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Bob Mackin 

The Non-Partisan Association has one incumbent candidate left, after Park Board commissioner Tricia Barker announced she was quitting the party on Sept. 1. 

But she is not leaving civic politics.

Tricia Barker (left) and John Coupar (Park Board)

“Today I gave the NPA board my resignation as a Park Board candidate with the Non-Partisan Association. I am grateful to the board for the opportunity to run and the support they gave me during the 2018 campaign and my subsequent election as a Park

Board Commissioner,” Barker Tweeted. “It has always been and will continue to be my goal to bè the voice for seniors and people with disabilities in our parks and recreational facilities here in Vancouver. I intend to find a way to continue this important work.”

That way is with TEAM for a Livable Vancouver, headed by mayoral candidate Colleen Hardwick, who was elected to city council with the NPA in 2018. Kumi Kimura, manager of the Musqueam Golf and Learning Academy, also left the NPA’s Park Board campaign to join TEAM’s campaign for the Oct. 15 civic election.

Hardwick called Barker a “voice of reason” and Kimura an expert in recreational facilities management. 

“Another nail in the coffin of the NPA,” Hardwick said. 

Barker and Kimura’s defection came just two days after Beijing resident Fred Harding announced his candidacy for mayor, replacing the resigned John Coupar. During the 2018-2022 term, Coupar and Barker were the opposition caucus on a Park Board dominated by COPE and Green politicians. 

Coun. Melissa De Genova remains the only veteran running with the city’s oldest political party. She was among five NPA candidates elected to city council last time, but three joined 2018 mayoral runner-up Ken Sim’s ABC Vancouver and Hardwick formed her own party.

NPA Park Board candidate Ray Goldenchild (Twitter)

Barker was not at Harding’s Tuesday photo op, but one of the people standing behind him was NPA Park Board candidate Ray Goldenchild. Goldenchild ran on Harding’s Vancouver 1st slate in 2018 and recently filed a complaint to the NPA board against Barker over a July 25 verbal altercation after a meeting at the NPA office. 

Goldenchild alleged Barker interrupted his conversation with another candidate, swore at him and badgered him. His email claimed the incident prompted him to quit on the spot, but two other candidates and Coupar convinced him to remain a candidate.

“John said that he just needed for me to stay with the team and he would deal with Tricia Barker and ensure she apologized to me.  He said he would get back to me, but he never did,” said Goldenchild’s email. 

Coupar resigned Aug. 4 in a dispute with the board over support from real estate developer Peter Wall. 

Goldenchild wrote that he complained after hearing rumours from an unnamed candidate with a rival party that he was a loud bully. His Aug. 17 email demanded a formal, written apology from Barker by Aug. 22. 

Reached after Barker’s resignation announcement, Goldenchild initially feigned ignorance about his Aug. 17 email and then refused to answer any questions. 

Barker said she was unaware of the substance of Goldenchild’s complaint and it was not investigated.

Colleen Hardwick (PlaceSpeak)

“That is a board issue. I think Ray was discussing things with the board,” Barker said. “So you know what, I don’t like to get into all these personal things. And as I said, if you got something that was leaked, then I can’t comment on it. Because I never saw it.”

Barker said her defection to TEAM was unrelated to Goldenchild’s allegations or Harding becoming leader of the party. She simply wanted the chance to be part of a majority on Park Board, as TEAM now has six candidates running. 

“The last four years has been really, really tough to sit there,” she said. 

Goldenchild and Dave Pasin are the only Park Board candidates remaining on the NPA website. The window to nominate candidates for the Oct. 15 ballot closes Sept. 9.

Barker admitted she would likely still be with the NPA had Coupar not resigned.

None of the members of the NPA board responded prior to Barker’s resignation, except president Dave Mawhinney, who said “no comment.” Mawhinney did not respond after Barker’s defection. 

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Bob Mackin  The Non-Partisan Association has one incumbent

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The B.C. Legislature’s ethics watchdog ruled Aug. 30 that an NDP cabinet minister did not break the conflict of interest law after a charity that bought her husband’s land received a major government grant. 

Lorne Doerksen, the BC Liberal MLA for Cariboo-Chilcotin, complained in late June about Land, Water and Resource Stewardship Minister Jodie Osborne.

NDP Minister Josie Osborne (BC Gov/Flickr)

George Patterson, the husband of the 2020-elected, Mid Island-Pacific Rim MLA, sold his Tofino Botanical Gardens last September to MakeWay Charitable Society. In April, Osborne announced the organization, formerly known as Tides Canada, received a $15 million grant through the Healthy Watersheds Initiative [HWI] program.

“Minister Osborne was not involved in the decision to make the grant to MakeWay instead of [Real Estate Foundation of B.C.] and did not take any steps to influence staff in making that substitution,” Conflict of Interest Commissioner Victoria Gray wrote in her Aug. 30 decision. “Minister Osborne’s participation in lobbying on dates including March 30 did not have any impact on the HWI 2.0 grant to MakeWay. Minister Osborne’s participation in the public announcement on April 21 about the HWI 2.0 grant to MakeWay was not an apparent conflict of interest.”

Patterson sold Tofino Botanical Gardens to MakeWay for $2.3 million in September 2021, sold all shares in his Coastwise Holdings company to MakeWay for an undisclosed sum and entered a one-year operation and maintenance contract with MakeWay through Sept. 15, 2022. Gray wrote that Patterson’s remuneration was not dependent on MakeWay receiving the grant. 

Gray’s report said Patterson rejected three offers, including one formal, because the potential buyers didn’t want to continue the garden. He eventually made a proposal to MakeWay with Eli Enns of the IISAAK OLAM Foundation. 

Osborne was Tofino’s mayor in August 2020 when Patterson listed the property for $3.75 million. She became Minster of Municipal Affairs after the 2020 provincial election, joined Treasury Board in March 2021 and was shuffled to the new ministry on Feb. 25. 

Josie Osborne (left) and George Patterson in 2011 (Ofelia Svart/Ecotrust)

Just over a month later, on March 30, she met with Zita Botelho of Watersheds BC [WBC] and lobbyist Coree Tull of the B.C. Watershed Security Coalition and B.C Freshwater Legacy Initiative. The latter, Gray wrote, is an affiliate of the MakeWay “shared platform project.” 

While Osborne was provided background information to prepare for the March 30 meeting, Gray said it did not refer to MakeWay. But, on or about March 30, staff explained to her that MakeWay would “provide administrative services to WBC to facilitate WBC delivering funding to Indigenous or Indigenous-led watershed projects.”

March 30 was also the date that Assistant Deputy Minister of Environment James Mack signed the funding agreement with MakeWay CEO Joanna Kerr and finance director Danae Maclean.

Gray’s report refers to Osborne’s April 1 letter to Deputy Minister Lori Halls. A copy of the two-paragraph letter, obtained Aug. 24 via freedom of information, says: “I am aware that MakeWay Foundation has a relationship with the Ministry of Land, Water and Resource Stewardship. 

Josie Osborne’s letter to a deputy minister omitted facts about her husband’s land sale (FOI)

“The purpose of this letter is to advise you that my spouse, George Patterson, has a contractual relationship with MakeWay Foundation as an advisor to Naa’Waya’Sum Coastal Indigenous Gardens in Tofino, B.C.”

The letter, however, contains no reference whatsoever to Patterson’s sale of land and company shares to MakeWay. 

The FOI disclosure included an undated document that states Osborne set up a screen with Halls to recuse herself from decision-making about MakeWay.

The ruling on Osborne was the first such investigation for Gray, a former B.C. Supreme Court Justice who was appointed to the $250,000-a-year position in early 2020. 

In an unusual move, Gray also used the report to tell MLAs that she has no jurisdiction to do what Doerkson originally wanted, which was to investigate a potential conflict of interest and provide a full accounting of facts. She accused Doerkson of causing “confusion and delay” in his original complaint. 

“I do not have the jurisdiction to investigate a matter based on suspicion alone,” she wrote.

The Members’ Conflict of Interest Act gives the commissioner power to conduct an inquiry, which includes ordering a person to attend, in person or by electronic means, to give evidence under oath or affirmation and to produce a record in a person’s possession or control. Gray’s report indicates Osborne provided letters and supporting documents only, instead of in-person testimony. Gray did reveal that she was able to inspect certain confidential Treasury Board documents.

Doerkson did not respond for comment. 

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British Columbia’s Legislative Assembly announced the death Aug. 31 of its longest-serving official, who retired more than a decade ago.

Ex-B.C. Legislature clerk George MacMinn

“It is with sadness that we learned of the passing of E. George MacMinn, OBC, QC, who served as a Table Officer for 54 years and as #BCLeg Clerk from 1993 to 2011. Our condolences to his loved ones,” said a message on the official Twitter account.” 

MacMinn, 92, was predeceased by his wife, Ann Louise, in September 2020. They had three daughters and four stepchildren. He was born March 21, 1930 in New Glasgow, N.S., and graduated in 1953 from University of B.C. Law School. MacMinn became a clerk assistant in 1958 at the Parliament Buildings until his 1973 promotion to deputy clerk. In 1993, he was appointed to the equivalent of CEO and received a Queen’s Counsel designation. 

MacMinn received the Order of B.C. in 2005, while still in office, for his longevity and for authoring Parliamentary Practice in British Columbia, originally published in 1981. The fifth edition in 2020 was edited by today’s clerk, Kate Ryan-Lloyd. 

In Canadian Parliamentary Review, Sandy Birch, Clerk of Committees at the House of Commons, called MacMinn’s work “an interesting, easily disgestible reference book for parliamentarians and for those who practice this fascinating art.”

“Instead of listing summaries of speaker’s rulings, he has inserted elaborate extracts of the parliamentary proceedings from which the precedents were established, thereby relieving the reader from the burden of determining what the exact situation was at that earlier time,” Birch wrote.

MacMinn also received the Queen’s Medal for Outstanding Service to the Legislative Assembly and honorary life membership in the American Society of Legislative Clerks and Secretaries.

At the time of his retirement in 2011, MacMinn was the longest-serving table officer in the Commonwealth. Beside his book, one of his legacies was the establishment of the public education and outreach office at the Parliament Buildings. 

MacMinn was succeeded by protege Craig James when the BC Liberals used their majority to promote him into the job, rather than rely upon an all-party committee. Seven years later, in late 2018, James and Sergeant-at-Arms Gary Lenz were suspended due to a police investigation after Speaker Darryl Plecas complained about corruption. They both retired in disgrace in 2019 — James after a misconduct probe by retired Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin and Lenz after a Police Act investigation by former Vancouver Deputy Police Chief Doug LePard. 

James was sentenced in July to a month of house arrest and two months of curfew after being found guilty in B.C. Supreme Court of fraud and breach of trust. 

Clerk George MacMinn swore-in Christy Clark when she became the Vancouver-Point Grey MLA in 2011 (BC Gov)

In a brief, March 2019 interview, MacMinn declined to comment on the scandal at his former workplace.

“I spent 50 years there and they were all non-controversial, cooperative and pleasant. That’s really the whole story of my life, I’m retired now and happily watching the world,” MacMinn said. “I’m not going to go near this thing in terms interjecting myself into the difficulties.” 

In a scathing July 2012 report, Auditor General John Doyle probed the last three years of MacMinn’s management and found the Legislative Assembly “clearly falls short of the basic accounting and financial management standards that the rest of the provincial public sector is required to meet.”

After he retired, MacMinn received a two-year, $500,000 consulting contract from the Legislature. He buckled to pressure from the NDP opposition and agreed to amend his will so that the sum, minus any taxes, would be donated posthumously to the Legislative Library. 

“When people retire they get a gold watch and they move away. They don’t get a two-year contract,” said then-NDP house leader John Horgan. 

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B.C.’s deputy provincial health officer was the highest-paid executive at Provincial Health Services Authority last year.

Reka Gustafson (BC Gov)

According to executive compensation reports released Aug. 30, Dr. Reka Gustafson received a total $463,870 in salary, benefits and expenses for the year-ended March 31, 2022. Her base pay was $299,784, but she received another $111,895, including three annual retroactive physician rate changes, an administrative stipend and extraordinary event compensation. The latter was worth almost $79,000. 

Gustafson, who joins Island Health as its chief medical health officer in September, was paid higher than PHSA CEO David Byres, who was seconded from the Ministry of Health for the first half of the year and paid $221,011 for the remainder. 

Interior Health’s Susan Brown was the highest-paid CEO of the province’s five geographic subsidiaries of the Ministry of Health at $441,445, followed by Fraser Health’s Victoria Lee

($410,012) and Northern Health’s Cathy Urich ($406,906). 

Vancouver Coastal Health’s Vivian Eliopoulos was the only one below $400,000 ($391,031).

Outgoing University of B.C. president Santa Ono remained the top-paid education official at $612,824. He is also provided the Norman Mackenzie House at the Point Grey campus, but the mansion is considered a taxable benefit. Ono is set to become the president of the University of Michigan in October, where his base annual pay is worth almost $1.28 million in Canadian funds.

At Simon Fraser University, its former president, Andrew Petter, received $443,850 for the year. 

BC Hydro CEO Chris O’Riley’s total compensation was $599,378, up from $590,114, while B.C. Securities Commission chair and CEO Brenda Leong totalled $532,100. ICBC’s Nicolas Jimenez fell just shy of a half-million-dollar pay packet, at $499,335.

Despite extended closures to B.C. Place Stadium and the Vancouver Convention Centre due to the pandemic, B.C. Pavilion Corp. CEO Ken Cretney’s total pay rose $10,000 year-over-year to $379,523. That was higher than Lynda Cavanaugh of B.C. Lottery Corp. ($305,180) and Blain Lawson of the Liquor Distribution Branch ($259,264).

One of B.C.’s lowest-profile CEOs is Gordon Westlake of BC Rail. The Crown corporation still exists, to hold the ownership of tracks used by CN Rail and certain terminal land holdings. He was paid $233,146 for the fiscal year.

Premier John Horgan with chief of staff Geoff Meggs on a February 2019 trip to Washington State (BC Gov)

A scuttled proposal for a new Royal B.C. Museum wasn’t the only action across the street from the Parliament Buildings. The acting vice-president of museum operations, Erika Stenson, received $178,245 in severance after her March 14 termination. Her total pay package shows up as $338,301. New CEO Alicia Dubois was hired Feb. 15 at a $250,000 annual salary. Her contract also calls for a $50,000 annual stipend for each of the first three years. 

“CEO earned compensation from serving on the board of Green Impact Partners, Inc. and for work completed prior to joining the museum as a cofounder of the Indigenous Leadership Circle,” the report says. 

Dubois’ contract includes a clause to pay her travel expenses to and from Alberta through the end of July to facilitate relocation. 

Shayne Ramsay, the BC Housing CEO retiring next month, reported $366,013, just under the $369,885 for Lori Wanamaker, the head of the Public Service Agency and Premier John Horgan’s top deputy minister. 

Wanamaker’s pay package was $30,000 higher than the previous year. 

Horgan’s chief of staff, Geoff Meggs, counted among the government’s highest-paid public servants at $235,827. He enjoyed a nearly $5,000 increase in base pay between November 2020 and July 2021. 

“The position is not a member of the corporate executive and (as such) did not meet the criteria for inclusion in the executive compensation freeze,” said a note about Meggs in the Public Service Agency’s compensation report. 

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From the Hatfield report on the Sunset Beach-stranded barge (City of Vancouver FOI/Hatfield)

The deconstruction and removal of the stranded barge at Sunset Beach was originally expected to be over by mid-July, according to a late-April version of the contractor’s schedule.

The milestone summary, obtained under freedom of information from Vancouver city hall, shows that the project was to begin May 9 with site fencing and to finish with demobilization July 14. At the time, city hall, prime contractor Vancouver Pile Driving Ltd., barge owner Sentry Marine Towing Ltd. and claims adjuster Coast Claims were negotiating a licence agreement. 

Safety barriers and fences, however, were not erected until the end of June, with an expected 12-to-15 week timeline. 

A letter from a Department of Fisheries and Oceans official and hazardous materials and environmental assessment reports commissioned by Vancouver Pile Driving offer a glimpse into the history of the barge, the damage when it ran aground in a Nov. 15 windstorm and the challenge to safely take it apart.  

In a Jan. 31 response to the initial proposal, Vance Mercer, section head of the DFO’s Fish and Fish Habitat Protection Program, said the completion date had yet to be determined, but in-water works were anticipated to occur partially outside the “least risk window” for Burrard Inlet, Aug. 16-Feb. 28. 

“Please be aware that the likelihood of encountering fish during sensitive life stages is higher outside of the window of least risk,” Mercer wrote.

Hatfield consultants’ map of the barge’s Sunset Beach location (City of Vancouver FOI/Hatfield)

Mercer’s letter included 19 recommendations. The top priority was to complete the project in a timely manner, so as to minimize the amount of work and risk of breaking the Fisheries Act. The list also recommended hiring an on-site, qualified environmental professional, working during daylight and weather that allows visual observation of fish and marine mammals, ceasing work if fish spawning is observed or cetaceans come within a 500-metre exclusion zone, monitoring of water quality, and development of plans for debris management, sediment control, and spill prevention and response.

“Provided that you incorporate these measures into your plans, the program is of the view that your proposal is not likely to result in the contravention of the above mentioned prohibitions and requirements,” Mercer wrote.

The Orca Health and Safety hazardous materials survey from February said there were breaches of the hull in at least three places. Testing found lead throughout the hull and bulwarks and diesel oil and hydraulic fluids. Copper and zinc were presumed in the hull underwater. No asbestos, volatile organic compounds or PCBs were found, but materials that were detected needed to be removed or contained prior to demolition.

“The presence of lead in the vessel’s paint systems is considered to pose a moderate to high risk to workers during breaking,” said the Orca report.

The 84-metre long barge was built in 1968, originally as the Foss 275 by Zidell Explorations Inc. in Portland, Ore. and rebuilt and converted into a bin barge in 1987. It is now officially known as STM-5000.

The Jan. 28 marine habitat assessment report by Hatfield Consultants LLP said the barge sits atop several manmade boulder clusters and was irreparably damaged. Three temporary steel pilings would be necessary to secure the barge and airbags to elevate sections above the waterline to allow for cutting during the on-site deconstruction. 

“Salvage works will involve the removal of concrete decking, steel bin walls, steel decking, and the steel hull,” said the Hatfield report. “One small engine exists within an engine room located at the bow centreline of the barge. This engine and all associated hydrocarbons will be removed by a mechanic prior to disassembly works.”

The report said pile driving, relocation of boulders and cutting of the barge have the potential to affect fish and fish habitat, by disturbing sediment, accidental spills of fuel and oil, increased noise and light and accidental killing of fish or wildlife through direct contact. 

Orca Health and Safety’s map of the Sunset Beach site where a barge got stranded Nov. 15, 2021 (City of Vancouver FOI/Orca Health and Safety)

“The barge, in its current position, is occupying marine habitat on the seabed and in the water column, so the priority is to remove it and, if necessary, restore the habitat beneath it. If the measures proposed in the [Environmental Management Plan] are implemented and followed, Hatfield is of the opinion that the project is unlikely to directly or indirectly result in [Harmful Alteration, Disruption and Destruction] or death of fish.”

After it is removed, the temporary piles will be removed, salvage equipment demobilized and fencing taken down. A crane magnet will sweep the beach for debris at low tide.

“Project works will be followed by a post-construction habitat survey to assess the condition of the habitat at the wreck site and inform potential restoration activities, if required,” said the Hatfield report.

That final step, according to the milestone summary, is expected in May 2023. 

City hall’s key contact on the project, business planning manager Harry Khella, refused to comment, referring a query to the communications department. Spokeswoman Krystyna Domes said nobody was available for an interview. 

Likewise for Vancouver Pile Driving project manager Ian Purvis and design build director Jesse Percy. Public relations contractor Jenn Wint referred a reporter to Purvis’s weekly video, which said the excavator was just removed and scaffolding erected. Concrete deck removal was completed last week and torch-cutting of the bow began. Removal of the forward and aft rakes will allow workers to enter the mid-body of the barge, “which will be a more complex demolition due to the tides,” Purvis said in the weekly video update. 

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Bob Mackin [caption id="attachment_12488" align="alignright" width="460"] From the

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Garbage!

That’s what Martin Kendell thinks about the Burnaby city clerk’s decision to prevent him from speaking about garbage at a city council meeting on Oct. 29

Burnaby city council candidate Martin Kendell (Kendell campaign)

Kendell’s application to appear as a delegation was denied because he is running for city council, even though the window to officially register for the Oct. 15 ballot didn’t open until Aug. 30.

Kendell, an independent, said his presentation was simple, to tell council how he had cleaned up 1,200 pounds of garbage, and organized five community cleanup events where another 1,500 pounds were picked up, while using city-provided trash pickup equipment, such as tongs and buckets. 

“I kind of want to thank council for that,” Kendell said. “And also a challenge to the municipal parties, One Burnaby, Burnaby Greens and Burnaby Citizens Association, to take part in the cleanup part of the campaign as they go and do the doorknocking for the next month-and-a-half or so leading up to the election.”

Kendell said it was not about self-promotion, but giving credit where credit is due.

City clerk Blanka Zeinabova did not respond. City hall spokesman Chris Bryan said it has been the city’s practice for 30 years to prohibit declared candidates from appearing before council within two months of an election.

If someone is seeking donations through a website or putting up signs in the community, “an individual is for all intents and purposes considered a candidate and therefore not permitted to appear before council,” Bryan said. 

Bryan said it is also the practice of the city clerk’s office to limit citizens to speaking once a year at a council meeting on a particular topic. That, too, does not appear on the city’s “appear as a delegation” web page. 

“In the case of Mr. Kendell, he appeared as a delegation before Council twice earlier this year, once on the topic he intended to speak to at the August 29 meeting, and once on another topic,” Bryan said. “He is welcome to return as a delegation in the new year.”

Kendell says none of the rules appear on the web page for registration or the candidate guide.

“If this policy exists, they need to do a much better job of publishing that and letting people know about that as well,” he said.

Kendell said there is “a bit of hypocrisy” because nothing limits incumbent politicians from using the pre-election council meetings to promote their policies. At tonight’s meeting, he said, four BCA councillors are tabling an Affordable Purpose-Built Rentals motion to accelerate co-op housing development.

“It’s going to be a huge part of their election platform when it comes to affordable housing,” he said. “For the councillors who are standing for re-election, they can do that no problem, but same time, myself, who doesn’t have tens of thousands of dollars of campaign donations in the bank, I can’t even present in a non-political way.” 

Bryan said members of council hold office until the end of the term and may continue to fulfil their responsibilities and represent constituents.

Kendell finished eighth, with 1,445 votes, in the race for two open seats in Burnaby’s June 2021 city council by-election.

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Bob Mackin Garbage! That’s what Martin Kendell thinks about

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B.C.’s NDP government took in $13 billion more and spent $4 billion more than it budgeted for the fiscal year ended March 31.

NDP finance minister Selina Robinson on Feb. 22, 2022 (BC Gov)

In the government’s public accounts for 2021-2022, released Aug. 30, Finance Minister Selina Robinson heralded a $1.3 billion surplus for a budget that was made during the first full winter of the pandemic, before the mass-vaccination program began, while British Columbians were restricted from public gatherings. 

Tax revenue was up $6.5 billion, 19.2% overall. Personal taxes ($2.58 billion) and property transfer tax ($1.23 billion) led the way, while B.C. Lottery Corporation ($971 million) and ICBC ($688 million) also brought in more revenue than expected. The government registered $2.07 billion more from forestry and natural gas and mineral royalties.

“It’s not like there’s a truckload of cash out the back of the Legislative buildings that we didn’t spend, it just means that we need to borrow less,” Robinson said. 

On the other side of the ledger, a $3.5 billion social spending hike, year-over-year. Health was the most-expensive ministry at $27.6 billion, up $2.3 billion, followed by Education at $15.8 billion. 

The NDP said it spent $3.8 billion on pandemic response and economic recovery programs, but Robinson was unable to say how much was spent on the mass-vaccination program, branded ImmunizeBC and overseen by Vancouver Coastal Health chair Penny Ballem. 

B.C. ended the fiscal year $90.6 billion in debt, better than the $102.8 billion budgeted.

Robinson was asked why there wasn’t more tax relief for those beginning to suffer higher inflation, higher interest rates and higher fuel prices and why more spending wasn’t directed to hospital emergency rooms or paramedics. 

“We certainly do hear the challenges that the healthcare system is facing as a result of COVID, as a result of burnout, as a result of not having the skilled people that we need to deliver these services. As a result of people leaving their jobs, perhaps earlier than most of us expected,” Robinson said.

B.C. NDP finance minister Selina Robinson tables the 2021-22 budget on April 20 (BC Gov)

Auditor General Michael Pickup, however, red-flagged three reservations in the year-end finances: The deferral of $6.5 billion in revenue; the $91 million understating of First Nations gambling revenue sharing; and the incomplete contractual obligations disclosure, which amounts to $3.45 billion by 2028. 

The first quarter financial update is coming in September and Robinson admitted the report will be less-favourable as the province reels from economic headwinds. 

“This is what happened last year, and this is a very different year. Everything is different,” she said. “We have global inflation, we have people struggling to make ends meet.”

The public accounts were released the same day as the B.C. General Employees’ Union ended picketing at the province’s liquor distribution warehouses in a sign that talks toward a new contract for 33,000 government workers are progressing. Both sides agreed to a media blackout on bargaining. 

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Bob Mackin B.C.’s NDP government took in $13

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For the week of Aug. 28, 2022:

TaiwanFest producer Charlie Wu of the Asian Canadian Special Events Association (Zoom)

It’s been the summer of Taiwan, for geopolitical reasons.

“Despite all these fighter jets flying around Taiwan, Taiwanese kind of stay put and understand that they need to do what they need to do, and not to actually create the tension that the Chinese government is looking to create,” said Charlie Wu of the Asian Canadian Special Events Association.

On Labour Day weekend in downtown Vancouver, get ready to enjoy the culture, art and food of Taiwan at Vancouver TaiwanFest.

On this edition of theBreaker.news Podcast, hear TaiwanFest promoter Wu tell host Bob Mackin about the can’t miss attractions at this year’s festival, which also celebrates Indonesia and Malaysia.

Also, headlines from the Pacific Rim and Pacific Northwest, and hear some of the friendly food vendors at the 112th Pacific National Exhibition Fair through Labour Day.

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

Now on Google Podcasts!

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

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A Save Old Growth protester who illegally blocked the highway to the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal and chained himself to the door of a Vancouver Royal Bank was sentenced to 21 days of house arrest.

Hisao Ichikawa with a chain around his neck at an RBC bank (Instagram)

Hisao Ichikawa, 81, pleaded guilty in Vancouver Provincial Court Aug. 25 to three counts of mischief and one charge of breaching an undertaking to not obstruct a roadway. Judge Patricia Stark also ordered Ichikawa to serve 12 months probation, perform 50 hours community service work, stay away from all RBC locations and not block any vehicles or pedestrians.

“During your house arrest hours, I hope you reflect on the fact that you will not be free to wander in the community, that essentially is a jail sentence that you are allowed to serve in your home,” Stark told Ichikawa. She emphasized that a breach of any condition would mean arrest and the possibility of finishing the sentence in a correctional facility. 

Ichikawa was part of Save Old Growth’s 30-minute roadblock at the Grandview Highway on-ramp to the Trans-Canada Highway on Jan. 10 and 45-minute roadblock of the Upper Levels Highway near Horseshoe Bay on Jan. 31. On each occasion, he disobeyed police. 

Ichikawa arrived in one of two protest vehicles that blocked westbound traffic in West Vancouver. He proceeded to sit on the highway with a Save Old Growth sign with two others who glued their hands to the pavement. At the same time, other Save Old Growth protesters did the same on the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Bridge. 

“Traffic had backed up for about two kilometres was preventing traffic from accessing the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal via the highway,” Stark said. “Fire and ambulance crews were requested to assist with the glue under the guidance of fire department members.”

Hisao Ichikawa’s April 7 arrest at an RBC bank (Instagram)

On April 7, Ichikawa chained his neck to the door of the Royal Bank at Hornby and Nelson streets, across from the Law Courts, to protest the bank’s financing of the Coastal GasLink pipeline. Employees stuck inside called police at 9:30 a.m. Ichikawa refused to remove the chain from his neck and only answered “I’ll think about it” when police asked him to remove the chain. Firefighters attended, but Ichikawa, assisted by his daughter, finally removed the chain at 10:46 a.m.

“One of the conditions on the undertaking imposed on Mr. Ichikawa on January 10 was to only engage in protests that are safe, lawful and peaceful in nature,” Stark said. “And his actions were not that not so on that day, they were not lawful and they created a safety hazard for those inside the bank, who only had one remaining emergency exit. The fire department confirmed this was a safety issue, as it would delay in accessing the bank.”

The court heard that Ichikawa has a history of protesting, most-recently in a march for Save Old Growth-affiliated Stop Fracking Around that closed northbound lanes of the Cambie Bridge. Ichikawa was sentenced in August 2018 to seven days in jail for breaching the Trans Mountain Pipeline construction site injunction on Burnaby Mountain. Among his six fellow defendants was Jean Swanson, who was later elected to Vancouver city council. 

The judge said Ichikawa’s guilty plea, age and difficult upbringing in Japan were mitigating factors. He completed his high school education at age 24 and came to Canada three years later, where he started a family and worked as a fisherman and bricklayer. Stark said Ichikawa has dedicated himself to reducing waste and living harmoniously with the environment and is “deeply remorseful.”

“He indicated that he did not properly reflect on the gravity of the impact of the blockades on others, but has come to recognize the risks associated with blocking, for instance, Emergency Health Services from getting where they need to go to provide primary urgent care to other members of the community in need,” Stark said.

Stark sentenced Ichikawa the day after she gave 19-year-old Olivia Mary Howe a conditional discharge, 18 months probation and six months curfew. Court heard that senior members of Extinction Rebellion and Save Old Growth, who either have criminal records or are facing similar charges, bullied her into the illegal roadblocks.

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Bob Mackin A Save Old Growth protester who

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Bob Mackin

Just 52 days before Mayor Doug McCallum hopes to be re-elected, he donned a hardhat and turned the sod to begin the Cloverdale Sport and Ice Complex project. He also promised something even bigger: a 60,000-seat stadium in Surrey, with no details about how much it would cost or how it would be financed. 

Site of Doug McCallum’s proposed stadium (Google Maps)

The next day, at his Aug. 25 Safe Surrey Coalition campaign kickoff, he revealed his preferred site: Fraser Highway and 164th, west of the Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex. 

That’s a little more than offside, says Coun. Brenda Locke, one of McCallum’s four declared opponents for the mayoralty on Oct. 15. 

Locke accuses McCallum of a diversionary boondoggle. Nobody has really lobbied for a multibillion-dollar facility during this term. She says the site is actually eyed by the Fleetwood Community Association for a cultural centre and sports fields.

“It’s a 60,000-seat, white elephant they’re going to build for millionaire athletes. At the end of the day, that’s what this is to me,” Locke said. “And we’re in Surrey, struggling to get kids into sports fields and ice arenas and pools. We’re so low on infrastructure in the city.”

Locke suggests it’s nothing more than political football, aimed at creating a debatable issue so that other issues don’t get the time needed for voters to decide who they want as mayor the next four years. McCallum’s twin 2018 promises, replacing light rail with SkyTrain and replacing the RCMP with a municipal police force, are taking much longer and costing much more than anticipated. 

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum (Surrey)

A new stadium would come with a massive price tag. The baseline for a 60,000-seat stadium is US$1.4 billion. That’s the budget for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills heavily subsidized new venue. They hope their new home is ready for the 2026 season.

The Lower Mainland already has a stadium, 1983-built, 2011-renovated B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver. It’s one of the 16 host venues for the FIFA 2026 World Cup. The $260 million cost breakdown to host five games has not been revealed, but likely contains funds for another renovation.  

B.C. Place is also proposed for opening and closing ceremonies of the 2030 Winter Olympics.

But the 54,500-seat venue rarely is full. Its primary tenants, the Vancouver Whitecaps and B.C. Lions, struggle to fill the lower bowl, according to official attendance figures released under freedom of information. 

Canada’s World Cup-bound men’s national soccer team drew 14,809 for a CONCACAF Nations League match against Curacao on June 9, almost double the 7,487 who came to cheer on the Whitecaps against FC Dallas on May 18. The Lions drew 25,279 to their June 11 home opener against the Edmonton Elks, which included a pregame concert by One Republic. That was 9,000 fewer than the announced 34,082. Eight days earlier, only 5,722 watched an exhibition game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders. 

Vancouver was briefly touted in 2021 as a destination for the Oakland A’s, who are looking for a new home. But the better bet is a new ballpark in Las Vegas, an attractive location for the pro sports industry since the 2018 legalization of sports gambling across the U.S.

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

Vancouver is not in the running for an NFL franchise. The Seattle Seahawks played one exhibition game in B.C. Place in 1998 against the San Francisco 49ers and could play a regular season game there in coming years under the NFL’s new 17-game format. The league is encouraging neutral site games and the Seahawks count B.C. in their marketing territory. 

A stadium promise has figured in other political campaigns throughout the years. Most-recently in 2018, when Fred Harding of the fringe, right-of-centre Vancouver 1st party floated one for South Vancouver. 

In 1978, Pacific National Exhibition President Erwin Swangard proposed a stadium and convention centre, the Multiplex, beside the Agrodome, to replace 1954-built Empire Stadium. The following year, the Whitecaps won Soccer Bowl ’79. At the Robson Square victory party, Mayor Jack Volrich got one of the biggest cheers of the day, when he promised a new stadium for the champions. He lost the civic election in 1980 to future premier Mike Harcourt. 

Meanwhile, Bill Bennett’s Social Credit government eyed the Dominion Bridge factory (now the Bridge Studios) and the north side of the Port Mann Bridge, among other sites, before settling on False Creek for what became B.C. Place. 

One of the biggest voices for the winning site was an area hotel investor, the future Vancouver mayor and future B.C. premier Gordon Campbell. 

Metro Vancouver could’ve had a dome much sooner than 1983. In 1965, when Burnaby Mayor Alan Emmott was looking to stay in power, a group from Texas that lost out on the contract to build the Houston Astrodome visited. There was talk of a $15 million Burnaby dome that could host both hockey and football. Alas, Vancouver’s $6 million Pacific Coliseum got the green light and opened in 1968, the last year of Emmott’s decade in power. 

Burnaby eventually became B.C.’s amateur sports hub, with with the 1969-opened Swangard Stadium in Central Park.

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Bob Mackin Just 52 days before Mayor Doug

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