My idea for the 2008 U of C sociology hoodies slogan:

U of C SOCIOLOGY
No, not social work.

Like Christmas morning for demography geeks: 2006 census “ethnic origins and visible minority” stats released this week, and they confirm that Calgary is one heck of a diverse city. Seriously.

In Canada, censes are conducted every five years on 1 and 6, and we’re still seeing releases from the 2006 census. The most recent one is the one I’m most excited about, next to the basic population counts (those came out over a year ago); they’re on “ethnic origins and visible minorities,” and they comprise counts on ethnicity and race. As every student or past student of mine knows, “race” and “ethnicity” are related but quite different concepts, and until fairly recently (1996 to be exact), the Canadian census didn’t even ask about “race” (which determines that cludgy and unfortunately named category of “visible minority”). Before then, anybody interested in the racial composition in Canada could only infer race based on ethnicity, but that poses problems. For example, in Canada, one can’t assume that all people claiming West Indian heritage are “black.” Brian is a perfect example of this, because his “racial” background is South Asian, but before 1996 he’d be presumptively considered “black” after identifying as coming from Trinidad (and since Indians are the plurality in Trinidad that would be a stupid assumption, but such was how things were done). Now, there are good reasons for finding out not only where people come from or what they construe as their ethnic heritage but also, for lack of a better way of saying it, what colour they are. And so Canada now collects this information.

And for those naysayers who say “why are we adopting an American obsession with race,” it should please them to know that what’s considered a racial “minority” in the US is not necessarily considered one in Canada. For example, in Canada, we term Arabs/West Asians as “visible minority”; in the US, they’re “white.” In the US, native Americans are considered racial minority; in Canada, First Nations people are not, though they are counted in a separate census module. Finally and most interestingly (for me), whereas in the US they report “Asian” as a composite blob, in Canada we distinguish among South Asian, Chinese, Filipino/a, Southeast Asian, Korean, and Japanese.

Even with all these caveats about definitions, we can still see matters of fair comparison and contrast between the US and Canada. Canada is only 2.5% “black” versus about 12% of the US, but this proportion in Canada increased 18% in five years. In Calgary it doubled (from 1 to 2%, but still). The area where Canada “wins” is in a much, MUCH larger Asian population, percentage-wise. In the 2000 US census (last one conducted), 4.2% of the country was “Asian.” In Canada, 4% alone was South Asian (and per capita that’s fully ten times- yes, 1000%- larger than the US South Asian population). If we add all “Asian” groups in Canada they exceed 10% of the population. All told, about 16% of Canada is “visible minority,” and if we adopt the American policy of counting Native people as “minority,” then that percentage is more than 20%. Interesting times.

If you consider diversity a good thing, and I do, then we have a lot to celebrate in Calgary. Among Canadian cities (by which I mean CMAs), Calgary not only handily exceeds the national average (remember, it’s 16.2%) with respect to its “visible minority” aspect; it’s actually the fourth most “diverse” CMA in the country (and third among “major” CMAs). First and second are, not surprisingly, the world-leading multicultural meccas of Toronto and Vancouver, with VM percentages of 42.9% and 41.7% respectively. Third is the small CMA of Abbotsford, to the east of Vancouver, with 22.8%, but the vast majority of those persons are South Asian (in fact Abbotsford has the highest proportion of South Asians of any CMA in the country). Fourth is Calgary, 22.2%. What’s more, that percentage for Calgary reflects an increase since 2001 of 44%, versus 20% in Vancouver.

Earlier there was a census release on immigration and migration, and it revealed that Calgary was, proportionally, the third largest immigration magnet (INTERNATIONAL immigration- migrants from Saskatchewan, for example, are not “immigrants” although they are important aspects of population growth here) in the country with respect to recent (2001-2006) immigrants. What that report didn’t say, and I had to do some poking around for this, is that it was also third in all of North America on the same statistic. Toronto is first; Vancouver second; Calgary third; Miami fourth. This does not mean that Calgary is third in North America in terms of the proportion of total immigrants, but with, now, a city comprising 24% foreign born, it’s high on the list.

What’s amazing is that Calgary is, diversity-wise, about exactly where Toronto was in 1991. And as long ago as 1986 Toronto went to great efforts to market its diversity, and that was laudable- I remember seeing a story about Toronto’s diversity in National Geographic way back when, and it was part of what motivated my first trip there (with my ex, Timm Elmer- where are you, Timm?) in 1988. Now we’re in that boat, we’re DEEP in that boat, and I wish that Calgary would make room for it in its own self-promotion.

“…nearly 10% of Calgary’s entire force will be British.” Interesting stuff on CPS and foreign recruitment.

This one sounds sort of like Act 1 of Hot Fuzz. Yarp!

It may be boring but even the villains are polite - British bobbies head for Alberta

OMG oishii desu: A memorable (in a good way) lunch at Blowfish Sushi Lounge

(photo courtesy of netcandi)

It’s Wednesday, and normally I’d have had lunch downtown (likely Artigiano these days) before heading to the U for my “office hours,” but as I explained to my students yesterday, I canceled them so I could get their test marked by tomorrow. Looking for someplace reasonably chill for lunch with enough table space to do my marking, I went someplace I had not been in over a year: Blowfish Sushi Lounge, 625 11th Ave SW, 403-237-8588. I had actually attempted this place on Good Friday, but it was closed for lunch.

I’d only been to Blowfish once before, and extolled it like this on chowhound:

In a space that was once a dive bar called Bar Fly, a heavy-metal-night sort of place that was one of the last vestiges of 11th Ave’s “Electric Avenue” days (the other being TA Vern’s, which is now the salubrious Broken City) is a new sushi place called Blowfish (not to be confused with Globefish on 14th St NW- in fact Blowfish isn’t affiliated with any other restaurant in Calgary, which seems not to be the case for a lot of “new” sushi joints). Bar Fly was a dive, and the transformation it’s undergone is incredible. Its design reminded me immediately of Goldfish (NOT a sushi place!) in the Annex in Toronto: polished dark concrete, pashelberg-ish chrome and wood seating, cool tunes. The dimensions of the room, a smaller space with very high ceilings, took me back to the late and lamented Florentine in Calgary, but with much more modern chairs, tables, and soundtrack. It’s a beautiful, contemporary space.

I went for lunch, which offers a number of interesting looking fusion combos (wasabi-accented teriyaki chicken with an assortment of nigiri on the side) at around $17.50 each, but I wanted to try the sushi. The menu is still pretty spare (many things can be ordered off it, but for now you’re limited to a relatively small number of printed options, including a complete lack, to my eyes, of vegetarian sushi). I ordered unagi nigiri (2 fairly generous pieces for $7.99) and one spicy tuna roll (8 pieces, $12). The unagi was not the best I’ve had, with a too-sweet sauce and a somewhat fishy taste (I’ve had far better at Towa and Uptown), but it was perfectly edible. The spicy tuna roll was however really outstanding. It’s a maki with the buttery, fresh tuna draped on the outside, each piece topped with a thin slice of Thai bird chili, and the inside of the roll comprises perfect avocado, shredded cuke, and crispy spicy fried tempura (there’s chili sauce in the batter- a lovely touch); a rich spicy mayo (which might have cream cheese in it, it’s that rrrrich) and a garnish of one fried strip of sweet potato make this a beautiful dish, which I ate with gusto. Fantastic.

But problem: I wanted another order, because the pieces are MUCH smaller than places like Towa or Globefish, and at $12 a roll, this would turn out to be a very expensive lunch ($33 before tip). If I had one wish for this place it would be for them to re-price. This is maybe an $8 roll, despite its deliciousness.

I’d still give this place a strong recommendation. I have to add that it is stunning to see how 11th Ave (and the “design district” in general) is developing.

That was on January 27, 2007, a couple of weeks after its opening, and thankfully, the place is still open. I’m “thankful” because the lunch I had today was completely spectacular, and because it doesn’t seem to get the business it deserves.

I arrived right around noon and there were maybe 6 other customers there; not bad for a small space but it could have been a lot fuller. Still, I received a cheery greeting from hostess and server and plopped down into a very comfy seat (nothing the like torture chair I had at Hapa Izakaya in Vancouver, but no matter now) next to the sushi bar. Tunes were quiet trip-hoppy, perfectly suited to the dark modern lounge-y space and also perfect to both eat and mark tests to.

Today I had three items: one order of hamachi nigiri, one spicy tuna roll, and one yam tempura-avocado roll. Just water to drink. The sushi came seriatim, dish by dish, well spaced. First, the hamachi. Blowfish serves two pieces per nigiri (or sashimi, your choice) order, one naked and one with a little dressing up. My duded-up piece of hamachi had a little pile of a finely diced chili and onion salsa. I’d have liked both pieces done this way because it complemented the bland hamachi (bland but buttery good) nicely. Next the same spicy tuna roll that I raved about on chowhound, except it’s come down in price 50 cents (hey, I’ll take it) and it seemed a little bigger, but no sweet potato chip garnish. No bother- it was outstanding, with interesting contrasts in texture and really, really easy to eat. This might be the single best maki I’ve ever had, anywhere.

Then came my avocado-yam roll. I was expecting something like I had at a Ma and Pa sushi place in Vancouver with this one, that is, a roll with the sliced yam tempura and sliced avocado in a roll as the filling. Blowfish doesn’t do anything that prosaically. It had the finely-sliced tempura on the inside, but the avocado was draped over the top as with my tuna in the first roll; then the whole roll was adorned with a sort of peach-coloured sauce; in fact it looked bit like a fruit-flavoured yogurt. Nope: it it’s mango mayonnaise. Rich and sweet and little savoury too, you can (I hope) imagine how well it accompanies the veggies in the sushi. Tremendous, and in the end, very filling.

Lunch for me was $30 plus tip (I’m a good tipper incidentally- just throwin’ that out there). Expensive lunch, yes, but the day’s big indulgence too (since we still have a fridge full of the incredible ropa vieja Brian made the other day, so it’s tacos al Cubano for dinner tonight). I wouldn’t eat there every day, but I can, and will, eat there more often than I have.

A few last words (I hope) about McNally-Robinson

Here’s a nice apple-art cappuccino for ya before the venting starts anew:

And now back to this situation. I’ve been getting a fair number of responses (not all posted because I am only posting comments with what appear to be valid email addresses- you know who I am; I want to at least trust that I can know who you are) to my rant about McNally Robinson, and so I think the issue and my stand on it merits some qualification. I want mostly that readers understand why I’m angry, and what I’m not angry about.

First, I’m sad that McNally-Robinson is closing. This does not mean that I don’t recognise their right to run a business as they see fit. By the same token I’m not angry at Clover Equipment for selling their company to Starbucks, which will, from now on and forever, not sell Clovers to any independent coffeehouse, ever ever. It sucks, it makes me sad and angry, but that doesn’t mean I’m claiming, as one commenter said, that M-R shouldn’t be allowed to do what they want to do to make money. That’s not the point. This isn’t about a company being avaricious; ALL companies exist, at least in part, to make money.

The reason I’m so upset is about how this closing is being sold to us, and the recurring theme in it is, “tough shit, Calgary, this is all YOUR FAULT.” It’s our fault because of the increased costs of doing business here; it’s our fault because the value of M-R’s building was too much for them to resist selling; it’s our fault because rents are too high (and as you can read in earlier comments, Balboa was going to charge M-R $1 million a year), and it’s our fault because our downtown is, as one of my commenters put it, “a ghost town after 6pm.” Actually he didn’t even stipulate “downtown” but you get it.

The problem with all of these excuses, aside from being monstrously and (to me) unforgivably insulting, is that none hold up, unless you just accept the fact that M-R are hypocritical, liars, or both.

First, yes, business costs are high. Labour costs are high. But they’re high in Saskatoon, high in Toronto, and really, really, REALLY high in NYC. This has to be put into perspective.

Second, yes, you made a killing on the sale of your building. Why not be frank about this? You want us to feel sorry for you? We feel sorry for your employees. We feel sorry for ourselves for the loss of a cultural institution here. Do you really expect anybody to feel sorry for you? Well, yes, apparently, given the tone of letters to the editor and whatnot- you’re being depicted as a poor independent business chased from downtown. You aren’t and you weren’t. Stop misrepresenting yourselves.

Third, rents are too high?! This is laughable- you OWNED your building, you SOLD it for a huge profit and now you’re claiming there was something unbearable in the lease terms? Didn’t you discuss this with your new landlord? Did Balboa not expect you’d stay? I’d say it’s shocking that you expect the public to believe this pity party, but again, your PR efforts have paid off. All I’ve heard is “poor M-R, rents are too high for businesses like them to survive.” Amazing spin job there. Shameful, but impressive.

Finally, the “business was slow at night.” You had at your fingertips 120,000 downtown workers every weekday, the biggest downtown workforce, per capita, of any city in North America. You were also mere steps from two huge hotels, the  Hyatt and the Marriot, which house hundreds of potential customers every night of the week. These people shop, eat, and after work pack downtown bars and restaurants. Downtown is not a “ghost town” any more and the outstanding success of theatre and restaurants downtown are testament to this- hell, I commented earlier on how Caffe Artigiano is packing them in on Saturdays and Sundays, and they’re not even on Stephen Ave. Holt-Renfrew is expanding. Fashion Central will be open in 2009. We’ll soon see ground broken a new Eau Claire Market with hundreds of new housing units to accompany the thousands in the Beltline under construction right now. I never saw M-R less than brisk, sometimes incredibly busy, on weekends. If evening traffic was so bad, why not close at 6? And for that matter, if the core sucked so much for you, why not do what you did in Winnipeg and move out of it but to another location in Calgary? You could have adapted. You chose not to.

I’m still angry. I’m angry not only because my favourite bookstore (well, my former favourite bookstore) is closing. I’m angry because of how the owners and the store’s reps, like that manager interviewed in last week’s Fast Forward, keep bashing Calgary and Calgarians with this “you didn’t support us, so we can’t afford to stay” nonsense. Tell the damn truth. You closed the Calgary store because it’s the one you COULD sell off, and at a huge profit, so that you could open new stores elsewhere, in Winnipeg and Toronto and New York City. Godspeed, there, but for the Christ’s sake STOP INSULTING US.