It is a crime to litter Canadian streets

Jul 13, 2006

Standing on the fifth floor of the magnificent Pan-Afric Hotel, on the edge of a lake, my eyes feast on the blue waters. Huge ships sail on the calm water and planes fly over. The scene is picturesque. The five-star hotel in Vancouver, Canada, is the venue of the World Urban Forum.

By Arthur Baguma

Standing on the fifth floor of the magnificent Pan-Afric Hotel, on the edge of a lake, my eyes feast on the blue waters. Huge ships sail on the calm water and planes fly over. The scene is picturesque. The five-star hotel in Vancouver, Canada, is the venue of the World Urban Forum.

Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is surrounded by mountains and is home to landmark attractions such as the magnificent leafy Stanley Park, snow peaked Cypress Mountain, Granville Island, English Bay Beach and Jericho Beach. The setting of Vancouver gives an impression of how planning can make cities look beautiful. The roadsides lined with trees and flowers give the city a magnificent greenery.

Out there Uganda is yet to be heard of. Mark Roberts, 32, who was my neighbour at the University of British Columbia apartments, was amused when I told him I am a Ugandan. I was taken aback when he asked how Uganda is fairing without Amin. I tried to put it to him that Uganda is a beautiful country. I even told him how Uganda is a special tourism destination and home to the famous gorillas.

But he was not done. He asked if we still have dictators. When I told him our President has ruled since 1986, he looked shocked, saying, “...and you say you don’t have dictators.”

It was a hard lecture, but I laboured to put it to Mark that all these years it has been the will of the people to have the President in power.

One surprising thing that is surprising about Vancouver is the presence of Chinese everywhere. At the University of British Columbia, a Chinese welcomed me and told me that one third of the population in Vancouver are Chinese. When I asked her how it came about, she simply said, “This is a great business area and the Canadians are hospitable and nice people.”

It was my first time to hear a Chinese with such command of English. The Chinese looked so graceful, happy and hospitable. During the conference, they made sure everyone was happy and felt at home. A warm smile and request of “Can I help you sir?”, was all they said to every delegate. However, it is hard to find a Chinese married to a Canadian. The Chinese keep in their circles as far as social issues are concerned.

Public transport is pretty organised. Eats and drinks are not allowed on bus shuttles and they have special seats for the elderly and disabled. Women drive some of the buses, which run on electricity.

Travelling on the buses was fun. A Kenyan delegate was taken aback when he boarded a bus, and suddenly a Chinese kid started crying. The macho-built Kenyan tried to smile, but the boy cried even more. Everyone in the bus burst out laughing. But the Kenyan told the child’s mother to tell the child that he was also a human being like him.

The discipline on the roads from both the motorists and pedestrians is amazing. At one time I lost my patience. Although the traffic lights showed it was passage for cars, there was no approaching car in a distance of over 200 metres. As a group of whites stood waiting, I crossed the road and after walking for over 50 metres I turned and they were still waiting for the lights to let them go. I thought that kind of discipline was too much for a Ugandan used to fighting for space with cars and bodaboda.

It is a crime to drop anything on the streets. They are spotless, with garbage bins everywhere. In Vancouver, 30 minutes would pass without any motorist hooting. Public transport is only by shuttle and yellow cabs.

Vancouver is a city full of life and agility. Even if you find one or two dwanzies during broad daylight high on drugs, the security within town has greatly improved. Mugging and pick-pocketing once characteristic of this city, are no more.

The mayor of the city who is confined to a wheelchair has given hope to many people, most of whom are immigrants from disturbed backgrounds.

Sam Sullivan said crime rates have tremendously gone down, making Vancouver one of the safest towns in the world.

Security was tight at the venue of the conference; one man was forced to remove his shoes, belt, shirt and trousers in view of people. This was because every time he passed through the security check machine it made noise, prompting security to check him over and over again.

After five days, I thought I had seen it all - a country with clean streets and hospitable people. But as always, something African occurred during my last days thanks to a Nigerian. At the conference, was this Nigerian who found a queue at the registration desk and deliberately ignored it and headed straight for the counters. The usher politely asked him if he needed help, before referring him to the queue. He could not take it. It took so much convincing that not everything is done the Nigerian way in every part of the world, until he joined the queue.

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