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Bob Mackin

Three B.C. Place Stadium workers excluded from workplace inclusivity training sessions have accused the public-owned stadium’s management of discrimination. 

Heavy duty mechanic Salim Kesani, who has worked at the stadium since 2004, complained to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal (HRT) in 2020 after being told he was left out for negative comments about management. Technician Bill Bains and ex-mechanic Shane Hussein also filed complaints over the exclusion.

B.C. Place’s retractable roof (Mackin)

“This is a very toxic environment. It’s so toxic, it’s almost nuclear,” Kesani said.

The jobs of all three were reclassified when management merged two departments, a bureaucratic move that the three men say deprived them of pay raises between $2 and $5 per hour.

No hearing date has been set. Bains, Hussein and Kesani say the B.C. Pavilion Corp. (PavCo)-retained lawyer from the labour relations firm Harris and Co. has slowed down their cases. 

Kesani complained to Premier John Horgan and Labour Minister Harry Bains on May 2, but said he received no response. The ministry communications office said Bains had no comment on the letter, because “human rights issues are handled by the independent Human Rights Tribunal.”

Kesani said working conditions have deteriorated since 2010 when the stadium hosted Winter Olympics ceremonies and temporarily closed for a major renovation and roof replacement.

“If it’s not racism, it must be some other kind of discrimination,” Kesani said. “Maybe they don’t like your face, or maybe they don’t like the way you look. But there is a degree of discrimination, in one way or the other.”

In a January 2022 affidavit about Kesani, B.C. Place human resources and labour relations director Wayne Smith said training held in October and November 2019 for approximately 450 employees covered respect, bullying, harassment, diversity, inclusion and unconscious bias. According to Smith, colour or race had nothing to do with deeming four workers unwelcome.

“The decision not to invite the complainant and the other three employees was due to their demonstrated negativity towards B.C. Place management and their behaviour in previous group meetings,” said Smith’s affidavit.

The affidavit said Smith provided Kesani a copy of the materials used in the training session at a meeting in November 2019. It also made a reference to Kesani apologizing at that meeting to Nick Montpetit, the senior facility operations manager, for calling him a liar at a focus group. But no other incidents were mentioned. In Kesani’s response, he maintains that employees were encouraged to speak freely at the specific meeting about an employee engagement survey. 

Inside B.C. Place Stadium (Mackin)

Smith’s affidavit also claimed two of the four excluded workers are Caucasian. 

However, Bains, Hussein and Kesani are South Asian. 

Bains, a B.C. Place worker since 1984, said in his complaint that the exclusion from inclusivity training made him feel unworthy of learning, development, support and safety. He also had complained about someone using his name in workplace graffiti in order to insult him.

On the pay issue, electricians, plumbers and HVAC employees were reclassified from trades to technicians in late November 2019 when maintenance and engineering and facility operations divisions were merged. The stadium and B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) agreed on five new classifications and wage rates.

“The objective was to build one skilled team with facility operations to work on the preventative maintenance program, including complex and proprietary systems,” said the Smith affidavit. “This team is comprised of the [full-time] conversion specialists and tradespeople. Conversion specialists need to be trained on preventative maintenance, and the tradespeople are responsible for that training.”

Conversion specialists work to change the stadium setup between soccer, football, concert and trade show modes. 

BCGEU spokesperson Erin Sikora said the union would not comment without worker consent. After Selani consented, Sikora said the union could not comment because it was not representing him at the HRT. PavCo CEO Ken Cretney did not respond for comment.

Bains did not seek union help with his human rights complaint, because the BCGEU was involved in the reclassification deal with management. He disputes Smith’s allegations of insubordination and disrespect and has filed multiple grievances over his treatment. 

“They were trying to force me out,” Bains said. 

Hussein worked 15 years at B.C. Place and said he was fired after missing work to care for his ill wife and daughter in January and to work at his other job on SkyTrain. His dispute has gone to arbitration. 

BCGEU workers at the stadium rejected a new contract offer last fall, but reached a new deal in February after mediation. It includes pay increases retroactive to 2020.

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Bob Mackin Three B.C. Place Stadium workers excluded

Bob Mackin

Fingerpointing galore, as long-suffering Canadian soccer fans are caught in the middle of a pay dispute. 

At stake: the present and future of the game almost a year after the women won Olympic gold in Japan and five months before Canadian men play in a World Cup for the first time since 1986.

Canada’s men’s team wins CONCACAF in Panama (CSA)

Negotiations on a new agreement for men’s and women’s teams hit a wall in Vancouver last Friday and led to the cancellation of the June 5 B.C. Place friendly with Panama. Panama was a short-notice stand-in for Iran — an opponent criticized by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau more than two years after Tehran blew up Ukraine Airlines flight 752 and the 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents aboard.

Economics got in the way of the Panama match and could harm the June 9 CONCACAF Nations League meeting in B.C. Place with tiny Curaçao. 

Canada’s men’s team qualified for Qatar 2022 on March 27 and their Sunday statement said CSA waited until June 2 to make an offer, which fell far shy of expectations. 

CSA is in line for at least $10 million from FIFA. The players want 40% of prize money, travel, accommodation and tickets to Qatar for friends and family, pay equity for the women’s team and more ex-players on the board. 

CSA president Nick Bontis dismissed the players’ demands as “untenable.”

At the heart of the dispute is the way the CSA farmed-out sponsorship and broadcast deals to Canadian Soccer Business, the company behind the 2019-launched Canadian Premier League.

“To have any chance of creating substantial, lasting change for all Canada Soccer programs, we need the terms of this agreement to be disclosed and corrected,” said the men’s team statement. “We want to know who signed this deal that has handcuffed our association. Why have Canada Soccer given up autonomy of the greatest opportunity to grow our program in years?”

CSB is a private company, but CSA reported a $5.3 million surplus on 2021 revenue of $33.4 million. During the year, it spent $11.03 million on men’s programs, more than double the women’s programs. Main revenue streams included $18.3 million in commercial and other fees and $4.7 million in government grants. 

FIFA vice-president Victor Montagliani (Mackin)

CSA previously had a marketing deal with IMG Sports Management, but a former president looked south to the U.S. for inspiration. In 2002, Major League Soccer launched Soccer United Marketing, the exclusive marketing partner of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

In 2014, then-CSA president Victor Montagliani got the ball rolling over lunch with Scott Young, the CEO of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. 

The Ti-Cats needed to find a soccer tenant at their new civic-owned stadium. The CSA needed to become relevant.

Canada was the 22nd biggest country by player participation and 11.3 million Canadians watched Germany win the Brazil 2014 final on CBC. But the men’s team was ranked a dismal 122nd and failed to qualify. 

To Montagliani, bureaucracy was holding Canada back. 

“The CSA, in a lot of ways, was an organization that didn’t have a corporate element to it; it was run in a very – and I use this word loosely – non-profit way, in terms of attitude,” Montagliani said in a 2014 interview with BIV. “I’ve been able to bring more of a corporate mentality, corporate structure in the boardroom to how we run things. I’ve done that not in isolation, I’ve done that with the board.”

Two years later, Montagliani became president of CONCACAF and a vice-president of FIFA. In 2018, CSB opened with the goal of serving “the new and burgeoning soccer economy in Canada” and launched the CPL the following spring, including Pacific FC in Victoria suburb Langford. 

Mitchell said he was disappointed by the cancellation but supports the players’ call for transparency from the CSA. 

“We are prepared to be fully transparent about our agreement which has included an unprecedented amount of revenue to Canada Soccer in the past 18 months in the forms of sponsorship and international media dollars,” said the CSB statement.

The controversy comes in a year when Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton and Gymnastics Canada athletes are also demanding transparency and governance change. It also happens less than a month after the U.S. Soccer Federation reached a new deal with players after the 2019 Women’s World Cup champion had sued for equality. The USSF deal runs through 2028 and includes higher appearance fees and royalties from tickets, merchandise and sponsorship.

But it’s also a case of history repeating. 

A month before Canada debuted in the World Cup at Mexico 1986, the players’ lawyer Ron Perrick reached a deal with the CSA that included training camp per diems, $1,500 per game per player, and a percentage of the CSA’s receipts from FIFA. “If the CSA does well, the players will do well,” Perrick said at the time. Friendlies in Vancouver against Wales and Burnaby against England went ahead.

The issue flared up when Canada was aiming for a spot in the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. In May 1993, CSA secretly sold the rights to its Toronto qualifier against Mexico for $100,000 to Karsten von Wersebe. The CSA let the Toronto Blizzard owner keep the profits from the $300,000 gate receipts. 

CSA executive director Kevan Pipe brushed aside Perrick’s criticism. “The association has the right to do business in the way it sees fit,” he said.

When Canada vied for a wildcard berth, news emerged that the CSA paid goalkeeper Craig Forrest $10,000 to take time-off from the English Premier League’s Ipswich Town to play two qualifiers against Australia.

CSB/CSA

Perrick negotiated for the players to receive $1,750 per game and $250 per point. They would have received a $5,000 had they advanced to the 1994 tournament. 

In 2000, Forrest’s appearance at the CONCACAF Gold Cup cost him pay when he couldn’t return to West Ham on time. He backstopped Canada to the championship. During that tournament, players received $3,000 for a win, $2,500 for a tie, $2,000 for a loss.

The latest CSA controversy happens the week before FIFA announces June 16 how many World Cup matches in 2026 that Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton will host.

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Bob Mackin Fingerpointing galore, as long-suffering Canadian soccer

Bob Mackin

A Vancouver city councillor seeking re-election on Ken Sim’s ABC Vancouver ticket is also running for the board of an exclusive downtown business club. 

Sarah Kirby-Yung was an NPA candidate when she finished 10th for the last seat available on city council in 2018 by a 1,668-vote margin. That was the same night then-NPA-leader Sim narrowly lost the mayoralty race to Kennedy Stewart.

Sarah Kirby-Yung’s Vancouver Club candidacy flyer.

Kirby-Yung is one of eight people vying for six seats on the Vancouver Club board. Polling closes June 11 and the winners will be announced June 13. 

That is almost four months before the Oct. 15 civic election day. 

John Coupar, the NPA’s 2022 mayoral candidate, said individuals can make their own choices how to spend their free time, but Vancouver city council is a full-time job. 

“I was on the board of VanDusen Botanical Gardens, before I was elected as a park commissioner, but I have to say that even even as a park commissioner you don’t have a lot of extra time to to do that kind of work,” Coupar said. “I think councillors have to be very careful about allocating their time to do those types of things.”

In 2021, Kirby-Yung was the highest-paid city councillor at $103,216 plus $9,232 in local expenses. The remuneration included the $91,879 base pay, $3,048 annual supplement and bonus payments for serving on the deputy mayor and duty councillor rotation. She also received $6,650 as one of the city’s alternate directors to the Metro Vancouver board.

The Vancouver Club board seat is voluntary, but Kirby-Yung’s bio on the city hall website shows she is already busy on behalf of the public. She is council liaison to five city advisory boards and committees, vice-chair of two city council committees, member of two Metro Vancouver committees, and has additional duties on boards overseeing the Vancouver Art Gallery and EasyPark. 

Neither Kirby-Yung nor Sim responded for comment.

Coupar said his philosophy since being elected to park board in 2011 is accessibility. He said that a councillor has a duty to answer questions about their job when a reporter calls.

NPA mayoral candidate John Coupar (NPA)

Kirby-Yung’s Vancouver Club bio says she has been a member since 2005 and promotes her political advocacy for affordable housing, streamlined permitting and small business. 

“Sarah has been a long-time member,” the bio said. “She would love to serve on the board, bringing her energy to helping maintain and build on the club’s rich legacy and traditions, while modernizing events and services to ensure a facility that is welcoming, enjoyable, and sustainable.”

Kirby-Yung is running against lawyers Tim Brown, Shelley-Mae Mitchell and Matthew Swanson, management consultant Matthew Burns, former CBC and Telefilm director Marlie Oden, physician Briar Sexton, and assurance consultant Kristine Simpson.

The private Vancouver Club is housed in a 1913 Heritage A building on West Hastings near the foot of Hornby Street and hosts conferences and meetings, and boasts an athletic club and accommodations. A full membership for a Vancouver resident requires a $7,500 entrance fee and monthly dues payments that add up to $2,268 to $3,012 per year. Members receive access to 300 other exclusive properties in the International Associate Clubs network.

Kirby-Yung quit the NPA with fellow councillors Lisa Dominato and Colleen Hardwick in April 2021 after the party board picked Coupar to run for mayor. Kirby-Young, Dominato and another ex-NPA councillor, Rebecca Bligh, joined Sim’s party in April.

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Bob Mackin A Vancouver city councillor seeking re-election

For the week of June 5, 2022:

In the second part of an exclusive interview, former B.C. Legislature Speaker Darryl Plecas and his chief of staff Alan Mullen reflect on the challenge of exposing corruption and seeking justice.

Darryl Plecas (left) and Alan Mullen in Abbotsford (Mackin)

Eventually, police and prosecutors took on the case and a judge found ex-Clerk Craig James guilty of fraud and breach of public trust. But it wasn’t easy, because of BC Liberal opposition politicians and press gallery naysayers who took James’s side.  

Plecas said he was only doing his job and not seeking any accolades. One thing does surprise him. 

“Not one of those people at the Legislature, not one, not one elected official has come forward and said, you know, thank you for doing what you did. Not even close. Well, you know, some people would say, okay, I might not have agreed with everything you did or how you did it. But that never would have happened, unless Alan and I did what we did.”

Hear more of the exclusive interview with Plecas and Mullen. Plus, a special edition of the Virtual Nanaimo bar, recognizing a British Columbian activist for human rights in Hong Kong and Mainland China.  

Also, a commentary on the end of the spring session of the Legislature, and headlines from the Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest. 

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For the week of June 5, 2022: In

Bob Mackin

An East Vancouver retailer said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau triggered a short-term handgun rush on May 30 when he announced a freeze on pistol transactions is coming later this year.

(TigerArms.ca)

“We’re obviously selling more than we normally would, because everybody wants to beat the legislation they’re trying to push through,” said Victor Camele, general manager of Italian Sporting Goods. “But, on the flip side, it’s going to destroy our business.” 

Trudeau announced the Liberal government would be “capping the market for handguns,” by freezing the importing, buying, selling and transferring firearms. He made the announcement six days after the mass-murder of 19 elementary school students and two of their teachers in a Texas town. But the gunman used assault rifles, not a handgun. 

Camele said his store’s clientele is mainly target and sport shooters and those rushing to purchase are already licensed. In the long-term, he said the federal move will probably mean a 40% hit to his business, which also includes the sale of ammunition, gun cases and accessories. 

Elsewhere, at Lever Arms Service on Vancouver’s West Side, the employee who answered the phone after opening on June 1 put a reporter on hold and was heard telling a customer that transfers are delayed by high volume. He returned to the call and declined an interview because his store was too busy. 

A Port Coquitlam retailer announced on Facebook May 31 that it closed its storefront to in-person, walk-in customers due to the buying frenzy and urged customers to use its website.  

The online catalogue for Tiger Arms Ltd. shows handguns priced from $289.99 for a Norinco CF98 to a $9,299.99 CZ 75B Special Edition. But most handguns are listed as “out of stock.” 

“For context, we have sold approximately 450 handguns in the past 24 hours,” said the posting on Tiger Arms Facebook page. “To clarify, we are not shutting down, just closing the retail storefront.”

(TigerArms.ca)

Another post pleaded with customers to be patient. “In light of the recent announcement, we are swamped with orders! Orders are being processed as fast as humanly possible, calling in to check the status of your order only slows everything down.”

Nobody from the store responded for comment. 

Tiger Arms is named after Rongxiang “Tiger” Yuan, a director of the company from 2013 to 2020 and a veteran of China’s People’s Liberation Army. In July 2016, Yuan made three donations to the Liberal Party, including one to Trudeau’s riding association, totalling $4,300. 

Since March 2020, Hai Yan Avery Chow of Richmond has been listed as the sole director of Tiger Arms.

Canadian handgun buyers are required to hold a Possession and Acquisition Licence under the Firearms Act. Anyone without a valid firearms licence is required to wait at least 28 days to be licensed and must pass the Canadian Firearms Safety Course. Applicants must undergo background checks that include disclosing current and former conjugal partners and whether they have had criminal, emotional or financial problems. 

The federal government said there are 1.1 million registered handguns, a 71% increase from 2010 to 2020. On May 27, the Canadian Centre for Justice and Community Safety Statistics released a report looking at firearm-related violent crime from 2009 to 2020. More than six in 10 firearm-related violent crimes in urban areas involved a handgun. In rural areas, the most-common firearm was a rifle or shotgun. 

“Rates of weapons possession offences have been increasing since 2013,” the report said. “Other non-violent weapons offences declined or remained stable over this period, with the exception of weapons trafficking, including unauthorized importing or exporting, which increased in both 2019 and 2020.”

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Bob Mackin An East Vancouver retailer said Prime

Bob Mackin

The agency that oversees provincial elections wants the NDP government to take steps to prevent a Donald Trump-style disinformation campaign aimed at overturning election results. 

In its wish-list for lawmakers published May 30, Elections BC said it needs to be better-equipped to regulate digital campaigning and mitigate risks of cyber threats in order to guard electoral integrity. The agency had already red-flagged potential cyber threats in a 2020 report, but chief electoral officer Anton Boegman found the landscape is rapidly evolving and recommended new restrictions against deliberate false statements about election results. 

“Legislators would need to craft these restrictions in such a way that they do not limit legitimate activities established in the Election Act, such as requesting recount on the basis of an incorrect ballot account,” the report said. “Restrictions should exempt satirical expression, and could also be limited to false statements that were knowingly made with malicious intent.”

Trump’s false claims of voter fraud against his presidential re-election campaign led to the Jan. 6, 2020 riot at the U.S. Capitol and the unsuccessful attempt by his supporters to prevent confirmation of Joe Biden’s legitimate victory.

The Recommendations for Legislative Change report also emphasized the challenge of removing and destroying non-compliant election advertising on digital platforms.

“There is currently no impact on a platform should they fail to act in a timely fashion. Given the size and economic power of the major online platforms, the current penalties in the Act are insufficient to ensure digital platform compliance,” it said.

Though the report does not specifically mention it by name, one of the most-prominent digital platforms used to influence B.C. voters is the Beijing-censored social media and payment app WeChat. Disinformation on WeChat during the 2021 federal election swayed voters in Richmond against Conservative incumbent Kenny Chiu, after he had proposed foreign government agents register before trying to influence government decisions.

The Elections BC report suggests empowering the chief electrical officer with the authority to ban advertisers from sponsoring election ads on certain uncooperative platforms. 

“This would help address the risk of platforms outside of Canada refusing to abide by B.C.’s election advertising rules (by prohibiting political participants from placing ads on any such platform),” said the report. “Such prohibitions could apply to digital and traditional media platforms that repeatedly publish non-compliant advertising and fail to take appropriate steps.”

The report’s main recommendations include improvements to vote-by-mail and to update adjudication for write-in ballots. It also suggests voters be allowed to write the name of a party leader on a write-in ballot, even if the party leader is not running in their constituency. Write-in ballots currently allow only the name of a local candidate or the name of a party running a candidate in a voter’s district. 

Before the 2021 federal election, the federal Communications Security Establishment warned that Canadian voters were likely to encounter some form of foreign cyber interference before and during the election. 

During Alberta’s 2021 civic elections and provincial referendum, social media posts impersonating the province’s election agency appear to have spread false information that was intended to harm the agency’s credibility. 

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Bob Mackin The agency that oversees provincial elections

For the week of May 29, 2022:

Premier John Horgan said a sad chapter in the B.C. Legislature’s history is closed. 

But don’t tell that to former Speaker Darryl Plecas and his ex-chief of staff, Alan Mullen.

Darryl Plecas (left) and Alan Mullen in Abbotsford (Mackin)

A judge’s May 19 ruling that ex-Clerk Craig James committed fraud and breach of public trust needs to be the catalyst to force the NDP to implement freedom of information and whistleblower protection at the seat of government. 

“People ask us, you know, how we feel about it,” Plecas said. “Well, in one sense, of course, we’re somewhat relieved.”

“I say it doesn’t close anything,” Mullen said. “It does not close until these policies and procedures are in place. That place should be a glass house, where everybody can look in and say that’s our house, we know what’s going on.”

Hear an exclusive interview with Plecas and Mullen, who exposed corruption at the B.C. Legislature, as the July 4 sentencing approaches for James. 

Also, commentary and Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines. 

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For the week of May 29, 2022: Premier

Bob Mackin (Updated: 11 a.m., May 30)

A Punjabi gangster rapper was killed by gunfire May 29 in India, the day after he lost police protection and two days after the Pacific National Exhibition postponed ticket sales for an upcoming Vancouver concert.

Sidhu Moosewala (Twitter)

Sidhu Moosewala, 28, was born Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu. He moved to Brampton, Ont. in 2016 and is known for songs such as “Mafia Style” and “Homicide” and brandishing handguns and AK-47 assault rifles in his viral YouTube music videos. His latest video, “The Last Ride,” featured a hearse.  

According to India Today, Moosewala was gunned down in a village in Punjab’s Mansa district. Video from the crime scene shows onlookers surrounding an SUV and Moosewala’s lifeless body in the driver seat. Just a day earlier, Punjab Police withdrew security protection for 424 current and former politicians and religious leaders. Moosewala had unsuccessfully run for the Punjab assembly. 

Amarinder Singh, a former Indian army veteran and former chief minister of Punjab, tweeted condolences to Moosewala’s family. “Law and order has completely collapsed in Punjab. Criminals have no fear of law,” Singh wrote.

On May 27, the PNE delayed ticket sales for Moosewala’s July 23 Pacific Coliseum concert while it consulted the Vancouver Police Department. It was supposed to be the first stop of an eight-city, Canada and U.S. summer tour. The PNE’s Ticketleader sales website said the $75 to $200 (plus service charge) tickets were scheduled to go on sale June 6. Other Back 2 Business Tour venues went on sale this weekend. 

PNE spokeswoman Laura Ballance said it was very tight timing between the contract and pre-sale period, so the venue decided to conduct the risk assessment in parallel. 

Pacific Coliseum (Mackin)

“As of this afternoon, we are not able to fully ascertain the full level of public safety risks with this particular event,” Ballance said on May 27. “So out of an abundance of caution, through our conversations that we’ve had today, with our public safety stakeholders, we are not going to go on sale tomorrow until we complete the public safety risk assessment.”

Three years ago, Moosewala’s slot on the 5X Block Party Festival in Surrey’s Central City Plaza was cancelled after the Surrey RCMP deemed him a security risk. In February 2019, a man was stabbed during Moosewala’s appearance at the Bollywood Banquet Halls and Convention Centre. In May of that year, shots were fired at a Calgary banquet hall where Moosewala was performing.

Ballance said the PNE is very proud of its events, including those involving the South Asian community, but needs to conduct due diligence, regardless of whether it’s a family skating event or a concert.

Moosewala also has a well-publicized rivalry with another rapper, Karan Aujla, who is scheduled to play the Coliseum on Sept. 10.  

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Bob Mackin (Updated: 11 a.m., May 30) A

Bob Mackin

An Iranian government official has threatened to sue the Canadian Soccer Association for $10 million after it cancelled a June 5 World Cup tune-up match at B.C. Place Stadium. 

The CSA announced the cancellation early May 26 without reasons, but it had faced a firestorm of complaints from human rights advocates and senior politicians after scheduling the match featuring two squads that have qualified for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.

Tweet by Iranian deputy sports minister Sina Kalhor (Twitter)

A translated version of a Tweet from Sina Kalhor, Iran’s Deputy Minister of Culture and Public Sports in the Ministry of Sports and Youth, said that the CSA’s unilateral cancellation “once again showed that the slogan of non-political sport is a cover for the interests of Western countries.

“According to the contract, the Iranian Football Federation will pursue a $10 million compensation claim for the unilateral cancellation of the game through legal channels,” Kalhor wrote.

The CSA has not immediately responded for comment on whether there was any such clause in the contract that would entitle the Iranian national team to such compensation. An official with the Iranian national team told a state media outlet that the CSA had agreed to pay a $400,000 fee, which would have meant a $200,000 profit after expenses. 

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier John Horgan and Mayor Kennedy Stewart had all criticized the CSA’s choice of Iran, all sympathizing with families of the victims of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps deadly missile attack on Ukraine Airlines flight 752 in Tehran more than two years ago. All 176 people aboard, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents, were killed. 

On May 24, Trudeau said it was ultimately up to the Canada Border Services Agency whether the Iranian national team would be allowed into Canada. 

“I’ve expressed my concern that I think this game was a bad idea. I can assure you that Sport Canada has not delivered any funding for this game,” Trudeau said during a photo op in Vancouver.

B.C.’s Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport said it did not provide any standalone funding to the planned June 5 match. It did not say whether public-owned B.C. Place Stadium would lose money on the cancellation. 

Iranian deputy sports minister Sina Kalhor (Twitter)

“The attack on flight PS752 was a tragic event and our hearts continue to go out to the victims and their families,” said the ministry’s statement. “The government of B.C. condemns the use of violence in any form and is committed to upholding human rights and equality through the B.C. Human Rights Code.”

In an afternoon statement, the CSA acknowledged that the “untenable geopolitical situation of hosting Iran became significantly divisive.”

It said it would conduct a thorough review of processes for hosting international matches to consider off-field factors. “We are committed to creating respectful and inclusive environments for teams, players, and fans.”

The CSA had previously justified its matchup with Iran because “the power of sport and its ability to bring people from different backgrounds and political beliefs together for a common purpose.”

But it also needs hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to be approved from the same politicians who criticized the choice of opponent. 

Vancouver, Edmonton and Toronto are in the running to host a combined total 10 matches in the 2026 World Cup, which is primarily hosted by the United States Soccer Federation. The 16 host cities will be announced June 16. 

In April, the B.C. government revealed that it could cost $260 million to host up to five matches at B.C. Place in 2026. In 2018, Horgan had scoffed at FIFA for wanting a “blank cheque” from B.C. taxpayers, but he changed his tune last summer. 

Staff at Toronto city hall, however, have been more transparent about the risks. In a March report to council, it indicated a decision on federal funding is still months away.

Inside B.C. Place Stadium (Mackin)

“Sport Canada has indicated that hosting the 2026 World Cup in Canada qualifies for this program, but has not yet declared how much funding they would provide beyond the parameters of the policy (up to 35% of total eligible event expenditures by all parties up to a maximum federal contributions of 50% of all public sector funding),” said the Toronto civic report. 

The federal government indicated a decision on how much it is prepared to fund will come after it has completed a national safety and security concept as part of the federal essential services portion of the hosting agreement. “Full security costing is not likely to be available until late 2022.”

Toronto projects the cost of hosting five games could be as high as $290 million, with FIFA picking up only $12.7 million of the tab. City taxpayers would be on the hook for $74 million in direct cash and in-kind costs. 

The report further said that FIFA’s new operating model means no rights fees are paid by cities and they won’t assume the financial risk. 

“FIFA will assume significant delivery costs and also retain the main sources of revenue, such as media rights and ticket sales. Host cities will be limited to covering local hosting costs, which includes providing a stadium and infrastructure for support activities; training facilities; a location, staffing and infrastructure for a FanFest; and local safety and security coverage – all in compliance with FIFA’s requirements.” 

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Bob Mackin An Iranian government official has threatened

Bob Mackin 

A former private school that became the B.C. headquarters of the RCMP could stay standing for more than a decade, but Vancouver city council heard May 24 that nobody is willing to pay the hefty price to move it from the Heather Lands.

Fairmont Academy Building in Vancouver (Heritage Vancouver)

Vancouver city council voted unanimously to rezone the 21 acres owned by Canada Lands Company CLC Ltd. and the Musqueam Indian Band, Squamish Nation, and Tsleil-Waututh Nation Partnership. They are planning 2,600 units in buildings ranging in height from three to 28 storeys. They also want to replace the 1912-built, heritage-listed Fairmont Academy Building with an Indigenous cultural centre in the last phase of development, some 10 to 15 years from now. 

General manager of planning Theresa O’Donnell said the cost of moving and restoring the building could be $47 million and city staff have failed to find someone to take it off the site. 

“The decision will be dependent on the [development permit],” O’Donnell said. “But it is my recommendation that we go ahead and plan for demolition of that building.”

The 27,000-square-foot, two-storey building was originally a private school that operated during the First World War before being converted to military hospital use from 1918 to 1920. The RCMP acquired the Fairmont Barracks/Stables in 1920 and it remained the provincial headquarters building until 1950. The RCMP left the Heather Lands campus in 2012 for a new provincial headquarters in Surrey. 

Several councillors said they did not want the city to stand in the way of the First Nations’ desire to remove the building due to their historical grievances with the Mounties. 

“We need to be clear about whose heritage we’re prioritizing,” said Coun. Jean Swanson. “And I want to prioritize Indigenous heritage.”

“This is actually causing us to all think differently about what heritage is, and it means different things to different people,” said Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung. “But I see a lot of hanging on to something that has done a lot of harm to a lot of people.”

Coun. Colleen Hardwick said the Heather Lands as a whole are “moving in the exact right direction that I think reconciliation was intended to be,” but she opposes the potential demolition of the building. She unsuccessfully proposed an amendment aimed at preventing the Fairmont case from setting a citywide precedent.

“My one reservation had been the treatment of this heritage property,” Hardwick said. “It has historical significance that predates it becoming an RCMP station. And, as the representative on the heritage commission of this council, I would be remiss if I did not draw attention to that. I understand the desire to make things go away that have negative feelings associated with them. But I remain hopeful that there may be a way to resuscitate it in some way.”

Supt. Joe Atherton

City council had received letters from two former Mounties against demolition. They said in their letters that the building should remain for historical purposes and that the remains of at least one Mountie are buried on the property. 

RCMP Veterans’ Association Vancouver governor Donna Morse is co-editing a book called Duty Done: Memories of the Fairmont Barracks that includes the story of a 79-year-old RCMP officer’s wishes for his ashes to be placed on-site. 

“Supt. Joe Atherton’s remains were buried under that flagpole in 1988 and remain there today,” Morse wrote. “Whatever happens in reference to development of the lands, it is hoped that this site will be handled with the dignity and respect as it deserves. It is important that Supt Atherton’s remains will be reinterred and the Vancouver Veterans look forward to working with the city and MST in this regard.”

Morse suggested that the Fairmont Building be saved as a facility that shows the good and bad of B.C.’s history, to promote reconciliation. 

“It is felt that the Fairmont Building could be used as a catalyst to ensure that uncomfortable history is not rewritten but is understood by those generations that follow,” she wrote. 

Like Morse, Peter German does not oppose redevelopment of the land. But he wants the Fairmont saved.

German is the former commander of the RCMP in Western Canada, known better in recent years as the author of reports on money laundering in B.C. Last year, he spearheaded the establishment of the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute at the University of B.C. 

Anti-money laundering expert Peter German.

German said Atherton joined the RCMP in 1932 and worked his entire career while based in the Fairmont.

“It is unknown if other members of the force were buried on the Fairmont grounds and, if so, how many,” German wrote. “It is of the utmost importance that Supt. Atherton’s remains and those of any other members of the force be located and preserved.”

The Heather Lands are the first major proposal to city council from the three first nations who are also owners of the Jericho Lands and the former Liquor Distribution Branch centre. The latter is a partnership with the Aquilini family. 

The Jericho Lands are the Canadian Olympic Committee’s first choice for an Olympic Village site should Vancouver be chosen as host of the 2030 Winter Olympics. 

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Bob Mackin  A former private school that became