Trump tariffs and by-election updates

Good morning,

Apologies for the delayed newsletter today! Dealing with a bad stomach bug while on my trip to Mexico. My watch said I got one hour of sleep last night, which, honestly, felt a little generous. So it’s a bit of a shorter newsletter than normal. 

I hope you all managed to survive the first big snowfall of the winter! I haven’t seen too many videos floating around of crashes or other bad driving, so many we’re finally learning? Maybe…

Let’s get into today’s news!

—  Geoff Sharpe, Vancity Lookout

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign-up for free.

WEATHER

Monday: 0 🌡️ -5 |  ❄️ | 1-3 cm

Tuesday: -1 🌡️ -7 | ❄️ | <1 cm 

Wednesday: -2 🌡️ -5 | 🌤️

NUMBERS OF THE DAY

❄️ $250-$750: The range of fines for not shovelling snow off your sidewalk. The city is reminding everyone that snow must be cleared by 10 am the next day. [CTV]

🏠️ $1.3 million: The price of the cheapest single-family home for sale in Vancouver. [Urbanized]

🚆 $72 million: The current operating budget shortfall for TransLink in 2025. While they had a budget surplus last year, that was due to the province’s operating subsidies that ended last year. [Ubranized]

FROM THE ARCHIVE

A year of broken trust has left the embattled park board shorthanded

Published in January. Written by Nate Lewis.

Sometimes the smallest bits of information can turn up a much bigger story. That’s what happened earlier this month with the release of an innocuous memo – a two-page list appointing park board commissioners to liaison roles with local community centre associations (CCAs) and other advisory bodies. 

What we found is that over the past two years, there’s been a significant discrepancy in liaison appointments amongst commissioners. Four commissioners – three of whom left the ABC Party in 2023 – held all these roles with CCAs in 2024, and in early January the board announced the same balance will hold for 2025. 

The sidelining of ABC commissioners – which was brought about by other commissioners, community partners, and, in part, by their own choice – underscores the lack of trust between municipal political factions, with one core issue at the centre: support for, or opposition against, keeping an elected park board. 

The politics of who is tasked with representing the park board amongst community partners – a not-often discussed role of commissioners – illuminates the deep political divisions and lack of trust that’s erupted into public view since Vancouver Mayor and ABC Party leader Ken Sim announced his plan to abolish the elected park board in late 2023. 

The Mayor’s plan to eliminate the park board resulted in a schism that broke apart ABC’s majority on the park board as three commissioners – Laura Christensen, Brennan Bastyovanszky, and Scott Jensen – decided to leave the party, and team up with Green Party Commissioner Digby to form a new majority opposed to the mayor’s plan.

NEW JOBS

Discover your dream job in Vancouver:

• Head of operations at Savoury Chef Catering and Events

• Senior director, operations at Community Builders

• Coordinator, global partner engagement at UBC

• Account executive, Greater Vancouver REALTORS

• Director of brand marketing, Earth’s Own Food Company

THE AGENDA

🎤 Vancouver City Coun. Pete Fry has proposed a motion to be introduced at the next council meeting on Tuesday to help tackle the U.S. tariff threat. The motion would ask staff to review capital projects and other spending to focus on buy-local, as well as ask staff to look into making the city flexible to adapt to threats such as supply chain disruptions. [Twitter]

❄️ Don’t expect the snow to disappear anytime soon. Arctic air is hitting the city, and it’ll be much colder and drier in the next few days. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🍷 It will soon be harder to buy certain American alcohol in Vancouver and provincial stores. The B.C. government announced BC Liquor will no longer purchase liquor from Republican states and remove any of those from their stores. [CTV]

🏒 It’s official. Canucks have (hopefully) ended the problems with team chemistry by trading J.T. Miller along with Erik Brannstrom and defensive prospect Jackson Dorrington to the Rangers for centre Filip Chytil, defenceman Victor Macicni and condition first-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft. The drama surrounding J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson had negatively impacted the team this season. [CBC]

👍️ In a similar trend around Canada, hockey fans at the Vancouver Canucks game booed the U.S. national anthem after Trump’s tariffs. [CTV]

🏢 Community organizations are criticizing the city for only running cold weather shelters during the evening, even as the city deals with negative temperatures during the day. The city says they’ve expanded warming shelters to eight spots this year across the city, with the city saying those buildings have other uses during the day. [Vancouver Sun]

🗳️ The by-election race is heating up. Former city councillor Colleen Hardwick, along with Theodore Abbott, a recent graduate from Capilano University, are the candidates for the municipal party TEAM For a Liveable Vancouver. The party is opposed to the Broadway Plan, and the rate of zoning proposals required by the provincial government. [Urbanized]

🗳️ Another left-wing party in Vancouver, COPE, has unanimously nominated Sean Orr. He is a community activist and writes for SCOUT magazine. He previously ran in 2022 with the VOTE Socialist Vancouver party, placing 36th on the ballot. [Urbanized]

📈 While there’s very little good news when it comes to tariffs, BC may be better positioned than other provinces. Private economic forecasters have told the province that because of its diversity, it’s “well-positioned” to attract more investment. [Vancouver Island Free Daily]

EVENTS

Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None | 1370 Marine Dr SW | Feb. 28 at 8 pm - Mar. 22 at 10 pm | Tickets $35

National Theatre Live: Prima Facie | Kay Meek Arts Centre | Feb. 6 at 6 pm | Tickets various prices

Coast Mountain Film Fest | Centennial Theatre | Feb. 7 at 7:30 pm - Feb. 9 at 9:30 pm | Tickets $22

Too Cute Pop-Up Market | Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street | Feb. 8, 11 am | Tickets $3

Artquaswim Vancouver Swimming School Open Day | Bodwell High School, 955 Harbourside Drive | Feb. 8, 12:30 pm | Tickets $8

Vancouver Magazine Power 50 Awards 2025 | Terminal City Club, 837 West Hastings Street | Feb. 6, 5:30pm | Tickets $147+

Dine Out East Van Dumpling Fest | Various locations in Mount Pleasant & Commercial Drive | Feb. 5, 5:30pm | Tickets $79

Chinatown Chess & Clay! | Chinatown Plaza Mall, 180 Keefer Street | Feb. 9, 2 pm | Free

Vancouver Opera Presents FLIGHT | Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 630 Hamilton Street | Feb. 8, 7:30 pm | Tickets from $25

Shucked 2025 | The Vancouver Fish Company, 1517 Anderson Street | Feb. 11, 5 pm | Tickets $52

IMAGE OF THE DAY

Any Calvin and Hobbes fans, myself included, will appreciate this snowman out in Kits.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• If you’re looking to boycott American goods, here’s a list of agricultural products grown in BC. 

• Here’s a breakdown of the Canadian Culinary Championship, which a Vancouver chef won. [Ottawa Citizen]

• Did you know there was once a Canadian version of Trader Joe’s called Pirate Joe’s back in 2012? [Urbanized]

• The Stanley Park train looks like it’ll be back over Easter! [Vancouver Sun]

• This may be the best vegetarian restaurant in the city (in my opinion).

Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

ADOPT A PET

Every so often, we’ll feature a pet that’s up for adoption in Vancouver and the surrounding area.

This three-year-old German Shepherd, Chase, sounds like nothing but a real friendly dog. He’s extremely playful and excitable but may need a bit more leash training. If you’re looking for a fun-loving companion, especially if you work from home (as he has a bit of separation anxiety), then this is the dog for you.

More information here.