Monday Morning News Round-Up: The Housing Bubble, What's On Parliament's Agenda, Fossil Fun, B.C. Mayor Summit, and the U.K.-Canada Embassy BFF Agreemnt

Some attention-grabbing Canadian headlines.

Canada’s Housing Bubble Is Bursting—and This Time We Mean It!  Canadian Business on why, this time, Canadians really should worry about the housing bubble:

People have been predicting a crash in Vancouver for years, of course. What’s different now is the growing number of trends suggesting its imminence. The poor global economy is souring foreign investors’ appetite for expensive property overseas. The federal government, meanwhile, is trying to tame the market by tightening mortgage lending standards and warning the public at every opportunity that Vancouver is a risky city for buying real estate. Interest rates are still low, but the Bank of Canada keeps promising to raise them, which would quickly lower affordability. All of which leads David Madani, an economist with Capital Economics, to conclude: “The Vancouver market has cracked.”

Vancouver won’t be the only one. The next market to crack will be Toronto, starting with the city’s overheated condo segment. Overall sales of existing homes were down by 12.4% this August over last, and condo sales have fallen by double digits for three months in a row. The pre-construction condo sector is also weakening, with sales down 21% in the second quarter. Overbuilding is a major concern: a record 52,695 units are currently under construction, with another 35,000 in the pipeline, a rate that economists say is well ahead of demographic trends in the region. Investors also play a big role in the Toronto condo market, raising concerns that waves of them will try to cash out at the same time.

The Talk of Ottawa this Week (and Beyond).  The Hill Times lays out the Parliamentary schedule in brief here.  Items on notice:  house committees will meet to elect their chairs, some criminal law debates, and the Senate talks conflict of interest and Canadian language rights in the Facebook-era.   To get the low-down on this parliamentary session’s ‘hot topics,’ read the Library of Parliament’s 41^st Parliament Current and Emerging Issues.

Fossil Fun.  A group of scientists exploring the world-renown, fossil-filled Burgess Shale preserves in Canada's Rookies has found a new bevy of fossils! For fossil lovers, this is big news:  the newly discovered site might be the most important ‘fossil find’ in the last three decades, reports the Calgary Herald.

BC Mayors Talk ‘Tax Fatigue’ (and Marijuana Decriminalization) at Victoria Meet-Up.  Mayors from British Columbia (B.C.), drained for cash but swamped with federal demands to provide public services, are gathering today at the Union of B.C. Municipalities convention, reports the Vancouver Sun.  This isn’t just a group therapy session:  the mayors will be sharing ideas on how to prioritize public services, and get more bang for their buck (along with some less heady topics--scroll down for more.  From the Vancouver Sun's report:

“Spending has gone up for local governments over the past 10 years but predominantly because the province and federal governments are asking more of local governments through policies or regulations,” Moore said. “It affects everything from core utilities to police services.”

The convention comes on the heels of a business taxation report that suggests provincial and federal government decisions have had negative financial implications for local government.

The report by an expert panel also suggests the province doesn’t have any more money to dole out, Moore said. But he takes heart in a recommendation that the province work with municipalities to find alternate forms of funding to provide services.

“We really feel there hasn’t been a lot of cooperation,” he said.

Learn more about the Convention—whose annual theme is In Conversation—at the Convention’s website.  Right now, the Convention is likely wrapping up its Marijuana Decriminalization debate (assuming a bit of real-time lag-time from the published schedule available here). 

Canada and the United Kingdom Become Embassy BBFs.  In a cost-cutting and diplomacy-maximizing move, Yahoo! News Canada reports that the U.K. and Canada will agree today to sharing one another’s embassies in nations where one nation has an embassy and the other does not.  But not everyone is thrilled with the move.  From yesterday’s Globe and Mail:

Paul Heinbecker, the former Canadian ambassador to Germany and permanent representative of Canada to the United Nations in New York, warned that the relationship with a former colonial power in many parts of Asia and Africa could be a net negative.

“We have an incompatible brand with the U.K.,” said Mr. Heinbecker, citing past disagreements, including Canada’s support for sanctions to fight apartheid in South Africa, and Britain’s reluctance to get involved in Bosnia militarily.

The agreement, according to sources, will include not just sharing real estate, but working together in other areas – representing civilians abroad, providing passports and visas, and dealing with emergencies such as revolutions, disasters and evacuations. The two countries will not share diplomatic representation, sources said – so British diplomats would not present Canadian views to foreign governments, or vice versa.

Morning News Round-Up

A roundup of attention-grabbing Canada-focused headlines:

Want to Solve America's Problems?  Vote Canada.  The BBC reports on a Canadian comedy team’s new book,  America But Better:  The Canada Party Manifesto.

B.C. Premier Steps In It, And Enjoys a Session-Free Fall.  B.C. Premier Christy Clark says Victoria is steeped in a “sick culture” with “no real people.”  Predictably, she’s grabbing headlines—especially since the Premier is not having a fall sitting of B.C.’s parliament, and there's that provincial election next May.

Understanding Canada’s Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair.  John Geddes offers a lengthy and fascinating portrait of NDP leader Thomas Mulcair raise to power and worldview in Macleans.  Here’s a particularly relevant snippet:

By his own account in an interview with Maclean's, backed up by the observations of some who have worked closely with him, Mulcair’s upbringing in such a large, tightly knit, complex household remains the template for his important relationships. Aides and allies say he maintains unusually close contact with family and old friends, cultivating an intensely personal network and leaning on time-tested loyalties more than most top politicians. While he is no longer an observant churchgoer, Mulcair’s brand of left-leaning politics flows directly out of his home province’s distinctive and deep well of progressive Catholicism—a powerful influence on seminal Quebec politicians of the past, including Pierre Trudeau. As for Mulcair’s Irishness, Graham Carpenter, an old family friend and long-time aide, alludes to his “Irish world view,” and not jokingly, as an explanation for Mulcair’s storied scrappiness and more. “There’s mystique to it,” Carpenter says, “that’s for sure.”

Canada’s Health System and Graying Population.  The Ottawa Citizen explores why the graying of Canada’s population hasn’t derailed the healthcare system of the Champlain district.

Rock the Canadian Rockies this Summer.  The Calgary Herald reports on Banff National Park’s preparations for its annual foliage tourist rush.

PQ Officially Take the Reins of Government in Quebec. Yesterday was the first day of Parti Quebecois (PQ) government in Quebec.  CTVNews reports on the PQ cabinet’s photo-op, and explores just who is holding the reins of Quebec government.  Of particular focus:  Alexandre Cloutier’s appointment to the newly created minister for sovereigntist government. 

U.S. Solider Avoiding Iraq War Service in Canada is Ordered Out By Day’s End.  Kimberly Rivera, a war resister who’s been in Canada since 2007, is told to leave Canada because she won’t face “punishment, torture, or loss of life if deported.”  (Source:  iPolitics)

Gamer-Free Vancouver?  Canadian Business reports on why the Vancouver’s video-game industry is moving east.  Why?  Two drivers:  Ontario’s lower cost of living and tax incentives. 

Vancouver Finally Pipes Down Over Bagpipe Ban

By Justin McNeil 
Senior Editor

Buskers go bust in Vancouver? Senior Editor Justin McNeil—showing off his own cultural heritage and bagpipe love—provides a glimpse into Vancouver’s cultural politics. 

Buskers march on Vancouver? No, not really, but they make their voices heard after the city attempts to ban bagpipes. [Photo of Stirling 2006 Highland Games in Scotland] 

Vancouver, bowing to local and international outrage, repealed a ban on bagpipes that it put into place last week. The bagpipe ban, put forward by the engineering department of British Columbia’s largest city as a measure to reduce street noise, had applied to the playing of bagpipes, bongos, and other percussion instruments. 

Backlash to the ban was swift. Local pipers spoke up loudly, fueling a protest that ultimately forced the city’s hand in reversing its decision. This put Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, one of the 5 million Canadians with Scottish ancestors—and who even sported a kilt at his latest swearing in ceremony—in the awkward position of supporting a ban on an essential part of his own cultural heritage. When first asked for his reaction to the ban by local media he responded:

Buskers play a very important role in making Vancouver’s streets lively and dynamic, particularly in our vibrant downtown. We do however have to monitor noise complaints and ensure that music from our streets isn’t excessively disruptive to neighbouring residences or workplaces. I’ve asked city staff to review this issue; Council won’t support an outright ban on specific instruments. My first reaction is that a complete ban on bagpipes and percussion instruments across the city is ridiculous and culturally insensitive. The clans won’t stand for it!

The Mayor now clarifies the City’s current position on his own website, where his influence has contributed to the lifting of the ban. But the Mayor makes clear that while he does not support any prohibition on specific instruments, the City will continue to gather noise level readings and monitor complaints regarding instrument noise.

Now, in the Mayor’s defense, an acquired degree of tolerance is certainly necessary when bagpipes blare in the wee morning hours. I learned this all too well during a summer in Stirling, Scotland, where pipe bands from all over the world in town for the nearby Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo would begin practice sessions at 7 a.m. on the lawn outside my room.

But, I have to agree with the head of the British Columbia Pipers’ Association and my namesake, Rob MacNeil, that an outright ban crossed the line and discounted the entertainment and cultural value proper piping can provide. Though initially shortsighted, Vancouver should be commended for ultimately recognizing the importance of the role that pipes play in many Canadians’ Scottish cultural identity and their expression thereof. Scotland has also voiced its official approval of the ban being lifted, after its Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs, Fiona Hyslop, received a personal assurance from Mayor Robertson that the ban had been lifted. Fittingly, Ms. Hyslop was in Vancouver during these events for Scotland Week 2012, a set of weeklong engagements in major North American cities to promote Scotland.

Then again, Vancouver seems to have a particular penchant for peculiar bylaws. Hopefully, noise-related bylaws won’t come to emulate Vancouver’s seemingly convoluted traffic and parking ordinances, which a fellow blogger hilariously shares in this 2011 blog post. In the meantime though, buskers don’t fret: your euphonious blasting will undoubtedly ring in British Columbia’s 2012 Highland Games and Scottish festival this June.