VANCOUVER CHRISTMAS MARKET sscscnesccccccenccccnsnsces 4 It’s not too early to say “Frohe Weithnachten” while sipping gltihwein and savouring stollen. Make your way down to a German Christmas market where you can buy wooden toys like this little guy. AILY Bed bugs escape new killer Vancouver company has an effective natural oil but the product is unavailable for use in Canadian homes By VANESSA SZPURKO local company’s natural solution Ae: bed bugs is finding success in the United States - but you won’t find it anywhere in Canada. Terramera Biosciences was started by Karn Manhas in 2009 with a focus on providing natural alternatives to chem- ical bug-control products. The company released a product called Cirkil for professional extermi- nation use. It is currently in the early stages of test marketing a less concentrated spray version for homes and travel- friendly version called Proof. It costs US $11.99 for a three-ounce bottle. The product is still pending approval by the Canadian government. The key to the success of Cirkil and Proof is neem oil, said Terry Taciuk, head of marketing at Terramera. The oil comes from a tree that grows in South Asia and Africa and has been used for hundreds of years in wound care and as an anti-inflammatory. The oil contains some natural pesti- cides but is not effective as a pesticide on its own. “By using the right formulation, we're able to do some things that the standard neem oil just can’t do,” said Taciuk. “It uses a range of ingredients, all of which are natural, organic and made to food-grade standards.” The product kills bed bug eggs and bed bugs, unlike traditional chemical methods, said Taciuk. It’s been used in thousands of bed bug cases in the Unit- ed States by professional extermina- tors. “The US Department of Agriculture and the [Environmental Protection Agen- cy] saw how valuable our product was, so they actually fast-tracked their ap- proval process for Cirkil,” said Taciuk. Chris Ashby of Local Pest Control in Vancouver said, “We haven’t found any environmentally safe chemical that works.” He noted that some natural products have some effectiveness, but not enough. Heat treatments are also an option although they are more ex- pensive than chemical ones. Ashby said that if Cirkil worked, he wouldn’t hesitate to use the product if it was available in Canada. “We're always looking for a non- chemical way. We’ve seen so many of them come and go and very few of them work. But if someone’s found some- thing that actually works, great. Abso- lutely.” & KENDRA WONG photo “Stop the killing! Sign the accord.” Protesters demanded The Bay sign a Bangladesh worker- safety accord. The Bay, Canadian Tire and Sears are just a few companies who have yet to sign the international agreement. Help Bangladesh now Bad working conditions get protesters riled up By KENDRA WONG ore than 100 protesters descended on The Hudson’s Bay Company in down- town Vancouver yesterday, calling on the retail giant to sign an agreement to improve working conditions in factories in Ban- gladesh. The rally comes in response to the collapse of an eight-storey building in Bangladesh in April where more than 1,000 workers were killed and roughly 2,500 were injured. Protesters marched from West Georgia Street to the second floor of The Bay demanding the com- pany sign the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, an international agreement to im- prove working conditions in factories. So far, more than 110 companies have signed the accord, including American Eagle Outfitters, H&M and Helly Hansen. Kalpona Akter, the executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, says Ca- nadian companies are not doing enough to pre- vent workplace disasters in Bangladesh. “Within this year, there have been two horrific disasters,” she said. While standing next to a $300 blouse in the re- tail giant, she said it is roughly the same price as six months of wages for a factory worker. “We are campaigning to have these companies sign this accord because this is the only way we can have a safe workplace for our workers and stop the death toll,” said Akter. She added that the accord is “legally binding” and will provide workers with union representa- tives and proper training in factories. Jim Sinclair, the president of the B.C. Federa- tion of Labour, said consumers don’t want their clothes made in factories with unsafe working conditions. “Hudson’s Bay should do the right thing and sign the accord,” said Sinclair. “They know they should sign it. If they have an ounce of morality, they will sign the accord.” The manager of The Bay’s downtown location would not comment on the issue. Pool pooping a problem Hillcrest has about three to five pool evacuations per week due to “foulings” By BILL EVERITT t Hillcrest Centre, just steps be- Aen the Nat Bailey Stadium, aquatic supervisor Jayne Loutit patrols the pool deck, watching parents splash around with their toddlers. The Vancouver park board man- dates that “water must be clear enough that the pattern of the main drain is clearly seen by a person standing on the edge of the pool.” But standing on the edge of the pool, it’s not only the drain Loutit sees. It’s something else, something dark, float- ing below the surface. Many people accept that people pee in pools, but what about the second- most popular bathroom activity? It turns out that “foulings” as Loutit calls them, are a regular occurrence at Hillcrest, causing an average of three to five pool evacuations per week. That’s between 160 and 260 foulings per year. Foulings include fecal matter, vomit or other bodily fluids. Sean Healy, supervisor of aquatic services for the park board, said the water-quality regulations are estab- lished by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols. Van- couver follows this because the CDC is always adapting to new research, while provincial regulations are more static and “frozen in time,” he said. There are two main procedures for dealing with foulings, Healy said. It all comes down to the Bristol stool chart. “If it’s a formed stool, it’s probably just an accident or a form of terror- ism,” he said. “In that case, the process is to clear the pool, scoop out the solids, add some chlorine, do a water test and reopen the pool after the tests are passed. “Tf it’s diarrhea, which is caused by microorganisms living in the intes- tines, that could potentially turn the pool into an infectious body of water.” Healy said that it’d require a “super- chlorination” of the pool to kill all wa- ter-borne organ- isms before the pool can reopen. “Tn 25 years of Pool aquatics, I have POOP Stats personally only seen this happen MH Main pool: 23 per twice,” he said. cent Loutit’s close HH leisure pool (“kid- die pool"): 75 per cent supervision of the pool water is one of the reasons Hillcrest has not gy had any Vancou- Hot tub: 1 per cent ver Coastal MM Outdoor pool: 0 per Health-ordered cent closures, based on Source: Xop 6 on 6 xop xop xop online records, which only go as far back as 2011. “Fouling procedures are strictly fol- lowed every time,” Loutit said.