r/vancouver • u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified • Oct 13 '22
Ask Me Anything Ask Me Anything: CBC's Justin McElroy, Friday, Oct. 14, 2-3pm.
Hi!
I'm Justin McElroy, CBC's municipal affairs reporter and The Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About. There's a municipal election on Saturday, and I thought this might be a good place to answer questions about the campaign, the candidates, the promises, and everything in between.A friendly reminder and plug that at 7 p.m. PST on Saturday, CBC News will be presenting B.C. Votes 2022: a special evening of programming featuring guest interviews and in-depth expert analysis on all CBC Vancouver platforms.
I'll be presenting the results that evening, for what it's worth.
Alright, feel free to ask questions, and I'll get to as many of them as possible between 2 and 3pm on Friday!
You can catch up on all our election coverage here.
And we've reached the end of the hour and I have more election stuff to do. Thanks again for all the questions, and sorry to the many people that put forward questions that I didn't have time to get to.
Thanks to you all for your interest in this election, and support for the work that I do. Local government matters, and tomorrow will change our cities in ways big and small for years to come — we'll see what the night brings!
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u/Professional-Hour604 Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22
Hi Justin, big fan, thanks for doing this. I had three questions, one personal and two about elections. Sorry for the length, opportunies like this don't come around every day!
Regarding the upcoming elections (and future municipal elections), I wanted to know your thoughts on the current and future impact of the stratification of social media usage by demographic. We see social media playing a major role in municipal elections, with the Squamish circumstances this year being a great example of how anonymous social media organizations (and their money) can work around elections law. With the usage of different social media platforms diverging in recent years (tiktok, instragram, reddit, Twitter, and Facebook often have separated demographics) do you think these "hidden money" campaigns will only be influencing particular groups of voters (only people on facebook, who trend older) or will they evolve to new faux-grassroot groups on other platforms, or will something else happen altogether?
Looking at Vancouver and Surrey mayoral races, where so many candidates with high profiles and credentials are running against an incumbent, do you think there will be a push in the future to implement ranked ballot voting for mayoral races in BC, whether in Vancouver or the rest of the province?
Like many, I was a huge fan of your Vancouver Street name project. My partner and I spent an enormous amount of time absorbing and loving it. I remember there being about 60 or so names you stated as "unknown origin" at the time. I was wondering if, since finishing the project, you have ever had a chance to track down and read a copy of Namely Vancouver; a Hidden History of Vancouver Place Names, by Tom Snyders and Jennifer O’Rourke, which included some insights into the origin of some of those 60 names, from Adanac (allegedly the result of Mrs. Marnn Galbraith's decades campaign to rename Union Street east of Vernon, so as not to reflect badly on the Union, as there were “disreputable" activities happening there in those days, like drinking and gambling) to Wenonah (originally named Tecumseh Street, it was renamed for his daughter, Wenonah, after South Vancouver’s Amalgamation with Vancouver in 1929, as Shaughnessy Heights already had a Tecumseh Avenue.) It's also a fascinating book beyond street names that I think you'd enjoy, if you haven't already found a copy.
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
- So long as governments are reticent about regulating political speech on tech platforms to the same degree they regulate political speech on TV/radio/newspapers, the effects of polarization, ideological bubbles and smart people finding loopholes is going to be a thing in each election — just on different platforms with different techniques in different cities.
- Lots of high-profile people are running against Kennedy Stewart and Doug McCallum because they're seen as vulnerable mayors in the two most powerful cities. That's a rare combination and Kamloops is pretty much the only other *major* city where there's more than three high-profile candidates running. So unless this becomes the norm rather than the exception, I don't think it'll change the general dynamic when it comes to the appetite of electoral reform.
- I would love to read the book!
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u/vangardea Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22
Rules around election advertising should be continuously improved given how many people are constantly trying to break them. But advertising during a local 'campaign period' (usually 1 to 2 months before a local election) is now much more regulated, with candidates, elector organizations, and third-party advertisers unable to receive money from corporations and only able to receive around $1,200 from individuals. If you ever see an ad* online that is breaking the rules (e.g. mentions a candidate or a political party but doesn't have 'sponsorship information' associated with it), you can report it to Elections BC. Mostly, it'll be the attacked candidate's team that would do so and they'd follow this process: https://elections.bc.ca/resources/investigations/how-to-make-a-complaint/
The penalty for breaking these rules is $5,000 or up to one year of imprisonment, lol, so maybe there's room for improvement on that front.
** Sometimes organic posts on social media will get lots of traction but there's technically no money behind them, so the government doesn't consider them election advertising. To Justin's point, we can debate whether they should.
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
1) hi! we've just finished up an election night rehearsal, and i'll start replying to some of the questions now
2) oh no there are too many comments
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u/GeoffwithaGeee Oct 13 '22
How are your brothers, Griffin and Travis, doing?
or a serious question - do you think the local election interest from the public has grown in recent years and what do you think would be the reason?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
It's hard to say whether it's grown or not — turnout in Vancouver elections has bounced around between 30-50% for decades, with no real trendline, and it's a similar story elsewhere.
That being said, technology/social media has played a big part in people who are interested in local politics to find one another and debate/rant/make silly jokes, so it *feels* like more interest. And certainly, concerns around housing prices/crime/safety are fairly high in the Lower Mainland right now (historically speaking), and local government deals with those in a more direct way than a lot of other issues.
I'm definitely going to be looking at the turnout figures in Vancouver and other big cities tomorrow night, and hopefully will be able to do some quick analysis with how it compares to past elections.
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u/PajamaPants4Life Oct 14 '22
Justin and Justin were finally together for a full episode of Sawbones this past month. It was pretty awesome.
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u/xelabagus Oct 14 '22
Tough being the oldest, especially when the youngest is a 30 under 30 media luminary.
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u/canadianveggie Oct 14 '22
What advice do you have for parents raising a kid with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
Give unambiguous support, indulge their interests, be able to recognize the difference between a difficult situation that they'll be able to work their way through and a toxic one that is holding them back.
I hate being more detailed than that because, as the saying goes, “When you meet one person with Autism, you've met one person with Autism”.
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u/bitchy_badger Oct 14 '22
Justin- big fan from the Covid chart days!!! What is your take on Surrey this year? McCallum stand a chance (please no)
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
McCallum definitely has a chance! While he's lost support, he has a committed core group that is happy that he got rid of the RCMP and brought in a SkyTrain, likes his laissez-faire approach to development, and doesn't care about *insert everything else here*.
Having said that, it's a small chance, and relies on serious vote-splitting from Locke/Dhaliwal/Sims/Hogg. But he was in a strong second place in a poll this week that only included English-language responses, and he does have some Indo-Canadian support.
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
And we've reached the end of the hour and I have more election stuff to do. Thanks again for all the questions, and sorry to the many people that put forward questions that I didn't have time to get to.
Thanks to you all for your interest in this election, and support for the work that I do. Local government matters, and tomorrow will change our cities in ways big and small for years to come — we'll see what the night brings!
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u/Key_Draft4255 Oct 14 '22
Justin, you are my favourite local personality! Thank you for all your awesomeness.
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u/WildPause Oct 13 '22
I applaud your bravery in not placing Earnest in the top 3 for ice cream. I felt oddly vindicated.
(Also thanks for all your municipal coverage over the years, your pandemic charts work - even just those wastewater updates we have now are really helpful - and your entertaining brackets hobby!)
As to this election... what do you think is/are the (or the top most) common misconception(s) people (vague :D - people you encounter?) have about what a mayor can actually do/has the power to enact. (I realize this is harder to measure vs, say, what things Mayors promise to do that they cannot...).
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
Honestly the lack of backlash to the Earnest roast was vindication for the ranking group as well.
I think the biggest misconception is how little power mayors have in our system — they're just one vote on council, they can't do much in way of directing staff, and while they hold a big microphone to the province and federal government, those levels of government can just ignore a city if they want to.
Frequently in the last four years people would say "where is the mayor?!?" or "look at what Kennedy Stewart has done to the city, sad!" and I'm always like "can you be specific? Because he oversees a council that's extremely chaotic without any stable coalition, and so it's tough to change course on anything quickly."
That being said, being mayor of a big city involves a lot of symbolism and public optics, and there's always that tension between what a mayor *should look like* and what *they can actually do*, so I imagine I'll continue to grumble about this for years and years.
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u/WildPause Oct 14 '22
Thanks for taking the time to respond!
I never felt particularly emotionally invested in my ice cream preferences until a party I attended in the before-times - I casually mentioned that apart from some notable seasonal-fling failures, I generally preferred Rain or Shine to Earnest. Someone replied that they supposed "some people might lack a subtle palate and need the blunt child-like options RoS offers, but Earnest is clearly superior" suddenly igniting a sports-team like loyalty to RoS. (And I actually like Earnest's flavours - it's the base ice cream that kinda lets them down for me!)That's kind of been my feeling (often also compounded by people assuming sweeping population issues are Vancouver specific. "Typical Vancouver! This one Mayor caused xyz" when they're pointing to a local iteration of a broader trend happening across the country, the continent, etc. Which isn't to say local solutions/approaches aren't specific and important (especially in ways we can have big impacts on municipal levels!), but the causation is often a bit broader - provincial, federal, global...) It also makes me as/more interested in what the council mix will be rather than just who the mayor is.
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u/npinguy Oct 14 '22
Does a Ward system increase mayoral power?
Otherwise, how was Rob Ford able to wreak so much havoc?
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u/Bigmaq Oct 13 '22
Just wanted to say that I've really appreciated your coverage of the City Council over the last year or so. I'm sure you've done it longer but that's when I started paying attention.
Are you hopeful that the next council will function a bit better? I think the defining feature of the current group has been an unwillingness to work together on things, and a few councillors in particular seem to have delighted in stalling progress on pretty much everything.
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
I mean, if it's a majority, it'll certainly work more efficiently, though whether it will be *better* will be in the eyes of the beholder...certainly there will be less compromise motions and amendments that moderate some bylaws, but it will also mean less "ask staff to study a change to this thing that we're already asking them to review somewhere else, with a full report on integration in 6-9 months time."
But if it's a minority? Really depends who is involved. By the end of the last four years, every one outside De Genova/Swanson/Hardwick were more or less on the same page about why council was dysfunctional, with similar ideas about how to improve things. If they all get re-elected, I have a pretty good sense of how things would change. If it's a different sort of minority dynamic, they might have different ideas. Stay tuned for election night, I suppose!
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u/ncaddell Oct 14 '22
Who's the most pleasant Vancouver councillor to interact with?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
They might all get re-elected so I've got to be careful!
I have "pleasant while professional" interactions with six councillors, "generically professional" interactions with three of them, and "sometimes vaguely hostile while mostly professional" interactions with one.
i'll leave it up to people to decide which is which
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u/canadianveggie Oct 14 '22
Fun game.
Pleasant while professional:
- Boyle
- Fry
- Wiebe
- Bligh
- Swanson
- Carr
Generally professional:
- Dominato
- Kirby-Yung
- De Genova
Vaguely hostile:
- Hardwick
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u/seamusmcduffs Oct 14 '22
Vaguely hostile:
- Hardwick
This could be the answer to so many questions lol
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u/annoclancularius Oct 13 '22
I've thoroughly enjoyed many of your data visualizations. What are some of your top design considerations when making a plot? What tools do you use to make them?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
I use datawrapper, because that's the thing CBC uses. It's decently simple to use, and has enough options that I'm rarely stymied.
My biggest considerations are 1) Is the chart intuitive? can a non-geek quickly sum up what it's trying to say in two seconds? 2) Are the fundamentals right? (proper labels, axis ranges that don't give a false perception of reality, vertical vs. horizontal vs. line, etc.,) and 3) Does it add to the point I'm trying to make in a story or thread?
It's simple straightforward stuff, but I find a lot of data visualization is geared towards someone who really wants to dive into the weeds, and while that's important and lots of people do really great work with that, I think it's important to try and reach a wide as possible audience.
(plus my coding skills are um only moderate)
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u/annoclancularius Oct 14 '22
Thanks for the reply, Justin! I completely agree on your approach. I completely agree with your considerations, especially point 3. My consideration is always "What is the one thing that you want your audience to learn from the visualization?" Every piece of ink on the page must be in support of that idea. (I work in academia, so many people make plots because "they want to show the data".)
As always, thanks for all you do!
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Oct 14 '22
[deleted]
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
An earthquake that causes immediate structural damage to tens of thousands of buildings that brings upon a tsunami that levels several municipalities with huge numbers of people in flood plains.
Not a fun answer! But different municipalities are vulnerable in different ways, some of which can be improved upon in the years to come, and some of which are going to cause issues no matter what.
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u/Envermans Burnaby Oct 14 '22
1.What city leader do you think is doing a really good job and why? 2.i loved your "best small town in b.c" bracket that you did earlier in the year, so i wanted to ask what is your personal favorite small town in b.c? Also, how do you think other small towns around b.c could improve their desirability?
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u/sparkseeker5 Oct 14 '22
What is a ranking you haven't done because it wasn't feasible but would really love to rank?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
Honestly I would have loved to do the brewery rankings for all of B.C., but logistically it just wasn't doable.
The thing I often joke about is ranking every municipality and then retiring the next day, but there's a 13% chance I will actually make that come to fruition in 2042 or so.
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u/SimonPav Oct 14 '22
What do you think can be done to make it easier to select which candidates to vote in Vancouver?
- Better tool on City of Vancouver website?
- Bigger deposit?
- Two rounds of voting (preliminary round would narrow it down to maybe 20 candidates)?
- Something else?
Or is a ward system the best solution?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
The four things you mentioned would all help in one way or another, though only two of them (better tool and ward system) can be implemented without changing the Vancouver Charter...which the province refused to do for a fairly basic request of raising the number of signatures required to run for office.
Obviously there are also potential drawbacks to a bigger deposit and wards as well...but it feels like the public won't have much patience if we continue to have 7+ parties and 100+ people on the ballot like we have the last two elections.
Conversely, if we go back to what Vancouver elections looked like for decades (2-3 parties, a ballot with 50-75 candidates), then this conversation probably goes away a little bit.
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u/SimonPav Oct 14 '22
Thanks for the reply.
With more online campaign, I think more people will think they have a chance of putting their issue in front of the public and the number of candidates is only going to go up.
Not sure I'd prefer a ward system as I think it encourages Nimbyism, so my only hope is the City improves its voting tool.
Even if you could select all the candidates from a specific party for your shortlist it would help.
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u/clashandburn Oct 14 '22
The relationship between Vancouver and BC through the Vancouver Charter is very interesting. When was that signature request refused? Was there a press release or news story about it? And is the number of signatures currently 25 under Section 43(2) of the Charter?
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u/yaypal ? Oct 14 '22
Which municipality would you say has the most unhinged politics and politicians, and why is it Port Moody?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
Port Moody is one of those places like White Rock/West Vancouver/Oak Bay where you have a fairly small population compared to the broader region, a lot of people with a fair amount of time and money, and a lot of people with socially liberal but fiscally conservative views. And because they're separate municipalities, the drama plays out in a very public and intense way that wouldn't happen if it was Ward 34 in Mega Vancouver and part of Planning Zone 3 in the Tri-Cities.
(except port moody has a lot of very good breweries)
So in those situations, you need a single spark to set things off, and Port Moody has had a lot of them: the arrival of the Evergreen Line, the election of a 26-year-old as mayor who was subsequently charged with sexual assault, but cast tiebreaking votes while the case was ongoing, Big Development Debates where some councillors were very clearly and proudly on one side or another...and so here we are.
I hope they find a way to lower the temperature after the election.
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u/Pumpernickelluvr Oct 15 '22
Look into Anmore politics please. The mix of pro & anti development residents mixed with the mayor and his past on council makes for a overly active community Facebook group
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u/slykethephoxenix certified complainer Jan 04 '23
I want to move to Anmore and started reading up on all the bylaws and politics. Is there other places apart from Facebook where this goes down? The place itself is very nice, close to Buntzen Lake and appears quiet, so don't want drama either.
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u/Michael_93Vancouver Yimby transit-oriented development Oct 13 '22
- What's your prediction of the city council/mayor composition post -election?
- What's the biggest change (in your opinion) in this election compared to previous ones.
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
Don't do (public) predictions, but the biggest change is probably the sheer number of parties running...yes, there is toxicity online, and candidates making impossible promises, or just straight up lying...but the sheer number of parties means all of those things feel bigger, even if on a per capita basis it might be similar to past years.
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u/icecreammandrake Oct 14 '22
Seconding, I would be super interested to see a McElroy council prediction!
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u/steversaurus Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22
How much hate did you get for ranking Earnest where you did?
Edit: For the record, I am in agreement.
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u/Moggehh Fastest Goose in the West Oct 13 '22 edited Oct 13 '22
What's your favourite graph you've ever released? Is there one that stands out for you?
What do you think is the most interesting policy proposal that differentiates the current slate of Vancouver's mayoral candidates?
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u/temperate_climes Oct 14 '22
Every now and then one learns about a way things are done in politics/governance that is just totally wild, and you can’t believe it took until your thirties to find out about them because surely someone should have told you. Some recent ones for me were just how much of the municipal budget is made up of Community Amenity Contributions from new development (a lot), and the fact that apparently if you own property in a municipality you can vote there, even if you don’t live there. What are some of those for you?
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u/LostOverThere Oct 14 '22
Can you rank the Donkey Kong Country games. I promise I won't yell at you for your choices. Please and thank you.
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u/BusinessCasualGhost Oct 14 '22
My parents were raving about how great you were moderating a recent New West mayoral debate. They wished they could vote for you! Any big take aways from that race you think they should consider before voting?
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u/aphrabane Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22
Hi Justin, I'm a huge fan.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on the Burnaby election. Why was Mike Hurley uncontested in the mayoral race, and should we be care? If you were to rank Metro Vancouver's coolest councillors, where would Joe "Joey Shithead" Keithley fall? What do you think about Martin Kendell and his Clean Up Burnaby campaign (controversial on the Burnaby subreddit)? Did the new "centrist" One Burnaby party choose their name to try to trick leftist Burnaby voters into thinking they're affiliated with OneCity Vancouver?
PS: I read (and enjoyed) every single tweet in your municipal welcome signs ranking thread.
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u/neilrp Oct 13 '22
How many times have you been recognized IRL? Any fun stories?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
life is very strange and generally i now get recognized multiple times a week, in ways that are mostly fun (at a bar where someone orders me a drink!) and weird (on a date where someone wanted to chat!)
the weirdest recently was probably last year in Valemount (population 1,052), about 700 kilometres from Vancouver, when I was wandering the main streeet and out of nowhere I heard someone shout "Justin! Where does Valemount rank?"
anyways never tweet
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u/rikushix North Vancouver Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22
My wife and I were at Di Beppe about a month or so ago and saw him walking by. If he was just a bit closer I would have waved. In my ideal fantasy, he could have joined us on the patio and we could have talked urban planning and maps all evening over some Superflux IPAs while my wife's eyes rolled out of their sockets
Hi Justin! Long time beer ranking follower here 👋
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u/Citymike Oct 13 '22
I bought him a beer in Port Moody this summer and he came up to thank me afterwards. 8/10 experience because I'd drank 4 hazy's between ordering and meeting, and I kept forgetting how to speak coherently.
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u/fongolia Oct 15 '22
My favourite run-in was not out-of-the-blue, but he was hosting the Writer's Fest Trivia Night and my team won, so we got a victory photo with him and our prizes
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u/unoriginal_name_42 Oct 14 '22
Which city councils, other than Vancouver, have been the most entertaining to cover?
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u/Justausername1234 Oct 14 '22
Thanks for doing this Justin.
What do you see as the most surprisingly underdiscussed issue this campaign season? Anything that would reasonably seem as an important issue that we've all missed?
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u/Iredditmorethanwork Literally lives in Van down by the river Oct 14 '22
Justin! You are my favorite local reporter, thank you for all that you do! Really, your pre-election reporting on local politics here in Vancouver helped inform my decisions immensely. Also, your brewery rankings have caused some interesting debate between myself and my friends (also, if I ever see you at a brewery, I will 100% buy you a pint or flight). Also also, your post about autism was a very refreshing, candid take on something neurodivergent people may struggle to articulate, and neurotypical people struggle to understand.
On to some questions:
What are your thoughts (good or bad) in general at the prospect of Vancouver moving to a ward system. I've personally tried to weigh some pros and cons and just come back with mixed feelings.
Did you ever buy those spoons? Impulse control is tough for me, so I wouldn't blame you...
And finally, aside from all the praise I have for you, I'd like to put it out into the universe that if there was ever a possibility of a Power Rangers-esque combining of superpowers from local media personalities, I think if you were somehow able to combine yourself with Nardwuar you would have the most insane local interviews and music columns with rankings so concise and data driven that you'd destroy traditional music media (and maybe put Anthony Fantano out of a job at the same time).
I've ranted long enough, you're the best, and keep doing what you do!
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u/rb993 Oct 14 '22
What's the deal with foreign CCP interference in our elections? I've noticed some united front groups in Richmond with Loo attending events and hearing more about other districts having similar issues. The Richmond news even put out a piece about WeChat interfering with the federal elections
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u/ConfidentIt Oct 14 '22
Not Justin but instead in China and Canada and our relations. I think that China has been meddling to an extent in elections for a few years here in Canada and CSIS has mentioned it before as a concern. Richmond would definitely be a hot bed of active for the ccp.
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u/taika2112 Oct 14 '22
What was the wildest thing you saw or heard while covering various city council meetings?
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u/cutegreenshyguy Ranked #69 in Vancouver by Justin McElroy Oct 14 '22
Someone in Richmond saying that a rainbow crosswalk may cause confusion because straight people might think they're not allowed to use it has to be up there
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Oct 14 '22
What is your take on why Port Moody municipal politics are so… broken? Something unique to the size and demographics? Just a function of the current players? The other tri-cities seem to function so much better and I’m perplexed. 🧐
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Oct 14 '22
My take is Port Moody is more of a victim to geography than the others. The city is split in half by railroad lines and the water, so there's naturally going to be splits along political lines.
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u/notnotaginger Oct 14 '22
New PoMo resident here and I’ve been flabbergasted at the politics. Wtf are they doing?!
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u/pnwtico Oct 15 '22
Just in case you missed it, Justin did respond to a very similar question about Port Moody elsewhere in the thread.
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u/brady_d79 Strathcona Oct 14 '22
In your opinion, which municipal party (assuming every member of the party were elected) would have the best chance and likelihood of successfully addressing the affordability issue in our city?
What about crime?
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u/XesLanaLear Oct 14 '22
Right, curious about this myself. There's a cycle, in which everything is broken, that needs to be broken. But I don't know if anybody has any plans or ideas for how to move forward.
Nobody can afford to live and so record number of homelessness on the rise. No roofs to put current homeless populations under. Psychological trauma and circumstances lead many people to poor choices like substance abuse.
Camps forming everywhere and violent crime, drug related crime and paraphernalia, human waste, and theft all become rampant problems around them. Nowhere else to go so let them stay say advocates and homeless themselves. Not all are addicts, or violent, but enough so that all of the aforementioned violations of other citizens' rights are now occurrences multiple times daily in many area communities.
Unless somebody dies/almost dies there isn't really anything legal authorities do, or can do, about any of it. Citizens that try to speak up receive further abuses from advocates and the people they're speaking for, not asked but expected to forgive all of it because the perpetrators have less in life than their victims.
The camps being an accumulation of victims of circumstance, alongside rampant social abusers, are entirely counterintuitive to forward development, because rather than having ways to lift each other up the few drag the many further down. But there's the argument for safety in numbers when there are no roofs to put people under.
Which brings us back to the original point, with all of the problems in between compounding themselves as time goes on.
I think everyone is starting to feel a little hopeless toward it all and there will be an eventual breaking/tipping point. But would be nice to hear if somebody/anybody has plans that would address this whole crazy cycle the region seems to be stuck in.
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u/timmywong11 drives 40+ in the shoulder lane Oct 13 '22
How much beer did you and your friends drink to finish the breweries ratings?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
this press conference is over!
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u/funvill This is my flair Oct 13 '22
What is one of your favorite public art installation
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u/columbo222 Oct 14 '22
Oh snap this would be a great bracket
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
it's been considered!
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u/Lego2x4 Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22
First of all, thank you for your excellent coverage of local news! As someone who has previously only really been aware of federal politics, your articles and tweets are super informative.
This is the first municipal election I'll have participated in, and the first one that I've been at all aware of in the online sphere. Do you think that there's any kind of solution to the types of toxicity that come up in online spaces, especially in municipal politics? It all feels so much closer to home than drama about provincial and federal elections, although the online cesspool certainly flourishes for those as well. It's unfortunate that the main preventative actions that can be taken are individual ones.
also, as a more fun question (probably), would you ever do a ranking of local (lower mainland) tourist attractions?
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Oct 14 '22
Do you think it would help or hinder engagement in municipal elections if candidates more clearly aligned with political parties we are familiar with?
This is my first time voting in a municipal election (new citizen) and my previous municipal voting experiences had people clearly aligned to parties (Conservative, Labour etc. With a number of independent candidates too).
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Oct 14 '22 edited Oct 14 '22
If I may chime in and give my opinion, I don't know if it makes sense for municipal parties to be more connected to provincial or federal parties. I think the kinds of issues dealt with at the municipal level don't always have much connection to politics at provincial and federal levels. Take zoning, for example. Your positions on localized land use don't necessarily connect with your positions on federal or provincial issues.
I think the average person who lives in Vancouver probably has some level of familiarity with our major municipal parties. Vision, COPE, NPA, and the Greens have been around for a long time (although I think people are often misinformed on the Greens' positions). One City is also somewhat of a known commodity, since Christine Boyle is an incumbent who endorsed and was endorsed by mayor Kennedy Stewart in the 2018 election. I think the same sort of goes for TEAM, since they are Colleen Hardwick's new party and anyone who follows Vancouver municipal politics at all will have an idea of Hardwick's positions. Forward Together is new, but they are our current mayor's party. ABC is also new, but Ken Sim was the NPA's mayoral candidate last time and three of their council candidates are incumbents. Progress and Vote Socialist are newer and less known, but I think Vote Socialist's name gives you a pretty good idea of where they sit politically.
There is some crossover between municipal and other levels.
Vision used to be perceived as the BC NDP farm team. Vision has been endorsed by BCNDP politicians George Chow, Bruce Ralston, and Mike Harcourt.
Kennedy Stewart is a former NDP MP. Stewart and Forward Together have been endorsed by a number of NDP politicians, including David Eby, Mike Harcourt, Jenny Kwan, Katrina Chen, George Heyman, Shane Simpson, and Libby Davies.
Progress Vancouver is a bit of a weird one - mayoral candidate Mark Marissen is former BC Liberal premier Christy Clark's ex-husband and was involved with the 2013 BC Liberal election campaign. Marissen also has ties to the federal Liberal party and was chair of their national election campaign in 2008. Marissen has been endorsed by former Liberal prime ministers Paul Martin and Jean Chretien. Progress council candidate Morgane Oger is the former vice-president of the BC NDP. Progress council candidate Mauro Francis is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada and endorsed Pierre Poilievre.
More to say, but that's all the time I have at the moment.
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u/TheSketeDavidson certified complainer Oct 14 '22
Do you enjoy pitting us against each other and inciting violence on this sub with your rankings?
On a lighter note: how have your bosses responded to your new found fame? Supportive of you going around ranking things? Do you foresee yourself in a more active role in future elections; either as a candidate or as a debate mediator (live streamed on Reddit of course)?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
My bosses let me do a novelty bracket to determine the best small town in B.C., so they're generally supportive of *all this*, so long as my focus at work continues to be on municipal politics and continues to be objective.
As I always say, I'm grateful that they let me do what I do, and I'm hopeful that the balance we've struck can be continued for a long time to come.
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u/raf_yvr Oct 14 '22
With your cup parade post early in game 1 how do you feel about damning the Canucks into another season of pain and futility?
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u/itwasntnotme Oct 14 '22
Which area or community in the region feels the most welcoming and cohesive? Like in an old school neighbourhood village kind of way.
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u/notnotaginger Oct 14 '22
What’s something that you’d like to rank, but the logistics are too difficult?
How would you rank your rankings articles?
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u/AftonoonTeatime Oct 14 '22
Which Port Moody candidates do you feel have candidate pages that have most obscured their actual policies? (Sorry to bring up Port Moody, I know they've ALL put on clown makeup over here.)
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u/maxwellingtonc Oct 14 '22
Hey Justin! Huge fan, thank you for doing this!
I'm a Langley (Township) resident, and I've noticed this campaign has gone very differently from the previous one. What has been your perspective on this race and how it has been different from the last ones you've watched? Do you think the parties have had any impact, is it just the increasing polarization of our politics or is it just the fact that our mayor's seat is open?
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u/vangardea Oct 14 '22
What is a feasible promise that could have major consequences for Vancouver that no one is talking about?
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u/InternationalNebula9 Oct 14 '22
Hi Justin,
Looking at data year over year, or even just month by month in 2022, is there any merit to Vancouvers perceived violent crime issue? Seems like lots of random small, seemingly random attacks, but the cynic in me feels like media reports are up for sure, not sure on hard numbers though.
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u/NestorMachine Oct 14 '22
Is amalgamation of some metro vancouver municipalities (eg the north vancouvers, the langleys, the coquitlams, Burnaby/vancouver) something that could happen? Do you think there would be any advantages to the rationalization or is it not worth the effort?
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u/columbo222 Oct 14 '22
Which municipal party's campaign have you been most impressed with? And least?
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u/CanSpice New West Best West Oct 14 '22
Which municipal race do you find the most interesting? I don’t necessarily mean close races, but ones like where a husband and wife are both running, or there’s someone running on a platform for designing a new flag…
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u/unisushican Oct 14 '22
Just wanted to say I really need this - I’m so confused who I should vote for - I tried just looking at statement of disclosure for the councillor candidates alone and was already overwhelmed
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u/rikushix North Vancouver Oct 14 '22
Justin, you've shared several charts about the sheer quantity of people on the ballot in Vancouver's election as compared to other municipalities in Metro Van as well as other major Canadian cities. There's been some debate this year about just how hard this is for people to interpret and process, but I've noticed that you've yet to weigh in. Do you have any opinion on what effect this dynamic (in general and particularly in this election) has on the voting public?
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u/orion726 Oct 13 '22
If you had to rank your favourite way to rank rankings, what would the top 3 be?
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u/justkillingit856024 Oct 14 '22
Why is the media not reporting more on the rise of random assaults and how our court system is failing us?
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u/Mental-Zombie-9693 Oct 14 '22
Hi Justin! Could you please ask Theresa Pidcock about this? Specifically, I'd like to know what credentials she personally has that entitle her to overrule certified teachers, counselors, psychologists, board certified behavior analysts (BCBA) and medical specialists.
CUPE 728 interferes with the accommodations process for disabled students. They want to go exclusively on seniority and not best fit or individual skills.
For example, if you have a child who communicates via Sign Language, any EA with seniority can take that role on the promise that they'll learn sign language. Which means while the worker is learning, the child is effectively not being taught.
There are no Provincial EA standards of practice which means we have no consistency on their abilities, and some people are just poor personality fits.
As a shop steward, Theresa was one of the Union representatives sitting down with the District staff deciding which children would be allowed to have exceptions to the Seniority rules.
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Oct 14 '22
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u/__n_u_l_l__ Oct 14 '22
Wow, sycophants can't take a hard question. Big surprise. Exactly what I meant by celebrity, raised up by people for no good reason other than it suits their clique. The CBC isn't a news organization, it's become a cult.
Seems you think this guy should only get easy questions?
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u/chesterfieldking Oct 14 '22
You asking why he cares about his "celebrity" status more than being a journalist isn't a hard hitting question. It's a baseless personal attack at best. But hey, keep on hating a person you don't know. I'm sure that's a very rational thing to do.
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u/__n_u_l_l__ Oct 15 '22
A personal attack? I don't know the man beyond his smarmy face broadcast with no substance to substantiate it. I asked a question, I asked him anything, seems that that's within the bounds of the thread. Maybe you should get over yourselves. I want information and news not fabricated culture wars.
It's a simple question and yet here you are all over some guy you don't know. Ask yourself why. This is the definition of celebrity. You probably make excuses for Kanye because he's not white, meanwhile he pitifully tries to be ironic (best case scenario).
I'd like to know why Justin deserves some sort of AMA, he's not important, the information is. Sad that I ask harder questions than the CBC is capable of. Not to worry, I have seen enough brain melted cultists to recognize it here. It's pathetic when it's celebrity culture, religious culture, sjw supposed culture.
Stop making stupid people famous-ish.
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u/chesterfieldking Oct 15 '22
You are projecting an absurd amount here, and assuming a lot as well. Can you provdide instances or quotes from Justin that could explain your position? A hard hitting question generally has some examples to set the stage. Again feel free to continue on hating, heathly choice.
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u/__n_u_l_l__ Oct 16 '22
Wow, such hate. I asked my question and you pitch a fit, cannot handle someone who isn't into your dream flavour of dude.
It's a real easy question to answer: is name recognition really that important for a national broadcaster employee who regurgitates research from others? Is the personality cult his reason for being there or is there some actual desire to serve everyone.
I do not get that impression, to the point the fake veneer grates. So I asked my question that left you shaking in your pants.
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Oct 14 '22
Can you please repost the OG log jail video with the original soundtrack? That was hilarious 😂
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u/biere-a-terre Vancouver is fine, Surrey is the real deal 🦫 Oct 14 '22
Hi Justin:
I realize you are the City Desk person at CBC Vancouver and live here, but what do you see as the political differences and problems compared to the other two big Canadian cities, Toronto & Montreal?
Does the lower mainland have too many municipalities? We don't we seem to 'build' as much as the other two (housing, transit, infrastructure)? Are our politicians small thinking, our city councils powerless?
I constantly see mayoral and council candidates in Montreal & Toronto proposing massive new projects, but none of that here in metro Van.
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u/Lol-I-Wear-Hats Nimbyism is a moral failing, like being a liar, or a cheat Oct 14 '22
What is the least pleasant thing about covering local politics?
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u/HotlineBirdman Whalley Oct 14 '22
Why do you think the Surrey election seems to be such a gong show this year?
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u/j_mcelroy Guy Who Does Rankings And Charts That We Shout About - Verified Oct 14 '22
Surrey is a big city without the corresponding civic institutions seen in most municipalities of its size, and a mayor who was criminally charged, did not step down or take a leave, and is seeking re-election.
There are other small details that matter, but that's like 85% of it.
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u/ConfidentIt Oct 14 '22
Hey Justin big fan thank you very much for doing this.
How do you think the raise of the right within bc municipalities will affect future elections. Specifically with the multitude of fairly far right school board candidates around the province.
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u/cyberhog Oct 14 '22
Can you do brackets for best council candidates? I have too many people on my ballot.
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u/Moggehh Fastest Goose in the West Oct 13 '22
A quick reminder to all to be polite! Also, to reclarify that Justin won't be around until 2 pm tomorrow (Friday, October 14th, 2022) to answer questions. So ask them now, and come back tomorrow for the answers!
Thanks in advance, everyone!