I agree, however some places are worse than others and have no concrete plan on how to address the issues.

Some places these problems are infinitely more visible and more problematic.

We are one of those places.

There are VERY few places you go where the homelessness and drug use is so evident as it is here. Sure Seattle, Portland etc. but we are just following the same track as them. Portland woke up that decriminalization wasn’t working at least where as I feel like here in BC, we will be far more hesitant to backtrack on that, which ultimately, will only be to the detriment of your “regular” law abiding citizen

I would suggest going a step further than just more legislation to punish illegal use of fire arms.

What about reforms to our criminal justice system?

-getting sick and tired of news about random and targeted shootings and stabbings.

When will criminals face stiffer penalties for assaulting or killing people randomly or targeted??

Canada's criminal justice system is a complete joke. A catch and release program.

How many times have the police arrested a suspect only to hear later in the news that a suspect is released with conditions to appear in court on criminal charges?

Are the requirements for bail in our country not stringent enough?

Where is the political will to reform our criminal justice system?

I don't hear Turd and the Liberals doing squat to reform our justice system. PP boy Poilevre? What the fuck does he complain about?? Axe the carbon tax, axe the carbon tax.

Yeah, yeah, I understand that one of the major issues that voters are thinking about now in our society, ahead of upcoming federal election, is cost of living, and housing affordability. Hence, the Turd government made announcements about $600 million to build more affordable homes faster for people.


What about criminal justice system reform? Is this issue not important enough for Canadians?

Killing people with a knife is a hell of a lot harder than with a gun. I'd love if they could crack down on all the illegal guns from the states, it's pretty annoying that their ridiculous gun culture leaks over here so much, but I suspect that's easier said than done when Americans insist on being stupid.

This topic is boring because the answers are always the same.

What do you propose? Putting people in jail? Ok, let's do that.

We need to build more jails, is that free? Taxes, you want that?

We need more COs, hiring shortage, can't find people. Also, more taxes for that, you down?

It all and always will come down to funding, is there an appetite for that? Current politics doesn't seem to indicate that.

Another topic that doesn't want to be addressed -- some people can't be saved or rehabilitated, plain and simple. What do we do with them?

I think the problem is people have lost faith in govt. at all levels that they can actually do even the smallest thing without completely fucking it up.

So as I’ve always said, if you think the answer is building more jails, then do it, build them, hire and train all the people, enable proper rehabilitation and treatement etc.

But of course everyone is totally incompetent so when they say, it’s going to cost X amount of tax dollars everyone should be skeptical because nothing ever gets done effectively or on budget

I am not opposed to diverting more of our tax dollars for funding for policing.

If only life imitated art haha. VPD commissioner turns on a big search light so that Batman gets the signal to find criminals and beat their asses. Police show up to work with the Dark Knight. LUL

Metro Vancouver is the new Gotham?

Speaking of shootings, here is another one in downtown Vancouver.

-targeted shooting against a doctor. His face is gonna need extension reconstructive surgery.

https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/0...uver-shooting/

CityNews has learned a local doctor was the victim in a brazen downtown Vancouver shooting last week.

Sources confirm that the doctor was not the intended target, but was left with significant injuries after being shot in the face around 7:50 p.m. near Homer Street and West Pender Street on April 3.


CityNews learned Friday that there was an exchange of “words” between the gunman and the doctor before shots rang out.

The Vancouver Police Department said at the time the shooting was not related to the ongoing B.C. gang conflict, but did say that investigators believed it to be targeted.

Sources say the 46-year-old victim will likely need some form of reconstructive surgery during his recovery.

It was the second instance of gunfire in the area last week after a daylight shooting on March 30 left locals fearing for their safety.

That shooting happened around 5:40 p.m. on Robson Street near Richards Street. Police also believe that shooting was targeted.

As someone who works in/around government, this is because even the smallest of the small changes are blocked by horrendous amounts of policy, political positioning, lack of funding, gatekeeping, manpower issues and power plays by managers.

The system is super broken to represent effective change.

That said, I can quiet readily admit that the current provincial NDP government has surprised me on numerous occasions. I don't like everything they say or do but there have been several moments where I have been like "Wow, that actually makes sense and I'm happy they are doing this" which is super, super rare nowadays.

What has ndp done that's good? Raise carbon tax? Not build a new museum in Victoria? Cancel the Massey tunnel bridge? Worse crime and daily shootings? Legalize hard drugs? Force you to rent out your house below market rent, and tell you that you can't air BNB in your own damn house?

They got rid of tolls on bridges.

They were smart enough to walk away from the Museum project.

They're building the tunnel? Not sure what you mean by that.

I think you need to show some statistics that crime has risen? Has it?

Hard drug legalization was a federal initiative.

They are attempting to address housing price inflation, at least they're trying to do something about it?

They got ICBC back on track financially and, for the most part, prices came tumbling down. My annual insurance on my Lexus has gone from $1700 down to $1200 in the last 3 years for example.

"An analysis of all 122 promises in the party's 2017 election platform shows that 96 of them have been completed or are clearly on their way to completion."

Not sure what else you can ask of a Provincial government, better than any I've seen in my time here.

I’ll give Horgan credit, he was man enough to admit when he was wrong

I’ve never liked Eby, long before he became premier but even him ill give some credit. However, a lot of their social policies stink of federal lib

As I've said before, I think the NDP has generally done a good job, and they have done more good things than bad. In particular, I like how they are responsive improving things on the healthcare portfolio -- think the opening of urgent care centers, massively reforming the family practice compensation model, and coming up with funding for Surrey Memorial when issues were brought to light.

That said, here are the following few things I do not agree with:

- canning the Massey tunnel replacement bridge -- work had already begun on it, and they should have just continued with it. The region would have had a newer and bigger bridge sooner, and it would have cost less.

- tilting residential tenancy policies too much in favour of the tenants. The problem has always been a supply shortage + high demand issue. Stripping rights away from the landlord does not address either of the causes. In fact, it'll hurt things on the supply side and that is detrimental to addressing the problem.


My feelings are mixed on their ICBC portfolio now. On one hand, they really fixed the financial dumpster fire situation. Rates are cheaper now, and ICBC seems to be in a healthier financial state. That said, I keep hearing stories about how collision victims are not properly taken care of under the new rules. In particular, the minor injuries cap seems to have caused some financial burden for certain victims. My incomplete understanding of the ICBC coverage seems to suggest that yes, we are paying lower premiums now than before, but we are also getting less coverage (when shxt hits the fan) as well.

Speaking of family practice, if you got a GP, better check in with them or you might get dropped as a patient. It's some government mandates place on GP's, but the time frame before getting dropped is up to your GP. I've heard as quick as 1 year with no visit will get you dropped. Most of us are still young and healthy enough to not require yearly visits.

I actually knew someone working on the engineering plans for the bridge, they HAD to can the bridge... the runup required for it was baically going to skip the entire Steveston Hwy exit and River Rd exits... it was an unmitigated disaster from the start with numerous structural and land challenges as well.

Twinning the tunnel should have been the only option from the start.

Things like that, if true, should have been released to the public to support the reason instead of letting ppl bitch about it.

People don't want reasons things are done. They want to be outraged.

What EvoFire said was the first thing that came to my mind as well, and I don't recall seeing any news about anyone in the NDP gov explaining that the Steveston Hwy and River Road exits not being there.

I don't think the existing Massey Tunnel is seismically safe, which is why a replacement of some sort is needed. So I don't think we can just twin it (ie. build a new one alongside) and call it a day.

Couldn't they redesign the bridge to have proper exits at Steveston? Can't be that hard. Who the eff would be so stupid not to have at Steveston exit?
I'm still for the bridge ... too late but ...

How many news outlets are going to run that article though? Nobody is gonna click on that, it's not ragey enough.

Without looking into it at all, I wonder how much those stories are being pushed by the scummy lawyers that no longer get to swipe huge portions of peoples settlements.

International Student found dead in South Vancouver

You gotta be careful these days before buying a surrey jack car (black range rover, black G-wagon, black escalade) don't wanna be a victim of mistake identity.

:pokerface: I was just gonna say wondering if there's gonna be a shooting this weekend

By the sounds of it, he was a student living in a basement with roommates. I highly doubt he had a back range/g-wagon/escalade. If he did, I highly doubt he got it within legitimate means.

There's a particular area of india (not Punjab) that some of these students come from that formed a gang here. Same ones that were doing the extortions. Getting shot in your car outside your home isn't an innocent bystander type of thing.

University Canada West...

Hmmmm..