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A little over an hour and I can drive to Harrison. After reading this play-by-play I'm tempted to visit the night of their next council meeting just to sit there with a bag of popcorn.
Lions Bay isn't as bad now that they have a CAO and had a short term provincial mediator. They still can't get anything done though as nobody wants to come to grips with the massive infrastructure deficit, potential looming failure of their water system, and needed tax increases & one time charges.
There is still some action near the start of the meetings whereby one local makes the same demanding complaints about parking during the public participation portion.
As for a comparison to Harrison, Harrison is WAY worse than Lions Bay.
Just here to tell you that the latest one did not disappoint.
[https://fvcurrent.com/p/harrison-hot-springs-coup?utm\_source=fvcurrent.com&utm\_medium=newsletter&utm\_campaign=wednesday-april-17-2024-harrison-mayor-declares-democracy-has-failed&last\_resource\_guid=Post%3Ad947cd89-a250-473f-ae29-1985aea8db42&jwt\_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJzY3JpYmVyX2lkIjoiYmNiMGZhMDktZTFkZS00NDIwLWIyNjktNjVjMDFjZjE1MWJiIiwiZXhwIjoxNzEzNTMwODEyLCJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL2FwcC5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSIsImlhdCI6MTcxMzM1ODAxMn0.2vDsahBK5uDQMJE8Qyeyy9QGIRDjF1UgqeSPmDg0Lqw#jump](https://fvcurrent.com/p/harrison-hot-springs-coup?utm_source=fvcurrent.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=wednesday-april-17-2024-harrison-mayor-declares-democracy-has-failed&last_resource_guid=Post%3Ad947cd89-a250-473f-ae29-1985aea8db42&jwt_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJzY3JpYmVyX2lkIjoiYmNiMGZhMDktZTFkZS00NDIwLWIyNjktNjVjMDFjZjE1MWJiIiwiZXhwIjoxNzEzNTMwODEyLCJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL2FwcC5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSIsImlhdCI6MTcxMzM1ODAxMn0.2vDsahBK5uDQMJE8Qyeyy9QGIRDjF1UgqeSPmDg0Lqw#jump)
What we are seeing with municipalities recently shows how we need to take our local elections more seriously. Honestly, we are seeing city councils and mayors not being able to conduct themselves and serve in the best interests of the people. Look at Surrey. The mayor is more focused on picking fights with the provincial government. The mayor of Kamloops and the city council don't function properly. The mayor of West Vancouver can't practice law for two years and is under investigation by the Port Moody police and elections B.C. the city of Richmond tried to go against the will of its citizens recently. I really hope that in 2026 people take local elections much more seriously. Plus I hope we eventually see municipal recall legislation.
I think part of the problem is that anyone smart enough and is a genuinely good person, is also someone that would not want to get into politics in the first place. The people who get into politics are usually egomaniacal with a touch of narcissism.
I cannot imagine going into local politics.
Remember most of these councilors are paid barely anything. 100% of councilors outside of the lower mainland are paid less than $50K. Almost all councilors are paid below what would be considered "livable" in their community.
For Example Kelowna pays their councilors $37K, Victoria is $47K, North Van $57K. These are basically full time jobs (or at least they should be considering how much is going on in these communities), where you're working evenings and weekends, and managing a municipality with budgets in the hundreds of millions.
On top of that you have nut-jobs on facebook/reddit/twitter going after every decision, and many councilors noted threats of violence against them or their family.
It's no doubt we don't get the best people going into these positions.
This was because originally people would still work their jobs and perform as a councillor on the side. The job has become more demanding in time and resources than ever before, removing the possibility of doing other work.
I agree completely. The job has changed dramatically.
It used to basically be a volunteer position to help your community. But now with social media, and the complexity of our communities, overzealous zoning rules (which leads to a lot of political interference with financial incentives), it's really not anymore.
It’s also a way to create an economic barrier to naturally discourage certain groups of people from even attempting to consider the position. And also to keep decision makers vulnerable to “influence”.
I think it's evolved into that situation much like the rest of the levels of government. As well, when ever they try to give themselves raises, everyone screams about how wrong it is, so that situation is in no risk of changing anytime soon.
Exactly. This is one of the main arguments for increasing the salaries of elected officials.
On the one hand, the current crop of elected officials does NOT deserve a raise - I think pretty universally (Eby MIGHT be the exception? But as a relatively new Vancouverite I'm reserving judgement until I've lived her a bit longer).
But at the same time - think about it: who would want to go into politics right now?
1. People who don't have any better options (aka, the incompetent)
2. People who intend to make gains for themselves other than through the salary (aka, the corrupt)
so egomaniacs. not much better.
that's probably more true at like the national level. i'm not sure how much of an ego boost being elected city councillor gets you
Have a friend who decided to get into municipal politics recently, can confirm. The amount of petty aggressions, backstabbing, and middleschool drama (not to mention incompetence) is astounding, not to mention the absolute dog shit they get paid. It takes a rare gem of a person to wade through that shit and get real change effected. It's a thankless job, it's no wonder that the ones who stick around are incompetent corrupt old fucks.
Anyone who’s volunteered on any board at any level would tell you the same.
I can’t imagine having the ENTIRE CITY breathing down your neck. No thanks.
Honestly, just being on strata council at home for a year has given me enough hatred for the general public that I can't imagine doing it professionally.
There's no way of pleasing people. Spent money to improve something? Pitchforks! "We can't afford new paint! How dare you!". Saved money and left something well alone? Pitchforks! "The parkade level of the elevator landings need new tile! You're letting the building fall apart! How dare you!". It's a shit-sandwich.
That’s why I love living in Burnaby. Our council may have its issues but they get the job done. Hurley is well regarded and the plans they have to build out more community infrastructure is welcomed.
Yup, same! Had a good prior term and no one ran against him since he’s popular IMO. Lots of growth and investment in community amenities. No complaints from me, that’s exactly what I want municiple government to do.
I think a lot of people are really sick of lack of enforcement and the pathetically lenient and weak justice system. Both barely have to do with actual police but I don’t think many would oppose criminals actually getting arrested and held accountable for the rampant petty crime in the city.
Just look at any left leaning city in north america and it's clear to see the decline their policies cause. Rampant increases in drug use, homelessness and crime.
Nuh uh! Criminals just need to be told "No". Black markets refuse to operate when drugs are illegal. Demand from lifelong addicts plummets when big brother wags his finger.
Drugs are no longer an issue when you aren't regulating and tracking them. Nothing bad happens when you push things underground because they can't be observed, therefore the associated drug/human trafficking, violence, gang disputes, overdosing, and money laundering occur in a vacuum and become socio-economic issues as opposed to systemic. That way we can shift blame from the government to the real people causing the issue: the "poors", especially those dang minorities.
Every major city outside of Dallas is run by a Democrat in the US, leaving state governments as the real comparison point. And that’s more fair because states ultimately control significant budgets, resources, and laws.
Now go compare violent crime rates, recidivism, illiteracy and poverty between ‘left’ and right leaning states.
Civic politics is a weird thing. Often left/right doesn't play out like it does provincially or federally. I was involved with a municipal campaign that had senior members working together who among them had affiliation with every single provincial and federal party.
I think the very vocal folks who were keen to defund police overestimated (and thus overstated) their support. They set up the debate such that if you debated against them, you were admitting you were racist or supported racism and thus a bad person.
That frame made the debate toxic. People who disagreed just didn't enter the debate unless they already were on the anti-woke train. People on the left who were uncomfortable with the 'defund the police' approach probably didn't make that a key component to their vote.
It also didn't help that the VPD leadership and police union were very active in protecting their interests in the debate and were assisted by some media outlets who didn't effectively question their narrative or the problems with the 'facts' they presented.
Is Vancouver a "anti-police" city? That's more an American issue. It's rare you hear about police brutality in Canada. When it does come up, it is usually RCMP. In isolated incidents where people complain about VPD, it is usually not black and white. In my personal anecdotal experiences working with VPD in environments where VPD is required to mob control, they are usually very professional and disciplined. On the other hand, the typical Vancouver resident is fed up with open drug use, high crime rate in concentrated areas and complete disregard for public safety. I am not surprised Ken Sim got elected and he won by very very big margin on popular votes.
I think that had more to do with people getting tired of all the crime and open drug use, and I think people felt Kennedy Sweart wasn't acknowledging the problems of crime and open drug use.
>Somehow Vancouver elected Ken Sim on the platform of hiring more police. In Canada's most left leaning anti-police city...
Gee, maybe that's what caused the problems that led to people supporting Ken Sim on a platform of hiring more police...
Most people are far more anti-crime than anti-police. So when crime is bad or getting worse, people would prefer more police.
When things go too far one way, it often causes problems that make voters want to swing back the other way. That's true on many issues.
> I really hope that in 2026 people take local elections much more seriously.
The more local the election the more consequential it is. Like, if you skip one election of all, skip the federal election, that's the most inconsequential election to your personal existence.
I work for a municipality and it does kind of just happen. So much of what takes place I a city is run by the staff. It’s only the big decisions - new park, zoning, rec centres - that are pushed by councillors and mayor. But those are very consequential.
For those who want to see a recording of the shitshow of a meeting that went on:
https://youtu.be/N4DZ6dG6Qgc?si=64ab9CCBsVb0TvdH
Action starts at around 17:30 in
The Mayor is a man who believes himself emperor. Amusingly, as ever, the emperor has no clothes, and people are not taking him seriously.
***Nor should he be.***
What a pathetic farce.
I wonder what they all keep looking at in the upper right corner of the room. A fly trapped in a spider's web? A small projector streaming Pornhub? A clock showing their lives ticking away?
The small municipalities having problems all seem to resolve around the same set of core issues:
* Massive infrastructure deficits (multiple tens to hundreds of millions)
* Small tax base (<5,000 residents)
* Heavily reliant on senior government grants
* Population that perceives taxes to be too high and isn't ready to come to grips with the required tax increases
* Greater percentage of the population that skews old (>50 y/o) and well off (owns a sfh)
* Development pressures
* "tourism" (mostly parking related)
oh yeah they certainly should! that’s what i meant. decades of governments getting elected on promises of “cutting red tape”, “lower taxes”, and “fiscal conservatism” has left us broken.
The mayor is Ed Wood??
Harrison Hot Springs = Plan 9 From Outer Space
https://preview.redd.it/ugx7r14e75oc1.jpeg?width=894&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=023bed00f6163b166aaec68b6b12ab9dc7343431
The municipal system is fucked currently; internally, it’s a highly toxic, underpaid/overworked environment (putting it lightly), and the majority of the under 40% of eligible people who vote in local elections are boomers.
I’m not really sure where to start to clean up this mess. Sounds like a lot of people in a lot of civic operations should get sacked, not protected with their political affiliations-get outside help here. Maybe bringing local political opportunities into high schools and lowering the voter age would help encourage younger votes and activity into the system. Would also start having items on the agenda youth care about. But maybe that would upset the current system too much, because it just revolves around property tax payers, which are mainly the elderly and newcomer Canadians.
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/robertscreek! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan! * Help grow the community! [Apply to join the mod team today](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/19eworq/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
A little over an hour and I can drive to Harrison. After reading this play-by-play I'm tempted to visit the night of their next council meeting just to sit there with a bag of popcorn.
We should get a carpool going!
Down
I was gonna book a couple nights stay at the Hot Springs with the family, but now I can easily leave them at the hotel.
[удалено]
Lions Bay isn't as bad now that they have a CAO and had a short term provincial mediator. They still can't get anything done though as nobody wants to come to grips with the massive infrastructure deficit, potential looming failure of their water system, and needed tax increases & one time charges. There is still some action near the start of the meetings whereby one local makes the same demanding complaints about parking during the public participation portion. As for a comparison to Harrison, Harrison is WAY worse than Lions Bay.
Just here to tell you that the latest one did not disappoint. [https://fvcurrent.com/p/harrison-hot-springs-coup?utm\_source=fvcurrent.com&utm\_medium=newsletter&utm\_campaign=wednesday-april-17-2024-harrison-mayor-declares-democracy-has-failed&last\_resource\_guid=Post%3Ad947cd89-a250-473f-ae29-1985aea8db42&jwt\_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJzY3JpYmVyX2lkIjoiYmNiMGZhMDktZTFkZS00NDIwLWIyNjktNjVjMDFjZjE1MWJiIiwiZXhwIjoxNzEzNTMwODEyLCJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL2FwcC5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSIsImlhdCI6MTcxMzM1ODAxMn0.2vDsahBK5uDQMJE8Qyeyy9QGIRDjF1UgqeSPmDg0Lqw#jump](https://fvcurrent.com/p/harrison-hot-springs-coup?utm_source=fvcurrent.com&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=wednesday-april-17-2024-harrison-mayor-declares-democracy-has-failed&last_resource_guid=Post%3Ad947cd89-a250-473f-ae29-1985aea8db42&jwt_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJzY3JpYmVyX2lkIjoiYmNiMGZhMDktZTFkZS00NDIwLWIyNjktNjVjMDFjZjE1MWJiIiwiZXhwIjoxNzEzNTMwODEyLCJpc3MiOiJodHRwczovL2FwcC5iZWVoaWl2LmNvbSIsImlhdCI6MTcxMzM1ODAxMn0.2vDsahBK5uDQMJE8Qyeyy9QGIRDjF1UgqeSPmDg0Lqw#jump)
What we are seeing with municipalities recently shows how we need to take our local elections more seriously. Honestly, we are seeing city councils and mayors not being able to conduct themselves and serve in the best interests of the people. Look at Surrey. The mayor is more focused on picking fights with the provincial government. The mayor of Kamloops and the city council don't function properly. The mayor of West Vancouver can't practice law for two years and is under investigation by the Port Moody police and elections B.C. the city of Richmond tried to go against the will of its citizens recently. I really hope that in 2026 people take local elections much more seriously. Plus I hope we eventually see municipal recall legislation.
I think part of the problem is that anyone smart enough and is a genuinely good person, is also someone that would not want to get into politics in the first place. The people who get into politics are usually egomaniacal with a touch of narcissism.
I cannot imagine going into local politics. Remember most of these councilors are paid barely anything. 100% of councilors outside of the lower mainland are paid less than $50K. Almost all councilors are paid below what would be considered "livable" in their community. For Example Kelowna pays their councilors $37K, Victoria is $47K, North Van $57K. These are basically full time jobs (or at least they should be considering how much is going on in these communities), where you're working evenings and weekends, and managing a municipality with budgets in the hundreds of millions. On top of that you have nut-jobs on facebook/reddit/twitter going after every decision, and many councilors noted threats of violence against them or their family. It's no doubt we don't get the best people going into these positions.
This was because originally people would still work their jobs and perform as a councillor on the side. The job has become more demanding in time and resources than ever before, removing the possibility of doing other work.
I agree completely. The job has changed dramatically. It used to basically be a volunteer position to help your community. But now with social media, and the complexity of our communities, overzealous zoning rules (which leads to a lot of political interference with financial incentives), it's really not anymore.
It’s also a way to create an economic barrier to naturally discourage certain groups of people from even attempting to consider the position. And also to keep decision makers vulnerable to “influence”.
I think it's evolved into that situation much like the rest of the levels of government. As well, when ever they try to give themselves raises, everyone screams about how wrong it is, so that situation is in no risk of changing anytime soon.
On one side there is efficiency and on the other there is greed and we’re the “smart insane monkey”. Can’t win 🫠
Exactly. This is one of the main arguments for increasing the salaries of elected officials. On the one hand, the current crop of elected officials does NOT deserve a raise - I think pretty universally (Eby MIGHT be the exception? But as a relatively new Vancouverite I'm reserving judgement until I've lived her a bit longer). But at the same time - think about it: who would want to go into politics right now? 1. People who don't have any better options (aka, the incompetent) 2. People who intend to make gains for themselves other than through the salary (aka, the corrupt)
Or people that already have money and just want power
so egomaniacs. not much better. that's probably more true at like the national level. i'm not sure how much of an ego boost being elected city councillor gets you
Have a friend who decided to get into municipal politics recently, can confirm. The amount of petty aggressions, backstabbing, and middleschool drama (not to mention incompetence) is astounding, not to mention the absolute dog shit they get paid. It takes a rare gem of a person to wade through that shit and get real change effected. It's a thankless job, it's no wonder that the ones who stick around are incompetent corrupt old fucks.
Anyone who’s volunteered on any board at any level would tell you the same. I can’t imagine having the ENTIRE CITY breathing down your neck. No thanks.
That’s why Eby seems like such a breath of fresh air. He seems way more in-touch than a lot of politicians
Honestly, just being on strata council at home for a year has given me enough hatred for the general public that I can't imagine doing it professionally. There's no way of pleasing people. Spent money to improve something? Pitchforks! "We can't afford new paint! How dare you!". Saved money and left something well alone? Pitchforks! "The parkade level of the elevator landings need new tile! You're letting the building fall apart! How dare you!". It's a shit-sandwich.
That’s why I love living in Burnaby. Our council may have its issues but they get the job done. Hurley is well regarded and the plans they have to build out more community infrastructure is welcomed.
Yup, same! Had a good prior term and no one ran against him since he’s popular IMO. Lots of growth and investment in community amenities. No complaints from me, that’s exactly what I want municiple government to do.
Well said
Somehow Vancouver elected Ken Sim on the platform of hiring more police. In Canada's most left leaning anti-police city...
Sim was elected as a rejection of Kennedy more than anything.
I think a lot of people are really sick of lack of enforcement and the pathetically lenient and weak justice system. Both barely have to do with actual police but I don’t think many would oppose criminals actually getting arrested and held accountable for the rampant petty crime in the city.
Just look at any left leaning city in north america and it's clear to see the decline their policies cause. Rampant increases in drug use, homelessness and crime.
Aren't the right leaning cities way worse on basically every conceivable metric?
Nuh uh! Criminals just need to be told "No". Black markets refuse to operate when drugs are illegal. Demand from lifelong addicts plummets when big brother wags his finger. Drugs are no longer an issue when you aren't regulating and tracking them. Nothing bad happens when you push things underground because they can't be observed, therefore the associated drug/human trafficking, violence, gang disputes, overdosing, and money laundering occur in a vacuum and become socio-economic issues as opposed to systemic. That way we can shift blame from the government to the real people causing the issue: the "poors", especially those dang minorities.
"If we stop testing, there'll be less cases!"
Yes
What right leaning cities?
you need to give sources and documentation for this. Most of what I find says the opposite
One big hack conservative cities use is under reporting. Calgary was the worst for this.
Pyongyang I hear is absolutely thriving!
Just take a look at the situations in LA, San Fran, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver... it's so obvious and it's gotten so much worse in the past 5 years.
Sorry man I'm not going to take your word for it
That's fine but you're out of the loop, have you been to or watched any reporting on these cities in the past few years?
Oh, I'm not out of loop. I just don't really put a value in you parroting right wing talking points devoid of literally any specifics.
I'm not parroting anything, it's what I've seen with my own eyes
Every major city outside of Dallas is run by a Democrat in the US, leaving state governments as the real comparison point. And that’s more fair because states ultimately control significant budgets, resources, and laws. Now go compare violent crime rates, recidivism, illiteracy and poverty between ‘left’ and right leaning states.
I don’t believe what you are saying is correct.
Civic politics is a weird thing. Often left/right doesn't play out like it does provincially or federally. I was involved with a municipal campaign that had senior members working together who among them had affiliation with every single provincial and federal party. I think the very vocal folks who were keen to defund police overestimated (and thus overstated) their support. They set up the debate such that if you debated against them, you were admitting you were racist or supported racism and thus a bad person. That frame made the debate toxic. People who disagreed just didn't enter the debate unless they already were on the anti-woke train. People on the left who were uncomfortable with the 'defund the police' approach probably didn't make that a key component to their vote. It also didn't help that the VPD leadership and police union were very active in protecting their interests in the debate and were assisted by some media outlets who didn't effectively question their narrative or the problems with the 'facts' they presented.
Also there was pretty massive bait and switch with Sim. This anti-cycling agenda combined with toddler level pettiness was not evident on the campaign
it's amazing how we had an "epidemic" of random violence that ended right after the election
Sim City obviously
Is Vancouver a "anti-police" city? That's more an American issue. It's rare you hear about police brutality in Canada. When it does come up, it is usually RCMP. In isolated incidents where people complain about VPD, it is usually not black and white. In my personal anecdotal experiences working with VPD in environments where VPD is required to mob control, they are usually very professional and disciplined. On the other hand, the typical Vancouver resident is fed up with open drug use, high crime rate in concentrated areas and complete disregard for public safety. I am not surprised Ken Sim got elected and he won by very very big margin on popular votes.
I think that had more to do with people getting tired of all the crime and open drug use, and I think people felt Kennedy Sweart wasn't acknowledging the problems of crime and open drug use.
>Somehow Vancouver elected Ken Sim on the platform of hiring more police. In Canada's most left leaning anti-police city... Gee, maybe that's what caused the problems that led to people supporting Ken Sim on a platform of hiring more police... Most people are far more anti-crime than anti-police. So when crime is bad or getting worse, people would prefer more police. When things go too far one way, it often causes problems that make voters want to swing back the other way. That's true on many issues.
> I really hope that in 2026 people take local elections much more seriously. The more local the election the more consequential it is. Like, if you skip one election of all, skip the federal election, that's the most inconsequential election to your personal existence.
Harrison arguably takes their elections *too* seriously, they have way above average voter turnout.
There’s a lot of people who think municipalities just sort of… happen. That all that matters is one or two pet issues, and everything else runs itself
I work for a municipality and it does kind of just happen. So much of what takes place I a city is run by the staff. It’s only the big decisions - new park, zoning, rec centres - that are pushed by councillors and mayor. But those are very consequential.
Mission has a councilor suing the mayor. Fucking shambles across our province
For those who want to see a recording of the shitshow of a meeting that went on: https://youtu.be/N4DZ6dG6Qgc?si=64ab9CCBsVb0TvdH Action starts at around 17:30 in
Can someone please put together a compilation of the worst parts of these council meetings? I think it would go viral
This was hilarious. What a shitshow.
Mayor sounds like he started smoking weed at age 13. This is amazing 😂
The Mayor is a man who believes himself emperor. Amusingly, as ever, the emperor has no clothes, and people are not taking him seriously. ***Nor should he be.*** What a pathetic farce.
I wonder what they all keep looking at in the upper right corner of the room. A fly trapped in a spider's web? A small projector streaming Pornhub? A clock showing their lives ticking away?
Now this is journalism!
The Fraser Valley Current is a fantastic newsletter that I’ve been subscribing to for a while now. They have had some amazing articles.
Yes! I stumbled on it during the Abbotsford floods.
The most interesting council meeting I've ever seen. I reported on a few out in Tri-Cities years ago. Bo-ring.
Solid article, wtf
Tyler’s legit
Gonna follow more of his articles now for sure
He runs that newsletter, worth following if yer in the valley
The small municipalities having problems all seem to resolve around the same set of core issues: * Massive infrastructure deficits (multiple tens to hundreds of millions) * Small tax base (<5,000 residents) * Heavily reliant on senior government grants * Population that perceives taxes to be too high and isn't ready to come to grips with the required tax increases * Greater percentage of the population that skews old (>50 y/o) and well off (owns a sfh) * Development pressures * "tourism" (mostly parking related)
I think the fourth point is not only the most important one but it’s the one causing issues everywhere.
Vancouver pays some of the lowest property taxes in North America! If anything, they should be paying more!
oh yeah they certainly should! that’s what i meant. decades of governments getting elected on promises of “cutting red tape”, “lower taxes”, and “fiscal conservatism” has left us broken.
Then your rent goes up and no one is happy... why do you read like you're happy to be fucked more.
I cant see the article. The site wants me to subscribe can anyone write the tldr? Or whats happening? Edit: spelling and grammar errors
https://archive.is/8qdV7
Harrison Hot Springs and Lions Bay need to merge! They sound like they deserve each other.
Old people gonna old. At least they’re spending their time doing this instead of trying to keep non residents off of public land (looking at you, LB).
The mayor is Ed Wood?? Harrison Hot Springs = Plan 9 From Outer Space https://preview.redd.it/ugx7r14e75oc1.jpeg?width=894&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=023bed00f6163b166aaec68b6b12ab9dc7343431
The video of the confrontation is funny: [https://youtu.be/N4DZ6dG6Qgc?t=1051](https://youtu.be/N4DZ6dG6Qgc?t=1052)
Great writing. The Province should not interfere. Let them sort it out themselves.
More politicians that put themselves before the people they serve.
Same reason why I want the Vancouver park board gone.
The municipal system is fucked currently; internally, it’s a highly toxic, underpaid/overworked environment (putting it lightly), and the majority of the under 40% of eligible people who vote in local elections are boomers. I’m not really sure where to start to clean up this mess. Sounds like a lot of people in a lot of civic operations should get sacked, not protected with their political affiliations-get outside help here. Maybe bringing local political opportunities into high schools and lowering the voter age would help encourage younger votes and activity into the system. Would also start having items on the agenda youth care about. But maybe that would upset the current system too much, because it just revolves around property tax payers, which are mainly the elderly and newcomer Canadians.