Author: Jamie Williams

Michael Bowring wore a plain shirt, slacks and a straw hat as he sat on a bench in front of Britannia Community Centre.  His hat shaded his eyes from the bright Saturday afternoon sun as he rolled a cigarette and put it between his lips for a puff.

“We don’t live in a democracy,” the 60 year-old man said.  “The Olympic committee is a private corporation, and governments and corporations are intertwined like the State and the Church.”

Talk to a Vancouverite about the Olympics and you are sure to get a reaction.  Talk to someone about the Olympics who lives on Commercial Drive and you are sure to get an opinion.  And asking whether the $320,000 the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games pumped into the Britannia ice rink was a good thing or not definitely elicits an opinion.

The Britannia ice rink is one of the dozens of buildings that make up the well-used, well-respected Britannia Community Centre complex.  The rink resides on the northern end of Commercial Drive in Mount Pleasant, an area, according to Statistic Canada, where over one of three households are low-income.

Inside the rink, dozens of children of all ages prepared to hit the ice, their legs stretched out as they tugged on the laces of their rented skates.  Above, photos of the professional ice hockey teams that came to practice here during the Olympics proudly hung, taped against pillars in front of the canteen.  The photos showed national heroes like Jerome Iginla, Henrik Sedin, and players from other teams, resting on their sticks, shooting, laughing – all in this very rink.

“I might be biased but the kids got new equipment, got to watch teams like Sweden and Canada, and we got new boards, new glass and new lights and money for new programs,” said James Smith, 21, community centre staff, hockey coach and lifetime resident of the area.

Just as a referee’s whistle signals for the game to start, Shania Twain suddenly boomed from the speakers above and echoed throughout the frosty rink.  Dozens of skaters moved onto the ice – 37 people to be exact.  27 others, remained on the benches.  Although not the “200 a day” the rink often gets, considering the nice weather today, Smith said the turn out was pretty good.

Meanwhile, back outside, Bowring continued to sit on his bench.  “With the Olympics we got a new ice rink, but is that what we needed?  Or does it make more sense to address the issue of children living in poverty in the area?”

Budget cuts, language differences, and poverty are at the heart of why children from Vancouver’s oldest residential neighbourhood have been found to face the most challenges to receiving a successful education.

According to a report published in the Sept. 22 edition of The Vancouver Sun, children of the Strathcona neighbourhood have the highest percentage of “developmental deficiencies expected to impair their early learning and possibly their entire learning experience.”  The report, conducted by the University of B.C.’s Human Early Learning Partnership (HELP), stated that 58.5 per cent of Strathcona children face developmental deficiencies that range from communication to health challenges.

The same day the newspaper published the article, one of Strathcona Community Centre’s child support workers sat on a bench outside of the centre, watching over dozens of children dash after one another around the playground, dangle from monkey bars and push one another on swings.

The centre is physically connected to Vancouver’s oldest elementary school, Lord Strathcona, a big red brick building located just outside of Chinatown.  A total of 55 children from the ages of one to five, including Lord Strathcona kindergarten students, make up the community centre’s daycare program.  According to Julie Brassard, the program’s coordinator of six years, this number had been going up until this year when the centre had to double the program fees from $120 to $225 due to provincial budget cuts.  Something that only magnified the problems the children in the area face.

“There are language issues for sure,” said Brassard.  Strathcona is one of Vancouver’s most culturally diverse neighbourhoods, with over 29 cultural groups living in the area, the main ones being Chinese, Japanese, Italian and Jewish.  But poverty is also a major issue.  Even with a breakfast program which serves 150 families, “kids come up to the kitchen asking for food because they are still hungry,” said Brassard.

“How can you do well in school if you don’t eat every night and roam from home to home?” said Deborah Carter, as she leaned against a railing, watching her five year-old daughter play with the other kids outside the centre.  Carter also said Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) as well as other hyperactive disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) make it harder for children in the area to develop the means to learn properly.

“I hate to put it on money and resources, but I think the needs are known and if the resources were there we could work toward meeting the needs,” said Brassard.

The smiles of the children who gathered in the playground in front of the non-profit Strathcona Community Dental Clinic reveal the state of the province’s deteriorating dental coverage for low-income families and families on welfare: there are often gaps where teeth should be or shaved-away pointed spikes where you would expect a rectangular toothy grin.

“20-30 years ago, provinces had dental coverage for people 18 years and under.  In the 70s there was a dental plan that covered students.  In Quebec, children under nine years old are covered. But in B.C. you need a university student plan, a government plan, a plan through work,” said Stephen Leary, the Executive Director of Strathcona Health Society who works at the dental clinic.  Now, the only thing enabling the children of low-income families (families that earn $29,000 dollars or less each year) and families on welfare is The healthy Kids Program, which also has been cut back with Gordon Campbell’s 2010 budget.

Among other various amendments, the 2010 budget cut back the program’s previously-covered, twice-a-year check-up to once-a-year, as well as put a limit on what services dentists can perform that are considered insured, such as the number of x-rays a dentist can take. This may not seem like much, but when you include cutbacks on school supplies, unpaid-for school trips and lunches, HST and the Air Care in BC which targets cars with poor emission-ratings, “low-income families are taking the hit on so many fronts, the burden builds up so high that dental is the last thing on the list to pay for,” said Leary.

A painted mural of cartoon characters with smiling teeth, colorful fruits and healthy vegetables greets you upon entrance to the clinic.  A series of plaques listing the donors who help keep the clinic in business hang on the wall of the waiting area.  Pictures of children with tooth decay and neatly lined up pamphlets with reminders of the benefits of proper dental care rest on the front desk.

“The concern is the long term effects of the changes,” said Peter Lam, one of the regular dentists at the clinic who tends to the over 1500 active patients from families with various income levels.  “A lot can happen in one year, between a checkup.  That is what we are worried about.  Preventative care is always better than treatment.”

A ten year-old boy, who preferred not to be named, was dropped off by his father for a cleaning.  When asked why he comes to the dentist, he said: “because it makes you look good.”

Do not underestimate the importance of this response, Leary would say.  “It’s a weird thing: you’re whole body is covered [by insurance] but not this mouth of yours and if you cannot prevent that root canal, what employer is going to hire someone with missing teeth in the front of their mouth?”

Dozens of elderly women and men funneled out of a lone stairwell and onto the sidewalk on an overcast and otherwise quiet Saturday afternoon in Vancouver’s Chinatown.  Nearly all in the group held tissues or handkerchiefs to their noses, their words muffled as they spoke to one another.

“It seems the pepper spray got into the vents of the building and forced everyone out,” said Sandra M. Moore, an architect with Birmingham & Wood, who had come with her business partner to have a meeting about proposed renovations of the the Yue Shan Community Centre, the very building the group had funneled out of.  Moore stood out among the commotion, dressed in a grey business suit with briefcase and documents in hand.  When asked if this happens often, Moore smiled and gave a telling nod.

The Yue Shan is a three story building where people in the area – mainly elderly Chinese residents – meet, play mahjong, gamble and relax.  A sign above the entrance reads 370 E. Pender St; one block to the north, a mere two minute walk, runs the most notorious area of East Hastings St., known for some of Vancouver’s worst cases of homelessness, drugs, and prostitution.

Phyon Nguyen, the owner of Mr. Coffee, the cafe directly beside the Yue Shan and part of the actual building itself, provided insight into the incident.  “I know the man who did the spraying.   He is homeless and comes around here often.”  According to Nguyen, the man pepper sprayed the inside of her store out of frustration because she wouldn’t give him any food, which she sometimes does.

Chinatown has “experienced many challenges over the years, including community conflicts, economic hardships, shifting population trends, and the decline of nearby areas,” reads The City of Vancouver’s Chinatown Revitalization Program website.

“Before, there were a lot of homeless here.  “But the police have helped moved them out because of the Olympics,” said Nguyen, who has lived in Chinatown for 10 years.   “But before, I also saw a lot of tourists.  Now not so many.”  Nguyen cited the “negative image” people have of East Hastings Street, among other reasons, as to Chinatown’s economic slump.

Vancouver’s Revitalization program “seeks to preserve Chinatown’s unique heritage while bringing new life into the community.”  And while Nguyen and Moore are advocates of the program, the lingering smell of chemical pepper is a reminder of the complexities involved with an economical revitalization of the area.