BC Business
We assess how different people/things and, of course, businesses fared this week.
Health Minister Adrian Dix made an important commitment to Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake
There are few things more entertaining than public arguments. From the subtler, petty disagreements to the big, embarrassing blowouts, it’s hard to turn your eyes away from people bickering at each other.
Lucky for you, this week’s edition of the BCBusiness Report Card features at least two instances of the person-to-person conflict we all seek.
Here’s what we thought made the grade this week (and what didn’t).
Williams LakeGrade: A
A plan to upgrade the 1963-era Cariboo Memorial Hospital has been approved, to the tune of close to $218 million.
It’s an awesome addition for residents of the northern city and a savvy political move for the current government, too.
Some might say it’s exactly the type of issue an opposing party leader (who just happens to be a former rural doctor, as he likes to remind people as much as possible) would cling onto if it were allowed to fester.
Public transitGrade: A
The Translink Mayors’ Council met today, and while they spent a considerable time arguing in the chambers, the result was a good one for embattled Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum.
The vote means that the SkyTrain’s Expo Line will be extended from King George Station (where it currently ends) to Fleetwood in Langley. But not everyone was a fan of the decision.
Mike Little, mayor of the District of North Vancouver, said the SkyTrain will only make Surrey a “bedroom community,” while everyone else there presumably wondered why he cared so much.
And Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said, “This isn’t the way to do it.”
Good stuff. Looking forward to more divisiveness in the future.
Air conditioningGrade: C
A survey from BC Hydro found that almost 60 percent of B.C. office workers find the air conditioning too cold during the summer. The same survey reported that nearly a quarter of people have argued or witnessed an argument over the office air conditioner.
But something to keep in mind for those cold air truthers: depending on the size of your office, it’s very possible that it’s quite hot somewhere else. Gary in accounting (who we have invoiced for the office hoodie he necessitated we buy), might very well be in direct sunlight. Yes, it seems like he’s the monster from Stranger Things, but there might be a reason.
Really makes you think about different geographical conditions and start to understand why the real Cold War started. Still haven’t heard back from Gary about the invoice.
HoneyGrade: C
Honey, honey actually might be closer to sugar, sugar in many cases, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CIFA). And while cutting actual honey with lesser sugars and syrups is a very serious thing that can harm beekeepers trying to make an honest product it’s also kind of hilarious.
We just like to imagine a full investigation into this that has experts cutting into and tasting honey like it’s cocaine. And then, of course, when they finally get to the source and it’s a gangster named King Bee or something. He dresses in yellow and black stripes and hold on, OK I’ve just optioned off the movie rights.
Anything fence-relatedGrade: F
Being on the fence, fencing, the Denzel Washington film Fences.
All of these things and many others are now bound to be associated with The Fence that noted insane person Maxime Bernier wants to build. It threatens to do for fences in Canada what Donald Trump has done for a certain structural necessity in the U.S.
At least until October when Mad Max is inevitably handed an absolute thrashing at the ballot box.