Category: Politics

Doug Leung, the NPA, and the Mount Pleasant skatepark

In 2011, the Vancouver Park Board installed a skateboard park in Mount Pleasant Park. During the construction, residents opposed it. The only resident to go on record (in that article) as being opposed was Doug Leung. At that time, the Vancouver Park Board had a majority of commissioners from the Vision Vancouver party.

In 2014 Vancouver held a municipal election to elect, amongst others, seven Park Board commissioners. A Douglas C. Leung of 54 West 16th Avenue, Vancouver, appears on the nomination papers for Non-Partisan Alliance Park Board commissioner candidates John Coupar, Erin Shum, and Sarah Kirby-Yung, all of whom were elected to the Vancouver Park Board. The fourth NPA member elected to the Park Board, Casey Crawford does not list Douglas Leung as a nominator. As an aside, Douglas Leung does appear on the nomination papers of George Affleck, NPA Vancouver City councilor, and a Douglas Lee of the same address appears on the nomination papers of Kirk LaPointe, NPA candidate for Vancouver mayor. Interestingly enough, the signatures for Douglas Leung and Douglas Lee appear to match as pointed out in this comment on Reddit…

Remember, Douglas C. Leung lives at 54 West 16th Ave, directly across from Mount Pleasant Park, home of the skatepark that Doug Leung complained about in 2011.

During the 2014 municipal election, Douglas Leung was the campaign manager for the NPA as evidenced in this story and this story and this story.

In the 2014 municipal election the NPA took control of the Park Board from Vision Vancouver.

In 2015 the NPA-lead Vancouver Park Board is voting on removing the skatepark based on complaints from nearby residents.

So, to recap, Doug Leung complained about the skatepark at Mount Pleasant Park in 2011. In 2014 Doug Leung nominated numerous NPA candidates and was the NPA campaign manager, and now in 2015 the NPA-lead Park Board is responding to neighbour complaints about the skatepark?

Huh.

New Westminster Rumour Mill

This is first of what will hopefully be a monthly post here, where I report back on all of the rumours that are floating around the lovely city of New Westminster.

First up: the parkade. Rumour has it that Council has seen the light and they will not be tearing down half the parkade. Instead they are doubling-down and adding an extra three levels of parking! They will also be taking Columbia Street off its diet (come on people, everybody knows that diets don’t work) by removing the bike lanes and angled parking. It is expected that this will appeal to the mobile baby boomer, and the increased vehicle traffic and parking will return downtown New Westminster to the glory years of the 70s and 80s!

The canceling of the Royal Lancers dance has ruffled some feathers recently. While this is a sad end to a 100-year old tradition of grown men knocking on doors to ask fathers to turn over their 12-year old girls to go for a dance, some have felt that the dance has seen better days. Instead, the Royal Lancers will turn to the 1916 May Day celebrations for inspiration, where a demonstration of military maneuvers replaced the folk dance. Rumour has it that for the 100th anniversary of these celebrations, the Royal Lancers will shoot 12-year old girls out of cannons.

The Braid Street Bailey Bridge is open! As it is a new crossing, a modest toll of $5 for Coquitlam residents will apply.

The 2015 Metro Vancouver Transportation and Transit Plebiscite is underway, although you wouldn’t know it because nobody has been talking about it lately. Has anybody heard anything about this thing?

That’s all for now from the New Westminster Rumour Mill!

Why I voted ‘yes’

Today I voted ‘yes’.

Every morning I and my wife walk our daughter to school. We have to cross one of New Westminster’s truck routes at Eighth Avenue and Cumberland Street. It’s a relatively busy intersection, especially during the morning and evening rush hours. It gts filled with trucks, as you’d expect, but also from commuters dodging the tolls on the Port Mann Bridge.

In our first three months of walking to and from school we were nearly hit by cars twice, both by drivers who were inattentive and probably pissed off from being stuck in so much traffic. This morning we saw a minor fender bender at the intersection. I talked with a crossing guard at that intersection, and she sees near-misses all the time. It’s not a very safe intersection for pedestrians.

With a ‘no’ vote this only gets worse. Traffic will get worse, we’ll have more inattentive drivers on the streets, and even worse, we’ll have more angry drivers on the streets. Drivers get angrier as their commutes lengthen. Increased traffic leads to higher stress.

Yes, there are other benefits to improving our transporation system. Thousands of people every day won’t be passed up by buses. Low wage earners will have a cheaper and more reliable transportation option. Seniors and handicapped people will have better HandiDart service.

But I voted ‘yes’ to ensure our streets don’t become more dangerous than they already are for pedestrians. I voted ‘yes’ in hopes that a near-miss doesn’t become a hit. I voted ‘yes’ so I won’t hopefully have to explain to my daughter why a driver nearly ran her down again.

The astoundingly bad logic of Jordan Bateman

Today BC Transportation Minister Todd Stone announced a ten-year transportation plan for BC. During the press conference he was asked about the Metro Vancouver transportation plebiscite, and if the province is considering reforming TransLink, because this is one of the reasons why people are considering voting ‘no’. His answer?

At this point in time, the province has no plans to make any further improvements to governance at TransLink.

So vote ‘yes’ or vote ‘no’, no matter what happens in the plebiscite the province has no plans to change TransLink’s governance.

And what does Jordan Bateman have to say about this?

Stone killed yes side claim that change will come to TransLink either way. Voting NO the best way to show gov’t we want this fixed.

He’s saying that you should vote ‘no’ so TransLink’s governance will be fixed, using Todd Stone’s statement of “no plans to make any further improvements to governance at TransLink” as support.

What kind of crazy logic is running through Mr. Bateman’s mind? It’s mind-boggling just how bad this logic is!

Seriously, that’s pretty weak, Jordan.