The Richmond RCMP charges against five people accused of running a dial-a-dope-and-gun operation in Richmond, New West and Vancouver likely would have been a short story in the Richmond paper, except for one thing: the name of one of the accused, which rang a bell for Richmond Review reporter Martin van den Hemel. It turned [...]

[Read more →]

A relevant article from the Toronto Star that will be of interest here, given the number of strange and, as it turns out, completely erroneous polls that were published in the two months leading up to the election, e.g. the NPA poll that said Suzanne Anton was running neck and neck with Gregor Robertson, a [...]

[Read more →]

As I sit waiting for my shallots for the cranberry sauce to roast, Christmas wishes to all of you, including my non-Christian friends hunting for open Chinese restaurants today. It’s funny how, even when you’re half a century from being a child, you still wake up on Christmas morning feeling excited, transported to a special [...]

[Read more →]

In case you haven’t seen it elsewhere. I have to say, what is with all these memos and staff change announcements being put out at such odd times? From: Johnston, Sadhu Sent: Monday, December 19, 2011 4:09 PM To: Direct to Mayor and Council – DL Cc: Corporate Management Team (COV) – DL; Coulson, Marg [...]

[Read more →]

I’ve had a few calls about a blog post that appeared on the site of Curve Communications, the company that belongs to new councillor George Affleck. In it, someone who appears to be a staffer trying to root for the boss wrote that Curve Communications, as well as Affleck, had received “a three-year mandate” from [...]

[Read more →]

I got sent this internal Penhy Ballem memo Friday night, one that many city staffers themselves missed, as they downed tools early Friday afternoon in preparation for the annual two-week shutdown at the hall. (Rather an odd time for such an announcement, really — the ultimate “we don’t want people to see this” timing.) As [...]

[Read more →]

For the last several years, Vancouver businesses have seen their taxes significantly lowered and even, in some years, frozen, as a result of the city’s policy of shifting the proportion of taxes between businesses and residents. It appears that’s going to change significantly this year. Many people understood during the election that a new Vision [...]

[Read more →]

I’m just reading an interesting paper published this year by UBC law professor Douglas Harris about the rise of the condo in North American and particularly Vancouver. As of the 2006 census, he noted, 37 per cent of all residents of Vancouver lived in a strata condo. I can only imagine what the percentage will [...]

[Read more →]

In case anyone feels they haven’t had a chance to fully express themselves yet about the story of the bear that road into town on a garbage truck and popped into the media eye someone around the central branch of the Vancouver Public Library. I see one of our regular bloggers here got the first, [...]

[Read more →]

For those who missed it in the paper, here in my late link to the story in last Friday’s paper, detailing concerns from the within the board of First United and the executive of the Vancouver-Burrard presbytery about the shelter at First United. Rev. Ric Matthews did not return a couple of calls I made [...]

[Read more →]