New BC Political Discussion - POST BC Election 2017

[Prometheus]

Blake Price is now reporting on TSN Radio that Vancouver was going to be tapped by FIFA as the international host for all the official pre-World Cup FIFA events, such as the:

FIFA World Cup Draw
FIFA World Cup Gala
FIFA Congress

For people who do not understand what that means, imagine the NFL Draft and NBA All-Star Weekend combined, then multiplied by ten.

In addition to being the host of numerous pre-World Cup test matches, Blake is also reporting that:

It wasn’t just three to five World Cups games...likely four or five World Cup games, maybe even a quarter-final, was coming the way of Vancouver.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-hub-city-2026-fifa-world-cup

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

This is not what a TSN host/analyst is hearing. According to Blake Price of TSN:

Source: https://twitter.com/BlakePriceTSN

What a bunch of hot air. Zero proof of that. Vancouver often gets the short end of events in Canada, nevermind North America. They'd do all that stuff here instead of Toronto? New York? Miami? LA? Boston? Mexico City? The list goes on... FIFA is dangling the carrots and all of these people are following it off a cliff.

[Migrant_Coconut]

^ Right. Exactly ZERO percent of this is a done deal, and even then, FIFA explicitly reserves the right to reschedule at any time while sticking us with the bill.

Just a friendly reminder that we're not alone; Chicago, Minneapolis and Edmonton have all withdrawn because of similar doubts.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Blake Price is now reporting on TSN Radio that Vancouver was going to be tapped by FIFA as the international host for all the official pre-World Cup FIFA events, such as the:

FIFA World Cup Draw
FIFA World Cup Gala
FIFA Congress

For people who do not understand what that means, imagine the NFL Draft and NBA All-Star Weekend combined, then multiplied by ten.

In addition to being the host of numerous pre-World Cup test matches, Blake is also reporting that:



https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-hub-city-2026-fifa-world-cup

I love it. He quotes absolutely zero people. He quotes absolutely zero reports. All he says as proof is "to the best of my knowledge" and "all indications are" which I could just as easily say.

All indications are that FIFA was planning on holding the World Cup Final at BC Place.

See how easy that is?

The sheer uncertainty about the whole thing further cements dropping out as a good idea.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

That's funny, in every other thread you and others complain non-stop about how are infrastructure is horribly behind and out of date.

And it is! But, our rail and road infrastructure for example would be far worse than it is today without Expo and the Olympics motivating us to at least do something.

Right now we are sub-par with a few features that are on par, but without those events we would likely be bottom basement.

[GMD]

[QUOTE=Prometheus;8122668]Blake Price is now reporting on TSN Radio that Vancouver was going to be tapped by FIFA as the international host for all the official pre-World Cup FIFA events, such as the:

FIFA World Cup Draw
FIFA World Cup Gala
FIFA Congress"

This belongs in the fantasy thread. The 'North America' bid is a US bid, with some crumbs in Canada and Mexico thrown in to offset the fact it hasn't been too long since the last world cup in the U.S. All the important games and events will take place in the U.S.

Here's what ABC had to say in their article on Chicago pulling out:

"Sixty games would be played in the U.S. under the bid plan, including all from the quarterfinals on. Three cities were included from Mexico and Canada, and both of those nations would host 10 games."

Sound like they were planning for Vancouver to be the main event?

[whatnext]

[QUOTE=GMD;8123082]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Sound like they were planning for Vancouver to be the main event?

LOL, Not.

With the USA hosting 60 games that’s where the focus would be. The narrative you mention is just that being pushed by those who set their hair on fire over protecting the taxpayer from this boondoggle.

[bluefox]

And here I thought the BC Liberals were smart money managers... /s

This whole pearl-clutching exercise has proven that not to be the case (if blowing billions on white elephants over 16 years wasn't enough evidence already).

Jas Johal's response in proportion to the decision to quit the bid is raising red flags for me. Was he personally invested in seeing this happen?

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by bluefox

And here I thought the BC Liberals were smart money managers... /s

This whole pearl-clutching exercise has proven that not to be the case (if blowing billions on white elephants over 16 years wasn't enough evidence already).

Jas Johal's response in proportion to the decision to quit the bid is raising red flags for me. Was he personally invested in seeing this happen?

No, he's just a mouthpiece that gets opened up whenever there's something to throw a countering opinion at. There's little intelligence behind it.

When he was running for MLA of Richmond-Queensborough his website had a backdrop of the Queensboro Bridge. Astute readers will note that "Queensboro" isn't the same as "Queensborough". Yes, he'd put up a picture of the Queensboro Bridge in New York. Since then I've realized he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Blake Price is now reporting on TSN Radio that Vancouver was going to be tapped as the international headquarters for all the official pre-World Cup FIFA events, such as:

FIFA World Cup Draw
FIFA World Cup Gala
FIFA Congress

Imagine the NFL Draft and NBA All-Star Weekend multiplied by a hundred.

In addition to numerous pre-World Cup test matches, Blake is also reporting that the Vancouver Convention Centre was going to be rented by FIFA for weeks and that:



https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/vancouver-hub-city-2026-fifa-world-cup

This is borderline pathetic.

Write a contract that stipulates no guarantees for host city, but loads all costs and burden onto tax payer.

When not approved, try to sell all the massive benefits this would have brought.

One word - bullshit.

If this was the case, put it in writing, and none of this discussion would be happening.

FIFA is a bloated, corrupt, bureaucracy, and now they're being petty and crying because they got rejected.

[SFUVancouver]

As scummy as the IOC has been over the years, FIFA is in a league of its own. I am glad that we aren't touching this thing with a ten foot pole.

Furthermore, this is a *bid* and nothing was guaranteed. Some people are talking about this like it were a sure thing and it's kind of pathetic. The Daily Hive article quoted a guy saying something along the lines of "it's not like this was just going to be three to five matches... to the best of my knowledge it was going to be four to five matches."

[whatnext]

Poll shows NDP continues to hold a substantial lead in support over BC Liberals, 36% to 30.7%. Supporting the NDP doesn't seem to have hurt the Greens, who stand at 22%.

https://www.straight.com/news/1046371/bc-liberals-trail-ruling-new-democrats-new-poll

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by whatnext

Poll shows NDP continues to hold a substantial lead in support over BC Liberals, 36% to 30.7%. Supporting the NDP doesn't seem to have hurt the Greens, who stand at 22%.

https://www.straight.com/news/1046371/bc-liberals-trail-ruling-new-democrats-new-poll

Yes I think in general they are acting as expected. Site C got approved so people aren't panicking that they are totally anti-resource.

Kinder Morgan will be a big one though, I'm still not sure how that will play out.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Yes I think in general they are acting as expected. Site C got approved so people aren't panicking that they are totally anti-resource.

Kinder Morgan will be a big one though, I'm still not sure how that will play out.

KM is an impossible situation.

I'm fully convinced there is no right answer, I can definitely see the perspective from both sides.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by rofina

KM is an impossible situation.

I'm fully convinced there is no right answer, I can definitely see the perspective from both sides.

Ya, me too.

[Migrant_Coconut]

Looks like Corrigan might have some actual competition this year.

Member of DOA running for Burnaby Mayor

B.C. punk rocker Joe Keithley first ran for office in 1996 — and then in 1997, 2001, 2016 and 2017.

He’s hoping to be “sixth time lucky” in the upcoming B.C. municipal elections, where he’s running for Mayor of Burnaby with the Green Party.

Burnaby’s current mayor, Derek Corrigan, has held the post for the past 16 years, but his total combined time as a city councillor and mayor totals 31 years. His party, the NDP-allied Burnaby Citizens Assembly, currently hold all seats on council.

But Keithley, the 61-year-old frontman of Vancouver punk rock band D.O.A., thinks his hometown is ready for a change.

A top issue for Keithley is displacement of renters from Burnaby’s Metrotown neighbourhood, where hundreds of older rental buildings have been torn down over the past seven years to make way for condo towers.

“It’s heartless what Corrigan and his BCA team were doing,” Keithley said. “We would have developers replace rental units on a one per one basis, in exchange for going up another 10 or 15 floors, whatever the planning department deems is right for that area.

“We’d also look at installing…things like a daycare as well.”

The Greens are also promising to freeze property taxes at 2017 levels for two years. Burnaby currently has a $1 billion reserve fund, much of it from developer community benefits, and Keithley believes that shows the city “has been over-taxing people.”

Burnaby's property taxes rose by 1.5 per cent in 2018, a very low increase compared to other Metro Vancouver municipalities and previous years in Burnaby.

Keithley said running for office multiple times has given him the chance to do a lot of door knocking, and he’s encountered a lot of dissatisfaction with the current council.

“The BCA council do not listen to people,” Keithley said of what he’s been hearing from voters. “If they’re not in that inner circle or people who have (ties to) the NDP, for example, they don’t get anywhere, whether it’s with cycling or the art gallery.”

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Migrant_Coconut

Looks like Corrigan might have some actual competition this year.

He doesn't stand a chance. Rick McGowan tried to play off the same themes in the 2017 BC election against Anne Kang, who was a Burnaby city councillor and has a lot of the same baggage as Corrigan, and got thoroughly trounced. Keithley himself only got 14% of the vote in the same election.

Burnaby voters don't care about renovictions for some reason, and they love Corrigan because he's built a city that's got a massive surplus that now they can build a lot of stuff with. It's unfortunate because Burnaby could be doing so much more for housing affordability with their surplus, and instead they want to spend it on things like ice rinks.

[Tetsuo]

Housing shouldn't be the city's problem, go down that route and face the same spending problems faced by Vancouver.

Housing should be Provincial/Federal, let the city handle things like amenities and infrastructure (like maybe installing lights and proper pedestrian crossings before its too late (Cariboo Rd.))


Joey Shithead's run will be DOA, Corrigan got the perfect political issue to campaign on... fighting Kinder Morgan.

[CanSpice]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

Housing shouldn't be the city's problem, go down that route and face the same spending problems faced by Vancouver.

Housing should be Provincial/Federal, let the city handle things like amenities and infrastructure (like maybe installing lights and proper pedestrian crossings before its too late (Cariboo Rd.))

Yes it should be but the senior levels of government have been offloading services to municipalities for years now, leading to huge problems in housing for lower income people and renters. How municipalities respond to this shows the character of the city -- Vancouver and New West put protections in place for renters, renovictions, and social housing whereas Burnaby does nothing. Each of them is (currently) headed by left-leaning mayors, yet only Burnaby shits on renters and lower-income residents.

Corrigan says housing should be handled by federal and provincial governments as an excuse to do nothing, yet when a project comes in that is handled by the federal government he pulls out all the stops to get in its way. He's a tremendous hypocrite and it's a shame that he doesn't actually care about residents of Burnaby, just the city's bank account.

[Tetsuo]

Yes, it's too bad Burnaby city isn't do more to help with housing in ways without spending money, but rather policy.

Corrigan probably still harbors some ill-will towards that portion of the population (the renters and l-i)