July 5, 1989 Special Purchase C.ALL.SL Natural Whites Interior Paint Convenient 5-Speed Stand Mixer Feawrese 2¢ giass 99 ow, hee! rest, thumb contro! detachabie and closed handie Reg 34.86 ea. Heat 'n’ Strip #9756, Reg. 36.99. 342. ‘Agrosol spray or 1 L can. Stops rust without « ‘Aerosol reg. 6.59. 1 L reg. 12.99, now 9.99. Square Laundry Basket. 3% Reg. 6.69. 5 Check tor minis FASHION CLEARANCE SAVE UP TO 50% Off $200 Workmate ‘Combination bench with vice. 2 yr. warranty. Assembly required Reg. 79.97. 7%” Circular Saw insulated carbide tip blade #5738, 10 amp motor. Reg. 79.97. Solid Brass Mailbox. Beautiful finish! Reg. 39.99. Durable Waste- basket. Reg. 5.96. 4 heatables. Reg. 11.99. set Ha Colander. hog 290. 18S 25” off 5-Piece Polyester Bathmat Set. Includes lid, tank skirt tank cover, contour mat and oblong mat. In ivory, tea rose. wedgwood, aqua and peach Reg. 34.96. 1/2” nylon reinforced hose. 100’ long. Reg. 16.89 Ultra Thin Pampers. 4 sizes Limit 2/customer. 102° Oscillating Sprinkler. Covers 2,600 square feet Reg. 9.89 Boys’ Jogging Suits 2 styles to choose trom, in an assortment of colours Machine wash and dry 2-3-3x Reg. 7.99. Dish Drainer. 4 7; Reg. 7.56. 478 Sink Mat. Reg. 7.76. 522 Over-Sink Drainer, Beautiful Bird Cage and Budgie. Cage only, brown. Reg. 22.99. ea. 15.99. 2999 both Infants’ Jogging Suit Boys’ or girls’ with assorted screen fronts. Pink, aqua, blue or yellow. 12-18-24 mos. Reg. 7.93. CHAHKO-MIKA MALL | NELSON, B.C. Prices effective until July 11, 1989 or while quantiti STORE HOURS: Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. 10 Thursday, Friday .m.-9:00 p.m. NETA PLAZA PRICE IS JUST TRAIL, B.C” THE BEGINNING July 5.1989 =~) Castlégar News SECTION Talk to us today. Where You Belong Asian influx analysed Immigration from Hong Kong changes face of Vancouver Editor's not nigration from Hong Kong is changing the face of Vancouver. Among those feeling the impact are members of the city’s long-éstablished Chinese com- munity. This is the first of three stories on the effect the new arrivals are having on British Columbia. By RON SUDLOW < VANCOUVER (CP) — Architect Bing Thom is a “‘true-blooded, third-generation Canadian.”’ But he’s an uncomfortable Canadian because of the negative undertow of a suddenly rising wave of Hong Kong A few do. And they’re at the core of misconceptions about Asian immigration that prompted Mayor Gordon Campbell, worried about racial polarization, to hold public meetings in Vancouver to defuse the issue \ Most Hong Kong immigrants to British Columbia set- tte throtighout middle-class Vancouver and the community of Richmond to the south. But their presence has been linked to housing prices that have climbed 37 per gent to an average of $244,000 for adetached home in the last year Some Vancouverites say that only by winning a lottery will their children be able to own a house in the city — a city where there are memories of prohibitive head taxes on Chinese immigrants at the turn of the century and internm- ent of Japanese during the Second World War While the mayor seeks racial harmony, J.V. Clyne —a former B.C. Supreme Court judge, forest company chair man and university chancellor — is aligned with a business group promoting immigration from Britain. immigration washing over the 130,00 ber Chinese community in Vancouver's metropolitan area of 1.3 million While Chinese roots in Canada go back more than a century to cheap railway labor, today’s wealthy Hong Kong arrivals are resented by some for their perceived luxury lifestyles and Boardwalk and Park Place plots of realestate. “You're getting the uncomfortable feeling now that, because you aye of Chinese heritage, you are looked upon as an immigrant again,”” Thom says at his office on False Creek near a forest of sailboat masts and downtown Van- couver Thom chooses his words carefully. Hong Kong im- migration and its effects are a sensitive subject, but one that’s raised frequently Of the 160,000 people who immigrated to Canada from all countries in 1988, almost 23,000 — or 13 per cent were from Hong Kong. More than 5,000 of last year’s Hong Kong Chinese arrivals settled in British Columbia, 95 per cent in Van- couver. By comparison, immigrants to British Columbia from all of Europe totalled only 2,600 last year Experts say the flow of people from Hong Kong will continue until 1997 when the British colony reverts to China SOME WEALTHY Thom and immigration experts say there is a percep- tion that all Hong Kong immigrants bring suitcases of money, overheat the housing market, pay cash for houses and stock the garage with a Mercedes anda BMW. CHANGING CITY . . . as the number of Asian over the impact continues. Projects may alter downtown skyline Editor's note: Hong Kong investment money is prompting a surge in development in Vancouver. Major resident and retail projects will transorm the skyline. Some fear the highrises will block the city’s famous views of the moun- tains. By RON SUDLOW VANCOUVER (CP) — It seems natural that Hong Kong Chinese should court Vancouver as they jilt the tiny British Crown colony before it goes home to mother China While the cities share a common attraction of harbor vistas and mountain backdrops, the courtship has become uneasy as Vancouver's eyes open to a flood of billions of Asian investment dollars and Hong Kong immigration. High-profile downtown development by a new wave of Chinese landlords is making a nervous bridegroom of Vancouver. The misconception persists that most Hong Kongarrivals own big houses and luxury cars. ‘It’s true that some people feel that,”” says Max Beck, director of social planning for Vancouver. ‘‘They feel frustrated and nervous.”” About 4,800 Hong Kong immigrants arrived in Van- couver in 1988, a year when residential property values skyrocketed. There were 3,300 Hong Kong immigrants in 1987 and 1,000 in 1986. Hong Kong immigration to Canda totalled almost ,000 last year with half being assimilated in Toronto's big etropolitan population of 3.5 million. After Vancouver, the numbers drop sharply. Montreal attracted 1,300 Hong Kong immigrants while Calgary and Edmonton both had about 1,000. BOUGHT LAND Today's heavy attraction to Vancouver was little more than infatuation in the 1970s when Hong Kong en trepreneurs began buying commercial real estate. About $2 Billion went into office buildings, shopping malls, hotels and apartments, most of them already built The purchases ranged from corner lots to a good por tion of a few trendy blocks of Robson Street, the tourist strip of galleries and bistros known as Robsonstrasse because of its ethnic mix. What started in the 1970s has continued into this decade as another $2 billion is on the drawing boards of Concord Pacific alone. That company is controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, whose other major Canadian purchase is Husky Oil “The face of Vancouver will be changed in a positive way forever,"’ senior city planner Craig Rowland-says of Li’s Pacific Place development on the now-barren blacktop of the former Expo 86 fair site on False Creek Just as the forest industry caused Vancouver to grow a century ago, groves of highrises on the former Expo site will create askyline paralleling that of the city’s west end, one of the mostdensely populated neighborhoods in Canada. But the developers, whose first phase won't reach public_hearings_until the’ provincial_government_cleans the toxic soil from the onetime industrial site, say they won't reproduce the overpowering dehsities of Hong Kong. Planners agree The project has a Canadian flavor because its figurehead is Li's son Victor, a Canadian citizen who was partly educated here and spends a quarter of his time in, Vancouver But it didn’t help that a condominium project by a company in which Victor Li had an interest was sold out in Hong Kong this year without being offered in Vancouver. There were calls for curbs on marketing real estate of- fshore. Li says he’s sensitive to the foreign ownership question and the Concord project will speak for itself WAY TOGO “One philosophy we always stay close to is to stay the blue-chip way, straightforward and honest,” says Li “Then you don’t have to spend too much time trying to ex- plain the deal or explain yourself.”” However, the Social Credit government had some ex- plaining to do when public accounts showed its $320- million Expo land sale was worth only $145 million in real terms because the payments stretch into the next century. On the other hand, Prof. Charles Ungerleider, a University of British Columbia expert on race relations, says Vancouverites should be thankful for the en trepreneurial skills and capital of Hong Kong immigrants. “*We should be down at the airport holding up signs welcoming these people.”” The Concord investment in the 82.5-hectare Expo site on False Creek — a doglegged inlet south of the downtown core shared by tugs, sailcraft and fishboats — has apparently spurred projects by Canadian companies. The largest is that of Marathon Realty, Canadian Pacific's real-estate arm, which proposes a mix of commer- cial, residential and retail development that would sweep the waterfront north of downtown from the timbers of Stanley Park to the sparkling sail-shaped roof of the Canada Place convention centre. No official pricetag has been placed on the 33-hectare hon project, which urban geographer Walter Har- dwick ONhe University of British Columbia says was for ed by Concord I think the Marathon people would have let their land lie into the '90s, but if they don’t move now they'll be well into the next century before they can take advantage of %.* SEE MOUNTAINS? While there were concerns the former Expo site — on ce owned by Marathon — would become a mini-Hong Kong jammed with highfises, plans call for breathing space created by residential islands connected by walkways. In addition to housing for 18,000 — half the population of thé city’s west end — there will be the equivalent of 31 football fields of retail space, a financial centre, 20 hectares of parkland and a 630-berth marina Mountain views will generally be preserved, says city planner Rowland, and densities will be no worse than the west end, where parkland is primarily perimeter beaches and adjacent’Stanley Park Clyne says ‘in another 50 years we'll be a different people’’ because of the so-called Asian invasion “This is the first time people in Vancouver are seeing Chinese with lots of money,’’ says Thom. It’s a marked change from stereotyped roles such as laundry workers, cooks or gardeners. “*The Chinese community at large is concerned about a possible backlash," says Walter Hardwick, an urban geographer at the University of British Columbia and for- mer city alderman. ‘*They don’t want their future jeopar- dized by hostility to recent newcomers.”’ Hardwick says that when Hong Kong immigrants buy in exclusive Shaughnessy ortupscale Kerrisdale, an area un- der pressure for redevelopment for a richer clientele, they buy housing built by speculators, not huge lot-filling dwellings constructed to their own designs. ‘The end market might be Chinese, but I think we've got to look at the process,’’ Hardwick says. Thom recalls how racial tolerance has improved since he was the only Chinese in his school. ‘*But I think what’s happened recently has opened up some old wounds. . . the change is occurring at a pace where the people just can’t un- derstand it." While statistics say immigrants pay more in taxes than they use in social services, Vancouver residents face higher school costs because 11,000 students who don’t have English as a mother tongue need extra help, at an additional cost of $8.8 million. ENRICH CULTURE While the lack of affordable housing in Vancouver makes headlines and TV images focus on Asian newcomers, the city has been enriched culturally by in- creasing appearances by Chinese acrobats and the Shanghai ballet Department stores celebrate Chinese New Year and supermarkets have separate Chinese fqod sections The city has two Chinese daily newspapers, acable TV station and a glossy magazine launched last October that has a 50,000 circulation after starting a Toronto edition. Luxury car dealerships employ Chinese-speaking salesmen. Free-tra Chinese Editor's note: An increasing number of businessmen from Hong Kong are setting up shop in the Vancouver area. One i Canada’s fi tT with the United ites. Here’s a look at the impact of these new businesses. 1 -By MICHAEL BERNARD VANCOUVER (CP) — One of the first things Ed- die Lo noticed when he arrived in Vanconver from Hong Kong three years ago was the different pace. “It’s like people move in slow motion here,"’ Lo said in an interview in his tiny boardroom cluttered with clothing samples and a partly assembled dress form. “Life is much easier here. “People have to work hard in Hong Kong. If you don’t, you have no money.”” Lo’s Prima Apparel factory, up an unmarked set of stairs in a rundown building in Vancouver's east end, expects to do about $3 million in sales this year, mainly to department stores such as Seattle-based Nor dstrom’s. Depending fon orders, anywhere from 60 to 130 people work at Prima, essentially making up knitwear from containers of fabric, thread and other components shipped regularly from Hong Kong Lo, 44, is one of thousands of Hong Kong businessmen who, nervous about control of Hong Kong reverting to China in 1997, are bringing their money and talent to Canada every year PICK VANCOUVER Last year, of the 160,000 people who immigrated to Canada, almost 23,000 came from Hong Kong. More than 5,000 of those, drawn by Vancouver's large Chinese population and the relative closeness to the Crown colony, settled in British Columbia, most of them in the Vancouver area. By comparison, only 2,600 immigrants from Europe chose British Columbia in 1988. Lo came to Canada with his wife and 16-year-old son. ‘I wasn't eager to leave — I had a gaod life in Hong Kong and a good business,” said Lo, a slender, energetic man who speaks with a marked accent. “But I worried about my son's future.” Lo and others say the free-trade agreement with the United States is a major drawing card “Canada has become increasingly more attractive because we have the free-trade agreement,’’ said Phil Barter, a senior partner and Asian investment expert with the Price Waterhouse firm of accountants. ‘In the state of California alone, the three counties that make up Los Angeles have a greater gross national product than all of Canada.” The Chinese, however, are not the first group of . Asian investors to show an interest in Canada, nor do they have the biggest pockets. Japan leads the way, investing in everything from auto-parts factories to pulp mills and most recently hotels. Last year, about $3.8 billion in Japanese invest de lures business ments came into the country, says a spokesman for the External Affairs Ministry in Ottawa. That's on top of the $36 billion the Japanese abroad already have in portfolio investments, mainly in the form of government bonds Investment from Hong Kong, however, is growing rapidly, says Robert Catellier, a trade commissioner on the ministry’s Hong Kong desk. About $4 billion will enter Canada from the British colony this year, up from about $2.4 billion last year, he said Catellier estimates most of that money will flow in- to portfolio investment, such as investment funds, rather than projects such as Eddie Lo’s factory “‘It is the easiest kind of investment,” compared with establishing a business in Canada which takes time and research, said Catellier. CREATE JOBS British Columbia, though, has attracted more than its share of p eager to start on this side of the Pacific Rim Under the business immigration entrepreneur program, immigrants are granted a visa if they invest a minimum of $250,000 in Canada and create jobs. They can also choose a more passive path to obtain a visa by investing half of a minimum net worth of $500,000 in Canada for a minimum of three years. Most Hong Kong business people arriving) in British Columbia choose the entrepreneur program — about 470 with an average net worth of $1.1 million — compared with 130 worth an average $945,000 coming in under the investor side The favorite types of businesses for Hong Kong immigrants are the apparel industry, followed by service and retail businesses, such as restaurants and shops, and high-tech firms. ‘It’s the kind of immigrant we find particularly at- tractive,” said John Jansen, British Columbia’s inter- national business minister. ‘‘They created about 3,600 jobs in British Columbia last year.’ FINANCE FIRMS, Portfolio investment also makes its mark on Canada, says Bill Boden, president of Canada West Ventutes Ltd. His investment fund company has $6 million of its $9-million portfolio coming from Hong Kong immigrants. “We've helped start several businesses that have created jobs in British Columbia,"’ he said. Among those ventures are a mushroom farm in Aldergrove and a Burnaby firm that makes exercise equipment. The provincial government is also hoping to direct the new wealth into projects that will benefit British Columbians in other ways. “What we're proposing is that the investor program qualify for subsidized low cost housing," he said, continued on poge C2