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Bob Mackin

A B.C. Supreme Court justice scolded China Southern Airlines (CSA) for the way it treated a fired manager and behaved in legal proceedings when he ordered the Chinese government-controlled carrier pay $208,000 in damages.

China Southern Airlines flies Guangzhou to Vancouver (CS Air)

Paul Chu sued the Guanghzhou-based company in September 2019 for wrongful dismissal after working for the airline from 2008 to 2018.

Justice Frits Verhoeven’s Jan. 5 verdict said Vancouver general manager Shaohong “Kitty” Chen approached Chu, a former manager and board member of Harmony Airways, to ask for his help in setting up Vancouver operations for CSA in 2008. He eventually was named marketing and business development manager. 

At the start of 2018, Rui “Jocelyn” Zhang replaced Chen, demoted Chu in March 2018 to customer service at the reception desk in the downtown Vancouver office and cut his pay 25%. 

Chu alleged that CSA embarked on a campaign of insincere warnings, unfair discipline and public embarrassment against him. 

“CSA had no complaints about the plaintiff’s work prior to the arrival of Ms. Zhang in January 2018,” Verhoeven wrote. “However, beginning in February 2018, CSA began criticizing the plaintiff’s work, issuing reprimands accompanied by threats of dismissal, and carefully documenting disciplinary measures with self-serving records”

Chu was demoted again and assigned to work at Vancouver International Airport before he was fired Feb. 1, 2019 for alleged incompetence and time theft — despite the airline’s commitment to provide more training. 

After Chu filed his lawsuit, CSA countered with a statement of defence that contained 17 allegations. All were baseless according to Verhoeven, except for Chu’s inability to perform as a frontline airport services worker. The judge noted that prior to the two-day November summary hearing, CSA abandoned the most-serious allegations of fraud, theft of model airplanes and sexual harassment in the workplace. 

“The defendant has singularly failed to establish just cause for dismissal without notice,” Verhoeven wrote. “All of its allegations are either entirely unsupported by evidence or lacking in any merit. Accordingly, the plaintiff is entitled to damages for wrongful dismissal.”

Chu, a Canadian citizen since 1979, was 68 when fired. Since then, the pandemic hit and he unsuccessfully applied for jobs with aviation and tourism-related businesses. His application to work at McDonald’s was rejected, but now works as a DoorDash meal delivery driver.  

Vancouver International Airport control tower (YVR)

Verhoeven ordered CSA to pay Chu $100,000 in punitive damages, $58,053 for wrongful dismissal and $50,000 for mental distress. 

Verhoeven noted CSA is a “very large corporation” which reported the equivalent of $590 million in 2019 profits and rebuked CSA for responding to Chu’s lawsuit with “vicious, vindictive, and unfounded allegations that it knew or ought to have known could not be supported.”

Verhoeven said CSA failed to provide documents from its list of documents, was uncooperative in scheduling the examination for discovery, caused delays in trial scheduling, and failed to pay costs.

“The record shows a pattern of conduct on the part of the defendant designed to stall and frustrate the prosecution by the plaintiff of his claims in this litigation, in circumstances where CSA must be taken to know that the plaintiff’s financial claims were modest, especially in relation to the high costs of litigation and his limited resources,” the judge wrote. “The description ‘hardball tactics’ easily applies to the defendant’s behaviour both before and after his termination.”

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Bob Mackin A B.C. Supreme Court justice scolded

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Bob Mackin

A bomb hoax forced evacuation of the GCT Deltaport container terminal on Jan. 5. 

Marko Dekovic, the vice-president of public affairs for GCT Global Container Terminals, said the security incident around 2 p.m. required evacuation and notification of authorities, including the Delta Police Department.

Scene outside Deltaport on Jan. 5 after a bomb threat (Dave Pasin)

Transport Canada said that it closely monitored the situation for the duration of the event. 

“Out of an abundance of caution, a full terminal evacuation was ordered by [GCT],” said spokesperson San Sau Liu. “After the evacuation, the threat was deemed to be non-credible by the Delta Police Department.”

Dekovic said after the all-clear was given, operations resumed for the 1 a.m. shift. 

“Making a bomb threat is a criminal offence and Transport Canada takes every threat seriously,” Liu said. “Any actual, attempted, threatened or suspected unlawful act, which would cause an interference, breach or malfunction of the maritime transportation system is immediately investigated further.”

A contractor on-site at the time noticed traffic backed up quickly, but sympathized with the facility’s staff.

“The sense of urgency was palpable, they were getting everybody out of there as fast as they could,” said Dave Pasin. “I was quite impressed with the way they did it. It was clear the welfare of their employees was paramount.” 

The semi-automated Deltaport terminal is 85 hectares on Tsawwassen’s Roberts Bank with access to the CN and CP rail networks and highways. GCT is proposing a fourth berth on the east side of the Roberts Bank Causeway in order to handle 2 million more containers per year.

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Bob Mackin A bomb hoax forced evacuation of

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Bob Mackin

Glen Clark is no longer president and chief operating officer of the Jim Pattison Group.

Ex-B.C. Premier Glen Clark (JPG)

But chairman Jim Pattison said he is not going far. 

The former BC NDP premier retired at the end of 2022 without fanfare, but will remain on the boards of two companies in which Pattison is the largest shareholder: lumber, pulp and paper producer Canfor and coal exporter Westshore Terminals. 

“We decided a year ago that at age 65 he would retire from his job with us,” Pattison said in a Jan. 6 interview. “But he’s still going to be involved.”

Clark joined Pattison’s sign division as regional manager in 2001 and rose through the ranks to become president in 2011, and chief operating officer in 2017. 

“He’s been with us 20 years, he’s done a good job, but time goes by and he’s getting older,” said Pattison, who is 94. “He’s going stay on some of our boards, as a director, and the new president is going to be Ryan Barrington-Foote, who is 44.”

Barrington-Foote, a Simon Fraser University business administration and economics grad, joined Pattison in 2001 from KPMG as a taxation manager. He advanced through the accounting department before being named executive vice-president in 2019.

Tycoon Jim Pattison (left) with Premier John Horgan in February 2019 (BC Gov)

Clark was Pattison’s right-hand man, responsible for a substantial part of Pattison’s privately held corporate empire, including Canadian Fishing Co., COMAG Marketing Group, Everything Wine, Genpak, Guinness World Records, Jim Pattison Lease, Montebello, Ocean Brands, Overwaitea Food Group, Pattison Sign Group, Ripley Entertainment, Sun Rype, the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group and TNG. 

Clark has not responded to an interview request. 

Why no public announcement or retirement party for Clark?

“Well, I can’t answer that,” Pattison said. “Because we didn’t really anticipate, we don’t consider Glen leaving the company, because he’s going to be still involved with some of the things that we’re doing.”

Former union organizer Clark was elected the NDP MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway in 1986, was appointed finance minister under Premier Mike Harcourt in November 1991 and succeeded Harcourt as B.C.’s 31st premier in February 1996. 

He led the NDP to victory in the 1996 election over BC Liberal Gordon Campbell. The NDP finished with six more seats than the BC Liberals, who had more than 2 per cent more votes provincewide. 

In August 1999, Clark resigned in scandal over the granting of a casino licence to a neighbour who performed renovations on his East Vancouver house. The conflict of interest commissioner ruled in 2001 that he broke the conflict laws, but a BC Supreme Court judge acquitted Clark of breach of trust in 2002. 

Even before he was found not guilty, Pattison had hired him, on the recommendation of former NDP premier Dave Barrett. Barrett hosted a talk show on Pattison’s CJOR radio for three years in the mid-1980s before turning to federal politics.

Pattison’s website says the company had $14 billion in 2021 sales and 49,000 employees.

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Bob Mackin Glen Clark is no longer president

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Bob Mackin

Sixteen years after B.C. Place Stadium’s original inflated fabric roof ripped and collapsed, how is the 2011-opened retractable system faring?

B.C. Place’s retractable roof (Mackin)

A report obtained from B.C. Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) via freedom of information about the spring 2022 inspection found no major concerns. But inspectors did recommended keeping the roof tidier.

“Apart from the wear of the fabric due to folding, the fabric and the belts are in good condition,” said the results of the March 28-April 1, 2022 inspection by Pfeifer Structures, which merged with original installer FabriTec in 2014.

“No significant damage was found, several but not all minor damages were patched. The drive system of the roof and the hydraulic system of the garage worked without any failure and with only minor errors prior to the inspection, but could be fixed during the maintenance.”

The list of 17 recommendations for minor work highlighted the need for regular cleaning where the fabric is in contact with other parts of the structure, and to stay ahead of curious pigeons, seagulls and crows.

“The roof should further be cleaned from the inner filling dripping from the upper radial cables. As far as we know, the inner filling does not compromise the integrity of the fabric, but long- term impacts have not been investigated,” the report said.

“To prevent the birds from causing damage by further pulling yarns from the edge of fabric seams on the roof, the yarns should be cut on a regular basis. It is recommended using kids scissors with blunt-tip blades to avoid accidental damage to the fabric.”

PavCo spokesperson Meaghan Benmore said all but three of recommendations have been completed.

The hole cut in B.C. Place’s roof on Jan. 5, 2007.

“All repairs and updates will be completed ahead of our spring 2023 inspection and the costs are incorporated in our ongoing maintenance costs,” she said.

Three months after the inspection report, a malfunction kept the roof closed for two events during some of the hottest days of the summer of 2022: a July 21 B.C. Lions game and a July 23 Vancouver Whitecaps game. Two sources said that the malfunction happened after workers had been spraying water on the roof.

PavCo’s FOI office said that neither an incident report nor a work order was created. Work to reopen the roof was conducted via video chat and remote access with Pfeifer, which sent a representative from Europe.

“It was a mechanical failure that posed no danger to the roof or building,” said the PavCo response. 

PavCo also said at the end of October that there was no repair or maintenance log for the retractable roof since January 2020. 

The roof was built atop the 1983-opened stadium as part of a $514 million project. Major works closed the stadium from May 2010 to September 2011. 

The roof replacement was triggered by the Jan. 5, 2007 rip-and-collapse of the original air-supported roof. On that day, snow had been allowed to accumulate, the air temperature fluctuated and five snow alarms were ignored. Instead of activating the snow-melting system, a control room worker spiked the interior air pressure. That caused a mini-avalanche of snow, ice and slush that sliced a gash in the fabric roof. 

After the roof was repaired and reinflated, architects and engineers studied whether to replace it before the 2010 Winter Olympics. They concluded it was too complex to guarantee completion before the opening ceremony. 

PavCo had already been pondering the future of B.C. Place. A heavily censored June 20, 2006 “Infrastructure Improvements” report, released under FOI, said the stadium had “worn out assets which are critical to basic tenant operations” and improvements were required to “bring it up to standards expected by clients and spectators at events.”

Last June, B.C. Place was named one of 16 venues for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. 

According to PavCo financials through March 31, 2022, it owed $128.9 million under a loan agreement with the provincial government. “The current repayment schedule reflects loan payments by PavCo of $7.33 million for fiscal years 2022 through 2048 and $3.7 million for fiscal year 2049,” said the annual financial report. 

The latest assessment pegs the stadium at $222.9 million, of which $55.42 million is the land. By comparison, the neighbouring Parq casino and hotel complex is valued at $316.78 million, including $142.98 million land. 

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Bob Mackin Sixteen years after B.C. Place Stadium’s

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Bob Mackin

Last month it was the winter weather taking Coast Mountain Bus Company [CMBC] vehicles out of service, this month it is the supply chain crunch.

(CMBC)

TransLink spokesman Thor Diakow said parts have been delayed for a total of 20 buses.

“This means that more spare buses have been affected that we would like,” Diakow said. “However, none of our bus routes have seen service delays because of this. We are working to rectify the situation as quickly as possible and are able to service our routes without disruptions at this time.”

Coast Mountain has 1,700 buses in its fleet, but the situation is affecting equipment types according to drivers who are not authorized to speak to the media. One said he had noticed a lot of parked, broken down buses over the last month. Another said shorter, 40-foot buses are being used on rush hour service for popular routes such as the 99 B-Line, instead of longer 60-foot articulated buses.

Diakow confirmed that some 60-footers were switched for 40-footers on Jan. 3.

“This was due in part to the 20 buses waiting for parts and maintenance workers on annual vacation, which is higher than normal in late December and early January. No buses were cancelled or delayed as a result.”

Winnipeg-headquartered New Flyer Industries [NFI] Group warned in a third quarter presentation on Nov. 16 that it was short critical parts for wiring, door controllers and parts containing microchips. It halted new vehicle line entries at all plants in late October/early November in a bid to catch-up. The company expects parts delays to continue into the first half of 2023.

(TransLink) “Seeing initial signs that recessionary impacts in the broader economy may help lower demand and reduce input costs,” said the NFI presentation. 

The president of the CMBC maintenance employees’ union, Unifor Local 2200, said parts supply is an issue, but understaffing is more acute. President Mike Smith counts 1,100 members, of which more than 700 are in skilled trades. 

“The problem is manpower,” Smith said. “I give it to Coast and TransLink, they’re looking for them. Where are they?” 

CMBC general manager Michael McDaniel told last month’s TransLink board meeting that farebox revenue reached approximately 70% of pre-pandemic amounts by the end of September, up 12% from July’s tally. It expects to have another 15 battery electric buses delivered by the end of 2023. 

As of September, CMBC had hired 352 of the targeted 457 new drivers for 2022. The report did not mention mechanic numbers, but warned operational risks include the inability to recruit enough trades within the required timeline, which “may cause negative impacts on overtime, morale, delays, and other operational constraints.”

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Bob Mackin Last month it was the winter

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Bob Mackin

The B.C. government’s freedom of information office has admitted that all of John Horgan’s text messages from his final three days as premier were deleted.

John Horgan (Twitter)

A request for all of Horgan’s sent and received texts from Nov. 16 to 18 resulted in a no records response. David Eby was sworn-in as Horgan’s successor on Nov. 18.

“I can confirm that the ex-premier’s government phone was searched, and Office of the Premier did not locate records,” said an email from senior FOI analyst Sascha Pannwitz.

”As the text messages were casual, non-substantive, and not required for ongoing business needs, they were deleted under the transitory records schedule.”

Jason Woywada, executive director of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association (FIPA), said the transitory label can sometimes be justified. For instance, a public official’s messages about arranging a coffee meeting need not be kept in perpetuity. But, Woywada said, deciding what is genuinely transitory is subjective and open to abuse. 

“We have no ability to trust that the Premier’s Office is making a decision that is in the public interest and that they are retaining the records that they should and/or are withholding the records that they should,” Woywada said in an interview. 

Equally troubling, he said, is the suggestion that Horgan’s last 72 hours as premier could have elapsed without being party to a single message of any lasting importance. 

“It’s passing strange that the premier didn’t make a decision via text message in the last three days in office,” Woywada said. “That seems incredibly low possibility and incredibly low probability. So part of what’s happening here is by not releasing information, they create the very scandal that starts to give rise and entrench a narrative that they have something to hide all the time.”

Horgan did not respond to interview requests.

In 2015, while leader of the NDP opposition, Horgan criticized what he called “a culture of deception, deceit, and delete, delete, delete” after the Information and Privacy Commissioner found widespread triple-deleting under BC Liberal Premier Christy Clark. During Question Period on Oct. 27, 2015, Horgan scoffed at Clark’s suggestion that many of the messages were transitory.

From chief of staff Geoff Meggs’s text messages, obtained via FOI.

“It may well be that the Premier is transitory, and I’m hopeful that that’s the case, but the documents that belong to British Columbians should be available when they’re asked for, and that has not been the case on her watch,” Horgan said. “The most open and transparent government in British Columbia’s history is not overseen by her.”

The Office of the Premier, however, did release text messages via FOI from nine people inside and outside government to Horgan’s chief of staff, Geoff Meggs. 

External correspondents mostly wished Horgan and Meggs well and sought their personal contact information.  A Nov. 17, 9:21 p.m. message from Bob, with initials B.D., said “Great working with you Geoff. Hell of a ride!” Bob Dewar was Horgan’s 2017 campaign manager and an aide until his 2021 retirement.

Meggs sent himself a test text, while a staffer wondered whether he wanted her to forward messages from his government email account to a personal account. The next page was withheld entirely under a privacy clause. 

The exchange with Horgan’s deputy minister Lori Wanamaker was mostly censored, but one with press secretary Aileen Machell was mostly visible. She sought approval Nov. 17 to attach Horgan’s name to a quote written about Eby for placement in a news release about the 37th premier’s swearing-in: “When we formed government, I assigned David Eby to tackle some of our toughest problems. He put out the dumpster fire at ICBC and ended an era of money laundering a previous government ignored. He is a roll-up-your sleeves guy who will work hard to improve the lives of British Columbians.”

Replied Meggs: “OK, will see him in 90 minutes or so. Is a quote necessary?”

“We can remove it but it might look weird to not have a quote,” Machell replied. “Whatever you would like me to do.”

The quote attributed to Horgan appeared in the Nov. 18 news release. 

More than three hours after Eby’s swearing-in, the “talent director” at the government’s human resources department texted Meggs. “I’m wondering if you are free for a moment,” wrote Meg Burrows. Meggs did not respond by text. 

Eby had previously announced the replacements of Meggs with Matt Smith and Wanamaker with Shannon Salter. It took until the week of Christmas for the Office of the Premier to admit that Meggs left with a $339,784 severance package, only exceeded by Wanamaker’s $591,089 golden parachute.

Horgan came to power in 2017 after promising to improve the FOI law. The NDP government also promised in early 2019 that it would finally add the Legislative Assembly’s administration. Instead, the NDP government imposed a $10 application fee for FOI requests in late 2021. 

Horgan backed down from an attempt to exempt the Premier’s Office from FOI requests and stopped short of fulfilling a promise for a government-wide duty to document law. The watered down measure threatens a fine up to $50,000 for wilfully destroying records in order to avoid complying with an FOI request.

FIPA’s Woywada said it was yet another case of a political party in opposition demanding greater government transparency until it got into power.

“It’s important that some of these political parties actually start acting on increasing government transparency as they get into office,” he said. 

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Bob Mackin The B.C. government’s freedom of information

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The kingpin of the U.S. college admissions scandal, which involved two British Columbians, was sentenced to jail in Boston Jan. 4 for 42 months. 

U.S. District Court Senior Judge Rya Zobel also sentenced William “Rick” Singer to three years probation and ordered the 62-year-old St. Petersburg, Fla. resident to pay $10.7 million restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and forfeit $5.3 million of assets and $3.4 million in cash. 

“The conduct in this case was something out of a Hollywood movie: wealthy, entitled parents, paying for their children to secure admission to colleges, using fake test scores, falsified resumés, and even staged or photoshopped pictures,” U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins told reporters. “They gained admission that was not based on merit or athletic ability, but rather on cheating.”

The 55 people charged actually included Hollywood stars Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin and spawned a Netflix documentary heavy on re-enactments.

Point Grey resident David Sidoo and Surrey’s Xiaoning “Peggy” Sui were two of the 53 convicted since early 2019.

Singer owned and operated the Edge College and Career Network LLC and was CEO of the not-for-profit Key Worldwide Foundation. From 2011 to 2019, he conspired with parents, coaches and a university athletics administrator to gain admission via bribery to well-known colleges and universities. Test proctors and administrators were paid off to allow cheating on entrance exams. Coaches and administrators were bribed to accept applicants based on fraudulent sports credentials. 

David Sidoo accepting the Order of B.C. from Premier Christy Clark and Lt. Gov. Judith Guichon in 2016 (BC Gov)

Key disguised the bribes as charitable donations, which even allowed parents to deduct payments from their taxes. Singer took in $25 million, paid $7 million in bribes and used $15 million for his own benefit. 

“Any parent or guardian who has ever experienced the college admissions process should be angry,” Rollins said. “Any student or student athlete who spent their lives preparing to get into college, or to compete in college athletics, should be angry. This is not how the process should work. And that is precisely why this investigation and prosecution was so important.”

Sui, a Chinese citizen with Canadian permanent residency, was arrested in September 2019 while travelling in Spain. She spent 157 days in a Madrid jail and was eventually sentenced in May 2020 to time served. A judge fined Sui $250,000 and she forfeited the $400,000 bribe she paid Singer in order to arrange her son’s admission to the University of California Los Angeles. Her son had no prior competitive soccer experience, but was falsely billed as a top player on two private teams in Canada.

Xiaoning Sui (Twitter)

Mining and energy stock promoter Sidoo, a former University of B.C. and Canadian Football League star, was sentenced to 90 days jail in July 2020 after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud. 

In 2011 and 2012, Sidoo paid $200,000 to Singer. Singer hired tennis pro Mark Riddell who used false identification to pose as Sidoo’s sons in order to ace their college entry exams. On two occasions, the Floridian flew to B.C. to write exams. 

Dylan Sidoo was accepted to Chapman University, but later transferred to University of Southern California. Jordan Sidoo entered University of California Berkeley. They both graduated. 

Not only did David Sidoo serve jail time, but his name was removed from the field at Thunderbird Stadium, he lost his B.C. Sports Hall of Fame induction and his Order of B.C. award was stripped. 

“Operation Varsity Blues exposed a bold and shameless, decade-long scheme that undercut hardworking students trying to get into these prestigious universities the right way — through hard work, grades, community service, and sheer perseverance,” said FBI Special Agent Joseph Bonavolonta. “Everyone we’ve arrested, charged and convicted to date are integral to the scheme’s success. But, without Rick Singer, they never would have succeeded.”

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Bob Mackin The kingpin of the U.S. college

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For the week of Jan. 1, 2023:

The MMA Panel reconvenes. This time, the sequel to last week’s 2022 review.

Fearless prediction panel Andy Yan and Mario Canseco.

Host Bob Mackin welcomes ResearchCo pollster Mario Canseco and Simon Fraser University city program director Andy Yan to look into the crystal ball and make predictions about 2023. 

Plus Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest headlines and a tribute to the late, great Pelé.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn or Apple Podcasts.

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For the week of Jan. 1, 2023: The

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Bob Mackin

Premier David Eby says he isn’t planning to call an early provincial election in 2023. Instead, he says he’ll keep working toward the scheduled October 2024 vote. 

ResearchCo pollster Mario Canseco said there are plenty of reasons for Eby to stay to true to his word. Even while he has a $5.7 billion surplus to spend, next year’s budget to table and a spring Legislature session two weeks shorter than the last.

Vancouver’s 2022 mayoral election results and the provincial ridings of the city. (Andy Yan)

Alberta’s election is scheduled for May 29 and the Rachel Notley-led NDP will need help from B.C.-based party organizers and volunteers.

“It’s also not absolutely necessary,” Canseco said. “I could understand why in 2020 the NDP decided to go for it. They had very high ratings related to the COVID-19 pandemic, they had an extremely weak BC Liberal leader in Andrew Wilkinson, who was being helped by people who did not do a fantastic job.”

Kevin Falcon obviously doesn’t control Eby’s agenda, but Canseco believes Falcon would prefer Eby keeps his promise while the BC Liberals rebrand as BC United.

“If you have an election in May [2023] you don’t have time to implement all of the changes. I think there will be a lot of people out there who are considering running for the new BC United who will be happy to do that in 2024, but not necessarily running as a BC Liberal candidate in 2023, so you still have to deal with the baggage of the party,” Canseco said.

The BC Liberals have hope to start 2023, after the rebirth of the centre-right in October’s civic election. The BC Liberals hold only two of Vancouver’s 11 ridings now. A decade ago, under Christy Clark, they held a 6-5 edge. 

A common denominator in 2022 was Kareem Allam, who managed Falcon’s February leadership win and Sim’s ABC Vancouver victory eight months later before becoming Sim’s chief of staff. Sim also received help on his transition team from former Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts, the BC Liberals’ 2018 leadership runner-up.

Premier David Eby and Mayor Ken Sim at Queen Elizabeth Park (@KenSimCity)

Sim fell 957 votes shy of Stewart in 2018. Sim’s NPA won the biggest voting bloc with five councillors, but five of the top seven vote-getters skewed left: Green (3), COPE (1) and OneCity (1).

Four years later, Stewart had 112 fewer votes than 2018, but Sim gained almost 37,000. ABC won seven of 10 council seats and all but one on Park Board. ABC ran as big tent, centrist alternative that exploited the parting on the left. In the words of incumbent OneCity councillor Christine Boyle, the left ran too many candidates. “We split the vote,” she Tweeted.

Andy Yan, director of the Simon Fraser University city program, said the civic election result could be a major reason for Eby to avoid an early election in 2023. The Southeastern neighbourhoods, which also sit in three NDP ridings, flexed their muscle at the ballot box and decided the new order at 12th and Cambie.

“Are these ridings in play?” Yan said. “I wonder if they’re in trouble.” 

According to Yan’s analysis of civic voting patterns, Sim dominated six of the seven civic polls that are within the provincial Vancouver-Fraserview riding, which flipped from the BC Liberals to the NDP’s George Chow in 2017. Sim also won five of the six polls in Vancouver-Kingsway, Health Minister Adrian Dix’s riding, and showed strong in Vancouver-Kensington, Mable Elmore’s riding. 

“We’re not talking about Point Grey or Kerrisdale,” Yan said. “We’re actually talking about Sunset and Killarney. I think a lot of this is also a testament to the hard work and money that was involved in this particular election, that ABC was able to really get their vote out.” 

Before Oct. 15, Eby’s leadership campaign ran hand-in-hand with Stewart and his fledgling Forward Together party. Eby’s constituency assistant Dulcy Anderson was one of Stewart’s candidates for council.

Kevin Falcon enters the Wall Centre ballroom on Feb. 5 (BC Liberals/Facebook)

Four days after Stewart and his slate suffered the humiliating shutout, Eby became NDP leader and premier designate by default, with the disqualification of Anjali Appadurai. 

Sim was sworn-in to start the first full week of November. Eby was sworn-in on the Friday of the next week. They have only said nice things about each other in public, as both need to find solutions to the Downtown Eastside and Chinatown. Former housing minister Eby supports greater density and previously threatened to override cities that don’t speed-up housing approvals. Sim and ABC are unlikely to resist. 

The friction that existed between city hall and the provincial government during 2008 and 2017, when Vision Vancouver often butted heads with the BC Liberals, just isn’t there. Yan said that Eby and Sim are appearing to work together because they must be pragmatic and avoid being too partisan. He wonders how long that will last. 

“They’ve got shared problems,” Yan said. “If there is seen a tension between the two, it becomes a risk for both of them. They talk about politics being strange bedfellows. It’s in neither one of their interests to have have all-out tensions.”

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Bob Mackin Premier David Eby says he isn’t

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Bob Mackin 

The debate rages: is Diego Maradona or Lionel Messi the greatest soccer player of all-time? 

Their talent and achievements are undeniable. But Pelé — Edson Arantes do Nascimento — ranks far above them in my books.

Postcard from Pele’s 1975 visit to Vancouver.

One of the greatest athletes of all-time died Dec. 29 at age 82. Not only was he Brazil’s greatest soccer export, a member of three World Cup champion squads, but he played an instrumental role in opening Canadian and American eyes to the beautiful game in the 1970s during three seasons with the North American Soccer League’s New York Cosmos.

A man of average height from humble beginnings who was a magician with the ball. He dazzled Vancouverites on several occasions and inspired many of us to play the game and imagine we were wearing his number 10.  

I had the thrill of meeting Pelé when I was a child (my father was on the Whitecaps’ radio team at CJOR), and then as a young reporter when he appeared as a MasterCard spokesman at a convention in Vancouver. 

I dropped everything while covering the Beijing 2008 Olympics to attend his photo op outside the Forbidden City. 

I wasn’t the only one disappointed Pelé didn’t light the cauldron at the Rio 2016 opening ceremony in legendary Maracana. He was reportedly in ill health.  

But his footprints were already in the stadium. Along with the ball he used to score his 1,000th goal. Artifacts in the museum that is the shrine to Brazil’s “futebol” triumphs that I first visited during the 2007 Pan American Games.

Pelé’s visits to Vancouver:

July 30, 1971: Pelé led Brazil’s Santos to a 3-1 win in a friendly against Hannover 96 of West Germany at Empire Stadium. The 22,193 fans saw Pelé score the 1,086th goal of his career, a 22-yard free kick in the second half. 

July 7, 1972: Santos blanked the B.C. Premier League All-Stars 5-0 at Empire Stadium before 16,304 fans. Pelé played 82 minutes and didn’t score with his two shots on target, which was a moral victory for besieged goalkeeper Greg Weber.

May 27 and 28, 1975: Two-day visit to B.C. included an appearance at the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame’s seventh annual induction banquet. Multisport athlete Reg Clarkson headed the list of inductees overshadowed by famous guests Pelé and sports writer George Plimpton, who were presented with Montreal 1976 Olympic coin sets. Reporters wanted to know about the $7 million offer from the New York Cosmos. The Big Apple was the star’s next stop, the next night, where the Whitecaps registered a road win. 

Whitecaps ad in the Vancouver Province from July 7, 1975.

July 7, 1975: The Cosmos with star signing Pelé came to Vancouver for a friendly match against the Whitecaps at Empire Stadium. Reserved seats were sold out, but general admission was $4.50 at the gate. (Worth $23.02 in 2022 dollars). Owner Herb Capozzi offered free tickets to the match for anyone buying tickets to all four of the remaining regular season games. The visitors were 2-1 victors in front of 26,495, then a local soccer attendance record. Israeli Mordecai Spiegler scored both New York goals. Sergio Zanatta had Vancouver’s. 

Sept. 10, 1976: The Cosmos came for another friendly, this time against Canada’s national team as it prepared for World Cup qualifying. Brian Budd’s goal stood as the winner of the 3-1 match, but goalkeeper Tony Chursky was the star who made two saves off Pelé scoring chances. Giorgio Chinaglia’s penalty kick goal spoiled Chursky’s shutout bid late in the match.

June 30, 1977: In a league match, the Whitecaps upped their game against Pelé, Chinaglia and German star Franz Beckenbauer. Two other players with P surnames stole the show: Derek Possee and Buzz Parsons scored twice each in the 5-3 win before 30,277 fans, a record for a Canadian club match at the time. Almost as awesome as the Whitecaps’ unlikely victory was the soccer-caused traffic jam on the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows bridge. 

Sept. 8, 1979: Almost two years after Pelé’s dramatic retirement match at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, he was back on the pitch. This time in a dapper white leisure suit to perform the ceremonial kickoff before Soccer Bowl. Said ABC’s Jim McKay: “The man who, in many ways, put the sport of soccer on its way in the United States.” 

Pelé passed the ball to Whitecaps’ captain John Craven. A good omen, indeed. Vancouver edged the Tampa Bay Rowdies 2-1 for their only North American Soccer League title. 

May 3, 1992: Then a FIFA goodwill ambassador, Pelé came to Swangard Stadium in Burnaby for the opening of the CONCACAF under-20 world championship qualifying tournament. Host Canada beat Guadeloupe 4-2 before 2,110 fans.

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