British Columbia Auto race contrary to council's report According to Mayor Gordon Camp- bell, my strongly felt objection to the decision of city council to hand over a large portion of downtown for the entire Labour Day weekend for an “Indy 500" car race is trivial." Trivial? You judge. The mayor is employing one of the most effective forms of political manip- ulation, by responding to criticism with ridicule. He says that this is justacar race, mere “recreation” and hence not a very serious matter. Our concerns must there- fore be “trivial.” However this is not just a car race. It is sponsored by Molson’s beer company, which will spend over $5 million on it. It will involve major dislocation; work on city streets to prepare for the race began in the first week of July. On Labour Day holiday weekend, all city streets around B.C. Place Stadium will be closed. In order to hold the race both provincial law and the City Charter required changes, and a line up of political and business heavyweights lobbied furiously for these changes. Bruce shouldn’t be allowed to spend millions associating their product with driving fast cars, our city government should understand this. In fact, council heard several delegations make just this point. But changing provincial liquor regu- lations hasn’t been enough to get this race on the road. It is also necessary to change the City Charter to give the city the right to close streets for such an event — which has nothing in common with the parades and celebrations that streets are sometimes closed to accommodate. I am told by city staff that the word from Victoria is that the amendment to the City Charter will be passed soon, if it isn’t already by the time you read this. Our city has a long list of important social issues which require Charter amendments. Some of these include our request for the power to specify rental housing in zonings, the power to issue development levies for social housing and cultural amenities, or the power to protect trees on private property. It is hard to fathom the logic of a provincial legislature that finally gets This is obviously much more than just acar race. It involves important issues for Vancouver. There are significant envir- onmental concerns, social concerns, neighbourhood concems and public pro- cess concems. To these we evidently must add one more: a mayor who thinks - all of this is “trivial.” Just as ourcity has released the impor- tant report on atmospheric change, with a major recommendation to reduce auto- mobile use, the city has acquiesced to a powerful lobby demanding the right to use Vancouver as the site for the ultimate display of the automobile culture. The Indy 500 has nothing to do with clean, affordable, transportation. These cars burn massive amounts of high oc- tane fuel and will exceed 300 kph. They can go through as many as seven sets of tires in one race. It is estimated that to drive one car through a race season costs up to $5 million, or $1,100 per mile! Everywhere these races are held, they are surrounded by images of macho men driving fast cars and risking death. Of course, automobile racing is a fact of life, and hardly the cause of the green- house effect. But the issue here is not automobile racing in general. Our city has been asked to make major social and neighbourhood concessions in order to hold a giant car race just when we are attempting to achieve public awareness of the serious threat to our world that the continuing growth of the automobile cul- ture poses.. In addition to the environmental state- ment the city is making, there is also a serious social issue involved. The provincial government last May caved in to the race lobbyists and changed the law which formerly prohibited advertising that in any way linked alcohol with driv- ing. If Vander Zalm’s government can’t understand why a beer company Eriksen around to the Vancouver Charter and deals first of all with the power to hold a car race! This is outrageous, and the mayor, as the chief officer of our city, should be the most outraged. The neighbourhood issues are the ob- vious ones — noise, public dislocation and inconvenience. The race is not for everybody. A seat at this event will cost $129, and standing room costs $20 per day. It is quite unprecedented in Van- couver. Molson’s knew from the beginning that public policy would have to change in order for the race to be held. It there- fore employed a professional lobby group of high-profile Socreds, called Corporate Strategies, to have the law changed. In October 1988, the mayor was lobbied on this issue by political strategist Patrick Kinsella. We knew nothing about it at the time, but a few months later the proposal was back in front of city council. Our whole experience with the group of political wheeler dealers running this tace has been unsatisfactory. They claimed they had done a “survey” that showed public support for the race. In fact they got Marktrend Co. to do a poll with a sample of 500 people, of which 159 lived in Vancouver. One of the ques- tions was, “Where would you like the race to be held: the Expo site, UBC, Stanley Park, English Bay, or don’t know?” About Mayor Campbell: it is distress- ing but necessary to say that to be in- fluenced by Molson’s beer company and Patrick Kinsella, to facilitate the Indy 500 as he has, and to be so scornful of legitimate criticism trivializes the public responsibility we expect from the mayor of our city. . Jects, with seniors defined as those 55 or Tenant bill merely — a‘Socred election goody,’ says TRAC Continued from page 1 “The fact is that the Socreds didn’t con- sult a single agency involved in housing,” including seniors, disabled, tenants or child care groups, before announcing Bill 51, Stannard charged. Under the bill, Section 7 of the Residen- tial Tenancy Act will require a landlord to give at 24 months notice of eviction if the tenant is found to be exceeding the allow- able number of people in a suite — in other words, if a tenant has a baby, she related. “That basically says that it’s all right to discriminate against a child after they’re two years of age,” Stannard remarked. Alist of exemptions from Bill 51 “shows how thoughtless the whole legislation is,” she said. The list includes seniors housing pro- over by the B.C. Mortgage and Housing Corporation (it is 45 in Vancouver’s down- town eastside); disabled persons, making it possible for landlords to discriminate against a disabled parent or child; and any exemption deemed by Cabinet order-in- council. “You can imagine the scandals that could ensue when Socred landlords started being exempted” from the act’s provisions, Stan- nard remarked. The legislation has some “good things,” she acknowledged. It would eliminate ar- bitrary. damage. .deductions ....currently claimed by landlords of tenants renting on a month-to-month basis. But Bill 51 would still allow such charges for fixed-term leases. The government “almost got right” a pro- vision that allows class action suits against a landlord, applicable in the case of a build- ing with several tenants. But the provision also stipulates that all parties must consent to the action — including the landlord. “And the bill hasn’t at all addressed rental housing protection, including demolition and rent controls,” Stannard observed. Additionally, the bill would allow dis- crimination on the basis of age, she noted. Also, the bill if it became law might undermine an important discrimination suit launched by Audrey Cope, a Vancouver Is- land resident victimized by anti-child land- ‘ No real protection for children in Bill -51. lord actions, against the provincial Attomey General, Stannard said. Stannard acknowledged that Bill 51 is “so complex it’s hard to get across all that’s wrong with it.” The bill might not even make it through second and third readings before an election is called, but in the meantime, “the govern- ment has already scored brownie points” by appearing to do something about tenant problems, she said. Stannard said it is important that voters realize that the bill does not really address housing and tenant rights. Bby., El Sal town linked with a first aid kit as a symbol of human- f ial : 7 Support in social and economic dev: ss elopment was the theme of a resolution adopted by Burnaby municipal council in a twinning ceremony July 9 with the small, rural Salvadoran town of El Zapo- The village currently has no access to clean water, no sewer system, or ade- quate housing. And El Zapotal has been tal. the target of ongoing harassment, intimi- The Canadian aid organization Salv- dation and attack by the U.S.-backed Sal- Aide has helped facilitate the process Vadoran Armed Forces. whereby nine villages have been twin- ned with a Canadian counterpart. In out- A SalvAide press release stated that lining the objectives of the adopted pro- posal, city councillor Joan Sawicki stated that “as a community ourselves that cares about people, and cares about peace and justice for all people, whether its here in Bumaby or anywhere else in the world, that this is a gesture of friendship with those in El Zapotal.” The same words of encouragement and friendship were carried by Mayor Bill Copeland, who presented the village “the villagers are confident that the new relationship would also make the Armed Forces think twice before attacking the village and allow them to farm their fields in peace.” — The ceremony was capped by an ex- change of gifts between the municipal representatives and a family from the village, along with B.C. SalvAide repre- sentative Diane Jacobs. 2 « Pacific Tribune, July 16, 1990