1992
Above: Construction was finished on UBC’s First Nations House of Learning in 1992.
[Image:The Ubyssey (www.ubyssey.ca/) ]
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You’ll note that these years include events listed under “Also in . . .” These are events for which we don’t have a specific date. If YOU know the specific date of an event shown there, please notify us . . . and cite the source! Many thanks!
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January Mayor Gordon Campbell announced that Vancouver would “commence a New City Plan. It must be a plan that reflects the Vancouver of today and, even more importantly, that projects a Vancouver for tomorrow.” Council wanted the plan to address all issues facing the city and to involve a broad range of people including those who did not normally participate in city planning.
What resulted won the city national and international awards for the innovative public process which involved thousands of citizens. The City Plan process started in November, 1992, with council inviting people from all parts of the city—including members of clubs, business associations, resident groups and interested members of the community—to meet in small groups called City Circles. Their task was to suggest ideas for Vancouver and how to make them happen.
More than 450 City Circles, involving over 5,000 people, were formed. Youth formed 150 of the Circles. More than 70 Circles involved multi-cultural groups who participated in languages other than English. To help people focus on the issues the City Plan team at city hall prepared a ‘Tool Kit,’ a ring binder of information about the services provided in the city. This also helped the circles focus on the essential questions.
As an example, seniors were asked to discuss issues that affected them:
Housing and Work: How can we meet peoples’ desire to “age in place”? What changes will we need to make to adapt to an aging workforce?
Health and Safety: What changes in the city are needed to help bring health care closer to home? And how can we increase the safety of our neighborhoods?
Learning and Culture: Should educational and cultural activities be offered in neighborhood facilities? What kinds of partnerships will it take to achieve this?
Getting along together: Are there more opportunities available that will allow us to cross generation boundaries and capitalize on all our people?
An Ideas Fair to look at the results of the Circles’ deliberations would follow in 1993. More than 10,000 people attended!
The city has a document that gives more detail on City Plan.
January Britannia Heritage Shipyard in Steveston was declared a National Historic Site. Built in 1889-90 as a cannery and converted into a shipyard in 1918, it is the oldest surviving collection of cannery/shipyard buildings on the Fraser. You get a good visual sense of the site here.
February 4 AM 1040 “Magic 104” signed off to be replaced by CKST on March 9, as it moved from its AM 800 frequency in Langley. It now identified itself as “Coast 1040”. From this website.
February 16 The City Council of the City of White Rock was the first municipality in Canada to request a grant of arms from the newly established Canadian Heraldic Authority. The Patent was completed February 16, 1992 to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the City’s incorporation April 15, 1957. This milestone anniversary was marked April 10, 1992 by a visit of Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn. In the shield, blue and white, the colours of the sea and sky predominate and the City’s oceanside landmark, the great White Rock, rises above the waters of the Bay. Above it is a Salish salmon symbolizing the riches of the natural landscape and honouring the Semiahmoo People, the first inhabitants of the area.
There is a full description of the Arms by Canada’s Chief Herald, Robert Watt, here.
February The finalists in the competition to design Vancouver’s new main library submitted their visions to public scrutiny. A total of 27 teams (usually consortia of local and international firms) had submitted designs, from which the library’s selection committee chose three. Moshe Safdie’s great ellipse, “strikingly reminiscent of an ancient Roman amphitheatre,” wrote Sandra McKenzie in 1997 in The Greater Vancouver Book, “was the overwhelming popular favorite. Of the 7,000 citizens who submitted remarks, approximately 70 percent favored the ‘Colosseum’, as the proposal was promptly dubbed.” The well-known Vancouver architectural firm Downs/Archambault was allied with Safdie in the project.
“While the public responded with spontaneous enthusiasm,” McKenzie continued, “architectural critics were less generous. In a letter to The Vancouver Sun, planner Andrew Brown, who spearheaded the initial planning process for the library board, blasted the Safdie scheme as ‘ . . . a simplistic quick fix.. Globe and Mail architectural critic Adele Freedman dismissed it as ‘falling somewhere between a joke and a folly, both monumental.’”
The City’s quantity surveyor estimated that, as originally conceived, Safdie’s building would run more than $25 million over budget.
“While the public input was not binding on the final decision-makers,” McKenzie wrote, “there was a real risk that the people would endorse a scheme that the professional jury, which included Mayor Gordon Campbell and two councillors, simply could not recommend. In the end, the judges unanimously approved Safdie’s design, noting its ability to ‘function as an efficient and enjoyable library as well as an important symbolic centre of learning.’ They awarded the commission with the proviso that the architects resolve the structural and financial shortcoming within the following 12 weeks.
“On June 16, the architects presented a revised model to City Council. To the architecturally uninitiated, the edited version was virtually indistinguishable from the original. The only visible change was the site of the office tower, originally placed on the southeast corner, now flipped to the northwest, thus bringing a wash of natural light into the heart of the library . . . While the Romanesque architecture of Library Square leaves room for a wide variety of opinions, there is no argument that the facility itself is a high-tech harbinger of the 21st century: Among the innovations are scanners for self-serve book borrowing, a $3 million on-line catalogue system, 216 in-house terminals and ten modem telephone lines, as well as CD-ROMs, card-operated printers, and (as yet vague) plans for Internet hook-ups. Computer-toting patrons can plug into carrels wired for full access to the VPL’s internal data base. New (and controversial) user-fees for such specialized services as corporate research will help pay for these and other amenities.
“How long this state-of-the-art facility will remain state-of-the-art,” McKenzie concluded, “is, of course, anybody’s guess. Chief librarian Madge Aalto estimates that it will meet the challenges of the next 15 to 20 years—coincidentally, the effective life span of Library Square’s immediate predecessor. In its time, the Robson and Burrard main branch too, was hailed as the most modern library on the continent.”
March 1 The CBC Vancouver Orchestra and the Vancouver Recital Society joined to accompany the world-famous Italian diva Cecilia Bartoli in the Orpheum—the first of what would be three appearances together. See other past VRS events here.
March 7 George H. Reifel, farmer and distiller, died in Palm Desert, California, aged 69. George Henry Reifel was born July 22, 1922 in Vancouver. His father was brewmaster George Conrad Reifel (1893-1973), whose father was Henry Reifel (1869-1945). George H. developed a way to grow sugar beet seed during the Second World War. He built a distillery in Calgary in 1949, and later farmed the 348-hectare Reifel Farms. In 1972 he donated a portion of Reifel Island to the Crown to maintain the George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary, named for his father. George H.’s wife, Norma Eileen (born October 7, 1926 in Calgary; died October 20, 1995 in Point Roberts, Wash.) led the fundraising campaign. Read Slow Boat on Rum Row by Miles Fraser.
March 21 John Ireland, movie actor, died in Santa Barbara, California, aged 78. John Benjamin Ireland was born January 30, 1914 in Vancouver, left at age seven after his father died in a horse racing accident. He grew up in Seattle, San Francisco and New York. His first acting job, with the Free Theatre of New York, paid one cent a day. The first of his nearly 200 films was A Walk in the Sun (1945). He was nominated for a best supporting actor Oscar for his role in All the King’s Men (1949). He made an impact in movies such as Spartacus, A Walk in the Sun and Red River. Work fell off and in 1987 he bought a full-page ad in Variety. “I’m an actor. PLEASE . . . let me act.” That led to the role of Ben Cartwright’s brother Jonathan in the TV series Bonanza: The Next Generation.
April 11 Harry Letson, soldier, died in Ottawa, aged 95. Harry Farnham Germaine Letson was born September 26, 1896 in Vancouver. His father was the co-founder of Letson and Burpee, a well-known machinery manufacturing company. Harry was the first graduate in mechanical engineering at UBC. In 1917, during the First World War, he won the Military Cross, “for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.” He received wounds that left him permanently lame. The medal was presented to him by King George V at Buckingham Palace. From 1923 to 1936 he was a member of UBC’s mechanical and electrical engineering department—incidentally serving as president of the Professional Engineers Association of BC in 1935-36—then left to run his father’s company. He married Sally Lang Nichol in 1928.
The summer 1955 issue of UBC Alumni Chronicle tells us that in 1927 Letson assumed command of the B.C. Regiment, with the rank of Lt.-Col. “After four years in this position he took charge of the UBC contingent of the Canadian Officers Training Corps and continued as its commander until 1937. He was appointed Colonel that year and became the commanding officer of the 14th Brigade.”
When the Second World War began he was put in charge of arranging the defences for the Vancouver and Fraser Valley areas, but by August 1940 was appointed Military Attache to the Canadian Legation in Washington, DC. He served with distinction there, too, and in February 1942 “was called to Ottawa to take over the duties of Adjutant-General. He now became responsible for the recruiting and training of the armed forces of Canada . . . It was at this time he was promoted to the rank of Major General.” Next he was appointed chairman of the Canadian Joint Staff in Washington.
In 1944 Letson donated 150,000 engineering books and periodicals to UBC. After the war, when Viscount Alexander became Governor-General of Canada, Major-General Letson became his Secretary. An outstanding career, an outstanding man.
April Vancouver-based Teck Corporation became an owner of the Quintette mine, an open-pit coal mine located in northeastern BC It was built as part of a coal project that included construction of the Bullmoose mine, the town of Tumbler Ridge and a port and railway system. (Since July, 2001 the company name has been Teck Cominco.)
May 11 Mary Pack, arthritis campaigner, died in Vancouver, aged 87. She was born October 9, 1904 in Ampthill, England. Constance Brissenden writes: “The ‘angel of mobility’ devoted her life to arthritis and rheumatism care and research. She was a teacher of physically handicapped children for the Vancouver School Board. In 1945, dismayed by lack of services, she started the BC Spastic Society which in January 1948 led to the BC Division of the Canadian Arthritis and Rheumatism Society, of which she became executive secretary. She received the Queen’s Coronation Medal in 1953, Post No. 2 Native Sons of BC Good Citizen Award in 1956, and the Order of Canada in 1974. In 1990, the Mary Pack-Arthritis Society Chair in Rheumatology was established at UBC.”
May 23 Burnaby celebrates its 100th birthday with a Centennial Parade to Swangard Stadium, as fireworks blaze out from atop the BC Tel building at Kingsway and Boundary Road.
May The Canadian Craft Museum opened in downtown Vancouver, in what was described as “an architectural jewel designed by architect Paul Merrick . . . in the beautifully landscaped green space of Cathedral Place Courtyard.” The intent of the museum, founded in 1980 as the Cartwright Street Gallery on Granville Island, was to help craft gain more recognition in the public eye. “Guest curator Sam Carter’s inaugural exhibit,” wrote Carolyn Bateman, “set the tone: 30 of the 198 pieces selected for the exhibit came from Vancouver area craftspeople, including Martha Sturdy’s resin bowl and platter, Brian Baxter’s leaded glass Red Square, Judson Beaumont’s Waterfall cabinet and Tam Irving’s celadon [a type of pottery having a pale green glaze] vase. Within the museum’s elegant spaces, craft is displayed in a setting that befits its beauty and integrity.” Sadly, the museum would close in 2002.
May The first issue of the comic book Spawn appeared, and sold 1.7 million copies. It had been created by Calgary-born artist Todd McFarlane, who had moved with his wife to this area in 1986. McFarlane took penciling jobs for Marvel and DC Comics. His company, Image Comics, had produced the best-selling independent comic ever. It still is. Check out this site.
May Designated as a Schedule A heritage structure was the house at 2740 Yukon Street, built in 1913.
Spring The 1992 inductees into the Vancouver Board of Trade Hall of Fame (awarded to companies or organizations active in the city for 100 years) were:
– BC Sugar Refinery Ltd.
– Davis & Company
– Woodward’s Stores Limited
June 20 The Burnaby Centennial Quilt was unveiled at the Bob Prittie Library in Metrotown. Celebrating Burnaby’s history, it had taken 18 seniors one year to create.
July 1 The Vancouver International Airport Authority took over control of YVR. David Emerson, who had been president of the BC Trade Development Corporation, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer. The Authority describes itself as a community-based, not-for-profit corporation. “Its primary objective is to expand the contribution which Vancouver International Airport makes to local economic development, and to improve the cost-effectiveness and commercial orientation of the airport. The board of directors is comprised of people with wide experience in areas such as finance, administration, law, engineering, organized labor, consumer interests and the air transportation, aviation and aerospace industries. No elected officials or civil servants are eligible for appointment to the board. The Authority has members appointed by the following jurisdictions: the cities of Vancouver and Richmond; the Greater Vancouver Regional District; Vancouver Board of Trade; Institute of Chartered Accountants of BC; Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC; Law Society of BC, and seven appointees chosen from the community at large. There is an Annual Public Meeting, open to the public at large.” Go here for a chronology of the airport’s history.
July 5 Pauline Jewett, political scientist, politician, university president, died in Ottawa, aged 69. She was born December 11, 1922 in St. Catharines, Ontario. She was a Liberal MP from 1963 to 1965, later switched to the NDP (in protest against the imposition of the War Measures Act) and was elected for New Westminster-Coquitlam, serving from 1979 to 1988. In 1974 she became the president of Simon Fraser University, the first female president of a major Canadian university. She served to 1978. Jewett was installed as Chancellor of Carleton University in 1990, a position she held until her death from cancer. She had been appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1991. She was appointed to the Privy Council in 1992. See Jewett: A Passion for Canada by Judith McKenzie (1999). And see this site.
July 18 Beatrice Wood died in Vancouver, aged 92. The daughter of lieutenant-governor John William Fordham-Johnson, she was married to UBC drama teacher Freddie Wood (1887-1976).
July Designated as a Schedule A heritage structure was the house at 1865 West 16th, built in 1912.
August 4 Jack Short, racing broadcaster, died, aged 83. John Richard Collister Short was born December 28, 1908 in Victoria. “At 15,” writes Constance Brissenden, “he rode bush tracks from Vancouver to Tijuana. ‘Too tall and too lanky,’ he failed as a jockey. In 1933 he announced race results on CFUN radio. From 1934 to 1976 Short called nearly 50,000 races at Exhibition Park and broadcast live for CJOR radio. He invariably signed off his broadcasts with the famous catch phrase, ‘Adiós, amigos!’.He was a lifetime member of the BC Thoroughbred Breeding Society, and a member of the BC Racing Commission. He promoted Native Indian sports through the North Shore Totem Athletic Club. He was named Broadcast Performer of the Year in 1976, and was named to the BC Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on November 4, 1988.”
August The Richmond Campus of Kwantlen College, on which construction had begun in March of 1991, opened. In 1989 Kwantlen had received approval to build a new $37 million Richmond campus on the 4-hectare site of the former Lansdowne race track at the corner of Garden City and Lansdowne Roads. The earthquake-resistant facility features a Centre for Applied Design Studies with 20 design labs, computer labs, and a darkroom suite. It also includes Kwantlen’s first day care centre. (Kwantlen is known today as Kwantlen University College.)
Summer Vancouver experienced water shortages this summer. The average household water demand, the city’s engineering department explained, can more than double during the summer, with a great deal of the total water used for lawn sprinkling. The City advises that a lawn needs only about an inch of water a week, about one hour of sprinkling. Lawn-sprinkling regulations began. Household water use on an average summer day in Vancouver, they said: faucets 7 per cent, toilets 20 per cent, dishwashers 2 per cent, bath/showers 18 per cent, laundry 13 per cent, and “outdoors” a full 40 per cent!
As recently as 1990, says the GVRD, we were using an average of more than 700 litres a day per person (that figure includes businesses). Today, says the GVRD’s water conservation office, thanks to increasing public knowledge, that has been reduced to 580 litres a day. “Average daily water consumption for the GVRD,” they tell us, “is about one billion litres. The one-day record for water use was two billion litres – enough to fill BC Place stadium.”
September 14 Bruce Hutchison, journalist, died in Victoria, aged 91. William Bruce Hutchison was born June 5, 1901 in Prescott, Ontario. He began a lifelong career in journalism as a sports reporter for The Victoria Times in 1918. He worked for Vancouver newspapers and the Winnipeg Free Press from 1927 to 1950. He was named editor of The Victoria Times in 1950 and served to 1963, when he was appointed editor of The Vancouver Sun, a job be held until his retirement in 1979. A leading political reporter in Canada. The author of 15 books, he won three Governor General awards.
Hutchison’s entry in the BC Bookworld web site has this interesting excerpt: “He is chiefly celebrated for his non-fiction, in particular The Unknown Country, written in about six weeks in 1943. ‘I didn’t know anything about book writing,” he told the Sun’s Trevor Lautens, ‘I don’t think it was the best thing I did by any means.’ He only wrote the book because he was asked to do so by an American when he was visiting New York, hence the title (from an American perspective). It received the Governor General’s Award for Nonfiction, as did The Incredible Canadian and Canada: Tomorrow’s Giant. In 1961 he was the first to receive the Royal Society of Arts Award for Distinguished Journalism in the Commonwealth. His autobiographical The Far Side of the Street won a Canadian Authors Association Award. He won three National Newspaper Awards and the Bowater Prize.” It was Hutchison who coined the phrase “Lotusland” to describe BC An oddity: a Saturday Evening Post story Hutchison wrote in 1935, Park Avenue Logger, was made into a 1937 movie of the same name.
September 22 The District of Burnaby turned 100 and became the City of Burnaby.
September 23 This was not a good year for the BC Lions. They lost eight straight games before finally vanquishing Ottawa 33-27 on September 3 under quarterback Danny Barrett. Team owner Murray Pezim declared bankruptcy and the CFL took over the team. On September 23 Bill Comrie became the new owner, but the team’s losing ways continued. They would finish the season with a dreadful 3-15 record, and an average attendance of 14,000. Head Coach Bob O’Billovich was fired. On December 12 the new general manager, Eric Tillman, announced the hiring of Dave Ritchie, who had been Ottawa’s defensive coordinator, as the new Head Coach. Things would get better in 1993 and really good in 1994.
September 27 Hugh Keenleyside, diplomat and executive, died in Saanich, aged 94. Hugh Llewellyn Keenleyside was born July 7, 1898 in Toronto. His family moved to BC when he was still a boy. After high school he served with the 2nd Canadian Tank Battalion in the First World War. He graduated from UBC in 1920, earned a PhD at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. He taught history at UBC from 1925 (the first year the university was on the Point Grey campus), then joined the Department of External Affairs in 1928. He served in Tokyo from 1929 to 1936, then was the Canadian secretary of the Permanent Joint Board of Defence from 1940 to 1944. Keenleyside opposed the forced internment of Japanese-Canadians during the Second World War. In 1929 Knopf published his Canada and the United States: Some Aspects of the History of the Republic and the Dominion, the first book-length study devoted to the history of Canadian-American relations. It was published again, revised, in 1952.
The next two decades were varied: he was Canada’s ambassador to Mexico, then the federal deputy minister of mines and resources, next the federal commissioner for the Northwest Territories, then director general of the United Nations’ Technical Assistance Administration. In 1959 he returned to BC as chairman of the British Columbia Power Commission, then as co-chair with Gordon Shrum of BC Hydro from 1962 to 1969. (For an entertaining view of the different management styles of these two very different men, check the 1962-1972 section here. Keenleyside played an important role in the development of hydroelectric power here. He was on the UBC Senate from 1963 to 1969 and chancellor of Notre Dame University in Nelson from 1969 to 1977.
He was awarded the Vanier Medal in 1962, was named a Companion, Order of Canada in 1969 and awarded the Pearson Peace Medal in 1982. See Memoirs of Hugh L. Keenleyside (1982).
September Designated as Schedule A heritage structures were the houses at 280 East 6th, built in 1908, and at 2675 Oak, built in 1929.
Fall The $19 million Thomas Haney Centre opened in Maple Ridge, a campus facility that Douglas College shares with Thomas Haney Secondary and Continuing Education for School District 42. The building includes a civic arts centre and theatre, as well as sports facilities.
October 5 Surrey Metro Credit Union, which had been enjoying several years of strong growth, angered some credit union traditionalists when it introduced a new share structure this year and non-voting ownership shares began trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The traditionalists feared control of credit unions could shift to out-of-province interests if such actions become a trend. Surrey Metro had gained a reputation in the field as B.C.’s maverick credit union—the one that liked to buck the trend.
October 26 In New Westminster two Patents, one for the City’s coat of arms and flag, the other for the badge of the city’s Police Department, were presented by Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn at a special ceremony at City Hall during a visit celebrating the 125th anniversary of Confederation and the Silver Jubilee of the Canadian Honours system. During the ceremony, several New Westminster residents received decorations personally from the Governor General who also presented Mayor Betty Toporowski with the first of the new City flags. “Thus,” wrote Canada’s Chief Herald, Robert Watt, “122 years after incorporation, BC’s first capital was granted a coat of arms which enshrined a good part of its symbolic heritage.” There is a good description of the arms and flag here.
November 15 “Dr. Peter” (Peter William Jepson-Young) died. A medical doctor, he had started a weekly diary of his AIDS illness on the CBC evening news in September, 1990. It ran for 111 instalments, which were edited into an Oscar-nominated documentary. Until his death, he continued to educate viewers, becoming Canada’s leading HIV/AIDS spokesperson. Born June 8, 1957 in New Westminster, he was 35 at his death. More than 900 people attended his funeral November 24. The book Affirmation: The AIDS Odyssey of Dr. Peter, by Daniel Gawthrop, became a best-seller.
November 16 Earl Marriott, educator and Surrey School District Superintendent, died, aged 86. He had retired in 1972 after 36 years teaching. A Surrey school, Earl Marriott Secondary, was named for him that year. It is the largest French Immersion secondary school in western Canada.
Marriott, keenly interested in “his” school, offered financial assistance to the graduation scholarship fund and the writing contest, both of which have been carried on by his family.
November Richmond’s new Cultural Centre opened. Included in the complex was the new Brighouse Library, Richmond’s Museum and Archives, an art gallery and a cafeteria.
December 1 Coquitlam, incorporated July 25, 1891, became a city. Its coat of arms was affirmed for continued use. The predominant colors of blue and white were chosen for aesthetic reasons, although the blue does refer to the rivers which define several of the municipal boundaries.
December 11 The Woodward’s department store chain filed for court protection from creditors who were owed more than $65 million. It had fallen victim to a fast-paced retail market, and was unable to keep up. It collapsed with 26 department stores, 33 Woodwyn discount outlets, 20 travel agencies, four Abercrombie & Fitch specialty stores, and three Commercial Interiors divisions in BC and Alberta. One of the great Vancouver institutions was gone. In 1993 it would be purchased by another Canadian retail institution, The Hudson’s Bay Co., who quickly converted the old stores into new Bay or Zeller’s outlets.
December 15 The new Mike Harcourt NDP government repealed Bill 19, the Industrial Relations Act, ending a period of bitter labor relations in the province. Premier Bill Vander Zalm brought the bill in in July 1987, and the BC Federation of Labour promptly instituted a province-wide boycott of the Act, describing it as “viciously anti-union.” Among the IRC’s powers: it could declare workers essential and thus limit the right to strike and to set up secondary picketing. The Federation refused to appoint any of its members to the tribunal appointed to administer the Act—the Industrial Relations Council—and refused to attend the Council’s hearings.
December 21 Alvin Balkind, curator, died in Vancouver, aged 71. Balkind was born March 28, 1921 in Baltimore, Maryland. He received a BA at Johns Hopkins, later attended the Sorbonne. He came to Vancouver in 1954. His New Design Gallery, founded in 1955, was a centre for the avant-garde. He was the curator of UBC’s Fine Arts Gallery from 1962 to 1973, chief curator at Vancouver Art Gallery from 1975 to 1978. Then he turned freelance. “I got sick to death,” he said, “of being in an institution. As Dennis Wheeler once said, ‘They can’t exist without your energy, but they use it up and they know it before you do’. A gallery’s programming is so intense, the exhibitions are so many and complex, and then there’s the internal politics to deal with. After a while it’s exhausting.” From 1985 to 1987 he was head of the visual arts studio at The Banff School of Fine Arts. Balkind won the first $50,000 VIVA award (Vancouver Institute for Visual Arts) earlier this year. (Doris and Jack Shadbolt had founded the Vancouver Institute for Visual Arts in 1988. It awards prizes of $10,000 every two years to two visual or media artists and a prize of $50,000 every five years to an artist or art worker who has made a lasting contribution to the art scene in British Columbia. It was this latter award that Balkind won.)
December The North Vancouver Division of Versatile Pacific Shipyards laid off its last employees. The company would have celebrated its 100th anniversary in 1994. (The Victoria Division will close in 1994.)
Also in 1992
Chief Joe Mathias of the Squamish Nation signed on behalf of the First Nations of BC at the BC Treaty Commission signing. The agreement between the federal and provincial governments, and BC’s First Nations established a process to negotiate modern-day treaties.
A broad range of people were recipients of the Order of British Columbia this year. Detailed lists and short biographies of them all can be seen here. Those recipients who live in Metropolitan Vancouver are cited here:
Dr. Patricia Baird She was described as “an internationally known and respected geneticist who has made outstanding contributions in the field of clinical medicine, research and education. . . . In 1978 Dr. Baird became the head of the Department of Medical Genetics at the University of British Columbia. Under her leadership, the Department grew from a small group of pioneer scientists and clinicians to an internationally known resource. . . .”
Dr. Suezone Chow He was described as “a gifted researcher and intuitive businessman who has worked to help us get more value from our forests in British Columbia. Dr. Chow was born in Taipei, Taiwan. Following graduation from Taiwan National University in 1963, he emigrated to Canada . . . Combining his technical expertise with his fluency in Japanese and his cultural sensitivity, he travelled to Japan in 1973 helping to increase British Columbia’s share of the plywood market in that country . . .”
Sushma Datt “. . . a well-known radio-personality in the Indo-Canadian community throughout British Columbia. Known simply as Sushma to her listeners, she was born in Kenya, began her broadcasting career in England with the BBC, and moved to Vancouver in 1972. Her private radio station, ‘Rim Jhim’, broadcasts on an FM sideband to more than 20,000 special radios which listeners in British Columbia and neighboring Washington have purchased in order to receive its signal. . . .”
Phil Nuytten “Phil Nuytten [pronounced Newton] is a businessman, sub-sea engineer, diver, marine archeologist, author, carver and native advocate. He was born in Vancouver and has lived all his life there. He started on a business career right out of high school opening a SCUBA store in 1958. Eight years later he founded Can-Dive Service Ltd. As an acknowledged expert in underwater technology and enterprise, Phil Nuytten has helped put British Columbia on the map as a centre of high-tech underwater development. His internationally acclaimed ‘Newt Suit’—often called the submarine you can wear—has given divers a way to work underwater longer without fear of ‘the bends’ . . .”
Joseph Segal “Joseph Segal, an outstanding British Columbian and a Canadian merchandising legend, has given unstintingly of himself and his resources for the betterment of our province.
Born in Vegreville, Alberta . . . After moving to Vancouver he opened a small retail family clothing store there in 1950. It was the successful start of what became a chain of 70 Fields Stores, a corporation which acquired Zellers in 1976 and eventually became the largest single owner of the Hudson’s Bay Company. Joseph Segal is a self-made entrepreneur whose legendary acumen and energies are turned as often to the needs of the community as to the demands of the executive suite. . . .” It isn’t mentioned in that citation, but Segal started his chain with $800 in his pocket.
There is a very good bio of Segal here, the web site of the Business Laureates of British Columbia Hall of Fame. And Brent Jang of the Globe and Mail penned a nice tribute to Segal in 2017 on his 92nd birthday. Read it here.
David Emerson is a federal cabinet minister now, but in 1992 he wore three hats. He was chair of the BC Progress Board, a new group created by Victoria to set goals and track the government’s economic and social policies: He was also CEO of Canadian Forest Products, Canada’s largest lumber company, which was cutting production in 1992 because of uncertainty about the U.S.-Canada softwood lumber trade battle. His third hat? He left Canfor to become president and CEO this year of the Vancouver International Airport Authority, a job he would hold until 1997. Emerson was born in Montreal September 17, 1945.
Pauline Rafferty joined the Royal British Columbia Museum.
Born in Loughton, Essex, England she was a graduate of SFU’s archaeology program, worked as an archaeologist in many parts of BC She will become the museum’s CEO in 2001.
A woman named Christine Morrissey launched the first successful challenge of Canadian immigration law prohibiting sponsorship of same sex partners. Morrissey was CO-chair, with Douglas Sanders, of LEGIT (Lesbian & Gay Immigration Task Force), formed in Vancouver in December of 1991. They noted that “immigration laws of Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark all allow lesbian and gay sponsorship for immigration.”
Vancouver-born Tim Stevenson became the first openly gay person to seek—and achieve —ordination in a mainline church denomination in Canada. He was ordained by the British Columbia conference of the United Church of Canada. See this Wikipedia article.
Construction was finished on UBC’s First Nations House of Learning at 1985 West Mall. “This impressive building,” wrote architectural historian Harold Kalman, “has been inspired in its shape and structure by the longhouses of the Coast Salish, while the gabled roof, supported by massive cedar logs, recalls the traditional cedar housing of all coastal native groups. The 3,000-square-foot Great Hall features carved house posts that support the massive roof beams. Nothing directly imitates, yet everything is clearly inspired by, the historical sources. Architecture has come full circle in a half-century—from denying history in the post-War obsession for modernism, to embracing and reinterpreting it in the post-modern era.” Architecture by Larry McFarland Architects.
The Vancouver Board of Trade presented its Business and the Arts Awards. For a description of the criteria, see the 1990 chronology. Categories:
Innovation Alcan Smelters & Chemicals Ltd.
Sustained Support, Major Corporation Richmond Savings Credit Union
Small Business Thomas Hobbs Florist
Joint Venture No award given
Cates Tugs, a fixture in this area since 1913, was sold to U.S. entrepreneur Dennis Washington, owner of the Missoula, Montana-based Washington Corporation. They left day-to-day operations in the hands of local management.
Jessie Wowk Elementary School in Richmond was named to honor the area’s Ukrainian pioneers.
Nippon Cable purchased a 23 per cent interest in Whistler Mountain for $25 million. Also in 1992, Whistler Mountain Ski Corporation invested $600,000 in trail development, removing 40,000 cubic metres of rock. Five kilometres of new trails resulted, serviced by Redline chair on Whistler Creek. Further development included high-speed gondola systems for both mountains.
The Cleveland Dam in North Vancouver was brought to the highest seismic code this year.
An allee of Katsura Trees was donated by the Rotary Club and planted in Seaforth Peace Park, at the south end of the Burrard Street Bridge. (An ‘allee’ is a walkway lined with trees.)
The local battle against the gypsy moth continued, with this year the largest spraying program so far. Wrote SFU’s Professor Mark L. Winston, “Gypsy moths have been a more recent immigrant, and are Vancouver’s most publicized insects. These forest-eating moths originated in Europe and Asia, and regularly arrive today from two directions, eastern North America and Siberia. They may do minor damage to our forests if they become established, but present a major threat to our lumber export industry: importing countries would require fumigation of all BC wood products if gypsy moths were declared resident. Vancouver and the surrounding area are the major regions in BC that repeatedly become infested with new moths, because of our port facilities and frequent traffic with eastern Canada. Thus, annual spray programs are conducted to eliminate these incipient infestations. The largest of these was conducted in 1992, when much of the city was sprayed by air with a moth-killing bacteria, and all of Vancouver’s residents were media-sprayed with a deluge of newspaper, radio and television stories about gypsy moths.”
The BC Gas building opened at 1111 West Georgia. With 24 storeys, it’s 101.2 metres high. Today it’s known as the Terasen Gas Building.
Bing Thom Architects designed 889 Homer Street, which opened this year. Its 26 storeys high, stands 83.5 metres, contains 58 suites.
A study showed that the average annual household income this year in Vancouver was $49,938. The same study showed this average recreation spending per year: Cable TV $196; live sports $77, live performances $60 and cinema $54.
The provincial ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food did a study, too. They announced this year that the average Vancouver family of four spends close to $10,000 on meals per year.
The Vancouver Sun reported there were currently 1,500 prostitutes working in the city. In 1992, the Sun estimated they generated $63 million in revenues to the local economy.
AirCare started. To quote its website, “Urban air pollution is an urgent environmental and economic issue as well as a public health concern. We’re committed to improving air quality by providing emissions testing in the Lower Mainland and by promoting the effective repair of failing vehicles. In British Columbia, the Motor Vehicle Emissions Inspection and Maintenance Program (aka ‘AirCare’) has been operating since 1992. The program was developed in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) to address the deteriorating air quality of the Lower Fraser Valley. The AirCare program is administered by the Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (TransLink). In the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford and Chilliwack), TransLink administers the AirCare program on behalf of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.” [AirCare ran for 22 years and was cancelled on December 31, 2014. More about it here.]
Justice Wallace J. Oppal was appointed as the commissioner of a Royal Inquiry into Policing in BC. He titled his report Closing the Gap: Policing and the Community. It would appear in 1995. There is a copy here.
A number of buildings went up at UBC this year. They include:
The Jack Bell Building (School of Social Work) (Architects: Larry McFarland Architects Ltd.) This $3.9 million three-storey building was funded by a generous donation by philanthropist Jack Bell. The plan form encourages interaction between faculty and students, with the basement area functioning as a “drop-in” space for off-campus visitors.
Engineering High Headroom Laboratory (Architects: Formwerks) This single-storey building is used by the Department of Mechanical Engineering for studies involving heavy industrial machinery.
David Lam Management Research Centre (Architects: Carlberg Jackson Partners (CJP) Architects) The four-storey Management Research Centre is an $8.8 million addition to the 1965 Henry Angus Building. A glass tower linking the Centre to Angus is also the main entrance. The focus of study here is business issues related to the Pacific Rim. Building users include the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration, Commerce and Professional Programs, Faculty Development and Institutional Service, UBC Food Services, the Centre for Continuing Education and the UBC Library. Major donors were David and Dorothy Lam and many others.
UBC-Ritsumeikan House (Matsuzaki Wright Architects Inc.) This $4.9 million student residence houses 200 UBC and Ritsumeikan University students from Japan. Featuring a state-of-the-art language laboratory, the house is also used by the Centre for Continuing Education, and the UBC/Ritsumeikan Program.
University Services Centre Building (Architects: Howard Bingham Hill) This one-and-two-storey large-scale complex (nearly 9,000 sq m) houses UBC’s Plant Operations, and is also used by the Centre for Continuing Education, Campus Mail and Media Services. The $10.7 million building screens a service yard to the east.
West Parkade (N.D. Lea Engineers, with Zoltan Kiss, architect) The nine-level $9.7 million parkade can accommodate 1,200 vehicles. The architecture is described as an “evolution” of the pattern set by the 1982 Fraser River Parkade and the 1988 North Parkade by the same engineers and architects.
The B.C. Centre of Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the Canadian HIV Trials Network and B.C.’s Heart Centre were all installed at St. Paul’s Hospital. To quote from the Centre’s website: “When the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS opened in 1992, a British Columbian was dying from AIDS almost every day. While current advances in HIV treatment have made the disease a chronic but manageable illness, much work remains to be done. An estimated 11,000 British Columbians are HIV infected, with close to 450 new cases reported each year. As well, more than 3,200 cases of AIDS have been reported in the province— a third of whom currently live with the disease.”
And, as recently as June of 2006, a patient in the Heart Centre at St. Paul’s became the first in Canada to receive an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) using wireless technology. Read the details here.
The Columbia Tower at New Westminster’s Royal Columbian Hospital opened, replacing an outmoded 1950 building. This new six-storey 210,000-square-foot building contained accommodation for 300 beds, five nursing floors, medical imaging, library, nursing administration, and other patient care services. The building cost $45 million.
Richmond General Hospital changed its name, became Richmond Hospital.
The Globe and Mail introduced a glossy magazine called West in 1990. It won an award as Western Magazine of the Year in 1991 . . . and died this year.
Publications that debuted this year included:
B C Home Published six times a year by Canada Wide Magazines Ltd., this was a lifestyle magazine featuring home design, food fashion, travel and recreation.
El Contacto Directo A free biweekly with news of the general Latin American community in Vancouver and Bellingham. One page in English.
Marketing Edge A bi-monthly from Media West Publishing Inc., intended to “help marketing professionals learn and apply information as efficiently as possible in order to maintain a competitive edge.”
Pets Quarterly Magazine A quarterly, featuring stories and photos on people and their pets. Subjects include training, play, adoption, health and nutrition, grooming and travel.
Property Management News A bi-monthly, published by K-Rey Publishing Inc.
Ralph: Coffee, Jazz and Poetry A monthly with text English, French and Italian, featuring the poetry, opinions & reviews of editor Ralph Alfonso. “Covers illustrations & themes revolving around Beatnik values of the ’50s ,’ 60s and the present.”
Recycling Product News Published six times a year by Baum Publications Ltd. in Burnaby.
Passengers arriving and departing from Vancouver International Airport this year: 9,449,940, an increase from 1991’s 8,996,140. In 1993 the number will be 9,677,570.
When the B.C. Research Council began on the campus of the University of British Columbia in 1944 it was a non-profit government-subsidized research facility. It worked in a multitude of fields, such as research and development for small business, environmental consulting and laboratory analyses for a range of private- and public-sector clients. When Dr. Har Gobind Khorana won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1968 (for the synthesis of a gene in a test tube and original work in DNA research that opened up several new areas of research) he acknowledged the important influence of his work in 1952 at this facility. B.C. Research incorporated as a private company in 1988, and revenues climbed to more than $10 million annually. But by 1992, on sales of $11 million, the company, employing more than 100 people, reported a loss of $700,000. In March of 1993 it would be declared insolvent. But there was good news to come.
Known since 2004 as Vizon SciTec, the facility is thriving today. See this website. [Vizon SciTec was acquired by CANTEST Ltd. in 2006 which was then acquired by Maxxam Analytics, now a part of Bureau Veritas North America.]
The CRTC, the governing body of the communications industry, opened the long distance market to full competition.
New regulations decreed that it was no longer necessary for beer to be brewed in the province where it was sold.
The advertising agency BBDO bought McKim and merged it with BL, creating the largest agency Canada had ever seen, with billings in excess of half a billion dollars. BBDO’s Vancouver office survived as one of the premier agencies in town.
Frank Anfield, once a prominent name in local advertising, rose to the presidency of Young & Rubicam, one of the world’s largest advertising agency networks, in New York. Anfield had come to Vancouver in the 1960s, wrote Michael McCullough in The Greater Vancouver Book, “to work in Nabob’s marketing department. He would go on to manage the Vancouver office of McKim through the 1970s and early ’80s.” Then he went to Toronto for nine years before being made head of Y&R. “Anfield’s tenure in Vancouver,” McCullough wrote, “would be fondly remembered as the golden age of advertising, a time when budgets were fat, staffs were big and creative had a free hand.”
The Vancouver Canucks finished at the top of the Campbell conference but were unable to get past the second round in the playoffs.
The Jantzen swim wear company began an annual clean-up day campaign at Sunset Beach with volunteer staff.
The Sunny Trails Club (for nudists), which had been in Surrey since 1952, moved to Lake Errock.
Among the public works of art unveiled in 1992:
Bronze at 1111 West Georgia St. (B.C. Gas), sculpted by Abraham Anghik (North West Territories) Anghik, who won an open competition, told art writer Elizabeth Godley his work represents the birds and animals of B.C.
Clouds at 983 Howe St. (upper-level balcony), by Alan Chung Hung. Instead of trellises, the building’s architect, Bing Thom, commissioned this curvilinear white sculpture, which pokes gentle fun at the notion of a skyscraper and celebrates Vancouver’s soggy climate. You have to look way up to see it.
Granville Street Mural in the 600-block Granville. Created by Tangjun Zhao, L.E. Wakelin, Madeleine Wood and Eric Scholtz, and coordinated by Gail Ouellette. This mural was commissioned by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Assn. to decorate hoardings on buildings awaiting redevelopment.
Mural at Jericho beach, on the north wall of the utility building. It was painted, Elizabeth Godley writes, by five Mexican artists (Alexandro Mojica, Carlos Kunte, Estrella Ubando, Poluqui and J. Aguirrez) here on a cultural exchange. It was 35 metres long. The exchange was organized by Vancouver’s Art In Action group.
Gargoyles A painted fibreglass sculpture at 233 Main Street by Ken Clarke. Writes art reviewer Elizabeth Godley: “Clarke, a sculptor whose studio is at this address, created this frieze of heads to enliven the Downtown Eastside.”
Set of Five Pencils A sculpture by Josef Holy at Britannia Community Centre.
North Shore Rhapsody and Joe Bustemente Trumpet Two cast concrete sculptures by Richard Wojciechowski (born 1939 in Poland). North Shore Rhapsody, in Rogers Plaza near the Keg Restaurant on Esplanade, symbolizes the female spirit who lures seafarers into danger and takes the form of a harpist. One side of the harp is played by the wind, the other is a traditional instrument for people to strum. Joe Bustemente Trumpet, on a balcony overlooking Esplanade near Waterfront Park, commemorates an early North Van resident, Chilean by birth. According to the story, this one-armed musician for years played his trumpet to help ferry captains negotiate the docks in fog and storms.
Giant concrete chairs These were created by Bill Pechet (born 1957 in Edmonton), and placed at Ambleside Park pier this year. A nearby wall is ornamented with concrete soccer balls, airplanes and baseballs. The chairs were first exhibited at the Charles H. Scott Gallery on Granville Island, then purchased this year by West Vancouver’s parks department. The “ball wall” was commissioned in 1991 as part of renovations to the changing rooms.
John Alleyne, Barbados-born National Ballet School alumnus with extensive performing experience in Germany, became artistic director of Ballet British Columbia following the death of Barry Ingham. The artsalive website has a good, brief bio and pictures. An excerpt: “Alleyne was appointed to the position of artistic director of Ballet British Columbia in 1992. His leadership marked the beginning of a creative and prosperous period in the company’s history. His choreography is noted for its technical complexity and innovative expansion of the classical ballet lexicon. It has raised the profile of Ballet British Columbia . . .”
A bunch of locally-made movies appeared in 1992. Here’s what Michael Walsh said about them in The Greater Vancouver Book.
K2 – Journey To The Top Of The World (directed by Franc Roddam) Vancouver plays Seattle and Blackcomb stands in for the “Savage Mountain” of the Himalayas that challenges the endurance of rival climbers (Michael Biehn, Matt Craven).
The Portrait (directed by Jack Darcus) Commissioned to paint a wealthy woman’s portrait, a desperate artist (Alan Scarfe) must resolve the conflict between his ideals and his survival instincts.
Home Movie (directed by Fred Frame) A comedy, this low-budget feature about low-budget feature film-making works to blur the line between art made on the run and reality.
The Resurrected (aka The Tomb of Charles Dexter Ward. Directed by Dan O’Bannon) Chris Sarandon has a dual role in this time-hopping adaptation of the H.P. Lovecraft novel in which a scientist messes with things man was not meant to know.
Jennifer Eight (written and directed by Bruce Robinson) Vancouver urban exteriors and North Shore Studio interiors complement California locations as a homicide cop (Andy Garcia) tracks a madman attempting to kill a blind girl (Uma Thurman).
Stay Tuned (directed by Peter Hyams) Commercial broadcasting is the satirical target in this look at Satan’s own cable service, its promise of 666 channels and the suburban couple (John Ritter, Pam Dawber) condemned to its “hellvision.”
Black Cat II (directed by James Fung and Stephen Shin) On assignment in Russia, the CIA’s computer-enhanced female asset (Jade Leung) battles a mutant terrorist under orders to kill President Boris Yeltsin.
Saviour Of The Soul II (directed by David Lai and Kong Man Yun) Vancouver doubles as Alaska in this romantic fantasy about a Chinese dreamer (Andy Lau) searching for the legendary beauty (Rosemund Kwan) who sleeps in suspended animation in an ice cave.
Swallow In The Rain (directed by Kong Man Yun and David Lai) Betrayed by their Hong Kong lovers, a policewoman (Chang Man Yee) and a young druggie (Guo Tamara) join forces while fleeing for their lives in urban America.
Leaving Normal (directed by Edward Zwick) On the run without guns, female buddies (Christine Lahti and Meg Tilly) follow their dream of Alaskan independence.
North Of Pittsburgh (directed by Richard Martin) Local back roads substitute for mid-1970s Pennsylvania in this tale of a small-timer (Jeff Schultz) pursuing a widow’s compensation cheque for his iron-willed granny (Viveca Lindfors). Director Martin was born in Vancouver April 12, 1956.
Ultimate Desires (also called Silhouette) (director: Lloyd Simandl) In an urban mystery from prolific Vancouver director Simandl, a murder investigation brings an idealistic attorney (Tracy Scoggins) into conflict with ruthless corporate executives.
A rundown workshop at 1218 Cartwright Street on Granville Island was transformed into a multipurpose facility called Performance Works by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, which administers the island. Depending on how it is set up—the renters determine the layout—Performance Works can be anything from a theatre to a reception hall. In 2006 this appears on a local website: “Originally an old machine shop dating back to the 1920’s, Performance Works was redesigned in 1995 by architect Barbara Dalrymple. The goal was to provide the arts community with a permanent, fully equipped rehearsal and performance venue. Performance Works is now a 240-seat multi-functional studio space that is booked year round with a wide variety of independent theatre and dance events.”
Vancouver’s Vogue Theatre, at 918 Granville, reopened as a live performance venue. Built in 1941 the handsome 1,178-seat Vogue had closed in 1987 when its owner Odeon (now Cineplex Odeon), sold it to a development company. In 1994 the Vogue would be taken over by a company called Granville Entertainment. But today (2006) the theatre seems to be in peril. See this site to learn why.
This was a good year for the BC book publishing industry. In 1970 the entire industry earned $350,000 in sales. Starting about 1974, the number of B.C. publishers began to increase rapidly. By 1992, through continuous creation of a huge range of chiefly regional books priced at under $30, total provincial book revenue climbed to $25 million, more than 70 times the 1970 figure, to achieve what publisher Scott McIntyre called a “critical mass,” a self-sustaining industry.
That’s indicated by the large number of locally relevant books published in 1992:
One of the great Vancouver books appeared this year. Bruce Macdonald, born in Vancouver in 1948, got the idea for Vancouver: A Visual History in the summer of 1984. The 1992 book (10,000 hours of work over eight years for the author) comprises a series of maps showing the development in ten-year increments of Vancouver from the 1850s to the 1980s, with accompanying text. Other maps show ethnic heritage, religious affiliation, etc. The book, an indispensable addition to the study of local history, was sponsored by the Vancouver Historical Society. It’s terrifically interesting and sometimes surprising, and the introduction is very funny. A Visual History would be awarded the City of Vancouver Book Prize in 1993.
Vancouver and its region Edited by Graeme Wynn and Timothy Oke, and published by UBC Press, this brought together these essays on geography, climate, population, etc.
* Views of the Metropolitan Area (photographs) Alfred H. Siemens
* The primordial environment (shaping of the landscape) O. Slaymaker, M. Bovis, M. North, Timothy R. Oke, J. Ryder
* The Lower Mainland, 1820-81 (native history; Fort Langley) Cole Harris
* The rise of Vancouver (history) Graeme Wynn
* Primordial to prim order: A century of environmental change Timothy R. Oke, M. North, O. Slaymaker
* Vancouver, the province, and the Pacific Rim (corporate development) Trevor J. Barnes, David W. Edgington, Kenneth G. Denike, Terry G. McGee
* Vancouver since the Second World War: An economic geography Robert N. North, Walter G. Hardwick
* Time to grow up? From urban village to world city, 1966-91 David Ley, Daniel Hiebert, Geraldine Pratt
* The biophysical environment today D.G. Steyn, M. Bovis, M. North, O. Slaymaker
A Tapestry of cultures: voices from Burnaby’s ethnic communities Clélie Rich, editor. Published by the Burnaby Multicultural Society (Her first name rhymes with ‘daily.’)
Steambox, boardwalks, belts and ways: stories from Britannia This is the history of Britannia Shipyard in Richmond. Compiled and edited by Marie Bannister and Marilyn Clayton
The struggle for social justice in British Columbia: Helena Gutteridge, the unknown reformer Helena Gutteridge was the first woman to be a Vancouver councillor. Author: Irene Howard
Trees of Vancouver Gerald B. Straley (Richly illustrated)
Heritage Walks Around Vancouver John Atkin and Michael Kluckner. John Atkin gives meticulously researched walking tours through Vancouver neighborhoods, and Michael Kluckner is a well-known historian and painter.
Guy’s Guide to the Flipside by Guy Bennett. This was described as an offbeat but acerbically truthful view of Vancouver’s less-celebrated attractions when Bennett self-published it in 1988. It was re-issued this year by Pulp Press in 1992. Bennett was born in Cambridge, England in 1959 and came to Vancouver in 1968.
The Black Canoe: Bill Reid and the Spirit of Haida Gwai. The text is by Robert Bringhurst, an editor, poet and typography expert. The photographs are by Ulli Steltzer. This is a beautiful and informative book on Bill Reid’s monumental sculpture. The original stands before the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC. A copy is at the Vancouver International Airport. The book won the Bill Duthie Booksellers Choice Award this year.
The Fraser Valley, A History by Fort Langley lawyer John R. Cherrington. This is a very fine book. Books in Canada wrote: “Packed with anecdotes, quaint facts, and solid information, The Fraser Valley is the sort of book that compels you to read bits from it aloud to anyone within earshot.” Cherrington sits on the board of the Fort Langley Legacy Foundation. The book is a comprehensive overview of the Valley over a 200-year period.
Stand By Your Beds, a humourous novel about seven boys who attend a Vernon Army Cadet Camp in the 1950s. The author, Cordell Cross of Vancouver, was a retired soldier.
In 1986, says BC Bookworld’s website author Rolf Knight proposed an idea to Homer Stevens, former president of the United Fishermen and Allied Workers’ Union: a book on his life.
“The two soon agreed,” says Bookworld, “and began taping. It was to be a major undertaking. ‘In all my other histories my job was to stimulate people to get them to remember,’ Knight says. ‘I would assure them what they had to say was worthwhile, and draw out all that hidden information. With Homer he’s a very loquacious guy. I would ask one or two questions and he would talk for two or three hours.’ Stevens almost overwhelmed Knight with detailed reminiscences. The flow of words provided Knight with 90 hours of interviews, which Knight transcribed prior to compiling the book. Knight was so concerned about accuracy that he took the first draft of the manuscript up to Stevens’ home on Lasqueti Island and ‘read every word of the book aloud while Homer listened, mending his nets, and interrupting me occasionally with “That’s not right,””or “That’s Telegraph Cove, not Telegraph Bay.”.” The result was Homer Stevens: A Life in Fishing. The oral autobiography is both a history of the B.C. coast and the portrait of a complex man. Says Knight, ‘Here is an account of a person who represents an amalgam of different peoples: his ancestors were Croatian, Finnish, Greek, Native—but Homer’s radicalism was very much indigenous to British Columbia.’.”
There is a fine appreciation of Stevens, written by The Vancouver Sun’s Stephen Hume on October 19, 2002, shortly after Stevens’ death earlier that month. You can read it here.
Queen of all the Dustballs: and Other Epics of Everyday Life, poetry and humor by Bill Richardson. From a review: “Mr. Richardson considers: the virtues of private hygiene; the inevitability of middle age; the comfort of clean laundry; the chaos of visiting relatives; the privileged place that pets occupy in our homes. A fun read.”
Fred Rogers, who had a bestseller in 1973 in Shipwrecks of British Columbia, produced a sequel: More Shipwrecks of British Columbia.
Author Sinclair Ross received the Order of Canada. He is most well known for his 1941 love story, As For Me And My House, about a preacher and his wife during the dustbowl days of the Depression. The 50th anniversary of its publication was marked by a symposium in Ottawa.
Alan Twigg, who has published the quarterly BC Bookworld since 1987, produced Twigg’s Directory of 1,001 B.C. Authors. This book was a collection of short biographies and bibliographies of the province’s ink-stained wretches.
Thy Mother’s Glass, a novel by David Watmough, described by BC Bookworld as “the senior gay male fiction writer in Canada,” and “a mainstay of the West Coast fiction scene since the Cornishman accepted Canadian citizenship in 1963.” The protagonist of this book is Davey Bryant, who has popped up often in Watmough’s books.
With the support of Vancouver businessman David Lemon, Max Wyman edited a collection of essays by Vancouver artists, Vancouver Forum I: Old Powers, New Forces. An excerpt from his introduction: “Vancouver is a city in the process of reinventing itself, and it is doing it because of what it is and where it is and who its inhabitants are, and there is no other city that is changing in quite this way, under quite this set of pressures.”
The essays:
* Introduction Max Wyman
* To the Fourth Wall Leslie Hall Pinder
* Cultural Order Loretta Todd
* On Ferment and Golden Ages Alvin Balkind
* Can Vancouver’s Art Institutions Be Saved? David Lemon
* Decolonizing Regimes Jo-Anne Birnie Danzker
* A New Era for Dance in Vancouver Jay Hirabayashi
* The Future of Vancouver Education Crawford Kilian
* To Understand the City We Make Arthur Erickson
* City Without Citizens Stan Persky
* The Trouble with Globalism Brian Fawcett
Reflections: A History of North Vancouver District by Chuck Davis. Written in three months, and shows it.
British Columbia: An Illustrated History by Geoffrey Molyneux. This is a very short history, 125 small pages, by a former Province editor, but it’s lively, accurate, richly illustrated and well worth reading.
Asahi: A Legend in Baseball by Pat Adachi. This was an affectionate look at the Asahi baseball team that was part of the local sports world from 1914 to 1941. See the 1914 chronology for more.
Backspin: 100 years of golf in British Columbia by Arv Olson.
Golf In Canada: A History by James A. Barclay
