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(Prime Time Crime exclusive April 25, 2011)
Don't be fooled
By Bob Cooper
“Death-knell”, “Devastating”, “Dropping a bomb on the low income community”. The shrill shrieks of the Left (alliteration added) warning of the famine & pestilence that will surely follow the decision by Vancouver City Council to allow buildings of up to 15 stories in Chinatown South. Vision councilors supporting this proposal was surprising in itself but credit where credit is due.
Ivan Drury of the Downtown East Side Neighborhood Council said it’s clear the councilors weren’t willing to listen to residents who oppose increasing building heights. What? Over 5 nights they listened to no less than 112 speakers. Listening and agreeing are two different things Mr. Drury, and no one who watched these hearings could say that both sides didn’t get a voice. Wait, did I say both sides? Those in favor of the height increase were routinely shouted down and intimidated by opponents with little done to restore order or civility. The Downtown East Side Neighborhood Council and their allies in the poverty industry claim to represent low-income residents of Chinatown when they really shill for the addicts and criminals that prey upon those low-income residents, make the area an eyesore, and shoplift from the stores and businesses.
They claim that 26 local store owners signed a letter opposing the project but admitted that in at least some cases translators were used. I’d love to know how the contents were explained (ie, in a leading manner) or whether the merchants fully understood them. Those who have had personal experience with these ‘community organizations’ probably signed to avoid the consequences of not signing. ‘Nice store you have here. Shame if something were to happen to it’. Think I’m overstating it? Drury told CKNW his group will now be going straight to the developers asking them who will be the first to risk building a condo in a hostile environment. Read the Extortion section of the Criminal Code.
These groups aren’t big on compromise. Nothing you give them in terms of social housing, increases in welfare, etc., will ever be enough. Like all shake-down artists they always come back for more. In fact the only thing you couldn’t give them is a job.
While doing some research I came across the following items which are all public record posted on the Internet. One is an open letter written by Drury himself while the other is a magazine article on it. It’s a bit of a read, full of long-winded rhetoric and dogma, but it provides quite an insight into the radical Left movement here in Vancouver.
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2008/03/12/what-i-did-in-the-revolution-and-why-im-sorry/
What I found fascinating was the internal politics, shifting alliances, paranoia, and back-stabbing. They outdo the VPD Officers’ Mess in some cases and that’s saying something.
Don’t be fooled by the popular romantic view of these people as passionate, idealistic, social justice advocates like the grown-ups in the NDP. It just isn’t so. Drury’s own words make it clear that the core group are hard line communists committed to revolution. Having that view is fine. It’s a right that our system jealously protects but with these people the end justifies the means including violence and that’s where it crosses the line. I’ve always wondered why every regime in the world that adopts this utopian system has to enslave its people in order to do it.
As amateurish as these groups appear they are dangerous. The black-clothed thugs at the 2010 Olympics, the G8 Summit in Toronto, and the Battle in Seattle are just the sharp end of the stick. They are well schooled in manipulation and deception and use both to recruit the gullible and disaffected, hide sinister intentions, and establish relationships with other extremist organizations they feel they could co-opt for their own purposes. These include radical Muslim and Native Indian groups which is really scary. In some situations I’m sure it’s the target groups that are doing the exploiting but either way, no good comes of it. In the 1970s the police and the RCMP Security Service kept a very close eye on these groups and had them well infiltrated. Now, because of restrictions on law enforcement and lack of resources I’m not so sure they get the attention they warrant and that would be a mistake.
Bob Cooper is a retired Vancouver policeman. He walked a beat in Chinatown and later worked in the Asian Organized Crime Section and the Homicide Squad.