Georgia Straight Letters
Aquarium expansion? Next stop, Planet of the Apes
Publish Date: November 16, 2006
With the proposed aquarium expansion hanging over our heads, I am an ashamed Vancouverite. The aquarium is a black eye on the face of Vancouver. Keeping wild animals in captivity is simply cruelty and suffering that we can prevent. Education is not an excuse; the Internet and books provide ample resources for that, minus the cruelty. Rescue and rehabilitation is not an excuse; the majority of the animals that the aquarium currently houses, and the new ones they will acquire with the expansion, are not rescued and would be much better off in their natural environment. If the aquarium expands, so will its pocketbook, and that’s all they’re interested in. We know that denying wild animals their freedom because we want to selfishly keep them for our own entertainment is wrong, so why are we still doing it?
> Ashley Fruno / Vancouver
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Georgia Straight Blog
Legal beagle heads local business group
Submitted by Charlie Smith on Mon, 2006-10-09 15:19.
The incoming chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade, Frank Borowicz, is the same man who helped the NPA park-board chair dodge a conflict-of-interest bullet. Borowicz is a lawyer who works in the wood-paneled offices of Davis & Company LLP in the upper reaches of Park Place.
Last month, the Straight reported that Borowicz provided NPA park-board chair Heather Holden with a legal opinion absolving her of any conflict-of-interest in voting on a park-concession strategy document. Holden works at the Vancouver aquarium, which operates a restaurant close to a park-board concession in Stanley Park.
Holden refused to release Borowicz’s legal opinion to the Straight. Veteran NPA Comm. Al De Genova told the Straight at the time that Holden should exercise more caution in voting on issues that could have an impact on the aquarium.
Following publication of this article, NPA Mayor Sam Sullivan summoned De Genova to his office, and a few days later, Sullivan kicked the NPA veteran out of caucus. Several folks objected to the mayor’s decision, including a former park-board chair, and a veteran and skateboarders.
Borowicz’s bio indicates he is the honourary consul for Sri Lanka, which makes him eligible for diplomatic licence plates. These come in very handy when seeking downtown parking spots.
On Friday (June 23), Borowicz will give a speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.