team burnaby says burnaby is the new surrey. OH NO, SURREY!!!!!!!!1111

yeah, im a burnabite, or whatever we burnaby-dwellers are called.  aside from a brief stint at my mothers childhood home in east van, ive lived in burnaby for my entire vancouver life. 

burnaby has had the same bca city council since the dawn of time. names like calendino and redman have been on the ballot since i was in elementary school. 

today, i got a pamphlet from team burnaby.  for a civic election propaganda leaflet, it is very big, colourful, and shiny.  in its folded-up state, it is bright red and simply proclaims CRIME IS THE ISSUE.  when you open it, you find out there are a few other issues. 

im basically going to conclude that team burnaby kind of sucks, which is sad, since the tired old cow known as the bca kind of sucks, too.  now, through brief commentary on the leaflet, i will chart the entire course of my decision to declare that team burnaby kind of sucks.  you read it here first, folks.

1. omg, surrey: while it is kind of obvious that burnaby crime is on the rise, team burnaby's framing of the issue is kind of insidious.  they say that burnaby crime "now surpasses surrey" because it shot up 22.8% in the past three years - five times greater than vancouver, eleven times the rate of coquitlam, seven times that of surrey.  poor surrey.  before 2002 (in 1993), burnaby actually had more crime than surrey. then we had less.  now we have more.  two things come into play.  first, size - burnaby and surrey are kind of the same size.   we are the big burbs.  secondly, as the almighty pdf concludes, burb crime rates are actually more related to the epicentres of crime action (the port of vancouver, organized crime throughout the city, etc) as well as prime real estate.  crime happens where people happen to congregate and so the general crime rate isnt necessarily an indicator of how unsafe the community is for its residents.  will more burnaby rcmp kick the crime out of burnaby as team burnaby claims?  there seems to be a correlation between the bca cop-hiring freeze and the crime rate. still, this seems to be more sensationalism than anything else.

2. team burnaby is against comprehensive schools:  this gets massive boo's from my corner.  they describe comprehensive schools as a "one size fits all" approach that ignores the diversity of parental and student needs.  they want to diversify the public school system and introduce more montessori and french immersion and gifted programs.  this, to team burnaby, constitutes choice.  i think parents have choice when every neighbourhood school can offer a wide variety of activities and programs.  being forced to drive your gifted/french immersion/special needs kid way out of the neighbourhood to get their elementary/secondary education on is not "choice" ... i believe the word you are looking for is inconvenience.   furthermore, i think the whole montessori-love is funny.  that program was developed for rural kids in italy who spent too much time working at home to learn (ie develop their cognitive and creative functions outside the realm of the workplace/farm) and whose parents had limited literacy.  this doesnt describe kids today.  maybe a more realistic and less trendy approach to early childhood education is in order.

3. no tax increases:  the bca says theyre also going to do that.  who do we believe.  nobody.  ha.

4. burnaby lake is disgusting:  burnaby lake is important because it's the first place in canada that was ever named burnaby.  if they actually clean it up, id have to give them props. 

Comments

[fidel]

Burnaby lake should be cleaned up. Running there can be painful at times.

I HATE THE IDEA OF DIVERSIFYING THE SCHOOL PROGRAM. They did that in the pocomos..and it harsh sucks. It is a huge inconvenience. Neighbourhood schools should offer a wide variety of choices.
I think this diversification thing takes away from the community thing. My highschool was so far away from my community...that it was in another city. THis is no lie. Because of this..i never really got to fraternize in my own community. I think that communal fraternizing is an important part of development. Geez. the dubes i could of smoked in the forest..without forrest..what a waste.

[fidel]

ps. my mom and I have decided to vote for a slate of wops. minus calendino.

[aija]

duuuude. I so agree about the comprehensive schools thing. Mostly because I think it's silly to separate kids based on their (or, as is usually the case) their parents' interests/ambitions. Schools function as an important social mixer (homogenizer?). What I'm trying to say is that going to school is, to a large degree, about integrating socially. And schools that contain only one type of kid (ie. the jocks, the band geeks, etc.) are less likely to prepare those kids for reality, where all kinds of people share the same offices, roads, supermarkets, and public spaces. You don't necessarily have to be friends with the kids that are way different from you, but you do need to learn how to tolerate them. And comprehensive schools are good for that. They also insure that funding is more equally meted out, and that some schools don't get saddled with all the kids who are more work: the kids with special learning needs, kids with behavioural issues, kids with severe physical handicaps. You see what I mean? And also: diverse environments are way more fun for kids. There's a reason all my friends aren't little blond oldest-children from maple ridge...because they're annoying! Diverse social environments build stronger social networks. And white kids get exposed to real culture that way. Beleive me, we need it.

[Candace]

The only way specialized school work effectively is with city-wide school bussing available. We have that in Edmonton and it works very very well. You don't end up with a bunch of "nerds" at the "nerd school" because the schools are ALSO neighborhood schools. Attendance is generally higher because the students are engaged, as are the parents.

So my daughter goes to a school with kids from extremely wealthy parents as well as Vietnamese immigrants.

If you disagree, check out the differences in math & English scores between AB and BC...