That most famous of Canadian shows, Da Vinci’s Inquest is no more. It is now Da Vinci’s City Hall

I loved this show. For a while, when I lived in Charlottetown, it was a bit of a lifeline back to Vancouver. I watched an entire episode that was shot within a kilometre of the place I was living. It’s fun when dead bodies wash up near your house.

That was before it started to wear thing on me.

Da Vinci’s Inquest was set in the downtown east side, known to some as Canada’s poorest neighbourhood (and to others as its most entertaining.) Week after week, it broadcasts an image of Vancouver to the world as home to the homeless, the lost, the drug addicted.

It also, by association, portrays an image of now Senator Larry Campbell as its saviour.

In three years in office, Larry Campbell managed to fulfill quite a few of his commitments in spirit at least, if not in full. He held a referendum on the Olympics, putting the Vancouver bid at risk. He opened a safe injection site, although we don’t yet know whether it’s working the way it was supposed to (how could we? These people have been addicted for years - is three years really enough to get them off?) He supported slot machines at Hastings Park - oh…wait…that wasn’t a promise.

And now, we have to endure the public airing of three years of this stuff? I’m watching it, but I’m not sure I can stomach it. The show itself has a selective history, which does a nice job of glossing over the realities. There’s never been an episode where somebody’s house was broken into by a crack addict, while the police were unable to find them. There’s never been an episode with people walking down the street screaming at random people. There’s never been an episode where people used an ATM vestibule as a washroom. All of these things happen here everyday.

I love Chris Haddock’s writing; I’m just not sure I like his view of history.

And, by the way, I’ve been too City Hall and - this is no offense to people who work there - very few people are that good looking.

Posted by skooter at 9:09 PM This entry is filed under Entertainment, Vancouver.
This entry is tagged: 2010, Larry Campbell, Politics, Vancouver Olympics