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Editorial Committee: Evan Alderson, Susan Wright, Sharon Yandle
Production Editor: Robyn Chan
Proofreader: Kathryn Woodward
Contributors this Issue: Zaida Schneider (Heather Marina), Kathleen Mackinnon (Regatta)
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The Watery Part Of The Creek
WHAT DID THE BIOBLITZ TELL US?
Zaida Schneider, Heather Marina
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Almost a year in the making, the False Creek BioBlitz took place earlier this month – an engaging and enlightening week-long event that will most certainly impact the future of Vancouver’s waterfront long into the future.
The BioBlitz - a collaboration between Hakai Institute, False Creek Friends, and the City of Vancouver - was a major undertaking to understand exactly how healthy the water is under False Creek’s sparkling surface. A small army of over 40 community science volunteers assisted oceanographers, ecologists, taxonomists and a range of other marine science professionals, who executed a detailed effort to document its current “vitality” and how that is impacting the sealife that calls the area home today. It will be months before the analysis is complete.
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Kira Leeb, False Creek Friend
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Another significant accomplishment of the BioBlitz was to introduce Vancouverites to the possibility that although it is frequently referred to as an “open cesspool”, “heavily polluted by sewage overflow, runoff and boater waste” (CBC - September 4); and “the most polluted [of] waterways in Vancouver” (Vancouver Sun, Sept. 7), False Creek is undeniably alive and deserving of our stewardship.
The negative comments are not undeserved. But, according to Swim Drink Fish, which publishes the vitally important Swim Guide for 8,000 beaches worldwide, some of Vancouver’s waters are safe to swim in, some of the time. Swim, Drink, Fish makes these determinations based on results from the tests they conduct on the waters listed in the Guide and one of the eight spots it regularly tests - False Creek West - regularly passes the test for swim-ability 95% of the time.
Beyond the issue of swim-ability, the BioBlitz has revealed clear evidence that False Creek is wildly alive with sharks (the harmless spiny dogfish), Dungeness crab, and mammals from harbour seals to beavers to mink. Have a look at this remarkable video, taken on September 2 below the Granville Street Bridge, showing a battle royale between an implacable male crab and a swarm of sharks.
This profusion of life gives us hope. False Creek is alive - yes, it is damaged but not beyond repair. With your help we can bring it back to its fullest vitality. And if you’d like more proof, please check out the remarkable traveling photographic exhibit by noted marine photojournalist Fernando Lessa.
If you’d like to display the exhibit in your neighbourhood, let us know!
False Creek Friends Society will take some time to review the scientific data that comes in, and from the evidence, we’ll create pilot projects in cooperation with government agencies, institutions (such as Hakai) and other NGO’s working in the field of marine conservation.
If you’d like to be part of our movement to protect False Creek, let us know!
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Save The Dates:
CONVERSATIONS WITH CANDIDATES
September 19, 21, 27 & October 1
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The False Creek South Neighbourhood Association and RePlan Committee are sponsoring a Zoom series: ‘CONVERSATIONS WITH CANDIDATES’ – beginning next week
HOW TO ATTEND:
Register for the sessions using the links provided below. A Zoom link will be sent directly to your email. Any difficulty registering: Contact Tara at *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*.
CONFIRMED DATES:
2. Wednesday, September 21, 7pm – 8:30pm | COPE
Register here
3. Tuesday September 27, 7pm – 8:30pm | Vision Vancouver
Register here
4. Saturday, October 1 at 1pm – 2:30pm | TEAM for a Livable Vancouver
Register here
Please note that we are currently trying to secure dates with ABC, Forward Together, NPA, OneCity, and Progress Vancouver.
Each Conversations With Candidates 90 minute session will be led and moderated by the False Creek South Neighbourhood Association and its RePlan Committee, with dedicated time for community questions, and will not be recorded.
FOLLOW UP:
At the end of each discussion, we’ll create a document that summarizes each party/candidate’s positions and, when the series is completed, will distribute the overview to the community in advance of the October 15 municipal election.
In the meantime, you can find information about the parties’ platforms on their websites (hyperlinked above).
We look forward to seeing you.
Save the dates and spread the word! |
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Refugee Family Reunites
TOGETHER AT LAST!
Kathleen Mackinnon, Regatta
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When war broke out in Syria in the spring of 2011, the Mohammed family fled their home in Qamishli after an explosion shattered all the windows in their house. They eventually found safety in the Gawilan Refugee Camp in northern Iraq.
Four years later in spring, 2015 False Creek South residents alive to the situation decided to sponsor at least one Syrian refugee family and in April 2017 we welcomed Azad, Helwa, Aya and Pella to Vancouver as permanent residents of Canada.
Azad’s younger brother Rezan and his family came close behind, sponsored by members of Shaughnessy Heights United Church. Subsequently, the two brothers themselves could sponsor a younger brother, Jihad. He and his family arrived in Vancouver last year.
By 2021 the structure of the family had changed. Three babies had been born; Viola to Azad and Helwa, Jean to Rezan and Guilistan, and Simav to Jihad and Janda. Sadly, the brothers’ father, Suliaman Mohammed, died in the camp shortly after Azad and Rezan settled in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, their mom and two siblings languished alone in Gawilan Camp, participating only virtually in the lives of their Vancouver family. Azad and Rezan got to work again, this time to get the rest of the family to Canada. With assistance from Pacific Spirit United Church the brothers worked tirelessly, completing the necessary documents, phoning and visiting government officials, saving and patiently waiting.
Finally, on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, after many years of separation, their mother Maryam Jangir, brother Ahmad and sister Sari, the youngest in the family, arrived at Vancouver International Airport to a tearful and joyful reunion.
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And another milestone was reached by the two brothers and their families this summer. After passing their citizenship and language proficiency exams, Azad and Rezan, their wives and four children were awarded Canadian citizenship. (Viola, Azad and Helwa’s youngest daughter was born in Canada, thus already a Canadian citizen.)
Their world has been forever altered. The Mohammed family are all safe here and, while not forgetting their own culture and language, are Canadians participating fully in our way of life and benefitting our community by the very fact of living here.
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Olympic Village
SITE FOR NEW SCHOOL PROTESTED
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Parents of present and would-be students of False Creek Elementary, where the entry of new students at every grade level is available by lottery only, may be shocked to learn of a resident initiative in Olympic Village to prevent the construction of a school at Hinge Park.
The Vancouver School Board has long designated the area in question, shown in the photo below, as the site for a new school and day care which, if current plans proceed, will be built in close proximity to a number of residential buildings, some of which directly overlook the site.
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The VSB has named January, 2024 as the latest date for construction to begin.
Residents campaigning for a change of venue claim that losing the area for greenspace would negatively affect the neighbourhood and have proposed alternative sites closer to First Avenue, or within Science World.
Unsurprisingly, there are voices for and against, as this poster (and graffiti) show.
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Strata Leasehold Negotiations
A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
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This past month has seen an unusual level of discussion in the FCS community about a proposed negotiated settlement between the City of Vancouver and the Strata Leaseholders Society (SLS). The Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) “sets out the key terms that have been negotiated” by representatives of both parties.
One of these terms requires a vote by the SLS membership, a clear majority of all strata leaseholders, who have assigned the legal authority to SLS to negotiate, on their behalf, the disposition of current strata leases. Another term requires that approval by the membership must be obtained by September 30, 2022 or “this MOU will be of no effect”.
SLS members who have registered by Monday, September 19, will meet online this coming Wednesday, September 21, at 7 pm to vote on a resolution that asks members whether or not to approve the Memorandum of Understanding.
Considerable controversy has arisen among strata leaseholders, whether SLS members or not, on whether the tentative settlement should or should not be supported, and it’s safe to say that a great deal of uncertainty reigns supreme.
In trying to shed some light on the concerns – and the controversy – and in the interest of balance, Between The Bridges is including here five links.
In the first, How Leases Work In False Creek South, the Editors of Between The Bridges provide basic background information about the leasehold structure, both strata and co-op, in the Creek.
The second is the Memorandum Of Understanding itself.
In the third, Extending The Future Of False Creek South, SLS negotiators Richard Marchant and Doug Ramsay explain their reasons why leaseholders should vote to approve the negotiation results.
In the fourth, Read The Fine Print, 12 strata FCS leaseholders, including two SLS directors, set out their shared critique of the proposed settlement and why leaseholders should vote against.
Lastly, strata leaseholder Sharon Yandle, in Two Issues Key To The Strata Vote, concentrates on the “must haves” of each side in their negotiations: lease extension to the SLS, and changing lease end language to the City.
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Writer’s Workshop
INTIMACY AND POETRY OF PLACE
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Daniela Elza (False Creek Co-op), a poet and creative writing teacher, recently led the first of four workshops this month on Intimacy and Poetry of Place (free to participants courtesy of a Neighbourhood Small Grant), and had this to say:
“Ten people gathered in Leg-in-Boot Square on a beautiful September afternoon where the wind whistled and howled and drummed a symphony on the boat masts while we wrote, read and shared.
“We teased words onto the page, shared what showed up, laughed and were deeply moved. Thank you to those who came.”
Carol MacKinnon of Spruce Village adds:
"I was one of the lucky and hardy group who delighted in two hours under Daniela's gifted leadership.
“With her encouragement we wrote, striving to have our souls’ voices heard above the roaring wind.
“As papers flew around, we worked with poems, explored prompts and expressed memories of our sense of home, of belonging, and of longing.
“Though some participants had a daily writing practice, others were novices learning how to push past fears and internal judgements of ‘I can't write. I'm not a writer –’ and just wrote.
“The voluntary sharing deepened our sense of belonging to this wonderful community and neighbourhood.”
Daniela will lead two more community writing sessions exploring the places we find meaningful in our False Creek South neighbourhood. Both will be outside in Leg-in-Boot Square. Dress for the weather. Dates are Wednesday, September 21, 2-3 pm, and Saturday, September 24, 3-5 pm.
For more information and to sign up, contact Daniela at *email is hidden, JavaScript is required*.
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NEW SHOES AND PENCIL CASE?
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Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) member Roxanne Brooks (Spruce Village) reports a great start to the new school year at False Creek Elementary with high hopes of clubs, celebrations and extra events resuming this year – Halloween costume swap, family skate night, movie night in the school gym, Christmas swap and so on. Right now, the school’s Inclusivity Committee is hard at work planning activities for students and parents to observe our National Truth & Reconciliation Day on September 30th - stay tuned!
The school has welcomed many new families with students in all the grades from “Kindy” (kindergarten) all the way up.
The monthly coffee mornings for parents to socialize after Friday morning drop off have been reinstated and will begin shortly with coffee donated by the wonderful Beth at Convivial Café in Leg-in-Boot Square.
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A BUSY SUMMER FOR LEG-IN-BOOT
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Leg-In-Boot Square has begun to fulfill the vision of its initial planners as a vibrant centre of the False Creek South community.
With a big boost from the City’s “Pop-Up Plaza” initiative last year and gradually activated by Beth Dempster (Convivial Café) and the “Leg-In-Boot Reboot” volunteers, the Square is blossoming. Home to many events over the summer, it continues to grow as an obvious and welcoming meet-up spot for local residents and passers-by. Fall/winter possibilities are already under consideration.
And just what happened over the summer? Check it out here.
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Greater Vancouver Floating Home Co-op (aka Spruce Harbour)
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Nothing to see here. Just another resident performing routine maintenance…
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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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