Vancouver Sun

Jul 4 2020 — Daphne Bramham — Vancouver Sun — For decades, Canada’s political, academic and corporate elites have been heavily invested in the belief that with engagement China could be coaxed into something resembling a rights-based, citizen-focused country. Close ties have been established between universities here and there. Judges, lawyers, artists, journalists along with politicians from every level including school boards, have been part […]

Jan 19 2020 — Vaughn Palmer — Vancouver Sun — Premier John Horgan and the New Democrats expressed disappointment this week when the Supreme Court of Canada threw out their last legal challenge to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. They cannot have been surprised. The New Democrats promised in their 2017 election platform to use “every tool in our tool box to stop the project […]

Dec 9 2019 — Rob Shaw — Vancouver Sun — Transportation Minister Claire Trevena received an uncomfortable reminder last week of the gulf between the political bubble of the legislature in Victoria and the real world, after she was blasted by forestry workers in her North Island riding. Trevena held a public meeting in Campbell River, in which more than 50 people gathered to vent […]

Oct 22 2019 — Daphne Bramham — Vancouver Sun — Only eight months ago Jagmeet Singh’s leadership was on such shaky ground that some New Democrats weren’t exactly hoping that he’d lose the Burnaby South byelection, but they weren’t exactly helping him win either. With the party in free-fall early in the year, some blamed Singh and darkly suggested that if he lost the byelection […]

Oct 14 2019 — Daphne Bramham — Vancouver Sun — Meeting Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, he seems like a good-natured, dimpled and smiling Every Man who might be good fun at a Saskatchewan Roughriders football game. But Canadians haven’t warmed up to him. Despite all that Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has done and not done — from wearing blackface to violating conflict-of-interest rules to buying […]

Oct 2 2019 — Daphne Bramham — Vancouver Sun — For a leader who insists that his party won’t reopen debate on same-sex marriage, abortion and medically assisted dying, Conservative Andrew Scheer doesn’t make it easy for people to believe him. His own unblemished voting record of opposing same-sex marriage and abortion is a stumbling block. So is his promise to allow members of Parliament […]

Sep 28 2019 — Daphne Bramham — Vancouver Sun — While we waited Friday for Conservative leader Andrew Scheer to arrive by car at the terminus of the Evergreen SkyTrain line, some placard-carrying kids hurried to take the train so they could join the climate strike in downtown Vancouver. They joined an estimated 100,000 who met at Vancouver’s City Hall and marched downtown disrupting both […]

Sep 17 2019 — Vancouver Sun — Rick Mercer is calling out the Conservative candidate in Burnaby North-Seymour for sharing a doctored quote from the TV personality on social media. On Monday, the Burnaby North-Seymour Conservative Association, who is backing candidate Heather Leung, posted a photo of the comedian on Facebook with a quote taken from a “Rick’s Rant” segment that aired […]

Aug 4 2019 — Vancouver Sun — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire Trudeau will participate in Sunday’s Pride Parade in Vancouver. Trudeau made history at the event in 2016 when he became the first the sitting Prime Minister to march in the city’s annual LGBTQ2+ celebration. This past week, the prime minister paid a surprise visit to the […]

Jun 24 2019 — Rob Shaw — Vancouver Sun — When the price of gas in Metro Vancouver reached $1.50 a litre, NDP MLA Mike Farnworth rounded up 25 supporters and protested outside a Port Coquitlam gas station in his riding, demanding the government scrap the carbon tax because it was adding 2.4 cents a litre to the price at the pump. “I’d say about […]

Jun 18 2019 — Rob Shaw — Vancouver Sun — Premier John Horgan says he’s disappointed that Ottawa has again approved the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, and B.C. will continue with its court challenges. “Although I regret the federal government’s decision it is within their authority to make that decision, it is now up to George and I and to make sure as […]

Jun 4 2019 — Vancouver Sun — The bulk of the federal Liberals’ Vancouver Granville riding association executive have quit after sitting MP Jody Wilson-Raybould revealed she would run as an Independent in October’s election. And according to former riding association chair John Turner, most of those people will now switch to Wilson-Raybould’s new campaign. “Several of the people will be moving […]

May 30 2019 — Vancouver Sun — B.C.’s Opposition Liberals are offering up one of their MLAs to replace Darryl Plecas as Speaker, in a move that could restore order to the legislature but would also strengthen the minority NDP government’s grip on power. The Liberals are expected to make the offer to Premier John Horgan later Thursday, the Opposition caucus confirmed […]

May 6 2019 — Vancouver Sun — Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps says her thinking on resource extraction wasn’t shifted by a recent tour of the Alberta oilsands. “What I am left with from my visit is that while there is only one Earth, one climate and one shared future for the planet, there are two different energy paradigms in Canada right now,” […]

Mar 29 2019 — Vancouver Sun — Two people are dead following a hostage taking in Surrey’s Central City area on Friday. B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office, a civilian body that investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, says it has been notified of an “officer-involved shooting in Surrey.”