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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 4h

START PLANNING THE POTENTIAL PARADE ROUTES

Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 12h

excuse me my white whale is the municipal oversight for people living at the university of british columbia, which actually i did mention that in the story so you got me

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 12h

oh no

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 12h

have reached my final form: doing a story on a train

vt.tiktok.com/ZSUrDdajG/

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 12h

language is it would just be a basic bylaw, so just basic majority, but if they do that, removing a park's permanent designation in the future would require a unanimous council vote

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 13h

is jas johal in the room with us right now

Shannon Waters @sobittersosweet.bsky.social · 13h

Whew, what a morning!

BC Conservative leader John Rustad confirmed to reporters that MLA phones were searched during a caucus meeting after concern about leaks

"Not every single MLA expressed interest, but the vast majority said, 'Yes, let's do this,'" Rustad said #bcpoli

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 13h

Not gonna lie, pretty happy with how my immediate analysis on Ken Sim's attempt to kill the park board reads 22 months later.

And it's another reminder to be cautious with the procedural nature of local government reform, and not claim things have "happened" when they haven't.

Vancouver's mayor makes a bold step to eliminate the park board — at the risk of dividing his party | CBC News

Since it was created in 1888, the Vancouver Park Board has been a source of discussion and division. But the decision by Mayor Ken Sim to try and eliminate it could make its final chapter its most dra...

www.cbc.ca

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 14h

My breaking file on the province requiring a referendum to kill Vancouver's Park Board.

Sim is avoiding criticism of the province on this decision — but he was originally hopeful to get rid of the park board in six months.

But he lost political capital, and the province wasn't inclined to help.

B.C. government says Vancouver requires a referendum to eliminate its park board | CBC News

The B.C. government has put forward legislation that would only allow the City of Vancouver to eliminate its independently elected parks board if it is approved by local voters in a referendum.

www.cbc.ca

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Reposted by Justin McElroy 🇨🇦

Michael O’Shaughnessy @mdnoshaughnessy.bsky.social · 14h

this is amazing news for weirdos who LOVE elections and campaigns

(i'm weirdos)

Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 15h

BREAKING: B.C. Municipalities Minister Christine Boyle has put forward an amendment to the Vancouver Charter that will only allow the city to eliminate the Vancouver Park Board through a referendum.

Buckle your seatbelts, folks.

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 15h

BREAKING: B.C. Municipalities Minister Christine Boyle has put forward an amendment to the Vancouver Charter that will only allow the city to eliminate the Vancouver Park Board through a referendum.

Buckle your seatbelts, folks.

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

In 2022, Ken Sim said line item budget comparisons were the cornerstone of his budget policy if he got elected mayor.

In 2025, he voted against it happening for a budget presentation with potentially $100 million in cuts because his newly appointed city manager told him no.

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Reposted by Justin McElroy 🇨🇦

James G @orth.ca · 1d

Vladdy: "DAAAAAA YANKEES LOSE!"

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Reposted by Justin McElroy 🇨🇦

Rebecca Bollwitt @miss604.com · 1d

“A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.”

‘This will not happen again’: Vancouver Park Board apologizes for hosting Harry Potter event

A motion calling on the Vancouver Park Board to officially apologize for hosting an upcoming Harry Potter attraction passed Tuesday in a unanimous vote.

www.ctvnews.ca

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

here comes our closer

a baseball stadium with a miller lite sign in the background

ALT: a baseball stadium with a miller lite sign in the background

media.tenor.com

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

the story of the 2025 toronto blue jays is a guy you've barely heard of who plays four positions and has been in and out of the minors for the last three years hitting .491 in scoring position

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

An example is in 2022, when there was an draft plan for a 5% property tax increase, only for it to go to 9.7% after initial council direction, and then 10.7% on the floor when it was passed.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Vancouver's new city council faces 1st big test with next week's first budget meeting | CBC News

City staff has submitted a draft $1.9 billion operational budget for 2023 to council for its Nov. 29 meeting. It has a proposed average property tax increase of five per cent.

www.cbc.ca

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

I will also note that the mayor is also putting out incorrect information over his own motion.

We’ll see what the proposed budget looks like in a month or two, what the discussion is like, and when the actual vote is scheduled.

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

Yes, because that has frequently happened in the past.

Council sets a target, staff say what that will result in, then amendments and horsetrading result in a different number, often created on the fly hours before the vote.

Which may not happen here! But it's why I use conditional language.

Aura/Moom @moomanibe.bsky.social · 1d

while that's true in the strictest sense, the motion today also explicitly ordered the city to discard any other scenarios and prepare no materials or budget plans other than 0%.

Are we really expecting a scenario where they develop an entire alternate plan at the very last second?

AND FURTHER THAT this direction supersedes Council’s June 2025 instruction to develop multiple budget scenarios, and instead establishes a singular focus on achieving a zero percent property tax increase for the 2026 Operating Budget.

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

It's highly plausible that we could see in 3-6 months council voted for a property tax freeze!

But this is the first big vote of a long process, and one of my local politics pet peeves is when people think something *has* happened based on Step 2 of 13 getting the green light.

yes i'm 83 go away

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

What this does do is provide a flashpoint, likely in 6-10 weeks, where the new city manager will give a detailed proposal of what a 0% property tax increase would look like.

Then Sim and ABC councillors will have a choice on whether to go ahead with it, or say "that's too much" and pull back a bit.

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

I know local politics is endlessly procedural, and both politicians and media have an incentive to make things exciting.

But council didn't vote to freeze property taxes today, and nothing is "locked in."

The actual budget will likely be voted in 3-6 months.

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 1d

A number of amendments are being brought forward by opposition councillors, including having a line by line budget comparison or deferring this vote until after the budget survey, but is being defeated on party lines.

Based on timelines, full budget wouldn’t be voted on until early next year.

isabella zavarise @isabellazavarise.bsky.social · 1d

Mayor Sim’s zero means zero motion has been tabled. 43 speakers signed up. According to Sim, this means a zero percent property tax increase. No infrastructure tax increase.

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Reposted by Justin McElroy 🇨🇦

Tyler Olsen @tyolsen.bsky.social · 2d

NEW: I teamed up with @castanetkamloops.net to write this long in-depth account of Reid Hamer-Jackson's three years as mayor of Kamloops. I also talked to the unrepentant mayor for two hours.

thetyee.ca/News/2025/10...

Mayor of Chaos: How Kamloops Politics Became Infamous | The Tyee

Car dealer Reid Hamer-Jackson won office with charisma and ideas. Then the wheels came off.

thetyee.ca

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 2d

a man in a suit and tie is shaking hands with another man in an elevator and saying `` not great , bob ! ''

ALT: a man in a suit and tie is shaking hands with another man in an elevator and saying `` not great , bob ! ''

media.tenor.com

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Justin McElroy 🇨🇦 @jmcelroy.bsky.social · 2d

deciding to have a child simply so i can name him vladdy

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