City of Vancouver, Budget Consultation invite: CYCLING focus, Weds 3 Nov > please RSVP !

Greetings all neighbours, friends and extended family,    * pardon some inevitable cross-postings *   * Wanted * Anyone and everyone who rides a bicycle, or wants to cycle and has ideas/comments about how the City of Vancouver might proceed with Operational Budget funding for 2011 > cycling focus !    Please join members of the City's "Bicycle Advisory Committee", a member of City Council and possibly City staff THIS Weds 3 Nov at City Hall for information and a discussion. Further details below. You can check out some details in advance and complete the survey by following the link as directed. For example: you might believe that the City should dedicate some more staffing towards educational programming (cycling safety, awareness, encouragement, etc) to benefit all the diverse age, multi-cultural populations in Vancouver, this may be the best time and place to give that feedback ! This education could be via community centres, schools, the VPD and/or other groups.  Even if you can't attend, please take a few minutes to complete the on-line survey !   > important * RSVP to rsvp@vancouver.ca by this Monday 1 November *   > Enter City Hall through south entrance (facing West 12th Ave). > Save disposables from the landfill by bringing your own cup/mug for "light refreshments" ! > The City is trying to arrange for valet bicycle parking.   Engage in our important civic budget consultation process and make your voice heard. Please direct any further questions about this session to the City "RSVP e-mail" address above.   Thanks for your time and interest. Feel free to circulate this information to other lists and individuals . Hope to see some of you there ! All the best, Kari Hewett Chair, on behalf of the Bicycle Advisory Committee www.vancouver.ca/bac ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *  "Tolerance is the greatest gift of the mind;  it requires the same effort of the brain that  it takes to balance oneself on a bicycle."        - Helen Keller VANCOUVER'S 2011 CITY OPERATING BUDGET TELL US WHAT YOU THINK We invite you to join us in creating a 2011 budget that reflects your priorities.  City Council wants to hear from you on issues relating to budget planning and spending priorities. Share your ideas and find out what is takes to run one of the most livable cities in the world.  Visit vancouver.ca/budget, to read more about this year's budget process and fill out the online survey. Bicycle Advisory Committee  Wednesday, November 3, 2010 from 7:30 to 9 pm  City Hall, 453 West 12th Avenue, Media Centre, Main Floor RSVP: rsvp@vancouver.ca by Monday, November 1 Light refreshments will be provided.  ><((((º> .´¯`.¸ ><((((º> ..´¯`.¸ ><((((º>.´¯`.. ><((((º> .´¯` "We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors,     we borrow it from our children."                                             ~ Navajo Proverb

Halloween Critical Mass Ride and Roll

Friday, October 29

Join fellow bicyclists, skaters, and bladers for this leisurely and spirited celebratory ride and roll through the streets of Vancouver! Meet at the Vancouver Art Gallery on the Georgia Street side between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. -- and roll and ride at 6:00 p.m. The ride is on rain or shine! Costumes and decorated bicycles, trailers, signs, flags, noisemakers, gettoblasters, sound systems, drums, and wildly modified bicycles are all highly encouraged!

After the ride is an after party at the Commercial Drive Legion, 2205 Commercial Drive.

Pre-rides to Critical Mass:

UBC riders meet at the UBC Bike Hub, on the north east end of the Student Union Building, at 4:30 p.m. for a group ride to the Vancouver Art Gallery. Phone 604-822-BIKE for details.

East Van riders meet 4:00 p.m., leaving 4:30 p.m., from Grandview Park, 1200-block Commercial Drive, for a group ride to the Vancouver Art Gallery.

What's Critical Mass and how do I participate?

Celebrated around the world, Critical Mass is a grassroots reclamation of public space -- on the last Friday of the month -- which allows cyclists and other self-propelled people to move safely and comfortably through city streets in a car-free space. Non-polluting forms of transportation are promoted.

The ride stays together for safety and fun. If you are at the front of the ride, stop if you are approaching a red light. But continue as a group if the lights change red while passing though an intersection.

You will see participants at the front peel off to block motorized traffic from entering the Mass. That's called "corking". Corkers keep the ride safe and allow the Mass to pass though intersections where the lights have turned red. Thank them for corking!

Never cork alone. Join lone corkers, and for intersections there should be six or more corkers. And remember, do not cork oncoming traffic in opposing lanes.

If you're at the front, please don't speed or take narrow roadways or paths. It stretches the ride out and makes life harder for corkers, riders, and those waiting for the Mass to pass. Be aware of the ride's slower participants, and keep a slower pace. If the Mass has thinned out or has broken into more than one group, which happens following hills or where the street has becomes more lanes, the front should wait at green lights for the group to "mass up".

Don't stay on any given street for very long, so that public transit can pass. And always let emergency vehicles through. Please don't ride on sidewalks or in opposing traffic lanes.

The ride is a celebration, and an alcohol/drug free event. Take absolute responsibility for your actions and show motorists a better way to travel. A way which is more equitable, efficient, fun and socially responsible than the car. There's no need to be unfriendly or argue with motorists -- our sheer numbers tell the story. Look after each other, speak up, and ride with confidence.

Who decides where we go?

You do! Some rides have a destination that may be suggested at the start of the ride, but the route is always decided by the riders in the front. If you have an idea where the ride should go, move to the front and participate with others in a group decision. Remember to make it fun and interesting, and that Critical Mass has no leaders.

A special note to those at the front: It becomes unsafe for those in the rear if the Mass strrrreeeetches out, there are big gaps, or the body of the Mass looses it's tail. If the front can no longer see the rear, or the Mass has just passed through a "choke point" -- stop at an intersection where there's room for the entire Mass to completely bunch up again (and where the front of the ride can see the rear again).

Download the flyer!

images1.wikia.nocookie.net/criticalmass/images/3/32/Halloween_cm_2010.jpg

images1.wikia.nocookie.net/criticalmass/images/d/de/Welcome.jpg

For more information:

http://vancouvercm.blogspot.com

Critical Mass Vancouver on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2227461980

Worldwide details may be found at:

www.critical-mass.info
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Mass
criticalmass.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_rides

Upload/View Vancouver Critical Mass Photos at Flickr.com:

www.flickr.com/groups/vancriticalmass

Thinking about Critical Mass

The Dark Side of Positive Thinking

even in america...

Direct Action Dig to Stop Climate Change

Stop Climate Crime in YOUR BACK YARD - the odious South Fraser Perimeter Freeway (Gateway Project) can be stopped! This action will be fun and empowering and will likely attract mass media attention. Please come out and do your bit to Dig In for Climate justice. Please post and pass it on:

Dig in for Climate Justice!

10/10/10 - Dig in for Climate Justice! Mass Direct Action against Climate Crime

Last October thousands of people marched in Vancouver as part of the largest ever coordinated global rally - 5,200 demonstrations in 181 countries demanding action on global warming. This year, it is time to do more than march. Now is the time for mass direct action against climate crime. Now is the time to help communities deal with increased flood risk and other dangers caused by global warming.

This year as part of the 350.org 10/10/10 Global Work Party (Oct 10, 2010), we will get to work stopping a deliberate climate crime –the South Fraser Perimeter ‘Road’ freeway which is part of the Gateway Program. The estimated $2 billion proposed freeway would greatly increase greenhouse gas emissions, pave over some of BC’s best farmland, scar the delicate banks of the Fraser River, and pollute elementary school playgrounds.

Freeways = Climate Crime

THE ACTION

When: Sunday October 10, 2010 at 2:00 pm
Where: Meet at Scott Road SkyTrain (East / Taxi Stand side) then march to 129th St. and 115b Ave in North Surrey – near Bridgeview Elementary School (Map: http://bit.ly/bQzSHl)

Presently, the South Fraser Freeway route is marked by piles of ‘preload’ sand. We will use this sand to start raising the flood control dikes around a Surrey neighbourhood to protect it from flooding caused by global warming.

We need people to fill sand bags and use them to raise the dike, and lots of people to help out in other ways and show their support. The risk of arrest is very low for anyone who does not wish to risk arrest. Legal information will be available.

This action will emphasize the need to shift resources away from climate crimes to creating green jobs and climate justice. Every cent is needed for solutions like public transit and electric passenger trains, and to protect communities from flooding and other effects of global warming.

Direct Action / Legal Workshop and Volunteer Orientation - TONIGHT!
Monday, Oct 4th 7:00 - 9:00 pm
Grandview Calvary Baptist Church. 1803 E. 1st Avenue (1 block east of Commercial Drive) (wheelchair accessible - from the north side).

If you want to volunteer on 10/10/10 please try to attend this important workshop and volunteer orientation. We will cover the basics of mass direct action and provide legal information. We will also be assigning specific tasks to individuals and groups for the day of the action.

The 10/10/10 Dig in for Climate Justice is a project of the Council of Canadians (Delta-Richmond, Vancouver-Burnaby, and Surrey-White Rock-Langley chapters), and GatewaySucks.org. Endorsed by: Bridgeview Community Action Group, Bridgeview In Motion, Check Your Head, East Vancouver Abolitionists, Grandview Woodland Area Council (GWAC), Greenpeace, Livable Region Coalition, No Tanks, Pedal Revolutionary Radio, Root Force, Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), Solidarity Notes Labour Choir, Streams of Justice, Sunbury Neighbourhood Association, Transformative Communities Project, Unitarian Church of Vancouver Environment Committee, Vancouver Action (Van.Act), Vancouver Catholic Worker, Village Vancouver, Voters Taking Action on Climate Change (VTACC), Youth Taking Action on Gateway (YTAG)

For more information about Gateway or the 10/10/10 action visit www.gatewaysucks.org

or contact edoherty@. uniserve.com, or call 6O4 877 1223 or 6O4 340 2455.

www.dig4justice.org