Thursday, October 24, 2024

Carole Taylor's Journal - B.C.'s Housing Conundrum- October 3, 2024


Last month I sat down with Carole Taylor to discuss the provincial government's Bills 44 and 47 and the City of Vancouver's Broadway Plan. As noted above, 

Carole is a woman of substance who walks with the giants she interviews.Perhaps one of Canada’s most admired women, Carole was a broadcasting pioneer long before she was elected as an independent Vancouver City Councillor. 

The challenge chronicling Carole’s career is the depth and breadth of it. Chancellor of two Universities, Simon Fraser and the U of T's Victoria College, Chair of the Vancouver Board of Trade, Chair of the Port of Vancouver, Chair of CBC, yes, THE Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Board member to numerous organizations.

Not to mention her time as the Minister of Finance for the Province of British Columbia. During her term she ushered in North America’s first carbon tax and in doing so set a model that has been studied and emulated in multiple jurisdictions on earth.

Oh, and let’s not forget to mention that she is a member of the Order of Canada and the Order of British Columbia who enjoys a robust glass of wine at a picnic dinner.

I have known of Carole since my university days in Toronto, but only met her in person in 1974 shortly after arriving in Vancouver with CMHC. I got to know her a bit better when I was put in charge of CMHC's involvement with the South Shore False Creek redevelopment and then Mayor Art Phillips and Carole changed the public perception of the community by announcing they were moving in to a townhouse in the development above the corner store.

Years later, Carole and Art purchased a penthouse at Bayshore where for ten years I was the Development Manager on behalf of the AOKI Corporation. I also had discussions with her during the time she served on Vancouver City Council, and was Board Chair of the Port during the competition to select a developer for the Vancouver Trade and Convention Centre Expansion, for which I was the provincial government's project manager.

Carole had her start in television and is exceptionally good at it. Which is why in recent years she has hosted two excellent programs undertaken in partnership with Stu McNish of Oh Boy Productions. One is BC Legends  https://www.bclegends.ca/ 

The other is Carole Taylor's Journal https://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca/


Here is a link to our interview. https://www.caroletaylorsjournal.ca/episodes/013-michael-geller-bc-housing-conundrum  Thanks Carole for providing me an opportunity to share my thoughts. I know that many watch your show since they called to tell me what an excellent interviewer you are!

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