If you’ve been following the amazing race for mayor in the City of Vancouver, you will be aware of the latest candidate to throw his hat in the ring — Ian Campbell, hereditary chief of the Squamish Nation and friend of Mayor Gregor Robertson. Much has been said about the fact that if Mr. Campbell…
Category: developers
Harry’s message: more important than ever
May 8 would have been Harry Rankin’s 98th birthday. I was reminded of this special date when I attended the premiere of The Rankin File: Legacy of a Radical at the Playhouse Theatre May 3 as part of the DOXA documentary film fest. Harry Rankin — my hero and mentor — was an unforgettable individual….
Better to debate than deliberately disrupt
The provincial NDP are proposing a new school tax on homes worth more than $3 million. The revenue projections are in the vicinity of $200 million and would largely be used for seismic upgrades for school buildings. Many of the homes that would be affected by this new tax are located in the Vancouver-Point Grey…
Vision’s falling star and no pockets to put it in
Vision Vancouver’s struggles continue to mount. Last fall’s by-election was a complete disaster for Vision Vancouver. Their candidate, Diego Cardona, came a distant fifth. Over the month that followed, all but two of Vision’s incumbent city councillors announced they would not be running for re-election in this fall’s municipal election. Then Vision Vancouver’s Mayor…
No vision for Vision in progressive alliance
On Sunday, March 11, the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) held a meeting to begin looking at what an alliance of progressive parties might look like in the upcoming October 2018 municipal election. The event was very well attended — in fact, it was the largest turnout for a COPE meeting in quite some time. Over…
Put the right pressure in the right place for affordable housing
Housing in general and housing affordability in particular continue to grab attention in Vancouver. In the case of the development of Northeast False Creek, the City of Vancouver owns two blocks on Main Street near Chinatown and Hogan’s Alley that it expropriated in the ’60s for the Georgia Street viaducts. If ever there were a…
Reading politico tea leaves
Kerry Jang announced the other day that he will not be seeking re-election this fall. This brings the total number of Vision Vancouver council members not running for re-election to five, including Mayor Gregor Robertson. The only two remaining Vision members of city council, Raymond Louie and Heather Deal, have yet to announce their…