Comments on: In B.C., It’s To Hell With The Kids …

By: BC Mary

BC Mary — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:09:06 +0000

I’m with Lynn on this.

But … if we accept things as they are, it means we’re left with a 1-party system if the Opposition continues to fail expectations.

So to have a functioning 2-party democracy again, somebody with broad shoulders must shake some sense into the BC NDP. The Opposition are not bad people, but they have lost their bearings somehow or other.

Maybe there’s a clue in this YouTube, created by Citizen-Cameraman – Alastair Haythornthwaite — who has given permission to distribute it widely …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M583BUnIt9w

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:27:45 +0000

A third party? splitting the votes and letting El Gordo in AGAIN! Are you kidding me?

By: Leah

Leah — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:48:49 +0000

HP – I agree. We had far more effective opposition with only two…how sad is that?! Maybe we need to bring those two back to the top, and show the current do-lessers how it’s done.

We do need a third party, but we need it very, very soon. It will take time to build the new party with the quality of minds, and values this province is in critical need of. Any ideas?

By: Henri Paul

Henri Paul — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:21:43 +0000

Leah // Nov 19, 2009 at 6:23 pm
This is quite the most useless opposition I’ve ever seen
————————————————-
Useless is putting it mildly, we had more going when there was only 2 sitting members in opposition.
We need a third party fast, or return to the better, two only in opposition strategy.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:02:33 +0000

Even what passes for news is fed to us in 30 second bytes, designed to anesthetize.

By: Kim

Kim — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:31:54 +0000

Democracy is broken here, on every level of government. I have to lay some blame on us, the voters, for not doing a better job of communicating our needs to governments and backing it up with insisting that our objectives be met.

We fell asleep in the navigators seat and got taken for a joyride. I think commerialized tv programming probably bored us to sleep

(Response: You make an important point. TV HAS mesmerized most people into a non-participatory trance: they watch their dramas, sports, comedy, reality shows etc and most dont pay much attention to what’s going on with government, except that they surmise all parties are alike, all politicians are liars and you can’t believe anything any of them promise to do …or lately even NOT to do. PARENTS have to change trhat ..first with themselves and second, with their kids ..so the next generation will be the ACTIVE generation. h.o)

By: Leah

Leah — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:23:51 +0000

Harvey, there has been so little difference between the NDP and the Liberals over the past 8 years, one can’t realistically expect change now, can they? In a word, the NDP have been “pathetic.”

This is quite the most useless opposition I’ve ever seen…and no, I’m not NDP, nor Liberal, nor Conservative, nor Green…I vote according to issues, and the needs of the province as a whole. I have to say, politically, I’ve never been more ashamed of the province I was born and raised in, than I am right now.

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:03:46 +0000

RIGHT on Harvey, as usual! That’s probably the main reason for apathetic voter turn out, politicians all say what ever to get elected and then run with their unspoken agenda.

By: DMJ

DMJ — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:17:32 +0000

I see, Vancouver continues to be a grade B movie, despite the council makeover.

Dumping on kids is not just a city or provincial thing, it is a national disgrace. I have traveled many times to Europe and the one thing that stands out that kids are number 1 (well except in the UK). Kids are the future of the country.

In Canada, Kids are impoverished, exploited used and abused by the nations political parties and being the cynic I am, feel it is simply because they can’t vote.

Government hates kids brcause they have to spend money on kids with little or no payback.

By: Crankypants

Crankypants — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:07:48 +0000

There is a very simple solution to the park board’s money woes. Deep six the park board. They are just another layer of bureaucracy that is costly and of no value. As far as I know, Vancouver is the only municipality that seems to have one. As a former Vancouver resident, I used to hate voting in municipal elections because their ballot was about the size of a phone book, and if the eliminated the park board portion of the programme, they could reduce the ballot size to maybe the size of a novel.

Seriously, the salaries saved by dumping the park board would go a long way to helping the city and its taxpayers deal with these economic times.

(Response: You really could be on to something here. I understand Vancouver is the only city in North America to have an elected Park Board. Let’s face it, City Hall still wields most of the power. So why not do away with board ..save millions on duplicate administrative costs and replace the board with a committee of council members and/or citizens who volunteer or participate for just an honorarium. h.o.)