Ladner is Finished

Peter Ladner's bid for the Mayor's chair is finished.

It is over.

Buried irrevocably by the Olympic Village story.

Gregor Robertson and the Vision team will hanmer this story until it loooks like ground round.

Gregor Robertson will win and we will have a new City Council that will rival the outgoing council for "Worst in Living Memory."

I voted for Peter, and his friends and family and NPA die-hards will vote for him and that's it.

Sayonara, auf veiderzein, ciao, baby, ciao.

Ladner will shoulder all the blame for this very, very bad act by a sitting government, but he shouldn't.

Sam Sullivan and Gordon Campbell and the federal government and all the councillors who were there at the scene of the crime should take the blame as well.

If there were any justice in the world, Raymond Louie and Tim Stevenson and Elizabeth Ball and all other Council participants in the October 14th in-camera session that gave away the store to American hedge fund crooks would be gone too.

But they won't be.

Raymond will be re-elected and so will a few other incumbents.

Given what has come to light in the last 48 hours - thanks to Gary Mason, a Globe & Mail national reporter, and not one local scribe - the current Council ought to resign en masse.

A few weeks ago, in a closed meeting, city councillors unanimously agreed to "help" Millennium Development Corp., which is building the Olympic village. The city will lend up to $100 million to Fortress Investment Group, a Wall Street hedge fund manager, which in turn will be lending about $700 million to build the athletes' village on the south shore of False Creek.

Fortress, its stock price now trading at under $4 from its 52-week high of $19.50 -- it dropped 12 per cent Thursday -- has also been given $190 million in loan guarantees from Vancouver taxpayers. Two taxpayer-funded entities -- which like to see themselves as corporations, but are in essence supposed to represent the public interest -- refuse to say how high the financial risk is for taxpayers.

The nearly $300 million in loan guarantees, if fully drawn down and reneged upon, would represent about 30 per cent of the city's annual budget.

The above in italics are taken from Miro Cernetig's column in this morning's Sun.

Nobody at City Hall is willing to utter Word One on this story. Not Ladner, not Louie, not the City Manager, Judy Rogers.

Louie, by the way, is vice-chairman of the city's finance committee.

So let me by absolutely clear about this...and I am confident that I speak for taxpayers and home owners all across the City of Vancouver:

I DO NOT WANT ONE PENNY OF MY MONEY BEING LOANED OR GIVEN TO A WALL STREET HEDGE FUND CRIMINAL!!!

For any spurious purpose, including the Olympics or the Special Olympics or the Western Surrey Regional Fly Fishing Tourney.

To Make matters worse, everyone concerned is dummying up. Won't say a word. Covering the poo in secrecy, claiming the privilege of "being in negotiations."

Yes, but in negotiations with my money and yours.

These fools have hit the absolute Zero Sum base of Irresponsibility.

This morning, as I write this, I am in a hotel room in Whistler.

God willing, I'll get back safely to town this afternoon.

Yesterday afternoon, as I steered through the dodge-em, hodge-podge of the relentless construction on the Sea-to-Sky Boondoggle Highway, I found myself despising Gordon Campbell even more than ever.

Half of Vancouver's roads and city streets are an unholy mess. The transit system is easily the worst in the known world. We have the unremitting, growing problems of addictions, homelessness, wait-times for medical attention and so on into the dark Liberal night.

But millions have been found and allocated for this stupid road - on which there were about 12 people travelling mid-day yesterday - to aid and abet the glory of a two-week event so that Wee Gordie can have his emotional wet dream in public. I can't wait for his teary moments. And when they come, I will count each tear drop at a Million or So Dollars per.

Thus, follows the South East False Olympic Village site.

Thus follows VillageGate.

Thus follows the end of Peter Ladner, the anointing of Gregor Robertson, the beginning of a dreadful new City Council and the indebtedness of Vancouver taxpayers to some creep in New York who's laughing all the way to his several banks.

This the Sucker Play for The Ages.

How I Voted

I voted yesterday.

I will be out of town on November 15th, so I voted at a surprisingly busy Dunbar Community Centre polling station.

Following is the list of people for whom I voted.

In each case, I voted for these people because I know them or know something or two about them that I like.

I did not vote for the terminally cute.

MAYOR

Peter Ladner, NPA

COUNCILLOR

Suzanne Anton, NPA

David Cadman, COPE

Heather Deal, Vision

Michael Geller, NPA

Lea Johnson

Raymond Louie, Vision

Tim Stephenson, Vision

PARK COMMISSIONER

Constance Barnes, Vision

Sarah Blyth, Vision

Richard Mayencourt

Ian Robertson, NPA

Marty Zlotnik, NPA

SCHOOL TRUSTEE

Patti Baccus, Vision

Heather Holden, NPA

Eileen Le Gallais, NPA

Tactic - Nothing More

Robertson drops fare fight, pays up

Gregor Robertson and his team have acknowledged that continuing the story of Gregor Skips His Fare and Kvetches in Court is a real lose-lose proposition.

Will people notice that this was bad decision making and bad karma from start to finish?

Probably not.

The team have correctly understood that they have nine days to go and they do not want FAREGATE staring at them on November 15th.

They are right, for all that they have been wrong.

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