Municipal dysfunction as a national pattern

Vancouver is a funny place.

It’s without a doubt the most beautiful city in the country, probably also the continent and maybe even the world — at least when the sun’s shining. The rainy season, which lasts around eight months of the year, can turn it into a dreary, inescapable limbo.

It’s a place filled luxury car dealerships, high-end watch stores and other markers of flamboyant wealth. But also absolutely heart-wrenching displays of visible poverty.

Vancouverites are simultaneously proud of their city, and often deeply insecure about how it compares to other metropolises.

It’s also, I’d argue, deeply misunderstood by the rest of the country.

Strangely enough, Vancouver, and British Columbia more broadly, are left out of the national conversation, despite its population, economic importance and unique political culture.

There’s this conversation I always have with my journalism friends from BC about how whatever’s happening in Vancouver eventually ends up becoming the rest of the country’s problem. You’ve seen that over and over again, whether it’s about the housing crisis or debates around drug use or crime.

And so I figured, why not just bring one of those friends on to have that discussion right here on The Hatchet.

Last week I was at a wedding in St. John’s, Newfoundland, where I was able to corner my old friend and CBC Vancouver’s municipal reporter Justin McElroy, and bully him into being on the show.

For the British Columbians in the audience, Justin really needs no introduction. He is by almost any measure one of the best-known journalists in the province. And he’s gained this enormous cult following, not just through his reporting or his penchant for ranking things, but because he has an almost uncanny ability to make people care about the things that he cares about.

And in addition to being one of my oldest friends, Justin is also the man who taught me how to be a journalist more than fifteen years ago.

In this conversation, we talk a little bit about Justin’s erstwhile fame, and then give listeners a full political education in all things Vancouver and why the rest of the country should be paying for attention.

And after that, for our paid supporters, we have a little something extra. Justin and I do some reminiscing about the good old days, when we worked together at The Ubyssey, UBC’s student newspaper. So if you want to hear about how I forced Justin to resign as editor of the newspaper, whether or not I was a decent roommate or the time we were in an honest-to-god zombie apocalypse, make sure to become a paid supporter today.

Featured in this episode: Justin McElroy

To Learn More:

"B.C. government says more oversight coming for dysfunctional municipalities" by Justin McElroy in CBC News

"Vancouver's byelection a story of big lines, big passion, and ABC coping with a big loss" by Justin McElroy in CBC News

The Four Pillars Revisited by Sam Fenn and Gordon Katic in The Tyee

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The Hatchet is a podcast and newsletter dedicated to exposing power and money in Canada. We deliver important, original and fascinating journalism about how this country actually works.

Music: I dunno by grapes (c) copyright 2008 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Ft: J Lang, Morusque