Spencer Herbert is the current MLA for Vancouver-Burrard and is up for re-election in the new Vancouver-West End riding with the NDP.
I have been following his career since, as a member of the Vancouver Park Board, he left a comment on my blog a few years ago. I sat down with him at a local coffee shop near his office on Denman Street where we talked about the main concerns of the community, city, and Province. I also learned (as if I didn’t know already) that Herbert does indeed (heart) the West End.
“When you’re over in Victoria in the legislature it’s such a different world,” he noted. “It just really helps ground you in the community when you’re actually talking to people face-to-face on the street corner where anything can come up.” Since being elected in the fall Herbert has taken to opening up what he calls a “mobile community office”, where he’ll head out and about on a Sunday afternoon to engage the people of the community. He says the type of people he meets in the informal setting are those who wouldn’t normally feel welcome or comfortable stopping by an MLA’s office. There’s everyone from renters who are in need of guidance to homeless people looking for nearby shelters – all are welcomed and offered information.
In his first week in the legislature, Herbert introduced a bill called the Long Term Renters Protection Act, which have would ensure that outrageous rent increases (above and beyond the annual increases) would not be allowed. This is one of the biggest concerns for his constituents in the West End, including the group over at the Seafield Apartments (who aren’t alone in their rentoviction battle).
Other concerns for Herbert include the fate of St. Paul’s Hospital, which is actually still up in the air. “It’s a world leader in terms of AIDS/HIV care, addiction, cardiac care and the Healthy Heart program and it really is a model for many hospitals in terms of its teaching facilities as well.” He encourages people to check out the Save St. Paul’s website for more information. Side note: according to a poll I conducted in January 2009, 72% of my readers would like to see the hospital remain downtown.
Herbert would also like to see better enforcement of hate crimes, namely the recent gay bashing incidents downtown. “I think we need to be treating them as the serious crimes that they are – as hate attacks.” He also said that having community police and the VPD out on beat patrols are helpful. “I have been working with the Vancouver Police Department to get more cops to walk the neighbourhood, instead of drive because it is a walking neighbourhood.” With regards to the hate crimes, he believes, “prosecutors have been too cautious, the evidence is there but it needs to be put forward as such.”
You can read more from Spencer Herbert on his website, stop by his office on Denman Street or follow his updates on Twitter.
The BC General Election & Referendum on Electoral Reform takes place May 12, 2009 and I will have several more candidate interviews, from several ridings, covered here within the next few days — this will include Liberal and Green Party candidates as well. I’ll list each one at the bottom of every post but as this is the first of the batch, I’ll have to add the links as they become available.
Next weekend at the West End Community Centre stop by to check out Art in the City, a visual art sale and showcase of over 60 local artists.
Where
West End Community Centre, 870 Denman Street, Vancouver
When
Friday, May 1st 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Saturday, May 2nd 10:00am – 8:00pm
Sunday, May 3rd 10:00am – 4:00pm
Tickets
Free
It is the fourth annual Art in the City and for the thousands who will attend, there will be a special door prize draw. The piece “Urban Legend†by feature artist Dylan Schultz (pictured in this post & used in the show’s print campaign) will be awarded Sunday May 3rd at 3:00pm.
I’m becoming better with taking weekends off but being ‘connected’ is a part of who John and I are as a family, really. As such, we went for a walk yesterday down to the new convention centre (since John hasn’t seen the site in month) which turned into a photowalk. I decided to take a few different photos than last time and he as able to grab some great shots as well.
Although the sea walk is still a work in progress, be sure to stop and read the placards that are placed all along the railing. At first I was surprised that they didn’t say anything about the current scenery e.g. The Lions, however they share much more about BC history as a whole and contain some pretty neat history tidbits – from Billy Barker, to Jean “Cataline” Caux.
Last night John and I were able to get our first tastes of the new Brockton IPA from Granville Island Brewing at their media launch event.
I recently became a fan of the GIB Winter Ale, which I compare to drinking vanilla and pine trees (but in the most tasty sense possible, I assure you). John’s a fan of their Hefeweizen as well so when I asked if he would join me at the brewery after work, he happily obliged.
At the event Brewmaster Vern Lambourne said that the Brockton IPA (a celebration of the brewery’s 25th anniversary) is brewed in the style of a Pacific Northwest India Pale Ale.
I’ve been a fan of IPA’s before and I have to say this was definitely smooth. We were also remarking that it’s a clever choice of labels for this new product — using a palette that matches the Canucks official team colours to a tee. That, combined with the fact that it’s named after Brockton Oval in Stanley Park so they pretty much won me over within the first few sips.
Granville Island Brewing was Canada’s first microbrewery and they adhere to the Bavarian Purity Law of 1516, where they only use barley, malt, hops, yeast, and water to make their beer. The also make English Bay Pale Ale, Cypress Honey Lager, Lions Winter Ale, Gastown Amber Ale, Kitsilano Maple Cream Ale, and Robson Street Hefeweizen.
The brewery is located on Granville Island, and have a taproom for tastings, a retail store, and you can go on tours. I’m thinking this may have to be a stop on Duane’s “100 Mile Beer Diet” as well.
You can follow @ItsGoodToBeHere on Twitter for GIB news and updates.
The event was really fun (and the food pairings were delicious). I’m a fan of local microbrews and also companies that brew locally. I think it’s great that Vancouver is being put on the brewmasters’ map by all of these ventures – giving the community something else to call their own and share with the world.
Before anyone jumps to any conclusions about there being a “Baby604” I must clearly state, I am not a “mummy” nor do I plan to be at any point in the foreseeable future. However, there are a ton of yummy mummies in Vancouver and they came out for a Tweetup at Calhoun’s this week with Erica Ehm.
Erica, a pioneer of the music television days, is now the CEO of YummyMummyClub.ca – a gathering place online and social networking resource for mothers across the country.
A superwoman who fits into her size 6 jeans three weeks after giving birth (by scheduled C-section of course)? A sexy mama who shops for groceries in heels, closing deals on her cell phone while waggling finger puppets to stimulate her baby’s growing cerebellum? Give me a break! Yummy is a state of mind.
A true Yummy Mummy struggles to find the impossible balance between the single sexpot she used to be, the woman she’s become, the professional she works hard to be, the wife she aspires to be and the mother she has to be. Basically, she’s confused and exhausted. Forget CEO. THIS is the toughest job in the world. Why didn’t anyone warn us? Can you relate? Then Welcome to the Yummy Mummy Club.
I stopped by the Tweetup at the request of my friend Rachael (who truly is a yummy mummy) and to meet Erica, who is also one of my Twitter contacts. I ended up meeting several interesting, inspiring, and enterprising mothers as well.
Feedback I heard from the ladies was that it was so nice to have a meetup mid-day and one that was also kid-friendly. I had a nice time meeting the mummies and learning more about networks and businesses online that go beyond blogs and tech.
Erica also informed us of DolphinSecure, a system for secure web browsing if you have kids in the house that use the family computer. This was information I could pass on to my sister since she is a mother of five with three computer savvy-kids in elementary school.
Rachael took some video of the meetup (above) and you can read her recap over on her blog. Check out the YummyMummyClub and I have a feeling they might be doing more tweetups in the future.
