April Fool's Day has always been one of my favourite days of the year, perhaps because I have always enjoyed being a fool. Over the years I have celebrated the occasion with various pranks. Below are three of my favourites.
In 1998, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and his sons Prince William and Prince Harry participated in official engagements in Vancouver and had a private holiday in Whistler. I was selling a condominium building in Kerrisdale, and decided to buy a page in the Vancouver Courier and reported that the Prince had purchased a penthouse in my Elm Park Place development at Larch Street and West 41st Avenue. After all, the prince admired good architecture, and this was a very well-designed building and the 100% wool Axminster carpets in the building were similar to those in the palace.
After the article appeared, several buyers angrily phoned my office complaining about my decision to sell to the prince. Some worried his presence in the building would add to the security costs and monthly condominium fees. Really!
Eventually, my assistant was able to point out the article had been published on April 1st, and the prince had not purchased a unit.
The next year I wrote an advertorial in the Courier about a secret provincial government report that the province was considering a SkyTrain extension along the Arbutus Corridor and West 41st to UBC. The extension would be funded in part by increased UBC tuition fees and taxes on the businesses along West 41st, especially the coffee houses. It would go past Elm Park Place and Crofton House School, where my daughter was a student.
In 2013, I tried again. This time it was a story in the North Shore News about my proposal to build 14,000 duplexes and coach houses in the upper lands of West Vancouver, which would double the population over the next 20 years. The housing would be linked to Ambleside and Dundarave by gondolas, like that I had proposed at SFU.
Brent Bartholomew, Metro's Director of Planning liked my proposal, noting that "for too long, West Vancouver has been an enclave for the rich and very rich. This proposal would accommodate more lower and middle income households, including the children and parents of the rich and very rich."
This article had a number of unexpected results. Both Business in Vancouver and the Vancouver Sun contacted me seeking more details about my proposal, especially the network of gondolas. However, many local residents were not amused at all. In fact, in an effort to address the damage, I had to buy space in the following week's paper to apologize to those who were so upset. Really!
The following year I was working in Russia. I had some time between assignments and on April 1 decided to visit Odessa, Ukraine where my family originated. There was a war in eastern Ukraine but I did not expect it to affect Odessa, and other than the presence of some Russian artillery and soldiers, it didn't.
But the reason I mention this is because since 1973, on April 1, Odessa celebrates Humorina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humorina an annual festival of humour with parades and performances around the city. While I missed most of it due to a late flight, I saw enough of it to realize what a wonderful event it is.
Sadly, due to the war in Ukraine, Humorina has been cancelled in recent years.
April Fool's Day in Vancouver 2025. This year, it feels like we are also in the midst of a war in Vancouver. As a result, I haven't seen any evidence of April Fool's Day in the newspapers or on the radio. As CBC's Stephen Quinn mentioned this morning, there are so many foolish things happening in our daily lives, April Fool's Day pranks don't seem as necessary or appropriate as they were in the past.
Let's hope that next year April Fool's Day will again be celebrated in Odessa....and Vancouver.
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