Kelowna votes, disappointed but not surprised.
Well, Kelowna has voted and it seems the voters want to shake things up a bit. When I heard about an increase in voter turnout this time around, both at advance polls and on election day, I figured we were in for some changes. Unfortunately, the majority of voters are under the impression that bringing back the mayor from six years ago is change. This is the same Old Gray Mayor (pun intended) that commented after his defeat in 2005 that he was done with politics and that it was a younger person’s game. He also made comments about his female rival putting up pink, frilly curtains in city hall, and cost the taxpayers thousands of dollars fighting a human right tribunal because he doesn’t like gays. I guess none of that matters to the 13,995 people who filled in the bubble next to his name.
Next came the disappointing council results where it seems instead of electing people based on their experience, their work ethic, or their being suited for the job, voters chose to go with celebrity. (Gerry Zimmermann – fire chief during the OK Mtn. Park fire of 2003; Colin Basran – former CHBC News reporter who doesn’t live in Kelowna; Maxine DeHart – Capital News business columnist; Mohini Singg – former CHBC News reporter) I suspected this may happen from the start, but I guess I held out some hope that voters would want better for their city.
The only encouraging news I can think of from the voting results is the aforementioned rise in voter turnout. Of course it’s not too encouraging when you consider the estimated turnout was a pathetic 33%!
Kelowna Municipal Election 2011, My Choices
On Saturday Kelowna residents, or at least those who bother to vote, will decide the future of this great city by electing a mayor and council along with a board of school trustees. To be honest, I’ve never voted in a municipal election before, be it here, or in Calgary when I lived there. Since moving back to Kelowna I’ve become keenly aware of my love for this city and my concerns, hopes, and dreams for its future. That’s why for this municipal election I’ve done my best to follow the huge slate of candidates and pick those who I think can make this city even greater.
Though I’ve seen some nice changes in Kelowna in recent years, overall I’m not pleased with the direction being taken by Kelowna’s mayor and council. Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that no incumbents made it on my list.
For mayor:
Kelowna needs a fresh new leader that will listen to the citizens of Kelowna and put their interests first. We don’t need more of the same or more of the past. (Here’s looking at you Walter Gray) We need a leader who will listen to our concerns and addresses them instead of looking only at what will best benefit the business community.
Cal Condy is that leader. Throughout his campaign Cal has shown himself to be a no-bullshit, get-things-done kind of guy who listens to the people around him. Plus the guy cracks me up. City hall could use a guy with a sense of humour.
For council:
Sadly, with 40 candidates running for council I can’t see eight of them who I would give my support to. Of course that helps the candidates that I will be voting for, since a vote for an eighth-choice candidate could mean a first-choice candidate doesn’t get a seat on council. And so my choices, in no particular order, are:
Rob Mabey is a progressive voice that has a plan to take back our city, to build on its momentum, and to make it a better place for all. Rob speaks of a Kelowna with development that is attainable for all levels of income, creating jobs, and reducing crime. Those are three things I’m voting for.
Mary-Ann Graham is a dedicated and hard working advocate for Kelowna and for Rutland specifically. She has an impressive record with many years of tirelessly working for her community including working to extinguish the repressive HST. She also has previous political experience working on many boards and committees through the years.
Tisha Kalmanovitch is a volunteer community advocate for a number of organizations and offers a progressive approach to move Kelowna forward. Plus, if she got Jack Layton’s blessing as a federal candidate in the last election, she’s got mine for Kelowna Council.
For school trustee:
Greg Krasichynsky is another New Democrat running in this election. His platform includes some unique and innovative ideas to provide the very best education to the students in this city.
Tags: 2011, city council, election, Kelowna, Kelowna Votes, mayor, municipal election, school trustee
Today the HST, tomorrow the BC Liberals.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/08/26/b-c-votes-to-scrap-hst/
Congratulations to British Columbians for working against great challenges and defying great odds to dispose of this regressive tax. Let’s now work even harder to dispose of the government that brought it in.
Tags: British Columbia, Christy Clark, Gordan Campbell, HST, referendum, tax, taxes
The loss of a great friend.
It is with great sadness that I return to blogging this week. Like so many Canadians I am shocked and saddened by the death of Jack Layton. As a New Democrat I’ve been a huge fan of Jack Laytion for many years, despite our disagreements on some things. Through the years I was able to attend three rallies that Jack spoke at. On one occasion I was able to shake his hand as he made his way to the stage. Though I didn’t really know him personally, I feel like I’ve lost a close friend. When I first heard the news of Jack’s death I was in shock. Hours later, reading the news, I was moved to tears.
It’s my hope, that Jack’s last public words to Canadians will inspire people, like they have inspired me, to become more involved in building the Canada we want. Let’s work together to build a better Canada in memory of a great leader, a good friend, and the best Prime Minister we never had.
Tags: death, Jack, Jack Layton, NDP
Unreported Crime #1: Stephen Harper appointing Stockwell Day as a cabinet minister
Does Stockwell Day actually believe we need more prisons to house people who’ve committed unreported crimes?
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100803/stockwell-day-crime-100803/
At the very least, he thinks Canadian’s are stupid enough to be fooled by his reasoning. Does the Conservative government plan to fill these new prisons by suspending habeas corpus and locking up anyone who looks like they may have committed an unreported crime?
*Blog title blatantly stolen from Tyler Kinch’s Facebook status.
Tags:
Ok, let’s try it Jack’s way…
It seems the Conservative government now concedes Jack Layton was on to something when he suggested we open a line of communication with the Taliban to end the decade-long war in Afghanistan. Of course, you won’t hear the Conservatives telling it that way.
Lawrence Cannon, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, quietly announced this week that our government wants to engage the Taliban and others in a “reconciliation process that is inclusive of all Afghans, no matter their ethnicity.”
I’m not sure I agree that this will be an effective tactic, I don’t agree with Layton on a lot of things when it comes to Afghanistan, but I’m glad our government has finally acknowledged that it’s worthy of consideration instead of dismissing it with childish name calling like they did four years ago when Jack suggested it.
Via: John Moore.
Tags: Afghanistan, Conservative Party of Canada, Conservatives, government, Jack Layton, John Moore, Taliban, Taliban Jack
Torchbearer positions sold to sponsors?
It seems Olympic torchbearer positions are being given out in the same manner as tickets to Olympic events. Priority is being given to high ranking sponsors.
Canadians think politicians get little done, Harper proves them right.
A recent Ipsos Reid poll shows that 72% of those surveyed said they disagreed with the statement “Politicians in Ottawa got a lot done this year.” Meanwhile, Stephen Harper is boasting about all his government has done. Harper’s decision to prorogue parliament, and the Governor General’s moronic decision to allow it, show that 72% to be correct. Harper’s decision to shut down parliament this way for the second time in two years cancels thirty-something bills that Harper had previously said were important. He slammed the Liberals for threatening to force an election because they would cancel these same “important” bills. The truth is Harper is a power hungry asshole who has proven time and again that he will do whatever it takes to cling to power and avoid being held accountable for his actions.
Stephen Harper doesn’t give a shit about what’s best for our country. It’s time to toss him out on his ass!
Child Poverty in Canada
Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of Canada’s parliament passing a resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000. All members of parliament at the time voted in favour of the resolution, but here we are twenty years later and the goal was not achieved. In fact, successive governments (and opposition MPs too) have done pathetically little to end child poverty. What seemed like a great idea at the time has become an embarrassing failure. I think the problem lies in parlamentarians’ failure to do something very simple that was once told to me: “Plan your work. Work your plan.” Parliamentarians certainly had a great goal, and gave themselves a reasonable time-frame, but they didn’t have a plan to follow. It’s time for Canada to accept its failure and start looking at how we can succeed on this issue. We should be looking at what other nations have done to eliminate child poverty and devising our own plan using what worked best for those nations.
Ed Broadbent, the man who came up with the end child poverty resolution in the first place, has an idea. It sounds good to me. At the very least, it would be a good start.
Does Google Streetview help thieves?
Last month CBC News reported on Google Streetview’s emergence in Canada and how some people are now concerned about their security and privacy. Patrick Mates, a home security inspector”, says “this is scary” and then claims that Google is making it easy for thieves to case people’s houses. I have news for Mr. Mates. Having a public road in front of your house makes it easy for thieves to check out your house too! Google Streetview doesn’t show anything that a normal walk or drive down the same street would show. In fact, from what I’ve seen of the Streetview images cruising down the street in reality would give you a better idea of what houses are vulnerable. Streetview isn’t available for my current city; Kelowna, B.C., but I was able to check out my former address in Calgary. For starters, I typed in the address and Google showed me an image of the house a block down the street. When I moved down the street to see the house I lived in, the image was blurry and parts of my car, that was parked out front, appeared twice. I was actually quite disappointed in the quality, but not enough to bitch and moan about it in CBC News’ comments section.
And that brings up this question: Of the many people who commented on CBC’s story and complained that their security and privacy have been violated, how many felt so violated that they wrote to Google and asked that the image of their home be removed?
Tags: CBC, Google, Google Streetview, privacy, Streetview, thieves
