ICBA C&C #12: Union Boss Shenanigans Derail Public Hearing

She'd never set foot in Vancouver. She called into a Vancouver public hearing from Los Angeles anyway. Council asked her one real question. Six seconds of silence. Then a cough.

Episode 12 of ICBA Coffee & Construction — the news that matters to the people who build British Columbia and Alberta, with ICBA's Jordan Bateman. On today's show:

☕ THE BIG ONE: A union machine hijacks Vancouver city hall — California callers who'd never been to Vancouver, AI-written scripts, "translators" who didn't speak the language, and a hotel union president defending it all. Real Vancouver families waited until 1 a.m. for their five minutes. Mayor Sim wants a Vancouver Charter fix — will David Eby move on it?

🖥️ The data centre race: New York slaps a one-year moratorium on hyperscale data centres, the federal NDP wants Canada to copy it — and Alberta scoops up 92% of everything planned in this country. Vancouver? Come back in 2027.

🏠 CMHC's mid-year forecast: housing starts keep falling, with B.C. and Ontario condos wearing the worst of it. What that means for framing crews, excavators and every builder's 2027

🌉 Charlottetown wrap: tariffs bite August 19, "everything is on the table" — and Carney gets caught in his own spin on the Gordie Howe Bridge deal

📊 Get the ICBA Economics briefing — the most helpful email you'll get all week: https://icba.ca/economics

Read more on today's stories:

Dan Fumano on Vancouver council going off the rails: https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/ai-slop-californians-and-fivancouver-council-really-goes-off-the-rails

The California callers and Sim's letter to Eby: https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/unite-here-local-40-vancouver-city-council-public-hearing-interference

New York's data centre moratorium: https://thehub.ca/2026/07/20/new-york-halts-new-hyperscale-data-centres-as-federal-ndp-pushes-for-canadian-moratorium/

CMHC's 2026 mid-year Housing Market Outlook: https://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/media-newsroom/news-releases/2026/economic-uncertainty-continue-weighing-housing-market-cmhc

Carney on the Gordie Howe Bridge deal: https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-says-should-have-been-clearer-bridge-deal-us-9.7281520

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ICBA is Canada's largest construction association — the voice of B.C. and Alberta's open-shop builders: https://icba.ca

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