midweek edition WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010 Vol. 101 No. 50 • Established 1908 • East
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Piknic in the park Sale of the cemetery
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Gay leader says city safe despite hate crimes report VPD reported 46 hate crimes in 2008 Mike Howell Staff writer
Police Chief Jim Chu speaks at a press conference with beating victim David Holtzman.
photo Dan Toulgoet
Is Vancouver a safe place to be gay? It’s a question Jennifer Breakspear was asked by residents following the June 12 beating of two gay men outside their townhouse on Keefer Street. As executive director of Qmunity on Bute Street, which serves as B.C.’s queer resource centre, Breakspear shared her answer with reporters at a press conference June 18. “I believe it is,” she said, standing at a lectern outside the Qmunity building, where she was joined by Police Chief Jim Chu, Mayor Gregor Robertson and David Holtzman, one of the victims of the June 12 attack. Breakspear pointed to the burgeoning relationship with
the Vancouver Police Department and support from all levels of government as factors in making the city a safe place for gay people. But recent statistics released by Statistics Canada and the VPD show an increase in hate crimes, which include crimes motivated by sexual orientation. In Canada, hate crimes involving sexual orientation increased from 71 in 2007 to 159 in 2008. The VPD reported 46 hate crimes in 2008 compared to 30 in 2007 and 16 in 2006. Of the 46 crimes, 18 people were charged. Ten people were charged in 2007 and two in 2006. But the department didn’t immediately have a breakdown of the nature of the crimes to say how many involved sexual orientation. See CHIEF on page 4
UBC graduate students join city hall’s environmental effort Master’s candidate charged with identifying local food Megan Stewart Staff writer
Tegan Adams is part of a new arrangement between the city and UBC to combine scholastic research with real-world applications. A master’s candidate in the faculty of land and food systems, Adams is one of 10 UBC graduate
students placed as interns within Vancouver’s sustainability office this summer and tasked with helping the city meet its ambitious environmental goals. The students are targeting ways to reduce water consumption, increase the use of bicycle and transit trips, manage storm water and lower the citywide electricity bill.
Their work at city hall is part of an agreement signed by the city and UBC in May to further the goals of both in becoming the greenest city and university in the world. Charged with identifying local food, Adams is measuring the total carbon emissions that are required to supply Vancouver’s
half-million residents and restaurants with groceries. As that baseline is gauged, she will also look at ways to lower the city’s overall carbon footprint. Local does not mean the same to everyone, said Adams, and identifying Vancouver’s value system or food ethic, as she calls it, is part of her objective. Defi-
nitions for “local” and “low-carbon” are not as straightforward as drawing a circle around your home and eating only vegetables from within a 100-mile radius. “It’s not just the distance that needs to be taken in to account— there are also social concerns,” she said. See INTERN on page 4
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