I May Have to Get My News from Somewher Else

I'm a newspaper guy.

I like to read the local daily in the morning.

It's a habit I developed as kid growing up in Winnipeg reading the Free Press.

As I approach 66, I may soon have to abandon and adjust.

The new look of the Vancouver Sun offends me.

On Tuesday night, Barack Obama was declared President Elect of the Unites States of America.

On Wednesday morning, the lower half of the Sun's front page was unreadable irrelevant opinionation by Barbara Daffy about how Obama's presidency will effect Canada. I guess this is some editorial committee's notion of "news you can use," a phrase I detest.

I don't read the news to "use it."

I read the news to be informed.

This morning, the bottom half of the Sun's front page is an unreadable irrelevant opinionation by religion writer Douglas Todd about how Obama's presidency will effect assisted suicide issues in Canada.

If I want to read messages from the Pope, I'll check into the Vatican News, thank you very much. For all of Todd's writing skill and attempts to be interested in all things religious, he is writing in my opinion always as a Christian. That's not a bad thing. It is simply that I am not interested. I am especially not interest on the front page where I want to learn about what is going on today somewhere in the world.

In short, I may not last much longer with this newspaper.

They want me to read all their blogs. Sorry, got a blog of my own - n0t interested. And they want me to care about their columnists on the front page. No thanks.

Susan Rocks On

Province page 7 - full page ad - November 5th/08

Who paid for this full page ad that is masquerading as a news story - tiny
print at the top of the page....."special information report". Hmmmmm.....
"Focus on the Canada Line" - featuring new businesses along the line.
Certainly not the individual small businesses.

Canada Line? The CVBIA? Real Estate developers? TransLink? City of
Vancouver?
Provincial government?

Fabulous PR. When do the rest of the Small Businesses that have endured
three years of neglect and generic project promoting spin, have our full
page info-mercials in the Province forward news?

No mention of 'Dadeo's' - the last celebrated new business to come in after
Tomato left Dadeo's has been closed for two months now. Along with scores of
others.

I guess it might be a bit awkward to spin how many families have been nearly
bankrupted, and are desperately clinging to what's left of their once
successful businesses. I guess the nice new road is irrelevant when you've
already lost everything.
But hey. Things are so-oo pretty now, what with all the new park benches and
sidewalks. People will forget, right? They will forget how this Provincial
government just wiped out our life savings, and ran us over with their
Olympic train.

Breaking news. There is nothing to celebrate on Cambie until the despicable
way the small businesses have been tricked and treated is rectified with
compensation.

Money seems to be no obstacle for this project - to continue unmitigated, to
spend millions on slick ads to promote itself, and to fight any attempt from
the community for compensation for the loss of all we once had have, both in
and out of court.

Gordon Campbell even recently tossed another $53 million of taxpayer money
to Canada Line when they gambled and lost their operating funds in the
sub-prime mortgage market.
Petty cash for this bunch. But zilch for the families who invested their
lives in this community.
SNC Lavalin has millions in profits for this year - even in this economic
downturn, yet our government props them up, and stubbornly refuses any
operating money for the businesses that they destroyed.

There is no excuse for this abuse of power.

Susan Heyes
HAZEL&CO
Cambie Street
604 687-0721

A Criminal Justice Veteran Speaks Out

Hi David

Thanks for the emails leading me to your blog. I think your position on the requirement to testify is bang on with the exception you are blaming the wrong people. The culprit in this matter is the law thanks to Pierre Trudeau and the wonderful Canadian Charter. The real issue in all of this is do we have two sets of laws one for the community of criminals and another for the police. The Charter guarantees certain rights one of which is a fair trial for all. In the case of the RCMP and the tasering issue there is only one question to be answered and that is "did the RCMP members act within the force options as set out in the RCMP procedures"? That is it. If they did go to the next step and examine the procedures and determine whether or not the use of tasers under certain circumstances is a useful tool for the police. Does it save more lives and injury for the police and suspect or doesn't it?

We have been very careful in this Country to ensure the right to a fair trial takes precedent over all other considerations. Unfortunately, we have a prosecution in this Province that has lost its way. The job of the prosecutor is to present evidence under the rules of law to the court. In the US the prosecutors are not the friend of the defendant or the police the are the enemy and should be. The RCMP should not be compelled to testify at any hearing prior to a decision being made about criminal charges the same right all citizens enjoy.

If the people of Canada are so appalled by the system which we all share why in hell are they not doing something about it. Did you see anything in the last election that placed this issue as a priority for any of the Parties? No.

Unfortunately I must declare myself to be one of the crazies like you that believe our enabling approach to the drug problem is dead wrong. By that I mean dead wrong for the addicts. We both have worked extensively with addicts and know that approaches like needle exchange and safe injections sites lead to more deaths of addicts than the average person can imagine.

I realize most people think the RCMP are trying to cover-up the incident. That is preposterous when you consider it is such a public story. They, in my opinion, are doing what they have to do to protect the rights of four citizens who happen to be members of the RCMP.

Vern Campbell

It Won't be Very Long

President Elect Barack Obama

Joyous. Moving. Transformational.

President Elect Barack Obama's speech last night in Grant Park in Chicago was wonderful.

Earlier, we had the privilege of watching John McCain's most gracious and personal and manly concession speech.

Obama now has an enormously high hill to climb. There is so much to be done to right a ship that is practically aground.

If he does even half of what he has pledged, it will be amazing.

We can only wish him all the good fortune and more that life can bring.

Criminal Justice 1

Refusing to testify is either a law or a new fad in Canada.

Two local and important cases illustrate the point, and the frustration of those citizens watching from the sidelines.

The B.C. Supreme Court has upheld an arbitrator's decision allowing two BC Ferries employees to be suspended without pay for not testifying before an inquiry into the sinking of the Queen of the North ferry.

Their reasons for not answering questions are spurious and self-serving. People died because of someone's negligence, most likely their own. Let us find out, please.

In the shameful case of the taser death of Robert Dziekanski at YVR last year, the judge has now been forced to threaten the RCMP with subpoenas. How ironic and disgusting is that?

The second part of Thomas Braidwood's inquiry -- into the events surrounding the death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski at Vancouver International Airport -- has twice been delayed because RCMP officers won't testify before they know whether they face any charges in the incident.

A Crown decision on charges has not been made because the RCMP has not provided information requested by prosecutors.

Since when do people get to bargain with the judge about the "pre-conditions" of testimony?

This reads like an old vaudeville routine with Runyanesque criminals refusin' "to testify on da grounds dat it maybe could implicate me, or sumptin' like dat."

And this comes from the RCMP. How happy would they be to see some scofflaw pulling the same nonsense?

The RCMP is quickly embarrassing itself out of a legitimate role in this country.

Criminal Justice 2

The crime is the inclusion of the bogus pseudo-sciences of psychiatry and psychology in our court rooms.

In a local case, man accused of second-degree murder, admits that he stabbed his best friend many times.

In spite of clear evidence that the accused cleaned up himself and the crime scene and behaved like so many guilty people, the shrinks have been brought in by the defense.

They may have convinced the jury that the poor guy - the killer - was really "on autopilot" in a "dissociative state."

I pray that some day soon the alphabet soup people (Ph.D.'s and their brethren) will be placed in a dissociative state. Like Alaska, for example.

These alleged experts are the worst kind of whores.

They peddle their store-bought, regurgitated wisdom as the fountain of truth to the highest bidder, with utter disregard for the consequences.

I am a right wing fundamentalist Christian Suburbanite

I must be, because I do not favor Insite and Harm Section.

According to a Chad Skelton piece in today's Sun "municipal candidates in Vancouver are far more likely to support harm-reduction measures like needle exchanges and supervised injection sites than those in the suburbs, according to an exclusive survey of candidates by The Vancouver Sun.

A whopping 74 per cent of Vancouver candidates surveyed said they agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "Harm reduction measures like needle exchanges and the supervised injection site are a good idea."

In contrast, just 37 per cent of Metro Vancouver candidates outside Vancouver agreed with the statement."

I was going to vote for Geoff Meggs for City Council, for example. But this article tells me that Meggs strongly supports these disasters. I won't vote or him or anyone else who doesn't see the ruin in these measures.

On the other hand, Jordan Bateman, an incumbent councillor in Langley Township, wrote on his survey that he strongly disagrees with harm-reduction measures.

"I just don't see how you can provide drugs to addicts and expect them to get out of addiction," said Bateman.

But, as we all know, folks like Bateman and me are Neanderthals. We just somehow can't get the prevailing wisdom brought down from the mount by those two Gods of Clear Public Thought, Larry Campbell and Philip Owen.

So what, you may ask, am I doing living in West Point Grey, disguising myself as a left-of-center, liberal-minded modern man?

Just messing with the public perception, I guess.

I can't wait to join all my new friends in Chilliwack.

Bridge Question

Have we had one incident ever in the history of Vancouver of Someone falling out of the walking and cycling sidewalk into traffic?

If we have, I missed it.

Peter Ladner wants a fence. Cost $33 Million.

Gregor Robertson wants lanes given over to bicycles and alternating traffic lanes for cars.

Cost $20 million over 6 months.

The Burrard Bridge is already a nightmare if you are driving a car.

Turning it into the Stanley Park Causeway/Lions Gate with alternating lanes will create the worst bottleneck in the city.

Leave it alone, boys.

Fight another fight.

Try something important.

Song for an Election Night

Lies of Omission

Both local dailies have been merciless in their criticism of Gregor Robertson and his famous one-zone blackout, with the Province leading the charge.

The Sun says that Transclunk claims upwards of $10 Million are lost each year from unpaid fares.

Get real.

Make that more than $20 Million.

I was the moderator at a Ladner-Robertson debate 6 days ago.

Here's what Gregor Robertson said.

"People need to pay their fair share of Translink."

He said that while not for a moment admitting that he had this charge waiting for him or that he was going to go to court to contest it.

And we are being asked to trust him.

He also said on that evening that we need a mental health advocate for the city.

Of course, we desperately need a mental health worker for City Hall, but that's another story, isn't it?

Robertson's argument for a new mental health advocate is this: We already have a drug policy coordinator and and homelessness coordinator and "they add incredible value to the city."

These are direct quotes.

So...

If the drug policy coordinator and the homelessness coordinator add such incredible value to the city, then things have definitely changed for the better, right?

Oh.

They haven't?

Gee.

He sure is cute.

The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

One entire page (B1, which I cannot find online) in the Sun is given over to the shocking news that teen girls who watch TV get pregnant.

Brilliant.

Teen girls have been getting pregnant since time began. It usually happens because teen boys are shtupping them.

Another entire page is given over to real journalism. Gordon Hamilton, in a very thorough and important piece in the business section chronicles what we already knew, but need reminding of - neither the Liberals nor the NDP have the faintest idea what to do about forestry.

Both parties have platforms and promises and both are barely up to the task.

Nobody Really Cares

Here's the sorry reality.

Nobody really cares about Gregor Robertson cheating the SkyTrain or playing silly time in our courts.

You know why?

Because this is an adolescent culture, where crossing the street on a red light in the face of oncoming traffic and parking under signs that say, "Emergency Vehicles Only" is basic to our perpetual need to be teen rebels.

Cheating the SkyTrain is fun.

The Sun, by the way, hasn't even reported the story. Or did I miss it?

No, Gregor will be elected Mayor and we will have a council even worse the the present one, which is already the worst in living memory.

Gregor will be elected by all those female co-workers of a dear friend of mine.

You know why they're voting for him?

"'Cause he's real cute!"

I suspect Gregor has been getting away with a lot of things his whole life long because he's real cute.

What he and his friends are going to do to this city will not be cute.

Justice Run by Lunatics

Alexander is now permitted escorted day passes from a minimum-security-prison healing village in Harrison Mills in the Fraser Valley.

This is the man who stabbed a woman - his next-door neighbour - 83 times.

He is coming up for parole and the victim's family is mounting a petition to protest the possibility of his getting the parole.

But, thanks to the geniuses who run Corrections Canada and the National Parole Board, this sweet fellow, who was caught in a sting when he agreed to undercover cops to kill another woman, is now on day freaking passes.

What is a "healing village?"

And what is this psycho-killer doing in one - whatever it claims to be?

Do you have any idea how dreadful our corrections system is?

How mistaken? How dangerous? How irresponsible?

How blind to the community?

LAST WORDS

Barack Obama and John McCain have both written op-ed pieces in this morning's Wall Street Journal.

Here's Obama's.

Here's McCain's.

You've read and listened to what everyone else in the world has to say.

Now try the candidates.

Other Voices

Here is what I propose:

I would like to improve the public safety and security of Vancouver by:

1. Instituting a zero-tolerance policy for criminals.

2. A better equipped, trained, and funded law enforcement apparatus and a way of ensuring judges not be overly lenient with repeat offenders.

3. Open-air drug selling would be curtailed by working with the federal government to improve certain sections of the Canadian Criminal code.

4. Insure that judges are fully aware and educated on the victimization of normal families in Vancouver because of their leniency with criminal sanctioning.

5. Ensure that every rightful Vancouver resident, no matter if you are rich or poor is being treated with respect and their rights protected because Vancouver residents have lost their sanctuary and sense of security due to the increased sophistication of crime creeping into their (our) neighborhoods.

6. Implement placement programs that will ensure that every Vancouver resident works in a profession that they have chosen for themselves based on their own interest and for the love of the job and not forced to take any job because they have to pay for room rent, and enjoy the job based on the fringe benefits that are included with the chosen job. I would implement “special job placement” programs to match levels of expertise and experience under the responsibility of the mayor of Vancouver.

7. Personally coordinate with all the “job placement agencies,” head a Task Force of Inter-government affairs and demand that the provincial and federal governments come clean with their promises in stepping up their efforts in human resources management.


8. Initiate and implement a Monday to Friday "Seamless-Transfer Transit Pass/ICBC Registration" (STP-ICBC SmartCard) for all eligible drivers who parked their ICBC insured vehicles at the "Park & Ride" or at home. The STP-ICBC SmartCard holders will commute to work in a public transit system and this will reduce the volume of vehicles entering Vancouver.

9. Insure that the city councillors work for Vancouverites so that you are treated with respect and your rights are “protected” as the residents of this great city.

Thanks and best regards,

Jeff Kuah
"The only serious alternative"
For Mayor of Vancouver

Notes From Near and Far

The Truth Will Out

Robertson admits to unpaid SkyTrain fine

Vancouver mayoral candidate says the $173 fine is too high

Confession: This story was handed to me on a plate last weekend. My source asked me to run with it, either on my blog or in my weekend Province column. I gave it a lot of thought, asked advice from several of my closest friends, and decided that this was not for me. Among other concerns, I did not want to be one person responsible for killing Robertson's chance at being mayor - even though I don't support him. I am glad that the story has now surfaced and I am horrified at Robertson's ridiculous response to it.

Here are the basics of the story:

Vancouver mayoral hopeful Gregor Robertson says he has yet to pay a $173 fine for accidentally riding two SkyTrain zones on a one-zone fare because he wants to draw attention to what he calls unreasonably high fines.

Total bull.

This is classic 20-20 hindsight spin and none of it is true.

Here's what really happened:

Robertson says he told the officers it was "a dumb mistake" and paid an extra dollar immediately at a ticketing machine to upgrade his fare for two zones.

The other night - Wednesday - when I was moderating a debate between Robertson and Ladner, Robertson actually claimed that the best transit systems in the world don't charge for longer fare zones, that they charge one single fare no matter how far you ride.

This is completely false.

Every system that I have used anywhere in the world - Dublin, Washington, DC, London, Rome - charge by distance travelled, as they should.

He also claimed that turnstiles that don't allow you in or out until you've fully paid, don't really pay for themselves.

Completely false.

Now, why is he contesting this ticket?

Do you know what that contesting will cost you and me?

Several thousand dollars in court time.

Robertson has already cost the tax payers several hundred thousand dollars by leaving the Legislature to which he was elected by people who trusted him to represent them for the full term of his office to run for mayor - an act of sheer ego and utter indifference to his constituents.

Behind the winning smile is ...what?

You think Gregor Robertson will improve this city?

Gregor Robertson is armed with false reports (including his pathetic and dangerous belief in the "proven science" on safe injection sites...he threatens to open five more Insites on a street near to you soon) and false and expensive ideas.

Go ahead, elect him because he's cute and charming.

And watch the city finances collapse under the weight of inappropriate and expensive social engineering and watch him call for study upon study of policy issues because he doesn't really have a take on anything important.

He just knows that he'd like to be mayor. Sort of...

Message from a Worthy Candidate

Eileen Le Gallais is running for School Trustee. When you see her name on the ballot, do the right thing and mark and X next to it.


First of all – Thank you to everyone who replied to my Candidacy Announcement. Your words of encouragement and support are much appreciated!

Since my last message, I have been knocking on doors and handing out brochures in many Vancouver neighbourhoods. I've attended meetings, fundraising dinners, attended press conferences, given interviews and even set up my own Facebook page! But most importantly, I have been spending time visiting Vancouver schools, and have heard concerns about equitable distribution of educational resources as well as concerns about various safety issues including bullying and seismic upgrading.

I am ready to start addressing these issues with my ususal no-nonsense approach to getting things done, and am very excited about having an opportunity to work with educators, trustees and all levels of government in order to ensure a positive and safe learning environment for every student.

With just 2 weeks until election day, it is not too late to:

1) Spread the word – ask for a lawn sign (all signs will be set up and removed by NPA volunteers). Sincere thanks to those of you already displaying signs.

2) Make a Donation - to cover campaign expenses such as signage, printing, and publicity. Donations can be made through the NPA website. Copy and paste this link on your internet page
(http://www.npavancouver.ca/tabid/212/Default.aspx), or google "NPA, Le Gallais" to find my page on the NPA site. Click on the "donate" button and follow the prompts to make your donation.

3) Volunteer to distribute flyers (See attached word document - We will provide colour copies of this flyer for you to drop in your neighbours’ mail slots or distribute at work – just let us know how many you need.)

Pay Up, Part San (Tre, Trois...)

An excerpt from the 1993 Ahad report on SkyTrain.

3:12 Revenue leakage: There is significant revenue leakage through the barrier free SkyTrain stations. This leakage is estimated at between $10 million to $20 million annually. The current fare evasion monitoring program is not statistically verifiable and the V.P. of SkyTrain concurs with this. Please see Pete Marwick Report of March 6, 1992 confirming FALSIFICATION of fare evasion reports.

It's simple enough, the management of SkyTrain (Translink?) is grossly incompetent.

By the way, and apropos of my insistence that ShyTRain is responsible for thr spread of addictions and crime, do you know what the police routinely call the system?

The Surrey Sewer Line.