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Sam Sullivan, The Tyee Interview
The NPA's mayoral candidate on RAV, the DES, Southeast False Creek, supporting Wal-Mart and more.
Sullivan: Woodward's won't affect drug problem
Also today: The Tyee interviews Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green and Cope councilor David Cadman.
When Sam Sullivan led the campaign against a ward system for Vancouver municipal elections, many thought he was tilting at windmills. When he was challenged this fall by former BC Liberal cabinet minister Christy Clarke for the NPA mayoral nomination, no one gave him a chance.
When Sullivan defeated Clark, some of her supporters muttered that Sullivan was unelectable. But in the last days of the municipal election campaign, no one is counting out the former welfare recipient in a wheelchair. After all, the soft-spoken East Side kid overcame a teenage skiing accident to work tirelessly promoting creative technological solutions that help the disabled lead more fulfilling lives.
On council, he championed harm-reduction strategies for drug users. Now he's championing fiscal prudence. His critics say he can point to very few personal accomplishments during his twelve years on council. They say he's equivocal. They question his ability to lead.
Voters may not see Sullivan that way on election day, after three years of a dynamic but bullying Mayor Larry Campbell.
The Tyee sat down with Sullivan on Wednesday for a slightly attenuated interview, and tried to focus on some of the policy issues that council has wrestled with during the last three years.
On the point at which there too much social housing concentrated in the Downtown Eastside.
"I think the direction that our homeless plan is going in is appropriate. We're putting in about 4,000 new units of market housing. We're also making sure that we replace existing SROs with proper social housing. I believe there's too much of a concentration. We certainly don't have the ratio right right now. We have to start adding more market housing and upgrade the social housing."
On providing social housing in neighbourhoods such as Dunbar, where many residents are upset about the prospect.
"I believe that social housing belongs in every neighbourhood in the city. But I don't believe we should be asking one neighbourhood to take people from other neighbourhoods. Each neighbourhood should be able to care for its own."
On whether Downtown Eastside residents are now of that neighbourhood.
"A lot of people are there because of the services and because of the drug trade. I think they reflect the general population of the city. The reality is, most of the people in the city don't come from here."
On the need for better mental-health-care services on the Downtown Eastside, and whether the current provincial government has improved on the sorry record of the NDP.
"I think they're very interrelated [with the drug problem]. One of the things I'm interested in is pursuing the idea of supportive housing, where people with mental illness have some supports to create structure in their life, and so that they have some sort of oversight and networks to ensure they're not getting in to trouble or difficult situations.
"I have detected some resolution to an old problem of whether supportive housing should be paid for by the ministry of housing or the ministry of health. It seems now that they've accepted this is the responsibility of the ministry of health. At least now the mandate is established. What I can tell you is whatever we're doing is not enough."
On the projections that the Richmond-Airport-Vancouver rapid transit line will attract 100,000 riders a day, which TransLink has guaranteed to the private builder, and the potential for a shortfall that will undermine our ability to provide basic bus service and keep fares low.
"I think we will eventually get to that number. As to how quickly that will happen I'm not sure. It's hard to make predictions. The engineers have their models that seemed a little ambitious. There is a combination for risk that's somewhat borne by the private sector, but there's always a chance that we'll see some costs that we might not be able to accommodate. [The risk on ridership], that's a problem, because they don't control the fares. That has an impact on riders. So obviously you can't transfer all the risk."
On the reasons for the COPE split.
"I think it's a lot more personality than policy. Jim Green has a personal leadership style that is not very consensus-oriented. He's had a history through the Downtown Eastside Residents Association, the Four Corners Bank, and COPE that's been divisive. It's resulted in a lot of bad feelings. If people really want to work together, even if they have significant ideological difference, they can. But obviously there's a lot of egos involved there."
On whether he could be an effective mayor if COPE and Vision still control council.
"Yes, I think I can work with anyone. I've in the past been able to bring people together from diverse points of view. I think that the fact that I've been able to bring [former NPA mayor] Philip Owen and [former NPA councillor] Jennifer Clarke together to endorse me as a candidate shows some ability to work cooperatively with people. I think that the way I handle meetings is respectful of diverse opinion. I point to the example of Larry Campbell, who shut off my mike almost 50 times in the first two years of our council."
On whether the Hastings Park Racecourse would have migrated to the suburbs without slots, and the reversal of his own opposition to slots.
"That might have been the ultimate result without slot machines. I ended up supporting them. The issue of the racetrack had nothing to do with it, the issue of the money had nothing to do with it. I'd been involved in opposing slots for many years with the NPA council. I remember the provincial government came in the middle of the night and installed slot machines in one of our casinos. We took them to court. I was an active participant. We took them to court twice and won.
"When this council was elected and voted on the process of considering slots, I voted three times against even having it considered. But the council kept moving it forward. When the Plaza of Nations came forward, I warned them that slots are only a yes-or-no decision. My preference was to say no. I thought it was a moral issue and I said no. Once the decision was made, and council agreed that slots were an acceptable form of gambling in Vancouver, the question fundamentally changed. It became a land-use issue. When the Hastings Park decision came to me, I asked myself 'Is it appropriate that the place where Vancouverites have been going to gamble for 115 years, is it appropriate to have expanded gambling there?' And I had to say yes."
On whether it was a mistake for Vancouver to try and eliminate the PNE from the Hastings Park site.
"I think so. There was a legitimate idea that there would be a renewal, and [the PNE] would be more central to a regional population. But the PNE has been a wonderful part of our city for many years. And it's given a lot of employment to young people. It's been a real tradition in the city. I personally favour keeping in the city, but I understand that times change."
On what we need to do to find the right balance of uses on the site.
"I think we're close to finding the right balance now. There are some passive parts and more active parts. I think we need a mix of uses, for various parts of the community. The reality is that it's not a local park, it's a regional area that people from all parts of the city have come to enjoy and I don't think we can deny that."
On why the current council should shoulder more blame for property crime and public safety issues than the previous NPA administration.
"This council did make an election commitment to get rid of the open drug market by 2005. I didn't make that promise. I do believe you attack the problem in an intelligent way, you should be able to have some good successes. This council takes the credit for two initiatives that I know I worked hard on, the safe-injection site and the Naomi heroin maintenance trials. You check the minutes of this council and you will not find a single motion on these subjects, because all the motions were passed by the previous councils. The only tangible thing that I can point to that this council has done is the crackdown by the police on the Downtown Eastside. That does not to me represent what the 'four pillars' strategy is about.
"I don't think 500 condos and 200 social housing units [at Woodward's] is going to affect the drug problem. We have a $100 million project right next door, International Village, and the drug market still exists. I don't think you attract the drug problem by building condos and social housing down the street."
On Jim Green's claim that the safe-injection site has saved more than 1,000 lives.
"It seems a little exaggerated, but I do believe that it has saved lives. That's a tribute to that initiative. But I have to remind you that it wasn't Jim Green's initiative."
On Jim Green's best qualities.
I do believe that somewhere deep in his dark heart he has some feeling for people who are in need of help. I don't think it's a matter of intention. I think it's a matter of implementation. Jim Green actually believes he's a good manager. That is absolutely not the case. I can tell you that from personal experience. That's a little dangerous. When you give him a position, and give him access to the bank account, he will spend the money unwisely.
"A lot of the COPE members are more suited to opposition. They can speak about good ideals, directions, where we should be going. But we certainly don't want to give them the keys to the bank."
On his decision to support a $477,000 grant to the Sea Vancouver Festival, which left a trail of angry creditors, and who is responsible for its failure.
"There was only one group that put together a non-profit society and got the support of the various stakeholders and put a proposal forward. That's the group that came forward. There was some due diligence. I was not part of that decision. There was a recommendation that came forward, and it's hard for me to take responsibility for this council's actions. But I think a maritime festival is needed in this city. We should really celebrate the maritime heritage. I endorsed the concept, but I certainly don't like how it was implemented."
On how he would cut the tax burden on commercial property owners, pay for a crime commissioner, increase policing, and reduce transit fares at the same time?
"Well, I believe there's a lot of spending that this council has engaged in that is unwise, and violates some longstanding policies of the city. The ward system referendum that cost $1 million. I had suggested that we wait for a year and put it on the ballot on November 19. They did not agree and went ahead, and basically blew a million dollars. That's the kind of reckless spending I have seen with other initiatives.
"For example, next year we're going to have a drug conference and the World Peace Forum. According to the city's policies we do not subsidize conferences. We have several hundred a year, and we don't pick and choose which ones we'll support. We decided we would not use our limited property-tax base to subsidize conferences. There's a $650,000 bill right away that could have been avoided."
On his strategy to find the tens of millions required reduce commercial property taxes.
I support the one-percent shift per year. It's modest, but it's significant enough that in 20 years we could have a better ratio. What you have to do is make sure you're frugal in other areas.
On whether he supported the annual week-long closure of the library under the NPA-controlled council.
"We protested it and said we didn't like it and said we wanted to keep the library open. But if you're going to set up a library board and give them responsibility and authority, you have to accept the decision of the board. It wasn't a decision of the council.... In retrospect, I probably would have been more vocal in opposing that. It's turned into quite a political issue."
On COPE's use of the property endowment fund.
"The fund is supposed to have the principle of sustainability first and foremost. We're supposed to maintain the principle and make sure we have it available for strategic investments. It does other things like supports our social housing programs, and it also helps to create confidence among external bond rating agencies. You could look at it as a rainy-day fund that we could have available in times of trouble.
"This council has decided to become the first in history to violate the principle of sustainability and take money from the fund and not return it. We know for sure it's $50 million. Some figures go up as high as $100 million. And that involves land purchase and the market value of that land now that will not be going back into the fund.
"One of the worries is that this is a precedent. With the east Fraser lands being developed, there will be pressure to use the fund to subsidize that development as well. If that happens, you can pretty well kiss the fund goodbye."
On the argument that creating the best possible model of for a sustainable community on the south shore of False Creek is a strategic investment in a different kind of sustainability.
"You could do that in any other part of the city as well. Why that one neighbourhood? Look at what the money is being used for. To put 66 percent of the development in non-market housing. We've got $15 million to lower the height of some of the towers. I think it's several million to make a full-service community centre as opposed to an aquatic centre. Remember, we have several full-service community centres within a 10-minute walk or ferry ride from that neighbourhood. I think that they're so emotionally involved in that project that they have not been able to make rational decisions and prioritize in a way that makes sense for all the other neighbourhoods. I challenge you to find any community that has three full-service community centres within a seven-block radius."
On whether the podium tower model that council moved away from is a good model for the former industrial lands.
"I think it's worked quite well in other areas. I am interested in the West End model of just straight towers that go into the earth. There's different ways to do urban design, but if it's going to cost you $15 million to do it a different way..."
On whether Vancouver's buildings are beautiful enough, and what great buildings have been constructed in Vancouver in the last decade.
"I think some of the newer buildings are beautiful in their way. I like the Shaw Tower and even the Wall Centre tower. I think they're attractive. I was just thinking of the Museum of Anthropology, but that's not the last decade. I think there are some great buildings being built in Coal Harbour. I think there are some great designs that are happening there."
On whether there's a better place in Vancouver for a Wal-Mart than the proposed location on Southeast Marine, which council rejected.
"It's hard for me to think of one. Remember, that we have two areas that are available for big-box retail: one on Grandview Highway and one on Marine Drive. The situation on Marine Drive, you've got a lot of highway-oriented retailers already, you've got the Dueck [car dealership], you've got the [Real Canadian] Superstore. It's not like that's a real example of neighbourhood shopping on that street, on that side of the block.
"It's very close to a future SkyTrain station. It's on a bike route, it's on a bus line. It's one of the few sites you can access legitimately with transportation other than the automobile. The other thing is the polls show the people in the neighbourhood favour it."
On whether Wal-Mart is a good corporate citizen that shows due respect to its suppliers and employees.
"All I can tell you is that some of the literature I've read -- I especially refer to professor Joseph Heath of the University of Toronto, who is certainly no right wing economist, he is certainly coming from the thinking of Jurgen Habermas of the Frankfurt School. Joseph Heath has a lot of good things to say about the Wal-Mart business model. He makes a distinction between the business model and business practices. You can have a good business model but bad business practices....
"Wal-Mart I know is rated by an independent agency by its own employees as one of the best employers in the world. I know they have at least 30 factories that are no longer allowed to supply Wal-Mart because of their own labour problems. So I don't know many other buyers in the world that have actually forbidden certain factories from supplying to them."
On Wal-Mart's practice of circumventing local municipal planning by locating their stores on Indian reserves.
"I'm not aware of that. I think it's a real problem on native reserves with issues like casinos and other types of projects. And that's not a problem of Wal-Mart. That's a problem of how we regulate that."
On the crazy idea he'd like to see fulfilled to make our city a more interesting place.
"I don't know if I have... I've been part of an initiative called the Philia Project that's funded by the McConnell Foundation in Montreal, and what we do is we bring in great thinkers, people who have unique ideas that have merit and should be discussed more broadly. We've done it in a very limited way. I'd like to see us reach out to the people around the world who are doing innovative things and bring them to Vancouver and give them a chance to let their ideas percolate through society and see if they have an pertinence. That would be a project I'd be very interested in."
Charles Campbell is a Tyee contributing editor.
Also today: The Tyee interviews Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green and Cope councilor David Cadman. ![[Tyee]](http://thetyee.cachefly.net/ui/img/ico_fishie.png){kind=small}
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Grumpy
6 years ago
Comments on "Sam Sullivan, The Tyee Interview"
Sam Sullivan is another politician who is ignorant of public transit and RAV. Engineers models? BS in, BS out! That's why Serco, SNC/Lavalin's partner, bailed and Campbell is now funding RAV with public sectoe pension funds.
I hope Sam wins, only to lose big next election when RAV is proven the white elephant it is!
Martin
6 years ago
Sullivan missed the point that local governments shouldn't be making planning decisions based on one's perception as to whether retailers are good corporate citizens, or not. Nor whether they donate to a political party the politician disagrees with, Mr. Louis.
When governments try to pick which corporate citizens are winners and losers, we all suffer. Let the market decide. It's always right; otherwise we'd still have the rotten retailers like Eaton's, Woolco and Woodward's.
kirk
6 years ago
I agree. I hate the way Sullivan skated around his opinion of Walmart being a good corporate citizen.
If he said, "Walmart is scum, but that's irrelevant. This is a zoning policy matter." then I'd have more respect for him. Even if he said, "Walmart is great, but that's irrelevant." At least then we'd have an answer. But he didn't.
Quasi-related, I wish we had access to the full transcripts of both the Green and Sullivan interviews instead of just what the Tyee decided was relevant for us.
dangrice.com
6 years ago
I see the Georgia Straight endorsed Sam, and the editorial, while not flattering did a fair job in portraying Sam.
He's very humble, if you've ever talked to him or heard him on the radio, it become evident real quickly. I mean, he's never been one of the more vocal members on council but he also doesn't say things than are inflammatory. The first time I met him was outside the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform. He came to watch the process going on, and I talked to him briefly. He told me his interest in being there was to see how the assembly came to its decision. This was after he defeated the wards referendum. I gained a lot of respect for him, because he told me he didn't believe electoral reform was done, and that he had a lot of misgivings about the current at-large system, but thought wards was pushed on Vancouver. Later, he attended one of the organizing meetings for the Yes for STV side. He was the first councillor to publically pledge his support.
If you ever hear him, he'll ask twice as many questions as he gives answers, and you get a sense he's actually listening. It will be interesting to have him as mayor, with hopefully a nice mixed council.
Charles Campbell
6 years ago
The Sullivan and Cadman transcripts are pretty much complete. What's missing is mainly the many questions I didn't get to because we ran out of time; it's hard to get these folks for more than half an hour at the end of a campaign.
kirk
6 years ago
Thanks Charles.
Of course, I have to point out that you didn't say Green's transcript was complete. So, as a critical reader, I have to assume that the Tyee edited out Green's unfavourable comments and mistakes.
Either that, or Green droned on and on and on...
Just kidding. Thanks.
Working Man
6 years ago
What is this city's obsession with four blocks of Hastings Street? I have some news for you; the poor and addicted will always exist no matter how much money you throw at them. What about the rest of us?
I have a suggesting for lefties:
Have a spare room? Then put your money where your mouth is and Adopt a Street Person.
Any Takers?
Charles Campbell
6 years ago
While I appreciate the "just kidding", I feel I need to add that I didn't say it was complete simply because I didn't do the interview or transcribe it, so I have no idea.
barryjo
6 years ago
Hey working man,
Great idea, I'm not even a lefty and I have two of them living in my basement and they are doing very well.
The problem is perception, most people wouldn't have them in their home as they are typically dirty and unpredicatable, guess what, take away the dope from those addicted and help to instill a little hope in them and they can do quite well.
It's going to be a little harder to help them though if city hall has its way as they are petitioning Ottawa to legalize ALL drugs. I can't imagine what Vancouver will look like if council gets their way, free, plentiful and legal crystal meth, crack and all the other drugs in between. And guess who will pay for it all, yup, you and me and I can tell you it won't be cheap.
redrivergirl
6 years ago
Considering STV is the Fraser Institute's favorite voting system for BC, the fact that Sam endorses it is hardly a plus.
Who cares if he is humble? Is that going to give the taxpayers comfort as he, in the most humble way possible, acts primarily in the interest of big-business? (look at Sam's voting record)
What will that do to the face of this city? Make it more livable? Ha! Campbell in Victoria and Sullivan in Vancouver? No thank you.
Ian King
6 years ago
Martin spake:
In fairness to Sullivan, he didn't bring it up, and he answered it in his usual way. Saying 'it's irrelevant; move on' isn't his style; that's more a Larry Campbell thing. I'd actually expect to read an answer about the latest book he's read as he really is that much of a wonk.
In fact, that was the basis of Sullivan's decision. (I covered the hearings leading up to the decision on Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire.) For him, it was about the zoning -- Wal-Mart wanted a highway-oriented store in the middle of a district zoned for just that purpose. The application went above and beyond what the city required, and sported a design that could set a new benchmark for big stores. Sure, Comrade Louis wasn't going to favour it, but that's because he sees discriminating ahainst Wal-Mart as a Good Thing. Sully doesn't.
Personally, I find that his stance was sensible; namely, that you can't discriminate because it's Wal-Mart. If you go after them for labour practices, you've may as well kick out every McDonald's in the city. Sourcing goods from sweatshops? Might as well shut down every dollar store; and a lot of those shopkeepers literally put their own kids to work. Instead, the council sunk two perfectly good application to pander to a band of rabble who hate Wal-Mart because it's Wal-Mart.
The hypocrisy of many Wal-Mart opponents (including Murray Dobbin) can be seen in the large number that went to speak against Wal-Mart, while only a third as many opposed the much larger Canadian Tire proposed for the lot next door. (Dobbin didn't speak against Canadian Tire -- which suggests that he, like Comrade Louis, is find with a government that throws its weight around and arbitrarily bans some businesses but not others. The closet libertarian in me finds this deeply creepy.)
For the "better neighbourhoods" crowd: Come on now. This is Southeast Marine, which is scarcely a neighbourhood shopping district. It's not Kerrisdale Village, the Drive, Mid-main, or West Fourth. Wal-Mart's not likely to ever move to those places; the property values, surroundings, and infrastructure don't jibe with their business model of big stores and big volumes. Personally, I would not shop at Wal-Mart for a list of reasons too long to go into, but there are people in Vancouver who the store caters to. Let 'em have it, I say. I'll keep on going to my local dollar store to pick up my kitchen widgets produced by cheap overseas labour.
(And yes, I found the nattering on about the good old days of Honest Nat's during the hearings to be a waste of council time...)
darcy.mcgee
6 years ago
Hey Ian:
Thanks for posting well reasoned, well thought out comments. Nice to see.
redrivergirl
6 years ago
Oh, good grief, when was the last time you heard that McDonalds locked illegal immigrants inside their stores at night and paid them less than minimum wage? Wallmart just made the news again on a construction project where they fired the contracter and oversaw the work themselves, hiring, you guessed it, undocumented, illegal immigrants. Wallmart's model is just the mining company's store where the miners must buy at whatever price they charge and are always into debt so they never get their pay packet. It just hasn't driven all other businesses out yet. Give them time. Yes, we do have a right to say we don't want some businesses in our city. We do it all the time with brothels and opium dens.
dangrice.com
6 years ago
Red River Girl: "Considering STV is the Fraser Institute's favorite voting system for BC, the fact that Sam endorses it is hardly a plus. "
Honestly, do you base your entire political ideology around opposing the Fraser Institute. But, your wrong anyways. STV is a favourite of Gordon Gibson, who is a partner with the Fraser Institute. But other leading figures in the Fraser Institute have come out against electoral reform. Its a think tank, which means they hire a number of people who are economic conservatives, but who have different views on issues. Its basically a Journal and Speaker series for
Guess what else the Fraser Institute has recently written:
Sensible Solutions to the Urban Drug Problem: The war on drugs is lost and prohibition has been a complete failure. These are the conclusions of Sensible Solutions to the Urban Drug Problem.
barryjo
6 years ago
It's kind of ironic that they will not let Walmart open a store but promoting gambling with slots and casinos everywhere isn't really a big issue for council.
No way we won't let a department store start up but lets support and expand gambling and legalize drugs.
Who do you think benefits from the gambling and drug profits, big companies like Walmart, but I can tell you the effects of shopping for goods like you would in Walmart has a lot less of a negative effect on society than drug and gambling addiction.
It's a crazy city and it's about to get a little crazier.
redrivergirl
6 years ago
lol Dan! No, but I suppose it is a good a way as any considering that I do find most of their recommendations repugnant. And, in fact, the opposite of what I believe. :-)
STV is not a good alternative for other reasons than the Fraser Institute and support by Manning etal. I have many times stated here why I dislike it, primarily because it will mean computerized voting and we only have to look over the border to see how that's going. It would be much more difficult to ferret election fraud. Other things such as voter accessiblity (whether the average voter can follow and understand their vote transfers etc) and the fact that it does nothing to fix what actually is wrong in our system caused by FPTP are a few of my concerns. (I have a lot more) The endorsement by Gibson, Lowen, Manning etal and the introduction of it by Campbell's gov't are just icing. However, I understand that the promoters of STV are adamently for it.
Working Man
6 years ago
Newsflash:
I guess Comrade Carole got a call from her boss Jim Sinclair. Seems that she now wants Royal Assent on her Big Fat Raise, the one she voted for yesterday, witheld.
I am not sure which is worse: being a lacky or a hypocrite.
She is both and a flunky to boot.
Yammer
6 years ago
On Walmart:
I love the comparison to dollar stores, which also use underpaid labour to sell shoddy housewares and threadbare clothing.
The difference is that Walmart also has well-made things like socks, DVDs and first aid supplies, which a person might reasonably want.
But overall, Walmart is vulnerable on the issue of quality. Costco has a better business model all around. I think that good ideas win out in the end.
On Sam:
Bottom line, has Sam showed enough spark and talent to lead? He says Jim Green is not a good manager. Maybe, maybe not. But Sam does not seem to have a things he can point to and say, "I did that better than Green."
Great interviews...now on to JG.
fabian
6 years ago
On Wal-Mart, I agree with Sam that the decision is partly a Land use issue. Wal-Mart followed the City application process and should have been approved. In addition, there isn't any other place for a Wal-Mart in Vancouver and you don't want to lose sales tax revenue to N. Vancouver, Burnaby or New Westminster where there are pre-existing Wal-mart stores which are full of shoppers--many from Vancouver.
You also have very few retailers in South Vancouver except Oakridge Mall. The area around SE Marine Drive has been moribund for sometime and something needs to be done to revitalise it. The proposed Wal-mart and Canadian Tire stores would have helped do this. Moreover, there is already a Big Box Superstore near the proposed Wal-Mart location. Besides, Marine Drive is a major artery through Vancouver.
If consumers dislike Wal-Mart, they always have the option of shopping at a competitor like Sears, Superstore and The Bay/Zellers(which might be bought by the American Jerry Zucker). However, since Wal-Mart reportedly controls 55% of Canadian retail sales, Vancouverites should at least have the option of shopping in one Wal-mart store within their city rather than support the tax coffers of Burnaby, N. Van or New Westminster. Finally, I should note that the NDP controlled Burnaby Civic Assn didn't having any problem, approving an addition to a pre-existing Wal-Mart store at Lougheed Mall several years ago. It just seems that the Wal-mart store is much too ideological with the serving COPE councillors rather than being treated as a primary land use issue.
Ian King
6 years ago
For any company of a big enough size, you can find stories of exploiting workers; Wal-Mart are hardly unique. One lousy former employer of mine didn't give me the keys to lock the place up when closing; they made me sleep on the floor and tried to get away without paying me for my time. I guess we'd better shut down the Subway at 23rd and Oak if the same guy still owns it. Anyone with access to Canadian NewsStand -- which is to say anyone with a library card -- can find stories of business abusing workers. A Chapters store in Calgary paid a mentally retarded man roughly half the minimum wage for months until they were found out a couple of years back. Shall we drive them out of town?
You really don't need to convince me that Wal-Mart's practices are repellent. I'm aware of that. I do not think that it's the city's role to pick and choose based who opens a business based on a subjective judgment fuelled lergely by emotion and sob-stories, and applied so unevenly, focussing on Wal-Mart while letting the others slip by.
Here's a novel idea: how about hawkishly enforcing employment standards? It's a provincial responsibility, though -- but that doesn't mean people shouldn't be pushing for better enforcement.
All brothels and opium dens are banned, dear, not just ones with exploitative business practices. On the other hand, big-boxes are allowed in Vancouver whan lest I checked. A quick tour of the area around the proposed Wal-Mart would confirm this.
barryjo
6 years ago
"All brothels and opium dens are banned", not in our fair city.
Brothels are known as here as massage parlours and apparently they provide the same services as brothels and they are all over.
As for Opium dens, Opium isn't a drug that is popular anymore but its cousin heroin is and they have a government run shooting gallery on Hastings and they want to open more.
So we do have opium dens and brothels, the names have merely been changed.
Working Man
6 years ago
SQUEEEEEELLLLLLL....
The silent majority has spoken. The left can never take responsibility for its election defeats. It is all a conspiracy.
Squeal on!
ROBBINS Sce Research
6 years ago
November 20, 2005
ROBBINS Sce Research (1998)
robbinssceresearch.com
For immediate Release- ROBBINS Sce Research ‘voted in’ over mainstream press
The recent municipal elections in BC confirmed at least in three major upsets once again that ROBBINS Sce Research is able to identify voters trends beyond the capabilities of all major news.
In Coquitlam where ROBBINS first identified new Mayor Maxine Wilson’s opportunity in the summer of 2005, his recent polling confirmed her win. ROBBINS revealed Kingsbury’s support limits in the 42% area he finished with 44%.
In Surrey, ROBBINS first identified new Mayor Dianne Watts’s popularity over outgoing Mayor Doug McCallum in 2003. This poll was published in Surrey newspapers that year. ROBBINS recent poll pegged Watts at around 53%. She finished better than that.
In a stunning prediction that can only be considered clairvoyance on ROBBINS part ROBBINS predicted 51.5% for Sullivan and 48.5% for Jim Green. As between those candidates only Sullivan actually received 51.7% of the vote and Green 48.5%.
ROBBINS was also the only pollster in the free world to accurately predict the 2004 U.S. Presidential race, predicted early the rise of the NDP with accurate seat predictions, and the STV vote. ROBBINS also predicted accurately predicted the outcome of BC’s aboriginal referendum.
“With results like these, there can be no doubt that I am now the best in the business†adds ROBBINS.
Toot your own horn? Absolutely.
Glen P. Robbins
(604) 942-3757
-30-
Wallace
6 years ago
Well, that is two posts with the same message in two threads non-Working Man. You limited to one partial thought a day?
Working Man
6 years ago
The straw man attack is indictitve of the Left; the inability to take responsibility for one's actions, the lack of accountability and blaming others for losing.
Why did you lose so miserably, Wallace? You are all but wiped out.
Tell me that it is all a conspiracy. The silent majority will believe you, won't they?
Wallace
6 years ago
The information on the James Green piece will come out, and I am prepared to wait. But, there is something rotten in this election. However, the smell is prevalent throughout our political system.
non-Working Man writes:
"Why did you lose so miserably, Wallace? You are all but wiped out."
Thanks non-Working Man. I always enjoy a chuckle, and shallow analysis always tickles my fancy.
First, you have no idea how I voted, or where my vote goes in any election. I do not blindly vote any party, at any political level. But, if you want to discuss something useful, here you go.
The absurdity of your comment is the funny piece, as it is based on the fraudulent perception of a "wipe out" or a landslide win by anyone in our system.
Sullivan received less than 50% of the vote with 47.3% of votes cast. Green received 44.5% of the votes cast. How, non-Working Man, does that translate into a "wipe out".?
I would say that what is indicted is there is a large part of our community that has their vote ignored, and political power is given to a minority. Not just at the civic level, but provincially and federally as well. I am sure your voice, non-Working Man, was raw from howling when the Clark government was elected, although he lost the popular vote.
The second piece, to open discussion, is the absurdity of the one ward system in Vancouver. (Please don't engage in a rant about the most recent vote on a true ward system, as that is another story for another time.)
The issue I raise is geographic plurality. I have gone through this morning's special edition and note one thing missing in all the charts and graphs, is a total vote breakdown by poll. Serious journalists would have tracked and disseminated those numbers for any "special edition." I will make further comment on this when those numbers are available.
dangrice.com
6 years ago
Robbins, Dan Grice says to you, if you are going to toot your own horn. Do it in the first person!
tedzsee
6 years ago
I agree with Dan, Robbins. Your last few sentences were, in particular, quite painful to read. ;)