The Secrets Of Vancouver BC, Canada

Personal Stash Limits Raised In Vancouver

photo credit: hungaro phantasto

A provincial court judge has thrown out charges against a man stopped by Delta police last year and found to have four garbage bags in the backseat full of marijuana plants.

The judge ruled that police had seriously violated the man’s constitutional rights because there were insufficient ground to search the man’s car, even though police could smell recently burned marijuana coming from the vehicle.

Great news for resident pot smokers (and large volume dealers)… not only don’t you have to worry about the smoke billowing out the windows as you drive, but the police can’t touch your 10-20 lbs. of personal stash sitting in the open in your back seat.

Makes you wonder which way the judge leans, and what it’ll take to have the justice system give police the tools to do their job.

The shooting are a result of the non-enforcement of the laws. What’s the worst that can happen if you happen to gun down a competitor?

Here’s a another example:

A provincial court judge in Abbotsford has thrown out weapons and drug charges against one of three Bacon brothers after questioning a search warrant. Jonathan Bacon, Godwin Cheng and Rayleene Burton were arrested in 2005 after police seized crack cocaine, marijuana, handguns, silencers and cash in an Abbotsford home.

So what does one need to do to get thrown in jail for drugs in Vancouver?

I guess when the government gives you free needles, injection hotels, free crack pipes, you get a free pass for anything drug related.

When the inmates have taken over this west coast asylum, you’ll know how it began.

Another Day, Another Foot Washes Up

photo credit: KT Lindsay

According to news reports, a right foot was found inside a shoe by a woman walking along the beach on Sunday morning.

Five feet so far have washed up on shorelines along islands in British Columbia in less than a year.

All previous were right feet wearing socks and shoes, and two of them were size 12.

The last one was found on May 22 on Kirkland Island in the Fraser River.

Police are still trying to see if they are linked… speedy detective work as usual.

Any theories? It’s odd they all are right feet…

150 Years Old – Vancouver’s History

photo credit: Mikey G Ottawa

You’d think after 150 years there would be a lot to talk about, historic events that would capture imagination, and the web would be full of articles.

Some interesting sites inform us that Vancouver was know as the city of squatters for the first 100 odd years… and quite a few riots. Vancouver was named after Captain George Vancouver who spent only one day on the site.

Other notable achievements include the first Hudson Bay Store, the “Arena” that opened its doors in 1911 – Canada’s first artificial ice rink opens to the public, and we’re still waiting for the Canucks to win the cup.

I’ll probably end up on page one of Google, as there doesn’t seem to be a lot to talk about. You’d think Vancouver would have more sites covering important events from the past 150 years…

Being 150 years old would set the founding date at 1858. But the Dominion of Canada was not established until 1867, which puts Canada at 141 years old. The province of B.C. joined Confederation in 1871, so the province is really only 137 years old.

So how do they come up with 150 years?

Apparently in 1858, Sir James Douglas became the first governor of the new “Colony of British Columbia.” That same year Douglas also appointed the first public servants (now known as Government Agents) to collect taxes and issue licences in the new colony.

Vancouver also became know as the city of squatters for the next 100 odd years… and quite a few riots.

What the province is really celebrating is 150 years of British Columbians paying taxes. Very appropriate as the tend has continued unabated for all these years.

Here’s 150 years in a nutshell:

• One of the events that pushed the founding of BC was the discovery of gold in the interior Cariboo region of British Columbia. The region was being overrun by thousands of gold seekers and there was an urgent need to ensure that the sovereignty of the area was maintained and that there was law and order in the goldfields. Tax was invented.
• The first wave of Chinese immigrants to Canada moved north from San Francisco in 1858. They came to British Columbia to prospect for gold on the Fraser River. Working as gold miners, laundrymen and market gardeners, they also became teamsters, coal miners, salmon canners and servants. Mainly men, they had left their wives and families behind in China; much of their Canadian earnings was sent home to care for their families. Now they all are here… Personal tax was invented.
• Today they have taxes for environment, sales tax, gas tax, personal and property tax, disposal fees (taxes), recycling fees (taxes), government insurance (the most clever of taxes), property transfer fees (tax), and the list goes on and on.
• They are spending $6.6 million  to support activities commemorating the 150th anniversary of the founding of the colony of British Columbia during 2008. More tax money needed.

So I’d like to wish the government of BC a happy 150 years… and the tradition of finding new and creative ways of taxing BC residents.

A Mountie Always Gets His Man

photo credit: nikki_tate

From Steven Smart of CTV.ca

This year marks another first for what has become a key event on the city’s summer calendar.

For the first time, the RCMP will be officially entering the Vancouver Pride parade.

The Mounties say it’s important they’re seen to reflect the communities they serve.

“We want to show the overall community that we support the gay community as well as supporting that contingent of this community that works within our rank and file,” said RCMP Sgt. Tim Shields.

Parade organizers and participants say this is a big step.

“That’s awesome, you know, they say every Mountie gets his man,” said Ken Boesem, a regular participant in the parade.

“For a long time it’s sort of been an oppositional thing between the culture gay society, gay culture, and the police force,” he said. “There’s sort of a fear of the police because it’s been outlawed or against the law so it’s kind of building bridges.”

But don’t look for the 12 RCMP officers taking part to get too wild.

They’ll be shying away from the more provocative parade displays. But given how big a step it is for the Mounties to even be in the parade, it’s not likely anyone will mind.

Pride began some 30 years ago as a small local march and has grown into a nationally and internationally recognized parade and festival bringing more than 400,000 people into the streets of Vancouver’s West End. In the last three decades Pride has grown into the one of Vancouver’s premier events and Canada’s longest running parade.

The Pride Parade starts at 12 pm, August 3, at Robson and Thurlow, heads West down the hill to Denman street, follows Denman to Pacific and then finishes at Sunset Beach. The route map is here.

If you’re not one for parades…

Pride Festival
Sunday, August 3, 2008   12:00 – 6:00PM
Sunset Beach Map: Google Map
Price: Free for all

Celebrations continue after the Parade at Sunset Beach festival site. Expect a crowd that reaches over 80,000 people in the park listening to the live music on the Vancity Festival Stage, with a Pride beer garden.

They Were Wrong?

photo credit: Ludovic Hirlimann

Stunning… a founder of Greenpeace finally admits they were misguided on nuclear energy… and boy are we are paying for the group’s propaganda.

Imagine if we had embraced nuclear power in the 70-80s… like France, who hasn’t really ever laid down to Greenpeace.

Dr. Patrick Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace, now promotes nuclear energy in the latest edition of ElectricTV.net.

Dr. Moore, now chairman and chief scientist of the Vancouver-based consultancy Green Spirit Strategies, says the protest against nuclear energy that began in the 1970s was “so focused on nuclear weapons and nuclear war that we lumped all things nuclear in the same category as being evil. We made the mistake of not recognizing that nuclear energy was a beneficial use, that it was a clean energy source that does not produce greenhouse gas and air pollution like the fossil fuels do.”

Keep in mind that Green Spirit Strategies ” manages the environmental reputation of leading global industries by engaging government, academic, environmental and social agencies. We’ve participated in every stage of campaign planning and execution, from research to implementation to evaluation”.

Wonder what else they’ll be coming clean with in the next few years…