Toronto has Pearson, Paris has de Gaulle, New York has JFK, and Liverpool has John Lennon while we have Vancouver International Airport or simply, YVR.
Over the years many have been tossing around the idea that the three airport code letters “YVR” don’t do our region justice and recently this school of thought has been gaining momentum. It would seem the popular choice for renaming Vancouver International would be after Terry Fox — our local hero who made a big impact on the world.
Terry was born in Manitoba but he grew up in Vancouver before moving to Port Coquitlam. In 1980 Terry Fox set out to cross Canada on foot as a part of his Marathon of Hope to raise funds and awareness for Cancer research. “Terry was only 18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimetres (six inches) above the knee in 1977.” – [source]
He wanted to bring hope to inspire a nation by going across the country — 8,000 kms from St John’s Newfoundland to Victoria, BC. He dipped his toe in the Atlantic and set out on the journey. When he reached Thunder Bay, Ontario about 143 days in (and over 5,000 kms through) he had to stop for medical reasons. He was brought back to BC and shortly after he passed away.
Each year, to honor his legacy, Canadians participate in the Terry Fox Run to raise funds for his cause. Recently he was named one of the single Greatest Canadians who ever lived.
A website has been setup to get online signature for a petition and a Facebook group is gaining support in favour of Terry Fox International Airport.
Although he never got to dip his toe in the Pacific Ocean, his mission is legendary and lives on through education, research, and each man, woman and child who participates in the Terry Fox Run around the world.
“It occurs very rarely in the life of a nation that the courageous spirit of one person unites all people in the celebration of his life and in the mourning of his death….We do not think of him as one who was defeated by misfortune but as one who inspired us with the example of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.” – Pierre Trudeau to the House of Commons about Terry Fox.
Despite all of this, many still feel the airport would lose an international identity without the word “Vancouver” in the name. Toronto International was renamed Lester B. Pearson International Airport (known to many as Toronto Pearson) in 1984, after our 14th Prime Minister and many others have also been renamed. However, the debate is not out of a lack of respect or honor for Terry’s legacy, but many simply see it as a poor business move when it comes to identifying Vancouver on the world stage.
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Update October 7, 2010: This is in the new again as online petitions grow. “Vancouver Liberal MP Hedy Fry said Wednesday she thinks it’s an excellent idea and said she’s looking to present a motion in the House of Commons calling for the name change.” – CBC
I went on a mini photowalk in Cowichan Bay Village, which was one of our stops during this trip.
The journey so far – View Larger Map
The village is really cute, with floating homes, pubs, shops, and spectacular views.
I was guided over to the maritime centre to get some shots and it just so happens that it’s a place I linked to in my history post.
We had some lunch at Hilary’s Cheese & Deli and had our nostrils teased by the aroma of fresh-baked bread at True Grain.
Hilary’s wife Patty gave us a tasting of their Valley Blue, Red Dawn and You Boo Blue. We learned a bit about the blue cheese making process and the differences between cow and goat’s milk. We also sampled some delicious goat cheese curds. Hilary’s deli is open for lunch daily with homemade soup and sandwich specials as well as a nice selection of local products for sale in the shop portion.
Cowichan Bay Village is a where all from the valley is showcased, from the mountains across the bay to the blue goat cheese on our plates.
Stop in for some oysters, a glass of wine, or just to hang out on the dock with an ice cream enjoying the scenery.
I recently toured the South East portion of Vancouver Island with Tourism BC. You can read all of my posts from the trip under the tag: ‘Cowichan‘.
The last time I was in the Cowichan Bay area, I was playing high school rugby. Since I’m spending so much time here this week I thought it would be neat to share some of the history of this area.
The Cowichan Valley is between Victoria and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. You can get here by taking a ferry, or plane to either and driving over. The resort where we’re currently also has a heli-pad in case you’d want to explore in rockstar fashion.
Aside from their prime rugby talent, Cowichan is also world-famous for their sweaters made by the Cowichan band of the Coast Salish First Nation.
The town of Duncan is pretty much the hub of the Cowichan valley. It was the last stop south on a trail from Nanaimo after which people would take a boat over to Victoria [source]. In 1886 when the railway was completed between Nanaimo and Esquilmalt, a Mr Duncan was asked to if they could put a stop on his farmland. The site of this farm and stop are now a part of downtown Duncan. [source]
Cowichan River delta – Photo credit:
GerryT on Flickr
Quick facts:
Rugby truly is huge here and dare I say this is probably the rugby capital of Canada.
Cowichan is home to the second oldest grass tennis courts, the oldest aside from Wimbledon.
The original mission is a stone structure called “Butter Church” built in 1870. Its construction was financed by the local farm that produced butter, hence the name. There’s a neat blog about the building along with old and modern photos here.
There are a few museums to check out, from the Cowichan Valley Museum & Archives to the really neat-looking Cowichan Bay Maritime Centre.
I learned last night that the historic Kinsol Trestle (below) was named after King Solomon.
Cowichan Bay was recently named North America’s first “Slow Food” (or “Cittaslow”) city. [source] [source]
White Rock, south of Surrey, has a connection to the Cowichan, “According to romantic legend, the boulder was tossed onto the beach by the son of a Salish sea-god who fell in love with a Cowichan princess.” [source]
Photo credit:
gdbate on Flickr
From salmon fishing, hiking, resorts and B&Bs to fertile farmlands and a strong agricultural past, this area is definitely worth exploring. I’ll be heading out to a cidery today along with a few wineries and then stopping in with a cheese maker. The whole idea of a Tourism BC trip is so that they can introduce us to people and places in the hopes that we’ll tell their stories. I’m looking forward to all that is in store.
I recently toured the South East portion of Vancouver Island with Tourism BC. You can read all of my posts from the trip under the tag: ‘Cowichan‘.
This morning I took a Harbour Air plane over to Victoria to spend a few days exploring the Island and all of its wonderful offerings alongside Tourism BC.
If you haven’t done the sea-plane thing to the Island I highly recommend it. The Harbour Air flight was great (and they have wifi in both terminals) but there’s also Westcoast Air (with whom I had a quick tour earlier this summer), as well as a few others like Saltspring Air and HeliJet.
Arriving on in Victoria’s inner harbour we took a water taxi with Holly from Tourism Victoria to Fisherman’s Wharf. The pier was packed with families and folks on their lunch breaks enjoying some fish & chips in the sunshine.
The next stop was Spinnakers where our small group ate. I’ve been to Spinnakers before but I’ll have a post up about our particular menu later on this week.
From there we hopped in a van and ended up at the Aerie Resort, which is along the Malahat Highway between Victoria and Nanaimo. We’ll be here for two nights before heading up to Courtenay and Comox (a few places I’ve explored a bit before with Keira).
I’ve never really visited this particular region (the Cowichan Valley) so I’m really looking forward to learning more about the wineries, farmers, and artisans that we’ll be visiting.
I hope to share information with my readers about BC-fresh products as well as a few ideas for weekend getaways. The itinerary says we’re even going to see some water buffalo before they get milked — can’t wait.
You can read all of my posts from the trip under the tag: ‘Cowichan‘.
Last week my Vancouver History: Before and After Photos received such a great response that I’m making this a weekly feature. I started thinking of themes so this week’s series will feature bridges. As with last week, the original images are available through the City of Vancouver Archives.
Burrard Bridge
1932
Major Matthews collection
2007
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