The Creme Also Rises

SaveTheirBlackberryBrambles!
ArbutusVille

So the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of the City of Vancouver to make bylaws and thus prevent the CPR from selling off their $100 million windfall to the highest bidder.

Which, on the face of it, is a good thing because, Goddess knows, we don't need more Condos in this town.

But what I still can't understand is why that decrepit old 11 km railway that meanders out of Kitsilano and then pretty much makes a North/South beeline for the River is not actually being used as the transportation corridor that the City says it wants it to be.

I mean, I heard the NPA's Suzanne Anton positively crowing about this this morning with Paul Grant on CBC Radio One* and it was the big story all day long on every single media outlet in town.

So, why is it then, exactly, that I can't get across Cambie Street to get to and from work every day because the City is digging up a major North/South transportation (not to mention commercial) artery instead of an old Railroad track to build the RAV line?

I mean what is it about those blackberry brambles that line those tracks - are they Creme de la Creme-spattered along their entire length, or what?

Perhaps our newly appointed Cabinet Minister, who represents my cut-and-cover neighbourhood but actually lives in the creme-filled neighbourhood can explain it to me.

Or, perhaps not.

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*As an aside, it's been fantastic to have Mr. Grant sitting in The Puffmaster's chair all week. While he is not exactly Mr. Personality, Grant is reliable and, gasp!, he actually knows a thing or two about Vancouver. Case in point: in this morning's excellent piece about Chinatown's alleys Mr. Grant was filling in the blanks all over the place with stories about the old green and orange door restaurants/gambling dens. As for Cluffie, well, we're pretty sure he knows where the White Spot on Georgia is.......
Update: Boy, the Condo Kings sure are mad about this Supreme Court ruling; apparently they think it's a threat to private property laws or some such thing. That's a good one, especially if one hikes out to the far Western reaches of Point Grey these days to take a gander at how developer-driven million dollar private property rights are running roughshod over what used to be public property. But, then again, way out there where the City holds no sway the Condo Kings have their own guy on the inside who's been helping to keep things running smoothly since the Strangest of days and ways. Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the Province's new Pary School in Kelowna also has a King to call its own on the board as well.

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