After years of fighting to escape a gag order, the BC Civil Liberties Association published a huge collection of documents which they say reveal that the Canadian Security Intelligence Service had been illegally spying on environmental advocates and Indigenous groups opposing the now-defunct Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline. It’s reasonable to expect that CSIS would be... Continue Reading

Over the last five years or so, online platforms have introduced an inescapable, almost surreal level of uncertainty to political discussion. The advertising engines that drive Facebook’s and Google’s business models thrive on user engagement, and the more clicks an article receives or the more commenters a discussion involves, the more money is made through... Continue Reading

Asking a partner or potential partner about when they were last tested for sexually transmitted infections can be intimidating, especially if you don’t know each other well. People can get defensive when you pop the question, or grumpy when you interrupt them right when things are getting hot and heavy. Sometimes it feels like the... Continue Reading

Echo-immersed screams, hard-hitting guitar leads, and stylistic nuance makes RAG one of the more interesting names to emerge from Vancouver’s underground this summer. Formed by guitarist Mila Krajina and drummer Nigel Young—recently joined by bassist Joshua Jiho Silickas—the project marks a creative departure for three of the city’s seasoned rock musicians, all of whom are... Continue Reading

It is illegal in this country for companies to decide to pay employees less money because of their age, gender, ethnicity, orientation, or other identity-based grounds. This is enshrined in the Canadian Human Rights Act and is also addressed in the Canada Labour Code. Responsible companies take great pains to avoid violating these rules, ostensibly... Continue Reading

Strange Breed finds strength in how they fit into this city—even if, at times, they don’t feel like they fit in at all. “We’re always a little bit different on every bill. We’re either the heavy band of the night or the soft band of the night, or we’re the band that sounds too much... Continue Reading

The scariest and most profound moments of my life as a young professional have been when I’ve had to face myself and admit that I have no idea what I’m doing. There are few feelings more heart-stopping than having your money, time, and pride on the line for a project you’re not sure is going... Continue Reading

Politicians make dishonest statements all the time. It benefits them to bend or deny the truth in order to gain or consolidate power by, say, protecting wealthy and reliable donors—like we’ve seen with SNC Lavalin—or by ignoring scientific evidence and expert opinions on climate change or the price of gas. It’s up to voters to... Continue Reading

At the heart of art pop group Only a Visitor, listeners will find sentimental storytelling that looks to the past for meaning. Known for its uplifting three-part harmonies sung by composer Robyn Jacob and vocalists Emma Postl and Celina Kurz, the project has always been a symptom of Jacob’s self-exploration, both as an artist and... Continue Reading

Late last month, U.S. President Donald Trump declared that the United States considers the Golan Heights—a region of Syria that was annexed by Israel during the Six-Day War—to be part of Israeli territory. This makes the United States the only country in the world that currently recognizes the area as “Israeli.” By all accounts, Trump... Continue Reading

The day that we KPU Music students and faculty members had been waiting for in fear, dread, and determination arrived at the end of March. The KPU Board of Directors voted to pass the university’s budget plan for 2019/2020, which would scale back our program and prevent us from taking in new transfer or first... Continue Reading

Jeff Cancade didn’t come out until he was in his mid-twenties, but as soon as he did, the rest of his life started to change. After moving to Vancouver from Montreal, he was experiencing life as an openly gay man for the first time when he started Devours, a pseudo-goth, synth-heavy electronic project that occupies... Continue Reading

I’ve been asked many times to explain exactly what life in the town of Mission is like and, as a local, I can very confidently say that I don’t really know. Mission exists on what can only be described as an alternate plane of reality, where the most peculiar and curious events seem to become... Continue Reading

Tensions are running high in the once idyllic hillside communities of West Vancouver and North Vancouver. Residents are fighting over the introduction of a consolidated bus route between Phibbs Exchange and Dundarave planned as part of TransLink’s strategy for increasing the transit capacity throughout Metro Vancouver. The debate has become so heated that councillors have... Continue Reading