Laments about New Year's Eve celebrations were bound to be negative regardless of what direction the City of Vancouver decided to move towards.

Happy New Year to everyone.  The site experienced some technical difficulties to start the year, but is now back and functional, with a site redesign in the works.

This story referred to in this letter made the rounds on several newscasts, blogs and publications around the city to end the year.  “Vancouver is a no-fun city…Vancouver isn’t world class…Vancouver is not capitalizing on the party spirit left over from the Olympics…City Hall has shown no leadership in getting people excited”…and on it went.

The fact of the matter is that it really didn’t matter what the City of Vancouver decided to do on New Year’s Eve…because it was inevitable that criticism would follow.

Let’s look at the alternative scenario, where tens of thousands of dollars (or more) were laid out for a big public event.  Now in spite of the fact that Vancouver seemed to grow up during the Olympics with regards to our public displays of celebration, I also think that New Year’s is a mixed bag, and that without the benefit of a big name headlining act, a public gathering would be hard pressed to attract even 5000 people.

If that had happened, the City would have been crucified for spending money on an event that a) we can’t afford due to the budget process we just went through b) didn’t have nearly enough people show up to and c) would have been classified as a way for the current Vision administration to buy people’s votes.

Yes, I am absolutely speculating on the storylines that might have played out, but I am also getting a sense that this coming election year will be an 11 month opportunity (up until the next election) for the local media, commentators and political opponents to heave criticism and scorn onto Gregor Robertson et. al, regardless of what they do.

The latest example of this previous to the manufactured stories about Vancouver’s New Year’s Eve celebrations was the latest post about poor little Stuart Mackinnon by the Georgia Straight’s Charlie Smith.

Anyone who has watch Mackinnon in action knows that he is a passive aggressive character that espouses an air of superiority, particularly when it comes to his fellow Park Board colleagues.

The fact that Mackinnon was cooperating with Ian Robertson when it is clear that their ideology about parks and recreation around the city are completely different on so many major issues has never been questioned as it should be – namely that it is a partnership borne out of political convenience rather than conviction.

But once again, the slant is that the Vision Vancouver Commissioners are trying to intimidate and bully the poor, defenseless Green party representative who has a passion for the work and a heart of gold about his intentions.

Excuse me while I gag.

These kinds of stories seem like a precursor to what is about to come over the next year.  Vision Vancouver began as a juggernaut, and has had a relatively successful couple of years in office.  The local media don’t seem to like that – Sam Sullivan was an easy whipping boy for them, but Robertson isn’t in the same category, further angering a group of journalists that feeds off of false controversy and manufactured outrage.

Has the Vision administration been perfect in its strategies with regards to the media and some of its initiatives?  Far from it.  There are number of political decisions and subsequent actions for which they have had to pay for.

But to have a group of reporters that seem hell bent on finding those chinks in the armour of Robertson and his team seems completely out of line.

A new slate has been established for many in this year of 2011…maybe the the powers that be within the local media should wipe each of theirs clean and take a different approach in their coverage of the civic political scene in Vancouver.

The dynamic duo is at it again, and this time, they are using gender politics as their latest form of attack.

This story went up in this morning’s Vancouver Courier, with the spin being that Aaron Jasper was undemocratic, and that a female should be in the chair.

But like usual, the Ian Robertson/Stuart Mackinnon alliance has become more concerned with cheap politics than substance.

First of all, where are Robertson’s examples of how Jasper was undemocratic?  I know for a fact after speaking to several of the Commissioners that on a range of issues – from the budget, to the negotiations with Van Dusen Gardens to take over control the Bloedel Conservatory, to the – Robertson was brought into the discussions from the very beginning. Mackinnon was also asked to be a part of the selection committee to select the Park Board’s new General Manager.

It is easy to throw out a label, but until Robertson can back up his claims, his rhetoric does not match up with the way in which he has been treated by the Chair of the Vision Vancouver majority.

The second tactic that Mackinnon and Robertson tried on Monday was to nominate the three women on the board for the position of chair.

Each and every Commissioner nominated by the pair refused.  Sarah Blyth has a young child and a full time job, Constance Barnes has a full time job and a full slate of committee and portfolio responsibilities, and Loretta Woodcock was also not interested.

In each and every case, Mackinnon and Robertson acted unilaterally, nominating for the purpose of political gamesmanship rather than in the name of equality.

Woodcock’s comments about Robertson’s and his party’s conduct on previous incarnations of the Board are also very telling about their views on women:

“Woodcock said she got a laugh out of Robertson’s bid to have a woman elected as chair. Woodcock explained that when the NPA was in power, she brought forward an unsuccessful motion asking the board to support International Woman’s Day.

“The NPA said if they did that, they’d have to support International Dog Day too,” said Woodcock, laughing. “It looks like Ian Robertson has become very enlightened.”

“I am happy to report Aaron Jasper was elected as Chair last night and Constance Barnes Vice Chair.

Aaron has done an outstanding job as chair this year and we are really excited about the coming year.

The only odd part of the election was when Commissioner Mackinnon supported my nomination for chair last night.

For 2 years he has rolled his eyes at me heaved sighs and talked down to me. He has been anything but supportive.

With out consulting me he decided to be my champion.

I found it very patronizing.”

• 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.

Tim Louis has his facts wrong on the accomplishments made by the current City Council on social housing.

Yesterday, former COPE Councillor Tim Louis wrote an op-ed on City Caucus claiming that the Vision Vancouver led Council has been responsible for no new social housing.

But here are the real facts that Tim failed to mention:

Under the NPA, the city signed a 2007 Memorandum of Understanding with the Province to open 14 sites of social housing.

At the time it was hailed as a landmark agreement, and on paper, it absolutely was.  It was very positive.

Except for one thing…there was absolutely no money attached to the commitment.

Fast forward to 2008, and no construction had started.  Why?  Because as Mayor, Sam Sullivan was unable to secure anything but lip service, and as a result, no provincial money had been set aside.  The social housing sites sat empty.

It wasn’t until March of 2009 that Gregor and Vision got the BC Liberals committed to funding the first six social housing sites in Vancouver, and subsequently in April of 2010, they committed funding to the rest, for a total of $333 million in new money.

MOU’s are great.  They signal inter-governmental cooperation – well, on paper at least.  Just take a look at the Evergreen Line MOU, which sat idle for many years without any commitments for tangible money, and you will see that the road to hell is always paved with the best of intentions.

It takes political will, negotiating, and a strong working relationship to make things actually take shape – something that Sam and his Chief of Staff Daniel Fontaine never seemed to grasp.  Truth be told, there are many within the Vision caucus that were open to a Rich Coleman leadership run because of all the progress he has been able to make with the City of Vancouver on social housing during this Vision Vancouver term.

So Tim Louis’ spin on no new social housing under Gregor Robertson is a sly trick and some great politics, but it really doesn’t reflect the reality of what has actually happened over the past two years in contrast to the previous three to Vision coming to power.