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Politics & Current Affairs: CFL Succeeding In Spite of Poor Management

July 2, 2009

By Andy Radia at 9:38 am

shutterstock_4509394The Canadian Football League is more popular now than it has ever been.

Its successes however, come in spite of its board of Governors (AKA the team owners) who have seemingly done everything possible to undermine the League’s reputation and integrity.

This is a league whose owners have collectively fumbled and stumbled their way to success. This is an ownership group that has had five different Commissioners since 2000. This is a professional organization that had allowed one of its franchises to draft a player who had died in a car accident 5 months previous. This is the league that allowed Lonie Glieberman, known for dating cheerleaders and holding sleazy game-day Mardi-Gras promotions, to purchase the Ottawa franchise – twice! This is the CANADIAN Football league that decided, in their infamous wisdom, to expand to the United States only to have 4 out of 5 new teams fail within their first two years of operation (the fifth team, the Baltimore Allouettes were later moved to Montreal).

The latest indiscretion involves BC Lions owner David Braley. Reports have recently surfaced that Braley loaned the Toronto Argos owners in excess of $1 million over the past several years without anyone, including the League Board of Governors, knowing about it. While no one is accusing Braley of impropriety, it has created a perception of ‘mal-intent’ and is another black mark on the league.

Even with the continuing gaffes, the upcoming 2009 CFL season is expected to be one of the League’s most successful. That success has more to do with exclusive television rights owner TSN however, than anyone or anything else. TSN has invested an unprecedented amount of money and support for the CFL with a sweeping marketing campaign utilizing print, radio, outdoor advertising along with original on-air promotions seen across the CTV/Globe Media family. Its game day broadcasts with commentary from the ex-player studio panel is also very impressive. TSN has made the CFL hip for Canadians.

In 2008, CFL attendance topped two million people, and averaged more than 28,000 fans per regular season game – matching the league’s pinnacle in the early eighties. Television ratings have also been impressive. According to TSN, national viewer-ship increased by 6%; last year’s viewing average was 393,000. In addition, the 2008 Grey Cup game in Montreal, was played in front of 66,803 fans, the second largest live audience in the League’s history, and was watched on television by 3.65 million Canadians. Comparatively, 3.5 million Canadians watched Game 7 of the recent Stanley Cup Finals on CBC.

Despite years of ownership futility, the CFL is on top of the sporting landscape in Canada.

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Andy Radia

Andy is a freelance columnist who has been published in some of the largest newspapers in Canada. He also writes regularly for the Vancouver View Magazine, and Mehfil Magazine.

andy@vancouverbc.com

Politics & Current Affairs: Whatever Happened to Norm Grohmann?

May 21, 2009

By Andy Radia at 8:45 am

brachy-050It’s been said that Vancouverites are obsessed with the weather; we seem to discuss it, analyze it and complain about it here more than any other city in the country. This might just explain our love affair with our television weather personalities. In Vancouver, the likes of Mark Madryga and Tamara Taggart are treated as celebrities. None, however, has been so revered as longtime BCTV weatherman Norm Grohmann. In 2004, a local newspaper conducted a reader’s poll to find out who their favourite weather personality was. Surprisingly, Grohmann was one of the top vote-getters, even though he had been retired for five years!

Known for his quick wit and his uproarious characters, Grohmann had become a mainstay on Vancouver television and radio from the 1970’s to the 1990’s. One of his most iconic moments was on BCTV, on Halloween of 1991. On this particularly hilarious broadcast, Grohmann ‘performed’ the weather as a Jamaican sportscaster from Ottawa.

“When I was on television, I was given free rein to be amusing, to be extemporaneous, to be entertaining,” says the 72 year-old resident of Tsawwassen.

“All broadcasting now, whether it’s radio or television, seems very automated; there is a framework that they have to work within. I don’t think it is as much fun as it was years ago.”

Since retiring, Grohmann still continues to entertain Vancouver audiences, but now from the stage. He has appeared in several productions of the Royal City Musical Theatre Company, as well as for the Arts Club Theatre Company on Granville Island.

Moreover, Grohmann has dedicated himself to the community by working with many charitable organizations. He donates his time, often as an emcee, for events for the Variety Club, the Children’s Literacy Program, and the Developmental Disability Association. Since being diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000, he has also worked as a spokesperson for the BC Cancer Agency in hopes of inspiring other men to get tested.

“Guys will get their brakes fixed on their car, but they won’t let the doctor give them a rectal examination or do a blood test for prostate cancer,” he says. “For heaven’s sake, do something proactive so that, like in my case, it’s diagnosed early and you can do something about it.”

Now cancer-free and healthy, Grohmann says that he and his wife Betty are getting the most out of their retirement years.

“I like to stay active: I’m an avid golfer and avid bowler. I like to cook, bicycle, garden, woodwork, travel, and stuff like that,” he says. “I’m happy with where I am.”

Just like his on-air persona, Grohmann continues to approach life with a cheery forecast, rain or shine.

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Andy Radia

Andy is a freelance columnist who has been published in some of the largest newspapers in Canada. He also writes regularly for the Vancouver View Magazine, and Mehfil Magazine.

andy@vancouverbc.com

Politics & Current Affairs: Obama stimulus package more meaningful to Canadians than Harper’s

March 2, 2009

By Andy Radia at 8:32 am

obamaThe Obama stimulus package is likely to have a larger impact on the Canadian economy than the stimulus measures that were introduced by Prime Minister Harper in late January.  Harper must be given an ‘A’ for effort, but due to our economic dependency on the United States, we are not the masters of our own destiny.

The common consensus is that this economic crisis began in the United States with the collapse of their housing market and high default rates on “subprime” and adjustable rate mortgages. During the early part of this decade, competitive pressures coupled with lax, and possibly negligent, government regulations encouraged US banks and mortgage companies to enter into the practice of high-risk loans. To attract customers, financial institutions offered mortgage packages at low introductory rates (sub-prime), with little or no down payments, to households with low incomes and troubled credit histories.

In time, as homeowners’ low introductory mortgage rates reverted to regular interest rates, a large number of borrowers were unable to make their monthly payments and as a result defaulted on their loans.  Moreover, as the housing bubble burst, securities backed with sub-prime mortgages lost most of their value, causing a large decline in the capital of many banks and tightening credit markets around the world.

In Canada, the old adage of ‘when the United States sneezes, Canada catches a cold’ has held true.  As a result of the credit crunch, and decreased consumer confidence in the United States, Canada is entering, what most ‘experts’ predict, its largest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Our financial markets are fickle, our trade surplus has turned into deficit, the credit markets are weak, and unemployment rates are on the rise.  Our near-term economic prospects look gloomy, at best.

Unfortunately, just as this economic illness is not a consequence of our actions, neither will be the cure.

In fact, the Canadian governments led by Chretien and Martin, along with the current Harper administration, have all instituted sound financial policies.

Fiscally, the federal governments have operated in surplus positions over the past decade; we haven’t overspent or incurred the unwieldy deficits that the Americans have.  When it comes to monetary policies (i.e: money supply, interest rates, and inflation) Canadian governments have also played it smart. Our interest rates and inflation rate remain low, which presumably will yield long-term growth.

Moreover, Canada has a stricter financial regulatory environment than the United States. Homebuyers in this country cannot buy homes with zero money down and all high-ratio mortgages – those with less than 20 percent down must be secured by mortgage insurance through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Sub-prime mortgages are available in Canada, but its market share is much smaller – 5 percent compared to 20 percent of all US mortgages.  With fewer sub-prime mortgages in this country, fewer mortgages at floating interest rates, and tighter borrowing restrictions, our economy will be shielded from the gluttony of mortgage defaults we’ve seen in the United States and will likely not experience the same decrease in housing values.

Even with the prudent financial management of our economy however, we are in the midst of one of the harshest economic slowdowns in our history. Depending on which ‘expert’ you believe, Canada’s economy will contract by between 1 to 3 per cent in 2009.  In quantifiable terms, this means that Canada will lose over 200,000 jobs in the first three months of 2009, housing prices will fall between 10 to 20 per cent, and the value of our exports could decline by more than $13 billion. Harper’s tax breaks, home renovation credits, and costly infrastructure projects will have a small effect, particularly in terms of creating short-term employment opportunities for Canadians.   The economic impact will be short lived however, if the US stimulus package fails to resurrect that country’s slumping economy.

We need the US stimulus dollars to create 3.5 million jobs in the American economy as predicted; we need consumer confidence in the United States to increase and thus revitalize our export markets; we need the credit markets in the US to loosen so that American corporations with operations on this side of the border can stop the proverbial bleeding.

To a fault, we are more reliant on the US economy than almost any other nation in the world. In Canada, we export over one-third of all the goods we produce and 80 per cent of what we export goes to the United States. Ultimately, our nation’s economic fate over the next several years will not be decided by Ottawa, it will be decided by Washington.

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Andy Radia

Andy is a freelance columnist who has been published in some of the largest newspapers in Canada. He also writes regularly for the Vancouver View Magazine, and Mehfil Magazine.

andy@vancouverbc.com

Politics & Current Affairs: Pink Power

February 24, 2009

By Andy Radia at 10:48 am

shutterstock_24742417The second annual Pink Shirt Day is set to take place February 25. On that day, everyone, both young and old, is encouraged to wear pink as a means to bring awareness to the growing problem of bullying.

The genesis of Pink Shirt Day came from rural Nova Scotia where a 14 year old boy was picked on for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. Two older students decided to stand-up for their schoolmate; they purchased pink tops and distributed them to all the boys in the school. The next morning, 50 boys in pink huddled around the bullied teen in a show of support. The creative protest worked – the tormenters were silenced.

That small show of protest has turned into an event of vast proportions.

“This event has just taken off,” says Dave Teixeira co-founder and project coordinator of BC’s Pink Shirt Day.

“Last year we had over 128,000 sign up on Facebook. I think we will double that this year.”

In British Columbia, it’s estimated that 10% of students are bullied on a regular basis. While physical schoolyard bullying is easier to detect, it’s the subtle psychological bullying – the name calling, the excluding, the rumor mongering, the gossiping – that is often more prevalent.

Furthermore, with the advent of communication technologies, face to face assaults have been progressively replaced by a pervasive online bashing. Savvy students are increasingly using Instant Messaging, e-mails, chat rooms, and social networking sites to bully their peers.

“It’s used to be that you would be at school and the bully would be at school and you could walk away from it,” says Teixeira.

“Now you can have this person virtually bully you as well. They text, email, or even put disgusting comments about you on a Facebook or MySpace page.”

While many still hold on to the antiquated belief that ‘bullying is no big deal and is normal’ or that ‘being bullied is good for you’ its consequences are finally becoming evident. In recent years we’ve seen an increase in the number of teenage suicides by victims of bullying. There has also been more focus on the long the term psychological impacts of bullying.

“When I was in grade 6, I was bullied by a group of girls who, unexpectedly, decided to exclude me, turn my classmates against me, and spread rumours about me,” says Colette – a 32 year old Vancouver based consultant.

“The bullying was entire psychological and was always slyly done – adults never saw it and were not aware of it.  Today, many years later, it still effects me, specifically with my relationships with other women. I constantly feel as if I have to prove my worth to them, as a friend”

Teixeira contends that bullying is an emerging problem that needs be addressed in our schools immediately. The goal of the Pink Shirt campaign is to bring awareness to all forms of bullying and ultimately educate students about prevention.

For more information about Pink Shirt Day and the issue of bullying please visit www.pinkshirtday.ca

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Andy Radia

Andy is a freelance columnist who has been published in some of the largest newspapers in Canada. He also writes regularly for the Vancouver View Magazine, and Mehfil Magazine.

andy@vancouverbc.com

Politics & Current Affairs: Vancouver’s War on Homelessness

December 30, 2008

By Andy Radia at 11:38 am

homeless-photoJust two weeks into his new job, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has done what he had promised during his campaign – he’s fighting a war against homelessness.

Countries such as the United States and the UK have decreased their rates of homelessness over the past 10 years but in this country homelessness is on the rise.  In Metro Vancouver, homelessness has increased by 29% between 2005 and 2008; there are now about 1400 people who sleep on the streets on any given night with an additional 1200 who stay at emergency shelters.  Appallingly, according to BC Housing, every night there are approximately 130 people who are turned away from shelters simply because of lack of space.

For the most part, people of all political persuasions want to see an end to Vancouver’s homeless problem. Premier Campbell and his BC Liberal government, for example, have purchased and are in the process of renovating more than a seventeen single-room occupancy hotels. There are another 1400 affordable housing units being developed on 14 city sites around Vancouver as well.   The Federal and Provincial governments have also committed monies towards mental health and drug treatment for those on the streets.  But these are all longer term solutions that will take time to implement.

Robertson has initiated immediate solutions for those who have immediate needs.

In his first two weeks on the job, Gregor Robertson has facilitated the creation of 150 new beds to shelter the homeless overnight at First United Church on Hastings Streets, coordinated with the Province to create 200 temporary cold shelter beds at three city-owned properties and announced the creation of a Homeless Emergency Action Team (HEAT) that will for the next 90 days focus city, provincial, non-profit and private sectors on homeless solutions that can be implemented immediately.
In just his first two weeks, Robertson has delivered where his predecessors and counterparts in government have not. To Mayor Robertson – I say Bravo!

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Andy Radia

Andy is a freelance columnist who has been published in some of the largest newspapers in Canada. He also writes regularly for the Vancouver View Magazine, and Mehfil Magazine.

andy@vancouverbc.com

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