I don’t post too much in the way of upcoming events, but this talk seems especially useful as we head into the Olympics frenzy for the next six months. I won’t be able to go due to a previous commitment, but anyone who does and wants to post comments afterwards would be most welcome. I’d […]

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Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts continues to get glowing coverage from the B.C. media and favourable reviews from the public. Earlier this week, an Angus Reid poll — the one that said three-quarters of people thought Gordon Campbell should step down after this term — had Dianne Watts at the top of the list by a […]

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I’m very tardy in noticing this, but I have finally stumbled across the new Vancouver civic politics blog just started up by Jonathan Ross at www.civicscene.ca. For those who don’t recall from previous exchanges on this blog, Jonathan is a political consultant who has managed campaigns at various levels, most recently in Vancouver for Kashmir […]

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An interesting critique at Think City on the flaws of the Canada Line stations. This complements an email I got yesterday from a reader, also questioning the design of the stations and line. One of his points: “All of the underground and above ground stations accomodate a maximum 2-car train. There is no room for […]

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I got this note from Am Johal yesterday, who has been working for years on housing issues related to the Olympics. I leave it largely to him to make the case here, except to make the note to him and Helesia and others who have responded to my request for evidence by saying it’s subtle […]

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I had long planned to kick off September by issuing a challenge for reporters, activists, academics, politicians or someone to come up with some concrete evidence that homeless people are being shipped out of Vancouver to clean up the city for the Olympics or that those who are housed are being evicted to clear rooms […]

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Here’s more for everyone to debate, with Donald MacPherson’s goodbye message inside city hall that lays out pretty explicity what he thinks the problems are with drug policy. From: MacPherson, Donald Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2009 10:31 AM To: CSG All Staff (COV) – DL; Mayor and Council (COV) – DL; Mayor’s Office Staff – […]

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Word will be coming out next week that Vancouver’s drug-policy co-ordinator — the only job with that title in any Canadian city — is going to be leaving. Donald MacPherson, a former Carnegie Centre manager who got interested in drug policy as a result of watching people overdose and die on his front steps, was […]

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It’s always interesting to see how those of us outside the bubble view Vancouver politics and personalities. The mayor is always the key character people like to focus on. I’d say that for those who cover city hall intensively, Gregor Robertson is still a conundrum. He’s kept mostly under wraps and only allowed out to […]

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The (relatively) new TransLink commissioner, Martin Crilly, issued his first review ever of TransLink plan’s yesterday and all media piled on, but it was interesting that we all got something a bit different out of it. I ended up focusing on his analysis that TransLink is not going to be successful in the future by […]

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