Oxford Unveils Plans for Mount Pleasant Commercial/Industrial Project

Here’s my yearly roundup of the best books released by local authors and publishers this year, just in time for your last-minute literary gift shopping. Let us rejoice in the glory of our regionally written words! Cascadia Cookbook (Said The Whale Music) Vancouver band Said the Whale has been filling our ears with their West Coast-flavoured indie rock for over a decade. Now, as a tasty compliment to their 2019 album Cascadia, the band fills our stomachs with the release of Casadia Cookbook. In this beautifully designed, 80-page feast, you’ll find Pacific Northwest-inspired recipes paired to each song on the album, for dishes such as salal berry pie or “Buckaroo Spuds.” The book was designed by Said the Whale keyboardist/band chef/skilled baker Jaceyln Brown, with mouth-watering photography by Lindsey Blane. A perfect addition for any West Coast kitchen. Cougar Companions by Judith Williams (Harbour Publishing) Sink your claws into this incredible and untold true story from B.C.’s coast. This is the wild tale of the Schnarr family: single father August, a trapper, logger, and skilled amateur photographer, and his three young daughters, all trying to make a go of it in remote Bute Inlet. The Schnarr family was infamous in the 1930s for their collection of fully grown pet cougars. Cortes Island author Judith Williams passionately unfolds this adventure with the help of August Schnarr’s lifetime of incredible photographs. Finding Callidora by Stella Leventoyannis Harvey (Signature Editions) If you enjoy exciting historical fiction, you must escape into this epic novel by Whistler author Stella Leventoyannis Harvey. Inside, you’ll enter into a bloody family saga that spans generations, continents and two world wars. Driven by actual headlines of the eras, this is a fast read convincingly set on remote Greek islands, Egyptian streets, rugged Turkish landscapes and, finally, Canada, as a scattered family tries to piece together a tragic past. I Saw Three Ships: West End Stories by Bill Richardson (Talonbooks) A smart and hilarious collection of fictional short stories set in Vancouver’s most densely populated neighbourhood, penned by the great humourist, author, broadcaster and longtime West End resident Bill Richardson. All eight of the finely tuned stories within are linked by West End characters from various walks of life, set amongst the garishly decorated apartment lobbies of Christmastime west of Burrard. (Bonus tip: I think the Paper Hound on Pender Street has signed copies.) Major Misconduct: the Human Cost of Fighting In Hockey by Jeremy Allingham (Arsenal Pulp Press) In his debut book, author and CBC Vancouver journalist Jeremy Allingham has provided a potential knockout blow to hockey fights, as well as the toxic culture that surrounds it. And timing is everything. As if predicting the sea change that may finally be cracking up our frozen game, less than a month after this book came out, several notable figures in hockey’s leadership circles have been fired or put on leave. A very revealing read for any fan, especially those who think fighting should still be part of hockey on any level. Vancouver After Dark by Aaron Chapman (Arsenal Pulp Press) Whether it’s saucy stories of Oil Can Harry’s, the Cave, Retinal Circus or (my personal favourite) the Starfish Room, Aaron Chapman’s latest outing nattily steps into a century of Vancouver’s nightlife with crisp detail and refreshing research. Like a cold Kokanee upon entrance at the Town Pump, consider this book essential consumption for any Vancouverite (from any era) who has ever experienced our city’s notorious and colourful nightclubs. All of these best of 2019 books are available at Vancouver’s independent booksellers, including the newly opened Iron Dog Books at 2761 East Hastings. Happy holidays, and happy reading! Grant Lawrence is the author of three award-winning nonfiction books, most of which are at least partially set in Vancouver.

Here we go again… Mercer recently came out with their 2016 Quality of Life Survey. As usual, the media misused the survey to brag about how Vancouver is the bestest of the best. What they failed to point out is what the survey is actually trying to determine. When executives are temporarily relocated to another city, they frequently will receive a hardship allowance. For example, when an executive in a city like Vancouver is assigned to Jakarta, Indonesia, Mercer recommends a 25% hardship allowance. In calculating their index, Mercer considers these ten categories: Political and social environment (political stability, crime, law enforcement, etc.). Economic environment (currency exchange regulations, banking services). Socio-cultural environment (media availability and censorship, limitations on personal freedom). Medical and health considerations (medical supplies and services, infectious diseases, sewage, waste disposal, air pollution, etc.). Schools and education (standards and availability of international schools). Public services and transportation (electricity, water, public transportation, traffic congestion, etc.). Recreation (restaurants, theatres, cinemas, sports and leisure, etc.). Consumer goods (availability of food/daily consumption items, cars, etc.). Housing (rental housing, household appliances, furniture, maintenance services). Natural environment (climate, record of natural disasters). Because these executives will continue to earn their base salary plus any hardship allowance, and will be housed by their company, local incomes and housing prices are not even considered. The idea that incomes and house prices have no bearing on quality of life is absurd. Any true measure of livability would need to consider both of these factors. This would be especially true for young families who are just starting out. So, in light of the deficiencies of livability surveys that only consider temporarily relocating corporate executives, I’ve adjusted Mercer’s numbers to take into account incomes and house prices. For example, if Mercer thinks City A is 5% better than City B, but pay is 5% higher in City B, they would tie in my adjusted index. The same would be true if housing in City A is 5% higher than City B. I’ve taken the latest available data from Mercer (for English-speaking cities), and adjusted the index to account for incomes and house prices. Here are the results. Vancouver is without question a great place to live for visiting executives, home-owning retirees and the super-wealthy. But for young families just starting out — not so much.

President Obama, arguably to the left of PM Harper, has decided to phase out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, their own two versions of our CMHC which insure mortgages. Our own dithering fools in Ottawa were anti-CMHC except when it suited them. And it did in 2008/9. Even as they watched the US equivalents pull hundreds of Billions out of tax-payers pockets, they cynically doubled our own CMHC, loaded it up with a weak board (IN MY OPINION) and allowed it to have poor risk management and operate opaquely (in the opinion of Nomura and IMF and other non-Major-bank economists).  Now hopefully they will do the right thing before this monster endangers our financial future further…and wind it down! BTW- there was a great BNN interview with Ian Lee, an Academic who has been sounding the alarm on CMHC liability which he calls gargantuan! Says the banks are using CMHC! Try this link. Click on the second video ‘CMHC to take stream out of housing market’. All bulls and bears should listen to this interview

Photo: SkyTrain cars turn a corner at Gilmore station in Burnaby. TransLink is preparing customers after CUPE 7000, the union representing 900 SkyTrain workers, announced that it would forward with full withdrawal of services on Tuesday, Dec. 10. The transit authority released a statement listing a number of options for riders if union job action causes a total Expo and Millennium Line shut down December 10, 11 and 12. It adds that they, “should be aware the travel options will not match the level of service these SkyTrain lines provide.”   With this in mind, TransLink notes that the following services will be operating normally, including:   Canada Line West Coast Express Coast Mountain Bus West Vancouver Blue Bus HandyDART SeaBus Earlier today, Coast Mountain Bus Company announced that it would not be increasing bus service in response to the planned strike given operational constraints and labour considerations. As such, customers should expect heavier passenger volume.  If possible, customers are advised to make other arrangements such as:   Using one of our park and rides to connect to bus service Travelling outside of rush hours Working from home Using a carpooling service such as Liftango and gobyRIDE Walking or cycling to work Free bike valet service at Vancouver Public Library from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. To plan a trip without SkyTrain, both TransLink’s Trip Planner and Google Maps have an option to exclude SkyTrain. Visit translink.ca/stayinformed to learn more about alternative travel options.

As a public service, and transparently because I need to also refer to these in my own work in the area, I am sharing three peer reviews that have not yet been published by Immigration, Refugess and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) nor made available on the published Algorithmic Impact Assessment (“AIA”) pages from the Treasury Board Secretariat (“TBS”). First, a recap. Following the 3rd review of the Directive of Automated Decision-Making (“DADM”), and feedback from stakeholders, it was proposed to amend the peer review section to require the completion of a peer review and publication prior to the system’s production. The previous iteration of the DADM did not require publication nor specify the timeframe for the pper review.  The motivation for this was to increase public trust around Automated Decision-Making Systems (“ADM”). As stated in the proposed amendment summary at page 15: The absence of a mechanism mandating the release of peer reviews (or related information) creates a missed opportunity for bolstering public trust in the use of automated decision systems through an externally sourced expert assessment. Releasing at least a summary of completed peer reviews (given the challenges of exposing sensitive program data, trade secrets, or information about proprietary systems) can strengthen transparency and accountability by enabling stakeholders to validate the information in AIAs. The current requirement is also silent on the timing of peer reviews, creating uncertainty for both departments and reviewers as to whether to complete a review prior to or during system deployment. Unlike audits, reviews are most effective when made available alongside an AIA, prior to the production of a system, so that they can serve their function as an additional layer of assurance. The proposed amendments address these issues by expanding the requirement to mandate publication and specify a timing for reviews. Published peer reviews (or summaries of reviews) would complement documentation on the results of audits or other reviews that the directive requires project leads to disclose as part of the notice requirement (see Appendix C of the directive) (emphasis added) Based on Section 1 of the DADM, with the 25 April 2024 date coming, we should see more posted peer reviews for past Algorithmic Impact Assessment (“AIA”). This directive applies to all automated decision systems developed or procured after April 1, 2020. However, 1.2.1 existing systems developed or procured prior to April 25, 2023 will have until April 25, 2024 to fully transition to the requirements in subsections 6.2.3, 6.3.1, 6.3.4, 6.3.5 and 6.3.6 in this directive; 1.2.2 new systems developed or procured after April 25, 2023 will have until October 25, 2023 to meet the requirements in this directive. (emphasis added) The impetus behind the grace period, was set out in their proposed amendment summary at page 8: TBS recognizes the challenge of adapting to new policy requirements while planning or executing projects that would be subject to them. In response, a 6-month ‘grace period’ is proposed to provide departments with time to plan for compliance with the amended directive. For systems that are already in place on the release date, TBS proposes granting departments a full year to comply with new requirements in the directive. Introducing this period would enable departments to plan for the integration of new measures into existing automation systems. This could involve publishing previously completed peer reviews or implementing new data governance measures for input and output data. During this period, these systems would continue to be subject to the current requirements of the directive. (emphasis added) The new DADM section states: Peer review 6.3.5 Consulting the appropriate qualified experts to review the automated decision system and publishing the complete review or a plain language summary of the findings prior to the system’s production, as prescribed in Appendix C. (emphasis added) Appendix C for Level 2 – Moderate Impact Projects (for which all of IRCC’s Eight AIA projects are self-classified) the requirement is as follows: Consult at least one of the following experts and publish the complete review or a plain language summary of the findings on a Government of Canada website: Qualified expert from a federal, provincial, territorial or municipal government institution Qualified members of faculty of a post-secondary institution Qualified researchers from a relevant non-governmental organization Contracted third-party vendor with a relevant specialization A data and automation advisory board specified by Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat OR: Publish specifications of the automated decision system in a peer-reviewed journal. Where access to the published review is restricted, ensure that a plain language summary of the findings is openly available. We should be expecting then movement in the next two weeks. As I wrote about here, IRCC has posted one of their Peer Reviews, this one for the International Experience Canada Work Permit Eligibility Model. I will analyze this (alongside other peer reviews) in a future blog and why I think it is important in the questions it raises about automation bias. In light of the above, I am sharing three Peer Reviews for IRCC AIAs. These may or may not be the final ones that IRCC eventually posts, presumably before 25 April 2024. I have posted the document below the corresponding name of the AIA. Please note that the PDF viewer does not work on mobile devices. As such I have also added a link to a shared Google doc for your viewing/downloading ease. (1) Spouse Or Common-Law in Canada Advanced Analytics [Link] A-2022-00374_ – Stats Can peer review on Spousal AI Model Note: We know that

A Surrey man claims he discovered too late that a beer bottle he was served at the Grand Villa Casino was chipped. Burnaby NOW file photo A Surrey man claims he accidentally drank glass from a broken beer bottle at Burnaby’s Grand Villa Casino. Gurcharan Singh Grewal filed a lawsuit against the casino and its parent company, Gateway Casinos and Entertainment, among other defendants, following an alleged incident in December 2017. According to the lawsuit, Grewal was at the Personas Bar in the Grand Villa Casino and ordered a beer from the bartender. After taking his first sip, he allegedly “felt a sharp object enter his throat, causing much discomfort and internal injuries.” Grewal claimed in his lawsuit that he found a chip in the glass on the rim of the beer bottle “due to the bartender incorrectly opening” it. As a result, Grewal said he suffered lacerations to his mouth, injury to his throat and esophagus, difficulty swallowing, discomfort and anxiety. Grewal “continues to undergo medical care” resulting from the injuries, according to his court filing, and “continues to suffer pain and discomfort and emotional upset.” Grewal is also seeking damages for alleged loss of income relating to the incident, as well as an alleged loss of housekeeping ability at home. The claims have not been proven in a court of law, and none of the defendants has yet responded to the lawsuit.