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Rob Shaw

Rob Shaw

Vancouver Sun

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Rob Shaw: B.C. mired in partisan politics as Trump tariffs loom

The political debate in British Columbia over how to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threat continues to reach new lows, just at the...

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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...

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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...

28.01.2025 7

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 to...

12.12.2024 6

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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

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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

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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

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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 how...

02.12.2024 10

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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 top-shelf...

28.11.2024 10

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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 Trump’s...

27.11.2024 8

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Rob Shaw: GST exemption delivers raw deal for British Columbians

Too bad British Columbia doesn’t have a Harmonized Sales Tax. That’s not a sentence you’ll hear said very often in this province, given the...

25.11.2024 2

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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 there,...

22.11.2024 2

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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

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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 “the...

18.11.2024 8

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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 to...

15.11.2024 10

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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

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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

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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

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Rob Shaw: Elections BC's blunders demand multi-party path forward

One day after revealing hundreds of votes in the B.C. election had been misplaced or miscounted, the province’s chief electoral officer held an...

06.11.2024 3

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Rob Shaw: Eby should be worried why mudslinging missed the mark in B.C. election

Why did a BC NDP election campaign overwhelmingly focused on attacking the character of the BC Conservatives fail to prevent a blue wave that came...

04.11.2024 5

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Rob Shaw: Surrey's shift puts Eby's political recovery to the test

The BC NDP is seeking to reverse its Surrey slump after losing ground in the most important electoral region in the province. Premier David Eby...

01.11.2024 3

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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

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Rob Shaw: BC NDP tossed a lifeline after glimpsing political demise

Imagine attending your own funeral when suddenly —  miraculously and inexplicably — you jolt back upright amongst the living. That’s a bit like...

29.10.2024 3

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Rob Shaw: Furstenau shows her cards, shutting down Rustad’s slim-majority hopes

BC Conservative Leader John Rustad better hope he can flip at least two ridings in the weekend recount to get his shot at a slim majority...

25.10.2024 4

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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

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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 as...

21.10.2024 5

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Rob Shaw: Chip Wilson's cartoon villain antics fuel NDP's final election sprint

If BC New Democrats win Saturday’s election, they’ll need to send Chip Wilson a thank-you card and some sort of edible flower arrangement. The...

18.10.2024 4

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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

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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

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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

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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 leader...

09.10.2024 4

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 first...

27.09.2024 4

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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 4

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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

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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 5

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