“I didn’t get the details on what the new library cost, but I understand it’s less than a billion dollars.”

Too imprecise, Frances. How about the real math on what the City granted Aquilini to get a “free” library? While you’re at it, could you give us an historical sketch of how Vancouver has funded so-called amenities? Specifically, when and why did our city become so poor that something like a new library came to depend on developer largesse?

All those new property tax payers moving into new condos, all that ongoing new revenue for City Hall! Didn’t things like libraries used to be considered normal community infrastructure? Now they seem to be viewed as extras (that is what the city planner jargon A-word really means).

These are questions about recent Vancouver history. Our bleak future seems all too clear. No thanks to the speculators who seek Olympic gold in the opportunity to leverage public money into private profits.