Business in Vancouver - Issue 1423

HOSPITALITY & TOURISM

Wine atop the menu in BIV’s winter tourism business report | PAGES 17–19 A Nova Scotia red, perhaps?

Restaurant red tape wrangle

Biggest tourist attractions Profile | PAges 15–16

Walt Judas, Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia’s CEO, on tourism’s importance in bridging cultures and cultivating understanding Daily business news K biv.com

February 7–13, 2017 •Issue 1423 •$4.00

local retailers hoping cupid’s arrow hits business bull’s-eye

Soaring power bills threaten heavy industry, forestry in B.C.

retail | Love is in the air, as are the prospects of multibillion-dollar sales of chocolates, flowers and other gifts in the annual lead-up to Valentine’s Day | PagE 6

taxation | Mayors call on provincial government to scrap PST on industrial power in next budget

By Nelson Bennett nbennett@biv.com

T

ax breaks for big business and heavy industry don’t usually play well on Main Street.

But a distress call from heavy industry and the forestry sector is being picked up and relayed by labour, small business and the mayors of eight resource communities throughout B.C.

continued on page 9

economy | PAge 3

What business in B.C. wants Lifestyle issues top election priority list, GVBOT survey finds

HR | PAges 4, 25

immigration opportunity Closed doors in U.S. open windows of opportunity in Canada

Marc Lieberman, president and founder of Vancouver’s Mink Chocolates, with an offering of Mink’s champagne chocolate lips.

The internationally renowned chocolatier expects to sell his entire Valentine’s Day inventory again this year | ​ROB KRUYT

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

BIV | Beyond the print

with Andrew BIV events

C & Johanna Wag

transportation 6 Charge it

•February 15: Retirement Ready panel at Shangri-La

Planned changes to Compass system could allow credit card payments at gates

real estate

Correction

8

Flipping over pre-solds Exempt from regulatory scrutiny, condo assignments beckon to speculators

asia pacific

14

Stream, download or subscribe to the BIV Podcast at biv.com for in-depth analysis of this week’s biggest business stories

Connor, Clark and Lunn Financial Group ranks No. 1 on BIV’s list of biggest investment fund management firms (issue 1421; January 24–30). The printed list contained incorrect information.

Business in Vancouver on Global: Hayley Woodin on Apple’s latest earnings, which beat forecasts.

Plus: Freshii goes public

Uphill drive

Uber Hong Kong faces steep climb on the road to acceptance

Business in Vancouver extended family welcomes new member We had a fairly disruptive visitor last week, and that’s a good thing.

Teagan Eileen Huynh, all of eight days old, essentially stopped business last Wednesday at Business in Vancouver for a good chunk of the afternoon. Happily so for us.

Teagan is the latest member of our BIV family — the first daughter of someone very familiar to many of our advertising clients, Pia Huynh, and new father Jim.

list 18

As Pia takes her maternity leave, we belatedly note that Laura Torrance (ltorrance@biv.com) has joined the management of our superb sales team and can field many of your queries in Pia’s absence.

For the record: Pia, ever the detailed one, notes Teagan was born January 23 at 2:43 a.m. Join us in welcoming her.

– Kirk LaPointe, vice-president, audience and business development

Andrew Chang & Johanna Wagstaffe with

Biggest tourist attractions BIV’s exclusive list of Metro Vancouver draws, ranked by number of visitors in 2016

insights 26 Negative growth

Find it in brief

8

insights 25-27

finance 12-13

For the record

profile 15-16

Eat/Wear 31

hospitality & Tourism

17-19

28-30

Contact

Peter Ladner on the collision course of the economy and the environment Publisher | Sue Belisle 604-608-5151 VP, audience and business development | Kirk LaPointe 604-608-5183 Managing editor | Timothy Renshaw 604-608-5131 Deputy managing editor | Mark Falkenberg 604-608-5174 Staff writers 604-688-2398 ADVERTISING SALES 604-688-2398 | ads@biv.com Reader sales & service Customer service 604-608-5147 Subscription sales/renewals 604-608-5192 EVENTS 604-608-5160

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

3

Marketing | Companies risk losing business by subjecting callers to audio obstacle course: study

Please hold

Random noise

Not in service

A study by audio branding specialist PHMG found 69% of calls to Canadian businesses are put on hold for 26.26 seconds on average. To make matters worse, callers are left listening to inappropriate audio, which could increase the risk of caller hang-ups

The study found 35% of businesses leave customers listening to generic music, 25% subject them to beeps, a further 23% leave them in silence and 12% use ringing.

Only 4% employ brand-consistent voice and music messaging

The study also found 8% of businesses don’t even have a voice-mail service for when they’re unable to answer calls, while only 14% use an auto-attendant service to greet callers outside of normal business hours SOURCE: PHMG

Lifestyle issues top election concerns for B.C. business SURVEY | Housing affordability, cost of living, transit are biggest issues for local businesses: GVBOT

Traffic congestion is a major concern for businesses, according to a new Greater Vancouver Board of Trade membership survey on provincial election issues | Rob Kruyt

By Nelson Bennett nbennett@biv.com

T

he priorities for business, come election time, don’t always reflect the concerns of ordinary citizens. They tend to focus on issues like taxation, red tape and fiscal policies.

But according to a new Greater Vancouver Board of Trade (GVBOT) membership survey on provincial election issues, the top three concerns for business are the same ones consistently identified by the average Lower Mainlander: unaffordable housing, gridlock and lack of affordable child care.

“When we asked people to identify individual issues … housing affordability and cost of living screamed up the charts in a manner that we’ve never seen before,” said GVBOT CEO Iain Black. “The housing affordability is a big deal now for business because we’re having trouble attracting people to live in this region.”

B.C. voters go the polls on May 9. Last week, for the first time, the GVBOT published a provincial election platform that reflects the top concerns and priorities for business. It was based on a comprehensive membersh ip “scorecard” survey conducted last year, and on a more recent annual membership survey focused on election issues.

Out of 10 top planks, taxes come in at No. 6. Transportation (No. 1), housing affordability (No. 2) and cost of living (No. 3) are the top

three concerns. In other words, the biggest impediments to business in the Lower Mainland are lifestyle issues ranging from lack of affordable child care to the absence of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft.

The Business Council of BC’s election wish list is a bit more traditional, from a business standpoint. Its top priorities include: •implementing all recommendations of the Commission on Tax Competitiveness, including changes to the PST; •increasing funding for graduate programs, especially for fields of study related to innovation and technology; and •modernizing and streamlining the permitting for natural resource, transportation and infrastructure projects.

On February 21, B.C. voters will get a preview of the BC Liberal Party’s platform in the form of the provincial budget. Black said the B.C. government is in the enviable position of having such a strong balance sheet that it has the economic wherewithal to address some key issues.

“We are, as a province, the envy of the nation, from a fiscal standpoint. We have a government who actually is in a position to make some choices about what they might do. You look at Ontario, they’re virtually bankrupt.

There’s no wiggle room there for them to be creative about serving the electorate.”

Replacing the George Massey Tunnel with a new bridge is atop the transportation priority list for GVBOT survey respondents | Rob Kruyt

The provincial government needs to show more leadership on the urban transportation file

[] Werner Antweiler associate professor, Sauder School of Business

In its November second quarterly report, the B.C. government forecast a $2.2 billion surplus for the 2016-17 fiscal year, thanks largely to a windfall in taxes generated from a hot real estate market.

But a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in November will have a significant impact on future B.C. budgets. It overturned a 2002 provincial government decision to strip teachers of their right – enshrined in collective bargaining – to set limits on class size and composition.

Last month, in response to the ruling, the government announced it would hire more than 1,000 teachers and start building new classrooms. The BC Teachers’ Federation has estimated it will cost the government $250 million to $300 million a year to return to B.C.’s pre-2002 class-size and composition requirements.

But Black thinks that estimate is low.

Even so, the government’s finances are in good shape, and

addressing issues like housing isn’t strictly a money matter.

Werner Antweiler, associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, said additional public school funding is long overdue, anyway, and should not pose a problem from a budgeting perspective.

“The education file was the BC Liberals’ weak spot – or should I say blind spot – and the [Supreme Court of Canada] has kind of put them back on track.”

Black said the province has a l ready com m itted sig n i f icant funds to affordable housing projects that aren’t getting b u i lt, t h a n k s to mu n ic ip a l foot-dragging.

He added that the province needs to start holding municipal feet to the fire. Black pointed out that there’s a backlog of affordable housing units that have funding commitments but have yet to be built.

“The province has a hammer to say, ‘We’ll give you the money, but we expect this thing to be built within 14 to 16 months, not seven years,’” Black said.

High housing prices aren’t the only thing making the Lower Mainland unaffordable. Transportation issues compound the problem, because they limit workers’ ability to live in more affordable suburbs and get to work on time.

According to the GVBOT’s surveying, the top priority for the provincial government should

be expanding rapid transit into Surrey and Langley, followed by building the Broadway Millennium Line extension and replacing the George Massey Tunnel with a new bridge.

Antweiler agreed that transportation should be the provincial government’s key policy.

“As far as the next budget is concerned, the provincial government needs to show more leadership on the urban transportation file and work together with the Metro mayors.”

But paying for all that new infrastructure remains a major obstacle. The GVBOT urges the provincial government to institute tolling or road pricing to help generate the billions of dollars needed for the transit infrastructure.

It’s also urging the provincial government to lift restrictions on ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft, saying the lack of such options contributes to a congestion problem that costs the Greater Vancouver region an estimated $1.4 billion annually.

Other key policy issues the GVBOT wants the provincial government to implement include: •exempting PST on capital expenditures for business; •supporting the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion to ensure it gets underway on time; •removing barriers that prevent increased housing density and diversity; and •protecting the region’s limited industrial land base. •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

news

U.S. uncertainty sharpens Canada’s competitive edge HR | CETA

opportunities, Trump’s protectionism increase Canada’s appeal for workers, experts say

BY TYLER ORTON TORTON@BIV.COM

L

ast month’s executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump banning travellers from seven Muslim-majority countries left companies scrambling to help detained workers or those trapped in travel limbo.

Meanwhile, protesters gathered and supporters frothed at the prospect of tightened borders.

I n Va n c o u v e r, R i c k P e rreault took to Twitter with a straightforward offer: “Stuck in YVR trying to get in to the US & need space to work, wifi, phone, you’re welcome to use my office, [direct message] me #WelcometoCanada.”

The CEO of Vancouver-based Unbounce, which develops online marketing platforms for businesses, said the executive order is causing worry among his American workers and it’s unclear how many employees this could affect.

Perreault said most days he doesn’t worry about losing highly skilled tech workers to local firms. It’s the American tech giants – the same ones railing against Trump’s executive order – that are his biggest concern.

“We rarely lose talent to one

another. We lose them to Apple [Na sd aq:A A PL] a nd Netf lix [Nasdaq:NFLX] and U.S.-based companies,” he said. “And I think that is something [where] people living in Vancouver might just go, ‘Maybe I’ll wait this out for a while.’”

Bruce Harwood, a Vancouverbased immigration lawyer at Boughton Law, said U.S. companies with sizable offices in Vancouver – think Microsoft ( Na sd aq:M SF T ) or A mazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) – would likely look to their Canadian offices as safe havens for workers affected by the ban.

“If their status in the United States is jeopardized, and they have valid passports and qualify under the intra-company transferee provision, that would be the easiest way to bring them in,” said Harwood.

“My gut feeling is that the more protectionist the United States becomes and the more difficult it becomes from a labour mobility perspective, [Canada] will benefit from that.”

Ali Pourdad, CEO of Vancouverbased financial technology company Progressa, said he’s taking a more cautious approach before judging whether Canada stands to benefit from immigration

U.S. President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies are increasing Canada’s appeal for foreign workers, investors, say experts | Evan El-Amin/Shutterstock

Rick Perreault, co-founder and CEO of Unbounce, is offering his company’s resources to travellers affected by Trump’s immigration ban | BIV ARCHIVES

uncertainty in the U.S. “ It’s p o s s i bl e, b u t w h o knows what Trump is going to say to Microsoft and Google [Nasdaq:GOOGL] if they’re hiring more people in Canada than the U.S.,” he said. “They could be penalized for that.”

Beyond the Canadian response to Trump’s executive order – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is touting the country as open to immigrants – Harwood said Canada also likely appears even

more enticing to highly skilled European workers.

Provisions in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with the European Union, which is expected to be ratified later this year, will ease worker mobility between Canada and Europe compared with the U.S. and Europe.

“But I’ll say to you right now, there have been no published policy guidelines on how we are to implement bringing in specific

professionals from countries in Europe under CETA,” said Harwood, a former officer with the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

“It’s a little worrisome that we haven’t seen them do that, and I would trust that it’s coming.”

Jason Langrish, executive director of the Canada Europe Round Table for Business, said CETA could also boost business investment at home as Trump pursues protectionist policies in the U.S. “You could have A merican companies who currently export to the EU going, ‘You know what? We thought we were going to get duty-free access into the European market through our negotiations, but they’re clearly not going anywhere. But we look north and we see Canada’s got an agreement. Maybe we should relocate some of our operations into Canada so that we can get some of that benefit as well,’” said Langrish, who also worked on negotiations for CETA. “[Canada’s] a bit of a lucky country, but it’s also a smart country. It’s not, at least so far, falling into this sort of protectionist/anti-immigrant sort of sentiment, and I think that’s key.”

(See “T r u mp’s U.S. ta lent show-stopper” – page 25.) •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

5

Insect nutrition niche pays dividends for B.C. startup FOOD | Vancouver’s

By Nelson Bennett nbennett@biv.com

H

ere’s a diversification idea for R ichmond, Surrey and Fraser Valley farmers coping with a constrained land base.

Not enough room for free range chickens? Start a cricket ranch.

Just ask Chris Baird, co-founder of a startup called Coast Protein.

Since the small, four-person business began selling protein bars made from cricket meal in October, sales have doubled each month, Baird said.

“Our volume is quite small but it’s growing very quickly. We’re signing up new retailers every week.”

Coast Protein is among a handful of North American startups that have jumped on the cricket bandwagon.

While insects have long been a part of the diet in places like Asia and Africa, they have only recently begun to catch on in Europe and North America – driven by consumers who want protein in their diet but want to keep their environmental footprint small.

“Our message of sustainability and nutrition, we find, really resonates with millennials,” Baird said.

Coast Protein finds growing market for nutritional bars made from crickets According to Global Market Insights, the global demand for insect food products is expected to grow to US$522 million by 2023.

Baird, who has a degree in marketing from the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, and his partner, Dylan Jones, who has an MBA with a focus on sustainability, were looking for an idea for a new business when, late in 2015, they read a United Nations report on population growth and food security that promoted insects as a good protein source with a small environmental footprint.

“The primary benefit is the protein,” Baird said. “It’s a very high quantity of protein, and it’s an animal protein, which is a natural protein unlike whey protein, for example, which is a heavily treated byproduct of the milk and cheese creation process.”

Cricket meal also has more iron than spinach, more calcium than milk, and is high in dietary fibre.

Baird said athletes are part of the company’s growing market, and even some vegetarians and vegans, who otherwise abjure animal protein, don’t mind eating products containing insect meal.

E nv i ro n m e nt a l ly, i n s e c t s leave a ver y sma l l env i ronmental footprint and have a high

Coast Protein manufactures peanut butter protein bars using flour made from ground crickets |

Lamyai/

Shutterstock

feedconversion ratio. The crickets that Coast Protein sources from Ontario are raised on soy feed.

Compared with beef, chicken or even fish, it takes far less feed to produce a kilogram of insect protein. Part of the reason for that is that nothing is wasted – no bones, skin, feathers. The entire cricket is ground into flour.

Even more importantly, growing crickets take up very little space, use very little water and reach maturity in just five weeks.

Before launching their business, Baird and Jones enrolled

in a business accelerator, Radius Slingshot, based at Simon Fraser University. They then raised start­up funds from friends and family, and started selling their product online in October 2016.

They have since begun selling their protein bars through a number of local retailers.

Coast Protein bars sell for $3.75 each and come in two flavours: peanut butter and chocolate sea salt.

The company sources cricket flour from Canada’s only cricket farm, Ontario’s Entomo Farms,

and makes its bars in a commercial kitchen in New Westminster.

Entomo Farms is the only company in Canada raising crickets for human consumption. Baird thinks there are good prospects in B.C. for raising crickets. It’s something he and his partner are thinking about getting into, once they have expanded their business.

Coast Protein plans to launch a $30,000 Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign later this month to help it scale up and launch a second product: protein powders. •

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6

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Business loves Valentine’s Day retail | February

14’s annual love fest provides a significant boost to business bottom lines

By Hayley Woodin hwoodin@biv.com

H

e might be thinking about it, but Marc Lieberman won’t begin selling Valentine’s Day until this weekend.

With just a few days left before February 14, the president and founder of Vancouver-based Mink Chocolates will start rolling out Romeo and Juliet chocolate bars, mojito ganache hearts, salted caramel lovebird bonbons and champagne chocolate lips to lovestruck customers.

The brand’s downtown location will be stocked with 10% to 12% more goodies than this time last year, and Lieberman expects to sell out.

“Valentine’s is probably the biggest chocolate holiday of the year,” he said. “The 14th is a gong show, the day before is a gong show and the day before that is a gong show.”

Even though preferences for sweets vary year to year, giving chocolates for Valentine’s Day gifts never goes out of style, and that means big business for local chocolatiers ranging from Purdys Chocolates to smaller operations like Mink. Overall, Lieberman estimates sales of Valentine’s

chocolate are eight to nine times the volume on any given day.

“I have people that will beg to buy the samples that have been in the display case for three weeks, that I wouldn’t sell to anyone, because you just don’t do that,” he laughed. “They leave it to the last minute, and it truly is a sense of desperation.”

Because of both the desperate and the prepared, February 14 generates millions annually for restaurants, retailers, florists and jewellers in Canada.

The National Retail Federation estimates that American consumers will spend US$18.2 billion this year on Valentine’s Day. Last year, spending hit a record US$19.7 billion. In 2014, Canadian sales of items including wine, jewelry and lingerie fetched around US$10.3 billion for the entire year; Americans spent US$17.2 billion on Valentine’s Day alone.

Still, Valentine’s Day generates a windfall for local businesses in certain industries.

Rob Cameron, chief product officer at payment processor Moneris Solutions Corp., said Valentine’s Day week in Canada typically sees triple-digit spending growth at chocolate, candy and sweet shops and at florists, compared with the week prior. On February 14, 2013, for example, Canadian flower sales spiked 363% compared with sales on February 7.

Given the popularity and romance of roses, the increased spending boosts business for importers – who brought $70.9

million worth of cut roses and rosebuds into the country in 2014, according to Statistics Canada.

“Our import volumes go up significantly in our wholesale business in February,” said United Flower Growers CEO Bob Pringle.

“They would almost double.”

Because roses are primarily imported from South America, local growers’ sales volume around February 14 fails to match the numbers seen around Mother’s Day. “It’s darker, colder and more difficult especially for Canadian growers to grow, so there are increases in volume,” said Pringle, “but it’s limited by the growers’ capacity and the growing conditions that we have at this time of year.”

Each week, Un ited F lower Growers sel ls loca l ly g row n products in three separate auctions. Last year, February’s first two weeks of auctions generated $1.5 million in sales for local producers. The first half of May, by comparison, brought in $2.1 million.

Restaurants are also busier on Mother’s Day, according to Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association.

But Valentine’s Day is still good for business, especially when it falls on an otherwise slow night.

“On a Tuesday, it’s great. Because you are going to get more incremental diners,” Tostenson said. “Most restaurants see about a 30% to 45% increase in business because of Valentine’s over a

Mink Chocolates president Marc Lieberman expects to sell his entire Valentine’s inventory | Rob Kruyt

typical night. So that’s big.”

According to OpenTable data, seated restaurant reservations in Canada were 174% higher on February 14, 2015, compared with the Saturdays before and after the special day. Eighty-six per cent of seated reservations were for couples, and 45% of reservations were made in the week leading up to the day.

“Canadians spend quite a bit of money on Valentine’s Day each year,” said JoAndrea Hoegg, an associate professor in marketing and behavioural science at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business. “Men tend to spend more than women, but they spend quite a lot, and it is big business, particularly in what

you would imagine are the classic industries – the flower industry and the chocolate industry and the lingerie industry.”

Hoegg added that Canadians on average spend $150 for Valentine’s Day. She also noted a trend toward more experiential gift giving, which she said is backed by research that shows experiential purchases can be more satisfying than material gift buying.

“I think people believe that … we spend a little bit too much time and too much money on what some people would view is a fairly commercial holiday. I think people talk about spending less each year. In terms of what actually happens, I don’t think there’s been a change.” •

Compass 2.0 technology on TransLink’s road map TRANSPORTATION | Transit

By Glen Korstrom gkorstrom@biv.com

T

ransLink wants to raise alltime-high transit ridership even higher in Metro Vancouver with new projects and modifications to its Compass card fare system.

Long-sought major projects, such as the Millennium Line extension underneath Broadway to Arbutus Street and light-rail transit in Surrey, are high on the agenda for Metro Vancouver’s transit authority.

TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond, however, told Business in Vancouver January 26 that other initiatives are afoot to try to get more Compass cards into the hands of Vancouverites and to make the transit system more accessible for tourists. He calls this project Compass 2.0.

“It’s possible, maybe by the end of this year or the following year, that we will have open payment on Compass, where you’re able to just tap a credit card and go

authority seeks to expand services linked to Compass cards and readers

though [fare gates],” Desmond sa id. “T h at rea l ly helps for visitors to the region.”

Other aspects of Compass 2.0 include possibly linking a Mobi by Shaw Go bike-share membership to the Compass cards or linking pre-paid BC Ferries fares onto the cards, Desmond said.

BC Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall told BIV that her organization would have to install new technology in order to facilitate the linking of fares to Compass cards.

Mobi by Shaw Go general manager Mia Kohout told BIV that there are no plans to link the bike-share program’s digital fobs with Compass cards but that the idea sounds “wonderful.”

Metro Vancouver transit stations have fare machines that accept credit cards and dispense tickets that are then scanned

by Compass card readers, but passengers cannot directly use credit cards at Compass gates or on buses.

Desmond hailed the Compass

TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond has presided over significant expansion since he took the helm last March | Dan Toulgoet

card system as a success in part because T ra nsLi n k cou nted 384.83 million separate boardings on SkyTrain, SeaBus, West Coast Express and Coast Mountain Bus Co., combined, in 2016.

He said that figure was 4.5% higher than in 2015 – though different counting methods were

in place before Compass cards were introduced to the public in December 2015, and TransLink closed SkyTrain station gates starting in April.

Now, more tha n 95% of a ll TransLink transactions take place using the blue plastic cards.

More than one million Compass cards are in use, which means that more than 40% of people in the region have one, Desmond added.

“If you’ve got a chip Visa or MasterCard, just using basic RFID [radio-frequency identification], we have the ability, with some tinkering, to adjust the Compass card system to allow those cards to be used,” he said.

“It’s designed to do that.”

Before Desmond beca me TransLink’s CEO in March, he worked as general manager of Seattle’s King County Metro Transit – a system that he said would not be able to use credit cards without an extensive and costly upgrade and redesign.

His biggest priority is to reduce

passenger waiting times by raising frequency of bus, SeaBus, SkyTrain and West Coast Expresss trips. He said he expects a 10% increase in bus frequency by 2020.

Another priority is to get sufficient funding to expand what is now the world’s largest fully automated rapid transit system.

That’s why he is looking ahead to the February 21 provincial budget a nd the nex t federa l budget, which w ill likely be tabled in late February.

Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised $120 billion in infrastructure spending over the next 10 years and has committed to support 50% of the cost of the Broadway Line, Desmond would still like to see a line item for that in the budget.

“We’re working to get as much for British Columbian transit as we can,” he said. “We’d like them to provide funding for … their share for our entire 10-year plan on the capital side, not the operating side.” •

This content was produced by Business in Vancouver’s advertising department. BIV’s editorial department was not involved in its creation.

RBC looks to UBC Sauder for MBA talent As an employer, finding people capable of taking on leadership roles for years to come can be a challenge—and knowing where to find the right fit is not an easy task.

“UBC MBAs have proven themselves to be responsible leaders and excellent hires, so we wanted to increase our exposure to this talent.”

Having access to a reliable talent pool is a key element of discovering those future leaders.

Todd Shewfelt, regional vice president of Commercial Financial Services at RBC, has been tapping into MBA talent at the UBC Sauder School of Business’s Robert H. Lee Graduate School for years and says he continually witnesses the positive effects.

“When we hire UBC Sauder students, we get people with an excellent education and a set of hard and soft skills that are readily adaptable to commer-

Todd ShewfelT Regional vice-pReSidenT of commeRcial financial SeRviceS aT RBc

cial banking, even without applied training in this particular area.”

In fact, since RBC began hiring interns from UBC Sauder more than 15 years ago, five of the hires now hold leadership positions at the bank, including three vice-presidents in commercial banking.

The reputation of UBC MBA grads as exceptional contributors is well recognized. A survey of 12,125 MBA employers for the recently published QS Global 250 Business Schools Report placed the UBC MBA among the top 45 programs in the world when it comes to the employability of its gradu-

ates and other factors. In fact, UBC was one of only four schools recognized in Canada and one of 22 in North America in the report’s Global Elite category.

Part of this exceptional employability starts with student internships, which pair UBC MBA students

with leading brands and organizations to tackle business challenges.

These internships act like in-depth interviews, showing employers what these individuals can do to add value to their company.

“The idea is that if they’re a good fit, from both the students’ perspective and our perspective, then we’ll offer them a position as a commercial account manager, which is not an entry level position at RBC,” explains Shewfelt.

In fact, new MBA hires are frequently trusted with senior roles at the bank and are tasked with dealing directly with the needs of the bank’s business clients, which requires both excellent communication and leadership skills.

100 UBC MBAs hit the job market Organizations who look to UBC MBA graduates for their next hire will find employees with the strategic skills to tackle business challenges and the collaborative management techniques to push projects forward.

It’s this combination of hard and soft skills developed in and outside of the classroom that sets UBC MBAs apart.

Take, for example, 2017 grad Laura Evans, who led a team of nearly 300 people at retail giant Target before enrolling in the UBC MBA program.

“The experience taught me how to lead big groups

the applied experience he needed to do both.

lauRa evanS 2017 uBc mBa gRad

ShaRika Salim 2017 uBc mBa gRad

azim nooR 2017 uBc mBa gRad

all across the country,” says Evans. And, with the insights she gained tackling business case studies in the MBA program, she says she’s ready to help organizations solve their toughest challenges.

package capable of adding substantial value to the bottom line of the companies they join.

picture; how strategy, finance, and marketing all come together.”

All UBC MBA students have substantial prior work experience that makes them a unique

“Because of my previous work experience as a software engineer, I am able to see the details,” says Sharika Salim. “But my MBA changed how I think about the tech sector. I now look at the whole

A former commodities trader in South Korea, Azim Noor came to the UBC MBA to sharpen his project management and leadership skills. After a successful internship with global logistics company C.H. Robinson, he gained

“I’m ready to bring rigor and data-driven decisionmaking to the table,” he says. “I look forward to the opportunity to use all the skills I’ve acquired to increase efficiencies and reduce costs.”

If you would like the unparalleled opportunity to recruit a UBC MBA graduate please contact: UBC Sauder School of Business Hari B. Varshney Business Career Centre Tel: 1.604.822.6479 Toll Free: 1.877.777.6479 careercentre@sauder.ubc.ca

Get a 2017 UBC MBA on your team | sauder.ubc.ca/hireanMBA

8

NEWS

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

environment

New technology centre in Vancouver opened to teams in US$20 million global carbon-capture competition A new technology commercialization centre in metropolitan Vancouver has opened its doors to international innovators competing in a US$20 million global competition to convert carbon dioxide emissions into valuable products.

The Carbon Capture and Conversion Institute’s (CCCI) new centre, located in Richmond, is offering its facilities and network of experts to 27 semifinalist teams competing in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPrize, including Terra CO2 Technologies

Ltd., B.C.’s sole competitor in the global competition.

The contest is to encourage breakthrough technologies that convert the most carbon dioxide from industrial emissions into products with the highest net value – thereby keeping the greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere.

CCCI is an institute of CMC Research Institutes, a non-profit company dedicated to accelerating innovation to eliminate industrial greenhouse gas emissions. Under

a partnership agreement between CMC, XPrize and competition sponsors NRG and Canada’s Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, all 27 teams from six different countries, including Canada, have the option of utilizing

CCCI’s new centre during the solutions development phase. Advancing carbon capture and conversion technologies from the laboratory bench to pilot plant scale is a requirement for teams to advance to the competition finals.

Scheduled to open by February, CCCI’s custom-built Technology Commercialization and Innovation Centre is operated by a multidisciplinary team including scientists and engineers, and is focused on scale-up and commercialization.

manufacturing

ENERGY

Catalyst Paper goes private

Deal struck with Lax Kw’alaams on LNG

Catalyst Paper announced January 27 that it is no longer a publicly traded company.

Following recapitalization with its three major shareholders, the B.C. paper company – formerly listed under the stock symbol CYT – is now privately owned by three major shareholders: Oaktree Capital Management, Mudrick Capital Management LP and Cyrus Capital Partners LP. The move will take $125 million in debt off the company’s books.

“About $125 million of debt is being extinguished without any adverse effect on trade vendors and suppliers,” Len Posyniak, Catalyst’s senior

vice-president of human resourc e s a n d c o rporate service, told Business in Vancouver. “ T h at’s ver y key to the whole

matter.”

Close to 80% of Catalyst’s stock had been owned by its major shareholders, which have bought out the company’s other common stock holders.

Under the new arrangement, the three stakeholders are exchanging Catalyst’s secured notes for new common shares and a $141 million secured term loan.

Ottawa and Victoria have struck what they are calling a historic agreement with two key First Nations on the Petronas Pacific NorthWest LNG project in Prince Rupert.

In a joint agreement between federal and provincial environmental ministries, the Lax Kw’alaams and Metlakatla First Nations are being given a more active role in environmental monitoring of the $36 billion liquefied natural gas project to gain their support for the project.

“This is a first,” said John Rustad, B.C.’s minister of aboriginal relations and reconciliation. “We’ve never done this type of process before with having the First Nations part of monitoring conditions

that have been brought forward by the environmental assessment.”

The Lax Kw’alaams originally rejected the project over concerns about the impact it would have on sensitive salmonrearing habitat off Flora Bank. It rejected an offer of land and cash worth $1.2 billion for its approval and participation in the project.

But a band election in November 2015 that installed John Helin as the Lax Kw’alaams’ elected leader resulted in a change of heart. Helin wrote to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency stating that, if the project were to be approved, the band could support it, with conditions.

K biv.com Go online to read these stories in full, along with much more business news updated daily at biv.com.

Pre-sold condos hold out hope for speculators residential | Exempt

from foreign-buyer scrutiny, assignment listings far higher than selling price

By Frank O’Brien fobrien@biv.com

A

s overall price increases f latline in Vancouver’s more reg u l ated hou sing market, assignment sales of uncompleted highrise condos – which are exempt from B.C. assignment and foreign-buyer tax regulations – might offer the best hope for speculators in 2017.

More than 87% of the 8,955 new concrete condos started in Greater Vancouver in 2016 were pre-sold, according to an MLA Canada study released at a recent Vancouver real estate conference.

A separate Urban Analytics survey found only 31 new concrete condos complete and unsold as of 2016’s third quarter, the lowest Metro inventory in five years.

T his year, a further 10,700 new concrete condos will begin

Sold out two years ago at around $670 per square foot, condos at East Vancouver’s Independent project are now being offered at more than $900 per square foot prior to its completion this year | Rize Alliance

INNOVATION WEEK IN #NEWWEST Feb 24 - Mar 3

marketing in Metro Vancouver, but at much higher prices, the Urban Development Institute’s annual real es tate forecast luncheon was told, due to rising costs for land, labour and construction materials.

Excluding land value, the hard construction costs to build a new highrise condo tower in Vancouver is now $290 per square foot compared with $230 a year ago, according to appraisal firm Altus Group.

However, land values for Vancouver residential development sites have rocketed up as much as 260% from a year ago, based on 2017 assessments. Some developers are paying up to $1,000 per square foot for Vancouver building sites with high-density potential. continued on page 11

LEADERSHIP DINNER MARCH 2

5:30-9:30 pm, Anvil Centre Moderated panel discussion on innovation featuring regional Mayors

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news

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

9

B.C.’s fintech to get better equity market road map regulation | BCSC

follows Ontario’s lead with launch of team to help financial technology startups

BY TYLER ORTON TORTON@BIV.COM

R

epresenting a Vancouverbased financial technology firm in its bid to secure a stock market listing through a reverse takeover should be straightforward. But lawyer Christine Duhaime recalls it turned into a costly ordeal for one of her clients.

“They had a million roadblocks.

Questions after questions after questions after reviews. And they finally withdrew.”

Duhaime added that her client was already $250,000 in the hole in brokerage and accounting fees.

She said the story has turned into legend through the Vancouver tech community, and not many fintechs have much interest in getting listed anymore.

“Canada, to be honest, is really slow getting behind the whole idea of fintech and trying to be supportive on a regulatory front.”

But Duhaime said provincial regulators appear to be on the right track following the January 24 launch of a dedicated “tech team” to assist fintechs with navigating regulations.

The BC Securities Commission’s

soaring power Continued from page 1

The eight mayors, Unifor, the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC) and a number of small businesses are lobbying to have the 7% PST on industrial power sales scrapped in the next provincial budget.

If it’s not, they fear heavy industry will become unsustainable in B.C. Three pulp and paper mills closed in 2015, and if more closures follow, it would have a domino effect that would likely trigger the closure of sawmills, they warn.

“The industry faces a ton of challenges, and, frankly, government plays a role in making sure that these industries are able to get through those times,” said Scott Doherty, executive assistant to the president of Unifor, which represents pulp and paper mill workers.

When a pulp or paper mill closes, it’s not just devastating for the community where it operates; it sends a ripple through the whole forestry sector, from B.C.’s Interior, where sawmills sell wood chips to pulp and paper mills, to Vancouver, where both wood chips and pulp and paper products make up a significant volume of Seaspan Marine’s barge business.

“The industry is so interconnected,” said Ryan Chambers, president of DCT Chambers Trucking in Vernon. “All those pulp mills on the coast have direct

The BC Securities Commission is launching a four-person team dedicated to the financial technology sector | rob kruyt

(BCSC) four-person team is composed of members of the regulator’s corporate, finance and capital markets teams.

The BCSC also launched a new fintech web page and is surveying industry members.

Mark Wang, the BCSC’s director of capital markets regulation, said the regulator is trying to get a sense of the challenges businesses face and gauge industry awareness of regulations.

strong lines into the Interior, into the Cariboo, and their demise could lead to the eventual closure of sawmills in the Interior.”

Chambers’ company has a fleet of 350 trucks employing 500 drivers in B.C. About 60% of the company’s business is hauling wood chips used in pulp and paper mills.

He rattles off a list of sawmills that sell wood chips to the pulp and paper sector, and suggests they’re in jeopardy, if pulp and paper mills in B.C. continue to close.

Thanks to B.C.’s legacy hydroelectric dams, the province’s heavy industry has long had an economic edge over other North American jurisdictions. It not only had abundant natural resources – timber, minerals, natural gas – it also had abundant cheap power.

But that advantage is rapidly disappearing. Between 2013 and 2017, industrial power rates in B.C. have shot up 26.7% and will increase another 9.4% between 2018 and 2020.

Lafarge, which employs 1,200 people in B.C., pays about $10 million for power, plus $7 million in carbon taxes.

Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) spends about $30 million per year on power just for its Highland Valley copper mine near Kamloops, said MABC CEO Karina Briño.

Given that electricity accounts for about 15% of a mine’s operating costs, the recent increases

“We’re seeing a lot more coming our way that’s technology- and fintech-related than what we were seeing five, 10 years ago,” he said.

“It’s just a sea change.”

In 2010, there were five fintechs operating in B.C. That number has grown to 29, according to BC Tech Association figures.

The BCSC’s initiative follows that of the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), which unveiled its LaunchPad program

in October. It includes a fintech advisory board and discussion sessions with fintechs operating in Ontario.

“It is early days. As I’ve said to other people, we’re not a substitute for legal advice. We’re providing the benefit of our regulatory experience, and I think that’s where businesses are really seeing a benefit,” said OSC LaunchPad chief Pat Chaukos.

“That’s always the challenge as a regulator in terms of managing expectations. Up to now we’ve been able to meet with most firms, and I think they’re coming in to talk to us at a very early stage, which is a good thing.”

She said if the OSC isn’t in contact with a fintech until late in an online platform’s development, it can become prohibitively expensive for the company to build in compliances.

“We’ve also had firms come in with legal counsel because obviously we’re looking at very new technology – this is a new space for all of us, including professional advisers. So we’re all learning and figuring out what’s the best way to go forward to allow these businesses to operate but at the same

time make sure we’re building in investor protection measures.”

Merchant Advance Capital CEO David Gens said he took the BCSC’s survey, and he’s pleased the regulator is taking steps to reach out more proactively to fintechs.

“Every small, growing fintech company is constrained in terms of resources. So every decision to put yourself in a more regulated position is taken very carefully because if it’s going to suck up all your resources, you might not have time for it. We’re always making sure we’re on the safe side of the equation. We’re not trying to ask for forgiveness later.”

But both Gens and Duhaime said many fintechs face hurdles to becoming successful in Canada because they have to deal with different regulators and different rules in each province.

“Nobody from anywhere … wants to come and deal with 10 different securities regulators,” Duhaime said. “Whether they like it or not, [regulators] all need to get into a room for the sake of technology in Canada and figure this out and have one national system.” •

Catalyst’s paper mill in Crofton. The company’s annual PST bill for power is around $11 million |

can mean the difference between a mine continuing to operate or shutting down.

Last year, in recognition of the struggle B.C. mines faced following a prolonged commodity slump that closed several mines, the B.C. government allowed mining companies to defer a portion of their power bills for up to two years.

But that may be a Band-Aid solution to a more systemic problem, and it doesn’t help the pulp and paper industry.

For a company like Catalyst Paper, which operates three mills in B.C. and two in the U.S., power accounts for roughly 30% of its operating costs. It pays $11 million per year just in PST on its power bill.

“B.C. is the only jurisdiction in North America that applies PST on electricity used in manufacturing,” said Len Posyniak,

Catalyst’s senior vice-president of human resources and corporate service.

Pulp and paper mills are at the top of the value-added chain for forestry. They take a waste product – wood chips from sawmills – and turn it into something that generates about $4 billion in exports annually.

A pulp mill typically employs hundreds of workers, with average wages of $85,000 per year.

Catalyst alone employs 1,600 directly and more than 5,000 indirectly.

Catalyst’s Powell River mill pays $2.6 million annually in taxes – about 20% of the local tax base.

“If the mill was to close here, it would be pretty devastating,” said Powell River Mayor Dave Formosa. “The amount of taxation we receive from the mill would probably equate to a 20-someodd per cent tax increase. Just

submitted

taxes alone would be devastating, and the other issue is they’re 400 of the best-paying jobs in the community.”

Formosa and seven other B.C. mayors recently wrote a letter to Premier Christy Clark and B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong asking them to remove the PST on industrial power sales in the next provincial budget.

Up until 2015, there were an estimated 17 pulp mills and six paper mills operating in B.C. In 2015, Paper Excellence shut down its paper mill in Port Mellon and indefinitely shuttered its mill in Chetwynd.

Neucel Specialty Cellulose closed its pulp mill in Port Alice in 2015, putting 460 people out of work.

At the end of 2016, Tolko Industries closed its lumber mill in Merritt, putting more than 200 people out of work. •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

11

realestate Valley apartment action up; joint venture helps house veterans

real estate roundup Peter Mitham

Apartment surge “Be bold or move to suburbia,” was the tag line for the Woodward’s redevelopment when Rennie Marketing Systems sold the project in a blockbuster day back in 2006.

Nowadays, with Vancouver housing ranked among the least affordable in the world, people are more likely to think, “Be rich or move to suburbia” – even though the suburbs have seen their own shifts in pricing as people seek more affordable digs.

In the past year, for example, the benchmark price of Fraser Valley housing climbed 27.1%, ending the year at $628,800.

While this was down somewhat from a peak of $642,800 in August 2016, it nevertheless represented a radical upward shift in

Pre-sold condos Continued from page 8

The result has been a surge in assignment sales of condos in sold-out but uncompleted Vancouver towers, with investors hoping to catch the uplift in value since the condos were first sold.

Strathcona Village, now under construction on East Hastings Street, where one-bedroom condos originally sold two years ago for $450 per square foot to $497 per square foot. The condos are

values. Small wonder some are asking how sustainable the increase in housing prices is, even in the Fraser Valley.

The decline in recent months underscores a general cooling trend in the market.

But if there’s one hot spot, it’s apartments.

Year-end data indicates that Fraser Valley apartments were alone among Lower Mainland housing types to appreciate steadily through 2016, rising 26.3% to $259,000. It’s also attractive compared with a benchmark apartment price in Metro Vancouver of $510,300.

In Abbotsford, Quantum Properties Inc. is developing the tallest residential building between Surrey and Calgary – 26 storeys – in response to demand. Pre-sales accelerated in 2016 as markets across the region hit fever pitch.

Set for completion in 2019, the tower will have three floors of commercial space designed to serve both residents and the community and 152 units that average about 1,000 square feet – larger than those in Vancouver, but smaller than the ranchers that dominate surrounding streets.

Quantum president and CEO Diane Delves says most buyers are local, people who wanted to downsize from detached homes while staying within the community. A handful relocated from more expensive communities.

All told, Abbotsford saw 667 multi-family starts last year, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., a 61.5% increase from 413 in 2015.

Not fade away “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away,” ran a popular First World War song. With a new wave of veterans dealing with the trauma of missions on distant shores, however, Royal Canadian Legion branches hope for reincarnation.

In the case of Whalley’s legion, groundbreaking could occur this summer on a 160,000-square-foot redevelopment of the 6,000-squarefoot hall.

To do so, the legion’s BC/ Yukon command formed BCYC Development Corp. to partner with Surrey’s Lark Group.

The arrangement is an increasingly common strategy for property owners who want to

hold properties but don’t have expertise or financial resources to undertake a project, Colliers International observes in a recent report on joint ventures in the Lower Mainland.

“Given the rising costs of development in Vancouver in recent years, the focus has shifted to locating a site and working with the owner on a potential partnership from the beginning of the project,” Colliers says.

Redevelopment of the Whalley branch will give the legion a rejuvenated space for its 800 members as well as improve the services it provides the community.

“The legion has had an operation that’s been limited in scope,” said Rowena Rizzotti, vice-president, health care and innovation, with Lark. “There was an opportunity to perhaps expand their contribution back to the community in a serviceoriented type of way.”

The project will include a centre of excellence in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rehabilitation services for returning and aging veterans and at least 48 units of non-market housing.

Stable housing is especially

now being advertised as assignments for $770 to $787 per square foot.

The Independent project at Main Street and East Broadway, a Rize Alliance tower that sold out in 2015 at an average price of $672 per square foot, has assignments being offered at more than $900 per square foot. One twobedroom is listed by Rennie & Associates at $991 per square foot.

The Independent is scheduled to be completed this fall.

Last week, 58 Metro Vancouver

condo assignment ads were posted on Craigslist, some offering multiple units in Vancouver towers from downtown Vancouver to Surrey. Most are listed by real estate agents.

Assignment sales are exempt from B.C. anti-flipping legislation. Enacted in May 2016, it stipulates that sales contracts can’t be assigned without the written consent of the seller and that any profit from an assignment goes to the initial seller.

The legislation does not apply

to new developments, includi ng pre-sa le condos, even i f a licensed realtor sells the assignment, according to Ministry of Finance spokesman Jamie Edwardson.

Pre-sale condo assignments are exempt from the B.C. foreign-buyer tax regulations that came into force last August and are based on the transfer of title.

Therefore, an investor could buy a pre-sale condo, flip it as an assignment during construction and not appear as either a buyer

[] Sandy Reiser executive director, BC/Yukon Command, Royal Canadian Legion

important, said Sandy Reiser, executive director of BC/Yukon command, because PTSD and other issues hinder reintegration into civilian life and contribute to homelessness.

“There is nowhere to go,” she said. “The purpose is to support veterans and our communities.”

Completion is set for 2019, and the project could point the way for other branches.

“This is a model that we want to see replicated across Canada,” Rizzotti said. • pmitham@telus.net

or a property owner on provincial government documentation, Edwardson confirmed.

In an email to BIV, Edwardson noted the original investor is required to report the transaction to the Canada Revenue Agency, and “may be required to pay income tax on the profits.”

He said it’s the final buyer of the assignment who would be liable for provincial property transfer taxes when the building completes, not the investor who sold the assignment. •

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12

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

finance

SouthGobi Resources (TSX:SGQ) weekly price gain

Average weekly earnings rise in B.C.

Data Points Bryan Yu

T

here are signs that 2016’s strong labour market performance is finally generating some positive wage momentum, with B.C. payroll data for November showing a strong gain in average weekly earnings of 0.9% from October to reach $925 – although the increase from a year earlier was a mild 1.5%. Monthly gains exceeded the national performance, but were generally weaker than most provinces on a year-over-year basis.

Declines in Alberta and weak gains in Saskatchewan were key drags on national wages.

A sectoral scan points to healthy year-over-year gains in utilities (11.5%), finance and insurance (8.7%), professional and management services (about 4%) and information and cultural industries (3.9%).

In contrast, average weekly earnings fell in forestry and logging (-11.2%), arts, entertainment and recreation (-9.2%), and transport and warehousing (-1.4%).

While November’s increase in average weekly earnings maintained an underwhelming pattern, it partly underestimates growth improvement in more recent months. The fixed index of earnings, which adjusts for changes in industry composition and hours, has improved to 3% year-over-year since September after a trend

of roughly 1% in the first half of the year.

Stronger wage gains better align with a tight labour market, which has driven the B.C. unemployment rate below 6% and contributed to the highest job vacancy rate in Canada at 3.6% in the third quarter, specifically in the Lower Mainland-Southwest, Vancouver Island and Coast and the Thompson Okanagan regions.

The rate climbed through 2016 and was higher than the 3.4% recorded in the same period in 2015. Despite recent deceleration, year-over-year growth of 2.7% in payroll employment levels was the strongest in the country in November.

This difference in trend between the fixed earnings index and average weekly earnings reflects several factors. Parttime employment growth climbed faster than full-time positions, which contributed to a slip in average hours worked and lower growth in earnings.

Some of B.C.’s more heavily weighted sectors, including construction and trade, posted relatively mild or negative growth in weekly earnings.

Job market composition may have also be a factor. Substantial job growth was recorded in lower-paid sectors such as arts, recreation and entertainment (10%) and accommodations and food services (4.3%), reflecting strong tourism growth, while the high-paid resource extraction sector shed jobs (-6.8%). However, previous analysis suggests composition was a mild driver of weaker headline earnings gains.•

D 37%

Northcliff Resources (TSX:NCF) weekly price gain

B.C. Weekly earnings rise moderately

D 22%

Low Canadian dollar expected to drive rebound in manufacturing and exports

Forestry sector suffered B.C.’s steepest year-over-year wage declines in November

The utilities, finance, insurance and corporate management sectors had the largest year-over-year wage gains Public administration Other services (except public admin.)

Accommodation and food services Arts, entertainment and recreation Health care and social assistance Educational services Administrative and support Management of companies Professional, scientific and technical services Real estate and rental and leasing Finance and insurance Information and cultural industries Transportation and warehousing Trade Manufacturing Construction Utilities Mining, quarrying, oil and gas extraction Forestry, logging and support All Industries -12

-10

-8

-6

-4

-2

0 Per cent

2

4

6

8

12

SourceS: statistics canada, central 1 credit union

Bryan Yu is senior economist at Central 1 Credit Union.

FabrikaSimf/SHUTTERSTOCK

BIV On ROundhOuse is your essential daily local business news and information program, featuring the award-winning journalism from Business in Vancouver, interviews with newsmakers and thought leaders in the city, and lively discussion on issues that matter to the business community.

9–10 am weekdays In partnershIp wIth sponsored by

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10

For sponsorship inquiries, contact cwilson@biv.com

finance Dynasty Metals (TSX:DMM) weekly price gain

D 17%

F 28%

New Gold (TSX:NGD) weekly price drop

Western Potash (TSX:WPX) weekly price drop

B.C. firms need workers

F 11%

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Corvus Gold (TSX:KOR) weekly price drop

The following is a list of stock trades made by corporate executives, directors and other company insiders of B.C.’s public companies filed in the week ended February 1, 2017. The information comes from a compilation of required reports filed with the BC Securities Commission obtained from DisclosureNet.com.

Insider Stephen Harvey Sorensen, 10% owner Company: UEX Corp. (TSX:UEX) Shares owned: 0 Trade date: January 26 Trade total: $300,000 Trade: Sale of 1,000,000 shares at a price of $0.30 per share Insider Ivan Bebek, director Company: Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX:AUG) Shares owned: 3,526,000 Trade date: January 27, 31 Trade total: $151,550 Trade: Acquisition of 45,000 shares at prices from $3.35 to $3.39 per share

Vintage Tone/SHUTTERSTOCK

B.C. has Canada’s highest job vacancy rate

A tight labour market has driven the province’s unemployment rate below 6% British Columbia Alberta Saskatchewan

Insider Ronald Rimelman, officer Company: Novagold Resources Inc. (TSX:NG) Shares owned: 89,159 Trade date: January 30 Trade total: $149,331 Trade: Sale of 28,648 shares at prices of $5.21 to $5.23 per share

Manitoba Ontario Quebec New Brunswick Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island Newfoundland and Labrador Canada 1

1.5

2 Per cent

2.5

3

3.5

4

SourceS: statistics canada, central 1 credit union

Metro Vancouver and the Okanagan have B.C.’s highest job vacancy rate

Job composition can affect the job vacancy rate given that most vacancies are in sales, services and transportation Northeast

Insider Stavros Daskos, director, officer Company: Encanto Potash Corp.

(TSX-V:EPO) Shares owned: 1,554,500 Trade date: January 26 Trade total: $108,180 Trade: Sale of 901,500 shares at a price of $0.12 per share Insider Timothy Andrew Coupland, director, officer Company: Artic Hunter Energy Inc. (TSX-V:AHU) Shares owned: 408,425 Trade date: January 26 Trade total: $107,250 Trade: Sale of 950,000 shares at a price of $0.11 per share

Nechako North Coast Cariboo Kootenay Thompson Okanagan Lower Mainland-Southwest Vancouver Island and Coast British Columbia 0.5

1

1.5

2 Per cent

2.5

3

3.5

F 7%

INSIDERTRADING

High real estate costs in Metro Vancouver could be one reason why many jobs in the province’s largest metropolis go unfilled for extended periods

0.5

13

4

SourceS: statistics canada, central 1 credit union

Insider Douglas Souter, director Company: Westshore Terminals Investment Corp. (TSX:WTE) Shares owned: 5,300 Trade date: January 26 Trade total: $49,020

Trade: Sale of 1,900 shares at a price of $25.80 per share Insider Jatinder Singh Bal, issuer Company: Equitorial Exploration Corp. (TSX-V:EXX) Shares owned: 2,077,000 Trade date: January 27 Trade total: $43,220 Trade: Acquisition of 646,000 shares at prices from $0.06 to $0.07 per share Insider Michael R. Dake, director Company: Pure Energy Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:PE) Shares owned: 571,000 Trade date: January 26, 27 Trade total: $35,365 Trade: Sale of 55,000 shares at prices from $0.64 to $0.65 per share Insider Michael James Atkinson, director, officer Company: Knol Resources Corp.

(CVE:NOL) Shares owned: 2,628 Trade date: January 27 Trade total: $35,000 Trade: Sale of 500,000 shares at a price of $0.07 per share Insider Michael Erwin Rapsch, officer Company: SilverCrest Metals Inc. (TSX-V:SIL) Shares owned: 13,406 Trade date: January 27 Trade total: $22,895 Trade: Sale of 9,500 shares at a price of $2.41 per share Insider Kathryn Johnson, officer Company: Golden Predator Mining Corp. (TSX-V:GPY) Shares owned: 80,000 Trade date: February 1 Trade total: $21,300 Trade: Acquisition of 15,000 shares at a price of $1.42 per share Insider James Russell Nelles Starr, officer Company: Auryn Resources Inc. (TSX:AUG) Shares owned: 1,031,100 Trade date: January 26 Trade total: $16,450 Trade: Sale of 5,000 shares at a price of $3.29 per share •

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14

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

AsiaPacific Uber Hong Kong’s rough ride on road to acceptance TRANSPORTATION | Ride-hailing company faces stiff opposition from taxis and government

By Cannix Yau South China Morning Post

F

acing hostility from the taxi trade and a government crackdown, the man in charge of Uber in Hong Kong remains undaunted as he fights an uphill battle to make the ridehailing business legitimate.

Kenneth She Chun-chi, general manager of Uber Hong Kong, said the transport industry should be a win-win affair for everyone.

He said the greatest opposition to Uber did not come from the cabbies themselves but from the owners of taxi firms, who have spent millions of dollars on licences and see Uber as a threat to their vested interests.

“I have a clear conscience,” She said. “All along what I’ve done has not in any way affected cabbies’ livelihoods. On the contrary, we’ve offered them opportunities to be our drivers. And the working hours are very flexible.”

He added that a family member was a taxi driver, and he was

Uber Hong Kong’s general manager says the Hong Kong public needs more transportation options |

Worawee

Meepian/Shutterstock

aware of cabbies’ daily struggles.

“The problem lies with some taxi firms that own a large number of licences. But a taxi licence should serve as a tool [for cabbies], not as a commodity for investment,” he said.

“It’s a pity that this historical issue remains unresolved.”

The 30-year-old Oxford University graduate was speaking amid

an ongoing legal battle involving five Uber drivers charged with using a car for hire without a permit and driving without thirdparty insurance.

Their trial, the result of a police raid on Uber offices following complaints by taxi drivers in August 2015, will resume on February 27.

The Hong Kong firm, founded

nearly three years ago, focuses on ride-sharing platforms UberX and UberBlack as well as meal delivery service UberEats. It also provides special services, such as helicopter rides, on a seasonal basis.

The government stopped issuing taxi licences in 1994, and the number of vehicles has remained flat, at slightly more than 18,000,

since. As of January, a licence, freely tradable in the market, costs about HK$6.6 million ($1.1 million).

At present, there are approximately 9,000 taxi licence holders in Hong Kong, 8,000 of whom are solo cab owners, and around 40,000 drivers.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying said earlier that any changes to the current system should consider the public interest, including those holding licences.

However, She said the government should respect the needs of Hong Kongers, who require more transport options to make life easier, more efficient and convenient.

“The fact that our number of riders has reached over one million with more than 30,000 drivers working under us, just within two years of operation, shows Hong Kong really needs our service,” he said. “We’ll keep explaining this to all stakeholders, including the government.” •

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profile

February 7–13, 2017

15

Walt Judas | CEO, Tourism Industry

Association of British Columbia

Rob Kruyt

Industry advocate aims to keep B.C. tourism booming

By Glen Korstrom gkorstrom@biv.com

W

alt Judas considers tourism to be a “forum for understanding.”

With U.S. President Donald Trump initiating travel bans, and xenophobia-inspired terrorist attacks senselessly killing innocent civilians, rarely has there been a time when travel and tourism have been more important as a way of bridging cultures and cultivating understanding, Judas said.

As CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia (TIABC), it might be expected that Judas would feel that way.

The 54-year-old has been to 36 countries and to all continents except for Antarctica.

Travel for him is more than just a profession – it’s a passion.

“Through technology, social media and otherwise, the world is a much smaller

place, yet our ability to understand each other is really through travel, not merely through technology,” said Judas, whose organization advocates for the tourism sector in B.C. “To sit with somebody face to face in their home country, on their soil, helps [promote] learning and perspective.”

That passion comes through when Judas urges governments to create regulations to mitigate the impact of short-term rental companies such as Airbnb. His aim, as always, is to keep B.C.’s booming tourism industry strong.

“We’re certain to get the attention of politicians at this year’s conference,” he said with a smile. “It’s an election year and we’re holding it in Victoria.”

Delegates to TIABC’s annual conference, to be held February 22-24, include business owners who are expected to urge the federal government to modify its temporary foreign worker program to make it easier

for tourism industry employers to hire seasonal workers. They are also likely to stress to the B.C. government the importance of adequately funding ferry service so tourists can move around the province more easily.

Despite Judas’ dedication to tourism, he almost ended up as a sportscaster.

The Vancouver native’s first love was journalism. He completed a diploma in broadcasting from the British Columbia Institute of Technology after graduating from high school in Richmond.

Radio station CISL gave him his first shot at broadcasting, in 1982, even though the station was struggling financially. CISL laid off many on-air personalities but Judas survived because, he said, “I was willing to work seven days a week for next to no money.”

His first assignment at the station was memorable.

He was to cover the fourth game of the Stanley Cup final, where the New York Islanders beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 and won the Stanley Cup. After conducting interviews in the Canucks’ Pacific Coliseum dressing room, Judas recalled, he headed to the Islanders’ dressing room to do some interviews for a freelance gig with a New York radio station.

Most of the team had already left but two players remained.

“I was this rookie, green reporter and had questions written down,” Judas remembered.

“Bryan Trottier came out of the shower in a towel and more or less took control of the interview. He was unbelievable, and then he called out to the other guy, who was singing in the shower. continued on page 16

16

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Industry advocate Continued from page 15

“It was Mike Bossy. They gave me great clips, so I fed them to New York and they were probably the best clips around because there was no background noise.”

A fter about five yea rs as a sportscaster, Judas was promoted to program manager. He hired talent such as former Canucks goalie John Garrett, who now does colour commentary on Sportsnet.

Judas said he was offered a job in 1989 with the late-night TV sports program Sports Page but turned the job down to pursue public relations.

He had been married a few years and was a new father, so he wanted to have conventional work hours and a larger salary.

Getting on at PavCo – B.C.’s Crown corporation that manages sites such as BC Place stadium – fit that bill nicely.

Six years later, he moved to a similar role at what was the Vancouver Port Authority.

Other “whistle stops” included a short stint at Continental Communications, which morphed to become Weber Shandwick. He also did contract work for the Pace Group.

Had it not been for a search firm that urged Judas to apply for a communications role at Tourism Vancouver, he might never have found his way into the tourism sector.

profile “He is a very strong communicator, succinct and to the point while being candid,” said former Tourism Vancouver CEO Rick Antonson, who hired Judas and was his boss for most of the nearly 16 years that Judas spent in executive roles at that organization.

“Walt has a strong provincial perspective in what makes tourism work,” Antonson said. “He’s well aware of, and helped develop, the realization that many visitors to Vancouver from around the world only come here for two or three days out of a two- or threeweek vacation.”

That insight into what drives people to visit B.C. prompted Judas to develop travel-media itineraries that reflected that perspective and, in the process, strengthened Tourism Vancouver’s relationships with travel marketers around the province and across the country, Antonson said.

When Antonson quit Tourism Vancouver to devote more energy to writing travel books, Ty Speer took the helm as the new CEO. As often happens when organizations hire new CEOs, there was a rotation among other executives. “[Speer] was looking to reshape the senior management team,” Judas said. “I left and a short while later the senior vicepresident left.”

TIABC had an opening for a CEO in May 2015 because the organization’s former boss, Ian Robertson, left to lead the Greater

Victoria Harbour Authority.

Judas took the jump and has since been looking to expand TIABC’s membership and revenue base.

The main similarity between Tourism Vancouver and TIABC is that both organizations promote tourism in the province. There are substantial differences, however.

“Tourism Vancouver is marketing; we’re advocacy,” Judas said.

Tourism Vancouver also has spacious offices above its tourist centre at 200 Burrard Street while TIABC shares smaller premises with the BC Hotel Association and the Alliance of Beverage Licensees in a two-storey walk-up building on Howe Street.

Tourism Vancouver has about 60 employees and its budget was expected to be about $21.8 million last year, while TIABC’s budget is about $250,000 and it is staffed by four, including Judas.

The membership composition in the two organizations is also different.

Tourism Vancouver’s members are mostly tourism- and hospitality-related businesses whereas TIABC’s members are a mix of destination-tourism organizations such as Tourism Vancouver, industry associations such as the BC Taxi Association, or larger corporate members such as the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.

“My goal is to build membership, grow our annual conference and ensure that TI A BC remains relevant and that we’re

Walt has a strong provincial perspective in what makes tourism work. He’s well aware of, and helped develop, the realization that many visitors to Vancouver from around the world only come here for two or three days out of a two- or three-week vacation

[] Rick Antonson former CEO, Tourism Vancouver

INside information: Walt Judas

Favourite place to vacation in B.C.: Tough question because there are so many but I’ll say the Sunshine Coast

Place outside B.C. where you would like to go but have never been: India

Last music downloaded or streamed: Blue Highways by Colin James

Favourite movie: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Favourite business book: Leadership: 50 Points of Wisdom for Today’s Leaders by Gen. Rick Hillier

Famous person you would most want to meet but haven’t: accountable,” Judas said. “We need to demonstrate to the industry that we can move the needle on a number of issues and that we’re acting on the industry’s behalf.” •

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17

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Hospitality & Tourism

Restaurant owners waiting for service on B.C. liquor-law changes

19

B.C. regulations hurt bottom line, critics say

BIVLIst

Biggest tourist attractions in Metro Vancouver

18

Marketing manager Jeff Letvenuk picks icewine grapes at Pillitteri Estates Winery |

Submitted

Wineries cultivate tourism growth at Vancouver International Wine Festival MARKETING | Canada

By Glen Korstrom gkorstrom@biv.com

W

hen winery representatives pour wines at the Vancouver International Wine Festival, February 11-19, they will try to make a connection with consumers to not only encourage sales but also draw visitors.

The wine-tourism sector in

marks 150th birthday as annual event’s theme country

Canada is rapidly growing. Several years ago, research firm Frank, Rimerman + Co. estimated that three million people visit Canadian wineries and that the sector generates $1.2 billion annually in tourism revenue and employment.

Festival organizers expect to set a record for hosting the highest number of Canadian wineries at an international wine

festival – a fitting way to mark Canada’s 150th year as a country.

Representatives from the anticipated 77 Canadian wineries will pour wines alongside counterparts from 85 wineries from around the world in an effort to show how far the Canadian industry has come.

“The wine festival is an opportunity for Nova Scotia wineries to present, as a collective,

what the province has to offer and also showcase what’s unique about the proposition of growing grapes right along the Bay of Fundy,” said Jean-Benoit Des­ lauriers, winemaker at Nova Scotia’s Benjamin Bridge winery.

About 61 B.C. wineries represent most of the Canadian contingent at the festival. continued on page 19

NomiNatioNs DeaDliNe march 6, 2017 Business in Vancouver and the chartered Professional accountants of Bc have once again partnered to recognize and celebrate the top cFos in British columbia.

Winning cFos will be profiled in Business in Vancouver on may 9th and honoured at a gala dinner in June where each winner will share their leadership lessons to an audience of Vancouver’s business community.

Visit www.biv.com/events/cfo to submit your nomination online.

Presented by:

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general sPonsors:

18

Hospitality & Tourism

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Biggest tourist attractions in Metro Vancouver Ranked BY | Number

of visitors in 2016

Biggest tourist attractions in Metro Vancouver RANKED BY | Number Rank '17

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

of visitors in 2016

ay 6!

sM ekend e W n pe

O

s May

d eeken pen W

6!

O

playland – biv, earlug 1.8 in x 1.5 in January Cost of 30, 2017 Year No. of

Company

Top local executive(s)

Expansion plans

Grouse Mountain Resorts 6400 Nancy Greene Way, North Vancouver V7R 4K9 P: 604-980-9311 F: 604-984-7234 www.grousemountain.com

NP

playland – biv, earlug $44.95 1926 1,300,000/ 1.8 in x 1.5 in 1,250,000

Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre 845 Avison Way, Vancouver V6G 3E2 P: 604-659-3474 F: 604-659-3515 www.vanaqua.org Capilano Suspension Bridge Park 3735 Capilano Rd, North Vancouver V7R 4J1 P: 604-985-7474 F: 604-985-7479 www.capbridge.com Richmond Olympic Oval 6111 River Rd, Richmond V7C 0A2 P: 778-296-1400 F: NP www.richmondoval.ca Science World British Columbia 1455 Quebec St, Vancouver V6A 3Z7 P: 604-443-7440 F: 604-443-7430 www.scienceworld.ca FlyOver Canada 999 Canada Pl Suite 201, Vancouver V6C 3E1 P: 604-620-8455 F: NP www.flyovercanada.com Vancouver Art Gallery 750 Hornby St, Vancouver V6Z 2H7 P: 604-662-4714 F: 604-682-1086 www.vanartgallery.bc.ca Playland at the PNE 2901 Hastings St E, Vancouver V5K 5J1 P: 604-253-2311 F: 604-251-7753 www.pne.ca/playland Vancouver Symphony Orchestra 843 Seymour St Suite 500, Vancouver V6B 3L4 P: 604-876-3434 F: 604-684-9264 www.vancouversymphony.ca VanDusen Botanical Garden 5251 Oak St, Vancouver V6M 4H1 P: 604-257-6915 F: 604-257-8679 www.vandusengarden.org Arts Club Theatre Company 162 1st Ave W Suite 203 BMO Theatre Centre, Vancouver V5Y 0H6 P: 604-687-5315 F: 604-688-3273 www.artsclub.com Greater Vancouver Zoo 5048 264 St, Aldergrove V4W 1N7 P: 604-856-6825 F: 604-857-9008 www.gvzoo.com Burnaby Village Museum & Carousel 6501 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby V5G 3T6 P: 604-297-4565 F: 604-297-4557 www.burnabyvillagemuseum.ca Stanley Park Miniature Train Off Pipeline Rd, Stanley Park, Vancouver V6G 1Z4 P: 604-257-8531 F: 604-718-6539 www.vancouverparks.ca Vancouver Lookout at Harbour Centre 555 Hastings St W, Vancouver V6B 4N6 P: 604-689-0421 F: 604-689-5447 www.vancouverlookout.com Museum of Anthropology at UBC 6393 Marine Dr NW, Vancouver V6T 1Z2 P: 604-827-5932 F: NP www.moa.ubc.ca Bloedel Conservatory 33rd Ave at Cambie St, Vancouver V5X 2T9 P: 604-257-8584 F: 604-257-2412 www.vandusen.org HR MacMillan Space Centre 1100 Chestnut St, Vancouver V6J 3J9 P: 604-738-7827 F: 604-736-5665 www.spacecentre.ca Cloverdale Rodeo & Exhibition 6050A 176 St, Surrey V3S 4E7 P: 604-576-9461 F: 604-576-0216 www.cloverdalerodeo.com Maplewood Farm 405 Seymour River Pl, North Vancouver V7H 1S6 P: 604-929-5610 F: 604-929-9341 www.maplewoodfarm.bc.ca

John Nightingale, president, Cathy Imrie, CFO

Two new gladed runs and a terrain park, Grouse Woods, opened in winter 2016-17; Light Walk was enhanced with music and additional light features including a 23-foot deer; Skyride Surf Adventure launched in summer 2016 Second phase of expansion plans is underway and includes a new Canada's Arctic gallery

$29

1956

1,170,000/ 1,100,000

Nancy Stibbard, owner and CEO

Working on a new restaurant in the Trading Post building that will offer indoor seating

$39.95

1889

1,100,000/ 900,000

George Duncan, CEO

NP

$17

2008

925,000/ 900,000

Scott Sampson, president and CEO

NP

$23.25

1982

812,952/ 565,819

David Barry, president

NP

$21.95

2013

575,000/ 500,000

Kathleen Bartels, director

Plans are underway to construct a new, purpose-built $20 gallery, twice the size of the current building, on the Larwill Park site at the corner of Georgia and Cambie Continuing with the 25-year Hastings Park/PNE master plan $36

1931

517,002/ 366,728

1958

301,535/ 315,166

Michael McDaniel, president and CEO, Pacific National Exhibition

marketing:Data:MKTGMAC:back up drive:ADS:2017:Business in Vancouver:Feb 7 - Banner and Earlug:PL17-BIV-earlug-0207

admission (adult)

founded

visitors '16/'15

January 30, 2017

marketing:Data:MKTGMAC:back up drive:ADS:2017:Business in Vancouver:Feb 7 - Banner and Earlug:PL17-BIV-earlug-0207

Alan Gove, vice-president, marketing and sales, Kelly NA Tweeddale, president, Vancouver Symphony Society and VSO School of Music, Tovey Bramwell, music director Guy Pottinger, garden director NA

$50

1919

267,000/ 262,000

$111

1975

260,000/ 225,0002

Peter Cathie White, executive director, Bill Millerd, artistic managing director

NP

NP

1964

255,000/ 255,000

NP

Major changes will be happening as the 20-year master plan $22 continues to progress

1970

210,000/ 215,000

Deborah Tuyttens, director

NP

1971

208,000/ 210,000

NP

NP

$11

1964

200,0003/ 200,000

Stacey Klyne, general manager

NP

$17.50

1977

183,700/ 163,500

Anthony Shelton, director

The new Gallery of Northwest Coast Masterworks is scheduled to open in June 2017

$18

1949

176,000/ 152,000

Guy Pottinger, garden director

NP

$6.50

1969

123,000/ NP

Raylene Marchand, executive director

NP

$18

1968

122,855/ 112,180

Mike MacSorley, general manager

NP

$12

1888

108,000/ 108,000

Derek Palmer, facility manager

New pony barn, livestock barn roof and public art installation; stormwater collection project, re-decking of main equestrian bridge, greenhouse electrical upgrade

$7.85

1975

103,000/ NP

Sources: Interviews with representatives of the above companies and BIV research. NA Not applicable NP Not provided 1 - April 1 to September 30 2 - 2014 figure 3 - BIV estimate

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in the List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Anna Liczmanska, lists@biv.com.

Next week’s list – Top 100 manufacturers in Metro Vancouver

Open Weekends

MAY 6 MAY 6

Open Weekends

for details for details

Hospitality & Tourism

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

19

Restaurant owners waiting for service on liquor-law changes HOSPITALITY | B.C.

regulations hurt bottom line, critics say

By Albert Van Santvoort avansantvoort@biv.com

BC

restaurant owners have long fought against the province’s liquor laws, calling them unfair and tangled in Byzantine complexity.

But restaurateurs might be seeing some light at the end of the regulatory tunnel, says a key industry player.

Ian Tostenson, president and CEO of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association, said he has reason to think the laws will change for the better before this year’s provincial election.

“We met with the ministers in government and the deputy ministers,” Tostenson said. “The way you get these things done is through co-operation and meeting with government. ... We’ve been at this for a couple years; I think that the government would probably want to bring it to some sort of decision prior to the spring election.”

Businesses and industry representatives like the restaurant association have been working with provincial government representatives to try to change current laws governing how restaurants purchase alcohol.

Wine industry lawyer Mark Hicken notes that the current system of government control over alcohol sale and distribution was initiated nearly 100 years ago. Unlike several other

Wineries Continued from page 17

About 10 will be from Ontario.

“When I tell people that there will be six Nova Scotia wineries, they say, ‘What? Nova Scotia makes wine?’ festival director Harry Hertscheg told Business in Vancouver.

Hertscheg said the festival reflects a strong tourism element in the industry.

“One of the things that Ontario wants to do, in terms of branding, is that they want more people to visit their wine regions. When British Columbians go to visit Toronto, the wine industry wants them also to make a side trip to Niagara.”

One distinguishing feature of Niagara is that it is colder in the winter than B.C.’s Okanagan Valley or wine regions in Nova Scotia such as the Annapolis Valley or the Malagash Peninsula.

That means more certainty t h at w i nem a kers c a n le ave grapes on vines and have the

provinces and countries, B.C.’s provincial government controls liquor retail including sales to businesses and restaurants.

British Columbia’s Liquor Distribution Branch is responsible for both liquor retail and supplying the province’s restaurants.

But restaurateurs face far more hurdles than other British Columbians when it comes to buying alcohol.

“When we tell people from New York, San Francisco and London what it’s like running a business, trying to forward our wine culture here, they say to us, ‘Why do you bother?’” said Kurtis Kolt, a Vancouver-based wine consultant and restaurateur.

Not only are restaurant owners restricted to buying beer, wine a nd spi rits from B.C. l iquor stores exclusively, but they are also restricted as to which stores they can buy from. Out of the almost 200 government-run liquor stores in the province, restaurants are allowed to choose only two to purchase from – one primary store and a backup.

But the regulation that is the chief sore point for B.C. restaurant owners’ bottom line is one that prevents them from buying alcohol from provincial liquor stores at wholesale prices.

“If you are buying a bottle of Merlot that’s on the shelf for $19.99, that is the exact same price that restaurants are purchasing for, whether they buy one

fruit freeze at temperatures of at least -8 C for a few days – something that must happen to make icewine.

“We don’t allow visitors to pick icewine grapes but we offer estate tours seven days a week year-round,” said Pillitteri Estates Winery marketing manager Jeff Letvenuk. The company is one of the largest family-owned wineries in Canada, and most of the roughly 100,000 cases it produces annually are icewine.

Because Pillitteri’s icewine harvest depends on the weather, however, it is difficult for the winery to organize and market events that are focused on the harvest, he explained.

Over in B.C.’s largest wine region, the Okanagan, many winery owners – such as those at Burrowing Owl Estate Winery, Silver Sage Winery a nd Nk’Mip Cellars – have sought to strengthen the bonds that they have with customers by offering accommodation on site.

“We don’t allow kids and we don’t allow pets,” said Hester Creek president Mark Sheridan,

bottle or 100 cases,” Kolt said.

Restaurants also face a different set of roadblocks when it comes to serving imported wines. When wine is brought into the province, importers must store it in a specific government warehouse in Richmond, which they do not have access to. Restaurants must order the wine from the warehouse and are dependent on it for product delivery.

But orders often go unfilled, and Kolt said it can take several weeks for the wine to be delivered.

Last year, the province updated some of its liquor laws, but most of the changes focused on consumption and little change was made to the laws affecting how restaurants buy alcohol.

“There were a lot of changes made, but I think particularly on the restaurant industry side, they felt like they weren’t listened to,” said Kolt. “I can assure you that the restaurant industry was asking for discounts and wholesale prices, private stores were asking to sell to restaurants, and obviously none of those things happened.”

But strong industry support gives Tostenson confidence that the law will be changed before the province goes to vote in May. “No, it won’t be an election issue,” said Tostenson. “I think they’ll try and get it done before the election one way or the other.” •

explaining that the aim of his winery when it opened six villas to the public in 2007 was to attract couples, not families. “ Pe ople who s t ay w it h u s can also dine here, at our restaurant, Terrafina,” he said.

“That’s the way we build brand loyalty. People immerse themselves when they come. They walk though our vineyards and Gehringer Brothers [Estate Winery] is literally across the street.

Our guests can have a bottle of Hester Creek Block 2 reserve Merlot and then walk through Block 2 while drinking it. They can taste the grapes.”

Even small upstart wineries in the Okanagan are considering putting in accommodation.

Lyndsay and Graham O’Rourke built their Tightrope Winery on the Naramata Bench in 2014 and have a relatively small volume of 4,600 cases per year, Lyndsay O’Rourke told BIV. Still, the O’Rourkes plan to attend the Vancouver International Wine Festival for the second year in a row as a way to build brand awareness and inspire visitors.•

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UBC: May 15 Vancouver Downtown: May 12, 18, 24, 25 June 19, 22

Contact: Tricia at 778-372-8060 or tricia.lewchuk@heartandstroke.ca

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20

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Events

Awards celebrate Forty under 40

B

usiness in Vancouver celebrated its 27th annual Forty under 40 Awards on January 25. The event, which highlights the achievements of B.C.’s young entrepreneurs, executives and professionals, hosted a record 600 attendees for a gala dinner and awards ceremony held for the first time at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Honourees were selected based on demonstrated excellence in business, judgment, leadership and community contribution, by a group of five judges made up of previous Forty under 40 winners. The night was MCed

by CBC Vancouver’s Johanna Wagstaffe and Andrew Chang and wrapped up with platinum sponsor Fasken Martineau awarding a cheque for $5,000 in legal fees to 2016 winner Joel Abramson of IT services company Fully Managed. Silver sponsor Entrepreneurs’ Organization Vancouver also awarded a $1,500 youth scholarship to cadet sergeant Ivy Kuang of the Vancouver Police Department cadet program. Check out the profiles of this year’s winners at biv.com or visit BIV’s Facebook page to see more photos from the event.

Photography: chung chow

From left, winner James Lombardi of Minded Projects with Sue Belisle and Kirk LaPointe of Business in Vancouver, Narges Nirumvala of ExecutiveSpeak Coaching International and Laura Lombardi of the Pacific Autism Family Network

From left, Ken Mitchell of Famoso Neopolitan Pizzeria with Dan Lock and Evert Helms of MNP LLP

Guests check out BMW Canada’s 2017 i8 model sports car

Business in Vancouver’s president and publisher, Sue Belisle, with Forty under 40 judges Neil Belenkie, CEO, The $2000 Coffee (left), and Iain Black, CEO, Greater Vancouver Board of Trade

Excellence is achieved in the details.

Congratulations to our partner David G. Wong and the 2016 BIV Forty Under 40 Winners!

Fasken Martineau is Vancouver’s largest law firm. We see legal issues in the context of our clients’ broader business issues. Our lawyers achieve great things for their clients.

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22

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Events

Winner Lisa Niemetscheck (left) of Forum for Women Entrepreneurs accepts her award from Sue Belisle, president and publisher, Business in Vancouver

Winner Anne Stevens of Aequus Pharmaceuticals accepts her award from Will Westeringh, managing partner, Vancouver, for Fasken Martineau

Fasken Martineau’s Will Westeringh presents winner Joel Abramson of Fully Managed with $5,000 cheque

Winner Ankit Sharma with family

EO Vancouver learning chair Cam Good presents a youth scholarship award cheque to cadet sergeant Ivy Kuang of the Vancouver Police Department cadet program

The Vancouver marketplace is changing. Will your company thrive or survive?

Since 2000, half of all fortune 500 companies have shut down*. Make sure your company has the technology it needs to outperform the competition.

Our assessment will help you determine where you currently stand.

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* World Economic Forum. Š 2017 TELUS Corporation.

24

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Events

Winner Beth Boyle of Longgame Holdings Inc. and Talk Shop Media Inc. accepts her award from Mark Hoag, partner, MNP LLP

Winner Ric Leong of Avigilon accepts his award from Leigh Tynan, director, customer marketing, for Telus Business Solutions West

All-in for Arthritis Gala January 27, 2017

Thank you for going "all-in" with us and helping to send kids with arthritis to camp this summer!

MCs Andrew Chang and Johanna Wagstaffe of CBC Vancouver welcome the crowd

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Insights

Publisher | Sue Belisle, 604-608-5151 Vice-President, Audience And Business Development | Kirk LaPointe, 604-608-5183 Managing editor | Timothy Renshaw, 604-608-5131 Deputy Managing editor | Mark Falkenberg, 604-608-5174 Business in Vancouver is owned by Glacier Media Inc., 303 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6

Trump’s U.S. talent show-stopper

D

onald Trump has launched a new international reality show that demands Canada’s participation. Call it America’s Got Talent to Burn. That’s one of the potential results of the U.S. president’s move to restrict immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.

The closed immigration door south of the border could open a window of opportunity in this country at a time

there’s no denying that Canada is hungry for top talent when victories in the global race for talent will determine winners in 21stcentury economies.

Tech leaders in Canada have already appealed to Ottawa to open that window wide so that immigrants the United States rejects might find opportunities in this country.

Caution is needed, however. The talent welcome mat should be laid out for those with the highest prospects for succeeding here and the skills Canada’s economy needs most.

25

There’s no long-term value in lowering security or other standards to import more problems than potential.

But there’s also no denying that Canada is hungry for top talent, especially in technology, science and executive leadership, to diversify its economy and wean it from reliance on energy and resource extraction.

Canada has many attractions for emerging business sectors in the new world economy. As noted in a recent announcement outlining a global banking group’s plan to team up with Montreal’s Northern Investment Partners Inc. to cultivate the development of data centres in Canada, those attractions include Canada’s low energy costs, stable sociopolitical environment and data protection and privacy laws.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, far less schooled than Trump in the reality-TV approach of browbeating contestants into submission, needs to elevate his international sales game.

The one-way street down Make America Great Again Avenue will lead to a lot of dead ends for Canada’s most important trading partner and leading competitor.

Disruptive times generate great opportunities. An astute Canada can seize those opportunities now; a passive and complacent True North Strong and Free will miss the chance of a generation.

last laugh

Media’s struggle to retain independence and integrity needs help

Podium Kirk LaPointe

T

hese are the most troubling times in recollection for the media business – and thus for you, sorry to say.

Few want to hear that. Many see media as something that belongs to others than themselves, reflecting others than themselves. They may not see their well-being associated with media well-being.

That mirror is shattered, as we know.

Each technological advance further destabilizes the economic model for journalism, atomizing advertising and dispersing the connection of creator and consumer. Last week’s cuts at Bell Media and Maclean’s

and buyouts of 26 journalists at the Vancouver Sun and Province are routine news about news these days.

The complacency and defensiveness in the industry about the need for systemic change to better reflect and serve interests have contributed to low public trust in many media, particularly newer sources.

And now the world’s most powerful person is piling on, nursing daily doubts in his base of support and emboldening forces that distort and denigrate facts. He may help traditional, responsible journalism resurge, but there are bound to be reckless, dispiriting, combative episodes along the way.

If you are still reading at this point, then you will recognize the importance of media to democracy, to the strengthening of communities, and to our personal and professional identities.

In recent days a report commissioned by the federal government and conducted by the Public Policy Forum think-tank

what’s your opinion?

attempted to tackle some of the economic ailments in the belief that government intervention will produce a better service to the public. The general thrust: the tax system is inequitable, the digital companies are not paying their fair shares, philanthropy is insufficiently encouraged and the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. needs to lean into news and get out of digital advertising.

Money needs to be found and reallocated.

The boldest recommendation of The Shattered Mirror report is a withholding tax on Internet companies that aren’t directly in the news business (read: Google, Facebook, Twitter) but earn advertising revenue by carrying content. This would today generate roughly $400 million, an amount that is bound to increase.

This would create a fund for digitally innovative, indigenous and civic-minded journalism, an open-source local news organization and a service to

legally advise smaller outfits that engage in investigative and accountability work. It is similar in nature to a cable/satellite provider tax that funds television and film, and its direct application would presumably make it more independent of government involvement.

But research analysis released last week following the report suggests tepid support for government assistance. Mind you, the context was different: polling was conducted in October, before Donald Trump was defining his presidency and before we were much discussing the proliferation of “fake news” online to distort and persuade.

That being said, the polling indicates public concerns that government assistance might influence fair-minded and fearless journalism. In other words, the very principles that people like about media – their independent efforts to hold power accountable – would be compromised by government support.

Sheesh. You can’t win.

Which creates a policy dilemma for our federal government.

In general, with some exceptions, the prime minister has expressed genuine concern about the economic woes of the press. But if the public would not embrace government helping the press, it is hard to believe he would embrace it.

An early test of resolve will be this spring’s federal budget, because many of the report’s less spectacular recommended tax provisions are low-hanging fruit to pick. The fight to pick with Facebook, Google et al. is quite another matter.

What Justin Trudeau would know is what the report says we should know: the status quo is not a healthy option for all of us. Through some fault of their own, but mainly the fault of market forces and technology, the media need medication. • Kirk LaPointe is Business in Vancouver’s vice-president of audience and business development.

| BIV welcomes readers’ opinions. All letters, including those sent by email, must include the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number. Business in Vancouver, 303 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6. Email: news@biv.com. We reserve the right to edit for brevity, clarity and legality.

26

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Insights

The world needs fewer people, but our economy needs more

At Large Peter Ladner

What would happen to B.C.’s real estate industry … if the world’s population and consequent in-migration to B.C. miraculously, or tragically, dropped?

W

hen I first learned that West Vancouver’s population was declining, amid what I thought was the inexorable arrival of 35,000 new people in the Lower Mainland each year, I enjoyed a little inside cheer: West Van has arrived at where the world must go: an end to population growth. (This is not just West

Van, by the way: Port Moody, Penticton, Terrace and other B.C. municipalities also shrank between 2015 and 2016.)

I’ve been reading Alan Weisman’s book Countdown: Our Last, Best Hope for a Future on Earth? a chilling look at how the world is coping – or not – with the unavoidable biological fact (the non-alternative kind) that every species that outgrows its resource base always suffers a population crash, sometimes one that is fatal to the entire species. The Earth supports seven-billion-plus humans today, and we’re headed for 11 billion to 15 billion before today’s slowdown in birth rates makes an impact. But we’re already overshooting the Earth’s capacity to support us.

If we all enjoyed North Shore standards of living and wanted to sustain Earth’s resources at a renewable level, biologists estimate that the world population would have to be about 1.5 billion.

David Suzuki reminds us that in 1992, a majority of thenliving Nobel Prize winners and more than 1,700 leading

scientists worldwide signed a document called World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity, warning us that “a great change in our stewardship of the Earth and life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated.”

Among the changes needed: “We must stabilize population [through] improved social and economic conditions, and the adoption of effective, voluntary family planning.”

The burning need to slow down world population growth fits perfectly with the desire of West Vancouver residents – and possibly the majority in the Lower Mainland – to pull up the drawbridge and say, “Enough already: I’m on board, shove off.” If people stopped crowding in here, we wouldn’t have all that damn traffic congestion; there’d be no need to build new dams and wider highways, no need to pave our farmland for new megamalls.

We could preserve the character of every neighbourhood just as it is. Cranes, be gone!

Stability at last! No need to spend more on transit! Taxes could freeze!

And it could be that the much-touted need for 400,000 immigrants to fill jobs and look after old people will soon be unnecessary as automation and robotic job displacement steal those jobs forever.

If only it were that simple.

One acquaintance who resents the onslaught of population growth and the pressure for change in his single-family neighbourhood (think of RS-1 zoning as socialism for the rich) thinks the solution is simple: just stop building new homes.

People will stop coming here because there won’t be anywhere for them to live.

“Density doesn’t have to be our destiny,” he says from his safe perch in a paid-off Shaughnessy home that goes up in value several thousand dollars a day. Not for him the worry that while we wait for that mythical drawbridge, people will keep coming here anyway and desperately bid up the prices of existing housing until we’ve levelled the

playground exclusively for global plutocrats. Luckily his visits to the Vancouver Club keep him away from the Downtown Eastside, ground zero for people who have found their way here, can’t afford any housing even at today’s rates and are killing themselves on the streets in record numbers.

And what would happen to B.C.’s real estate industry – far and away the biggest economic engine in the province – if the world’s population and consequent in-migration to B.C. miraculously, or tragically, dropped? Our economy still depends almost entirely on a growing population consuming growing amounts of natural resources, eco-footprints be damned.

No worry. West Van has an answer for that. Keep building bigger houses but don’t put any people in them. Simple. • Peter Ladner (pladner@biv.com) is a co-founder of Business in Vancouver.

He is a former Vancouver city councillor and former fellow at the SFU Centre for Dialogue. He is the author of The Urban Food Revolution.

Immigration helps build city’s status as technology gateway

Podium Ethan Sun

Allowing easier immigration to Canada of experienced tech leaders is one piece of the whole puzzle. We also need to support high-level professional education to create leaders and engage with the influx of Chinese immigrants to Canada

W

ith its location making it a prime conduit for the transport of goods and services to and from its Asia-Pacific neighbours, B.C. is poised to strengthen its role as a gateway to the Pacific.

This gateway has existed since the railroad-building days in the Pacific Northwest more than 100 years ago, but its nature has evolved over the past century. Most recently, Vancouver has stood out as a technology gateway between China

and Canada. At the same time, challenges remain for businesses from Canada to successfully launch in China.

Vancouver possesses one of Canada’s largest tech sectors, with 92,700 employees who earn a weekly average salary of $1,580. This is 75% higher than the average wage in B.C. It is also higher than the Canadian tech-sector average of $1,340 per week. The growth of B.C.’s tech sector is also faster than the growth of the nation’s economy, and Vancouver is one of Canada’s most successful tech hubs, boasting three of the country’s tech unicorns (Slack, Hootsuite, and Avigilon), and the city is ranked in the top 20 global start­up ecosystems.

The opportunity to share knowledge with China is one that can benefit Canada’s innovation agenda as a whole as we move from traditional manufacturing and trade to a model in which technology drives these deals. The globalization of local technology and localization of global markets, a process known as “glocalization,” is something I’ve seen and continue to experience first-hand. As a Chinese immigrant who came to Canada in the early 2000s, I was fortunate to witness such a process in action, through working with and interacting with my peers in the high-technology sector.

Barriers many technology bus-

i­ nesses face that get in the way of creating a bridge to China include lack of investment capital, difficulties in hiring the right talent and the necessity of putting in place measures for intellectual property protection.

Without proper funds and global mindset, companies can’t grow.

Early-stage startups often have good support, but significant capital investments are harder to achieve for companies not yet turning a profit.

The technology sector is in a global competition for talent, so it is paramount for startups that are having trouble expanding to find and build talent for leadership positions. Allowing

easier immigration to Canada of experienced tech leaders is one piece of the whole puzzle. We also need to support high-level professional education to create leaders and engage with the influx of Chinese immigrants to Canada. I’ve observed and had the opportunity to connect with a lot of talented people in the technology realm who have come from Asia – Hong Kong, China and Japan – to settle in Vancouver but are still faced with language and cultural barriers.

Vancouver poses fewer barriers in this regard compared with other provinces, but many living here are interested in joining

Africa Studio/Shutterstock

advisory boards and investing in furthering the innovation that is created in the city. These boards and stakeholders have global expertise and the mindset to expand globally from Day 1.

With that entrepreneurial sensibility, Vancouver’s tech industry and economy overall will experience rapid growth while maintaining beneficial business relationships and cultivating new opportunities around the world. • Ethan Sun is the founder and president of Istuary Innovation Group, a company that connects North American technology to fastgrowing Chinese markets.

Insights

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

27

Impostor syndrome is genuine threat to women’s workplace advancement

Small-business builder Cybele Negris

S

o here’s my dirty little secret: I’m an impostor.

There, I said it. It only took me 20 years and lots of sleepless nights worrying about what other people might think.

But now that it’s out in the open, the truth, I believe, will set me free.

What I’m talking about – for those business associates and friends who might be a bit nervous at this point – is the much-discussed “impostor syndrome.” That’s the phenomenon whereby highachieving individuals think they don’t belong – that they’re frauds and it’s only a matter of time before everybody figures them out. It’s an idea that’s been around since the 1970s, when U.S. psychology professor Pauline Rose Clance started studying the issue among her students.

Back then, it was largely seen

as a “women’s” issue. But since the study came out nearly 40 years ago, Clance and others have realized it’s something that men feel in equal measure – but don’t verbalize. I can relate. As the CEO and majority owner of a successful tech company, and someone who has served on numerous boards, I work mostly with men – men of varying levels of accomplishment and talent. But what unites them all, at least superficially, is an outward confidence that they belong.

On paper, I should belong too.

For 17 years I’ve led Webnames. ca, a profitable and growing company with no debt. We’ve built relationships with Fortune 500 clients around the world and have a widely admired corporate culture. I’ve won several local and national awards for entrepreneurship and leadership. And yet every time I walk into a room of my peers, my heart skips a beat and the nagging self-doubts resurface.

Why am I here? Did somebody make a mistake in inviting me?

While the impostor syndrome affects men and women in equal measure, what doesn’t have such parity is confidence. A recent Harvard Business Review article makes it clear: there is an undeniable “confidence gap”

between the sexes, and it’s having a profound effect on who chooses what professions – and who ultimately climbs to the top. The problem is particularly acute in science- and technology-driven organizations like mine: of my employees, fewer than 20% are women, and only one works on the technical side of our business.

So what can be done about it – this confidence gap, this lack of female representation in the field, this feeling of “not belonging” – for those who do make it to the top? I think the answer is threefold. First, we need to find ways of encouraging girls earlier in life to believe that math and science are viable pursuits.

At Science World, data collected by University of British Columbia Prof. Andrew Baron indicates 26% more boys than girls under the age of two are being brought to the facility’s Living Lab. That’s a decision being made by parents that has long-term implications.

The school system also needs to create equal opportunities for excellence. In B.C., the provincial government has taken an important step by introducing mandatory coding courses into the K-12 curriculum – but teachers play a

critical role too in ensuring girls get equal time, as boys are often quicker to put up their hands.

Second, companies need to go out of their way to attract and retain female employees. That’s something I’m hyper-aware of at Webnames.ca, where just five out of every 100 technical job applications we get are from women. While an increasing number of employers offer flexible work hours and familyfriendly policies to encourage women to stay and grow within a company, it’s not enough. We need to put women in leadership roles – and mentor them toward that goal – to ensure better representation within our ranks and build clear paths for promotions and raises.

Third, the female leaders of the business world need to speak out more – to be both seen and heard. That’s what I’m doing. As a younger woman, I had a huge fear of public speaking. But I was determined to confront it, taking courses at the Dale Carnegie leadership centre to try to lick the problem. It still took another decade of pushing myself to accept those stress-inducing speaking offers. Now, I regularly speak to audiences in the hundreds – and with each passing speech, each passing year, it gets a little

There is an undeniable “confidence gap” between the sexes, and it’s having a profound effect on who chooses what professions

easier. I also make an effort to take on a young woman in technology as a mentee each year so she can learn from my mistakes, and we work on planning out career/life goals.

When there are more of us “girls” sitting around the decision-making table, giving keynote addresses or passing on our knowledge, it’s only a matter of time before the confidence gap shrinks and that sense of not belonging starts to abate. But until then, we need to face our fears head-on – and embrace our inner impostor. • Cybele Negris (cybele@webnames. ca) is president, CEO and co-founder of Webnames.ca, Canada’s original .CA registrar.

Six steps to completing a management buyout of your company

Money Matters Robert Napoli

O

ne of the best investments you can make is buying the business you work for.

Owning your own business gives you control over your future; the business is yours to expand and you reap the rewards from your hard work.

Over the next five to 10 years managers and management teams will see their bargaining power increase as retiring owners seek to exit. There are simply more baby boomers than generation Xers. A management buyout (MBO) can be a viable succession plan for businesses of all sizes.

In an MBO, the management team buys the company it works for using the security and cash flows of the company itself to obtain the capital

required. Management invests its equity, akin to a down payment on a home, and borrows and/or seeks equity financing from institutional lenders and investors for the rest.

An MBO presents several advantages for the buyer: it minimizes investment risk, as the buyer has inside information on the business already, and the rates of return on equity can be far higher than those on other assets. There are additional benefits from the use of leverage, and tax advantages from owning a business. Potential buyers should have a plan to expand the business, perhaps double it in size, to make it worthwhile.

The most important advantage of an MBO is it puts the buyer in the driver’s seat. Here are six steps needed to successfully complete an MBO.

outside investors and increase your bargaining power with the vendor when it comes time to sell the company.

Build your management experience and credibility Work with the owner to transition the management of the various key functions to you and/or your team. By proving you can run the company you will validate your worth to

Approach with an offer Businesses change hands only when the owner is ready to let go. You can get a sense of the owner’s fears, motivations and concerns through open dialogue – it may be a good idea to initiate discussions with the help of

Position yourself to become an owner Building rapport and trust with the owner positions you as a front-runner to buy the business. The owner likely cares a great deal about the employees and the business’ legacy, so demonstrate that under your management the business can run independently, allowing the owner to gradually step back from the company. While you are managing the business, perform your due diligence and understand all the risks ownership will entail. Get your significant other on board, as investing considerable time and money is often a family decision.

a trusted outside adviser. The owner will need to feel comfortable with the deal and with ceding control, and will need to be confident that his or her next move will be fulfilling.

Every situation is unique, but be prepared for challenges around seller motivation.

conventional lending sources, subordinated debt, private investors, the vendor and your own equity. Our firm offers a management buyout package that can include loans and/or equity finance to enable management teams to buy businesses up to $20 million in value.

Negotiate from a position of strength The owner wants to obtain the best possible price and receive fair value for the business. The MBO will need to compete effectively with other options, such as sale to private equity or a strategic buyer. Therefore it helps if the management team is a key component of the succession plan. If your absence from the business would create a problem for a future buyer, your negotiating strength improves. This is not to say you can hold all the cards or force the owner into a decision; however, it may help in putting you into a preferred position to be chosen as the successor.

Close the deal An important transaction like this requires expert advice. We recommend having a tax adviser, a corporate finance adviser and a corporate lawyer to help negotiate and structure the deal.

This team will prove essential to keeping the deal on track, documenting it properly and avoiding pitfalls.

A management buyout is not for the faint of heart. But if you have dreamed of running your own show, and reaping the rewards of ownership, it could be your best chance at achieving your ambitions. •

Finance the purchase Financing for the MBO can come from a combination of

Robert Napoli (rnapoli@ firstwestcapital.ca) is vice-president of First West Capital and president of ACG British Columbia, an association dedicated to driving the growth of middle-market businesses in B.C.

28

BUSINESSVANCOUVER

send your free listing to fortherecord@biv.com

February 7–13, 2017

for the record People on the Move Email your For the Record information to: fortherecord@biv.com.

Please include a high-resolution, colour headshot where possible.

Development/ Construction The BC Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association’s 2017 board of directors are: Steve Drummond (chair), Capilano Highway Services Co.; Chad Tenney (past chair), Hall Constructors; Todd Strynadka (vice-chair), Terus Construction; Scott Griffin (secretary/treasurer), Renaissance Group; Glen Barker (construction director), Norland Ltd.; Dan Beaulac (maintenance chair/training director), Nechako Northcoast Construction; Colin Blonarowitz (paving director), Emil Anderson Construction; Ross Gilmour (construction chair), Peter Kiewit Sons ULC; Kevin Higgins (maintenance director), YRB Group of Companies; Nikki Keith (service and supply chair), Wilson M. Beck Insurance; Sandi Paulson (maintenance director), Argo Group of Companies; Paul Simpson (construction director), Jacob Bros.

Construction; Stan Weismiller (municipal relations director), Winvan Paving; and Joe Wrobel (worker safety director), JPW Road & Bridge.

Hospitality/Tourism/ Convention Lucy Bell has returned to the Royal BC Museum as the new head of the First Nations department and repatriation program, bringing the former ethnology and archeology departments onto one team. Bell began her career in 1995 at the Royal BC Museum as part of the Aboriginal Cultural Stewardship Program and has since developed, delivered and managed an array of initiatives aimed at increasing awareness of First Nations culture, most recently serving at the Haida Heritage and Repatriation Society. Since 2005, Bell has co-ordinated the return of more than 500 Haida ancestors from museums throughout North America and the U.K.

The museum has also appointed Gordon Fitzpatrick and Tewanee Joseph to its board of directors.

Fitzpatrick is president of Fitzpatrick Family Vineyards and was former president of CedarCreek Estate Winery. Joseph is CEO of Tewanee Consulting Group Inc., and served eight years on the Squamish Nation Council.

Mark Gilbert Stephanie Mallalieu Go2HR, B.C.’s tourism industry human resource association, has appointed designated industry health and safety specialists to assist tourism and hospitality employers with their occupational health and safety needs industry.

Mark Gilbert, who was most recently the health and safety adviser for Best Buy Canada, will be responsible for businesses and employers in the Northern B.C., Vancouver Coast and Mountains – West and Vancouver Island regions. Stephanie Mallalieu, whose previous roles include health and safety in resort management, and senior positions in food service hygiene and general health and safety, will be looking after the regions of Cariboo Chilcotin Coast, Kootenay Rockies, Thompson Okanagan, and Vancouver Coast and Mountains – East.

Legal

Dianna S. Hwang Michael J. Nadeau Dianna S. Hwang and Michael J. Nadeau have joined the partnership at Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP. Hwang is a member of the firm’s health, local government and insurance practices. Nadeau is a member of the insurance, construction and engineering and professional services practices.

Sonya Reginato, senior commercial account manager specializing in non-profit and public sector, RBC Royal Bank, presents Down Syndrome Research Foundation (DSRF) student and employee Chris Sayer and Dawn McKenna, executive director, DSRF, with donation | submitted Jamie R. Matthews Jamie R. Matthews has joined the partnership of Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP. Matthews joined Farris in 2007 and has been an associate in the firm’s corporate and commercial group since 2009; he practises in a broad range of corporate practice areas, including residential and commercial real estate transactions, corporate/commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, securities and corporate finance, and publicprivate partnerships.

Manufacturing Graham Fraser Graham Fraser has been appointed chief executive officer at AG Hair. Fraser joined the company in 2000 as director of sales, was promoted to vice-president, sales, in 2002, and became president of the company in 2014.

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Diana Sorace Diana Sorace has joined FortisBC as a corporate communications adviser. Prior to this appointment, Sorace was manager, media relations, at Chartered Professional Accountants of Canada.

Non-Profit The Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau, which serves as a centralized, year-round warehouse for the gathering, sorting, storing and shipping of toys to Christmas bureaus and community agencies across Metro Vancouver, recently elected six new members to its board of directors: Trista Humphries, KPMG; Areet Kaila, Clark Wilson LLP; Susan Levang, Commissary Connect; Leah Nguyen, Telus; Darya

Sawycky, University of British Columbia; and Percy Tam, Great Canadian Gaming Corp.

Technology Barrett Foster Barrett Foster has joined Allocadia as chief revenue officer.

Foster was previously vice-president of global sales at BrightEdge and has more than 17 years of sales and senior management experience in the software and tech industries, including roles at NetBase, Integrated Decision Systems, MicroPatent and Thomson Financial Services.

Companies on the move New Acquisitions Ecofish Research Ltd., a sciencebased environmental consulting firm, has acquired EcoDynamic Solutions Inc., a Courtenay-based environmental construction monitoring firm. EcoDynamic Solutions will become part of Ecofish and operate within and as part of Ecofish Research Ltd.

Optimum Talent has acquired Conroy Ross Partners, making the new combined firm the largest Canadian-owned, integrated talent management provider with a coastto-coast presence. The national Optimum Talent team now includes 200 employees operating out of 15 offices from Vancouver to Halifax.

New in town Parisian-trained pastry chef Elena Krasnova has opened a 1,000-square-foot stand-alone pastry shop and café at 4396 Beresford Street in Burnaby.

Hats Off Business in Vancouver welcomes submissions from local small businesses and large corporations alike that demonstrate examples of corporate philanthropy and community involvement in the Vancouver area. Highresolution images are also welcome.

RBC’s Learn to Play project donated a $25,000 leadership grant to viaSport BC, the agency responsible for promoting and developing amateur sport in British Columbia. The funds will support the development of physical literacy skills with preschoolers in B.C. The Rotary Foundation of Vancouver, or Rotary Hearing Foundation, donated $2,000 to the Vancouver Public Library Foundation in support of bilingual American Sign Language and English storytime sessions for hearingimpaired children and their families.

Vancouver Metropolitan Lions Club donated $28,000 to Richmond Hospital Foundation. The funds were raised at the Lions’ Project C 10th Anniversary Charity Show in December and will benefit patient care at Richmond Hospital.

RBC Foundation donated $10,000 to the Down Syndrome Research Foundation. The funds will help to support adult education and one-toone reading programs.

The Canada Post Community Foundation donated $17,500 to PLEA Community Services Society of BC in support of KidStart, a one-toone volunteer mentoring program for children and youth at risk across the Lower Mainland. The funds will be used to develop a male mentor recruitment campaign to help increase support to boys. •

for the record

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

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trouble Discipline British Columbia Securities Commission The British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) announced January 27 that one of its panels has found that Havenplex Holdings Ltd. engaged in an illegal distribution and has ordered Havenplex to pay a disgorgement.

The panel found that in the fall of 2013, Havenplex received $55,000 from the sale of its promissory notes to two investors. In February 2014, one of the investors invested a further $50,000 in Havenplex through the company’s president.

Havenplex is a B.C. company that has never filed a prospectus under the Securities Act. The panel found that Havenplex relied on the private issuer exemption to distribute its securities. However, the two investors were not accredited and did not otherwise qualify for the purported exemption.

During the hearing, Havenplex admitted liability.

In its decision, the panel stated, “There is no dispute that the two investors have been harmed and have lost their subscription proceeds.”

For its misconduct, Havenplex has been ordered to pay a disgorgement of $105,000 to the BCSC.

The BCSC announced January 27 that its executive director has issued a notice of hearing that Prabhjot Singh Bakshi, who is a B.C. resident, and SBC Financial Group Inc. traded securities without being registered and illegally distributed securities.

The notice alleges that between August 2010 and September 2014, Bakshi and SBC sold $3 million of securities of SBC without being registered. Prospectus exemptions were not available for $2.3 million of these sales.

SBC is a B.C. company that has never filed a prospectus respecting its securities. Bakshi was SBC’s sole director and officer.

Bakshi controlled SBC and its bank account, prepared and signed SBC documents provided to investors, and raised money from investors for SBC directly and through two finders, to whom he paid commissions.

Although he was registered under the act from 2000 to 2009, Bakshi was not registered at the relevant time.

These allegations have not been proven.

BUYER’S ALERT Companies listed below, which are not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, have failed to respond, as of January 27, to Better Business Bureau of Mainland BC’s efforts to mediate complaints from January 15 to January 21. In some instances, the company may have taken care of the

complaint and considered the matter closed, or may believe the complaint is unjustified; however, if the BBB has not received a response, records cannot reveal either position. Please note that BBB accredited businesses must respond to customer complaints that are brought to their attention. The companies listed are not members of this Better Business Bureau. Source: BBB.

notices of civil claim. Civil claims have not been tested or proven in court.

Beas Income Tax Services Ltd., Burnaby Canadian Telescopes, Burnaby Cloud Nine Events Ltd., Langley Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver Lazymeal Inc., Burnaby Pantry Restaurants, West Vancouver Plentyoffish Media Inc., Vancouver Precision Valve & Crank Ltd., North Vancouver Score Discount Fishing Supplies, Vancouver Son Motors Ltd., Surrey Tile Mart, Abbotsford Times Telecom Inc., Richmond Trucks Plus Auto (Kelowna), Kelowna Wedding Butlers, Kamloops West Coast Maids, Surrey

WHO’S GETTING SUED These corporate claims were filed with the BC Supreme Court registry in Vancouver. Information is derived from

Defendant Timberview Developments Ltd. Plaintiffs 0827934 B.C. Ltd. and Steve Buckle Claim $1,180,000 for breach of contract, misrepresentation and unjust enrichment arising from defendant failing to complete construction work, failing to correct defects and submitting invalid claims for extras on a residential construction project.

Defendants Sprink Installation Ltd. and Michiel Rodney Heaps Plaintiff Royal Bank of Canada Claim $242,053 for debt.

Defendants Linick Contracting Ltd. and Nikolaus Wiens Plaintiff Inland Kenworth Claim $204,472 for breach of equipment lease.

Defendants Torra Enterprises Ltd. and Peter Levarsky

Plaintiff Universal Supply Co. Inc. Claim $180,555 for construction materials and supplies.

Defendants Nasim Akbar and Shamin Akbar Plaintiff National Foods DMCC Claim $178,835 for debt.

Defendant Eric Hoy Plaintiff Fairton Developments Ltd. Claim $141,314 for professional negligence arising from tax penalties incurred due to defendant’s incorrect preparation of plaintiff’s tax returns.

Defendants Shoeme Technologies Ltd. dba Shoeme.ca and Onlineshoes.com Inc. dba Onlineshoes.com and Shoes.com Technologies Inc. dba Shoes.com Plaintiffs 546332 B.C. Ltd. dba Colton International and 546332 B.C. Ltd. Claim US$25,183 and 71,192 euros for delivered goods.

CELEBRATING B.C. FOOD AND DRINK: an exclusive culinary experience Thursday, February 23, 2017 | 5:30 – 9 p.m.

Mercedes Benz Vancouver — West Building, 550 Terminal Ave, Vancouver Four of our region's top chefs will delight guests with a four-course gourmet meal in the elegant and exclusive setting of a Mercedes-Benz showroom. Each course will be skillfully prepared by a different chef, making this a one-of-a-kind dining experience.

Valentine's Special: Two tickets for $349 +GST / $49 Savings!

Use the promo code “Heart” Event Partners:

Angus An, Executive Chef & Owner, Maenam Weimar Gomez, Executive Chef, Yew Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Peter Higgins, President & Chocolate Scientist, Purdys Chocolatier DJ Kearney, Director of Wine, New District Matt Stowe, Director of Culinary Operations, JRG Group and Winner of Season 3 Top Chef Canada Moderator: Caren McSherry, Chef & Owner, The Gourmet Warehouse

Pillar Partners:

boardoftrade.com/dine

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for the record

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

Defendants Petromaxx Construction (BC) LLP and Manuke Holdings Ltd. Plaintiff Copcan Civil Ltd. Claim $113,812 for construction and concrete work; a builders lien.

Defendant Riaz Sadrudin Pisani Plaintiffs Geo Bezden Sales Ltd. and Margaret Bezdan and Doug Wournel Claim $93,728 owing on a settlement agreement.

Defendant Isle Vista Holdings (2001) Inc. dba Active Medical Equipment Plaintiff Invacare Canada LP Claim $91,650 for medical equipment.

Defendants L & M Northern Plumbing and Heating Ltd. and Robbie Lepine aka Joseph Robbie Richard Lepine Plaintiff Wolseley Canada Inc. Claim $63,505 for plumbing and heating materials.

Defendant PD Moore Homes Inc. Plaintiffs Rita Marlene Linklater and Jordan William Prokuda Claim $62,387 for breach of contract for defendant’s abandonment of a construction project before completion.

Defendant J.T. Business Development Corp.

Ltd. Plaintiff Finning International Inc.

Claim $61,117 for negligence and breach of contract for damage done to a generator during transport, which caused a costly diesel fuel leak which plaintiff paid to remediate.

Defendant KGIC Language College (2010) Corp.

Plaintiff Harris & Co. LLP Claim $51,998 for legal services.

Defendants Factory Sales & Engineering Inc. dba FSE Energy and Iberdrola Energy Projects Canada Corp. and Merritt Green Energy LP and Merritt Green Energy GP Ltd. and Avanlee Farm Ltd. and Best Coast Real Estate Inc. and City of Merritt and Nicola Valley Rodeo Assoc. and Nicola Valley Fall Fair Assoc. and Tolko Industries Ltd. and Fort St. James Green Energy LP and Fort St. James Green Energy GP Ltd. Plaintiff Acier Marquis Inc. Claim $50,813 for fabrication work; a builders lien.

Defendants Jennifer Wai Yin Mok and Yin-Hang Chan Plaintiff Boundary Crossing Investments Inc. Claim $48,844 for breach of lease.

Defendant Ground X Contracting Ltd. Plaintiff Inland Kenworth Claim $46,326 for parts and labour for excavation equipment maintenance.

Defendant Stephanie Mae Mona Johnson aka Stephanie Johnson

Plaintiff Pioneer Plaza Inc. Claim $43,311 for breach of lease.

Defendants 0851044 B.C. Ltd. and Dana Michele Breuer Plaintiff HSBC Bank Canada Claim $41,350 for debt.

Defendant Guardian Exploration Inc. Plaintiff Eh Cho Dene Enterprises GP Ltd. Claim $34,764 for road excavation equipment, vehicles and labour.

Defendant Adam Melanson Plaintiff West Pacific Consulting Group Managed Services Inc. coba IT/IQ Tech Recruiters Claim Damages for breach of employment contract and injunctive relief after defendant took a job with plaintiff’s competitor in breach of restrictive covenants.

Defendant Fitwell’s Gym for Women Ltd. Plaintiff SNFW Fitness B.C. Ltd. Claim Damages for breach of contract for failure to provide a full list of gym members after defendant agreed to sell and assign its membership contracts to plaintiff.

Defendant Hydrx Farms Ltd. Plaintiffs Zidane Capital Corp. and Precursor Capital Corp.

Claim Specific performance of an amalgamation agreement.

Defendant Richard John Lysak dba Lysak’s Contracting Plaintiff MSR Solutions Inc. Claim Damages for contract and negligence for defective interior piping work on plaintiff’s water treatment plant.

Defendant Steel Fabricators LLC Plaintiffs Whitemud Ironworks Group Inc. and Whitemud Ironworks Ltd. Claim Damages for breach of contract for failure to pay for work completed, requested changes and construction delays.

Defendants B. MacDonald and Coast Architectural Group and David Eaton and Scuka Enterprises Ltd. and Elbury Dolan Consulting Ltd. and Dale Dolan and Kevin Elbury and Aqua-Coast Engineering Ltd. and Larry Wood and DJ Macks Holdings Ltd. and Hovey Roofing & Siding and Madge Contracting Ltd. and Conroy Exteriors (Kelowna) Ltd. and MidValley Ventures Ltd. and John Doe Developer Plaintiff The Owners, Strata Plan KAS 3163 Claim Damages for construction defects and breach of home warranty.

Defendant Cado Bancorp Ltd. Plaintiff Mench Capital Corp.

Claim Damages for breach of contract for failure to pay financial services fees.

Defendant Alumni Restorations Ltd. Plaintiff Moneyloi Properties Ltd. Claim Damages arising from construction defects.

Defendants Metalab Design Ltd. and Andrew Wilkinson Plaintiff Adam Wood Claim Damages for breach of contract arising from plaintiff’s termination as CEO of Metalab Design based on flawed investigation designed to avoid paying bonuses.

Defendants Jana Thorn and Joey Degregorio Plaintiffs Dr. Lisa Ferrari and Dr. Ferrari Psychological Services Corp.

Claim Damages for libel and defamation arising from statements published on RateMDs.com by defendants, falsely accusing plaintiff of unethical, corrupt conduct as a registered psychologist. •

K biv.com

To View More Lawsuits, go to biv.com/WHOS-GETTING-SUED

BIV Datebook online For a comprehensive and searchable list of networking events in the Lower Mainland, go to Business in Vancouver’s Datebook at biv.com/events

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Pavan

Jawanda | Samantha Cunliffe |

Stephen Curran | Shana Wolch

4 new partners on your side.

McCarthy Tétrault LLP

Unmatched talent and leadership.

Unparalleled dedication to clients.

BUSINESSVANCOUVER February 7–13, 2017

EAT/Wear

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By Lise Boullard

wine&dine Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Commercial Street Café

Nuba Yaletown

Les Faux Bourgeois

Tucked away in a residential neighbourhood not far from Trout Lake, this expansive café is located in a beautifully maintained heritage building on the end of Vancouver’s 107-year-old, and still slightly industrial, Gow Block. Pick up a breakfast offering such as the pesto, egg and tomato sandwich on your way to the office, or sit down for a morning meeting (the dining room is quiet on weekdays), for crepes, omelettes or bacon and eggs.

From fresh fattoush salad to perfectly seasoned beef kebabs and lamb kafta, Nuba has been serving healthy, and filling, Lebanese specialties at its various locations around Vancouver for years. Now the Yaletown working crowd can enjoy its new location across from Emery Barnes Park. The room, adorned with pendant lighting, pastel bucket chairs and geometric wallpaper, provides a clean canvas upon which the vibrant colours of the Lebanese dishes – often served with a side of fuchsia pickled cabbage – take centre stage.

Whether you consider yourself a true bourgeois (member of the upper middle class) or a faux (impostor) one, you will surely feel welcome at what has been called one of Vancouver’s best French restaurants. Here, the mahogany-panelled walls, maroon leather bar stools and French waiters (in jeans) create a lively Parisian bistro vibe, while the menu and wine list, which features classics like duck confit, steak frites and local and Gallic wines, is authentic as it gets. Impress your date by reserving the bay window table this February 14.

About $8 to $14 per person

About $15 to $20 per person

About $50 to $70 per person, including wine

3599 Commercial Street 604-877-8669, commercialstreetcafe.com Open weekdays, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; weekends, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

508 Davie Street 778-371-3266, nuba.ca Open for lunch Monday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Sundays

663 East 15th Avenue Reservations available at 604-873-9733, lesfauxbourgeois.com Open Monday to Saturday, 5:30 p.m. to midnight; Sunday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.

wear&carry An office-appropriate shift gets a smattering of kisses from Mrs. David Beckham herself.

For Valentine’s Day, guys will love this sporty stainless steel watch with a two-tone mesh strap.

What woman wouldn’t heart this pair of patent Pradas?

Say “Je t’aime” with a bucketful of premium roses from Vancouver’s Landeau florist.

Landeau

Prada Heart pointy-toe pump | $1,180 shop.nordstrom.com/c/canada-department-stores

Victoria Victoria Beckham

Starting at $196 for 25 roses givelandeau.com

Whether desk-side or poolside, this batterypowered, water-resistant speaker will keep the tunes flowing for eight hours straight.

Patch appliqué shift dress | $1,452 Nordstrom

Bose Thomas Sabo

Bose SoundLink Color Bluetooth speaker | $150 bose.ca

Men’s Rebel Spirit watch | $329 thomassabo.com

News stories this week: Trump’s ban on travel from some Muslim countries is having a profound effect on the tech industry.

Will it make Canadian tech companies more competitive for workers worried about their security? Will the Trump presidency finally convince some disenchanted Americans to make good on vows to move to Canada?

Shoes.com’s bankruptcy is surprising, despite signs that its fall was coming.

Feature interview: Nitesh Mistry from Ripe Rides talks about his upscale ride-sharing service and plans to enter the taxi business SponSored by

PODCAST

Listen today at www.biv.com/sections/biv-podcasts

PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE

MACDONALD COMMERCIAL’S TOP PRODUCERS OF 2016 Award of Excellence:

Cynthia Dong *

Eric K. Poon *

Gary Webb *

Yashar Khalighi

Clare Stevens

Brian Tattrie

Mark Hagedorn *

Sales Achievement Award:

Bruce Long *

Bob Scragg *

Stuart Wright

Vic Sandhar *

Edward Chiu

Chris Midmore

Razi Mohamed *

Nick Goulet

Mike Riesterer

Matt Nugent *

Barb Burrows * Personal Real Estate Corporation

T. 604.736.5611

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