Archive for September, 2010

Lombardi is right in his calls for social media curriculum changes

September 30, 2010 - 4:47 pm | 0 Comments Posted by Jonathan Ross

School Board Trustee Mike Lombardi is really onto something with his push to have social media as part of the curriculum in our schools.

Last week when the local media picked up on School Board Trustee Mike Lombardi’s call to make teaching social media as part of a digital literacy curriculum, I heard some people say that it was a gimmick announcement – a well-timed media hit after pictures of  the terrible gang-rape in Pitt Meadows a few weeks back went viral on Facebook.

But aside from the fact that kids need to be instilled with what is and is not appropriate conduct when it comes to their online social media personas, these kinds of statistics and scenarios are demonstrating how valuable its incorporation into learning can be in motivating and engaging students to succeed.

As much as I am discouraged by the way that kids are plugged in yet so tuned out at the same time, I think that Lombardi is onto something.  Social media isn’t going anywhere, and if we can teach kids a code of conduct, and at the same time inspire enthusiasm within their studies, then I am all for a new curriculum.

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Trips abroad by Metro Vancouver mayors are greeted by small-time thinking

September 30, 2010 - 1:57 pm | 0 Comments Posted by Jonathan Ross

The fact that Metro Vancouver municipal attempts to foster international business relationships and partnerships are greeted with such skepticism shows the small-thinking that limits certain commentators in their analysis of recent trips to China and India by several of the Mayors.

Sorry for the time off…moving really sucks.

I picked up the latest edition of the Indo Canadian Voice newspaper this past week to see the following story:

“Mayor Watts  headed for India

Surrey Mayor, Dianne Watts is headed for India on  a networking exercise for local businesses. Watts announced Thursday she will be travelling to India from Feb. 10-18 next year to further business networks in the Indian market.

“With its rapidly growing population and strong connection to Surrey’s population,  India is a natural fit for establishing partnerships to create jobs and attract investment in our city,” said Watts. “As we expand our focus on the rapidly growing economies in the Asia Pacific, it has become clear that the business potential of India is largely untapped in Western Canada.”

Several companies have already said they will participate in the networking mission, including Rapid Electric Vehicles, Powertech and Simon Fraser University.

The budget for the trip is $128,000 which includes travel costs for the mayor, three councillors and three staff members. That amount covers pre-event organizing as well as a co-ordinator in India. Participating businesses will be paying for their own expenses. Local business  owner Fraukkh Patel says the Mayors trip is long overdue and will have a positive impact.”

Similarly, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan is just returning from an excursion to China to put “Burnaby on the map” and because the trip is being described as “tremendously valuable in an economic development capacity.”

Funny then that only Mayor Gregor Robertson’s recent business trip to China with a delegation of 22 companies seems to be the one that gets articles like this written about the excursion.

But this isn’t about Robertson, or Corrigan or Watts…this is more about the small thinking associated with those that deem these projects as “junkets.”

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Daunting housing statistics from RBC

September 28, 2010 - 9:00 am | 0 Comments Posted by Jonathan Ross

The expression "house rich, cash poor," seems like it was coined specifically for the Vancouver housing market.

RBC’s just-released report detailing the percentage of household income going towards mortgages is frightening, particularly in the case of Vancouver.

According the statistics:

“Ontario and B.C. saw the most significant deterioration in affordability in the second quarter;”

“RBC’s Housing Affordability Measure for a detached bungalow in Canada’s largest cities is as follows: Vancouver 74.0 per cent (up 1.7 percentage points from the last quarter)”

That is referring to the proportion of median pre-tax household income required to service the cost of a mortgage on an existing housing unit.

What was the next city on the list?  Toronto, at 50.2 per cent.

Unbelievable.  Absolutely unbelievable.

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Sweeping statements don’t ring true when it comes to the bike lanes

September 27, 2010 - 10:56 am | 4 Comments Posted by Jonathan Ross

Hair salon owner David Prior, whose salon is on Hornby, should have his views listened to and interpreted free from the hyperbole and rhetoric of bike lane opponents.

In a younger incarnation, I met Laura Jones, the VP of Western Canada for the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses via a job interview.  And, in successsive, years, I have met her at various events and business functions (although I doubt she remembers).  And, just like her husband, she has always struck me as brilliant – one of the power women of the city, and a true thought leader when it comes to economic issues within the province.

And, in that ilk, her column in this morning’s Province is quite compelling.  The CFIB’s membership is strong, and as is usually the case with the business community, Hornby have stuck close to the script and banded together to give 92% disappoval to the Hornby bike lane (EDITOR’S NOTE:  Although Jones makes reference to “several hundred businesses on Hornby,” she never actually mentions what the CFIB’s sample size for the survey was, and how many returns she got back from the 300 originally sent out).  The comments that Jones presents are also quite powerful in conveying her message.

Regardless, where I take issue with the piece is with the hyperbole, a tendency that seems to engulf those that take issue with the bike lanes.

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Tue Feb 07, 2012

February 2012
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FACT OF THE DAY

In 2010, Vancouver had fewer than half the number of murders than it had in 2009.  There were nine homicides within Vancouver’s city limits, down from 19 killings the previous year.

Quote OF THE DAY

“Perhaps it was my silk dress or the new perfume I’ve been wearing lately. When I asked Suzanne Anton what her New Year’s resolution was, she replied, “To kiss a pretty girl!” and pecked me on the cheek.”  – Writer Emily Barca describing her encounter with the lone NPA City Councillor on New Year’s Eve.

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