Vancouver Would Be Cooler If is a column that advocates for things that exist in other cities that could serve to improve or otherwise celebrate life in our own.

Vancouverites and British Columbians can and should be proud of how they have responded to the Covid-19 pandemic. By social distancing, wearing masks, and following the guidance of BC Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry we remain in a relatively excellent position to weather what remains of the storm. That being said, I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that our campaign for collective participation has been delivered with too much of a soft touch, especially considering the seeming indifference (and occasional idiocy) of so many of our less informed citizens. I would much prefer the direction that Berlin is now going, which is to bring just a smidgen of official hostility into the conversation by way of a marketing blitz. Via CNN:

“Up yours to those who don’t wear a mask — we obey the corona rules,” reads the advert, which was launched in September and has now gone viral, causing a stir amongst the notoriously direct citizens of the capital of Germany […] Christian Tänzler, spokesperson for Visit Berlin, which is behind the advertisement, told CNN that the aim of the image was to shock people into paying attention. “Most people in Berlin are respecting the rules, but there is a minority who don’t, and they’re risking the lives of others — of older people and at-risk communities. We wanted to give attention to this problem,” he said. Berliners are known for being direct, he said — and that’s what they were aiming for.

It’s not too late to get this direct, so let’s give it a shot.