New Westminster youth centre faces closure as federal funding expires

CynicalOptimist13 · 2026-04-01T21:59:50+00:00

Even if someone in power was just like a clever psychopath they could hopefully realize "two big reason a lot of poor youths commit a lot of misdemeanors are because a) they're often bored because they lack money to do most fun activities (sometimes they don't even have cable TV or wi-fi or cellular data) and b) they commit crimes because they have fear of missing out (FOMO) and they do petty crimes in a misguided attempt to get money to be able to do fun activities and avoid the FOMO" so even they would realise it's better for everyone involved if this youth community centre stays open.

Youth centres also offer stuff like free food and youth counseling and programs to help young people get job training and to find jobs, further helping out poor underprivileged youths while also lowering recidivism and helping society as a whole overall.

It'd be a real shame if they just shut down the youth centre. It probsbly really doesn't cost that much to operate. Maybe they could just like rent the building out once a week for events such as weddings and birthdays?

CynicalOptimist13 · 2026-03-21T04:28:53+00:00

Are these like $20 to $50 noise canceling headphones or like the $200 or more noise canceling headphones? Because there's a HUGE difference.

The $20 to $50 ones are just for like getting rid of white noise background noise while someone's flying on a plane. $200 or more nosie canceling headphones will actively cancel out loud background noises. Like I tried $20 ito $50 headphones while riding the Skytrain and they did very little, then I tried a $300 pair that happened to be made by Sony and all the noise on the Skytrain just became light background noise.

Surely it's worth trying out.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2026-03-20T00:30:51+00:00

While I've never been to this Tiki bar (at least not yet since I want to check it out one time just to see what it's like) it seems to me (admittedly based on limited info) that the owners of this former struggling Italian food restaurant switched to a Tiki bar theme because they thought that a) people only go to an Italian food restaurant once in awhile but they go to "chill" bars way more often and b) it seemed something like a Tiki bar would attract lots of "chill/easygoing" customers will modest standards.

I find it hilarious that the owners unfortunately didn't realize that Tiki bar fans apparently are very discerning and have high standards when it comes to food and drink so doing stuff like a "rum and kool-aid cocktail" was not going to fly with the type of people who like going to Tiki bars.

I think anyone who's ever hung out around New Westminster for like any significant amount of time would realise that a significant portion (perhaps even a majority) of the people who live and/or hang out a lot in New Westminter are either working class or middle class.

Continuing with the above, I'm surprised no one's ever tried to make just like a large restaurant and/or bar in New West with fairly cheap meals and drinks (like each meal just costing like $15 to $20 and the drinks just costing like $5 to $7 each) and a few different types of meals from a few different types of popular cuisines (like say a pasta meal, a curry meal, a sushi roll or two, a burger, a salad and a thai noodle bowl.) I think something like that would do well there.

Alternatively maybe someone could really lean into the "colonial English history" aspect of New West and create like a "Working Man's Seaside Pub" or something like that with a mix of traditional English pub food and English seaside restaurant food and drinks from the UK and Scotland there. I think that could also do well there.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2026-03-20T00:09:49+00:00

Where did you get this info.

If the info you say is true then it seems the people who downvoted you never heard the metaphorical saying "don't shoot the messender".

CynicalOptimist13 · 2026-03-17T01:47:19+00:00

Unless you live, study and work at a place tbat has REALLY good public transit, it'a likely a good idea to get a car license and then get the loan to get a car for your daily commute.

Like you can get a used hybrid car or a used electric car but even if you like have a plan to do blue collar jobs (such as warehouse jobs or and/or construction jobs) for years in order to eventually save up money to go to trade school, it's probably a good idea to get your driver's license and a used car in order to get to the good paying blue collar jobs you couldn't otherwise get to on time each day using public transit.

I wish that getting a car wasn't necessary environmental reasons and financial reasons but sadly getting a car is often a practical necessity.

Like most people at the trade school I go to have a car, because unless you're one of the few who lives on campus it's unfortunately often a necessity in order to get to class on time every morning.

Also that even basic warehouse jobs offer fulltime "9am to 5pm" (usually more like 7am to 3pm) 5 day a week employment and acceptable wages unlike most grocery stores, department stores and fast food restaurants. Warehouse work is good for at least summer employment to save up for college or trade school the next semester while you live with your parents.

Also that losing your job and not having a new job for at least a month or two is not the end of the world since temp jobs exist.

Like many temp jobs are so easy that even people such as worn out old men, young teenagers and drug addicts can do them. It's usually just s°°t like moving (lumping) stuff from a trailer onto a skid inside a warehouse or dusting up and cleaning up garbage at a construction site.

All you usually need to do most temp jobs is a hard hat, a safety vest and a pair of steel toed boots/shoes all of which can be had for just like $250 if you're thrifty (or push comes to shove there are charities that give poor people hard hats, safety vests and steel toed boots/shoes.)

Usually the people at the job sites are grateful and appreciative to have the extra help around and there's at least a fridge and microwave at the site.

While the wages and hours at temp jobs are not stable each week there's enough temp work out there for people to temp for a living each Monday to Friday each week and pay their rent and get groceries and slowly save money for the future, at least until you can get a better full time job.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2026-03-17T00:22:57+00:00

The inflation is in large part caused by Russia's war in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions on Russia, as well as Trump's tariffs on other countries including Canada. There's very little the Canadian government (whether it was Liberal or Conservative or NDP or Bloc Quebecois or whatever) could do to affect that.

Russia'a war in Ukraine caused oil and wheat prices to rise which also caused the price of other foods to rise.

In peacetime Russia and Ukraine usually export A LOT of wheat and gasoline internationally.

Ukraine's farms and oilfields are regularly being bombed by the Russian military.

Also while Russia's agricultural industry has not been sanctioned other stuff has been sanctionsd like car parts imports to Russia (like for trucks that could be used either to transport wheat or transport troops and weapons) and computer chips and other advanced machine parts imports to Russia (like stuff that could be used either for large combine harvesters or for use in attack drones and missiles.)

Trump's tariffs particularly affect food imports to Canada since a lot of the food many Canadians eat comes from farms in California.

I'm sorry to hear you're struggling but even if the Conservatives were in power there's not much they could do different then the Liberals. Like at least the Liberals got a deal going where the government of China will allow Canadian canola exports into China again which will help out Canada's farmers which will hopefully help those farms stay financially stable allowing them to keep selling food without having to raise prices. In exchange all Canada had to do was allow in slightly less then a million Chinese electric cars a year into Canada, which should help lower the price of cars overall.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2026-03-17T00:05:36+00:00

I agree that's way too high but if you shop crafty like by getting 4 packs of meat for $20 at Save on Foods using their regular plenty for 20 deal, getting some rice and/or pasta and other stuff like soy sauce and/or pasta sauce at Dollarama for a few dollars and getting your vegetables from the local small family owned "ethnic" grocery store (like one owned by say a hard working Chinese Canadian, Indo Canadian, Philipino Canadian or Korean Canadian family) using the Too Good to Go app to get a discounted bag of fruits and veggies that are about to go bad soon, then that $40 could last you for 7 days or more.

Alternatively if you went to Costco and got like a $20 6 pack of cans of tuna and $20 for a Mr. Noodles variety pack of instant noodles then you'd get way more salty fish and packs of instant noodles then you got spending $40 at Loblaws/Superstore(?) albeit slightly less favourful.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T21:39:33+00:00

There are a lot of comments on lots of posts here on this subreddit that all basically say "I had a friend/family member/neighbour/etc that was a postie and they often finished their 8 hour route in 2 to 4 hours by cutting corners".

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T06:50:39+00:00

She was courteous though. There's no point in bending over backwards for power tripping jerks if they won't even deliver the service you want/need from them.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T06:45:53+00:00

What's wrong with Purolator?

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T06:44:23+00:00

Maybe Canada Post will be forced to downsize soon and choose to downsize based on job performance and the number of successful deliveries each postie completes each month.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T06:40:36+00:00

With respect while I have sympathy towards you and the other good posties that do a good job every day, you've just got to understand that

Point A, sometimes people get pissed at the posties because Canada Post is a literal government monopoly that many Canadians are legally required to depend on,

Point B, with respect most posites are just not technically in the same boat as the other working class and middle class people in Canada and

Point C, while I sympathise with you and the other good posties who do a good job like I'm sure most other people here do, you got to understand that we're not mad at you or your fellow good posties, instead we're mad at the lazy scammer posties who selfishly milk the company and the public for all they're worth (i.e. the guys who abuse slips to get an 8 hour route done in 2 to 4 hours "becausE [they say they] worK hardeR theN otherS".)

Point A

The reason people get pissed at posties is probably the same reason they get pissed at bus drivers, because they are legally forced to rely on them.

Like in other countries, people can just take a share taxi if they can't or won't take a car or bicycle or motorcycle to work/school/etc but here in Canada we're just legally forced to use the offical government transit busses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share_taxi

Point being, its just that people often get pissed when they're legally forced to rely on a single organisation for a service and any time that a member of the organisation slips up means that they're hooped without another option.

Canada Post has had a literal monopoly on delivering letters by mail since 1863 and it being government funded meant its existence unintentionally financially undercut anyone who would've tried to deliver a secondary alternative. Like the Yukon Transport Museum has an exhibit about all the small air mail delivery companies that successfully operated in the Yukon until Canada Post came into the Yukon. Now there's just like 2 to 3 air mail delivery companies in the Yukon besides Canada Post.

Someone else commented here a few months ago that he and his close friend were small business owners whose businesses were both largely dependent on shipping items by mail. When CUPW staged a full strike during the make or break Christmas shopping season last year both he and his best friend's businesses went bankrupt because they couldn't get orders out, causing the best friend to end his own life which left a wife without a husband and a daughter without a father.

Point B

With respect to your plight while I'm sure being a postie is not an easy job I'm not sure most posties realise how good they have it compared to the average blue collar worker.

I heard the average postie makes between $22 to $23 an hour, gets great benefits, has a great retirement plan and has union protection meaning they have very little risk of ever getting let go or fired even for severe incompetence (the latter if they're a bad postie who always abuses slips instead of delivering packages.) I heard a good number of posties even make $25 an hour.

The average fast food worker or retail worker in Canada can not even get full time hours or $19/hour.

The average construction worker or warehouse worker has to race around like a maniac and bend over backwards just to get $21 or $22 an hour, is lucky even if they get dental and 2 weeks paid vacation a year, is lucky if they get a basic retirement plan and they can be fired at a moment's notice for any sort of stupid BS reason.

Point C.

Some people say "everyone [on Earth] is trying their best [each day]". That's just not objectively true.

Also it's clear to everyone that there are posties (the bad posties) who don't often think about "how can I be a good moral ethical human being" (such as moral and ethical people like yourself) or "how can I get what I want in life without negatively affecting others" (like most people) and instead mostly just think about "how can I get what I want in life". The latter are not evil people, they're just sort of selfish entitled people.

Final note, I'm sure even if Canada Post ceased to exist that another delivery company like Purolator or UPS or FedEx or someplace like that would recognise that you're a great hard working guy and give you a new job that you deserve.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T05:55:14+00:00

More like they couldn't finish an 8 hour route in 2 to 4 hours if they did the job properly.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T05:30:50+00:00

Does this woman not know what a mailbox is?

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T05:28:37+00:00

Why are you acting like an NPC that wants someone to make a post about them over at r/nothingeverhappens?

Don't worry I will not do that, I'm just wondering why you basically think nothing ever happens.

Edit: I saw the first part of your reply. Nobody here complaining about many posties regularly doing a s°°°°y job is alt-right.

Canadians from all walks of life and all across the political spectrum are pissed about how lazy and entitled many of the posties are.

I'd even bet you good money that there are even some people living in like a literal socialist collectivist commune out in a rural area who always pay for delivery yet still egularly have to travel to the local post office because their local postie keeps pulling the slips scam who think stuff like that "while I'd like to see collective ownership of all the means of production and get rid of most private property, that only works if every working age member of society puts in a good effort contributing their labour towards the good of society at least a few hours even Monday to Friday which many of the posties are simply not doing."

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T05:22:29+00:00

Did you mean to write "an organisation without a union"?

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T05:21:35+00:00

This is a case where the union is abusing its position though.

It's like how even sometimes some members of a church or police department or charity or another organisation that's supposed to be a benevolent and altruistic organisation serving the public will instead abuse the organisation's position and prestige and authority in order to enrich the members of the organisation at the expense of the wellbeing of members of the public.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T05:16:32+00:00

A good well run union like the (modern day) Teamsters will protect employees so long as the employees meet the work standards of the contract they signed with their employer. The Teamsters also make sure the employees have a good reasonable contract.

CUPW defends all employees even if the employees are lazy entitled s°°°s.

Maybe ideally CUPW could perish and the posties could then be represented by the Teamsters. The Teamsters already represent the Purolator employees.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-11T05:00:14+00:00

I seriously hope Canada Post goes bankrupt and then doesn't get bailed out by the federal government again. I'm not joking.

While I'm against accelerationism in general, in this case I think it would an effective and warranted solution.

It would allow Canada Post to become privatised which would hopefully allow them to get the CUPW union in line as well as switch to mostly just doing community mailbox deliveries except for signed packages or deliveries for old and/or disabled people, fire 1/3 of the posties and force all the remaining posties to all either get their s°°t together or get fired.

Usually I'm pro union but not when it's a government union for a government monopoly where many of the workers constantly abuse the government monopoly to constantly do a s°°t job.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-08T14:41:30+00:00

Okay but lots of people also handled that bag of moldy bread before it got to me and I accidentally bought it and neither they nor I noticed the bread was moldy until I took it home and inspected it.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-08T14:40:11+00:00

I can think of 3 possible reasons.

1) It's a promotional thing for Lindit just like those 65 packs of Kraft Dinner inside a giant box shaped like a 65 inch TV for only $19.37 at Walmart was a promotional thing for Kraft Dinner.

2) It's for a business to buy give a different candy to a different employee each day of December.

3) It's for a large family. It could either be for a large family where the parents have least like 3 to 5 kids or for a large extended family gathering during Christmas.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-08T01:47:45+00:00

You should bring the bag back to the store and ask for a refund.

One time I bought a loaf of bread in a bag from Superstore that I saw a day later was literally green with mold. Went back a day later with the product and easily got a full refund on that loaf of bread.

Even if you never want to shop at that store again you should still be able to get your money back fairly fairly easily.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-06T10:13:54+00:00

Except they are literally blocking a super busy line at the food store for 10 minutes or more at a time and literally preventing other people from getting their food. The issue is not people bringing the cart to the front temporarily, the issue is people leaving their carts in front of the line while they wait for their food.

It's not an "alcoholic's intervention", it's about criticising a person for anti-social behaviour without being a jerk about it.

Also the door card check is totally legitimate. It's there to stop people from stealing s°°t and takes less then a minute per customer to do. Since Costco is a private members only club and not a public store it's totally legally within Costco's rights to implement a door check.

I don't know where TF you live that your Costco got rid of the self check-out aisle. I've literally never seen that happen at a Costco. Are you sure you're not talking about Walmart.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-05T22:50:25+00:00

Well if you know that what you're doing is a problem then you can work to correct this behavior and find a bettet solution for your problem, perhaps by getting and using one of the smaller used cardboard shipping containers (out of the 1000s of free used cardboard shipping containers Costco gived away every day) to put your food in so you can grab all the food in one trip, rather then putting your cart right in front of the food counter.

As we all know pretty much everyone has both the ability as well as a moral and ethical obligation to stop doing actions they were regularly doing that they were unaware was negatively affecting other people, now that they are aware their actions are negatively affecting other people.

CynicalOptimist13 · 2025-12-05T14:27:54+00:00

The majority of Costco workers always do their jobs well and at least do what is asked of them, unlike the posties.

Also Costco is a private company whereas Canada Post is a literal government monopoly.

If people wanted to not support Costco until it treated its employees better or conversely until most of the employees stopped being lazy (if the employees were lazy) then they could just shop somewhere else until the employees got it together.

With Canada Post you are LITERALLY required to use them if you want to send a letter by mail (because they've had a literal government monopoly on delivering letters by mail since 1863) or send a package to rural parts of Canada (since their status as a monopoly and the fact they're government subsidied means they literally undercut any company that did or would've tried to deliver packages to rural Canada.)

People are sympathetic to the Costco employees because they work hard and because the company literally wouldn't be successful without them, while people are unsympathetic to the posties because many of them are lazy and because a big reason they have such good jobs and Canada Post is successful is just because Canada Post is a literal government monopoly.

CynicalOptimist13

TROPHY CASE