Politics

Tomorrow potheads will lazily stumble and takeover the streets of downtown Vancouver. Last year there were close to 5,000 to 10,000 people (depending on who you ask) that came to celebrate the Cannabis culture in North America’s marijuana mecca. If you plan on going please bring some munchies. Cookies, potato chips and Twizzlers will do just fine. I suspect the local food carts will do big business tomorrow.

Following a long, drawn out public hearing that began in February, the City of Vancouver yesterday approved the rezoning of the Rize Mount Pleasant site at the corner of Kingsway & Broadway from Commercial District (C3-A) to Mixed Use.  This decision will naturally not sit well with those that oppose the development, however, to those individuals I suggest you look at the Mount Pleasant community plan. This was one of 3 designated sites that would allow for taller buildings.

April Fool’s day has come and passed and although Vancouver got fooled by yours truly (Sorry, but if it comforts you shoppers both Nordstrom and Victoria Secret are in talks to come to Vancouver in a big way, that is no joke, I promise) and Google, it seems the biggest joke of all isn’t a joke at all. Yesterday the B.C. government announced the following tax changes.

Yesterday the federal budget was announced and for most people it ended with the announcement of the pending demise of the much hated penny. However, there was a lot of information delivered and The Globe & Mail have put together a series of infographics that break down the complexities of the 2012 federal budget. Read more on the federal budget at Globe & Mail. And if you like infographics, check out this one on the Canadian housing market.

The photo above is a gigapixel photo, so before you proceed to read click this link to an interactive gigapixel photo and zoom in to see yourself, strangers and other Canucks fans before the riot. Creepy.

Yesterday the City of Vancouver announced their grand plan for this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs (by the way round 1 tickets go on sale this Saturday) and it polarized the people of the lower mainland. The biggest disappointment was the lack of downtown celebrations.

The stage is set, tonight at city hall the battle for Mount Pleasant will take place. In one corner you have the NIMBY’s, RAMP (Residents Association of Mount Pleasant). In the other corner you have the developer, Rize Alliance. At 7:30pm the two will duke it out in a verbal war, one that will set the tone for future battles. One side will remain civil as they juke and jive to get to the end, the other will probably shout incessantly demonizing the other, throwing nonsensical jab after jab. Ultimately, the fate will lie in the hands of the judges as the future of Mount Pleasant is at stake.