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Last Meeting April 24, 2018
President Phil Webber chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Kayo Otake accompanied us on the piano for the singing of O Canada.
Jim Evans, Sergeant-at-Arms Elect, introduced visitors and guests.
Chair's (Phil Webber's) announcements:
- Greetings from visiting District Governor Elect, Darcy Long, from RC Sunshine Coast. Darcy announced the RI theme for 2018-19: "Be the Inspiration".
- The Rotary Club of Kinshasa Kingabwa will visit us on July 3, 2018 to renew our sister club relationship with them.
History: Partnering with other Rotary Clubs in Europe, Japan and BC, RC0V has supported RCKK led Global Grants which have provided water and sanitation sites to some 24,000 poor people; literacy and tailoring training for abandoned girls and unwed mothers in a total of 11 centres of which 8 are in Kinshasa and 3 in other cities of the DR Congo. Each centre is training 15-20 girls every six months. In addition, RCoV has provided two specialized IT training centres for late in life blind and an IT Centre for a school of 2,000 students (grades 7-12).
Over the years, we have financed 7 Rotary World Help containers of medical equipment and supplies.
The members of RCKK have devoted thousands of dollars and innumerable hours to the planning, implementing and monitoring of these projects. Tens of thousands of the poorest of the poor, especially women and children, have seen their lives changed by these initiatives.
Over $150,000 worth of projects (inclusive of matching or other Rotary Club and RI grants and Government funding) was approved at last week's Board Meeting of our Club and funding should occur before the end of June 2018.
- Craig Beliveau, Past President, is in St. Paul's Hospital after major heart surgery to repair a ruptured aorta. Even though he was given a 20% chance of surviving the surgery, Craig was still joking with the nurses in the OR. Craig credits Dr. Sidhu’s surgical team for saving his life.
Craig is still on an IV and oxygen and as of a few days ago isn't up to having visitors. Contact Blair Trenholme or Bill Schulz for more up-to-date info.
- Kendall Jessiman gave us all a scare last week as he underwent successful emergency heart surgery. Graham Coleman reported that his recovery was going well. He is going into the office for a couple of hours each day, though his partners are encouraging him to take it easy.
- Past District Governors from New Brunswick and Langley are also at St. Paul's Hospital. Michael, from New Brunswick, needed a kidney transplant; a perfect match was found in the past DG from Langley. They are both at the hospital now with the surgery scheduled for Monday April 30. Please contact Phil for more info on sending them well wishes.
- Please get your volunteer hours in to Carolyn for January to March asap. Humanitarian service hours and anything that supports it (i.e., committee time, Board of Directors time, fundraising events and planning therefore all count). Only regular club meeting, travel time, training for riding in the Bike-a-thon, and purely social or fellowship events do not count.
- RLI: Fellow Rotarians, if you have taken RLI 1 and/or 2 you know the value of the sessions and the fun it is meeting and sharing with Rotarians.
If you have not yet gone to an RLI class, there are a variety of reasons to do so including meeting new friends and increasing your knowledge.
Parts 1 and 3 will be offered on Thursday May 31st, in conjunction with the District Conference. The day will begin at 10:00 so you are able to drive up that day and not have to pay for an extra hotel night should you be attending the conference.
Register at rotary5040.org now.
- Rotary's first Avenue of Service, Networking and Vocational Service, is the second-most vreason which attracts persons to join Rotary; Humanitarian Service being cited slightly more often as a reason to join. Networking and Vocational SErvice encourages Rotarians to serve others through their vocations, to practice high ethical standards, and to assist local people and fellow Rotarians to move forward in their careers or to get a start in business. In this avenue of service we also celebrate the business successes of our fellow Rotarians and endeavour to support their businesses and careers whenever appropriate.
- Members should know the the Rotary Club of Vancouver was asked if we would support the Blockchain Impact Summit 2018, of which Min Kuang, through her company, Digital One Asset, is one of the organizers. RCoV would become a "Charitable PArtner" as a result of which, a small donation would be made to our Club.
I have authorized the use of the following statement in promotional materials related to the Summit:
"The Rotary Club of Vancouver congratulates the Organizers and Sponsors of the Blockchain Impact Summit 2018 for their contributions to understanding potential uses and benefits of Blockchain software technology."
~Phil Webber, President, Rotary Club of Vancouver
Secretary's, Franco Gallo, announcements:
- reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above);
- birthdays: Mark Busse Apr26
- member anniversaries: Brian Street 8 years Apr27; Gerry Glazier 4 years Apr30
- wedding anniversaries: none this week
Special announcements; members' moments:
- Jack Zaleski, bike-a-thon update:
Volunteers are needed, particularly in the role of Finish Line Coordinator and Supply Delivery. The Finish Line Coordinator will have lots of volunteers to help them but need to control all that happens at the finish line in Harrison. The Supply Delivery volunteer will need to have a van of sorts to pick up supplies and deliver them along the route.
Please contact Jack is you are interested in either of these positions.
All Club members are encouraged to participate, in this the largest fundraiser we have for the Club's Foundation. No matter your interests, there is a spot for you -- riding, organizing, gathering sponsorships, volunteering the day of, collecting pledges, etc. Please contact Jack for more information.
- Rene Abi-Rached & Gerry Glazier, on behalf of the Community Service Committee, presented a cheque to The Door Is Open. The original payment was made in the fall 2017; this presentation celebrated our support of this worthy organization and provided their representative, Brett, an opportunity to let us know how our contribution has helped. (see note in earlier section)
- Katherine Copeland was able to secure an extension of a couple of days for the Deighton Cup tickets. Contact her if you are interested in attending this fabulous, fun event in July. You can request that your account be charged through Carolyn once the final fee is determined.
- Angus Campbell reminded everyone that the Hoop-a-thon is this Saturday, April 28. If you aren't participating, you may want to consider attending for a short time at 11:45 a.m. when the scholarships will be announced/presented.
- John Bathurst introduced our guest speaker, Kevin Desmond, CEO of Translink.
Kevin Desmond spoke about the structure of Translink, the diversity of it's responsibilities and the 10-year + vision.
Kevin, who took on the role of Translink's CEO only a couple of years ago, came on at a positive though challenging time. Ridership is growing due to a few factors, namely a strong economy and high gas prices. Demand for an expanded system is always a challenge. The federal and provincial governments have committed to greater financial support which, with the greater funding, will make growth of the system more feasible.
One project, the Pattullo Bridge replacement, was the responsibility of Translink. The project was to be funded, at least partially, by the tolls collected on the Golden Ears & Port Mann bridges. When the current government removed the tolls, they removed the funding. Thankfully, from Translink's perspective, they also removed the responsibility of replacing the Pattullo from Translink and took it back on themselves.
Translink's 10-year plan includes extending the Millenium line out to Arbutus, replacing the 99B line (the busiest line in North America with approx 175 million commuters on it). The hope is to have this line open in 2025. Eventually the line may go out to UBC but it's not in the current plan. The current plan will service the busiest section of the route.
Surrey is another area that needs more attention and service; they need some catch up for their transit systems. The plan, based on the city's desires, is to build a 10.5 km light rail servicing Guildford mall to Newton. Light rail is chosen because the city wants to build accessible communities along the route, versus the sky train. The hope is to open the route in 2024.
The next phase will be a Guildford to Langley route which will cost an approximate $30 million. Funding will be, hopefully, in place by 2021.
Translink recognizes that there needs to be enough transit to meet population growth and demands. Studying possible new routes to meet the needs in the most efficient way is Kevin's specialty. Funding is always the challenge. With the federal and provincial governments current support and commitment to help, meeting the needs is possible.
Another improvement, seemingly small, but significant will be a change to the Compass Card system. It will accept not only the Compass Card but also credit cards making it convenient for the occasional transit user. Key is to remember not to tap your wallet as the system will read the 1st card it encounters - may not be the one you want charged and may result in large fees if it read different cards at different point along the route.
Though we Vancouverites like to gripe about Translink and our transit system, it is a system that, believe it or not, is looked at with envy from other cities, e.g., New York and Seattle. Here are a few recent articles from the Seattle Times for you to read:
- "Is this the future of Seattle transit? A look at Vancouver, B.C. — a city that figured it out years ago" (Seattle Times, April 18, 2018) CLICK HERE
- "As Seattle struggles with bike lanes, Vancouver, B.C., has won the battle" (Seattle Times, April 23 2018). CLICK HERE
- "Why Vancouver's SkyTrain Leaves Seattle's Link Light Rail in the Dust" (The Stranger Blog, April 20, 2018), CLICK HERE
To access Kevin's presentation, CLICK HERE.
Some other interesting Translink information:
- Translink's 10-year Vision Dashboard, CLICK HERE
- Translink's 10-Year Investment Plan, CLICK HERE
Meeting adjourned with a toast to transit that is convenient and rapid.
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y’s subject is about water for those who have little or none now, and for the 2/3rd of world population who will be exposed to recurrent droughts by 2050.
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