Member-only story
Something Human Happened on the Way To City Hall
Kindness and a stuffed fox
Vancouver. One of the most expensive places to exist in North America. A place where the average income is under $60k, and the income you need to buy a home almost $250k, and somehow the governing folks can’t figure out how to reconcile those figures. Not with the red-duct-tape they’ve wrapped around their ankles. There are tents in the parks.
A garage by another name is not a tent
At the other end of the duplex in which I live is a little building called a garage, insulated and heated, with some small amount of electricity, windows and a bright skylight. It’s my garage, and I dream of adding a loft for a mattress, a composting toilet and some solar panels on the south-facing roof; it could be a perfect little laneway house for my musician son.
I’ve emailed the good folks at City Hall, and been given three reasons why not. But the woman who signed the email invited me to come and talk with her if I have further questions.
When I made the appointment, she reminded me it’s not really possible. But we hang on to words like “really.” They’re a crack that lets in light.
So early this week, I gathered papers and questions and headed down to City Hall Building Permits office to see what might be done. Almost the end of June, but it’s grey and cold here, and rainy — June as I remember from the past.
I parked some blocks away for free. And set out walking, early, not certain exactly where I was going. Ah, an adjacent building. But I had to pass the actual Hall en route.
Protesters
There’s the usual group of protesters in the drizzle, with their signs and a wagon filled with supplies. More signs and pamphlets and water to keep them going. They call out to me as I approach, crossing the busy intersection. I hear words about ‘am I a parent?’ ‘Am I a grandmother?’ That’s a first. But my hair is grey, so there it is.
I reach the corner, and they’re saying words about “the jab” and “rights”… and some other American right-wing rhetoric that I’m getting tired of hearing here. We are north of the border, last time I checked. Yet more and more Canadians are…
