CP Rail and the Arbutus Corridor Gambit

Our friends at CP Rail have dilemma. They apparently don’t need the land they own on the Arbutus Corridor. This is evidenced by the fact that they haven’t used it for a decade. They also tried to sell it on the open market, but couldn’t find a buyer.  This is due at...

Vancouver Civic Election Reform Part 2

I have been in favour of replacing the current at large system of electing our civic representatives with a ward system for a long time. Yet, in my previous article on civic election reform, I advocate for a mixed system with some representatives elected at large and...

Reforming Vancouver’s At Large Voting System

Vancouver has used both at-large and ward systems since it became a city in 1886. The first civic election in 1886 was an at-large vote. Then Vancouver split into five wards, and as the city grew, so did the number of wards. By the 1930s, the city had gone from wards...

New Vancouver Blog –

Vanopolis is a new blog in town offering Vancouverites  progressive analysis and commentary on all things Vancouver: municipal politics, culture, community issues, education, the environment, activism and much more. Based on the posts so far, I think it will live up...

My Take on the COPE AGM & Next Steps

I took part in COPE’s 6 hour marathon AGM yesterday (Sunday Feb 19th) along with nearly 300 other dedicated COPE members. Like many others I found the evident dis-unity and factionalism within COPE and its impact on the elections process frustrating. Unlike some...