Merville is a mysterious and secret neighbourhood that exists between the West End and Stanley Park. Few Vancouverites have ever truly found this hidden gem of a community. Unfortunately, it is unreachable by public transit, although a quick hike or bike ride through some of Merville’s amazing trails will get you into the community’s heart in no time at all!

Readers of The Daily Gumboot, your help is needed. Recently, Michelle Burtyk and I entered a contest on an up-and-coming Canadian radio station called the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (the kids are calling it “CBC” for short). Mark Forsythe, the host of BC Almanac (goes from 12-1PM on CBC Radio One), is spearheading a superawesome and [...]

Welcome to Learning from Pirate Communities, one of the best-selling series here at The Daily Gumboot. Here’s the deal: we participants in humanity operate within a paradigm or framework or clusterf&$k of themes and ideas (gender, race and culture, environmental stewardship, ideology, weapons, business, entrepreneurship, art, tasty drinks, and fashion). Many people from many academic [...]

“Rather than formal team sports, maybe people will be doing more walking or dancing or playing in parks. I think each of us has a personal responsibility to attend to this,” said Education Minister Margaret MacDiarmid following her recent announcement that there will be sweeping funding cuts to high school athletic programs. Read the full [...]

The tables of people and circles of conversation maintained the cliquish structure of our high school days, which is expected, I guess – I mean, why would you want to rediscover doucheyness from decades-passed? Thing is, people change.

Literacy, both reading-and-writing and community literacy, are critical components of a strong community.
Informed discussion, enlightened imagination, and literal comprehension are the pillars of an active and engaged people. They enable organization, planning, and debate; all of which are critical to a healthy and functioning society.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of libraries and literacy.
While [...]

It’s an ongoing struggle trying to figure out how we, as a community, can take care of our most vulnerable citizens. For a while, those with disorders and addictions were sheltered in among their relatives. Then we institutionalized it all and put the onus on governments. Nowadays, neither the institutions nor, often people’s relatives, seem [...]

Vancouver’s drivers are an agreeable and, on the whole, competent lot. After years dodging cars on Toronto’s streets, jay walking in Vancouver is a treat, free from peril and ill will. Where else can you gingerly venture out onto a big downtown street like Robson or Denman and discover that not just cars, but even [...]