Hey! Labour Day weekend – that other national holiday, likely celebrated in B.C. with the beginnings of a general strike. Not over solidarity with the teachers (that’s right, they are still on strike during their summer vacation) but over the lax enforcement by liquor authorities over the number of ounces served in a pint of beer. We know where our priorities lie. And to give credit to the educators, it was probably a science teacher, bilingual in metric and imperial, who first discovered we were being short ounced and brought the outrage to a head. So to speak.
The other labour issue here on the left coast is the diminution of profits from the sale of B.C. bud, now that Washington State has thwarted B.C.’s once largest export by legalizing weed. In other words, gone to pot.
Labour Day deserves a little work so let’s get to it. First, a correction from the varied reaction to my July 2014 column where I announced my future retirement at column number 250 and then went on to meekly suggest there are too many Realtors in Canada.
In casting around to share the blame I tarred the Real Estate Council of B.C. (RECBC) who, prior to 2002, had enforced a regulation barring licensees from having another occupation. My quote, “That was the case in B.C. until pressure from the federal government on inter-provincial trade barriers, amid the red herrings of constitutional challenge and independent contractor, caused RECBC to change the rules.”
It was kindly pointed out the change in Regulation 9.13 (the “no other God before me” regulation) came from the provincial government, not the RECBC.
My research (Google Regulation 9.13 BC Real Estate) does seem to indicate the regulation change by the government came at the request of council and with the support of the provincial association. At the time B.C. was the only jurisdiction in Canada with that rule and the industry feared that wily Alberta Realtors, unfettered by notions of singular professionalism, would cross-border poach while relying on their other jobs as cattle ranchers and oil barons to supplement their income.
Good luck with that thesis.
On the announced retirement as a column scribe, besides my editor suggesting I was a bit of a drop-out, one writer, inflamed by my name-dropping a certain franchise that regularly statistically pummels his brand, suggested I not wait for column 250, rather “Now that you have become a PR flack for (brand withheld) maybe 235 would be a good number!”
Good shot.
On to humour. Regular watchers of Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show know one of the audience favourite segments highlights humorous real estate ads. One morning via CREA’s great morning news line service edited by Pierre Leduc, I followed up on this National Post headline: Realtor listings: Bad grammar and typos cost agents money. I posted it to Facebook and got a few ad mistake examples from friends. One was the house with many brass features advertised as “bras throughout the home”. A professional communicator wrote, “I have done proofreading for Realtors so that they don’t have ads that say things like ‘rot iron railings’ and ‘parkay floors’ (both of which I’ve actually seen). I figure that, no matter the industry, people are going to be wary of a professional who can’t take the time to make sure their ads make sense. If they didn’t take enough care to get the ‘front end’ right, what else might be lacking . . .”
And in the “Who knew?” department, Pinterest has a website for bloopers in real estate ads – maybe your sign or ad are featured already! For a home with a mortgage helper suite, “lice in the first floor apartment and let the upstairs help pay the mortgage”. For those wanting their own swimming hole, “house includes poo”. Ellen DeGeneres’ favourite – “huge dick for entertaining.” Then one of my favourite local Realtors wrote, “What’s u taking buot Marty? We’s reeltors speel fine?”
The last column of summer wouldn’t be complete without an event review. The best little music festival in my part of the world is the Vancouver Island Music Fest, hosted by the Comox Valley the second weekend in July. So good is the reputation, people fork over bags of dough before the musical line-up is announced. This year was no exception. Another sold-out crowd, many island Realtors in the 10,000 daily visitors enjoying the likes of Roy Rogers and the Delta Rhythm Kings followed by the Royal Southern Brotherhood on Friday – imagine an Allman and a Neville in the same rock group. Then after a day of eclectic presentations on six stages we gather in the main concert bowl for the Lowrider Band and Bonnie Raitt.
But wait, sandwiched between is Mokoombo, a rock band that took Zimbabwe by storm. What the hell are they doing here? Probably the same thing as Dulsori, an ensemble from Korea, here the night before.
These groups and many more perform for three days to an audience of men who wear their best tie-dyed socks and T-shirts and women who tolerate their partners’ annual sartorial lapse but walk several feet away. B.C. bud floats on the air. Beer, wine and cider flow and the mercury edges toward 34 C.
It’s in the ’90s and so are some of the audience.
Contact Marty Douglas by email at [email protected] . Follow or connect with Marty on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. He is a managing broker for Re/Max Ocean Pacific Realty in Comox and Courtenay, B.C. He is a past chair of the Real Estate Errors and Omissions Insurance Corporation of B.C., the Real Estate Council of B.C., the B.C. Real Estate Association and the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board.
