Tag Archives: Canada

THE PSYCHO-BATES MOTEL ON VANCOUVER ISLAND

Vancouver Island, British Columbia, on Canada’s West Coast is one of the world’s most popular tourist spots—especially those seeking comfort and luxury with unspoiled natural beauty. There’s no shortage of accommodations on “The Island”. That includes options for wealthy and not-so-rich. Most places you find are clean, safe and secure with nothing to worry about. Then, there’s the Psycho-Bates Motel I found on Vancouver Island.

Like, you can’t make this shit up. I’ve lived in Nanaimo on central Vancouver Island for thirty years. I rarely leave because why go out for burgers when you have steak at home. But, sometimes you need to get out of Dodge. So I decided to do the tourist-in-your-own-backyard and surfed the net to plan a road trip on Van Isle.

Tofino and Ucluelet (You-Clue-Lit) are the epitome of Vancouver Island attractions. They’re small sister villages on the extreme west edge of “The Island” about three hours by a windy mountain road from Nanaimo. That grueling drive doesn’t stop folks because the Pacific Rim National Park where Ucluelet (Ukie) and Tofino sit gets about 1 million visits each year. They’re like the Cape Cod and Nantucket of Canada.

It’s shoulder season for Pacific Rim tourism in the spring. That means low room rates. Christmas and New Years with spectacular storm watching bring premium prices. Mid-summer is also crazy expensive with no-vacancies, traffic jams and crowded surf-swept sand beaches. However, mid-April promises great deals as hospitality people hustle for business.

I’ve been over to Tofino and Ukie lots of times. There’s no “must-stay” because new places constantly crop up or old ones change hands. Probably like you, price is always an issue with this guy. Prudently, I went online to look for seasonal deals. But, I wasn’t looking to totally cheap-out, flaunt danger or put my life in serious peril. Here’s what I initially found for lodging before the Psycho-Bates Motel showed up:

  • Wikininnish Inn — “The Wick” rates as one of Canada’s Top-10 luxury resorts. I went there for New Years dinner once and it nearly broke me. Dinner for 5 was 500 bucks and that didn’t include the cheapest bottle of wine @ $100. Off-season room rates start at $399 per night for no view. It climbs fast if you want a look at the water. No, this was not happening.

  • Long Beach Lodge Resort — Now, this place is gorgeous. It’s West Coast Craftsman architecture with big timber frames, Douglas Fir trim and blue slate everywhere. The “LBR” is right on a massive sand beach where you see whales from your bed. You have to call for pricing. Nope, not staying there either.
  • Cox Bay Beach Resort — Another magnificent lodge. I’ve dropped in here too, just to check it out. If I ever win the big one, this is the first stop. Singles start at $225 off-season, but you have to read the fine print. Electricity, running water, locks and wi-fi are a-la-carte. Pass.

  • Tin-Wis — Now this is a Best Western on Chesterman’s Beach. It’s run by the local native band and I remember my mother sitting on the deck with her “sun-downer” watching the sun go down over the wide open Pacific. Nostalgia apart, the $199 price ain’t there.
  • Black Rock Oceanfront Resort — This is Ucluelet’s flagship threatening The Wick. It’s cheese-to-chalk in terrain and equally scenic. Where the Wick’s on flat sand, the Rock’s where the name says. I prefer Ukie to Tofino, but @ $250+ I can’t afford staying at the Rock.

  • Waters Edge Shoreside Suites — This place is interesting and it’s starting to get in the affordable range. They want $183 per night for a room with a view. Non-views are $145. On the safety side, they have complimentary Tsunami warnings as Pacific Rim National Park is part of the Rim-of-Fire where a devastating earthquake and tidal wave is long overdue. Moving on…
  • Pacific Rim Motel — Hesitantly, I clicked here. Hmmm… this is a really nice facility in my class. Clean. Great location. Simple amenities. And an attractive daily rate of $99. No strings attached. Sadly, it was full. No wonder why.

I figured there must be more shoulder season deals so I kept Googling. I found a few in my under $100 budget. Then… I clicked on the Psycho-Bates Motel.

I’d spent about two hours surfing lodgings. I went to Trivago, Expedia and Craigslist. Something I noticed was most had attractive photos and interactive websites. Most were also on the upsell. The Psycho-Bates Motel was an exception.

My first red flag was their Expedia cover shot. Instead of the gourmet Dungeness crab at the Wick, fabulous fir timbers at the LBR and lovely flower baskets at Cox Bay, I clicked on a bathtub image. Not any ordinary bathtub. No, this one highlighted a stopper with a rusty chain, chipped porcelain and some nasty black mold. All for only 85 bucks a night.

I back-clicked and refreshed. Surely, they couldn’t use this pic as their click-bait? No, the other images were even weirder. A stove with spaghetti-stains. A backsplash with more mold. Something red on the shower curtain. And the toilet? I simply can’t describe it.

I found one photo that really summed it up. No doubt the placed was dated with the colors, the huge tube TV and the phone with a cord. There was a bowl of pet food on the floor and crap on the bed. The metal chair was like something we used in the interrogation room. And when you looked closely at the TV screen, it appeared some porn show was playing.

Being an old cop, coroner and crime writer, this place got my interest. A lot of serious stuff goes down in motel rooms. I had one murder case where 5 people were shot in a motel room. It looked like an abattoir. I’ve had lots of suicides and drug overdoses in motel rooms. They can be messy. Also, tons of tricks get turned in seedy motels that rent by the hour so you never know what’s laying between the sheets. But I never found an online place like the Psycho-Bates Motel. I expected it being managed by a man with a knife. Instead, this motel is run by a woman. A crazy drunk woman.

Sometimes your best accommodation advice can be online reviews. I had to see what others said about their experience here. Trip Adviser for the Psycho-Bates Motel was a gold mine. Like I said, you can’t make this shit up. These are actual quotes of what surviving guests posted.

The place creeped me out. I thought I was becoming sick just from being there. It stank, felt uncomfortable, and the lady at the reception was very rude. I know she was drunk. Would never stay there again or recommend anyone going there. I can deal with a lot, have no high expectations, but the hostel on Seymour in Vancouver was better even – I seriously considered sleeping in my car while my friend was already asleep. Very gross atmosphere. Yiuck! Room Tip: No room would be your best bet on this disgusting place.

Serious bedbug problem, do NOT stay here! My friend was covered in bites after one night, this place is disgusting and should be shut down by the health board. I would rather sleep in my truck than ever stay here again. Room Tip: Do not rent a room here, it is plagued by bedbugs.

We need a low cost place to stay and this seemed a good deal but was terrible. Its hard to find a motel takeing animals and let you smoke but this place was terrible dirty and the manager was real bad when she wouldn’t give us money back for leaving early. She seemed a bit crazy but we wouldn’t argue, just left. Don’t bother going here. Room Tip: you get what you pay for.

Only stayed one night, and glad as the room could be cleaner. Typical dated room with lots of chipped paint, stained grout in tub, etc. Huge clump of black hair in the tub (how do you miss that?!?) with dirty feet prints, and when I patted the bed calling my pooch to jump up, ALOT of dirt flew up. Kind of gross actually. I’m not super fussy, so dealt with it. Room was big, two queen beds (for one person), good larger flat screen tv, coffee maker, microwave, fridge, air conditioner and fan. Enough coffee for one tiny cup only in spite of having two queen beds. When I checking in the room they assigned was still not made up from the previous occupant, had to go back to the front desk and change. The manager woman seemed intoxicated or stoned or on something. If you’re the type that has to have a decent room, go elsewhere. Room Tip: Don’t stay here.

I could not believe that drunk woman at the front desk and how amazingly RUDE she was about everything, straight down to the parking spots. I recommend a different hotel unless being treated like complete garbage!!

This motel is dated, even unadequate if you are not looking for luxury; and the price is cheap. My single room, with one double bed, had a fridge, microwave, coffee maker and TV that didn’t work. Bedsprings are pokey so you sleep ontop the covers. The motel is just across the road from a small plaza with a grocery store, bank, pizza place and coffee shop. The local bus exchange is also very handy when you have to leave fast.

When i booked my room here i assumed that it was a larger size suite going by the description i got from the lying woman i spoke to on the phone. It in fact was very small. The beds and pillows where super uncomfortable and they had a musty overly used smell so gross…. The bathroom was so dirty and the small fridge we got didnt even work. Nether did the tv remote… We were unable to sleep due to a party going on right above us and i must mention the water running constently. When the party faded around 4 am the ongoing traffic took its place big rigs just flying by. A Nightmare. Room Tip: trust me do not waste your money here.

I requested non smoking rooms both stank of smoke, The bed linen stank, it was gross. There was hair in the bathroom, the sofa had stains all over it, there were dirty marks on the walls. stayed one night and i moved to a different place. Room Tip: Beware!

The bathroom is rotting and falling apart. I requested for a non-smoking and the room stink with smoke smell. Others are right about the manager. When I ask for a refund she threatened to call the cops on me. I will never go back.

With a vision of someone standing outside the Psycho-Bates shower with a knife in the air, I moved on to other motel websites with more expensive prices. I found one called The Little Green Cabin at the West Coast Motel on the harbor in downtown Ukie. It was a bit over budget at $110 a night—but it’s safe and a good deal for what I got. Like one reviewer wrote, “You get what you pay for.” No way was I paying to meet drunk Norma Bates.

THE MOOSE HIDE CAMPAIGN—ENDING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN & CHILDREN

Violence by men against women and children is a severe, secluded crime in every society. That goes for all forms of male-dominated violence—mental cruelty, beatings within families, child abuse, molestations, sexual assault in social situations, stranger to stranger rapes and sexually-motivated kidnappings with sadistic serial killers. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a grassroots movement occurred where men hold other men accountable for violent behavior towards women and children, ending this travesty? Well, it’s happening and just hit one million contacts. It’s called the Moose Hide Campaign.

The Moose Hide Campaign started when a father and daughter realized they could make a difference. Have they ever. In 2011, Paul Lacerte and Raven Lacerte were hunting moose in accordance with their indigenous sustenance rights along British Columbia’s infamous Highway of Tears in northern Canada. Dozens of women have gone missing or were found murdered along this remote road system. It’s part of a pattern where over 1,200 Canadian indigenous women have disappeared or were violently killed in unsolved murders during the past three decades.

Raven and Paul harvested their moose and were field-dressing it. They began discussing the horrid Highway of Tears situation occurring around them and how they could help. As they skinned their moose, they realized the answer was creating a national dialogue to generate widespread awareness of violence against women and children. Getting people to talk and recognize the magnitude of the problem became their mission. As a talk-stimulator, they tanned their moose hide and cut it into one-inch squares, pinning them to as many people as possible. Seven years later, their one-millionth moose hide square got pinned on a very deserving person.

One Million Moose Hide Squares Have Been Handed Out

Inspiring one million people to stop what they’re doing, pin-on a square and discuss ending violence against women is impressive. But that’s nothing compared to the Moose Hide Campaign’s vision to have ten million people wearing moosehide squares and pledging their part. So far, the Moose Hide Campaign extends across every region in Canada. It’s getting international notice as well as high-profile political support. At the 2018 campaign gathering in Victoria, the British Columbia Provincial Government granted $2 million to help fund the campaign. That’s additional to money donated by many strong supporters in the private sector.

The Moose Hide Campaign originated within Canada’s indigenous peoples’ community. It’s far from exclusive, however. Sadly, Canada’s First Nations women and children experience three times the rate of violence compared to main-street Canadian society. That’s not unique to Canada, though. Violence against women and children permeates every country. That includes first-world nations like Australia, Great Britain and the United States.

The Moose Hide Campaign Creed

Promoting family decency, gender equality, healthy relationships and curbing substance abuse are core to the Moose Hide Campaign. In the center of the circle is promoting ideas of positive masculinity where men stand up and hold each other accountable for learned and aggressive behavior. Supporting each other is also central to the Moose Hide movement. This is the creed Moose Hide Campaign male supporters adhere to:

  • Stand up with women and children.
  • Speak out against violence towards them.
  • Support each other as men yet hold violent offenders accountable.
  • Teach boys about the true meaning of love and respect.
  • Become healthy role models for youth and other men.
  • Help, hold accountable and heal those who are violent offenders.
  • Encourage everyone to take action, make a pledge and pitch in.

Part of the Moose Hide Campaign is helping to address reconciliation from years of systematic abuse against Canada’s indigenous people. Historically, most violent indigenous male offenders were made—not born. For over a century, indigenous people were forced from their traditional lands where sustenance activities like moose hunting were critical to their very survival. Men, women and children were stocked in a reservation system where a cycle of poverty, lack of education, unemployment and suppression of culture created generations of substance abuse and terrible violence.

Reconciliation for Indigenous Peoples

Government agencies reacted to the “Native Problem” by creating residential schools in urban centers. This misguided program took children from their parents and housed them in institutional warehouses where innocent kids were punished for speaking their traditional language and wearing cultural clothes. Behind the shadows, many indigenous children were violently beaten and sexually assaulted. It’s no wonder boys grew into men practicing this learned behavior.

This isn’t making excuses for today’s violent men. It’s a look at reality. The Moose Hide Campaign recognizes horrors of the past and wants that violent behavior to be history. It’s only through actions like those from Raven and Paul Lacerte and their dedicated Moose Hide Campaign supporters that this goal of ending violence against women and children will become a reality.

Currently, there is another large Canadian movement to reconcile wrongs and injustices done to indigenous peoples. Aside from acknowledging, apologizing and compensating for the residential school disaster, there is a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls underway to determine how so many innocent souls have disappeared or been found murdered. At the center of this circle is the Highway of Tears.

The Highway of Tears

Over the past 30+ years, dozens of women have gone missing or were found murdered along the stretch of road from Prince George in central British Columbia to Prince Rupert on the Pacific coast. Undoubtedly, many are victims of one or more serial killers. Despite police putting massive resources into the investigation, they don’t appear close to solving this mystery and ending the problem. The solution needs to come from grassroots prevention.

Abduction, rape and murder are the ultimate acts of violence against women and children. Many of these Highway of Tears victims are indigenous women unfortunately placed in high-risk lifestyles like sex workers and hitchhikers. Those actions make them easy targets for predators like whoever are behind the Highway of Tears tragedy.

The geographic area of the Highway of Tears is symbolic of a much larger region where similar acts occurred or are occurring. The pattern began in the 1970s. Initially, they were known as the Highway Murders. Now, the investigation region expands to include southern and eastern routes. The true victim count could be in the thousands.

This certainly isn’t saying all these missing and murdered women and children are serial killer victims. Many are likely victims of domestic violence or violent acts by someone they’re familiar with. That’s the real signature of violence against women and children. Most of these crimes happen within privacy. Many are never reported.

It’s enough, already. Enough. It has to stop.

The only way to truly end violence against women and children is for everyone to stand up, discuss this massive problem and take action. It’s enough, already. Enough. It has to stop. That starts with supporting movements like the Moose Hide Campaign created by daughter and father, Raven and Paul Lacerte. Bringing this issue into public view and holding violent men accountable is a start. Ending the cycle of violence will work if enough people get involved. It’s a lot of work, and it’s long overdue.

Key to the Moose Hide Campaign’s vision is individuals being inspired to do something about the tragic reality of gender-based and domestic violence. Everyone can find a way to share the campaign message with family, friends, co-workers, organizations and communities. Wearing the moosehide square is a start to engaging conversations… even with complete strangers.

Volunteers for the Moose Hide Campaign pitch in to organize community events and host public kiosks. The spirit is generating awareness and conversations leading to men being held responsible for violent acts. It’s also about helping these men correct their behavior as well as treating and healing underlying issues.

For individuals opposed to moose hunting and using authentic moose hide, there are synthetic squares available. Be assured, all moose hides originate from traditional hunters who harvest moose for food or ceremonial purposes. Many hides come from unfortunate animals in road mishaps. No moose are intentionally hunted to support the Moose Hide Campaign.

For more information on the Moose Hide Campaign, please email garry.rodgers@shaw.ca. Also, please visit the campaign’s website at www.moosehidecampaign.ca. Follow on Facebook and Twitter. Financial donations are appreciated. *No Moose Hide squares are ever sold* The best help you can give is spreading the word about this grassroots movement and raise awareness about the Moose Hide Campaign. Together, we can stand strong to end violence against all women and children.

Here are some interesting links about the Moose Hide Campaign:

The Story of a Million Moose Hides

2018 Moose Hide Gathering in Victoria, B.C.

Province of British Columbia Moose Hide Campaign Video

Moose Hide Campaign Message from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Blog Post I Wrote for Rachel Thompson (Rachel in the OC) – Why Women Don’t Report Sexual Abuse

GILBERT PAUL JORDAN—THE “BOOZING BARBER” SERIAL KILLER

A5The term “serial killer” makes us think of hi-profile monsters like Ted Bundy, who beat and strangled his victims, or the Zodiac Killer, who shot most with a gun. There’s Clifford Olson who used a hammer. Jack The Ripper who liked his knife. And Willie Pickton who drugged his ladies, cut them apart with an electric Sawzall, then fed their pieces to his pigs.

By nature, serial killers follow a specific Modus Operandi—an M.O. peculiar to their wares. Some strangle, some shoot, some smash, and some slash. But the most unique and unsuspecting method of serial killing I’ve heard of came from Gilbert Paul Jordan, aka the “Boozing Barber”, who got his victims comatose drunk then finished them off by pouring straight vodka down their throats. He intentionally alcohol-poisoned at least nine women—possibly dozens more.

A1

Gilbert Jordan was a monster from the 1980’s operating in the Down Town East Side of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Today, the skid row DTES of Vancouver is still one of the most dangerous, crime and drug-ridden inner cities of the world. In the DTES, the most popular drug of choice is still alcohol—ethanol as it’s known in the coroner and toxicologist world.

A6Jordan was born in 1931 and started a crime career in his twenties by kidnapping and raping a five-year-old aboriginal girl. He beat the charges and went on to commit more sexual assaults including abducting a woman from a mental institute and raping her, too. Jordan bounced in and out of jail. He continued to prey on the helpless and downtrodden, especially alcoholic women from the First Nations culture. Gilbert Jordan, himself, became a raging alcoholic and consumed over fifty ounces of vodka per day.

Jordan learned barbering skills while in prison. Between jail sentences, he set up a barber shop on East Hastings Street in the heart of Vancouver’s DTES, being a regular fixture in the seedy bar scene. He blended easily and was not at all intimidating—short, stocky, balding, with thick glasses.

Jordan was a well-known mark for buying vulnerable aboriginal women drinks and he’d take them from the bars to his barber shop or a room which he kept in a derelict hotel. Here they’d party till they passed out. It’s estimated that hundreds of women binge drank with Jordan during his spree from 1980 to 1987.

Overdose deaths in the DTES were common.

A7The majority were intravenous drug users, many having a lethal toxin level amplified with mixed use of ethanol. It’s still that way today. But overdose deaths from ethanol consumption alone are rare. Usually, heavy drinkers reach a blood-ethanol limit where they pass out—long before ethanol effects shut down their central nervous system. The few deaths from ethanol alone are almost always caused by an unconscious victim aspirating on vomit—not from reaching a lethal blood-ethanol-content. A BEC of 0.35% (35mg of ethanol per 100 milliliters of blood) is considered the start of the lethal range. Note that 0.08% is the standard for drunk driving.

During Jordan’s run, there were increasingly suspicious amounts of aboriginal women deaths from shockingly high BEC. They included:

  1. Ivy Rose — 0.51
  2. Mary Johnson — 0.44
  3. Barbara Paul — 0.47
  4. Mary Johns — 0.76
  5. Patricia Thomas — 0.51
  6. Patricia Andrew — 0.79
  7. Vera Harry — 0.49
  8. Vanessa Buckner — 0.50
  9. Edna Slade — 0.55

A8When Edna Slade was found dead in Gilbert Jordan’s hotel room, and it became apparent Jordan was the common denominator in many similar deaths, Vancouver Police put Jordan under surveillance. From October 12th to November 26th, 1987, VPD observed Jordan “search out native Indian women in the skid row area of Vancouver and take them back to his hotel room for binge-drinking”.

VPD officers listened from outside Jordan’s door and recorded him saying phrases like “Have a drink. Down the hatch, baby. Twenty bucks if you drink it right down. See if you’re a real woman. Finish that drink. Down the hatch, hurry, right down. You need another drink. I’ll give you fifty bucks if you can take it right down. I’ll give you ten, twenty, fifty dollars. Whatever you want. Come on, I want to see you get it all down. Get it right down.”

On four occasions during the surveillance, police intervened and remove the comatose victims to the hospital.

A9Gilbert Jordan was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Vanessa Buckner. The prosecution used similar fact evidence from the other eight identified deaths. He was sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment. This was reduced to nine years on appeal and he served only six. When Jordan was paroled in 1994, he went right back to the business of stalking alcoholic aboriginal women. He was being watched by VPD and immediately sent back to prison for parole violation and an additional sexual assault. He served out his sentenced but was released in 2000, again returning to a life of chronic alcoholism and serial predation.

Gilbert Jordan, the Boozing Barber, died of the disease called alcoholism in 2006.

*   *   *

Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, has been used by humans for thousands of years for its relaxation effect of euphoria and lowering social inhibitions. Drinking ethanol is widely accepted around the western world and is an enormous economic force.

A12Ethanol abuse is a contributing factor in untold tragedies.

Despite ethanol’s popularity as a social interactor, the medical pathophysiology considers any amount of BEC to be clinically poisonous. Ethanol is metabolized by the liver at a rate of about 50 ml (1.7 fluid ounce) per 90 minutes. That’s like two beers or one 9-ounce glass of wine every hour and a half. Drink more than you can absorb and you’ll get drunk. Wake up still drunk and you’re hung-over.

A13The acute effects of an ethanol overdose vary according to many factors. The body mass and tolerance to the drug are primary as is the rate of consumption. Ultimately, acute ethanol poisoning depresses the body’s central nervous system, causing the respiratory system to shut down and the victim asphyxiates.

These are the average symptomatic presentations of ethanol poisoning in relation to BEC:

  • 02 – 0.07% — Intoxication and euphoria
  • 08 – 0.19% — Ataxia (loss of body control ), poor judgment, labile mood
  • 20 – 0.29% — Advanced ataxia, extremely poor judgment, nausea
  • 30 – 0.35% — Stage 1 anesthesia, memory collapse
  • 35 – 0.39% — Comatose
  • 40 +             — Respiratory failure, sudden death

A14In my time as a police officer—then as a coroner—I attended lots of deaths where ethanol was a contributing factor. Very few were acute ethanol poisoning deaths, though. Many were mixed drug overdoses, especially mixing booze with prescription pills. Then there were suffocating on puke cases, suicides while pissed, fatal motor vehicle crashes driven by drunks, and violent homicides done during ethanol-fueled anger and inebriation.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not slamming the social use of ethanol. I’ve been around the booze scene my whole life and still enjoy decent wine and good scotch, although I’ve never had a taste for beer.

A15I grew up in a socio-economic environment where rampant alcoholism was common. It was accepted. Grant Robertson—I worked with Grant in my teens—Grant was proud of his breathalyzer certificate proving he was caught behind the wheel at a 0.44% BEC. True story. I saw the paper. Grant was a die-hard—a chronic alcoholic with forty years of practice. I don’t think Grant ever went below two-five.

As a young cop, I brought an old guy in for a blow. I couldn’t tell if he was drunk but he’d caused a minor car accident and slightly smelled of liquor. Legally, I had to demand a breathalyzer test. He pushed the needle to a 0.36% and I’ll never forget the breathalyzer operator’s remark “You’re no stranger to alcohol, are you?”

People have different tolerances to ethanol. And different physiological responses.

A16I’ve worked with cops who were drunk on duty, seen judges half-cut on the bench, had my pilot pass out before time to depart, and I’ve woken in places unknown. I’ve had countless laughs, spent way too much money on time pissed away, and have stories from nights in the bars.

But I still can’t get clipped in my buddy Dave’s chair without thinking of Gilbert Paul Jordan, the “Boozing Barber” Serial Killer of the Down Town East Side of Vancouver.