I'm a late convert to this blog. Steve, you clearly rock.

Posted by: Peter Rempel at May 23, 2007 03:27 PM

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You really should get off your ass and stop playing with mudpies. You are much too old for it, plus it is very unpleasant for the grown ups to watch. Wash your hands now, and go beat up on the neigbours kids or something.

Posted by: garhane at May 23, 2007 03:29 PM

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I would love to see the Google Earth pictures of these places.

Posted by: Jay in Fort McMurray at May 23, 2007 03:30 PM

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If you are not familiar with the west coast Kitsilano is similar to the Rosedale area of Toronto except with the addition of ocean views. As for Quadra most cannot even afford the ferry ride. These are million dollar areas that you and I would never dream of being able to afford. I wish someone would start a blog exclusively outing these green guru's. Cheers. sandra

Posted by: sandra at May 23, 2007 03:52 PM

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Y'know what I really dislike about the left, garhane?

They drone on and on and on about respect - about respect for the environment, about respect for other people, for both genders, for minorities, for religions, for cultural diversity...

And then they shoot-off their mouths in a public forum and don't show any respect themselves. No respect for opinions. No respect for people who don't happen to see the world as they do. No respect - indeed, a scathing LACK of respect - for people who DARE point-out blatant instances of obvious hypocrisy in their revered icons.

HY-PO-CRI-SY. Saying one thing and doing another. Spouting ethereal platitudes and utopian dogma that doesn't reflect possibility, much less reality, all the while living a lifestyle that completely negates their words and nullifies their thrust among anyone of their listeners who's ever said "yeah, right..."

Doing their cause great harm in the process, while they're at it. Haven't you heard? People are jaded nowadays, they're cynical. Life is hard, gas is up and going higher, lots of workers can't afford the gas to get to work. And here's Suzuki living on a Quadra Island estate, and Al Gore using 20 times the energy of the average American household.

Do you follow the tenets of somebody you do not respect? No, I didn't think so; neither do I. And Suzuki and Gore are not people I choose to follow, because I do not respect the swankness of their profligate lifestyles versus the monastic denial of the lifestyles they're telling the rest of us that we have to live. I know I'm not the only one who feels this way; I suspect Steve does too, from his column.

And if you wish to convince either of us, or anyone else, to see it your way, you're going about it all wrong.

Posted by: Jim at May 23, 2007 04:00 PM

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Haha This is some great blogging. Keep chopping away at the hypocrites on the pedestal. You're not going to see King David exposed like this in the MSM.

Keep it up, Steve. Garhame is probaly Welsh for 'idiot'.

Posted by: Levesque at May 23, 2007 04:06 PM

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"Meanwhile back in Kitsilano, the people who make an average household income of $66,000 per year can only dream of living it up on Quadra Island. "

Kits is upper end Van land . . $66k wouldn't buy you a phone booth sized condo. 2nd parking spaces sell for $45k

Dr. Fruit Fly's pad in Kits is a waterfront mansion . . must be worth $3miilion . . . . just for the lot.

The lad has made buckets of money off the environment . .just as predicted by Steffi.

It's a good gig if you can carry it off.

Posted by: Fred at May 23, 2007 04:16 PM

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Isn't there a bit of a problem with this:

David Suzuki: I love Kitsilano and Vancouver, but there are
too many people and too many cars. I think we can have
greater density if we made the city much more hostile to
cars.

So ... does he want fewer people, or greater [people] density? One can't have both.

Posted by: Frank Ch. Eigler at May 23, 2007 04:45 PM

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You rock Steve.

The esteemed Dr. Fruit Fly is exposed again as the hypocrite that he is! Just like all the higher purpose folks, do as I say not as I do.

When will the sheeple see through this, obvious to anyone who has half a functioning brain, monumental scam. No wonder these idiots won't answer questions!

Suzuki, I used to respect you, but you have become a huge pain in the you know where.

Posted by: capndan at May 23, 2007 05:04 PM

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As someone born and raised in Kitsilano - and yes, a proud graduate of Kitsilano High School, I can tell you that single family properties now go for close to a million dollars (or more) even if the house is a teardown and you can build 2 or 3 condos that will sell for about $600,000+ each. I am sure the prices have gone up since I typed that. Heck, I didn't want to see the Vancouver area grow so quickly.

Coastal properties over the last few years have seen gigantic surges in both prices and population - Parksville, Sechelt, Pender Harbour, Campbell River, to name a few. Now, Quadra Island is the main island directly to the east of Campbell River. It is home to a luxurious inn owned by the local native people. The area is very beautiful, the water, fir trees, good fishing, fresh air, eagles and other wildlife.

You're right, Steve, Dr. Suzuki could have a 1,200 sq.ft. condo in Kitsilano and still have a larger home than his grandfather. But from his comments it looks like Dr. Suzuki has two homes.

Lance M. Jefferson
Richmond, British Columbia

Posted by: Lance M. Jefferson at May 23, 2007 05:37 PM

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Kinda reminds me of my stint several years ago in the offices of one of Canada's best known environmental organizations. Most of the stalwarts there owned nice pads in what has become a very trendy neighbourhood in Toronto now. I'm guessing that some of these folks are millionaires on paper at least.

Posted by: Real conservative at May 23, 2007 05:40 PM

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Its amazing how the sheeple follow self-appointed elites like Suzuki and his ilk.

You are completely correct in your assessment. Suzuki is a hypocrite of the worst kind.

Posted by: langmann at May 23, 2007 07:29 PM

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Suzuki is sickening and Gore's a bore and galling.

They're both of the "do as I say, not as I do" school, and seem to see nothing wrong. Of course, that's because they're part of the Nobility, as Steve points out, and the rest of us are peasants.

I saw a few minutes of Gore on Larry King Live last night and gagged the whole time. The guy is condescending and insincere: You can see it in his eyes, which are as cold as ice. (Since he fell in with the Clintons, he's begun to resemble Dorian Gray: You can see the corruption in his facial features. He used to be quite a good looking guy. Now, he's got an almost evil look about him, there's something of the serpent in his face...)

I think Gore is definitely delusional, and suspect that Suzuki is too.

Posted by: 'been around the block at May 23, 2007 07:43 PM

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If he really cared about the environment, he would donate his property to the Nature Conservancy, where it would remain untouched for all future generations. I hope people wake up soon and see Suzuki, Gore, and their ilk for the money grubbers that they are.

Posted by: Barbara in Wpg. at May 23, 2007 08:10 PM

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David Suzuki has a bigger house than you. He also has more books, more fans, better ideas, more publicity, and more common sense.

If you don't like his ideas, fine. Say so.

Yawn.

Posted by: James Bowie at May 23, 2007 10:44 PM

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As you can see by Mr. Bowie's comments, the average leftie is concerned primarily with external appearance - what everyone thinks of you; your social standing; how 'smart' you are, etc. They can't grasp concepts like moral standards, non-contradiction, individual responsibility, and the like. Their world view does not support it.

Because this is his world view, he thinks this is what drives Steve as well and so his 'argument' appleals to such shallow ideas.

Steve, don't you want 'fans'? That's why you're writing all this stuff right? Just to get fans. You're not really sincere about what you write are you? Really? You are?

Posted by: SC at May 24, 2007 05:00 AM

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And to succinctly prove my point about Mr. Bowie, here's a excerpt from the current top posting at his blog:

"I just got off the phone with the Hill Times. They're doing they're annual survey, which includes such important questions as "Which MP has the best hair?" and "Who throws the best Hill party?" It's good fun. I guess this means it'll be published next week."

James Bowie -- keeping the 'lite' in socialite.

Posted by: SC at May 24, 2007 05:08 AM

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Yup, and James Bowie's juvenile thinking is also keeping the leftward list in socialist.

G*d spare us from leftis stupidities Canada seems awash in.

Thanks, Steve, for being part of the antidote.

Posted by: 'been around the block at May 24, 2007 07:08 AM

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garhane if Dave lives the opposite to what he preaches maybe it's because he's lying about global warming and is willing to take the money and run to an island where no one will bother him.

I heard his last house was bigger than his grand parents too. I so wish I could find a picture of it. I did with Al Gores 10,000 square foot Mansion.

Posted by: DrWright at May 24, 2007 08:30 AM

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What a complete non-argument. Environmentalists can't own nice homes or be successful in the private sector because....???

These sorts of attacks, like the ones on Gore seem to me the silliest and most juvenile form of incitement to class warfare - those with views different than ours are hypocrites and likely owe all of their success to nefarious inside dealings of some sort.

Just because you are not that bright and not that successful doesn't mean that others aren't allowed to be.

If you applied your same twisted logic to other issues, people like you would have no right supporting any war if you were not personally involved in combat.

Posted by: canadian_2 at May 24, 2007 09:08 AM

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Sigh. Do you see how completely canadian_2 misses the point? We're not saying that Mr. Suzuki shouldn't have a nice home. We're saying that he shouldn't be chastising others for having 'bigger homes than their grandparents' when he himself has shown no movement toward applying the same principle to his own life. This is called 'hypocrisy'. I thought lefties were experts at pointing out hypocrisy.

Posted by: SC at May 24, 2007 10:03 AM

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No canadian_2, people who try to impose their environmental tyrany on the rest of us should learn to live with it themselves first. Hypocrite is quite clearly an appropriate label for Suzuki and Gore, by any standard except by the twisted logic of left wing extremists like yourself.

Posted by: x2para at May 24, 2007 10:07 AM

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If Suzuki and Gore want to proselytize to save the environment, they should be the first to shed their wasteful lifestyles .. and then walk amongst the poor like Jesus did.

Otherwise they must be suspect of profiteering.

Posted by: Observer at May 24, 2007 10:57 AM

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To James Bowie:

If Suzuki practised what he preached, then I could respect him. Heck, he might even win me over totally to his way of thinking (I doubt it, but he might). However he is a perfect example of "Do as I say, not as I do." By any definition, that is hypocrisy.

In addition, he is totally without scientific or academic credentials concerning global warming or climatology. Check his website (www.davidsuzuki.org). So his views on global warming have no more authority than yours or mine.

Posted by: Brian in Calgary at May 24, 2007 11:21 AM

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If this is former First Nations land, perhaps the next blockade should be staged on Suzuki's front lawn. Heck, even I'd wave a flag in that parade.

Nice one, Steve.

Posted by: Wonder Woman at May 24, 2007 12:35 PM

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Actually I am a fervent capitalist who makes and has no shame in continuing to make an awful lot of money.

The jealous, lame commentary of so many of you who only view "left/right" in juvenile partisan poilitical terms give capitalists a bad name.

Posted by: canadian_2 at May 24, 2007 01:45 PM

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Canadian 2 posting from her local library branch.

Posted by: iowavette at May 24, 2007 02:35 PM

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canadian_2, If you're such a fervent capitalist, doesn't it bother you at all that what Suzuki wants us to do is likely going to give our economy one monster kick in the nuts ?

Posted by: up north at May 24, 2007 02:41 PM

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canadian_2,

You've failed to address the points which were made in response to your post.

The issue is not whether environmentalists can be rich and successful. Who cares? (Your wealth, by the by, is likewise irrelevant; one wonders what motivated you to draw attention to it, as one always wonders about unsolicited affirmations of wealth and success.)

The issue is simply whether such a person can live in detailed defiance of the rules that they themselves lay down for others -- at the same time as they demand that their moral authority be recognized by those others.

Remember his response when he was asked about his C02-spewing bus: "What am I supposed to do, walk?" And how, when he was asked why he didn`t simply convert the diesel to biodiesel, he replied that he didn`t want to void the warranty?

Well, these are precisely the sort of sacrifices he expects everybody else to make.

He may be right in what he says -- again, that`s a separate issue -- but he lives his life in a decidedly different manner than he prescribes for the rest of us.

And that, my fervently capitalist friend, is the very definition of hypocrisy, and that is the only issue here.

Posted by: Darrell Goodman at May 24, 2007 03:08 PM

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Not a huge Suzuki fan anyways, but the fact of the matter is that the shift to more efficient, cleaner and more renewable sources of energy over the longer term will create far more wealth than it will cost. Case studies of regions around the world where this has occurred abound.

Posted by: canadian_2 at May 24, 2007 03:12 PM

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To canadian_2:

Please don't get the idea that I don't believe you, but you'd bolster your case by providing links to these studies. Simply saying there are studies is meaningless. And, please don't forget environmentalism involves more, much more, than the fight against the human-caused aspects of global warming, however extensive those aspects turn out to be. I suspect that apart from the controversy over Kyoto, your views and mine are not that different. And, even including Kyoto, they may be surprisingly close.

It's good to hear that you're not a huge Suzuki fan, since he is the number one hypocrite in Canada when it comes to "Do as I say, not as I do."

Posted by: Brian in Calgary at May 24, 2007 03:39 PM

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As a west-coast environmentalist I have a very different view of Kits. It is one of the higher density communities in the Lower mainland and while properties are very expensive a large proportion are rented to students etc.. The area is very well served by small markets meaning that most folk can do most of their shopping without having to drive. Thanks to the density the area is one of the best served by transit (full buses run on the busy routes every 2-3 minutes and are mostly full) and a large proportion of households own only a single vehicle.

The reality is that for our environment to thrive we need fewer large lots like the one owned by Dr. Suzuki and more high-density developments which allow for transit etc...

Most environmentalists I talk with dream of moving out away from the cities where they can grow their own food and live off the land. Sadly if every environmentalist lived in these self-sufficient households there would be no room left for nature.

Posted by: Blair at May 25, 2007 01:01 PM

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Most environmentalists I talk with dream of moving out away from the cities where they can grow their own food and live off the land. Sadly if every environmentalist lived in these self-sufficient households there would be no room left for nature.

Why is probably why many environmentalists, including David Suzuki, think there are too many people on the planet. God only knows what he thinks the correct solution is to that.

Posted by: Steve Janke at May 25, 2007 02:34 PM

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Having been inside he tent I can tell you that some of the most devout environmentalists sometimes called "Arcadians" in the scientific press (from the book The Arcadian myth in urban America) secretly hope that a global pandemic will address the population issue. It is my understanding this is where Tom Clancy got the idea for the bad guys in Rainbow Six.

Needless to say that sort of thinking was what drove me outside the tent and into the pragmatic real world.

Posted by: Blair at May 25, 2007 03:37 PM

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No matter what the cause, or situation, there will always be those who see the opportunity to get rich. Back in the 1920's, many Canadians got rich smuggling booze to the U.S., including several wealthy Vancouver Island families.

Before WW2, many opportunists sold goods such as scrap metal to Japan and Germany, even though they were told they were using them to build weapons that would be used against us.

During the War, some tried to continue supplying goods to the Axis powers, including oil. One well known company had a plan to supply both sides with petroleum products.

Al Gore, Davis Suzuki, Paul Martin, Maurice Strong, and their legion of friends, have seen an opportunity to make vast fortunes off the environmental movement. Whether they believe in the catastrophic predictions, only they know.

Where the line between "opportunity" and "hypocrisy", is crossed, is when the opportunists go about the world scare mongering the masses to further their chance to make money.

Al's movie, and Suzuki's bus tour, are two of the most blatant examples of hypocrisy. I would respect both the Gore and Suzuki fortunes a lot more, if they had been earned, through capitalism. Both owe their good fortunes to the taxpayers of their respective countries, not hard work and ingenuity.

David Suzuki had the taxpayer funded CBC to thank for his fame and fortune, and Gore owes it to the fact his father was a Senator who sold his influence to a billionaire oilman. He was raised to be a politician, went pretty far, then failed to win the trophy.

The difference between Gore, Suzuki, and the Kitsilano residents making 66k a year, is their ability to schmooze with and charm the right people, and in Gore's case, the accident of birth into the right family.

I wish they'd both just shut up and retire with their millions. They've had their minute of fame, and have done enough harm., or good, depending on one's viewpoint, for any ten of us lesser mortals.

Posted by: dmorris at May 26, 2007 05:59 PM

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Suzuki is a bloody goof. One of us need to call a spade a spade at his next personal appearance. Heckle him about his two or more homes and question him about his net worth and where did it all come from.
Both Suzuki and Gore are western dictators, with out the death squads. One more thing just a guess at Taliban Jack's household income. My quess is $3ook plus.

Posted by: rod at May 26, 2007 09:32 PM

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SuperDave would have more far Qannaddian PC Credibility if he were a homosexual, pregnant, one-armed, Aboriginal female that only speaks French. Being Chinese simply isn't enough anymore, to satify our warm, cuddly feelings for giving Minorities a "leg-up". He should be a inspiration for those millions of $1 a day workers in his homeland....

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at May 27, 2007 05:36 PM

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