April 19, 2010 - 12:05 pm |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
The BC Government should remember that behind each of these students, there are two parents concerned, angry and confused by the budget shortfalls being encountered by school boards across the province.
With the vote on the Vancouver School Board (VSB) proposed $18.12 million in budget cuts for fiscal 2010-11, the heat is rising on a provincial government led by a rookie Minister being thrown to the wolves by Premier Gordon Campbell.
Yesterday, over 500 parents and kids packed the John Oliver high school gym to rant against a provincial government that so far doesn’t have the guts to be honest with the amount of funding AND EXPENSES that are being passed on to school board across BC.
Speaking about the politics of the situation for a second, I interpret the shifting of the messaging from the Minister as a sign that the BC Liberals are beginning to realize that it is them rather than the VSB, or any individual school board for that matter, that is going to bare the brunt of the fallout.
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March 24, 2010 - 10:19 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Scenes like this were apparently not as prevalent during the City of Vancouver's homeless count yesterday.
The preliminary and anecdotal response from Mayor Gregor Robertson on yesterday’s homeless count was that “[t]here were not very many people sleeping outside where we were.”
So on one side of the political equation, this is good for short term vindication of the shelter strategy. And although the Mayor is most definitely aware that the HEAT shelters are by no means a long-term solution, he can take solace in the fact that he has at least for the short term got people under a roof and off of the the streets.
My concern, however, is the justification this might hand the provincial government for backing away from future housing-related funding.
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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.
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February 3, 2010 - 10:21 am |
Posted by Jonathan Ross
Gregor Robertson's quest to end street homelessness is being weighed down by the Province's attempts to make up for lost time.
Mayor of Gregor Robertson can be accused of many things (rightly or wrongly), but indifference towards the plight of the homeless can never be a part of that list.
He centred his entire political campaign to get to the dance on the issue, and made a bold promise to eliminate street homelessness in Vancouver by 2015 – a commitment that hinges his credibility on serving at least one more term in office.
But to me, the Mayor’s sincerity, progress and future plans for his quest to take a leadership role on homelessness from the vantage point of a cash-starved municipality is only cheapened by the Downside Eastside Connect press conference led by Rich Coleman a few days back.
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