10 Things that are unique
and cool about BC
BC is a pretty awesome
province, we have a beautiful coastline, some very majestic mountains, and this
one place where you
can get all you can eat poutine. We also have a bunch of fairly interesting
things that make this province different, so today we are bringing you a list
of 10 of the things that are unique about BC. Enjoy!
1) According to one report BC is the
healthiest province in Canada, with a life expectancy of 82.2 years. We have
low rates of obesity, drinking, and smoking, and the highest percentage of
people who do physical activity in their leisure time. I think that means
everyone has to stop making fun of our yoga pants now.
2) BC has had some weird
laws. Between 1947 and 1986 you were not allowed to sell stoves within
Vancouver city limits on a Wednesday. To be clear, you could sell stoves
anywhere you wanted the other six days of the week, and outside city limits
anarchy reigned and you could sell a stove on any day of the week.
3) BC has the longest
running movie theatre in all of Canada. Powell River’s Patricia Theatre opened
in 1913, and has been showing films ever since. It makes sense that film is
important here, BC is second only to LA in TV production, so British Columbians
are more likely than most to recognize that one place that was in a scene in
that show that one time… you know the one.
4) BC is responsible for
Botox. The cosmetic treatment involving injections that alter the shape of your
face or lips was invented in Vancouver in the year 2000.
5) We
are the only province in Canada without needs-based grants for students. In
every other Province the provincial government looks at your household income
and gives low and middle income students a portion of student loans as a
non-repayable grant. We are currently working with other universities on the
Grants Now campaign to get a comprehensive system of needs-based grants in BC,
and catch up with the rest of the country. If this is the kind of thing you
think is important, email campaigns@kusa.ca to find out how to get involved in the
campaigns we run.
6) We
are the home of the man with the longest beard. The Guiness world record holder
is named Sarwan Singh, and he and his 2.33 meter long beard live in Surrey. For
reference, Shaquille O'Neal is only 2.2
meters tall.
7) We basically invented
speed-writing here (speed writing, it turns out, is a thing). The now
international, 3-day novel contest in which writers attempt to complete a novel
in 72 hours started in Vancouver in 1977. It started in a bar, so I am gonna go
out on a limb and say someone made an overly optimistic wager about their
writing skills one night after having a few too many local brews. But it
continues to this day. You can find out all about how to sign up here.
8) BC
has been a leading adopter of Open Educational Resources, which are basically
freely accessible textbooks, which you can usually find online. BC has the only
program where you can get a whole degree without paying for a single textbook!
It’s called the Zed Cred program, and was launched right here at
KPU.
9) Oak Bay has some very
specific laws about pets. Pet parrots must be confined to your property. If
your Parrot is found trespassing, they can be impounded by the city, which will
cost you $6 a day. You will also be fined if you fail to keep your bees away
from your neighbours pond. I am sensing that that last one is the result of a
specific incident involving an angry pond owner, but I could be wrong, this
might be a common problem in Oak Bay.
10) Last but not least, you
might expect California rolls, named after an American state and now a staple
in every sushi restaurant, to come from California, but we get to take credit
for that one to! California rolls were invented in BC, and kicked off the trend
of turning rolls inside out to hide the seaweed from North Americans who
weren’t used to eating it yet.
