Commentary
Tune in regularly to Commentary on BIV.com, where you can find the latest insight into issues facing Vancouver, British Columbia and Canada
City budget blind to COVID business, taxpayer revenue realities
I don’t own the business I manage, but most everyone who manages has had to act like an owner since last March. It’s been a wholly serious time of salvaging. In our case, we cut discretionary costs,...
Renewed effort needed to put global spotlight on Vancouver tech
In the summer of 2019, a group of business leaders got together to discuss the future of the technology industry in Vancouver on an international stage. Though the focus of the meeting was to...
Canadians, Americans open to allowing permanent residents to vote: poll
As the United States awaits the final certification of the results of the latest federal election, a few things are patently clear. Democratic Party nominee Joe Biden has secured a majority of all...
Tight grip on COVID-19 case data throttles the public interest
When we need to fight for information, the cliché we clutch as journalists is that “sunlight is the best disinfectant” – that the public interest is more likely to be served when we know the...
Editorial: Business benefits of building better in B.C.
Rebuilding better could be the rallying cry for a lot of B.C. industry sectors but perhaps none more so than the building industry itself. Buildings built better deliver bottom-line benefits on...
Perceptions and reality collide over crime levels in Western Canada
When British Columbians pondered which party to support in last month’s provincial election, “crime and public safety” was mentioned by only 4% of likely voters as the most important issue facing the...
Home is where new employee tax opportunity is: Deutsche Bank
For about 150 years in the 18th and 19th centuries, there was a “window tax,” the precursor of the cursed income tax. Depending on how many views to the outdoors your house had – an indication of how...
Increasing alarm over Canada’s growing social assistance addiction
The last nine months and the last decade has been a bewildering time. After the Great Recession’s financial system bailout in 2008-09, central banks and governments around the world turned on the...
Vancouver voters support ward system, tougher nomination rules: poll
More than two years have passed since the last time voters in British Columbia participated in a municipal election. The victories of some high-profile candidates in last month’s provincial ballot...