Conversations That Matter

Ep 557 - State of Downtown Vancouver Guest: Jane Talbot, CEO of Downtown Van By Stuart McNish   “Downtown Vancouver is a unique place!” says Jane Talbot, CEO of Downtown Van. “It’s literally surrounded by water, home to just over 140,000 people, 8,000 businesses and 1,000 storefront businesses, 130,000 people working, the centre of tourist activity, a world of culinary delights and on and on.,” It...

Ep 555 - Decluttering Regulations in Canada Guest: Krystal Wittevrongel By Stuart McNish   Vowing to get Canada moving again is one of prime minister Mark Carney’s promises – a promise he reiterated while introducing his new cabinet. As the economy has taken a jolt from the shifting relationship with the United States, politicians across the country have turned their attention to improving the reg...

Ep 554 - Real Estate Reality Guest: Ryan Berlin, rennie & associates By Stuart McNish   Metro Vancouver’s housing market is dramatically different that it was 12 months ago, when the provincial government stepped in to ensure affordable and ample housing. In a “Conversations Live” panel in March of 2025, Burnaby Mayor Mike Hurley indicated that it didn’t work. In fact, the housing market is no...

Ep 553 - Canada’s Anti-Success Mindset Guest: Diraj Goel By Stuart McNish   “Trump’s economic warfare is hopefully bringing to light how woefully unprepared Canada is as a nation to build wealth independence,” says Diraj Goel, the founder and managing partner of GetFresh Ventures. That may be the silver lining in the unpredictable hostility the President of the United States has directed towards C...

Ep 552 - Conserve 30 percent of BC by 2030 Guest: Andy Day By Stuart McNish   On April 22nd of 1970, Earth Day kicked off what would become an international movement to protect the environment. 55 years later, the winds of change are blowing in the opposite direction. In Canada, political leaders have stepped back from the environment in an effort to win votes.   Andy Day, the CEO of the BC Parks...

Ep 552 - Untapping Canada’s Potential Guest: David Williams By Stuart McNish   The untapped potential of Canada’s natural resource sector is staggering, says David Williams. Williams is the Chief Economist of the Business Council of British Columbia, who has worked in conjunction with business councils in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Collectively, they issued a report called “Untapped Pote...

Ep 551 - Tilting at Windmills Guest: Dan Woynillowicz By Stuart McNish “Tilting at windmills” is an idiom which means “attacking imaginary enemies.” Windmills are, however, real and they have real detractors and attackers – detractors who portray wind turbines as being an environmental blight that produces little power.  There was a modicum of truth to the knock on windmills in the 1980s when thou...

Ep 550 - “We’re all F**ked” Guest: Pamela McDonald By Stuart McNish   “British Columbians and Canadians are losing billions to online investment fraud,” says Pamela McDonald of the British Columbia Securities Commission. The perpetrator of the fraud is artificial intelligence and it’s happening online. McDonald says, “These fraudsters hide behind layers of technology and we can’t get to them. It’s...

Ep 549 - Elections Matter Guest: Kareem Allam   By Stuart McNish   “Pierre Poilievre won 2024,” says Stewart Prest, a political lecturer at UBC’s Political Science Department, “but there wasn’t an election in 2024.” What seemed like a certainty in early December now appears to be a scramble to hold onto a fighting chance. Political strategist Kareem Allam says, “I feel bad for him – the winds of c...

Ep 548 - The Minerals We Need: They’re Critical Guest:    By Stuart McNish “We’re sitting on a gold mine, in reality and figuratively,” says Michael Goehring of the Mining Association of British Columbia. “We’re sitting on it at the most critical time in our relationship with the United States… We’re not mining critical minerals because the permitting process is too long.” It’s a problem on a numb...

Ep 546 - Demolition Crisis Guest: Glyn Lewis    By Stuart McNish   With the British Columbia provincial government’s mandate to increase density by allowing the building of fourplexes on single family lots, we’re going to experience a demolition crisis, says Glyn Lewis of Renewal Development. “From an environmental and economic perspective, demolition is not a wise choice.”    Currently, 2,700 hom...

Ep 545 - Targeting Colorectal Cancer Guest: Thomas O’Shaughnessy   By Stuart McNish   Colorectal cancer –  it’s difficult to treat, it can and often spreads, it kills more than 5,000 Canadians a year (most of them men), and the incidence of it is increasing. The incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing in younger men and “this used to be considered an older person’s affliction," says Thomas O’...

Ep 542 - Can British Columbia be an agricultural superpower? Guest: Lenore Newman   By Stuart McNish   According to the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, “It is estimated that B.C. farmers produce 40% of all foods consumed in the province.” It’s a frightening statistic – one that demonstrates how much food is imported into the province to ensure you can enjoy a healthy number of...

Ep 541 - Indo-Pacific region: Our economic saviour? Guest: Vina Nadjibulla   By Stuart McNish   “In the face of threatened tariffs, shifting security dynamics, and changing domestic priorities, Canadian policymakers and businesses alike need to assess how best to safeguard their interests and manage relations with key Indo-Pacific economies,” says Vina Nadjibulla of the Asia Pacific Foundation.  ...

Ep 540 - Rental Development: Risky Business Beau Jarvis & Kerri Jackson By Stuart McNish   The rental vacancy rate in Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley is tight – less than one per cent, year over year. “That, on its own, puts pressure on the market driving up rental rates,” says Kerri Jackson of Concert Properties. Building new supply is a long and challenging process in a remarkably co...

Ep 538 - Selling Vancouver Jacquie Griffiths By Stuart McNish   “France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Mexico, Singapore, and the United States have successful Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) agencies. Canada can learn from these nations,” states a 2016 Government of Canada report called “Bringing Foreign Investment to Canada.”   The report points out Canada is trailing far behind in efforts to invite forei...

Ep 528 - Mindful Cancer Care Guest: Dr. Linda Carlson   “Your thoughts and feelings could impact hormones and the immune and nervous systems” was  Dr. Linda Carlson’s thesis. Her goal was to confirm that mindfulness could impact and improve cancer care. “Some doctors thought that was all hocus-pocus or new-agey,” says Carlson. A well respected and rigorous researcher, Carlson says, “My approach wa...

Ep 517 - A crisis of indecision in Canada Guest: Gavin Dew   By Stuart McNish   On June 26th, Gavin Dew posted disappointing news on his LinkedIn profile. After four years of planning, fundraising, and negotiation with the City of Abbotsford, the Tech District project was pulling the plug. Dew says, “We couldn’t keep spending time and money without a clear signal from city council that this $5-bil...

Ep - 516 - Weaving Two Worlds Guests: Christy Smith - Michael McPhie   By Stuart McNish   “The key to the Canadian economy is in the hands of First Nations,” says Christy Smith and Michael McPhie in their book, “Weaving Two Worlds,” a guide to economic reconciliation. According to Smith, “The intent of the book is to help First Nations, governments, and companies work together in the development o...

Ep 515 - Electronic Recycling Done Right Mohammad Doostmohammadi    By Stuart McNish   “There are six elements that play a key role in optimizing fuel and chemical production,” says Mohammad Doostmohammdi of pH7. “Without them, green hydrogen, low-carbon steel, biofuels and other climate technologies are not possible.” Those six elements are platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and os...

Ep 514 - Real Estate Lessons from Singapore Guest: Ernst Lang   By Stuart McNish   “We can learn a few things from Singapore,” says Ernst Lang, the founder and CEO of Promerita Group. “Singapore has been getting housing right for many decades. In fact, it has found a way to make most of its housing affordable whilst also protecting the value of privately owned homes.”   According to a report by th...

Ep 513 - British Columbia’s Lacklustre Prosperity Guest: David Williams   By Stuart McNish   According to the 2024 British Columbia Prosperity Index, “BC places 11th out of 21 peer jurisdictions for overall prosperity.” The study was developed with the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, which compares BC’s performance on a range of economic, business, social and environmental indicators.  ...

July 12, 2024 Ep 512 - To the Edge of Death and Back Guest: Paul Dragan   By Stuart McNish Ten years ago on June 10, 2014, Paul Dragan sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee across the street from his business, Reckless Bikes. He took a sip and as he looked up, a heavyset man wearing a bicycle helmet came around the corner, pulled out a gun and shot Paul in the chest. He landed on the ground, blood pou...

Ep 511 - Drug Free Kids Guest: Chantal Vallerand   By Stuart McNish   On Dec 8th, 2022, Jennifer Whiteside was appointed Minister for Mental Health and Addictions. At the time she said, “The Premier has asked me to prioritize accelerating BC’s response to the illicit drug toxicity crisis. The Premier has also asked me to expand new complex care, treatment, recovery, detox and after-care facilities...

Ep 510 - Post-Pandemic Leadership Guest: Ron Bremner   By Stuart McNish   COVID-19 disrupted supply lines and our lives. Now that the lockdowns are over, the lingering impact of the dramatic shifts in the workplace remain. During the pandemic, work from home became the rule. Many employees seized the opportunity and not only thrived, but they moved away – far away, so far that coming into the offi...