In a healthy society, protest is celebrated as a sign of life and fighting spirit. Whether it is Civil Rights advances in the Southern states, environmental struggles or widespread movements for social change, protest has always been a vehicle for transformation. Instead of seeing protest as a way of change, however, the state sees it…
Why I Oppose Sullivanism
The Georgia Straight recently published a cover story titled “Sullivanism versus Jane Jacobs”, detailing former NPA Mayor Sam Sullivan’s continuing efforts to push high-rise densification onto the city. In the article, Sullivan praises former Mayor Tom “Terrific” Campbell’s reign of free market ideology. The issues are clear. Do we let capitalism run roughshod over democratic processes and the…
Why are Vision representatives abandoning the city?
In the past two weeks, two prominent Vision Vancouver representatives have announced to the public that they are putting their names in the hat for the upcoming provincial election. Last Sunday the chair of the Parks Board, Constance Barnes, announced that she is running for nomination as the NDP Vancouver False Creek candidate. On Friday,…
Vote COPE, For Responsible City Government
This year, Vancouver heads to the polls to choose the type of Vancouver they want to see going forward into the future. At the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE), we’ve been listening to Vancouverites from across our city, so we know that in the next term of City Council, the citizens of Vancouver want to…
COPE’S Tim Louis Proposes Remedy for Improved Transit Service / New Affordable Housing Supply
November 13, 2011: COPE candidate for Vancouver City Council, Tim Louis, speaks at WERA’s All-Candidate’s meeting, held this past Sunday afternoon at the Empire Landmark Hotel, on Robson Street, in the West End. Affordable and social housing and an improved transportation system, specifically bus transit service, have emerged as key issues in Vancouver’s 2011 civic…
COPE Works To Preserve Vancouver’s Heritage
The Vancouver Heritage Register is acknowledged as the cornerstone of the Vancouver’s Heritage programme. Adopted in 1986 by Vancouver City Council, the Heritage Register constitutes an important policy document, a registry of heritage sites that currently includes 2,150 buildings, and 131 landscapes, monuments and archaeological sites. A key policy and planning tool designed to guide…
Transportation: Bike and Pedestrian Safety
As a transportation alternative to travel by bus or car, for urban commuters cycling or walking has emerged as the transportation mode of choice for many of us who travel to work, or simply wish to get around the City in a healthy, inexpensive, socially responsible and environmentally sound manner. A central tenet of COPE’s…