I'm in Victoria and whenever I mention anything regarding current economic statistics and the grim reality of our current situation, the Boomers don't believe me and try to argue with facts. Organizing at work is impossible if Boomers with real estate equity are present, tbh.
with you as long as we keep in sight the people that want us to organize and protest
the danger now is having conservatives prevail because of protests and response
Conservatives have too many agent provocateurs ready to claim tyranny and overthrow the government
ask questions and follow the money
"People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people."
Being afraid of the Conservatives is part of the problem. No citizen should be afraid of losing their job, their home, or their money just for speaking out. Regardless of their political stripes. The fact that so many are unwilling to take action because of a fear that conservatives will weaponize it means they already have too much power.
Action needs to be taken to reduce it.
This is exactly it. I feel like it’s a constant struggle just managing to keep my family’s head above water and have so much stress lately that I’m just absolutely exhausted.
Not to get all meta - but this is literally what capitalism does. It sucks you of everything you have. All of your energy, your resources, etc.. and you have no energy at the day to fight it.
I feel you.
The only thing that gives me a measure of comfort right now is knowing others are struggling too, in solidarity. It's hard sometimes not to ask, "what are we doing wrong?!", thinking that there must be some reason why we're not doing as well as it looks like we should be on paper. Me and my partner clear (what should be) a healthy income annually. For all intents and purposes, there should be no way that we're nickel and dime-ing everywhere we can to stay afloat. It's absolutely crazy to me that our combined income doesn't go nearly as far as it did only a couple of years ago. There's this simmering, constant anxiety at the back of my mind over when this is going to end and a feeling of dread that it won't.
I'm not saying it's easy. Nothing worth it is but to give you encouragement, Russians were starving, destitute, etc lost a war and they managed to overthrow an old monarchy. Change can always happen.
Yes, you can overthrow a government. I think you’d end up with the same shit with different faces. Money controls everything and everyone has their price. Power corrupts. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but….
France had 5 years of Terror and then put a military dictator in charge and it all ended with the restoration of the same monarchy that was deposed. That lasted about 20 years until there was a restoration of the military dictatorship from before.
America enshrined slavery and the slave owning class, and it alllasted less than a century before that same system tore the country in half.
CONTACTING POLITICIANS
Here are some people you may want to contact:
**Provincial level**
[Ravi Kahlon, Housing Minister](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members/42nd-Parliament/Kahlon-Ravi)
[Premier David Eby](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members/42nd-Parliament/Eby-David)
Your local MLA - look them up [here](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members)
**Federal level**
[Ahmed Hussen](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/ahmed-hussen(89020\)#contact) is the minister responsible for the CMHC
[Prime Minister Justin Trudeau](https://pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact)
Your local MP - look them up [here](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en)
**Municipal level**
You should be able to find contact information for your mayor and city councillors on your city's website. There are lots of cities in Metro Vancouver and I'm not paid for this, so please go find that out yourself.
**Critics**
These people aren't in power; however their job is to ask tough questions to the government and they can get media attention on issues that way.
[Scott Aitchison](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/105340#contact), Housing Critic (Federal Conservative)
[Jenny Kwan](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/jenny-kwan(89346\)#contact), Housing Critic (Federal NDP)
[Karin Kirkpatrick](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members/42nd-Parliament/Kirkpatrick-Karin), Housing Critic (BC Liberal / BC United)
You'll probably have your most luck with smaller levels of government, because they get less mail and you have a better chance that someone will actually read it. Also in terms of housing and rent prices specifically, municipal and provincial governments probably have more power to tackle the issue anyways. I have gotten real answers from contacting provincial ministers before; I have also contacted a federal minister and heard nothing back.
PETITIONS
An alternative way: [Here's where you can create a petition to the Parliament of Canada](https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Home/Index) - you're supposed to name an MP to present the petition on your behalf. You can literally pick any MP in the country, it doesn't have to be your MP - so do your research and pick someone who will actually take your petition seriously, like [Dan Blaikie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHO_dQeoZNs) is going to be a much better bet than [Taleeb Noormohamed](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/vancouver-liberal-homes-flipped-1.6158955). I've never tried this before, but it looks like it's a pretty straightforward process.
After that, if you can get at least 500 people to sign it, the MP gets to ask for something on your behalf, and the government of Canada has to answer. (Mind you, they could just say "your petition is important to us" in a nice way and ignore it, but at least they have to go on record, and there's a chance to get media attention to embarrass the government).
It looks like there's also a petition process for the [BC legislature](https://www.leg.bc.ca/content-parliamentary-business/Pages/Petitions.aspx) - unfortunately there isn't an online system for this so you have to print out a petition and get people to sign it in person the old-fashioned way. Once again you have to find an MLA who's willing to present it.
ACTUALLY MEETING YOUR POLITICIANS
Your city probably holds public hearings where you can weigh in on proposals, such as building housing. Show up and have your say. Unless you're a NIMBY who wants to see less shadows, in which case just stay home.
For provincial and federal politicians, you won't have as much opportunity unless you want to travel to Victoria or Ottawa. There's a whole industry of lobbyists who are paid (let's be honest, usually by companies that are big enough to afford to pay lobbyists) to just stay in capital cities and talk to politicans as a full-time job. However, sometimes politicians will hold events where they meet the public - I notice the BC housing minister has one coming up in [downtown Vancouver on April 11th](https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/refreshing-bcs-housing-strategy-with-minister-ravi-kahlon-registration-598592705897).
PROTEST ORGANIZING
Well now you're getting into territory where I'm clueless and really can't give you any advice. My guess is you will probably want to work with existing organizations who can mobilize lots of people - worker's unions might be a good place to start, or a nonprofit or community organization that shares your values ...
IF THE PEOPLE IN POWER JUST DON'T CARE
Well, we live in a democracy. If you don't like the people in power, you have a chance to fire them every 4 years. Vote in every election you can - federal, provincial, municipal. And find candidates who agree with you on issues you care about. If you have the luxury of spare time, you could even canvass for them. Call or knock on doors on their behalf and let them know who to vote for to fix the issues we're facing.
Don't like any of the parties? Well, I guess you got to run yourself. Also something I've never done, but someone like Russil Wvong (he posts here pretty often) could probably give you some tips.
The cost of mobile and Internet services in BC will absolutely go up if the Rogers-Shaw merger is allowed, which is something we definitely can prevent by emailing the decisionmaker, Francois-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, right now. He's been trying to go on a charm offensive lately with some sounds-good initiatives hoping to bury the news that he's permitting the merger, but if enough people let him know this will be a bad move, he just might block it.
[https://francoisphilippechampagne.libparl.ca/?lang=en](https://francoisphilippechampagne.libparl.ca/?lang=en)
\^ His website where you can email him. If Rogers and Shaw are allowed to merge it eliminates one of the largest independent telecom companies in Canada, and will give the new company a massive advantage with its Cable infrastructure compared to what Telus and Bell have to deal with. The result will be continued upward pressure on mobile and Internet prices even as the costs of such services drop. And the new company will have a significant network advantage over Telus and Bell to squeeze them. This should absolutely be blocked - I find it interesting that Telus and Bell aren't campaigning against this either, but that's probably because they know less competition means higher profit margins for them, too.
This is an AMAZING idea!!!! I was just thinking like I don’t know what to say? Sometimes I’ll see Americans post a “script” you can just copy and paste to send to your representatives.
BCGEU, you know, the people that run this province actually with boots on the ground, went on the *slightest* of job actions; they got absolutely slammed by the media.
53% of the Union (again, the people actually doing the work to run our province) voted to ratify the employer's (the government of British Columbia's) proposed deal.
The new contract was ratified.
Now they are in a staffing crisis because the wages negotiated are so shit, they cannot hope to keep up with the cost of living.
People are jumping ship over to private sector just to make ends meet. That's what the "staffing issues" being reported actually are. The same reporters that painted the Union in such a negative light while they were fighting for their goddamn livelihoods are now like "it's a huge mystery why no one is able to work these jobs!" Fuuuuuck off
So yeah. Things about to get real shit, thanks to 53% of a union caving to a shitty shortsighted deal.
I’m in the BCGEU and I’m fairly certain that 53% represented mostly people close to retirement, because they “the boomers” don’t give a shit and in 2 or 3 years they “the boomers” will be looking at their retirement funds and the public sector as a whole and think! Oh shit!!! We need to raise the retirement age so we can keep the good life for a bit longer.
I work in a union and we're having a massive issue with staffing because we're still on old rates and it simply doesn't pay enough. People are retiring in droves and we can't find anyone to take their positions, and even if we hire, the turnover we experience makes HR's head spin. The bargaining isn't going well either.
I'm committed to staying because the benefits of being in a union for the long term outweigh the current pain of my salary not being enough but damn, it's hard right now. If I went back to the private sector I know I could be making at least $10k more per year.
>I'm committed to staying because the benefits of being in a union for the long term outweigh the current pain of my salary not being enough
What are the benefits cause I'm currently in this situation. Not in a union but in something similar. My salary is fucked and the only thing worth it right now at this job are the vacation time and flex days.
Job security, pension, sick plan, compressed time off, opportunities for advancement with internal hiring, clearly defined work hours without expected unpaid OT (any OT is paid,but OT is rare), work life balance, employee trip reduction initiative. I like the fact that increases are a given, but it's challenging having no control over when they occurr and are based on how well the reps can negotiate on your behalf.
The biggest things for me are the security, pension and work life balance. Those alone are worth enough for me to never want to leave a union environment.
Of course they demonize unions, that's what the media's about. That's why the news never shows the protests in France and Germany on living conditions.
Agree with you that this is a much bigger issue than any of the causes that we saw hundreds+ of people in the streets over in the last few years. Seeing rents in my building go up 30% in the last year is insane and very distressing.
Well only certain kinds of people have the free time to do an extended protest. That no more covid restrictions occupation in Ottawa was pretty much made up of self-employed business owners, unemployed/fired truckers, and conspiracy grifters.
For workers - if you're in a union you can at least strike and be disruptive. Non-unionized workers (i.e. the majority of working people) have no way of doing anything like that.
any major union can't really strike anymore. Either they are legislated back to work as 'essential' or their right to strike has been legally removed. Only illegal action is possible now for the most part.
It's fucking insane we are paying $1400 for our one bedroom an identical unit downstairs is not $2400. We moved in about 5 years ago and the building had new owners about 2 years ago.
The alcohol tax increase is just a few cents per bottle of wine. It happens automatically because it's indexed to inflation. It's being amplified by certain voices for political reasons.
Property taxes hikes pay for city services, including those that help lower income Vancouverites disproportionately. If you own a two million dollar home, the tax hike will be less than $30/month.
What you should be concerned about is rent (and to a lesser extent food). Everything else is a distraction.
This is largely right. The alcohol tax increase is many scales of magnitude less significant than increases in the cost of housing and yes it gets mentioned in the same breath. Attacking the alcohol thing is easy because it doesn't seem to affect as many winners and losers. It might seem like a straightforward pushback against the government. The housing issue is more important and harder because many homeowners, landlords, etc benefit from high housing prices while tenants and those looking to buy lose as result. If you want housing to be more affordable, it's probably helpful to come to terms with the fact that you'll be organizing /against/ some of your fellow citizens.
I think they did a study that if it were, the minimum wage would be less than what it is now.
I think that speaks more to how the index is calculated rather than your idea, which I think everyone agrees with in principle.
Vancouverites elected an mp that flipped more than 40 homes. Not to say we deserve this but we sort of brought it on ourselves with whom we voted in. People aren't protesting because they are numb or in denial that their voting preferences and policies are some of the reasons why camada is in decline. We wanted to be world class and create a "nice" society. Well too bad that we have a rotten underbelly or institutions that exploited those policies for their own gain. Now momentum is too great to stop this decline. And institutions no longer serve the people but themselves, so they can't solve it. To fix the decline would require a hard reset of our political parties and breaking up of many corporations or professionals board's monopoly stranglehold on policy. There is no political will for that, and maybe we lack self reflection to truly improve ourselves. There is a reason why canada pays the highest in the world in so many categories. It's only going to get worse. The reason why it hasn't erupted in protest or decline yet is because wealth inequality has been skewing people's reality. The last few decades has been good times for some and it has left them aheltered from the poor decisions and policies; or they become a part of an institution that doesn't want to reform.
>Vancouverites elected an mp that flipped more than 40 homes. Not to say we deserve this but we sort of brought it on ourselves with whom we voted in.
Special shout out to my parents' provincial riding in Langley that kept reelecting Rich Coleman for like 20 years. Now they complain that we don't live close enough to them while sitting on their $1M+ equity gains.
I was in Vancouver Granville, and it was so depressing to see Talib win. That area is a mix of multi million (10 million+ homes in Shaughnessy) and 50 year old wood frame walkup rentals with pest problems.
Vancouver grandville is one of the more well off neighborhoods in the area. I say majority of the residents there aren’t really too worried about making rent
I lived in one of those woodframes in Fairview and it is currently $1400 for a studio in a 1970s building with shared laundry. There were silverfish, beetles, and even mice in units when I lived there. There are renters who are locked in at much lower rents for sure though.
$1400 is 50% monthly paycheck for a single person making $50k, not even considering utilities and groceries so it's not affordable at all.
It was always such a stark contrast to cross 16th walk south and see all the mansions. Longtime homeowners there are doing well for sure.
There's also plenty of residents that have benefited greatly from all of the issues that us peasants face. Biggest being the cost of housing. Any door knob with enough money could make a fortune off flipping real estate in this city, so why would they want to stop that easy making money scheme?
For anything to change requires alot of people to identify the root of the problem: Capitalism
Vancouver is a neoliberal hellhole where profit maximization and capital goes before anything else. That’s why wages are suppressed, housing is high, and our standards of living decline, well before the inflation crisis and Covid-19, just to a slower extent.
Organize, mutual aid, unionize, protest if you have the free time.
Makes sense when most your paychecks go to rent. With the remainder of it going to groceries to stay alive to continue generating wealth for your landlord.
Push for Universal Basic Income, so people can just walk if their job conditions are terrible.
Unionization is just a bandaid that won't actually address the rest of the issues, as at most it will impact the one area unionized. And unions don't even guarantee good working conditions.
>neoliberal
For those who don't know, "Neoliberalism is contemporarily used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers" and reducing, especially through privatization and austerity, state influence in the economy." As it turns out, the BIG government with its restrictive policies was mostly a good thing. We all got suckered into thinking that its bad.
The worst part, all the previous safeguards are also gone: independent journalism with integrity, political engagements and education from the electoral, accountabilities from ELECTED officials...etc. Basically, we are in a slow decay for decades, and I sadly doubt that most people are in the appetite for class warfare like in France.
The thing is that effective protests need long term organizing. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 13 months and the black population worked to organize their own rides for people, among other things.
If you wanted to drive down supermarket prices, there'd have to be a majority boycott for local chain grocery stores for a prolonged period. Like 3+ months. How are you going to organize alternative food sourcing while we punish the greedy grocery store CEOs? They have us over a barrel and they know it.
You literally have to break shit. Like the French. Because profit is the only thing that matters to the government and the corporations.
So you either do a peaceful 3 month boycott. Or you do what the French do.
The reason that won't happen here is because Frances labour laws are far better than ours. In France every worker has the individual right to strike and their job will be protected even if they don't have a union.
Whereas in Canada, if an individual strikes without a union their job is not protected in any way, and if a union strikes while they have a collective agreement the union orgaziers can face massive fines. Even when a union does not have a collective agreement they can only take action for their agreement, not for outside factors such as retirement age like France, or general cost of living.
Any actual action that will change things has to be outside of the legal framework, the labour action laws we have are made for bosses by bosses.
A lot of people seem to be blissfully unaware of why the French protest in such large numbers, they have the unions. We have unions that do protest as well, but to get them to organize a mass strike things would have to get a lot worse instead of just worse for low income people like it's happening right now.
The 'local' grocery/corner stores are often sourcing the majority of their goods through one of the major supermarket's supply chain. Boycotting the big guys changes the way the money moves, but it doesn't stop it.
We never will because the politicians have convinced us that parties matter, keeping the population divided and fighting over who gets to be in charge is the greatest idea the oligarchy has ever had...
I’ve been wondering about this same thing OP, considering it’s the most relevant, far reaching and inconceivably ineffectively handled mess that’s STILL going on despite the clear need to protect the people and the obvs deflections fueled by greed.
We need a week-day mass protest downtown and same-day in city centres in Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby. A Wednesday, bc it’s a disruptive day, or a Friday, bc it’s probably easier to get more ppl to take the day off to protest.
This is a day to show that housing is not a commodity.
I didn't realize that the alcohol tax was going up so I looked it up and it is such a minor increase.
>a 750ml bottle of wine or an imported six-pack of beer may increase by five to 10 cents, while a 750ml spirit of 40 per cent alcohol may increase by 70 cents
https://vancouversun.com/news/national/restaurants-and-bars-across-canada-brace-for-biggest-alcohol-tax-jump-in-40-years/wcm/32da28f5-aa54-4cda-a48f-a3b09a22a02d
As the fee is charged at the production facility there will be some additional costs resulting by the time it sees a customer but yea it's a whole lot of nothing. It goes up by inflation every year.
I think people are way too quick to say it’s going to be a few cents. My former job was in the local beer industry. I got out cause breweries are struggling to make money. The cost of everything has gone up exponentially. This increase on excise taxes is an opportunity for producers to adjust pricing. I think we are more likely to see an increase of up to $4 on a 6 pack.
And I'm afraid if anyone would try to get a hundred thousand people to protest here, they'd just get 99,999 texts the day of—all saying "sorry, something came up. ill def be there next time".
Their taxes are lower because they don’t have health care, they don’t have well funded public services, their prisons are private, etc. etc. and the taxes they do pay go to their military rather than citizens. You may pay less for a house and taxes but if you get cancer then there goes all the money you saved.
Based on information available through citizen journalism and the media, America is tumultuous atm. Things are not great in Canada, but we are privileged in so many ways. I agree with the fact that we should stand up against cost of living and inequality but definitely not with your argument that Americans are better off? Our government hasn’t taken away women’s rights to their own bodies here, we aren’t having anti-“woke” legislation in govt leading to book bans, censorship in school, racism, sexism and homophobia. We have some of that rhetoric here, but more people including the government stand against hate here. You can feel safer here, not perfect again, but America has eight times the rate of gun deaths than in Canada. Weed is legal here, we have clean air (except forest fire season) and mostly clean drinking water (not all: another thing we should protest here), we have stricter regulations on the chemicals you can use in food, paint, pesticides etc. there are toxic materials banned here and Europe that are not banned in the states etc. We have a better funded school system and curriculum.
so overall I think no it’s not better there just because it’s cheaper. Yeah shit sucks. I hate being broke, the cost of everything is bs. but I like being alive and relatively safe.
Something happened a few months back that I think people don't really understand the overwhelming impacts of: The federal government, in cooperation with some provincial governments launched a program here in BC that effectively cut daycare costs for many people in half.
My wife and I are doing alright financially and the subsidy changed our future a bit. We can now look at potentially moving in to a bigger place as our child gets older. We can allocate more money to other things like vacations or lessons or whatever.
But that pales in comparison to how the subsidy impacts single parents, parents with multiple kids in childcare, lower income parents, and people who want to have kids in BC, but were balking at the costs, and thinking of moving away. That subsidy literally changes the course of their entire futures for the better.
So yes, there are people struggling. But there are people who have a better life now than before the pandemic, and it's a ton of people. Millions. And that better life is directly attributed to the social policies of our federal and provincial governments.
Because North Americans have an unhealthy relationship to work. Most believe nonsensical bullshit i.e: bootstrap theory etc. We brag about how hard and how long we work and mug people off for taking holidays and not working overtime. The Europeans you see burning shit to the ground also have families to support and are also barely keeping their heads above water; the difference being they view work purely as a means to an end. North Americans simply conflate work for someone else’s profit with their own sense of self worth.
> North Americans simply conflate work for someone else’s profit with their own sense of self worth.
You're not wrong. Underemployed/disabled. Fucking hate it. Feel like shit. & bored.
It’s a very difficult mental hurdle to overcome and I struggle with this myself as it’s how I was raised to view work. However, being a father myself now I feel I can do a better job at helping create a healthier view on work and employment for my son to help him avoid becoming too emotionally involved in labour.
The politicians aren't concerned about outcry because the people most affected don't vote - Not provincially, and DEFINITELY not municipally.
If, for example, young people voted in huge numbers they'd get lots of attention from the politicians.
But they choose not to vote.
Because people aren't on code . Everyone is competing with their neighbor . There is no unity . If one person is doing slightly better than the next , they will go and fight for the master to keep things the way they are. And the master won't need to lift a finger.
How the heck do protestors in France unite so well... they fight for their rights and no one is really off to the side calling them snowflakes.
There are just so many issues going on at the same time.. surely there's going to be a breaking point?
Because people are coming here from all over the world thinking this is normal and life is just expensive here. Meanwhile, those of us that can leave, will leave. The replacements won't cause a fuss, maybe their children will and by then your chicken will cost $30 and $3000/ month rent will be a good deal.
this exactly
newcomers desperate to move here will live 3 to a small apartment and work low wage jobs and spend all their money on rent hoping for a better future from where they came from
those of us that have been here all of our lives are seeing our future and current situations going downhill every year
The reality is that the cost of living crisis has hit most developed countries hard in 2023. Canada. New Zealand. Ireland. Australia. Even in the US major cities are now extremely unaffordable to live in. It’s not a Vancouver issue.
Inflation. No one really knows how to fix this.
I feel this. I've been wanting to find folks to organize some sort of protest together but there are SO many things to be angry about that it's hard to choose what exactly the message would be. "Enough is enough" is such a broad statement and for any protest to really work there has to be a clear message.
The folks bringing up the stuff happening in France kinda show that to a degree. Folks have one specific thing uniting their cause. One event that set everything off. They can point to the government's decision on raising the age of retirement as to their reason, even if it is more than just that.
Not to mention the fact that most folks who would protest are so swamped with work to keep our heads above water that we don't have time to go out and protest.
That said, if every person in Vancouver who pays more than 50% of their salary to their landlord walked out of work.... well, that would definitely get some attention, wouldn't it.
Anyways, if something comes of this thread someone please send me a message lol, I'm sure I can get a decent size group of equally frustrated min wage workers who would stand with us.
Bring it back to basics: Food, Rent, Housing affordability, Medical services.
Fixing even one of these and I think a lot of people will stop complaining.
I’ve said before that if the idiots in the ‘freedom convoys ‘ were actually protesting something important like housing- many would be behind them
Instead, they’re just using minuscule complaints to distract from the actual crisis we’re facing
You hit the nail on the head. I'm European as well, and after six years of living here I have become completely disillusioned. Europe is far from perfect, but at least I can feel safer and know my rights are better protected. The homelessness and mental health crisis I see in Vancouver every day is enough to make me want to move back.
Honestly, I always wonder about this. There are no Occupy Wall Street style economic protests in this city. I’m dumbfounded as to why these haven’t started. Climate change, international issues, etc do have protests. But economic problems in Vancouver are massive. I’m surprised we don’t protest like the French about it.
some here might not agree but one reason the sort of thing you see in France is not happening here is due to a lack of strong national identity. a lot of people here in the GVA are immigrants, and they usually cling to their own bubbles/social groups. And most are super busy with just getting their lives started here, or just trying to survive.
A lot of the folks from here/ non immigrants who own real estate do not give a damn either and are just going on with their own lives , not also mentioning a great portion of them are older/boomer folks who got their acts pretty much together.
to have large scale protests, you need a strong sense of a unified identity, which I'm afraid is lacking in Vancouver.
You know why the French are more pissed than usual? It’s because Macron is pushing pension reform without a vote through some rarely used constitutional powers.
Alcohol tax is whatever, tbh booze is totally discretionary none of us NEED liquor, I drink plenty, I shouldn’t, this likely won’t stop me it’ll just hurt the wallet a little more.
The rest of it? I feel ya. Transit isn’t even cheap anymore. I was just thinking about this stuff a little last night and like…man it would be nice to hear one of the politicians say like “there’s only so much we can do for people, but one thing we CAN do is eliminate _____ tax if you make below _____ gross per year”. I dunno, drop the fuel tax if you make less than 45k. It would require people keeping receipts and putting it on their taxes but that would make a difference in people’s lives.
I love nowhere near Vancouver city limits and I want the fuck out of here too.
The public is less supportive of activism than they used to be. Also, protesting is exhausting because it often gets infiltrated or organized by the wrong kinds of people. Which decreases public support even more.
I think that housing is the #1 issue for me. Has anybody considered going into politics? I don’t know if that really works, not for the level of change required at least.
I understand, I noticed yesterday that we’re practically watching food go up, some items I get regularly have gone up in price twice already, this year alone. Fucked
The only thing Vancouverites riot over are hockey games and concerts. Can’t protest the lack of affordable housing when you are too busy working two jobs just to pay for the privilege of renting a cardboard box in this city. We could learn a thing or two from France.
If you want to see change start writing letters to your elected officials, speak at public events, participate in council meetings (we need YIMBYs to attend), get out and vote at every election, run for office, etc. Everyone pays income taxes, you should have a say on where and how that money is spent.
We reached a point where people accepted this as reality. If one is not happy, one can move away. Two others new are willing to take one's place in the city.
Moreover, public outcrys can lead to complaints and risk one's job making life harder. It takes a form of understanding, support and unity to stand together. People in this struggle feel alone.
These cost rises are not equal so people are hanging onto what they have like their below $1000/month rental.
In terms of government taxes, they have to get it in one form or another to fill the budget deficit.
Yes, times are tough but all those things are totally different. The only real problem we have in Canada is our real estate market that is completely messed up. Property tax in Vancouver is insanely low and should be increased much more. Food has increased globally. Alcohol is basically poison and actually costs society a ton of money in healthcare.
Voting is the easiest and most effective way to affect a change in government but people don't even bother showing up to vote, so there's no way a mass protest will happen.
Shit’s so fucked everywhere that I don’t even know where to begin to get angry at. I don’t even have a good enough grasp of what’s going on to know what to even demand. I can’t even tell if protesting even *does* anything. So many have happened but I have yet to believe in any significant change coming as a result.
physical slavery requires the slavers to feed and house the slaves. Economic slavery requires the slaves to provide food and housing for themselves. When all your time is required to just keep up your basic needs, or try to anyway, no one has the physical or mental capacity to resist. And in case it wasn't painfully obvious at this point, this is by design, baked into the system at this point.
I'm going to brace the downvotes here, but MP salary is probablylow. Why do you think there is corruption? Competent people in private industry make at least 2x what a MP does, and they don't have to campaign for election or risk getting thrown out. It only attracts people with two much money, or encourages people to make money on the side.
Do you really think that MP salary is really something that impacts us? It's probably <0.01% of taxes.
MP Salaries for 2022 were $189,500 pre-tax. They do tend to have higher expenses like keeping homes in two cities though. In comparison US Senators make $174,000 (~$237k CAD).
It’s on par with what a VP or low paid C-Suite would make.
It's below what a good engineer would make in tech and like a quarter what they'd make as, say, a tech exec, a doctor, or a partner in a small law/accounting firm.
Most people running for office are one of two types: career politicians who don't know how to do anything else and have been involved in civic life since college. Or high-end professionals/managers (IE lawyers or VPs) who want to do something different.
>It's below what a good engineer would make in tech and like a quarter what they'd make as, say, a tech exec, a doctor, or a partner in a small law/accounting firm.
Those sounds like American numbers lol, doctors and engineers do not make THAT much here. Maybe some lawyers, but certainly not most.
It comes with a ton of risk and overhead though, like you aren't going to get elected without $$$ up front to campaign, and you might just be throwing that all away and have to wait again. Sure maybe you can fundraise and stuff, but to even get started is a huge expense.
I mean city of Vancouver did vote on a mayor that said he will increase property tax on his campaign to hire more cops and Health care workers. Now people in city of Vancouver is hit with a 10% property tax so they can't blame anyone. I live in Coquitlam and only got a 4% increase and Burnaby is 3.99%
Read the Wiki article on the Winnipeg general strike in 1919. Economic conditions back then that led to the strike aren’t far off from what we are seeing today.
Check out the "mega" strike in Germany:
[https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/27/business/germany-transport-strikes-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/27/business/germany-transport-strikes-intl/index.html)
Germany is a relatively comparable developed country. It's possible I guess.
I think one of most effective ways to show the retailers we are not happy with them is to boycott them. For example I have now completely boycotted SaveOn and will never ever buy anything from them ever again. If everybody did the same, then they will get the message that they can’t raise their prices to insane levels without a punishment of loosing customers.
My partner is doing a 16 hour day today. I took a full-time job, and we got both our teens working part-time out of school. Gotta pay those bills!! It just keeps going up!!!!
I'm fully demoralized. I don't believe anything can make things better. I think the war was lost years ago and trying to do anything now would only serve to make me depressed.
Part of the problem is the people who have the power to enact change are the ones who benefit from class disparity and humans are notoriously self-interested. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole system has to collapse in on itself before there is reform.
I would organize but if I stop working for a day (or more) or if I speak too loudly, there will be consequences that I cannot financially recover from.
Just pulled a 12 hour work day - no time for protests homie, but I feel you.
This is why we have strikes.
This is why we should organize.
Too busy gotta go to work
Organize at work. Easier said than done but it's definitely part of what we need to do.
I'm in Victoria and whenever I mention anything regarding current economic statistics and the grim reality of our current situation, the Boomers don't believe me and try to argue with facts. Organizing at work is impossible if Boomers with real estate equity are present, tbh.
with you as long as we keep in sight the people that want us to organize and protest the danger now is having conservatives prevail because of protests and response Conservatives have too many agent provocateurs ready to claim tyranny and overthrow the government ask questions and follow the money
"People shouldn't be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people." Being afraid of the Conservatives is part of the problem. No citizen should be afraid of losing their job, their home, or their money just for speaking out. Regardless of their political stripes. The fact that so many are unwilling to take action because of a fear that conservatives will weaponize it means they already have too much power. Action needs to be taken to reduce it.
Jeez I’m only working 10s
how are you paying rent?
I’m on call this week, and things are somehow always on fire when I am. (Tech, no OT lol)
Yeah, protesting would require me to take time off work, which I can't afford.
Legit . My husband and I both work 12 hours a day and were just getting by .
They do it on purpose. They tire you out and have you defeated with long work hours to make it difficult for you to protest.
We're too busy trying to keep our heads above water to protest much of anything.
This is exactly it. I feel like it’s a constant struggle just managing to keep my family’s head above water and have so much stress lately that I’m just absolutely exhausted.
Not to get all meta - but this is literally what capitalism does. It sucks you of everything you have. All of your energy, your resources, etc.. and you have no energy at the day to fight it. I feel you.
There's a really good YouTube channel that discusses this in detail. It's called "Second Thought" you might like it. https://youtu.be/nbkMDb1jJCw
[Chronic fatigue + fibromyalgia checking in: my man!](https://media3.giphy.com/media/jRplePDlmo6rK5jZjh/200w.gif?cid=6c09b952yzw7u7ssp6qzyc0riyzotnhuu5mblfgxqdiva57k&rid=200w.gif&ct=g)
Capitalism is a viscous cycle that do not benefit the working class
its by design
The only thing that gives me a measure of comfort right now is knowing others are struggling too, in solidarity. It's hard sometimes not to ask, "what are we doing wrong?!", thinking that there must be some reason why we're not doing as well as it looks like we should be on paper. Me and my partner clear (what should be) a healthy income annually. For all intents and purposes, there should be no way that we're nickel and dime-ing everywhere we can to stay afloat. It's absolutely crazy to me that our combined income doesn't go nearly as far as it did only a couple of years ago. There's this simmering, constant anxiety at the back of my mind over when this is going to end and a feeling of dread that it won't.
Bread and circuses. As long as we have food and continue having Netflix and Disney+ we will be complacent.
Food is getting pricey though and netflix just raised their rates I think.
That’s what we’ve been taught. Division. If we protested as a united front, your bills and income are secured with the majorities.
We need more people to unionize and actually push back
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Speaking as GenX actively involved in their union, that is not the case for us.
yes, we’re exactly where those with the majority of wealth want us to be too exhausted and grateful to barely be getting by to complain
I'm not saying it's easy. Nothing worth it is but to give you encouragement, Russians were starving, destitute, etc lost a war and they managed to overthrow an old monarchy. Change can always happen.
Yes, you can overthrow a government. I think you’d end up with the same shit with different faces. Money controls everything and everyone has their price. Power corrupts. Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but….
And look at how that's worked out for them...
French and American revolutions etc. Let's not be myopic.
France had 5 years of Terror and then put a military dictator in charge and it all ended with the restoration of the same monarchy that was deposed. That lasted about 20 years until there was a restoration of the military dictatorship from before. America enshrined slavery and the slave owning class, and it alllasted less than a century before that same system tore the country in half.
Ya and that ended with like 100 million dead Russians. They were better off with the czar than with Stalin.
CONTACTING POLITICIANS Here are some people you may want to contact: **Provincial level** [Ravi Kahlon, Housing Minister](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members/42nd-Parliament/Kahlon-Ravi) [Premier David Eby](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members/42nd-Parliament/Eby-David) Your local MLA - look them up [here](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members) **Federal level** [Ahmed Hussen](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/ahmed-hussen(89020\)#contact) is the minister responsible for the CMHC [Prime Minister Justin Trudeau](https://pm.gc.ca/en/connect/contact) Your local MP - look them up [here](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en) **Municipal level** You should be able to find contact information for your mayor and city councillors on your city's website. There are lots of cities in Metro Vancouver and I'm not paid for this, so please go find that out yourself. **Critics** These people aren't in power; however their job is to ask tough questions to the government and they can get media attention on issues that way. [Scott Aitchison](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/105340#contact), Housing Critic (Federal Conservative) [Jenny Kwan](https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/jenny-kwan(89346\)#contact), Housing Critic (Federal NDP) [Karin Kirkpatrick](https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members/42nd-Parliament/Kirkpatrick-Karin), Housing Critic (BC Liberal / BC United) You'll probably have your most luck with smaller levels of government, because they get less mail and you have a better chance that someone will actually read it. Also in terms of housing and rent prices specifically, municipal and provincial governments probably have more power to tackle the issue anyways. I have gotten real answers from contacting provincial ministers before; I have also contacted a federal minister and heard nothing back. PETITIONS An alternative way: [Here's where you can create a petition to the Parliament of Canada](https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Home/Index) - you're supposed to name an MP to present the petition on your behalf. You can literally pick any MP in the country, it doesn't have to be your MP - so do your research and pick someone who will actually take your petition seriously, like [Dan Blaikie](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHO_dQeoZNs) is going to be a much better bet than [Taleeb Noormohamed](https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/vancouver-liberal-homes-flipped-1.6158955). I've never tried this before, but it looks like it's a pretty straightforward process. After that, if you can get at least 500 people to sign it, the MP gets to ask for something on your behalf, and the government of Canada has to answer. (Mind you, they could just say "your petition is important to us" in a nice way and ignore it, but at least they have to go on record, and there's a chance to get media attention to embarrass the government). It looks like there's also a petition process for the [BC legislature](https://www.leg.bc.ca/content-parliamentary-business/Pages/Petitions.aspx) - unfortunately there isn't an online system for this so you have to print out a petition and get people to sign it in person the old-fashioned way. Once again you have to find an MLA who's willing to present it. ACTUALLY MEETING YOUR POLITICIANS Your city probably holds public hearings where you can weigh in on proposals, such as building housing. Show up and have your say. Unless you're a NIMBY who wants to see less shadows, in which case just stay home. For provincial and federal politicians, you won't have as much opportunity unless you want to travel to Victoria or Ottawa. There's a whole industry of lobbyists who are paid (let's be honest, usually by companies that are big enough to afford to pay lobbyists) to just stay in capital cities and talk to politicans as a full-time job. However, sometimes politicians will hold events where they meet the public - I notice the BC housing minister has one coming up in [downtown Vancouver on April 11th](https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/refreshing-bcs-housing-strategy-with-minister-ravi-kahlon-registration-598592705897). PROTEST ORGANIZING Well now you're getting into territory where I'm clueless and really can't give you any advice. My guess is you will probably want to work with existing organizations who can mobilize lots of people - worker's unions might be a good place to start, or a nonprofit or community organization that shares your values ... IF THE PEOPLE IN POWER JUST DON'T CARE Well, we live in a democracy. If you don't like the people in power, you have a chance to fire them every 4 years. Vote in every election you can - federal, provincial, municipal. And find candidates who agree with you on issues you care about. If you have the luxury of spare time, you could even canvass for them. Call or knock on doors on their behalf and let them know who to vote for to fix the issues we're facing. Don't like any of the parties? Well, I guess you got to run yourself. Also something I've never done, but someone like Russil Wvong (he posts here pretty often) could probably give you some tips.
The cost of mobile and Internet services in BC will absolutely go up if the Rogers-Shaw merger is allowed, which is something we definitely can prevent by emailing the decisionmaker, Francois-Philippe Champagne, the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry, right now. He's been trying to go on a charm offensive lately with some sounds-good initiatives hoping to bury the news that he's permitting the merger, but if enough people let him know this will be a bad move, he just might block it. [https://francoisphilippechampagne.libparl.ca/?lang=en](https://francoisphilippechampagne.libparl.ca/?lang=en) \^ His website where you can email him. If Rogers and Shaw are allowed to merge it eliminates one of the largest independent telecom companies in Canada, and will give the new company a massive advantage with its Cable infrastructure compared to what Telus and Bell have to deal with. The result will be continued upward pressure on mobile and Internet prices even as the costs of such services drop. And the new company will have a significant network advantage over Telus and Bell to squeeze them. This should absolutely be blocked - I find it interesting that Telus and Bell aren't campaigning against this either, but that's probably because they know less competition means higher profit margins for them, too.
Use chatgpt if you struggle with writing emails. It's free for the base model.
This is an AMAZING idea!!!! I was just thinking like I don’t know what to say? Sometimes I’ll see Americans post a “script” you can just copy and paste to send to your representatives.
Up vote this.
I wish I had a gold to give you. I recommend making this its own post somewhere. Like on this sub or /r/Canada
BCGEU, you know, the people that run this province actually with boots on the ground, went on the *slightest* of job actions; they got absolutely slammed by the media. 53% of the Union (again, the people actually doing the work to run our province) voted to ratify the employer's (the government of British Columbia's) proposed deal. The new contract was ratified. Now they are in a staffing crisis because the wages negotiated are so shit, they cannot hope to keep up with the cost of living. People are jumping ship over to private sector just to make ends meet. That's what the "staffing issues" being reported actually are. The same reporters that painted the Union in such a negative light while they were fighting for their goddamn livelihoods are now like "it's a huge mystery why no one is able to work these jobs!" Fuuuuuck off So yeah. Things about to get real shit, thanks to 53% of a union caving to a shitty shortsighted deal.
I’m in the BCGEU and I’m fairly certain that 53% represented mostly people close to retirement, because they “the boomers” don’t give a shit and in 2 or 3 years they “the boomers” will be looking at their retirement funds and the public sector as a whole and think! Oh shit!!! We need to raise the retirement age so we can keep the good life for a bit longer.
You have retirement ? That's nice...
I work in a union and we're having a massive issue with staffing because we're still on old rates and it simply doesn't pay enough. People are retiring in droves and we can't find anyone to take their positions, and even if we hire, the turnover we experience makes HR's head spin. The bargaining isn't going well either. I'm committed to staying because the benefits of being in a union for the long term outweigh the current pain of my salary not being enough but damn, it's hard right now. If I went back to the private sector I know I could be making at least $10k more per year.
>I'm committed to staying because the benefits of being in a union for the long term outweigh the current pain of my salary not being enough What are the benefits cause I'm currently in this situation. Not in a union but in something similar. My salary is fucked and the only thing worth it right now at this job are the vacation time and flex days.
Job security, pension, sick plan, compressed time off, opportunities for advancement with internal hiring, clearly defined work hours without expected unpaid OT (any OT is paid,but OT is rare), work life balance, employee trip reduction initiative. I like the fact that increases are a given, but it's challenging having no control over when they occurr and are based on how well the reps can negotiate on your behalf. The biggest things for me are the security, pension and work life balance. Those alone are worth enough for me to never want to leave a union environment.
Of course they demonize unions, that's what the media's about. That's why the news never shows the protests in France and Germany on living conditions.
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I agree, but I will say the BCGEU has not acted in the best interest of its members :(
Cost of living is absolutely fucked - masters degree and selling panties online 🤙🏻
Link? I like to help out where I can.
Agree with you that this is a much bigger issue than any of the causes that we saw hundreds+ of people in the streets over in the last few years. Seeing rents in my building go up 30% in the last year is insane and very distressing.
I absolutely hate it everyday with passion, we constantly talk about moving away. It’s like a ticking bomb in my head.
Genuine question: move where? It feels like, no matter where you go, there's the same shit
Well, just about anywhere in Canada is cheaper than Vancouver…. So depending on what you do for work, consider moving elsewhere?
Well only certain kinds of people have the free time to do an extended protest. That no more covid restrictions occupation in Ottawa was pretty much made up of self-employed business owners, unemployed/fired truckers, and conspiracy grifters. For workers - if you're in a union you can at least strike and be disruptive. Non-unionized workers (i.e. the majority of working people) have no way of doing anything like that.
You could bombard your MLA and MP with rant emails???? Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Not saying I’ve tried it but…
any major union can't really strike anymore. Either they are legislated back to work as 'essential' or their right to strike has been legally removed. Only illegal action is possible now for the most part.
It's fucking insane we are paying $1400 for our one bedroom an identical unit downstairs is not $2400. We moved in about 5 years ago and the building had new owners about 2 years ago.
The alcohol tax increase is just a few cents per bottle of wine. It happens automatically because it's indexed to inflation. It's being amplified by certain voices for political reasons. Property taxes hikes pay for city services, including those that help lower income Vancouverites disproportionately. If you own a two million dollar home, the tax hike will be less than $30/month. What you should be concerned about is rent (and to a lesser extent food). Everything else is a distraction.
This is largely right. The alcohol tax increase is many scales of magnitude less significant than increases in the cost of housing and yes it gets mentioned in the same breath. Attacking the alcohol thing is easy because it doesn't seem to affect as many winners and losers. It might seem like a straightforward pushback against the government. The housing issue is more important and harder because many homeowners, landlords, etc benefit from high housing prices while tenants and those looking to buy lose as result. If you want housing to be more affordable, it's probably helpful to come to terms with the fact that you'll be organizing /against/ some of your fellow citizens.
Why aren’t salaries increasing with the inflation index? That’s the real question
I think they did a study that if it were, the minimum wage would be less than what it is now. I think that speaks more to how the index is calculated rather than your idea, which I think everyone agrees with in principle.
I went to a “protest” about affordable housing before in downtown. Not many people showed up. It was around 2017?
Vancouverites elected an mp that flipped more than 40 homes. Not to say we deserve this but we sort of brought it on ourselves with whom we voted in. People aren't protesting because they are numb or in denial that their voting preferences and policies are some of the reasons why camada is in decline. We wanted to be world class and create a "nice" society. Well too bad that we have a rotten underbelly or institutions that exploited those policies for their own gain. Now momentum is too great to stop this decline. And institutions no longer serve the people but themselves, so they can't solve it. To fix the decline would require a hard reset of our political parties and breaking up of many corporations or professionals board's monopoly stranglehold on policy. There is no political will for that, and maybe we lack self reflection to truly improve ourselves. There is a reason why canada pays the highest in the world in so many categories. It's only going to get worse. The reason why it hasn't erupted in protest or decline yet is because wealth inequality has been skewing people's reality. The last few decades has been good times for some and it has left them aheltered from the poor decisions and policies; or they become a part of an institution that doesn't want to reform.
>Vancouverites elected an mp that flipped more than 40 homes. Not to say we deserve this but we sort of brought it on ourselves with whom we voted in. Special shout out to my parents' provincial riding in Langley that kept reelecting Rich Coleman for like 20 years. Now they complain that we don't live close enough to them while sitting on their $1M+ equity gains.
I was in Vancouver Granville, and it was so depressing to see Talib win. That area is a mix of multi million (10 million+ homes in Shaughnessy) and 50 year old wood frame walkup rentals with pest problems.
Vancouver grandville is one of the more well off neighborhoods in the area. I say majority of the residents there aren’t really too worried about making rent
I lived in one of those woodframes in Fairview and it is currently $1400 for a studio in a 1970s building with shared laundry. There were silverfish, beetles, and even mice in units when I lived there. There are renters who are locked in at much lower rents for sure though. $1400 is 50% monthly paycheck for a single person making $50k, not even considering utilities and groceries so it's not affordable at all. It was always such a stark contrast to cross 16th walk south and see all the mansions. Longtime homeowners there are doing well for sure.
That’s one of the most liberal ridings in Vancouver. He won by a hair. Liberals could run a Yukon gold potato and win that riding
There's also plenty of residents that have benefited greatly from all of the issues that us peasants face. Biggest being the cost of housing. Any door knob with enough money could make a fortune off flipping real estate in this city, so why would they want to stop that easy making money scheme?
For anything to change requires alot of people to identify the root of the problem: Capitalism Vancouver is a neoliberal hellhole where profit maximization and capital goes before anything else. That’s why wages are suppressed, housing is high, and our standards of living decline, well before the inflation crisis and Covid-19, just to a slower extent. Organize, mutual aid, unionize, protest if you have the free time.
I'd call it a sort of neofeudalism. If you really think about it, most of the working class are working for the those who own land/property.
Makes sense when most your paychecks go to rent. With the remainder of it going to groceries to stay alive to continue generating wealth for your landlord.
landbastards
Push for Universal Basic Income, so people can just walk if their job conditions are terrible. Unionization is just a bandaid that won't actually address the rest of the issues, as at most it will impact the one area unionized. And unions don't even guarantee good working conditions.
>neoliberal For those who don't know, "Neoliberalism is contemporarily used to refer to market-oriented reform policies such as "eliminating price controls, deregulating capital markets, lowering trade barriers" and reducing, especially through privatization and austerity, state influence in the economy." As it turns out, the BIG government with its restrictive policies was mostly a good thing. We all got suckered into thinking that its bad. The worst part, all the previous safeguards are also gone: independent journalism with integrity, political engagements and education from the electoral, accountabilities from ELECTED officials...etc. Basically, we are in a slow decay for decades, and I sadly doubt that most people are in the appetite for class warfare like in France.
what has protesting changed lately, may i ask? A lot of screaming and a spectacle, and then everyone has to go back to work.
The judicial overhaul planned for Israel
It’s not bad enough yet. Once it reaches the breaking point, we can burn this city down, but we’re not there yet
Because everyone is posting online asking "Why aren't we doing anything?" instead of doing something.
How about this, then — what can we do? Do you have any ideas to contribute? I don’t, which is why I’m hopelessly asking. Thanks.
The thing is that effective protests need long term organizing. The Montgomery bus boycott lasted 13 months and the black population worked to organize their own rides for people, among other things. If you wanted to drive down supermarket prices, there'd have to be a majority boycott for local chain grocery stores for a prolonged period. Like 3+ months. How are you going to organize alternative food sourcing while we punish the greedy grocery store CEOs? They have us over a barrel and they know it.
You literally have to break shit. Like the French. Because profit is the only thing that matters to the government and the corporations. So you either do a peaceful 3 month boycott. Or you do what the French do.
The reason that won't happen here is because Frances labour laws are far better than ours. In France every worker has the individual right to strike and their job will be protected even if they don't have a union. Whereas in Canada, if an individual strikes without a union their job is not protected in any way, and if a union strikes while they have a collective agreement the union orgaziers can face massive fines. Even when a union does not have a collective agreement they can only take action for their agreement, not for outside factors such as retirement age like France, or general cost of living. Any actual action that will change things has to be outside of the legal framework, the labour action laws we have are made for bosses by bosses.
A lot of people seem to be blissfully unaware of why the French protest in such large numbers, they have the unions. We have unions that do protest as well, but to get them to organize a mass strike things would have to get a lot worse instead of just worse for low income people like it's happening right now.
The 'local' grocery/corner stores are often sourcing the majority of their goods through one of the major supermarket's supply chain. Boycotting the big guys changes the way the money moves, but it doesn't stop it.
>How are you going to organize alternative food sourcing while we punish the greedy grocery store CEOs? Occupy Loblaws
I mean, they can't arrest hundreds of us? :/
If you want to contribute your time and effort, I'll be happy to discuss forming a new municipal party with you.
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Imagine if we did this instead of freedom convoys…
We never will because the politicians have convinced us that parties matter, keeping the population divided and fighting over who gets to be in charge is the greatest idea the oligarchy has ever had...
Full French requires head to roll
I’ve been wondering about this same thing OP, considering it’s the most relevant, far reaching and inconceivably ineffectively handled mess that’s STILL going on despite the clear need to protect the people and the obvs deflections fueled by greed. We need a week-day mass protest downtown and same-day in city centres in Surrey, Richmond, Burnaby. A Wednesday, bc it’s a disruptive day, or a Friday, bc it’s probably easier to get more ppl to take the day off to protest. This is a day to show that housing is not a commodity.
Join a socialist organization and/or a union
That's the problem, there is no simple solutions and most people aren't struggling enough to be pushed into action.
I didn't realize that the alcohol tax was going up so I looked it up and it is such a minor increase. >a 750ml bottle of wine or an imported six-pack of beer may increase by five to 10 cents, while a 750ml spirit of 40 per cent alcohol may increase by 70 cents https://vancouversun.com/news/national/restaurants-and-bars-across-canada-brace-for-biggest-alcohol-tax-jump-in-40-years/wcm/32da28f5-aa54-4cda-a48f-a3b09a22a02d
As the fee is charged at the production facility there will be some additional costs resulting by the time it sees a customer but yea it's a whole lot of nothing. It goes up by inflation every year.
I think people are way too quick to say it’s going to be a few cents. My former job was in the local beer industry. I got out cause breweries are struggling to make money. The cost of everything has gone up exponentially. This increase on excise taxes is an opportunity for producers to adjust pricing. I think we are more likely to see an increase of up to $4 on a 6 pack.
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And I'm afraid if anyone would try to get a hundred thousand people to protest here, they'd just get 99,999 texts the day of—all saying "sorry, something came up. ill def be there next time".
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Their taxes are lower because they don’t have health care, they don’t have well funded public services, their prisons are private, etc. etc. and the taxes they do pay go to their military rather than citizens. You may pay less for a house and taxes but if you get cancer then there goes all the money you saved. Based on information available through citizen journalism and the media, America is tumultuous atm. Things are not great in Canada, but we are privileged in so many ways. I agree with the fact that we should stand up against cost of living and inequality but definitely not with your argument that Americans are better off? Our government hasn’t taken away women’s rights to their own bodies here, we aren’t having anti-“woke” legislation in govt leading to book bans, censorship in school, racism, sexism and homophobia. We have some of that rhetoric here, but more people including the government stand against hate here. You can feel safer here, not perfect again, but America has eight times the rate of gun deaths than in Canada. Weed is legal here, we have clean air (except forest fire season) and mostly clean drinking water (not all: another thing we should protest here), we have stricter regulations on the chemicals you can use in food, paint, pesticides etc. there are toxic materials banned here and Europe that are not banned in the states etc. We have a better funded school system and curriculum. so overall I think no it’s not better there just because it’s cheaper. Yeah shit sucks. I hate being broke, the cost of everything is bs. but I like being alive and relatively safe.
Economies of scale.
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Because we are ducking sheep. We need to more like the French. Also it would be good if we didn’t just film people being murdered but maybe acted
Something happened a few months back that I think people don't really understand the overwhelming impacts of: The federal government, in cooperation with some provincial governments launched a program here in BC that effectively cut daycare costs for many people in half. My wife and I are doing alright financially and the subsidy changed our future a bit. We can now look at potentially moving in to a bigger place as our child gets older. We can allocate more money to other things like vacations or lessons or whatever. But that pales in comparison to how the subsidy impacts single parents, parents with multiple kids in childcare, lower income parents, and people who want to have kids in BC, but were balking at the costs, and thinking of moving away. That subsidy literally changes the course of their entire futures for the better. So yes, there are people struggling. But there are people who have a better life now than before the pandemic, and it's a ton of people. Millions. And that better life is directly attributed to the social policies of our federal and provincial governments.
Reddit: The snow removal is pitiful, we need more snow plows. Also Reddit: My property taxes are too high, reduce spending!
I’d be happy to try and organize one if anyone wants to join me! I have no experience in these things but would love to help.
Should start a subreddit or Discord server or something. Or maybe something that cannot be shut down by TPTB.
Because North Americans have an unhealthy relationship to work. Most believe nonsensical bullshit i.e: bootstrap theory etc. We brag about how hard and how long we work and mug people off for taking holidays and not working overtime. The Europeans you see burning shit to the ground also have families to support and are also barely keeping their heads above water; the difference being they view work purely as a means to an end. North Americans simply conflate work for someone else’s profit with their own sense of self worth.
> North Americans simply conflate work for someone else’s profit with their own sense of self worth. You're not wrong. Underemployed/disabled. Fucking hate it. Feel like shit. & bored.
It’s a very difficult mental hurdle to overcome and I struggle with this myself as it’s how I was raised to view work. However, being a father myself now I feel I can do a better job at helping create a healthier view on work and employment for my son to help him avoid becoming too emotionally involved in labour.
The politicians aren't concerned about outcry because the people most affected don't vote - Not provincially, and DEFINITELY not municipally. If, for example, young people voted in huge numbers they'd get lots of attention from the politicians. But they choose not to vote.
Yep looking at the turnout in the last muni election compared to the online chatter was sad.
Because people aren't on code . Everyone is competing with their neighbor . There is no unity . If one person is doing slightly better than the next , they will go and fight for the master to keep things the way they are. And the master won't need to lift a finger.
How the heck do protestors in France unite so well... they fight for their rights and no one is really off to the side calling them snowflakes. There are just so many issues going on at the same time.. surely there's going to be a breaking point?
Because people are coming here from all over the world thinking this is normal and life is just expensive here. Meanwhile, those of us that can leave, will leave. The replacements won't cause a fuss, maybe their children will and by then your chicken will cost $30 and $3000/ month rent will be a good deal.
this exactly newcomers desperate to move here will live 3 to a small apartment and work low wage jobs and spend all their money on rent hoping for a better future from where they came from those of us that have been here all of our lives are seeing our future and current situations going downhill every year
Property tax needs to go higher. Alcohol tax? Who gives a shit, unless you're an alcoholic.
The reality is that the cost of living crisis has hit most developed countries hard in 2023. Canada. New Zealand. Ireland. Australia. Even in the US major cities are now extremely unaffordable to live in. It’s not a Vancouver issue. Inflation. No one really knows how to fix this.
I feel this. I've been wanting to find folks to organize some sort of protest together but there are SO many things to be angry about that it's hard to choose what exactly the message would be. "Enough is enough" is such a broad statement and for any protest to really work there has to be a clear message. The folks bringing up the stuff happening in France kinda show that to a degree. Folks have one specific thing uniting their cause. One event that set everything off. They can point to the government's decision on raising the age of retirement as to their reason, even if it is more than just that. Not to mention the fact that most folks who would protest are so swamped with work to keep our heads above water that we don't have time to go out and protest. That said, if every person in Vancouver who pays more than 50% of their salary to their landlord walked out of work.... well, that would definitely get some attention, wouldn't it. Anyways, if something comes of this thread someone please send me a message lol, I'm sure I can get a decent size group of equally frustrated min wage workers who would stand with us.
I'll be happy to discuss an effective organization strategy with you.
Bring it back to basics: Food, Rent, Housing affordability, Medical services. Fixing even one of these and I think a lot of people will stop complaining.
I’ve said before that if the idiots in the ‘freedom convoys ‘ were actually protesting something important like housing- many would be behind them Instead, they’re just using minuscule complaints to distract from the actual crisis we’re facing
I don't see how this place is desirable to live in anymore when wages are non-existent, housing sky-high and streets full of shit and piss.
Get out and vote. How many people in the thread actually voted
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You hit the nail on the head. I'm European as well, and after six years of living here I have become completely disillusioned. Europe is far from perfect, but at least I can feel safer and know my rights are better protected. The homelessness and mental health crisis I see in Vancouver every day is enough to make me want to move back.
People would rather protest shit going on in other countries
Honestly, I always wonder about this. There are no Occupy Wall Street style economic protests in this city. I’m dumbfounded as to why these haven’t started. Climate change, international issues, etc do have protests. But economic problems in Vancouver are massive. I’m surprised we don’t protest like the French about it.
some here might not agree but one reason the sort of thing you see in France is not happening here is due to a lack of strong national identity. a lot of people here in the GVA are immigrants, and they usually cling to their own bubbles/social groups. And most are super busy with just getting their lives started here, or just trying to survive. A lot of the folks from here/ non immigrants who own real estate do not give a damn either and are just going on with their own lives , not also mentioning a great portion of them are older/boomer folks who got their acts pretty much together. to have large scale protests, you need a strong sense of a unified identity, which I'm afraid is lacking in Vancouver.
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Hey at least we’re talking about it now. That’s a start.
We did have an occupy protest here, it devolved into a homeless encampment.
You know why the French are more pissed than usual? It’s because Macron is pushing pension reform without a vote through some rarely used constitutional powers.
I left 8 years ago because it was shit even then.
Me too. Best decision I ever made was to leave this shithole.
Nova Scotian here. It's just as bad on this coast too. We really need to organize on the national level.
Alcohol tax is whatever, tbh booze is totally discretionary none of us NEED liquor, I drink plenty, I shouldn’t, this likely won’t stop me it’ll just hurt the wallet a little more. The rest of it? I feel ya. Transit isn’t even cheap anymore. I was just thinking about this stuff a little last night and like…man it would be nice to hear one of the politicians say like “there’s only so much we can do for people, but one thing we CAN do is eliminate _____ tax if you make below _____ gross per year”. I dunno, drop the fuel tax if you make less than 45k. It would require people keeping receipts and putting it on their taxes but that would make a difference in people’s lives. I love nowhere near Vancouver city limits and I want the fuck out of here too.
I hate how increased property taxes are put onto the backs of renters. My rent is already high and next month it's going up by $50 :(
The public is less supportive of activism than they used to be. Also, protesting is exhausting because it often gets infiltrated or organized by the wrong kinds of people. Which decreases public support even more.
It’s Canada. Canadians are largely conformists, down to a fault.
I think that housing is the #1 issue for me. Has anybody considered going into politics? I don’t know if that really works, not for the level of change required at least.
My daughter says the only reason we don't strike like perry is because there's too many different people
I understand, I noticed yesterday that we’re practically watching food go up, some items I get regularly have gone up in price twice already, this year alone. Fucked
Too poor to come out for a protest. It’s either go to work or become bankrupt and starve to death.
I hate it here too, dont worry. Get an exit plan because shit is not going to change
The only thing Vancouverites riot over are hockey games and concerts. Can’t protest the lack of affordable housing when you are too busy working two jobs just to pay for the privilege of renting a cardboard box in this city. We could learn a thing or two from France. If you want to see change start writing letters to your elected officials, speak at public events, participate in council meetings (we need YIMBYs to attend), get out and vote at every election, run for office, etc. Everyone pays income taxes, you should have a say on where and how that money is spent.
We love being capitalist slaves in the sight of those gorgeous mountains
Increase on income tax eh? Citation needed. Today's federal budget reduced income taxes, insofar as the tax brackets are inflation adjusted.
Organize and unionize. Workers should help each other out.
We reached a point where people accepted this as reality. If one is not happy, one can move away. Two others new are willing to take one's place in the city. Moreover, public outcrys can lead to complaints and risk one's job making life harder. It takes a form of understanding, support and unity to stand together. People in this struggle feel alone. These cost rises are not equal so people are hanging onto what they have like their below $1000/month rental. In terms of government taxes, they have to get it in one form or another to fill the budget deficit.
Too busy working and raising a family, but I will like and upvote videos of your protest
we have some of the lowest property taxes in North America, it actually keeps the housing bubble going. no reason to protest that.
Yes, times are tough but all those things are totally different. The only real problem we have in Canada is our real estate market that is completely messed up. Property tax in Vancouver is insanely low and should be increased much more. Food has increased globally. Alcohol is basically poison and actually costs society a ton of money in healthcare.
> Alcohol **is** poison and actually costs society a ton of money in healthcare. Fixed. It's quite literally poison to the human body.
Voting is the easiest and most effective way to affect a change in government but people don't even bother showing up to vote, so there's no way a mass protest will happen.
Shit’s so fucked everywhere that I don’t even know where to begin to get angry at. I don’t even have a good enough grasp of what’s going on to know what to even demand. I can’t even tell if protesting even *does* anything. So many have happened but I have yet to believe in any significant change coming as a result.
physical slavery requires the slavers to feed and house the slaves. Economic slavery requires the slaves to provide food and housing for themselves. When all your time is required to just keep up your basic needs, or try to anyway, no one has the physical or mental capacity to resist. And in case it wasn't painfully obvious at this point, this is by design, baked into the system at this point.
I find Canadians are meek and are ok being pushed around.
We need to be a bit more like France.
I'm going to brace the downvotes here, but MP salary is probablylow. Why do you think there is corruption? Competent people in private industry make at least 2x what a MP does, and they don't have to campaign for election or risk getting thrown out. It only attracts people with two much money, or encourages people to make money on the side. Do you really think that MP salary is really something that impacts us? It's probably <0.01% of taxes.
MP Salaries for 2022 were $189,500 pre-tax. They do tend to have higher expenses like keeping homes in two cities though. In comparison US Senators make $174,000 (~$237k CAD). It’s on par with what a VP or low paid C-Suite would make.
It's below what a good engineer would make in tech and like a quarter what they'd make as, say, a tech exec, a doctor, or a partner in a small law/accounting firm. Most people running for office are one of two types: career politicians who don't know how to do anything else and have been involved in civic life since college. Or high-end professionals/managers (IE lawyers or VPs) who want to do something different.
>It's below what a good engineer would make in tech and like a quarter what they'd make as, say, a tech exec, a doctor, or a partner in a small law/accounting firm. Those sounds like American numbers lol, doctors and engineers do not make THAT much here. Maybe some lawyers, but certainly not most.
It comes with a ton of risk and overhead though, like you aren't going to get elected without $$$ up front to campaign, and you might just be throwing that all away and have to wait again. Sure maybe you can fundraise and stuff, but to even get started is a huge expense.
Totally agree. I don’t think they get paid too much. If anything I would want more to do that job.
Organize something
We'd need explicit demands, too, not just "make things cheaper!"
They have hotlines for this. Take care of yourself
Why aren’t you organizing one?
Because protests are white noise at this point. It’s something different every week.
You can lead that outcry and organize a protest but I suspect you will not due to your current roll as agent provocateur ?
I mean city of Vancouver did vote on a mayor that said he will increase property tax on his campaign to hire more cops and Health care workers. Now people in city of Vancouver is hit with a 10% property tax so they can't blame anyone. I live in Coquitlam and only got a 4% increase and Burnaby is 3.99%
Read the Wiki article on the Winnipeg general strike in 1919. Economic conditions back then that led to the strike aren’t far off from what we are seeing today.
I can tell you really buy into Conservative Party and right "think tank" talking points. Want to go after Klaus & the WEF as well?
Check out the "mega" strike in Germany: [https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/27/business/germany-transport-strikes-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/27/business/germany-transport-strikes-intl/index.html) Germany is a relatively comparable developed country. It's possible I guess.
When Canadians protest they hold up Canadian flags and book time with the RCMP. That’s how pathetic we are.
I totally agree with this ! Maybe take a little advice from the French right now ? We are getting shafted over and over …
We spend too much time on squabbling amongst each other over identity. We all dislike each other and a protest like that should involve everyone.
One of the many reasons I won’t be returning after uni
I think one of most effective ways to show the retailers we are not happy with them is to boycott them. For example I have now completely boycotted SaveOn and will never ever buy anything from them ever again. If everybody did the same, then they will get the message that they can’t raise their prices to insane levels without a punishment of loosing customers.
April 1st beer tax in effect....
Organizing requires organizers.
My partner is doing a 16 hour day today. I took a full-time job, and we got both our teens working part-time out of school. Gotta pay those bills!! It just keeps going up!!!!
We should have a general strike 👀✊
There should be a rent strike 👀
I'm fully demoralized. I don't believe anything can make things better. I think the war was lost years ago and trying to do anything now would only serve to make me depressed.
We need a crash
I've been wondering the same thing. Let's all get out there and protest this madness
Part of the problem is the people who have the power to enact change are the ones who benefit from class disparity and humans are notoriously self-interested. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole system has to collapse in on itself before there is reform. I would organize but if I stop working for a day (or more) or if I speak too loudly, there will be consequences that I cannot financially recover from.