City Caucus

City Caucus blog ceases after 3 1/2 years

CityCaucus.com — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 14:30:47 +0000

photo by Clinton Hussey Co-founders Daniel Fontaine and Mike Klassen agree to retire City Caucus blog Vancouver, BC (July 3, 2012) – After 1,304 days as a go-to source of political news and commentary for British Columbians, the City Caucus blog (also knows as CityCaucus.com) will no longer be updated. A labour of love started

Appreciating the oil sands

CityCaucus.com — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 06:48:16 +0000

It's interesting what a bad rap the oil sands get If the countries of the world are buying oil – and they are – then why not buy it from Canada? After all, we are a secure country, with the rule of law and a democratic society. Canada is the world's sixth largest oil producer

City Caucus passes 5,000,000 page views

CityCaucus.com — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 22:55:01 +0000

Millions of 'unique' visits since December 2008 It's with a measure of pride that we announce that City Caucus has had five million page views since the site's launch in early December 2008. For those who are unclear about website metrics, a page view is a statistic which tracks the time a page is opened

Vancouver City Clerk Marg Coulson stepping down

CityCaucus.com — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 19:14:13 +0000

Departure of "consummate public servant" the end of an era It came as an unceremonious email on a Friday afternoon before a long weekend. Marg Coulson, Vancouver's City Clerk and a 34-year veteran of the civil service, is leaving. From: City Managers Broadcast Account Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 01:20 PM To: All Staff (COV)

Task force recommendations can make housing less expensive

CityCaucus.com — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:00:23 +0000

"Affordable" is a relative term when it comes to housing in Vancouver This week, the Mayor's Task Force on Housing Affordability issued its interim report. The task force, co-chaired by Mayor Gregor Robert-son and Olga Ilich, was set up earlier this year and included a mix of real estate experts, housing developers, architects, and community

Let’s get real – making energy always has an environmental impact

CityCaucus.com — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 17:00:53 +0000

Green message misleads public on the real impacts of creating electricity I just had one of those marvellous rant-inspiring moments reading a letter in which someone was complaining about the potential environmental impact of a particular energy project and I thought, wouldn’t it be great if there was some way we could produce energy that

Housing task force report both worthy, worrisome

CityCaucus.com — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 00:00:35 +0000

It's "fundamentally flawed" to turn over the city’s land assets to developers to build rental-only buildings The Mayor’s Task Force on Affordable Housing released a report that as urban economists we find to be a mix of very good and very worrisome proposals. The intention of the report, to increase the supply of housing in

My dog must think I’m a jerk

CityCaucus.com — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 20:00:57 +0000

Marty on his role as a reluctant master My dog Bella is fascinated by the dishwasher. To her, it’s a big metal box filled with delicious smells and drippings that should rightfully be licked up. Her particular favorite part of the dishwasher is the cutlery tray. Obviously, licking sharp knives is not advisable for anyone

Wino with a shotgun

CityCaucus.com — Sat, 30 Jun 2012 07:41:26 +0000

Sandra Oldfield gives Canadians the disarming truth about selling wine between provinces The following is a cross-post with the BC Wine Lover blog. One of the most popular recent posts on City Caucus described the experience of EXP bar in Vancouver trying to get a liquor license that would allow people to play video games

Tremors are here to stay

CityCaucus.com — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 20:40:20 +0000

Now, do you feel lucky? Do you? The Thought of The Day “One incident. One building. One location.” Six days later, and the rescue efforts in the Elliot Lake – Ontario's mall collapse – are going nowhere. Despite the best resources, crews, equipment, knowledge, the human presence remains helpless in the face of the smallest