What was that strange "unsound"?

Did anyone else hear a strange sound earlier this week? In case you missed it, it was the sound of our NDP MLA's and party faithful exhaling due to a sudden (unfounded) opportunity to complain in the media about the BC Liberals.

The reason that you may not have heard this was because the sound was very nearly drowned out by the completely unsurprizing glass-half-empty tirades of NPD leader Carole James. Another sound we haven't heard for a while.

Last week Dr Penny Ballem resigned her post as Deputy Health Minister for reasons that no one but her really knows at this time. My impression of what I've read on it seems to indicate a difference in opinion, but then really all thats been said is that she feels that unspecified plans for health care are "unsound". What does this mean? In the real world people leave jobs all the time for a multitude of personal and professional reasons and it is not unusual for a person to disagree in principle with their boss or with a particular policy that they are exposed to.

In this case though, because the NDP has decided that health care is going to be their spring board to effectiveness, Ms James wants answers "immediately" as to the Premiers plan for health care, without providing the government opportunity to adequately investigate Dr Ballem's claim. While I don't know all of the Premiers future plans, I am aware of a few of the very "sound" things that the BC Liberals have done already and how we stack up at the moment compared to the rest of the country.

1. Healthiest place to live in Canada - BC.
2. Top performer in overall healthcare and use of the Medicare system - BC.
3. Best access to cancer treating drugs - BC.
4. Most efficient spending of health care dollars - BC at approx $2545 per person.
5. $3.8 billion increase in overall healthcare spending.
6. Significant increases in training for doctors and nurses.
7. Significant increases in knee and hip replacements and other surgeries.

Of course these are just a few examples. So is the system perfect? Maybe not yet, but it seems to me that healthcare in BC has received an awful lot of positive attention lately. Enough that I question whether or not anyone can describe the system as a whole as "unsound".

A "Drive" by any other name...

According to Commercial Drives own champion Kevin Potvin, the second annual Commercial "Drive" Car-Free Festival was a smashing success, even in the absence of local government representation. Although both Libby Davies and Shane Simpson managed a showing, no one from City Hall got the opportunity to bask in the glow of Commercial Drives version of a car-free utopia.

So what! Would the event have been any more successful or popular if they had been there? I'm sure that the Courier could have found better use of a third of a page.

While Mr Potvin may be right in saying that a community doesn't need "car-borne customers to thrive", the truth is that his vision doesn't necessarily match the reality of the "Drive" on any other day of the year. The Tuesday following this event my family and I went to our favorite gelato place on Commercial Drive and what did we see? The perfect view into a "gasoline dependent, mean and barren future" where parking was at a premium and conversation was frequently smothered by the bellowing exhaust of another cultural phenomenon, the "chopper".

Incidentally, I was at the Dog Days event at Trout Lake the day before and I just happened to glimpse Vancouver's own Kim Capri. While I wasn't there all day (just most of it), I did not see Shane Simpson or Libby Davies. This can only lead me to believe that maybe even this socialist super-duo can't make every one of the dozens of events that are held every weekend in this city. Or maybe they did their own Fathers Day things on Saturday, just so they could clear their calendars for the Commercial Drive event.

Protect your Pansies?

I thought I'd keep my first post close to home. My family and I moved to the Vancouver-Hastings area just over a year ago. Admittedly we had our reservations. We'd heard all of the East Vancouver horror stories and we bought into most of those stereotypes.

Shortly after moving in we spared no expense and purchased an alarm system and we remain diligent about locking doors and windows (although we've avoided window bars). We never leave anything of any value outside which is probably good advice for any community.

Time has passed and we now realize that for the most part we were wrong. We live in a lovely, friendly neighbourhood within a thriving and culturally diverse community. We have neighbours that talk to us and to each other, unlike our neighbours in our previous community, and I think that the last grow-op within a few blocks just blew up a couple of weeks ago.

All in all we love our new community and we generally feel safe within it. That was until a couple of weeks ago when the unimaginable happened. Someone stole our pansies! Not only the pansies but the ugly fake plastic tree that we had on our front deck. Worse, the pansy poachers didn't target us alone but hit several other front doorsteps on the street! Even worse still I've learned is that this isn't the first time that this has happened.

What have we gotten ourselves into? Are pansies and other doorstep decoration some new crazy fuel feeding someones drug habit, or does someone just really like flowers but can't afford them? How do you bolt down a flower? My advise here then my friends, watch out for those that can't protect themselves. Protect your pansies at all costs.