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Bob Mackin

At the start of June, a manager with the company hired to dismantle and remove the stranded barge from Sunset Beach estimated the cost of the job at $2.4 million. 

Jesse Percy, the design-build director for Carlson Construction Group, sent City of Vancouver business planning manager Harry Khella the cost estimate by email, which was obtained under freedom of information. Percy said Carlson subsidiary Vancouver Pile Driving would need two weeks to mobilize resources before beginning the job, estimated to last between 12 and 15 weeks.

Barge deconstruction on Sept. 7 (Mackin)

The bin barge ran aground in a Nov. 15, 2021 windstorm. The project entered its 11th week on Monday. Crews have removed the front and rear sections from the formerly 84-metre long vessel, known officially as STM-5000. 

Jenn Wint, spokesperson for the barge removal operation, said the cost estimate remains accurate and crews are on target to complete the job in mid-November, assuming weather and tides don’t interrupt their work. 

She did not say when the beach would reopen to the public. Documents show that a post-deconstruction habitat survey is planned for May 2023.

“Upon completion an extensive clean up of the beach and surrounding area will be done,” Wint said.

A statement provided via Krystyna Domes of the city hall communications department said additional work is required after the barge is gone, including post-deconstruction inspections.

“However, timelines for the next steps are not yet determined. We will have more to share at a later date,” said the statement from Domes.

Wint said Coast Claims Insurance is compensating the barge removal on behalf of barge owner Sentry Marine Towing Ltd. “The City of Vancouver is tracking all of their related costs and will be pursuing reimbursement from the barge owner.”

Barge deconstruction on July 13 (Mackin)

A late-April version of the contractor’s schedule estimated deconstruction and removal would be over by mid-July. Approval to use provincially owned land, negotiations for a licensing agreement between the city, Sentry and Coast Claims and discussions about the weight and type of site barriers all caused delays. 

The safety barriers were erected June 30 and deconstruction finally began July 25. 

A May 2 email from Katie Semproni, a licensing authorizations manager at the Ministry of Forests, to Percy and Ian Purvis of Carlson addressed the status of provincially owned lots.

“Having reviewed the information provided, we confirm that no additional authorizations are required under the Land Act to carry out the work as described,” Semproni wrote. “In addition, we do not object to this work occurring provided that Vancouver Pile Driving continues to engage with the [City of Vancouver] on this and that the appropriate insurance and authorizations from other agencies (for example – Transport Canada, DFO if applicable) are in place prior to commencement.”

The May 27 Vancouver Pile Driving weekly status report warned that the 48 truck trips contemplated would likely cause further damage to the upper path, which already showed signs of sub-grade failure. City hall also acknowledged it needed Metro Vancouver approval due to a force main, or pressurized sewer pipe, within the seawall. 

In a May 19 email, Guy Roberts of Metro Vancouver sewer and drainage technical services proposed an alternative to hauling concrete barriers from the far side of the Jervis Pump Station to the edge of the seawall.

Barge deconstruction on July 13 (Mackin)

“Empty barriers would be much lighter and would avoid many of the loading issues that we are dealing with,” said Roberts. “And presumably the water can be piped in from possibly a hydrant so a water truck would not be needed. “

A hazardous materials survey by Orca Health and Safety found 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.

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Bob Mackin At the start of June, a

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Bob Mackin

Rabih Alkhalil is now Canada’s most-wanted criminal. 

On Oct. 18, the RCMP offered a reward up to $250,000, available until next May, for information that leads to the arrest of the gangster who escaped July 21 from North Fraser Pretrial Centre in Coquitlam.

Escaped gangster Rabih Alkhalil (RCMP)

Email and text messages obtained under freedom of information offer a glimpse into the minutes and hours after the well-planned escape of Alkhalil, who was on-trial for the 2012 first degree murder of Sandip Dhure at the Wall Centre Hotel. 

The night was complicated by the health of a prisoner from Vancouver who tested positive for COVID-19 on intake. Email indicates personal protective equipment protocols were followed, but sheriffs had yet to be notified and contact tracing was not complete.

More than a month later, on Aug. 30, Alkhalil was convicted in absentia by a jury in B.C. Supreme Court. 

Alkhalil, who has prior convictions for murder in Ontario and drug-trafficking in Quebec, is also known as Rabi, Robby, Robbi, Rabih Al Khalil, Philip Betencourt Furtado and Philip Bettenecourt Furtado. Police don’t know whether he is still hiding in Canada or has fled the country. 

“Alkhalil is known to use fake identity documents and passports,” police said Tuesday.

July 21

6:48 p.m. White Econoline van carrying Alkhalil and two others posing as contractors, left North Fraser Pretrial Centre and travelled westbound on Kingsway Avenue.

7:30 p.m. Staff advised Coquitlam RCMP that Alkhalil had escaped. 

7:43 p.m. Code RED at NFPC

7:56 p.m. Fraser Regional Correctional Centre warden Rick Lacroix texted deputy warden Coy Myers: “Hey Coy. Sorry to bother you if this is true. Heard Robby Alkhalil escaped?”       

8:02 p.m. Myers text to Lacroix: “True just got to centre. [Warden] Har [Cheema] on his way in. Cops here. Omg.”

Lacroix: “Fck sakes.”

8:06 p.m. “NFPC – Code RED – 1943hrs” email with details on an escaped inmate, from assistant deputy minister Lisa Anderson to Deputy Solicitor General Douglas Scott:

“Further to my text and voicemail the client profile below is the subject of the code red that occurred approximately 20 mins ago. I don’t have much for details yet but do know this is a high profile gang involved inmate [censored for security] I will provide further details as soon as I receive them. RCMP have been notified and I have also contacted Wayne. [censored]  This inmate is on remand status for charges of murder and attempt to commit murder.”

8:51 p.m. “Code RED – 1943hrs” email from Izach Verceles, Assistant Deputy Warden, to four senior officials at NFPC, with 11 photos attached.

10:19 p.m. Coquitlam RCMP public bulletin headlined “Police looking for Rabih Alkhalil (Robby) who is Unlawfully at Large.” The news release said staff advised Coquitlam RCMP at 7:30 p.m. that Alkhalil had escaped.

Images of the alleged accomplices in Rabih Alkhalil’s North Fraser Pretrial Centre escape (Coquitlam RCMP)

10:21 p.m. Verceles “UOF (use of force) notification” to the provincial director of B.C. Corrections.

10:21 p.m. text from Gurjit Randhawa of B.C. Corrections: “Hey man. Situation at the centre. Code red. Need you to work regs in the morning. Montee is here and ICS [incident command] stood up. Don’t worry about coming in. Need you fresh in the morning.” 

July 22

1:22 a.m. draft email from Warden Harbippan Cheema to Deputy Warden Coy Myers:

“As you may be aware by now, NFPC experienced a critical incident yesterday evening when Inmate Rabih Alkhalil escaped from custody [censored for security] with the assistance of outside individuals.                                                                                                                  

“A Code Red was initiated [censored]. In the meantime, the escape has been picked up by various media outlets and I wanted to remind everyone to direct anyone calling

in with an enquiry to contact the Government Communications line.

“Further, as this incident can have varying impacts on staff, I wanted to also mention the CIRT [Critical Incident Response] Team is available to assist upon request. For those that feel the need, you can also seek support through Employee and Family Assistance Services.”

2:06 a.m., Assistant Deputy Warden Matthew Waters to schedulers and other officials:

“Due to being late to leave tonight from the emergency situation, I have authorized a change in start time for the following staff to ensure they have 8 clear hours between shifts. I have also updated the schedulers roster (attached) with these changes (although I did not add the extended hours in the afternoon past shift end on the front of the roster [censored for personal information and security].” 

“Terrance [censored] was delegated to compile a list of all staff end times for tonight, which will need to be submitted. Night shift supervisor has the list currently.”

6:59 a.m. Warden Steve DiCastri email:

“Good morning, I was wondering who is on site today that can respond to questions as they come in. Could I have the contact information? I have Har’s cell but not Coy or Ben.”

7:38 a.m. email from DiCastri to Myers and Cheema:

“I will wait to give you some time at home and will call your cell at around 0839.”

7:34 a.m., Myers email: 

“I was a bit late getting home so I will be at work around 830/9 this morning. Please call me if needed.”

8:01 a.m, Myers email to two officers: 

“As soon as you can can you send me the names of [two names censored]. Please send to Steve DiCastri also.”

8:03 a.m., DiCastri text to Myers: 

“Hi Coy I have also provided the ADM with your cell in the event she has a question if

she needs to brief the minister. She may not but just in case, thank you.”

8:05 a.m.: Myers text to DiCastri:

“Sounds good. I’m just leaving now to head in to centre. I have sent a message to a couple managers at the centre to get that info for you.”

10:48 a.m. Myers “NFPC critical incident” memo to all staff, similar to 1:22 a.m. draft:

“This message and information is not to be shared or disseminated further. If you have any questions please let me know.”

11:23 a.m., Melissa Maher, aide to Solicitor General Mike Farnworth, to an email address withheld for privacy:

“Here are the KM’s for the Escaped Prisoner and the QA for more info.”

Key Messages

  • We take public safety very seriously. This is a dangerous individual, and the public should call 911 immediately should they see this man.
  • BC Corrections immediately advised the RCMP and are working closely with the police to assist in the investigation.
  • We take any escape or attempted escape extremely seriously and BC Corrections will be conducting a comprehensive review into this incident.
  • This is an active police matter and I can’t provide any additional details at this time.
  • All additional inquiries should be directed to the RCMP.

11:32 a.m. William Maartman, another Farnworth aide, emailed Maher and CC’d Farnworth:

“One more thing to add. The inmate was expected at trial this morning”:

  • Order – Canada wide warrant for Alkhalil
  • Absconded from North Fraser
  • Waived right to be present at trial
  • Trial will continue
  • Jury – you may have heard accused absconded, reminder presumption of innocence
  • Pay no attention to the media reports and must ignore
  • Jury adjourned until July 27

5:19 p.m. Myers to DiCastri and Cheema

“Other interesting information passed on to me. Individual also escaped from a Montreal [sic] prison yesterday.”

He included a link to a Global News report about Dave Gingras-Gaudet, a 37-year-old who coincidentally escaped from a Quebec City jail through a gap in an outer fence, with help from two accomplices at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time July 21. 

The accomplices were arrested; Gingras-Gaudet was arrested in Quebec City July 23. 

“Please let me know if you have any questions. I am going to hopefully leave soon. I can be reached on my cell.”

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Bob Mackin Rabih Alkhalil is now Canada’s most-wanted

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Bob Mackin

One of the murder victims found Oct. 17 near a Burnaby high school was the subject of civil forfeiture action almost two years ago.

Umair Karim (submitted)

On Oct. 19, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team identified Kiesha Garie, 24, and Umair Kasim, 30, as the people found in a vehicle near Alpha Secondary. IHIT has not explained why Garie and Kasim were together.

The Director of Civil Forfeiture claimed that Kasim’s 2017 Acura MDX, seized Sept. 4, 2020 by the Delta Police Department ,was the proceeds of crime. 

“Mr. Kasim is prohibited from possessing firearms and has a criminal record that includes failure to comply and trafficking in a controlled substance,” said the November 2020 B.C. Supreme Court court application. 

Kasim leased the vehicle from Coquitlam Chrysler Dodge Jeep.

The court filing said that Delta PD received complaints in July 2020 of trafficking activity at a residence on Williams Avenue near the Point Roberts/Boundary Bay border crossing. They also found similar drug trafficking at an address on Hammersmith Way near the Richmond RCMP headquarters.

Police arrested suspects in a vehicle outside the Delta address on Aug. 19, 2020 and found $7,198.02 in Canadian currency, several small individually wrapped bags of crack cocaine and fentanyl on the front passenger seat; a cellphone on which a police officer answered two calls from customers ordering controlled substances; weigh scales; records of transactions; bear spray; two pairs of brass knuckles; and small quantities of fentanyl, crack cocaine, powder cocaine and crystal meth. 

The Director of Civil Forfeiture alleged Kasim was involved in production, possession and trafficking of illicit cannabis and controlled substances, possession of proceeds of crime, and using a vehicle with an illegal after-market compartment.

“The vehicle has been used by the defendant to engage in unlawful activities which variously resulted in, or were likely to result in, the acquisition of property or an interest in property, or caused, or were likely to cause serious bodily harm,” said the civil forfeiture filing. 

“The defendant obtained the vehicle by participating in the unlawful activity. The defendant intended to use the vehicle to engage in the unlawful activity. If the vehicle, or proceeds from the sale of the vehicle, are released to the defendant, they will likely be used for the unlawful activity.” 

Kasim was one of eight defendants in civil forfeiture actions related to Delta Police operations code named “Project Rolling Thunder” and “Project Big Smoke.” In November 2020, Delta Police said they believed they busted an operation that was capable of producing $18 million of black market cannabis annually and they said evidence seized indicated links to the Hells Angels and United Nations gang. 

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Bob Mackin One of the murder victims found

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Bob Mackin

Surrey’s election became one-part referendum on Mayor Doug McCallum’s leadership and one-part referendum on whether to swap police forces.

Coun. Brenda Locke (Surrey Connect)

In the end, Coun. Brenda Locke emerged from the crowded field of four party-affiliated challengers to lead her Surrey Connect team to majority status on the council dominated by her former party, the Safe Surrey Coalition. 

Locke rocketed to an early lead after polls closed on Oct. 15, with Surrey First’s Gordie Hogg running a surprise second most of the night. McCallum caught up as the count progressed, after he made his concession speech. The final tally was 33,311 votes for Locke and 32,338 for McCallum. Turnout improved, from 32.9% in 2018 to 34.5%. 

Four of Locke’s Surrey Connect candidates were elected. Surrey First now has two seats, the same as Safe Surrey Coalition, whose Doug Elford and Mandeep Nagra get a second term.

The defeat for McCallum most certainly spells the end of the 78-year-old’s roller coaster political career. Though, he is making a last-ditch effort to prolong that career, after an Oct. 17 announcement that lawyers might ask a B.C. Supreme Court judge to order a recount over the 973-vote difference. 

He made a comeback in 2018 after previously serving as mayor from 1996 to 2002. In 2005, former council ally Dianne Watts defeated McCallum and spent nine years in office.

Locke said she isn’t waiting until she’s sworn-in to take the first steps on her marquee promise, to end the Surrey Police Service. 

“Right away, I’m going to start with a having a conversation with the officer in charge at Surrey RCMP, that’s going to be my first order of business,” Locke said. “And then I will also be talking to Dwayne McDonald of the E Division, that’s going to be my second order of business and then we’ll take it from there. But I have already started having the conversation because obviously, this isn’t new to anybody, especially not to our staff.”

It won’t be her only priority. Big decisions are coming in the first 100 days to consult the public and pass a budget by the end of the calendar year. Last year, McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition held hearings during the Christmas rush, which suppressed public participation. 

“We will be going around the city, and I have said this before, we will be setting out a path where we go right into community, into the town centres and talk to residents about what the budget consultation piece that looks like,” she said. “That’s critically important.”

Coun. Allison Patton and Mayor Doug McCallum (Metanoia)

Locke will talk to TransLink about transportation needs and the school board to find out how city hall can help with the ongoing calls to replace portable classrooms with new buildings. 

“I’m also going to try and get bilateral meetings with all of our cities that neighbour us, so I want to talk to the mayors of of Langley, White Rock and Delta, and Semiahmoo First Nation.”

For Locke, it is the end of a long, sporadic climb to power. At 67, she was the second youngest of the five main contestants for top office in B.C.’s second-biggest city. 

Prior to running for city council in 2018, Locke had a single term as a BC Liberal MLA in the Surrey-Green Timbers riding from 2001 to 2005, part of Gordon Campbell’s record 77-member caucus. 

Before then, Locke had worked in youth social services in Richmond and headed the B.C. Liquor Licensee Retailers Association. During her last two years as an MLA, she was Minister of State for Mental Health and Addiction. While out of politics, she became executive director of the B.C. Massage Therapists Association.

But she couldn’t stay away from politics. She tried four times to get back into public office, twice as a federal Liberal in Fleetwood-Port Kells, losing both times to Conservative Nina Grewal in 2006 and 2008. Her first foray into the municipal arena was an 18th place finish for the 2014 city council election. Three years later, in the 2017 provincial election, Locke failed to regain her old seat after NDP veteran Sue Hammell retired.

Surrey Police Chief Norm Lipinski.

She was finally successful in returning to public office a year later under McCallum, but split in mid-2019 over McCallum’s leadership style in general and, specifically, the rising costs of the RCMP transition. 

Locke became a natural ally with the grassroots Keep the RCMP in Surrey campaign and teamed up with another ex-McCallum candidate, Jack Hundial, under the new Surrey Connect banner. 

Hundial and Locke became a tag team, effectively critiquing McCallum’s tax measures, service cuts and increasingly paranoid use of closed door meetings to decide policy. Hundial did not run in the election because he moved to Penticton for professional reasons. 

In late August, to start his re-election campaign, McCallum tried to change the channel, grabbing headlines with a sudden promise to build a 60,000-seat stadium at Fraser Highway and 164th, west of the Surrey Sport and Leisure Complex. For part of one news cycle, at least, McCallum shifted attention away from his past to the future. It didn’t last long.

Locke was quick to brand it a “white elephant for millionaire athletes.” 

Doug McCallum at his Crescent Beach house, with an empty garage on Oct. 16 (submitted)

The Fleetwood Community Association wants a cultural centre and sports fields on the site. As Glacier Media learned via freedom of information, there was no proof that McCallum had ever discussed building a billion-dollar stadium anywhere in Surrey with staff.

The focus quickly shifted back to McCallum.  

The Oct. 15 defeat, however, doesn’t mean McCallum can simply leave the public eye and retire to his Crescent Beach home. He faces a five-day Provincial Court trial beginning Oct. 31 on charges of public mischief, after his allegations that a pro-RCMP petitioner ran over his foot in a supermarket parking lot more than a year ago backfired. 

There are also new questions about the taxpayer-provided vehicle McCallum has driven, after Hundial circulated a photograph showing it had sustained damage sometime this weekend.

Jack Hundial’s Oct. 16 Tweet showing the city-owned McCallum vehicle (Twitter)

Surrey RCMP confirmed it has been in contact with city hall over damage to one of its vehicles, after a report from a city employee on Sunday morning. “Investigators will be following up with involved parties to determine the cause of the damages,” said the statement from the Surrey detachment. 

McCallum has not responded for comment. 

During the campaign, Locke promised a suite of anti-corruption measures, such as hiring an ethics commissioner, introducing new conflict of interest rules, whistleblower protections, advocating for municipal recall laws and rolling-back the $10 freedom of information application fee that Safe Surrey Coalition imposed. 

McCallum adopted the NDP government’s fee, one that Vancouver doesn’t charge. Locke and Surrey First Coun. Linda Annis were the only councillors to vote against the fee early this year. Many residents have been stymied in their attempts to find out how much McCallum has billed taxpayers for high-profile lawyer Richard Peck’s defence in the public mischief case. Locke said it will be a priority to claw that money back. 

“Huge concern to the residents of this city, they do not want to pay his [legal] bills, and I don’t believe they should. We will be asking our city legal [department] to figure out a way to get that money back and to make Mr. McCallum pay for his legal bills.”

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Bob Mackin Surrey’s election became one-part referendum on

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The Non-Partisan Association’s fifth-place finisher in the Vancouver mayoralty election on Oct. 15 worked as a pitchman in China for a West Vancouver-based real estate firm earlier this year.

Fred Harding at the Virani Real Estate Advisors’ Beijing showroom (Virani)

Fred Harding, who called himself a “Beijing businessman” before his Twitter was deactivated, lives in the Chinese capital and operates Harding Global Consultants. His disclosure to the civic election office did not mention his clients or his activities. 

Unverified images from a WeChat account in June and July of this year appear to show Harding promoting the Virani Beijing Exhibition Center, a showroom for Virani Real Estate Advisors to promote its Vancouver condo listings. 

“If you need private and confidential advice in finding, buying or investing in international property, then our space is made for you. Drop in for a chat and coffee,” says a June 20 entry on Harding’s WeChat account.

A 29-second video shows Harding inside the Beijing showroom, speaking Mandarin to the camera. “Hello everyone, I am Fred, I am in Beijing now,” according to a translation. “Let me introduce Virani, this is a Canadian company.”

Virani Real Estate Advisors is headquartered at Park Royal South in West Vancouver with offices in downtown Vancouver, Seattle, London and Beijing. The latter is at the Zhubang 2000 trade centre in Chaoyang, Beijing’s modern central business district.  

Neither Harding nor company founder Karim Virani responded for comment.

Karim Virani (Virani.ca)

The NPA’s website said the party stands for a “safe, affordable, stable Vancouver,” but Virani’s website listings in Vancouver include $21.88 million for a penthouse at Shaw Tower, $19.88 million for a three-bedroom condo at Westbank’s The Butterfly and $15.88 million at Westbank’s Alberni. Virani has also worked as a sales agent for Westbank’s Vancouver House and Horseshoe Bay Sanctuary developments. 

During the campaign, Harding has criticized taxes on foreign buyers, speculators and owners of empty houses. He also claimed the province’s money laundering crackdown was ineffective and called Kennedy Stewart’s Forward Together and Ken Sim’s ABC Vancouver hypocrites for taking donations from developers.

Harding returned to Vancouver to run for the NPA in late August, after John Coupar quit, and is staying in a 47th floor downtown condo in the luxurious Telus Garden. The condo is owned by a self-described West Vancouver homemaker. 

Harding solemnly declared to city hall that he has resided in B.C. for the six months prior to his candidacy. The Local Government Act says a “person is a resident of the area where the person lives and to which, whenever absent, the person intends to return.” He did not respond to a reporter’s request to see proof of residency. 

In 2018, when Harding ran for mayor with the Vancouver 1st party, he provided city hall the address of a rented house in Marpole.

Telus Garden (Telus)

On Harding’s 2022 form, he answered “no” to whether he owns shares in a corporation which total more than 30% of votes for electing directors. He answered “not applicable” to questions about real estate holdings and liabilities. 

Under the heading of assets, he provided Harding Global Consultants HK Ltd. and Harding Idea Consulting Services Ltd. The former company appears to have been incorporated in 2016 in Hong Kong. A search of the B.C. corporate registry found neither company name.

Harding is formally known as Harold Christopher Harding, but wanted to be identified on the ballot as Fred Harding and a name in Chinese characters. 

The NPA’s law and order-themed campaign has focused its attacks on Sim and ABC Vancouver in both English and Chinese-language ads. Ironically, Harding likely prevented the NPA from winning majority control of city council in 2018. As the Vancouver 1st party’s candidate, Harding finished sixth with 5,640 votes on the night NPA candidate Sim fell 957 votes shy of victorious Kennedy Stewart. 

The retired former officer with the London Metropolitan Police and West Vancouver Police Department is married to Chinese singer Zhang Mi, who publicly supported the Chinese Communist Party on her Weibo account.

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For the week of Oct. 16, 2022:

It’s MMA time again: Mackin-Mario-Andy.

theBreaker.news Podcast host Bob Mackin welcomes ResearchCo pollster Mario Canseco and Simon Fraser University city program director Andy Yan to discuss the results of the Oct. 15 local elections.

Analysis of the 2022 local elections in Vancouver, Surrey and beyond. The night ABC Vancouver’s Ken Sim was elected Vancouver’s first Chinese-Canadian mayor and Surrey Connect Coun. Brenda Locke ended Mayor Doug McCallum’s political career in Surrey.

Hear from Locke and new Richmond city councillor Kash Heed.

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

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For the week of Oct. 16, 2022:

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Saturday’s civic election could be won or lost in the Broadway Corridor, says Andy Yan.

Andy Yan (SFU)

The director of the city program at Simon Fraser University crunched the numbers from the 2018 election and says watch the crescent-shaped area from Grandview Woodlands and Hastings Sunrise to Kitsilano, a collection of high voter turnout, engaged neighbourhoods populated mainly by renters. Within that is the spine of the crescent, the Broadway Corridor, which is set to undergo a multi-decade evolution. 

Mayor Kennedy Stewart and the three councillors from rival Kim Sim’s ABC Vancouver party were among the seven votes for the contentious Broadway Plan in June. Coun. Colleen Hardwick was with the four-vote minority opposing the plan to encourage towers on the Broadway Subway route and she vows to scrap the plan if she wins a majority. 

The Kennedy Stewart 2018 voting heat map (Yan/CoV)

“I don’t know if passing the Broadway Plan really garnered the kind of support that they were looking for,” Yan said. “In a way, it almost becomes a referendum on how mayor and council has handled changing growth in the city.”

The Broadway Corridor is where Stewart excelled in 2018 and Ken Sim fell short. When all the votes were counted, Stewart came out 957 ahead. Hardwick, the fifth place finisher who was on Sim’s NPA team in 2018, has her own team now, called TEAM for a Livable Vancouver. Four years ago, she also scored well in the area, but could grow her base of support if there is a backlash to the Broadway Plan.

The Ken Sim 2018 voting heat map (Yan/CoV)

Maps provided by Yan showing the popular vote from each 2018 polling station offer a glimpse at geographic and demographic differences that could repeat on Saturday.

The maps do not account for advance voting. In 2018, 176,450 votes were cast, with 28% early and 1% by mail. In 2014, voters were allowed to cast their ballot anywhere. A Killarney resident can vote in Kitsilano, or vice versa, but Yan said busy Saturday traffic and convenience of voting close to home weigh against so-called open poll voting.  

Where was Stewart strong in 2018?

“Areas that are most heavily affected by the Broadway Plan and the development of the current building of the Broadway [subway] line. That’s where he hopes to repeat,” said Yan, sometimes known as the “Duke of Data.”

The Colleen Hardwick 2018 voting heat map (Yan/CoV)

“People are going to decide whether they liked that future that he laid out for them. The Broadway Corridor is ‘Kennedy country.’ And, of course, bits on the West End and bits of Grandview Woodlands.”

Where was Sim strong in 2018? 

“He doesn’t resonate in the Downtown Eastside, but he certainly resonates throughout the Olympic Village and Yaletown/Concord Pacific,” Yan said. “And, of course, some sizeable votes on the West Side, the Southwest and, and the Southeast.”

Where was Hardwick strong in 2018:

“Colleen lives in Kitsilano, so she’s able to pull a certain level higher than Ken in that because of just really her own kind of personality and history,” Yan said. “Now what’s interesting is that Grandview Woodlands was not a strong place for the NPA in general. In this forthcoming election how much Grandview Woodlands would pull-in for Hardwick, the [TEAM] mayoral candidate?”

The NPA’s 2022 mayoral candidate, Fred Harding, was with Vancouver 1st in 2018 when he finished sixth and picked up most of his votes in the Southeast corner of the city, especially Sunset, Killarney and Renfrew-Collingwood. His 2022 campaign has focused on Mandarin-speaking voters, who skew westward.

Kirby-Yung, Carr and Boyle voting heat maps from 2018 (Yan/CoV)

Downballot, Yan noted that perennial vote leader Adriane Carr of the Greens dominated from Kitsilano to Strathcona. Similarly for Christine Boyle, the OneCity de facto leader. She excelled in the Southeast, around Collingwood, the city’s densest neighbourhood. Yan called it “Christine country,” but wonders how she will fare in 2022, after so closely aligning with Stewart on the Broadway Plan. 

“Are people happy or unhappy with the kinds of decisions that have been made around the stations and the surrounding neighbourhoods?” Yan asked. “Is this a sign that there could be a blowout for Christine Boyle and Kennedy Stewart?”

The 10th and last council seat won in 2018 went to the NPA’s Sarah Kirby-Yung, now with ABC. She had consistent votes around the city, except the Strathcona and Grandview Woodlands and pockets around downtown.

The Broadway Corridor: the key to power in the Oct. 15 election, according to Andy Yan (Yan/CoV)

Indeed, a hint of what’s to come was made in a solicitation to ABC supporters from campaign manager Kareem Allam. His Oct. 12 email said he spent $10,000 for a mailout to Yaletown, Coal Harbour, the West End and Eastside, “neighbourhoods we weren’t able to reach by door knocking.” The email said he is also planning a $20,000 digital ad blitz on Facebook, Google and YouTube.

Wildcards? Yan said keep an eye on the growing East Fraserlands — also known as the River District — and the area around the Olympic Village that densified since 2018.

“Within the Olympic Village are a lot of very unhappy parents, in terms of the lack of a school, which is probably going to have some knock-on effects in terms of the school board race,” he said.

Some polls indicate as many as four in 10 voters are undecided. Voters are faced with a daunting array of choices on a ballot nearly arm-length: 15 candidates vying for mayor, 59 to aiming to fill city council’s 10 seats, 32 contesting the seven seats on park board and 31 in the race for the nine school board trusteeships. 

Turnout in 2018 was 39%, a drop from 2014’s 43% and far from the 2002 high of 50%. 

Elections from 2005 to 2011 averaged 33%,

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Bob Mackin Saturday’s civic election could be won

Business, News

Bob Mackin 

Kennedy Stewart’s name appears eight times on the Vancouver civic election ballot instead of once in the list of mayoral candidates. 

According to Elections BC, it is perfectly legal to include the mayoral candidate’s name beside the names of other candidates in the same party.

Kennedy Stewart’s Forward Together campaign promo (Forward Together)

Stewart formed his Team Kennedy Stewart Vancouver Society for the 2022 election, after winning as an independent in 2018. The society registered six other names with Elections BC: Forward Together, Forward Together Vancouver, Forward Vancouver, Forward with Kennedy Stewart, FTKS and FTV.

A spokesman for Stewart said the new party originally planned to use Forward Together with Kennedy Stewart on the ballot. “As that was too long to fit on the ballot, Forward with Kennedy Stewart was written instead,” said Kyle Krawchuk.

Elections BC said a candidate’s name can also be part of an elector organization’s full name, usual name or ballot name. 

“Elector organizations file their full name, usual name, and ballot name as part of their registration with Elections BC,” said Elections BC spokesman Andrew Watson. “Elections BC reviews elector organization names for compliance with Local Elections Campaign Financing Act.” 

Watson said the law prohibits an elector organization name that is likely to be confused with another elector organization in the same jurisdiction and names that were registered in the same jurisdiction at any time during the previous 10 years. The Local Government Act also prohibits a candidate’s occupation, title, honour or degree from appearing on a ballot.

Mayor Kennedy Stewart (Mackin)

According to a marketing expert, Stewart has made a shrewd, but risky, move. 

“They’ve obviously got some polling data indicating this guy looks like the well-known, frontrunner name that looks like it has a reasonably positive identification in the community,” said Lindsay Meredith, a retired professor of marketing at Simon Fraser University. “So that’s what you’re going to mark it under. Because what you’re afraid of is, all those other individual names are going to get lost in the shuffle.”

Stewart is one of 15 candidates for mayor and his party is running six candidates against 53 others for the 10 seats on council. 

“So what do you do?” Meredith said. “You go with the name that’s got the most cachet and tie all your horses to that star. You better damn well hope that’s the lucky horse.”

The fate of all the other candidates relies on the success of the leader. If the strategy works, expect others to adopt it for 2026.

“If you’re trying to get a slate established, and especially if that slate is known by the position the leader takes, because he’s the guy who gets all the airtime and all the media coverage, then yeah, you wind up saying, well, let’s take the easy way out. Remember, it’s an easy way out, alright,” Meredith said. “But it’s also a dangerous way out.”

One need only look south to Donald Trump, who remains the face of the Republican Party, despite losing the 2020 election and has an ever-expanding list of scandals. 

Stewart’s full name is Edward Charles Kennedy Stewart, but goes by Kennedy, which is synonymous with the American political dynasty. Ironically, Forward Together was the slogan made famous in President Richard Nixon’s 1969 inaugural address.

Meanwhile, a video shot by a citizen shows on the last day of nominations shows several members of Stewart’s Forward Together jaywalking together.

Forward Together button from Richard Nixon’s 1969 inauguration.

A witness recorded a group of four city council candidates and another person diagonally crossing the intersection of West 8th Avenue and Alberta Street toward the civic election office. The group included Dulcy Anderson, Hilary Brown, Tessica Truong and Russil Wvong. They were also photographed outside the civic election office with Stewart and his wife, Jeanette Ashe, the party’s star candidate. 

Jaywalking is illegal according to the city’s Street and Traffic bylaw and carries a $100 fine. 

When they handed in their papers, the documents included the names of people who had been arrested for blocking roadways. Stewart’s includes endorsement from Hisao Ichikawa, a Save Old Growth protester sentenced to 21 days house arrest and 12 months probation for blocking the Upper Levels Highway and chaining his neck to an RBC bank door. Ichikawa was sentenced in August 2018 to seven days in jail for breaching the Trans Mountain Pipeline construction site injunction on Burnaby Mountain. Stewart also violated the injunction, but pleaded guilty to criminal contempt and was fined $500.

Singh’s endorsers include Deborah Sherry Janet Tin Tun, who is scheduled to appear Nov. 21 in Vancouver Provincial Court on charges of mischief and breach of undertaking for her role in Save Old Growth protests that blocked the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Bridge. 

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Bob Mackin  Kennedy Stewart’s name appears eight times

Business, News

Bob Mackin

The most publicity the NPA campaign received since original mayoral candidate John Coupar quit in early August came Sept. 16. 

A Provincial Court judge allowed 10 NPA candidates, including replacement Fred Harding, to use versions of their names in Chinese characters beside their names on the civic election ballot. Only one of the 10 was born with a Chinese name.

Fred Harding outside the T&T Chinese supermarket in South Vancouver on Oct. 9 (NPA/Twitter)

The judge decided he needed more time to hear city hall’s legal challenge, but that couldn’t happen until after the Oct. 15 election.

Harding said he used a Chinese name on a daily basis. He retired from more than 30 years in policing, moved from Burnaby to Beijing in 2017 and runs a trade consultancy in China. There he lives with wife Zhang Mi, a popular singer who overcame cancer and released a song in 2021 to celebrate the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial.

Harding returned to Vancouver in late August to take a second run at the mayoralty. In 2018, with Vancouver 1st, he finished sixth with 5,640 votes while staying at a rented house on Birch Street in Marpole. This time, he is staying downtown at the Telus Garden luxury condo tower while eyeing the top office at 12th and Cambie.  

Even before Coupar’s surprise departure, the party was reeling financially. A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled July 20 against seven NPA members who sued Mayor Kennedy Stewart for defamation over a January 2021 news release. Stewart’s lawyer argued Stewart was justified in alleging NPA ties to the alt-right and had the case thrown out under the Protection of Public Participation Act. The plaintiffs could together owe $100,000 or more in legal costs. 

Needless to say, the NPA can’t afford to advertise like the well-financed Forward Together and ABC Vancouver machines, but it is making an 11th hour push. The party waited until Thanksgiving weekend to buy radio ads on CKNW. Instead of attacking Stewart and his party, the NPA is zeroing in on ABC leader Ken Sim, the 2018 mayoral runner-up with the NPA. That theme extended to Chinese newspaper ads, calling ABC “A Bad Choice” with a sub-headline warning “Beware of Ken Sim.” Harding took to both WeChat and Facebook on Oct. 12, in a video post titled “Fred Harding is asking for help in Chinese.”

Image from WeChat video of Sept. 23 Fred Harding campaign event (NPA/WeChat)

“Ken Sim wants to make drugs legal in the city. We will have more misery,” said the translation from Mandarin. “Kennedy has failed all of us. I am promising to clean up the city.”

Under Harding, the party is primarily targeting Chinese-speaking voters and donors with its law and order message and using an account on the WeChat app, which boasts more than 1.24 billion users, to recruit and organize volunteers. Harding told an internal party meeting on Sept. 10 that the campaign would rely on Chinese students. 

He headlined an event at the upscale Neptune Palace Chinese Seafood restaurant on Sept. 23. With the purple NPA logo projected on a screen, Harding passionately spoke to supporters.

“Over one week ago, a young man who was delivering food for Skip the Dishes, he’s making minimum wage, had his throat cut on the street. He’s a young Chinese youth who’s trying to make a living in Vancouver. I’m here for that man,” Harding said.

“The people that are there, have been suffering and assaulted. Race hate crimes, I’m here for the victims of race hate crimes!”

A 26-year-old man suffered stab wounds to his neck and chest on Sept. 11 in Chinatown while delivering food.

Except, he is not Chinese. 

Global News aired an interview with the victim on Sept. 26. His name is Hamidullah Habibi and he came to Canada this year from Afghanistan. Dennis Amanand Prasad was arrested Sept. 12 and charged with aggravated assault.

Harding has not responded to requests for comment about the video, published Sept. 27 on WeChat and re-published Oct. 7 on Facebook, where it had received more than 12,000 views as of Oct. 12.

Did the former police department spokesman intend to mislead potential voters and donors or did he just not do his homework?

Image from Facebook video of Sept. 23 Fred Harding campaign event (NPA/Facebook)

“Given his background, I would say that he’s very manipulative, because he is applying his PR and communication skills in the wrong way, or a very self-serving way,” said Fenella Sung of the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong. 

Sung said Harding’s words could “incite anxiety and fear among a particular ethnic minority group that is very vulnerable, especially those in Chinatown areas. 

“I think this kind of campaigning is malicious,” she said.

The full, 18-minute video of Harding’s speech appears on his “FredHardingFans” WeChat channel, which was run from a Beijing IP address until last week. As of Oct. 11, the video had received 70 thumbs up and 126 hearts from viewers. It had been forwarded to 786 others and there are eight comments underneath from users in Beijing and three other Chinese regions. 

“I believe that if Fu Aide [Harding’s Chinese name] is the mayor, public security management will be a big step forward,” wrote a user from Guangdong. “If the community is stable, the economy will develop more smoothly, and the people will be safe.”

WeChat is like a combination of Facebook, Instagram and Twitter with a digital wallet function thrown in. But it is also subject to manipulation by the Chinese government, which censors dissenting content and amplifies messages that favour the party.

“New immigrants from China in Canada, they are still pretty much influenced by the Chinese government through this software,” said McGill University professor of information studies, Benjamin Fung. “Immigrants here in the physical world, they are still interacting with the Canadian society, but once they pick up their smartphone, [they] basically go back to China. It’s like a comfort zone for them.”

Fung, who is also the Canada research chair in data mining for cybersecurity, said Chinese-speaking immigrants used to rely on local media outlets, but that changed with the advent of smartphones and the rise of WeChat. 

Similar to Western social media, WeChat has become a haven for disinformation. During the 2021 federal election, domestic and foreign accounts successfully swayed voters against Steveston-Richmond East Conservative Kenny Chiu. They falsely claimed the incumbent’s proposed foreign agents registry law would suppress pro-China opinion and lead to surveillance of Chinese in Canada. Chiu’s private member’s bill actually resembled a kind of lobbyist registry, similar to one in the U.S. that applies to any foreign nationality.   

“Sometimes the government, a state-sponsored organization, at the back end at the recommender system [software that predicts user activity], they may try to input a few pieces of disinformation or try to promote some candidates in the election in order to influence some of the voters in Canada,” Fung said. “And this is especially true for the Chinese community.”

In the University of Toronto’s May 2020 Citizen Lab report, “We Chat, They Watch: How international users unwittingly build up WeChat’s Chinese censorship apparatus,” researchers found “WeChat communications conducted entirely among non-China-registered accounts are subject to pervasive content surveillance that was previously thought to be exclusively reserved for China-registered accounts.”

WeChat, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent, is beyond the reach of Canadian regulators. Fung said a foreign agents registry would help. So would an office like the U.S. State Department’s Global Engagement Center. Its mission is to monitor, expose and counter foreign state and non-state propaganda that aims to undermine or influence the U.S. and its allies. 

“I think Canada should do the same,” Fung said. “They will actually look into the case and translate them into English and then try to make an official announcement on behalf of the government to let the voters know.”

In one recent case, the Global Engagement Center report on China’s efforts to manipulate global opinion on Xinjiang said: “The PRC works to silence dissent by engaging in digital transnational repression, trolling, and cyberbullying.”

Harding has also not responded to questions about his Hong Kong-registered, Beijing company, Harding Global Consultants, and whether it has contracts with or debts owing to anyone connected to the Chinese government. 

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Bob Mackin The most publicity the NPA campaign

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