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: BC Greens ghosted by their own MLAs

Who wants to be the leader of the BC Green Party? Anyone? ... Anyone at all? It’s a question now rippling through B.C. politics, after Green leader...

yesterday 1

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP left tiptoeing as Vancouver mayor redraws DTES playbook

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon spent the weekend tut-tutting Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim’s new plan to halt construction of supportive housing, arguing...

tuesday 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. labour talks escalate as trade threats, record deficit test NDP

The province is broke, Americans have started a trade war, and now B.C.’s public sector unions are hinting at a whole lot of labour strife on the...

25.01.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Diversifying B.C. trade too late for tariff storm after past NDP misfires

It starts with Kentucky bourbon, spreads to peanut butter, and is accompanied by a splash of orange juice. The Canadian response to Donald Trump’s...

23.01.2025 30

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Trump threats jolt listless NDP from post-election stupor

When Premier David Eby took the stage last week to announce the United States had declared “economic war” on the province, something remarkable...

21.01.2025 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby leaves B.C. families famished for relief as trade war looms

Premier David Eby backed away from a marquee promise of his election campaign Thursday, parking a $1,000 grocery rebate for British Columbians in the...

19.01.2025 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Severance system needs reset after obscene $279K payout to Eby's top aide

How did Premier David Eby’s chief of staff Matt Smith land an extraordinary severance package that paid him one day’s compensation for every two...

10.01.2025 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Vancouver court case exposes cracks in B.C.’s approach to fast-tracking housing

B.C.’s housing minister is vowing to continue forcing local approval of new housing projects, even after a surprising loss in the province’s top...

04.01.2025 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: 2024 redefined the rules of B.C. politics

Even by B.C.’s traditional standards for wild and wacky politics, 2024 was an extraordinarily bizarre year. In just a few months, the province saw...

24.12.2024 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C. housing minister's threats put municipal autonomy to the test

Does the weakened BC NDP government really want to go to war with municipalities over housing? It’s a question worth watching in the tiny...

21.12.2024 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby’s rosy economic claims crumble under grim fiscal reality

It was hard to find any numbers worth bragging about in Finance Minister Brenda Bailey’s latest economic update Tuesday. The economy? Showing signs...

19.12.2024 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC Greens settle for small wins that keep Eby in driver's seat

The BC NDP don’t need the Greens to govern, and they showed as much in their new co-operative agreement. It’s a deal that gives the Greens little...

17.12.2024 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby cautiously steps onto Trump's trade war tightrope

The B.C. government is willing to participate in retaliatory measures against the United States if president-elect Donald Trump follows through on...

14.12.2024 8

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Don't blame B.C. businesses for being skeptical over Eby's 'reset'

Premier David Eby is promising what he calls a “reset” in his relationship with B.C.’s business community, including a government hiring freeze...

12.12.2024 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Leaked letter exposes internal rifts in rookie Conservative caucus

The leak of a letter in which a group of BC Conservative MLAs targeted one of their own colleagues and challenged their leader is yet another...

10.12.2024 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby racing to tackle street disorder amid public exasperation

Premier David Eby says a plan to implement involuntary care for those with severe mental health and addictions issues will be ready to launch soon,...

06.12.2024 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Conservatives step in as Eby government dodges business leaders

Ever since it was barely re-elected, the BC NDP government has promised a renewed focus on growing the economy, creating jobs and generating new...

04.12.2024 9

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Police support crumbles for B.C.’s decriminalization experiment

British Columbia police chiefs have pulled their support for the province’s decriminalization project — a move that serves to underscore just...

02.12.2024 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Holiday cheer on hold—Eby's $1K relief cheques won't arrive for months

If you were hoping to spend your shiny new $1,000 “Eby-bate” during the holidays, maybe to load up on Christmas presents for the kids, or...

28.11.2024 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby confronts Trump tariff threats with wishful thinking

Surrounded by a friendly labour audience in Vancouver on Tuesday, Premier David Eby talked tough in the face of U.S. president-elect Donald...

27.11.2024 8

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C.'s Ministry of Air pulls a vanishing act on addiction crisis

Perhaps it was fitting that the “Ministry of Air” disappeared from B.C.’s political scene with barely a whiff this week. One moment it was...

22.11.2024 2

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby plays best hand with limited deck for new cabinet

Premier David Eby unveiled a far weaker cabinet Monday than the one he carried into last election. But with some smart ministry re-organizations,...

19.11.2024 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: New B.C. government focused on Eby’s same old playbook

Premier David Eby is hoping the third time’s the charm as he refocuses his new cabinet in his barely re-elected government onto what he calls...

18.11.2024 8

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP cabinet will be left hanging as Eby courts Greens

When Premier David Eby swears in his new cabinet on Monday, the new ministers won’t be issued the usual mandate letters. Instead, they’ll have...

15.11.2024 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Horgan's path from 'Angry John' to 'Happy Warrior' shaped rise as premier

John Horgan didn’t really want to be premier. And maybe that’s why he was such a good one. Only a guy who turned down the job of party leader...

13.11.2024 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP's massive rebate promise deserves debate, not a cabinet order

With the BC NDP landslide victory now confirmed at 22 votes, step one for the robust new majority government is simple: Get the cash it promised in...

12.11.2024 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Can Eby fill the cabinet void left by wave of departing ministers?

Premier David Eby has begun the earliest stages of crafting his next cabinet, after a week of one-on-one phone calls with MLAs. It’s not going to...

08.11.2024 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Conservatives had everything it took to form a majority. Why didn't they?

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad was reflective when asked this week how he could have gotten his party over the finish line to a 47-seat...

31.10.2024 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby shows humility but internal party spin tells a different story

The first hint of the first whiff of humility crept into the voice of Premier David Eby on Tuesday, as he was peppered by reporters to account for...

23.10.2024 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: David Eby lost this election, even though the BC NDP won

BC NDP leader David Eby suffered a grim and sobering victory in Saturday’s election. He remains premier. He will likely still get to govern—for...

21.10.2024 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC Conservatives' costed platform offers vague vision, missing math

The long wait for the BC Conservative’s costed election platform ended Tuesday with a document so vague it will be hard for even the voters who...

16.10.2024 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby faces tough sell enticing Green voters to NDP

After treating the BC Greens as an afterthought for most of the election, NDP Leader David Eby took the gloves off Sunday, urging Green voters to...

15.10.2024 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Rustad stands firm after latest candidate controversy engulfs Conservatives

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad is approaching the finish line of the B.C. election the same way he started: On the defensive over stupid,...

11.10.2024 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Rustad's cadaverous debate performance may be enough to stall surging Conservatives

John Rustad had the most to win in the TV leaders’ debate — a solid, likeable, measured performance could have helped the BC Conservative...

09.10.2024 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: The BC NDP should withdraw their court challenge of Elections BC

Of the many surprising moves made so far in the 2024 B.C. election, one of the most perplexing has been the BC NDP’s decision to haul the...

08.10.2024 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: The BC NDP is missing the mark on connecting with voters

Premier John Rustad. Just let the words sit there for a second. Cast your eyes over them. If you can, try saying them out loud. What had been an...

04.10.2024 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: B.C.'s campaign trail is littered with policy U-turns

On paper it’s called the 43rd Provincial General Election of British Columbia. But at this point, we might as well just call it the Flip-Flop...

02.10.2024 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Campaign tax cuts continue with proposed ‘Eby-bate’ income relief

BC NDP leader David Eby unveiled a big-time, middle-class tax cut Sunday, to try and staunch the momentum of the rival BC Conservatives, as the...

01.10.2024 4

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: On housing affordability, BC Conservatives and NDP offer two very different solutions

The “Rustad Rebate” versus the Eby 60/40 mortgage split. Voters were presented two hugely different proposals on housing affordability in the...

27.09.2024 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Health cuts, drug dens and tolls. How false claims lead B.C. election campaign

The first few days of the B.C. election campaign and if you’re a voter trying to navigate what is true and what isn’t — well, good luck. An...

25.09.2024 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Rustad pledges to close B.C.'s overdose prevention sites

BC Conservative leader John Rustad had been building for months to his announcement Sunday that he’d close B.C. safe injection sites and replace...

23.09.2024 30

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby steadies bumpy pre-campaign with mortgage relief promise

After a couple of rocky pivots on the carbon tax and involuntary care, BC NDP Leader David Eby landed back on solid footing Thursday with the...

20.09.2024 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Polls predict major B.C. election clash as independents stir the pot

You don’t need a poll to tell you B.C.’s election is going to be a close, hard-fought, brutal affair. But there was one for you to read anyway...

18.09.2024 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP's third try at involuntary care may shape election stakes

Premier David Eby unveiled his plan Sunday to place the most severely addicted, brain-damaged, street-entrenched people into involuntary long-term...

16.09.2024 6

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Carbon tax switcheroo reveals Eby's wavering principles

What happens when a political leader spends 20 months fiercely defending a policy, accuses anyone opposed to it as living “in a baloney...

13.09.2024 5

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: BC NDP invokes American culture wars to stir abortion debate

BC NDP Leader David Eby tried to use the looming shadow of the U.S. presidential debate Tuesday to link Donald Trump and BC Conservative Leader...

11.09.2024 20

BIV

Rob Shaw

Always racing at the speed of a greyhound, Eby ready for election dash

Before he starts a near 12-hour Saturday of campaign events, Premier David Eby sits at his dining room table and watches his two-month-old daughter...

10.09.2024 10

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Rustad faces long tightrope walk over political landmines

There was no hiding the smile on BC Conservative Leader John Rustad’s face as he worked his way through a jammed community hall in mid-Vancouver...

09.09.2024 3

BIV

Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw: Eby comes up snake eyes after rolling the dice on fixed election date

Premier David Eby expressed extreme frustration more than a year ago when he was repeatedly asked if he was going to call an early election. “I...

06.09.2024 7

BIV

Rob Shaw

Don't call it luck. John Rustad riding the waves of seismic shift in B.C. politics

Every time John Rustad leaves his house — which is often, because Rustad has one of the busiest travel schedules of any politician, anywhere in...

05.09.2024 4

BIV

Rob Shaw