas is used safely in B.C. every day. But if you smell rotten eggs, go outside first, then call us.

Learn more at fortisbc.com/safety.

Call FortisBC’s 24-hour emergency line at 1-800-663-9911 or 911.

2 Go outside.

Smell rotten eggs? It could be natural gas.

3

1

FortisBC uses the FortisBC name and logo under license from Fortis Inc. (14-117.2 03/2014)

14-117.2_FOR807_GasOdourPrint_4.85x6.5_P1.indd 1 3/3/2014 11:57:58 AM

Watch Vancouver come to life on stage with 20.20.20, a collaboration between Dancers Dancing and SFU Woodwards that captures the living atmosphere of

urban Vancouver. Running Sept. 24-27 at the Gold-corp Centre for the Arts (149 W. Hastings), choreog-rapher Judith Garay celebrates 20 years of work in Vancouver by examining 20 intersections in the city using 20 dancers, whose motions are inspired by the dialogue between architecture, pigeons, overpasses, green spaces, mountain views, skateboards, and people. Tickets are $25/$20. Go to DancersDancing.com for more info.

Double dose of danceAnd if that’s not enough, sandwiched between

those dates is opening show of The Dance Centre’s

2014-2015 Global Dance Connections contemporary dance series, starring the world-renowned Ballet Prel-jocaj. Created by the company’s celebrated French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj, Empty Moves (parts I, II & III) is set to the infamous 1977 recording of John Cage’s Empty Words, where the minimalist com-poser calmly recites radically abstracted text at an uncomprehending and increasingly irate audience. This soundtrack is integral to Preljocaj’s choreo-graphic response, which creates a sophisticated and meditative ode to the abstract as a quartet of dancers executes a � ow of inexhaustible movement with absolute precision and technical skill. Spare, contem-plative and sensual, this absorbing work unfolds as an elegant counterpoint to the turbulent score. Ballet Preljocaj will be at the Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie) Sept. 25-26. Tickets are $32/$24. Call 604-684-2787 or go to TicketsTonight.ca. –Kelsey Klassen

Not your average city tour

Twenty dancers will bring Vancouver to life in 20.20.20, a ki-netic exploration of the cityscape. David Cooper photo

By Kelsey Klassen

Design is at its best when it is blend-ing in seamlessly with our needs – so deliberate we don’t even notice it working – or shaking up our

routines by promising answers to questions we hadn’t yet thought to ask.

It affects us as we sit at our desks and read in our beds, as we walk through public spaces and drive through mountain passes, as we reach for the faucet or pick up the phone. De-sign helps us not only integrate information into our lives but effortlessly adapt to it.

But what kind of conversation can include all that context, all those creators, and all those channels of energy? You’d need an en-tire week to cover it all. Or better yet, two.

Vancouver’s � rst Design Week runs now un-til Sept. 28, featuring 14 days of studio tours, high-pro� le speakers, and showcases with artists of architecture, interior design, graphic design, food, and fashion.

There are an estimated 80 design weeks globally. From established design hubs like New York and London to emerging creative centres like Reykjavik, Dublin, and Cape Town, these celebrations help advance the social, economic and cultural development in their respective cities through dialogue. Closer to home, Vancouver Design Week joins the recently established Seattle Design Festival (2011) and Design Week Portland (2012) to form a Paci� c Northwest design fest trifecta.

Over the years there have been other, more niche, design week initiatives, but according to Design Week co-founder Jennifer Cutbill this is a � rst for Vancouver with such scope.

“They were fabulous efforts,” Cutbill says

of the predecessors, “but we’re really looking to see how we can leverage and expand that audience. This will be the � rst one that is in-clusive of all the design disciplines. It’s design as a verb, design as process, and, really, design as potential.”

The city-wide event opened with Vancou-ver’s inaugural Urban Design Awards – award-ed by the City to 10 projects demonstrating visionary thinking in architecture and urban design – and ends with the 10th annual Inte-rior Design Show West which brings exciting international design talent to the Vancouver Convention Centre Sept. 25-28.

Other highlights include the Open Doors series, which allows patrons to visit with working design professionals in their studios, and Samplings, a food series taking place on the hardtops of coffee shops, tasting rooms, and restaurants throughout Vancouver, featur-ing talks with the chefs, mixologists, and inte-rior designers who bring these spaces to life.

The CreativeMornings breakfast series is teaming up with networking pros Likemind Vancouver and social media pioneers Hoot-suite to get 300 people discussing the creative process at SFU Woodwards on Sept. 19. The talk will feature Vancouver artist Reece Ter-ris, whose architectural portfolio includes a six-storey apartment building temporarily installed inside the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Also that day, the Museum of Vancouver is hosting Why I Design, an interactive conver-sation with 30 designers (including Andrew Zo, creator of the buzzworthy engagement ring box that can � t in a wallet) about their work, and why they choose to do it in Vancouver.

Ticket prices vary; go to VancouverDesignWk.com to register.

Vancouver joins elite Design Week club

WEVancouver.com September 18 – 24, 2014 21

A strike against teachersIt’s so hard for school teachers – between winter vacation, spring vacation, and a massive summer vacation – how can they � nd time to strike? And the “professional development days” – to say that with a straight face? Wow. School is like a lotus pond. Beneath the surface is a dark slimy place. There is boredom, peer pressure, bullying (often, psychologically, by the teachers, who are no longer permitted to beat children, as I was when I suffered through school). There is suicide and evil predators like the diabolical Coquitlam teacher – “Mr. Swirl”. Sometimes, a lotus blooms – the child suc-ceeds. For too many, it is a wasted childhood of droning teachers, useless information, and crappy box lunches. BCTF, the rebels think you’re full of it. –Arnie Carnegie

Bike raveThe other day I was in the Burrard St./Cornwall Ave. area (near the southside end of Burrard Bridge) and the City had � nished a road/bike-path construction project in the area. It is

absolutely fabulous. I took a little walking tour around the region. The original plan to put a bike-path through the Kitsilano Beach park, which I thoroughly protested, was a horrible idea, and what they have done instead is really fantastic, I think. I can’t ride a bike anymore, but a friend of mine who does feels the same way. To be honest, I don’t care what problems might have resulted for motorists. Times are a-changing and the time will come, I predict, when mini-electric cars will be the norm. That will certainly reduce some problems and traf� c congestion. The City deserves praise, too, for many things!!! –A citizen

Comma dramaTo the pompous ass, signed G Pick, who wasted almost half of the rant/rave section to admonish those who aren’t quite up to his/her grammar and punctuation standards and are therefore idiots (Rants, Sept. 11), may I remind you Vancouver is a multi-cultural city where for many English is not their � rst language. I realize, at this time of writing, the teachers’ (gee, I hope I used the apostrophe correctly) strike is still a reality but shouldn’t you use your spare time a little more constructively? Calling those who care for fair working condi-tions in third world countries by only using fair trade products ‘oh so superior’ and ‘elitist’ tells me what sorry boar you are. Or is that bore? –William Muller

All rants are the opinion of the individual and do not re� ect the opinions of WE. The editor reserves the right to edit for clarity and brevity, so please keep it short and (bitter)sweet.

rant/rave

BC’s Anti-Gang

Police 2014 Community Report:

Prevention

and Public Engagement

COMBINED FORCES SPECIAL ENFORCEMENT UNIT - BRITISH COLUMBIA

Preventing gang activity in BC

COMBINED FORCES SPECIAL ENFORCEMENT UNIT

- BRITISH COLUMBIA

Read more by downloading your copy of the CFSEU-BC

Community Report at www.cfseu.bc.ca and on your

Black Press website at:bc-anti-gang.com

▾ MYTH: As a gangsters girlfriend or wife you’ll have everything you want: Reality: Even gangsters’ girlfriends and wives are the target of violence

and retribution, with women associated in

some way to gangsters murdered, some

in front of their children.Over the past

several years there have been a number of

women associated in some way to gangsters

murdered, some in front of their children.

out after dark

1 Morgan Jones Phillips was in town Sept. 11 with his one-man Fringe Festival show The Emergency Monologues – a collection of stories from his 10 years as a paramedic in downtown Toronto. Kelsey Klassen photo 2 Brian Jessel gave tours of his newly renovated � agship BMW dealership on Boundary Road Sept. 9. Guests were also invited to test drive the all-new i3 Electric Vehicle. Supplied photo 3 Oliver & Lilly’s owner Leighann Boquist transformed her West 6th store into a Farmer’s Apprentice long-table feast Sept. 15 to reveal her Paris-inspired fall col-lection to local fashion writers. Kelsey Klassen photo 4 Realtor Salma Mitha, WE Vancouver publisher Dee Dhaliwal, and friend Shaine Virani at Passions Sept. 14 at the Imperial on Main Street. The popular annual fundraiser, which features samplers from 20 Vancouver restaurants, raised over $125,000 for the Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation – a Vancouver-based non-pro� t that provides comfort care and resources for people living with HIV/AIDS. Supplied photo 5 The 13th annual Music Therapy Ride wrapped up Sept. 13 at the Garibaldi Lift Co. in Whistler with close to 200 people making the motorcycle ride up the Sea-to-Sky Highway to help raise funds to support music therapy services across BC. Music Therapy Ride organizers Patrick Zulinov (centre left) and Chris Duncombe (centre right) are � anked by Clayton Bellamy (far left) and Jason McCoy (far right) of the Juno award-winning country rock band, The Road Hammers. Robert Mangelsdorf photo

1 2

3 4

5

OUT AFTER DARK is a weekly feature highlighting social and cultural events around Vancouver. Got an upcoming event? Email us at OutAfterDark@WEVancouver.com.

26 September 18 – 24, 2014 WEVancouver.com

Multi-Media Marketing

ProfessionalWE – Vancouver’s Urban Weekly, is seeking a full-time Advertising/Marketing Representative to sell our print and digital products.

This opportunity is for a results oriented individual. Candidates for this position will possess the ability to service existing clients and develop new business in an extensive and varied territory. Must enjoy outside sales, building relationships with local business owners to help them with their marketing needs.

If you have a proven track record in sales and customer service, thrive on working in a fast-paced environment, are highly motivated, career oriented with strong organization and communication skills, we would like to hear from you.

Our work environment sets industry standards for professionalism and combines a salary/benefit package designed to attract and retain outstanding employees.

Please send your application in confidence to:

We thank all applicants for their interest, but only those chosen for an interview will be contacted. If you are not contacted, we will keep your resume on file for

future opportunities.

Gail Nugent, Managing Director WE Vancouver

gnugent@WEVancouver.com

Closing Date: September 25, 2014