A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Speaker Safaris And The Hubris Of Housing The Homeless

IMG_5334

by Sean OrrHousing staff on spending spree. No, this is not an article about the PHS. It’s from 2012. “According to a shocking and secret audit of company credit cards, B.C. Housing workers blew taxpayers’ dollars on flowers, booze and celebratory restaurant meals.” At the risk of providing ammo for free-market fundamentalists to decry the poverty industry, this highlights the hypocrisy and hubris inherent in the current PHS debate witch-hunt.

Oh, and speaking of the free-market: Business, real-estate ventures – not fraud – caused deficit at PHS. But Coleman will keep the real estate and axe all the social enterprise. How telling. Only pure capitalism allowed.

And speaking of corruption: Taxpayers charged ‘thousands’ by B.C. MLA Linda Reid for husband’s flight. I don’t want to stick my neck out here, but that picture of him with the giraffe is super adorbs.

More old news: Kevin O’Leary: He’s not a billionaire, he just plays one on TV. “The stranger told O’Leary he was a ‘total asshole.’ This is an anecdote that O’Leary relishes. It shows he’d arrived”. Only a total asshole would think getting called a total asshole means that “you’ve arrived”. I mean, what a total asshole.

White flight: Top 15 cities and towns to move away from in Canada. This reads more like a list of places to move to. Powell River is bad because only 8% of cars on the road are made after 2010?

Hmm, did The Province forget the tragedy of Johnson’s Landing already? Massive mudslide that rocked Washington State can happen here, says expert. So wait, you’re telling me that we have mountains AND rain? What are we doing about this?

Vancouver mural artist furious after Commercial Drive artwork covered in anti-pipeline graffiti again. “I’m a pacifist at heart, but there’s a part of me that would like to disable the hand that uses the spray can.” So, in other words, you are not a pacifist at heart. Best comment: “Seems like a win-win to me. The Oil Spill graffiti artist gets noticed, Basic’s mural gets noticed, and the Province gets to write another inane article on oil-spill politics.”

The serval cat’s pajamas: Criminal mastermind who calls Vancouver home draws attention of writers, filmmakers. Maybe John Malkovich could play him. I loved him in that other jewel thief movie

The closest thing to critical writing to ever appear on Vancouver Is Awesome: The problem of the beach. That’s why sometimes you gotta make your own.

Recycling regs could force a beer price hike. Recycling sucks. It’s only growlers from now on, I guess.

There are 6 comments

  1. Actually I think it highlights the importance of accountability and oversight where public funds are being misused. What remains is to effectively deter future misdeeds, doesn’t public outrage have a role to play in this? I think if you asked most peeps they would find corruption repulsive no matter where it occurred so I don’t get the ‘hypocrisy’, ‘hubris’ argument.

  2. Rich Coleman and BC Housing led a crusade to discredit the Portland Hotel Society. That is hypocritical in light of the example above. How much public funds did PHS misuse compare to BC Housing? You don’t see a double standard here? Because I’ve read that the PHS didn’t misuse a single cent of public money, but that their accounting practices made it impossible to tell. I’m all for public outrage though. Which is why I posted that BC Housing link from two years ago. Get outraged, properly and in relation!

  3. “Rich Coleman and BC Housing led a crusade to discredit the PHS.” Sounds like hubris to me, but provide the evidence for a crusade and I can remain open-minded enough to re-evaluate my opinion. In the past the PHS has experienced difficulties http://www.vancourier.com/news/stanley-new-fountain-hotel-was-a-key-prize-for-phs-1.919830 where Govt/BC Housing remained tight-lipped at the very least. Surely a shortfall of $2 million in the operating budget demanded a closer look, crusade……

  4. AND Powell River has an artisan bakery (The Moon Snail Artisan Bakery), a craft brewery (Townsite Brewing) and a diner (Magpies). AND some houses listed for under 200,000 (some with ocean views). We moved here from Vancouver and love it. we have a ’96 Honda van…

  5. ” How much public funds did PHS misuse compare to BC Housing? You don’t see a double standard here? Because I’ve read that the PHS didn’t misuse a single cent of public money, but that their accounting practices made it impossible to tell.”

    No I don’t see a double standard because a) they caught it themselves by conducting their own audit after noticing the increase in spending. b) there were 362 employee cards issued, therefore the math is simple and the numbers aren’t comparable to the egregiousness of the PHS rodents. c) the above BC Housing employees weren’t people entrusted with running a $28 million a year publicly funded enterprise. How long and how much money would they have pocketed if they were allowed to continue?
    This delusion you keep repeating that they didn’t misuse any public money is laughable. They were spending $2.5 million a year in admin expenses and the only money that wasn’t public was $99 thousand. How is it possible that you believe they did’t spend any public money? I’ve read there’s a tooth fairy, that doesn’t make it f-ing tenable.

On Ken Sim’s So-Called “Swagger” and ABC’S Class War

Sean Orr is back from his hiatus with a rundown of the local headlines that have been running on a ticker tape through his mind over the past six months...

On Post-Election Recuperation, Platform Paradoxes and Refund Communities

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds irony in "safety, affordability, and sustainability", and shouts out a bunch of amazing local organizations working on the frontlines.

On Running for City Council, Playing Whack-a-Mole with Homelessness, and the Public Washroom Deficit

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds a park ranger with a grudge, a gross misuse of air quotes and Tripadvisor slander.

On Living in a City Preoccupied with Street Cleaning, Chandeliers, and Campaigns Against the Homeless

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr hones in on the recent Langley shootings, and the ongoing criminalizing and dehumanizing of the homeless population.