menu_open Columnists
Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw

Vancouver Sun

We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Rob Shaw: Eby changes tune as LNG becomes political lifeline

Thirteen years after B.C. politicians first started talking about it, actual liquefied natural gas was produced this week off the province’s north...

previous day 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: A dying child deserves more than a B.C. politician passing the buck

The B.C. government’s decision to cut off medication for a terminally ill nine-year-old girl has ignited a firestorm of debate over the intersection...

26.06.2025 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby contorts his pipeline messaging once again

The torturous, winding position of the BC NDP government on a new oil pipeline has twisted yet again after Premier David Eby announced his government...

25.06.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Freeland 'dismayed' by BC Ferries deal with China

A new layer of uncertainty has been added to BC Ferries’ deal with China, after an angry federal transport minister lashed out at the ferry...

24.06.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP turns legal firepower on multinationals tied to opioid crisis

B.C.’s attorney general continues to flex the province’s legal muscle against companies not typically held accountable for their harms, this time...

22.06.2025 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: By Eby's logic, Putin has a shot at next BC Ferries deal

It’s a good thing Russia didn’t table a low-ball bid for the next round of BC Ferries ships. Because the province might well be shaking hands with...

19.06.2025 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. eyes new rules to rein in municipal mayhem

B.C.’s housing minister says he’s fed up with squabbling municipal councils, and will bring in changes to provincial oversight of dysfunctional...

19.06.2025 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP slams own premier over China ferries deal

The B.C. New Democratic Party rebuked its own leader and government over the weekend for allowing the taxpayer-owned BC Ferries corporation to...

17.06.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. seeking federal muscle for online harm enforcement

British Columbia is urging the federal government to resurrect a controversial law to regulate social media companies for the harms they cause, saying...

15.06.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC Ferries sails off with China as NDP flies buy-local flag

The B.C. government’s elbows-up, Canada-first, buy-B.C. policy is about to undergo its first serious stress test, with news Tuesday that BC Ferries...

12.06.2025 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP steps on a landmine with cut to sick kids support

What’s the worst possible program a government could cut? One that would cause most people to shake their heads at the mere mention of the idea? One...

11.06.2025 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. demands overhaul from Ottawa on repeat offenders

Canada’s premiers were mulling over their joint communique last week, when B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma made an impassioned pitch to go...

10.06.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby’s inner circle looking like a jobs program for BC NDP alumni

B.C.’s economy may be stalled, but there’s one definite growth sector of employment: Special advisors to Premier David Eby and his government. The...

08.06.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

National interest projects

B.C.’s foot-dragging, fence-sitting position on new oil pipelines collided face-first with reality this week at a first ministers meeting in...

06.06.2025 7

Castanet

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: PHSA CEO still advising health minister despite full-time, $350K appointment

Is being the CEO of a British Columbia health authority a part time job? Or do taxpayers expect that person to dedicate their full attention to one...

05.06.2025 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Carney sidesteps B.C. as Alberta, feds push for new West Coast pipeline

B.C.’s foot-dragging, fence-sitting position on new oil pipelines collided face-first with reality this week at a first ministers meeting in...

04.06.2025 8

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Safe-supply leak shows just how broken B.C.’s whistleblower law is

You’d think it would be a great timing for B.C. MLAs to start a review of the province’s whistleblower protection law, just two weeks after a...

03.06.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP forces through Bill 15, burning bridges along the way

B.C. New Democrats twisted every arm, deployed every trick and burnt every bridge possible in order to get Bill 15 passed in the final hours of the...

01.06.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

B.C budget cuts

It’s a case of the “phantom savings.” That’s what the Opposition is calling $300 million in internal cuts the B.C. government claims are in...

31.05.2025 10

Castanet

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP digs into BC Liberal playbook for 'phantom savings' budget

It’s a case of the “phantom savings.” That’s what the Opposition is calling $300 million in internal cuts the B.C. government claims are in...

29.05.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP playing divide and conquer with Indigenous, municipal allies

Divide and conquer. It’s the new strategy the BC NDP government is deploying against what used to be two major allies: The First Nations Leadership...

28.05.2025 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP touts progress on safe supply drugs with no data to prove it

The B.C. government does not know how many people are using unwitnessed safe supply drugs, three months after promising to end the practice to reduce...

28.05.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby plays pipeline diplomat for Alberta, then drops the act

Is the BC NDP government willing to consider a new oil pipeline to the West Coast as part of Canada’s national economic response to American...

25.05.2025 20

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP's Downtown Eastside reset flames out on the launchpad

From the moment Michael Bryant’s appointment as Downtown Eastside ‘czar’ became public, it seemed clear the BC NDP government had made a...

22.05.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Post-election Eby shaping up to be a different kind of premier

After a tumultuous couple of months here at home, Premier David Eby will head to Yellowknife this week for the kind of event he typically excels at...

21.05.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. won’t put police in hospitals, despite violence and attacks

A man wielding a knife chased a group of nurses down a hallway at Burnaby General Hospital last week, part of a disturbing trend in health-care...

17.05.2025 20

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. considers vehicle levy to help fund Translink

B.C. has left the option of a vehicle levy to fund TransLink on the table, despite contradictory comments last week that it may be disallowed. Premier...

15.05.2025 30

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP’s nurse recruitment push ignores the crisis on the ground

The B.C. government is embarking on a glossy new marketing campaign to try and lure away American nurses to come work in our provincial hospitals. It...

14.05.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP’s Massey Tunnel quagmire keeps sinking deeper

After more than eight years of promises, $300 million spent and almost nothing to show for it, there’s not a lot for the NDP government to brag...

13.05.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby digs in on controversial fast-track fix as First Nations push back

The B.C. government will not back down on its controversial bill to fast-track infrastructure projects, despite being on a collision course with First...

11.05.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP's infrastructure fix risks derailing Indigenous reconciliation

B.C. First Nations leaders have ramped up their attacks on the government’s new bill to fast-track infrastructure, saying the New Democratic party...

08.05.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP goes from pipeline foes to TMX allies in Burrard Inlet

The B.C. government has thrown its support behind a proposal to dredge Burrard Inlet to allow oil tankers to fill up from the Trans Mountain pipeline...

07.05.2025 20

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP cabinet power grab returns with a new name

One month after backing down from the power grab that was Bill 7, the B.C. government is at it again with new legislation that gives cabinet...

04.05.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby breathing easier with Carney in charge

B.C.’s NDP government is breathing a long, heavy sigh of relief after watching Pierre Poilievre’s Conservatives come up short in the federal...

01.05.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Vancouver tragedy triggers renewed focus on mental-health system

There’s still very little known about what made a man allegedly drive through the Lapu Lapu festival in Vancouver on Saturday, killing 11 people,...

29.04.2025 8

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C.'s ghosts of premiers past return to haunt the campaign trail

If you still haven’t made up your mind on who to vote for in the federal election, many of B.C.’s living former premiers would like to bend your...

27.04.2025 9

BIV

Rob Shaw

B.C. rentals return possible

Premier David Eby is raising the prospect of rescinding his government’s controversial short-term rental restrictions. That comes as financially...

25.04.2025 4

Castanet

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP’s final election pitch is less about hope, more about survival

The signs are popping up in ridings all around Metro Vancouver and the Island: “BC votes NDP to stop Conservatives.” They are a visible reminder...

24.04.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Poilievre’s B.C. blitz has left other leaders flat-footed

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre returned a third time to British Columbia over the Easter long weekend, as his party executes the final days of a...

23.04.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Summer squeeze forces Eby to reconsider short-term rental restrictions

Premier David Eby is raising the prospect of rescinding his government’s controversial short-term rental restrictions. This comes as financially...

22.04.2025 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Gutted org chart signals deeper B.C. health ministry upheaval

B.C.’s health ministry has undergone a massive shakeup, with seven senior executive positions being eliminated and at least three top officials...

17.04.2025 20

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Rustad wants a pay bump for MLAs. Does he have a point?

Do B.C. politicians need to be paid more? I’ll give you a moment to finish yelling “NO!” at your computer screen. It’s okay. Let it out. This...

16.04.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: New CentreBC party may offer soft landing to the politically homeless

Former BC United MLA Karin Kirkpatrick launched her new CentreBC party with a pretty direct sales pitch to voters: British Columbians deserve a...

15.04.2025 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: TransLink’s future may ride on a vehicle levy for Metro Vancouver

Could vehicle levies be on the way to help fund Metro Vancouver transit? That’s the leading possibility, after the B.C. government revealed Thursday...

12.04.2025 8

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP's $400K health review offers no deadline, no report, no answers

B.C.’s first attempt at cutting costs inside a health authority is proving to be a bewildering affair, with news that the $400,000 boss brought in...

10.04.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP urges Poilievre to do his LNG homework next time

The B.C. government is dismissing a new promise by federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to fast-track Phase 2 of the enormous LNG Canada...

09.04.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Poilievre vows to shutter B.C.’s overdose prevention sites

B.C.’s network of 50 overdose prevention sites would be eliminated under a federal Conservative government, Leader Pierre Poilievre said Sunday, as...

08.04.2025 30

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. finance minister blames the world—credit agencies blame her budget

When B.C.’s finance minister tabled a budget last month with record-breaking deficit and debt levels, she was asked if the sea of red ink drowning...

05.04.2025 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: No pinching pennies in B.C. health care as Ballem bills taxpayers $1.8M

The high-priced consultant the B.C. government has hired to find savings in the health-care system has billed taxpayers almost $1.4 million the past...

03.04.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP's cost-savings plan for health care starts with $400K salary

There’s great irony in government launching a cost-saving review by appointing a new person with an almost $400,000 salary to oversee it. But if...

02.04.2025 20

BIV

Rob Shaw