This Friday, October 22 at 7pm, my partner Penny and I are hosting a virtual screening of The Rankin File: Legacy of a Radical, a documentary film about my hero and mentor, Harry Rankin. You can register to join us and see this wonderful film here, which will be followed by a political panel and…
Category: Planning
The uncertain future of False Creek South
In the early 1970s, Vancouver’s Non-Partisan Association (NPA) lost its control of City Council. A new party led by Mayor Art Phillips, The Electors Action Movement (TEAM) came to power. My mentor Harry Rankin, who was on City Council at that time, described TEAM as simply a fresher, slicker, younger version of the NPA. While…
End sweetheart deals for Vancouver developers
I have long been concerned about the sweetheart deals a majority of Vancouver City Council has given developers when approving developer rezoning applications. Two of Vancouver City Council’s best councillors, Jean Swanson and Pete Fry, kindly took time out of their busy schedules to assist me with researching the policy details involved. Here is what…
Help stop The Ice Pick for good. It insults us all!
The Toronto-based developers like to describe it in terms of origami for its so-called “folded planes”. But just about everybody I know calls it The Ice Pick for its cold indifference to its surroundings, and how it stabs at the heart of our city’s most iconic district. We all thought the dreaded Ice Pick project…
COVID-19: The neighbourhood catastrophe waiting to happen
For weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has been totally transforming our lives and devastating economies worldwide, right down to our own local neighbourhoods. COVID-19 is a neighbourhood catastrophe waiting to happen in the DTES. Its first confirmed case appeared yesterday. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for most of the residents there to keep a safe…
Let’s build a city that’s ours
Did you know that the City of Vancouver has no comprehensive city plan? Virtually every other major city in Canada has one — a city-wide plan that stipulates what can be built where throughout the city. To their credit, our city councillors elected in 2018 have initiated steps to create Vancouver’s comprehensive new city plan,…
The Sen̓áḵw project: Both exciting and concerning
On Tuesday, December 10, members of the Squamish Nation approved the development of their land at the south end of Burrard Bridge. Called Sen̓áḵw, for the name of an ancient village that was originally on this site until about 20 Squamish families were forced off and moved to North Vancouver in 1913, this development will…