• Kash Heed did the absolute right thing by stepping down again yesterday, even after his idiot leader couldn’t figure out the basics, as pointed out by Vaughn Palmer in this morning’s Vancouver Sun.  And although it took him an evening to discuss it with family and the dolt of a Premier we in BC currently have to suffer over, you can’t blame him for being shell shocked by the whole affair.  Knowing Heed personally, and having worked along side of him in the past, I know that above all else, the man doesn’t lie.  So when he says he didn’t know anything about the pamphlets, the financing of the campaign, or who was tasked with what, I believe him, even if initially it sounds implausible.  Heed is not the kind of guy that is going to function in a job where a cloud of suspicion hangs over his head, and so he is again going to have to sit in political limbo while this mess gets cleared up.  One thing is for sure – there are several heads that are going to roll for all of this, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it isn’t going to be Heed’s.  Here’s hoping its the Premier’s.

• Park Board Commissioner Raj Hundal has penned a thought provoking oped in today’s Vancouver Sun regarding the Park Board’s park/beach/playgrounds/trails ban on smoking.  I have never really thought about this debate through the frame of “a historical precedent for municipalities taking a leadership role within the anti-smoking movement in this country that has been more effective in changing behaviours than the efforts of any other level of government.”  The piece also does a good job of squashing the critics and their lame objections to the bylaw.  The fact is that if I walk by someone in a park and am forced to breathe in their second-hand smoke, it has a negative impact on my health.  Period.

• A fascinating comparison between Tokyo and Vancouver living.  Yes, I am well aware of the high quality of living we all enjoy here.  But as someone who is just as concerned with people and sentiment as much as surroundings, I am still trying to figure out what defines Vancouverites as a group…what is at the core of our soul as a city?  Other than incessant and endless love for our beautiful city, what else unites us?

• This writer asks “Where is he [the Mayor] now” when it comes to the plight of small businesses along the broadway corridor when it comes to future construction of some kind of transit line.  Well, first off, like I have been saying for many months, getting shovels into the ground will likely be about a decade down the line, rendering all of this recent hype moot – particularly when it comes to getting the funding together.  I highly doubt that the Cambie Canada Line experience will ever let another project of this size to go through without extensive – and I mean extensive – consultation with businesses.  However, let’s talk to the businesses that are going to be up and running within a few years of construction, not those that currently sit along Broadway fearful about little more than a pipe dream at this point.

• Good move by the Vancouver Athletic Commission to request that David “The Crow” Loiseau be added to the UFC 15 card slated for June 12.  He really got screwed with Montreal, being cleared by Quebec Boxing Commission to fight just a little too late – the UFC moved on to another fighter to take his spot literally hours before the decision.  The Crow was always one of my favourites (the back flips from GSP started with Loiseau), and although the  Montrealer finds himself at the twilight of his career, it will be nice to see him fight in his home country on a UFC card again.

• He wants to talk about patterns? How about the one on that god-awful shirt he is wearing.  Another good chuckle, for sure.  And Alex, how about that invitation to say these words to you in person?  What happened to that?  I am still awaiting the location and time to meet you, big man.

The police have taken a stand, and will be using a gentle and non-forceful approach with the homeless in spite of provincial legislation to the contrary.

I think that it is a huge development for Vancouver Police Department Chief Jim Chu to in essence state that he will not be enforcing BC Minister of Housing and Social Development Rich Coleman’s new legislation on the homeless.

“If there is overt resistance, then we will back away and disengage. There will be no further physical contact. They will be allowed to remain where they are.”

The ministry is trying to put their best foot forward in response:

“The policy that the VPD has put in place appears to be a reasonable interpretation of the act. We appreciate the VPD respects the spirit of the act and we respect their position,”

but the VPD have passed a debilitating judgement on a piece of legislation that is not only controversial with Charter and homeless advocates, but is also unrealistic and nearly impossible to properly enforce.

In spite of what some have suggested, I genuinely believe that the spirit of the legislation had a noble intent behind it.  In contrast to his previous incarnations in serving as Housing Minister, where he would snub opposition critics from Ottawa because of their partisan affiliation, or not show up to a national meeting of his provincial and federal counterparts, I really think that Coleman has grown into the role and performed exceptional under difficult circumstances.

That being said, the concept of arresting those individuals who refused to go to a shelter on nights of extreme cold, has always been an unworkable plan.

Let me give two reference points as to why I think Chu’s decision and subsequent public announcement are so significant.

First is the example of former Liberal MLA Lorne Maynecourt’s ridiculous Safe Streets Act from 2005.  Now at that time, there were tales of police not being diligent on enforcement, or not even responding to calls about “aggressive panhandling” because the legislation was little more than a thinly veiled attempt to suppress the homeless.

The best example of this has to be when Maynecourt went rogue and turned into a vigilante by fighting with a homeless man precisely because police allegedly didn’t show up after his phone calls (I still to this day call bullshit on that story).  Regardless, there was definitely a number of examples of the police not embracing the legislation because they thought it was unworkable (fines to people without an address? Give me a break).

That was at a time where police officers would turn a blind eye or use selective enforcement because former Chief Jamie Graham was not willing to come out and insulate his officers by issuing a firm and public declaration.

Secondly, I draw upon my work with former West Vancouver Police Chief Kash Heed, who is of course now Solicitor General of the province.

Now back in the days when Heed was the province’s most high profile advocate for regional policing, taking on other municipalities and the RCMP alike, I played a role in creating a province-wide debate.

I worked with Heed to craft his oped for the Globe and Mail as well as the Vancouver Sun on the need for regional policing for Metro Vancouver, which caused the Solicitor General at the time John Les to go crazy and then in short order back down.

I will keep Heed’s comments about both Les and the current provincial administration at that time to myself, as they wouldn’t do him any good in the present.

Now of course, with Heed now at the top of the system that he rallied against just two years ago, talk of the idea is little more than a bargaining position to maintain the status quo.  Premier Gordon Campbell has always been dead set against it, and I highly doubt that that has changed just because Heed has been welcomed into cabinet.  In fact, part of his cabinet appointment might (and I stress the word might) have been contingent on his abandonment of the idea altogether.

Bottom line?  Chu deserves kudos for taking a stand against a law that he sees as unacceptable, for whatever reason.  Now some will argue that it isn’t his place to do such a thing, as he is an appointed authority figure that does not have to answer to the electorate, thereby eliminating his right or ability to set policy.

I disagree. I feel that if a law (particularly in its application towards the homeless) gets lost in translation between the legislature and the streets, the police have the right to make a decision on the best way to enforce it.  And, if it is determined that wrestling matches and forceful attempts to move people to either a shelter or jail are helpful to nobody, then why go further with it?

The Housing Ministry’s response is also very telling.  What amounts to acquiescence on the part of the province indicates an understanding that without the police on board, the legislation is dead – at least within the jurisdiction of Vancouver.

I have always thought of Chu as the ultimate political operator in his role as Chief.  But now I can see that there is a hell of a lot of substance to go along with the skill in which navigates through the system.

To Charlie Smith of the Georgia Straight, wards mean the dawn of a new political age in Vancouver.

Wards, wards, wards…if you are reading the Georgia Straight these days, Charlie Smith seems to have little interest in covering anything else these days.

God knows I have waded into this debate previously.  I was peripherally involved in the Wards campaign back in 2004 (here were my reasons at the time).  I then had some pretty edgy comments following last year’s municipal election, in consideration of the fact that I was the campaign manager to both Kashmir Dhaliwal and Raj Hundal, where while Hundal was elected (with a lower vote total than his fellow Vision candidates), Dhaliwal was the only Vision Council candidate not elected.  And now, I am not exactly sure where I stand, in consideration of some of the inter-ward battles and pedestrian politics that happen in cities that elect councillors in this fashion.

First of all, Smith’s obsession has disallowed proper coverage of City Council  passing a 10-year plan to become the worlds greenest city or debate over how to proceed on a a mental health and addictions plan.

Secondly, Charlie’s entire argument rests on questions of race.  He seems to indicate that South Vancouver, where the majority of the city’s South Asian populuation is concentrated, should have a representative of South Asian origin.

I find this kind of thinking extremely demeaning, to be honest.

I am half South Asian.  My wife is South Asian.  Many of my friends and contacts are South Asian.

But why is a South Asian candidate necessary for an area where South Asians only make up 13 per cent of the population (if you are basing it on the Vancouver South federal riding demographics)?

Smith argues about how the at-large system “benefits candidates with Chinese surnames and undermines the chances of candidates with South Asian names.” But if wards were to be created and South Vancouver ended up having a ward with similar boundaries to its federal counterpart, 45 per cent of the population would be Chinese.

Having worked with or for federal Minister Herb Dhaliwal, Solicitor General Kash Heed, former Attorney General Wally Oppal and Kashmir Dhaliwal, I am aware that South Asian representatives are more common in the area.  But the numbers alone do not support Charlie’s main thesis.

My point is that Wards are not the be all, end all of solving the ills of Vancouver’s electoral problems, race is a poor argument upon which to base support for the idea.

Southeast Vancouver has a glaring void of resources for seniors in comparison to the rest of the city.

As the proposal outlines, there are currently nine seniors centres in Vancouver, none of which are located in the southeast quadrant of the city.

According to Census Canada statistics specially compiled by the city’s Social Planning Department, the southeast quadrant has close to 25,000 seniors aged 65 and older, accounting for approximately one third of all seniors in Vancouver.

Park Board Chair Raj Hundal is calling for a portion of yesterday’s $70 million in unallocated infrastructure funds from the federal government to be directed towards the Killarney proposal.

Hundal started working closely with Lorna Gibbs, chair of SVSACS, and Keith Jacobson, President of the Killarney Community Centre Society soon after getting elected last fall.  The decade-long efforts of these two individuals to keep the issue at the forefront of attention for all three levels of government has been nothing short of remarkable.  Councillor Raymond Louie has been the most active political figure on the file since 2002,  galvanizing the city’s efforts to bring a joint funding agreement between governments to fruition.

Hundal had the following to say in a phone conversation earlier this morning:

“Seniors in southeast Vancouver have been given the run-around by senior levels of government regarding secure funding for several years.  Since 2001, City Council and the Park Board have served as huge supporters without the funding available to make it happen alone.  With this federal contribution of unspecified dollars, it is time that a collective commitment is made to erect this 20-year dream into a functioning facility.”

Former Vancouver Fraserview MLA Wally Oppal was completely ineffective in pushing forward a provincial contribution (in spite of years of guarantees to the contrary), and current MLA Kash Heed has met with the seniors, but faces a barren fiscal wasteland as a rookie in cabinet (a recipe for further inaction).

With the federal funds in hand, Hundal is convinced that the province will have no choice but to step up to the plate to at the very least, match any yet to be confirmed allocation.

“The federal government has given the City of Vancouver the ability to direct those funds to the most pressing needs of the city.  A seniors centre in southeast Vancouver most definitely passes that criteria in terms necessity, particularly with the east Fraserlands redevelopment just over the horizon.”

There is no word yet as to the parameters of how exactly this infrastructure money will be distributed.