On this edition of Journal: the complexities and needs of our aging population.

I’m a baby boomer and to this day, I am astounded that institutions never saw us coming. With at least five years’ warning before this population boom hit the school system, it seemed to be a surprise when we all arrived – not enough desks, not enough classes, not enough schools.

But that bureaucratic “miss” is nothing compared to what we face today, as these same baby boomers age. Who knew?

Who knew boomers would need more and more complex healthcare as they got older?

Who knew that it would become harder and harder for some seniors to pay rising rents on a fixed income, leading to an increase in homelessness for those over 55?

Who knew that, along with longer lifespans, there would be a commensurate demand for those not able to take care of themselves – a demand for long-term care beds and assisted living services?

Well, here we are – and now we know.

According to British Columbia’s Seniors Advocate, we need at least 5,000 new long term care beds, as the waitlist for seniors needing these beds has grown by 200% in the last ten years.

And this shortage becomes a chokepoint for our entire healthcare system. Hospital beds are often occupied by someone ready to be released from acute care, but can’t until a long-term care bed is available. Then the E.R. gets backed up because a patient that should be admitted to a hospital bed has to stay in the hall of the emergency department because there isn’t an open bed upstairs.

Sounding the alarm on this issue, as well as ageism, is Dan Levitt, our province’s Seniors Advocate.

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On this edition of Journal: an in-depth look at the recent federal budget with one of Canada’s top economists, Jock Finlayson.

You know, a lot has changed recently in how budget information is released. It used to be considered a major failure if anything was leaked before the minister stood up in Parliament and officially read the document into the record. This was to prevent insiders from using information for their own benefit.

In 1983, Marc Lalonde found himself in hot water because he had let a television crew into his office while the yet-to-be-released budget lay on his desk.

In 1989, Michael Wilson took responsibility when a leaked copy was handed to a reporter from a recycling plant. Michael didn’t resign but this was recognized to be a serious misstep.

Not anymore. Now, prereleasing budget initiatives is regarded as performance art. In the weeks leading up to Budget Day in Parliament this year, minister after minister would discuss initiative after initiative that would be included. Housing? We’ve got something for that. Critical minerals? We’ve got that covered.

Prime Minister Mark Carney even gave a speech promising the budget would be transformational, generational – whatever that means.

So while politicos probably regarded all the early positive stories to be a successful manoeuvre, it kinda backfired when Budget Day headlines said: “Over promised, under delivered” or “Big day wasn’t quite as advertised” or “Carney’s budget misses the mark.”

So what should we really be taking away from the government’s financial blueprint in 2025? Jock Finlayson has some warnings we should pay attention to.

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On this edition of Journal, we examine the issue of retail crime and street disorder, and how they are changing the cities we live in.

Last year, Caren McSherry, owner of the Gourmet Warehouse on East Hastings, told her story of how retail crime and intimidation is making her reconsider her business after more than 20 years. Broken windows (that she has to pay for), open theft where three big guys come in and simply take 3 very expensive juicers from the shelves, drugs and disorder on the street, even staff intimidation by one man who came in wearing a garbage bag and stripped. Is it worth it?

Another recent headline featured the owner of the Aura Nightclub on Granville Street, Allan Goodall, talking about how his business has been affected by the move to replace the Howard Johnson Hotel above him with supportive housing in 2020. Since that time, there have been more than 900 calls to the fire department and police say they have received thousands of calls. So, closed business for costly repairs – repeatedly – and intimidation of customers who really don’t feel safe coming into the area. How long can he keep going?

So many small businesses have given up – just look at the boarded-up “For Lease” signs.

John Clarides is the owner of Marquis Wine Cellars on Davie Street. Even though he is not in the direct hit of the Downtown Eastside, his business is also suffering from disorder on the street, vandalism, and shoplifting. His worry is that this is not just hurting his business; the long-term danger is that people are discouraged from coming downtown at all. He says, “When a street dies, a city dies.”

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On this edition of Journal, we look at what is happening in our economy. It is a tumultuous time, quite apart from tariffs. Housing prices, while falling, are still unaffordable for many. Real estate companies have been forced to lay off long time employees. Forestry companies are in big trouble. Youth unemployment hit 14.6% this summer – highest since 2010. And governments are announcing unbelievable deficits.

As well, many citizens are turning against one of the principles of what it means to be Canadian: immigration.

A Nanos poll showed an erosion of support, with 71% of Canadians either strongly or somewhat strongly wanting to reduce the number of immigrants. Most of the wrath is focused on the careless way in which the numbers of Temporary Foreign Workers and international student visas were allowed to balloon, putting pressure on housing, healthcare, education, and social services across the country.

As mayor of Port Coquitlam, Brad West is no stranger to taking the brunt of policies designed by another level of government – the forced densification of British Columbia’s municipalities by the provincial government, which he calls “throwing urban planning out of the window.”

Brad also laments the lack of real action on involuntary care, when we need at least one other forensic psychiatric hospital to care for those who are in desperate need of help. Then there is decriminalization that precipitated such disorder on our streets.

So, it is not surprising that Brad West also has something to say about our economy and immigration. However, his analysis may surprise you.

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On this edition of Journal, we try to find truth amidst all of the contradictory data and headlines on housing.

Not long ago, there was one newspaper story lamenting the disastrous state of residential construction and another story (the very same day) saying things were looking up.

And then, the confusing headline – “Housing starts are up but sales are down.” Huh? What does all this mean?

One thing to know is that in the real estate business, “starts” are a lagging indicator – that means those “starts” are about the past, as contradictory as that sounds. Many of those projects were initiated several years before today and may have been years in the developing / permitting / financing process and are just now in construction – thus, the use of the term “starts.”

On the other hand, sales tell you what is happening real time. How many actual properties successfully changed hands this quarter? How many built condos are sitting empty? One estimate says there are more than 2500 newly built, never lived-in condos available in Metro Vancouver – the highest number in this market in 25 years. rennie Intelligence calls this a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for buyers.

But does availability mean affordability?

And why so many layoffs in the housing industry?

Ryan Berlin is the senior economist and Director of rennie Intelligence and the man leading a team of housing experts analyzing the data and the public policies shaping our housing market.

He has always been generous to me with his time, his analysis, and his predictions of where we are in the housing cycle and where we might be headed.

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On this edition of Journal, we talk with a woman who embodies the gold standard of leadership. What does it take to be a great leader?

Crystal Smith, Chief Counsellor of the Haisla Nation from 2016 to 2025, was a major public voice supporting LNG Canada in Kitimat, at a time when opposition was vocal and sometimes vicious. But she stood her ground. Crystal believed that only through economic development would she be able to help lift her people out of poverty and despair.

And she did it. LNG Canada is now operational and Cedar LNG, the world’s first to be majority owned by an Indigenous nation, is on its way.

Today, if you visit the Haisla Nation (as I have), you will see a large recreation centre hosting sporting and cultural events, a beautiful health centre offering mental health and addiction support, as well as seeing to the basic medical needs of the community. Overall there is a sense of confidence and well being in the Haisla Nation. Much gratitude is owed to Crystal and former Chief Ellis Ross.

But what did it take to become the leader Crystal is today? It wasn’t easy. She has talked emotionally about her personal or family connection to sexual abuse, drug addiction – and suicide.

Was being a woman an advantage or a disadvantage on this journey?

Was being indigenous an advantage or a disadvantage?

There are lessons to be learned from one woman’s already successful life – and she’s just beginning.

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On this edition of Journal, we focus on the rural-urban divide in healthcare.

Mayor Goetz has spoken movingly about the stress in his community of Merritt caused by the intermittent and unpredictable closings of his hospital’s ER. What do you do when your emergency department is closed and the next nearest is, maybe, a hundred kilometres away?

How many times in the last year have we seen these “temporary” closures in headline after headline, affecting hospitals throughout British Columbia? And it is not just ER closures – we have also seen pediatric care in Kelowna under threat, as well as maternity care in Kamloops and Prince George.

It’s as though we have come to accept the current state of healthcare delivery as the new model.

There are other issues: if your rural hospital can’t do complex operations and you must travel to a city centre – well, who pays for these additional expenses? Not just travel costs but also hotel stays if the procedure requires extended care. And doesn’t the Canada Health Act promise reasonable access to healthcare wherever you live?

Dan Levitt, BC’s Seniors Advocate, also raises the issue of long term care in rural communities. Where do you go if your community just doesn’t have these services?

Working on all these issues is Paul Adams, the executive director of the BC Rural Health Network. This network brings together more than 30 rural municipalities, several regional districts, and more than 70 non-profits to focus on needs and possible solutions. He believes this rural-urban divide has gotten worse since COVID.

So what can we do about it?

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On this edition of Journal, we look at the looming deadlines for mandatory electric car sales in both our province and in the country as a whole.

One headline reads, “Feds on track to eliminate gas cars by 2035” – but are they? That’s only ten years from now – no gas cars being sold?

Besides which, the first deadline is in 2026, only 3 months from now. The federal government says by that time, 20% of car sales must be EVs, while our province is more ambitious in saying it must be 26%. In just 3 months!

So how are these mandates possible? Or is this another of those ambitious promises like the Paris Accords on climate that get signed but never done?

Like most people, I applaud aspirational goals, but I am against writing laws and regulations that are nearly impossible to meet.

Up front, I have to say I have driven an electric car for ten years and I don’t feel biased either for or against EVs. But when it comes to forced mandates on how many electric or plug-in hybrids dealerships must sell, I have some questions.

First of all, 56% of British Columbians oppose forced EV mandates. So how are you going to make this happen?

Then, as Barry Penner, Chair of the Energy Futures Institute, says: It’s like putting the cart before the horse – requiring people to buy electric cars before the infrastructure is in place. We don’t have enough charging stations in the right places to make it work.

Another major consideration is cost. So why would governments stop the rebates when you are wanting more people to buy these cars?

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