Watching And Waiting At St. Paul's

 

Recently I had the experience of being admitted to the emergency ward of the venerable St. Paul's hospital for a gallbladder attack. Having never had any surgery in my life it would prove to be an eye opener on how our health system functions. Sadly, it would confirm what many have already been saying about our most sacred of Canadian institutions. It's broken. 

The ambulance got to our apartment quickly and, after a mercifully quick diagnosis, I was provided with some morphine and a warm bed in a busy triage area. All around me were people in various stages of pain, disorientation, and distress. However, so far so good, now that I was settling down and my pain was under control. 

Later that night I was moved into a bed in the surgical ward and hooked up to an IV that provided my body with all sorts of essential fluids. With surgery possible at any time, no food or liquids were permitted. Things now settled into a waiting game broken up by CT scans, MRIs, blood work, and other diagnostic tests.

St. Paul's has 14 operating rooms but only one is set aside for emergency surgery. The others are booked months in advance for everything from heart transplants and other lung/cardiac surgery to hip and knee replacement, and cancer treatment. The emergency operating room also has to handle any issues with women in labour. Anyone needing emergency surgery has to wait in a line that's constantly being revised based on how acute the need. A person like me who is comfortably sedated in a surgical ward quickly slips to the back of the line when traffic accidents or other life threatening emergencies upset the order in the queue.

The bad news was it would take another four days before I finally got my turn and the doctors could remove my gallbladder (a procedure called a cholecystectomy). The good news is that advances in medical techniques meant that, instead of being opened up with a huge incision like my father had to undergo, they were able to use a surgical procedure called laparoscopy that allows the surgeon to make small incisions in the abdomen with the aid of a camera (a laparoscope). 

Everyone from the cleaning staff to the technicians, nurses, and doctors were wonderful. Friendly, upbeat, and professional there was nothing to complain about. The only problem is there weren't enough of them. Without people the whole system grinds to a halt, and a lack of staff is the main reason there is such a backlog of surgeries and why the operating rooms have only one shift. This is not just a problem at St. Paul's, it's the same problem at all the hospitals. But why is so hard to get medical staff in this country?

Part of the problem might be that the UBC Medical School admitted less than 300 students out of the 2,500 that applied. Or McGill that only admitted 215 out of 3,600 that applied. This year Queens decided to have a lottery for their 139 spots and 5,000 qualified students are expected to put their name in the hat. Clearly the demand for more doctors should indicate the medical schools in this country need to increase enrollment, but no. Finally, after 55 years, the first new medical school in Western Canada will be opening at the SFU campus in Surrey.

Not only are we not turning out enough medical students in this country, we are robbing other countries of their medical students. 16% of our surgeons, 25% of our specialists and 31% of our family doctors are coming from outside Canada. The situation isn't much different for nurses or medical technicians.

It's been 40 years since the Canada Health Act went into effect and provided universal care to any resident of Canada. Unfortunately for the Federal government, under the terms of the Constitution, health care is a Provincial responsibility. The only control the Federal government has over health care is by creating the terms by which it will pay for everything. In the meantime we have a mishmash of record keeping, policies, regulations and licensing that varies from Province to Province. There is no incentive for the Provinces to graduate enough medical staff, reduce emergency and specialist wait times, or clear the surgical backlog because the feds haven't applied enough pressure to demand measureable results. In the meantime we all watch and wait for change at our nearest hospital.

A Tale Of Two Cities/Pools

 

Between the slowly deteriorating Vancouver Aquatic Centre and the rapidly deteriorating Kits Pool, residents of the Westside might be wondering where they are going to be able to go for a swim in the near future. The Aquatic Centre was recently partially closed for roof repairs after a power washing of the moss (that appears to be holding the facility together) caused pieces to fall off inside. This was only a year or so after the front of the building fell off thanks to a rusted out frame. Meanwhile over at Kits Pool the cumulative damage of winter storms and high tides have destroyed the seawall around the pool and cracked the deck to the extent that it is leaking 30,000 litres per hour.

In spite of an architectual firm being hired to design a new Aquatic Centre and money raised to pay for its construction there is still no information as to where or when it will be constructed, never mind if it will get built before the old facility collapses. As far as Kits Pool goes there is no plan or budget whatsoever for its repair or replacement. Is it any wonder the public is fed up with the Parks Board?

Hopefully by selecting the same firm UBC used to redesign their swimming facility we might end up with something that takes advantage of the stunning oceanside location and makes use of glass and light instead of the brutalist bunker style design we've had to put up with for the past 50 years.

While there is hope the new Aquatic Centre may be built in the next 5-10 years, sadly there is no timeline for Kits Pool. For anyone wanting an outdoor, next to the ocean, swimming experience the only other pool is at 2nd Beach. Built in 1996 the public is still waiting 28 years later for the changing facilities, washrooms, and showers that have been promised and not built. Yet another example of Parks Board incompetence.

There is however another possible solution for combining an indoor and outdoor experience and for that we could look at what Paris has done in time for the 2024 Olympics. Here they have taken a 100 year old facility (built for the 1924 Olympics) and completely renovated it with a retractable roof. Swimmers have the best of both worlds (indoor and outdoor) and 90% of the construction waste will be reused or recycled.

A little wit and imagination can go a long way in solving problems if there is a will to look at options and take a lead in addressing issues instead of ignoring them until everything falls apart. Swimming pools are a vital component of city life and we need to demand more from our elected officials in how they are designed and maintained. Getting rid of the Parks Board is a start.

In The Long Run

 

Like most other homeowners in B.C. I recently received my 2024 Property Assessment Notice and the first thing I noticed about the taxable value (which is 4.5 times what I originally paid for the property) is that the land value makes up 85% of the total and the building itself is only 15% of the total. My apartment is in Vancouver's west end, where older buildings are selling for $1,000.00 per square foot and newer ones anywhere from $1,500.00 - $3,000.00 per square foot. However, according to various sources, the actual construction cost is only between $100-$300 per square foot and the rest is all land cost.

Clearly it isn't the cost of construction that is driving the insane prices that have plagued the Greater Vancouver area over the past 20 years, it's the land values. And when you consider that buildings only depreciate in value as they age, the numbers are even more disturbing. But, rather than point fingers at what may or may not be the forces behind this rise in property values, perhaps this is an opportunity to look at things a little differently in order to solve a problem that is vexing anyone who lives here.

Instead of trying to own the land, why not just lease it instead? It's the new model for any land the First Nations own and are developing. It's also the way the kings, queens, and assorted nobility in the U.K. do it. Go ahead and try to buy land in Mayfair or Knightsbridge, you can only lease. You can own your apartment or townhouse but not the land it sits on. For that you have options, like paying a monthly lease payment or having the lease payment built into the cost of the apartment. The lease can be 100 years or more and it can also be renewed when it expires. 

The trouble with leased land in Vancouver is there isn't much of it. Most of the land around the south side of False Creek is city owned land on lease to the various tenants but the vast majority of land is freehold. So how can we free up more land for leasing?

The proposed Jericho development is one place. Here the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, who have bought the land, have formed a company called MST Developments and their plan is to develop the site with a mix of 13,000 rentals and leasehold condos. In keeping with their philosophy that nobody can really own the land, the First Nations are taking a long term rental/lease approach that will provide them with an income stream that lasts forever.

 

Perhaps another contributing factor to Vancouver's high land prices is the exceptionally low property tax rates. Raising the rates would not only provide the city with more revenue to support parks, recreation, and transit services, it would make the land less attractive to investors and lower the price. But with Vancouver property owners mostly land rich and cash poor perhaps a program, whereby the government buys back the land from individuals and then leases it to them on a monthly basis, would be a way to add more leasehold property to the available inventory and build up an income stream that would last into perpetuity.

Under this plan people could still buy and sell their home but without ownership of the land the price would be easily affordable to just about anyone. A brand new 2,000 square foot home would be no more than $600,000.00 and an older home would be considerably cheaper as it would be depreciating every year. Instead of thinking of a home as an investment it should be viewed as an affordable place to live and raise a family. Let the government and First Nations own the land it's the most cost effective solution in the long run.

Life & Death In Stanley Park

 

There have been a couple of sights in and around Stanley Park that have really caught the eye of the locals lately. One of them is the collection of sea lions, seals, and seagulls that have suddenly congregated around the end of Coal Harbour. They have all come for the herring which have mysteriously appeared and are providing a surprise Xmas feast. 

Herring used to be the most plentiful fish in B.C. until the commercial fishery nearly wiped them out in the 1960's. This had a profound impact on First Nations culture and the coastal ecosystem. Herring are one of the most important fish in B.C. as they are the principle diet of other fish, seabirds, and sea mammals and are critical to the diet of Chinook salmon which in turn are the primary food source of the Southern Resident Orcas. 

Herring spawn by the millions with each female laying 10,000 eggs or more, and when the males release their milt to fertilize the eggs they turn the ocean into a milky aquamarine colour that can stretch for miles along the coastline. Unlike salmon, herring are repeat spawners and once they have matured they can live for up to 10 years. However, just like salmon they have a homing instinct that allows them to return to where they were originally born.

A group called the Squamish Streamkeepers has been successful in re-introducing herring to False Creek using artificial spawning substrate panels for the eggs to lie on instead of eel grass, the native spawning substrate. In 2021 they expanded the program to Coal Harbour. But another key factor are dock pilings, which in the past used to be creosote which is basically toxic to herring. New docks, like the ones at the end of Coal Harbour, made out of concrete and steel provide a habitat that is more conducive to spawning herring. It takes 3 years for the eggs to hatch and mature at sea but it seems the program is a success as evidenced by the feeding frenzy going on. Hopefully they won't eat everything and the fish will have a chance to spawn.

Meanwhile over in the Park itself another type of harvest is underway, and one not nearly as positive, as workers try to cull all of the infected hemlock trees. Over the past 5 years an ongoing infestation of the Western hemlock looper moth has devastated the Stanley Park forest as well as many trees in North and West Vancouver. While it's a native insect that normally attacks trees in 20 year cycles, conditions have allowed the moths to persist way beyond their normal time frame and now a staggering 166,000 trees have to be cut down in order to prevent injuries from dead and dying trees.

According to the Forest Service the Western hemlock looper is one of the most destructive forest defoliators in B.C. They overwinter as eggs laid on the bark and then hatch in late spring. The larvae then feed heavily on the foliage of mature stands throughout the summer. The larvae are wasteful feeders gobbling up both new and old foliage and leaving behind partially consumed needles. In late summer the larvae pupate and are in flight until early fall.

Severe defoliation leads to top kill and tree mortality and if you walk through the Park you can see that almost every hemlock tree is nothing but black branches and the trees are all dying. It's a sad and depressing forest and a huge mess to clean up. Fortunately the Red Cedar and Douglas Fir trees seem to be spared. Most of the wood is being left behind as nursery logs but the branches and brush have to be cleared away in order to not become fuel for a forest fire which is increasingly becoming a real possibility.

So on one side of the Park we have what looks like a successful return of the herring while inside the Park the trees are dying at a furious rate. It's Life and Death in Stanley Park but it sure provides a lot of photo opportunities.

Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad

 

As 2023 comes to an end and we take a breather on all the horrific events of the year it's nice to reflect on some of the things that went well in our own backyard. With the voters having kicked out the grossly incompetent and ideologically deranged park board commissioners at the end of 2022, the new ABC commissioners got busy cleaning up the mess that had been left behind. By summer the Parks Board and City engineering crews had removed the mix of concrete barriers and cones that had created a separate bike lane and a traffic nightmare for all other forms of transportation, not to mention nearly bankrupting all the restaurants in the Park. It was an incredible waste of money to set up the barriers and almost as much to remove them, but common sense finally prevailed and the Park is once again open to everyone.

The beloved Stanley Park train had also been out of commission for the past two years thanks to Parks Board neglect. Qualified mechanics are hard to find, as are the parts yet, in spite of the train being a revenue generator and year round public favourite, with specially decorated trains at Easter, Halloween, and Christmas. But the Parks Board just let the whole operation grind to a halt. Thankfully once again the new Parks Board took stock of things and managed to get the train back up and running in time for the Christmas season.

The other major item of neglect of course is the heavily used Vancouver Aquatic Centre, which has been decaying right before the eyes of the Parks Board for a number of years. The budget for a replacement facility was also approved in the last election but unfortunately it takes a lot of time to design and build a facility of this magnitude. The obvious solution would be to keep the existing Aquatic Centre operating while the new one is built alongside it in the vacant Sunset Beach parking lot, but the Parks Board haven't been very forthcoming on the timeline or location of the new facility. At least the Parks Board has selected an architect to start the process but there's clearly a lot more to be done.

In the meantime Stanley Park has been completely taken over by an epidemic of the nasty Looper Moth which has consumed 25% of the Park's trees (hemlock in particular) and a massive logging operation is now underway to remove the hazard of 160,000 dead trees. It's a natural occurence, like bark beetles, but that's small comfort to a Parks Board trying to do their best in dealing with something that for once isn't of their own making. At the end of 2023 fixing two out of three problems isn't bad and I wish them good luck with cleaning up the mess in the forest.

Orange Shirt Day/Orange Is The New Black

 

National Truth & Reconciliation Day or, Orange Shirt Day, as it is more commonly referred to, is slowly starting to become a part of the national consciousness and that has to be a good thing on many levels. Sadly, it took the discovery of children's graves on the grounds of residential schools to finally give us a collective wake-up call but it worked. Through the story of a little 6 year old girl, who had her new orange shirt stripped off and taken away on her first day at the Mission school, we now have a recognizable symbol for the movement that is now engaged in a wide range of initiatives seeking redress for past wrongs.

And it's about time, because ignoring the abusive and discriminatory treatment of First Nations people is turning out to be a very expensive head-in-the-sand approach. The horrific, well documented, and ongoing saga of the residential school abuses has at long last wound its way through the legal system and survivors have been collectively awarded $3 billion in compensation. A further $23 billion was later awarded to First Nations for the discriminatory underfunding of Child and Family Services programs and to implement the Jordon's Principle, a child-first, needs-based policy to provide access to all government funded services to all First Nations children whether they live on or off a reserve.

Even before First Nations groups were tricked into surrendering title to their lands on the prairies, so that railways could be built and farming homesteads could be established, they signed away title in 1850 to land around Lake Superior and Lake Huron in a pair of agreements called the Robinson Treaties. Negotiated by William Robinson, the treaties provided the Province of Canada access to the north shores of Lakes Huron and Superior for settlement and mineral extraction. In exchange, the Indigenous people of the region got hunting and fishing rights that lasted until the lands were settled, a one time payment, and an annual annuity $1.60 per person with an "escalator clause" that would increase as the revenues from the lands increased. In 1874 the annuity was increased to $4.00 per person but never increased afterwards, in spite of the hundreds of billions of profits generated by industry since. In 2019 this led to a retroactive court claim that was settled in 2023 for $10 billion for the Robinson-Huron treaty. The Robinson-Superior treaty case is still ongoing but First Nations are asking for $100 billion.

In the 1870's, when the so-called numbered treaties 1-7 were being signed to provide land for settlers on the prairies, reserves were also set up for the First Nations people, along with the provision for seeds, some tools, and supplies in the event of crop failure. The reserves were to enable them to make the transfer to an agricultural way of life now that the bison had been wiped out and, in the beginning, many of the First Nation farmers were quite successful. However, their success soon led to settler animosity and, in 1889, the government introduced the Peasant Farm Policy which restricted the types of tools First Nations could use, how much they could grow, and what they were allowed to sell. Farms were reduced to 40 acres, machinery was forbidden, and all planting and harvesting had to be done by hand. These policies soon put most of the First Nations farmers out of business and their reserve farmlands were then sold by the government to new settlers because the government claimed they weren't using the land properly. 

As much as 20% of First Nations reserves were illegally sold off by the government between 1896-1911 and this continued up until the 1930's. To make matters worse the money collected by the government on the land sales wasn't always turned over to the band it belonged to. However, in recent years lawsuits were filed against the government to contest the illegal surrender of reserve land and, more than $3.5 billion has since been awarded to 56 claimants. This past August the Muscowpetung Saulteaux Nation alone was awarded $150 million, the maximum allowable. 

British Columbia has the distinction of being the only Canadian Province to not have signed any treaties with the First Nations to get them to surrender their lands. B.C. First Nations, having learned from the mistakes of others, will never surrender title to their land now but this omission has led to countless court battles over their rights to control what happens to their territories. (Delgamuukw, Tsilhqot'in, Nisga'a etc.) This past week the B.C. Supreme Court ruled that First Nations must be consulted before any mineral claims are made in their territories. This ruling promises to have a profound impact on the current system for awarding mineral claims and other resource development.

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a framework for reconciliation, healing and peace, as well as harmonious and cooperative relations based on the principles of justice, democracy, respect for human rights, non-discrimination and good faith, and this has been affirmed by both the Federal and Provincial governments. After all the court cases and residential school discoveries, surely it's time for all of us to realize the injustice needs to stop and we need to work harder and faster on reconciliation. Orange shirt day has been with us for three years now and every year more and more orange shirts can be spotted on the streets. The more orange the better because orange is the new black in this country and it's about time.

Flying The Unfriendly Skies Of Air Canada

The latest complaint to surface about Air Canada has really taken first prize for customer abuse and it almost seems like the airline is running an internal contest to shock and awe its passengers. To try and force people to sit on a seat covered in vomit, throw them off the plane when they refused, and then make them pay for another ticket to fly home after threatening to put them on a no-fly list is like hitting a grand slam. Sadly this complaint is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to customer service with Air Canada, already at the bottom of the pile for North American airlines when it comes to reliability.

The tales of lost luggage, missed connections, lousy food, unsympathetic staff, and other horror stories plague all the airlines but the arrogance of Air Canada is in a league of its own and everyone has a favourite one they like to share. The fact that it's basically a monopoly is part of the problem but it's also the toothless/non-existent Passenger Rights in this country that allow Air Canada to flout its arrogance with such impunity. But it wasn't always this way.

In the good old days flying was an exciting pleasure, not something you fretted over and dreaded. Friends and family could join you for a farewell drink at the airport bar before you boarded your flight and there were often standby passengers at the boarding gate hoping to get a cut-rate seat on the airplane if the flight wasn't sold out. If you had a change of plans you could sell your ticket to anyone and the airline didn't care as it was yours to do with what you wanted. 

Nobody had to show any ID and you certainly didn't have to have your luggage torn open, your belt and shoes removed, and all your liquid toiletries stuffed into a separate plastic bag. Your baggage would always arrive at its proper destination and there wasn't a charge for bringing it with you. Overhead bins were for small carry on bags and briefcases, and there was even a closet to hang suits and coats. 

Once everyone was comfortably seated, with a decent amount of leg room, a pleasant looking stewardess with a friendly disposition would come around after take-off and ask if you would like a cocktail. On overseas flights drinks of course were free and, after a couple of hours, a tasty dinner would be served, complete with real cutlery, cloth napkins and your choice of wine. Then, when the dishes had all been cleared away, coffee and liqueurs would be served.

People used to get dressed up when they went on a flight, just like they used to when they went to work, most people were reasonably slim and trim so they fit into their seats, and flying was considered a step up from riding a bus. Not anymore. The cabin of a typical airplane now resembles a third world bus full of overweight passengers wearing beach wear and gym clothes and carrying bundles, baskets, and cages of half-dead chickens.

The trouble with airline travel is that, on top of the ridiculous security precautions everyone has to endure, it has become a race to the bottom. Everyone is looking for the cheapest ticket rather than the best service and, as a result, the whole experience has deteriorated into a glorified bus ride (unless of course you can afford to travel first class) with airlines doing everything they can to cut costs. Add to that a lack of competition and you have a perfect storm for guaranteeing a miserable experience.

There's an old saying that it's the journey not the destination that counts and with airline travel such a frustration it's no wonder train travel is making a comeback and cruising is more popular than ever. Yes airline travel is quicker but it's certainly not as pleasant and, with airline travel contributing to 10% of global emissions, it's not very environmentally friendly either. Sadly there's no going back to the glory days of air travel but the skies can be a lot more friendly if we simply avoid having anything to do with Air Canada.