James Shearer

Vancouver is known for its high standard of living, lack of pollution and great air quality. However since moving to Vancouver from the Highlands of Scotland I have noticed there is a difference in the quality of the air but chances are it is probably more to do with climate than pollution or other human factors. I don’t know as I’m no expert and I couldn’t find anything online which I could use as a comparison.

Anyway, the air quality outside is great and there is no issues there but step into our apartment and all of a sudden the airborne particles and dust is out of control. Initially I just assumed we lived in a dusty apartment so we had to sweep regularly and when I got fed up with sweeping I got a robot to do it for me! Our apartment is in a high rise building over 10 floors up and although the building was built in the 1960s it still rivals many of the brand new Yaletown towers for modern amenities and apartment standards.

But if you don’t like sweeping, this isn’t the place to live. For some reason the dust build up is crazy. If you leave a large surface area, such as a dining table or desk for a day or two and you can see the dust.

Whilst appearance and cleanliness is an issue my biggest concern is health. Surely this can’t be good. I’ve heard about people who become sick because of the amount of airborne particles etc.

My suspicions for the cause are because of the extractor fans in the bathrooms which is where most of the dust probably comes from. They are like a particle highway linking all the apartments.

If anyone has a solution or recommended course of action then I’m interested to hear. Moving - not an option as we are more than happy living her but the dust factor is a right pain!

From my window I can see a man lying in the street. I passed by him about 20 minutes ago and I didn’t even go to see if he was ok. He is lying in the middle of the road with the rain coming down. A handful of people are standing beside him. Bystanders, commuters, people from the neighbourhood who, like me, were walking by and saw him lying there, unconscious. They stopped. I didn’t. They stopped, but not to help, but to watch.

A few more minutes have gone by. There is still no sign of an ambulance. I assume someone called an ambulance by now. Only a couple of people remain, the others gave up watching. I guess nothing interesting had happened.

I’ve seen this man before. I’m sure a few of the other people who had walked by without stopping also recognised him. The man is probably about 30. His endurance of life has added years. He is often seen around this area of town. He begs on the street in front of the supermarket. He just sits there, with his cap turned up. It is usually empty. He seeks pity from passers by, hoping they will spare some change. I doubt many do. In a city full of homeless people it is a common sight.

In my travels and in this bustling city, I have witnessed people being hit by cars, shot, stabbed, punched. I’d always go to help. I don’t cross over to the other side and ignore them in their moment of need. There is a man out there, less than 100 meters away, I can see him quite clearly, still lying there in the rain. He is in need but like many others, I just walked by.

I probably couldn’t have done very much. I’m not a trained medic but that’s not the point. The point is making the effort to help someone, to be humane, to endorse humanity by reaching out. I just walked past.

I know why he is lying out there in the road. He wasn’t hit by a car. He wasn’t assaulted. It’s probably not his fault. His lifestyle caught up on him. He spends his money earned begging in the local liquor store. He is a homeless, aboriginal and like many he has serious alcohol abuse problems. People look down on these individuals, blaming them for the choice they made. If it was as simple as that then the solution would be somewhat simple too. However it isn’t. Actions by people many years ago created a narrow path for this man. His fate was sealed as soon as he was born. Foetal Alcohol Syndrome is prevalent in many natives in North America. One of them is lying in the wet road.

The last time I saw this man collapsed the ambulance crew were already there. I could see the look on their faces. One that said it all. This is a regular occurrence and one which they, as emergency medics can do little to prevent a repeat of. I’m sure the paramedics didn’t think they’d be embarking on a career where this was a regular part of their job.

It is a shame that people walk by. There is little most people can do to help. He needs medical assistance and he will get it. But he will probably be back, in the same spot in front of the supermarket in a day or two. Begging for more booze money. He is an addict. An addict with no one to help him. He cant help himself and society walks by without even giving it another thought.

The ambulance just turned up. The lights and sirens weren’t even on. It is 11am in the morning. I suspect the dispatcher has heard the story many times, as did the ambulance crew - “Aboriginal Canadian male, West End, unconscious, no obvious signs of trauma, smells of alcohol”. No rush. They are probably fed up dealing with the same problem over and over, powerless to prevent a repeat.

The man is propped up against a tree. They give him his cap and the soaked newspaper he was carrying. In a month or so I’ll probably be walking down the street and see him, or another person just like him, lying there, unconscious on the pavement. His details are put down on paper. Next year he will be part of this years statistics. That will probably be his contribution to society. That and the cost of regular ambulance call outs and the occasional hospitalisation.

He is a drain on the system. People look at him and think that. The attitude is wrong. People need to be helped and people walk by because they know they can’t help. The people who can help him don’t. The ambulance paramedics help him the best they can but they can’t help him either. The people who run the shelter where he will sleep tonight can’t help him, even with generous donations of money, clothing and time people give. It is the year 2005 and a man with a problem he is powerless to control can’t be helped. There is no one to help him.

But there is. His problem landed him on the street. But the problem isn’t a street-level one. It is a problem which the government is responsible for. There is not sufficient resources allocated to helping prevent repeats and give this man a life. He has no life. It was taken away from him. He only has one life and this is it. Lying in the road, people walking by, rain coming down, nothing to look forward to. He has been abandoned.

It isn’t a simple solution. People walk by and see the problems. Over the dinner table possible solutions are discussed. Politicians discuss these kinds of problems all day long. But what ever is being done isn’t working. A better plan needs to be put forward. The concentration is on giving people a better life but there are still many people who don’t have the life we lead and never will. They can’t catch up. The government is always making it better for us, easier so we can take our lives for granted more and more each day. They make our lives more comfortable. It’s not very comfortable leaning up against that tree, soaked to the bone, penniless, hungry, walking a path to an early grave.

Society has abandoned him, not on purpose, but because he is on the outer rim of society. The focus is on the centre, the people who have a life to lead, who contribute to the world. He can’t contribute. He relies on contributions. He didn’t choose that path although many people say he did. He hasn’t ever had the opportunity to contribute. His life is ruined and whatever the government does it will probably be too little, too late.

The next time he is lying unconscious on the street, in need, I can only hope that someone walks by and is in a position to not just call an ambulance and see if his is ok, but to do something about it to stop there being a repeat, to give this man a life, to give him a chance to contribute and catch up with the rest of us. I hope that by reaching out impacts them in such a way that they realise more needs to be done than they are currently doing and it needs to be done before walking by and not helping becomes normal and we all loose our humanity.

With all that Canada has to offer and the constant flow of festivals and events it can be difficult to decide where and when to visit Canada.

Thanks to a handful of provincial tourist boards and the Canadian Tourist Commission, Trail Canada has launched a blog with articles by respected journalists and other sources.

This new blog is a perfect guide to inside information into very specific topics, be it dining in Prince Edward Island or visiting the Northwest Territories or exploring Victoria in Autumn, Trail Canada has a growing base of articles.

Visit the Trail Canada blog to read more and contribute your own articles.

From time to time I have run into instances in Canada where, as a Brit, Canadians haven’t been able to understand me because of my accent or because what I believed was a simple request, turns out to be something a little bit less simple or bizarre over here.

One of the more common occurrances is my use of English. It can differ, sometimes considerably, to the use of the English language in North America, Canada, and the West Coast. Regional dialects might not be as distinguishable as they are in the UK but they are present and the overall difference to British English can, in some cases, be extreme.

Wikipedia has some interesting articles about Canadian English but a good list of examples of the differences can be found on Dave VE7CNV’s website - whoever that is!

Even the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) admit they have some difficulty working out what words they should and shouldn’t use. The have a large archive of previous stories and reports on the Woe and Wonder of Words. A particularly interesting article is the one about the reliance on the CBC to promote English and standards.

Although many Canadian’s don’t realize what color is in the center or if they realise the center has no colour. At least the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms knows what it’s talking about!

One thing I do know is that Canadian’s say Pop, American’s say Soda, and in the UK we say tea , 2 milks and no sugar… please!

On Friday we said goodbye to the view and made the move to our new apartment.

Although we are in the same building, we are now living a little bit higher up and have quite a bit more space. We desperately needed the space and love living in the West End where people look and laugh if you ask for a spacious apartment. However, we found one. We managed to stay in the area we love, a building we enjoy living in and still maintaining a modern interior but surrendering the view.

I think it is worth it.

All we need to do now is get our stuff moved in and tell people where we live So if you are going to send something to either me or Vanessa, then you need our new address.

Despite all the interesting sights, unusual smells and fascinating goings on along Davie street there are regularly occurances which still surprise me.

Last night at the corner of Davie Street and Burrard as I walked past the Celebrities Nightclub I overheard a group of 25 year old men. One turned to the group as they were heading in the opposite direction and remarked,
“that Pantene Pro V makes my hair feel so good”.

The sound of mumbled agreement then followed.

hmmmm…

Life in Vancouver is great. But not for everybody.

The city’s lack of low-cost housing and housing for the homeless causes some serious concerns for all of the residents of Vancouver.

The downtown eastside of Vancouver, around the Main Street and East Hastings Street has sunk into such a slum it can best be described as a Canadian ghetto.

I’ve taken some photographs of this area of the city and will update them from time to time.

Photographs of Vancouver’s downtown eastside.

I have finally managed to put all my Canadian wildlife photographs online.

At the same time, I wrote up some information on each of main species of animals found in Canada and some tips about where to see them and how to safely and responsibly watch animals in the wild.

Some of my favourite animals to watch and photograph include Grizzly Bears and Raccoons. Some of the more difficult to photograph are, despite the ease in which to find them - Squirrels and Birds. The reason why is because of their fast movements and small size - this can lead to out of focused shots and also missed poses.

The photographs are online now for everyone to enjoy.

There is a lot going on in Vancouver during the summer and I’ve been in the thick of it. When a festival comes to town, or an event is taking place - I’m not too far away - snapping photos for Trail Canada and joining in on the fun.

Recently there have been a few major festivals centered around English Bay and the West End. This is great for me because I live right there!

Fireworks are on at the moment. For 4 days there are 25 minute shows by Canada, Sweden and China as they compete in the world’s largest fireworks competition. This is all part of the HSBC Celebration of Light.
Photos of Fireworks in English Bay

Pride week in Vancouver just came to a close with the Vancouver Pride Parade. For 2 hours hundreds of performers, floats and entertainers made their way down Denman Street and along Beach Avenue.
Photos of Vancouver Pride Parade

The Sea Vancouver festival was also on a few weeks ago. Lots of tall ships from all over the world came to Vancouver. Events took place in English Bay and all along False Creek.
Photos coming soon!

At 3.30pm, Thursday the 16th of June 2005, Vanessa and I were married beneath a birch tree in Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Our special day was made even more special by the efforts put in by our friends and family to make it to Vancouver for our wedding.

There will soon be some photos and various other things on our wedding website so keep an eye out. In the meantime, we would both like to thank our friends and family who came and the many people who contributed to making our wedding day what it was - a truly wonderful experience for everyone.

Personally, I couldn’t have asked for a better day or a better outcome - being married to Vanessa, the woman I love
Thanks honey for being you.

James.