Ken Sim’s pants are on fire
Governing, it turns out, is harder than campaigning.
As police budget soars, a property tax hike of nearly 10% is projected for next year
Ken Sim and ABC won last year’s election by campaigning to add 100 cops and 100 nurses without raising property taxes or making cuts to other City services. This was brazen mendacity, but the well-funded fantasy helped carry the start-up party to a sweeping majority at City Hall. When questioned about the dubious math of his assertions on the hustings, Sim touted his credentials as an accountant and a business owner and promised to find “efficiencies” in government.
Governing, it turns out, is harder than campaigning. And managing a city of 700,000 people is not the same as selling bagels. After taking office in November, ABC wisely punted the City budget deliberations until after Sim’s first 100 days in office. But now the numbers are out, and the City’s draft budget projects a 9.7% property tax increase.
We know one department where Sim won’t be proposing any “efficiencies” or cuts: the Vancouver Police Department, which is slated to eat up nearly a quarter of the $1.96 billion budget. Debate on the budget gets underway Feb. 28th. You can register to speak to city council here.
Tearing out bike lanes
While ABC delayed the bad news for their voter base about the property tax hikes, they have wasted no time appeasing the loud years-long campaign to restore two-lanes of car traffic in Stanley Park, a gift to rat racers cutting through the park on their commute.
Earlier this month, ABC’s super-majority on the Park Board passed a motion to restore two full lanes of car traffic, with only Green Park Commissioner Tom Digby opposed.
This month’s vote was the culmination of a successful media and political campaign against the protected bike lane - a good example that communications and media strategy matter for local municipal parties. None of the Green and COPE park commissioners who held office from 2018 to 2022 remain on the Park Board, having either resigned or been defeated at the polls last Fall. Among left-of-centre political forces in the city, a cross-party effort to refocus the debate around Stanley Park is in order – elevating the voices of disabled and transit-dependent people for whom the park and other city amenities are not truly accessible.
ABC doesn’t want you to read Vancouver’s Climate Justice Charter
On a related note, the ABC majority on city council “received for information” a new Climate Justice Charter - signalling the new governing party’s lack of interest in equity-focused responses to the climate crisis.
The 41-page Charter, produced by the Climate Equity Working Group, is well worth reading. Given that they frame the climate and ecological crisis as a product of the ongoing colonial capitalist system, it’s as easy as ABC to understand why the party backed by Chip Wilson and other super-rich elite property owners wanted no part of endorsing let alone implementing the Charter.
“We see how capitalism causes unrestricted and unsustainable resource extraction leading to the destruction of biodiversity and the degradation of lands, waters, and air, and populations of animal kin. Capitalism has extended to current efforts for Indigenous stewardship through guardian and land management programs which offer important opportunities to protect land and waters while strengthening cultural bonds, but often fail to include remuneration by governments for loss of access through extracting those economic natural resources. Patriarchy, the gender binary, and ableism extend the destruction of the environment to the destruction of bodies and cultures, such as missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit folks (MMIWG2S). This ultimately prevents us from living in good relationship to the land and to each other.
In our current moment, the climate crisis overlaps with other crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the opioid crisis, where the COVID-19 virus brings new risks to emergency responses like fire and flood evacuations and opioid use makes people more vulnerable to factors like extreme heat. The deadly impacts felt from these additional layers leads us to believe even more strongly in the need to draw on decolonial approaches to address root causes of our fundamental problems.” - Excerpt from ‘A Climate Justice Charter for Vancouver’
Council approves rezoning for 136 social housing units with supports
In other news, city council approved rezoning for over 100 units of social housing at two locations of new developments – 2518-2540 Grandview Highway South in East Vancouver and 1925 Southeast Marine Drive in the city’s southeast corner.
Upcoming Events
In addition to regular local and international news and analysis, The Thorn also aims to amplify important social movement events and activities.
★ Public pharmacare now - a conversation - Hosted by Avi Lewis
Thursday, February 23, 2023 - 16:00
The Council of Canadians is kicking off its national pharmacare campaign with a convx ersation with patient advocates Bill Swan, Rowan Burdge, and other guests, hosted by Avi Lewis. Zoom - to register https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tdeyqqz8iGd36D-x2WuOe26fR12m_sUim
★ DSOV Reading Group
Thursday February 23rd, 2023. Trees Organic Coffee South Granville. 1598 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 5K9. The reading for this week is 'Race, Articulation, and Societies Structured in Dominance' by Stuart Hall.
★ United for Old Growth: Walk and Rally in Victoria!
Saturday 12 PM – 3:30 PM
Centennial Square --> BC Legislature, Victoria BC
It’s been two years since the BC NDP government promised to protect old-growth forests and undertake a paradigm-shift in forest stewardship. But since then, tens of thousands of hectares of the most at-risk stands have been clearcut, and destructive logging practices continue. On FEBRUARY 25, join a united movement of thousands of people from all walks of life to send a simple clear message to the provincial government: Keep your promises, protect old-growth forests, and reform forestry to safeguard the irreplaceable benefits of intact forests.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1601044470356420/
★ International Working Women's Day Panel
WORKING WOMEN OF THE WORLD, UNITE! On March 3rd and March 11th, join GABRIELA BC, Defund 604 Network, Worker Solidarity Network, UNITE HERE Local 40, BAYAN BC, and Samidoun in celebrating International Working Women’s Day with a worker’s panel + discussion and rally! EventBrite Link
★ Or Festival: 10 Minute Plays by Vancouver Artists
March 8-11 | Multiple Times | Jericho Arts Centre
“To be OR not to be?” We choose “Or”. The unexpected! The surprising!
Every night, we present the WORLD PREMIERE of ten original 10 minute plays written, dramaturged, directed and acted by local Vancouver artists. Our line-up includes THE SPIRIT HAS TEETH by Giselle Miller, a visual vernacular piece called THE EXTINCTION OF THE SEA MINK & THEIR FAVORITE MAPLE LEAF by Deaf-queer artist Landon Krentz and eight more plays! Join us for the fun! The evening continues long after the last actor has left the stage!
It’s a midnight serenade for the audience…only, this time, Vancouver’s diverse voices are the instruments! That includes YOU! Laugh…cry… REACT! We want to know you’re here! And we can’t wait to meet you after the show. Our symbol of the stained glass window illustrates individuals coming together to form a mosaic of art that represents the vibrant, colourful nature of this city. This is the 4th year of the Or Festival. We are thrilled to be presented by Fabulist Theatre.
Media Roundup
Indigenous MLA Melanie Mark resigns. https://thetyee.ca/News/2023/02/23/Melanie-Mark-Quits-BC-Politics/
Police-involved fatal incidents on the rise in Canada despite promises to curb violence https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-police-involved-fatal-incidents-on-the-rise-in-canada-despite-promises/