Vancouver currently bans apartment buildings on 75% of its residential land. The city says that its current infrastructure wouldn’t be able to accommodate high-density housing — and that upgrading the infrastructure to allow for apartment buildings would be way too expensive. But this is just another rationale for NIMBYism, according to Danny Oleks…

The Vancouver Police Department spent the last year exploring the use of body-worn cameras. In November, the VPD asked Council to approve expanding the program to all frontline members. Meanwhile, the RCMP is spending millions of dollars to bring in the use of body-worn cameras across the country. Chris Schneider says body-worn cameras are unlikely…

A new interpretive letter on the Canada Health Act says primary health care services provided by qualified non-physican practitioners must be covered by provincial and territorial plans. However, the letter left the whole area of virtual care unresolved. Dr. Danyaal Raza is a family physician with Unity Health Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, and …

Next week, Vancouver City Council will debate whether to spend $4M for yet another plan for South False Creek, $3M to continue cutting diseased Hemlock trees in Stanley Park, a motion to install water meters on all Vancouver buildings, Green Party Councillor Adrienne Carr’s resignation and lots more. Redeye collective member, Ian Mass joins us with…

The new accord developed between the NDP and the Greens includes a special committee that will look at a proportional representation voting system for BC. The cooperation deal opens up a new opportunity for a fairer voting system in the province, according to Gisela Ruckert of Fair Vote Canada.بقلم Redeye

In 2016, Newfoundland filmmaker Justin Simms became the father of a son. Later that year, Donald Trump won his first term as president, fuelled by the rise of white supremacy and a particularly toxic form of masculinity. Simms was daunted by the prospect of being a father to a little white boy, born into middle-class privilege, and started to ask h…

After Holborn Properties bought the Dunsmuir Hotel in downtown Vancouver, it allowed the property to deteriorate for nearly 20 years, and evicted all the tenants in 2013. Since then, it has sat empty. Now water damage has caused irreversible interior and structural decay such that Vancouver City Council was called into a special meeting a week befo…

Ending Jan 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. In 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass a comprehensive law banning metal mining nationwide. The vote was the result of a 12-year struggle by small farmers and their allies to protect the waters of the Lempa River from the impact of gold m…

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. Travers spent five years talking with trans kids and their parents. Their 2018 book, The Trans Generation, offers a rare look into what it is like to grow up as a transgender child. Travers is a Professor of Sociology at Simon Fraser University.…

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. We Interrupt This Program tells the story of how Indigenous people are using media tactics to rewrite Canada’s national narratives from an Indigenous perspective. Authors Miranda Brady and John Kelly talked with Lorraine Chisholm in 2018.…

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. Carmen Rodriguez is an internationally acclaimed Chilean-Canadian author, educator and journalist. Her novel, Atacama, is set against the backdrop of Chile in the first half of the twentieth century and Europe during the Spanish Civil War. It is both a s…

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. Judging by the constant stream of news reports of standoffs and confrontations, it’s apparent that Canada’s reconciliation project has gone off the rails. In Standoff, lawyer and historian Bruce McIvor examines why reconciliation is failing and what need…

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. Diet for a Small Planet was the first major cookbook to address the environmental impact of meat production. Author Frances Moore Lappé advocated for a vegetarian lifestyle out of concerns over animal-based industries and products. She also argued that w…

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. In one of our most popular podcasts recorded in August 2021, Earle Peach talks with us about writing songs and shares some of his music. Peach is the director of three Vancouver-based choral groups including the High and Lows Choir and Solidarity Notes L…

From now until January 11, Writers Talking - a series of eight conversations from our archives. In his first book, The Skin We’re In, journalist and activist Desmond Cole challenged the complacency of people who believe Canada is a post-racial nation. He chronicled one year in the struggle against racism in this country. In March 2020, Desmond Cole…

Bottled water is the world’s most-consumed packaged beverage, but movements to protect water quality and to ensure the right to water are fighting back hard against its commercial exploitation. Now, the water bottling giant BlueTriton has announced it will close Canada’s largest water bottling plant and its entire operations in Ontario after sustai…

Environmental racism is a systemic issue in Canada. There's a long history of marginalized communities suffering at the hands of industry, all authorized by the Crown. In June this year, the Environmental Justice Act received Royal Assent and became law in Canada. But there are doubts that the meaningful consultation committed to in the Act will re…

The collapse of the Mount Polley tailings dam in 2014 was one of the worst mining disasters in Canada. The dam failure sent hundreds of tonnes of toxic materials, including arsenic, lead, copper and nickel, into Quesnel Lake. More than a decade later, Imperial Metals Corp has been charged in BC Supreme Court with 15 violations of the federal Fisher…

Every year in Metro Vancouver, car crashes kill 100 people and injure many more. Vision Zero Vancouver wants to see the number of deaths and life-altering injuries reduced to zero. They say the problem is not bad drivers, careless pedestrians or reckless cyclists - it’s a system problem, and the designers of our transportation system bear the bigge…

Non-disclosure agreements were originally a mechanism for protecting trade secrets. But they are now increasingly used as a matter of default in settlement agreements for all kinds of civil disputes, including those related to sexual misconduct, harassment and discrimination. We speak with Julie Macfarlane of Can't Buy My Silence, a campaign to end…

Hogan’s Alley was home to Vancouver’s largest Black and African diaspora community for many years. From 1931 to 1971, the City pressured residents to leave Hogan’s Alley. The final blow was the construction of the Georgia and Dunsmuir viaducts in 1972. The Hogan’s Alley Society is committed to daylighting the presence of Black history in Vancouver.…

Members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers have been on strike since November 15. CUPW represents more than 60,000 Canada Post delivery workers in rural and urban areas across the country. At the heart of the strike is an effort to secure safe working conditions for all postal workers, and a wider struggle against precarious work, as companies…

Next week, Vancouver City Council will debate the more than $3 billion City budget, which includes yet another increase in police spending, and determine the tax increase to pay for it. They’ll also discuss the controversial Broadway plan as well as Mayor Ken Sim’s enthusiasm for cryptocurrency. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us with his C…

Environmental and health organizations are calling on Canada’s Minister of Health to intervene after a regulatory flip-flop has left an insecticide on the market. A ban proposed in 2018 concerned imidacloprid and two related pesticides used on corn, soybeans, potatoes and other crops. This pesticide has been banned in the European Union since 2018.…

Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the federal government introduced a special program to allow Ukrainians to temporarily work, study and stay in Canada until it was safe for them to return home. Nearly 300 thousand people have since arrived through that program. In late 2023, Canada announced a similar program to help Canadians get family …

In videos in both French and English, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke directly to viewers to explain his government’s new plan to reduce immigration by roughly 20 per cent. Lisa Brunner has analyzed Trudeau’s explanation for immigration cuts. She talks with us about how it aligns with the government’s own policies and the realities on the groun…

Between the 1870s and the late 1990s, over 150,000 First Nations, Métis and Inuit children were forced to attend church-run, government-funded residential schools. As of three years ago, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation had documented more than 4,100 deaths of children at these institutions. In 2022, Kimberley Murray was appointed I…

Next week Vancouver City Council will debate the first three redevelopment applications under the Broadway plan, at least two of which are meeting with significant neighbourhood opposition. Council will also debate the use of fracked gas in new building construction, police body cameras and more. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us with his …

Rights advocates in Canada are welcoming a new review and complaints body for the Canadian Border Services and the RCMP. A network of nine civil society organizations say the new commission is long overdue, but still falls short of what is needed. We talk with Tim McSorley, National Coordinator of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group.…

During the BC election campaign, both the Conservatives and NDP put significant tax cuts on the table in their policy platforms. While they were framed as a way of easing pressures on the cost of living, economist Alex Hemingway points out that tax cuts will do little to address the structural inequality underlying those cost pressures. Alex Heming…

A report released last week reveals that millions of dollars in Canadian charitable donations have been funneled to organizations implicated in supporting illegal Israeli settlements, violent settler groups, and military activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. Under the Guise of Charity was produced by Just Peace Advocates, Independent …

For years, the Mitchikanibikok Inik First Nation community has fought to keep mining off of their territory. In an important ruling, the Superior Court of Québec has recognized that the Québec government failed for decades in its constitutional duty to consult the Mitchikanibikok Inik First Nation when mining claims were granted on its territory. L…

Next week Vancouver City Council will talk about the VPD and traffic cameras, earthquake-proofing rental properties, fracked gas heating in new construction and lots more. Redeye collective member Ian Mass joins us with his City Beat report.بقلم Redeye

On November 12 and 13, the Supreme Court of Canada will hear a case brought by two drivers of sex workers in Calgary who were charged with financially benefiting from sex work and procuring. The drivers claim the charges violate their Charter rights. We speak with Rosel Kim, a senior staff lawyer at LEAF, the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund…

A local peace group Vancouver Peace Poppies, together with Vancouver Unitarians, is planning to host an alternative peace-focused ceremony marking November 11 called Let Peace be Their Memorial. This will be their ninth annual wreath ceremony to commemorate all victims of war. We speak with Teresa Gagné, co-founder of Vancouver Peace Poppies.…

Sky-high rents, low vacancy rates and fierce competition for scarce homes have become the grim but familiar picture of housing in the Vancouver area. But this housing crisis does not affect us all equally. A new research project by the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives will dig deep into how the crisis impacts immigrants, and racialized and I…

A new book examines the experiences of the women who faced the worst effects of the pandemic and the inequities it exposed. Conscripted to Care reveals how structural inequality placed women on the frontlines of the pandemic response, yet did not provide them with enough resources or a voice in decision-making. We speak with author Dr Julia Smith, …

Lawyers with Pivot Legal Society and the BC Civil Liberties Association have filed complaints against the Vancouver Police Department for excessive use of force, and for targeting and surveilling pro-Palestinian protestors. The complaints relate to a pro-Palestine protest on May 31 at CN Rails and the VPD use of drones and cell phone cameras at oth…

Public health care was one of the issues that was top of mind for BC voters as they went to the polls over the past month. Election officials are conducting a final count this weekend. One thing we can be sure of is that the incoming provincial government will be tasked with resolving the issue of long wait times for surgeries like knee and hip rep…

In October, 800 senior leaders and industry experts from the aviation and energy industries met in Houston, Texas to discuss how to decarbonize the aviation industry. The current plan is to switch the fuel supplies of the global jet fleet to agricultural feedstocks. Darrin Qualman of the National Farmers Union was at the conference to speak about t…

Cottonwood Community Garden is a volunteer-managed community garden in East Vancouver. A new self-guided audio tour of the gardens is being launched this month, bringing an intimate sense of place to a piece of urban nature brimming with life and social connection. With the tour, you can walk through the garden, and listen to stories that bring the…

Green Party councillor Adrienne Carr asks Vancouver City Council to reconsider a snap decision they made last summer to allow natural gas to be used in new building construction. Council will also be looking at giving an international developer a sweetheart deal, and finally after 5 years of waiting, the City has launched a community engagement pro…

Both the BC NDP and the Conservative Party of BC have pledged to expand involuntary care under the Mental Health Act for people who use drugs. More than 17 organizations have condemned forced detention plans, including the BC Civil Liberties Association and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. Meenakshi Mannoe is connected to anti-prison and a…

The First Call Child and Youth Advocacy Society has been producing election-focused materials for decades. With the BC provincial election just days away, First Call has created a toolkit focused on effective election advocacy for children and youth. Adrienne Montani joins us to talk about some of the issues facing children, youth and families in t…

If you live in British Columbia, and you care about equality and social justice, you probably have many conversations in week about how unaffordable housing is becoming. Economists at the BC office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have examined this issue and have come forward with a multi-pronged approach to tackle the problem. We sp…

A recent review of forest trends shows clearcut logging of old growth forests is continuing at unsustainable levels. This is despite the rapid increase of forest area burned - and the fact that there’s a limited area of intact forests left. The review was produced by the Sierra Club BC. I speak with Senior Policy and Science Advisor Jens Wieting.…

Today, Ian Mass tells us about a 10-year retrospective on reconciliation work at the municipal level in Vancouver. Plus two major non-market housing developments in the Downtown Eastside. All this and more on City Beat.بقلم Redeye

A new handbook has been launched to assist BC school trustees who are being targeted with transphobic and homophobic abuse. It outlines some of the ways that school boards are currently under attack and ways to prevent and address this violence. The handbook was written collaboratively by a committee of the group, Lawyers Against Transphobia. We sp…

On a misty morning in the fall of 1985, a small group of Haida people blockaded a muddy dirt road on Lyell Island, demanding that the government work with Indigenous people to find a way to protect the land and the future. The Stand is a riveting new feature documentary drawn from more than a hundred hours of archival footage from that first blocka…

The climate crisis has already unleashed disastrous consequences from forest fires to catastrophic flooding and drought. In the face of these alarming trends, it’s crucial for us to remain hopeful and continue to seek solutions. In his book, Climate Hope, David Geselbracht recounts stories of action from around the world and reveals remarkable effo…