Commentary

The least surprising Vancouver news last week was that our homelessness count has not diminished: 2,181 daughters and sons on the street, a 2% increase in the past year, and a lame-duck mayor saying more needs to be done. Well, duh.

The two transportation arteries that tie the country’s economy together are up against some serious operational challenges, and when Canadian Pacific (CP) and Canadian National (CN) railways have challenges, so does Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that provinces have the right to erect interprovincial tariff barriers. That’s bad news for Canadian consumers and the health of the national economy.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently flew in from Ottawa to make the big tech announcement, the perfect photo op: Amazon will add 3,000 new jobs in Vancouver and take over the old Canada Post building on Georgia Street.

In an earlier era, a garage mechanic confessed to me about the leverage an auto body shop has over the customer once the car was up on the hydraulic lift. In short: pretty much limitless. Up goes the car, up goes the repair, up goes the expense.

The Port of Vancouver could have a valuable new export to promote: green maritime initiatives. The product, which has significant upside in a climate change world, needs to be imported by more ports around the world.

Savvy employers will ask an employee to sign a release in exchange for a severance package when ending an employment relationship. This practice ensures that all potential lawsuits and claims the employee might have against the company are resolved.

Vancouver's empty-homes tax is an empty promise. It will take a half-dozen years to see any evidence of its impact. Even then it will be a rounding error in the city’s need for social housing and its failure to nurture acceptable conditions to rent.

Disclosure: this column is part obituary, part conflict of interest and part appeal. We are losing too much vital media in our communities.

The Trans Mountain pipeline soap opera is much more than a boxing match between governments fighting to maintain office. It is the latest advertisement to the world that attempting to execute any major project in Canada is tough and getting tougher.