6 THE DAILY VOICE, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

EDITOR JESSE ADAMSON

lewpoints

Whitecaps
treading
water despite
rough seas

Ihe Vancouver Whitecaps
; finished the season missing the

playoffs. For most fans, that
may be considered a disappoint-
ment, as just a season ago, the team
was a goal away
from making it to
the semifinals.
However, there
were plenty of
positives to take
away from this
season.

Watching the
goal-scoring race
this year was a
thrill. Whitecaps’
striker Camilo
Sanvezzo won the
Golden Boot, leading the league
with 22 goals in 32 games. Heading
into the last game of the season, he
was still two goals away from the
lead. By scoring a hat trick, he was
the sole leader, and doing it at home
made it more special.

The Whitecaps didn’t go trophy-
less either. Winning the Cascadia
Cup is a big deal in the northwest.
Especially when the team has to
face teams like Portland and Seattle,
it’s tough competition.

The Whitecaps were also the
home of Y.P. Lee last year. The
decorated Korean is internationally
known as being one of the best
soccer players Korea has ever
produced. It was a great sendoff by
Vancouver fans and players, and
Camilo dedicated his last couple of
goals to Lee.

Ups and downs are routine in
sports. You can’t avoid losses, so
when the Whitecaps fired their head
coach after the season, fans thought
it was a relief. But in truth, was
former head coach Martin Rennie at
fault to the point where he had to
get axed?

Let’s be clear, all teams in the
MLS were a lot better this year
compared to last. The team won the
most games in their short history,
winning 13 in 34, scoring 48 points.
The Whitecaps only won 11 games
last season but still qualified for the
playoffs with 43 points. With a
five-point improvement, you can’t
say the Whitecaps suck. They were
just ... unlucky?

Looking ahead to next year, the
Whitecaps have a solid, young team
that should be able to compete for a
playoff spot yet again.

If Rennie was to blame for this
season’s disappointment, we will
find out early on.

a

“ ‘
S SS

OPINION

JESSE LAM

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The Voice. Email him at
ebaron@langara.be.ca

Respect for road rules vital

pedestrian deaths throughout the

Lower Mainland, ICBC is warning
cyclists and pedestrians to make
themselves visible and to keep their
eyes off their smartphones while
crossing the street.

This sounds like a great and
simple solution, but ICBC is forget-
ting some key issues.

Pedestrian safety has been a
major issue in Vancouver’s Down-
town Eastside for years. No matter
how many high-visibility vests they
give out, there are still countless
incidents reported of pedestrians
being struck by cars.

In 2011, Vancouver city council
voted to lower the speed limit on
East Hastings Street to 30 km/h
between Abbott and Jackson, a
significant stretch of a busy street.
Much like Columbia Street in New
Westminster, no one actually drives

|: the wake of a recent rash of

30 km/h on those roads and police
rarely enforce the ridiculously slow
speed limit. Even with increased
visibility and an extremely low
speed limit, pedestrians continue to
put themselves in danger.

But pedestrians aren’t the only
ones putting themselves in danger.

Most cyclists, especially in
Vancouver, have no regard for any
laws whatsoever. It is quite common
for a driver to pull up to a four-way
stop and have a cyclist come out of
nowhere and fly through the
intersection. God forbid the driver
should honk. The typical response
from the cyclist in that situation is
the middle finger and some choice
words, even though it’s clear that
they are completely in the wrong.

I’m not saying that these incidents
are never the fault of the driver. Bad
driving habits such as texting and
driving or speeding contribute to

countless
numbers of
crashes, but in a
lot of these
instances where a
pedestrian or a
cyclist is struck,

the car has the ae

right of way. >.
A cyclist

blowing through OPI N ION

astop signdoes  JESSEADAMSON

not have the right

of way over a car

that has safely stopped and is going
through the intersection. A pedes-
trian sprinting across Hastings
Street nowhere near a crosswalk
does not have the right of way
either.

As long as they continue to
neglect the laws put in place to
protect them, pedestrians and
cyclists will not be safe on the roads.

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He =
— e
ld
“
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WARREN JANE photo illustration.

New proposed liquor laws a throwback

ey government, the 1930s
H called, they want their liquor
laws back.

This week parliamentary secre-
tary John Yap submitted his final
report on B.C. liquor laws to
Attorney General and Minister of
Justice Suzanne Anton, recommend-
ing that the B.C. government allow
liquor sales in grocery stores.

Anton will take the report into
consideration and bring those
recommendations to the lawmakers.

Please, let there be light.

It seems ridiculous, as many
British Columbians have agreed,
that we are required to shop at two
different stores for food and booze.

However, this is one step in a
long-term trend of dismantling the
Prohibition-era booze laws that once
governed B.C.

In the late 19 century, alcohol
was so prevalent and so valued that
it was even used as payment for
work and prescribed as medicine for
ailments ranging from body pain to
headache.

Alcoholism was rampant, but
everybody drank, so it was generally
accepted in society.

Evangelical Christians at the end
of the 19" century and beginning of
the 20" kicked off the temperance
movement to curb alcohol use and
abuse.

This culminated in full-scale
prohibition in the U.S., which was in
large part fended
off in Canada.

We dabbled
with it, but it
didn’t last long
after the First
World War, being
repealed in
almost all
provinces by 1920.

Instead, at the
beginning of the
1900s, Canada
took advantage of U.S. Prohibition,
selling across the line and heavily
taxing the domestic industry.

This period of regulation saw
many reforms coming into place that

OPINION

BILL EVERITT

gave us the tangled mess of a
situation we have today: provinces
unable to ship liquor to one another,
a heavy taxation scheme partially
designed to dissuade heavy drinking
and restaurants having different
licenses than bars.

Ever since then, citizens have
engaged in trying to deregulate this
economy, which historically has an
incredible profit margin due to the
low cost of production and the high
price people are willing to pay for
alcohol.

Voila, here we are today: legal,
highly taxed booze, only available in
specific locations and during specific
hours.

Finally we may be on the verge of
joining the modern era.

Private liquor stores claim their
business will be devastated. This is
unfortunate, but necessary.

Adapt. Diversify. Look at history:
those not adaptable to change go
extinct.

So get on board, or go the way of
the Dodo.

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THIS ISSUE:

MANAGING EDITOR/
PAGE 6

Jesse Adamson
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PAGE 1
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PAGE 2

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PAGE 3

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PAGE 4

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PAGE 5

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PAGE 7

Quinn Mell-Cobb
PAGE 8

Jacqueline Langen

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