Rob's Ramblings

Today the construction site at SE False Creek appears to be directing cyclists on the Ontario Bike route to use the sidewalk on 2nd avenue as a detour. Asking cyclists to use this narrow sidewalk is both dangerous and illegal. This is clearly in an inadequate cycling facility for a city that claims to be promoting cycling as part of it's “Greenest City” imitative, According to maps published on October 14th the city was supposed have a marked detour in place using 3rd Ave and parts of Quebec street. It is now two weeks later and this route is still not marked. According to the Host City Olympic transportation plan , page 4: “Some bike routes will be temporarily altered during the 2010 Winter Games to accommodate operational and security needs. Wherever possible, bike route closures will be accommodated by safe and well-marked alternatives.” The current route is neither “safe” nor “well-marked”. When will city be addressing this problem? Is the Olympic Transportation plan alre...

harriet nahanee Originally uploaded by Rob__ . CBC Radio is reporting that Harriet Hahanee has died (also coverage here , here and here ). In her early life she was a victim of residential schools. At the end of her life she became a victim of the province's ideology of development regardless of the consequences. Perhaps she will be remembered as the first person to die as a result of protesting development around the 2010 Winter Olympics. In January, Madam Justice Brown sentenced the Squamish elder to fourteen days in jail for asserting her rights under the Constitution as an Indian and refusing to apologize to anybody, including the court, for blockading construction at Eagleridge Bluffs. Betty Krawczyk, who had been acting in the courtroom as a McKenzie Friend of the court on Harriet's behalf objected to the sentencing. She felt the Surrey Pre-Trial Centre would not be safe for someone in Harriet's condition. Betty was forcibly ejected from the court room and refus...