Vol. 102 No. 11
Bill Davidson, President
Parisa Adrangi, Secretary
Next meeting: Tuesday September 17, 2019
Mr. Takashi Hatori, Consul General of Japan Japanese & Korean Relations
Mr. Hatori has been involved in politics since his graduation from Waseda University, Faculty of Law, in 1986. He entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986 and has worked in various divisions of the government since with the latest post in 2018 as the Consul-General of Japan in Vancouver. Mr. Hatori has extensive experience and knowledge of Japanese and Korean relations having worked as First Secretary and later as the Minister of Economic Affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Korea.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday September 24, 2019
Duncan Wilson, VP Environment, Community and Government Affairs, Vancouver Fraser Port Authority
As vice president, environment, community and government affairs, Mr. Wilson leads Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s environmental programs, government and aboriginal relations, communications and community engagement functions. With more than 20 years of experience working in communications, public engagement and marketing, Mr. Wilson also has a distinguished track record of community leadership, having served three consecutive terms as Commissioner on the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation, including three years as Chair of the Board.
Mr. Wilson currently serves as Past Chair and Governor of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. He is also a director of the Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping, as well as Canada Place Corporation. He previously served on the boards of the Vancouver Aboriginal Skills and Employment Program, Vancouver Public Library, Downtown Vancouver Association, and Hastings Park Conservancy. Mr. Wilson is a recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Mr. Wilson holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree and Certificate in Liberal Arts from Simon Fraser University, and a post-graduate Diploma in Financial Strategy from the University of Oxford. He is also a graduate of the University of Oxford’s Advanced Leadership and Management Program.
Upcoming meeting: Tuesday October 1, 2019
Bala Naidoo, Governor, District 5040
"One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change."
The youth committee is comprised of a core of at last 10 members of the club with another 6-10 members supporting various programs. The core group meets monthly on the first Tuesday of the month before the weekly lunch meeting.
Highlights from the last year:
Supporting Rotary Youth programs
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards (RYLA): We support 2 students to attend RYLA North and 3 students to RYLA south
Rotaract clubs: We support the Young Professionals and the UBC Rotaract clubs. We provide financial support for their presidents to go to the President Elect Training Session (PETS) as well as support for some of their projects. (Joan Posivy, liaison)
Interact club: Chartered a new club at Sir Winston Churchill. Financial support for leaders to attend district conference and RYLA. (Adriana Zylman, liaison)
Youth Exchange (YEX): Death of long time coordinator, Don Kavanagh, left a legacy to our foundation to help fund it in future. John Hayto and Kendall Jessiman have worked to host a YEX in 2019-20, a young lady from Spain.
Adventures in Citizenship/STEP: Nothing in last year but looking to support this year. (John Hayto, liaison)
RICHWA Award: $300 award for an outstanding Rotaractor
Pacific Canada Experience (PACE): provide annual financial support
District Rotaract Chair: Joan Posivy from our club
Norquay School
One on one reading. Volunteer readers and financial support for books $1,500. John Richardson liaison with readers, Phil Webber, John Hayto
Breakfast and emergency food. Last year VSB suspended the program, which ended many years of support from our Club. We have supported their emergency food locker, $2,000. (John Richardson, liaison)
Food Programs: Reviewing our club’s focus on helping with food programs in schools or community centres.
Scholarships
Stay in School 13th year of program at Gladstone Secondary School. Program identifies students of potential for post secondary in Grade 10 but who have financial challenges. Base program provides $7,000 scholarship payable over school life. Two awards each year. Rotarian Mindy Tulsi-Ingram provides $1,000 supplementary award. (John Bathurst, liaison)
Youth at Risk
Hoop a thon with Sunrise club; Partnership with Sunrise club. Raised almost $3,000 from our club for support of Strathcona community centre basketball and student scholarships. Total raised in 2019 was $50,852. The 2020 date is May 9th. (Angus Campbell, liaison)
Studio 54 Gala First Year fund raiser to support youth program especially focused on Ray Cam Community Centre which is adjacent to Strathcona Centre (Brian Street inspired). Event incurred a loss but was a great event, more next year. (Katherine Copeland, liaison)
Britannia Boys Basketball: new request for support from Sunrise club, ($2,800)
Interested in joining the New Generations/Youth Committee?
Want more information?
Adriana Zylmans recently spoke to us about the Dutch Canadian 2020 Liberation Society and the May 5, 2020 remembrance day activities. Everyone is invited to help increase awareness through a variety of actions, including planting tulips. Brian Minter wrote an article about it in the Vancouver Sun (an excerpt follows). CLICK HERE for more info and/or to order some bulbs.
Vancouver Sun, September 5, 2019
This tulip was to be a recognition of the liberation of the Netherlands, an expression of deep appreciation and a means to create awareness among the younger generations of the role Canadians played.
It was the spring of 1945 and the Second World War was still being fiercely fought, but the tide was turning in favour of the Allies, and Canadian troops were being sent to liberate the Netherlands. It was no easy task — more than 7,000 young Canadian servicemen lost their lives during the closing stages of the terrible conflict.
The Dutch people have never forgotten the sacrifices our soldiers made 75 years ago. This coming spring, on Veterans’ Day, and every May 5, they remember.
Our Monday Night Curling Group is looking for people interested in curling, whether you are a novice or know the game, to join us at the Marpole Curling Club every Monday from the fall to the spring.
This year our tentative dates for curling are Monday September 30 thru December 9, which will be the Turkey Shoot and Christmas dinner, then approximately mid-January thru mid-March.
We curl at 4:45 pm so curlers should arrive at 4:30 pm. It is a 2-hour game and many of us stay afterwards for socializing.
Please contact Bill Dauphinee at 604-687-6620 for details or email bill@dauphinee.ca. Myron Kuzych is also on the committee and you can contact him at 604-291-6341 or mkuzych@shaw.ca.
Learn more about investing through discussions and guest speakers at our monthly meetings. On the last Thursday of each month a group of 20+ people get together for fellowship and a shared interest in stocks and trading (recommendations to buy, sell or hold), as well as considering new opportunities in publicly listed companies.
Meetings start at 6:30, with a no-host bar from 6:00 and an excellent three-course dinner with wine at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club on Point Grey Road. Annual dues cover the monthly meals with a portfolio buy-in required.
Come as a guest to one of our meetings and then decide if it is a club for you. The guest fee is $75.
Please contact John Sullivan, Chair of Membership, Promotion and Hospitality at 604-714-4773 for more details, or email johnws@telus.net.
Our Young Professionals Rotaract Club is looking for:
Community minded people
Passionate & fun people
Practical & Resourceful people
Helpful people
Does this sound like you? Get in touch to see how you can change the world starting in your own community. CLICK HERE
NEW MEMBER APPLICATION
If no written objection is filed with the Secretary within 7 days of Sept. 13, 2019, (by Sept. 20, 2019), Samantha Shorter, will upon payment of the dues and assessments determined by the Board, be declared elected as a member of the Rotary Club of Vancouver recognized by Rotary International.
The classification that Samantha Shorter will hold is
Bill Davidson, President, chaired the meeting and gave the invocation.
Kayo Otake accompanied us on the piano for the singing of O Canada.
Peter Clarke, Sergeant-at-Arms, introduced visitors and guests.
Chair's Announcements:
Reminder: dates of note to put in your calendar:
October 1st: DG Bala Naidoo will be visiting our Club
October 8th: We will be joining the Canadian Club for a lunch presentation by author, Rick Antonson, for his newest book "Walking with Ghosts in Papua New Guinea: Crossing the Kokoda Trail in the Last Wild Place on Earth. RSVP will be required to attend; more information will be forthcoming soon.
November 16th: District 5040 Foundation Dinner, at the Firefighters' Hall in Burnaby.
April 24-26, 2020: District 5040 Conference. This year right here in downtown Vancouver at the Pinnacle Hotel on W. Hastings St. Everyone is encouraged to attend. Cost until December 31st is $350 (+GST) for Rotarians, $200 for Rotoractors.
With regards to the District Conference 2020, there is a goal to collect 2,020 pairs of eyeglasses. Spread the word to your friends, colleagues, optometrists, etc. Bring your collected donations to the weekly meeting; we'll collect them through the year.
Notice of increase in fees as of Q2, October 1st:
Club dues will increase by $10 per quarter for individuals; corresponding increases will be added to corporate accounts;
lunch meals will increase by 3% for all;
pay-as-you-go and guest meal fees will increase to $49.50.
We’d like to open dialogue with all our members: what do you like about our Club, what don’t you like, what are some suggestions to make us better? Contact President, Bill Davidson, and/or Secretary, Parisa Adrangi. Be heard!
Parisa Adrangi, provided the Secretary's announcements:
reminders of upcoming events/meetings (see above)
birthdays:Parisa Adrangi Sep 14th
member anniversaries: none this week
wedding anniversaries:Richard & Maureen Landahl 51 years Sep 16th
Special announcements and members' moments:
John Hayto, host of our exchange students, helped pass the torch from 2018-19 YEX student, Shayla, to incoming 2019-20 student, Mar. He made a request to all members to consider spending a bit of time with Mar; perhaps taking her with you on a ski day, or island trip, or, frankly, anything to expand and enrich her experience while she’s here.
Milton Kiang has organized another fellowship event. This time it will be celebrating Octoberfest at the Alpen Club on Friday, October 4th. There will be 50 seats reserved on a first-come first-serve basis. Price of $80 per person includes a meal and entertainment. Milton will send an invitation to all; reply letting him know how many tickets you’d like.
Paul McCrae invited the men of the group to the 45th annual Cariboo weekend on Sept27-29th. Please let Paul know asap if you’d like to attend this wonderfully relaxed weekend at Paul’s ranch in the Cariboo.
Joan Posivy introduced Scott Stroshin, the chair of the new RCV Young Professionals Division (YPD). The RCV YPD, created in 2019, uses the existing infrastructure and goodwill of the Rotary Club of Vancouver and Rotary International to inspire professionals between the ages of 30-40+ years of age to create a sustainable impact in areas that are important to them, locally and internationally. Meetings are in an informal setting at a coffee shop, pub, conference room or the like, at least twice a month (one business and one social). If you are interested in learning more or joining the RCV Young Professionals Division, contact Scott (stroshin@hotmail.com), Joan Posivy, or Bill Davidson.
YPD’s main areas of focus are:
Networking – connecting with like-minded professionals and Rotarians in leadership positions
Community service projects – transforming inspiration into action through local and international community projects that are important to YPD members
Mentorship – engaging the experience and guidance of seasoned Rotarians for the continued growth of Rotary and the YPD members’ professional career.
Jack Zaleski provided an update on the St. Paul’s fundraising initiative to fund a state-of-the-art facility, realizing a long-time dream of the RCV’s Hearing Foundation. The ultimate goal is to raise $6M, matched by St. Paul’s for a total of $12M. It is a 10-year commitment. The 1st step is to put together a steering committee (to be done this week). Everyone is invited to be part of the process. If you’d like more information, contact Jack.
Program:
Bill Davidson introduced speaker Dr. Michael Byers, from the Department of Political Science at UBC. His talk was Who Owns the Arctic?
This topic, Who Owns the Arctic, may not seems to have a lot of importance on the surface of it. It is a significant piece of our country, Canada. Did you know that it take approximately 6 hours to fly from the western most part in British Columbia to the eastern most part in Newfoundland. Likewise it take approximately 6 hours to fly from the southern most part to the northern most part.
The arctic is a dangerous place. The weather is extreme. The animals are fierce. Grizzlies are well-known to be dangerous animals – their northern counterparts, polar bears don’t eat berries!
It is a vibrant place. There is lots of marine life. The communities there are made up of Inuit who are very tech-savvy people with knowledge allowing them to live productive lives in such a harsh locale for thousands of years.
The arctic is changing very rapidly. Changes are evident in a human lifetime now versus in geological time. The arctic ice acts as a mirror reflecting the sun’s heat, with the loss of the ice the area has become a sponge absorbing the heat. This impacts the world, and all the ecosystems, with changing sea temperatures.
Comox has the closest emergency base equipped with 14 Cormorants (super machines). Their most important mission is search and rescue and they are well used in the arctic.
Is Canada in dispute with the U.S. regarding who controls the arctic? Frankly, no. The waters are in Canada’s control. In 1988, then Prime Minister Mulroney persuaded President Reagan to agree to disagree. The U.S. always asks for permission to travel through the waters, Canada always agrees. That arrangement continues today.
Russia is an interesting case in comparison to Canada with regards to the arctic. 10% of Russia’s GDP comes from Russia’s area of the arctic. They do not have any disputes at all having tied up all loose ends. Canada still has open issues with the U.S. and Denmark; though the agreements to always allow travel through the area reduces risk. It was in 1998 that the U.N. declared the North Pole cannot be owned by any nation.
Journalists and politicians tend to misrepresent issues concerning the arctic. The arctic is NOT under threat of invasion. It is, however, under threat from climate change. That is where our attention should be directed. We need to do whatever we can to mitigate climate change. Ensure you are educated; consider it when making your choice in the next federal election.
Dr. Byers has written several books, including “Who Owns the Arctic?” and “International Law and the Arctic”. Available on Amazon.ca.
Meeting adjourned with a toast to always being the polar bear and not the seal.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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