July 27, 2010 - 7:56 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
I am heading to an early morning meeting and will be back later in the day to do a follow-up post.
However, I just wanted to offer a quick opinion on this story about Mayor Gregor Robertson.
Ethan Baron seems to have some real breaking news here!!! The Mayor made an error on the road with his bike where he almost got hurt, and now this “error of judgment will provide ammunition for many car commuters who will become very irate when they learn that another dedicated bike lane is coming to downtown.”
What a ridiculous assertion to push.
Today are the silly days of summer, where it is a pile on Robertson type of mentality from the media after his unfortunate “f-bomb” and subsequent comments.
It is the Province after all, so I shouldn’t expect much more in terms of journalistic quality. Nonetheless, when so much ink can be spent on the Mayor’s biking mistake, you know that the dditor of the paper is just hurting for things to put into print (with Mel Gibson’s recorded rants seemingly
If you the media really wanted, they could nail many politicians on their road safety. In fact, they could probably stake out everyone’s house and then tail individual elected members on their daily agenda.
Grow up people.
July 26, 2010 - 11:13 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Tonight's vote at Port Coquitlam's City Hall will be closely watched by municipal politicians across the province.
This morning’s front page of the Vancouver Sun has a story about the proposed pay raises for Port Coquitlam’s Mayor and Council, which will be voted on tonight.
The issue of pay raises for politicians, particularly ones that they initiate and implement on their own is a prickly one, to be sure. Generally, the public tends to think that no elected official is worth what he/she is paid, showing a general lack of knowledge of how much work they actually encounter and a innate disdain for the profession altogether.
And, of course, there is the fact that there are very few employment options available out there where one can vote on their own pay increase, which in turn only adds to the resentment a member of the public might feel about such a decision.
Without any hesitation, I often share my opinion that Councillors are grossly underpaid, and that the notion of these positions classifying as part-time work (particularly for larger municipalities like Vancouver), is completely out of touch with reality.
That being said, this article has some poorly thought out comments, both from the Minister and the Mayor, that in my opinion taints the perceptions of those reading the piece from the outset.
Read the rest of this entry »
July 23, 2010 - 9:47 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
A few queries for you, fine sir.
Thus far, my schedule isn’t allowing me the time to put as much thought into a piece of media perceptions of South Asians in this city, but hopefully I will be able to pump something out later in the day (hopefully).
But in the meantime, here are a few questions for Randy Helten, the man who alls anyone outside of his perception of what a typical West End resident constitutes a “stereotype” and according to one predictable website, “the person who is spearheading with his community the opposition to the recent STIR developments”:
Do you have a family member who owns property across the street from the 22-storey high-rise rental apartment tower on the site of St John’s Church at 1401 Comox Street?
Also, does another family member of yours own a penthouse unit above the TD bank on Bidwell and Davie, which is across the street from a proposed 19-story tower?
Finally, do you own a property adjacent to the Comox proposal?
And, if any of these facts are true, don’t you think that you have a responsibility to disclose them as at least part (but not all, of course) of the reasoning behind your opposition to the STIR developments going up in the West End?
I anxiously await a response.
July 22, 2010 - 5:23 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
My piece on perceptions of South Asians within Vancouver’s media will have to be delivered tomorrow, as I am caught up in a few pressing deadlines. Nonetheless, I want to point to two quotes in particular from this Province article from this past Sunday:
“Of course, these gay bashings are disturbing,” says Popat, organizer of the Muslim gay-advocacy group Salaam Vancouver. “Homophobia is a problem in the South Asian community. But gay bashing is not a South Asian phenomenon. It crosses all ethnic boundaries.”
“Shortly after the Michael Kandola incident, I was walking along Davie Street, and two white gay men pushed me, saying I didn’t belong here,” Jaffer recalls. “It’s hard enough being South Asian and queer, but then you become alienated from the queer community as well.”
Racial profiling when it comes to gay bashing is the wrong tact to take in counteracting the problem, and I would go as far as to say that it was a way to avoid the bigger issues at the heart of intolerance.
Gay bashing aside, I am also sick and tired of the way in which South Asians are so often singled out by portrayals of violence – gangs, temple politics, Sikh extremism – but rarely portrayed in other more favourable lights, except when there is some novelty value with stories about food, music, or fashion.
I think that as a mixed race, native-born Vancouverite with South Asian blood that doesn’t happen to be Punjabi, I can offer a unique perspective on my impressions of ethnic stereotyping, lazy journalism, and perceptions of what exactly “South Asian” means in this city.
So, more tomorrow morning folks.
