VancouverIAM Daily Blog Report: Local Lawyer calls for Tazer Inquiry, Blogger Applauds City on Non Market Housing Numbers

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

Vancouver Lawyer calls for Investigation after Tazer Death

The latest post from Bill Tieleman's blog has quoted local lawyer Cameron Ward calling for an independent investigation into the Tazer'ing death of a Polish citizen at YVR. According to Tieleman, Ward declared “we have 18 cases in Canada of people who died after being Tasered - that's too many. One of the concerns is that they are often used against unarmed people who are in medical or emotional distress.” Ward has experience dealing with Tazer-related cases. “Ward represented the family of Robert Bagnell, a Vancouver man who died after being Tasered by Vancouver police in 2004.” The post also noted that Amnesty International has called for “comprehensive, independent medical study” on the safety of Tazers.

The mother of Robert Dziekanski, the victim at the Vancouver Airport, is also quoted in Tieleman's post. Apparently, Dziekanski was in the process of immigrating to Canada after his mother had worked two jobs for the past seven years. It was his first time on an airplane. She stated, “Very soon I was going to realize my son's hug. I was smiling nicely because I would meet my son soon. My boy, my boy, how does this happen?” Nobody in the general vicinity of the incident spoke Polish and Dziekanski spoke no English. YVR officials claim that all parties acted appropriately and that the occurrence is an unfortunate accident.

Facing Former Team-Mate Printers Doesn't Faze BC Lions

Local media has been attempting to create headlines by declaring that the BC Lions are ready to “mangle Casey Printers” during the Lions-Hamilton match-up on Friday night. According to Lowell Ullrich's the Fifth Quarter blog, the Lions have refused to take the bait and have stated that they are treating it like any other game. Ullrich commented “it says a lot of how far this team has... a better attitude compared to the days when, well, the quarterback was a teammate... Playing a quarterback who was your teammate two years ago? Big deal. That was the message.” The Lions are currently leading their division.

The post asserted that there is little margin for error at this late point in the season. “It's more important to realize that one slight burp right now, with Saskatchewan still in a position to take top spot, and the Lions will be feeling terribly uncomfortable.” However, Ullrich explained that the only media-related concern that many of the Lions players had during Tuesdays practice were related to the announcement of each team's all-star nominees, with balloting is set to start this afternoon.

Another Blogger Applauds City on Non-Market Housing

Pacific Metropolis is the latest local blog to comment on the recent information, released by the city of Vancouver, regarding the development of non-market housing. First mentioned in the Price Tags blog several days ago, the data reveals that “1,357 housing units, and 855 rooms are on their way, so far” during 2007. The post compares this total to the announcement of Concord Pacific's North False Creek condo development which includes six different buildings and only contains a total of 1,100 new units.

City Council deserves more credit for these numbers than it is getting, according to Pacific Metropolis. “it's unfortunate that stories like this don't get as much press as they deserve - definitely not as much as the more controversial demonstrations by some homeless advocates.” While acknowledging that the housing problem in Vancouver is by no means solved, the post agreed that “it is worth giving credit where it's due, and to shed some light on the fact that the grown-ups in charge are actually doing a lot more for the homeless than we hear about.”

Canucks Blogger Accuses Local Media of Exaggerating

Several mainstream media sources reported that Markus Nasland had openly questioned Coach Vigneault's offensive strategy in a post-game interview. This led Tom Benjamin's NHL blog to ask “do we have some faulty memories among the media?” Naslund was quoted as saying, “I think instead of supporting one another or making a play, we're either just flipping the puck out or flipping it in and then have to go chasing after it. Then it takes 25 or 30 seconds to get it back. I'd like us to have the puck more. I'd like the whole team to have the puck more.” While the post didn't doubt that Naslund had reason to be frustrated, it remained convinced that Naslund was merely doing what he always does in these circumstances, namely “echo what his coach said the week before.”

While the post points to Brad Ziemer, specifically, many local sports writers apparently forgot about similar comments made by the Canucks head coach. “"When we get the puck, the number of turnovers in our zone -- unforced errors, just throwing the puck away, no one taking the puck, getting rid of that responsibility by throwing it to the other team -- that's where we've gotten in trouble more than anything else in our zone.” Tom Benjamin's NHL blog quoted the Vancouver Sun's Brad Ziemer stating that Naslund “seem(ed) to question the team's offensive system.” Seemingly, things may not be perfect right now for the Vancouver Canucks, but the media should stop trying to twist players words around.

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