March 2, 2010 - 12:48 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Robertson's looking for another kind of handshake like this (minus the Conservative propaganda), but is unlikely to walk away with anything of substance from Harper this time around.
I have been delinquent during the Games, as unlike those who transformed themselves into “media”, I took some time away from the blog and municipal politics to enjoy the civic experience of a lifetime.
That being said, I am now back in the swing of things, and will be posting regularly from this point forward. CivicScene will also have some featured pieces coming out in one of Vancouver’s preeminent news outlets in the coming weeks, so stay tuned.
Mayor Gregor Robertson has left himself little time to rest in between the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as he has made his trek eastward to Ottawa and Toronto in search of “a commitment to a national housing strategy” and more provincial and federal funding for transit.
Yet on the heels of Premier Gordon Campbell’s government preparing people for today’s budget which will dramatically “cut back on the operating budgets of government” as well as Prime Minister Stephen Harper prefacing his upcoming budget by calling it the “toughest of his career,” I can’t see the Vancouver Mayor walking away with anything at all in terms of financial commitments.
But the trip is significant for the way in which Robertson is graduating from his roles and responsibilities that are most often bound within the confines of Vancouver’s official boundaries.
Read the rest of this entry »
February 9, 2010 - 10:46 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Premier Gordon Campbell and his buddy VANOC CEO John Furlong have done a good job of monopolizing the Olympic spotlight throughout the past few months.
If the 2010 Winter Olympics are Premier Gordon Campbell’s final hurrah, then I’d say he has done about as good a job for himself as humanly possible.
Why do I contend that? Well, as Charlie Smith correctly notes:
“He’s done a hell of a job linking himself to the Olympic torch run, even though it has usually been the mayor of the host city who grabbed the lion’s share of attention in past Olympic Games.”
And in the accompanying article, the tight public relations strategy that has been employed by the provincial government to have the Premier hoard the local exposure of the Olympic flame has been perfectly executed.
But Gordon’s pissing to mark his territory has gone far beyond the symbolic extinguishment of the flame in recent months.
Read the rest of this entry »
January 11, 2010 - 1:05 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
It is unlikely that the Premier will be able to bask in the afterglow of the Olympics.
This article by the Globe and Mail’s local stalwart Ian Bailey is interesting for the possibilities it outlines for Mayor Gregor Robertson, but far more intriguing for analysis of how the Olympics are unlikely to add life to the career of Premier Gordon Campbell.
This could be the beginning of a political arc upwards for Robertson. Now while I would argue that for the purposes of re-election the Mayor’s profile is more than adequate, I can also see the global media propelling Robertson to a new status within his own city, province and country. We are all familiar with the typical Canadian syndrome – paying more attention to home grown talent only after the rest of the world notices them.
But with Campbell, I foresee a far different scenario – one that ends prematurely for a man who just claimed that “he isn’t planning on quitting politics after the Olympics.”
Read the rest of this entry »
December 22, 2009 - 4:03 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
If only we all acted like the inhabitants in this picture, VANOC's promises of blue skies would undoubtedly come true.
As a former member of the Vancouver Youth Symphony Orchestra (VYSO), and a current member of the West Cost Symphony Orchestra, Sean Bickerton’s outrage over VANOC’s treatment of both the youth and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra rings very true for me.
This apology is as useless as a Gordon Campbell promise not to use the practice of lip synching during the opening ceremonies, or a Gordon Campbell promise of inclusion into the opening ceremonies.
I am particularly troubled by the muzzling aspect of the contract signed with the VYSO, as it is indicative of the information/security/cost/etc. vortex that comprises the business of organizing the Olympics.
Read the rest of this entry »
