Controversial ad about road safety sparks heated debate

Good morning,

Here at the Lookout, we try to go beyond the headlines to understand, and give context to, the issues in Vancouver. I say this because of a tweet I saw today from Coun. Peter Meiszner, who said London Drugs is considering closing their store at Granville and Georgia because of shoplifting.

We hear this story about shoplifting in the news all the time, especially from the US. However, data shows that places like Target, which cite crime as reasons why they’re closing stores, are often opening up other stores nearby which complicates the narrative. It’s also difficult to know if shoplifting is actually increasing because it’s very hard to measure, according to the Atlantic.

For Coun. Meiszner and ABC party, their focus on crime was a big reason they won the election. It’s an issue they care about and want to talk about.

I say all this not to take away from what potentially may be a serious problem, or to critique this specific councillor, but to illustrate why context around an issue like this is important. I believe you deserve to understand why people, organizations and businesses choose to focus on the things they talk about. It’s a big part of what we do here at the Lookout and one reason, I hope, why you all keep reading us.

Alright, let’s get to the newsletter:

• 📺️ A problematic ad about road safety

• 🏫 A school pilot shutdown

• 🪧 Updates on two strikes

Let’s get to it

— Geoff Sharpe, Vancity newsletter writer

PUBLIC SAFETY

Controversial ad about road safety sparks heated debate

An ad from the Richmond RCMP designed to educate people about road safety is raising questions about, well, whose responsibility it is for road safety. Should pedestrians be more careful? Should car drivers? Let’s get into it.

The ad: The video in question can be watched below. In it, a pedestrian walks across the walkway with a hoodie and earbuds, while a driver looks at their phone, running the lights into a pedestrian walkway. The driver then almost hits the pedestrian.

• The caption accompanying the video indicates both are to blame for road safety.

Responses: As pointed out by many users, and a community note on Twitter, there is no law against wearing a hoodie and headphones while walking, but there is a law against using a phone while driving.

• In what can only be described as horrible irony, the Richmond RCMP tweeted days later they are investigating a pedestrian fatality involving a vehicle.

Background: There are 178,000 crashes in the Lower Mainland, with 57,000 injuries and 90 deaths, including 2,400 involving pedestrians, according to CityNews.

Zoom out: Cities across Canada have worked to address pedestrian deaths from vehicles. In Toronto, the city adopted a Vision Zero strategy to get traffic-related deaths and injuries to zero, which was sparked by 78 deaths in 2016, according to CBC. In Quebec, 392 people died in 2022, a 45-person increase over the previous year, according to CTV.

In Vancouver: Vision Zero Vancouver is working to reduce deaths from vehicles, through advocacy and education. Simple things like reducing car speeds and more walk time at intersections are some ideas that can help. One challenge noted in a Tyee story is the political will to adopt infrastructure changes that would save more lives.

Why it matters: It’s problematic if police and policy-makers don’t understand which group is the biggest danger to each other. We need both cars and people to live safely in communities, and these types of videos aren’t helpful. Striking a balance requires actually understanding who is breaking the law which this ad didn’t do.

In other news: Speaking of pedestrians, Vancouver council approved a plan to create a pedestrian scramble at Granville and Robson, according to CBC. These popular crosswalks allow pedestrians to walk in all directions, and help reduce collisions between cars and pedestrians. The policy was supported unanimously by all councillors.

VANCOUVER NUMBERS

📉 $2,800: The average rental price for a one-bedroom apartment in Vancouver from a report from Zumper. That may seem like a lot, but it’s down $20 from the previous month, which was an all-time high. [CityNews]

🩰 56: The number of years Vancouver’s Kalena’s Shoes has been operating. Congrats to the entire time! [Vancouver Sun]

💸 3.8%: Canada’s inflation rate in September, which is down from four percent in August. That’s good news since economists expected it to be higher. [CBC]

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DREAM HOME

Readers, I don’t want to alarm you, but there is a three-bedroom unit for under $700,000 in Vancouver.

Yes, it’s located a little bit outside of downtown, near Joyce Collingwood station, but based on my review of properties on Realtor.ca, it’s the only three-bedroom for under that price in the city.

The place isn’t large at 932 square feet, but the building has some excellent amenities, like a bike room, clubhouse and exercise centre. Did I mention it has two bathrooms as well?

All this can be yours for a low, low price.

House of The Week is a home selected by the Lookout team and is not a paid advertisement. All ads are labelled as such. If you’re a realtor who wishes to feature your home in our newsletter, please contact our sales team.

MEMBER PREVIEW

Popular school bike and pedestrian program gets the axe

This is a preview of a members-only story in the Insider City Hall. If you want to get more stories like this that go deeper on city hall, and support local news taht helps you understand the biggest issues facing Vancouver, become a member today.

In what is becoming a trend with council, another bike-focused city project was axed, and this time it’s children facing the brunt of the cuts.

Background: The Vancouver School Board and Lord Roberts Elementary School partnered to make Comox Street at the school car-free, as part of the School Streets Pilot. The program created a car-free road beside schools for 30-45 minutes during arrivals and departures, according to Vancouver is Awesome.

The project was cancelled on Oct. 11 and instead, an interim bike lane will be installed, with no concrete protection, with a planned installation date of 2024.

Want to see how useful it was? Here’s what one person shared back in April. Looks like fun!

According to the city’s own data, the program resulted in:

• 23 percent of elementary school families reported walking more

• 92 percent of elementary students reported the street felt safer

• 74 percent of parents want the School Street to continue

Yes, but: To be fair, according to Coun. Christine Boyle, who is no friend of ABC, the project was not cancelled by council but by staff.

Zoom out: Over in Paris, the city has built 180 school streets, which have transformed asphalt and roads into pedestrian-only or priority spaces with gardens and walkways. If Paris is doing it, why not Vancouver?

THE AGENDA

🏢 The province is buying an SRO building at 218-222 Keefer St. that has been vacant since a fire displaced 39 residents in September last year. The cost to purchase and renovate the building is $12 million and the building will be reopened in 2025. [CTV]

👮 An officer who created an inappropriate poster, which is part of a wider class-action lawsuit against the Vancouver police department over sexual harassment, has been suspended with pay. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🛗 You may want to hold off on getting stuck in an elevator anytime soon. Negotiations between the union that represents BC elevator maintenance workers have broken down, with a strike notice issued last Saturday. The union is asking for higher wages as the corporations that run the elevators made $7.7 billion in profits in 2021. [CTV]

🪧 Speaking of strikes, Metro Vancouver employees are returning to mediated talks with their employer after a brief strike on Monday. [CBC]

🚲️ Do people want more forms of transportation? A pilot project of Lime e-bikes on the North Shore indicates yes, they do. Over 156,000 trips were taken on the two-year pilot project, with city staff recommending the contract be extended for another year, with a transition to a permanent option afterwards. [Daily Hive]

👎️ Richmond council has voted against building a bus rapid transit line between Metrotown and Richmond Centre through Knightsbridge, which would’ve created an arterial bus route. The good news is that it likely means more funding for Vancouver transit from TransLink! [Urbanized]

🏒 The Canucks traded Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek for forward Ty Glover and defenceman Mark Friedman. [NHL]

🖼️ The Granville entertainment district may soon have large electronic billboards. Currently, there are no rooftop signs allowed, with the last one being removed a decade ago, with previous councils calling it visual clutter. [Vancouver is Awesome]

HEARD AROUND TOWN

I’m not one to normally report on Twitter rumours, but Peter Waldkirch is someone who follows and is involved closely in municipal politics. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this in our Insider City Hall newsletter (which of course we greatly appreciate you supporting!).

HISTORY

Here’s a shot from the snowstorm in January 1971. Are you pro or anti-snow?

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Many famous Vancouver artists, including Doug Copland, donated their works to an auction to fund a new social housing centre in the Downtown Eastside. [Vancouver Sun]

• Want a casual way to learn about wine? Check out This is Wine School which opened in January. [Georgia Straight]

• A new community-minded snack bar called The Gail is opening up at 1867 Powell St.

• Check out this cool timelapse of Monday’s big storm. [Reddit]

• Vancouver chefs will compete today at the Canadian Culinary Championship. There’s still time to buy tickets! [Georgia Straight]

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GAME TIME

Congrats to Amanda S. and Cheyenne who correctly guessed the answer to yesterday’s quiz question was Oak VGH Station.

Today’s Vancouver Guesser is a little different. Can you name the neighbourhood where this photo is? Reply with your answer and your name to be included in the newsletter.

MEMBERS-ONLY STORIES

These deep-dives are available to Insider members, who help fund our local journalism and keep these newsletters going.

• Popular school bike program gets the axe

• Sim touts new bold housing plan, but just how bold is it?

• What two complaints by the mayor can tell us about the next municipal election

• Three interesting trends from the Union of BC Municipalities convention

• A stairway to food heaven at Richmond Public Market

• Why Vancouver’s chief planner is out

• This hidden gem Vietnamese restaurant is doing noodle soup right

• Does a new communications director herald a change at city hall?