Blogs

Council recently considered rezoning applications that exposed some of the flaws in the zoning bylaw and the process used to consider those applications. 

CAO Victor Kumar wants to scrap the City’s Development Cost Charge (DCC) bylaw because it “. . . has served its purpose and is no longer required based on the availability of other taxation tools . . .” Nonsense!

If council goes along with this cockamamy idea, taxpayers in the future will be stuck with paying for expansion of infrastructure to service new development, primarily at Red Mountain.  Of course, by the time that happens, the CAO and the current council will be long gone from City Hall.

You may have heard one of our provincial cabinet ministers commenting on the relatively large income gap between the rich and poor in BC. A bit miffed that our province was drawing fire, he remarked that no apologies were necessary, that folk who had a problem with high earning families should head off to Cuba, where everyone is equal in their poverty.

One of the topics that few people talk about is bowel habits; however, it is one of the most important keys to health.  Long ago, I stopped asking how many bowel movements a day and now ask “How many bowel movements?” It no longer surprises me when someone says “Oh, once a week or every 3-4 days!” It is essential that people, including children, have at least 1 bowel movement/day, ideally 2 to 3 per day.

Mayor Greg Granstrom should resign.  He apologized to council and took full responsibility for not providing information to them about the architectural and engineering studies undertaken for the proposed expansion of the swimming pool into an all-season facility.  However, he did not apologize for the unauthorized expenditure of $25,000 for those studies.

Do you think – do you suppose it's possible – that we might have become a little full of our selves? It's an interesting expression, one I would say (having been reading a lot of Lemony Snicket with my son lately) that here means being so wrapped up in our own world view and circumstance that there is little or no room for anything else.

Do you think –might it be possible –that we could benefit from the insights and observations of people who are not so consumed by our view of the world as we are?

The Vancouver Canucks had an opportunity to atone for their past few games on Sunday night at Rogers Arena by coming out and burying an underachieving Anaheim Ducks team. Unfortunately, only one team came to play, and the Ducks left Vancouver with a dominant 4-2 victory, a score which flattered the home team. Anaheim left-winger Jason Blake was made to look like an all-star, his two-goal, one assist effort providing more offense than the entire Canuck team could muster on the night. Blake is at best a borderline NHL forward at this stage, and at worse he’s downright horrible.

At the heart, all New Years’ resolutions and intentions involve change on some level, to increase strength, to be more balanced, to be happier, to lose weight, to start a new class, to be nicer. So how do you approach change? How does it feel to make changes in your lifestyle, lasting changes?

Have you ever felt mentally worn out, burnt out or overwhelmed? When we let our thoughts run around, controlling our emotions and reactions, we can be exhausted just by our own mind. The quick fix is to tune out the thoughts, with different distractions, commonly tv, glass of wine, chat with a friend, adrenaline sports, texting, facebooking, overworking etc. But those pesky thoughts will only be on temporary hold, like hitting the pause button.

Have you noticed that engagement in community activities is becoming a rare and less frequently observed reality of everyday life? While the demise of voluntary organizations and the advancing average age of the remaining volunteers seems a clear and present reality in almost every walk of life, nowhere does it seem so evident as in our engagement in the body politic. As vital as the decision making processes of government are to every aspect of life and living, modern folk seem unwilling to take the time to even cast a ballot, let alone participate in public discourse.