East C

BRALIFAX — Along

_ with a couple of hun-
dred thousand other
people, I passed a pleas-
ani Saturday night gaz-
ing upon a fireworks
display framed by the
majestic masts, spars and
stays of one of a hun-
dred tall ships in Halifax
harbour.

But, one of the things that
struck me, given a long experi-
ence with the festival-ruining,
lager louts permeating
Vancouver, was the absence of
problems in the midst of a
Very serious party. Sure, there
was a significant police pres-
ence, but it was more of a
jovial, yet almost bored pres-

s is noticeably differ-
ent than the coiled spring
intensity adopted by
Vancouver area police any time
there is a lange gathering of
people for an event.

Look at North Van's Hose
& Reel festival where drunks
and foul-mouthed idiots
abound and the RCMP tend
to police the entrance gate
rather than risk starting a full-
scale riot by trying to actually
deal with the ignorant drunks
who annually ruin what should
be a fun family day. Truth be
told, a senior Mountie told me
many of the younger officers
are too afraid to wade into the
drunken debauchery.

At Tall Ships 2000, the
waterfront boardwalks and

iers were teeming with

umanity from all over the
world, with a stroll of a mere
hundred paces yielding at least
half a dozen different lan-
guages overheard in passing.
The beer gardens were over-
flowing with merry-makers

crime and
punishment

amidst the cacophony of music
emanating from sound sys-
tems, buskers and paid bands
from around the world.

Waterfront pubs were
jammed and the pints flowed
as though the taps were never
closed. Perspiring bartenders
looked like whirling dervishes
vainly trying to keep up with
the demand of a 10-deep
gathering in front of them.
The Fife & Drum pub actually
ran out of the most popular
local brew, Alexander Keith's,
with more than four hours of
tippling left for the thirsty
crowd.

The Split Crow, a fashion-
able downtown pub on a
pedestrian mall, spilled
through its doors onto the
cobblestones out front, turn-
ing a good portion of the
street into de facto pub space
as well. Management simply
threw open the doors and win-
dows to let the band’s music
spill out with the patrons.

And the police just kepr a
calm eye on the «pirited, yet
peaceful proceedings.

Add to the organized
chaos, several hundred private
boats jockeying for fireworks
viewing position in the har-
bour. Yet, as opposed to the
annual English Bay Symphony
of Fire example, Staff Sergeant
Larry Bowden of the ports
division of Halifax Regional
Police actually commended

the boaters publicly for the
exemplary behaviour.

There were no collisions,
hot even minor ones. Police
conducted literally hundreds of
spot checks on vessels and not
asingle charge of drinking and
boating was laid. Not one.

On the first tof the
Tall Ships 2000 testival, there

¢ a couple of stabbings, a

ious beating with a pipe and
a shooting death that bore all
the hallmarks of an execution.
But none of this urban insanity
was connected to the festival.
It all was, IT suppose needless
to say, related to drugs and
took place in the city’s north
end, about 10 or so blocks
from the party.

It turns out the shooting
victim and at least one of the
identified stabbing victims
were crack cocaine dealers,
demonstrating that no city is
immune to the urban blight
protiterating cities across this
country. While the area is pre-
dominantly black — a racial
ghetto made possible when
city fathers forced the closure
of “Affieville” (sic) in the mid-
1970s and moved the resi-
dents to the area where the
violence occurred — race rela-
tions in the city are remarkably
good, also in contrast to
Vancouver.

A few days before the
arrival of the tall ships, | had
the privilege of attending a
mixed-race wedding in the
area. The small Baptist church,
replete with gospel music, was
decorated with plaques and
other memorials to communi-
ty leaders from the past.

While the ushers had no
need to ask guests the usual
“friends of the bride or
groom” question, simple
observation providing the
answer, the mood was celeb

tory and lacking any negative
racial overtones.

more pleasing. Guests were
deliberately seated randomly,
ensuring social and indeed,

al integration, making,

ends of strangers. Through
conversation, I was able to
understand this was the norm
in a city where the perception
elsewhere is one of racial
disharmony.

One of the more amusing
events of the week, and, cer-
tainly, one which also showed
the differences between
Halifax and Vancouver, came
from the small, yet voval
protest organized by Amnesty
International. They stood
alongside the Chilean tall ship
Esmeralda, railing about
alleged torture they claim
occurred on board during the
tumultuous reign of the despi-

miaihox

Wednesday. July 26, 2000 — North Shore News - 7

ship party a lout-free zone

cable General Augusto
inochet.

Instead of drawing posidve
attention to their dubious
cause, they got heckled by
local and tourist alike.
Evidently, the fact that the ship
is an inanimate object and all
but three of the crew had not
even been born during the
Pinochet years was lost on the
feisty, if ill-advised litle group.

While we all ake pride in
the beauty of our fair city, we
seem somehow incapable of
acting as civilized as our East
Coast cousins. What used to
be a pvo-week showcase of
Vancouver, the Sea Festival,
has been reduced to the four
nights of the Symphony of
Fire, largely because of the
antics of the ubiquitous crowd
of idiots.

We boast of being a world-
class city and can’t even host a

peer nettemtetmret Anetta rans eva neaennttet Sent

Thanks for the grass

Dear Editor:

Re: Meadow to
ahead (June 28)

I would like to extend my
thanks to Bill Granger and the
staff at the North Vancouver
City parks department for the
exceptional job they have
done with the ornamental
meadow on Grand Boulevard.

It’s about time that mem-
bers of our council and others
begin to recognize that
“nature” cannot be continual-
ly mowed, clipped, and inun-
dated with pesticides without
causing irreparable damage to
the natural habitat.

Enlightened city managers
all over the country are begin-

grow

ning to understand that we
must allow natural vegetation,
drainage, and contours to
keep our cities healthy.

Pm a neighbour who
walks up the Grand Boulevard
park frequenty, and [ say,
“keep up the good work.”
Allison Howard
North Vancouver
allisonh @attcanada.ca

party in public
Ss across the country,
and indeed, around the world,
partied in the year 2000 with
abandon

In Halifax, the last of the
tall ships will have barely
cleared MeNab’s Island when
the annual Busker Festival will
draw thousands more to the
bustling waterfront.

Evidently, we need often
go elsewhere to see what we
are missing.

~~ lknight@direct.ca

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