#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
Housing
#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)…
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
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
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).…
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…
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…
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…
“Protective” Custody
The way that trans people are housed in detention and correctional settings has come to attention recently, after British comedian Avery Edison was detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency…
“Protective” Custody
The way that trans people are housed in detention and correctional settings has come to attention recently, after British comedian Avery Edison was detained by the Canadian Border Services Agency…
On the Detention of Trans People
“… in a way that is not inconsistent with one’s gender identity.” Remember that phrase. It’s going to simplify something that might otherwise seem like a complicated issue. So this…
Affordable Housing and Homelesness
This morning I gave a presentation to an church group in Ottawa on affordable housing and homelessness. My slides can be downloaded here. Points I raised in the presentation include…
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’
Sunday Afternoon Links
This and that to end your weekend. – Paul Luke comments on the general stratification of workers into three groups: professionals facing extended hours and stress at a single job,…
What’s Wrong with America, Billionaires and Corporations?
Riotously popular economist Umair Haque had a few interesting tweets about America, corporations and billionaires this week. December 30, 2013 How the Occupy Movement is Enriching People’s Lives (1) April…
How the Occupy Movement is Enriching People’s Lives
Imagine an eco-community of micro-homes designed as a first step out of homelessness. Housing, easy to get into, if people care. Occupy Madison in Wisconsin has come up with an…
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…
Greed + Government Cuts Erode Society [Bah, Humbug!]
The greedy and selfish among us are NOT on our side. Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you’re all giving lots of money to charities because ’tis the season and all…
Vancouver’s ‘Progressive’ Council and Housing
Vancouver’s City Council is occasionally lauded as ‘progressive,’ and the ruling party – Vision Vancouver – takes significant pride in trumpeting their work on affordable housing as evidence of such.…
Commentary: Legal safeguards for tenants are meaningless without enforcement
by: Kendra Milne | First published by Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Housing is a right.