How many Polaks does it take to disband the RCMP?

The Internet world is abuzz with the death video of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski who was tasered at the Vancouver Airport. Finally, world class status. Who needs the Olympics when we can embarrass ourselves with one little video? We can save so much money! Obviously, deporting Maher Arar to be tortured in Syria was not enough.

How many Indians… Oh never mind

Meanwhile, a public inquiry into the VPD’s handling of Frank Paul, whom they left in an alley to freeze to death, has begun. They probably should’ve just tasered him, that way there would be no public inquiry, and it would be covered in the VPD’s recent blanket apology to the residents of the DTES.

Plant Life

Civil City commissioner Geoff Plant defends his job at city council. Yeah dude, we totally need to do more research on homelessness. Take your time, I mean we’re only paying you 300,000. What’s that? You count 2,000 homeless? Up from 680 in 2002? Totally unrelated to the massive cuts to welfare, right? Hmmm, I wonder what we should do? We obviously can’t afford to build housing, what with a billion dollar surplus and all, we gotta spend that money on a convention centre that may or may not actually be used.

Thug Life

The War on Drugs hits home with a spate of shootings in otherwise idyllic Vancouver. Solution? Step up the War on Drugs of course! Unless you’re some crazy hippy coroner who has seen more drug overdoses than a Keith Richards biography. Meanwhile the aforementioned Civil City report recommends something called positive ticketing. Like if you make sure you have the safety activated on your glock, you get a free swim. Seriously.

What exactly is City Hall for, then?

Another reason why the DTES will remain a ghetto, despite visits from Bill Clinton, Dan Rather, and a special UN envoy: “In court documents, the city states it has “no legal duty on which a cause of action [lawsuit] can be based to inspect buildings, to order repairs or to ensure that buildings comply with city bylaws.” So next time you get a parking ticket, just be sure to mention this little ditty.

Survey Says

Sullivan bypasses council on Millennium Line Survey just like CAST and EcoDensity. Maybe it will be the Sullivan Line, completely independent of Translink that will go ahead even when if he loses the next election. Next stop: private donations.

All your base are belong to us

Speaking of which, Sullivan dodges questions about campaign finance reform, launches smear campaign against Vision. Of course, when the Westside rewards you for making sure the city didn’t go to a ward style election system, and for making sure the RAV Line went down Cambie and not Arbutus, of course you’re going to deflect.

The Working Poor

B.C. government says no to increase in minimum wage. Obviously, it would totally get in the way of their Thatcherite social engineering campaign. Do you really think they want you to live in a Coal Harbour condo? Nope, they want you to move to Surrey, buy a house at a particularly un-Surrey price, fall massively into debt, blame it on immigrants, read the Province, complain about gas prices, get wasted every Friday night, then forget why you were mad in the first place and do it all over again starting on Monday.

You mean Translink wasn’t already private?

And just to make sure you keep driving, Translink is going to raise fares in January despite an additional $17 million surplus. After all, they need to pay for not one but two bridges across the Fraser so they can keep cashing in on gasoline taxes. Oh, and because they know some people will get upset, they’re going to ‘overhaul’ translink to make it even less democratic and one step closer to full-tilt privatsation. W00t!