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Business, News

Bob Mackin

Both Donald Trump and Xi Jinping slapped tariffs on Canadian goods. So why does B.C. Premier David Eby campaign against the U.S. president and ignore the Chinese leader?

That is what MLA Dallas Brodie (Vancouver Quilchena) asked on Oct. 27 in Question Period.

What she said

Brodie referred to China’s interference in Canadian elections, hostage diplomacy and 100% tariffs on Canola oil and seafood and Eby’s refusal to sell U.S. wine and spirits in B.C. government liquor stores.

“But instead of retaliating and railing against China, like he does with Trump, the Premier rewarded our economic enemies in China with a multi-billion dollar B.C. Ferries contract.”

What he said

Rather than Eby, the NDP’s Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth Ravi Kahlon (Delta North) stood up, but did not answer the question from the leader of the two-member Conservative splinter party, OneBC.

Kahlon did not mention China. He focused on the harm done by U.S. tariffs against B.C.’s lumber industry and suggested Brodie and caucusmate Tara Armstrong (Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream) “turn their heads away from being so pro-Trump so that they realize that they also represent people in this community and this province as well.”

China’s Xi Jinping (right) with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Sept. 2, 2025. (PRC Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Cozying up to Xi

On Sept. 23, Kahlon’s deputy minister, Fazil Mihlar, was the most-senior provincial official at the Chinese consulate’s party to commemorate 76 years of Communist Party rule.

Also in attendance: Conservative MLAs Teresa Wat (Richmond Bridgeport) and Hon Chan (Richmond Centre)

Richmond visit

Eby’s advisor on issues related to the Chinese community is Guo “David” Ding. Video circulating on WeChat shows Eby on Oct. 24 with Ding at the Phantom Creek Estates Winery hospitality club.

Chinese media commentator Ding founded the Canada Committee 100 Society (CCS100). In 2021, the NDP government granted CCS100 $20,000 to host meetings with Chinese speakers about race-based data collection.

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Bob Mackin Both Donald Trump and Xi Jinping

Business, News

Bob Mackin

Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s former right-hand man, Kareem Allam, officially launched his campaign to take Sim’s job in the 2026 civic election.

Allam spoke for 15 minutes to supporters of his new party, the Vancouver Liberals, at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art on Oct. 26. He outlined his platform, built around the goal of making Vancouver attractive to young people with affordable housing and job opportunities.

Criticism of Sim

Allam slammed Sim for missing city council and regional district meetings, focusing on Bitcoin and proposing the end of Park Board elections. Allam said Sim’s policy switches were at the expense of fulfilling integrity promises from the 2022 ABC platform that Allam helped author.

Big promise

Allam’s marquee promise is to lobby the federal and B.C. governments to fund the SkyTrain extension to the University of British Columbia. He said that would connect Western Canada’s largest research centre with Western Canada’s largest employment centre.

“After we do that, I’m going to go to the province and ask them to amalgamate Vancouver and the University Endowment Lands into one, single municipality,” Allam said. “We need to dream big and bring young people back to Vancouver.”

In 2022, Mayor Ken Sim and Kareem Allam (Twitter)

Who was there

Attendees included a trio of politicians elected in 2022 under the ABC banner, but who now sit as independents: Park Board vice-chair Brennan Bastyovanszky and committee chair Scott Jensen and School Board chair Victoria Jung.

Others: Former Vision Vancouver Park Board commissioner Catherine Evans and husband Paul Evans, University of B.C. professor emeritus. Former Surrey Mayor and Conservative MP Dianne Watts. Carol Reardon and Dermot Foley, supporters of Kennedy Stewart’s Forward Together party in the 2022 election.

Mark Marissen, fourth place finisher in 2022’s mayoral election with Progress Vancouver. Marissen was disqualified from running in 2026 and his party deregistered after Elections BC citations for Election Act violations.

Who else

Sim’s other challenger, so far, is Coun. Rebecca Bligh. In September, she launched her Vote Vancouver party. One of her backers is real estate marketer Bob Rennie.

Bligh was kicked out of the ABC caucus in February after she voted against Sim’s plan to pause new supportive housing projects in the city.

Legal battle

Allam is named in Sim’s May-filed defamation lawsuit, along with real estate developer Alex G. Tsakumis. Sim accused them of tarnishing his reputation by falsely alleging he drove while drunk.

In a statement of defence, Allam said he was fired from his job as Sim’s chief of staff in February 2023 after trying to get to the bottom of an allegation that a Vancouver Police officer caught Sim driving drunk.

In February, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner cleared Sim, 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.

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Bob Mackin Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s former right-hand

News, Opinion

For the week of Oct. 26, 2025: 

Will Vancouver be safe and ready for FIFA World Cup 26? At what cost? 

During the Vancouver International Security Summit, host Bob Mackin caught-up with B.C. RCMP Asst. Comm. John Brewer. 

Mayor Ken Sim ordered an election year budget without a property tax increase. So layoffs are coming to Vancouver city hall. In a video obtained by theBreaker.news, Deputy City Manager Karen Levitt revealed what that means for hosting FIFA. 

Plus: It was one of those weeks when Vancouverites did not miss the 2001 departed Grizzlies. 

The NBA was rocked by a gambling scandal, involving the Mafia. A coach and a player among the dozens arrested.

Mackin’s guest is Declan Hill, associate professor at the University of New Haven, investigative journalist and author of two books on match-fixing. 

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

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For the week of Oct. 26, 2025:  Will

Business, News

Bob Mackin

Drones are a major concern for FIFA World Cup 26 organizers in Vancouver and Toronto.

A Feb. 4 presentation to federal assistant deputy ministers — obtained by theBreaker.news via access to information — said there were “six national scope areas of tactical planning” for senior officials of the Vancouver and Toronto police departments and city halls, their respective provincial governments and the Government of Canada.

  • Airspace security
  • Counter-uncrewed aircraft systems (C-UAS)
  • Consequence management
  • Intelligence and threat assessment
  • Accreditation and credentials
  • Fraudulent ticket sales mitigation

C-UAS

Sign near the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre seaplane terminal. (Mackin)

An August 2020 article in IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine defined C-UAS as a “system or device capable of lawfully and safely disabling, disrupting, or seizing control of an unmanned aircraft or unmanned aircraft system.” That could include jamming signals or physically capturing a drone.

A Department of National Defence website said risks and threats of drones include surveillance, interference with airplanes and helicopters and attacks. “Drones can carry explosives or chemical/biological agents, presenting a direct threat to safety.”

The venue for the 76th FIFA Congress on April 30 is the Vancouver Convention Centre, which is attached to the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre seaplane terminal.

Canadian soccer fans will remember that a drone spying scandal during the Paris 2024 Olympics ruined the national women’s team’s gold medal defence.

In the document, most of the risks and issues were censored, except for the top one: “Although Canada is not delivering the event itself, the visibility of the FIFA World Cup has the potential to impact Canada’s reputation, either positively or negatively.”

Eleven of the 16 host cities for the June 11-July 19 tournament are in the U.S., including the final in New Jersey. Three Mexican cities are also involved.

Who was there

The meeting involved senior officials from Public Safety Canada, RCMP, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Global Affairs Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Canadian Heritage, Health Canada, Women and Gender Equity Canada and Transport Canada.

A meeting summary said CBSA deemed it “too early to predict migration patterns for 2026.”

The “focus is on managing volume at the borders (with no incremental funding to do so).”

A Health Canada representative asked about FIFA plans for onsite pop-up clinics and to bring in medical products from outside Canada.

Women and Gender Equity Canada “asked about the status of the planning on elements of protests related to LBGTQ (sic) rights during FIFA 2026.”

What to watch

Will the federal budget on Nov. 4 contain any money for federal safety and security for Vancouver and Toronto, beyond the $220 million pledged in 2024?

Olympic spokesperson makes comeback for World Cup

The wife of Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics CEO John Furlong has scored a no-bid contract from Vancouver city hall’s FIFA secretariat.

Renee Smith-Valade was named senior strategic communications advisor, partner relations, in an Oct. 22 notice posted on the city hall procurement website. The notice of intent is subject to a challenge period closing Nov. 5.

Smith-Valade will be paid $105,000 plus expenses for “approximately five months” with an option for the city to renew for another $105,000 over five months.

Smith-Valade will report to Jessie Adcock, the host committee lead.

The job duties include a marketing and communications plan “to increase public awareness and engagement,” and to be a “strategic conduit” between the host city committee and B.C. government.

Smith-Valade was most-recently the senior advisor to Vancouver-Whistler 2025 Invictus Games CEO Scott Moore, but is best-known locally as the vice-president of communications for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee.

In July, Furlong told CTV News Vancouver that World Cup organizers in Vancouver need to “double down” because they were running out of time to connect with the public.

“I went to see the mayor [Ken Sim] and I encouraged him and told him that I see this as a massive opportunity for the city, but one that is going to take everything we have to give,” Furlong said.

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Bob Mackin Drones are a major concern for

Business, News

Bob Mackin

After a three-year legal battle, the taxpayer-owned company that manages B.C. Place Stadium has released its FIFA World Cup 26 contract and bid documents to theBreaker.news.

In August, an adjudicator with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner ruled in favour of theBreaker.news and ordered the disclosure in October.

FIFA takeover

B.C. Place is hosting seven matches between June 13-July 7, 2026.

The agreement states that, from 30 days prior to the day of the opening match to seven days after completion of the last, FIFA will control the stadium.

But, at no cost to FIFA, World Cup setup can begin three months before kickoff and FIFA can still be on-site until two months after the last match in the stadium. (Much of the bonus time will be for the installation and removal of a “hybrid sod” synthetic fibre reinforced natural grass pitch.)

What’s missing

The section about the Controlled Area, a temporary outdoor zone surrounding B.C. Place, remains censored by B.C. Pavilion Corporation (PavCo), for fear that disclosure would cause financial harm.

The same section is visible in the FIFA contract with Seattle and regulates what is and is not allowed in the area where sponsors and their images and messages are protected. In addition to restrictions on traffic, third-party events and the sale of food, drinks and souvenirs.

High rent, no profit

An attachment to the 2022 agreement shows PavCo estimated match day rent charges between US$1.226 million and US$1.505 million. Just over half is base rent, the rest? Flow-through costs for staffing and services.

A big payday for PavCo, if FIFA pays what PavCo quoted? Think again.

What’s in the net?

In an Oct. 8 statement to theBreaker.news, PavCo spokesperson Jenny McKenzie said: “Rental fees for FIFA World Cup 26 are expected to offset operating and capital investments funded by the province.”

Challenged to back that up with revenue estimates, McKenzie responded Oct. 14 to clarify.

“The rental fees for BC Place during the FIFA World Cup 26 will flow through to the province to help offset operating and capital investments at the stadium, not to cover them entirety. The estimated net revenue for the FIFA World Cup 26 is not yet determined.”

Costs high, revenue low

The province’s FIFA spending update last June estimated $21 million to $44 million in overall gross revenues, recoveries and contributions, including transportation and stadium rental fees and recoveries.

But, it also estimated spending $149 million to $196 million on capital costs for stadium renovations and operational costs during the tournament.

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Bob Mackin After a three-year legal battle, the

Business, News

Bob Mackin

The senior officer overseeing the B.C. RCMP’s contribution to the FIFA World Cup 26 security team said the Mounties have not set a budget because they are waiting for the 48-nation tournament’s draw.

Vancouver is hosting seven matches next June 13 to July 7 at B.C. Place Stadium and a six-week-long fan festival at Hastings Park. Canada will play twice here. The other national teams are to be announced Dec. 5 at a Washington, D.C. ceremony.

“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,” Asst. Commissioner John Brewer said during an interview at the Vancouver International Security Summit on Oct. 17.

“We’re planning for everything, all the different teams and what they bring to it.”

Twenty-eight nations have qualified, including the Islamic Republic of Iran, an ally of Russia and China that Canada designated a state supporter of terrorism in 2012.

Brewer said RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme is chairing bi-weekly meetings with heads of host cities, the Ontario Provincial Police and B.C. RCMP.

Vancouver Police Department is the host city police and the original 2022 budget called for $73 million in safety and security spending. The federal government provided an initial $116 million in 2024 for core capital and operating costs, but more is expected. Especially for essential federal services.

Former New Westminster and TransLink Police chief Dave Jones is on contract with Vancouver city hall’s FIFA secretariat as the Integrated Safety and Security Unit co-lead.

From dozens to thousands

Brewer heads a unit of 40 right now, which will grow exponentially.

“Because we’re planning for that, the biggest use I will need, we’re certainly into the near-the-thousands, writ large, when it comes to the federal, provincial and municipal side, specialized units coming in that are going to have to support all the different agencies here,” Brewer said.

Skipping the lineup

The geopolitical climate is a major variable that will affect what goes on inside and outside the stadium. But one of Brewer’s security worries is 50 kilometres south of B.C. Place: 0 Avenue. The rural road from Surrey to Abbotsford, next to the Canada/U.S. border.

“People just walk, literally walk, across and that’s a huge concern on the federal side, the Canada border side, the U.S. side, that we’re going to have to deal with,” Brewer said.

Tech talk

Drones, surveillance cameras and artificial intelligence will play important roles in security.

Brewer said a reminder of the need for strong cybersecurity came Oct. 14. An apparent hacking incident resulted in pro-Hamas messages on monitors and public address systems at airports in Kelowna and Victoria.

“We’ve been sounding that alarm for a long time that this was going to happen, or the likelihood was very high,” Brewer said. “And then it happened.”

Pre-game show

Eleven U.S. cities and three in Mexico plus Vancouver and Toronto will host history’s biggest sporting event, which climaxes July 19 in New Jersey.

Vancouver will also host the only FIFA event of the World Cup year involving all 211 member nations.

The 76th FIFA Congress is coming to the Vancouver Convention Centre at the end of April, bringing the world’s top soccer officials together under one roof. Even some heads of state, royalty and their scions.

“It will be a security event because it’s not open to the public,” Brewer said. “There’s a number of internationally protected persons who will be part of that. The B.C. RCMP are working with the local police of jurisdiction, with Vancouver, with the surrounding jurisdictions, because we’re not sure where they’re all going to be staying yet. And then federally, of course, with protective services to ensure that the intel is being shared internationally with all the different groups, but also to make sure that we have the right security footprint to ensure adequate protection.”

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Bob Mackin The senior officer overseeing the B.C.

News, Opinion

For the week of Oct. 19, 2025: 

Thanksgiving is over and Halloween is rapidly approaching. What better time for the MMA Panel’s quarterly look back and look ahead? 

Mario Canseco of Research Co and Andy Yan of the Simon Fraser University City Program joined host Bob Mackin for a live taping at Apollo’s on Commercial Drive. 

Plus, more from Alan Mullen, former chief of staff to Speaker Darryl Plecas (2017-2020) and Paul Stanley, former chief security officer for the B.C. government (2017-2022).

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

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For the week of Oct. 19, 2025:  Thanksgiving

Business, News

Bob Mackin

By the end of June, the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant cost taxpayers $668.6 million and the $193 million provincial subsidy was spent.

That is according to the annual progress report from Metro Vancouver to the provincial government, obtained by theBreaker.news under freedom of information.

The report said the project was 28% complete as of June 30. It was supposed to be finished by 2020 for around $700 million. But, in March 2024, the Metro Vancouver board revealed the cost ballooned to $3.86 billion with a new deadline of 2030.

North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant construction site on July 10, 2024 (Mackin)

Premier David Eby has refused calls from the North Shore Neighbourhoods Alliance to convene a public inquiry. The Metro Vancouver board halted its review in July, due to the scheduled 2027 civil trial against original builder Acciona.

Cost comparison

Top three line items through June: Design builder: $311.17 million; General contractor: $132.32 million; Designer $92.19 million.

Could the cost increase again? The report pointed to uncertainty around Trump tariffs.

Meanwhile, it also revealed the construction site is too small for storage and staging. So builder PCL leased 15 acres in Chilliwack — some 100 kilometres east — for project materials and equipment, including a covered area to keep equipment dry.

“This single site will minimize the amount of staff required to receive equipment, provide security, and will be easier to operate than multiple smaller sites,” the report said.

Critter removal

The election day storm on Oct. 19, 2024 flooded the Building 22 Influent Pump Station tank.

Meanwhile, in April, “a river otter was relocated from site, in coordination with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship.”

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Bob Mackin By the end of June, the

Business, News

Bob Mackin

He got his start as an aide in Glen Clark’s NDP government almost 30 years ago. She is a business partner of jobs minister Ravi Kahlon’s sister.

On Oct. 10, a notice from Premier David Eby’s cabinet appointed William Duvall and Opreet Kang to the board of Clark-chaired BC Hydro through the end of July 2028.

Duvall and Kang will be paid a basic $17,250 per-year retainer and could earn up to $25,950 in meeting fees annually.

William Duvall (left) and Opreet Kang. (VCH/YouTube)

Local, regional government ties

Duvall is the former director of corporate safety, security and emergency management at Metro Vancouver. After eight years there, he joined District of North Vancouver as municipal solicitor in August 2024.

Coincidentally, the biggest construction project in the district is Metro’s $3 billion-over-budget North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Duvall began his career as ministerial assistant to NDP forests minister Dave Zirnhelt from 1996 to 1998. Zirnhelt famously said : “Don’t forget, government can do anything.”

Last May, North Vancouver district hall adopted the NDP government’s $10 charge on freedom of information applications.

Kang and Kahlon

Six months before the 2024 election, Kang partnered with Parm Kahlon to open the Core Firm consultancy. Kang was on the Vision Vancouver executive board from 2011 to 2018 and was elected to the NDP-aligned Vancity credit union board in 2023. The late John Horgan’s former chief of staff, Geoff Meggs, was among her endorsers.

Two-step

On March 31, the NDP government announced the installation of Duvall and Kang as health board chairs. Duvall in Vancouver Coastal Health, after Penny Ballem’s reassignment as CEO of Provincial Health Services Authority. Kang got a promotion from Fraser Health vice-chair to interim chair, when Jim Sinclair suddenly retired amid ongoing emergency room staff shortages.

Sinclair and Kang were named to the board shortly after the NDP came to power in 2017. Last fiscal year, Sinclair was paid $70,772.35 in retainer, fees and expenses, more than double Kang’s $32,720.20.

At VCH, Ballem made $72,307 as chair and Duvall $30,705.

The NDP processes patronage appointees through the Crown Agencies and Board Resourcing Office, headed by assistant deputy minister and longtime NDP insider Vanessa Geary.

When the BC Liberals were in government, it was known as the Board Resourcing and Development Office. BC Hydro and the health authorities are not subject to Merit Commissioner oversight.

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Bob Mackin He got his start as an

News, Opinion

For the week of Oct. 12, 2025:

New beginnings, the theme of the Thanksgiving Weekend edition of thePodcast.

Michael Sachs explains why he left Vancouver to become the senior director of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he reacts to the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

Also, the B.C. Legislature is back in session. What does the future hold for NDP Premier David Eby and Conservative opposition leader John Rustad? What about new Green leader Emily Lowan, who doesn’t have a seat in the Legislature?

Guests Alan Mullen (former chief of staff to ex-Speaker Darryl Plecas) and Paul Stanley (former B.C. government chief security officer).

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 Oct. 12, 2025:

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