Pasta Challenge Winners 2024

The 1913 Alta Vista reservoir in South Burnaby is exposed during its demolition last week. Photo: Contributed Neighbours living near South Burnaby’s Alta Vista Park have gotten their first and last glance of a cavernous reservoir that has lain beneath their neighbourhood for 106 years. The Alta Vista reservoir, built in 1913 to collect water coming in through new water mains from Seymour Creek on the North Shore, was demolished last week to allow for the expansion of a nearby playground. About 26 metres long, 14 metres wide and 4.3 metres deep, with a capacity of more than 1 million litres, it serviced the growing historic neighbourhood of Alta Vista on the South Slope until it was decommissioned about 15 or 20 years ago. An engineering report in 2016 determined the underground structure, which sat under two parcels of land at 5172 McKee St., would be at risk of collapse during an earthquake and would need to be demolished to enable safe use of the site. A 100-signature petition from residents last December sealed the reservoir’s fate. In March, city council approved a plan to demolish it and expand the park. The only remnant of the 106-year-old structure that will be preserved is a nearly four-metre-tall concrete column that had stood on the north end of the property. A pipe inside the column was once essential for releasing air pressure in the reservoir through a decorative metal vent at its top. City staff successfully cut the pillar from the reservoir before the demolition. Wrapped in bubble wrap, two-by-fours and steel strapping, the column has now been placed in storage. It will be restored or rebuilt and may be reinstalled in the expanded playground, according to city heritage planner Lisa Codd.

As a public service, and transparently because I need to also refer to these in my own work in the area, I am sharing three peer reviews that have not yet been published by Immigration, Refugess and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) nor made available on the published Algorithmic Impact Assessment (“AIA”) pages from the Treasury Board Secretariat (“TBS”). First, a recap. Following the 3rd review of the Directive of Automated Decision-Making (“DADM”), and feedback from stakeholders, it was proposed to amend the peer review section to require the completion of a peer review and publication prior to the system’s production. The previous iteration of the DADM did not require publication nor specify the timeframe for the pper review.  The motivation for this was to increase public trust around Automated Decision-Making Systems (“ADM”). As stated in the proposed amendment summary at page 15: The absence of a mechanism mandating the release of peer reviews (or related information) creates a missed opportunity for bolstering public trust in the use of automated decision systems through an externally sourced expert assessment. Releasing at least a summary of completed peer reviews (given the challenges of exposing sensitive program data, trade secrets, or information about proprietary systems) can strengthen transparency and accountability by enabling stakeholders to validate the information in AIAs. The current requirement is also silent on the timing of peer reviews, creating uncertainty for both departments and reviewers as to whether to complete a review prior to or during system deployment. Unlike audits, reviews are most effective when made available alongside an AIA, prior to the production of a system, so that they can serve their function as an additional layer of assurance. The proposed amendments address these issues by expanding the requirement to mandate publication and specify a timing for reviews. Published peer reviews (or summaries of reviews) would complement documentation on the results of audits or other reviews that the directive requires project leads to disclose as part of the notice requirement (see Appendix C of the directive) (emphasis added) Based on Section 1 of the DADM, with the 25 April 2024 date coming, we should see more posted peer reviews for past Algorithmic Impact Assessment (“AIA”). This directive applies to all automated decision systems developed or procured after April 1, 2020. However, 1.2.1 existing systems developed or procured prior to April 25, 2023 will have until April 25, 2024 to fully transition to the requirements in subsections 6.2.3, 6.3.1, 6.3.4, 6.3.5 and 6.3.6 in this directive; 1.2.2 new systems developed or procured after April 25, 2023 will have until October 25, 2023 to meet the requirements in this directive. (emphasis added) The impetus behind the grace period, was set out in their proposed amendment summary at page 8: TBS recognizes the challenge of adapting to new policy requirements while planning or executing projects that would be subject to them. In response, a 6-month ‘grace period’ is proposed to provide departments with time to plan for compliance with the amended directive. For systems that are already in place on the release date, TBS proposes granting departments a full year to comply with new requirements in the directive. Introducing this period would enable departments to plan for the integration of new measures into existing automation systems. This could involve publishing previously completed peer reviews or implementing new data governance measures for input and output data. During this period, these systems would continue to be subject to the current requirements of the directive. (emphasis added) The new DADM section states: Peer review 6.3.5 Consulting the appropriate qualified experts to review the automated decision system and publishing the complete review or a plain language summary of the findings prior to the system’s production, as prescribed in Appendix C. (emphasis added) Appendix C for Level 2 – Moderate Impact Projects (for which all of IRCC’s Eight AIA projects are self-classified) the requirement is as follows: Consult at least one of the following experts and publish the complete review or a plain language summary of the findings on a Government of Canada website: Qualified expert from a federal, provincial, territorial or municipal government institution Qualified members of faculty of a post-secondary institution Qualified researchers from a relevant non-governmental organization Contracted third-party vendor with a relevant specialization A data and automation advisory board specified by Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat OR: Publish specifications of the automated decision system in a peer-reviewed journal. Where access to the published review is restricted, ensure that a plain language summary of the findings is openly available. We should be expecting then movement in the next two weeks. As I wrote about here, IRCC has posted one of their Peer Reviews, this one for the International Experience Canada Work Permit Eligibility Model. I will analyze this (alongside other peer reviews) in a future blog and why I think it is important in the questions it raises about automation bias. In light of the above, I am sharing three Peer Reviews for IRCC AIAs. These may or may not be the final ones that IRCC eventually posts, presumably before 25 April 2024. I have posted the document below the corresponding name of the AIA. Please note that the PDF viewer does not work on mobile devices. As such I have also added a link to a shared Google doc for your viewing/downloading ease. (1) Spouse Or Common-Law in Canada Advanced Analytics [Link] A-2022-00374_ – Stats Can peer review on Spousal AI Model Note: We know that

With its promise of a cleaner, more sustainable future, renewable energy is quickly changing how we power our planet. The drive for renewable energy sources has intensified as worries about environmental damage and climate change mount. Solar power has become a major player among the many renewable energy sources because of its adaptability and general availability. Still, renewable energy encompasses a wide range of creative ideas intended to use wind, water, and geothermal heat in addition to solar technology. Tomorrow’s energy will be renewable. Innovations in this area are causing waves as we progress toward a more sustainable society, particularly in solar technology and other sources. Innovations in Solar Power The leading renewable energy technology is solar power. Because the cost and efficiency of solar panels have dropped recently, more households and businesses may now use greener energy. Panels that can collect sunlight even on overcast days are one significant development. This implies that solar energy is usable in more locations worldwide than just those with plenty of sunny days. There are other uses for solar technology besides energy. Better methods of heating our houses and water, thanks to solar heating innovations, are lowering our need for fossil fuels. A drive is also on to incorporate solar electricity into windows and building materials, potentially turning buildings into energy-producing machines. Other Renewable Advancements Beyond Solar The renewable landscape includes solar energy in large measure, but other technologies are also developing quickly. Wind Energy: Wind turbines are becoming bigger and more effective all the time. It follows that they can produce more electricity with the same quantity of wind. Certain modern designs create modern opportunities for growth, allowing turbines to operate in locations with little wind. Hydroelectric Power: In isolated or rural locations in particular, small-scale hydroelectric facilities are becoming more and more common. These facilities produce electricity by using rivers and streams instead of huge dams, making them less environmentally damaging. Geothermal Energy: This technique uses the heat of the earth to heat buildings and produce electricity. Since deeper heat sources are now easier to access thanks to recent developments, geothermal energy is more widely accessible. Forward Looking With ongoing breakthroughs advancing us toward a more sustainable and clean energy future, the future of renewable energy seems bright. These technologies will become ever more important in our energy environment as they advance and become more reasonably priced. The emphasis is on producing energy in a manner that benefits the environment and its inhabitants.

We’re not sure exactly when this warehouse was built, but it was probably approved in 1909. The building didn’t exist in 1909, and had been completed by 1910 when it was owned by G H Cottrell, who leased some of it to the Alberta British Columbia Grain & Supply Co. However, a couple of references in The Province suggest Mr Cottrell acquired, rather than built the warehouse. They reported in 1908 “Designs for a new three-story brick and concrete public storage warehouse to be erected for Mr. A. C. Flumerfelt of Victoria on Railway street, near Gore avenue, have Just been completed by Mr. A. A. Cox, architect, of Montreal, who is now in the city. Construction work will be started shortly. The building will be 132×66 feet, It will be completed next May, and will cost $30,000.” By March 1909 the building had become five storeys. Mr Flumerfelt was from Markham, Ontario, and arrived in Victoria after working in Winnipeg, and held interests in valuable mines, lumber and other investments throughout BC. He lived in a big house in Victoria that he had designed by Samuel Maclure in 1896. In December 1915 he was appointed Minister of Finance and Agriculture in the BC Government. The earliest reference to the address in the press is from 1910, when there was an auction at Mr Cottrell’s address of  cases of  ‘syrup, corn starch, household starch and the finest grades of laundry starch’. The earliest permit we can find is from 1911 when Mr Cottrell spent $20,000 on repairs, hiring Baynes and Horie to carry out the work. Mr Cottrell still owned the building in 1920, and his company carried out further repairs in 1927, and in 1929 when Baynes and Horie were hired again. Mr Cottrell was in Vancouver in 1899, when he was ticket agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and in 1903 he was offering space in his warehouse (former Wilson Bros) on Water Street. He had an office in 139 Water in 1909, when he was offering ‘Warehouse to Rent, one or two floors on railway siding’. In 1910 his advert changed to read ‘Burnt Out, but still doing business in my other storage warehouses’. He developed another warehouse on Cambie Street in 1911, and his address switched to 349 Railway in August 1911, after the work here. While he claimed to be the architect of the repair work here in 1911, he hired Parr and Fee to design a building in 1910 on Powell, and the Cambie Street warehouse as well as designing alterations to his Water Street building in 1911 (the year after George’s mother died). In 1915 the Pacific Importing Co applied to transfer their wholesale licence from here to a Beatty Street warehouse, and a month later Henry Cheshyre Janion applied for a wholesale liquor licence for the building. Seven men were arrested that year after stealing $1,000 of goods. In the 1920s it was home to Martin and Matthews, who stocked a complete selection of Ferodo Bonded Asbestos Brake Linings (Made in England). In 1929 Mr Cottrell and four men were pumping tupentine from a tanker car on the siding behind the warehouse into drums, when there was a fire. Two men had burns serious enough to end up in hospital, and the warehouse stock suffered smoke damage. In 1930 there was break in, and $10 was stolen from the office. That year Samuel Gilfix distributed Carillon Cheese, from Ottawa, from the warehouse, ‘full of body-building goodness’. Weber and Thompson operated from here in 1931, BC and Alberta agents for Gold Dust washing powder, and also Gold Dust non-freezable shoe polish, both manufactured in Hamilton. Martin, Matthews and Hammond were still occupying space in 1932, and had added Monarch Batteries from Kingston, Ontario as well as Defiance spark plugs and the Atlas Hydro Hoist, manufactured in Esquimalt and capable of raising a car five feet into the air in one minute. In 1933 37 cases of tinned milk (worth $300) were stolen from the premises, and to add insult to injury the burglars stole a company truck to transport the goods. Two men were arrested ten days later. In 1939 two juveniles were apprehended on the premises with ‘a variety of stolen goods’. In 1947 the building was sold for $80,000 by F H and H C Cottrell and M E Dunlop to F C Myers Ltd. Cottrell’s built a new $100,000 warehouse on Terminal Avenue. Before the company could move, a light-fingered delivery driver stole six radios, while collecting generators from the warehouse. Fred C Myers ran a wholesale hardware business here, and in 1950 it was a distributor for the Astral baby refrigerator, which was made in Toronto and cost $153.50. (The Bank of Canada inflation calculator says that would be $1,947.15 in 2024!) That year there was a fire that caused minor damage. In 1960 there was a prolonged strike by warehouse workers who were members of the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union. That year the company were selling the Maxaw 727 circular saw for $59.95 ($623 in 2024 dollars) and the matching saw table for $39.95 ($415) when bought with a saw. It was a Father’s Day special – ‘Here’s what Dad needs to complete his vacation-time projects’. In 1963 the warehouse, and Myers business, was bought by the expanding McLellan McFeely & Prior Co for around a

We are excited to announce a new accrual to the Harold Kalman fonds (AM363). Kalman is an architectural historian and heritage planner with an extensive body of work of local, national, and international significance. He is well known within the heritage preservation community for both his scholarship and his practice. Kalman is the author of many articles and books including A History of Canadian Architecture and the Archives reading room favourite Exploring Vancouver, the recipient of numerous awards and honours, and was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2012 for his work to study, protect and share Canada’s built heritage. Though now living in Victoria and (mostly) retired, he spent most of his professional career working in Vancouver, first teaching the history of art and architecture as a professor in the UBC Department of Fine Arts, and then later as a heritage consultant, doing business under the name Commonwealth Historic Resource Management (CHRM). While winding down his practice, Kalman donated his personal and professional records to the Archives in a series of donations between 2011 and 2022. The largest portion of these are the project files (also referred to by Kalman as the “job files”) from his work with CHRM, based in Ottawa from 1975-1988, and in Vancouver from 1988-2015. CHRM provided architectural conservation advice and interpretive planning services related to the conservation, interpretation, and management of built and natural heritage resources. These records have been processed and are now available as AM363-S07 : Consultancy project files. Documented within the donated records are 455 projects. Of these, 101 were for sites in the Greater Vancouver region, 100 in other parts of British Columbia, 225 in the rest of Canada, and 29 international projects. The list of notable Vancouver projects that Kalman consulted on is too long for this post, but include sites such as Woodward’s, the Marine Building, Tudor Manor, Hotel Georgia, Firehall Arts Centre, the Vogue, Stanley, Orpheum and Queen Elizabeth Theatres, and the Chinatown and Gastown neighborhoods. Graphic from one of the Woodwards Building Development Statement of Significance project files. Reference code: AM363-S07-F1698 There is considerable variation in the scope and scale of the projects. Some are very limited, such as creating heritage preservation recommendations used to restore the subject to its original condition, or to preserve key characteristics when adapting the building to a new use. These can be for individual sites, buildings, or even part of a building (like a particular façade or feature). One folder from project D579, renovations to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Reference code: AM363-S07-F1054 At the other end of the spectrum, there are projects that encompass multiple sites over large areas–heritage inventories that identify and catalogue significant buildings or sites in a given region, conducting feasibility studies for new museums and other cultural institutions, creating interpretive plans for heritage sites, and writing heritage conservation guidelines and policies. Site drawing from Whitby Psychiatric Hospital project. Reference code: AM363-S07-F1662 The types of records found within the files varies, depending considerably on the nature of the project. Unsurprisingly, some projects are documented much better than others. A given file may contain primary sources collected in the course of research, excerpts of copies from relevant secondary works (some difficult to find), interviews, photographs, maps and site plans, histories of the subject site or building, and drafts and final reports or recommendations prepared for the client. Interview recordings and transcripts from the Illustrated History of the Hotel Georgia project (note transcripts are available now, but audio recordings are restricted until the tapes are digitized). Reference code: AM363-S07-F0678 We expect that the files in this series will be a valuable resource to researchers interested in heritage preservation, architectural history, planning and development, and other enquiries related to built environments. They are a great place to start your research into a particular site, as Kalman’s files frequently contain historical details accumulated from authoritative sources. Please note, however, that the files are stored at our satellite site and take time to retrieve; reference staff will advise on delivery date when you make your request. These project files are form only a part of the records donated by Kalman in the past decade. Expect to see further announcements of records available for research within this fonds as they become available, including a substantial volume of digital project files that are also part of this series.

Urban planner Andy Yan, director of the City Program at SFU, thinks the pandemic has exposed Vancouver’s economic fragility. Besides real estate, Yan explains, the economy is driven by service industries such as tourism, which has been clobbered by COVID-19. Not only do tourists help fuel short-term rentals like Airbnb, but many long-term renters work in tourism and hospitality. “If you were either counting on Airbnb or on a renter living in your secondary suite helping pay for your mortgage, and now they can’t, what do you do?” Yan asks. Add in the fact that international travel is now very difficult, and things could get much uglier. “You have the local economy not doing well, and now you’re cut off from the global economy,” Yan says. “So it feels like it’s 1978,” when Metro Vancouver resembled what he calls Detroit by the Pacific. His summary of that era: “It wasn’t good.” When it comes to retail and office real estate, the future looks uncertain, too, Yan reckons. It’s easy to blame Amazon, but storefront retail was already struggling before the crisis, he says. “You know how COVID takes out people with pre-existing health conditions? Well, we have pre-existing economic conditions.” As for the office property market, Yan says that before people started staying home, 20 to 30 percent of Metro Vancouver’s labour force already worked there. “If you accelerate that and it goes into now 40 or 45, maybe even 50, how much are they going to stay at home?” Bryan Yu, deputy chief economist with Central 1 Credit Union, also sees uncertainty ahead. “Commercial is probably a little bit problematic, especially the retail side, and even for some of the commercial product as work from home becomes much more normalized,” he says. “Will companies go back to requiring that large footprint they have now, or are they moving to a more nimble, work-from-home type of environment?” Either way, creating a new local economy won’t be easy. Given what the pandemic has revealed about the risks of relying on global supply chains, one possible scenario is that manufacturing returns to the region. But as Yan points out, the City of Vancouver converted much of its industrial land to residential in the 1980s and ’90s. “Now where does that industrial perhaps go?” he asks. “It either goes to, say, Surrey or Abbotsford, or it goes to Calgary or Winnipeg.” For the province as a whole, the fact that tourism, retail and other service industries dominate spells trouble in a deglobalized world, Yan warns. In food service alone, more than 120,000 B.C. workers have lost their jobs, at least temporarily, Restaurants Canada estimates. “There are these green shoots in technology or highly specialized manufacturing, but they can’t generate a mass of employment,” Yan says. – excerpt from ‘For B.C. real estate, will COVID-19 bring down the house?’ Nick Rockel, BCBusiness, Apr 23, 2020 Apt metaphors include Biblical ‘feet of clay’ and Buffett’s “when the tide goes out you discover who has been swimming naked”. – vreaa