Manufacturing & Transport
Early next month, a ship carrying three huge cranes will dock at Prince Rupert, setting the stage for an economic boom in Northwest B.C. Weighing 1,800 tonnes apiece and standing 30 storeys high, these red-and-white behemoths will dominate the harbour.
Joan started looking for a new vehicle last August and quickly decided she wanted a 2007 Subaru Outback. Frustration set in when, after weeks of searching, none of the Lower Mainland dealers could get her the car. Jubilation soon replaced...
Squat concrete- block warehouses secured with razor-wire fences and steel-mesh windows stretch off into the morning light. Many appear deserted, with dust on windows and doorsills, garbage in the alley. In the doorway of one of several shabby houses, some dishevelled men gather to deal in drugs.
Until recently, at any given time, at least 10 grunged-out, pierced, tattooed and fit emissaries could be spotted hanging out outside the HSBC Bank tower at Georgia and Hornby, waiting for their next mission to be broadcast over two-way radios.
Global free trade has been all the rage for decades: APEC, GATT, WTO, NAFTA, OECD, EU… So when B.C. and Alberta spawned their own free-trade acronym, TILMA (Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement), the response was an overwhelming yawn.
The drab industrial landscape of Mitchell Island in Richmond is the last place you’d expect to find occupational nirvana, but here, within the walls of new 250,000-square-foot plant, you’ll find more contented workers than anywhere else in B.C. Scheduler Carrie Dawson first arrived at GLBC as a pregnant temp in...
I have to admit I’m a little nervous. It’s my first day on the sales floor at OpenRoad Toyota in the Richmond Auto Mall and I keep thinking of Jimmy Pattison, who used to keep the sales kernels popping in his car-dealership frying pan by firing the bottom sales person at the end of each month. I’m relieved to find the mood disarmingly relaxed.
The CEO is feeling a little rattled. It’s his first business trip to Japan and he must impress potential customers, which means demonstrating some newly acquired cultural know-how. At first things go well. He bows in accordance with traditional etiquette...
With the Port Mann Bridge acting as the Achilles Heel of GVRD traffic systems, Charles Montgomery takes the passenger seat with B.C. Transportation Minister Kevin Falcon at the helm to learn why Falcon is pushing for the Gateway expansion project and what exactly this crisis, on overdrive to a collision course, means for the Province's economy.
I first lusted over the car I’m now test driving parked outside the shop doors off Vancouver’s Main Street with another six cars parked inside in various states of assembly. Glossy and pulsing red, it stood out from the blues, blacks and silvers of the other Intermeccanicas in assembly.