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Bob Mackin If the CEO of the family

Is BC Hydro’s future reliant on China?

After the Site C megadam is in full-service, NDP Premier David Eby and new Energy minister Adrian Dix said Dec. 9 that BC Hydro will go all-in on new wind power projects.

Could that mean B.C.’s energy future relies on China?

Bob Mackin

Nine projects, worth $5 billion to $6 billion, were announced. They will be exempt from environmental assessment, despite risks to bat and bird populations. The projects are expected to provide as much power as Site C. Innergex Renewable Energy Inc. and Capstone Infrastructure are partners with First Nations on three each.

One of many wind turbines outside Beijing, rising above a roadside fruit stand in 2015. (Mackin).

According to the Center for European Policy Analysis, “China dominates the wind supply chain, providing between 70–80% of the core components and refines almost 100% of the critical minerals required to build turbines.”

French research firm Enerdata reported in January a significant shift toward Chinese wind turbine manufacturers.

American and European companies Vestas, Siemens Gamesa, and GE faced declining orders and marketshare. But China’s Goldwind, Envision and Mingyan were on the rise.

Enerdata said Chinese companies held two-thirds of marketshare in 2022, up from 46%, while American and European companies saw their marketshare halved, from 44% to 22%.

In April, the European Union Commission began investigating subsidies by Chinese wind turbine suppliers in Bulgaria, France, Greece, Romania and Spain.

“They offer cheap turbines and generous finance which distorts the integrity of the European market and disrupts fair competition,” said the press release on WindEurope.org.

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December 12, 2024

After the Site C megadam is in

Vancouver city councillor drove during committee meeting

The Vancouver city councillor married to the NDP’s Minister of State for Community Safety appeared to be driving while speaking to a scheduled committee meeting on Dec. 11.

When it was Coun. Sarah Kirby-Yung’s turn to comment on a motion proposing a Japanese Canadian Interpretive Centre at Hastings Park, she was behind the wheel of a vehicle.

Bob Mackin

Instead of being in the council chamber, Kirby-Yung was connected to the meeting via the Webex video conference platform.

Kirby-Yung conducted shoulder checks, looked ahead and looked down at the smartphone camera. At the 40-second mark, in the lower left corner, the background changed as if the vehicle was in motion. The lighting inside the also vehicle changed. At the 47-second mark, Kirby-Yung turned the steering wheel, did more shoulder checks and looked again at the smartphone camera.

Kirby-Yung has not responded for comment.

Distracted driving is against the Motor Vehicle Act, worth a $369 fine plus four penalty points. The website for B.C.’s vehicle insurer and driving regulator ICBC states that a driver is 3.6 times more likely to crash while using a mobile phone.

“Anything that takes your attention away from driving can contribute to distracted driving. Even when stopped, checking an electronic device affects your focus,” according to ICBC.

Kirby-Yung’s husband is Terry Yung, a retired senior Vancouver Police officer and the new Minister of State for Community Safety and Integrated Services in Premier David Eby’s NDP government.

Kirby-Yung is no stranger to controversy. At the Oct. 23 Standing Committee on Policy and Strategic Priorities meeting, she accused fellow ABC Vancouver party Coun. Rebecca Bligh of speaking out of order.

“This is not the wild west of fucking procedure,” Kirby-Yung exclaimed.

After returning from a recess, Kirby-Yung apologized.

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December 11, 2024

The Vancouver city councillor married to the

Trudeau returning to West Coast for pre-Christmas campaigning

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to return to Vancouver on a government jet for more Liberal Party events on the cusp of the 2025 election year.

The round-trip is expected to cost taxpayers around $58,000 and burn about 13,000 litres of aviation fuel.

Bob Mackin

A Sheraton Vancouver Airport Hotel fundraiser in Richmond on Dec. 12 is advertised with an admission of $0 to $1,000.

Trudeau is also expected to visit the Cloverdale-Langley City riding to support his Dec. 16 by-election candidate Madison Fleischer. Fleischer gained national attention when she said she would apply for Metis status after the Waceya Metis Society in Langley and White Rock doubted claims about her identity in Liberal campaign literature.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Nov. 9 at the Liberal Party’s B.C. convention in North Vancouver (X/LPC)

It is Trudeau’s second political trip to the West Coast in just over a month.

On Nov. 8, after a 22-minute housing infrastructure-themed news conference, Trudeau headlined two Liberal fundraising events in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver. He appeared the next afternoon at the Liberal Party of Canada in B.C. (LPCBC) North Vancouver convention in the Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier.

The official Elections Canada attendance list for the first Nov. 8 event, at 5:30 p.m., names 53 people, including:

Vancouver city councillor/Federation of Canadian Municipalities president Rebecca Bligh;
Vancouver city councillor/Federation of Canadian Municipalities director Lisa Dominato;
Rennie Group founder and Musqueam Capital Corp. director Bob Rennie;
LPCBC chair and Onni Group chief of staff Duncan Wlodarczak;
Earnscliffe Strategies principal Bruce Young;
Ex-Sustainable Development Technology Canada director Steve Kukucha;
Federation of Community Social Services of B.C. director of policy Diamond Isinger;
Nch’kay Development Corp. director and B.C. NDP campaign strategist Mike Magee;
MP Joyce Murray’s retired office manager Catherine Evans;
Hoggan and Associates strategic counsel Nancy McHarg;
Strategies 360 Canada president Michael Gardiner;
Musqueam Indian Band councillor Howard Grant;
Musqueam Indian Band intergovernmental relations officer and Vancouver-Quadra nomination candidate Wade Grant;
Lawyer Ravi Hira;
UrbanLogiq CEO Mark Masongsong; and
Coast Communications and Public Affairs vice-president and LPCBC director Tyler Pronyk.

For the 7:30 p.m. event, there were 63 attendees listed.

Four of them from one family, the Noormohameds, including Vancouver Granville MP and Parliamentary Secretary of Canadian Heritage Taleeb Noormohamed.

Five attendees from the Damji family and five more from the Lalji family, including Mansoor Lalji, whose Larco Investments owns the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and Vancouver Sheraton Airport Hotel.

Other notables: Chase Realty Corp. president Farouk Verjee and Jameson Development Corp. head Tony Pappajohn.

On the same night in the same hotel, Noormohamed hosted a 6 p.m. fundraiser for his re-election campaign, charging between $0 to $500. Transport Minister Anita Anand was a special guest. Of the 66 attendees, 36 Noormohamed supporters listed addresses outside Vancouver. Nearly all of them are also named on the regulated fundraising event report for Trudeau’s 7:30 p.m. appearance.

The Dec. 12 event in Richmond comes two days shy of the anniversary of Trudeau’s last 2023 B.C. fundraiser, when only 87 people were listed as attendees of a Westin Bayshore Hotel event for $0 to $1,700.

That was 71% fewer people than the 302 for Trudeau’s Dec. 2, 2022 Crown Palace Banquet Hall event in Surrey, where the admission ranged from $500 to $1,675.

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December 11, 2024

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to

Richmond councillor denies working for law firm, two weeks after he declared a conflict of interest

Richmond Coun. Chak Au recused himself from a Nov. 25 city council meeting after saying he was a consultant for the Vancouver law firm representing a cosmetics store facing business licence cancellation.

Bob Mackin

Two weeks later, on Dec. 9, Au said he never worked for Remedios and Company.

In an interview with theBreaker.news, Au said Mayor Malcolm Brodie and city solicitor Tony Cappucinello-Iraci contacted him before the Nov. 25 business licence hearing for Nagoya Trading Ltd.’s Tokyo Beauty store at Aberdeen Centre.

Lawyer Anthony Remedios (left) and Richmond Coun. Chak Au at a September 2022 BC Liberal Party event (Remedios.Lawyer)

Au said they showed him a photograph of a corporate website that linked him to Remedios and Company.

“They felt that that could be a conflict of interest,” Au said. “Without the time to really find out what it was, and to be cautious, so I took the advice not to attend the meeting.”

While Brodie was convening the Nov. 25 meeting, Au declared: “I could have a perceived conflict of interest because I’m a consultant of Remedios and Company. I don’t want to be seen as having a conflict, so I will excuse myself from the meeting.”

Neither the firm’s founder Anthony Remedios nor Brodie responded for comment.

Au said he was unaware of the website’s background and he told a reporter that he did not remember its name.

theBreaker.news interviewed Au three days after attending Richmond city hall to inspect a copy of Au’s 2024 Statement of Disclosure. Under the income heading, Au said he receives income from: City of Richmond, Metro Vancouver, Fairchild Radio (as a guest commentator), private counselling practice and self-employed. There was no mention of Remedios and Company.

Remedios and Company specializes in Trans-Pacific investment and immigration. Its website says it acts for “multinationals, banks, mining companies, solar companies, pharmaceutical companies, financial firms, private investors from Asia, real estate developers, etc.” Founder Anthony Remedios is involved with several associations that promote trade with China, Macau and Vietnam.

In August 2017, Remedios was a guest at an Au-arranged lunch with then-Premier John Horgan, after Au ran unsuccessfully for the NDP in the Richmond-South Centre riding. Remedios and Company made two donations to the NDP of $500 each in September 2017.

“We, as you mentioned, we attend events together,” Au said of his relationship with Remedios. “So I mean, it’s nothing special.”

Au, originally elected in 2011, is seeking the Conservative nomination to run in the 2025 federal election in Marpole-Richmond Centre.

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December 9, 2024

Richmond Coun. Chak Au recused himself from

Another mishap scuttles Stanley Park Railway

Briefly: Another cancellation at the Stanley Park Railway. This time, it only lasted one night.

Bob Mackin

Officials announced on X, formerly Twitter, at 5:34 p.m. on Dec. 6 that the train was “temporarily out of service and will not be running for the rest of the evening.”

Stanley Park train (Facebook)

“Any ticket holders with tickets for 4:40 p.m. onwards will be refunded by Showpass via the method of purchase. We apologize for impacting your holiday plans.”

At 9:37 a.m. on Dec. 7, officials announced the issue had been resolved and the train would roll again.

What happened? A City of Vancouver spokesperson originally called it a “minor operational incident.” Pressed further, Angela MacKenzie explained.

“An art display fell onto the tracks during service, which caused the train to stop. As a result, service was stopped to allow staff to carry out safety checks,” said MacKenzie, the associate director of civic engagement and communications.

On Good Friday in 2023, a train derailed. It took a freedom of information request to confirm it had derailed, because officials decided to not use that word in their communication to the public.

FOI documents also shed light on the summer and fall 2022 troubles that led to cancellation of the Hallowe’en and Christmas promotions.

The 2024 version of Bright Nights in Stanley Park continues through Jan. 4. Though tickets for the miniature train excursions are sold out, the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund continues to host the dazzling admission-by-donation Christmas lights display at the railway plaza.

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December 8, 2024

Briefly: Another cancellation at the Stanley Park

Dispatches from outside B.C. Place Stadium, as Taylor Swift performed the penultimate show of Vancouver’s biggest concert weekend in 40 years

Bob Mackin

Road closures

Police, fire and ambulance vehicles and personnel at the ready on Beatty, Robson and Pacific, along with heavy duty civic dump trucks to prevent any drivers with evil intent. Even a street-level, Vancouver Police-uniformed sniper. Expect even more of the same when the FIFA World Cup 26 comes to town in 18 months.

Street and sidewalk choirs

B.C. Place Stadium general manager Chris May implored fans without tickets to stay away. But Terry Fox Plaza and the RED selfie sign became a magnet for Swifties anyway. The best-kept secret? The sound quality on the plaza between the Boston Pizza and the Pivotal Building.

Idol inside, idling outside

Chicago concert tour logistics specialist Upstaging parked its 18-wheelers on Pacific Boulevard, where packs of Swifties sang along under the oversized Eras Tour friendship bracelet affixed to the stadium facade.

Several of the Eras Tour trucks had their windows curtained and engines idling.

The City of Vancouver anti-idling bylaw contains an exception for commercial vehicles attached to equipment and the equipment needs power in order to run. The big rigs contain ample sleeping compartments.

Temps

A group of foreign workers in high-visibility vests mustered outside B.C. Place’s east freight compound with an hour to go in the show. Ostensibly prepared to enter the building to clean-up and prepare for the third night.

Surprise closure

FIFA closed the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in B.C. Place during the Canada 2015 Women’s World Cup. The next, most-female attraction was Swift. Staff expected a full, Eras Tour concert-weekend closure. They were suddenly notified at the end of November to close Dec. 1-10. A missed opportunity, after so many Swifties have become instant footbal fans over the last year.

The shrine to B.C.’s amateur and professional sports history reopens Dec. 11.

The Eras Tour ends Dec. 8 at B.C. Place Stadium. The top-grossing pop tour in history will break all local records set by the Jacksons when they performed at B.C. Place on their Victory Tour Nov. 16-18, 1984.

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December 8, 2024

Bob Mackin Road closures Police, fire and ambulance vehicles

News, Opinion

thePodcast: Beefing up the border — why B.C. needs ports police again

For the week of Dec. 8, 2024:

Donald Trump is threatening tariffs on Canadian goods if Justin Trudeau doesn’t beef-up border security.

Twenty-seven years ago, Jean Chretien’s Liberal government defunded the Ports Canada Police. It is no coincidence that transnational organized crime has flourished.

The former head of the RCMP in Western Canada says the time is now to bring back a dedicated ports police force.

Bob Mackin’s guest is Peter German, now chair of the Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute and author of the Policing Our Ports report for the City of Delta.

Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines.

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.

Support theBreaker.news for as low as $2 a month on Patreon. Find out how. Click here.

theBreaker.news Podcast

thePodcast: Beefing up the border -- why B.C. needs ports police again

00:00 / 00:27:09

December 8, 2024

For the week of Dec. 8, 2024:

Vancouver mayor proposes accepting Bitcoin for property tax payments

More details of Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s motion to make Vancouver “Bitcoin-friendly,” like Seoul, South Korea, Zug, Switzerland and El Salvador.

Bob Mackin

Mayor Ken Sim wants Vancouver city hall staff to consider accepting Bitcoin payments for taxes and fees and for the city to invest some of its financial reserves in Bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and currency fluctuations.

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim (Mackin)

“It would be irresponsible for the City of Vancouver to not look at the merits of adding Bitcoin to the City’s strategic assets to preserve the city’s financial stability,” Sim wrote in his lengthy motion to the Dec. 11 meeting.

What Sim doesn’t mention is what appears on his 2024 Statement of Disclosure: his investments in Purpose Bitcoin ETF, the “world’s first Bitcoin exchange traded fund”; Coinbase Global cryptocurrency exchange platform; and Bitcoin miner MGT Capital.

The final report of B.C.’s public inquiry into money laundering warned that cryptocurrency is a crime magnet in need of provincial regulation.

Following are highlights of what Commissioner Austin Cullen wrote in his June 2022 report to the NDP cabinet.

Popularity

Bitcoin is the most popular and well-known cryptocurrency. Although more than 7,700 cryptocurrencies exist, over 62% of cryptocurrency transactions are done in bitcoin. Its popularity is due mostly to its accessibility: it was the first widely accepted and used cryptocurrency and is the most widely featured, accepted, and exchanged, rendering it more accessible for new users. People sometimes use the term “Bitcoin” when generically referring to cryptocurrency, and much of the focus in the evidence before me was on Bitcoin rather than cryptocurrencies generally.

Oversight needed

Cryptocurrency is a new and rapidly evolving technology that is already being exploited for money laundering and other forms of criminality. Because of its newness, many – including government, regulators, and law enforcement – lack the expertise to investigate crime that makes use of it. These features make cryptocurrency vulnerable to exploitation by money launderers.

The regulation of cryptocurrency is very new – the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act has only captured it since 2020. That is a good first step. But given the significant risks in this sector, the Province should also regulate virtual asset service providers. The Province will need to determine who is best suited to do this, whether it be B.C. Financial Services Authority, the B.C. Securities Commission, or another body. It is crucial for government, regulators, and law enforcement to develop in-house expertise on cryptocurrency.

Justice Austin Cullen (Mackin)

Crime categories

It is convenient to consider crime involving cryptocurrencies in four broad categories. First, and of most obvious importance to this Commission, is the use of cryptocurrency in money laundering. Second, cryptocurrency has been used to engage in financial transactions and activities associated with the commission of crimes such as scams, ransomware, and activities on the dark web. Third, cryptocurrency can be used to support terrorist activity. Finally, crimes occur on the cryptocurrency platform itself, such as theft or fraud.

Not so bad

However, it is important to keep in mind that there are many legitimate users of cryptocurrency and that, by some estimates, the criminality associated with virtual assets appears to be a fairly low percentage. Regulation must strike a careful balance to take care not to stifle innovation in this area or penalize legitimate users, while also addressing key risks that arise.

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December 5, 2024

More details of Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s

Vancouver kept choice of parks for World Cup training secret for nine months

Briefly: A $37 million budget, but no public consultation before July’s announcement of Memorial South and Killarney parks for FIFA World Cup 26 training.

Bob Mackin

The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation voted unanimously behind closed doors in October 2023 to turn Memorial South and Killarney parks into FIFA World Cup 26 training sites for $37 million.

Civic officials conducted no public consultation and they kept the decision secret until July 16. The public announcement was supposed to happen during 2024’s first quarter.

From a report to the Oct. 30, 2023, closed-door Park Board meeting (Park Board)

That is according to heavily censored, confidential reports and in camera meeting minutes the board decided to release ahead of the Park Board’s Dec. 9 meeting. At that meeting, staff want commissioners to approve $25 million in early works contracts at the two parks with Canadian Turner Construction Co. Ltd.

The Park Board originally shortlisted Memorial South, Trillium, Empire Fields and Jericho parks before the NDP government called time out on the bid in March 2018.

When B.C. re-entered the picture in 2021, Killarney, Strathcona, Empire Fields and Jericho West became the proposed training sites.

FIFA named Vancouver one of the 16 North American host cities in June 2022. Four months later, civic officials told a visiting FIFA delegation that they preferred Killarney and Strathcona. FIFA gave the city until mid-December 2022 to reconsider. So 2018 candidate Memorial South replaced Strathcona.

Commissioners voted unanimously on Oct. 30, 2023 to approve Memorial South Park. Comm. Tom Digby abstained. A staff report said neither parks meet tournament standards and would need “extensive and accelerated” upgrades, including natural and synthetic turf hybrid pitches with irrigation and high mast field lighting

To get the fields ready for June and July 2026, large portions of both parks are scheduled to close to the public in January 2025 and not reopen until fall 2026.

FIFA will get exclusive use 14 days prior to the start of the tournament until the last match, for a total 45 days. Flat, day-rate rental fees were censored from the documents.

Park Board also agreed behind closed doors last Jan. 22 to hire VDZ+A Consulting Inc. for a three-year, $2.4 million design services contract.

Training site requirements include exclusivity, quality of pitch, ancillary facilities and privacy. FIFA will not allow the public to watch the visiting stars practice.

“Privacy is important,” said a March 7, 2022 in camera presentation. “The field of play shall not be visible in main parts from any public or private buildings in the surroundings of the training site. Additionally, a security perimeter fence with 100% view obstructing scrim will be installed.”

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December 4, 2024