Vancouver IAM Daily Blog Report: Bertuzzi with Ducks Against Canucks, "Hapa"ning Vancouver, Campbell Tours Asia

by Inveslogic | November 27, 2007 at 01:32 pm

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This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from VancouverIAM where you will find the best blogs from Vancouver, BC as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Bertuzzi Plays for Ducks Tonight Against Canucks

Over at the Canucks Hockey Blog we get a game day post welcoming Bertuzzi back to GM Place, his first time since being traded to the Anaheim Ducks. “I don't think there's any question that Bert's return will be well-received by the GM Place faithful. Even in his darkest hour, Vancouver fans stood by him.” The blogger writes that no Canuck could dominate and control like Bertuzzi, although he hasn't had much chance to dominate in the past few years. “He's only played three games since coming back from his latest injury but he's got three points (all assists) in them.”

In the post the blogger admits that the Canucks “will have their hands full tonight. Emotions aside, the Ducks are actually on a nice, little roll.” Like the Canucks, the Ducks had a slow start, “but turned it around and are a very good 7-2-2 in November, including a 3-1 record on the road.” The blogger also hopes Roberto Luongo, who shutout the Blackhawks on Sunday, has “forgotten about the last time he faced Anaheim.” At that game in May, Luongo “took his eye off the puck for a split-second and let in a blast… from Rob Niedermayer that eliminated the Canucks from the playoffs.” Perhaps it’s payback time.

Hapa Happening in Vancouver

Gordon Price’s latest post on Price Tags, a blog about sustainable cities, gives us a lesson on “hapa” culture. “In Japanese, “hapa” means leaf. In Hawaiian, half. It also means people of mixed racial ancestry.” Due to Vancouver’s cultural climate, anyone living or working in Vancouver is a part of it. “When a city is roughly half Caucasian and half Asian, within which there’s great diversity, it becomes a different kind of place. This has happened very quickly in the last few decades “by and large without a lot of fuss. When tensions flared, we worked our way through them, thanks to good leadership.” So far, it has meant prosperity, tolerance, and sharing.

In his post, Price cites the specific example of Justin Ault, 37, and his wife, Lea, who are Japanese-Caucasian. The couple opened a restaurant called “Hapa Izakaya” on Robson and another on Yew in Kitsilano. “The staff is young, exuberant… some have come recently from Japan, others are many-generation Canadians.” Price writes about the assimilation inside Hapa Izakaya that is mirrored outside the restaurant. “Students fill the sidewalks, where the huge ESL population mixes with each other and the locals.” Some people wonder if integration will continue or if ethnicities will stick to their own. The blogger reminds us of “the important thing: so far it’s happening with respect,” although “we seem in some ways to be a more polite, perhaps more formal, city than we were.”

Campbell’s Asian Tour Begins

In Public Eye Online, blogger Sean Holman reports that BC Premier Gordon Campbell “will embark on his fourth mission to Asia - making stopoffs in… Shanghai and Guangzhou.” Campbell is on a tour promoting "B.C.'s expertise in green technology and life sciences, as well as opportunities in trade, education and investment." Holman reveals that to China, as per documents posted on BC Bid, some of our "lesser known attributes" include "our cosmpolitan culture, our wealth of business opportunities, our unique geographical positioning and… tourism experiences."

The blogger jokingly asks in his post, “So what are British Columbia's better known attributes then?” According to Holman, the documents cited are an effort to locate a contractor able to “provide administrative support planning services for the B.C. Canada Pavilion at the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games.”

Poverty Statistics Exaggerated?

On his blog about politics in South Vancouver, Walter Schultz accuses the BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition, The Tyee, and Campaign 2000 of exaggerating provincial child poverty rates. BCCYAC states “almost 21 percent of kids in the province [are] living in poverty, … Campaign 2000 set the poverty line at $21,000 for two people living in a city of 500,000 or more, and $32,000 for a family of four.” The blogger points out that what these organizations are really describing is income inequality, not poverty.

The post states that these organizations are using “Stats Canada's low income cut off as the measurement for poverty.” In effect, they are “comparing how people are living relative to other Canadians.” However, Schultz reminds us, the LICO is not a poverty line and Statistics Canada has always emphasized this. In addition, the blogger points out that the BC Government “already increased welfare rates…British Columbia already has the lowest income tax rates in Canada… and since 2001 the B.C. economy has created over new 370,000 jobs and we have the lowest unemployment rate in almost 40 years.” Overstating the problem is a disservice to those most in need, claims Schultz in his post.

About VancouverIAM

VancouverIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit VancouverIAM.com.