PM Carney Sheds Light on Unfair Trade Deal

Carney explains why Canada walked away from the trade deal

Tonight in Vancouver there are flashes of light and then the ominous loud crack of thunder can be heard outside as the rain is pouring down tonight. 

It's been a long day that started this morning with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney addressing the nation about why the country walked away from negotiating a trade deal with the United States, and that it's time to buckle up for a trade war.

"We cannot accept what they've offered, and we will not give what they've asked," he said, adding the US 'asked too much and offered too little.'

Carney also revealed the US had issues with Canada's subsidies for French culture, the prevalence of French-language media online and even the federal requirement to have bilingual labels on products sold in Canada.

"It was unacceptable right from the start, but the Americans kept trying and trying and we said no," the prime minister said. "Ultimately it's simple. That was never on the table for Canada and it would not have been acceptable to Canadians."

For the auto industry, the Americans demanded to treat Canadian-made parts unfairly and to exempt some cars and pick-up trucks from US tariffs, but not others without any explanation.

The US also expected to determine Canada's trade deals with other nations.

"The US introduced, in the last hours, efforts to restrict our ability to have other trade deals," Carney said. "Because we believe in free trade, we're the partner of choice, in many respects, for countries around the world, and Americans wanted to restrict that, they had language to restrict that. Unacceptable."

Perhaps he was referring to Canada striking a trade deal with China worth $3 billion, where 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles will be allowed into the country, along with lower tariffs for canola oil, and seafood like lobsters and crabs into the Middle Kingdom.

But anyway -- why would Canada allow the US -- or rather Donald Trump -- decide who it trades with?

As Toronto Star columnist Justin Ling told CBC Radio today, what the US was doing was basically extortion.

Carney also noted that the US sometimes signs trade deals "in pencil," a hint that it is negotiating in bad faith.

Despite the financial hardships that will come -- layoffs and more money flowing out of wallets -- Canadians seem to be more patriotic than ever. The slogan "Elbows Up" continues to resonate across the country, with all politicians, federally and provincially on board.

As British Columbia Premier David Eby said today, "There is no question that there will be economic pain associated with this, there already is," he said. "But it is necessary to stand up to a bully, and if you don't, they'll just keep coming back for more."

Interestingly, Trump hasn't responded at all to the trade deal collapse. Did he think he had it in the bag?

Review: Steal This Story, Please!

Goodman's life and work is profiled

Amy Goodman is a journalist, broadcaster, columnist, investigative reporter and author. 

But most of all, she's fearless.

Yesterday I watched the documentary Steal This Story, Please!, profiling Goodman, 69, in her personal life and journalism career where she relentlessly asks questions and if there is something going on that isn't widely reported, you can be sure she makes sure you hear about it.

She is a relentless journalist

She is the co-founder, host and executive producer of Democracy Now! an independent news outlet that relies on the donations of viewers, and is not beholden to corporations.

During her career, Goodman has broken many stories, such as the Santa Cruz massacre, when some 250 demonstrators were killed by Indonesian soldiers using American weapons. She and her colleague Allan Nairn witnessed the incident and Nairn was physically assaulted.

Another was exposing Chevron transporting the Nigerian navy and police to quell protests, which led to the killing of two protestors and injuring 11 others. A Chevron spokesperson admitted transporting the troops on the record.

When President Bill Clinton called the station as a public service announcement to get people to vote, Goodman kept him on the air for 28 minutes, talking about a range of subjects in a combative interview. While the White House communications department accused her of violating rules when interviewing the President, Goodman replied that he continued talking -- he could have hung up at anytime.

She was also broadcasting around the clock on September 11 when two planes hit the twin towers, only blocks away from the studio. Goodman and her team also revealed how the dust from the area caused major health issues for New Yorkers even though the mayor and other health officials claimed the air quality was fine.

From a young age, Goodman was encouraged by her maternal grandfather, an Orthodox rabbi, to ask questions. When she was a child, her brother David started a self-published family paper and she collected subscription money, and wrote letters to the editor.

She covers stories mainstream media don't

She later edited the school paper and as Goodman tells it, she held the principal to account for his actions. 

In the documentary she explains after graduating from university she was obsessed with working on The Phil Donahue Show. She thought it was refreshing to watch people being frank and discussing issues on television.

Eventually the show contacted her, asking her to be there the next day -- to be a panellist about unemployed young people.

She took that as a sign to create her own work, and started working for a community radio station in the mid to late 80s.

In 1996 she started the program Democracy Now!, trained several people to be journalists, and the transition from radio to video.

We also see her visit her 106-year-old grandmother, who, despite hearing problems, insists Goodman must comb her hair. Goodman goes to Rivne in Ukraine (before the 2022 war) and pays her respects to her ancestors who didn't leave before the pogroms began.

Steal This Story, Please! is a collection of archival footage of Goodman, and it's quite impressive to see so much of it, especially in her early days of radio. When I worked at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the radio current affairs department, we never filmed anything, except perhaps the odd celebrity interview or if the prime minister came by.

Her scoops reveal over and over again how mainstream media were completely unaware of what was going on, and had to use her footage because she had drawn so much attention to the story. 

Some accused her of being an activist-journalist, but to her these are stories that are worthy of attention, that no one is lesser; this is particularly the case of the plight of the Palestinians, and this was over 10 years ago. 

Goodman says the duty of journalists is to ask questions, and that can lead you closer to the truth.

Inspiring and yes, fearless.

Steal This Story, Please!

Directed by Carl Deal and Tia Lessen

98 minutes

Review: Against the Grain

O'Reilly profiles an array of outstanding trailblazers

Back in October, ad man Terry O'Reilly presented his latest book, Against the Grain: Defiant Giants Who Changed the World at the Vancouver Writers Festival in Granville Island. He is well known among CBC Radio listeners for his show, Under the Influence, where he talks about different aspects of advertising through actual case studies.

Against the Grain profiles 19 people who were trailblazers in their respective fields, and in particular when others either criticised them or scorned them.

There's Gustave Eiffel who was a brilliant engineer and owned his own iron-production factory, but Parisians hated his design for the Eiffel Tower. Nevertheless, he persisted and was smart enough to sell shares to fund the tower as well as take in revenues from entrance fees and from the restaurants and cafes on the structure.

Another is Suzanne Simard, who saw how clear-cutting and planting new trees didn't necessarily mean a new forest would grow back in a healthy way. She discovered that in the forest, there are "mother trees" that other trees depend on for nourishment, and that they communicate with each other through an underground network. Simard also found some tree species have a symbiotic relationship, like the paper birch and Douglas fir. 

However, the forestry industry didn't believe her until her findings were finally published in a peer-reviewed publication. She wrote her first book, Finding the Mother Tree, and has just recently published a follow-up, When the Forest Breathes.

Interestingly O'Reilly includes former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, more for his positive election campaign in 2015. Refusing to do the usual attack ads against his opponent, incumbent Stephen Harper, Trudeau instead offered a more hopeful and optimistic vision if he was in charge and won over a lot of young voters. 

Taylor Swift is also a good choice to profile, though many people under the age of 50 already know all about her. But O'Reilly found her a fascinating business person who genuinely loves her fans and finds ways to interact with them on her terms. 

Some were bused to Swift's home where she made cookies and took pictures with every single one, or made hospital visits, and donated to the food bank of every city she holds a concert in. In addition, following her Eras tour, she gave out millions of dollars worth of bonuses to everyone from the musicians and dancers to the truck drivers hauling all the equipment for the shows.

I enjoyed reading the chapter on Roger Neilson, the former head coach of the Vancouver Canucks in the 1980s. Turns out he was a baseball fanatic more than a hockey one. His interesting obsession was to memorise the rule book and find creative (and sometimes funny) ways to get around them, or use it to call out the opposing team to his advantage. 

The Canucks were in the Stanley Cup finals in 1982 and it was Neilson who inspired fans to wave white towels during the games. I remember that clearly in high school, as a classmate's father was a big Canucks fan and she told us about the white towels.

Against the Grain was written very similar to the way O'Reilly presents his radio show, and when reading the stories, you can almost hear him reading them too. 

However, there are some stories with complicated concepts to explain, like Simard's theories on forests and Katalin Kariko on developing mRNA vaccines that helped protect people against Covid-19, that O'Reilly kind of glosses over their scientific importance. He's good at giving context to advertising giants like Albert D Lasker and Bill Bernbach, but science is O'Reilly's weak spot.

Nevertheless, Against the Grain is a good roundup for fascinating individuals who were determined to follow their instincts or beliefs despite the chorus of criticism against them. In particular Richard Williams' story of manifesting Venus and Serena Williams into champion tennis players even before they were born is a crazy fairy tale that really came true. Definitely an example of someone going against the grain.

Celebrating Failure as a Sign of Progress

There's a new exhibition -- in a Vancouver shopping mall -- that most people can probably relate to.

Called The Museum of Personal Failure, it's a collection of artefacts from the public, from a dead plant to a wedding dress and a spilled can of paint with anecdotes to explain why they were not successful.

It's the brainchild of Burnaby resident Eyvan Collins, who started it when a relationship of his fizzled out.

"I felt like a failure. It was a heartbreak," Collins told the CBC. "I just needed to do something with it -- and this is what I did."

He made posters saying, "Failures Wanted" and plastered them around Metro Vancouver. People responded with offers of all kinds of items signifying their failures.

Collins says failure is an essential part of life. 

"It's part of making an attempt. Sometimes it goes the way you want it to, sometimes it doesn't," he said.

There's also a "Wall of Reject", featuring firing notices and rejection letters.

I'm sure many people would have some of these lying in the back of their desk drawers.

His mother, Jennifer Campbell donated her wedding dress for display.

"I wanted to sort of tell a story about a failing that occurred in my marriage, and how we were able to move on," she said.

"I've called it Threads of Innocence, because it's about the innocence of false fairy tales or things that you think are going to happen when you're young... and it doesn't happen."

The dress is even shown in a cardboard moving box to signify her being able to move on from it. 

Meanwhile, bladesmith Casey Vilensky submitted a knife he can't be sharpen because he made mistakes while making it.

"Failure is a step forward. You don't go forward until you fail. You have to be able to look back at your failures, figure out why they failed and change the process and move on. I don't harp on them... I put them in the bucket," he said.

If I were to submit something to the Museum of Failure, I'd probably donate my empty sketchbooks.

I keep meaning to get back into drawing, but have left them blank, too terrified to make a mistake. A fear of failure.

But it's totally unfounded!

Or probably some jewellery from failed relationships... 

What would you donate to the Museum of Failure?

The exhibition is on until February 3 at Kingsgate Mall.

Review: Never by Rick Astley

His book is conversational, easy to read

Eighties pop songs are back on the airwaves thanks to young people who are discovering them for the first time. For me they bring back memories of my senior high school years. Classmates were totally into Michael Jackson, Duran Duran, A-ha, Depeche Mode, and Rick Astley.

He was a clean-cut guy who gave off the boy-next-door vibes, wearing a suit and singing Never Gonna Give You Up, and Together Forever, songs that had catchy, optimistic tunes that were sweet and endearing. 

The British singer became so big so fast, but also disappeared just as quickly.

Never Gonna Give You Up was a huge hit in 1987

What happened to him?

Turns out at the age of 27 he quit the music business and lived quietly with his wife and daughter.

But then in around 2006 Rickrolling became a thing -- people would prank others by sending a link on email that when they clicked on it was to Astley's music video for Never Gonna Give You Up, giving him a second lease on his music career.

He writes about all this and more in his conversationally-written autobiography Never that was published last year. I hear his interview on CBC Radio and thought I should read it.

Originally from Lancashire, Astley was born into a rough childhood; before he was born, one of his older brothers died at the age of five from meningitis. The child's death caused his parents' marriage to fall apart, his mother became distant and detached, his father's bipolar behaviour was stressful for Astley and his three siblings.

Astley had a strong interest in music, starting with the drums, but it was his voice that caught the attention of a music producer who signed him on to Stock Aitken Waterman, which became known as the "Hit Factory".

Astley with his wife Lene

In Astley's book Never he talks about how Never Gonna Give You Up came about and how it became so big so fast, and how he handled his sudden fame. The book also explains what the music industry was like at the time, what it was like touring around the world (lots of jetlag) and meeting the love of his life, his wife Lene who was in the music business but later pivoted to film.

It's not until halfway through the book where his career takes off where he describes some hilarious scenes where I actually laughed out loud. As a reader and sometime fan, it was endearing to read him recall what life was like at the time for him, and he constantly says in the autobiography he did not want to be perceived as a "twat". 

That part gets a bit nauseating, but he wants to remind readers that stardom did not go to his head -- he didn't want it to and was keen to live as normal a life as possible after such a chaotic childhood. 

In the second wind of his career in his 50s, Astley writes about how relaxed he was, and enjoyed performing for fun; readers can't help but feel happy for him to finally be comfortable in his skin. That's what growing up is all about.

Showcasing Local Cuisine in Canada

The screening was held at Silver City Riverport in Steveston

Went to another screening this evening -- this time for a TV series on CBC called Locals Welcome. There are 10 episodes in this inaugural season featuring host Suresh Doss. He's a food writer in Toronto who has a regular column on CBC Radio Toronto's Metro Morning.

Doss, originally from Sri Lanka and moved to Toronto when he was 12 years old, could probably be best described as the South Asian version of the late Jonathan Gold, who championed the mom-and-pop shops serving ethnic foods.

Chef May Chau at Golden Paramount

While there is a big mix of ethnicities in Toronto, the show also wanted to spread out across to Vancouver, and Richmond was chosen as a place to showcase the best in Chinese cuisine.

In the episode entitled Seafood and Tradition, Doss meets up with Lee Man, a congenial foodie, a judge for the Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, and founding judge of the Chinese Restaurant Awards. 

Lee takes his foodie buddy to Golden Paramount Seafood Restaurant to have dim sum that included dumplings with large morel mushrooms on top, and the signature fun guo, or Chiu Chow steamed dumplings stuffed with pork, chives, peanuts, preserved radish. 

Chef May Chau Siu-may explains on screen that her family was in the restaurant business and she learned at a very young age how to make dumplings thanks to her dextrous fingers. She is now in her early 60s. 

Man, Doss and host Lien Yeung

Golden Paramount is our go-to for dinner, but haven't eaten here for dim sum...

Doss and Lee also visit "Eat Street" on Alexandra Road, where there are restaurants representing an array of regional Chinese cuisines. They also check out a Taiwanese place serving tomato beef noodles, and Yuan's Garden that doesn't only have Shanghainese dishes, but also Nanjing ones too.

Apparently Nanjing cuisine has more of a sour and sweet combination of flavours, and soupy dishes with noodles. I ate here over the summer, but was not aware of the Nanjing specialties!

The episode ends with Doss eating at Fish Man restaurant with fishmonger Jenice Yu and an influencer. Chef Li Bo presents enticing dishes like geoduck two ways -- sashimi slices and wok-fried typhoon shelter style with chillis and chilli flakes.

He also used fresh ling cod, de-boned it, sliced it up and then put them in a sour and spicy broth with pickled vegetables (or Chinese sauerkraut) and topped with a lot of red chillis. I have had this dish here and chef Bo is very talented. When I ate here over two years ago, he presented almost 20 different ways of eating sablefish!

Chef Bo is originally from northern China, came to Vancouver via Winnipeg and not only is adept in Chinese cooking techniques, but also has learned Japanese knife skills to cut sashimi, and make Cantonese seafood dishes too.

A panel discussion with Doss, Man and Yu

The episode left viewers salivating over the food. After the screening, an audience member asked Doss if they finish all the food during filming. He explained while he had a fast metabolism, he had a rabid film crew who helped eat everything as soon as shooting wrapped.

Doss said he hopes to do an expanded series on food courts, as well as Chinese diners across the country, some of which are closing as the next generation are not taking over. There was also the suggestion that he check out Surrey for the South Asian dishes there.

So many possibilities! More importantly, there are so many food stories in Metro Vancouver that need to be covered!

Remembering Jane Goodall

Goodall was fascinated with animals at a very young age

This morning we heard the sad news that primatologist and passionate advocate for animals Jane Goodall died in Los Angeles. She was 91 years old.

My memory of her dates back to 2007 when she visited Beijing as founder of the Roots and Shoots program, where Goodall inspired the next generation to care about the environment where they live through local conservation projects.

This was my blog post on November 18, 2007 when Goodall was 73 years old:

In her youth she dreamed of going to Africa

Dr Jane Goodall has arrived in Beijing for a week-long visit to China.

Known for her ground-breaking research on chimpanzees in Tanzania, Goodall now travels the world some 300 days a year, spreading the word about environmental and animal conservation.

And she specifically focuses her message on young people, which led to the establishment of Roots & Shoots, an education program in 1991. There are now more than 800 of them in 98 countries, with over 300 R&S in China.

Some of these groups, ranging from elementary, secondary and university students came from Shanghai, Dalian and Tianjin as well as Beijing to show Goodall their environmental projects.

They ranged from planting trees in Inner Mongolia, to conserving rain water, feeding bears in a zoo with a pinata filled with fruit, and making crafts out of aluminum cans.

The famous scientist was dressed warmly in a large red coat and her silvery hair tied back loosely in a clip. When she arrived at Beijing City International School Goodall received applause from the students and they practically mobbed her, trying to take pictures and getting her to autograph pieces of paper.

She handled the attention quite well, and visited each of the booths and praised the students for their work.

The event then moved to the theatre where she gave a speech encouraging the audience to continue their conservation efforts as they are the next generation.

She said they were like roots and shoots, like the name of her program, growing and taking root and then breaking through tough barriers to grow.

She studied chimpanzees for decades

Then she told a story about a chimpanzee who was taken from his mother when she was shot dead. He was nicknamed "Old Man" after enduring 15 years of tests scientists conducted on him.

He was left to retire in a zoo on an island with three other female chimpanzees. A zoo keeper called Mark was to look after them but was warned not to get too close because they didn't like humans.

So he fed them by throwing food at them. He later noticed they got excited and hugged each other when he rowed the boat towards them. So Mark gradually brought his boat closer and closer to them until he could hand a banana to the Old Man.

He then stepped onto the island and nothing happened to him. Later on, he and Old Man made physical contact, grooming each other.

Old Man even had a baby chimpanzee with one of the females.

One day Mark was on the island but he tripped and fell on his face near the baby. The mother was horrified and came to rescue it, but not before biting Mark on the neck, thinking he wanted to harm her child. The other females followed her lead, also biting him on the leg and arm.

When Old Man came, Mark thought the chimpanzee would surely kill him. Instead the animal pushed the three females away so that the zoo keeper could get off the island and row back to safety.

Goodall said that if a chimpanzee, after all the years he was treated badly by humans, could bridge the gap and look after a man, we humans who are even more intelligent, should do the same, if not better.

It was a message that resonated with the audience and hopefully that will spur them on to continue their green efforts.

Goodall taught us to care for our community

But the fight for funding, especially non-profit organizations in China is tough. Only foreign companies step up to the plate and make contributions as there's no such thing as tax breaks for charitable donations. Non-profits do get some donations in kind by local companies, but those are few and far between.

The Chinese government is looking at creating a charity law. But this needs to be established soon, otherwise the momentum for non-profits like Goodall's will quickly fade when in fact they're making a huge impression on young people who are eager to make a difference. 

Rereading her story about Old Man, I can already imagine her talking about it in her soft voice that left everyone rapt with attention. 

A few weeks ago she was interviewed on CBC Radio and the host asked her how to have hope in the world when there's so much destruction, war, climate change, and so on.

Goodall replied that one can start by caring about their own community, finding something they want to save or conserve, and looking for others to help out.

When she was young she intently observed what animals, and in her case, chimpanzees did, and from watching them, she gave the rest of us more insight into their lives.

What she was doing was in a way mindfulness, being in the present and focusing on what was happening around her.

I've read she was most comfortable being with animals -- and actually her favourite is not chimpanzees but dogs for their unconditional love.

We are so lucky to have had Goodall in our lives, to remind us to look after the animals and environment around us, and that every little bit of care for them helps not only them, but us do better. We all have the capacity to help, love, nurture and care.

Canadians Keeping Their Elbows Up

Canadians are showing their true colours this year

Ever since Donald Trump tossed out the possibility of Canada becoming the 51st state, Canadians have fought back with their "Elbows Up" mentality and there's now a lot of data proving that.

Travel is the biggest sign in Canada shunning the United States. When it comes to Canadians traveling across the border by car, there is a whopping 34 percent drop in August compared to the same month last year. That's the eighth consecutive month of declines apart from the Covid-19 pandemic period.

Many are upset by Trump's calls for the 51st state

There is also a lot fewer Canadians traveling by air to the US too. In August, the number of Canadians returning from the US by plane fell 25.4 percent compared to the same month last year too.

Canadians used to love traveling to Las Vegas for entertainment, gambling, and food, but not so much anymore.

Flair Airlines saw the biggest plunge of 62 percent of Canadian passengers, while Air Canada's was 33 percent, and WestJet 31 percent. As a result the airlines have shuffled their planes and are using smaller ones going to Vegas these days.

Instead Canadians are traveling to Europe, the Caribbean, South America, and Japan. This year Air Canada added 28 international routes to satisfy demand.

Meanwhile when it comes to books written by Canadian authors, Indigo reports a 25 percent jump in sales compared to last year, and the CBC has seen a 34 percent increase in people checking out Gem, its streaming platform.

Even Historica, which promotes Canadian history through programs like Heritage Minutes has seen a noticeable uptick in the number of people checking out the Canadian Encyclopedia with more than 14 million views this year.

It's great to see how Canadians are determined to do as much as they can to keep their elbows up!

Man Arrested for Driving Pink Jeep and Allegedly Impaired

Lincoln was stopped by an officer for driving a toy jeep

Prince George residents who were in this morning's rush-hour traffic were shocked to see a man arrested for allegedly driving a pink Barbie jeep on the street.

The police were not amused, as they were busy that day with an ambulance involved in a hit-and-run, and a prominent downtown business destroyed by fire.

An officer stopped the vehicle and found Kasper Lincoln had a suspended license and was likely impaired.

Lincoln was seen driving the toy car on the road

He was arrested for prohibited driving and given breathalyzer tests, producing two samples that police say showed he was over the legal limit.

Lincoln was issued a 90-day driving suspension and must appear in court in December.

Earlier witnesses saw Lincoln wearing aviator glasses as he drove the toy vehicle on a main thoroughfare in Prince George. Some reported him to the police, others were surprised he was arrested for driving way below the speed limit.

In an interview with CBC News, Lincoln said he was getting a slurpee with a friend, but "got lazy", and decided to borrow his roommate's child's toy car to get there, with his friend walking beside him.

"I never drove it before," he said while laughing.

However, the police didn't think it was funny and what Lincoln did was illegal.

He was arrested and allegedly impaired

He was driving an unlicensed motor vehicle -- and a toy one should not be on the road.

According to Mattel which produced the toy car, it can go as fast as 8km/hr and has power brakes.

In the meantime, Lincoln plans to fight the ticket, adding he has been arrested by the police several times before, but "this is the most hilarious one."

Only in Prince George?

Handing Out Cash in a Potato Chip Bag

Greco (right) handed a potato chip bag with cash to a reporter

A long time advisor to New York City mayor Eric Adams has been suspended from his re-election campaign after she gave cash in an empty potato chip bag to a journalist. For the record it was sour cream and onion flavoured chips.

Winnie Greco, who is ethnic Chinese, met up with The City's Katie Honan at Whole Foods, where Greco at first offered her the chip bag as a snack. According to Honan, she refused, but Greco insisted she keep it, and then the two parted ways.

When Honan got to the subway station, she looked inside and saw that there was a red envelope stuffed with cash -- one $100 bill and several $20 bills.

The red envelope was stuffed with over US$100

She freaked out and called her editor, and then tried to call Greco back, telling her could not take the money and had to return it. But Greco claimed she was not in the area anymore.

The City promptly reported what happened to the city's Department of Investigation, and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn contacted the newspaper's lawyers.

In response, Adams' campaign spokesman, Todd Shapiro said, "We are shocked by these reports," and added "Winnie Greco holds no position in this campaign and has been suspended from all volunteer-related activities."

But it was Greco's lawyer, Steven Brill, who had to somehow spin the narrative to explain the red envelope that made the situation even worse.

He claimed it was common in Chinese culture to give cash to reporters "in a gesture of friendship and gratitude."

"I grant you this looks odd," Brill said. "But I assure you that Winnie's intent was purely innocent."

Honan doesn't know why Greco gave her money

He said her attempt to give money to the reporter might have been "misconstrued" and that she is "apologetic and embarrassed."

Does anyone actually buy this apparent explanation?

The reporter Honan, who covers City Hall, was asked by the CBC if she knew why Greco gave her the money and Honan said she didn't know why.

But the way Brill explains it as a cultural thing just looks terrible, and it also makes it look like all ethnic Chinese reporters accept red envelopes!

For the record no one in Hong Kong gives lai see in Cantonese or hong bao in Mandarin to reporters. It is absolutely forbidden.

However on the Chinese mainland, this practice is very common. Since reporters' base salary is very low, they often pad it by collecting hong bao and writing stories praising whichever companies that gave it to them.

Many years ago in 2007 in Beijing, I witnessed this first hand when I accompanied a reporter to an innocuous event. She was handed a hong bao of 200 yuan, which wasn't much, but the reporter refused it outright.

The public relations person politely tried to explain it was "transportation money" to compensate for the trouble of getting to the event, but the reporter flatly said she didn't need the money because our company would reimburse her for the transportation costs.

It went back and forth for a few minutes until the PR person gave up.

But apparently those covering the oil and gas industry, and probably now electric cars would get very thick red envelopes...

Nevertheless, halfway around the world in New York, why would someone even consider giving out red envelopes to a reporter?

In any event, Greco was already investigated last year by the FBI, and for her close ties to China, and this latest incident will surely be probed further. It's going to be hard for Greco to spin the story out of a sour cream and onion chip bag...

Turbulent Times with Air Canada Strike

Flight attendants want to be paid for ground services

The Air Canada strike was barely 12 hours old when the Canadian government shut it down. Flight attendants with the nation's largest airline are fighting to be paid for all the work they do on the ground before the plane pushes off from the gate.

It's an issue they have repeated all over the media, gaining a lot of sympathy from the public, though others are annoyed the strike has severely impacted their travel plans, including my brother and nephew. 

They were supposed to fly on AC Saturday, but earlier this week I warned him about the impending strike and he made a backup plan to fly on American Airlines.

Air Canada turned to government for intervention

However, this morning when they arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, the flight was cancelled. He literally scrambled to get another flight leaving nine hours later to Seattle, and a train ticket to Vancouver. It was the cheaper option than to shell out around US$4,000 for two tickets on an alternative airline.

The plane left late, but managed to cut its flight time thanks to tail wind and it looked promising for him and my nephew to arrive with enough time to get to the train station.

But alas -- the bridge to connect to the plane in order to de-plane was broken! It took over an hour for the plane to be towed to another gate, and so they did not make the last Amtrak train at 9pm.

This afternoon CBC Radio's national call-in show Cross Country Checkup asked people how the Air Canada strike was affecting them. People phoned in from Dublin and Brazil to say they were stranded there, while others were upset their loved ones would not be able to make their wedding in a few days, or that the bride wouldn't make it on time, a father said he was traveling through Texas to get to his son in another part of Canada who was having cancer treatment.

A flight attendant disrupts an AC press conference

Others complained they tried to get through to Air Canada many times on the phone and got no where, and one person said the phone message told people to go to the website, while the website instructed people to call.

Despite the headaches and stress, most of the callers supported the flight attendants.

At the same time academics who study labour or airlines said Air Canada should have bargained in good faith with the flight attendants, that they should not have turned to the government to invoke Section 107 of the Canada Labour Code, forcing the flight attendants back to work and binding arbitration. 

Experts also blamed the government for siding with management so quickly.

"It really is a troubling development," said Barry Eidlin, who studies labour and social movements at McGill University.

"Section 107 basically just allows the labour minister this unilateral power to intervene to order workers back to work against their will. Ant that is extremely concerning."

In retaliation to the government forcing them to go back to work, the flight attendants are refusing to do so and are continuing their strike.

So while Air Canada says it will get flights up and running by Monday evening, that probably won't be happening. It's just creating bad blood between the flight attendants and Air Canada, with the passengers held hostage during one of the busiest travel periods of the year.

Review: Under The White Gaze

Cheung examines how people of colour are portrayed in media

I just finished reading a thought-provoking book, especially for journalists and media outlets. Called Under The White Gaze, it's written by former Tyee reporter Christopher Cheung, who previously worked at Metro and the Vancouver Courier.

He grew up in a multicultural neighbourhood, went to school with classmates with different backgrounds, and then wondered why people who were not white were not covered in mainstream media in Vancouver. 

As a journalist Cheung tried to rectify the situation, only to encounter many issues. When he tried to specifically do stories about Chinese people, they would downplay their achievements and not think they should be covered in the media, or found mainstream media would only cover different cultures through their holidays, such as Chinese New Year, Nowruz, Diwali, and so on.

It reminds me of the years when I worked at CBC Radio and I was tasked with producing the programming for the Chinese New Year show. There were expectations of what my managers wanted, and what the Chinese community was hoping would be covered in the show. And how do you make it sound fresh the following year, when the same topics are covered, like the symbolism of the food eaten, the tradition of wearing red and the meaning behind "Gung Hei Fat Choy!"

In Under The White Gaze, Cheung explains that even though he as a person of colour may report on a topic through a cultural lens, ultimately it's white editors who decide how people of ethnic backgrounds are portrayed in the media, which can verge on being racist. Hence the white gaze...

Cheung uses a lot of examples in the media, from the CBC, to Maclean's, to the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, and community papers to illustrate his points. Why are ethnic restaurants usually described as "hole-in-the wall", or "hidden gem", or when interviewing someone for whom English is not their first language, why is their broken English literally written out?

In one early chapter he talks about "darlings" and "deviants". Darlings are model minorities, immigrants who come to Canada and work extremely hard to succeed. The polar opposite are deviants, people of colour who give their community a bad name, such as those arrested for trafficking drugs, or convicted for murder.

Another situation is when words in a culture are equated to an English or western word. My father likes to describe jellyfish as "rubber bands", or baked char siu buns as "Chinese hamburgers". Other examples are banh mi is called described as a "Vietnamese sandwich", but then they are sometimes called banh mi sandwiches which is redundant, or dim sum being equated to Chinese tapas, which it definitely is not!

The book makes the reader think about stories they have read on people of colour and how they were portrayed; it also forces journalists to think carefully about how they should cover cultural topics in the future.

In Hong Kong, non-Chinese communities, particularly Indians, Pakistanis, Filipinos and Indonesians should be covered more in the media, and with more sensitivity. For the most part, it's as if they don't exist, unless an employer severely mistreats their domestic helper and is dragged to court. There are many successful professional Filipinos in the city, while many Indian families have long roots in Hong Kong.

Under The White Gaze leaves a lot for the reader to consider, and in particular journalists who want to do a better job of covering their communities, which are becoming even more multicultural. In general we need more understanding of others, giving people the opportunity to speak in their own words with context, and report on them in a sensitive way. That will help all of us understand and appreciate each other even more.

Tragedy Tonight in Vancouver

Multiple people were killed and injured in Vancouver tonight

People in Metro Vancouver are in shock and devastated after news broke that several people were killed and injured after a driver plowed into a crowd participating in a street festival at 43rd Avenue and Fraser Street.

The police held an impromptu press conference at the scene, but did not give much more information than what is already known. 

They would only say that at around 8.14pm a lone male in his 30s drove a vehicle into a street festival called Lapu Lapu Day Block Party organised by the Filipino community. There were food trucks lined along the narrow street selling food, as well as stages for performances.

The narrow road was lined with food trucks

After the incident, festival bystanders took the driver into custody, called the police, who then took him into custody. The police added the suspect was "known to police in certain circumstances", but would not elaborate, nor comment if he had mental health issues.

Media are reporting four hospitals are in code orange, which means they are dealing with mass casualties. 

CBC Radio Vancouver is broadcasting a news special now, and talked to people who were at the festival, explaining Lapu Lapu was a big community event, where they would meet up with friends and family. Some are estimating up to 100,000 people were there at some point during the day.

Now they are texting and calling each other to see if they were at the festival and if they were OK. One called to say his friends had called him earlier telling him he was missing a good time at the event, and now has found out one of them was hit, but did not have any further news of his condition.

Hopefully more information will come to light in the next few days.

Vancouver Mayor Reflects on By-Election Results

Will Sim take the office of the Mayor more seriously now?

Today Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim gave the impression of swallowing some humble pie, saying he and his party would reflect on the results of Sunday's by-election when two progressive candidates were elected by 15 percent of the city's population.

"Regardless if it's a by-election of not... the reality is we listen to the residents of Vancouver every single day," he said. "There are enough of them that said they're not necessarily happy with everything that's going on. We're going to take a really hard look at ourselves."

Sean Orr of COPE received 34,448 votes, while OneCity's Lucy Maloney got 33,732. A total of 67,962 votes were cast.

Orr (left) and Maloney were elected yesterday

When Orr and Maloney are sworn in on April 9, there will be six ABC councillors, former ABC-turned-independent Rebecca Bligh, and Green Party's Pete Fry.

Maloney, an environmental lawyer and transportation activist, said voters sent a strong message to the incumbent party.

"I think that ABC have lost touch with what ordinary Vancouverites are concerned about," she said, adding housing and affordability are the top priority of residents.

COPE's Orr is a housing activist, landscaper and dishwasher. He believes US politics may have influenced Vancouver voters.

"People are very upset," he said. "People are scared, and people are starting to kind of connect the dots with what's going on down south. You're seeing what Elon Musk and Donald Trump are doing there. They're kind of seeing how the rich buy their way into office."

Meanwhile city manager Paul Mochrie apologised to voters for having to wait over an hour to exercise their right to vote.

Mochrie apologised for way by-election was run

"I want to acknowledge that voting wait times that many electors experienced yesterday were unacceptable," he said in a statement.

"The extended wait times at many voting places reflected flawed planning assumptions for this by-election that informed staff decisions and the plan presented to Council. Recognising the effort by the City's elections team to promote and execute this plan, it was clearly insufficient to accommodate the electorate in accessing an efficient voting process.

"These shortcomings are deeply regrettable and I apologise to all voters impacted by delays, as well as to candidates and civic parties. I, along with City staff, are committed to ensure that lessons from yesterday's by-election inform the planning and execution of the 2026 general municipal election and all future City of Vancouver election efforts."

This afternoon Mochrie went on CBC Radio Vancouver's afternoon show to apologise again and explain that the plan was formally adopted in January and there was not enough time to alter it when they saw how many people showed up for advance voting and for mail-in ballots. 

People are more civically engaged than ever, and realise how important it is to make their voices heard through the ballot box. And this by-election in particular was their way of showing the mayor how they felt about his two years in office. 

More residents would have turned out if they had known about the election -- some thought that because they hadn't received a voting card they were not eligible! And there was not enough information about priority lines, and how the disabled could vote. Quite a messy affair. At least Mochrie owned up to it.

Watch out for 2026. It's going to be a a good turnout for sure.

Earthquake Felt in Vancouver!

Earthquake was near Sechelt, about 50km from Vancouver

At around 1.26pm, I was in the kitchen washing dishes, when I felt the floor rumble. It felt as if a massive truck was passing by our street, except there wasn't one -- it was an earthquake!

I could hear the glasses in the cupboard clinking. Instead of the procedure -- drop, cover and hold on -- I was standing there, frozen.

"Earthquake! Earthquake!" my dad said upstairs.

The shaking lasted about 10 seconds before I rushed up to see if my parents were OK before going on Bluesky to post, "Just felt some minor shaking in Vancouver... was it an earthquake?"

Two other people responded, so I was not alone.

When I turned on the radio at 1.30pm, CBC Radio Vancouver had jazz playing -- which meant they were not on the air, or technical difficulties. It turns out everyone in the building had to be evacuated in the rain before being allowed back in.

Just before 2pm Kathryn Marlow from Victoria took over the CBC airwaves to anchor a quick radio special to give out essential information, that yes indeed there was an earthquake, first reported as 4.8 on the Richter scale near Sechelt, about 50km from Vancouver; then it was reported as 5.1 and then hours later back down to 4.7.

There were no reports of injuries -- apparently people who were walking outside in downtown Vancouver didn't feel anything, while others reported being jolted from their sleep or were terrified by the shaking. Many reported the same feeling as me -- as if a giant truck was driving by.

On the radio we were encouraged to report our experience to Earthquakes Canada where there is a quick online survey which allows them to crowd source data.  

Before this tremor, we had started (slowly) putting together our emergency kit but now this experience has motivated us to get it together quicker! It includes having water, first aid kit, clothing, documents, cash, non-perishable food, medication and other necessities to survive on for at least the first few days. 

Another good tip is to avoid standing in door frames -- they are not going to protect you. Best to get under a table or desk!

A Woman Claims She has No Friends

Ho is trying to make new friends in Vancouver

A woman in Vancouver starts her videos by saying, "I live in Vancouver and I have no friends."

Anna Ho is 23 years old and after graduating from university she finds it hard to meet people, making it sound like a chore.

"Meeting new people is very draining and it's very tiring because it's kind of like a job interview or you're going on dates," she told the CBC.

She is currently challenging herself to do 30 activities to make friends and to document it on social media. So far she's gone to an electronic music festival with people she didn't know, attended a painting class alone and tried to meet people through the app Bumble BFF.

Ho is trying to do these activities once a week but finds she is investing a lot of time and money into it.

But some experts say Ho shouldn't be trying different activities and instead stick to one so that she keeps seeing the same people regularly.

At the same time experts admit Vancouver's rainy weather also makes it harder to meet people because it takes more effort to get out. 

What's interesting is that Ho was born and raised in Vancouver but claims to not have friends... it is even harder for people who are new to the city. They say that people here have their own social circles so it's hard to break in.

Others say it's not too hard, saying they meet people wherever they go. 

The main thing is to be open to others and have casual conversations with people that could possibly lead to other get-togethers down the road. Many say taking classes to learn something increases chances of meeting others, or joining clubs where you have the same interests as others.

So far Ho is one-third of the way through her activities and says she has made one friend so far and feels her efforts aren't for nothing.

"I would hope this whole series that I'm doing just gives people a positive light and comfort," she says.

Trudeau Finally Resigns

Trudeau giving his speech to reporters this morning in Ottawa

Finally this morning Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down. 

There was a flurry of excitement on CBC Radio, where a network special would start at 7am Pacific -- no -- at 7.30am Pacific. 

They cut into the morning show to bring Trudeau live from outside his Rideau Cottage, still decked in holiday decorations.

He looked hurt (and maybe cold?) when he explained "internal battles" had made it impossible for him to lead the Liberals in the next election, while also blaming the polarisation in the legislature for not being able to get bills passed.

Just having turned 53 on Christmas Day, Trudeau probably wanted a better celebration, but there was too much pressure mounting on all sides. Inside the Liberal Party there were already calls for Trudeau to resign, but he seemed to ignore the writing on the wall until his deputy and finance minister Chrystia Freeland abruptly quit last month, citing she did not agree with the direction he was taking the country.

Trudeau has also been facing a lot of heat from Conservative opposition leader Pierre Poilievre, who constantly chided him with snarky soundbites, and then New Democrat Jagmeet Singh finally said his party was no longer propping up the Liberals anymore -- the Liberals were on their own.

There was also pressure from across the border from US President-elect Donald Trump, calling Trudeau the "governor" of the "51st state", despite the Canadian leader paying at least two visits to Mar-a-Lago to see if there was any chance of talking down Trump from the 25 percent tariffs.

So yes, Trudeau was dealing with a lot of heat on all sides.

"Removing me from the equation as the leader who will fight the next election for the Liberal Party should also decrease the level of polarisation that we're seeing right now in the House and in Canadian politics," he said, "and allow people to actually focus on serving Canadians in this House and with their work, the way Canadians deserve," he said at one point in his speech.

Trudeau's announcement garnered a lot of interest from friends and relatives from San Francisco to Singapore, wondering what my take was on him resigning.

In 2015 we visited Halifax and we bumped into someone was campaigning for him. They hoped he would beat then Prime Minister Stephen Harper and I said, "I sure hope so!"

And he did, but then his majority kept shrinking with each election.

I knew Trudeau would be a lightweight, but he managed to hold his own for almost 10 years. However, he wasn't able to handle curveballs well, like the Meng Wanzhou case that was intertwined with the two Michaels. Trudeau later tried to stand up to Xi Jinping but instead was ridiculed in Chinese state media. 

There were later revelations of Chinese interference in the Canadian elections, and the strange case of Chinese police stations in the country that raised a lot of eyebrows. Not much has happened since the revelations, while other countries have kicked out these police stations.

Hopefully the next leader will take the opportunity to really clean house and get rid of any potential interference by Chinese and Indian state actors. Canada does not need these influences in politics or society.

Another misstep was immigration; the Trudeau government had announced there would be up to 500,000 immigrants let into the country annually which left Canadians flabbergasted -- how could so many be invited to come when they themselves didn't have jobs or places to live. 

The government later backtracked on its numbers, but it was too late -- anti-immigrant sentiment had already set in, not just by native-born Canadians, but also first and second generation immigrants who had benefited from Trudeau's father's immigration policies.

Despite Freeland's ambitions to become the next Liberal leader, her chances are slim because of her long association with Trudeau. While no one has officially thrown their hat into the ring, former Bank fo Canada governor Mark Carney has expressed interest, and same with former BC Premier Christy Clark.

Whoever is chosen by March 24 will have a tough road ahead dealing with not only Trump, but also the possibility of Canadian opposition parties calling a non-confidence vote in the House that could precipitate into an election.

The best case scenario would be a Conservative minority government to keep Poilievre in check. We don't want the CBC defunded, but we do want the budget managed... Trudeau's frivolous spending days are over.