Wednesday, April 20, 2011

JUST RE-ELECTED


I was wrong and Vancouver City Council was right.

Yesterday in this space I predicted that Vancouver would approve the Big New Casino caper.

They did not.

They rejected it unanimously, thus surprising everyone in town and delighting most of us.

This is a great triumph for good common sense, citizen participation and for the current Vancouver City Council.

For anyone who has followed this blog, you may have noticed that I almost never refer to City Council in any way whatsoever.

The reason for that has been that, until last night, I have thought of this current administration as basically silly and irrelevant and not worthy of attention.

Bike lanes, poultry and pigs in the back yard, daffodils on the roof. Please!

But this Vancouver City Council has not only redeemed itself with this decision, it has also guaranteed itself re-election come November.

Barring some major gaffe or scandal revealed, expect all seats to be filled by the same skirts and suits next time round.

The Big Casino in downtown Vancouver was a bad and odious idea. It came from people who have no real sense of what this city is.

It deserved to be rejected and we can only applaud the choice made last night at City Hall.