You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
The banners on the left side and below do not show for registered users!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
Vancouver Off-Topic / Current EventsThe off-topic forum for Vancouver, funnies, non-auto centered discussions, WORK SAFE. While the rules are more relaxed here, there are still rules. Please refer to sticky thread in this forum.
I see the principle behind the law, but it's pretty hard to prevent this in high level boards or councils. SO much of the work is actually done beforehand (eg. words of motions, budget, etc.). The official business time is to rubber stamp things and really to vote.
Aren't the majority of the council part of ABC, Sim's party, I mean how do you prevent them from having an ABC party meeting and discussing strategy & things?
So the rules at the municipal level are different than at the federal and provincial level in that all decision making must be done in public and this has been the rule for 140 years and it was recently reinforced that this is the case. The report notes that council members are all given training and reminded regularly that this is the case so there isn't really any grey area for council members to plead ignorance to the rules (vs people like us not knowing) - this is a "when in doubt...be conservative and do it in public" situation. City council meetings are very different than higher level meetings - things really are discussed in real time (amendments, disagreements etc) - this is routine for city level gov't.
Municipal party politics are run differently than at the federal or provincial level as well - Sim is trying to run ABC like a provincial party and is breaking the law as a result. At the city level, parties are really just loose coalitions unlike at the higher levels where you're "whipped" to vote along party lines and decisions are made by the party leader (or the party's policy leaders).
As for this specific case, Sim and party were quite openly dismissive of the investigation - they refused to turn over evidence, openly said they didn't believe in the work of the investigator (they even tried shutting the office down), used Signal so that conversations were handled outside of gov't systems (and were deleted) and would all say they couldn't remember what happened even when evidence showed what happened.
If you're not SUPER guilty why go through all that trouble to obstruct (and quite obviously lie about what happened)? How hard would it be to just say, "Sorry, we won't do it again." and move on. Instead they are trying to delegitimise a function whose job is to ensure gov't is being run fairly - that's some bullshit behaviour (and typical, again, of Conservatives in gov't)
FWIW, I read through the first 20 pages of the report - it's surprisingly easy to read (not written like a lawyer wrote it) and makes it pretty clear what happened - the investigation is pretty generous is giving ABC a lot of leeway, ABC is definitely guilty of far more than what is in the report, she just couldn't prove it due to their obstruction.
Did not know that about municipal government. Cue Sims changing the policy/constitution of Vancouver Municipal council policies.
It does sound a bit inefficient, again, I understand the principle behind it to try to prevent corruption (how has that worked in past councils?). Sounds like I am defending him, I'm not, just surprised that there is this stringent rule/law in the way council does business.
I voted for Sims, and even though he has his flaws, he’s done some good things since the Kennedy days. For example, the Van311 app now actually works. I’ve had numerous issues that the city addressed within days of reporting, including potholes, repaved streets, and snow removal from sidewalks around the park during winter. During the Kennedy days, good luck getting anything addressed. Sims also has a better relationship with the VPD. Yes, the VPD isn’t perfect and is flawed in many ways, but he’s done a decent job.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, you’re never going to get the perfect politician, they’re all flawed but Sims is still 100x better than Kennedy.
Kennedy is such a low bar to be used as a yardstick though, esp in how he went out of his way to take on responsibilities that should really be handled by the provincial and federal gov, with the result of those decisions putting the municipal gov under *HUGE* financial strain.
__________________
Quote:
Originally Posted by westopher
The whole world has gone down a road no one can recover from, and it's nothing to do with governments, it's because so much of the general public is so fucking stupid.
I voted for Sims, and even though he has his flaws, he’s done some good things since the Kennedy days. For example, the Van311 app now actually works. I’ve had numerous issues that the city addressed within days of reporting, including potholes, repaved streets, and snow removal from sidewalks around the park during winter. During the Kennedy days, good luck getting anything addressed. Sims also has a better relationship with the VPD. Yes, the VPD isn’t perfect and is flawed in many ways, but he’s done a decent job.
Unfortunately, in this day and age, you’re never going to get the perfect politician, they’re all flawed but Sims is still 100x better than Kennedy.
Would be good to spell his name right if you're such a fanboy, it's SIM. Ever met a Chinese guy named Sims?
Did not know that about municipal government. Cue Sims changing the policy/constitution of Vancouver Municipal council policies.
It does sound a bit inefficient, again, I understand the principle behind it to try to prevent corruption (how has that worked in past councils?). Sounds like I am defending him, I'm not, just surprised that there is this stringent rule/law in the way council does business.
Yeah it can be pretty inefficient AND it can make for awfully dull council meetings but OTOH, you get real insight into what councillors are up to. Read the notes on a council meeting and you KNOW who the idiots are really fast - I follow Burnaby council and it's obvious who the clowns are which isn't something you can easily pick out at the provincial and federal level as they can hide behind party policy.
Rules like this mean it's easy for us to find out that folks like Sim, Brenda Locke, Doug McCallum, Mike Hurley, and Malcolm Brodie are all stealing money from us (they all fucking suck as mayors - OTOH Patrick Johnstone in New West is great)
I would suspect this rule is a way to make up for the fact that at the municipal level there are very few checks and balances available - there are very few inspector generals (or similar) to ensure accountability especially in small towns where the job is a part time job. Requiring everything to be public means fewer secrets and makes it easy for voters to do their research.
I voted for Sims, and even though he has his flaws, he’s done some good things since the Kennedy days. For example, the Van311 app now actually works. I’ve had numerous issues that the city addressed within days of reporting, including potholes, repaved streets, and snow removal from sidewalks around the park during winter. During the Kennedy days, good luck getting anything addressed. Sims also has a better relationship with the VPD. Yes, the VPD isn’t perfect and is flawed in many ways, but he’s done a decent job.
Is that really Sim's doing? Is there any evidence that improved operations is an area that Sim has had direct impact on the running of the city? He did turnover/chase out several senior leaders when he took power - most of it in pretty murky circumstances.
I could believe that a mayor can have the impact you describe BUT I don't see any evidence that Sim possesses the interest level in the job that suggests he made the impact you describe. The man seems to barely know what's going on at City Hall and seems more interested in vibes and crypto than in running the city.
re: VPD - I can't think of a worse police department in the lower mainland. Their leaders, particularly Palmer, has been so openly hostile to residents that I view Sim's cozy relationship with them as a negative, not a positive. Add in that former cop, Brian Montague, is an ABC councillor who has said some truly awful things on Twitter (amongst other places) with zero accountability and I don't see how having a good relationship with the VPD is actually a good thing for Vancouverites.
like others said, i've always voted to get the active mayor out b/c they either implemented terrible policies or did nothing while the city got noticeably worse with taxes going up.
i don't know what Sim's legacy will be, only time will tell.
if he ran again not sure if how i'd vote
Is that really Sim's doing? Is there any evidence that improved operations is an area that Sim has had direct impact on the running of the city? He did turnover/chase out several senior leaders when he took power - most of it in pretty murky circumstances.
I could believe that a mayor can have the impact you describe BUT I don't see any evidence that Sim possesses the interest level in the job that suggests he made the impact you describe. The man seems to barely know what's going on at City Hall and seems more interested in vibes and crypto than in running the city.
re: VPD - I can't think of a worse police department in the lower mainland. Their leaders, particularly Palmer, has been so openly hostile to residents that I view Sim's cozy relationship with them as a negative, not a positive. Add in that former cop, Brian Montague, is an ABC councillor who has said some truly awful things on Twitter (amongst other places) with zero accountability and I don't see how having a good relationship with the VPD is actually a good thing for Vancouverites.
Kennedy's focus was heavily on the DTES and social issues like the overdose crisis, homelessness funding, and decriminalisation. That meant day to day city servicelike potholes, snow removal, and street repairs weren’t really his priority. Since Sim took office, there’s been a noticeable improvement in core city services such as Van311 responsiveness, repaving, and street cleaning.
So yah, while some of it may also be staff and operational, the shift in priorities under Sim’s leadership has clearly made a difference in how quickly the city deals with basic maintenance, this is based on my personal experience.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he spoke to U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday, but suggested it's unlikely American tariffs, which are still causing economic pain for major Canadian sectors, will be lifted in the immediate future.
I’ve met some handicapped people and they are all a bunch of miserable fucks. Woe is me I got no legs and arms. Yah yah yah shut the fuck up. Wouldn’t hurt to smile a bit either… you might as well work those facial muscles instead of frowning all the time.
__________________ Geriatric Motoring Crub Member #444
So we are seeing some of Cons policies ... PP is calling for an end to Temporary Foreign Workers TFW. He thinks they are taking away McDonald's, Tim Horton's jobs from our Canadian youths. But TFW also work in agriculture, you CANNOT replace those with our NA teenagers or youths.
Not sure if our Gen Z or Alpha (or whatever they are called now) will do McDonald's, Popeye's, Church's, fast food, etc.
LOL have you seen birak's star labour supply buses rotting on 6 rd?
even blueberry picking is done by machines now
__________________ There's a phallic symbol infront of my car
Quote:
MG1: in fact, a new term needs to make its way into the American dictionary. Trump............ he's such a "Trump" = ultimate insult. Like, "yray, you're such a trump."
bcrdukes yray fucked bcrdukes up the nose
dapperfied yraisis
dapperfied yray so waisis
FastAnna you literally talk out your ass
FastAnna i really cant
FastAnna yray i cant stand you
LOL have you seen birak's star labour supply buses rotting on 6 rd?
even blueberry picking is done by machines now
What about other vegetables like lettuce, potatoes, cauliflower, cranberries (lots of cranberry farms), bok choy, etc., can machines do as good a job as Mexicans or TFWs?
__________________ There's a phallic symbol infront of my car
Quote:
MG1: in fact, a new term needs to make its way into the American dictionary. Trump............ he's such a "Trump" = ultimate insult. Like, "yray, you're such a trump."
bcrdukes yray fucked bcrdukes up the nose
dapperfied yraisis
dapperfied yray so waisis
FastAnna you literally talk out your ass
FastAnna i really cant
FastAnna yray i cant stand you
You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
The banners on the left side and below do not show for registered users!
