The Vancouver Molson Indy —
A casestudy in Canadian uncertainty and polarized viewpoints

Special to Speed Center by Wayne Duval, IndyPhoto Gallery
©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc. and
©1997 Wayne Duval, Surrey, BC, Canada

It is both humorous and frustratingto witness the dilemma that has faced the promoters of the Vancouverrace during the last month. For the past six years, the eventhas been staged on a temporary street circuit constructed aroundPacific Place in the city center, but 1997 will be the last yearat this location because of the rapid encroachment of high-densityresidential development in this part of the city. The promoters(Molstar Sports and Entertainment) must find an alternate locationfor the race by March 31, or CART will have little choice butto give the event to one of four U.S. cities very anxious to takethe race away from Vancouver.

There can be little argument thatthis race is very important to Vancouver, both from an economicperspective and because of its role in focusing internationalattention on a city that relies extensively on tourism income. The economic impact of this race in the region has been estimatedat over $26 million. So why should it be so difficult to makea decision on relocating the race to a more suitable site withinthe city? Form the perspective of the promoters, it is not atall a difficult decision — they selected what was believed tobe a suitable alternative location some weeks ago. The problemis they didn't take into consideration that they are dealing withCanadian politicians and citizens, who with all due respect tomy fellow Canadians, have a frequent tendency to want to "shootthemselves in the foot" so-to-speak. Fortunately, not allCanadians think or react this way, but a surprising proportiondo when compared to their U.S. counterparts. The west coast ofCanada also has a high proportion of what are commonly referredto as "tree-huggers" that view the noise and mere presenceof race cars in the city streets as something close to an impendingecological catastrophy. It is this same mentality and lack ofvision that may eventually spell the end to tobacco-sponsoredcultural and sporting events in Canada —but I digress.

The promoters of the Vancouver MolsonIndy took their preliminary track design and proposal to the residentssurrounding their planned new site (Hastings Park) in a publicmeeting last week. Well, predictably it blew up in their faceswith hundreds of residents strongly voicing their opposition tothe proposal. In fact, other than the promoters themselves, Igather that one radio station covering the meeting managed tofind a total of seven people among the hundreds who attended inactual support of the Hastings Park proposal. The Premier of BritishColumbia (more or less equivalent position to US state governors)even stated that he was not in favor of the proposal, when a morepolitically-correct response would have been to remain impartialand suggest that he would work with the promoters to find a newsite for the race that was acceptable to all parties. The promotersare, of course, not entirely without blame in this fiasco becausethey should have done a bit more homework in the community beforepresenting a proposal to relocate the race in what is predominantlya residential area of the city. A bit of public consultationin the preliminary planning stages of a project can go a longway in terms of assessing whether or not you have a "non-starter"before you spend too much time, energy and money.

So now what? Does a U.S. city getthe race by default? Not yet! Fortunately, the mayor of Surrey(Doug McCallum), a city adjacent to Vancouver, is more forward-lookingthan the somewhat complacent Vancouver beaurocrats and has clearlydone his homework. He met with Phil Heard (VP of Molstar) yesterdayto propose what appears to be a very serious alternative locationfor the race. Not only does Surrey want the race — they areprepared to build a permanent site into their City Center Plan(including a hairpin turn). This kind of enthusiasm at a timewhen the event is in serious jeopardy must be applauded. At thevery minimum, Mr. McCallum has given fans in this area a ray ofhope that common sense might eventually prevail, and the Vancouverarea may not lose the race. He even managed to wake up some ofthe Vancouver politicians who are now showing renewed supportfor the race and interest in finding a new site within the citylimits.

Now all the promoters have to dois ensure that they don't fall into the same hole again. Theymust remember the following four facts important to doing businessin Canada:

  1. They are staging an event thatdoes not have the real support of more than a small proportionof the regional population (most people in this region look atthe Molson Vancouver Indy as a periodic intrusion in their livesthat can be tolerated because it only occurs once a year and lastsonly three days);
  2. Many Canadians (including electedofficials) don't like to make decisions in the time frames that are implicit in meeting CART's March 31 deadline (Canadians likelong studies of alternatives regardless of their consequences);
  3. Ensure you have as many alliesas possible before going into another public meeting, particularlyfrom industry sectors most affected by potential loss of thisrace to another city; and
  4. Expect the unexpected — don'tassume anything.

The next few weeks will be interestingto follow to see how events unfold. Some of us in Canada hopeto experience the excitement of the CART/PPG World Series forat least a few more years until the next calamity.