Just in from the School Board Budget meeting:
Suzie Mah's motion to restore full City school meals grant funding to the VSB Budget passes, w/ only 1 ABC rep opposed.
Now the City needs to renew the grant. We need Universal school meal programs across Vancouver.
#VancouverForAll #vanpoli
They also just aligned to vote to cut the sole District Teacher Librarian - defeating a motion from Trustee Mah to save the position. Quite shocking.
(It is unfortunately not at all uncommon to see ABC-Green alignment on votes at this level of municipal democracy.)
Trustee Mah's motion to stop cuts to school support staff who work with at-risk students is defeated, by a vote with of 3-5, with the 2 Green Trustees voting opposed along with ABC's Chien and Trustees Jung and Richardson.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc... 'What the data now shows—and what educators have been saying for years—is that violence rises precisely where supports disappear.' @nigelbme.bsky.social @elemteachersto.bsky.social @policyalternatives.ca
Trustee Suzie Mah's motion to increase hours for supervision aides passes by a vote of 6 to 2, with ABC Trustee Chien and former ABC Trustee Jung opposed.
Today, COPE’s school trustee Suzie Mah is moving six motions to better support students, including students with disabilities, to restore cut school meal funding, and to reallocate funding from administrative staff to frontline staff that support children directly.
Link to press release below.
And the motion - significantly amended but still intact - passes for VSB to do a feasibility study on expanding out of school care on school sites. Vote passes 7 to 1, with ABC Trustee Chien opposed. (The ninth Trustee, ABC's Joshua Zhang, is once again absent tonight.)
The amendment, which appears to kick the can down the road another year and limit the scope of engagement including scrapping the proposed district-wide survey of parents, passes by a margin of 4 in favour, 3 opposed, and one abstention.
This motion should be a slam dunk. A parent support letter has over 1000 signatures.
Green Trustee Janet Fraser has an amendment, motivating it with reference to lack of adequate provincial funding.
You can follow along online here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkDm...
🧵I'm at the Vancouver School Board special Board meeting discussed the 2026-2027 VSB Financial Plan.
A bunch of motions coming up from Trustees Mah and Reddy to improve the Draft Budget for next year.
First up, a motion from Trustee Reddy to look at expanding Out of School Care in VSB.
And here I was thinking it was just the portrait in his closet.
DRIPA was passed unanimously in 2019, by all 87 MLAs in the legislature.
Then the federal Parliament passed UNDRIP legislation in 2021.
It's important for everybody, regardless of party stripes, to stand against the current reactionary wave and defend Indigenous rights.
It’s been quite the year. Lots of ups and downs- but I promised to fight for Vancouver and I’m doing that. I’m putting in the work, collaborating with my colleagues and I have a great team behind me.
ABC approving a mega-yacht luxury hotel in the backdrop of photo-ops at the $1 million Vancouver sign is a little too on the nose.
"Between 1999-2000 and 2025-26, B.C. spending on public schools increased by 32% compared to 50% for private schools."
This is not OK.
After a generation of systemic underinvestment, it's time to tax the rich to properly fund public education.
www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...
Sean Orr was sworn in one year ago today on April 15, 2025. Here's his first year in review >>
A year ago today on April 15th, Sean Orr was sworn in. Let's go over some of his achievements in the past year on council 👇
ANALYSE | Un réseau d’influence organisé tente de réécrire l’histoire pour faire avancer l’extrême droite à travers les nations hispanophones.
Par Grégory Lassalle & Mikaël Faujour 👇
pivot.quebec/2026/03/31/d...
The vote results for Councillor Bligh's motion on reversing the ban on supportive housing, showing ABC councillors voting against it, and Councillors Bligh, Fry, Orr, and Maloney in favour, with Meiszner and Dominato absent.
Ken Sim and ABC voted down Councillor Bligh’s motion to reverse the ban on new supportive housing.
Housing is a human right and vital for health and wellbeing. As Councillor Orr said: Supportive housing, while not a silver bullet, remains one of the most effective tools we have.
We could've phased out fossil fuels the gradual, smart and painless way starting in the 1990s
The fossil fuel industry decided we have to do it the painful, unfair and cruel way instead. because that gave them an extra few decades of super-profits
This week at City Council: A common sense proposal from Councillor @seanorr.bsky.social to stop Ken Sim's cuts and fund the public services we need.
Add your voice to support this: www.evictkensim.ca/tax-the-rich...
#vanpoli #EvictKenSim
Mulcair literally fumbled the NDP's best-ever chance to form a federal government by ruling out taxing the rich and refusing to disavow his praise of Margaret Thatcher.
Whatever this guy's advising, do the opposite.
Thread.
Israel passed a law allowing the death penalty exclusively for Palestinians. It was written by the fascist Ben Gvir.
Israel is institutionalising genocide.
As a Vancouver homeowner, I want this. The lack of city revenue is making living here less attractive already - I don't want to own my home if the city it's in sucks.
Back from a family trip to Chile.
Last stop was the general cemetary in Santiago, to pay respects to the memory of Salvador Allende.
"Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again where free people will walk to build a better society."
We're very excited to see Council make this investment in Car Free Days.
Let's go one step further and think about long-term sustainability and a way to reduce permit and event related costs. So many important events are struggling!
Here’s @seanorr.bsky.social’s GoFundMe link: gofund.me/5127d2fa9
