Sunday, December 18, 2011

NEWMAKER OF THE YEAR


The clear and offensive dereliction of duty by our mayor and our police chief make the Stanley Cup Riot the hat-trick winner as the Vancouver Newsmaker 2011.

First shot: The riot was predictable. This is a young and sophomoric town. We are not a world-class city, not by several blue lines. We are scrappy adolescents proud of our grubby denims and hoodies. Too many bicycles and chickens will make you miss this important point.

Second shot: Total bewilderment from our leaders.

The clincher: The Great Stall. Just as Gordon Campbell did with Basi-Virk and Jean Chrétien did with the sponsorships, Mayor Gregor Robertson and VPD Chief Jim Chu continue to drag out the charges or arrests or punishments for this detestable mayhem.

The riot was not an aberration and it said way more about our culture than we care to face.

—David Berner, a journalist and executive director of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

David, if Gregor has convinced himself that the riot was not his fault then he is delusional.The buck had to stop with him and he is to conceited or arrogant or both to admit it.

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Anonymous said...

David, when you say that Vancouver is a "young and sophomoric" town, you hit the nail right on the head.