by Sean Orr | B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell steps down. Sometimes, when you hope for something for so long and then it happens, you’re all like, ‘meh’. The dude actually believes that he has “led the way in climate action”, whatever that means, and “built a new relationship with first nations” by holding a referendum on land claims, and “got their fiscal house in order” by dismantling the social safety net and freezing minimum wage. I for one won’t miss the smug, obsequious, poor-hating, creep. I just hope the party’s neo-con policies will be a little more obvious with the next leader.
This will be his legacy: Funding cuts threaten job support program for destitute in Vancouver, and yet he slunked out because people were mad at the HST.
Opinion: Time for stronger action to save the DTES. Yes, save the DTES from those evil cheese and wine bars! Hey, how about directing your opinion to the governments directly responsible for the decimation of the social safety net and not a small business taking a risk on a community because its the only place it can afford because this city real estate game is on steroids.
B.C. unveils new mental health plan. 2 years too late and according to @petequily, completely ignores ADHD.
Shoppers Drug Mart removes Adbusters magazine. Not that you should be buying your magazines from there anyways, but this is plain bad optics. I’m taking my scrips to Pharmasave. Oh, they don’t carry AdBusters either? I could try Rexall, but then I’d be supporting the Oilers. What a huge moral quandary this is…
Cutting edge news from the Vancouver Sun: Oral sex often a prelude to intercourse for teens. Um…duh, there’s a reason it’s called third base.
Some actual good news: Canada blocks development of Taseko Mines’ project. And to think this entire time I though Teztan Bliny was somebody’s name…
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“How about directing your opinion to the governments directly responsible for the decimation of the social safety net and not a small business taking a risk on a community because its the only place it can afford because this city real estate game is on steroids.”
You said it Sean.
Megaphone posted an ill thought out rant. It is true that a neighbourhood can be gentrified beyond recognition or financial reach (Kits). And I agree that the DTES is “a rare and special place, where pioneering work on drug addiction treatment is being done” but coming down on small business is just plain asinine. Get involved in a productive way. If you preach bullshit that has no relationship to reason, you’re just in the way.
Rare and special? Sure, I’ll grant that. But the DTES was once the heartbeat of this city. It’s one of the only places in all of the downtown core where actual architectural heritage exists. And most of it is unused, in disrepair, or crumbling.
Why on earth can Vancouverites (note that I didn’t say foreign corporations) not reclaim this area as more than a social triage? Gentrification has become this awful word, when in reality, it can be positive and healing if done with creativity and care — much like Salt has. Or the Waldorf. Or so many other independent businesses springing up from the ashes.
argh I was hoping you’d weigh in on that Megaphone piece. I had hoped I wasn’t alone in thinking it wholly disconnected and bizarre; you nailed what it was I couldn’t wrap my head around. Vancouver is so weeeeeeiiiirrrrrrrrd.
Agreed on both accounts. If you want to stop gentrification, simply allow the real estate bubble to pop so that the whole “get rich off of real estate” thing can finally be put behind us. There would then be little incentive for small dog owners to move into ‘up-and-coming’ neighborhoods and less incentive for commercial real estate owners to attract said people by propping up like-minded businesses.
I’d like to see Sean Orr run for Premier. I’m serious too. It would be great to see you do something positive instead of just criticizing everything.
Gordon Campbell was due for a Dog Style Intervention anyway.
Hey Sean – I am searching for a word that would adequately describe you. It’s tough in this stream of consciousness, but I think I’ve landed on it: Dumb.
I have read a few of your posts in the past weeks and shook my head at the bitterness that you feel towards elected officials. You are the reason why people that should choose to serve the public decide not to. It’s cheap and easy to level personal and often extraordinarily inaccurate attacks at the Premier – but that should be expected from someone who likely goes to sleep with a copy of Das Kapital in their cold, clenched fingers.
Despite being elected by a plurality of the population for three terms, there are always the bitter and cynical who can’t get over that they lost (again and again and again). Like the Washington Generals, it’s a natural reaction, no one likes losing. But most good losers tend to shake it off, accept that the other team won and move on to other things (or another hipster coffee joint to talk about how ironic everything is).
I feel sorry for you – not only for your inability to be magnanimous on a day where an individual that has served the public for a quarter of a century has decided to step away from a successful and widely heralded tenure as Premier of the BC, but for your complete and utter lack of acceptance that government isn’t making about popular decisions, it’s about making the right ones. If it were the case, to ride the wave of popular opinion at all times, then you’d probably make a swell Premier (but then who who would you blame for every little problem in your life? Maybe yourself, for once – naaaaaah, or as Ralph Wiggum once said “that’s unpossible!”).
So Sean, bitter bitter little man, when you leave the little confines of your petty existence in Vancouver and go teach Nigerian children how to read as the “poor hating” Premier Campbell did, I’ll take you a little more seriously and feel a lot less sorry for you.
Keep the toque on bra – it’s cold out there.
Actually Dog I did run for MLA.
I thought third base was the finger bang…
“‘successful and widely heralded tenure as Premier of the BC”
lol
Really?
1,095 votes… You probably have more Facebook “friends”.
Keep the complaining up “dog”, it suits you.
Nicely put Clancy – maybe YOU should write fir Scout – I dig your style.
Hey Clancy, aka the 6% of the population that actually liked Campbell, thanks for taking the time out of your day to tell me that! I’m not sure where to approach your ad hominem logic but I can say for sure that you pretty much hit the nail on the head. I am bitter. Bitter that we have the worst child poverty in Canada. Bitter that we have the lowest minimum wage. I could go on and on, but the point is, I’m a blogger/musician/artist and I can barely afford to live in this city.
Why wasn’t Campbell magnanimous when he routed the NDP 77-2 and denied them official opposition status? I think the most obvious flaw in your logic is that he was somehow democratically representative despite obviously being the product of an alliance between at least three political parties. I think they were angry about some Fast Ferries. Hmmm…..
I’m not exactly why anonymous internet commentators continually ask me to qualify my self but I’ll take it as a good thing. I seriously believe, like I did while my Aunt Sheila was elected, that if you agree with any of Campbell’s decisions to, now I’m repeating myself, decimate the social safety net and slash arts funding, that you are my enemy anyways. We are just at opposite spectrums, no reason to start name calling really.
If you really believe that the Liberals restored our fiscal situation then there is just no amount of evidence I can quote from CCPA to make you change your mind. If you really think that Campbell made any significant advancements to climate action, by nullifying the carbon tax when he exempted fuels from HST, there is nothing I can say to you. Finally, I’m not sure what you mean by “keep the toque on bra”, if you are by anyway insinuating that my intellectual capacity is lacking then the mere fact I have your attention is contradictory.
I mean come on, even the fucking Province agree with me:
http://www.theprovince.com/business/Campbell+leaves+legacy+child+poverty+corporate+enrichment+increased/3773707/story.html
mmmmm….Red Herrings are delicious. I know you’re probably losing your free internet at the local Blenz, so I’ll hit you back later doggy. Seriously, I will, I’m just a bit busy doing productive things.
Yes actually, that was another logical flaw you used, thanks for reminding me. Or are you accusing me of using a red herring? And what’s with the Blenz crack? You’re proving yourself troll-worhty with every post! Keep going!
“Millions of dollars have been invested in shelters, food services, custom health facilities like InSite (a supervised injection site) and other highly specialized agencies.”
And yet Main and Hastings is STILL a fucking zoo. How’s that pioneering work on drug addiction treatment workin’ out for you?
Troll worthy? Look at your photo… dye your hair green and put a cute little dress on you – pure Troll circa 1995. Jay Z’d be sayin “true paTROLLin the city”. That’s what you do bud bud – so fitting, cept no coffee in hand walking down Cordova lamenting the gentrification of the Woodwards block that had sat idle for 15 years. (Or maybe you were using internet slang… I’m not down with that stuff, I tend to live my life in the real world – I get my vitamin D from the sun, not from ovaltine)
Re: red herring. Hey, glad to know you failed (or never took part in) Philosophy 100 – but that’s an aside. Lets get back to the OPINION-piece you cherry posted… How about the editorial board of the Province (never mind the Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, National Post and a multitude of other reputable newspapers) that endorsed Campbell in the 2009 election. Even today, despite the HST debate, which is advocated by such ill informed and un-educated individuals such as economists and industry leaders (economists look at numbers and stuff and industry leaders make these things called jobs, Sean) who have nearly unanimously stated that a value added tax is beneficial to BC’s economy and competitiveness in the short and long-term (BTW, the CCPA that you referenced above has endorsed the HST, LMFAO, dog).
I anticipate your rebuttal, The Georgia Straight did not in fact endorse Premier Campbell, true… It was a sad day when a tabloid that prints escort ads in full colour chose Ms. James over Mr. Campbell, but I digress.
You use many thing Sean, including the famous red herring. You also use incomplete or wholly inaccurate facts (like the fact it was the BC Liberals who raised income assistance rates for the first time in 20 years). You have stated some correct assertions, I will credit you that. You did run for MLA, for the Green Party. The same Green Party that attacked the NDP, not the BC Liberals during the 2009 election over their environmental policies. Funny hey?
Here’s another fact. You got trounced.
Sean, I would suggest that you go forward and prosper. Go forward and prosper in an economy that is the strongest in North America despite the economic downturn. Go forward and prosper in an economic environment that allows for entrepreneurs and low-income individuals alike to achieve their goals and dreams. Go forward and prosper in the healthiest and most literate jurisdiction in North America.
Or you could keep complaining.
Your choice.
Oh – and one more thing, because I can’t leave a Pabst Blue-Ribbon dry… A leading climatologist and a Nobel Prize winning member of UN International Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Andrew Weaver, said this about Premier Campbell:
“Gordon Campbell’s leadership on the environment is visionary and courageous, He and the BC Liberals clearly understand the importance of taking strong action to combat global warming right now. The most important thing that anyone who cares about our planet can do is to support leaders like Gordon Campbell who have the courage to aggressively combat climate change, while creating opportunities for a green economy.”
But you ran for the Green Party, garnered the votes equivalent to a graduating class of a Metro Van High School. So you obviously know better. Or perhaps you have a doctorate. Which based on the level of intelligence I have observed this evening is highly unlikely.
Keep rockin that toque, dog. It’s cold out there.
“We are just at opposite spectrums, no reason to start name calling really. ”
Clancy, there’s as much bitterness in your language as there is in Sean’s. I don’t usually agree with Sean’s opinions, especially when it comes to local business autonomy and natural resource development, but I thoroughly enjoy his posts because (once you discount the sarcasm) there’s an intelligent voice illuminating legitimate points. I’m as pro-business as you can get, but spend a few days and nights walking through the DTES and you’ll quickly come to understand the arguments (and anger) that Sean represents.
You come out swinging, and then pull a Tyson-like-ear-bite when you mention toques and Blenz internet time. If that’s the way you roll, maybe you just post as ‘Troll’ instead of Clancy, the silent majority of intelligent people who read these posts, and almost never comment, have little time or respect for patrisan mud-slinging when we can watch a better version of it on Fox News.
He was speaking to Dog the Randy Hunter, not calling you “dog”, you twit. Stop putting dog randomly into your posts.
Oh, and a troll is someone who posts offensive comments deliberately to provoke others on a message board, or yes…even real life. You are a troll, Clancy.
I’m in the “Campbell ran the province into the ground” camp, myself. So I celebrate it.
Hey BuddyGuy, great argument. Maybe if you had the brain functioning to remember (or at very least look up) the state our province ended up in while in the hands of the current opposition you’d think twice about which camp to set up in.
Elania could you elaborate? The NDP created more jobs, froze tuition fees, tied minimum wage to inflation, and left with a balanced budget. The Liberals came in and slashed social services and cut taxes to corporations, and introduced the training wage, yet still underperformed the NDP in GDP. Here are some nice coloured tables that illuminate your fallacy: http://thetyee.ca/Views/2009/04/23/BCEcon/
Ah yes the slippery slope logical fallacy: “Sean all you do is complain you should try running for office” “I did” “But you lost decisively” “That wasn’t the argument”.
Also the very fact that I use my real name and have a photo for you to judge contradicts your assertion that I am somehow a troll.
Also I’m not sure where you get your information that I ever once “lamented the gentrification of the Woodward’s block”. You simply made that up.
Also, I’m not sure how a massive media conglomeration like CanWest or Bell Globe Media is reputable, or that them endorsing the Liberals in any way whatsoever defeats my point, in fact I’d say it supports my claims. Also, are you assuming I’m a fan of The Georgia Straight?
Also I supported the Carbon Tax, but was confused when gas was exempted from the HST, thus completely negating it! But I don’t support the privatization of rivers so we can become an energy exporting superpower, I don’t support a record number of oil and gas permits handed out under Campbell, I don’t support underming the ALR, I lament the lack of action on Fish Farms, I laugh at Gordo’s photo-op with Arnie and the lost Highway of Hydrogen, and I’m sure if Mr. Weaver knew, he too would be appalled at the Enbridge tar sands pipeline across BC. The B.C. Liberals continue to refuse to bring in stand-alone species-at-risk legislation, and have been criticised by the Auditor General on the environmental record: http://www.bcauditor.com/pubs/2010/report3/conservation-ecological-integrity-bc-parks-and-protected-
Also, my toque is always on.
Cripes, as much as Sean wants to kick Gregor in the nuts, Clancy seems just as eager to suck on those same nuts.
Go forward and prosper in an economy that is the strongest in North America despite the economic downturn = that has everything to do with the Canadian financial sector debt exposure and a rebound in commodity prices, nothing to do with Gregor’s tenure
Go forward and prosper in an economic environment that allows for entrepreneurs and low-income individuals alike to achieve their goals and dreams = again, that has more to do with BoC interest rates and the BDC, nothing to do with Gregor
Go forward and prosper in the healthiest and most literate jurisdiction = as compared to where? Alabama?
All the above said, it’d be a cold-day in hell before I ever voted another NDP government into office in this province.
At least the BC Libs knew was makes British Columbians money and pays for our roads and schools – it’s timber, coal, copper, gold, and increasingly in our future, natural gas
My cat’s breath smells like cat food.
Thanks for posting our link, Sean. As it was an op-ed piece, Megaphone would love to publish a counter argument. Interested?
Actually Megaphone, I was already writing one up!
Cool beans!
He slunk out to put popular attention on “who’s next?” and away from “fucking HST!” There’s a word for this, it’s a political strategy word and it eludes me right now, but it’s textbook. Don Draper would say, “If you don’t like what’s being said, change the conversation.” But that’s not it. There’s a word for it.
^Falling on one’s sword?
I’m unsure as to why people insist on the “nice opinion, you obviously don’t have a functioning brain” insult. Clearly I have the capacity to form an opinion. And that opinion is “I do not think highly of Gordon Campbell”. Don’t insult my intelligence. Also, and I thought about this twice, you’re a dolt.
I don’t want to see you run for MLA. I want to see you run for a party leadership. Represent the whole province, in all of it’s diversity. Knock yourself out dude.
“Troll worthy? Look at your photo… dye your hair green and put a cute little dress on you – pure Troll circa 1995. Jay Z’d be sayin “true paTROLLin the city”. That’s what you do bud bud”
i just wanted to take a moment to point out that Clancy’s awkward attempts at humor reminded me of the first time Mom introduced me to her new boyfriend