• I am happy that the federal funding for the Komagata Maru memorial has been received, and that the Khalsa Diwan Society and the Vancouver Park Board are working together on selecting a location.  But with all due respect to Mr. Mohinder Gill, the federal government has never offered an official apology for the incident, and there are huge swaths of the Sikh community that continue to push for such an acknowledgment in the House of Commons.  This monument is a step in the right direction, but it is far from an apology.

• Guess who is announcing their intentions to run in the NDP leadership race this morning?  All I am going to say is that this individual doesn’t have a penchant for yellow scarves.

• It is absolutely hilarious how Daniel Fontaine, the former Chief of Staff to Sam Sullivan, tries to distance himself from the “the previous NPA administration” which “pulled back on major reforms that could have resulted in more meaningful citizen engagement.”  In fact, I had a conversation with a prominent local reporter the other day which stated how citizen engagement and City Hall’s bureaucracy were annoyances for him.  Daniel may try and blame the NPA for these actions, but he and his former boss must step up to the plate and take responsibility for a policy which allowed them to ram through policies like EcoDensity down the throats of communities.  Fontaine’s attack on Kerry Jang’s comments are also a stretch, as nowhere does the Councillor come close to diminishing the role of community engagement.  A nice attempt at deflection from the former orchestrator of Sullivan’s Mayor’s office, but one that falls completely flat.  Oh, and there are some classy comments on this post from the City Caucus blog squad that seem to give a pretty interesting window into the NPA’s views on race relations in this city and country.

• My early morning drive to Surrey yesterday was newsworthy, first as I was diverted blocks from my house as a result of Sunday morning’s terrible mass shooting, and then as I drove over the sink hole before it collapsed and was just a huge dip in the middle of the road – and at the time, I had no idea of that either was about to hit the news.  The gang violence is very, very scary and so callous – particularly in such a quiet neighbourhood such as this.  However, to try and and link Gregor Robertson to this incident is quite possibly the cheapest and lowest form of local politics I have witnessed in many, many years.  Absolutely disgusting, and once again to no one’s surprise, originating from City Caucus.

• I hear through the grapevine that the Vision Vancouver Park Board’s recent lobbying of City Council for additional funding is looking optimistic – I am aware that talks are ongoing.  It will be interesting to see if there is anything to report at tonight’s Park Board meeting.  But in the end do I think that public bathrooms are going to be shut down around the city?  I highly doubt it.

• A different tone?  Maybe for now.  But the fact of the matter is that cutbacks are still going to have to come due to the Province overloading School Boards with ridiculous costs, yet not adequately funding them.  Schools might not be closing yet, but programs and staff will have to be reduced.  When those final decisions are released, I would say that the war will continue.  And rest assured, even if no other Board in the province has the guts to face off against the provincial government, Vancouver Chair Patti Bacchus is not going to stay silent and let Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid get a free pass with regards to her hard line approach to the relationship between school boards and her government.

• Here’s the latest scuttlebutt from the provincial leadership races.  Adrian Dix continues to mull over a run, although there are many voices that are trying to prevent that from happening because Dix would most likely be a polarizing figure for the public (I am still not entirely sure why, as I think the guy is very charming and publicly palatable…but then again, I am not a member of the party).  The Christy Clark and Kevin Falcon camps are really targeting each other in their messaging to potential membership sign-ups, and as a result, I am hearing more and more that George Abbott is going to be the second choice for both camps due to the bad blood that is developing between the former talk show host and the former health Minister.  And Mike Farnworth?  Slowly but surely becoming the consensus candidate within the NDP, particularly because he plays very well with the general public.

Alright folks, that’s all for now.  Stay safe.

The City Caucus "throw as much mud against the wall as possible and see what sticks" style of reporting has once again fallen far short of accuracy.

UPDATE:  Jeff Lee of the Vancouver Sun also demonstrates how useful a simple phone call can be in gauging sensational yet false storylines.

The conjecture:

“Vancouver’s City Clerk responsible for Freedom of Information requests Paul Hancock, Manager, Corporate Information & Privacy, has tendered his resignation. It is believed that Hancock did not have another job opportunity when he made this decision.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: Crack reporting at its finest)

“”However, it was well known how frustrated he had become working for this administration.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: From another phantom source at City Hall)

“Hancock was on the receiving end of Ballem’s tirades, and remained dignified despite enormous pressure by the Vision Vancouver government to obscure and stifle access to information.” (EDITOR’S NOTE: Where is the proof that comes anywhere close to backing up this allegation?)

The facts:

“City manager Penny Ballem said that the just-announced departure of freedom of information officer Paul Hancock for another job…”

“Ms. Ballem said Mr. Hancock is leaving for a “wonderful opportunity” elsewhere. “He has other interests around FOI that will be a great fit there.”

Now unless the City Caucus boys are calling Penny a liar, it seems as though they didn’t bother to do even the basic level of digging about why Paul Hancock is really leaving.

But why would they bother to seek out the facts when speculation and innuendo suits their purposes far better?

• This is hilarious, and yet another reason why several local news outlets (according to various sources) will never turn to him for another story ever again.  I shouldn’t bother, but I will bet getting a clarification about these empty claims directly from the source of the interview in short order.

• George voted about an hour ago, and friends on the campaign tell me that a lot of volunteers that they have never seen before have showed up this morning to help, which is an encouraging sign.  Those same sources who hold some pretty high level positions on the campaign tell me that even though they figure Ford might be up 4-5 points, they are relying on the sober second thought that undecided and Joe Pantalone voters might have when they enter the ballot box and consider the implications of a Ford mayoralty.  More updates throughout the day if anything of interest comes my way.

• This is a great story to emerge out of the biking agenda that Vision Vancouver is advancing.  1,000 delegates is nothing to scoff at, and the fact that it is moving outside of Europe for the first time shows that Vancouver – with a little promotion from Tourism Vancouver and the City of Vancouver – is receiving some international recognition for its recent efforts.  Just like Vancouver became a hot spot gay-friendly tourism destination over the past five years, the city has a similar opportunity to tap into the global population of cycling enthusiasts, which could provide a nice new stream of revenue for the struggling tourism sector (this is a little dated, but it gives you an idea of the potential).

• Oh yeah, and the gloves seem to be off…and from what I am hearing, this internal family squabble within the NPA extends much father than the blogosphere.  Sullivan supporters hated Ian Robertson’s speech last week at the fundraiser, just as Robertson supporters could barely lift their hands to offer a single clap for Sullivan.  And then there is of course the Anton factor, who seems to be a unifying force in one sense – in that everyone in the party thinks and agrees that she would be an unmitigated disaster as the NPA’s Mayoral candidate.  These guys don’t ever learn, and the unity that Vision has enjoyed over the past two years (caucus and otherwise) and which will continue to operate within long into the campaign will be a huge boon when fighting against a group of factions trying to assume control of one party banner.

• Kinsella is right – Nenshi’s successful campaign in Calgary, and Ford’s polling domination over the past six months, are not because of Facebook or Twitter.  It is about the style of campaign, the messaging being put out, and most importantly, the volunteer power that each has to draw upon.  I know that Twitter is a very cool way to access people’s mobile devices (although it is still the 35 and under crowd that is predominantly fanatic about the phenomenon), but is it truly a driver to get out and vote?  That is yet to be determined.  I am a traditionalist, and tend to focus in on Nenshi having an army of 700 loyal students (his, not his, past, present, etc.) because of his university background as the key to his victory.  Anyways, the revolution may be here in terms of technology, but it certainly hasn’t given people more of an impetus to get off their asses and vote – particularly when it comes to municipal elections.  Not yet anyway…

• A new bullet to add to Quick Hits each week – the song of the week.  Today’s pick is “Getting Nowhere” by Magnetic Man featuring John Legend.  I am really digging this right now, and it can be found here for your listening pleasure.  This actually might be a great song for the NPA’s future Mayoral candidate to come out on stage to.

• This speech seemed to go over well for the individuals I spoke to who were in attendance.  The business community has done relatively well under Vision Vancouver, in spite of the Hornby and Dunsmuir propaganda.  The business tax shift has been a great step forward to evening the playing field for businesses, and in spite of the fact that it is going to be a tough budget consultation process from the voters that will either return him to office or make another choice, Robertson is sticking to his guns.  It would be nice to have a few more of the businesses that are happy with this initiative to stand up and speak up for this Council, but that his another topic for another day.

• The Sam Sullivan for Mayor rumours are beginning to grow.  Faced with the prospect of two electeds who inspire few, and lacklustre interest from potential candidates outside of the political fold, Sullivan has been approached by several of the higher-ups in the NPA (including some current board members) to step forward and make his candidacy a reality.  From those on the side that will be battling against these folks, all I can say that there are equally as many begging, pleading and praying that this scenario comes to fruition.

Ok, that’s all for this morning.  Back later in the day with a clarification about some spurious claims, and tonight’s Toronto election results.

The writing is on the wall when it comes to Vancouver's reaction to the ever-emerging biking infrastructure, prompting a new strategy from the City Caucus boys.

The reactions to the Hornby bike lane as well as the other pieces of Vancouver’s biking infrastructure has been overwhelmingl positive save for those with a political axe to grind against the current Council.

Yesterday as an example, I was introduced to a gentleman who is an investment banker and a true power broker in the city, who after being challenged to get going by his kids, hopped on a bike last year for the first time in decades and hasn’t looked back.  He has become an advocate amongst his kin within the business community, and has taken out a Vision Vancouver membership because of the initiatives that are being undertaken by the party.

The so-called controversial t-shirts are selling like hotcakes, people are really starting to reconsider their transportation options around town, and there is a new sense of peace between drivers and bikers who are no longer in each others faces to some extent.

So seeing this, and seeing that the NPA has actually come out and embraced bike lanes as a concept, the City Caucus boys changed their tactics of attack.

Remember posts like this?  Or this?  Or even this?

Well, don’t expect to see them anytime soon, for a number of reasons:

1. The NPA is now stating publicly that they support bike lanes, and will in fact build more if elected next term (both current Mayoral candidate hopefuls Suzanne Anton and Ian Robertson were both publicly offering favourable comments at last night’s dinner)
2. Mike Klassen is still rumoured to be interested in an NPA City Council nomination, meaning that if that scenario happens, he will soon be forced to defend the concept of bike lanes
3. Bike lanes are far more popular than the City Caucus boys would have you believe, and now they are beginning to understand that

So, what do we get instead now that some gears have been switched? (pun intended)

These kinds of City Caucus tweets from yesterday:

“In 2007 NPA planned to add more KMs of official bike routes than previous eight years combined http://bit.ly/dC8gxI – Van Sun”

“Vancouver Area Cycling coalition once praised NPA for supporting cycling infrastructure including bike lanes http://bit.ly/dC8gxI

Funny how now the NPA’s history of support for bike lanes (with no action when in office, I might add) is now a feather in their electoral caps.

For context on these claims, however, I reference these three articles from 2005

“NPA promises not to close lanes on Burrard Bridge: Council’s plan to convert two lanes into bike lanes is folly, Sullivan says
Vancouver Sun
Tue Nov 8  2005
Page: B5
Section: Westcoast News
Byline: Jeff Lee
Source: Vancouver Sun

The Non-Partisan Association pledged Monday to kill a controversial plan to turn two of six lanes on Burrard Bridge into bicycle lanes.

During the morning rush hour, about 50 supporters of the NPA congregated at the south end of the bridge and in the median to draw attention to the plan, which they said would dramatically increase congestion.

NPA mayoral candidate Sam Sullivan said that if his party gains power on Nov. 19, it would cancel council’s plans to temporarily close the lanes while city engineers develop two alternative plans for extra pedestrian and cycling lanes.

One of those plans calls for “wings” to be built on the outside of the bridge decks to give pedestrians and cyclists more room. The plan, estimated to cost $13 million, has raised concerns from heritage buffs, as Burrard Bridge is one of the few art-deco design bridges left in North America.

The other plan, to build another deck slung under the bridge, is estimated to cost $15 million. However, it might not be approved by Transport Canada because of the impact on boat traffic.

In late July, council voted 10-1, with Sullivan opposed, to experimentally close the two lanes for cyclists for one year starting next April.

The closure would give engineers time to develop the alternative plans.

But council agreed if the lane closures didn’t overly interfere with traffic, the city could abandon the other plans and save taxpayers millions of dollars.

Peter Ladner, an NPA councillor, initially supported the temporary closure, but later changed his mind in the face of heavy criticism from drivers.

On Monday, Sullivan said it would be folly to narrow the six-lane bridge to four lanes for cars.

“The people who will suffer won’t really be the drivers. They’ll just find another bridge to cross over. The people who will suffer will be the bus riders who will find themselves stuck in traffic,” Sullivan said.

A six-day trial closure of just one lane in 1996 was a disaster, he said, resulting in traffic headed downtown being backed up along Point Grey Road and up to 16th Avenue.

Sullivan said he favours building walkways on the outside of the bridge, and an NPA council would proceed with that without any closures.

But Jim Green, the Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate, said that would be a waste of money and also destroy the bridge’s heritage value.

He said he favours a pedestrian deck slung under the main deck, but pledged a Vision-powered council would hold full public hearings into any plans to modify the bridge.”

Councillor changes mind on bridge bike lanes: Peter Ladner says public opposition led him to oppose Burrard plan

Vancouver Sun
Wed Aug 10  2005
Page: B1 / FRONT
Section: Westcoast News
Byline: Kim Bolan
Dateline: VANCOUVER
Source: Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER – Vancouver City Councillor Peter Ladner is back-pedalling on his support for experimental bike lanes on the Burrard Bridge.

Less than a month after voting in favour of the experiment to convert car lanes into two bike lanes for a trial period, Ladner issued a news release Tuesday reversing his position. (EDITOR’S NOTE: Sound familiar?)

Ladner, of the Non-Partisan Association, said his change of heart was prompted by widespread public opposition to the idea. He accused councillors from the Coalition of Progressive Electors of “pitting environmentalists and cyclists against the car-driving public.”

Ladner told The Vancouver Sun July 20 that the bike lane experiment was “an exercise in fiscal prudence” because it could save the estimated $13.5 million cost of widening the bridge sidewalks for bikes.

But in an interview Tuesday Ladner said he has not had much luck in swaying public opinion his way on the bike lane proposal, so he decided to change sides.

“I made what I thought was a pretty determined attempt to get people to understand it, but the public understanding was not at all in tune with what I was thinking when I made the decision,” he said.

Councillor Jim Green, of Vision Vancouver, said the waffling is typical of Ladner, who claims he wants to save the city money and then opts for the most expensive plan.

“It is unfortunate that he does these things quite often,” Green said. “He got a couple of e-mails, so now he is going to change his position. So I guess now he is in favour of spending $13.5 million. He is the one who is always complaining about the money that is being spent.”

Practically speaking, Ladner’s new position won’t do anything to stop the trial because he does not have enough support to get a vote of reconsideration. The vote for the bike paths last month was 9-1, with Ladner splitting from his NPA colleague Sam Sullivan. But if the composition of council changes after November’s civic election, the trial, due to begin in April, could be abandoned, which worries Richard Campbell, of the group Better Environmentally Sound Transport.

Campbell said the whole point of the experiment is to end the debate between motorists and cyclists by seeing if the bike lane proposal could work.

“We think it was a really bold, visionary decision in the first place and it is worth giving the trial an opportunity to work. It is really the only way to settle the debate,” Campbell said. “Until we actually see what is going to happen, nobody knows who is right.”

Ladner said he has not done any polling to get data on the numbers who oppose the experiment, but he senses most people don’t want it to go ahead.

“That was the point of having a trial, but it is quite clear that there are a whole lot of people who don’t have any appetite for that trial and cannot get their heads around any possible outcome from the trial,” Ladner said.

Council kills Burrard bike-lanes trial  Fear of traffic tie-ups leads to scrapping of controversial plan for Vancouver bridge
The Globe And Mail
Wed Dec 21  2005
Page: S4
Section: British Columbia News
Byline: Rod Mickleburgh
Dateline: VANCOUVER

VANCOUVER  – Mayor Sam Sullivan and his slim majority of newly elected city councillors began dismantling past council decisions yesterday by killing the planned trial of bike lanes on the Burrard Bridge.

Despite objections that the reversal was being rammed through just before Christmas without further public consultation, council voted 6-4 to halt the controversial experiment, which was to be launched next April.

With that out of the way, after nearly six hours of delegations and debate, council moved immediately to reconsider another key past decision: the mix of social housing in the landmark southeast False Creek development, destined to be the athletes’ village for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Mr. Sullivan wants to reduce the number of social-housing units in the ambitious megaproject on the shores of False Creek, hailed as a model of sustainable “green” development and public use of space.

The mayor campaigned against the previous council’s decision to earmark one- third of the proposed units for low-income earners, one-third for those in the middle-income bracket, and one-third for market housing. Such a mix is not economical, Mr. Sullivan argued.

Many speakers urged council not to tamper with the original vision.

John Irwin, co-ordinator of the Southeast False Creek Working Group since 1999, noted that the number of homeless in the city has doubled in just a few years.

“This project is an investment in the future,” he said. “Is there some sense that homelessness is a cheap way of dealing with social housing, when actually it costs less money to house people than allow them to live on the street?

“Please, do not cut that one-third for social housing,” Mr. Irwin said of the last land available for housing on the city’s inner harbour.

Debate on the contentious issue continued late into the evening.

Earlier, there was no budging on council’s determination to choke off the plan to turn two lanes of the busy Burrard Bridge over to cyclists.

Mr. Sullivan and his conservative NPA party, which secured a one-seat majority on city council, strongly opposed the idea during the recent election campaign.

Critics contended that the move — even for a one-year trial — would cause economically damaging traffic tie-ups.

Nearly 30 proponents, however, spoke in favour of the idea at the lengthy council meeting, countering that the move would have been a brave, visionary decision in the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol on the environment.

One began singing Joni Mitchell’s well-known song  Big Yellow Taxi . “They paved paradise and they put up . . . something,” she sang.

Charles Gautier of the Downtown Businessmen’s Association was the only speaker in favour of keeping all six lanes for motorists. “This is a major artery and we need to be able to move goods efficiently to and from downtown.”

If the trial had worked, it would have saved the city $13.5-million, which will now be needed to widen the sidewalks of the 73-year-old bridge to make them safer for cyclists.

Among those agreeing to quash the bike lane experiment was NPA councillor Peter Ladner, who originally supported the idea last summer, calling it “fiscal prudence” to try to save the $13.5-million. Three weeks later, Mr. Ladner changed his mind, saying he believed that there was too much opposition for the plan to proceed.

Councillor Tim Stevenson of the rival Vision Vancouver party called for more public consultation before locking council in to an “irreversible” decision to never give the bike lanes a shot and possibly save millions of dollars.

“I don’t think it serves democracy to ram this thing through.”

But Councillor Suzanne Anton of the NPA said there had just been an election on the issue.

“The point is: there was public discussion. People voted for us because of that [opposing the bike lanes],” Ms. Anton said.

“It’s not pig-headedness. A lot of energy has gone into this process and we should make a decision now.”

So let’s recap:

• Suzanne Anton voted in favour of the Hornby bike lane, only to withdraw that support a day later
• Suzanne Anton is now telling her NPA membership that an NPA council in 2011 would proceed on building more bike lanes
• In 2005, the NPA campaigned on and eventually proceeded to kill the Burrard Bridge bike lane trial
• Peter Ladner, who broke ranks with his party, also decided to reverse his vote due to pressure from drivers
• Sam Sullivan admits that drivers would not be negatively impacted by the bike lane, yet still whips his majority on Council to kill the trial
• Media reports classify the manner in which the NPA’s made the decision to kill the Burrard Street bike lane as being “rammed through just before Christmas without further public consultation,” yet now they now claim that Vision is pushing through a bike lane without consultation and that is the reason they have a problem with the initiative

I guess in conclusion, I have one piece of advice for the NPA, who seem to be confused if I am being generous with my description:

Make up your damn minds.