New title for blog

You'll notice I've changed the name of this blog. If you scroll down to read the first post, you can read why I originally called it Rains on Canada. But I've been writing a lot about the news and more about Vancouver than about the big picture of Canada. Hence, the new title. Please let me know which one you prefer.

Walls or smog: ridding the Olympics of eyesores

The New York Times reported today that the Chinese government is erecting brick walls to enclose streets near Tiananmen Square. The walls will separate visitors to the Olympics from unsightly views of Beijing's poorest neighbourhoods.

The story tells about Mr. Song, who lives with his wife and 18-year-old daughter in one tiny room near the square. He rents out shops to migrants who sell groceries, nick knacks and all manner of loonie-store-type goods. Mr. Song has refused to leave the area, which has been eyed by developers for construction. Suddenly a wall has appeared around his shops.

This makes me wonder whether Vancouver will consider such a tactic during our own Olympics. The Downtown Eastside seems even dingier today than it did five years ago, when the city purchased the area's landmark Woodward's Building. The homeless still sleep in vacant store facades along Hastings Street, and it's hard to imagine the street will be bright and bustling or that the homeless will have anywhere else to go in 2010.

So will it be walls or what? Perhaps instead, the city could call a moratorium on all environmental clean-air projects. We could then be even more like Bejing and obscure our eyesores with smog.

Renters with oil furnaces get little help from carbon tax

In today's Vancouver Sun editorial page, letter writer R.S.Chant says condo owners who rent out suites avoid spending money on them. Landlords are willing to do only "absolutely necessary" improvements, he says.

If that is so--and it make sense in terms of landlords maximizing their profits--tenants would often be stuck in outdated housing. This also means the carbon tax and the $100 cheques Premier Campbell has bestowed upon the populace will do little to help a large number of renters reduce their use of fossil fuel. Many will continue to pay for oil heating that goes up and up and up in cost. For why would a landlord get rid of an inefficient oil furnace when the renter pays to fill it?

Campbell and his supporters could say low-income people will have cuts to their income tax, which would make up for the increased tax on oil. However, far from all renters are poor. And many, especially outside of the Vancouver area, rent oil-heated houses rather than condos. A great many are middle class people who have balked at the high cost of home ownership, are waiting to meet that special someone to share an investment in a home, have split with that someone, are new to the province, are old to the province, or are almost any kind of person. Just because they've got a somewhat adequate income doesn't mean they should be unjustly taxed.

But I'm not knocking the carbon tax. It will help cut the use of fossil fuels in many cases, and the earth knows we need to use less fossil fuels. But the tax should be coupled with specific laws that impel businesses to reduce their carbon output--especially when when their use is fueled by greed--especially when they are landlords.

This is a test post for my friend Ken.

Water, water everywhere except on tap

The Vancouver Sun this weekend ran a feature suggesting that Lower Mainland municipalities want people to switch from gulping bottled water to placing their cups, glasses, jugs and bottles directly under a tap. The story said the region's water is among the best in the world, and there is no need to choke our landfills with discarded plastic bottles.

I thoroughly agree. One of the most wonderful things I noticed about Vancouver when I came here from New York in the 1970s was the refreshing taste of its water. It still tastes good, and I think I'm not the only one in the area who enjoys drinking tap water here, knowing it is safe and delicious. I also feel good about not adding to the environmental problem of discarded plastic.

Why, then, when I visited the Granville Island Market last week, did I discover that at least one vendor in the food court does not supply tap water to its customers and insists that if they want water, they buy the bottled kind. In Steveston, another popular tourist destination, there are take-out stands and restaurants that supply only bottled water. You find this kind of thing happening in Mexico, but there it's for the safety of tourists. Here, in southwestern British Columbia, are we trying give visitors that same message, that our water isn't safe to drink? Or would we rather that they get a healthful impression Vancouver, like I got 30 years ago?

It's time Lower Mainland municipalities require that food outlets dispense tap water to all customers who ask. Otherwise, I'll take my thirst elsewhere, and so might the tourists.

Too many kids?

A CBC broadcast I heard about two weeks ago has been scratching at my mind. It was about the environment, possibly climate change, but I can't remember the exact topic. What I do recall--what has caused my itchy thinking--was that an environmental expert responded to a question with an aside to his personal life. For some reason he mentioned he has five children. I hope at least three of them were adopted. He preached conservation, but why would he do so while generating more than his share of carbon at home? More on this to come.

In the interim, could someone please tell me how many children Mel Gibson has.

The title of this blog

I called this Rains on Canada because I started this blog on Canada Day. I'm thinking of writing about Canada: what it is, what it could be, and what it represents to others.

But as I said, the date inspired the name, and in actuality there is no set plan for this blog. In the future you might see a new title on this blog:
Rains on Pottery (I like to throw pots)
Rains on Writing
Rains on Reading
Any other ideas out there?