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Christy Clark says the darndest things. B.C.’s premier routinely gets away with jaw-dropping spin. A few days ago, for example, addressing the media about the legacy of Bill Bennett, the province’s former Social Credit premier who passed away last week at age 83, Clark praised him as someone who stood up for the “little guy”…
December 9, 2015 marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of the current Cambie Bridge, built just before Expo ’86. This photo was taken in 1984 by our photographer Denis Bouvier. It depicts the old Cambie Bridge still functioning on the left and the construction of the new bridge happening on the right. The 1985…
When we think about Vancouver as one of the most multicultural and diverse cities in the country it’s important to consider how this diversity is represented in the social and geographical makeup of the city and what kind of diversity this suggests. Growing up in Vancouver, I learned to distinguish between neighbourhoods based on their…
Despite all the excitement about the defeat of the Harper government, in B.C. the political status quo still seems unmovable. Riddled with scandals, and having weathered many dips in popularity over nearly 15 years in office, the B.C. Liberals and Christy Clark nevertheless seem relatively secure in power. With a year and a half until…
Human Structures, a sculpture by Jonathan Borofsky, is depicted here in False Creek’s Hinge Park facing Habitat Island, an urban sanctuary for local flora and fauna. B.C. Place is in the background lit with the colours of the French flag. The sculpture is both physical and metaphysical. Physically, it’s composed of 64 painted and moulded…
The most revealing experience of Vancouver’s cultural plurality has been, for me, the daily ride on bus route 49, connecting South Vancouver to UBC. Firstly, I was amused by the fact that at a corner on Knight Street, a KFC, a Chinese restaurant and an Indian caterer were all neighbors. I then had the idea…
Most British Columbia voters breathed a big sigh relief last month, as the corrupt and discredited government of Stephen Harper was finally swept from office. Now it may be time to set our collective sights on another right-wing government: the corporate backed B.C. Liberals’ administration. If an analogy between Ottawa’s Conservatives and Christy Clark’s crew…
This magnificent portal is located on the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park, just 15 minutes drive from Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. King bequeathed his estate to all Canadians. Mackenzie King was our 10th and longest serving prime minister – for 22 years, during the 1920’s through the 1940’s. Aside from his political life, he loved…
My conscious life essentially began when I moved to Saskatchewan, just in time to begin kindergarten. There it seemed that cultural diversity didn’t mean quite as much as it does here in British Columbia. In Saskatchewan, I lived almost exclusively among working – or middle-class white families, many of Ukrainian descent, many more being Catholics…
Elections are one of the basic requirements of a democracy worthy of its name. Simply put, democracy is dependent upon free and fair elections. Elections are the essential link between the people and political power: they enable citizens to choose a government and they authorize this government to exercise power. In a democracy, the exercise…
By the time this column is printed, Canada may well have elected a new prime minister. As I have noted previously in this space, B.C. Premier Christy Clark has remained scrupulously above the fray of the federal election campaign. Frankly Clark would be fine with the Harper government surviving for another term, but she would…
The moon is our nearest heavenly body and, as such, has played a pivotal role in human existence influencing tides, farming, divination, lovers, body cycles and much more. It’s important in romantic songs, such as Blue Moon. A Blue Moon is also the event of having an extra full moon in one of the four…
The title of this piece is the main equation which defines the people of Vancouver and the foundations of its growth. According to the Canada 2011 Census, 603,502 citizens live in Vancouver and this makes the city the eighth largest one in Canada…plus one more, me. I arrived with my suitcase from the south of…
