By Tony Wilson

Think of Canada and your mind might turn to Mounties, moose, and maple syrup. And, of course, snow. Scratch a little deeper and you might recall that Toronto and its surrounding suburbs and cities have a population of close to six million people, and Montreal is the second largest French-speaking city in the world.

But what about Canada’s third largest city––Vancouver? Chances are if you’ve never been here before, you’ll be here soon. A massive expansion to the Vancouver Convention Centre is set to open in 2009, bringing your convention here instead of San Antonio, San Diego, or the other big convention cities. Vancouver remains a hub city for Alaska-bound cruise ships and a gateway for flights to and from Asia.

And did I mention the 2010 Winter Olympics will be held here?

Set on the Pacific Ocean, a three-hour drive from neighboring Seattle, Washington, and tucked up against the Coast Mountain Range, Vancouver, like Cape Town, San Francisco, and Sydney, ranks among the world’s most spectacular cities. It’s a city where you can ski and sail on the same day (I’ve done it!), you can enjoy a rugged mountain hike up the Grouse Grind, or walk along the palm tree-lined streets surrounding English Bay.

Palm trees? You bet. They’re everywhere in Vancouver, deliberately planted to both annoy and attract other Canadians who struggle with long, cold winters while we in Vancouver are on the golf course, cutting the lawn or counting the blossoms on a warm February day. There’s a word for this I coined myself. It’s called Schadenfreudeh (with the Canadian “eh” at the end). In short, it means our habit of taking perverse pleasure from the cold weather that happens to our relatives in other parts of Canada, and bragging about it. That's why we plant palm trees around town. It’s because we can.

Vancouver is where Bill Clinton recently said he'd love to be mayor. It’s where Hollywood films its movies. So if you're out for a meal or shopping on Robson Street, you might bump into Robin Williams, John Travolta, Goldie Hawn, Amanda Bynes, Harrison Ford, or other Hollywood stars who might be in town for movie shoot or sometimes because they own homes here. You could also see rock stars like The Police checking out books at Chapters, the Spice Girls playing in Stanley Park with their kids, or Sarah McLaughlin having sushi at Tojo's.

The etiquette of course is to leave the celebrities alone. That’s why they come here or live here. We give them their space.

But if you’re here for a convention or a client meeting and you don’t have that much time, what do you do?

Restaurants

If you need to eat at the airport because you’re waiting for a flight, YVR offers numerous places to eat, both pre- and post-security. Personally, I like Koho, a restaurant and bar in the middle of the international terminal where you can get a great meal, have a drink, and watch a hockey game before you catch your flight.

As for the city itself, a tourist once asked me where he and his family could have a good meal. “What sort of food do you like?” I asked. “Country food,” he said. “Which country?” I asked. He thought I was being facetious. But here, we often pick our restaurants by which country’s cuisine we feel like that night.

If you want Indian, you can try the highly recommended Vij’s. This restaurant is located in the South Granville part of Vancouver at 1480 West 11th Ave.. The line out the door is meant to convince you the food is among the best in town. But do note there are Indian restaurants all around the city, reflecting the large Indian population of Vancouver.

For Chinese, there is no end of choice. Vancouver is a city with strong roots in Asia and where many of its recent immigrants have hailed from. If I had to pick one Chinese restaurant, I'd suggest dim sum lunch at the Imperial Chinese Restaurant at 355 Burrard St. in the Art Deco style Marine Building (604/681-8191). Dim sum ladies with trolleys and trays offer delicacies for every taste (but my advice is not to leave without trying the banana-cilantro-shrimp roll.)

For sushi, the best in town is Tojo’s at 1133 West Broadway (604/872-8050) where Tojo's special spicy tuna is my favorite. (Remember, don’t disturb the movie stars!) But if you want to stay in the downtown core, try Kamei Royale at Burrard and Georgia (604/687-8588).

For just a great steak, you can always count on The Keg, which has locations all around Vancouver (and for that matter Canada), having started here in 1971. (Vancouver fact: Many lawyers in Vancouver put themselves through law school working at a Keg! If you order the Baseball Teriyaki Chicago Rare, the waiters will think you did too! Otherwise, try the filet or rib eye.)

For an informal lunch with the family, or just a place for a great hamburger, try a Legendary Burger at White Spot (or its “quick serve” concept, White Spot Triple-O’s). White Spot has been around the Vancouver area since 1929 and if you can’t find one, just ask a local, “Where’s the nearest White Spot?” All the locals will know. In some locations, they still offer car hop service. (Vancouver fact: We put vinegar on the fries here and often call them “chips.”)

For spectacular views with your meal and fabulous décor of First Nations art, I like the Salmon House on the Hill (604/926-3212), in West Vancouver, where the entire city lights up beneath you and you can enjoy the house specialty, Alder Grilled Salmon. You'll have to drive or take a cab, but I try to take out of town guests here any chance I can.

Although all of the excellent restaurants in Vancouver are too numerous to mention here, I’d also recommend West at Granville and 13thth Ave. (604/738-8938) or its sister restaurants Blue Water Café in Yaletown (walking distance from the downtown core located at 1095 Hamilton St. (604/688-8078) and Cin Cin (604/688-7338) on Robson St..

Cioppino’s in Yaletown was deservedly voted best Italian restaurant in Vancouver from 2003 to 2007 (604/688-7466). Umberto's at 1380 Hornby St. (604/669-2422) is also highly recommended, and Umberto himself is one of Vancouver’s most recognizable celebrity restaurateurs.

In Coal Harbour, a short walk from the Convention Centre, there’s Cardero’s (where you can see all the action on the water) and Lift (where you can just see the action). Or if you don’t know what you want, stroll through Yaletown and some fabulous restaurant or bar will turn up around the next corner. Or go to Granville Island on the tiny ferries that move passengers back and forth across False Creek. You might love just sitting on the deck enjoying a drink at Bridges, 1696 Duranleau Street (604/687-4400), with the office workers or you can try neighboring Sandbar for seafood, scenery, and people watching. Right downtown? Try Aqua Riva (604/683-5599), kiddy-corner from the Fairmont Waterfront and the Pan Pacific. Or for French, Le Crocodile at 909 Burrard Street (604/669-4298).

Bars

Most restaurants will have bars in them, and all hotels will have separate bars (sometimes called lounges). Your host or client will have a favorite “watering hole” that may include Bridges (see above), Steamworks in Gastown, Yaletown Brewery in Yaletown or the Bacchus Piano Lounge in the Wedgwood Hotel on Hornby.

When in Canada, you must order a Caesar, because very few people know what it is outside Canada. In fact, many Canadians order Caesars in the United States just to annoy American bartenders. It’s a Canadian version of a Bloody Mary, but made with Clamato Juice instead of Tomato juice (yes, I said CLAMato juice and yes, it has clam juice in it). Order it spicy. Knowledge of this drink will impress your clients, colleagues, and hosts.

Four hours from Vancouver, the Okanagan Valley has some of the finest wines in the world, and Vancouver has become something of a wine town. Always order an Okanagan wine with dinner and remember, this is still Canada. Here’s a website detailing some of our finest wineries: www.okanaganwines.ca/wineries. Personally, I like Blue Mountain’s Pinot Blanc and Pinot Gris, and any red by Sandhill (especially the small lot wines), Township 7’s Gewurztraminer, Cab and Merlot, and anything from New Westminster’s Pacific Breeze.

Things to Do When You Aren't Eating or Drinking

Don’t miss the Granville Island Public Market and the shops and restaurants on Granville Island. You can get there by taxi (or the more interesting squat little ferryboats that take you across False Creek.)

The Vancouver Aquarium is spectacular, but Vancouver is a place for walking and hiking. You can walk or jog around the Sea Wall in world-famous Stanley Park (like Mick Jagger!) and enjoy breathtaking scenery or some of the other offerings the park has such as trees, fresh air, and wilderness). In the summer months, Vanier Park (close to Granville Island) has an annual Shakespeare festival, called Bard on the Beach, which is not to be missed.

For the daring and fit, try the Grouse Grind. The Grind is a two-mile hike, 2,800 feet up the side of Grouse Mountain and the average completion time is 1.5 hours. But this is not for the light-hearted or fragile-footed. For those not keen on the Grouse Grind, you can always try walking on Vancouver’s main shopping street, Robson Street. Or for lighter hikes, try Lynn Canyon Park..

Lawyers and Legal Etiquette

We aren’t Americans, so we don’t call ourselves “attorneys” here. But we aren’t English either. We all speak English with “Peter Jennings” accents (he was Canadian after all). Lawyers are simply called “lawyers.” We have inherited the “barrister and solicitor” title without differentiating the practice like they do in Britain. Although we're all barristers and solicitors, barristers are lawyers who normally go to court and solicitors are lawyers who are normally involved in business transactions. Nothing but fear and insurance prevents a solicitor from going to court or a barrister negotiating a contract. We also have what are called “notaries,” but the work undertaken by notaries is normally limited to residential real estate conveyances and small transactions.

Most lawyers’ offices will open between 8 and 8:30 a.m. (PST) Monday to Friday, and although the offices will probably close at 5:30 or 6 p.m., many young lawyers will work later than the stated office hours to be able to afford the real estate here, which is the most expensive in Canada.

In the summer months, all lawyers with any common sense go to the Gulf Islands or some other destination for the weekend. In the winter months (and indeed the spring too), they try and get off early and go skiing at Whistler or the local mountains. Vancouver is a place to recreate, and many of us practice law here (as opposed to Toronto) because recreation and the outdoors is part of what we do. We ski. We sail. We windsurf. We hike. We kayak. And then we brag about it to everyone else in North America. We took William Shatner’s advice: We got a life.

On that note, how do you greet a Vancouver lawyer?

Well, “hello and a handshake” seems to work best, but you will always endear yourself to a Vancouver lawyer if you say within the first sixty seconds of the introduction, “Boy, this is a beautiful city,” followed immediately by, “It sure is a lot nicer then Toronto.” You will endear yourself even further with this ditty, “I sure would like to buy some real estate here.” Unfortunately, you probably couldn’t afford it without selling the house you currently own. (And your spouse. And your kids.)
As for clothing, clothing is recommended for most meetings in Vancouver. A suit and tie is fine. Business casual is fine. Anything goes. And as we even have a nude beach in Vancouver, there are places in town where no clothing is the right clothing. But remember, whether you decide to wear clothes or not, it tends to rain here between January and December, so be prepared.

Other Things to Do in Vancouver

• Before April 15, you can go skiing at any of the local Vancouver mountains: Grouse Mountain, Cypress Mountain, and Seymour Mountain. They’re 20 to 30 minutes away from the downtown core and you can rent equipment. Have your meeting in the morning. Ski in the afternoon. Drink B.C. wine at night. Live the life.
• If you are unable or uncomfortable with chartering your own small boat, there are various evening dinner cruises that will take you around English Bay and Burrard Inlet, leaving from Granville Island and from Coal Harbour.
• Why not rent a kayak from Echo Marine Ocean Kayak Centre on Granville Island (604/689-7575).
• Stroll down Robson Street and shop or celebrity watch.
• Catch a Canuck's game September through May (hockey never ends here. It’s a curse.).
• Go to Whistler for the day. Eat. Drink. Schmooze. Ski there in winter and spring. Ski on the Glacier in summer. Or golf.
• Go to Victoria for the day (well, plan at least two days). Whale watch around Victoria, or hang out around Victoria’s quaint waterfront neighborhoods. Surf and storm watch in Tofino––a four hour drive from Victoria.

Hotel Accommodations

Vancouver has the usual plethora of high-end hotels for the discriminating business traveler on an inflated expense account. Right on the water at Coal Harbour is the Pan Pacific and the Fairmont Waterfront. A little closer to the center of the downtown core is the Hyatt Regency and the Four Seasons. For smaller and more intimate hotels, try the Metropolitan on Howe Street, the Wedgwood on Hornby, or Le Soleil, also on Hornby.

Certainly all of the downtown core Vancouver hotels have similar (and expensive) prices, facilities, and proximity to the downtown core of Vancouver.

If you’re not into the usual hotel, try the Sylvia on English Bay (www.sylviahotel.com, 604/681-9321).

The Fairmont at YVR is right in the middle of the airport, but the rooms are luxurious and any Vancouverite who has stayed for an “evening getaway without the kids” raves about it.

Currency

At the time of writing, the Canadian dollar was worth US$1.01, down from US$1.10 in November 2007, which is a far cry from the days when it was worth US67 cents and Canadians were not traveling to the United States unless they had to (now we’re down there in droves, buying the place up). Check the exchange rate before you leave. It’s expected to be at or near par for the next few years. All goods have provincial sales tax of 7 percent, and all goods and services have (you guessed it) goods and services tax of 5 percent (as of 2008). Total sales tax is usually 12 percent.

Apparently you don’t need a passport to get into Canada from the United States, but you’ll need one to get back into the United States as of January 2008, unless, of course, like thousands of others from the United States, you decide to stay.

Transportation

Freeways are a blessing and a curse. But the lack of freeways is also a blessing and a curse, and Vancouver decided not to opt for a freeway system when it had the chance in the 1970s. So, there is a lot of cursing. Traffic is often congested, but I suppose after you’ve been to London, Paris, Rome, or New York, it’s a breeze. You can walk to most places in the downtown core. The Skytrain is a subway system mostly above ground that takes you to the suburbs of Burnaby, New Westminster, Surrey, and Coquitlam. By 2009, the Canada Line extension will bring travelers from YVR to Vancouver's center core where they can connect to other parts of the city. You can rent a car, but parking isn’t easy or cheap. But if you want to drive to Whistler for the day, or the strip of funky restaurants in White Rock one night, you'll need one. Otherwise, walk or cab it.

Tony Wilson (twilson@boughton.ca) is a Canadian franchise lawyer who practices at Vancouver-based Meritas firm Boughton Law Corporation. He has regularly written for The Toronto Globe and Mail, Macleans magazine, and other Canadian publications. He writes two regular humor columns for lawyers in Bartalk magazine and Canadian Lawyer. Feel free to e-mail Tony if you have a Vancouver question you need answered, including restaurants or other recommendations. Website: http://www.boughton.ca/people/lawyers/tony_wilson

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