NEWS
BUSINESSVANCOUVER September 16–22, 2014
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politics
COPE members name candidates for Vancouver municipal election For the first time in 12 years, the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) is running a candidate for mayor. Meena Wong was chosen September 7 at a party nomination meeting held at the Japanese Hall, two days after a press conference was held on the steps of city hall to announce her candidacy. COPE is the city’s only political party in which candidates are chosen by members, and it turns out yet another member, Anthony Guitar, also wanted to run for mayor but hit a paperwork filing error. Not that it was close.
Wong earned 193 votes of the 216 ballots cast to become the left-wing party’s first mayoral candidate since Larry Campbell won a landslide victory in 2002. It is the Vancouver Coastal Health mental health recovery worker’s second stab at seeking public office after running as the New Democratic Party candidate for Vancouver South in the 2011 federal election, where she came in third with 19% of votes. If elected, Wong would be the city’s first female mayor and the first one of Chinese descent. She also served previously as an assistant to former Toronto city councillor
and NDP MP Olivia Chow, who is running for mayor of Toronto. Wong, 53, said she wants to make North America’s most expensive city more affordable for non-affluent residents. “We have a duty to each other and to this city to right what is wrong,” said Wong. “We have a duty to our children who cannot afford to live in this city, we have a duty to seniors who cannot afford to age with dignity. … I think Vancouver housing prices are way too high, and as a city government, we need to look at that.” Seven candidates for city council were
also picked from a total of 12 nominees. Tim Louis, party co-chair and a former two-time councillor, earned the most votes overall with 179, followed by Sid Chow Tan, Audrey Siegl, Gayle Gavin, Lisa Barrett, Keith Higgins and Jennifer O’Keeffe. John Yano and Wilson Munoz tied for the eighth and final spot; a decision as to which of them will run has not yet been announced. The Vancouver municipal election will be held November 15. – Vancouver Courier
transportation
Real estate
White Rock council to call on federal government to relocate railway tracks
Industrial property sales at odds with warning on northeast B.C. slowdown
For more than 100 years, the railway track that runs the length of White Rock’s waterfront has been a simple fact of life. But with rising concerns about dangerous goods and increased rail traffic, the city has said enough is enough. White Rock council voted September 8 to formally begin work on approaching the federal government to have the rail line, owned by Burlington Northern Sante Fe, relocated away from the waterfront.
Michael Chu
Citing the recent approval of the Fraser Surrey Docks coal terminal expansion (which adds 640 train trips a year) as something of a tipping point, White Rock Mayor Wayne Baldwin brought forth a motion that would begin a formal appeal process through the Canadian government to have the tracks moved. “With the Fraser Surrey Docks proposal to increase the number of trains … we have to do something,” Baldwin said. – Surrey Now
Industrial real estate action in northeast British Columbia appears to belie a Central 1 Credit Union caution of an economic slowdown across the north. Citing a slumping coal sector and “uncertainty” surrounding the future of the liquefied natural gas industry, Central 1 is forecasting the northern economy faces “a period of lower expansion this year and next.” The northeast is anchored by Fort St. John, the second largest city in northern
B.C., and includes Dawson Creek, Tumbler Ridge and Fort Nelson. “We saw a slowdown earlier this year, but the last six weeks are the busiest we have been in years,” said Ron Rodgers, owner and managing broker of NorthEast BC Realty Ltd. of Fort St. John. As an example, he points to the near sellout of a 16-parcel industrial park just outside of Fort St. John, where 10 of the 4.5-acre serviced lots have sold this year and four more are pending.
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UBC ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE DIALOGUES
INSPIRE INVIGORATE IGNITE
SEPTEMBER 29, 2014 5:30 – 8:30 PM UBC ROBSON SQUARE
You WorkED hArD For YOUR WEALTH. WE’ll hElp pROTEcT iT! Call Lorne at 604 602 9000 or at www.macleanlaw.ca
Come discover pathways to industry partnership with UBC Applied Science. In an evening of thought-provoking, seven-minute presentations, learn why faculty are passionate about their work, and start the dialogue to open up infinite possibilities to leverage our research. Network while enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres after the talks
Learn more and RSVP by September 19 at innovate.apsc.ubc.ca
Lorne MacLean Q.C.
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14-09-09 9:00 AM