I can hardly wait for the day that everyone in the media has to post their income tax returns online, so that we’re on an equal footing with government employees. In the meantime, for those of you who love this stuff, here is the employment contraact for our recently hired deputy city manager from Chicago […]

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An alert reader (as funny writer Dave Barry always used to say about his contributers) sent me a link to this very funny story, the squabbling in the States over our Olympics after Fox’s always delightful Glenn Beck claimed on air that Vancouver lost $1 billion on them. Guess no one told him they haven’t […]

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Okay, folks, I don’t know WHAT is going on out there, but clearly civic politics has become the hot scene in blogworld. My stats for September show that this blog hit the 90,000-views mark for the first time since I started last August. (90,242 to be exact) And the number of local-politics blogs continues to […]

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Here’s my Globe story on the efforts of Vancouver councillors and, I should say, SFU prof Kennedy Stewart, to get a motion passed at the Union of B.C. Municipalities supporting limits on campaign fundraising and spending. That’s what Premier Gordon Campbell said is needed before his government will think about setting any new rules. The […]

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Oh, what the heck, while I’m at it … here’s another fun very-Vancouver thing to do on Sunday, before going to the view-corridor debate on Monday. See notice below. The only thing this tour is missing by the way is a swing by the new public art at the 25th Avenue Canada Line station. Has […]

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I don’t promote every debate on urban issues in this city, but this one seems like a can’t-miss to me. It’s also so delightfully Vancouver. Can you imagine another city where people would turn out to listen to an argument about preserving views? Views on Views: Perspectives on view corridors in Vancouver In partnership with […]

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Apparently, I’m allowed to publicize this as of 1:01, so here goes. This the latest from city hall: Vancouver: “Green Capital.”  Get the double meaning? I hope so. I await your scathing comments on how this is just another EcoDensity campaign … or not. Mayor outlines ‘Vancouver Green Capital’ economic strategy for Vancouver VANCOUVER—At an […]

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Mayors and councillors packed a session at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention yesterday to hear more about the growing problem of local industries telling small resource towns that they’re not going to pay their tax bills or that they need to have their taxes lowered. (My story in the Globe here.) It’s obviously a […]

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While debates rage about Vancouver’s budget shortfall elsewhere, we pause for a station break here to look at something completely different. Here’s a story I wrote for the Globe’s business section on how different municipalities handled planning for development along the Canada Line and how. In Vancouver, as I mention in the story and as […]

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The city’s big review of how to make operations more efficient has come in, accompanied by the news that Vancouver is facing a possible $60-million shortfall for next year. Groups have been getting brief all day at council about this. Here’s my Globe story and I’ll post a bit more later on, plus I’d love […]

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