...using less - living better?



A rhetorical question if I may... How many people out there are, like me, fed up with the vast amount of unsolicited junk mail that seems to clog our mail slots and fill our recycling bags each week? Judging by the number of "No junk mail" signs in my neighbourhood I'd say there are a lot of you.

Really though! Does anyone actually read it? Do any of you really care how many houses realtor A has sold and do you actually compare this information against the flyer from realtor B? Just how many credit cards, consolidation loans or mortgages does the average person apply for? If you need your house painted or your gutters cleaned, do you go digging for that flyer that you know came a couple of months ago? How many people actually make decisions based on the things they've taken from their junk mail?

Most of the unwanted stuff that we get goes directly, unread and often unopened, to the recycling bag. I barely have the time to read the things that I want to read or that I should be reading these days. Never mind everything else. Each week it gets carried out to the curb so that it may be returned, recycled and reprinted so that it may be re-delivered another day. Sadly, our yellow bag is often more full than the blue bag, blue box and the garbage can combined. I'm not kidding! Frankly, in this day of electronic access to nearly everything, I find the scale of this waste a little disturbing.

Which brings me to the point today where I had decided it was enough. I don't even know how I got on this mailing list, but now for the second time in just over a week I received a newsletter from East Vancouver's own Libby Davies. Champion of everything, protector of all, but apparently a poor environmental steward. I guess that's not completely true, there are three names on the envelope mine, my brother in law's (lives downstairs) and a name I've never heard of but can only assume that he used to live here, so I guess the intention is that I read it and pass it on to the other two guys. That's called reducing. Anyway, the title of today's bulletin for those interested is...

Eco-energy - Using Less - Living Better

A bulletin that describes a new residential energy efficiency assessment service for Canadian homeowners in order that we may improve the energy efficiency of our homes and... reduce our homes impact on the environment!

Wonderful! I've always been a bit suspect when it comes to the NDP's true position on the environment and this just makes me scratch my head a little more. In the Community Links bulletin that I received from Libby Davies last week she tells us about some of the very important things that she's been working on for all of the citizens of East Vancouver. These include workers rights, affordable housing, environmental sustainability, and so on.

Anyone that's followed my ramblings up to this point knows that I am very fond of recognizing the small steps, since they all lead to bigger things, especially where the environment is concerned. So while two bulletins (3 pages and 2 envelopes) in a little over a week may not seem like a big deal to some, to me its ridiculous especially when the information could easily be sent out electronically and further since it came without my asking for it in the first place. An information pamphlet sent out during an election to inform voters of their choices is one thing, a steady barrage of letters and bulletins is another thing entirely.

OPERATION: Clean Sweep!

Yesterday (Saturday April 28) Aiden, Jack and I spent a couple of hours with the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) helping with its contribution toward this years Pitch-in Canada week. It was a beautiful day to be out for sure, and after our experience at the bank machine earlier it felt really good to be doing something positive for the community. It also provided me with the opportunity to try and drive some good values and positive morals into my boys and I think it worked. By the end of the day Jack, my youngest was telling anyone who'd listen how "we're never going to litter!"

This year marked the 41st anniversary of Pitch-in Canada week. According to the Pitch-in site this is the largest and only multi-province environmental improvement campaign in the country, involving some 3.5 million volunteers. The objectives of this years campaign, entitled OPERATION: Clean Sweep include to:

1. involve millions of Canadian, young and old in local projects which clean-up, restore and/or preserve the environment, thereby promoting environmental sustainability and involving both young and older people in local partnerships which benefit and enhance their communities.
2. clean up, restore and beautify the environment by cleaning up litter and other garbage from urban, rural and wilderness areas and by initiating local projects such as habitat preservation and restoration and urban renewal activities, thereby promoting respect for Canada's natural and urban environments.
3. encourage voluntary action as a means of resolving environmental problems.
4. stress the value of waste as a resource by encouraging Canadians to refuse, reuse, recycle and properly dispose waste.
5. educate Canadians to pack-in/pack-out their waste when they enjoy the natural environment.
6. encourage civic pride and develop long-term working relationships for the future which will help local communities develop in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner, thereby leaving lasting benefits.

I'd have to say that these objectives were accomplished in our little part of the greater operation! As I said, it felt great to be out doing something positive for the community and for me, it was even better that the VACC chose a part of my own community to clean up. By the end of the afternoon our group had amassed an impressive (yet somewhat disturbing) pile of rubbish from the area of the TransCanada trail between North Kaslo and the Second Narrows Bridge. We all had a great time in the process.

A lesson in line-ups...

I can hardly believe this one myself!

How many lines do you think should form at a bank that has more than one Automated Teller Machine (ATM)? I have to assume that the majority would agree that one line is all it takes. As a machine becomes available the first person in the line takes it, the next person takes the next machine and so on...right? Seems like common sense to me but, today being a day for lessons I learned a valuable new one about ATM line-ups.

Today my sons and I walked into the TD Canada Trust at Hastings and Kamloops and, seeing a line for the 2 ATM machines, did what came naturally and stood behind the last person in the single line to wait our turn. The fellow in front of us was at the front of the line so it wasn't that big a deal for us and we weren't in that big of a hurry anyway. At some point as we waited another man (a large white man) entered the line, only instead of standing behind us he took up a position to the left of the guy in front of me.

Soon the machine on the left became open but, against traditional ATM line etiquette the guy that had just recently joined the line went for it, ahead of the fellow that had been waiting before me! Well the natural thing happened of course, the guy who had been waiting longest said "Excuse me, I was here first." This is where my years of ATM Line experience were suddenly cast into doubt. The large white guy (LWG) then replied "You were standing in the wrong line." The fellow in front of me, who happened to be a middle aged Asian guy (AG), answered (as I would have) "There's only one line."

So the LWG, seeming to realize his mistake, let the Asian guy go ahead and thankfully, all seemed right once again in the land of the ATM line.

The machine on the right opened up and I took it. As is usually the case when I go to the bank with my two sons (Salt and Peter), my attention was pretty much absorbed with preventing them from pushing buttons out of turn, stopping them from taking all of the deposit envelopes out of the rack, handling my transaction and grabbing the cash before one of them can do it. Needless to say I had pretty much forgotten about the exchange between the LWG and the other guy, that is until the Asian fellow was finished with the machine beside me and the LWG took his turn.

As the large white guy approached the ATM and the Asian fellow headed for the exit, the former made some kind of strange comment that none of us really heard that clearly. But although we may have missed the actual words I think the intent was pretty loud and clear. The Asian guy asked "What?" and here is kind of what followed...

BWG: "You were in the wrong line."
AG: "There's only one line!"
BWG: "There's 2 machines, there should be 2 lines"
AG: "There's only one line!"
BWG: "Why don't you go back to where you came from."

Thats right... I couldn't believe it either!

AG: "What? I've probably been here longer than you have." (in absolutely perfect English)
BWG: "I doubt that, I've been here since I was born 63 years ago."

At some point during the last statement the Asian guy had left the bank, and me, standing there in complete astonishment at what I'd just heard. As much as I really like to look at my community through rose colored glasses sometimes, I'm not an idiot (unlike the BWG) and I understand that sadly, attitudes like this still do exist. But while attitudes like this are absolutely unacceptable anywhere, they seem especially out of place in a community like Vancouver-Hastings whose population is approximately 48% Chinese, 10% Italian, 5% Vietnamese, 3% Filipino, 3% Aboriginal, 3% East Indian, 2% Portuguese and a mere 14% English (whatever Elections BC means by English)

Finishing my transaction and gathering my boys, I turned to the BWG and said "There's only one line." Its not what I really wanted to say... but my kids already had one crappy experience that I would have to spend the day explaining and de-programming. Although it probably made no difference to the attitude of the BWG, I had to say something!

All about the ride!

A few months ago, thanks to Volunteer Vancouver and BoardMatch, I was introduced to the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition. I was looking to gain some experience with a volunteer Board and exploring ways to get more involved in my community and so, being an avid mountain biker (frequent mountain bike crasher) this seemed like a good match and a great opportunity.

Established in 1988, the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) is a non-profit, volunteer operated organization that has committees in municipalities throughout the GVRD. Members are all passionate cyclists from all walks of life and with a variety of cycling experiences, passions and stories to tell. The goal of VACC members (as found at http://www.vacc.bc.ca/) is to "work to improve conditions for cycling in the lower mainland."

Before joining this Board, I attended a couple of meetings with the Vancouver committee. Not being much of an urban cyclist (unless you count a few trips around Stanley Park) and being relatively new to the area, I was still surprised by how much I didn't know about cycling in a city, within traffic and in all types of weather and conditions. I had never before even considered what some of the challenges faced by daily (or occasional for that matter) cycle commuters could be and, being a mountain biker I have largely focused my riding attention on things like "hucks", "skinny's", "teeters" and slippery roots and logs. Railroad crossings, traffic bulges and circles and cycle route signage just haven't been within my frame of reference, until now that is.

The VACC is made up of an incredibly intelligent and passionate group of people that seem to put the greater issues of cycling before all of the little reasons why people cycle. Our main purpose is simply to get more people out on their bikes. The work of the VACC is grounded in these following values:

1. We support a variety of styles and approaches to cycling.
2. We value education and role-modelling for safe cycling.
3. We respect those who use other forms of transportation.
4. We value cycling as a community building tool, and as a healthy practice for individuals and our environment.
5. We avoid funding or support that could compromise the integrity of our mission, purpose or values.
6. We seek positive legislative and policy change to make a lasting difference.
7. Our membership is open to all who share our goals and values.

These values are important as one of the things that drew me most to the VACC was how little it mattered that I was ignorant to a lot of the issues facing urban cyclists and cycling. That the people making up the VACC come from all points of many different spectrum's doesn't seem to matter since we are all joined somehow by a love for the ride. In all of its forms! My early experiences with this group have inspired me to "urbanize" one of my mountain bikes so that I may use it to be come more familiar with this great city that I call home. I would encourage cyclists from all stripes to check out the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition at http://www.vacc.bc.ca/ . Become a member, join a committee or just get inspired to go for a ride.

Volunteer Vancouver

When I moved to East Vancouver a few years ago I found a community like none I'd ever experienced before. Our little piece of Grant Street is friendly, our neighbours talk to us and to each other and everyone seems genuinely concerned about each other. All-in-all, despite what we thought we knew about East Vancouver before moving there, we were made to feel at home. I'm not saying for a second that there aren't other communities like ours, its just that I've never lived in one quite like it before.

Considering that this community was to be the one that we would call home, the one that we would raise our kids in, I thought that the best way to ensure that it stays friendly, clean and safe was to find a way to contribute and become a more active member of the community at large. I have volunteered in some capacity in other areas where I've lived so I decided to explore the various volunteer opportunities available in Hastings-Sunrise and Vancouver in general.

One great source of information for organizations looking for volunteers and volunteers looking for organizations is Volunteer Vancouver. This is something like a "help wanted" site for the voluntary sector but it also offers much more. According to their web site:

Established in 1943, Volunteer Vancouver has evolved into an organization that is proactive and innovative. We also continue to respond to the community and enhance the contributions of volunteers by working with organizations to maximize volunteer involvement.

Volunteer Vancouver offers a wide range of services that include training workshops, BoardMatch, a resource library and an online newsletter called Vantage Point. Interested people can sign up for regular updates and be made aware (by email) of volunteer opportunities in their communities.

As mentioned, I have volunteered for pretty much my whole adult life. Today I am involved with 6 different organizations in Vancouver and on the North Shore (I have trouble saying no sometimes) and despite the challenges that all of these present sometimes, all are very important to me for their own reasons. My wife would love for me to cut a few of them back, but which ones? Trouble is there just aren't enough people like me (or the 7.5 million (1997) other Canadians) willing to give up some of their time for a worthy cause. Worse, competition for good volunteers is fierce, as I have found out trying to find volunteers where I work. I'm not suggesting for a minute that everyone need give up as much as I do and I understand that there are probably some very good and valid reasons why people don't volunteer, but I personally believe that this world would stop rotating if it weren't for the efforts of volunteers.

According to Volunteer BC, in 2000 some 845 000 (26% of the population) British Columbian's volunteered about 142 million hours of their precious time. This is equal to 74 000 full-time jobs. The national contribution of British Columbian volunteers is an impressive 13% and this includes all of those wonderful people on the PAC's at your kids school, little league coaches, Search and Rescue members, people on the board at your favorite Rec Center, people providing valuable public services at no charge so that you may participate in the activity for low or no charge. Sort of makes you want to hug a volunteer doesn't it?

But back to Volunteer Vancouver and their significance for me... this is were I first found out about the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition. The subject of my next post.

More of the same from the NDP

Can someone please give Carole James a nudge, her record is skipping again! I don't know why I do this to myself (OK I do) but the other day I decided to spend some time learning more about our provinces official opposition, so I spent about an hour visiting the BC NDP home site and the site of the official opposition.

I'm pretty sure that I was there less than 10 minutes before my eyes started bleeding and I became short of breath. I needed water, badly! I want to call my venture into NDP territory research, at least that's how it was intended but unfortunately this would imply that I learned something useful from it. In fact all that I may have learned I knew already.

That Carole James and the NDP don't really like Premier Campbell and the BC Liberals is pretty obvious and, to be fair I guess it comes with the job. The problem that I found is that the NDP don't really seem to bring anything tangible to any of the arguments that they try to present. Even the message is the same, regurgitated from one issue to the next, "Gordon Campbell can't be trusted!" What is this, grade 9?

Lets look at health care, the one issue that the NDP keep trying to claim as their own. On their home site the NDP (correctly) observe that Gordon Campbell is promising to listen to our (British Columbian's) ideas on health care. (Presumable referring to the government Conversation on Health). In true NDP fashion they take it that one extra step by saying "Why should we believe him this time?"

Hmmm...

Well to begin with I guess we can look at the amount of money that the BC Liberals have thrown at health care since inheriting a sinking ship in 2001. Most recently $9.5 million announced for First Nations health initiatives. Fact is Gordon Campbell has increased health care spending by $3.8 billion since 2001, doubled doctors training spaces, increased training for nurses, eliminated MSP premiums and reduced prescription costs for nearly 300 000 low income British Columbian's, to name only a few. I know why the NDP shouldn't trust the government when it comes to health care.

Instead of encouraging people to take part in the Conversation on Health and bring meaningful dialogue and possible solutions to fix an ailing system to the table, the NDP choose to focus on looming shortages of health care professionals and place blame for this problem squarely on the shoulders of the premier. Here's a news flash Carole! Labour shortages are an increasing reality in all sectors in this province and it has everything to do with an aging population and, thanks to this government, a hot economy. Within the next few years BC and Alberta combined will realize a shortage of up to 350 000 skilled and unskilled laborers, who will you blame for that?

Next comes the challenges faced by lower income British Columbian's. Carole James, the NDP and the BC Federation of Labour have all jumped on the minimum wage band-wagon. According to them the "BC Liberals don't care about our lowest paid workers." Don't care? Seems to me that not so long ago the Liberals introduced a 10% tax cut specifically aimed at helping these people, a tax cut opposed by Jim Sinclair and the BC Fed. Gordon Campbell also increased the maximum income level for rental assistance to $28 000 and increased monthly shelter allowances and basic rates for single employable people by $50 each. This was the first increase of its kind since 1992.

Then we come to a personal favorite of mine, the environment.

So far, the BC Liberal government has contributed more than $500 million towards the development of greener communities. During its first term in office our government reduced its own greenhouse gas emissions by 24%, the same amount that emissions increased under the previous NDP government. Carole James says that "Gordon Campbell has failed on climate change" yet he is behind what is arguably the most aggressive plan at reducing carbon emissions in North America. Carole James hasn't even managed to reduce her own vehicle emissions.

I love this one!

"Gordon Campbell can't be trusted to deal with growing homelessness in our streets."

Homelessness due to things like mental illness, drug addiction, and all other contributing factors combined represents a very serious challenge to all communities throughout the province. Those of us in Vancouver-Hastings are patently aware of the reality of this problem and despite what the NDP would have us believe, its a problem that has been growing steadily since the early 90's. The problem of homelessness has been passed from government to government and until now, none have done much to solve it. During their turn at the wheel, the NDP acknowledged the challenge of homelessness and admitted that they didn't really know what to do about it.

Under Gordon Campbell, the BC Liberals have realized the problem of the homeless. They've stood up and taken responsibility for solving the problem and they've put their money where their mouths are. Recently to the tune of some $80 million and despite what the likes of the NDP and the Anti-Poverty Committee say, this is a significant first step and to quote the premier, "This is not the end."

At the beginning of this post I said that I didn't learn anything from this exercise but that's not entirely true. A couple of things did emerge after an hour or so in NDP web space. First, our official opposition is very heavy on criticism yet extremely light with useful suggestions. The NDP, for lack of any tangible argument cling to an over-used, now stale "can't be trusted" angle that doesn't allow for any intelligent debate on any of the important issues. Its like George Bush saying the the United States is "fighting evil" or worse, like trying to reason with your three year old who doesn't want to eat his/her vegetables.

Second, all it takes is a little digging (and a little common sense) to learn that while some of the challenges now facing our province did in fact become more difficult within the last 7 years, none of them were actually created during this time. Many of these challenges of been growing for decades but then does anyone really believe that a troubled health care system, global warming or the plight of the homeless magically appeared in 2001 with the changing of government? The NDP does. The reality is however, that the NDP was very aware of these problems while in government but they didn't have any money to do anything about them.

Which brings me to my final observation. The BC Liberals have turned our province around. We have money, the government is aware of the issues and they are taking all of the right steps to try and create positive change. The problem for the NDP is, that it leaves them with nothing but a bunch of old government credit card receipts to sift through, hoping beyond hope to find something, anything that can help breath a little life into a party full of old ideas and outdated ideologies.

1 person screwing up East Vancouver

Its been a crazy couple of weeks for me. I've barely had the time to keep up with whats going on in the world, nation, province, community... so it was great to find a few minutes yesterday to scan some headlines and I wasn't disappointed. The first one that caught my eye (and apparently a lot of other peoples) read "Pro 9/11 column may oust Green candidate."

I immediately thought of East Vancouver's own Kevin Potvin!

It had to be! He's written so many ridiculous things I just couldn't think of anyone else that would want to be within miles of any essay, article or thought out loud that would hint at anything but absolute remorse for some 3000 innocent lives lost in the twin towers. You may not agree with the current American administration's style of politics, capitalism, consumerism, militarism or any other ism for that matter, I don't necessarily, but most people recognize the events of 9/11 for what they truly are, a tragedy.

So I clicked on the story and sure enough... Kevin Potvin!

I wasn't surprised to see him, nor was I surprised that he would attempt to bring context to the ramblings of his "little voice". I guess he had to do something to try and fill in the hole that it has dug for him. What does surprise me is the fact that the Green Party of Canada was even willing to consider him as a viable candidate for Vancouver-Kingsway, or anywhere else for that matter. It also surprises me that party leader Elizabeth May would even consider giving Potvin the "benefit of the doubt" over his comments. While I am not a member of the party, nor do I vote green I will admit to a certain amount of respect for the party and some of the things that they stand for (more than I can often muster for the local orange party). Kevin Potvin, co-founder and regular contributor to the "Republic of East Vancouver" does nothing good for the credibility of the Green Party, just like he has done nothing good for the "Community" of East Vancouver.

Even if Potvin does manage to hold on to the Green nomination for Vancouver-Kingsway it is extremely unlikely that he would be elected. Too bad for East Vancouver and Vancouver-Hastings because that means we are likely stuck with him. The rest of this great country may never realize the star that is Kevin Potvin and so sadly, he will likely never make Spinks' list of 101 People that are Screwing up Canada. Too bad because lists like this were made for people like Potvin.