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Bob Mackin

Premier David Eby wants British Columbians to boycott American booze and trips. He fought back against President Donald Trump’s tariffs by ordering the NDP government to avoid outsourcing to American suppliers.

Why is Vancouver continuing to co-host FIFA World Cup 26, a Miami-headquartered tournament which scheduled three-quarters of matches (including the final) in U.S. stadiums?

It is a tournament that will coincide with the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence. It boasts high-profile American corporate sponsors (Bank of America, Verizon, McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and Home Depot). Its biggest cheerleader? None other than Trump himself.

During Eby’s July 23 Zoom conference with Sen. Patty Murray (D-Washington), Bob Mackin asked Eby about his contradiction and more. Also, see highlights of what Trump has said about FIFA and the junior 2026 partners, Canada and Mexico.

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Bob Mackin Premier David Eby wants British Columbians

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For the week of July 20, 2025:

In March 2021, a Vancouver encrypted smartphone company made worldwide headlines for the wrong reasons. 

Authorities in Europe and the U.S. shut down Sky Global and accused CEO Jean-Francois Eap and distributor Thomas Herdman of helping transnational drug traffickers and money launderers. Both men claim innocence.

Herdman, 64, spent four years in a French jail until June, but must remain in Paris, on bail, to wait for his late 2026 trial.

This week’s guest is Thomas Herdman. 

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

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For the week of July 20, 2025:

News, Sports

Bob Mackin

Vancouver city hall has set aside $13.4 million to buy FIFA World Cup 26 tickets, suites and lounges from a New York company run by Donald Trump’s former manager and minority-owned by Trump’s Secretary of Education.

President Donald Trump with Chelsea at the FIFA Club World Cup Final on July 13, 2025. (The White House)

The communications lead for the city’s FIFA hosting secretariat told theBreaker.news that the host city commercial program team “plans to acquire select suites and lounge packages for resale to generate revenue to help offset event costs.”

A card distributed at a June Greater Vancouver Board of Trade event advertised regional sponsorship, suites and hospitality packages beginning at $195,000 under the Host City Supporters and Host City Champions programs.

The vendor is FIFA’s hospitality contractor is On Location Events LLC.

Risky proposition, says province

Natasha Qereshniku from city hall’s World Cup secretariat did not provide any figures on packages reserved or allotments of VIP tickets to city hall staff, contractors and elected officials. Nor did she provide cost recovery estimates.

“Details regarding the host city ticket and hospitality program are currently under development. As the program remains active, commercially sensitive information will not be disclosed.”

The B.C. government, however, mentioned the scheme in the risks and uncertainties section of the June summary that estimates gross World Cup costs as high as $624 million. “Less-than-planned net revenue from the host city commercial program due to lower market demand,” cautioned the report.

When Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, city hall spent $350,715 on 1,557 tickets.

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Bigger budget than Toronto

In March, Toronto city council approved a subcommittee recommendation to buy $10.7 million of FIFA World Cup 26 tickets, suites and lounges from On Location.

Toronto is hosting six matches next June and July, one fewer than Vancouver.

The 2022-elected Vancouver city council, under Mayor Ken Sim, has not held a FIFA World Cup 26 budget meeting in public. Its summer hiatus begins after the July 23 meeting.

In February, city council responded to Trump’s tariff threats by unanimously resolving to ask staff to find ways to buy local or buy Canadian.

Who is On Location

On Location is the same company that opened sales for high-end tickets and hospitality packages on July 14, the day after the FIFA Club World Cup, beginning at $2,500 for a ticket to a single, opening round match at B.C. Place Stadium.

A general public ticket lottery for lower-priced seats scheduled for the fall.

On Location is under the same corporate umbrella as UFC and WWE, two companies near and dear to Trump.

In February, TKO Group Holdings Inc. completed the acquisition of On Location. Before that, in December, Trump’s Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, reportedowning more than $50 million in TKO shares and receiving between $1 million and $5 million in dividends.

TKO CEO Ari Emanuel represented Trump when he hosted The Apprentice on NBC.

At the Endeavor Group in 2015, Emanuel bought the Miss Universe Organization from Trump. In 2021 and 2022, Elon Musk was on Endeavor’s board of directors.

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Bob Mackin Vancouver city hall has set aside

News, Sports

Bob Mackin

The Vancouver city hall bureaucrat in charge of the FIFA World Cup 26 host committee office billed taxpayers almost $470,000 in 2024.

Jessie Adcock made less than the highest-paid City of Vancouver employee, Police Chief Adam Palmer ($487,224), but nearly $100,000 more than city manager Paul Mochrie ($387,110).

Adcock’s pay last year was also double Premier B.C. David Eby’s annual rate ($227,112.17).

Jessie Adcock (LinkedIn)

The annual statement of financial information for 2024 shows a total $397,354 paid to Adcock’s company, Adcock Capital and Advisory Services. But Natasha Qereshniku, the communications lead for the FIFA secretariat, said that was for January to October only.

For the full year, Adcock received $469,804, because payments for November and December 2024 were made after the 2024 accounting close-out. Of the total, $2,400 was for expenses.

Adcock’s contract was originally set Jan. 8, 2024 at an hourly rate of $300 with an expectation to work an average 25 hours per week until October. “The total value of this contract is not to exceed $270,000 exclusive of applicable taxes,” said the document, obtained under freedom of information.

However, Adcock’s deal was quietly extended in July 2024 through the end of the World Cup wind-down phase in September 2026.

Who is Jessie Adcock

Adcock is a former HSBC executive who spent eight years in senior roles at City of Vancouver from 2013 to 2021, heading the technology and development and licensing departments.

She took a break in 2015 to run unsuccessfully for Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party in the Port Moody-Coquitlam riding, but joined the federal bureaucracy in 2022. First as CEO of the Canadian Digital Service, then as senior assistant deputy minister of the Treasury Board Secretariat and senior advisor to the chief information officer.

theBreaker.news requests to interview Adcock have been denied.

Who else

With less than a year until Vancouver is one of 16 co-hosts of the biggest World Cup in history, 29 people are working under Adcock on the project. Some of them are contractors and some of them are seconded from other civic departments.

City hall’s freedom of information office refused to provide the first names of the secretariat staff and contractors. theBreaker.news confirmed their first names through other sources, including the individuals’ social media profiles.

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Contractors:

  • Katie Brougham, venue operations manager

  • Dave Jones and Lisa Sweet, Integrated Safety and Security Unit (ISSU) co-leads

  • Alyssa Reyes, volunteer program lead

  • Erik Vu, medical advisor

Staff:

  • Alyssa Brownsmith, Fan Festival lead

  • Anthony Cavrlj, security programs manager

  • Alejandra Cerbon, senior manager of financial planning and analysis

  • Andrew Chachula, senior emergency management specialist

  • Michelle Chan, administrative assistant

  • Kevin Cho, financial analyst

  • Thomas Daley, project manager

  • Danielle Duplissie, project manager, ISSU

  • Jude Freeman, operations manager

  • Taunya Geelhoed, operations lead

  • Kenny Gemmill, Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services lead

  • Rosemary Hagiwara, coordination and alignment lead

  • Ashley Hooper, engineering operations lead

  • Seldon He, financial analyst

  • Benafsha Iradia, operations manager, parallel events

  • Kirsten Jasper, manager, operational readiness

  • Shannon MacLachlan, emergency management specialist

  • Dan Maloney, project manager

  • Kevin Nguyễn, strategy lead

  • Natasha Qereshniku, communications lead

  • Sherwood Plant, transportation and mobility lead

  • Arthur Ruiz, senior marketing and digital strategist

  • David Stein, landscape architect

  • Blair Wong, accounting clerk

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Bob Mackin The Vancouver city hall bureaucrat in

News, Sports

Bob Mackin

Almost two years after Seattle city council published its FIFA World Cup 26 hosting contract, City of Vancouver has finally provided its copy to theBreaker.news.

It happened July 15, after a legal battle involving the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) and lawyers for the City of Vancouver, British Columbia government, B.C. Pavilion Corp., FIFA, Canadian Soccer Association, Vancouver International Airport and an unnamed third-party.

The OIPC adjudicator, Elizabeth Vranjkovic, ruled June 2 that the city must release the document to theBreaker.news, which applied for a copy more than three years ago. Vranjkovic decided against city hall’s claim that disclosure would cause it and FIFA financial harm.

What’s missing

Only one paragraph from the 98-page host city agreement remains censored: the second last clause in the Controlled Area section. Vranjkovic ruled that it should still be protected for reasons of security and third-party trade secrets.

Comparing a key section of Seattle and Vancouver’s FIFA contracts. (City of Seattle/City of Vancouver)

However, clause 8.3(iv)d is visible in Seattle’s contract, which states: “Controlled Area must be subject to strict traffic restrictions in order to ensure regulated and controlled access and circulation only, including the establishment of access permission systems and its enforcement through access permit controls by the relevant public authorities.”

According to FIFA, the Controlled Area “is an area (such as temporary parking areas used on Match Days, open outdoor spaces, entertainment areas or arenas) located directly adjacent to the Outer Stadium Perimeter and in which certain commercial and other activities are prohibited on Match Days and the days prior to Match Days to ensure the smooth implementation of the organization of the Matches and protect the rights of the Commercial Affiliates.”.

Why it matters

B.C. Place Stadium is one of the trickiest 2026 venues for security and transportation planners because it is wedged in Downtown Vancouver with commercial and residential towers on three sides and several pinch points for motorists and pedestrians.

By comparison, tournament final venue MetLife Stadium is surrounded by suburban parking lots, near an interstate freeway in New Jersey.

FIFA requires traffic closures in a wide area around the stadium on each of Vancouver’s seven match days and one day before each match day.

That means 14 days of closures in Vancouver, where residents await details from city hall.

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Bob Mackin Almost two years after Seattle city

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Bob Mackin

More than seven months ago, the NDP government got its wish when the Surrey Police Service (SPS) took over command from the Surrey RCMP.

Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke (right) and Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski at the Nov. 29, 2024 change of command. (SPS/YouTube)

A pre-election, non-disclosure agreement demanded by then-Solicitor General Mike Farnworth effectively ended Mayor Brenda Locke’s opposition to the costly, new municipal force.

Now Locke is demanding what most municipal mayors get: regular communications from the police department, including meetings with the chief, crime statistics reports and immediate notification of major incidents.

That is what appears in Locke’s extraordinary, June 19 letter to SPS Chief Norm Lipinski.

It took five days for a reply, but it did not come from Lipinski. Instead, Surrey Police Board Chair Harley Chappell said in the June 24 letter that the board would “explore” how to address Locke’s concerns.

The matter is expected to be discussed at the July 16 Surrey Police Board meeting.

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Bob Mackin More than seven months ago, the

Business, News

Bob Mackin

BC Ferries is hiding nearly all of the key internal report that recommended a Chinese state-owned shipyard build its next four ferries.

It is also refusing to show the names of the unsuccessful bidders.

Artist’s rendering of one of the four new BC Ferries to be built in China. (BC Ferries)

The taxpayer-owned company announced the contract with CMI Weihai Shipyards on June 10. It sparked calls to scrap the deal — backed by a $1 billion loan from the federal Liberal government — due to national security concerns at a time when NDP Premier David Eby is urging citizens to buy Canadian.

New details

Under freedom of information, theBreaker.news obtained a heavily censored, eight-page internal report created April 11 and revised April 16. All but parts of the first and last pages are censored.

Despite the secrecy, the document states three shipyards were chosen Jan. 31 to proceed to evaluation, including “reference checks, site visits/verifications, and further assessments.”

The project team consulted Chinese shipbuilding consultant Marinus Vessels Ltd. and the American Bureau of Shipping and conducted site visits with shipbroker Clarksons to verify capabilities, quality, safety and environmental management plans and practices.

Project manager Mark Schaaf, a former Royal Canadian Navy officer, provided evaluation results to Ed Hooper, the executive director of shipbuilding. After site visits, the Ferry Renewal Program Board shortlisted “only two” shipyards on Feb. 25, because the proponents “would ensure a sufficiently competitive procurement environment.”

More than six, yellowed-out pages later, the recommendation to approve CMI Weihai Shipyards so it can “be invited to work with BC Ferry Services to produce the execution versions of the shipbuilding contracts and technical specifications, in time for mid-May contract signing.”

Why it matters

BC Ferries chose to withhold so much information for fear of financial harm and harm to third-party trade secrets.

But the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has repeatedly upheld the public’s right to know about public body procurement, including the names and scores of all shortlisted companies.

BC Ferries’ March 1, 2024 request for supplier qualification, handled by Clarksons, required bidders to confirm that they had delivered at least one turnkey vessel in the last five years over 90 metres in length, over 5,000 gross tonnes or over 3,000 tonnes displacement.

BC Ferries had originally contemplated awarding the contract last December with a Nov. 1, 2028 deadline for delivery of the first new vessel.

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Bob Mackin BC Ferries is hiding nearly all

Business, News, Sports

Bob Mackin

Brace yourself for sticker shock, because tickets are now on sale for the FIFA World Cup 26 at B.C. Place Stadium.

FIFA and its hospitality contractor, On Location, began online sales July 14, setting the cost for one person to attend B.C. Place Stadium’s first World Cup match on June 13, 2026 at $2,950.

The opponent won’t be known until FIFA’s official draw for the U.S./Canada/Mexico tournament before the end of 2025.

One package to see all seven B.C. Place matches starts at $15,975.

FIFA contractor On Location’s July 14, 2025 sales email for high-priced World Cup tickets and packages at each of the 16 host cities. (FIFA)

On Location is also selling ticket and hospitality packages, that include access to exclusive areas in and around the stadium, plus food, drinks and other perks.

FIFA Pavilion Standard at $19,860 is the lowest cost for one.

On Location describes the pavilion as “an exclusive retreat set against the iconic backdrop of the stadium. Within our secure perimeter, the excitement of the game extends far beyond the pitch, offering a truly elevated experience amid the grandeur of this global stage.”

At the other end of the scale, Pitchside Lounge Standard+ for $45,740, which includes premium champagne and other drinks, a tailored dining experience “highlighting regional flavours and culinary traditions,” special guest appearances, photo ops and live entertainment, plus a premium gift and, subject to availability, on-site parking.

“This is more than just a seat — it is your entry to an exclusive experience that blends luxurious comfort with the electrifying energy of the world’s greatest sporting event,” according to the On Location spiel.

In June, the NDP B.C. government announced the latest estimate to host FIFA could be as high as $624 million. Not including the anticipated federal security budget.

Not your only chance

Cheaper tickets are to be had, later this year. But under a lottery system. Prices and availability to be announced.

For Qatar 2022, first round matches ranged from US$69 to US$220. (The Qatar government negotiated for a special locals category at US$11 for a ticket to a first round match.)

Jessie Adcock, head of the FIFA secretariat at Vancouver city hall, warned FIFA 26 tickets will be harder to get than tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics were.

According to the FIFA hosting manual, obtained by theBreaker.news, 20% of stadium tickets will be allotted to the two playing member associations and 20% of capacity for each match will be available to the public market.

“Oftentimes, I think we compare the Olympics in 2010 to the situation here, and it is not going to be like that,” Adcock said during a June 10 appearance at the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. “I think a lot of folks had access to a lot of tickets that were available, there was a lot of inventory that was able to be shared across partners. In this case, it is going to be quite limited, but that is why we are focusing on the Fan Festival.”

Who is qualified so far?

Canada is scheduled to play June 18 and 24, 2026 at B.C. Place. The rest of the teams will become known in December’s tournament draw.

So far, the three hosts and 10 others have qualified to play in the 48-nation. 16-city tournament. From Asia: Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan, South Korea and Japan. From: South America, Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil. From Oceania, New Zealand.

What is On Location?

FIFA’s official hospitality provider, On Location Events LLC, is under the same corporate umbrella as UFC and WWE, two companies close to Donald Trump’s heart.

In February, TKO Group Holdings Inc. completed the acquisition of On Location. In December, Trump’s Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, reported owning more than $50 million in TKO shares and receiving between $1 million and $5 million in dividends.

TKO CEO Ari Emanuel represented Trump when he hosted The Apprentice on NBC.

At the Endeavor Group in 2015, Emanuel bought the Miss Universe Organzation from Trump. In 2021 and 2022, Elon Musk was a member of Endeavor’s board of directors.

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Bob Mackin Brace yourself for sticker shock, because

News, Opinion

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.

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

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For the week of July 13, 2025:

News

Bob Mackin

The mystery is over. Prime Minister Mark Carney’s conflict of interest register shows well-known American companies dominated his investment portfolio.

Former central banker Carney kept the Liberal Party in minority power in the April 28 election. His patriotic “Elbows Up” campaign exploited fears about Donald Trump’s tariffs and threats to make Canada the 51st state.

On July 11, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner website released Carney’s long-awaited disclosure files. Carney had resisted showing the files before the election, insisting he was following the rules that allowed him to delay disclosure to four months after becoming Prime Minister. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre suggested Carney did not want the public to know the truth about the depth and breadth of his American investments.

Mark Carney and Mike Myers (left) in the Elbows Up Liberal election ad. (Liberal Party/YouTube)

How much?

Carney’s file lists 569 stocks divested into a blind trust and managed by a third party.

A separate list, Annex A, is for the purpose of an ethical “screen”: Carney is not supposed to be made aware of or participate in any official matters or decisions involving 103 entities related to payment processor Stripe and Brookfield Asset Management. Before running to replace Justin Trudeau, Carney was a director of Stripe and chaired Brookfield, a trillion-dollar Canadian company that moved headquarters to New York shortly after Trump returned to power last fall.

Neither list shows the quantity or value of Carney’s shareholdings.

Why it matters

Before the election, Democracy Watch co-founder Duff Conacher told theBreaker.news that blind trusts and ethical screens under lax Canadian laws are meaningless, because there are too many “loopholes in the ethics law that are huge and allow politicians to participate in decisions where they can profit from the decision.”

A brief selection of Carney’s U.S. shareholdings.

Tech/media: Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com, Inc., Apple Inc., AT&T, Inc., Comcast Corp., Fox Corp., International Business Machines Corp., Liberty Media Corp., Meta Platforms, Inc, Microsoft Corp., Netflix Inc., Salesforce, Inc., Walt Disney Co.

Tourism/travel: American Airlines Group, Inc., Airbnb, Inc., Delta Air Lines, Inc., Expedia Group, Inc., Marriott International, Inc., Royal Caribbean Group., Uber Technologies, Inc., United Airlines Holdings, Inc.

Banking: Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley

Energy: Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp.,

Motoring: Ford Motor Co., Harley-Davidson, Inc.

Military/aerospace: Boeing Company, Halliburton Co., Lockheed Martin Corp.

Food/beverage: Coca Cola Company, McDonalds Corp., Pepsico, Inc., Starbucks Corp., Kraft Heinz Co.

Retail: Best Buy Co., Inc., Home Depot, Inc., Walmart, Inc.

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Bob Mackin The mystery is over. Prime Minister

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