CLIMATE

CLIMATE Court ruling opens door to limiting oil production

by Charlie Smith

There’s a widespread belief in Canada that provinces have exclusive jurisdiction over the production of nonrenewable resources, including oil and gas. It’s even spelled out in Section 92A(1) of the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982.

As a result, Canadians are watching a surreal spectacle unfold in front of their very eyes. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has pledged to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from 730 million tonnes in 2019 to 503 million tonnes by 2030. But it also appears to be a hollow promise in light of the National Energy Regulator’s forecast for sharply increasing production of diluted bitumen until about 2040.

Trudeau never talks about cuts to oil and gas production. Never. He only speaks about reducing “emissions”.

But how can emissions be curtailed when the provinces continue giving the green light to new oil and gas projects?

Trudeau’s talk of curbing emissions is like saying you’re going to lose weight as you keep scarfing down chocolate cake—for decades.

There is a way, however, for the federal government to intervene to put the country on a fossil-fuel diet that will truly shed emissions and cut production.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault highlighted the carbon tax rather than production cuts at COP26. Photo by Adam Scotti/PMO.

The Supreme Court of Canada laid out a path in its 2021 ruling upholding the national Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act, which introduced the national carbon tax.

The court found that this legislation was constitutional, even though it appeared to intrude into provincial jurisdiction. That’s because a majority of judges concluded that global warming causes harm beyond provincial boundaries. Therefore, it’s a matter of national concern under the Constitution’s “peace, order and good government” clause. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Richard Wagner declared that the provinces must demonstrate an “inability to deal with the matter” because the failure of one or more governments to cooperate would prevent others from addressing it.

Alberta is clearly not interested in curtailing production of oil and gas to prevent harm caused by rising greenhouse-gas emissions. “While each province’s emissions do contribute to climate change, there is no denying that climate change is an ‘inherently global problem’ that neither Canada nor any one province acting alone can wholly address,” Wagner wrote. “This weighs in favour of a finding of provincial inability.”

He also cited previous rulings noting that international agreements can be relevant to any analysis of national concern. “Any province’s failure to act threatens Canada’s ability to meet its international obligations, which in turn hinders Canada’s ability to push for international action to reduce GHG [greenhouse-gas] emissions,” he added.

Enough of Trudeau’s weasel words on “emissions”. For the sake of future generations, he needs to regulate production, regardless of what’s written in the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982. Otherwise, he’ll go down in the history books as the Liberal version of Stephen Harper. g

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SPORTS Canucks will make playoffs but Cup still on hold

by Martin Dunphy

The fictional Rip Van Winkle’s 20year dream has got nothing on Vancouver Canucks fans’ halfcentury nightmare.

The Canucks have a long and not so honourable tradition of not winning the Stanley Cup. The Cup has been awarded 105 times since 1914, and no Canuck captain has hoisted Lord Stanley’s hardware over his head in the side’s 50-year history.

But this is the time of the hockey season when fans of teams still in the hunt dare to dream.

In the Canucks’ half-century of chasing glory, the team has made the playoffs 28 times, winning only 111 of their 246 tilts in the postseason.

So, do the Canucks stand a chance?

In the Pacific Division, only 10 points separate the first-place Vegas Golden Knights and the seventh-place ‘Nucks. A scrappy and improved Vancouver team should be able to make the postseason.

To get to the finals and win, though, would require a near-miraculous improvement during the season’s second half.

The biggest wild card in the hand is new coach Bruce Boudreau, a 13-year veteran who has only missed the playoffs three times and who inspired his new team to six straight victories immediately following head coach Travis Green and general manager Jim Benning’s recent dismissals.

The fact that Green only made the playoffs once in his first four full years as head coach was as much a factor in his firing as the Canucks’ dismal record at the time (9-15-2).

As a rookie head coach in late November 2007, Boudreau took over the Washington Capitals when the team had a similar record

New Vancouver Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau brings an impressive regular-season record to his new team, along with an enviable history of boosting special-teams’ productivity. (6-14-1) and finished with a 37-17-7 mark and the Capitals’ first division title in seven years. There appears to be little doubt of Boudreau’s ability to inspire offensive heavyweights, given his success motivating talented forward units in both Washington and with the Anaheim Ducks, where he compiled eight division titles in as many full seasons. But it’s the Canuck defence that will need the most improvement to entertain any hope of a deep playoff run, despite the potential for a repeat of goalie Thatcher Demko’s postseason heroics two seasons ago.

Terrible special-teams play has improved but still needs tweaking, and defenceman Quinn Hughes’s vast offensive upside is only starting to be offset by fewer occasional bonehead errors.

Boudreau’s remarkable successes with the penalty kill in Anaheim and the power play in Washington give reason for hope.

And he has already improved both goals against and for, areas where Vancouver was flirting with the league’s basement.

Continued upgrading by Vancouver stars Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Demko, and Brock Boeser this season—after somewhat of a tarnished first half—could set them up nicely for a run into the postseason. Pettersson, Boeser, and captain Bo Horvat, in particular, showed immediate improvement after Boudreau’s arrival.

Young wingers Vasili Podkolzin and Nils Hoglander show great promise, and vets Horvat, J.T. Miller, and the banging Conor Garland are leading the team’s forwards in scoring at Christmas.

But the Canucks’, and Boudreau’s, first sip from Lord Stanley’s chalice is probably still at least a couple of years away. g

REAL ESTATE Realtors share notable deals from a record year

by Carlito Pablo

As 2021 draws to a close, many home sellers, buyers, and realtors are likely remarking on what a year it has been.

As of November, year-to-date sales of 117,973 properties across B.C. have already surpassed the previous best provincial annual record of 112,425 units that was set for the entire year of 2016.

Also, with the December tally still yet to be counted, sales have already exceeded transactions for the whole year of 2020.

The Straight asked realtors about deals they either had a hand in or taken note of as interested market observers during the year.

Here’s what they shared.

BUYERS FIGHT BACK Irene Querubin of RE/MAX Crest Realty represented a husband and wife who were looking for a condo for themselves and their two young sons.

They found a two-bedroom-plus-den, two-bath unit on 102 Avenue near Guildford Mall in Surrey. The property was listed for $499,888. Querubin’s clients liked it so much, and knowing that they may be in a multiple-buyer situation, they offered about $50,000 above the asking price.

About an hour after the offer deadline, the listing agent called Querubin. The agent said that three offers were received and everyone was being given a chance to “give it one more try”.

Querubin relayed the message to her clients, and they became angry. They said that they didn’t care if they got the place or not. And to prove their point, the husband and wife changed their bid, and made it $10,000 less than what they had offered.

In the end, they got the property.

“I was so proud of them for fighting back as buyers in this crazy seller’s market,” Querubin said.

PERFECT FOR BUDGET Karen Conyers of Sotheby’s International Realty worked for more than a year with a married couple. Her clients were firsttime buyers.

A generous parental gift increased the husband and wife’s home-finding budget.

With a top budget of $400,000, it was quite a challenge to find something that would work. After being outbid on several properties, Conyers found a two-bedroom condo at 15290 Thrift Avenue in White Rock that had been on the market for 76 days for $426,000.

Conyers noted that sellers, especially in a hot market, tend to get anxious when their homes don’t sell right away. She wrote an offer, including a letter explaining why the property was a perfect first home for her clients.

After serious consideration, the sellers agreed to the buyers’ price and terms. They reduced their price by $26,000, matching the top budget of Conyers’s clients.

“We were able to remove the conditions to the sale, and my first-time home buyers will get the keys to their first home on January 1, 2022,” Conyers said. “What a great way to start the year.”

EQUITY GROWS Randy Rinaldo of Rennie & Associates Realty Ltd. did deals that saw his clients enjoying a quick lift in the value of their homes as properties became more valuable.

The realtor talked about a client who was looking for a fixer-upper townhouse in North Burnaby. He found one in a complex at 7305 Montecito Drive that backed onto a park and school.

Rinaldo’s client liked the property and wanted to put in an offer. The problem was that the sellers already had an offer that they had countered.

That told Rinaldo that the sellers received an offer that was lower than asking. He spoke with the sellers’ agent and said that if other buyers countered, Rinaldo would put in a good offer.

That’s exactly what happened, and Rinaldo submitted an offer at the full price of $535,000.

The offer was accepted, and while the conditions to the sale were being fulfilled, Rinaldo spoke with another realtor who had just listed another unit in the same complex.

The other agent’s listing ended up selling over the asking price for $580,000. This property measures 1,238 square feet, which was 49 square feet smaller than Rinaldo’s client, who paid $535,000. That’s a difference of $52.80 per square foot.

“My clients’ equity grew by $68,000 in a single week,” Rinaldo said. “Happy client, happy realtor.”

PROTOTYPE OF INSANITY Adam Major of Holywell Properties gets to track deals because his company also operates Zealty.ca, a real-estate market information site.

Major recalls the sale by another realty company of a two-bedroom unit in the Autumnwood townhouse complex in Langley last March for a particular reason.

Major considers the $1,320,000 transaction in March 2021 for 29-8555 209 Street as the “prototype for the insanity of the year”.

The Langley townhouse sold 61 percent over the asking price. Major noted that the nice thing about the property was that it was a “cool half-million over the asking price”.

In addition, it was 77 percent over assessed value, and a half a million dollars above the price of any previous sale in that complex.

“In other words, the property was not priced below market to attract a bidding war: it was just a confluence of factors that caused huge demand and got someone to put in a ridiculous offer to ensure they got the property,” Major said.

The Zealty.ca CEO noted that since that sale, five other units in the same complex sold for over $1 million. Two of these went for over $1.2 million.

“But #29 still holds the price record for Autumnwood,” Major said.

Irene Querubin, a realtor with RE/MAX Crest Realty, acted for a couple who knocked $10,000 off a generous offer for a condo after the owner got greedy; the Orchard House, at 1990 Fulton Avenue in West Vancouver, sold for an ocean-view price of $5.1 million despite offering only fruit trees.

WEST END AFFORDABILITY David Hutchinson of Sutton Group–West Coast Realty represented a seller in Vancouver’s West End neighbourhood. The property, at a 1534 Harwood Street development, was a leasehold condo.

In connection with this, Hutchinson recalled that the Straight did a story about leasehold properties being more affordable that their fee-simple counterparts.

“This is an example of affordability in one of the best locations in Vancouver,” Hutchinson said. “This unit with wonderful views is in an unbeatable location with an unbeatable price.”

The one-bedroom condo sold for $360,000.

“Another interesting thing about this sale is that it’s next to an actual detached house that I sold for over $6 million a couple years ago,” Hutchinson said. “That’s the beauty of the West End: you can buy a condo for under $400,000 with a $6 million neighbour!”

ORCHARD VIEW Trent Rodney of West Coast Modern says million-dollar views no longer mean ocean views only.

Rodney noted that his boutique realty agency, which specializes in unique homes, proved this point with its $5.1 million sale of the Orchard House at 1990 Fulton Avenue in West Vancouver.

He explained that the home, designed by the late architect Robert Burgers, “cross-pollinates West Coast architectural sensibilities with the Dutch-farmhouse look”.

“Boasting 22 fruit trees, including multiple heritage apple varieties, it brings home the joy of summer fruit picking right in the middle of West Vancouver,” Rodney said. “It is truly a one-of-a-kind collectible work of art to live in.” g

NEWS Six stories that set the table for a looming election

Vancouver City Hall mostly flew below the radar because of the pandemic, but that will change in 2022

by Charlie Smith

Here are our choices for the six most significant news stories of the year from Vancouver City Hall.

MAYOR TO FORM HIS OWN PARTY Mayor Kennedy Stewart revealed before Christmas that he plans to run with a slate of candidates for city council in the hope of securing a majority in the next election.

This move will boost his fundraising capacity just when he needs it the most and help boost his appeal to diverse communities, given the likely makeup of the slate.

Along with the boots-on-the-ground support of the labour movement, this new party could prove pivotal in helping the mayor retain his job. And it just might stem the growth of the pesky Greens, who went from one member of council, Adriane Carr, to three in the 2018 election.

SECURED RENTAL POLICY On December 14, all members of Vancouver council except for Coun. Colleen Hardwick voted in favour of amending zoning schedules to allow for more six-storey, mixed-use rental buildings along commercial streets.

From Stewart’s perspective, this will help blunt Progress Vancouver mayoral challenger Mark Marissen’s frequent complaints that he hasn’t done enough to promote more rental housing. In 2018, tenants were a critical part of Stewart’s election efforts— and Stewart must keep them onside if he wants to avoid being a one-term mayor.

“This policy checks all the boxes,” wrote commercial realtors Mark Goodman and Cynthia Jagger in the Goodman Report. “It offers assistance with meeting affordable housing targets and climate goals, speeding up permit times for rental, and shifting land use from low-density with few families to higher-density with new neighbours, shops and access to transit.”

CITY REQUESTS DRUG-LAW EXEMPTION On May 28, the City of Vancouver filed its formal request to the federal government for a citywide exemption from Section 56(1) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. This would have the effect of decriminalizing possession of illegal street drugs within the city’s boundaries.

“A central goal of decriminalization is to reduce the risks and harms that are associated with the stigmatization and marginalization of people who use drugs (PWUD),” the city stated in its submission. “This exemption represents an opportunity to better the health outcomes for people who use drugs by reducing the impacts of drug law enforcement for simple possession, reducing stigma and promoting access to life-saving health services.”

Then, in October, city council voted to support an application for a similar exemption for the Drug User Liberation Front so it could provide tested drugs in Vancouver. To date, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos has not acted on those requests, even though a record number of illicit-drug overdoses occurred in B.C. in October. More than 200 people died that month, and in the first 10 months of 2021, B.C. eclipsed its previous annual record.

NPA IMPLOSION Vancouver’s centre-right party is starting to resemble the Agatha Christie mystery novel And Then There Were None.

In April, the NPA lost three of its councillors and all three of its school trustees after the board anointed park commissioner John Coupar as the 2022 mayoral candidate. That left a rump of three in caucus: Coupar, Coun. Melissa De Genova, and park commissioner Tricia Barker.

De Genova attended Marissen’s campaign launch along with former NPA and now independent councillors Lisa Dominato and Sarah Kirby-Yung. This suggests that De Genova might be next to bolt the NPA, just like her father, former park commissioner Al De Genova, did after many years in office.

It has left the grand old party of Vancouver politics resembling the character in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who keeps declaring to the cart master, “I’m not dead”.

One of the big bangs in Vancouver municipal politics occurred in April when three city councillors—Colleen Hardwick, Lisa Dominato, and Sarah Kirby-Yung—all bolted from the NPA caucus, leaving a once proud ruling party with just a single member in the chamber at City Hall.

PROLIFERATION OF PARTIES The balkanization of Vancouver politics continued this year with the fracturing of the old NPA coalition into a growing number of parties. In addition to Marissen’s development-friendly Progress Vancouver, former NPA mayoral candidate Ken Sim is leading the NIMBYish A Better City. And former NPA councillor Colleen Hardwick is the de facto leader of the even more NIMBYish TEAM for a Livable Vancouver.

As of this writing, Progress Vancouver has 590 Twitter followers. A Better City has 420 Twitter followers. And TEAM for a Livable Vancouver has just nine Twitter followers. It’s hardly a sign that they’re setting Vancouver’s political house on fire— at least not yet. But hey, there are still more than nine months until voting day.

ELECTION BUDGET The Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services received what they wanted, enabling Stewart to go before voters next October with a message that he’s on the side of public safety. Plus, he covered his tracks on the climate by

persuading a majority to approve a new environmental levy to raise $100 million over 10 years to pay for the climate plan. Stewart had earlier voted with centreright councillors to defeat a parking tax that would have funded climate actions. But the overall tax increase of 6.35 percent in the recent budget provides ammunition for his centre-right opponents, most of whom don’t want to narrow the role of police, which might actually save the city some money. In a November presentation to a legislative committee, B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender laid out a road map for dramatic reforms to policing, including “de-tasking”. (She didn’t use the word “defund”.) Did this landmark document have any measurable effect on council and the mayor, a self-described police reformer, as they head into an election year? Nope. The last thing most of them want is to turn the influential police union against them in the months leading up to voting day. g WHEN WALKING WON’T DO THE TRICK

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