the Social Ramp

James speaks to Ken Sim, the current mayor of Vancouver about what it’s like to be in his position and what he can do within his council. The topic of the downtown East Side DTRS was discussed in terms of what the city can do and what they can’t do. It was a pleasure to sit down with Ken and go through his ideas and care about this issue that is something that Vancouver has to help fix and repair.

https://x.com/KenSimCity
https://x.com/thesocialramp

Today on the podcast, we talked to Melissa and DeGenova,

She is an experienced Vancouver political figure who has been on Vancouver city Council for the MPA and also a member of the parks board. She comes from a third generation, Italian family in Vancouver and is now running for the new riding of Yaletown for the conservative government under John Rustad.

We talked about bylaws, the safety on the streets, open drug use, and the policies from the NDP that have got us to where we are today.

Here is her bio on the website for the conservative party. Don’t forget to vote.

https://www.conservativebc.ca/degenova

On this podcast I interviewed a person who some would consider to be a polarizing figure. I found out about him on the Megyn Kelly show as his videos get millions of views, and he is the most outspoken person in the world on this topic. So much so that the Australian government has threatened Elon musk, and X to remove his posts. This is a very contentious topic where there is a lot of confusion. We are definitely living in a time where people’s search for meaning has taken us to question things that defy comprehension. Upon listening to this, I think we all need to take a moment and reflect on the fact that this is just a human being, standing up for the welfare of other human beings more importantly, our children.

During the interview, I really struggled with a lot of the topics that we discussed; but as we are living in strange times, I hope that this interview brings people together and helps foster calm, peaceful conversation to make sure that we’re looking out for the best of everyone’s lives. You may have your own opinions, however after listening to this, like me,  you will conclude this person is a good man who only means well. 

Twitter - @billboardchris
Megyn Kelly - https://youtu.be/n3PK340E7N0?si=wKHiuxW4OagN7SJb

Yes… I took a big Hiatus. Thank you for listening

I came across Kat Kanada while on X with her 100,000 plus followers,  and noticed a lot of the posts she was commenting on. She is an active social commentary personality who came from Russia and has a pretty stern head on her shoulders. So, I reached out she was in Vancouver at the time and she popped into the studio and we talked about here background, why she is doing what she is doing. 

We also discussed these clips.:

Intergenerational Fairness

https://www.youtube.com/live/u-aR8HlcWrU?si=Ai6Z2wlgdke8OV20

Resiliency

https://youtu.be/uMajFsCkzxY?si=L42OeSzy5yyr3I56&t=451

University President Hypocrisy

https://youtu.be/1jBHvx7POz8?si=6muD1XtHJBcMmIv2

Danielle Smith

https://youtube.com/shorts/1vjZkyd7LVw?si=1SvrF4hLnZPvMrxs

Now, most of these things are just common sense, but I can’t believe how politicized most things have become, she has pretty strong opinions and the conversation was interesting.

Her X is https://twitter.com/KatKanada_TM

On this podcast I chatted with Deputy Chief Constable Howard Chow from the Vancouver Police Department. We chatted about the changes in Vancouver since he started his career here and where this is all going. In 2014 he worked in District 2 which includes the Downtown Eastside, where he has seen so much dysfunction it is very difficult to see any end in sight. 

I asked him about all things "Police" in regards to how the public interacts and some personal questions as well. He was so gracious with his time and gave me the opportunity to ask anything I wanted. He really is one of Vancouver‘s treasures. I hope you enjoy this just as much as I did making it.

His bio link is here - https://vpd.ca/about-the-vpd/executive-team/

On this podcast I spoke with Mayoral Candidate Colleen Hardwick. Her Party TEAM is looking to grab a majority at city hall in this upcoming election on October 15th 2022. She is clearly experienced in every aspect and detail of any topic you discuss with her. She really cares about the city and what is going on here and really wants to make an impact. She has spent the last number of years as a Councillor in City Hall and has had to endure the tenure with the current mayor and watch the city slowly rip apart at the seams.

We discussed the following topics:

Vancouver livability
The DTES problem
Housing affordability
The structure of City Hall
Vancouver tourism

https://www.voteteam.ca/
She can be found on Twitter @CllrHardwick

On this episode of Jonathon and I talked about PR and how it works. He shared his story of how he got to Vancouver and what he does  now at Mid Meld PR. Then we got into what we both think about our shared experience of living in Vancouver. We agreed on many things like the dysfunction of City Hall, the people living on the street with mental health, the acceptance of drug use everywhere and how our society has a general absence of a social framework we can all adhere to. Jonathon is a very bright guy with a very dry sense of humour, I really enjoyed talking to him and hope to do it again as we progress through these podcast episodes.

https://www.mindmeldpr.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/jnarvey

On this episode had a discussion with John Clerides about the state of downtown Vancouver in regards to the open drug scene / homelessness situation that has become a lawless free-for-all for criminal activity, dysfunction, and a direct threat to public safety.

We talked about different models in the world who have a dress the same issue and what we can learn from them and how we got to this point. As you listen through this episode you’ll soon discover that the current approach to this problem is simply inhumane and must be recalibrated.

John is very active on Twitter so if you have any questions for him you can comment on a post or ask for a direct message (DM).

Twitter - https://twitter.com/jclerides

Today on the podcast I chatted with John Coupar about his platform  he is running on to become Mayor of Vancouver in the next civic election in October 2022. We talked about the safety of our streets, homelessness and drug addiction situation, housing affordability and woke culture. We also we learned a little bit about him growing up in Vancouver, his past and what he plans to do in the future.

He is running under the party known as NPA which has had a long-standing of Mayors and Council Members in the past.

John can be found on Twitter
https://twitter.com/johncoupar

And his website
https://www.npavancouver.ca

Today on the Podcast I chatted with Ken Sim the Mayoral candidate representing the ABC PARTY (A Better City) for the 2022 race. 

We got to know Kens background being born and raised in the city, why he wants to become mayor, and  what he plans to do once he does get into the Mayors seat. 

He also talked about what is meaningful to him and what issues he thinks will be important to the base in Vancouver during this election cycle.

Ken can be found on Twitter
https://twitter.com/kensimcity

And his website
https://www.kensim.ca/

And the ABC Party website
https://abettercity.ca/