Posts from — December 2009

Vancouver City Council must today approve a $4.87 million debenture issue to cover unfunded costs for conversion of the Hillcrest Olympic facilities to community use after the 2010 Winter Olympic Games — enough to replace the roof of the Bloedel Conservatory at least twice over. (The city has already contributed $1 million to the Hillcrest conversion fund in this year’s capital plan.)

It’s just the latest in a series of bills run up by the NPA council and park board between 2005 and 2008, when costs to build the Hillcrest curling facility and the new Percy Norman Pool went through the roof. [Read more →]

Vancouver's latest rail arrival: Bombardier's Flexity ready for Games service between Olympic Village and Granville Island. With Canada Line's success and a second Amtrak train, can we build momentum for higher speed rail to Seattle?

The dream of a high speed rail connection along the Cascadia corridor from Vancouver through to Seattle and Portland may be far in the future, but a critical step toward that goal is much closer: a permanent second daily Amtrak train from Vancouver to Seattle that could add $20 million a year to the city’s economy.

Tireless Washington State rail advocates led by the Cascadia Centre’s Bruce Agnew are determined to make the second train, approved as a pilot project during the 2010 Games, into a permanent feature of the region’s transportation network, a logical stepping stone to a third train, track improvements and ultimately, high speed rail.

That’s like adding another cruise ship at a time when the cruise industry is  faltering in Vancouver for a number of reasons.

Agnew convened a high level group of rail, transportation and tourism experts in Vancouver yesterday to nail down marketing plans for the new service, which is already drawing solid bookings in the run-up to the Games. They were welcomed by Mayor Gregor Robertson, who’s made the Cascadia rail opportunity a top priority. [Read more →]

Sam Sullivan’s somewhat dark reflection on his three-year term, published in today’s Sun, is cast as advice to future mayors.  In reality, it is an effort to spread the blame for the fate he suffered at the hands of his own party even before the election began.

Lesson 1: Don’t trust senior staff, particularly when it comes to labour relations. “I deferred to the experts on collective bargaining but asked them to inform me when the time was appropriate.” The resulting strike was not the worst in the city’s history, but the worst in recent memory.  Concludes Sullivan: “I could have learned just how poisonous the relations had become between the union and some senior management.” Sullivan had already been a councillor for more than 13 years at the time. [Read more →]

Santa and friend: so far, so good

All the factors that 2010
Games critics warn can lead to violations of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms were present today in downtown Vancouver, including:

• a massive “signature event” driven by corporate sponsors surfing on feel-good winter activity focused on family values;
• enhanced security presence by Vancouver Police Dept., including but not limited to horse-mounted officers and a large detachment disguised as musicians;
• large presence by private uniformed forces — self-styled marching bands — performing precision drills on key arterials in an apparent effort to awe and overwhelm nearby crowds;
• dramatic increase in surveillance, both by media outlets and thousands of informal observers lining downtown streets; and
• visible participation by army personnel –the Salvation Army.

Fortunately, the Rogers Santa Claus Parade — to benefit Greater Vancouver Food Banks– came off without a hitch. Hundreds of thousands lined the streets.

I marched with the Vancouver Public Library contingent, which could not keep up with the demand for VPL’s coveted “Go Canada Go” red cow bells. On to the Games.