UBC has become the subject of rampant rumour and speculation since president Arvind Gupta’s surprise resignation was announced Aug. 7. (He had told the board he would resign a week earlier, July 31.) That’s been preoccupying my time the last couple of weeks, especially since the city is in its August lull. For those who […]

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I’m currently staying at an Airbnb-type apartment in the Mission district in San Francisco, ground zero (as I’ve discovered since I booked it) of current North American angst over the transformation of former working-class neighbourhoods into tourist parks. In June, I stayed in an Airbnb in Marais, another hot district, where one disgruntled resident had […]

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This is a week old but I was in an internet challenged zone after I filed my story, so here it is: The Brian Jackson retirement/resignation, which I know many in this group will have thoughts on, especially about his remarks that ex-city staff were extraordinarily interventionist as they lobbied against various decisions of his […]

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There’s been no official announcement or news release or staff report yet, but it looks as though the city is headed to a vote on taking the viaducts down, with planners and engineers recommending it, after having gone out and dug up all the new information council asked for two years ago. As my story […]

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I worked on commercial fishing boats for six seasons, in my 20s, where water was a precious thing. We sometimes went out for two or more weeks, knowing we had to survive on the water in the tank. We turned off the tap when brushing our teeth, except for the brief wetting between scrubs, re-used […]

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In the aftermath of the resounding no in the transit plebiscite, yes, it’s a mess out there. Mayors are looking at self-financing their big projects in Surrey and Vancouver. (And even Delta is considering using its own money to run some needed buses.) Senior execs are being fired at TransLink, and there are calls for […]

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A short, funny, thoughtful read here. The “but you’re not an economist” line gets thrown around a lot. Its purpose is simple: discredit the target and imply that their views should be ignored. And a typical dictionary definition here.    

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I quoted two Australian academics on the topic in my May story. But are these two out of step with everyone else, renegades who don’t understand the stats? There are, of course, many media stories and various experts saying foreign investment is having a huge impact. But there are also many, like Philip Soos and […]

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What is a reasonable price for a young family to have to pay in this city for housing? It’s a topic that frequently gets muddled in the news, as the rising price of west-side houses sets off a dynamite trail of news stories about how young families are being forced out of the city. But, […]

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This is going to be a longer post than my usual, so my excuses in advance, but I feel it’s important to address in detail a recent South China Morning Post item that impugns the credibility of someone I quoted and is also indicative of an ugly and unproductive debate that is happening in Vancouver. […]

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