Some days, all you can do is watch the river of news go by and observe the patterns you see. And, from the riverbank, it looks like the campaign is entering its final stage, where people solidify their opinions and any nasty stuff one party has on the other gets leaked out. The story of […]

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Pity the poor Richmond city council voters. They will have not only three Halsey-Brandts to choose from in this election (the former mayor, his current wife and his former wife), but they will also have three Chens on the ballot. No relation. I think

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I have a feature story in Vancouver magazine this month, if you haven’t spotted it yet, on local architect Peter Busby and his mission to make the world (or at least buildings and cities) more environmentally sustainable. I’ve watched and written about Peter for years and this seems to be his golden moment. At last, […]

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I’ve always loved Hallowe’en in a special way. First, it’s the one festival that’s really about connecting with strangers or casual acquaintances rather than family. Really, when else do you go out banging on random neighbours’ doors asking for something — or open your door to random groups of strangers in weird outfits? And people […]

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Sharper eyes than mine have noted that in the Vancouver Sun survey of council candidates, two of the seven Non-Partisan Association candidates who answered the question said they did not support shifting more of the business share of tax to residential. Michael Geller, a development consultant and expert on how real-estate economics work, is not […]

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City planners and fans often like to brag about the way Vancouver is a poster city for compact living downtown. The West End, our first downtown neighbourhood, is frequently (and mistakenly) referred to as a neighbourhood with a density equivalent to Manhattan’s, but more attractive with its leafy and quiet streets. False Creek North is […]

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Here’s my story in today’s Globe that has a succinct overview of the platforms from Vision Vancouver and the Non-Partisan Association. There’s much more to say on both of these, both of which show that we are fully in the grip of policy wonks. (Each platform contains over 50 points and refers to strategies like […]

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Finally, some Vancouver council candidates in this year’s election got a chance to tell the public a bit about themselves on Friday when the Shaughnessy Heights Property Owners Association had their local campaign get-together. Three councillors from each party, along with the mayoral candidates, got to have a say, along with one independent who made […]

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There isn’t a business or operation around that hasn’t got a story to tell about the impact of the current economic turbulence. The Courier this week reported on the impacts that charities are seeing in donations. A friend who runs a bookstore told me last night that he’s had a couple of calls in the […]

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If you just can’t get enough of me — which, weirdly, some people say is the case — I am doing a blog for CTV these days in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 15 civic election, as well as continuing with this one. My first post is about what’s really going on with […]

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