Posts from — October 2011

The economic downturn is exacting a higher toll on immigrants than other Canadians, according to this new analysis, as immigrant levels of unemployment rise and wages stagnate.

The findings suggest that cities like Surrey, Burnaby and Vancouver, with their high share of recent immigrants, may find their economic recoveries lagging as well.

The international invitation to redesign and reconnect the city’s eastern core is drawing global attention but there’s still time to submit your ideas to a contest that offers cash prizes for the best new visions of Vancouver.

Here’s what the city planner Cory Dobson reported this morning in an e-mail blast to people on the re:connect list serve:

Only two and a half weeks remain until the submission deadline for Re:Connect, an open ideas competition for the Viaducts and Eastern Core.  Roll up your sleeves, sharpen your pencils and join the already over 50 individuals from over a dozen countries around that world who are entered to help inspire our city and shape the future of the city’s eastern core.

Registration deadline is Wednesday, November 2nd with submission due by Friday, November 4th. Winners will be selected by an independent jury of renowned local and international architects, urbanists, educators, sustainability and economics experts. There will also be public voting to select a ‘People’s Choice’ winner in each of the categories (online voting will run from November 21-25, 2011). Winners will be celebrated and profiled at a public forum in early December.

Please refer to the website vancouver.ca/reconnect for additional information or to register for the competition.

Submit your ideas today and help shape Vancouver!

The majority of collective agreements across Metro Vancouver expire Dec. 31, 2011, right after the civic election. No matter who wins the Nov. 19 votes, bargaining will be completely different from previous years.

In the latest issue of Business in Vancouver, I explain why:

[Read more →]

With provincial transport minister Blair Lekstrom promising to have Evergreen Line construction under way “within months” as a result of Friday’s Translink Mayor’s Council vote on funding, the struggle for Translink’s future shifts to the backrooms.

That’s where a joint technical committee of seni0r provincial, municipal and Translink bureaucrats are working on proposals for alternate funding sources that will take further property tax increases off the table.

If they can’t find a solution acceptable to all by early next year, property taxes will rise in 2013 once more to pay for transit. This is precisely the scenario predicted by Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan and Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, both former Translink chairs, who Friday voted against the new funding formula for precisely this reason.

(Note to drivers: fares have already been raised the legal maximum and are scheduled to rise another 13 percent in 2013, meaning riders will still pay the largest share of the overhead.)

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson has proposed an increase in the carbon tax on a regional basis to pay for transit.

Surrey Mayor Diane Watts added two more suggestions to the debate on Friday: an “area benefitting tax” that affects properties seeing values rise due to transit investment, and a regional bridge tolling scheme that would put crossings like Lions Gate Bridge and Ironworkers Bridge on an equal footing with tolled crossings like Port Mann and Golden Ears.

Most agree the final package could include “all of the above,” but achieving agreement will not be easy.