The tax payers have already been deceived, It began with the claims about what the Olympics would do for the city and was clinched when they "WON??" the bidding.
< replied-to message removed by QT >

This is for all you lefties/socialists out there who think that these derelicts of society are entitled to waterfront condos in Vancouver.

1. If you are a drug addict you have the right to be a drug addict in this country. We will supply you with everything you need to keep you a drug addict including money, housing, drugs and a place to "do" those drugs. Why we can't force these people into rehab is beyond my logic. You can only make a sound decision if you are of sound mind and I'm not sure how that ever happens if you are constantly stoned or high on something. Why can't these people become wards of the state and forced into treatment?

2. I am tired of this argument that drug addicts are the way they are because something happened to them in their life that caused them to be this way - emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. I am not including those with low mental capacity. There will always be some portion of the population that truly needs our help and for those people I have no problem providing them with their needs. I don't consider heroin, crack, and lemon pledge needs. How long does this get to be an excuse for before you accept your lot in life and get on with it and try and change things which reverts back to my first point. If you are not forced into treatment this is never going to happen.

3. My numbers may be off a little, but the population of Vancouver must be 1.5 - 2 million. There are approximately 1000 homeless people (????). Why oh why do we keep trying to appease the minority? When the hell does gov't ever represent the needs/wants of the majority?

4. When you become a taxpayer then you can have the right to protest your conditions. Last time I checked not too many homeless paid taxes. I find it interesting that if you can stand in a line waiting for food, shelter and your welfare cheque then you must be capable of doing some things jobwise. Why aren't the homeless volunteering at the shelters and cooking the meals, etc. Why are they being waited on? Perhaps that could be part of their payment?

5. What the hell is affordable housing anyway? Who determines this? I want a million dollar condo in False Creek too, but I can only afford to pay $1000 per month, does that mean the gov't will allow me to live there and pitch in for the rest? These people are not going to pay anything. They are going to ruin whatever they are "given". And that is the problem in a nutshell. Maybe if they had to work for what they had they might take a little more pride in their surroundings, but just because you are low/no income does not give you the excuse to not shower, brush your teeth, wash your clothes, wash your bedding, etc. There are 24 hrs in any given day. I am sure that is more than enough time to take care of your personal hygiene habits especially when you have no job.

6. I would like to know of all the complainers about the emergency shelters and what they have done to their neighborhoods, what percentage of them actually voted in the last civic election. To me if you don't take the time to educate yourself and vote then take a seat and shut-up.

I've just had enough!

History has shown us that, while the hype pre games, is the low cost housing, the truth is that after the games the hosting city is in debt so deeply that they sell the units for best price. It has happened everywhere along with the lingering hangover of debt.
For some reason, despite the well documented down side to hosting games like this (and it is almost all down side when looked realistically) governments continue to suck taxpayers into these deals with hype that has no foundation in the real world. Thank God we got rid of the Commonwealth Games over here. Bruce Devenne
< replied-to message removed by QT >

I am the op. Just so you are aware my family is certainly not 1 or 2 paycheques away from being in those circumstances. We chose a long time ago in our lives NOT to do drugs and to actually think about the future and financially prepare for it should the worst happen. We don't stand in gov't lines complaining how the world has done us wrong while waiting for a handout. I also pay taxes to use those roads you talk about.

If the city of Vancouver had any brains they would sell those units for market value and take that money and build social housing. I am sure they would get more units than what is available now especially if they chose less expensive land located somewhere else. To give bums the a prime location is absolutely ludicrous. It will just end up looking like a ghetto in less than a year. Who the hell wants to step out of their million dollar home into syringes, condoms and people having sex under park benches? These people have taken over and it is an absolute disgrace. Seems they have more rights than the taxpayers.It seem that 2010 olympics will give us big time debt and taxpayers will be deceive!

From The Sunday TimesJune 7, 2009

Spy bugs may be deployed for 2012 Olympics
David Leppard

BRITISH police are studying Chinese-style surveillance tactics as they prepare security for the 2012 London Olympics, a leaked Scotland Yard report has revealed.

The report, marked “restricted”, reveals that among the “Big Brother” tactics deployed at last summer’s Beijing Games was the installation of miniature microphones in thousands of taxis.

The bugs transmitted passengers’ conversations to a police control room. There, officers could activate disabling devices to stop the cabs if they suspected criminal activity.

In another operation, athletes, visitors and journalists were believed to have been tracked by tiny microchips on their tickets and passes.

Software linked to the city’s 300,000 CCTV cameras was capable of recognising known criminals and terrorist suspects.

The 44-page police report says there are “lessons to be learnt” from China’s use of digital surveillance. But it warns: “The fine balance between the use of technology to support security requirements and individual rights to privacy will be an open debate in the UK for 2012.”

The study was prepared after a trip to the Beijing Olympics by Tarique Ghaffur, a former assistant commissioner.

Ghaffur chaired the police committee on Olympic security. He completed the study last October before he was forced to step down following a dispute with the then Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Ian Blair.

It has been circulated to chief constables, MI5 and senior Whitehall officials as they draw up the £600m security plan for 2012.

Ghaffur last week declined to comment.

However, Alan Campbell, the Home Office minister, has revealed that the Home Office is investigating technology that would allow police to halt a vehicle remotely.

You forgot one crucial thing that is at the core of all Vancouver's problems....

CORRUPT GOVERNMENT AND THE CORRUPT CORPORATIONS THAT MAY DO WHATEVER THE FUCK THEY WANT INCLUDING 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS!

Actually it's not Canada I hate so much as what our politicians have done to this country.

Most negative factors in Canada can be directly related to our government. Lack of jobs, housing costs , cost of living , crime , recession etc are all the result of us having the most inefficient, pathetic ,corrupt government in the world. We really need a civil war and to take back control of this country and restructure the government.Plus 2010 winter olympics real mistake.

Thank god the election is coming up and Carole James can take control of the Olympics. Check her out on CFOX

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcnewdemocrat...-72157617409476070/

Will give the elderly,disabled,homeless,students,unemployed,unions,enviromentalists,native groups,immigrants,and other protestors something to take thier anger out on.I can just picture a half burned out,smashed up bus.Laying at the bottom of a hill somewhere. Used a baracade to block the road to Whistler.With a smoldering mug shot of Gordon Campell on the side.lol I will just leave the country for a few weeks during this.Rather take my chances in Thailand.Police tend not to attack protestors there.As they do not want to take sides against thier own people.Guess protestors could use swine flu masks to hide thier faces. during 2010 protests .Would be pretty funny if some graffitti artist added a medical mask to his large mugs of himself,and the 2010 legacy ad in small print behind him.lol What a self serving,self centered,egotistical smuck!!

We all know CTV BC gives away those nice little 2010 Olympic pins for free, right ? Not quite.

A week or so ago, on the evening news, they offered free pins to out of towner's, like me. All you had to do was be amongst the first two hundred to e-mail CTV BC,
include your name and address and you would get a free pin. I heard that, e-mailed them right away and waited.

A few days ago, I got an e-mail crom CTV BC telling me I was in the first 200 writers and I would get my pin. But wait. Now I have to PAY FOR IT !

The note said to send a stamped self addressed package type envelope along with $1.18 for postage and a copy and a copy of the confirmation letter and then
I would get my free 2010 Olympic CTV pin.

CTV BC preaches over and over again on the news that if you are offered something for free but are asked for money to get it, IT'S A SCAM !

So, is CTV BC scamming me ? If they are that tight, how can they pay for some one to hand out hundreds of these pins at shopping malls. Thanks a lot CTV !

or those that keep blaming the Liberals for bringing the Olympics to BC, you need to remember that the NDP put the bid in to host the Olympics in 1998. At that time Premier Glen Clark said that alot of work will have to be done, including upgrading the sea to sky highway, but did not announce how all this would be funded. Campbell was mayor of Vancouver at the time, and even though he personally supported the bid, he left it for the people of Vancouver to decide whether to host it, by way of a referendum. He also had the foresight to realize that the NDP had no idea how they would fund it, so he had Glen Clark sign a Participation Agreement with the City of Vancouver protecting the city against cost overruns, damages or losses. Campbell saw the pitfalls and protected his city. Why did Glen Clark not protect his province?

Victoria police are finding the best way to handle chronically homeless, mentally ill, addicted people who are always in trouble is with housing, not jail.

A report from a task force that combines police, social workers, parole officials and mental-health professionals shows street people have up to 74 per cent fewer brushes with the law after they are housed.

“If you are a homeless person on the street, with any number of social issues, and you become a client of [the task force], then you can reduce your contact with the police by 74 per cent,” Victoria deputy police chief John Ducker told the Victoria Police Board.

The eight-member Victoria Integrated Community Outreach Team was set up to deal with chronic offenders living on the street. By signing up as team members, Victoria police became the first law-enforcement agency in Canada to take such an approach, Ducker said.

The team’s strategy is “housing-first,” which means the goal is to first find people permanent housing, not just shelter spots that can prolong homelessness.

Clients — 60 so far — who are initially homeless, are heavy users of medical and emergency services and have a history of interaction with police. The team has found housing for 43. In the 12 months before they were housed, they were responsible for 1,110 police calls. In the 12 months after finding housing, those calls dropped to 284.

“All by itself, the law-enforcement solution is just not going to work with this client group,” said Ducker.

Team leader Karen Bahrey of the Vancouver Island Housing Authority said multi-pronged, intensive attention is what makes housing the clients possible. The team highlights its efforts when trying to persuade landlords to accept homeless people as tenants. Typically, the housing is a low-cost, single room in a downtown hotel.

Clients, after they are housed, get regular visits from the team — once or even twice a day.

“Our clients don’t end up homeless because they are stellar renters,” said Bahrey. “But when things happen, we are ready to go and deal with it.”

Clients, many of whom have been living on the streets for years, have serious adjustments to deal with after being housed, said Bahrey. For those dealing with mental illness, for example, inner voices can seem louder once they’re housed and have privacy. Or behaviour that might have been ignored on a busy street can be an issue in a quiet building.

Sometimes, the problem is simply loneliness — clients miss their friends, drinking buddies or routines developed over years of surviving on the streets.

The team told the police board its maximum client load is 80 people, but it has been estimated by groups such as the Mayor’s Task Force on Homelessness that Victoria has as many as 1,500 people living on the streets.

“There is definitely not the housing out there,” said Bahrey. As Ducker noted, “We are tackling this problem in fives and 10s, but it’s coming back at us in the 100s.”

rwatts@tc.canwest.com

An Undying Call for Olympic Fanatics?
By Concerned Citizen of Canada


Let your mind be freed from queries. Let your voice be heard everywhere. Aren’t you sick and tired of what’s happening to our surroundings regarding the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics? Lobbying, rallying and boycotts may not be enough to get the attention of the VANOC officials and its elite groups and the greedy and unethical government officials of British Columbia. We have been continuously fooled by these people with their non-reliable and non-existing figures that they used to published in every corners of the mass media.
If you people of Canada are more concern of what will and may happen in the future. On what will and may be the effect to the majority, not only for those people living in the skidrow area of East Vancouver but also for those average families. We are asking you to voluntarily participate in a “MASS CONSCIOUSNESS BRIGADE“, the power of our mind is very effective to use as our weapon to fight this elite group back. The power of intent is a powerful tool to change the weather on 2010. Yes, Vancouver Olympics may happen but if we will join together by using our mind there maybe a huge mass disruption in the outdoor events. We will be having a mild weather in the Whistler area. With these, it will be a great failure to the VANOCs and its allies and a big humiliation to the whole world.
It is effective! This power of the mind has been proved in the year 1998 of July at Northeast of Florida when they were hit by a drought conditions. Upon using the Mass Consciousness they were able to have a downfall of rains. And it was a success!
So people of Canada, let’s give ourselves a chance. We can prove this to everybody. We can make a difference! We can do it!




       ''Needed is Angry Citizens Against 2010 Olympic Hippocracy''

n Sunday night CTV news was whining that some British news website was reporting on the gang war in Vancouver. They seemed to be upset that it would make Vancouver look dangerous and European tourists would be afraid to come here.

On the one hand they rub their hands with glee when they finally have something to talk about (shootings) but then they get upset when anyone outside of Vancouver hears about it.

Well, there was another shooting Monday night, but we're supposed to believe that everything is just fine.

If I was in Europe, and thinking of coming to Vancouver, I would seriously give my head a shake. Why would they bother coming here?

I could see Europeans being interested in seeing the rocky mountains, or something like that, but Vancouver? Why would they? Oh, I know, because our media and tourism whores run slick ad campaigns to try to lure Europeans to come here. I'm sure they don't come more than once to Vancouver, except to go to the airport and then promptly leave for Vancouver Island or the interior. To stay in Vancouver itself, when you come from Europe? Please... There's nothing here that isn't 10 times better where they come from.

Any Europeans reading this, save your money. Trust me on this. Fly to Calgary instead. It's only a 3 hour drive to the Rocky Mountains from there. You came to see nature, right? Then, if you want to get near the ocean, fly from Calgary to Victoria. Skip Shitcouver completely. You won't miss anything worthwhile, believe me.

People are in Vancouver because there's work, not because it's a nice place. When Vancouverites go on vacation, the first thing they do is leave Vancouver. There's a reason for that. Follow their lead.

So I decided to check out the convention centre today. I figured why not? Its a whole lot of our tax dollars there. Nice place to tell you the truth. I parked at an underground lot a few minutes walk from the centre. Entering and leaving I was outside on the street for maybe 4 minutes. Wouldn't you know it? I get hit up for some change! Actually the guy asked me if I could buy him a meal. Trust me he did not look like he had missed too many meals. He was dressed okay, not a slob. And coherent too. I work hard for my money and I am sure as fuck not going to give it away to some lazy ass on the street. I figure if you can walk and talk, you are able to work. Sure the jobs are tight right now, but $8 an hour is better than nothing. And then I get home to watch the news and see a piece on those that demand "social housing" in Vancouver. Its tough to pity these people. Put a fork in me people, because I am done! Maybe I should just sit on my ass and expect others to take care of me!

Who is this Chris Shaw? Could he be one of my buddies from the US Army? Or did we meet when serving in Isreal? Funny that an ol' gungho is pissed about a sporting event.