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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw

Vancouver Sun

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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...

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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...

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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...

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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 3

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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 3

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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 10

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 4

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 4

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Fixes to Eby's controversial tariff bill don't go far enough, say business leaders

Premier David Eby’s decision to back down on the most contentious clause of his anti-tariff legislation has deflated what was a crisis situation...

01.04.2025 5

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby's power grab collapses under mounting pressure

Premier David Eby backed down on his controversial anti-tariff legislation Friday, after a chorus of critics, including two former premiers, an...

30.03.2025 30

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. business leaders push back against NDP’s power grab

Pressure is rising on the BC NDP government to separate its move to eliminate interprovincial trade barriers from a contentious bill that seeks to...

26.03.2025 10

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP weighs changes amid backlash to Eby’s emergency powers bill

Stung by criticism that its new tariff response legislation is undemocratic, the BC NDP government is considering changes to try and bolster flagging...

25.03.2025 20

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Mo Money, Mo Massey, Mo Problems for BC NDP

Did the B.C. NDP government turn down hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding to help pay for its new George Massey tunnel replacement?...

23.03.2025 10

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC Conservatives slam Eby’s ‘dictatorial’ emergency powers

Opposition BC Conservatives are swinging for the fences over the NDP government’s new emergency tariff legislation, saying it makes Premier David...

20.03.2025 6

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: NDP defends BC Hydro rate hikes while sidelining regulator

The B.C. government’s communications shop tried to frame the province’s new electricity rate increases as “in response to the economic and trade...

19.03.2025 5

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Carbon tax is dead, but B.C.'s budget mess is just beginning

The consumer carbon tax may be dead politically, after Prime Minister Mark Carney eliminated the federal version last week. But the financial fallout...

18.03.2025 20

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby pushes 'sweeping' economic powers to fight tariffs

Premier David Eby has for months been using wartime imagery to describe the threat of American tariffs, calling it “declaration of economic war”...

16.03.2025 30

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby's carbon tax flip-flop collides with political reality

British Columbia does not want to increase the price of the carbon tax on April 1, and has unsuccessfully researched ways to try and get out of the...

12.03.2025 10

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Rustad's Conservatives at a crossroads as culture wars erupt

Watching the BC Conservatives in action the past few months, it’s clear there are two competing movements inside that party: Those that want to do...

11.03.2025 20

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby plays patriot as Rustad struggles to control Conservative chaos

What a difference a week makes in provincial politics. BC Conservative Leader John Rustad started on a high after a strong endorsement at his...

08.03.2025 10

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Blaming Trump won’t fix B.C.’s budget mess

Premier David Eby was running late from his hotel on budget day, and trying to grab some eggs from the continental breakfast, when an older woman at a...

06.03.2025 6

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Hiring freeze? Not for BC NDP insiders

B.C. Finance Minister Brenda Bailey continues to point to a government “hiring freeze” as one of the ways the province is saving money to protect...

05.03.2025 5

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. bracing for one of its weirdest, wildest budgets in history

B.C.’s provincial budget is shaping up to have three broad takeaways: A big new record-setting deficit, large pots of unallocated cash to respond to...

04.03.2025 7

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: While Eby fixates on Trump, B.C. struggles with a health-care crisis

The BC NDP government started and ended the week preoccupied by the looming tariff threat from U.S. President Donald Trump. But it was the moments...

01.03.2025 10

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: David Eby's green goals at odds with his plan to fast-track B.C. mines

27.02.2025 10

National Post

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC Conservatives learn how not to handle a Trump controversy

There’s an old saying about politics that rookie BC Conservatives might want to brush up on: “If you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Five...

27.02.2025 10

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. ships dirty American coal but NDP scoffs at leveraging it

On paper, it sounds like something a BC NDP government would support: A financial penalty against dirty American coal being shipped across the border...

26.02.2025 7

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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Delta health-care crisis reveals cracks in province's housing push

Anger and fear rippled through Delta, Ladner and Tsawwassen over the weekend after a doctor shortage led to the closure of Delta Hospital’s...

25.02.2025 20

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Rob Shaw