News for Youse: U.S. government shutdown, Sensible B.C. claims interfere, and Heather Graham supports bike lanes
U.S. government shutdown Late last night (September 30), Republican lawmakers forced a shutdown of non-essential U.S. government services. The development will likely mean longer waits at the border, which could have adverse economic impacts for thousands of Canadian businesses.
Sensible B.C. claims interference Sensible B.C. director Dana Larsen has lodged a formal complaint with Elections B.C. claiming that TransLink and Transit Police officers continue to interfere with lawful canvassing. The action followed a number of incidents in which Transit Police officers removed Sensible B.C. campaigners from TransLink properties.
Compass enters phase two TransLink’s Compass card is entering its second phase of testing before a full rollout closer to the end of this year. Data from some 5,000-10,000 beta testers is being analyzed so that tweaks can be made to the new system before it is expanded to include more users.
New fines for vicious dogs Burnaby city council voted yesterday to increase fines for certain dog owners whose animals are involved in attacks on humans. The new fines apply to “vicious” breeds defined “any dog generally recognized as a pit bull or pit bull terrier” including mixed breeds.
Parliamentary expenses revealed The expenses of Canadian members of parliament have been laid bare in financial documents released yesterday. MPs collectively spent $123 million in 2012. According to CKNW, the three biggest spenders from British Columbia were Liberal MP Hedy Fry, Conservative MP Richard Harris, and New Democrat MP Libby Davies.
Demand for more Insite Dozens of organizations from across Canada have signed an open letter to Health Canada calling on Minister Rona Ambrose to increase the availability of supervised consumption services like Insite. The letter was drafted by members of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Pivot Legal Society, and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. You can read it in its entirety here.
Canadians’ detention in Egypt continues The families of two Canadians imprisoned in Egypt for more than six weeks now have released a letter drafted by the men that details their ordeal and abuses they have suffered. John Greyson and Dr. Tarek Loubani were arrested on August 16. Neither man has been charged with any crime.
Heather Graham supports bike lanes One of the world’s most beautiful people has tweeted her support for Vancouver’s bike lanes. “Most bike friendly place ever is @CityofVancouver. Look at this crazy path!” Heather Graham wrote this morning (October 1). “Removed nerdy bike helmet for photo.”
Comments
8 Comments
uknow
Oct 1, 2013 at 9:32am
why does the media report what actors opinions are about subjects in the news? they have no inside info & quite often are as dumb as a post.
City Cyclist
Oct 1, 2013 at 9:44am
Did Heather Graham actually remove her helmet for the photos? Maybe if she'd left it on, some of the people I see bombing down Ontario helmetless through stop signs every morning would have thought protectin' their noggin was cool enough to actually do...
Seth Dixon
Oct 1, 2013 at 9:50am
The Heather Graham story is really dishonest. It has nothing to do with bike lanes. She isn't in a bike lane on a city street in the picture, nor was she tweeting support for bike lanes on the street. This picture was taken on the Seawall bike path that is not on a lane on the street. Whoever did the story is really a disgrace and is using Heather Graham to try and push their own political view. Shameful of you. You should remove it from the site.
Ron Y
Oct 1, 2013 at 11:11am
I assumed she would support... roller skates
motorama
Oct 1, 2013 at 2:58pm
the path she's referring to is in a park, people who ride bikes in parks ride recreationally, commuter paths for cyclists are what makes a city bike friendly, our commuter paths are lacking, they're decent, but they could be much better
Natty
Oct 1, 2013 at 9:44pm
Funny how everyone latched onto the Heather Graham bit. But I'm here to comment on the US government shutdown. So here it is:
I think this news has many dead Republican presidents spinning in there graves considering that once upon a time they were the "progressive party" of the US (having eliminated slavery, brought in votes for women and the Civil Rights Act). Political affiliations aside, it's an embarrassing time to be an American.
Hazlit
Oct 2, 2013 at 6:31am
As an American in Canada I'd have to say--it's ALWAYS an embarrassing time to be an American. :)
RUK
Oct 2, 2013 at 9:23am
@Natty
Well, I am thinking that a lot of us are either not worried about them or not thinking it is our business.
I am reading a lot of news blogs and of course one of the dominant memes is that the shutdown is 100% Obama's fault for rejecting the very sensible "CLEAN bill" (all caps is patriotic) sent to him last week.
If you disagree, you are a liberal sheeple.
I hold Reagan accountable, ultimately. Although you can point to many other problem points in their history, Reagan cut taxes, kept spending on the military, and brought the theocrats into party politics, thus spinning that great nation off rails intellectually, morally, and economically.