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No B.C. NDP cabinet ministers flying to COP 30

Bob Mackin

Premier David Eby’s cabinet includes a Minister of Environment and Parks and two other ministers whose titles include the word “climate.”

But none will attend the United Nations annual climate change conference in Brazil, theBreaker.news has confirmed.

NDP ministers Adrian Dix (left), Tamara Davidson and Kelly Greene. (BC Gov)

The 30th Conference of the Parties (COP 30) began Nov. 10 in Belem and runs through Nov. 21 in the Hangar Convention and Fair Centre of the Amazon.

NDP not at COP

Peter Lonergan, a senior public affairs officer in the Ministry of Energy and Climate Solutions communications office, confirmed that “the province is not sending any representatives to COP 30 this year.”

Lonergan has not provided a reason.

Eby’s cabinet includes Kelly Greene, Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness, Adrian Dix, Minister of Energy and Climate Solutions and Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs and Tamara Davidson, Minister of Environment and Parks.

Also on the agenda

The biennial NDP convention is Nov. 14-16 in Victoria. The Legislative Assembly reopens Nov. 17. Despite the fractured Conservative opposition and the NDP’s deal with the two-member Green caucus, Eby’s party still has a slim, 47-seat edge in the 93-seat Legislature.

Controversy

A new four-lane highway was cut through the Amazon for the conference.

Previously

George Heyman, who was the NDP Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy before the 2024 election, attended UN conferences.

At the 2023 conference in oil-and-gas-rich Dubai, Heyman was accompanied by chief of staff Charlie Brenchley and assistant deputy minister Jeremy Hewitt,

Heyman posted photos on X showing meetings with officials from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, governments of Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador and California, and students from B.C.’s two biggest universities.

At the Egypt conference in 2022, Heyman and two others charged taxpayers more than $18,000 for transportation costs. Heyman got authorization to spend more than $9,000 on lodging and $1,700 for meals.

In 2021, Heyman’s administrative coordinator, Alyssa Hrenyk, arranged for a car at the cost of $450 to take Heyman, Hewitt and an aide to a train station about 75 minutes out of Glasgow, to see a ScotRail electric train containing hydrogen fuel cell modules supplied by Burnaby’s Ballard Power.

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November 10, 2025

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Bob Mackin Premier David Eby’s cabinet includes a

News, Opinion

thePodcast: Carney’s ‘deficit up’ budget

For the week of Nov. 9, 2025:

“Canada strong” is the theme of the Liberal minority government’s first post-Trudeau budget. The editor of the Substack Shipping News, which analyzes trade and shipping trends on the West Coast, says the Mark Carney government’s most successful nation-building project is the national debt.

Timothy Renshaw joins host Bob Mackin to look beyond the slogans at the former Bank of Canada and Bank of England’s first budget and the bottom line: a $78.3 billion deficit.

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

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thePodcast: Carney's 'deficit up' budget

00:00 / 00:22:11

November 9, 2025

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For the week of Nov. 9, 2025:

Business, News

Carney kicks another $100 million into FIFA World Cup 26

Bob Mackin

FIFA World Cup 26 is scoring another $100 million from Canadian taxpayers “to bolster federal activities that will support the hosting,” according to the Carney Liberal government’s Nov. 4 budget.

Last year, the feds gave Vancouver $116 million and Toronto $104 million.

The new funding is split $57 million through March and $43 million April onward.

It will be spread around to the Department of Canadian Heritage, RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canadian Air Transport Security Authority and Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Like the rest of the budget, it is subject to House of Commons approval.

Prime Minister Mark Carney (left) and Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne. (PMO/X)

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November 6, 2025

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Bob Mackin FIFA World Cup 26 is scoring

Business, News

Exclusive: City of Vancouver union heads warn members to expect 400 layoffs

Bob Mackin

Leaders of City of Vancouver’s three unions say 400 jobs will be axed under Mayor Ken Sim’s draft budget.

Two thirds of the job cuts are anticipated to be from the unionized ranks, said a late afternoon memo to union members on Nov. 5 from acting CUPE Local 15 president Santino Scardillo, CUPE Local 1040 administrator Rob Limongelli and CUPE Local 391 president Amir Abbey.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim at the June 11 one-year countdown to FIFA 26. (Mackin)

“At this stage, we don’t know exactly what these potential job cuts would look like or how they might be implemented,” said the memo. “It is not clear whether the positions would be eliminated or reduced through attrition (leaving vacancies unfilled as people move on or retire).

City of Vancouver employs 11,000 people or 9,600 full-time equivalents.

Timeline

City council has scheduled a Nov. 12 public hearing on the budget and expects to pass the $2.39 billion operating plan two weeks later on Nov. 26.

“This proposed budget would not only have a serious impact on workers, but it will also likely have far reaching consequences for public services throughout Vancouver’s communities and neighbourhoods,” said the CUPE memo.

What does zero really mean?

Sim is running for re-election on a “zero means zero” property tax increase. But Vancouverites will be dinged 4.2% more for utilities, 2-5% more for recreation user fees and 4.5% more for business licences and permits.

Police ($525.3 million) and fire ($215 million) are getting increases under the ABC budget.

In an Oct. 16 all-staff meeting, city manager Donny van Dyk and deputy city manager Karen Levitt said FIFA World Cup 26 and the civic election are other programs protected from budget cuts.

“So we have no wiggle room in terms of delivering what we need to deliver. It’s a contractual obligation [to FIFA],” Levitt said.

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November 5, 2025

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Bob Mackin Leaders of City of Vancouver’s three

Business, News

Secrecy and spin are damaging democracy

Bob Mackin

Government secrecy and spin are damaging democracy, say information commissioners and ombudspersons from across Canada.

In a 16-point call to action issued Nov. 5, the watchdogs called for governments to adopt a suite of measures to enhance transparency and accountability at public institutions and combat rampant misinformation.

“When public institutions are not transparent, or when they communicate in a way that is misleading, this too can undermine trust and allow misinformation to flourish,” said the declaration. “Citizens may try to fill the void otherwise, by drawing their own conclusions based on incomplete or inaccurate information. This can fuel conspiracy theories and prevent citizens from meaningfully holding their governments to account based on facts rather than fiction.”

Highlights

Federal, provincial and territorial information commissioners at their 2025 meeting in Banff. (Credit: Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta)

The joint resolution on “Trust, transparency, and democracy in an era of misinformation” was agreed at the federal, provincial and territorial watchdogs’ annual meeting in Banff on Oct. 10, but published the day after the federal budget.

It urges governments to enact duty to document laws and set minimum standards for proactive disclosure; properly fund access and transparency programs in public institutions; support media and civil society promotion of the public’s right to know; and regulate online platforms for greater transparency.

“The regulators also commit to improving their own transparency practices, collaborating with other oversight bodies, and reducing delays in access to information processes.”

Failure to investigate

British Columbia’s signatory is Information and Privacy Commissioner Michael Harvey, an import from Newfoundland and Labrador. Harvey was appointed in April 2024 to a six-year term after the recommendation of a majority NDP committee of the Legislature.

At least twice in the last year, Harvey’s office has refused to investigate deletion of records in the Office of the Premier and at the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation.

In October 2024, the OIPC told theBreaker.news that it would not investigate an incident in Premier David Eby’s office. Someone working for the NDP premier mixed-up social media messages in memory of the Holocaust with the anniversary of a mass-shooting at a Quebec mosque, but deleted internal correspondence about the incident.

The OIPC cited “limited resources” in March 2025 when it refused to investigate Park Board commissioners with Mayor Ken Sim’s ABC Vancouver party. They admitted using the Signal messaging app during a meeting and deleted all the messages.

Under B.C.’s FOI law, deleting records is punishable by a fine of up to $50,000.

Vancouver’s Integrity Commissioner Lisa Southern confirmed ABC’s widespread Signal use in order to keep meetings secret.

How much it costs

In the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the B.C. OIPC spent $11.57 million. Harvey is asking for a $12.25 million budget for the year beginning April 1, 2026.

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November 5, 2025

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Bob Mackin Government secrecy and spin are damaging

Business, News

Exclusive: Federal agency favours FIFA ticket purchases to boost B.C.

Bob Mackin

FIFA World Cup 26 is scoring another $100 million from Canadian taxpayers “to bolster federal activities that will support the hosting,” according to the Carney Liberal government’s Nov. 4 budget.

Last year, the feds gave Vancouver $116 million and Toronto $104 million.

The new funding is split $57 million through March and $43 million April onward.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino and Prime Minister Mark Carney on Oct. 10, 2025. (FIFA)

Like the rest of the budget, it is subject to House of Commons approval.

Is it enough?

The Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport, under the NDP’s Anne Kang, is responsible for hosting in B.C. theBreaker.news asked for comment at 1:22 p.m. A manager in the ministry’s communications office asked a minute later for the deadline and theBreaker.news responded immediately: “4:30 p.m.”

But, at 3:09 p.m., communications director Jill Nessel emailed: “Given the budget has just been tabled it is too soon for the province to comment. Can you circle back at a later date please?”

Last June, when it revised hosting costs upward to as much as $624 million, the province acknowledged the projections were incomplete.

“The province and its partners 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.”

More to come?

At October’s Vancouver International Security Summit, B.C. RCMP Asst. Comm. John Brewer told theBreaker.news that the Mounties are waiting to set a budget after December’s announcement of Vancouver-bound national teams. Canada is scheduled to play in two of the seven B.C. Place Stadium matches.

“What I don’t want is to say to the various levels of governments, ‘here’s the budget we need,’ to find out that we’re too low or even too high. I don’t want sticker shock either,” Brewer said.

Sticker shock history

The Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics security budget was $175 million until a year before the Games, when it ballooned to $900 million.

Looking south

In the U.S., the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Oct. 28 that it will provide US$625 million in grants to the 11 American host cities for “critical security preparations and activities like training and exercises, staff background checks and cybersecurity defence, as well as increased police and emergency response for FIFA venues, hotels and transportation hubs.”

Under a separate program, Department of Homeland Security is granting US$250 million to nine states and the national capital region to combat illegal drone use during World Cup and national America 250 events.

Both programs were established under Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

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November 4, 2025

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Bob Mackin FIFA World Cup 26 is scoring

News, Opinion

thePodcast: Geopolitical analyst ponders Canada in the age of AI and drone warfare

For the week of Nov. 2, 2025:

One of the keynote speakers at the Oct. 16-17 Vancouver International Security Summit was Christian Leuprecht, a political science professor from the Royal Military College of Canada.

In a wide-ranging interview with host Bob Mackin, Leuprecht discusses drones, FIFA World Cup 26 security, Canada-U.S. relations, Mark Carney’s first six months as Prime Minister and Canada’s relationship with China.

Based on recent Russian drone forays at European airports, Leuprecht said it is plausible that China’s military could use a commercial vessel to fly drones or disrupt telecommunications at the Port of Vancouver.

“We’re no longer living in a period of peace, we’re not living in a period of war, we’re living in an era of constant conflict where our adversaries are constantly pushing our boundaries,” Leuprecht said.

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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thePodcast: Geopolitical analyst ponders Canada in the age of AI and drone warfare

00:00 / 00:29:48

November 2, 2025

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For the week of Nov. 2, 2025:

Business, Miscellany, News

Exclusive: Four-in-10 District of North Vancouver Halloween fireworks permits bought outside the municipality

Bob Mackin

More than 40% of the permits issued in 2024 to ignite fireworks on Halloween in the District of North Vancouver went out-of-district, including to applicants from Tacoma, Edmonton and Yellowknife.

Trick or treat

A list obtained by theBreaker.news under freedom of information shows the District sold 566 permits last year for $5 each. theBreaker’s analysis shows 325 applicants listed fireworks detonation addresses in the District while 241 gave addresses from elsewhere or, in a few cases, no street address.

Permit buyers in B.C. spanned mostly from Powell River to Chilliwack, with an outlier in Kelowna. Amateur fireworks displays are outlawed in B.C.’s two-biggest municipalities, but Vancouver (39) outnumbered Surrey (18).

Some applicants listed non-residential detonation sites like the Capilano University soccer field and Blueridge Park in North Vancouver and Morley elementary school in Burnaby.

The permit buyer furthest south was from Fox Island, Wa., near Tacoma. The Yellowknife applicant provided an email address, not a physical location.

More buck for the bang

Fireworks in North Vancouver on Halloween 2023 (Mackin)

For Halloween 2025, which falls on a Friday, the permit now costs $10. Anyone in the District or elsewhere who is aged 19 and up can apply from Oct. 25-31. They need permission from a private property owner in the District of North Vancouver to detonate fireworks between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Halloween only.

Spokesperson Ryan Schaap said Mayor Mike Little was unavailable for an interview on Oct. 30.

“The issue regarding non-District discharge addresses for fireworks permit applications was identified last year and has been corrected for this year,” Schaap said. “Now permit applicants can only enter an address in the District of North Vancouver.”

The online form includes a disclaimer that warns the discharge permit is void if the location of display is not within the District of North Vancouver.

Ban proposal fizzled

The 566 permits in 2024 represented a substantial increase from the 198 sold in 2023.

In January 2024, Coun. Jim Hanson’s motion to ban amateur Halloween fireworks fizzled when Little and three other councillors, Jordan Back, Herman Mah and Lisa Muri, voted to keep the tradition going.

Little called fireworks “community building” despite Hanson and a staff report pointing to community danger, such as harm to pets and wild animals, injury to humans, pollution, house fires and the risk of wildfires.

Of the 28 municipalities surveyed, the District of North Vancouver was among a minority of eight that still allow amateur fireworks.

Little quote

Said Little in January 2024: “It’s something, at Halloween time, that you don’t experience in other parts of Canada, anywhere near the same as you do experience here.”

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October 31, 2025

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Bob Mackin More than 40% of the permits

Business, Miscellany, News, Sports

Exclusive: Wildfires worry World Cup planners

Bob Mackin

What if a wildfire breaks out in Washington State or British Columbia during FIFA World Cup 26 and envelops the region in smoke?

That concern is expressed in Washington Emergency Management Division (EMD) documents obtained by theBreaker.news after a freedom of information request to the Washington Military Department (WMD).

EMD meets with counterparts at B.C.’s Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. According to notes from Feb. 20, “their analysis and findings have been similar.”

Wildfire near Port Alberni, B.C. in August 2025. (B.C. Wildfire Service/Facebook)

“These include: limited resources to support running the event or to respond to a large-scale disaster, wildfire impacts could have negative effects on evacuation options, notifications in the incident of stranded Canadian citizens in U.S. or U.S. citizens stranded in Canada.”

Who was there

Safety and Security Executive Steering Committee (SSESC) meeting attendees included: Robert Ezelle, the director of Washington’s EMD, John Diaz, the former Seattle Police chief who is now chief security officer for Seattle’s World Cup committee, and officials from Seattle city hall, King County and the Secret Service.

Then and now

Wildfires also topped a list under “competing regional incidents and/or events” in a presentation from a July 2024 SSESC meeting.

Others: Overwhelmed transportation corridors and ports of entry, manpower and overlapping priorities and lines of effort.

It said previous World Cups faced threats from: terrorism, political unrest, cybersecurity, crowd control, infrastructure security, public health concerns and tourist crime and personal safety.

Seattle and Vancouver World Cup logos. (FIFA)

Cascadia schedule

Vancouver is hosting seven matches from June 13-July 7 at B.C. Place Stadium and Seattle six matches between June 15-July 6 at Lumen Field. The cities are the closest, border-separated World Cup cities.

Both cities will also hold large-scale, FIFA Fan Festival viewing parties during the June 11-July 19 tournament: at Vancouver’s Hastings Park and Seattle Center.

At the end of April, FIFA’s 76th Congress is coming to the Vancouver Convention Centre, the only World Cup year event with executives of all 211 member nations under one roof.

B.C.=big costs

The Vancouver Integrated Safety and Security Unit (ISSU) is co-led by City of Vancouver’s Dave Jones, B.C. assistant deputy minister of public safety Lisa Sweet and Vancouver Police Supt. Andrew Chan. The 18 members include the RCMP, which is relying on existing resources.

Department of Canadian Heritage granted $116 million last year to Vancouver and $104 million to Toronto.

Will there be an increase in the Nov. 4 federal budget?

When it revealed in June that the hosting cost increased to as much as $624 million, the B.C. government said it and partners “anticipate 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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October 31, 2025

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Bob Mackin What if a wildfire breaks out

Business, Miscellany, News, Sports

Not your average Tuesday morning: World Cup security training above Vancouver

Bob Mackin

Beneath the clouds on the morning of Oct. 28: typical, late-fall Metro Vancouver weather.

Above the clouds: Royal Canadian Air Force and United States Air Force jets trained for FIFA World Cup 26.

What’s up?

A United States Air Force tanker, like this one, refuelled Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18s above Vancouver on Oct. 28. (USAF/Matthew Seefeldt)

On an open source flight tracking website, theBreaker.news spotted a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker (57-1439) over the North Shore at 23,000 feet around 7 a.m. The flight originated from Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) in Spokane, Wash., and eventually travelled in a counterclockwise pattern between Grouse Mountain and Point Roberts, Wash.

That’s what

Michael Dougherty, a public affairs specialist with the Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Region, told theBreaker.news that it was part of Amalgam Eagle 25, the annual live-fly exercise involving the U.S. Northern Command and the Mexican Secretariat of National Defense.

“Normally it is a bilateral event between the U.S. and Mexico. However, this year is unique in that Canada is participating and we are all working together to prepare for ensuring airspace security over the 16 cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty said two RCAF CF-18 Hornet fighter jets departed from Canadian Forces Base Comox, refuelled from the USAF Stratotanker and returned to Comox.

Tri-nation co-operation

Two RCAF CF-18s from Comox were part of the FIFA World Cup training exercise on Oct. 28 above Vancouver. (RCAF)

Dougherty said airspace between Vancouver and Seattle was part of the two-day exercise, involving six scenarios. Other venues include airspace between Toronto and Toledo, Ohio, and Monterrey, Mexico and Houston, Texas. Davis-Monthan AFB, near Tucson, Az., is the venue for a search and rescue component.

“It’s grown in size, and with the addition of Canada, we’ve added some additional scenarios,” Dougherty said. “It’s great that we’re all able to work together for the first time.”

Coming in 26

Seven matches between June 13-July 7 are coming to B.C. Place Stadium and a fan festival viewing party in Hastings Park for the entire June 11-July 19 tournament.

Vancouver will also host the only FIFA event in North America during the World Cup year that features all 211 member nations: the 76th Congress at the end of April in the Vancouver Convention Centre.

The overall price tag for safety and security at FIFA World Cup 26 in Vancouver and Toronto has not been announced. The federal government’s long-awaited budget is Nov. 4.

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October 29, 2025

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Bob Mackin Beneath the clouds on the morning

Recent Posts

Premier David Eby’s cabinet includes a Minister of Environment and Parks and two other ministers whose titles include the word “climate.”

But none will attend the United Nations annual climate change conference in Brazil, theBreaker.news has confirmed.

NDP not at COP

Also on the agenda

Controversy

Previously

FIFA World Cup 26 is scoring another $100 million from Canadian taxpayers “to bolster federal activities that will support the hosting,” according to the Carney Liberal government’s Nov. 4 budget.

Last year, the feds gave Vancouver $116 million and Toronto $104 million.