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BCBUSINESS.CA Let's Be Festive! N u m e r o l o g y by Melissa Edwards engineering at the Paci•c Marine Training Institute in North Vancouver (now BCIT Maritime Campus). His career as an engineer at BC Ferries would see him living and working all down the B.C. coast, from Prince Rupert to Skidegate to Powell River. "I always intended to move back to Fiji by the time I was in my 50s," says Goundar, born in 1964, by phone. "You never forget your native homeland." Built in Norway in 1978, the Queen of Chilliwack had under- gone a $15-million retro•t just before being purchased by Goundar, with a new car deck, doors and sewage treatment system added. (The ship had initially been sold by BC Ferries to a dock in South Vancouver before Goundar stepped in with his oœer; Goundar even brought the Fijian prime minister with him to Vancouver for the •nal inspection last fall.) BC Ferries argues the sale was a good deal for taxpayers—that it cost $1.5 million to $2 million a year just to keep the ship in storage. But recent BC Ferries service cuts, combined with reports that the ship was sold at an 88 per cent write down, fuelled heated debate about the sale. While neither Goundar nor BC Ferries would disclose the price, reports pegged it at around $1.5 million. Goundar, for his part, says the process was transparent and equitable: "It was a fair ten- der—the best payer gets it, and we were there." And as he sees it, the Queen is also in a better place now. "It wasn't too happy dry-docked in a cold climate. It has the sun and tropical waters now. Why wouldn't it be happy?" Ferry princess The former Queen of Chilliwack now sails among the tropical islands of Fiji That's the minimum number of major festivals kicking oœ in Metro Vancouver in June, including celebra- tions of culture (Italian Days, Scandinavian Festival, Aboriginal Day), performance (City of Bhangra, Bard on the Beach, Jazz Festival), activity (Dragon Boat, Highland Games, Kite Festival), taste (Craft Beer Week, Food Cart Fest) and community (Car Free Days, Surrey Fest Downtown). "People in Vancouver know how to festival," says Kim Gaynor, who steps into the general director role at the Vancouver Opera next month to oversee its shift to a festival model in 2017. Not only are street-level public performances well suited to Vancouver's outdoorsy audience, she says, all those tents also open up new avenues for donor revenue. "There are more opportunities for partnerships with the business community because of the corporate branding and naming possibilities," she says. the AfterLives of ferries 32 JUNE 2016 BCBusiness 17 150 200 Individuals served at a Dougie Dog hot dog cart during a typical day at a Vancouver-area festival 820 Approximate number of tents erected over Vancouver's five Car Free Day festivals people attended last year's Jazz Festival, Vancouver's largest festival in June and third largest of the year 565,000+ before Goundar stepped in with his oœer; Goundar even brought it, the Queen place now. "It wasn't too happy dry-docked in a cold climate. It has the sun and tropical waters now. Why wouldn't it be happy?" of major festivals kicking oœ in Metro Vancouver in June, including celebra- tions of culture (Italian Days, Scandinavian Festival, Aboriginal Day), performance (City of Bhangra, Bard on the MV Mill Bay Built: 1969 sold: 2011 status: Now called the Buttle Shuttle, it's used as a private transporter in Port Hardy Queen of Esquimalt Built: 1963 sold: 2011 status: Stripped for scrap metal in Ensenada, Mexico MV Tenaka Built: 1964 sold: 2016 status: Bought by Lady Rose Marine for a private service between Bam'eld and Ucluelet SOURCE: VESSELFINDER.COM BCBUSINESS.CA those tents also open up new avenues for donor revenue. "There are more opportunities for partnerships with the business community because of the corporate branding and naming possibilities," she says. people attended last year's Jazz Festival, Vancouver's largest festival in June and third largest of the year 565,000+ BCBusiness 150 200

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