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For the week of July 13, 2025: Former Vancouver Province newspaper reporter Keith Morgan is fulfilling the wish of the late Ruth Kron Sigal, every day. 

Morgan collaborated with the Holocaust survivor on her memoir, Ruta’s Closet, originally published in 2009. Before she died at age 72 in 2008, Sigal urged Morgan to keep telling her story of surviving a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Lithuania. To reach new audiences, to combat antisemitism.

In the aftermath of the the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Ruta’s Closet has been republished. It has spawned a website, a study guide for schoolchildren and a forthcoming podcast series.

Morgan is this week’s guest on thePodcast. 

As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.

CLICK BELOW to listen. Or go to TuneIn, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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For the week of July 13, 2025:

News

Bob Mackin

theBreaker.news has learned that the B.C. NDP Minister of Education quietly ordered all schools to install lifesaving devices to treat cardiac arrest and medicine to reverse overdoses.

But school boards will have to come up with the money to buy automated external defibrillators (AED) and naloxone kits themselves.

NDP Education Minister Lisa Beare (left) at the Fraser Valley Addictions & Recovery Hub. (Instagram).

On June 30, Lisa Beare mandated all school districts to have a policy to respond to unexpected health emergencies at schools in their district.

Specifically, each school must have a readily accessible AED and naloxone kit.

The ministry confirmed that there is no dedicated funding available to pay for the equipment or training.

“Funding for these tools come from provincial operating funding that the ministry provides annually to districts,” said a ministry statement to theBreaker.news.

The ministry said that 97% of school districts have at least one AED available and 85% of districts have naloxone in stock. By Dec. 31, all secondary schools must have an AED and naloxone kit. September 2026 is the deadline for all elementary and middle schools to follow.

Vancouver asked province to help pay for AEDs

AED kit in Steveston. (Mackin)

In January, the Vancouver School Board (VSB) unanimously voted to install AEDs across the district, in response to a campaign by Point Grey Secondary students whose classmate died of cardiac arrest. The $250,000 cost was included in the contingency reserve budget, but trustees voted to ask the Ministers of Health and Education to fully fund the purchase, installation, maintenance and training.

VSB chair Victoria Jung learned of Beare’s order from a reporter.

“We’ve already fulfilled our budget requirements, and we have, as a board, approved our budgets,” Jung said. “Where are we expected to take that money from?”

Schools already feeling the pinch

The president of the B.C. School Trustees Association told the province’s finance and government services committee last month that B.C. is second from last in provincial K-12 education spending as a share of GDP.

“Over the past two decades, funding for public education has declined from 15.49% of the provincial budget in 2001-2002 to a mere 7.97% in 2024-25,” Tracy Loffler said.

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Bob Mackin theBreaker.news has learned that the B.C.

News, Sports

Bob Mackin

Unlike hotel rooms, nearly all B.C. Supreme Court rooms in the Lower Mainland will be empty during FIFA World Cup 26.

B.C. Chief Justice Ron Skolrood (B.C. Courts)

Chief Justice Ronald Skolrood announced July 7 that there be no criminal trials or civil jury trials in Vancouver, New Westminster, Abbotsford or Chilliwack from June 12-July 8, 2026 due to public safety, traffic and crowd control measures that require police and B.C. Sheriff Service resources.

Preliminary judgment

“Downtown Vancouver and other areas of the Lower Mainland may see heavy traffic congestion,” Skolrood wrote. “Hotel rooms may be difficult to secure for deliberating juries or for out-of-town witnesses. The full extent of the impacts is uncertain and will remain so for some time.”

Skolrood said the courts will handle urgent matters and emergency hearings during the period when seven matches will be played at B.C. Place Stadium.

FIFA’s contract with City of Vancouver requires a large portion of downtown around the stadium must be closed to public vehicle traffic on each match day and each day prior to a match. A fan festival running for the duration of the tournament will take place in and around the new Freedom Mobile Arch PNE Amphitheatre.

Big house inside the big house

A temporary jail will be built inside B.C. Place Stadium.

  • The hosting requirements handbook, obtained by theBreaker.news, said each of the 16 venues requires an on-site security post, police station, police authority briefing room for at least 30 officers and a police detention facility.

  • “At each stadium, at least one detention facility shall be installed in accordance with the local requirements,” the handbook said.

Law Courts Vancouver (Joe Mabel)

Waiting for fed funds

B.C. Pavilion Corp. revealed another section to theBreaker.news of the January 2022 stadium contract with FIFA during the ongoing adjudication through the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

  • It states that the stadium must provide safety and security certificates to FIFA from relevant authorities no later than Sept. 30.

“The government and the competent governmental authorities of the host country will be responsible for the overall safety and security of the competition in the host country, including the development and implementation of a detailed and comprehensive overall safety and security concept in relation to hosting and staging the competition.”

Why it matters: Public Safety Canada has not revealed the overall security budget for Vancouver and Toronto’s participation in the World Cup.

    • The NDP government’s June budget update, estimating hosting could be as much as $624 million, said the province, City of Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport Authority “anticipate that the federal government will be a full partner in helping to manage and fund extraordinary risks that materialize for the FIFA World Cup 26 event, such as potential global economic downturns, natural disasters like fires and floods and increasing threat levels from rising geopolitical tensions.”

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Bob Mackin Unlike hotel rooms, nearly all B.C.

News, Opinion

For the week of July 6, 2025: The MMA Panel returns to analyze the second quarter of 2025.

What happened? Donald Trump helped make the Liberal Party great again (rather than the Conservatives). It was an “orange crash” for Jagmeet Singh’s NDP. B.C. Premier David Eby continued his “elbows up” campaign, then outsourced ferry-building to a Chinese state-owned shipyard. Vancouver voters gave Mayor Ken Sim’s by-election candidates the thumbs down — those who endured the hours-long waits at the chaotic polling stations, that is. And the Metro Vancouver spending controversy continued. 

Join host Bob Mackin with Mario Canseco, president of Research Co., and Andy Yan, director of the Simon Fraser University City Program.

As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.

CLICK BELOW to listen. Or go to TuneIn, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.

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For the week of July 6, 2025:

News, Sports

Bob Mackin

More than two years after being named a FIFA World Cup 26 co-host, more of B.C. Place Stadium’s contract with FIFA has been provided to theBreaker.news.

Previously censored clauses in the agreement show that FIFA requires a minimum 5% or 2,250 seats, whichever is higher, for each match at 54,500-seat B.C. Place. There is an exception for matches featuring the host country. Canada will play two group matches in June 2026 at B.C. Place, so the amount of tickets not for sale to the public will be greater: 8%, or a minimum 3,000 tickets, whichever is higher, will be set aside for FIFA.

Inside B.C. Place Stadium (Mackin)

The seats not available for public sale are in the media tribune and areas for very important persons and very-very important persons.

Further information is contained in the FWC Hosting Requirements manual, which bases estimates on a ticketed capacity of 50,000. It says a minority of tickets in each stadium will be available to the public.

“The overarching assumption is for total ticket allocation for the general public and organized team supporters’ amounts up to a maximum of 40% of the total capacity (40% of 50,000 = 20,000) as follows: 20% of stadium tickets to two playing participating member associations and additional 20% of tickets to public market,” says the manual.”

At a June 10, Greater Vancouver Board of Trade banquet, Jessie Adcock, the executive lead of the civic organizing committee, warned that few tickets would be available locally when they go on sale this fall under a lottery system, “that is why we are focusing on the Fan Festival [at the PNE grounds].”

Vancouver city hall politicians and senior bureaucrats have an inside track to tickets.

The FIFA World Cup 2026: Host Committees Rights and Assets pamphlet said 1.5% of tickets per hosted match are available to host committees prior to public sale. “These tickets can be used to assist fundraising efforts and included as part of a host city supporter package,” the pamphlet says.

FIFA also provides host cities with 175 to 250 complimentary VIP tickets at each match in the city. Host cities are also eligible for a small amount of tickets at matches they don’t host, such as four to the tournament opener, four to each semifinal and four to the final. Those tickets are not available for public purchase and cannot be resold.

theBreaker.news awaits the results of an adjudication through the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for more of the stadium contract with B.C. Pavilion Corp.

The NDP government revealed last month that 2026 hosting costs could reach $624 million, not including the anticipated federal safety and security funding. The 2022 estimate was as low as $240 million.

Meanwhile, Vancouver city council is expected to rubber-stamp spending another $3.67 million with Deloitte, a FIFA partner.

The July 9 agenda for the standing committee on policy and strategic priorities includes a recommendation to increase the contract to $7.6 million for additional ServiceNow services.

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Bob Mackin More than two years after being

News

Bob Mackin

The former chief of staff to the Mayor of Vancouver said he had no role in a post on X that alleged police caught Ken Sim driving under the influence.

Kareem Allam responded June 30 with his defence statement against Sim’s May 23-filed B.C. Supreme Court defamation lawsuit.

Sim accused Allam and real estate developer Alex G. Tsakumis of intending to damage his reputation by falsely accusing him of drunk driving. They both deny Sim’s accusations and none of the allegations has been tested in court.

Kareem Allam (Twitter)

Tsakumis fought back in his June 30 defence statement, saying Sim’s “true reputation” is that of someone who occasionally consumes alcohol to excess and attends events as a candidate or elected official in a state of intoxication.

In Allam’s statement of defence, he said he spoke with Tsakumis, a longtime acquaintance with whom he is politically aligned, in February 2023. Allam, who was Sim’s chief of staff at the time, said he told Tsakumis that he had received a troubling phone call from a senior staff member in the mayor’s office. The staffer informed him that Sim had been stopped by Vancouver Police officers for driving while intoxicated and that officers allowed Sim to leave without being charged.

Allam considered it a potential crisis and Tsakumis told him that he had heard the account elsewhere. He said Tsakumis reminded him of the 2003 incident in which then-Premier Gordon Campbell was caught driving under the influence in Hawaii.

According to Allam, Tsakumis “advised [Allam] that if the account turned out to be true, the defendant should advise the plaintiff to provide a mea culpa as former Premier Campbell had done.”

Allam said he was fired days later.

In November 2023, Tsakumis posted on X that Sim had been caught driving drunk and let go by police.

Allam’s defence statement said he had no intention that the statements to Tsakumis early in the year be republished and he had no involvement in Tsakumis’s posts on X.

In February 2025, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) cleared Sim of the drunk driving allegations, but refused to release its report. OPCC said Sim was not the target of its investigation. Instead, it focused on the conduct of Vancouver Police officers.

Allam’s filing, by lawyer Wes McMillan, said that if a judge deems his statements to be defamatory, then he is protected by the defences of justification, fair comment, and qualified privilege.

“Insofar as the words consist of expressions of opinion, they are fair comment on a matter of public interest, recognizable as such by the ordinary reasonable person, specifically: the conduct of and standards to which elected officials are to be held; and the discretion exercised by the police in the performance of their duties,” said Allam’s statement of defence.

Last month, Allam said he is pondering whether to run against Sim in the 2026 civic election.

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Bob Mackin The former chief of staff to

Business, News

Bob Mackin

The year after Victoria city council cancelled Canada Day events, then-Mayor Lisa Helps sold the 2022 sponsorship to a shopping mall tycoon with ties to the Chinese government.

Documents obtained by theBreaker.news under freedom of information show Helps met with an executive from Weihong (Ruby) Liu’s Central Walk, who agreed to the $100,000 package.

Before Helps met with Fang Sun for breakfast, she emailed a City of Victoria business and community relations manager about her plan to “lock them in as a sponsor for this year and the next two years as well.”

City of Victoria Canada Day sponsorship solicitation. (Victoria/FOI)

Victoria cancelled the 2020 and 2021 in-person events due to the pandemic. A substitute broadcast for 2021’s Canada Day was postponed after the false claim in May 2021 that a mass grave was found on the former Kamloops Indian Residential School site. Helps still made it a primary theme of the relaunched 2022 event.

“She already informally said ‘yes’ but I would like to solidify it with supporting materials,” Helps wrote in a March 12, 2022 email. “Could I review the deck on Wednesday afternoon so that I can make sure it will appeal to this particular donor, and make any changes in a timely way.”

The deck touted a VIP reception (“Exclusive networking event with dignitaries and other special guests”), social media presence, mainstream media exposure, on-site recognition and brand activation.

Helps asked for an image of fireworks to be used for the last slide. “Also, one more thing, can you personalize the last slide make it say ‘Opportunity for Central Walk as Flagship Sponsor’.” It does not mention why Helps did not suggest Mayfair Shopping Centre be on the marquee, the year after Central Walk bought the 1963-opened property.

Sun responded March 20, 2022.

“I reported to Ms Liu Friday evening about our breakfast meeting; she is happy,” Sun wrote. “Yes, Central Walk will sponsor Canada Day for 2022, very possibly 23 and 24.”

They agreed to a May 30 contract that called the event “Victoria Canada Day presented by Central Walk” and included where, when and how the company would be promoted.

Deadline for the $100,000 payment was June 15, but the invoice went out a week late.

Weihong Liu (WeChat)

Central Walk, however, did not exercise the option for 2023.

Liu’s Central Walk originated in Shenzhen, China. She has held positions on the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Guangdong Overseas Friendship Association and Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Political Consultative Conference, an arm of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

In January 2023, Tsawwassen Mills hosted a Lunar New Yeark event that involved the Chinese consul general and several pro-Beijing groups that support the consulate.

In a June 2023 interview with the 56 Below TV YouTube outlet, Liu denied she is a “white glove” or proxy for the CCP.

Fast forward to 2025, and Liu is seeking bankruptcy court approval to take over 28 former Hudson’s Bay Company store leases for her Ruby Liu concept (Canadian Tire bought the defunct Bay’s trademarks).

She has secured the leases at the Central Walk-owned Woodgrove Centre (Nanaimo), Mayfair Shopping Centre (Victoria) and Tsawwassen Mills properties. Landlords for 23 locations, however, are opposed.

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and Consul-General Tong Xiaoling (Mackin)

As for Helps, she did not run for re-election in 2022. Instead, she became an advisor to Premier David Eby and then executive lead for the NDP government’s BC Builds project.

Helps was one of the few big city mayors who attended the Chinese government-sponsored reception at the 2019 Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention. Port Coquitlam Mayor Brad West led a boycott based on China’s human rights record and kidnapping of the Two Michaels.

In an interview at the receiption, Helps said she was proud of her good relationship with the Chinese consulate and Victoria’s sister city relationship with Suzhou, China.

As for China’s human rights record, Helps said “that’s not my role as mayor to deal with those issues. That’s far beyond my pay grade, my job is to advocate on behalf of my citizens and work for sustainable jobs and sustainable community in Victoria. I can’t solve those problems.”

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Bob Mackin The year after Victoria city council

Business, News

Bob Mackin

One of the targets of Ken Sim’s defamation lawsuit accuses the Mayor of Vancouver of showing up drunk at several political and government events.

In his May 23-filed, B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit, Sim said former chief of staff Kareem Allam and real estate developer Alex G. Tsakumis intended to damage his reputation by falsely accusing him of drinking and driving.

Tsakumis responded June 30 with a defence statement that includes a list of incidents involving Sim as far back as 1989, when he pleaded guilty to failing to stop under the Motor Vehicle Act after being charged with dangerous driving.

Alex G. Tsakumis

Tsakumis’s filing said Allam told him on or about Feb. 2, 2023 that Sim “had been stopped by police who suspected the plaintiff of driving while under the influence.” Allam, who managed Sim’s victorious 2022 campaign, was fired four days later.

“[Sim’s] true reputation is as a politician and businessman who occasionally consumes alcohol to excess, including at events attended in his capacity as a candidate for election or as elected municipal official,” said the Tsakumis response, filed by lawyer Scott Dawson.

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The alleged incidents of concern include being drunk while attending an NPA nomination meeting in June 2018 at the Hellenic Community Centre in Vancouver, during the February 2023 funeral of beloved ex-Vancouver Canuck Gino Odjick, at a hotel in Toronto for the Federation of Canadian Municipalities May 2023 conference and ceremonies during the Greek Day and Khatsahlano street festivals in his first summer as mayor.

“On at least two occasions during the plaintiff’s first six months as the mayor of Vancouver, a special advisor to the mayor’s office and a senior party executive sought advice from this defendant, including advice related to the plaintiff’s alcohol consumption,” said the Tsakumis defence statement.

Sim’s lawsuit pointed to a post by Tsakumis on X, formerly Twitter, in November 2023 that alleged police pulled Sim over on 4th Avenue close to his Point Grey home, but did not book him. “Why? How? If true, he should resign. Immediately.”

None of the allegations has been tested in court. June 30 was also the deadline for Allam to file his statement of defence.

In February, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) cleared Sim of the drunk driving allegations, but refused to release its report. OPCC said Sim was not the target of its investigation. Instead, it focused on the conduct of Vancouver Police officers.

Sim has said he is seeking re-election in 2026. Allam might run against him.

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Bob Mackin One of the targets of Ken

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Bob Mackin

The B.C. NDP government says it does not know when it will release a copy of the FIFA World Cup 26 agreement with City of Vancouver and three first nations.

But it confirms that Premier David Eby and Mayor Ken Sim’s purported June 27 memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh leaders was actually signed before last fall’s election.

Premier David Eby (left) on June 27 at the Musqueam soccer pitch with Squamish Nation spokesperson Wilson Williams and Musqueam Chief Wayne Sparrow. (BC Gov/YouTube)

“The MOU will be made available when all signatories have consented to publication, and it will be posted online on the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation website,” said a prepared statement from spokesperson Jill Nessel of the Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport ministry.

Nessel would not disclose what is in the agreement, but revealed it was signed 10 months ago.

“The MOU between the Nations, the Province and the City of Vancouver was signed in September 2024, allowing foundational work to begin among the partners.”

The first World Cup match in Canada is June 11, 2026 in Toronto, to be followed two days later by Vancouver. With 346 days left, there is still no multiparty agreement to define the responsibilities of the governments of Canada, Ontario, B.C., Toronto and Vancouver.

Nessel said it would be released publicly when finalized.

Asked whether it would be finalized next month, next quarter or next year, she said: “No timelines are available for finalizing the multiparty agreement or for the release of the MOU.”

By comparison, the multiparty agreement for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics was created before the International Olympic Committee chose Vancouver on July 2, 2003.

Bracing for downtown security closures, traffic detours

Vancouver city hall has given a no-bid World Cup contract to a consultant that specializes in getting controversial development projects over the finish line.

On June 26, the city published a notice of intent for a “FIFA World Cup 26 Vancouver Community Outreach Support” contract with Kirk and Co. Value is $30,000 for three months, with the possibility of extensions.

“These services include but are not limited to: Supporting proactive notification to residents, businesses and other stakeholders,” said the city notice. “Delivering information sessions for community stakeholders.”

July 10 is the deadline for a competitor to contest the contract award.

B.C. Place Stadium is hosting seven matches and there will be impediments to those that work and live in the area due to transportation and security closures. Vancouver’s contract with FIFA calls for closure of a wide area around Northeast False Creek on every match day and every day before a match. The area could be almost as big as the 2010 Olympics closures. theBreaker.news has confirmed that Costco, across from Rogers Arena, contacted the city’s host committee lead, Jessie Adcock, about its concerns for customers and goods shipments.

City hall has denied every request by theBreaker.news to interview Adcock since her January 2024 hiring.

Likewise, Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Area executive director Jane Talbot has refused a June interview request about impacts to downtown businesses and what is being done to mitigate any harm.

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Kirk and Co. has worked since 2016 with the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh real estate partnership, MST Developments, and Canada Lands Co. on the Jericho Lands project. Vancouver city council approved the plan in principle, despite local opposition to skyscrapers.

Since 2019, Kirk and Co. has worked on the twice-delayed, nearly $3 billion Broadway Subway project. Some businesses affected by construction barriers and parking restrictions have moved, closed or demanded compensation. SkyTrain is scheduled to roll to Arbutus in fall 2027.

On June 24, the province estimated it could cost up to $624 million to host seven matches at B.C. Place and the tournament-long PNE fan festival in June and July 2026. But that does not include necessary federal security funding.

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Bob Mackin The B.C. NDP government says it

News, Opinion

For the week of June 29, 2025: thePodcast before Canada Day and U.S. Independence Day explores two urgent cross-border security issues. 

Hear Canada’s fentanyl czar, Kevin Brosseau, deliver the keynote speech to the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute’s 2025 Asset Recovery conference. The former senior RCMP officer outlines the most-important assignment of his career. 

Alan Mullen, who was chief of staff to the B.C. legislature’s 2017-2020 speaker Darryl Plecas, reflects on his meeting with the late Melissa Hortman. Mullen said Canadian authorities must do more to combat political violence after the June 14 assassination of the Minnesota legislature’s ex-speaker.

As usual, Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and the Virtual Nanaimo Bar.

CLICK BELOW to listen. Or go to TuneIn, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Have you missed an edition of theBreaker.news Podcast? Go to the archive.

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For the week of June 29, 2025:

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theBreaker.news and theBreaker.news Podcast: your source for news, opinion and analysis about British Columbia issues, institutions and influencers.

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