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Media
This could be your last free copy
Changes at The Republic are necessary
By Kevin Potvin
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Doing the Republic books for 2006 (finally!) has been instructive. While this newspaper was never set up to be a commercial enterprise first (it has always been and it always will be a public policy experiment first), it nonetheless must at least exhibit some of the behaviors of a business. Among those behaviors that best establish the conditions for perpetuation of this or any business is the careful calibration of costs with income not only for the overall project but for each individual component of the project.
There are three areas where we’ve found the newspaper has been suffering uncovered losses. We currently send by mail bundles of newspapers (25 or 50 copies in each one) to volunteers in towns and cities far away from Vancouver, and these volunteers stock the newspapers at local establishments in places like Nelson and Powell River. This component costs The Republic about $2,800 annually, a cost that will go up soon with new Canada Post prices. While we’ve been delighted to reach readers in these places, and we’ve certainly appreciated the help of all the volunteers bringing the papers around to the various spots, we can’t justify the surprisingly costly activity any longer for a business that has such a marginal income to begin with.
So, if you’re one of the regular readers of The Republic who has been picking up your free copy in places like Duncan, Victoria, Powell River, Kaslo, Nanaimo, Nelson, or Toronto, I’m afraid to say this will be your last free copy of The Republic.
You can, however, subscribe. Which brings me to the next item on the post-tax return filing agenda. Subscription rates, until now pegged at $30 plus GST for 25 issues over one year, are also not sustainable. Many of our subscribers have told us they purchased a subscription as much to support The Republic as to enjoy the convenience of having the paper mailed to them. Yet, at those rates, the various costs of operating a subscription department make the income from subscriptions pretty much a wash. While we have enjoyed getting the paper to as many people as we can at the lowest cost possible, we need to raise our income if we want to think about starting some other activities, like sponsoring public debates, for example. So, we’ve decided to raise our subscription rate by a substantial amount, to $50, GST included, on the understanding that subscribers have always meant for some portion of the rate to provide support for activities beyond filling those subscriptions alone.
Finally, this paper is distributed to about 80 locations around Vancouver, where about 70 or 80 copies are picked up at each location, on average. But while many locations see 200 to 300 copies picked up, many others see only 10 or fewer copies picked up. Distribution day is a grueling nine-hour long battle with traffic fraught with near-death experiences, parking tickets and spilled coffee, not to mention a contribution to greenhouse gases. With Olympic-related construction stepping up each week, the traffic is only going to get worse, and what once was an enjoyable romp around the city has become a dispiriting chore. So, outside of key target areas—Commercial Drive and Main Street, mainly—we are ceasing free delivery to most of the smaller distribution points. We’ll still supply copies to Granville Island Public Market, the Main Library downtown, Duthie Books and so on, but after this issue of The Republic, you may not find future copies where you’re accustomed to finding it. A list of remaining locations can by found on page 6. Otherwise, perhaps you’ll consider subscribing and thereby (especially at our new rates) supporting the newspaper and our future plans.
I apologize if you become one of those who can’t find the paper in the usual place after this issue, and who can’t afford a subscription at our new rates. I hope you’ll forgive us and I hope this article explains why these changes were necessary.
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The Republic
print version is generously supported by the following regular advertisers:
Storm Brewing
604-255-9119
Dan's Homebrewing
692 E Hastings
Co-operative Auto Network
604-685-1393
Turk's Coffee
1276 Commercial Drive
Dutch Girl Chocolates
1002 Commercial Drive
Magpie Books and Magazines
1319 Commercial Drive
Artrageous Pictures & Framing
1256 Commercial Drive
Bouzyos Greek Taverna
1815 Commercial Drive
Magnet Hardware
1575 Commercial Drive
Uprising Breads
1697 Venables
Highlife World Music
1317 Commercial Drive
Mark's Pet Stop
1875 Commercial Drive
Abruzzo Cafe
1321 Commercial Drive
Our Community Bikes
3283 Main Street
Does Your Mother Know
Magazines Etc
2139 West 4th Ave
Kali
1000 Commercial Drive
Uncle Don
Freelance Curmudgen
on CFUR Radio, Prince George
Receptive Earth
Hemp & other Earthly delights
4168 Main Street
Geist
Magazine of Canadian ideas & culture
Momentum
Bike magazine
West Coast Seeds
Where to find the print version of The Republic:
Vancouver
Aboriginal Friendship
1607 E Hastings
Bean Around the World
10th & Trimble
Benny’s Bagels
Broadway & Larch
Big News Coffee Bar
2447 Granville
Black Dog Video
Cambie & 19th
Book Warehouse
550 Granville
632 W Broadway
2388 W 4th
Cambie Hostel
300 Cambie St
Capers Community Markets
2285 W 4th
1675 Robson
Carnegie Comm. Centre
Hastings & Main
City Square Mall
Cambie & 12th
Cuppa Joe 189-175
E Broadway
Dadabase
Broadway & Main
Danny’s Coffee
Denman & Pendrell
Denman Community Ctr
Denman & Nelson
Denman Mall
Denman & Nelson
Drive Organics
Commerical & Napier
Does Your Mother Know?
2139 W 4th
Duthie Books
2239 W 4th
East End Food Co-Op
1034 Commercial
Elysian Room
1778 W 5th
Food Stop
Commerical & Venables
Gemeral Store
312 Cambie St
Gold Coin Laundry
B-way & Waterloo
Granville Island
Public Market
Grind
4124 Main
Higher Ground
Broadway & Vine
Il Mercato
1641 Commercial
Joe's Café
1150 Commercial
Laughing Bean
Hastings & Penticton
Lugz
2525 Main Street
Magpie Magazines
1319 Commercial
Our Town Cafe
245 E Broadway
Pacific Central Station
Bus Depot
People's Co-op Books
1391 Commercial
Polonia Sausage
Nanaimo &Hastings
Rebound Health
Hastings & Kamloops
Receptive Earth
Main & King Edward
Rhizome Cafe
317 East Broadway
Simon Fraser
Downtown Foodfair
Soma
2528 Main Street
Sweet Tooth Cafe
Nanaimo & Hastings
Turk's Coffee
1276 Commercial
UBC
Student Union Building
Union Food Market
810 Union
Uprising Breads Bakery
1697 Venables
Vancouver Community College
250 W Pender
Vancouver Public Library
350 W Georgia
1661 Napier
2425 MacDonald
370 E Broadway
West Vancouver
Capers
2496 Marine Dr
West Vancouver Library
1950 Marine
Duncan
Community Farm Store
330 Duncan St
Victoria
Bean Around the World
533 Fisgard
Munro’s Books
1108 Government
University of Victoria
Graduate L0unge
Victoria Public Library
735 Broughton
Powell River
River City Coffee
4801 Joyce
Local Loco’s Music & Arts Cafe
Flying Yellow Breadbowl
4698 Ewing
Powell River Library
4411 Michigan
Kaslo
Blue Belle Bistro
302 Fourth
SunnySide Naturals
404 Front
Nanaimo
Nanaimo Public Library
Harbourfront Br
Port Place Shopping Ctr
650 S Terminal
The Green Store
Port Place
Mermaid’s Mug
357 Wesley St
Nelson
Mountain Pass Imports
402 Baker
Toronto
Moonbean Cafe
30 St. Andrew St
Future Bakery
483 Bloor St West
Oakville Peace &Ecology Centre
148 Kerr
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The Republic of East Vancouver masthead
The Republic of East Vancouver supports no party, advocates
for no cause, represents no group, serves no master, and considers
problems with no preconceived notions. We hope to afflict the comfortable,
both materially and intellectually, and comfort the afflicted—of
both kinds as well, and we are trying to do both things at the same
time.
Publisher, Editor
Kevin Potvin
Managing Editor
Kara Foreman
Copy Editor
Janis Harper
Website
Chris Lavigne
Advertising
Chris Richmond Kevin
Potvin
Support
Dan Crawford, John Daigle,
Jack Etkin, Janis Harper, Carl Johnson, Hilary Jones, Chris King,
James Mecham, Albrecht Meyers, Peter Miller, James Pope
Contributors in this and recent issues
Bruce Alexander, Dan Adleman, Toby Alford, Kevin Annett, Santo Barbieri, Bob Broughton, Mike Bryan, Stephen Buckley, Matthew Burrows, Maria Calleja, Ron Carton, Chad Christie, Joshua Corber, Dan Crawford, Gail Davidson, Eric Doherty, Joe Donaldson, Lorena Jara Patty Ducharme, Shadia Drury, Taivo Evard, Reed Eurchuk, Farnaz Fassihi, Thomas Feakins, Anthony Fenton, Reza Fiyouyzat, Andrew Gordon Fleming, Ryan Fugger, Sasha Gagic, Matt Goody, Guy Hawkins, Spencer Herbert, John Irwin, Nick Istvaniffy, Junius, William Kay, Mike Keep, Kate Kennedy, Donald Kropp, Chris LaVigne, James Lindfield, Brian Lindgreen, Karen Litzke, Keith MacKenzie, Michael McLaughlin, Sonya McRae, Rafe Mair, Sonia Marino, Jennifer Matsui, Michael Millard, Isaebel Minty, Michael Nenonen, Wendy Nylund, Derrick O’Keefe, Stephen Osborne, Sean Orr, Evan Augustine Pederson III, Stephen Peplow, Kim Peterson, Kevin Potvin, Mary Rawson, Andrea Reimer, Erin Riley, Phil Rockstroh, Becky Scott, Jason Scott, Chris Shaw, Jeff Steudel, Alex Tegart, Scott Turner, Elbio Grosso Trentini, Patrick Vert, Chris Walker, Sean Wilkinson, Brad Zembic
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