Vancouver IAM Daily Blog Report: 10,000 Homeless for B.C. Winter, Luongo on Shutout Streak, Chinese Head Tax Redress Addressed

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This is a selection of recent popular blog articles from VancouverIAM where you will find the best blogs from Vancouver, BC as well as video uploads, social networking, rumors, and blog authoring

Over 10,000 homeless in B.C.

The latest post at The Tyee reports that “more than 10,580 British Columbians are homeless this winter, according to a survey of estimates compiled by the New Democratic Party.” These numbers are also increasing fastest in our booming suburbs like Abbotsford and Whistler. MLA David Chudnovsky says that we are “sometimes fooled into thinking homelessness is a Vancouver issue,” but it’s a province-wide problem. Social workers in the Fraser Valley confirm the findings.

"Smaller communities are starting to face this issue," said Deb Lowell, a Salvation Army spokeswoman, stating that there are far more homeless in Abbotsford than ever. B.C.’s largest cities still top the list. “The NDP found 2,300 people living without shelter in Vancouver, 1,550 in Victoria and 1,050 in Prince George.” But fast-growing suburbs like Abbotsford present a concentrated “second tier of homelessness.” The post states that the survey located 400 homeless in Abbotsford, “200 in the Tri Cities, 180 in Burnaby, and 100 in Langley.”

Chinese Head Tax Redress Limited to Survivors and Spouses

Todd Wong’s latest post at GungHaggisFatChoy, a blog dealing with Chinese-Canadian issues, states that “less than 1% Chinese-Canadian head tax families have received a redress settlement.” They are not greedy, Wong says, they “just want a just settlement.” 

From 1885 to 1923, the Canadian government levied taxes against Chinese immigrants to keep them from coming to Canada. Sid Tan, co-president of the Chinese Canadian Head Tax Families Society, called for “continued action for a full redress that would include the sons, daughters and families of deceased head tax payers.”



In Wong’s post he informs that the conservative government is “only recognizing surviving head tax payers and their spouses, still alive at the time of Harper's election.  [But] many have died since 1984.” Families have hung onto their papers in hopes of a redress payment.  “Head tax certificates have been passed on through generations.” The head tax payers lived through much economic and racial hardship. Although the Conservative government has only offered the symbolic $20,000 payment to surviving head tax payers and spouses, our blogger believes that to be fair, each certificate should equal one redress payment.



Luongo Continues Shutout Streak

Over at the Canuck’s Hockey Blog our blogger sends big kudos to Canuck goaltender Roberty Luongo. “Last night, Luongo extended his shutout streak to three games - 195 minutes and 34 seconds to be exact.” This means Luongo has stopped 86 shots in a row.

The Canucks played a quality team game, and although neither team gave up many scoring chances, “Luongo and Frederik Norrena had to be sharp at times.” The Blue Jackets played a good game as well, but the Canucks “stuck together, let Luongo see the puck and cleared away any rebounds.” In the third period, with a 2-0 lead, they “focused on the defensive end and picked their spots.”



More importantly, our blogger reminds us in his post, the Canucks have now “moved up to second place in the Western Conference and fourth overall in the NHL,” which is quite impressive considering they were 1-6 four weeks ago. They only have a few days to celebrate. Starting Sunday, they’ve got a eight games in two weeks, “seven of them on the road and including a couple of back-to-backs.”

Conservative Candidate Says He Wants to Keep Communities Safe

A recent post on North Vancouver Politics wonders just what Conservative Candidate Andrew Saxton is all about. “In today's North Shore News the local Tories have taken out a quarter page Ad on page seven bearing the headline: Saxton Conservatives Keeping Communities Safe.” However, the blogger points out, there’s nothing in the ad that “speaks directly to any specific local issues.”



The post says that along with a picture of Saxton talking about “community safety” with a senior citizen, the ad text states, “Defending victims and creating safer communities has been a top priority of this government.” Although the blogger is left to wonder specifically what that means.

 

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VancouverIAM is part of a groundbreaking network of city-focused blog aggregation, user generated media and social networking websites currently rolling out across North America. Each IAM website filters and organizes blog content as well as offering video upload capabilities, social networking, blog authoring, favourites lists and rumours. The IAM Network is a division of SoMedia Networks Inc which also operates Inveslogic.com, Greenedia.com, Healthedia.com and Blabaloo.com. For more information or to register an account, visit VancouverIAM.com.