Now here is the real story.

The International Olympic Committee, were hearing, from numerous sources, that Vancouver's endemic homeless problem was spinning out of control. Lack of effort by the city, the province, and finally a comment from a Vancouver councillor that the city should purchase buildings in other cities to house the homeless, acted. After a brief phone call from the IOC to the Premier, where IOC stated "do you really want the 2010 gameas?" "We can pull the games from Vancouver anytime!". The premier has now ordered a new housing program.

Don't believe me, IOC did the same thing in Athens, compelling city fathers to build much cheaper LRT instead of a hugely expensive metro!

Q: Aren't all the construction trades booked up building white elephant venues for $lushfest 2010.

Q: Where will they find the people to actually do the work even if they fast-track the permit process?

Q: How much extra will taxpayers have to pay due to the labour shortage?

Q:Who could have possibly foreseen such a quandary?

A: Hell, yes

A: Who knows

A: You don't want to know

A: All the people who tried to make the poin that $lushfest was the wrong mega-project at the wrong time.

"point" not poin. Poin is what you'll feel when you see your 2011 tax bill.

Good scoop Grumpy,

What likely goes on behind the scenes, and based on past practice elsewhere, is often fascinating.

Given 2010 is rapidly approaching....watch some fast tracking and subsequent major protests .

Did I hear you right ...that a Vancouver councillor ACTUALLY said Vancouver should purchase buildings in OTHER cities to house the homeless? How would that work...and who said it???

If you want to know what's going on behind the 2010 Olympics scene check out OlyBLOG.com or even better still read LeverageOlympicMomentum.com.

Working Memory:

Congrats...excellent link !!!

The fact the Minister's given name is "rich" is no coincidence, I'm sure. - Creating more social housing in this sort of reactionary fashion is typical in Western Canadian Politics, where the shortsighted policies favor the Liberal's developer and corporate buddies - empowering their ability to exploit the cheap labor pool that Gordo has promised them. Maybe we should look at provincial policies that actually give people a chance and hope so they can sustain themselves, like apprentice programs and living wage legislation - rather than institutionalizing the entire working class in this province!

The Scandinavians have such a wonderful working model - why can we not learn from them?

I'll say. I call it elite watch. Hours of fun like gardening, you know, digging in the dirt.

It's become obvious to me that the elite will never permit homelessness and poverty to disappear and that this new announcement is window-dressing. For if our rulers wanted it we would always have had affordable housing. But, you see, mortgages are the number one source of new money into the economy. And as the debt burden worsens (debt is now about three times the money supply) ever more money needs to be injected. So what supports fatter and fatter mortgages? You guessed it, rising property values.

Banking is evil. Sure, some people get to make out like bandits but there is also an ever-increasing number of losers. It's structural and guaranteed. This is not the kind of society most of us would choose. As long as the banks print our money as debt, more window-dressing.

I suppose we'll be using offshore labour to build housing for our no-income homeless?

Or has some construction crew finished the skating oval that Vancouverites need so bad instead?

It has actually been in the works for a while. The tenders are out as a matter of fact and I have bid on several of the projects. Problem is because of NIMBYism there is really not a fixed date when building will start. That plays havoc with this kind of contract because it never has a cost escalator clause, like the Olympic construction has. This kind of contract can break a small builder like my company.

Frank, I have tried using labour from the welfare ministry numerous times. Unfortunately, I have had not had much success with the men. Several of my office staff are single monthers, though, and have worked out extremely well.

One way to address the housing problem is to increase the minimum wage. Last time anything was done on that front was when Gordie actually lowered the wage for entry level employees back in 2001. Since the 1980's the minimum wage has lost 40% of it value making it nearly impossible to live on. The price of a Big Mac would not have to go up that much to increase the minimum wage by a buck.

I personally and I don't think I'm alone on this, would love to see the 2010 Winter Olympics be taken away from British Columbia!
Just for the simple reason that Gordon Campbell thinks he is above the law and selling off all our publicly owned corporations!
Let's get to the bottom of this “2003 British Columbia Legislature Raids” as Gordon Campbell and his sheepull are all embroiled in organized crime and in OUR face corruption!
Do a Google search on Wally Oppal the Liberals Attorney General?
http://thetyee.ca/electioncentral/2005/04/13/34/
There isn’t any accountability for the massive over runs already being encountered, along with a conspiracy to cover up any and all related costs of this total extravaganza for the rich.
Where's the real media on this as CanWest is a liberal backer, CanWest donated 48 thousand to Campbell's war fund.
The Sea to Sky Highway going to Whistler Village which will only be used for two weeks by a small minority of taxpayers and the rest of the millennium by the very rich.
WE will be stuck with a monsterous debt for US and OUR children.

Workingman what kind of business do you have?
How much do you pay for your labors?
I was a journeyman carpenter with a four-year apprenticeship in the '70s at that time in 1978 we were getting $12.60 an hour.

I'm sincerely happy to hear that.

Rich Coleman is a stooge and a liar, unreported is the fact that the GVRD had a plan they proposed to him, they would be able to generate 56 million per year by raising a few fees that would have had no impact on the system . They asked for 100 mil from the feds and the Province and guess what, turned down flat. This would have been 256 mil and 2500 new units per month, we have the money and own the properties but folks like Coleman like to pass the buck.

Don't belive me, go search for the article in the New West News,

He is the guy who didn't want to extend the rent subsidy to welfare folks.

This problem can be broken down to its more simpler components .

I think many agree it ie Social Housing should be a Federal program , and hence a Federal Funding initiative.

However the Local Gov'ts control the zoning to facilitate the actual physical construction of such things as Social Housing .

Vancouver, for example, apparently has issues involving parking spaces with any sort of development which adds to cost.

Others may define social housing as Group Homes, and thus all the restrictions that go with them.

Vancouver has a- not- unheard -of NIMBY facet that has made sure that things like the Arbutus Corridor will not become a route for any rapid transit options , including LRT, in THEIR neighbourhood/s.

Unless all these Inter and Intra governmental ducks line up, and especially at the Local Gov't Level....the gridlock will continue.

maestro the Vancouver Councillor in question is Susan(?) Anton. An aquaitance who worked in the IOC tells many interesting and unflattering stories about the organization and the wannabe cities.

Don't you think they have their spies here reporting on political and weather events. Certainly they do not want any social unhappiness giving the fat cats a black eye.

Grump:

Bs is BS is BS is BS

Years ago I read a book on the Olympics by 2 investigative reporters called " LORDS of THE RINGS" and how the Olympic movement has changed...much of it rooted in the ADIDAS sports shoe empire.

The Olympics is one of biggest scams there is. The fact it is still going on with wannabee hosts indebting/mortgaging their constituents and STILL lining up to host it is a truly sad reflection on civilization.

Simply, the scary forensic economic audit performed AFTER the last podium presentation is over is so predictable, one wonders why there isn't a revolution.

It was only one or two bloody IOC Votes wasn't it, that ultimately gave us this F'n white elephant. What if.....

Pressure from the IOC to build more social housing, that would not otherwise get don is a GOOD thing.

This ones out of my league. Nice to see others are on it. Thanks to Grumpy & Working memory for the heads up lead on who's pulling Campbell's chain on this one.

Sorry .......mean`t done, not don.

This thread has given me another brilliant idea. If a home or shelter, or food or transportation is a 'right' then let's come up with practical solutions.
Obviously downtown Vancouver is an economical place to house the homeless.
Nor is there enough food or free transportation for the homeless in Vancouver.
It might be a good idea to house them in a rural area, where the costs are less, and we can do more to help these homeless poor people.
I mean, are we interested in actually doing some good towards these unfortunate cases, or are we only interested in window dressing? I ask you this question.
What rights do we really have?

Ron, where were you during the run-up to expo 86. on Mars?

Transportation in Vancouver is cheaper than having to own a car in a rural area (bikes are cheap to run, bus passes relatively inexpensive, plenty of things are within walking distance), plus there's food bank and soup kitchen resources that don't exist in rural areas to the same degree.

Plus, there are buildings in the city sitting empty that could be utilized for housing, as the APC keeps having the gall to point out.

If we ARE actually interested in helping the unfortunate, transporting people to rural areas where there's little in the way of counselling, entry-level employment, and education opportunities doesn't strike me as cost-efficient.

Sorry G, I meant to say downtown Vancouver isn't an economical place to house the homeless. Sorry for the slip up.
I don't think we are Doing a very good job of helping the homeless poor. After all it's the homeless factor that needs to be addressed.
The vacancy rate for apartments in Victoria, right now is %.05. Hardly anything available.
If you look at Victoria, there is no light at the end of the tunnel if you are looking for reasonably priced rental accommodations.
Sorry, but that's the way it is.
There is not much happening now to add any affordable rental homes. So it looks like there isn't much hope for anyone to settle down here, anytime soon.
It's not easy to make it here on the Island.
All you can do is work hard, and maintain your space.

Ron

I thought you were talking about the homeless?

Obviously you've got something else on your mind.

Don't let me interrupt your reverie.

Way back when, the Bennett team was doing their thing with Exp 86. They were making a mess of it so got Jimmy Patterson to come straighten things out. First thing he did was fire the board. He got a few perks so don't think Jimmy did it all for free. Some slum landlords were evicting the poor from their long time residency in hotels. A few guys were so confused they died. The slum guys figured they would make big dollars but most folks wouldn't go in the places. With COPE running Vancouver the intent was to not allow such things to happen. They will happen now. Money is needed for co ops,and social housing. The fe4ds stopped building social housing years ago , same as co ops Tourists don't feel comfortable seeing people sleeping in the streets. But if they started tomorrow and went full out building there would still be a need a couple of years down the road. I wouldn't hold my breath expecting the ex cop to solve anyones problems He is more of the line of thinking of the MLA from the west end who wants to haul the problem folks out of town to hide them. My God when the bills come in it will hurt us all.

Maybe they can take the homeless on a ferry cruise using the aging boats in the fleet. Then they could just scuttle the whole works. It seems they won't even need to keep records!

as long as the ferry workers don't get jiggy with it while they're supposed to be steering the boat. oh well, their union will do everything in their power to protect them from being punished anyway won't they?

imagine that. neo-nazis building social housing. wonders never cease.

Sez Elliot,

I see you're not growing up very fast little man! Keep screaming from the sidelines. The real players find it kind of amusing.

Good game tonight eh?

Howdy G West:

Yes ,G'ster, I agree, it was a good game.

The Canucks have performed a major turnaround, good line juggling, though I think they should have bagged an empty netter to make it a 4 -1 victory.

I'm glad you also found the time to keep on top of this issue as well as the OTHER issues.

Comrade "M"

I think I'll accumlate a little more evidence before I jump on that bandwagon.

Their defence is still very questionable and looks like a high-school fire drill at certain critical points in the game - still, it was an improvement.

It is nice to see that they can actually score more than 2 goals in 60 minutes though.

They're jelling G, I've already phoned in my spot on the parade route.

Is it a bandwagon to say I really really like beating Calgary and Colorado?

Elliot said re: union ferry workers:

You know, I may be mistaken, but I believe that only non-union personnel can (and could have) ordered the destruction of our (the shareholders') records. The union does not control the management of records - cannot order things to be shredded.

It is deplorable, and the fact that the major media is not talking about it, is just more proof that they are in cahoots with the current government and whoever is running the ferries. I saw nothing about on Global or CTV. I did not find it within the online versions of the Province or the Sun. It was in yesterday's Province, however. This is big news and it should not go down so fast.

And, yes, it is a union's job to protect it's emplyees. A union is like a family, whereby they try to help their brothers and sisters when things are tough. Union members do not command the six and seven-figure salaries that management gets, that is why they help defend one-another.

My apologies for hijacking the thread with another topic, but i believe that Elliot's slur needed to be brought to reality.

including protecting them when they've committed criminal negligence causeing the deaths of two people eh sharing? nice work if you can get it.

Frank - naw - not a bandwagon and you're right - it is nice to beat Calgary.

They are almost as annoying as Elliot

they've committed criminal negligence causeing(sic) the deaths of two people eh sharing (sic)?

Elliot,
It it a rule with you that you NEVER make any sense except when you're talking sports?

SharingIsGood
You are so right about CanWest we are being dumbed down,total conspiracy with the BC liberals in OUR Legislature Buildings.
http://bctrialofbasi-virk.blogspot.com/
http://www.olyblog.com/06/JuxtapositionFLIPS10202006.shtml
http://www.olyblog.com/
How long are we going to take this bull?

Elliot,
Please ask to have yourself precused as a juror anytime you may be asked to serve: you seem to have prejudged the ferry workers by what you have learned about them from CanWest Global. As far as I know, they haven't even been indicted. If they are (eventually) indicted, they will deserve their day in court like just about everyone else in our province (except for some Liberals and Socreds who have obviously been guilty of insider trading, information peddling, and/or out and out graft and corruption - they seem to get off with bonuses and lifelong pensions).

Having worked for the BNS at the corner of Columbia and Hastings for several years in the early '60s and watching the drug trade then, little has changed. What has changed is viable businesses leaving the area and the criminal element taking over, not only on the street but the store fronts as well. Who has let it happen, and why, should be answered by the three levels of government that have let it happen. Just look where the 'money' has moved. Underground below Granville and Burrard Street. Can't have our betters rubbing shoulders with the riff raff and criminals now can we. Who suffers? The long term elderly residents that have lived and put up with crappy deteriorating accomodations. Who profits? The blood suckers who make campaign donations to the very folks in power that have the legislative ability to correct the problems of the downtown East side of Vancouver. These same folks also did the same thing to Granville Street (downtown) And what seems to be the solution brewing in the circles of power? Move the homeless and soon to be homeless to the suburbs. God help us all with these crass self serving folks running the country.

The Homeless situation is deplorable in this city and in Canada!
How many folks here are about 1 payheck away from being homeless?
For anyone who reads "The Common Ground" the article in December issue "Community Vs, corrupt commerce" Geoff Olson
http://solari.com
Also in The Common Ground
For real news on this Planet of OURS
http://english.aljazeera.net/News
Find out why CRTC wouldn't allow alj on Canadian TV!
I think that WE/the people have to go back to OUR old way of "Buy Local"
not IGA, Safeway, box stores etc
We don't need these bunch of crooks leading US by the nose to Ruin

http://commonground.ca/

We used to live in the Four Sisters Co-op in the DTES on Alexander street.a few steps from Main and Hastings. And yes we paid market rent so others could live there at assorted levels of subsidy. It was our home. Yes a lot of poor live in the sleazy hotels but their little room was their home too. DERA worked hard to make the places safer. The owners baulked and bitched, but eventually had to put in sprinkler systems to protect the tenants. DEYAS set up the first clean needle exchange under John Turvey O.C.a ex street person.
I do recall a place on Hastings that had an elevator that was broken for a very long time. If you were disabled and lived on the fourth floor too bad. There were drug dealers around but they pretty well stayed in a very small area. Chinatown is there as well with lots of food bargains and some really good restaurants. It was a neighbourhood.

Parts of the area will be uprooted again as the big games show up for a two week or so duration. There are a lot of buildings that could be upgraded for single folks to live in safety and some comfort, but governments have to get off their asses to do so. I don't see the present gang doing much of anything for those folks. a government that looks after the poor, sick, old is a good government I don't see our present one doing that role.

I saw on the news recently that now PARKING in Vancouver is becoming a major issue for those who have businesses.

Parkades are being torn down and more condos etc.are being constructed. This will lead to more displacement of mixed use zonings, these businesses potentially fold, and these current commercial buildings themselves re-developed into condos.

My Dad recently went to vist relatives in high- priced New York City, and apparently much of the commercial districts are Ma and Pa businesses.

A Nephew studying in Holland/Netherlands says its actually cheaper to buy from Ma and Pa businesses than the large chains.

This displacement which starts at the grassroots ie the poor and works its way up in the socio-economic chain is truly poorly planned and lacking in long term vision.

My own conspracy theory is this is rooted in the Olympics and all the political players are shite-ing bricks knowing the public backlash when the bills come in and all the inevitable Auditor General audits.

As I have stated many times before, dense re-zoning is the biggest and best cash grab Gov't can have, via the DCC's levied and residential development is THE hottest cash grab ticket right now.

They are simply trying to create enough revenue via rezoning to cover their asses fiscally , and all the collateral and peripheral consequences be damned.This formula is being employed all over.

I will bet a nice shiny looney toon that:

1. No level of government will even attempt more than a token of the units they are pretending to care about, however much money becomes available.

2. None of the token units will be anywhere near where the people live now. They'll be moved to Surrey, isolated from each other and placed where no services or jobs will ever be.

3. All the contractors hired to produce whatever units they do attempt will turn out to be large contributors to Liberal causes, in unaccountable ways like campaign funds or front organizations. About, say, $10,000 for each ten million in contracts.

4. All the units produced will be traps. Low quality, poorly maintained, with rental contracts designed to prevent these people from ever escaping the poverty that drove them into them.

It's what they do, these Liberals. What reason on earth have they given anybody to think they might start telling the truth now? Especially about people they hold in such contempt.

3 years old but still Applicable
This is our fearless leader? not in my book.
http://www.creativeresistance.ca/awareness02/2003-aug28-our-premier-makes-global-capital-a-whopper-of-an-officer-bill-tieleman-georgia-straight.htm

That's lovely dude.

Thanks.

A bunch.

wrong again socialismisajoke. the information comes from a bc ferries worker that knows these people personally. you're about as accurate in your deductions as gwest the repetitive moron.

Still screaming nonsense from the sidelines. You'd be more at home in GM Place. Such behavior isn't quite as out of place there.

DPL and Burgess, Thanks for adding "having lived there" perspective to this topic. It makes it more tangible for me.

BC Dude, Bailey, G. West and Maestro your submissions are caring in intentent and that bodes well you (and the majority of Tyee bloggers). I like seeing people in the process of good Karma building.

You think Falcon is pissed now, just wait until those new ferries show up from Germany,
then there will be a whopper of an import duty tax.

Not that this will have any impact on Rich Coleman or any of the other semi-autonomous puppets on Campbell's strings; this article from today's New York Times magazine should once and for all put the lie to the neocon crap about poverty and homelessness being something that can't be solved and dealt with world wide - let alone in our own back yard. It’s not the money that’s the problem, it’s the lack of will.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/17/magazine/17charity.t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin

Estimated taxes for the ships built by a heavily subsidized yard in Germany is around 85 million. More BC money leaving the province, just like the tax on wages, the losses to assorted materials needed to build here. The biggest ferries we have were built in BC but somehow Gordo and his gang of slugs decided off shore would be a deal. Everyone knows you pay import taxes on boats coming into the country, everyone but Gordo's boys who figure the fed would give them a deal. What a bunch of brains we have dropping the ball on such a thing.

I have no problem with unions, just public sector unions.

$85 + 17 plus = 102 million in taxes. What about the PST?
Public sector unions have been screwed big time by the senior management and politicians. The number of jobs transferred to political appointees that used to be civil service jobs needs investigation. Many of these 'jobs' carry remuneration that a union employee can only dream about. (Plus the added benefit of taxpayer funded airline tickets and credit cards that can in some cases be used for personal shopping trips to Europe or wherever.) If it wasn't for the public sector unions the civil service would change every time the government changed. Trouble is the hard working front line government service workers are bing replaced by politically appointed freeloaders who feel they are 'entitled to their entitlements".

you're right Burgess - more than 185 of them in the spin and news business for Campbell and his clones alone - every single one of them OIC appointments.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/local/story.html?id=8db61323-057e-46

And these 2800 political appointees all get six figure $$$$$$ jobs along with expense accounts that sometimes rival their salaries. One has to wonder about the remuneration of the others. Our acadian friend is looking at the wrong problem. type in "Ottawa Patonage" and take your pick of 333,000 posts.

Dead link burgess - can you update?

The problem I have with them is that they're....er....taxpayer supported. If they can be broken so that it frees up a little cash in my pocket -great. I support a worker's right to organise- I'm a union member myself, a trade union. Companies pay me, not the taxpayer. It's just the principle of the thing, that's all. They are the public service, they serve the public. With so many people working menial service jobs, why should public sector unions get to live like an aristocracy?

They don't!

ORDER in COUNCIL appointments do...live like an aristocracy - further, they have not had to meet any employment requirements - they only have to be the apple of their political masters' eyes.

Now that's a real aristocracy. You’ve been in the states too long Acadian.

All work has dignity if it's done well and with integrity. Why shouldn't public service workers be treated respectfully and have a right to decent pay and working conditions?

you're right, I regret the choice of words to use 'aristocracy', when all they are asking for are decent wages and working conditions. Everyone ought to have both of those.

Let me try from another angle: if work can be outsourced to a private company at a savings to txapayers, then I am for it.

(taxpayers)

Try to remember who we are, Drriftwood.

Very large country, very small population, very short growing season. This makes us mutually dependent far more than Americans ever were. And we always liked this about ourselves, so don't bother hauling out self reliance cliches gathered from American fantasies about themselves.

Boom and bust is our long time traditional pattern. The Yankees come while the prices are high, the Yankees highgrade everything shamelessly, the Yankees bugger off for another five years till the prices come up again.

This means that resource towns, prosperous while the boom is on, dry up and blow away when the bust comes. This means that next boom, nobody around to do the work, no infrastructure left. This means no next boom at all.

Public service jobs are industrial standard family supporting paychecques for a reason. Sometimes for years, the cops, the posties, the ferry workers and the liquor store employees are all that keep some small fishing and logging towns alive, they support not only families, but whole communities.

Plus, while government pays these decent wages, government also collects back high percentages in taxes, direct and indirect, The money circulates, and the effect is multiplied. So no matter how much they might pay private interests to do the same work without paying decent wages, the government jobs are cheaper. And they support way more than one family, as they are spent in town.

So when the prices come back up, we're still here, and can benefit. We won't have to, for instance, ship all our highgrade logs to China, like the Yankees wish we would, so they can drive our prices down.

Whoops! I forgot. The Yankees got that one, didn't they. Sorry, boss. Don't fire me. I didn't mean nothin. Please don't take away my $9.50 an hour!

Screwed again, eh?

your argument is so weak I can't even respond.

You call my argument weak, who think public service jobs are aristocratic at $17 or $20 an hour?

Never worked in a logging town or a fishing port here in BC, did you?

I wasn't arguing with you, driftwood, I was explaining to you. From the point of view of the workers who do the work, and the communities who thought they owned the resources, not the companies that aren't Canadian anymore.

you can do whatever you wish, so longs it ain't on the guvmint tit. capiche?

Explaining something to a piece of driftwood, especially American driftwood, is a fruitless exercise Bailey.

Just let it sail off with the tide.

funny you say 'american', as though you can't handle the fact I am a bc boy. is it you can't believe how a canadian can hold a different point of view than yours, therefore he must be american?

the picture you painted, bailster, was of a canada which no longer exists. remote communities, isolated, depending on the government, etc etc....

it's quaint, but it's dead. we live in cities. we're well travelled. we've lived and worked in different countries. we're wired. we're on-line.

sorry to break it to you.

Alcibiades the article in question can be found by entering "Ottawa Patonage" in google. On my compute it comes up under the heading 'Federal Government's patronage system 'huge issue.' For some reason the whole address refuses to copy.
canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/local/ story.html?id=8db61323-057e-460f-a53e-0617efb89a2f&k=49624 - 40k

Thanks Burgess - I'm not having any luck with the link - I'll take the google route.

http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/local/story.html?id=8db61323-057e-460f-a53e-0617efb89a2f&k=49624%20-%2040k

See if that works?

Bit of an old story but I doubt much has changed in the past 11 months. In fact, Strahl's recent firing of the head of the Canadian Wheat Board is a pretty good indication that pee wee expects his appointments to be good little con men.

As president of a company which is meant to represent the views of its members I think it's pretty clear what Harper is up to and it's no different than the kind of things the Liberals did.

That isn't very clear is it? What I mean is that Harper has fired an appointee and put someone else in his place who toes the neocon party line - rather than taking any notice of the democratic wishes of the majority of farmers who want to retain the wheat board in its current configuration.

I think it's quite clear Harper is planning on screwing the small and medium sized farm operations which have depended on the wheat board for their limited success.
He's capitulated on their interests and succumbed to the blandishments of big corporate farms.

Canadian Nationalism is up to the 30 million hard-working law-abiding Canadian people! There are less than a few thousand, if that, greedy wannabes!
We Demand A Strong, Independent and FREE Canada!
Harper will go down with george.
Is Banff the new NAU Headquarters?

http://www.friendsoffreedom.org/

http://www.canadianactionparty.ca/home.html

http://www.olyblog.com/
"2007 YEAR OF THE PEOPLE FOR THE PEOPLE"
The rich and the superrich have given the people no other choice but to march on Victoria and Ottawa! Remember Gray Power!
The federal government at that time backed off of de-indexing the Old Age Pension because the seniors from across this Great Nation marched on Ottawa hence Gray Power!

I apologize for my fit of bad temper. This kind of nonsense just makes me crazy lately.

The guy just personifies the type of co-opted brain that's bringing the world to it's present ends. He spouts undigested claptrap propaganda as though he got it straight from the mouth of God almighty, (played of course by Charton Heston).

Then fifteen people painstakingly disprove his foolishness, quoting facts, figures and history to show him that the popinions he got from Walmart are not true, and his response is a cliche out of the Nixon era.

Somebody tell him that this discussion is about 'guvmint tits' who work for us, not for frigging Halliburton, who agreed to care for the poor and sick and helpless, took our money to pay for it, gave the money to somebody else, and are now telling us we have no right to bitch about it.

How many Enron people are working in the background of the British Columbia government?
Merry Christmas everyone and as I said 2007 will be a great year "FOR THE PEOPLE OF HIS GREAT NATION OUR CANADA"

Cheers Bailey - have a good Xmas - you too BC Dude. All the best in 2007 - with a little luck we'll dump this harper thing in the next 12 months.

well then I'll try to be more diplomatic. here is how I feel: the canadian federation needs to decentralise. All powers that are not absolutely critical need to be put in the hands of the provincial governments. recognising quebec as a nation, and electing senators further this agenda. to break down as to why I feel this way would require an entire book, so I can only offer a few tidbits here. Canada would probably look a little more like Europe than it does today, but why not? I'm not convinced a strong central government is what this country needs.

furthermore, I have lived in qc., and I can tell you sir, they are a nation, with a history, language and territory. In Canada today, we still have a colonial relationship with quebec. Will they separate and destroy Canada. no way -this fear is brought up time and again but this scenario wil not happen. quebecers want a common currency with canada, in the same way that france wants a common currency with europe.

here in bc, wouldn't it be nice to live as we please, with the highest powers in the land residing in victoria, and not ottawa? think about it -we could even have stv. we could legalise marijuana, there's another two billion in the provincial coffers.

of course canada would always be here, just like europe will, too. we'll keep the canadian forces, we'll keep a common currency.

and I still sound like charlton heston, huh? so when was the last time you posted something worthwhile, except an irrational rant against the usa? can you come up with something other than a norman rockwell painting of children skating on the rideau canal?

I'm sorry driftwood, but it's a bit of a stretch to even contemplate G West, Bailey, and/or BC Dude wanting anything to do with associating their thinking processes as though they were images handed to them by America's foremost nostalgia artist Norman Rockwell.

If anything, I would put Bailey in with the Group of Seven.

G West, is pure Coast, I would give him something with clean lines, and yet organic and full of nature. He could handle a Tony Only, but i believe he would like something from the Starfish Glassworks or a timber fram house of used and reworked timbers ( using classic dimensions falling from golden rectangles and Fibinacci sequences.

BC Dude, I believe would be happy in an old double-ender wooden boat or a rustic cabin. I'd give him a Robert Bateman for christmas. Anything as long as it has a good wood stove and a place where friends could find comfort. It is not Rockwellian comfort, either, as BC Dude knows what winter rain on the Coast is all about.

These people have a good deal of class, and I would be honoured to have any of the three over for tea, or coffee, a glass of wine or a pint of ale and some bread. Get my drift?

I apologise in advance to Bailey, G West and BC Dude. I have not meant to offend any of you by ascribing a preferance that any of you could have in art. These were merely whims that have somehow imaged their way to me through your electronic keystrokes in Times New Roman.

are you stoned?

NO, but my arthritis seems to have interferred with my typing, a bit. I seem to have misspelt and misplaced a few commas. Many apologies. One need not be stoned to have artistic thoughts.

I'd like to return the compliment, SharingIsGood,

I'm honoured to be placed in the same sentence with the Group of Seven, thank you. I always have an affinity for images of the world, and the world imaged by those magnificent Canadians of the last century resonates in my soul very strongly.

Partly their luck to be working in this magnificent place just at the moment when it was accessible enough to be reached, but before it was accessible enough to be logged. Places like those they celebrated are fewer and fewer, and the whole world is the poorer for that.

May I say that your own spirit shines in your words, and can be seen by those with eyes to see. You have gentle thoughts, and your contributions add to the peace and clarity of the discussions here.

Thank you.

I’ll chime in with Bailey, many thanks SharingIsGood, you have a wonderful Xmas.

Funny thing! I took a design course from Tony Onley at UBC once upon a time...he's sorely missed.

My dream house though...you're a wee touch off on that...I'm more of a FLW, Arthur Ericson, Mies Van der Rohe and Philip Johnson sort of fella.

You know the drill: transparent window walls stretched between horizontal slabs in such a subtle way that in and out seem one and the same.

Best to all of you. May acadian driftwood start thinking thoughts worthy of his evocative name.

Sorry Arthur, that's Arthur ERICKSON...no offence intended.

SharingIsGood I am speechless!
Wow! You have pegged me perfectly, You have not offended me at all, in fact you have inspired me to continue to write for Justice and Truth! WE are getting stronger in a very Greedy self serving world.
Thank You and a Very Merry Christmas to All and 2007 is the Year of the People!

I'm glad my hunches about the three of you (Bailey, GW, BC Dude) were close - 2.5 out of 3 ain't bad.

I guess I had the clean lines and nature part figured out, G West. I must add that those were polished and unobtrusive timbers I imagined (some of them butted organically into a bluff on the north). The skin of the house was to have much glass to bring light in as well as let it shine out.

Bang on SharingIsGood - thanks. The Tony Onley was very insightful...he was a pretty nice guy as well.
cheers my friend.

SharingIsGood my dream was a free standing 4 storey A-Fame with a potbellied stove!
Robert Bateman is my favorite Realist Artist/Painter
Peace On Earth to All!

Too bad we can't (as a society) imagine these objects and habitats of art for the homeless. Instead we marginalize them into 10th century Monte Python lives.

This site is very worrisome!
http://www.cfoss.com/

We have to trade rather than buy local is this possible?
Micro finance
Do we all need cell phones?
start a Local news papers
Stop buying STUFF
Buy from Sally Ann why always new?
Someone maybe a farmer start a local Farmers Produce delivery! In the 50's we had a vegetable and fresh sea food truck come to our house every wed!
Maybe crazy ideas but "Hey"

A lighter site for truth.
http://cockburnproject.net/

This has nothing to do with current blog but I think it very important to All CANADIANS as WE all feel something ain't right in lotus land.
BC Legislature scandal, media blackout of real news, sam's civil city bs, OUR freedoms are less and less.
WE CANADIANS HAVE TO TAKE A STAND VERY SOON!
NO TO USA BUSHITS
http://www.vivelecanada.ca/index.php?page=4
Conservative Party linked to pro-U.S. annexation cabal
Contributed by: Wraun
Activities tantamount to Treason, involving Breach of Parliamentary Oath and conspiracy to overthrow Her Majesty
by Peter Mackenzie

"Stand Up for Canada" appears to have been devised as a technique of mass deception, under the joint auspices of former ultra-right wing Alliance Party and U.S. Republican Party advisors.

In the last 2006 Federal Election, the Conservative Party kept trumpeting its slogan that it would "Stand up for Canada". Then, Opposition Leader Stephen Harper during that elected indicated that he would similarly "Stand Up" for Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic. Mr. Harper portrayed his party, as a party which would govern Canada with integrity and openness in a spirit of renewed democracy, in contrast with the 'corruption' of the Martin Liberals. As it turns out, these assertions by Mr. Harper could not be further from the truth.

Mel Hurtig, the founder of the Council of Canadians, and also a variety of other reliable sources including veteran CNN anchor Lou Dobbs, now reveal that senior elected representatives and advisors to the Conservative Party, are currently planning a scheme that would hand over Canada to the Bush regime by 2007. The official name for this scheme, is called "North American Union".

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Most Recent Post: 12/23 04:42PM by Diogenes
more on this from Google News

are you against the european union?

acadian driftwood
I'm against anything that takes away a Nations Autonomy
1 : the quality or state of being self-governing; especially : the right of self-government
2 : self-directing freedom and especially moral independence
3 : a self-governing country

Does this answer your "duh" question?

the Dude,

then you are against the european union? well...(I'm chuckling), you're on the wrong side of history.

the EU ain't going away for awhile...

the age of the nation-state is dead. when historians reflect back on our time, they won't call it the 'age of nation-building'.

perhaps the age of 'globalisation'?