Frankly Speaking

A smiling Dave Barrett is an apt image of the former premier and longtime NDP MLA, and NDP MP for one term. He had a passion for politics, but he also had a wonderful sense of humour and was the most entertaining politician on the stump that I've ever seen in B.C. Dave Barrett was remembered at two public memorial events last weekend, in Victoria and Vancouver. Barrett, who died at the age of 87 in early February, was B.C.’s first NDP premier. He headed a government that was in office for just under three and one-half years, from 1972 to 1975. It was a “government in a hurry,” passing 357 bills in its few years in office and ushering in an era of remarkable change in B.C. Some of its most significant achievements have been commented on extensively, most frequently the establishment of the Agricultural Land Reserve, the creation of ICBC, bringing Hansard and question period to the provincial legislature and one of the first pharmacare programs in Canada. Not much at...

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced Wednesday he will not seek another term as mayor, after 10 years in office. His legacy is mixed, and he has done little to improve the conditions faced by South Fraser residents. Like most mayors, he has been parochial. The region's overall interests take a back seat to their own cities. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson announced Wednesday that he won't run for mayor this fall, after 10 years on the job. His leadership of the city has been notable, with no shortage of controversies. He vowed when elected to make Vancouver "the greenest city in the world," and it has made some significant steps in that direction. Here's how his announcement looks from a South Fraser viewpoint. His stewardship of Vancouver has been mixed. Vancouver is the largest city in the Metro Vancouver region, gets most of the media attention, and in many ways sets many of the directions for the region. Some of those directions have been very ...

Longtime Delta Mayor Lois Jackson, the first woman ever elected to Delta council, gave BC Liberal leader and current premier Christy Clark an enthusiastic endorsement at a campaign event in North Delta on Monday. What was once the vast riding known as Delta, which included Richmond, Delta, Surrey, White Rock and Langley, has played an very important role in determining the outcome in B.C. elections for many years. Three premiers have come from the area. The area has grown substantially. In 1920, the Delta riding had 4,305 registered voters. The same area, which will elect 17 MLAs this year, now is home to just under one million people. Much has been said in recent weeks about the strategic importance of Surrey and the South Fraser region in this year’s provincial election. It is safe to say that the suburban areas of the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley are perhaps the key battleground ridings in this year's election. The battlegrounds are primarily in North Delta, Surre...

The July 25 introduction of a 15 per cent property purchase tax on foreign buyers by the provincial government surprised many observers, and shocked the real estate industry. In particular, foreign buyers with transactions in progress were caught in a dilemma. If they were able to move the completion date up, they could avoid the tax. Some did so. Others walked away from signed contracts, forfeiting deposits which in some cases were substantially lower than the tax bill would have been. Philip Dumoulin of Sotheby’s International Realty in South Surrey said one realtor lost three buyers and a fourth asked for a referral to Toronto, planning to buy there instead of in the Greater Vancouver area. Foreign buyers have had less direct impact in Surrey than in some other parts of Greater Vancouver, such as the City of Vancouver, Burnaby, Richmond and areas of the North Shore. However, there have been a significant number of such buyers in South Surrey and White Rock, and it is like...

This timetable board once was located at the Marpole station of the B.C. Electric Railway, where V&LI interurban trains went north to Vancouver, south to Steveston or east to New Westminster. It has now been relocated to the Cloverdale station of the Fraser Valley Heritage Rail Society. On Saturday, we had a chance to walk along a portion of the former Vancouver and Lulu Island rail line, better known as the Arbutus Corridor. As it turned out, it was an auspicious time to do so. On Monday, an agreement between the City of Vancouver and Canadian Pacific Railway was announced. CPR will tear up the rail line and turn the corridor over to the city, for $55 million. This 11-kilometre stretch of rail line from Kitsilano to Marpole was once a key link in an important transportation corridor. The V&LI line was built by Canadian Pacific Railway, starting in 1900, and by 1902 trains ran between downtown Vancouver and Steveston. At that time, there were just two stops outside the d...