Vancouver in British Columbia is host city for the Winter Olympics in 2010. This is a city and a province that is obsessed with titling everything – hence the province calling itself ‘The Best Place on Earth’, ‘Lotusland’, and ‘Shangri-La’. The aim for the Winter Olympics is to ‘own the podium’ – in other words the main reason for Canada being at these games is to win more medals than any other country.
Unfortunately, while Canada will probably win the most medals at the Olympics, because so few countries take most winter sports seriously, the events of the last few days in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia really don’t back up the ‘Lotusland’ tag. Another gangster was machine-gunned to death in a car park, the second murder in just over a week. As with the previous attack in Guildford, Surrey, the incident took place in broad daylight and it was sheer luck that no innocent passer-by was injured. Vancouver has more gangsters per capita than anywhere else in the world.
On Saturday night, a couple walking home from Granville Island were mown down from behind by a teenager driving an expensive SUV. Their bodies were thrown many metres and they were killed instantly by the speeding vehicle. The driver ran off and tried to escape by swimming across False Creek, but the police apprehended him. Bad traffic accidents like this happen frequently as drivers speed everywhere and go through red lights because they know that they won’t get caught. The provincial government won’t enforce the traffic laws and drivers take advantage, knowing the police won’t prosecute them. Visitors to the Olympics in Vancouver you have been warned.
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