Tough for builders to stick to estimates when cost can double in months

Michael McCullough
Sun

Wildly fluctuating prices for wood panel are creating trouble for home builders and buyers — and forcing some to try creative solutions.

The wholesale price for oriented strand board (OSB), the most common panel in residential construction, rose to $15 US from $6 per sheet between May and September last year, the U.S. National Association of Home Builders reported in a briefing letter released last month. The price collapsed to $7 US in December, but has since rebounded to $15 again — extraordinary for mid-winter.

“The volatility and tightening supplies of plywood and OSB have continued to be a significant problem for many builders, defying attempts to estimate final project costs, schedules and profits,” the NAHB said.

In B.C., the same four-by-eight-foot sheet that sold for $8 (Cdn) a year ago now costs $22.

Local builders, who enjoy a 12-month outdoor building season, worry the price could spike still higher once the building season restarts in the American Midwest and Northeast, and the rest of Canada in April. Building supply prices typically peak every year between May and July.

It’s becoming hard for builders to stick to their estimates when the price can double in a matter of months, before a house is finished.

“We start a project, we tell people it’s going to be around a certain price and I want to be able to keep that,” said Brad Hughes, who owns Park Ridge Homes in Surrey.

Hughes bought a six-month supply of OSB and plywood when the market took a dive in December, but most builders could not afford to do that even if they had the foresight, he said.

“I know I’m going to be framing 30 houses between now and July, so we committed to buy it at a certain price,” he said.

“People are costing out their jobs and there’s no assurance that the prices will be there or will be the same,” said Peter Simpson, executive vice-president and chief operating officer of the Greater Vancouver Home Builders Association. “It’s a concern for us of course because the market is fairly buoyant for us right now.”

The OSB sector is operating at full capacity and will see no more than two per cent growth in production this year, the Washington, D.C.-based NAHB said.

“The key problem seems to be that demand is exceeding capacity, prompting some panic buying and speculative inventory swings that only exacerbate the issue,” the association newsletter said.

The situation is not much different for plywood, which years ago was displaced by the cheaper-to-make composite panel for most household applications.

“Right now OSB is [at a] higher price than plywood, so builders are switching to plywood,” said Chris Coakley, general manager of Port Coquitlam Building Supplies. However, the production capacity for plywood is even more constrained than OSB, so its price will likely shoot past OSB’s in short order.

The $14 increase in the price of a panel in the past year adds around $2,800-$3,500 to the price of a 3,000-square-foot house, Coakley said. But the way things are going it may become less a problem of price and more one of availability. Some building projects could be delayed as builders wait for their orders to be filled.

Coakley has started to examine alternative materials. The first one B.C. builders will consider are one-by-10-inch boards, “what used to be called shiplap,” he said. The trouble with shiplap is it takes more time to install and raises labour costs.

“The framers, they have to nail each board up individually, whereas they can cover 32 square feet at a time with plywood,” he explained.

Coakley is also considering carrying other composite wood and polystyrene panels that have come on the market. Unfortunately, these too come in smaller sizes that hike the labour component.

“The industry has been forced to look at alternatives because of cost and supply,” Simpson said.

Hughes believes cost increases above the rate of inflation will further raise the cost of new homes — which will ultimately dampen demand and let some air out of the current building bubble.

“It’s already enough pressure with the drywall and other things. From the municipality’s building permit fees right to the final cleaning contractors, everybody’s going up a little bit and it’s pushing affordability.”

– – –

LIST OF ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS TO STRUCTURAL PLYWOOD AND OSB

Concerned about the price and availability of structural plywood and oriented strand board, the U.S. National Association of Home Builders’ research centre in Washington, D.C. provided members with a list of alternative materials. (Prices are in U.S. dollars):

– Impregnated fibreboard, aka blackboard, greyboard or buffaloboard. Made of: wood, other plant and/or recycled fibres, binding agents. Currently used for: wall sheathing and floor underlays. Upside: cheap. Downside: not as strong as OSB. Cost per 4X8′ sheet: $4.73.

– Cementitious board. Made of: Portland cement reinforced with fibreglass mesh. Currently used for: backerboard for ceramic tile. Upside: has been used for exterior sheathing under stucco. Downside: not structural, needs corner bracing. Cost per 3X5′ sheet: $15.

– Fiber cement. Made of: wood fibre and cement. Currently used for: siding, sheathing and cladding. Upside: available untextured or textured. Downside: high cost, local building codes may require corner bracing. Cost per 4X8′ sheet: $25.

– Exterior gypsum. Made of: gypsum with paper, glass, cellulose or perlite. Currently used for: backing for stucco or brick veneer. Upside: fire resistant. Downside: requires careful handling. Cost per 4X8′ sheet: $15.68.

– Foil or paper faced insulative board. Made of: various materials. Currently used for: sheathing. Upside: comes in large sheets, does not require corner bracing. Downside: paper faces should not be exposed to moisture. Cost per 4X8′ sheet: $9.

– Foam sheathing. Made of: extruded polystyrene, expanded polystyrene or polyisocyanurate. Currently used for: insulation. Upside: comes in all sizes and thicknesses, most insulative of all sheathing options. Downside: not structural, requires bracing. Cost: $9-10.60.

– Wood boards. Made of: wood. Currently used for: restoration, selected uses. Upside: heritage look. Downside: high cost, labourious to install, inconsistent strength. Cost: varies.

– Imported OSB and plywood (from Brazil, Chile, Europe). Made of: wood fibre, resin. Currently used for: siding, sheathing and cladding. Upside: strength, durability. Downside: “Due to shipping costs and the commodity nature of wood structural panels, prices may mirror or exceed domestic panel prices.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

Danny Guillaume, founder and owner of West Coast Video, then Petcetera, takes on a new challenge — Storyeum, an interactive museum to be built underground in Gastown

Lena Sin
Sun

You know you’ve got a great interview when (a) the subject volunteers half the answers before you’ve even asked the questions and (b) the photographer asks the other half for you.

So if I were being completely honest, this profile wouldn’t have my byline on it at all. Most of the work was done by our subject Danny Guillaume and Province photographer Les Baszo, who was so engrossed that he couldn’t help but assume the role of reporter.

But such is the draw of Guillaume, the brainchild behind Storyeum, a $22-million interactive museum experience.

He’s a 42-year-old entrepreneur who calls himself a “farmboy from Saskatchewan,” who waves his arms in excitement when he speaks, bores easily but exudes the kind of curiosity normally reserved for children.

As Baszo put’s it, “he’s infectious.”

Guillaume refers to it as his “gift.”

So if there’s anybody in this city who can make B.C. history interesting, it’s Guillaume, which is exactly what he’s attempting to do with Storyeum, due to open this June. The space, being constructed under Water and Cordova Streets is the equivalent of six hockey rinks. It will be like nine movie sets all glommed together, with live actors retelling the story of B.C. natives, before Capt. Vancouver and the Chinese who built the railroad.

No doubt this will be big, but before we go running to put this man on a pedestal, Guillaume asks that we don’t. Because the way he sees it, he is just “an average Joe whose had extraordinary opportunities.”

So how risky is this?

Other people perceive it that way but for me, I get lots of homework done, do lots of research, do the studying, come up with the plan that makes sense, make sure that it resonates clearly with me, make sure that I love it. You know, I’m really going to enjoy what I’m doing because that’s a real risk eliminator.

What was the trigger for Gastown?

History. It’s the historic area in Vancouver. It needs economic redevelopment, which is a big thing for me. I have a philosophy that the more value you can spin-off to other people into society, the less risk it is for you because people want you to succeed.

Have you ever failed?

At lots of things. I’ve probably failed more than most people. I mean, I fail everyday. I’m not perfect in any way.

You call yourself a farmboy from Saskatchewan, what did you envision yourself doing when you were young?

From how old? Give me an age.

Well, from the time you first started thinking about what you wanted to do.

I’m from a farm 20 miles outside of Moose Jaw, that’s where I was born and raised. And obviously my dad was my greatest hero. Well, not obviously, but he was. He was very strong, honest, had huge integrity, community was front and foremost in his mind and he passed away when I was 12. And that probably had a great impact. Because I really paid attention even more after he died. You know, because I missed him so much and the things I admired were things I wanted in myself. I thought he was a leader . . . I still carry his briefcase today, I have all my life.

So, you wanted to be like your dad.

I think I got the business from him. I think I got the idea that you could do what you wanted to do if you believed in yourself and you have responsibility to be your best to your community . . . that sense of responsibility is a big part of who I am. So that’s entrenched. I think back in Grades 1

and 2 and I went to school with a briefcase. I was the only kid.

Did you end up ever going to business school later on?

No, never studied business. Never took any business classes. It was always kind of natural or innate for me. I studied agriculture because I thought I was going to be a farmer in Saskatoon. I was a farmer for five years.

How did you go from being the founder and owner of West Coast Video to Petcetera to now this?

It’s a good question.

Do you have a short attention span?

Probably. I get bored easily.

How did I go from one to the other? I think partly by accident. A lot of it was my self-confidence and self-esteem. Coming from a farm, I wanted to move to a city. So I went looking for cities to move to and I did lots of research on where cities were going to grow and where there’d be economic development. And I chose Vancouver.

And what was that like?

I was scared moving here. I mean, I was petrified. I never really lived in a city before, not this size. And your confidence. You think everybody’s smarter than you. You start out thinking you really don’t know anything, and you think you’re this goofy, clumsy farm kid and that’s how you feel until you make an accomplishment. So I had to take on a business that was achievable for me.

Hence the video business?

Well, the video-rental business is not particularly challenging. I did a business plan and worked at and got the belief that I’d be good at it and then became good at it. And then I looked for a little more sophistication in business because I made good money and sold to Blockbuster and another independent. I wanted to do something more extraordinary.

Pet food seems to be an odd choice.

I’d never really experienced what 100 per cent effort from me had been because I’d never really had to give absolutely everything flat out and I wanted to know where the wall was. I decided to be the largest retailer in Canada and the pet industry sounded like a big audacious goal and it really got my attention. It was like wow, if I did that, I’d really have to learn. I’d have to become a much bigger person and so that’s how I looked at it.

You seem pretty fearless.

Well, I’d hate to give you that impression. I gained the confidence that I could break through my fears. Because the fear stops you. So when I feel fear, I have to go into it.

Do you have one thing you’re most afraid of?

I don’t get fear where it stops me. I mean, Sunday morning, I’m going to be afraid to read your article. That’s about the level of my fear. It’s usually smaller things.

© The Vancouver Province 2004

The six-lane toll bridge is expected to open during 2007

Gerry Bellett
Sun

The three international groups bidding to build the $600-million Fraser River crossing to link Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge to Langley have until the end of the month to submit proposals.

The Greater Vancouver Transportation Authority (TransLink) will announce the successful bid in November, says media official Debbie Cox.

“The consortia are combinations of international and local companies,” she said.

The new six-lane toll bridge is expected to open in 2007 and will ease congestion on the overtaxed Port Mann Bridge, where commuters experience major delays during rush-hour periods.

The new bridge will cross the Fraser following the alignment of 200th Street in Langley and will land near the boundary of Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.

TransLink chair and Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum said the short list of companies vying to build the bridge was of “high quality.”

“We’re confident that the three short-listed teams have the financial capacity and the best technical capability to proceed to the request-for-proposals phase of the selection process,” said McCallum.

The successful bidder will design, build, operate, maintain and rehabilitate the crossing for a period of 20 years.

TransLink has decided that tolls on vehicles — cars could be charged between $2.50 to $3 — will be used to recover operating and capital costs for the new bridge.

The following is a list of the consortiums:

FRASER RIVER VALLEY CONSTRUCTORS:

This consortium is led by Peter Kiewit and Sons of Nebraska., Tidewater Shanska Inc., of Virginia, HBG Flatiron Inc. of Colorado and the Canadian company, Miller Paving Ltd.

Kiewit is a large North America construction company with a Canadian division. Kiewit built the parallel runway at Vancouver International Airport and is currently building part of the Benicia Bridge in California.

Tidewater and HBG Flatiron are currently involved in building a $650-million bridge in South Carolina. Flatiron did the Port Mann Bridge widening and a $890 million toll road in California.

Other companies involved in this bid are:

– Hatch Mott MacDonald Ltd.

– ND Lea Consultants Ltd.

– ECL Envirowest Consultants Ltd.

– UMA Group Ltd.

– Thurber Engineering Ltd.

– DMD and Associates Ltd.

– Catherine Barris Associates Ltd.

– JJM Construction Ltd.

– Cornerstone Planning Group.

GATEWAY CONSTRUCTORS:

This bid is led by the German company Bilfinger Berger, one of the world’s largest design and construction companies which built the $1.2-billion Taiwan high speed rail system and a subsidiary, Fru-Con Construction Corporation, a St. Louis-based construction company.

Other companies involved in this bid are:

– AMEC Engineering of Florida.

– Capilano Highway Services

– Buckland and Taylor

– Columbia Bitulithic Ltd.

– Bel Construction

– Imperial Paving Ltd.

– Jack Cewe Ltd.

– McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd.

– Trow Consulting Engineers Ltd.

RIVERLINK:

This consortium is led by Fluor Canada Ltd. and Egis Projects of France.

Fluor Construction, a California company, is one of the world’s largest publicly owned construction companies that built the $1.3-billion Highway 130 in Texas.

Egis is currently working on 600 projects world-wide including the Melbourne City link, a 25 kilometre urban tollway.

Other companies involved in this bid are:

– Klohn Crippen Consultants Ltd.

– R.F. Binnie and Associates Ltd.

– Urban Systems Ltd.

– CWMM Consulting Engineers Ltd.

– BA Blacktop Ltd.

– Mainroad Contracting Ltd.

– Levelton Engineering Ltd.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

The European chafer beetle arrived somewhere around 2001; now the tan-coloured bug may prove unstoppable

Steve Whysall
Sun

A devastating beetle infestation sweeping the Lower Mainland is expected to destroy thousands of lawns and ruin large grass areas at parks and golf courses unless an environmentally acceptable method is quickly found to stop the invasion.

The European chafer beetle (Rhizotrogus majalis) first surfaced in New Westminster a couple of years ago. Since then, it has spread to Burnaby, where it is currently killing lawns throughout the South Slope area. So far, there are no reported outbreaks in Vancouver.

Experts predict this could spell the end of the perfectly manicured garden lawn in countless neighbourhoods. Homeowners anxious to preserve their pristine lawns are being told the only workable solution at the moment is to be willing to put in much more time de-bugging, watering and fertilizing and repairing damaged grass.

Many homeowners are noticing the problem for the first time this month as they step outside to find large areas of lawn torn up by raccoons, skunks and crows in search of chafer grubs. Lawns are left overturned as if they had been severely power raked.

The tough-shelled beetle is virtually indestructible and especially difficult to eradicate once it gets into an established cycle of reproduction.

Solutions being suggested include the replacement of lawns with hard landscaping such as brick, slate or hardy groundcovers such as kinnikinnick (Arctostaphylos.)

Homeowners desperate to keep their beautiful lawns are being told that if increased maintenance does not work, the only other option is to use pesticides to kill the beetles in their developmental stage.

However, this solution flies in the face of the current trend and popular wisdom to shun the use of pesticides, excessive use of chemical fertilizers, and to save water by allowing lawns to go brown and dormant during the hot summer months.

The chafer beetle has been a problem in eastern North America for many years, but it was first identified as a new insect to B.C. in 2001.

Measuring half an inch long, the adult beetle is tan coloured and resembles a smaller version of the familiar June beetle. The chafer completes its life cycle in one year.

In June and July, it can been seen flying up from the ground into high trees or other vertical objects such as chimneys and telephone poles where it mates before diving back to the ground, preferring lawn areas, to lay its eggs. During the fall and winter, the grubs feed voraciously on the fibrous roots of grass. The problem for homeowners becomes more obvious in spring and early fall, when the grubs come closer to the surface of the ground, making them a tasty morsel for birds, raccoons and skunks.

In spring, the seriousness of the problem is often masked by rain which keeps the grass moist and the damage less noticeable.

When warmer, drier weather arrives in late spring, lawns quickly show the extent of the root damage, with large areas of grass turning into dead, brown patches, especially undesirable in a park or on a golf course.

In July, the adult beetles are frequently mistaken for bees as they fly around in swarms and feed at dusk on the leaves of deciduous trees. Some homeowners have noticed the frenzied beetles crashing against windows. Fortunately, they seldom cause any significant damage.

One way to check if you suspect that your lawn has been infected is to cut a piece of a 12-inch square of turf and fold it back to a depth of two inches. If you find more than 20 grubs, you have a serious infestation.

There are no reliable biological controls. Experiments have been conducted with nematodes — organisms comprising thousands of microscopic worms that infect the beetle like a bacteria — but this method of control has so far proven to be expensive and the results have been unpredictable.

Sophie Dessureault, integrated pest management coordinator with the Vancouver park board, is more optimistic about the effectiveness of nematodes.

“We did some tests last year and the results were very encouraging. We have to do more experiments to see if this is the way to go,” she says.

Insecticides such as diazonon and carbaryl (Sevin) have been found to be effective if applied at precisely the right time in late July or early August after the beetles have laid their eggs to complete their life cycle.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

Sun

The Cannery Seafood House is hoping this year’s boating season will bring in new customers to its new boat dock.

“It was put in a bit too late for last year, but we’re expecting it to do very well this year,” said Steve Bickerdike, director of sales and marketing.

The restaurant spent about $60,000 on the 60-foot-long dock designed to berth the class of vessels now being used for tours of English Bay and Burrard Inlet as well as large yachts and runabouts.

“These tour vessels can carry about 100 passengers. Now that we have the dock we can offer tour companies an exciting destination where they can stop over for lunch or dinner during a cruise,” he said.

Bickerdike said the company added the dock after market research showed tour companies would welcome such a facility.

“We’d been planning to do it for years, but it always ended up on the back burner,” he said.

Private vessels are welcome to use the dock, but Bickerdike said operators should call ahead to check if the space has been scheduled for a tour group.

He said the company was hoping to attract at least 20 large tour groups a season.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

Too often, the sense of security is false

Gerry Bellett
Sun

All the doors and windows are electronically alarmed and monitored, the motion detector’s red eye would blink at the drop of a hair and the smoke detectors won’t let toast burn without complaint.

The question is: with all the gadgetry and gizmos of the home security system, are you safe from burglary or the awful consequences of fire?

The answer is a resounding no, according to local security experts.

And that might come as an unpleasant surprise as more homeowners than ever are turning to monitored alarm systems for security and peace of mind.

Last March a Surrey couple fitted their home with an alarm system.

On November 5, while the husband was away on business, a fire broke out early in the morning.

By the time the alarm went off and Surrey firefighters were called, the house was engulfed in flames and the man’s wife died.

It made the news.

But what didn’t was the fact that after he moved to other premises, thieves broke in over Christmas and stole valuables including his wedding ring.

He had another alarm system installed but it malfunctioned and the installing company wouldn’t come and fix it because it was New Year’s Day.

While the system was down he was robbed again.

Alarm fatigue caused by false alarms and the reluctance of some police forces to respond to unsubstantiated calls renders the average system “virtually useless” in preventing burglaries, according to Michael Jagger, founder of Provident Security, probably the fastest growing security company in the city.

“The fundamental problem with most security alarm systems is that once the alarm goes off the response is typically non-existent,” said Jagger.

“Ninety-nine per cent of all alarms are false. In Vancouver the police will not even accept a phone call from an alarm company until a verification call has been made by the company to the client to ensure there is a problem,” he said.

And monitoring companies — often located outside the province — cannot call 911 to report an emergency but have to phone the non-emergency number before being switched through to dispatch, further delaying the response.

Such intrinsic delays benefit only thieves, who exploit the flaws in the verification-first process.

“Thieves aren’t bothered by an alarm system. They’re quite scientific in how they approach it. If they trip the alarm, the next thing they hear is the phone ringing and that’s the security company making a verification call, so they know no one’s been dispatched yet and they’ve got enough time to rob you before there’s a response,” said Jagger.

His company has astutely positioned itself to disrupt the comfort zone that false-alarm syndrome has handed criminals.

Provident, which controls its own monitoring system, guarantees to have a security guard at a client’s home or business within five minutes of an alarm’s being tripped.

“With us there’s no such thing as a false alarm. The only way to prevent our showing up is for a client to call us off,” said Jagger.

“We don’t do verification calls. We respond to everything.”

Jagger counsels residents against keeping their most precious belongings in the bedroom — the first target of burglars.

“If you put your valuables somewhere else these guys won’t have the time to find them before we arrive,” he said.

Strengthening doors, installing alarms, putting in video surveillance cameras are all useful and Jagger’s company does this but “you can spend $1 million protecting your home and still someone will still break in,” he said.

“If they’ve got time to think about it they’ll find a way. The best thing is to detect them while they are making an attempt and respond immediately,” he said.

The no-false-alarm and five-minute response strategy has won the company 3,500 residential and corporate clients including the Kerrisdale Business Association, the South Granville Business Association, Gordon Campbell’s constituency office, the Four Seasons Hotel, QLT Inc., and Angiotech Pharmaceuticals.

John Leyburn, who runs the Surrey company RobberStoppers, is as busy as Jagger thanks to an onslaught of robberies against businesses and homes that have reached such proportions that the Insurance Bureau of Canada now says they are having a measurable effect on the economy.

“People who rely on their alarm have a false sense of security. Some B.C. police departments won’t respond to home alarms unless they are accompanied by a 911 call, which leads you to wonder what people are paying for,” said Leyburn.

“Alarms don’t deter crime. They have their place and if you’re at home they will alert you to trouble. But it can take anywhere from eight to 24 minutes for the police to show up and yet the average burglary takes only three to five minutes to complete,” he said.

“What you have to do is keep thieves out. Make it so hard for them they’ll go somewhere else,” he said.

Leyburn’s company specializes in hardening commercial and residential properties against burglaries by making it physically difficult to gain access.

This has resulted in some companies taking the kinds of measure developed by the U.S. to protect its embassies in the Middle East.

In January alone Leyburn installed 93 anti-ramming barriers — 6.5-inch diameter iron pipes embedded in concrete and sticking up 40 inches — outside 16 Lower Mainland businesses that have suffered from thieves ramming stolen cars through the front doors or windows of their premises.

“Thieves are becoming very brazen. They’re not stopping at prying open doors any more. They’re stealing vehicles and driving right through. Stores have made it harder for them to get in so they’ve upped the stakes,” said Leyburn.

This latest trend in smash and grab is inflicting horrendous losses on small businesses in damage and stolen property — often compromising their ability to insure their premises — not to mention the costs to insurers and the owners of stolen cars.

“I don’t know if you could call it an epidemic but Langley alone has had 18 of these robberies so far this month,” said Leyburn.

“And they’ve been happening in Newton and other areas of Surrey too,” he said.

“Normally you’d expect to see one a week in the whole of the Lower Mainland,” said Leyburn in an interview Jan. 29.

Less than a day after the interview, thieves rammed a stolen car through the front of the Rogers Video Store on 64th Avenue and Scott Road.

It’s a tactic being used against video stores, sporting goods stores, electronic or computer equipment stores, stores that sell video games or cellular phones. Even restaurants haven’t escaped.

Leyburn can rattle of the names of some the latest victims: “Mad Dog Sports, Riverside Golf, Blockbuster Video, Rogers Video, Willow Video. Great Clips, Smart Cell, Fraser Valley Wireless, Toy Traders, New China Kitchen . . . .”

“In the New China Kitchen they were after booze,” he said.

Some customers such as Madison Properties, which controls the Langley Mall, wanted something less stark than a grim line of iron in front of their stores and have asked Leyburn to design barriers shaped liked an “M” to match their logo.

“It’ll still do the job,” he said.

At one time store owners would place concrete barriers in front of their premises in the hopes of dissuading a ramming but an SUV driven hard enough either pushes them aside or rides along with the vehicle to breach the door.

RobberStoppers has retrofitted the front doors of some Surrey schools with “lexan,” a form of plastic that can’t be broken with an ax, to keep out thieves who would smash out the glass and ignore the alarms while they stole equipment.

“We’ve helped thousands of different customers, everything from people with garden sheds to the Federal government,” he said.

Financial institutions that have lost computer equipment now have their computers enclosed in a steel cage anchored to the floor. Steel shutters and steel screens are not uncommon in business, he said.

“When I’m called out I’ll go and listen to their story and sympathize when they tell me the alarm system didn’t work they way they expected and the police didn’t show up in time and I’ll say ‘just look at your building; if you were going to break in how would you do it?’

“They see there’s no anti-pry bar on the door and the windows can be easily broken. The fact is there’s thousands of places left unsecured. all containing something worth stealing,” said Leyburn.

© The Vancouver Sun 2004

Petcetera founder’s $22.5-million heritage theme park opens June 1

Yvonne Zacharias
Sun

What is not a museum, not live theatre and not strictly a tourist trap but a little bit of all three? It’s a Storyeum, under construction in Gastown as we speak and getting ready to open June 1.

It takes the dry stuff of textbooks and lectures, adds a dash of Disney, then invites the public to line up and fork over around $20 apiece (around $15 for kids) to be entertained a little and shown jazzed-up schoolhouse lessons out of school.

Located underground between Cordova and Water streets, the place will be the equivalent of six hockey rinks in size. You enter via an elevator that resembles a deep well. Once underground, tourgoers will be walked through the chapters in B.C. history, starting with a creation story focusing on the province’s natural resources and the arrival of people on mother Earth. Then onward through a temperate rain forest, a longhouse and so on.

It’s all done with more than 100 performers doing the storytelling and plenty of special effects. Such good ones, claims Graeme Drew, vice-president of marketing and communications for the outfit building it, Historical Xperiences, that at one point you will feel the wind in your hair like you are on a tall ship on the ocean.

The new kid on the Gastown block aims to tap the “soft historian” — not the nerdy guy who signs up for a PhD in medieval studies, but the type who wants to know a little more about the past without suffering too much to learn it. It also taps a powerful craving by baby boomers to travel and see neat things.

Unlike a regular museum where you roam at will, takers will be waltzed through a tightly choreographed 80-minute show. In tourism industry parlance, it’s called “pulsing” the groups. Drew says the project has the capacity to “pulse” through 199 people every 15 minutes. After all that pulsing, there will be a themed restaurant and gift shop for de-pulsing at the exit on Cordova Street.

It promises to be an adventure from entrepreneurial perspective, too; private investors came up with the $22.5 million needed to float the heritage-themed dream. About half of that is coming from some 700 people who have bought debentures in a trust with a guarantee of a 10-per-cent annual return. The higher the ticket sales, the greater the return, giving this army of small-fry investors a powerful incentive to go out and sell the place.

Some people hawk shoes and soap for a profit. In the same way, the small fry and some pretty big fish who put together Historical Xperiences are hoping to make big bucks selling history and tourism.

They come under the protective wing of the City of Vancouver, which will lease space to the principals as part of a $35-million city project involving the reconstruction of two parkades fronted by three levels of office space.

Naturally, Storyeum had to start with a brainy idea and the bucks to back it.

Enter Danny Guillaume, a Saskatchewan farm boy who became founder and a former owner of Petcetera, the big-box store for pets.

After getting out of the pet-supply business, he settled on the idea of selling history as entertainment and chose his hometown of Moose Jaw, Sask. as the testing ground for his new theory.

In the summer of 2000, Guillaume’s Tunnels of Moose Jaw opened, playing up the antics of gangsters like Al Capone who used the tunnels for their escapades. According to Drew, the attraction has been a rip-roaring success. In little old Moose Jaw, pop. 35,000, it sold more than 100,000 tickets in one year and remains popular.

It has turned a moribund downtown core in a decaying prairie city into a happening place. No one believed this was possible.

With Vancouver being 40 times the size of the prairie city, Drew estimates Storyeum can easily meet its target of 800,000 in the first year and one million by year three. He figures it can also revitalize the country’s poorest neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside.

Research shows tourists tend to hit four attractions when they visit a city. In Vancouver, in order of preference, those are Grouse Mountain (1.1 million visitors annually), the aquarium (one million) and the Capilano Suspension Bridge (850,000). Science World is currently the fourth. The partners hope Storyeum can make it into the top-four list.

Seattle was in the running for the project but Guillaume decided to settle on Vancouver where he now lives.

He was not around to be interviewed for this story. He had to dash off to Moose Jaw to bail out his beloved tunnels after they were doused by firefighters when a major fire struck the city early in the new year.

But Drew, who is a close friend to Guillaume, said his business partner wanted to make a difference when he sold Petcetera and to achieve some non-economic goals. Both partners are passionate about history, believing that much of it will be lost unless bold steps are taken to preserve it.

To come up with the script, Historical Xperiences has held coffee clubs with historians, got its hands on dozens of history books and got First Nations people seriously involved. It now has its third team of script writers working on the final touches.

Jon Stovell, president of the Gastown Business Improvement Society, said the project represents the largest investment in Gastown in many years.

“Of course, we’re very supportive,” said Stovell, adding he believes the project won’t just appeal to tourists but to school kids and locals as well.

He said Guillaume has a proven track record.

Of Storyeum, Drew said, “It’s a case of simple but powerful storytelling.”

© Copyright  2004 Vancouver Sun

Jim Jamieson
Province

As British Columbians greeted the new year, they also entered a new era of tighter privacy protection.

It’s a mixed blessing for B.C. businesses and non-profit organizations, though. They now must abide by elevated standards for how they deal with personal information they have collected from customers and members.

Most agree that increased security standards will boost consumer confidence in online commerce, in particular, but will be a challenge to smaller firms.

Bradley Freedman, a partner at Vancouver law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP and an expert in intellectual property and technology law, says the B.C. legislation’s enforcement mechanisms have more teeth than its federal counterpart. B.C. Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis can conduct his own investigations, hold hearings, subpoena documents and witnesses, can make binding findings and can enforce orders with sanctions, he said.

Bill 38, the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) forces organizations to disclose what they know about their customers’ personal data. It also requires that businesses ask permission when collecting personal information.

The act applies to organizations and individuals who collect personal information, except data collected for non-commercial uses.

For some organizations, it will be an easy transition into more stringent guidelines around privacy protection. For others, there will be some strain — and expense.

“We feel we are in a good position to be in compliance,” said Tim Southam of Vancouver-based Mountain Equipment Co-op, which has about two million members. The names, addresses and phone numbers of those members reside in MEC’s huge database.

As well, the co-op runs a thriving online business that has grown to about five per cent of the company’s $167-million annual

revenue.

“It’s not so much developing a new program as refining our existing procedures around protecting personal information,” said Southam. “We do not sell, rent or lend our membership list to anyone . . . But this involves revisions to existing forms, taking steps that personal information is safeguarded.”

PIPA takes the place of the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, which has been phasing in for several years.

As of Jan. 1, any province that did not enacted its own privacy legislation must abide by the federal act. B.C. and Alberta were the only provinces to opt for their own acts, while Quebec already had its own legislation.

Organizations that operate inter-provincially are subject to the federal legislation.

Freedman said that at its core the legislation ensures there is consent to use of personal

information.

“That’s information about an identifiable individual — for example, name, telephone number, social insurance number, bank account number,” said Freedman.

“If it’s aggregated [group], information, it’s no longer personal information and not subject to these laws. Contact information at a place of business, a business e-mail address, for example, is not considered personal information.”

The legislation — which is complaint-based — will impact many areas of business.

Employers won’t be able to outsource payroll services without the consent of employees; publishers won’t be able to sell subscribers lists; direct marketers can’t contact a consumer to hawk a product other than which has been previously purchased, unless there is consent. Retailers even have a new obligation to obscure credit card numbers on sales receipts.

B.C. Minister of Management Services Sandy Santori said the goal of the provincial legislation was to have a less complex alternative to the federal act and law that is administered in B.C.

“We felt having it under the auspices of our commissioner would be beneficial,” he said.

Complying with the legislation will clearly be more onerous on small businesses.

“We have had someone who’s on staff here who’s been working on our privacy complaince program virtually full time for two or three months now,” said Southam. “Having those kinds of resources in a small company is unlikely.”

Bill Cotter, a Vancouver-based private investigator and security consultant, said the added cost of getting up to speed with the act will eventually be borne by the consumer.

“People will say: ‘I’ve given you this information — what have you done with it?’ he said. “This is going to take time and cost money. These costs always get passed along to the consumer.”

Other obligations include maintaining the security of the information, which can range from providing a locked room to encrypting hard drives, and being liable for outsourced data.

As well, there is no grandathering of the obligations.

If an organization has a large database used for marketing, and that information was collected before (without consent), it can’t use that information unless there is consent.

© Copyright  2004 The Province

 

Eric Akis
Sun

Buckets of Champagne will spill into glasses and recipes tonight in celebration of the New Year to come. When recently sipping a glass of Canadian icewine, I wondered if this sublime nectar could ever fill this role.

For some years, icewine has been offered to close a meal in the grandest style. It is often paired with the finest desserts or incorporated into them.

But what about serving icewine before the meal, during the meal, or even in the meal?

A colleague told me she loves the flavour of icewine, but after a rich meal, usually with a glass or two of fabulous dinner wine, her palate is often too tired to appreciate the splendid, almost overpowering taste of icewine.

When considering the possibilities, I looked to another French wine with some similar qualities — Sauternes. For gourmands, this luscious, sweet, golden wine is best enjoyed early on with a food of equal flavour intensity: foie gras.

In the handy guide for wine novices, Clueless about Wine by Richard Kitowski and Jocelyn Klemm (Key Porter), the authors note the rich syrupy texture of Sauternes complements the rich, silken fatness of the goose liver; the sweetness of the wine contrasts with the liver’s savoury flavour.

With Quebec being home to some of the best of foie gras around, it seemed only natural to me that Canadian icewine would be the perfect accompaniment. However, I don’t recall ever seeing it served in a high-end restaurant.

“It should be the classic Canadian interpretation, but few chefs prepare it,” says Vancouver Sun wine columnist Anthony Gismondi.

I decided to give it go. To simplify things, instead of sautéing slices of foie gras, I bought some ready to eat goose liver paté, placing thin slices on lightly toasted rounds of baguette. I took one bite of this elegant canapé, and then a sip of icewine. Excuse my language, but “culinary orgasm” is the only way I can describe the heavenly combination of flavours.

The icewine also worked well with equally rich, but less costly duck liver paté, and my own homemade, buttery, chicken liver paté.

Wilf Krutzmann, owner of The Wine Barrel, a VQA wine store in Victoria, which offers an amazing array of icewines, says camembert also pairs beautifully with the wine.

“The rich and creamy texture of the cheese goes beautifully with the sweet and seductive flavours of the wine. To me, it’s like Stilton and Port — they’re a perfect match,” says Krutzmann.

I took up his suggestion and sipped some icewine while nibbling some Comox camembert, an award-winning version of the cheese made by Natural Pastures Cheese Company in Courtenay. Wow! The two married perfectly, and what made the experience more rewarding was that both the wine and the cheese were produced in B.C.

After establishing that icewine can be successfully paired with savoury foods, I wondered what else I might do with it. Pour it into a cocktail? Perhaps add a dash to a savoury dish? But at around $50 for a 375 mL bottle, why would I do that? For the same reason we add other pricey liquids such as cognac, Grand Marnier, truffle oil or pure vanilla — it’s for the intense, unique and splendiferous tastes even just a drop can provide.

This proved very true with a drink my wife and I enjoyed at the Bengal Lounge in The Empress. It was called an Icetini; a well-chilled combination of Riesling icewine, calvados and white grape juice. The divine flavours of the icewine made this cocktail linger lusciously on the palate long after the final sip was taken.

Several savoury dishes call for a splash of something sweet. Usually, when I prepare cedar plank salmon, I flavour the fish with a little maple syrup. Why not try the more complex taste of icewine? When blended with sea salt, the tart flavour of lemon, the licorice taste of tarragon and spiciness of black pepper, it proved to be one of the most delicious decisions I’ve ever made.

I’ve included the recipe for the fish, and for a few other dishes designed for celebrations.

In the New Year, I plan to explore more of the fine foods and wines of Canada. Discovering new ways to pair and use icewine has deliciously provided the motivation to taste and celebrate what this country has to offer.

FOIE GRAS PATE CANAPES

The rich and luxurious taste of the foie gras (goose liver) matches beautifully with the sweet and seductive taste of icewine.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Makes: 8 canapés, 4 servings

8 1/4-inch slices goose liver paté (about 120 grams or 4 oz)

8 thin rounds baguette, lightly toasted

8 red grape slices, each cut into a diamond shape

8 green grape slices, each cut into a diamond shape

Set a slice of foie gras pate on each toast round. Decorate centre with a diamond shaped red and green grape slice. Serve immediately.

Note: To toast baguette rounds. Bake on a non-stick baking sheet in 350 F oven for 8-10 minutes. Cool to room temperature before using.

FAIRMONT EMPRESS ICETINI

My wife and I enjoyed this divine cocktail at the Bengal Lounge. Luckily the Hotel was willing to share the recipe. It serves one.

In martini shaker, pour over ice:

1 1/2 oz Riesling icewine

1/2 oz Calvados

2 oz white grape juice

Shake vigorously and strain into martini glass. Garnish with frozen grape.

ICEWINE CURED CEDAR PLANK SALMON

Cedar plank salmon is usually done of the barbecue. To simplify the process, and to keep you out of the wind and rain, this version is done in the oven.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Makes: 4 portions

4 5-6-oz salmon fillets

1 1/2 oz Pinot Blanc icewine

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp dried tarragon

2 tsp coarse sea salt

2 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper

Submerge an untreated cedar plank in cold water for at least an hour. Place the salmon in a dish just large enough to hold it in a single layer. Combine the icewine, lemon juice and tarragon in a bowl. Spoon the mixture over the salmon. Turn the salmon to coat on all sides. Season the salmon with salt and pepper on both sides. Marinate in the refrigerator 20 minutes. Turn the salmon over and marinate 20 minutes more. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Remove the plank from water and, with a paper towel, pat the smooth side dry. Remove the salmon from the marinade and set on the plank. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until just cooked through.

Note: Untreated cedar planks are sold at most supermarkets.

ICEWINE SABAYON

This rich, warm dessert will bring a light and dreamy end to dinner.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Makes: 4 servings

4 large egg yolks, at room temperature

1/3 cup icewine

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp grated orange zest

– wafer cookies or lady fingers, and fresh fruit slices for dipping

Place the egg yolks, icewine, sugar and orange zest in a medium-sized heatproof bowl. Beat with a thin wire whisk or electric mixer until very light and foamy. Place the bowl over, not in, simmering water. Continue beating until the mixture greatly increases in volume, becomes almost as thick as whipped cream, and begins to feel warm. It should not feel hot. You may need to remove it from the heat occasionally to reach the correct thickness and temperature. Do not overcook it or you will curdle the eggs. Divide and spoon the sabayon into decorative glasses and set on a dessert plate. Garnish and surround glass with cookies and fruit for dipping. Serve immediately.

Eric Akis’s columns appear in the Victoria times-Colonist’s Life Section Wednesdays and Sundays. The author of the best-selling Everyone Can Cook (Whitecap Books) can be reached at [email protected]

© Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun

Criminals with lots of cash use various ways to make it look legitimate

Neal Hall
Sun

Money laundering occurs when criminals turn cash made from illegal activities into “clean” money through what appear to be legitimate business enterprises.

The issue arose this week when RCMP announced that a 20-month investigation into marijuana trafficking and cocaine importing led to police executing search warrants at various locations, including the legislature offices of two non-elected staff members.

“I can say that in general, the spread of organized crime just in the past two years has been like a cancer on the social and economic well-being of all British Columbians,” RCMP Sergeant John Ward said.

“Today, the value of the illegal marijuana trade alone is estimated to be worth in excess of $6 billion. We are seeing major increases in organized crime-related murders, beatings, extortion, money laundering, and other activity which touches many innocent lives.”

Drug trafficking generates huge amounts of cash for organized crime, which “launders” illegal profits to avoid prosecution, increase wealth and evade taxes, according to an RCMP report on money laundering.

“The principal objective of money laundering is to convert cash to some other form of asset, to conceal the illegal source or origin of cash income,” says the report by the RCMP proceeds of crime branch.

“Criminals eventually use these funds, ascribed to a ‘legitimate’ source, which then cover the tracks of the illegitimate business that generated the cash in the first place.”

Police say the amount of laundered money in Canada‘s financial system is staggering.

“Drug trafficking alone generates billions of illegal dollars for criminal organizations every year,” the report said. “Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact amount, it is clear that the problem is vast.”

The report says money laundering has devastating social consequences, in that illegally gained funds provide financial support for drug dealers, terrorists, arms dealers and other criminals to operate and expand their criminal empires.

According to the report, money laundering methods include:

– Smurfing. Probably the most commonly used method, it involves many individuals who deposit cash or buy bank drafts in amounts under $10,000. This method is common to both Canada and the U.S. Deposits of more than $10,000 have to be reported by banks.

– Bank complicity. A co-opted bank employee facilitates illegal money laundering.

– Currency exchanges. They provide a service that permits buying foreign currency that can be transported out of the country. Money can also be wired to offshore bank accounts.

– Securities brokers. A stock broker can take large wads of cash and issue securities in exchange.

– Asset purchases with bulk cash. Money launderers purchase such big-ticket items as cars, boats, planes or real estate. In many cases, launderers may use the asset but will distance themselves by having assets registered in the name of a friend or trusted associate.

– Electronic transfer of funds. Wiring money from one city or country to another. This can be done using “dummy” companies set up for money laundering.

– Postal money orders. Cash is exchanged for money orders, which are then shipped out of the country for deposit.

– Credit cards. Criminals often overpay credit cards and keep a high credit balance that can be turned into cash at any time and place.

– Gambling in casinos. Cash can be taken to a casino to purchase chips. After gambling, chips can be redeemed at the cashier’s cage, where a casino cheque is issued.

– Refining. Individuals change small bills into large ones by visiting a number of banks so as not to arouse suspicion. The purpose of refining is to decrease the bulk of larger cash quantities. Drug deals, for example, often involve large amounts of $20 bills.

– Legitimate business/commingling of funds. Criminals take over or invest in businesses such as restaurants, hotels, nightclubs or vending machines that handle a high cash volume, thereby mixing illicit proceeds with legitimate business.

– Reverse flip. A money launderer may find a cooperative property seller who agrees to a reported purchase price well below the actual value and then accepts the difference “under the table.” The launderer can, for example, purchase a $2 million property for $1 million and, after holding the property for some time, sell it for its true value of $2 million.

– Loanback. A criminal provides an associate with a specific amount of illegitimate money. The associate then provides a “loan or mortgage” back to the trafficker for the same amount with all the necessary “loan and/or mortgage” documentation. This creates an illusion that the trafficker’s funds are legitimate. The scheme is reinforced through “legitimately” scheduled payments made on the loan by the traffickers.

The RCMP says it has had considerable success in attacking the assets of criminals through proceeds of crime legislation.

One five-year B.C. project that concluded in 1997 resulted in more than $17 million in assets being seized by police and eventually forfeited, including: an ocean-going freighter, eight luxury homes worth $1 million to $2 million each, six tugboats, $800,000 in lottery tickets and $1 million in cash, jewellery and other valuables.

© Copyright  2003 Vancouver Sun