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Non-Partisan Association should die and be replaced, say some, as one group works on creating a “Vancouver First” party

November 20th, 2012 · 52 Comments

I understand my story in the Globe has produced quite a kerfuffle. I await more news.

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Rob Ford wins in Toronto, but (many) sort of right-wingers here don’t see him as a model

October 25th, 2010 · 18 Comments

Rob Ford, the un-PC guy from the burbs, is the new mayor of Toronto, in case you didn’t know. Start reading here. In the meantime, the party that is hoping to shake Vision Vancouver and Gregor Robertson off their perches in Vancouver are looking for who should lead them into battle. They have no one […]

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Gearing up for Vancouver’s 2011 election: fundraisers, nominations and more

October 19th, 2010 · 2 Comments

The Non-Partisan Association is getting into gear this week for next year’s election with a fundraising dinner — an event they used to hold every year but which was noticeable by its absence last year. The event, starting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Italian Cultural Centre (see you there!), should be a good sign […]

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NPA councillor rescinds support for bike lane

October 6th, 2010 · 149 Comments

This out a couple of hours ago. STATEMENT FROM NPA CITY COUNCILLOR SUZANNE ANTON “No one who spoke to council on Tuesday expected to be a part of a Kangeroo council,” says Coun. Anton “On Tuesday night at 11:38pm city council once again held a vote at the end of a marathon meeting that suited […]

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Details on the NPA’s no-name-change vote

June 30th, 2010 · 8 Comments

If the Non-Partisan Association was hoping that a debate over changing its name would draw attention and crowds, that strategy didn’t totally work. A grand total of 42 people appeared at the Vancouver Museum last night to vote on whether to change the name to Vancouver First. (I don’t think attracting crowds was the strategy, […]

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Vision/COPE councillors vote against uncertain tree-preservation plan

June 10th, 2010 · 24 Comments

In spite of a valiant effort by a whole group of people hoping to save the 120-foot tulip tree in the West End, it was a no. Architects Bing Thom and Michael Heeney, the former head of real-estate services for the city, Bruce Maitland, an arborist and a landscape architect were not enough to convince […]

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Upcoming talks on new transportation plan contemplate “road diet”

May 7th, 2010 · 21 Comments

We’ve been seeing a lot of action at city hall lately when it comes to bike lanes in a few areas. But there’s a much bigger, more comprehensive re-think coming in the fall, when the city will start talking about an update to its 1997 Transportation Plan. One topic for sure that is going to […]

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Vision rental program generates backlash, raises questions about future solutions

April 13th, 2010 · 31 Comments

It was the best kind of theatre, being at council last week when West Enders showed up to voice their concerns about the Vision council’s program to create permanent rentals, the Short Term Incentives for Rental or STIR. Councillors tried to keep the bemusement out of their voices, but weren’t all that successful as they […]

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The problem with the VAG moving to Larwill Park? City needs $50 million profit there

March 7th, 2010 · 5 Comments

The ongoing saga of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s efforts to get more space and/or move to another site have been going on for years, starting sometime in the 90s. (There’s a wild conceptual image from that early era of the plan to double the gallery’s space at the existing location, which you can find on […]

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Musing about NPA mayoral candidate begins

July 30th, 2009 · 9 Comments

The folks over at the Georgia Straight had this interesting item about park board commissioner Ian Robertson thinking aloud about running as the mayoral candidate for the Non-Partisan Association next time around. It’s actually not too early to start planning for that — a bare year and a half away, really, or only 18 Critical […]

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