Current COPE News

Immediate Release: December 15, 2009

Last night, COPE Park Commissioner Loretta Woodcock voted against the proposals to send out Requests for Expressions of Interest for the Bloedel Conservatory and Stanley Park Children’s Farmyard.

Both sites are on the chopping block due to budget cuts passed down from Vancouver City Council to the Park Board.

Immediate Release: Dec 11, 2009

As reported today in the Globe and Mail, the City of Vancouver has asked a local gallery to remove an outdoor mural, part of an art installation that has been hanging since September 25. It depicts the five Olympic rings with sad faces and one happy face – written on a chalkboard that has frequently had other images and words on it.

Immediate Release: December 8, 2009
 
Last Thursday, Vancouver city council passed Councillor Woodsworth’s motion on the Assistance to Shelter Act (copied below) and now police Chief Jim Chu has spoken out.

Think City Presentation – December 1, 2009-12-01

By Ian Mass

COPE councilors David Cadman and Ellen Woodsworth are proposing budget solutions that don’t cut into services, lose workers’ jobs or put the tax burden on residents.

Proposed solutions to close the approximate $29 million budget gap include:

*Putting a true freeze on hiring. This means freezing management positions as well as city worker positions.

*Ending the practice of “forgiving” parking tickets.

*Demanding that VANOC help cover the losses in parking revenue from street closures during the Olympics.

Immediate Release: Nov 25, 2009

Olympic sponsors asked to take a stand on discrimination against women

In a letter sent last week, COPE councilors David Cadman and Ellen Woodsworth, called on Olympic sponsors to pressure the IOC to allow women ski jumpers to compete in the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Next week, COPE Councillor David Cadman will be bringing a motion to council asking the City Manager to report back on the feasibility of neighbourhood giveaway program so that residents of Vancouver can give away household items to neighbours.

Similar programs occur in Ottawa, Winnipeg and several other cities across North America. This project would have an emphasis on the often neglected “re-use” portion of the three “R’s” – important in a time when the City is looking for new ways to deal with waste.

COPE Councillor Ellen Woodsworth has submitted a resolution to council supporting the We Can End All Violence Against Women campaign, which the Women's Advisory Committee of the City of Vancouver has endorsed.

The ‘We Can End All Violence against Women’, or ‘We Can’, is a multi-year, international campaign, which seeks to challenge and change deeply entrenched societal attitudes and practices that support violence against women through a Coalition of over 50 organizations and 500 individuals.

As the only two city councilors to vote against the Olympic by-law changes passed by city council and now in front of the legislature, COPE Councillors Ellen Woodsworth and David Cadman are pleased that council will have another chance to look at the laws.

The by-laws, which have been under intense scrutiny from organizations like the BC Civil Liberties Association over concerns around freedom of speech, are currently in front of the legislature to give the City more power to deal with Olympic sponsorship agreement infringements.

Last night, at the Vancouver Board of Education, COPE School Trustee, Jane Bouey, brought a motion recognizing the International Day for Climate Action (Oct 24).

"Climate Change is the most urgent issue facing our planet", says Bouey. "It is easy to feel helpless when facing such an overwhelming danger. The International Day for Climate Action (October 24) is a day when the Vancouver School Board can join millions of people around the world to demand real climate action."