Creekside's brand new facility is located along the seawall in southeast False Creek.

“It’s definitely been a challenge and it’s been frustrating,” said Brenda Tang, the centre’s marketing coordinator. “We just don’t have the critical mass yet.”

Almost 200,000 people have visited Creekside since it opened in September 2010, according to the centre’s own figures.

Creekside sits on waterfront property with panoramic views of False Creek and downtown. It is located between two future developments not expected to be complete until 2018.

There are a number of finished buildings around the centre. However, almost 40 per cent of the units remain unoccupied.

“We do get families coming in and asking us about running programs for a certain age group,” said Tang, so “we’ll try to find an instructor, we’ll offer it, and it won’t run.”

Residents can suggest activities but, in order for the centre to create new programs, they need enough people to attend. So far they simply do not have the numbers.

Tang and other coordinators hope Creekside gets busier, but they understand it is going to take time.

Creating awareness that the community centre is open.

A repeat of history

The Roundhouse Arts and Community Recreation Centre experienced similar growing pains in 1997.

“When the Roundhouse came into completion and they were attempting to do the same thing [Creekside] is now, they went through probably a good three to five years of growth period,” she said, “in order for them to develop a community, for them to develop a board and then to be as successful as they are.”

Chin is a veteran with 20 years of Park Board experience. She believes time is what the centre needs.

Wendy Appleton was the recreation supervisor when Roundhouse first opened and learned to evaluate the needs of a changing community.

“The most important thing is that staff stay open to hearing what the community wants so that they can transform along with the community,” said Appleton.

It is more difficult to establish community centres in developing neighbourhoods than in established ones.

Hillcrest, in the South Main neighbourhood, is Vancouver’s newest community centre. It has had no difficulty attracting residents.

Peter Fox, the aquatic supervisor, says 1,377,363 have visited the aquatic and fitness centre since opening in July 2010. The new facility replaced Riley Park Community Centre which was built in 1964.

It can take longer to figure out programming and achieve high participation numbers in new areas because the wants and needs of residents are unknown.

Weighing success

“It’s a little bit of a chicken and an egg,” said Kirsten Robinson, a planner with the city’s Central Area Planning Department. “You don’t want all the services to go up first and have no residents to support them, but you also don’t want all the residents to go in first and have no services to support them.”

Olympic Village is difficult because the community centre and residential units had to be constructed for the Olympics, so the only other option is “that the community centre sits vacant, fully constructed and vacant, for a few years while the community builds out,” said Robinson.

Neither Chin nor Robinson find this option desirable or fair to the people living in the 453 units of 737 units already rented or sold.

Creekside offers access to water activities.

Membership at Creekside is slowly rising and a partnership with Dragon Zone has attracted people from all over the city that, along with boat rentals, could allow the centre to carve out a niche with water activities similar to what the Roundhouse has done with arts.

Other centres have found creative ways to help Creekside continue until more residents move in. “We send a lot of rental requests there because we don’t necessarily have the space,” said Margaret Watts, Roundhouse’s supervisor of recreation services.

“Our taekwondo program moved to Creekside because they could get total room space or many hours a week whereas here they couldn’t,” she said.

Challenges going forward   

Creekside is solely operated by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

Most community centres have partnered with not-for-profits that help with both funding and community building.

“Not-for-profits can apply for grants and other things that we can’t because we are a government entity,” said Tang, “so that makes things a little bit different.”

Creekside relies on the Vancouver Park Board for both money and direction. The board is currently wrestling with escalating operating costs.

A not-for-profit partnership could help the facility gain insight into a community’s needs and, without that, “it’s like a shot in the dark. It’s like a gamble, ” said Chin.

“I believe that eventually we will have a thriving community that’s going to make very good use of this centre and we just sort of have to allow time and patience and for the growth to actually happen,” she said.

Now, she is a contractor for a Vancouver sewing co-op, Common Thread, comprised of mostly marginalized women who have been re-purposing 2010 Olympic banners into tote bags and book covers.

Cho sews on an industrial machine purchased from VANOC.

Working with Common thread makes Cho feel good and useful, she said, adding “it helps me with daily life and independence. I learn something new and can get paid work too.”

Common Thread has earned over $100,000 in sales from products made of Olympic fabric and banners, giving contracts to more than 16 people in the peak of its production.

“We were really looking forward to the Olympics being over so that we could get those banners,” said Jenette MacArthur, vice president of Common Thread.

The cooperative combines five local social enterprises: the Kettle Friendship Society, the Afghan Women’ Sewing and Craft Co-op, Sewing with Heart, Progressive Intercultural Community Services (PICS) and Eastside Movement for Business & Economic Renewal Society (EMBERS).

Local partnerships

Cooperative general manager Melanie Conn said not only did they get the banners donated, they were able to purchase 11 industrial sewing machines from the Vancouver Olympic Committee (VANOC) at a reduced price to replace the basic domestic machines they had used in the past.

“Without access to the equipment we would have needed to raise funds to buy the equipment since it is crucial for the production of high volume contracts,” she said.

The tote bags made from 2010 Olympic banners.

After purchasing the Olympics’ industrial sewing machines, Common Thread needed to find a rent-free or low-cost space to house them.

Susan Braverman, president of International Flag and Banner, a Vancouver-based flag maker and retailer, offered the cooperative space at her Powell Street location.

“When we’ve talked to people – except for Susan – they think why would you operate a business with people who require flexibility? You don’t want to hear about their problems,” said Conn.

“You want people who you can count on every day, no personal issues — that’s it,”

Braverman said Common Thread has had a positive impact. “These are people who for whatever reason aren’t able to work in the mainstream work environment and so they are contracted to sew,” she said. “I think it makes them feel good — they get to come to work.”

The co-op’s current project is to make tote bags for the International Year of the Cooperative (2012) out of a variety of banners including: Pacific National Exhibition 100 year anniversary banners, local Business Improvement Association’s colourful street banners, and official signage from the National Capital Commission.

The United Nations resolution 64/136 (PDF) has declared 2012 the International Year of The Cooperative.

More than environmentalism

MacArthur, who is also the coordinator of a self-esteem and employment program at the Kettle Friendship Society, said people are responsive to their products because of the co-op’s commitment to both environmental sustainability and social enterprise. The co-op uses only donated banners and event fabric for its merchandise.

“The women come from all walks of life,” said MacArthur, adding that this program assists people with barriers to employment, which range from mental health to new immigrant issues.

Those who work on contracts for Common Thread are able to work as little or as much as they want, in a variety of locations — even at their homes. “People in our production unit thrive in flexible work environment,” said Conn.

“For the women it’s successful because it’s really like my program in general, it boosts people’s confidence,” said MacArthur.

“I mean once you know that you’ve never been able to sew and now you’re actually in a factory with other people who are doing the same work, and you’re making money, it just builds their self-esteem.”

The Sin Bin was advertised as the place to catch 2011 Rugby World Cup matches in Vancouver.

A Vancouver sports bar has reinvented itself as a drinking hole for niche sports fans in an effort to drum up new business.

Over the past few weeks, the Sin Bin Sports Grill in Southeast False Creek has been drawing in many new customers by showing live matches from the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

The bar has quickly become a hub for rugby fans in Vancouver to support their national teams since the tournament began on September 9.

Chris Hall, 29, owner of the Sin Bin on West 2^nd Ave, started showing international sporting events to attract new customers when Southeast False Creek became “like a ghost town” following the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

He was confident that the Rugby World Cup provided an opportunity to bring rugby fans and new patrons to his bar.

Hall advertised the Sin Bin as a place to watch matches live with posters featuring international rugby stars in the front windows of the bar.

“This is such a hard business to make it in,” he said. “You have to be creative in your ways to draw in customers.”

Draped in national flags

Fans of the All Blacks and Wallabies, the national men’s rugby teams from New Zealand and Australia respectively, filled the bar to capacity on one Saturday night.

They came to watch their beloved teams face off in the semi-final match on October 15 to decide who will meet France in the championship game on October 23.

All Blacks fan Paula Curry (left) paints faces at the Sin Bin before New Zealand's semi-final match vs. Australia

Clad in jerseys, some with painted faces and draped in national flags, most of the patrons on Saturday night were expats from countries where rugby is a mainstream sport.

“It’s a big part of our culture. It’s what we grow up with,” said Cameron McConnichie, a native New Zealander who has been living in Vancouver for two and a half years.

He came to the Sin Bin from the downtown West End to watch the match. “We follow it wherever we go. To be able to watch matches in a pub atmosphere with a good Kiwi crowd is what brings us back.”

Rugby is New Zealand’s official national sport. The International Rugby Board, the governing body for international rugby tournaments, ranks its men’s national team as number one in the world.

Word spread quickly once fans discovered the Sin Bin would be airing live matches.

Dan Atkins, a New Zealander who moved to Vancouver only four weeks ago, said that he discovered the growing rugby following at the Sin Bin from a Facebook group used by Kiwis in the city to coordinate where to meet on match day.

Cornering a niche market

A former amateur rugby player himself, Hall recognized the demand for a place to watch live Rugby World Cup matches among fans in Vancouver.

Rugby’s profile is on the rise in Canada. This year was the first that TSN, Canada’s most popular sports television channel, aired games in real time. The Rugby World Cup is the third most watched international sporting event in the world.

“You want a place that is not overly pretentious,” Hall said. “You can blow a horn in here, and we play the games with sound on … I think we do the sports thing really well.”

A twenty-hour time difference between Auckland and Vancouver means games broadcast from New Zealand begin in the early morning hours here. Hall has extended business hours to accommodate customers who want to watch the games live, often staying open until 3 a.m.

“We thought it would be busy, but not this busy. Especially with times being outside regular sports hours, but the response has been big,” said Hall.

Staff began taking reservations for the semi-final matches a week in advance, and every playoff game has sold out.

Andrea Cyn, a hostess and bartender, says that it has been “insane” since the Rugby World Cup began. She emphasizes that it is not just Kiwis and Aussies. Fans from Ireland, Scotland and France have come to the bar to watch matches as well.

The Sin Bin will be open late to show the Rugby World Cup final between New Zealand and France on October 23 beginning at 12.30 a.m. PST.

Bringing new business

 Hall opened the Sin Bin just one block south of the Olympic Village in June 2009.

“We knew being so close to the Olympic Village was a huge jump start for us,” he said. “But we also saw that this was an up and coming neighbourhood, and it wasn’t going to be just the Olympics and that’s it.”

The Sin Bin was open 24 hours a day for 17 consecutive days during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. It was regularly packed with athletes, coaches and volunteers looking for a place to celebrate victory or lament defeat.

Several retail spaces in the Village have been hesistant to open their doors before the development fills up.

Like other businesses in the area, patronage took a steep decline when the Games ended and the new developments in South False Creek were slow to sell.

“Reality hit pretty quickly,” said Hall of the months following the games. “We assumed the units in the Village would fill up right away, and we’d have 5,000 new people moving in within a year. It’s taken a lot longer than we thought.”

By January 2011, only 263 of 737 units in the Olympic Village had been sold.

In February, city council renamed the development “The Village on False Creek” as part of an aggressive marketing campaign that included price reductions of up to 50% on the remaining units.

By September of this year, the Village was 60% full, with a total of 427 units sold.

In response to the decline in business, Hall diversified the sporting events he chose to show to attract customers that may grab a pint elsewhere otherwise.

Danny Paradis, a construction worker originally from Drummondville, Que., brings his construction crew of Quebec transplants to watch every Montreal Canadiens game after work.

The Sin Bin airs the games from TSN’s French-language channel, RDS. Paradis said there is no other bar in Vancouver that showed Canadiens games, and his crew appreciates a chance to watch the games in French.

With real estate sales on the up in Southeast False Creek, Hall is hopeful for the future of the Sin Bin as a fixture for sports entertainment in the neighbourhood.

“With the village filling up and … new condo developments set to open in the next year and half, there is no doubt it’s becoming a hub,” he said.

A taxi graveyard at Vancouver International Airport's commercial vehicle holding area

When Anoop Singh, 36, entered the taxi business seven years ago, he was making 15 trips to and from Vancouver’s YVR airport per day. Now, he works double shifts and is lucky to make eight.

“This was a sanctuary at one time,” said Singh. “You could make some decent cash and look after your rent and mortgages, but not anymore.

“Now, you’re barely keeping up with the expenses.”

Business is lagging for Vancouver Airport taxi drivers. The economic downturn and opening of the Canada Line have reduced demand for taxi services and many drivers are struggling to make a living.

Yet, YVR taxi regulations have not changed to reflect such challenges and the Airport Authority has done little to remedy the situation.

Sat Gill, YVR’s manager of ground transportation, said the airport taxi business has slowed in recent months. Wait times have increased for airport taxi drivers, but there are no current plans to change license regulations.

“We are currently going into our second year of a four-year agreement with taxi companies so we try not to, under any circumstances, increase or decrease the number of taxis during a contract term,” Gill said.

Rigid regulations

Singh: This used to be a sanctuary at one time

YVR drivers buy taxi licenses for $396 a month and have to complete a minimum of 45 trips to and from the airport each month.

“The airport license regulation doesn’t reflect the current economic situation,” said Anoop Singh, who has driven for five years with Surdell-Kennedy Taxis Ltd.

“When you can’t promise us business, why do you want me to sit here and not make money?”

Listen to taxi driver Anoop Singh’s concerns about the business:

Darjit Singh, who has driven for Bonny’s Taxis for 12 years, said the problems faced by the taxi business are worsened by current regulations.

“Right now, there are too many cabs at the airport,” he said. “For the past few months, we have been waiting over two hours for each fare. The economy has brought down business and there are very few passengers to pick up these days.”

Aviation activity at the airport decreased by 10.9 per cent between 2008 and 2009, according to a Vancouver Airport Authority report.

The new Canada Line further impacted the taxi business, offering travellers a less expensive trip from the airport to downtown. TransLink reported an average daily ridership of 83, 027 between Sept. 9 and Oct. 6. This number is expected to rise to 100,000 by January 2010.

“I’d say there’s been about a 40 percent decrease in business in the past few months,” said Charanjit Dhillon, who drives for Sunshine Cabs. “I blame a lot of it on the Canada Line.”

Olympic hopes

Some airport taxi drivers view the 2010 Winter Games as the last hope for the industry.

“I’m waiting for the Olympics to make money and then maybe I’ll find other job,” said Darjit Singh. “A cleaning job would be better than this. At least I’d be making minimum wage.”

YVR’s Sat Gill warned that the Olympics would have little impact on airport taxis.

“For us here, VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee) is responsible for a vast majority of the transportation for the media, the athletes, and the families,” he said. “All those people will use the VANOC system so the actual increase in passenger loads for taxis is not significant.”

The Lower Mainland Taxi Association formed recently to address challenges faced by taxi drivers. The group is designed to represent and promote the interests of Lower Mainland drivers in the Vancouver area.

Gill, whose job involves the organization and management of YVR’s ground transportation, said the establishment of the group is long overdue.

“If they came up with a good plan, we would be happy to consider it,” he said. “All I want at the end of the day is service for the customer. If they find a better, more efficient way to do it, well then, fantastic.”

YVR taxi drivers remain concerned that their voices are not being heard.

“There are people who need this career to support their mortgages and their kids but we’re making no money and nobody’s listening,” said Anoop Singh.

“We pay to be represented at the Taxi Association but no complaints are ever taken. Everyone is working hard here, but we’re making less than minimum wage.”

From January 15, the newly built rink at Killarney will be used solely for the Olympics. It will host short track speed skating training sessions throughout the Games, resulting in hockey players, and other user groups looking elsewhere for ice time.

Teams from the Vancouver Minor Hockey Association's Spirit lose access to Killarney and Trout Lake in January

At a recent public skate at Killarney, Sean Reilly and a handful of parents and hockey players took to the ice among leisure skaters, squeezing in some extra time on the ice.

Because of upcoming closures at Killarney, Trout Lake, Britannia and the Agrodome, many of east Vancouver’s 34 teams have been short on practise time.

“I had originally thought that we would end up with more rinks in Vancouver as a result of (the Olympics),” said Reilly, while strapping on his goalie pads.

“We’ve certainly ended up with nicer facilities, but we haven’t ended up with more of them. And that’s unfortunate.”

To pay for the new $14.9 million-dollar-rink at Killarney, the Vancouver Park Board contributed $12.2 million, VANOC invested $2.5 million and the Killarney Community Centre Society put up $175,000.

The price tag for the Trout Lake facility came in at over $15.9 million, with the Park Board paying the majority of the construction costs of $13.2 million. VANOC contributed $2.5 million and the Grandview Community Association invested $250,000.

On this Tuesday night, the foyer was full of people lacing skates and slapping on used helmets; one father awkwardly pulled at his daughter’s skate laces with his teeth. A woman at the concession stand prepared hot dogs while the sound of grinding metal drifted out of the skate-sharpening kiosk drowning out the evening chatter.

While the Zamboni made its final pass on the last tract of chewed-up ice, a few older freshly showered hockey players lugged their stinky hockey bags through the foyer. Images of lugers, skaters, skiers and hockey players decorate the walls of Killarney marking the rink as an Olympic venue.

“Most of our games in January and February are either against our own association or teams from the Thunderbirds,” said Reilly. “And neither association has any ice in January or February so we’re having to use all of our available ice time to play games and there is virtually no practice ice.”

Vancouver public ice

Of the eight community ice rinks in Vancouver, four of those are located in the southeast corner of the city – Killarney, Trout Lake, Riley Park and Sunset.

Only Sunset will remain unaffected by the Olympic closures, with the rinks at Killarney and Trout Lake closing entirely from mid January until some point in the summer of 2010 after retrofitting.


View Vancouver Community Ice Rinks in a larger map

The official facing the challenge of allocating ice throughout the closures is Bruce MacWilliam, district coordinator for the Vancouver Park Board. He recognizes that it’s difficult to please everyone, but he considers VANOC’s participation at local rinks to be a worthwhile tradeoff.

“So far, I think they’ve been quite resourceful,” said MacWilliam, referring to the hockey associations. “Will they have challenges? Yeah, for sure, but come next year we’ll have two brand new facilities.”

More than just hockey

President of the Killarney Community Centre Society, Keith Jacobson, acknowledges that user groups like minor hockey will bear the brunt of the closures, but his job is to provide services to all members of the community centre.

Jacobson works as an advocate for local residents who use the building and its programs. Jacobson believes that maintaining adequate programming is a priority whether the Olympics are here or not. The job will be tougher this winter when Jacobson loses three of his four staff programmers to VANOC.

Residents can still use Killarney’s other facilities throughout the Olympics, but Jacobson said that they shouldn’t expect new programming until the spring.

Rochelle Wallace, President of Vancouver Minor Hockey, favours the new rinks but believes that the Olympic closures reveal a larger issue.

The Abbotsford Hawks recently visited Killarney to take on the Spirit

“The big thing is that people do not recognize that we, and other ice user groups, are already short of ice and that we need more to run viable programs,” said Wallace.

To combat the loss of time in Vancouver, Wallace said the association rented ice in North Vancouver, Langley, and Burnaby, and it plans to use other rinks across the city.

Residents in Killarney are no strangers to rink closures. Skaters went over two years without a home rink throughout the construction, and limited ice time makes player development difficult.

“Our youngest players are allocated three quarters of an hour a week to play hockey,” said Wallace. “That’s just not enough to learn to skate and to play, so we’re creative within that, but it would sure be nice to have more ice.”

Wallace notes that access to ice impacts more groups that just minor hockey. Figure skaters, speed skaters, recreational hockey leagues, and leisure skaters all struggle for ice time.

“After the Winter Olympics, there will be a rise in awareness around ice sports, and I don’t see that the legacy that the Olympics is leaving will support growing interest,” said Wallace.

While hockey parents like Sean Reilly and Rochelle Wallace applaud the new rinks at Killarney and Trout Lake, what they really need is more of them.

“Hockey doesn’t require architecture, it requires ice,” said Reilly, before skating out onto the ice to shoot pucks around with the kids.

Any given Saturday at Burnaby Lake Park, music professor Nikolai Maloff and computer programmer Geoff Dryer can be found engaging in a showdown of aeronautic spectacle. In the skies above, lightweight, mini-engined planes dodge gliders with 13 foot wingspans.

Below the air traffic, fellow flyers unpack hand-painted model airplanes of various sizes from the backseat of their cars.

So long as the rain holds off, flyers congregate at the park every weekend to loop-de-loop through the skies. Yet come late January, the group was told it would be grounded – literally – for nearly three months of valuable practice time.

A typical Sunday pre-noon launch for Burnaby Lake Park's Hoods Up Flyers

Model plane enthusiasts are one of the many groups prohibited from flying during the Winter Games due to airspace restrictions imposed by Transport Canada, even though security officials do not see such groups as a threat.

From opening day of the Games on January 29 to the closing of the Paralympics on March 24, hobbyists such as parachuters, hang gliders and balloonists must also refrain from using the airspace within three areas clustered around two central sites -  Vancouver International Airport and Whistler Athlete’s Village.

“Massive overkill”

“We’ve been told we cannot fly for almost two months. All of the members of the club feel that this is a massive overkill,” said Brad Trent, president of Hood’s Up Flyers, an electric-only club that has been flying on an allotted field in Burnaby.

“There is no way that a group of guys at Burnaby Lake Park are going to be a risk to athletes, officials or any other groups at the Olympics.”

Some flyers have invested upwards of $100 000 in flying equipment and fees for practice space.

Three months of restricted flying practice will affect their performance in highly anticipated international competitions that occur throughout the summer months.

Military enforcement

The report outlining the restrictions warns that all traffic within the designated airspace will be monitored by surveillance radar during the Olympics. Unauthorized aerial activity will be subject to intercept by military aircraft.

“The flight procedures and restrictions are similar to those implemented for other major international events,” said Sara Hof, a representative for Transport Canada, in an e-mail. “They are based on internationally accepted standards.”

No incident of model plane employment in a terrorist attack has yet been reported. Many of the Hoods Up members pointed out that anything with wheels or wings could pose as a security threat during the Games.

dvd yogi bear

A local Canadian team poses at the regional model flying finals in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (Photo: Geoff Dryer)

Staff Sargeant Mike Cote with the Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit acknowledged that model plane clubs have been in operation for many years and are a part of the community.

“These are not illegal groups. The club that meets at the same field every Wednesday afternoon or Saturday morning?” said Cote. “We’re certainly not concerned with them.”

Scott Esplen is the president of the Radio Control Flying Club of British Columbia, a group of 160 flyers that are currently struggling to find a usable aerial field in the Vancouver area. Esplen’s group will also be hit by airspace restrictions.

“I’m very responsible when I fly, I don’t take safety for granted at all,” said Esplen. “I don’t know if security is worried about something going out of control, but if they think someone is going to do something on purpose, it’s going to be the unorganized person.”

“They’re not stopping people with bad intentions, they’re punishing the guys that are doing it right. I think it’s crazy.”

“Old men flying planes”

The Hoods Up Flyers forwarded concerns about the restrictions to the Model Aeronautics Association of Canada. The association offers liability protection and acts as a government liaison for clubs all over Canada.

The relationship between model plane flyers and governing authorities that regulate model clubs, such as Transport Canada, has been positive in the past. Association president Richard Barlow was annoyed by the restrictions, but also hesitant to push the issue further.

“We’re talking about an association of close to 12 000 people that fly model aircraft recreationally, for fun and competition,” said Barlow. “Canada competes in world championships, we are insured for $5 million in liability, and we train our members to fly responsibly.”

Members of Hoods Up Flyers are skeptical that the issue will receive any attention if Transport Canada’s restrictions are challenged. While some are outraged, others seek a compromise that Geoff Dryer, vice president of the club, said is far from likely.

“We’ve got no political pulse,” said Dryer. “A bunch of old men flying planes is not a great lobby.”

Flight students, instructors and school owners will be affected by Olympic airspace closure.

Flight training schools in Vancouver are angry at being grounded due to a no-fly zone to be introduced as part of security precautions for the forthcoming Winter Olympics.

They say it is going to cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue while still having to pay salaries, rent, insurance and utilities.

Instructors will not only be out-of-pocket, but will also lose flight hours needed to qualify for airline jobs. International students, who make up the bulk of the classes, must pay living costs while waiting for the airspace to reopen.

“We are a victim of geography”, said Mark Stierli, Operations Manager for Professional Flight Center, located at Boundary Bay Airport, just south of Vancouver. Stierli’s instructors and maintenance crews will be laid off or forced to take vacation.

The flight schools affected by the flight ban understand and support the need for air space restrictions. However, during the consultation process, the length of the no-fly zone was doubled from four to eight weeks.

“That’s what’s really raised the ire of the industry,” said Patricia Kennedy, Chief Operating Officer of Pacific Flying Club.

Listen to the concerns of those affected by the airspace ban:

The airspace restrictions come into force on January 29 and will be lifted on March 24. The Olympics run from February 12 to 28, with the Paralympics from March 12 to 21.

Compensation sought by flight schools

Industry associations are lobbying hard for government compensation, with the Air Transport Association of Canada asking for $3-5m.

The industry has been compensated before. It was provided following the five-day shutdown of airspace during 9/11 and the G8 conference held in Alberta in 2002.

The impact on the schools’ bottom lines spreads beyond the Olympic period because prospective students are postponing training or looking for schools not affected by the ban.

“It’s devastating,” said Kennedy. Close to 200 employees will be affected at Boundary Bay, where more aspiring commercial pilots are trained than at any other site in Canada.

Between lost revenue and operating costs, Pacific Flying Club expects to take a financial hit of about $300,000.

“There is a significant trickle down effect that’s going to hit this airport,” said Kennedy. Suppliers of aircraft fuel and maintenance parts will also be affected.

Students suffer from flight restrictions

Student pilots will not be permitted to practice their skills in a thirty nautical mile circle centred on Vancouver International Airport. The area is bordered by Ferndale, Washington in the south, Nanaimo harbour in the west, Pemberton in the north, and Abbotsford to the east.

Learning to fly is hands-on and practice is critical. After a two-month break students can’t just start from where they left off, but need to relearn to gain back their skills.

The only option for students wanting to fly is to practice at Abbotsford, 35 nautical miles east of Boundary Bay. This triples the cost of a lesson due to the added flight and instructor time, and fuel costs required to make the return trip.

Even this option brings no guarantee. Abbotsford Airport will be an official portal for aircraft wanting to enter Vancouver airspace.

Flights not screened at their home airport must land there and go through security checks before flying to Vancouver. Airspace and ground facility reservations are already reaching capacity.

Enforced by jet fighters

The RCMP is responsible for leading Olympic security planning. In its assessment of potential threats, it identified two involving aircraft: their use as weapons or for suicide attacks. The airspace shutdown is in response to these threats.

To reinforce the serious nature of the ban, Transport Canada states; “It is incumbent upon all aviators to review … Emergency Procedures – Interception of Civil Aircraft.” Breaking the rules will result in interception by Canadian or US fighter jets.

The Canadian Air Force has advised aviation operators to remain calm, and maintain direction and altitude if intercepted. Any pilot who strays from flight regulations can expect to see an F-18 fighter 10 to 15 feet away from their wingtip.

Officials were aware of the potential cost to businesses, employees and students. An impact analysis issued by Transport Canada found that, “flight schools would also be highly impacted, given proposed restrictions on their operations and the potential for temporarily reduced revenue streams.”

Industry associations have been meeting with the RCMP-led 2010 aviation committee since August of 2007. While the consultations did result in the addition of security screening at Boundary Bay Airport, the business impacts on flight training schools remain.

Bacchus: Obligation to provide children with a pure learning environment. (Photo courtesy of VSB)

“Our kids are not a rent-a-crowd to come out and create buzz and excitement during school hours,” said Patti Bacchus, Vision Vancouver trustee and chair of the Vancouver School Board.

“There is the competition and the fun of the games,” she told TheThunderbird.ca. “But there’s a wide range of issues, like the cost, the doping, the politics, and the gender issues that I think deserve our time.”

“We should be encouraging students to consider a range of perspectives and come to their own conclusions through that educated process.”

Vancouver schools are under pressure from the Olympic sponsors and supporters to create excitement amongst students for the games.

The Ministry of Education’s 2010 Spirit Schools program “allows schools to show BC and the world the amazing 2010-related activities that students are engaged in.” Critics argue that these initiatives provide little room for a deeper analysis of issues surrounding the Olympics in classrooms.

Athletes of the future

Last spring, the City of Vancouver gave $14,000 to four schools in the Vancouver School Board as part of the Host a City Happening program. The aim of the initiative was to create events in the community that showed the enthusiasm of Vancouver residents for the 2010 Winter Games.

Sarah Tracz is involved with the planning of Hamber's Athletes of the Future program.

Eric Hamber Secondary School in South Cambie received one of the grants. With $5,000 from the city, it set up a program called Athletes of the Future.

Hamber students have been busy planning for the event, creating their own t-shirts, logos, and cheers for the upcoming festivities. They have also participated in after-school programming and leadership activities with local elementary school.

The program culminates with a student-led celebration on Nov 5 and will involve over 2,000 local students from grades 5-12. The event coincides with Paralympic School Week.

“The goal of the event is not only to get students excited for the Olympics but to give our senior students an opportunity to engage in the community,” said West 1 Community Schools Team programmer Sarah Tracz.

Hamber teachers and community partners will be conducting thirty workshops throughout the day. Events will include:

• Team building and paddling skills workshops with a Paralympic dragon boat athlete.
• Wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby demos, hosted by BC Wheelchair Association.
• Whistle-making classes led by the Hamber shop teacher.
• Nutrition workshops on healthy eating choices.
watch tangled

‘Opening a space for dialogue’

According to the Vancouver Organizing Committee’s year-end report, total spending on construction for the games stands at $555.4 million.

This report comes at a time when Vancouver schools are coping with budget cuts. The B.C. government cancelled a $130,00 grant to B.C. School Sports in September due to spending constraints.

One group voicing its concerns over the coverage of Olympics-related issues in schools is Teaching 2010 Resistance. The community movement is composed of youth workers, educators and community members and it offers teachers with strategies for teaching about the Olympics from a critical standpoint.

“We are responding to what we see as a lack of critical teaching resources,” said Teaching 2010 Resistance community organizer Nat Marshik. “We’ve been working on putting together educational material that we are offering to present in schools if teachers are interested.”

The group has come under intense public scrutiny for its relationship with the Olympic Resistance Network, an organization that has attracted controversy for its support of violent resistance tactics. But Marshik said that Teaching 2010 Resistance is a movement seeking an open space for dialogue.

“We’re trying to present another option out there for teachers who feel like they are having trouble accessing another perspective on the Olympics,” she said.

No place for Olympic lessons

The Vancouver School Board, and Bacchus in particular, were criticized by local media in recent weeks after a flyer for Teaching 2010 Resistance appeared on the board’s website. The flyer has since been removed and the board denied any affiliation with the group.

“It’s a bit disturbing to me, some of the reactions from the public, that we shouldn’t be talking about this in the school,” said Bacchus. “I don’t know what people think we’re doing in school if we don’t encourage critical thinking.”

“At all times, we have to think of the integrity of the school system and our obligation to provide children with a pure learning environment,” said the school board chair.

“The Olympics are going to be here. Teachers must get students interested and debating in the event. Whatever the outcome, it’s the process that counts.”

For UBC Faculty of Education professor Dr. Rob Van Wynsberghe, the Olympics present issues that are too complex for classrooms to address.

“Schools are a place for raising awareness,” he said, “but they are not a location for rectifying social issues.”

“If there’s an Olympic curriculum there needs to be a critical curriculum. In my opinion, there should be neither.”

The City of Vancouver expects 5,500 athletes from around the world when it hosts the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12- 28, 2010.

The Welcome House will remain empty until April 2010.

Government-assisted refugees from volatile countries such as Somalia, Sudan and the Congo have not escaped the influence the Olympics have had on the city, even though they are not familiar with the Games.

Officials rushed refugees through the system so they would arrive well before the Games begin.

The sponsored refugees had to be dealt with quickly because the Welcome House that shelters them is close to an Olympics security zone. The house is run by the Immigrant Services Society of BC.

“We’ve had so many coming through, we haven’t been able to adequately deal with the ones that have arrived,” said Jim Siemens, Program Manager of the house. “We will spend the next six months doing that.”

Normally, the staff helps 810 government-assisted refugees resettle in Vancouver over 12 months. This year, they did it in six.

Double the refugees, half the time

October 15 was the last official day the house sheltered refugees for the year.

Siemens and staff help refugees find a permanent home, get permanent resident cards and deal with finances. Siemens said it will be easier to organize and to help the refugees with the settlement process now that the house’s environment is less chaotic.

The more refugees there are at once, the longer it takes to provide them with the tools to start new lives. A record 156 people came to the house in one month. Usually, about 70 government-assisted refugees arrive each month.

Renovations will take place while the building is empty. “When you have a 2-bedroom apartment for 6 months with a minimum of 8-10 people living in it, it gets pretty trashed,” Siemens said.

The house is near the high security zone around LiveCity Yaletown, an area expected to attract thousands of visitors during the Olympics. It will remain empty until the Games are over.

Transportation troubles

Issues such as increased airport traffic, additional security, and general transportation prompted officials to take this course of action with refugees.

The fast-approaching Olympics have caused schedule changes for refugees.

Johanne Nadeau, spokesperson for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said, “We’re not suspending anyone, we just have a different flow of people than usual.”

CIC deals with visas for the influx of Olympic athletes, coaches, and spectators. According to its website, it has a special application process to expedite the entry of these people to Vancouver.

The Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada deals with claims from refugees already in Canada. It has also adjusted its schedule to prevent Olympic-related issues.

“It will be difficult to get in and out of the building. We’ve arranged it so refugees won’t have to,” said Melissa Anderson of the IRB. The board will not hold hearings downtown during the Games as it is located in a high security area on Georgia Street.

Both organizations say there will be no impact on the time it takes to complete their normal roles in the refugee process.

High security, high stress

Refugees who do not speak English might have had trouble if they had to deal with security officers, whose number will increase during the Olympics.

“People that are not from here don’t always have a good relationship with security forces,” said Siemens.

Travel from the airport to downtown Vancouver could have been difficult for refugees because of the high volume of traffic at the airport, the packed buses and trains downtown, and the high security presence expected during the Olympics.

“It’s not that the security would stop them,” said Siemens. “It’s not an easy thing for them to navigate through a security system.”

The Vancouver 2010 Integrated Security Unit will deploy approximately 7000 security officers throughout the Games.

This unit contains members from the RCMP, municipal police forces and the military. According to its website, there will also be private security companies to perform screening duties at some venues.