Vancouver City Councillor
I’ve lived in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant for close to thirty years, and in Strathcona/Chinatown for most of that time. It’s my home, and an area I’m very fond of —of course, a lot of Vancouverites and visitors are fond of Chinatown, and it represents an important aspect of our city’s history. Forged among the bitter memories of institutional racism and head tax, Chinatown represents the fortitude and perseverance of the pioneers who helped build our city and province.
The holiday season is well upon us, and this weekend marks “Super Saturday”—the busiest shopping day of the year and the last Saturday (December 19) before Christmas.
If you’re like me and leave gift shopping to the last minute, the thought of a crowded mall on the weekend before Christmas is enough to make your skin crawl. Thankfully, I don’t even have to leave East Van, let alone venture into a mall (okay, maybe Kingsgate Mall), and my last-minute shopping is way more impactful because I buy local.
Today, December 3rd marks the International Day of Disabled Persons (first declared by the United Nations in 1992). On that note – it seems appropriate to talk about disabilities and accessibility in B.C.
It’s impossible to talk about accessibility barriers in this province without first talking about disability rates. There are two different qualifications: Persons With Disability (PWD) and Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers to employment (PPMB). PWD is a semi-permanent designation, and a single PWD can receive up to $906.42/month. A single PPMB can receive a maximum of $657.92 and must reapply every two years. There are potential additional supplements available for nutritional, diet, transportation, and crisis needs at the Ministry’s discretion. Both benefits are inclusive of a maximum shelter expenditure of $375/month.
What might the Trans Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement mean here in the City of Vancouver? — with the notion of foreign investment already a hot-button issue in Vancouver real estate and unaffordability; what might the TPP and its extrajudicial Investor State Dispute Settlement process mean for local land use? What about the TransMountain pipeline and …
John Colebourn, The Province:
Longtime social activist and Strathcona resident Pete Fry is officially running for the Green Party in the upcoming provincial byelection in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant.
Premier Christy Clark has until early January to call the byelection, necessitated by the resignation of longtime NDP MLA Jenny Kwan.
Kwan ran successfully for the NDP in the recent federal election in Vancouver East, a riding held by the NDP’s Libby Davies since 1997.