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February 16, 2009 - 1:19pm
Vancouver is taking an active role in managing the Olympic village project by putting in its own project overseer hired from the private sector, while at the same time working to finalize new financing for the village.The move positions the city to take over from the private developer, Millennium...
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February 12, 2009 - 12:30pm
Taking time out from elbowing environmental issues and cross-checking crime, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson is the latest high-profile personality slated to do his part to high-stick homelessness next week. Robertson has agreed to take part in Hockey for the Homeless on Friday (February 20) at...
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February 10, 2009 - 12:08pm
Vancouver's latest cold-weather shelter is a former auto-repair shop converted to a warm room holding 30 beds.
The $40,000 shelter, at 1442 Howe St., is already full, with occupants sleeping on temporary floor mattresses. The city, the province and the Streetohome Foundation spent $500,000 each to...
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February 9, 2009 - 11:45am
Barack Obama is doing it. Stephen Harper is doing it. Gordon Campbell is doing it.
And now the question some cities are considering is what they can do to help boost the economy through their own little stimulus packages - even though they have nowhere near the spending clout or flexibility of the...
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February 6, 2009 - 10:50am
To close or not to close. Whether to keep elementary and secondary schools open during the 2010 Games is the question the Vancouver School Board will finally answer Feb. 16.
"I'm personally leaning towards keeping the schools open and just allowing kids to enjoy the spirit of the Olympics...
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February 5, 2009 - 12:37pm
Faced with a $10-million shortfall in anticipated revenue and a stiff property-tax hike, Vancouver has moved to an emergency financial footing. City councillors voted unanimously yesterday to have city manager Penny Ballem:
- Consider pay and hiring freezes and early retirements;
- Review all...
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February 5, 2009 - 11:29am
There is an argument to be made for the city refusing to hire a mental health advocate. The NPA made it when it held the majority on council last time around and Vision Vancouver councillors failed to get a motion passed asking for the position to be created.
Lone NPA Coun. Suzanne Anton made it...
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January 16, 2009 - 11:22am
Here's to you, Mr. Robertson. A month or so into his three-year run as the mayor of all the people of Vancouver, he's in danger of getting two minutes for looking so good, and I don't mean his finely chiselled features. The new guy, who didn't light much of a fire during his campaign run for the...
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January 15, 2009 - 10:45am
You would be dreaming if at this point you still thought the mess at the Olympic Village wasn't going to cost us all something. And you would be misleading yourself if you didn't see the in camera council decision in June of 2007 to sign a "completion guarantee" as the major turning point...
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January 15, 2009 - 10:36am
Why are taxpayers on the hook for the $1 billion cost of the 2010 Olympic Village project when city council originally promised it would be built at no risk to taxpayers?
The question comes with a complicated answer that became clearer Monday, with councillors pointing to a June 2007 in...
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January 15, 2009 - 10:29am
One of the great indignities in life is not being able to maintain one's station, that is, having been able to locate it first.
There are few who will disavow the efforts that would land them in such a position, and the dishonour, of course, being the greater parcel of such linear self-humiliation...
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January 15, 2009 - 10:21am
I'm back to blogland, and to city council, where some curious commentary was offered up during this afternoon's debate on the motion to have the province crack open the city's charter to allow it to borrow without a referendum.
There's been a lot said about the motive behind the leak about the...
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January 5, 2009 - 2:02pm
Vision Vancouver park-board chair Raj Hundal told the Straight that he and his caucus have approached general manager Susan Mundick about adding to the board’s lone committee.
“There will most definitely be a finance committee, which is typically the norm,” Hundal told the...
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January 5, 2009 - 10:40am
A Vancouver city councillor wants to have a mental health advocate working for the city within a few months to help address the lack of mental health services.
Vision Vancouver Coun. Kerry Jang said he will introduce motions this month in the council chambers to begin the search for a mental health...
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December 19, 2008 - 4:39pm
A Vancouver city councillor says he plans to push for changes to B.C.'s Residential Tenancy Act to allow tenants displaced for renovation work to return to their homes and pay the same monthly rent.
While Coun. Tim Stevenson's proposal, known as "first right of refusal" is popular with...
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December 19, 2008 - 4:32pm
Vancouver's new mayor has moved quickly to act on his biggest election promise, appointing a new committee to tackle the homeless problem.
One day after being sworn in, Gregor Robertson announced the creation of the Homeless Emergency Action Team to help people get off the streets and into safe...
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December 15, 2008 - 12:23pm
A few busy Vancouver streets could be car-free every Sunday this summer if a new Vancouver councillor gets her way.
In recent years, community groups have closed some main shopping streets such as Commercial Drive to all vehicles except buses for one day a year, and staged ad hoc street festivals,...
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December 15, 2008 - 12:08pm
At the Tuesday (December 16) council meeting, Vision Vancouver councillors will bring forward six notices of motion to push forward their campaign promises.
Coun. George Chow will introduce a motion that calls upon staff to prepare a report and implementation plan by February 16, 2009 that has...
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November 16, 2008 - 1:32pm
Vancouver’s mayor-elect says homelessness will be his first priority when he takes office in December. Gregor Robertson of the Vision Vancouver party defeated Peter Ladner of the Non-Partisan Association by 18,804 votes in the civic election on Saturday to replace Sam Sullivan as the next...
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November 16, 2008 - 1:19pm
Vision Vancouver mayor-elect Gregor Robertson said the first items on his agenda are to tackle homelessness and bring transparency to the Olympic Village project.
"Job number one is calling together an emergency task force on homelessness and working on solutions to getting people off the...
Taking time out from elbowing environmental issues and cross-checking crime, Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson is the latest high-profile personality slated to do his part to high-stick homelessness next week. Robertson has agreed to take part in Hockey for the Homeless on Friday (February 20) at...
Barack Obama is doing it. Stephen Harper is doing it. Gordon Campbell is doing it. And now the question some cities are considering is what they can do to help boost the economy through their own little stimulus packages - even though they have nowhere near the spending clout or flexibility of the...
Faced with a $10-million shortfall in anticipated revenue and a stiff property-tax hike, Vancouver has moved to an emergency financial footing. City councillors voted unanimously yesterday to have city manager Penny Ballem: - Consider pay and hiring freezes and early retirements; - Review all...
You would be dreaming if at this point you still thought the mess at the Olympic Village wasn't going to cost us all something. And you would be misleading yourself if you didn't see the in camera council decision in June of 2007 to sign a "completion guarantee" as the major turning point...
Why are taxpayers on the hook for the $1 billion cost of the 2010 Olympic Village project when city council originally promised it would be built at no risk to taxpayers? The question comes with a complicated answer that became clearer Monday, with councillors pointing to a June 2007 in...
One of the great indignities in life is not being able to maintain one's station, that is, having been able to locate it first. There are few who will disavow the efforts that would land them in such a position, and the dishonour, of course, being the greater parcel of such linear self-humiliation...
Vision Vancouver park-board chair Raj Hundal told the Straight that he and his caucus have approached general manager Susan Mundick about adding to the board’s lone committee. “There will most definitely be a finance committee, which is typically the norm,” Hundal told the...
A few busy Vancouver streets could be car-free every Sunday this summer if a new Vancouver councillor gets her way. In recent years, community groups have closed some main shopping streets such as Commercial Drive to all vehicles except buses for one day a year, and staged ad hoc street festivals,...
Vancouver’s mayor-elect says homelessness will be his first priority when he takes office in December. Gregor Robertson of the Vision Vancouver party defeated Peter Ladner of the Non-Partisan Association by 18,804 votes in the civic election on Saturday to replace Sam Sullivan as the next...
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