Okay, folks! The moment has come to see your Top 25 Finalists for the #25KLunch meme competition! I can’t even tell you how many messages I’ve received telling me […]
Continue readingTag: Vancouver
Melissa Fong: Financial reform: Taking responsibility as public servants and otherwise…
Facts: I don’t hate Vision Vancouver. I’m indifferent to the overall career of Gregor Robertson. I actually like Andrea Reimer, from what I know of her. (Confession: I really like […]
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Dear Translink… Rob did a good job
I know we don’t agree often. We have a love/hate relationship dependent on my mood and whether or not it’s cold and rainy outside. To be fair, you are consistently late and often leave me standing out in the rain. You have just been voted 3rd best public transit in
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Admitting to not knowing until it was too late: The DTES Local Area Plan implications
…I admit that I didn’t know how REAL it was until the 3 days came to an end and even after it passed…. After that the reality sunk in, I got more and more angry as I realized the implications of the plan. The fact is that poor people LIVE
Continue readingMelissa Fong: #25kLunch Meme Competition Update #1
The #25KLunch meme has received more press than I would have ever imagined! Amazing what a group of really dedicated “mockticians” can do to bring the issues out there. #25KLunch […]
Continue readingMelissa Fong: #25kLunch Meme Competition to shame Mayor Gregor Robertson’s partnership with Developers & Condo King Bob Rennie
So I’ve started a #25kLunch tag – the good people on twitter who have engaged throughout this whole process have kept spirits high and helped suggest a meme competition. 1) Create your own meme http://memegenerator.net/ 2) Upload your meme to twitter images (make sure you save image & upload to
Continue readingMelissa Fong: DTES LAP Amendments that Cllr Carr shuts down: Watch the speech & Read the full document by Reimer
I already posted snippets of the full documents (4 separate PDFs here). This post is specifically the first pdf Amendment doc from Reimer and the speaking points Cllr Carr was […]
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Sneak Peak!: AMENDMENTS to DTES LAP- DRAFT sent to my by Andrea Reimer
Councillor Andrea Reimer was kind enough to send me the DRAFT of Downtown Eastside Local Area Plan Amendments. *OFFICIAL copy posted on website by staff tomorrow. This is a sneak […]
Continue readingMelissa Fong: DTES LAP Part 3- Residents’ Losses & small victories
…Councillor Adriane Carr was the only one who wanted to refer the plan back to staff to ensure an acceptable definition of Social Housing (due date for end of May). The rest of City Council seemed fairly confident that that could be defined as we went along and the plan
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Vancouver DTES Local Area Plan City Council Debates- PART 2: CHINATOWN BUSINESS INTERESTS
Chinatown Businesses interests came into the room hesitant. I don’t think any of the mainstream news media (Vancouver Courier or the Straight) did justice to the hesitance … I am personally sympathetic towards Chinatown business interests because I know the exact memories and nostalgia upon which they recall and the
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Vancouver DTES Local Area Plan City Council Debates- Part One: Developers
…One topic that dominated the DTES LAP discussions last night was the 60/40 (Social/ market rate housing split) and the definition of affordable housing … All the usual suspects always caution against social housing. Developers are constantly talking about how it is not possible to build social housing without other
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Vancouver Downtown Eastside Local Area Plan- Speaker #55
…when you have an extensive plan that guarantees redevelopment and insertion of new and desirable market rate housing, you are planning the upclassing of a neighbourhood. The DTES has staved off gentrification forces as much as it has because it is has been safeguarded for the poor. The redevelopment of
Continue readingeaves.ca: Great Hacks from the Open Data in Vancouver
Last weekend I helped host an Open Data Day in Vancouver. With the generous support of Domain7, who gave us a place to host talks and hack, over 30 Vancouverites braved the sleet and snow to spend the day sharing ideas and working on projects. We had opening comments from
Continue readingArt Threat: Skinny Puppy bills US military for music use in torture
The U.S. military is using a Vancouver band’s music to torture prisoners at Guantanamo Bay — and the artists are working to make sure they pay for it. Electro-industrial act Skinny Puppy has learned through a former guard at Gitmo that inmates would be drowned in their unsettling sounds for
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Does public participation waste time and money?: A note on the value of participatory democracies
Francis Bula, Vancouver pundit, introduced a debate on wasting public resources to open up a debate that would have resulted in the same decision: Does public participation slow down cities’ […]
Continue readingMelissa Fong: Psst: Bitcoin ATM expanding to Toronto
Yep, more reason why Bitcoins are here to stay Bitcoin ATM was a hit in Vancouver and now Toronto gets one. Located at King and Spadina, Bitcoin Decentral will function […]
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: In Vancouver, Climate Justice Activists Disrupt Stephen Harper’s Pro-Big Oil Party
Two climate justice activists peacefully disrupted Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s question-and-answer session at the Vancouver Board of Trade on Monday. The post In Vancouver, Climate Justice Activists Disrupt Stephen Harper’s Pro-Big Oil Party appeared first on The Canadian Progressive.
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: Ending Homelessness: Easy If You Simply Care
If we are a caring society. If we acknowledge that there are a myriad of reasons why a community’s homeless population is homeless. If we thought we should invest our tax dollars and take advantage of good research, good experience, good pilot projects and professionals to address homelessness and other
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: ACTION: Illegal Israeli Settlement Goods Sold at London Drugs
SodaStream boycott informational picket Saturday, Dec. 21, 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. London Drugs, Broadway @ Cambie, Vancouver Below is a notice of an important event happening on Saturday in Vancouver. If something is labelled as “Made in Israel” but is really made in an illegal Israeli settlement in the West
Continue readingPolitics, Re-Spun: The Absence of Resilience
The city of pain Absorbs your fracturing soul Social fabric frays March 15, 2009 No One Is Illegal – Ignite resistance ~ Canadian multiculturalism is not enough! (0) December 11, 2013 How Harper is Gutting Canada: THE LIST (0) April 23, 2013 Did Earth Day Not Quite Do It
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