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Editorial Committee: Evan Alderson, Susan Wright, Sharon Yandle
Production Editor: Robyn Chan
Contributors this Issue: Meg Clarke (Newport Quay), Wes Knapp (Regatta), Evan Alderson (Regatta)
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LEARNING AND ACTING ON A TRAGIC HISTORY
Meg Clarke, Newport Quay
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Archeologists are not in agreement about the dates, but a new discovery of footprint fossils in New Mexico suggests that the first peoples inhabited the continent we now call North America about 22,000 years ago.
Regardless of varying archeological evidence, the lands around what we now call False Creek were home to a thriving culture for thousands of years - a history that was not taught in our schools.
The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueum), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations – who have never relinquished title to these lands – had plenty of food amid dense old-growth forests. Artistic expression was rich. Healers used herbs and plants to treat disease and elders’ stories passed wisdom through the generations.
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Archeologists are not in agreement about the dates, but a new discovery of footprint fossils in New Mexico suggests that the first peoples inhabited the continent we now call North America about 22,000 years ago.
Regardless of varying archeological evidence, the lands around what we now call False Creek were home to a thriving culture for thousands of years - a history that was not taught in our schools.
The xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueum), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) nations – who have never relinquished title to these lands – had plenty of food amid dense old-growth forests. Artistic expression was rich. Healers used herbs and plants to treat disease and elders’ stories passed wisdom through the generations.
Subsequently, European settlers -- claiming the land -- set their sights on destroying indigenous culture. An important component of this was the forcible removal of children from their homes to residential schools.
Until a few months ago, most Canadians did not know that the history of residential schools is perhaps the most tragic chapter in the history of Canada. Most of the children were not cared for, were often abused sexually and physically beaten. Many died young.
One of those children, called Phyllis Webstad, was sent to a residential school near Williams Lake. For her first day, her grandmother took her to a store to choose new clothes for her new school. She chose an orange top but, upon her arrival at the school, the authorities forced her to remove the top and she never saw it again. From that day, her life was miserable. The orange top is symbolic of everything that was taken away from her and all the other children in those schools.
This past week we were all encouraged to wear orange tops in solidarity with the thousands of children whose lives were destroyed by the residential schools. But that alone will not produce Reconciliation.
Canada’s first National Day of Reconciliation has given us the opportunity to reshape the relationship between indigenous people and settlers. We can begin by learning what most Canadians don’t know: the contributions of indigenous peoples and the historical truths that impact lived experiences of people today.
What else can we do? Contact our MP, Hedy Fry, and push for progress on the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report. Most of its 94 recommendations are still no more than words on paper. We must face the horrific truths coming from previously unknown graveyards – and actively work for Reconciliation.
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For the 94 recommendations, go to
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2091412-trc-calls-to-action.html
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WHAT DID YOU DO ON SEPTEMBER 30?
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Here in False Creek South on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ nations, we joined with others in Canada’s first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a milestone in the long journey of reparation.
How did you acknowledge this long history on September 30th?
Perhaps you wore an orange t-shirt, prepared an indigenous dish, donated to an indigenous cause or simply gave serious thought to the privilege of living on these lands. Whatever your reflections and/ or actions, let us know and we will include them in an upcoming issue of Between The Bridges.
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A motion is set to go before Vancouver City Council on October 5-6 about the Future of False Creek South. The main components of this motion are support for:
(a) negotiating co-op and strata leases now,
(b) security of tenure for all residents,
(c) developing City policy on False Creek South in public, and not in secret “in-camera” meetings, and
(d) thoughtfully expanding our community to accommodate local and city needs.
It is important for residents to speak or write to Council in support of this motion.
You must register to speak to this motion no later than 9 a.m. on Monday October 5. If you’d prefer to write to Councillors, please contact *email is hidden, JavaScript is required* for a list of those email addresses.
Community Town Hall Summary: On September 13 RePlan held a community town hall, which laid out the City’s proposed timeline for discussion and decision-making about False Creek South. The slides and a summary of the presentations and the Q&A can be found online.
ICYMI: The Globe and Mail has two recent pieces about False Creek South: The Cloak of Secrecy around Vancouver’s False Creek South needs to be lifted and Secrecy leaves social housing plans in the lurch.
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A GIFT TO CONTEMPLATE
Evan Alderson, Regatta
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The last issue described the somewhat hurried consultation process regarding The Tom Cone Memorial Sculpture proposed for Charleson Park. Since then, cards have been distributed to mailboxes throughout the neighbourhood, providing more information and a request for comment by October 5 at: vancouver.ca/tom-cone. |
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The information provided so far does not include a key feature of Alan Storey’s sculpture, one that clarifies the intent of the design and adds resonance to the whole, as it sinks into the earth and rises again. Echoing the inscriptions attached to other commemorative benches throughout the city (but fully integrated here) a poem is inscribed across its front edge. The bench commemorates celebrated local artist and playwright Tom Cone, and the poem is one that he wrote in the year of his death. It is reprinted here with permission:
Somewhere along the line
by Tom Cone (2012)
Somewhere along the line
the ball bounced too high
never to return
causing a stir in the equation.
To say the least. To say the least.
And I thought three plus three
meant something
meant something
somewhere
down the line.
The ball,
oh the ball plus three
begs for a chance.
I try, but can’t
and wonder why it’s so perfect to say
Never to return never to return never to return
In my view, the Park Board and the artists involved will be gifting our neighbourhood a new and permanent treasure, offering a place for reflection that looks down on the passing life along the Seawall in its glorious mix of generations, and from there across the water. I look forward to strolling the Seawall as an old man, stopping here for a rest, thinking about our community and how we can all best age together, and contemplating the last bounce of the ball.
Your views are also welcome at vancouver.ca/tom-cone
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LIFE ON THE CREEK
Wes Knapp, Regatta
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Mariners in False Creek who keep their boats in one of the several marinas along our waterway embrace our community as much as the rest of us. In fact, they give their marinas, on average, a 4.6 out 5 rating along with mostly favourable comments. Citing well maintained facilities and a relaxed vibe in a spectacular location, their online comments and ratings underscore what so many residents on shore say about living in False Creek: boaters love living here as much as those of us who live on the land.
There are 1600 boat slips in the False Creek marinas -- but all the marinas are apparently full. One, the False Creek Fisherman’s Marina, located below the Burrard Bridge, has a wait list of over 475 and daily inquiries about availability.
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Another component of the False Creek waterway is, of course, the many boats at anchor in the open waters. Michael Turkington, Assistant Harbour Master with the False Creek Harbour Authority, claims these vessels are the biggest issue facing the Creek itself: a kind of ‘wild west’ in terms of accountability. Making sure they are seaworthy, insured and not imposing an environmental or navigation hazard is a real issue. He is assured, however, by improvements over the past decade through a permitting system installed by the Vancouver Park Board, which has jurisdiction over False Creek, as well as increased monitoring by the VPD marine patrol, the authority in these waters.
False Creek is a busy waterway with water taxis, recreational vessels, stand-up paddle boards, canoes, kayaks, and dragon boats. Clearly both residents and visitors are finding a myriad of ways to enjoy the Creek.
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SIGN OF THESE HOMELESS TIMES
Some among Vancouver’s homeless are clearly visible in virtually every neighbourhood. But others are homeless as well, their visibility only evident through signage such as this EasyPark notice at the parking lot on Moberly, next to the bus loop.
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Among these homeless-with-a-car are the working poor. They may have a job cobbled together from here or there -- some even a single full-time job. But a home to rent, let alone buy, is simply beyond their incomes in a city where housing costs are astronomical and wages generally low.
Here in False Creek South, where a significant part of the solution can be found in the very community the City created almost a half century ago, people sleeping in cars on city-owned land is a travesty of the worst order.
As has been inarguably established over decades, co-op housing provides long-term, liveable, secure and affordable homes to people whose incomes can rise and fall over time as circumstances may determine. Other forms of tried-and-true affordable home ownership can be built as well, as can decent rental homes tied to income and security of tenure.
While the Neighbourhood Association continues our now decade-long effort to retain and create more truly affordable housing (see RePlan Update, this issue), we can only hope that through our work and that of others elsewhere, the EasyPark sign -- and sleeping in cars -- will become little more than a distant memory.
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POND LEVELS UP BUT THE (OTHER) CREEK RUNS DRY
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Last issue Between The Bridges reported that the sediment clogging the pipe from the waterfall area to the pond had been cleared but, as it turns out, that was just one of the problems.
Tap water flows to and from the waterfall in pipes connected to the creek to the east and into the pond -- but the pipes themselves have a leak. Or two. Or several; that’s the thing about leaks.
Right now the creek is being drained in the hope that the leak(s) can be located and repaired.
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REPLAN CHALLENGES CITY DATA
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Several months ago the City produced a survey along with what was described as a city-wide consultation on the future of False Creek South lands. During these online “information sessions” almost all FCS residents expressed considerable scepticism about the stated purpose of a City-as-landlord survey that referenced the leased land as if it were unoccupied and not containing homes lived in by several thousand people. Others were particularly concerned that its population data cast leasehold residents in an unfavourable light as considerably “out of sync” with the City as a whole.
On the initiative of Kathryn Woodward (Market Hill), who began the process of sifting through Statistics Canada data, RePlanners Robert Renger, a strata resident of Heather Bay Quay and False Creek Co-op member Maria Roth analyzed both the City’s and Stats Canada’s data. Through separating out demographic data on city-owned lease land from that of FCS freehold land and the city as a whole, quite a different picture emerges.
For the results of their work, see False Creek South Population Data: Portrait Of A Model Community at falsecreeksouth.org/fcsdata.
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INTERACTING WITH VOXEL BRIDGE
Are you wondering what people under the south side of Cambie Bridge are doing with their arms stretched out in front of them, staring at their phones or tablets? They’re discovering the “immersive experience” of the high-tech marvel called Vortex.
To take part you begin by scanning the QR code on the post to the side of the pathway.
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Once you have downloaded the Biennale app, you can experience the Augmented Reality installation. Simply point your device at the coloured “portals” located along the path -- and watch what happens.
A welcome video by artist Jessica Angel is included in the first portal near 6th Avenue.
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Lights and colours dance along the path, music plays in the background and objects rise in front of you, some growing larger or smaller. More information is provided as you click on what you want to learn. You can take photographs or videos of the displays.
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As the Biennale website describes, “Get ready to play with, learn about, and be creatively mesmerized by this emerging, transformative technology.”
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CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES: ARTICLES AND PHOTOS
Between The Bridges welcomes readers’ contributions of story ideas, events of interest, original photographs, and completed articles relevant to the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association’s goal to “promote an economically, social and culturally diverse neighbourhood with a friendly, positive and vibrant sense of community”. For details go to:
http://www.falsecreeksouth.org/2021/01/between-the-bridges-contributor-guidelines/
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