Salt Spring Island AA Round Up 2012

Again and again the Salt Spring Island AA Round Up has proved to be the best destination for sobriety in August. This year I sailed my off shore yacht, SV Giri, to Ganges Harbour with Laura and my cockapoo, Gilbert. It was a long day Friday with a false start because of the need to replace the Yanmar diesel engine starter. After that we connected with the passes perfectly enjoying a marvellous motor under clear skies and long over due summer sunshine.

When we arrived in the evening we were just too tired from the sun and sea to go ashore. In the morning though we were up and refreshed and dinghed ashore tying up the tender at the dock before hiking up past the school to the farmer institute.

Immediately I saw Donny, my motorcycling buddy who took me off to the Oyster Festival Biker Rally a couple of years back with a number of other sober riders. What a day that was! He was looking great and just a delight to see. So many folks one meets over the years and then we connect again at these rallies and round ups.

Pre registered, Laura and I hurried in to hear the Al Anon speaker. She was real. A beautiful woman sharing her experience strength and hope. A profound tale from the very heart and soul. One minute we were laughing and the next we were crying. The human condition unfolded as she told of her journey and the man she'd travelled through life with. It reminded me of Lois, co founder of Al Anon, wife of Bill Wilson, cofounder of AA.

Another speaker spoke right from the heart with such inspiration and hope that the room seemed to resonate love, the agape kind, that which binds people and community. Then, after the applause died down we stood and said the Serenity Prayer together. The sound of birds outside could be heard as renewed in spirit we stopped to chat with old friends. Murray's tale of Kaffkaesque beaurocracy was hilarious.

What a gift it was to see Brian again. He'd been RV'ing for the last 3 months across Canada and proceeded to tell us of his adventures in Newfoundland and meetings in the prairies. We'd hugged on meeting and then he said, "This Saltspring Island Round Up is one of my milestones. I come to it because it seems to sum up the passage I've been on the year before."

He introduced me to his friend who had over 40 years of recovery and we talked of a mutual friend who will be having a cake in Palm Springs this year to celebrate his 50 years of continuous sobriety.

Laura and I headed down the hill after that, walking back to town where I got Laura some earrings to replace the ones she'd lost on the boat. We had coffee and the breakfast sandwich at TJ Bean's. Gilbert was able to sit outside by the table where he didn't fail to beg for tidbits.

Then we made our mandatory stop at the incredible bookstore. The Market has banned dogs so we considered that off limits. They have someone dog sitting from the SPCA but Gilbert is too precious to be left with strangers while we shopped. As it was the main stores of Ganges welcomed Gilbert. Mouats had the boat part I needed. We both got jacketshells at the luxury clothing store next to it. Clouds had come up and we'd not come prepared if it rained which it did for just a bit later. We were glad for them too that evening as the clouds turned a hot summer day into a cool breezy evening.

We were back in time for another Al Anon speaker who was thoroughly entertaining with a remarkable tale that began in Europe and wove it's way through the fabric of Canadian history. This scooter riding elder was a delight to hear and so uplifting.

After that we all congregated outside to wait for the lamb roast. They have lamb and pork and vegetarian chillis. Brian joined us and we chatted up a storm about RV's and travelling. Margaret appeared too and was looking so healthy. Standing in line every now and then I 'd see someone I knew and be thankful for another year together.

Then the plates were being filled to overflowing with salads and roast and just the best makings of baked potato, sour cream and bacon bits with buns and country butter. What a feast! Not much talking happened from the moment we sat down till our plates were finished. Gilbert was happy to have a taste but settled right in to cleaning the paper plates. I was off for pie and ice cream then. I was was able to carry one for Laura and a coffee for myself.

After that the Saturday night speaker came on. A troubled man indeed who told a twisted tale that made us all thankful he was here and not there. We sat outside at the back with Gilbert on a leash as required. Occasionally a 'dry' dog would go by without a leash and no master in sight.

It was dark when Laura, Gilbert and I walked down the hill, the humans swinging pen lights to let the rare passing car better see us. Thanks to Laura we found the dinghy at night. She'd taken a better fix on our proximity to the little island. The boats we'd anchored by had gone and new ones had replaced them so I was confused and glad to follow her proposed course which disclosed the GIRI nestled behind a new arrival. Good to be aboard.

Great to talk about the meetings and chatter on about old friends and reflect on previous round ups. This was Gilbert's third. I'd come many times, by car, van, motorcycle and a few times sailing over. The last time we'd tented whereas some times I'd stayed in bed and breakfasts. The funniest time was when Bill and Brian had come and Bill had forgotten to put the fly on his tent and been thoroughly rained out. Then there was the great night Bob played guitar and sang into the wee hours. It's great to be sailing but camping with the couple of hundred other people tenting certainly is a real community level of coming together.  This year there'd been some really good musicians jamming in the campground.  I was sorry we'd miss the morning spiritual speaker and the incredible music that is so much apart of Salt Spring Island.

But then it was good to weigh anchor and head up Trinicomalli Channel to catch the turn at Porlier Pass, cross Georgia Straight in a chop and arrive home in Coal Harbour late afternoon. What a great combination, sailing and a round up. But most of all it was wonderful to see such marvellous friends and hear the stories of their lives since last we'd shared.

Fundamental Theological Beliefs

I believe I am not alone. I believe in a God which has been given many names over the years by many people. I believe the differences are not in the God but in the development and perspective of the people referring to this 'other' as God.

The following names are the ones I prefer to call this God. Yahweh, Creator, Lord, Father, Mother, Higher Power, Jesus.

I believe the Bible is the story of the man's relationship with this God first as the representative tribal experience of the Jews until the birth of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus taught that he was the son of God and that we were the children of God. I believe this fundamental familial relationship exists though it is hard for me to maintain this belief when I am afraid or angry. Jesus said "Do not be afraid". I consider fear as often as not my enemy. Sometimes fear is a friend. Anger is mostly an enemy.

I believe that God is loving. I believe in the Trinity, Father, Child and Mother Holy Spirit. I believe the Holy Bible is the sacred text. I believe other sacred texts exist and have become sacred as both a gift of grace and by the study of spiritual followers. I believe St. Paul spoke truly when he said that now 'we see as through a glass darkly". This existence has a 'cloud of unknowing'. Truth lies in 'insights' and in the human heart. Outer reality is not so deep as the 'collective unconscious' or what can be called the 'soul' that which connects us to God who relates to us individually as we relate to Him.

I believe that all roads lead home and that death is a rebirth to another dimension, life or heaven, hell or purgatory. I believe that hell is not 'eternal' but rather at most for a 'long time'. I believe that a loving God will wait for all his children to come home. Hell is a 'choice' and a 'state of mind' and a 'place' but that place is solely one's 'turning one's back on God' and preferring one's own shadow to the light of God. Humility is acceptance of divinity in the duality and that that divinity is not 'me' but 'Thou'.

I believe all that we can know, feel and experience is God 'stuff' as God has made this all from God self. We are all created in the imagination of God and that all is God.

I pray and meditate to know God more fully. Each day I ask that God guide me in my actions and help me. 'Thy Will not My Will be done."

I believe in the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." I believe Jesus' command, "Love God and Love your neighbour as yourself." This is also called 'divine retribution' and 'karma'. I believe there is 'temporary evil' and 'everlasting god'.

There is much more that I believe, especially scientifically, but it all begins with God and my relationship with God. I believe in the importance of fellowship in knowing God and this world.

Thank you Jesus for this day. Hallelujah.



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Fishy Speakers

I remember when my friend claimed to be a spiritual guru of a kind but confessed years later he had been still smoking marijuana, Something about the way he spoke then had caused me to be cautious. Since he quit smoking dope he's humbler and real. His guitar playing and songs are a whole lot more authentic too.
When a positive person shares dates, of say, birthdays, that are really important to them, they are shared in a different way than mundane dates of negativity or neutrality.
Sometimes people use emotional 'tricks' such as maudlin reference to random death or a personal loss which rings untrue. This might then indicate some underlying level of dishonesty.
Mostly my ear seems tuned to the areas of 'specificity' versus areas of 'generality'. Carl Jung focussed on the emphasis and delays that people shared their inner character with.
There's also the criticism and expressions of superiority. These may be valid if there's more constructive reasoning and some evidence of superiority. But without these, 'preaching' often belies the dishonesty. When people other than 'preachers' 'preach' they're doing a 'one up' 'one down' thing out of a specific context.
I've even found myself asking if a person is what or who they say they are especially when they claim to be telling truth. Truth can be recited but doesn't necessarily come from the heart. I heard a young man sing a blues song once written by a very old man. It came off sounding pretty and clever.
There's a part of myself where 'discernment' lies and I'm thankful that it's like a sense of smell that says something is off without my needing to taste it. Whatever it is, isn't wasted because it can be used as compost. Yet it's not quite what I want for dinner at this point.
A lie detector might help but only if it had a sense of smell.


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Vancouver to Ganges Harbour, Salt Spring Island, Sailing

Laura, Gilbert and I anchored the SV GIRI, my 39.9 foot cutter rigged 13 ton steel sailboat off Jericho Beach last night. In the morning the starter gave up the ghost. I called Jim (James Geisbrecht of Jim's Marine Electrical - www.jimsmarineelectrical.com) and he was kind enough to confirm my diagnosis by listening to the sick engine sounds over the cellular. I took the diseased engine part out with the help of wrenches and screwdrivers. Gilbert, the dog, licked the sweat off my forehead. I had a back up part remaining from my last offshore cruise.

Jim was really terrific to make a house call. I was reminded of my housecall days first as a family physician and later as a psychiatrist. I picked him up in my dinghy at Jericho Beach. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and light winds. The little sailboats were out in force with lots of folk paddling standing up on their surfboards and others swimming near the beach.

Gilbert barked ferociously when Jim appeared then recognising him brought him a ball convinced that I, having tired of throwing his ball, had graciously gone and brought him a fresh recruit. Jim had the new starter installed and rewired in minutes while I held the lights. (Modern engine compartments sometime in the distant future will come with lighting pre installed.) Having never installed a diesel starter I didn't know that the teeth didn't need to allign as this occurred when the starter engaged. I'd marked the wires I'd taken off so would have been able to rewire it okay myself. Without Jim this time it still would have been a challenge. In surgery we always said, "see one, do one, teach one." Now I'd seen one so soon I will be teaching starter installation.

Returning Jim to dry land I brought the Achilles dinghy with Yamaha 4hp back to tie on a long line behind the boat. Cranking over the new starter again the engine ran fine. I engaged the electric winch to pull in the anchor, then with care I avoided running over any of the children out in their training sailing boats that looked like babies in bathtubs with diapers aloft on a pole.

Low tide and lots of the sand banks were bare right out to the markers. Lots of folk and dogs playing on them. It was going to be a very hot day and everyone who could was down on the beaches of Vancouver.

I was glad my Wagner Autopilot was working good enough that I was able to plot in a course off Pt Atkinson for Porlier Pass. It's approximately 20 miles from Vancouver but the water running through the channel can make it very treacherous or impossible to go through except very near the 'turn'. The 2012 Canadian Tide and Current Tables gave me that as 5:30 pm, factoring in daylight saving. We weighed anchor at noon and pulling the dinghy at an easy 2500 rpm I was getting 4.5 to 5 knots. What great serendipity!

Laura loved the channel crossing. There was so little wind I didn't put the sails up but relied on the 'iron jenny'. Blue sky and sunshine, gentle breeze and calm blue seas all around. Great scenery of snow capped mountains in the distance. A whole lot of blue really. A large freighter came quite close and we had a really fine time just short of Porlier moseying along having arrived a bit early for the 'Turn'. On the way I'd made toast with cream cheese and honey open faced sandwiches. Gilbert and Laura had lain in the sun on deck. I'd read in the cockpit mostly wandering around the boat occasionally to do the captain thing of checking stuff. What stuff never matters. I found a line that needed fixing and fixed it. Otherwise I enjoyed a western. Laura was reading fashion magazines. Gilbert was gnawing on chews or begging with a toy in his mouth to have one of us throw it for him.

Porlier Pass was exciting but not as exciting as it's been on some occasions when I've missed the Turn and being experienced and stupid have 'shot the rapids'. Having been a white water canoeist ,doing this is like that ,but far more dangerous and not recommended. Frothing white water and great whirlpools that threaten at any moment to swallow the 40 foot 13 ton boat whole. This time the ripples on the surface and the stresses on the helm just spoke of what was waiting below for the unwary or intrepid. The lighthouses here are extremely pictuesque. Only a couple of boats were fishing in these salmon rich waters.

Trinicomalli Channel was lovely as always. A long stretch of protected water with islands on either side. One of the most beautiful of cruising channels I've enjoyed. Many's the time I've gone up or down it the whole way wing on wing as the winds can be so perfect here. Today though it was good for boating and while Laura had a shower below I began to read "The Legend of the Painted Horse" by Harry Combs, possibly one of the greatest of western writers, the author of 'Brules'. It's a joy to start a new book by a favoured author.

Before long we were coming into Ganges with the sun setting over the town. Much fewer crab pots made the passage into the anchorage area a whole lot easier than some years. Hot dogs with cheese made for an easy dinner then we were in bed enjoying the gentle motion at anchor, looking up through the hatch at the stars above. Gilbert, always the chaperone, when good night kisses are going around ,had stuffed his squirming little body between us so he could alternatively lick each of our faces. Eventually we all slept to wake this morning in absolute paradise.

I've had coffee and Laura is ready so we'll take the dinghy in town and spend the day at the Salt Spring Island AA Lamb Roast Round Up. What a great trip over thanks to Jim's help and God's Grace. Now for a day of sunshine and inspirational speakers. Spirituality is a marvellous place of soul. I love to gather with others and celebrate gratitude and focus on the positives rather than the negatives of life. Together we share our experience, strength and hope. Al Anon Family Groups is the organization of friends and family that comes everywhere as well. Now I've come to this 'Round Up' by Motorcycle, Car, and Sailboat and now Sailboat again. The organizers always make it a great time. A wonderful August weekend and destination. It's Gilbert's third year. Each year we wonder about enrolling him in a "BA" group for his ball compulsion but so far he insists that it's just a social thing. When the dog police stop him he insists he's only has 2 balls. Outsiders don't know how many he has hidden and buried.












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Yanmar 3GM30F Starter and Yachting

I woke this morning anchored off Jericho Beach, English Bay. Vancouver looked beautiful in the clear blue sky with sun shining and calm sea. I started the engine. Awful sound. Just an awful sound. I woke the sleeping beauty blond and asked her to press the starter while I looked at the engine. Awful sound. Nothing happening. It sure sounded like the Starter was hooped.

I phoned Jim Giesbrecht. He's a major asset to my SV Giri.  (Jim's Marine Electric)

"Jim, listen to my engine. Nothing else is happening." I held my cell phone closer to the engine.

"Sounds like the starter. "

"Would you have any time to fix it?"

"I have to come into Vancouver so I could pick it up from you and get a replacement part. Do you think you can take it out yourself."

"Sure thing."

I'd just fixed my downrigger that morning. I was all set to catch a salmon as I headed over to Salt Spring Island. So I'd been rummaging about for tools. Now I rummaged some more. Looked in the spare part bin, remembering I'd got a spare starter when I'd gone offshore. Found that.

Couldn't find the 14 mm wrench I needed. Couldn't wrench the second nut off. Found the socket wrench. One handle didn't fit in the small place. Engine bit a knuckle. It's got to happen. A necessary blooding for the god of engine. Dispell the demon. I got the second nut out.

Taking off the wires I got a very impressive arc. Turned off the battery then. Took the cables and wires off.


"Jim I've got a spare starter looks just like the other one. The housing cap on the old one looks broken."

"Can you do it yourself."

"I could in an emergency but I've not replaced a starter and would appreciate your assistance if it's not too inconvenient."

"I'm at Stem to Stern and they don't have your modell. Good you have a spare. They'd have to order one in. They say the housing often breaks on that. I'll be another hour before I get there."

So I then set about getting the dinghy in the water. I'd made the mistake of taking the boat keys off the boat when I was flying south for a conference. They were now still at Laura's place.

That meant I had to use the 'spare' set of keys. I got the bolt cutters out and cut the chain holding the dinghy to the deck , then cut the lock holding the motor to the railing. I don't know why I bother with keys. The bolt cutters work so well.

It's already hot. Carrying the Yamaha 4 hp outboard motor across the boat and lifting it over the sailboat side, balancing in the dinghy while i swung it around to attach to the transom is a major chore for the old man back. Starting the dinghy motor then took the last ounce of energy out of me. I've sweated 2 pints already. Being a desk jockey does't keep one in shape for this sort of boat maintenance.

Now I'm waiting for Jim off Jericho Beach. It's a beautiful view. God yachting is such a relaxing past time.



"


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Journal - Aug 16, 2012

Thank you Lord for this sunny day. Thank you for clean air and blue sky. Thank you for Gilbert whose fascination with 'ball' and 'fetch' reigns eternal. Thank you for his curiosity that so entertains me. This morning it was the seagulls. One indignant and one quite not understanding why any living creature wouldn't like it's butt sniffed.

Thank you for this boat with all it's memories of journeys and adventures. Thank you for the technology and repairs that have shown me the history of man's development from the water tightness to solar panels. Thank you for allowing me to be part of such an extraordinary time of history. I am touched to have seen the first Sputnik, watched the first satellites appear in the sky at night, see men on the moon on television and now watch pictures of Rover Curiosity on Mars. Thank you too for India's plan to next year launch an unnmanned satellite to Mars as well. Thank you for economic recovery. Thank you for my work and the work of others.

Thank you for my father. Thank you for years that mother was here and I pray to her in heaven. Thank you for my family. Let me ever enjoy the maturing drama of the young men and may I know the whole range of cousins better. I would travel to see those distant ones but thank you for them and all their worldly successes. Thank you for loved ones everywhere.

Thank you for the saints and geniuses. Thank you for the peace keepers. Thank you for the police and politicians and governments that bring order from chaos and manage men's lives and women's lives.

Thank you for the seas and the mountains. Thank you for these legs that still allow me to hike and climb. Thank you for the eyes that give me sight. Thank you for my touch and those I may touch. Thank you for the cool breeze this morning over the water bringing a fresh smell of sea air.

Thank you for laughter. Thank you for the good humor of co workers. Thank you for the white laughter and black laughter. Thank you for the kindness and calmness and serenity. Thank you for my Thursday friends. Thank you for the clinic and the office. Thank you for my education, my training, my skills and my experience. Thank you for my colleagues. Thank you for the libraries and the collected learning of the ages.

Thank you for my conscience and morality and ethics. Thank you for their guidance. Thank you for your son Jesus. Thank you for the Bible and all the teaching of sages and saints through the ages. Thank you for the Golden Rule. Thank you for the laws of spiritual life and the laws of the physics.

Thank you for our relationship, God. Thank you for showing me over and over again your love and greatness. Help me to know you more and be of more service to you.

Thank you for coffee. Thank you for yoghurt. Thank you for bananas and toast and peanut butter and butter. Thank you for my car, truck, and motorcycle. Thank you for the mechanics and insurance people. Thank you for soap and showers and indoor plumbing. Thank for heat and fans and air conditioning and computers, radio and tv. Thank you for Third Day and Sarah McLaughlan. Thank you for Gordon Lightfoot and Leonard Cohen. Thank you for all the entertainers that have uplifted as Bach of all most uplifts me. Thank you for Handel.

Thank you for over the shoulder bags and tables and ipads and iphones and communication networks and hubs and news and jets and all the people who make the global and local industry work. Thank you for the honest bankers and devoted CEO's. Thank you for the leadership of the great men of today who like those great men of yesterday were often not appreciated until long after they were dead and buried. Help us to show appreciation in the life time of those who deserve our respect most.

Thank God for those men and women who catch, imprison and reform drug dealers. Thank God for all who stop pedophiles from their abuse of children. Thank those who care for women, children and old people. Thank you for the Canadian Veterans Affairs that has helped the soldiers who have helped us be the free and great nation we are today. Thank you God for freedom and liberty. Thank you for human rights and civil liberties.

Thank you for International Doctors in AA and the Christian Medical and Dental Society. Thank you for St. James Anglican Church and those who serve there. Thank you for the ability to lift my eyes towards heaven, to give thanks and sing praise. Thank you for the inner world of thought and the quiet spirituality of meditation. Thank you for prayer. Thank you for writing. Thank you for ideas that are good and pure. Thank you for music.

Thank you for all the women and men I have loved. Thank you for all the friends I have played with. Thank you for the teams I was on and the games and the sports. Thank you for fellowship. Thank you for the friends from those forgotten names of children I played marbles with in Toronto to the others we dug together with under the old house, to Kirk and Garth and all the friends and acquaintenances that began with neighbourhoods, kindergardens, and schools to build out to churches, recreational activities, universities, international travel and work. Thank you for the people who befriended me as I bicycled in Canada and later across Europe. Thank you for the men and women of AA and NA who met me when I sailed across the Pacific to Hawaii. Thank you for the men and women of the church who met with me in Hong Kong. Thank you for the incredible friends of Saipan. Thank you for all the men and women I knew when I worked in northern Canada. Thank you for polar bears and seals.

Thank you for people, Lord. Thank you for diversity. Thank you for the capacity to appreciate the similiar and love as well the strange. Thank you for your command, Jesus, Do Not Be Afraid. Help me to love today and not hate. Help me to follow in the path of St. Francis. Help me to be like you Lord. Help me to ever give thanks.


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Vancouver Thieves

Out walking Gilbert this morning. Half dozen guys gathered in the parking lot.
"We've had thieves," one said to me.
"My cooler was stolen."
"New batteries were taken right out of the box of my truck."
"I just set down some luggage and was going back to get it. This guy was walking off with it. I called out for him to stop and got it. I was just unloading my car and this guy was taking the stuff."
I know that's normal in Vancouver. Even the head of the RCMP and the Chief of the Vancouver police are more concerned about complaints from criminals about police use of bad language than the city being safe from crime. Everyone I know tells a tale of theft and mayhem. Assaults are common too. But no one reports anything any more. Police say they aren't allowed to fight crime in Vancouver and their only job is to 'record' crime.
Two friends describe recurrent thefts to their property which resulted not in criminals being caught but in them being denied insurance.
The principal theft in the city is associated with the drug trade. A heroin addict needs roughly $300 a day for their habit not to mention the crack and other drugs. Since the exchange rate on stolen property is on 10 cents on the dollar this means that each heroin addict must steal $3000 dollars a day 356 days of the year. That translates into roughly a million dollars a n addict a year in theft.
The best treatment for individual and society is the methadone maintenance program. The best legal response is the Vancouver Drug Court. Yet the Vancouver Drug Court despite it's high success compared to traditional 'punishment' models is the least funded of services despite having the most enlightened judges and the greatest success rate addressing theft and crime.
The city collectively is losing dozens of minutes per day per citizen working because they can't even put a shopping bag down beside a cart without risk of these legions of thieves picking it up. Everyone, myself included, wastes an inordinate amount of time locking and checking and placing cameras and such to attempt to compete against the criminals whose full time occupation is to steal from the workers of the city.
Over the years there have been a variety of measures taken to address theft in communities, certainly community service and repayment of the debts to individuals and society is high on the list in communities that have gone beyond barbarism. Thousands of years past cities used 'banishment' from the city to reduce crimes of theft. Clearly I consider it a priviledge to live in Vancouver on the west coast in a kind climate compared to Yellowknife but should we not support the police and simply have those people who have had recurrent theft charges have their right to be in the city removed until their pay their debts to those they have stolen from. 
The notion of 'gated communities' has been ridiculed as a place where theives know the location but historically people had to be able to show reason to be in 'areas' of cities.  Interestingly in the 1800's in Milan Italy, the famous Gallerina Centre was developped as a 'safe shopping site'.  In the Pentagon no one enters without a pass.  Clearly some areas of the city could be considered 'theft free' and people with a history simply not allowed to enter.  Yet that brings to mind the Scarlet Letter debate as a means to identy crime and criminals.  Where does one draw the line. What does work.
The beauty of drug treatment is that a thieve who steals from innoscent people is by addressing their drug dependency taking 'action' to address their 'theiving'.
Of course not all drug dependent are theives and some theives are simply psychopaths and sociopaths. But then society has to really question it's fundamental attitudes towards multiculturalism as a leading provincial representative argues that it is 'ethnocentric' of the 'majority' population to impose it's views against theft on a 'culture' who have use thieving as their main means of survival.
First Nations people rarely speak about their historic and traditional 'punishments' for offences against the tribe. All manner of highly objectionable punishment occured within different tribal systems.  Theft between tribes was celebrated at times where as theft between individuals was as much as an offense as today.  The notion of communal ownership or the idea that we don't 'own' but 'borrow' the land still causes anger and fear in children who having 'borrowed' something take offence at someone else 'borrowing' it back. In general if a man stole the Chief's head dress for instance, there would be hell to pay. Commonly death sentences were the norm  in many of the 'cultures' that make up Canada yet in 'multicultural' Canada we reject this.  
As a Christian I noted that the first deaths in Christian history in the Christian community were recorded in Acts when a man and woman died as a consequences of stealing from the communal group.
My Christian childhood neighbourhood didn't require locks on the door and we didn't lock our bicycles and we didn't know theft. I miss that world where I wasn't constantly looking over my back worrying if I locked my computer, my car, and afraid to set down a bag beside a car for fear it will be snatched.  I miss a world in which people trusted each other and collectively no one stole and respected each other's boundaries and property.
Personally I think it's time for the Bible to returned to the classroom. If not then lets have a review of the multicultural laws regarding 'theives' and do something more 'effective' than we are. What are the new "morality and ethics' classes doing and are they as effective?  I don't believe it's at all Canadian to be a thief and it's fundamentally against Canadian Culture to Steal. Canadians believe collectively 'thou shalt not steal'.  The problem lies not with the collective culture but rather what one does to achieve this agreed principle of living.s
People are not 'stealing for food'. This is not a "Jean Val Jean" times. There is so much 'food' in the downtown eastside that people are trading the sweet stuff for drugs. Theft remained a major concern in Communist Russia and continues to be a major concern in Communist China.  The extent of theft in these anti religion secular theocracies is probably greater than in traditional non ideological societies.I don't steal because to steal would be to steal from God and hurt my very soul. The 10 commandments say 'thou shalt not steal'. That's Hebrew, Christian, and Moslem. The Buddhists and Hindus believe that a thief will come back without hands in the next life. Karma is a the consequence of theft but in the countries with the highest density of buddhists or hindus theivery is punished worse than it is in an Christian country. It appears even in countries which believe in reincarnation no one is ready to wait for the criminals to get their just desert in the next life. This is no different in Judeo Christian society where we believe that theives will burn in hell but historically were happy to chop off their hands, burn them in oil or send them to Australia before God got his licks in . First Nations killed theives just as most pagan cultures. Indeed Christians and Jews collectively in the world have the greatest history of mercy despite their otherwise tough approach to sin.
Dr. Johnson was paraphrased by Bob Dylan in that great philosophical theological treatise "I and I',  "steal a little and they put you in jail, steal alot and they make you king".  Theft then has been a matter of the most powerful nations taking from less powerful nations but within these nations at the neighbourly level there is still the sanctions surrounding theft. It might be alright for the King, Queen or Commissar to steal since as in  "Animal Farm" some animals are more 'equal' than others.
Faced with the theives in Vancouver I really do wonder how people are raising their children. Historically in many cultures in the east the parents and family are held accountable for the thefts of children with the consequence that the community approach to crime is found most effective.   This proved a highly effective collective strategy which might well be considered in our individualist culture.
Possibly if we got it together to address theft at the parking lot and back yard and office level then we'd really be in a place to be righteously indignant about CEO's and Banksters stealing massive amounts of pensioner funds and the bottles out of the babies of the nations mouths.
Personally in Vancouver I've had my houses broken into despite cameras and locks, my cars and trucks broken into repeatedly, (car insurance never has paid for the loss or more importantly the cost in time dealing with broken glass and such) ,  my boat broken into, an office staff who turned out to be a psychopath lying and stealing but actually admitting her theft to the police without any consequence to her, ultimately costing me $50,000 because of corruption in the system,  despite her chronic history of theft and deceit and my being 'targetted' by her,  several computers have over the years been  stolen from work, though thankfully no confidential data loss. Still  I fear putting through insurance claims though I've had hundreds of thousands of dollars stolen in my life time and pay roughly tens of thousands of dollars insurance a year. What a waste of a life!!!! Why should any one get a job and build and create if theives can come and take without consequence?  That's what I 'feel' some days and 'emotional reasoning' dictates. Yet when I talk to friends and neighbours they describe similiarly horrific experiences yet continue to muddle on. The power of good people to persist with so little support from the authorities and so many psychopaths and sociopaths parasitizing them remains utterly astonishing. I learn from construction company executives that they have horrendous losses from theft but just "soldier on".  Society grows and people generally prosper. Our lives are longer and never before in time were as many as rich as they are today. 
Several gang members who I've known over the years in work or riding my Harley have told me that just as there are private schools and a private postal system and Canadians cross the border for private health care in the US (our longstanding 2 tier medical system) there has always been an alternative 'police' system provided by 'private' services. I've spoken with many people from ethnic communities who have no faith in the Canadian 'services' and they admit that they aren't concerned about the RCMP or Vancouver Police because some member is caught on video kicking someone.
They just don't think the Canadian police will get their stuff returned or do anything but "record" crime. Japanese society and America in the times of the Kennedy's certainly had an 'arrangement' with the so called 'criminal forces' of the world and times.  Given the example of the Rolling Stones concert with 'private' security services that became more dangerous than the crowds needing 'security' control ultimately ruined what could have been a truly great concert.  Sadly there are simply too many people who feel entitled to what Mick Jagger has without realizing the tremendous work he does.
 It does appear that there is a vacuum of law enforcement regarding 'theft'.  Theft is now considered a 'virtue' by the kids raised in schools without Bibles in court rooms without Bibles in a world where work is for suckers and theft is what the smart one do.  But Plato and Socrates didn't condone theft any more than Moses or God.  So all societies have to judge themselves on how well they protect those who create.
It's hard to start the day and go to work when my neighbours are collectively standing about in a parking lot 'frustrated'. I see the leading news story by the head of the RCMP is that the 'culture' of the policing must change. I know I'm old fashioned but I'm of the belief generally that the police and citizens are frustrated because the countries leadership is living on a different planet and watching too much You Tube and not hearing the frustration people have who are doing everything to work and pay taxes but are routinely having stuff stolen. Break and entries, cars, purses, and offices theived. Why should anyone go to work in Vancouver when theft is so much easier and clearly in Vancouver has little consequences.  Crime pays and the police, if not their politically correct  leadership  would truly like to do something about it.  In these economically difficult times can we really afford to put political correctness over protection of person and property.

British Columbia has the greatest property crime in Canada second only to the N.W.T.   Some 5,600 property crimes per 100,000.  This doesn't even touch the full extent of crime as so little of the total is reported.  What's most infuriating as a tax payer is that when ever I am robbed I am invariably 'blamed' for it as if the beaurocrats and insurance people and indeed the police themselves aren't all in this same mess together with me. I feel like Job talking to these morons whenever I've been violated and something has been stolen knowing full well that they cannot be immune from theft as I despite my best efforts have experienced it repeatedly in this city where property crime is literally ubiquitous.  
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