Another fun morning in another unheated brick building being renovated, with the housing crowd in the province as everyone gathered at the St. Helen’s hotel on Granville Street. That was to hear the premier and Housing Minister Rich Coleman announced they had bought 601 new units around the province in 15 buildings, all as part […]
Entries from January 2016
Province buys housing units for the homeless all over B.C.
January 30th, 2009 · 8 Comments
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Sam Sullivan enters the Olympic village fray
January 30th, 2009 · 21 Comments
Both citycaucus.com and the Tyee have posted the former mayor’s thoughts on the Olympic village, which you can read here and here. And apparently he’ll also be in the Vancouver Sun tomorrow. Quite the media blitz. Sam makes some strong arguments — I have my doubts about whether anyone’s opinion on this issue is now […]
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Province buys another big whack of housing for the homeless
January 30th, 2009 · 4 Comments
Off to the 9:30 press conference this morning, where the premier and Housing Minister Rich Coleman are about to announce another big end-of-year buy of residential hotels and older apartment buildings for the third year in a row. All part of the plan to secure this private stock so it can be used for housing […]
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Vancouver prelim budget out: You pay $128 more in taxes on an average house
January 29th, 2009 · 9 Comments
Our favourite time of the year — budget estimates — is here again, with the traditional three acts: 1. The discovery that the projected tax increase to maintain the existing budget is not as high as everyone said the previous fall. 2. The wrangling over what gets cut or added, during lengthy public meetings 3. […]
Tags: City Hall Talk
Robertson creates a Green City team
January 28th, 2009 · 12 Comments
I feel bad that I’m not on an advisory committee to the mayor. Everyone else in town seems to be. First, there was the homelessness action team, a high-powered group that meets Sunday afternoons to figure out how to get 1,500 people out of shelters and off the streets ASAP. Then, there was the developers’ […]
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Debate on Burrard Bridge cycling lanes opened up
January 28th, 2009 · 23 Comments
Here we go, the debate begins. The city is holding a public session this Saturday on the bridge cycling lanes, as per this notice I just got sent. If you can’t make it on Saturday (though why you wouldn’t want to spend a sunny Saturday locked in a community centre, arguing about who gets which […]
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What are the next steps with the Burnaby Centre for the mentally ill and addicted
January 27th, 2009 · 25 Comments
Monte Paulsen asked a good question about my recent story on the Burnaby Centre for Mental Health & Addictions, which is a 100-bed facility out near BCIT that is pioneering an incredibly comprehensive and high level of care for those people whose problems with combos of mental illness, addiction, and physical disabilities are so severe […]
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Former councillor Jim Green hired to help on Olympic village
January 27th, 2009 · 10 Comments
I see my former Sun buddy Jeff Lee was the first to get this story in print about Jim Green being hired by Millennium Developments to help out with the Olympic village and possibly other projects of theirs. Of course, the sub-text is that this must be about Jim, who helped started the Vision Vancouver […]
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Civic politics on NW 9-10
January 27th, 2009 · 4 Comments
I’m on the Bill Good show this morning with Daniel Fontaine, blogger and former Sam Sullivan chief of staff, talking about all things civic civilly. I think.
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B.C.’s new centre for the homeless after six months
January 26th, 2009 · 8 Comments
I got a chance recently to go out to the new Burnaby Centre for Mental Health & Addictions, the centre that was announced last February by Premier Gordon Campbell as part of a new push to treat the mentally ill + addicted + often homeless and physically sick. It’s been open since June and taking […]
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