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City of Victoria | City Family | Municipal reconciliation efforts


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#1 VIResident

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 07:19 AM

This new topic is all things reconciliation in the City of Victoria

 

 

Perhaps the City of Victoria Reconciliation efforts needs its own thread? 

Perhaps we can all contribute to help reconciliation by being frank about what the City is undertaking, or suggestions to that end.

 

Snippets from today's news (Dec. 30/18) Times Colonist 

 

"A Victoria city committee — called the city family and made up of Indigenous and non-Indigenous members — was appointed in June 2017 to address reconciliation efforts."

 

“I know the original action was unsettling and it should be,” Helps said. “Reconciliation isn’t easy — if it feels easy, it’s not reconciliation.

  •  

“So there will probably be some more unsettling conversations and unsettling moments along the way over these next four years.” 

"The whole city is their territory, so that will be an interesting conversation.”

“Indigenous people for centuries have stewarded natural areas,” she said.                                                                                         

“We have a parks department and they are currently in charge and maybe we need to look at what co-governance of natural areas of the city would look like.”

She is hopeful there will be a different kind of dialogue and tone in the new year around reconciliation and the moving of Macdonald’s statue.

“Interestingly, the majority of the Indigenous members of the city family strongly feel the statue should go somewhere — the where to be determined.”


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#2 rjag

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 07:36 AM

 

 

She is hopeful there will be a different kind of dialogue and tone in the new year around reconciliation and the moving of Macdonald’s statue.

“Interestingly, the majority of the Indigenous members of the city family strongly feel the statue should go somewhere — the where to be determined.”

 

My money is on more controversy and divisive politics and the local FN's end up getting into it with the sjw's 


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#3 VIResident

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 07:51 AM

My money is on more controversy and divisive politics and the local FN's end up getting into it with the sjw's 

 

While the Mayor of Victoria and Council have been clear that uncertainty is a part of this process, for residents and to a greater extent business big and small, uncertainty is a reason to seek certainty either by insisting on details now and in the absence of details seeking certainty in another municipality or province. 



#4 mbjj

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 07:53 AM

I see in the TC article today, Helps brags that she was "re-elected" so it must be what we want. Apparently she failed to study the numbers and doesn't realize 57% voted against her.

 

Victoria, or whatever the heck they may be going to rename it, will be unrecognizable under her reign. I seriously wish there was somewhere else we could move to but it seems unlikely at our stage of life.


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#5 VIResident

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 08:05 AM

I see in the TC article today, Helps brags that she was "re-elected" so it must be what we want. Apparently she failed to study the numbers and doesn't realize 57% voted against her.

 

Victoria, or whatever the heck they may be going to rename it, will be unrecognizable under her reign. I seriously wish there was somewhere else we could move to but it seems unlikely at our stage of life.

mbjj, what could this Mayor and Council of the City of Victoria provide you during this process that would give you a measure of comfort?



#6 Nparker

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 09:15 AM

mbjj, what could this Mayor and Council of the City of Victoria provide you during this process that would give you a measure of comfort?

I can't speak for mbjj, but for me comfort could only come from the immediate resignation of all members of council - except perhaps Geoff Young.



#7 57WestHills

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 10:43 AM

Seeking certainty in another municipality or province.


It does seem like a lot of VV users hate it here. Reading that people seem genuinely triggered by leaves and stock footage the other day was a depressing exemplification of the echo chamber VV has become. Now we are like five posts into this thread, everyone has layered on Victoria hate, one commenter that doesn't understand democracy in Canada posted that anyone who didn't vote for the Mayor voted against her (ummmm?).

Seriously, have some users here considered moving? Because the majority, with a better election turn out that usual, voted for the status quo, and literally everyone I know really likes it here!

It's a shame VV has turned so toxic as of late.
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#8 Mike K.

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 10:54 AM

Over the last two years what I’ve noticed as an emerging pattern is a growing intolerance to a difference of opinion and the labelling of those with a differing opinion as being in an echo chamber. Echo Chamber would be a great name for a Tinto Rocks cover band, come to think of it (inside joke from circa 2007).

The sentiment of VV has always been the same in that it was the counter culture of what officialdom was up to. The site literally started as an opposition front to an anti-development attitude at city hall, by the mainstream media and well organized community groups. 13-years on we have development happening on a scale that the site’s membership fought hard to achieve all those years ago. To community groups, the media and elected officials of that era, VV was also an echo chamber back then but they didn’t refer to it explicitly as such.

Fast-forwarding to the ultra-sensitive and backed into a corner reality of 2018, VV is exactly what it always was, ie at the forefront of a critical interpretation of policy and actions. Critical interpretation isn’t there to be your friend and tell you everything is alright, it’s to make you think. If you don’t like it, it’s all good, but don’t disparage something because you don’t like it.
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#9 57WestHills

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 11:02 AM

I disagree, there's a difference between disagreement and intelligent commentary and just blaming the Mayor for things, because!

I come to VV to read differing opinions + and lately there's isn't a lot of difference.

VV 2018 in a Heritage Minute -
"I hate the Mayor. She'll never be re-elected"
"I also hate the Mayor"
"I guarantee the Mayor won't be re-elected"
*Mayor re-elected*
"The Mayor is responsible for every bad thing"
"I hate the Mayor"

So, I do believe VV is becoming an echo chamber. I said, maybe even with you Mike? that pre-election we seemed to be radically out of step with greater Victoria online discourse, and you could see the poll on election results here was pretty inverse of what actually happened.

Ultimately I don't actually care that much... It's just sad that somehow everything on VV gets wrapped toward the Mayor, and how Victoria sucks somehow. If that's the reality for people I quite genuinely feel bad them.... If you look around here and think it's as bad as some people describe it, you'll be hard pressed to find significantly better. I mean those piles of leaves. Shocking!

I love it here. I love critical critique of here.
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#10 Mike K.

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 11:14 AM

So who would you blame for the shockingly poorly planned and executed first act of reconciliation at the hands of the mayor, something which she eventually acknowledged was mishandled?

Who if not the mayor should one blame for the mayor’s poorly executed plans and misguided decisions?
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#11 spanky123

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 11:38 AM

Like Trump and Ford, Mayor Helps has decided that the best way to engage your base is to enrage your opposition. The Mayor isn't an idiot, she knows that asking Venezuela to pay for our use of carbon or suggesting that FN takes stewardship of Beacon Hill or the waterfront will get people talking about her and provide her the opportunity to paint herself as the champion even though nothing will ever come of any of her plans. 

 

What you have to worry about with the Mayor is not what she is talking about, but what she is doing secretly behind closed doors. In my opinion she has decided that the fastest and easiest way to get things done is to avoid consultation and just push forward with her ideas. Sometimes she gets the outcome she wants (ie JAM statue), other times it blows up on her and the taxpayers winds up paying a million dollars plus to clean up her mess (ie Elsner, Crystal Pool).

 

You can argue that VV, facebook, twitter and other social media channels are all just echo chambers or perhaps the reason why there is so much criticism of the Mayor is because a lot of people disagree with her actions. 


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#12 RFS

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 02:30 PM

It does seem like a lot of VV users hate it here. Reading that people seem genuinely triggered by leaves and stock footage the other day was a depressing exemplification of the echo chamber VV has become. Now we are like five posts into this thread, everyone has layered on Victoria hate, one commenter that doesn't understand democracy in Canada posted that anyone who didn't vote for the Mayor voted against her (ummmm?).

Seriously, have some users here considered moving? Because the majority, with a better election turn out that usual, voted for the status quo, and literally everyone I know really likes it here!

It's a shame VV has turned so toxic as of late.


A lot of people on VV and social media in general live in greater Victoria but not the CoV itself. Could be part of the dissonance you are noticing. Helps is not popular in other municipalities

#13 Nparker

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 03:23 PM

A lot of people on VV and social media in general live in greater Victoria but not the CoV itself. Could be part of the dissonance you are noticing. Helps is not popular in other municipalities

She also wasn't popular with 56% of the voters in the CoV.


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#14 sebberry

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 05:05 PM

It does seem like a lot of VV users hate it here. Reading that people seem genuinely triggered by leaves and stock footage the other day was a depressing exemplification of the echo chamber VV has become. Now we are like five posts into this thread, everyone has layered on Victoria hate, one commenter that doesn't understand democracy in Canada posted that anyone who didn't vote for the Mayor voted against her (ummmm?).

 

 

 

So we (the membership) can stop it from becoming an echo chamber by presenting new positions that challenge those that have made it such.  

 

 

VV is no more an echo chamber of city council criticism than city council is an echo chamber of anti capitalist, anti oil rhetoric.  


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#15 rjag

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 05:08 PM

57 Westhills, I disagree with your observations.

If this Mayor and prior council were doing the job of running a municipality ( the new council will get a hall pass for now because talk does not = action) fixing roads and pipes, working to keep taxes down Etc then they wouldn’t attract the level of ridicule that they do. Keep in mind the comments and opinions made here are not unique to here, they are repeated on multiple forums and media and even some make national and international news.

Sure the focus can be narrow like bike lanes etc but they have created a climate of unstable and unpredictable actions

There is a litany of bizarre actions, proclamations to draw upon. In the last few weeks alone we have poinsettias and parking passes, decolonization and decommodification, affluenza and $500 garden suites etc etc etc

Call it an echo chamber if you want, I call it a place where folks can discuss and debate the good the bad and the crazy.... I wish more folks contributed but it is what it is.
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#16 FogPub

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 07:13 PM

^Never mind contribute, I'm not even sure how many folks know this forum even exists!

 

I certainly didn't, until when I was searching for info a year or two back about a closed pub google led me - among other places - here; even though I've lived in greater Victoria all my life and in the CoV for the last 30 years.



#17 mbjj

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 07:31 PM

mbjj, what could this Mayor and Council of the City of Victoria provide you during this process that would give you a measure of comfort

A disappearing act.


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#18 mbjj

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 07:43 PM

I just find that Victoria is a very messy place now and every little change they make just seems to make life take longer to live. We've been in our house almost 40 years and the street and boulevard are in very bad shape. City workers used to come along with regular-sized lawn mowers to trim areas the ride-on mowers couldn't reach. Now they don't, the weeds are two feet tall and are like that all year. The drainage hasn't been fixed the entire time we've lived here despite repeated requests. Streets aren't cleaned, parks aren't weeded, roads we used to take are closed. It's just become unpleasant. I am an avid gardener, I enjoy colour and flowers. Now some of those are going to disappear. Blossoming trees are disappearing. Panhandlers abound. Sidewalks are gross downtown..you wonder what you're walking through some of the time. Blech. 

 

Our property taxes have gone way way up and all the city seems to worry about are things beyond their purview and a bunch of silly crap. The last couple of days I've driven through two brand new, large potholes that made the car rattle. Every week the city seems to come up with some new, crazy pronouncement. Makes me want to leave it all.


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#19 jonny

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 08:13 PM

Unfortunately the polarization we have seen take root in the United States and Europe has made its way to Canada and Victoria.

It seems politicians these days are on either the far right or far left. Politics no longer seems to be a noble profession for sensible, hard working, moderate citizens. The only people who run for public office nowadays are egomaniacs, activists or elites who don't have a clue how average people live.
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#20 Mike K.

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Posted 30 December 2018 - 08:29 PM

The constant barrage of head-turners are literally a Victoria-only phenomenon which began in 2014 with the contentious swearing in of the mayor. Since then there were around 100 controversies.

Are politicians in Oak Bay and Central Saanich polarized? I don’t think they are. They seem to be focused on keeping their municipalities running and their constituents content.
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