If you are a progressive living in BC, I have some bad news for you. His name is Kevin Falcon (picture from here). He was elected leader of BC’s free-market party – the BC Liberal Party – on Saturday Feb. 5th, 2022. The BC Liberal party has never pretended to be progressive. It is fundamentally…
Category: Vancouver
Concern for the Right
And the votes are in – 73 in favour, 45 against and it’s off with his head! The federal Conservative Party’s Erin O’Toole was removed as leader by a decisive majority of the Conservative Caucus on Feb. 2, 2022. My concern of course is not for Mr. O’Toole, or for the Conservative Party itself for…
Another windfall for landowners?
The jury is out on Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart’s new plan to permit homeowners to build up to six self-contained units of housing on a single-family lot. When I first heard of the Mayor’s plan, I was strongly opposed. This is due to the well-known fact, very well-articulated by Professor Patrick Condon, that an increase…
Jean Swanson makes it official: she will run for re-election
On January 13, 2021, COPE Vancouver City Councillor Jean Swanson made it official that she will run for re-election to Council in the October 2022 civic election. This is not just good news for COPE. It is great news for the city as a whole. Councillor Swanson has a very impressive history of activism and…
Vancouver Lost a Treasure: A Toast to John Bishop
I was so terribly sad to recently become aware of the fact that Adam Smith’s invisible hand is at work in Kitsilano. In the Spring of 1985, six months after I had opened my law firm, a remarkable man – John Bishop – opened his incredible restaurant, Bishop’s, on 4th Avenue. Over the years, my…
Hopeful Predictions for 2022
As we move into the new year, I thought I would offer some hopeful predictions for 2022. A SECULAR DEMOCRATIC ISRAEL — While this will almost certainly not come about in 2022, I am cautiously optimistic there will be irreversible progress in this direction this year. My optimism stems, ironically, from the actions of Israel…
Frank Daly: a teacher, a provoker, a vicarious questioner
On Tuesday November 23rd, I attended the funeral of Frank Daly. I was honoured to be asked to speak by his family and after the funeral was over, I felt so strongly about the experience that I wanted to share my words with you. By way of background, I was retained as a lawyer many…