With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1388249
G O F I G U R E JULY/AUGUST 2021 BCBUSINESS 25 At 66% vs. the national average of 53%, British Columbians were the most likely in Canada to say they'd been targeted by an attempted phone scam in the past year 41% were the target of a CRA-type scam BCers were also the least likely to give out personal information to a caller who claims to be from the CRA or their financial institution, with CONOR CUNNINGHAM Canadian spam calls by type: n 48% scammer n 21% telemarketer n 19% debt collector n 7% financial services company n 5% operator In a 2019 global survey, Canada ranked 11th for spam calls 83% SAYING NO At 41%, British Columbians are the least likely in Canada to know the terms "vishing" (making fraudulent phone/ VoIP calls) or "smishing" (sending malicious fake links via text) SOURCES: CRTC, INDUSTRY CANADA, TRUECALLER, IPSOS, TELUS, COMCAST, CANADIAN ANTI-FRAUD CENTRE Individual scam types recorded by the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website 79 Guess Who's Back? As their industry prepares to go live again after more than a year of hardship, musicians and concert venues start booking gigs by Saphiya Zerrouk E N T E R TA I N M E N T Z achary Gray, who's been out of work since the start of the pandemic, is one of many local musicians hit hard by COVID-19 shut- downs. "Vancouver is a place that's constantly coaxing you to give up music and leave," says Gray, lead vocalist for the Zolas, a three-man indie rock band. "But in this case, it's been especially tempting to do that for a lot of people." In a city where it was al- ready tough for musicians to earn a decent living, COVID left them unable to perform as the provincial government ordered live venues closed. Unlike bars and restaurants, concert halls and nightclubs couldn't fall back on outdoor seating. Some owners got the green light to reopen last May, but not everyone wanted to spend money on reconfigur- ing their spaces, only to be told something different a month later. That group included the Red Room, which has provid- ed live music to Vancouverites since the 1980s. Although Dale McRitchie had to let his entire staff go after shutting down in March 2020, gov- ernment funding helped the family-run business hang on. "We're good to go," McRitchie says of a likely summer re- opening as restrictions lift. "Stock the beers." He's among the lucky ones. As of 2018, B.C. was home to 903 live music companies, most of which operated festi- vals (44 percent) and venues (36 percent), global consulting firm Nordicity estimates. The sector generated some $740 million in revenue for 2017. But recent projections by the Al- liance of Beverage Licensees, whose members include music venues, show that the pandem- ic could shrink B.C.'s hospital- ity industry by anywhere from a quarter to a third. Still, hosts of local gigs are optimistic. Alvaro Prol, owner of This Is Blueprint Entertain- ment, a manager of events, clubs, restaurants and pubs, predicts that Vancouver will have a good summer and fall season. "We're prepared for everything and every sce- nario," Prol says. "We have been the whole time, just now there's a bit more clarity." Gray questions why the live music business couldn't find a way to stay afloat during the crisis. "If our industry had the same kind of lobby as food and beverage, which were operat- ing at some capacity the entire time," he says, "I believe we would have had at least some kind of concerts outdoors." Having pushed their na- tional tour back four times since COVID began, the Zolas are hopeful that won't happen again. "Now we are actually booking shows because people are fairly confident that by the wintertime, we will be able to play," Gray says. • POWER TRIO The Zolas—Cody Hiles (left), Zachary Gray and Dwight Abell—are ready to roll again