November 19 – 26 / 2020

Artist Jocelyn Wong painted this mural in Vancouver’s Marpole neighbourhood to send a message of love in an era dogged by global turmoil and all-around craziness. Photo by Vancouver Mural Festival.

by Steve Newton, Charlie Smith, Craig Takeuchi, and

Back in 1996, when the Georgia Straight produced its rst Best of Vancouver issue, we never imagined that we would still be doing this 25 years later. But that rst issue was such a success that it’s become an annual tradition.

Regular readers know the drill. e public votes for its favourites, which are listed in the boxes throughout the issue. We congratulate all those who cracked the top three. And the writers have fun dishing up their bests in categories that weren’t in the online ballot, which was on Straight.com from late September to late October. Enjoy! POLITICS

BEST MACHIAVELLIAN MOVE OF THE YEAR Snap election John Horgan’s decision to call a snap election in the midst of a pandemic was widely condemned as an assault on democracy. It violated the tradition of xed election dates in this province and an agreement between the B.C. Green and NDP caucuses not to go to the polls until next year. Horgan also exploited the goodwill shown by the B.C. Liberals and B.C. Greens in supporting the provincial response to the pandemic. But this sneaky trick worked wonders for the premier, delivering the largest NDP majority in B.C. history. at’s because his opponents were so ill-prepared for the campaign. And their claims that Horgan was a scoundrel didn’t resonate with the voters on election day.

BEST IMPERSONATION OF AN EARLY 20TH-CENTURY POLITICAL PARTY B.C. Liberals Someone needed to tell the B.C. Liberals that the recent election campaign was taking place in 2020, not 1920. at’s because the party led by Andrew Wilkinson didn’t nominate a single woman in any of Vancouver’s 11 constituencies. Unbelievable but true. Under Wilkinson’s leadership, the party also nominated only one woman in all of the nine Surrey constituencies. is came more than 102 years a er women obtained the right to vote in Canada. Jeepers creepers, as they used to say almost a century ago.

BEST INDICATION THAT THE B.C. LIBERALS NEED TO CLEAN HOUSE It wasn’t the defeat of a former Vancouver mayor, Sam Sullivan, in Vancouver–False Creek. Nor was it the downfall of another long-time B.C. Liberal, Jane ornthwaite, in North Vancouver–Seymour. No, the biggest political upset in Vancouver and its inner suburbs in the past provincial election came in the former B.C. Liberal fortress of Richmond. at’s where the NDP captured three—count ’em, three—of the city’s four seats, marking the rst NDP victories in this city since 1972.

BEST PLACE TO LEARN ABOUT COUNCILLORS’ EXPENSES City of Vancouver Open Data Portal Here you’ll find out which councillors charged taxpayers for Toronto Star subscriptions (Melissa De Genova and Pete Fry), who attended the Leadership Prayer Breakfast on the taxpayers’ dime (De Genova and Lisa Dominato), who submitted expense forms for Remembrance Day wreaths (Adriane Carr, Sarah Kirby-Yung, and Jean Swanson), who is getting the public to pay for their Compass card (Swanson) and their Zoom account (Christine Boyle), and who charged the city to participate in the Canucks Autism Network Pro-Am Hockey Tournament (Michael Wiebe). It’s all on display at https://opendata.vancouver.ca/explore/dataset/councilbudget-and-expenses/table/?sort=year. see next page

from previous page BEST ANTIDOTE TO UNEMPLOYMENT Justin Trudeau’s wage subsidy One can only imagine how many of us would be without a job had the feds not stepped up to cover 75 percent of the pay of workers at so many companies in this region.

BEST SIGN THAT LAND USE IS DISCONNECTED FROM INCOMES Earlier this year, Liveable City Planning Ltd. prepared a chart showing that 63 percent of the land across Metro Vancouver is zoned for detached homes. Here’s the problem: fewer than ve percent of families in Metro Vancouver can a ord to buy a detached home. at’s because even with a 25-year mortgage and a 15 percent down payment, they would need an annual family income of $299,486. No wonder city council recently approved a four-storey, 81-unit rental building in Shaughnessy and another rental project in a single-family strip along Dunbar Street.

BEST INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM BY A POLITICIAN Vancouver East NDP MP Jenny Kwan discovered that B.C. only received 0.5 percent of the National Housing Co-Investment Fund expenditures over two scal years under the national housing strategy. Ontario gobbled up $1.39 billion to fund 59,228 units, whereas B.C. only received $7.3 million to fund 66 units. In light of this, is it any wonder that there have been so many tent cities popping up in Kwan’s riding?

BEST f INDIGENOUS DANCE CHOREOGRAPHER Many regular readers of the Straight are familiar with Dancers of Damelahamid, an Indigenous troupe led by executive and artistic director and choreographer Margaret Grenier. e Gitksan and Cree artist’s knack for juxtaposing traditional Indigenous dance into a compelling story illuminated with contemporary multimedia projections and soundscapes reached its zenith in the 2019 production of Mînowin. is month, Grenier’s lifetime of work received national recognition when she received the 2020 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. Awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts, it recognizes the highest level of achievement in professional artistry in music, theatre, or dance. It also re ects the importance of Indigenous dance from the Northwest Coast— and the role that Indigenous artists are having on helping to decolonize minds across the country. Photo by Chris Randle. g

BEST BLUNTLY WORDED TWEET BY A POLITICIAN Vancouver Centre Liberal MP Hedy Fry issued this message to her constituents on April 26: “ ere’s a group of COVID-19 ‘deniers’ gathering in my constituency today. Keep your distance from these idiots. ey are endangering lives. Last week, I wrote to the @VancouverPD warning about these walking public health hazards. Stay home. Stay well.” HEALTH

BEST REASON FOR SOLO DAILY DANCE PARTIES DURING THE PANDEMIC A UBC-led national study found that after pandemic measures were implemented earlier this year, the biggest and most prolonged drops in physical activity among Canadians were found among everyday movements such as climbing stairs, walking around, and even standing up from a seated position. e solution? Implement ways, even scheduling movement breaks, to ensure you don’t stay stationary, especially if working from home. It’s not just for your physical health but for your mental wellbeing, too. And, if necessary, put on some music when you’re alone and dance like no one’s watching—because no one is.

BEST REASONS TO STRETCH YOURSELF With many of us working from home, and not being out and about as much as we used see next page

BEST LOCAL RADIO MORNING HOST

BEST LOCAL RADIO AFTERNOON HOST