Last month, Port Alberni's city council ordered the demolition of a pub and hotel in the heart of the city's tiny downtown. Beyond the business, the Port Hotel's 28 residential units also provided low-barrier housing to some of the community's hardest-to-house residents. The town has grappled with conditions in the Port Hotel since at least 2020, when city council first considered a report filled with pictures of the building's deficiencies and the man behind the numbered company that owns the property promised to do better. Things came to a head this year when renewed complaints culminated in the discovery of asbestos inside the building's walls and the evacuation of the remaining tenants. A lawyer for owner Peter Wang made a last-ditch appeal to stave off demolition, but councillors wouldn't budge, meaning destruction is now imminent. As he argued for more time, the lawyer claimed Wang had been subject to a kind of corporate identity theft — replaced overnight as director of his company by a woman who took over all correspondence with the city and demanded rent from tenants under threat of eviction. Left unsaid was that the woman and Wang were former business associates found liable in B.C. Supreme Court earlier this year for a scheme that "preyed" on the wishes of Chinese citizens hoping to fast-track immigration to Canada through investments in B.C. businesses. 'A 2-sided investment' As CBC has learned, their legal battles provide insight into the fate of the Port Pub and Hotel, as well as pubs in Nanaimo and Gabriola Island — and a cemetery in Saskatchewan. The situation raises questions both about the responsibility of investors in low-barrier housing and the duty government has to ensure those properties are well maintained. Chairs and tables sit abandoned inside the Port Pub and Hotel. The building was closed after the discovery of asbestos in the walls and is now slated for demolition. (Jason Proctor/CBC) "I don't have a housing department. And we don't own residential housing. We don't have a housing commission or anything like that, or a housing authority," said Mike Fox, Port Alberni's chief administrative officer. "And if we did, we would be upheld to a different standard than some owners of private facilities." The Port Pub and Hotel is situated a stone's throw from Port Alberni's waterfront quay, up a wide main street that also hosts city hall, the Salvation Army, a hopping Mexican restaurant and the busy Wildflower bakeshop and café. Tanice Mast works, lives and operates her store — Tenacious Heart Studio — one block up on the opposite side of the street. The deterioration of the condemned hotel and pub is a sore point. An empty lot next door housed what she jokingly calls "the bike shop" — a place to move stolen bikes and bike parts. Then there's the spillover of drug use, garbage and human waste that finds its way onto the street. Mast says the building is a constant source of complaints to bylaw officials, police and fire officers. She could say the same for many of Port Alberni's other empty or seemingly abandoned buildings. "I'm completely baffled by the attitudes I've seen of some of these building owners because it would never cross my mind to let something go to such waste. And — even further than waste — to start contaminating the areas around it," she said. "If you've invested in a property, that should be a two-sided investment. Where you get the benefits of having such an investment, but then your neighbours should also be enjoying benefits of having that owned by responsible individuals." 'The subject of a fraud' A report to council in January detailed the city's history with the Port Pub and Hotel dating back to 2020 when council agreed to "refrain from considering enforcement measures so long as significant and appropriate progress" was made fixing bylaw and fire code violations. Despite that promise, the property had Port Alberni's highest police, fire and bylaw call volume. The most concerning violations were under the fire code: "emergency doors not working as intended, tied open or barricaded with garbage piled at the bottom of the fire escape." Graffiti a block up from the Port Pub and Hotel calls for the Port pub to be saved. The building is slated for demolition. (Jason Proctor/CBC) "There is significant garbage accumulating inside of the structure, often extending out into the alley, sidewalk and fire exits, obstructing egress," the report said. "Communal washrooms are out of service, missing doors off of units, padlocks on the outside of doors, exposed wires, drug paraphernalia, rats, interior ceilings, walls and doors are full of holes, leaking water, missing drywall and black mould is visible throughout the top and bottom floors." In a plea for clemency before council in July, Wang's lawyer — Micah Goldberg — said while "some of these issues are structural, a significant number are not." "There are no easy solutions to several of these issues, the effects of which are related to the psychological condition of the tenants," he wrote in a brief submitted to council, which cited "the ongoing mental health crisis the province is experiencing." Goldberg told councillors his client was taking remedial steps to repair the property by installing smoke alarms and carbon dioxide detectors, fixing escape doors and sending a safety plan to the fire department. But he said those efforts were interrupted when the B.C. Online account belonging to the numbered company through which Wang owns the hotel and pub was compromised and the names and addresses of the directors were changed. "It was essentially the subject of a fraud that it has only recently been able to rectify," Goldberg told the councillors. "When my client retained contractors to enter into the property, they were restricted by the individual we believe was responsible for the fraud, who sent those individuals away. That same individual was responsible for attempting to collect as much rent as possible." Railways and cemeteries In a lawsuit filed earlier this year to regain Wang's control of the numbered company, Goldberg names the "individual" he spoke about in Port Alberni as Qian Fan — also known as Sophie Fan. As recently as February, Fan and Wang were co-defendants in a B.C. Supreme Court ruling won by Chinese citizens who claimed the former business associates promised to help them find a path to citizenship through investment in B.C. businesses. A judge found that investors were 'induced' to purchase Gabriola Island's Skol Pub in a deal that saw Peter Wang installed as the pub's manager. (Google Maps) "The defendants preyed upon the plaintiffs' wish to immigrate to Canada with a scheme designed to use investment funds for their own purpose and with no apparent intention of actually assisting the plaintiffs' immigration efforts," wrote Justice Nathan Smith. "The targets of this scheme were made vulnerable by their lack of knowledge of English or of Canadian immigration rules and requirements." In reaching a final judgment, Smith untangled a dizzying array of corporate ownership to explain how one investor — a Chinese railway magnate — came to believe he might establish a mini-railway on protected property in Squamish's agricultural land reserve. The judge found another investor — the former owner of a Bible Park in China — likely provided funds to buy a share of a cemetery in Moose Jaw. And he said that both investors were "induced" to purchase Gabriola's Skol Pub in a deal that saw Wang installed as the pub's manager. "During the time Mr. Wang claims to have been managing the pub, he had also agreed to manage a restaurant in Chemainus and a pub in Nanaimo for other clients while giving an undertaking to the government of Saskatchewan to be the full-time manager of a cemetery that was being purchased in that province," Smith wrote. In a "note on credibility," the judge said he rejected both Fan and Wang's evidence "where it conflicts with any other evidence." "I found their evidence at trial to have generally been contrived, concocted and fabricated with an intention to mislead the court," the judge said in a later proceeding to assess special costs. "This pervasive untruthfulness amounts to reprehensible conduct." 'I was so naive' Fan has not responded to the lawsuit filed to wrest back control of the numbered company that owns the Port Pub and Hotel, but in an email to the city presented to council, she claimed a share in the founding corporate ownership. She also accused Wang of creating "a situation in which the burden of the property will be dumped on someone else, including the financial and legal burdens to come." The Port Pub and Hotel has been boarded up since the discovery of asbestos in the walls. Port Alberni's city council has ordered the structure demolished over the objections of its owner. (Jason Proctor/CBC) The lawsuit against Fan claims at least $300,000 in penalties from the city as well as the cost of "repairing the extensive damage to the Port Alberni property and the costs of appealing the Port Alberni orders" to demolish the building. In a telephone interview with CBC, Fan claimed she "established" the numbered company that came to own the Port Pub and Hotel — but said she only found out last January the corporate shell actually owned physical property. The single mother says she doesn't have the money to respond to the lawsuit. She says she accepts the judgment in the case where she and Wang were co-defendants, but does not agree with the judge's assessment of her actions. "I was so naive," she said. "The customers, they trust me.... They thought I won't cheat them, and I did not cheat them, but the result is so bad." Fan says she is supported by relatives and makes what little extra she earns buying items at thrift stores that she sells online. "My life was destroyed," she said. Wang did not respond to an email from CBC asking for comment. Goldberg said the request had been sent to a different legal firm responsible for handling matters concerned with the pub and hotel. 'The economic basis' In addition to a "practical" and "moral" basis for keeping the Port Hotel and Pub standing, Goldberg also laid out "the economic basis." The property was assessed at $1.16 million last year, the bulk of which — $936,000 was attributed to the value of the building. A photograph considered by Port Alberni council in January highlights a missing smoke detector in one of the Port Pub and Hotel's hallways. The building is slated for demolition. (Port Alberni city council) Goldberg estimated the cost of remediation at nearly $628,000 — on top of the $300,000 in penalties owed the city. "The value of the property is based almost entirely in its structure, not the land. If the structure is demolished, 105 (the company) will not have sufficient equity to pay for the demolition and penalties." he wrote in a submission to council. "In addition, 105 prefers to collect the rents that would flow from the remediation rather than the demolition, which would almost certainly be followed by a sale." B.C. Housing says the agency didn't provide any funding to the private owners of the Port Hotel and Pub but assisted the building's 39 residents in finding housing on two hours' notice after the discovery of the asbestos. In background provided to CBC, the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction said, "The department provides funds for shelter/rent for clients, but it is up to our clients to decide where they live." Following the lawyer's presentation, Port Alberni city Coun. Debbie Haggard said she appreciated Wang's legal difficulties. "But I don't feel that's an excuse to let the property deteriorate as badly as it has and to become in such a state that the tenants had to be evicted for safety and health reasons," she said. "And all this time, your client has been collecting rent from the tenants that have lived in this property." Goldberg said he couldn't provide "ironclad guarantee assurances" his client wouldn't face challenges in the future associated with providing low-barrier housing. He cited the legal problems, saying, "While it's true my client was in receipt of some rents that were being provided by the government, other rents, we understand, may have been redirected to someone else." 'They don't care' As she cast her vote for demolition, Coun. Cindy Solda said the city has faced similar situations with other dilapidated buildings. In fact, the fate of another chronic problem building was considered at the same 2020 meeting where the Port Pub and Hotel's troubles were raised. Former owner — Martin Chambers — spoke to council via video. Chambers, who died in 2022, spent nearly 13 years in a U.S. prison for laundering money for a Colombian drug cartel. But he didn't mention that in his presentation. A photograph taken inside the Port Hotel and Pub demonstrates combustible storage on the third floor. The image was part of a package considered by city councillors. (Port Alberni City Council) "People who own buildings are not necessarily living in Port Alberni, and they don't care," Solda said. "That really bothers me. I don't think anybody should have to live in conditions like the people that lived in the Port Pub. The city has been knocking on the door, saying, 'You need to fix it, you need to fix it.' We have not heard anything, and so my faith is gone." Mast thinks demolishing the building is an "important precedent to set because it gives the neighbourhood the tools to take these buildings on and demand pretty reasonable standards for the building owners to follow." She says housing in Port Alberni is expensive, and rentals are hard to find. She can understand why property draws investors — but says owners need to be held accountable to the people who pay the rent. Especially if the money ultimately comes from government. "Where money is being funnelled from government directly to property owners, I think there should definitely be presence," she says. "You get what you inspect. You can't just assume these places are good places to live or safe places to live. So I think the government's responsibility in that is to ensure that wherever they're spending money, deserves that money."President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a “political resolution” to the issue. The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk. “President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act’s deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case,” said Trump’s amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump’s choice for solicitor general. The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table. Trump has also reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the app during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger voters, especially male voters, by pushing content that was often macho and aimed at going viral. He said earlier this year that he still believed there were national security risks with TikTok, but that he opposed banning it. This month, Trump met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The filings Friday come ahead of oral arguments scheduled for Jan. 10 on whether the law, which requires TikTok to divest from its China-based parent company or face a ban, unlawfully restricts speech in violation of the First Amendment. Earlier this month, a panel of three federal judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld the statute , leading TikTok to appeal the case to the Supreme Court. The brief from Trump said he opposes banning TikTok at this junction and “seeks the ability to resolve the issues at hand through political means once he takes office.” In their brief to the Supreme Court on Friday, attorneys for TikTok and its parent company ByteDance argued the federal appeals court erred in its ruling and based its decision on “alleged ‘risks’ that China could exercise control” over TikTok’s U.S. platform by pressuring its foreign affiliates. The Biden administration has argued in court that TikTok poses a national security risk due to its connections to China. Officials say Chinese authorities can compel ByteDance to hand over information on TikTok’s U.S. patrons or use the platform to spread or suppress information. But the government “concedes that it has no evidence China has ever attempted to do so,” TikTok’s legal filing said, adding that the U.S. fears are predicated on future risks. In its filing Friday, the Biden administration said because TikTok “is integrated with ByteDance and relies on its propriety engine developed and maintained in China,” its corporate structure carries with it risk.
Ruud van Nistelrooy admits he was “hurt” at having to leave Manchester United last month. Van Nistelrooy returned to Old Trafford as Erik ten Hag’s assistant in the summer and had a four-game interim spell in charge following his compatriot’s sacking in October. He left the club in the wake of Ruben Amorim’s appointment but was only out of work for two weeks after being appointed Leicester’s new manager on a deal until 2027. The 48-year-old had a glittering playing career with United and was disappointed his return had to end so soon. “The moment I took over the interim job what I said was I’m here to help United and to stay to help United, and I meant it,” he said. “So I was disappointed, yeah, very much so, and it hurt I had to leave. “The only job I would take as an assistant was at United because of the bond that I have with the people in the club and the fans. “But in the end I got my head around it because I also understand the new manager. I’m in football long enough, and I’ve managed myself, that you can think of a situation, me being there, I understand. “I spoke to Ruben about it, fair enough to him, the conversation was grateful, man to man, person to person, manager to manager, and that helped a lot to move on and straightaway get into talks with new possibilities which of course lifted my spirits.” The Dutchman takes on a difficult job at the King Power Stadium as he is tasked with keeping Leicester in the Premier League. He inherits an influential dressing room, which has seen a number of managers come and go over the last few years. Van Nistelrooy revealed he has done his due diligence and also let the players know as well. “It’s the only way you can work. It’s mutual respect. I also mentioned to the players yesterday that I looked at the squad and started to make phone calls about players, because in football everyone knows everyone,” he said. “With two or three phone calls you hear stories about 20 players and for me it was important that you hear there are good characters there. That’s important, that there are good people there. “I look at the players how they play. I obviously don’t know them but I got general information and the individuals that they are a good bunch of people. That was important for me to get in.”Police look to identify 3 suspects in shooting investigation, arrest 4th suspectSelfridges is selling Kate Middleton and Prince William baubles for £40 eachJonah Goldberg Among elites across the ideological spectrum, there's one point of unifying agreement: Americans are bitterly divided. What if that's wrong? What if elites are the ones who are bitterly divided while most Americans are fairly unified? History rarely lines up perfectly with the calendar (the "sixties" didn't really start until the decade was almost over). But politically, the 21st century neatly began in 2000, when the election ended in a tie and the color coding of electoral maps became enshrined as a kind of permanent tribal color war of "red vs. blue." Elite understanding of politics has been stuck in this framework ever since. Politicians and voters have leaned into this alleged political reality, making it seem all the more real in the process. I loathe the phrase "perception is reality," but in politics it has the reifying power of self-fulfilling prophecy. Like rival noble families in medieval Europe, elites have been vying for power and dominance on the arrogant assumption that their subjects share their concern for who rules rather than what the rulers can deliver. Political cartoonists from across country draw up something special for the holiday In 2018, the group More in Common published a massive report on the "hidden tribes" of American politics. The wealthiest and whitest groups were "devoted conservatives" (6%) and "progressive activists" (8%). These tribes dominate the media, the parties and higher education, and they dictate the competing narratives of red vs. blue, particularly on cable news and social media. Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of Americans resided in, or were adjacent to, the "exhausted majority." These people, however, "have no narrative," as David Brooks wrote at the time. "They have no coherent philosophic worldview to organize their thinking and compel action." Lacking a narrative might seem like a very postmodern problem, but in a postmodern elite culture, postmodern problems are real problems. It's worth noting that red vs. blue America didn't emerge ex nihilo. The 1990s were a time when the economy and government seemed to be working, at home and abroad. As a result, elites leaned into the narcissism of small differences to gain political and cultural advantage. They remain obsessed with competing, often apocalyptic, narratives. That leaves out most Americans. The gladiatorial combatants of cable news, editorial pages and academia, and their superfan spectators, can afford these fights. Members of the exhausted majority are more interested in mere competence. I think that's the hidden unity elites are missing. This is why we keep throwing incumbent parties out of power: They get elected promising competence but get derailed -- or seduced -- by fan service to, or trolling of, the elites who dominate the national conversation. There's a difference between competence and expertise. One of the most profound political changes in recent years has been the separation of notions of credentialed expertise from real-world competence. This isn't a new theme in American life, but the pandemic and the lurch toward identity politics amplified distrust of experts in unprecedented ways. This is a particular problem for the left because it is far more invested in credentialism than the right. Indeed, some progressives are suddenly realizing they invested too much in the authority of experts and too little in the ability of experts to provide what people want from government, such as affordable housing, decent education and low crime. The New York Times' Ezra Klein says he's tired of defending the authority of government institutions. Rather, "I want them to work." One of the reasons progressives find Trump so offensive is his absolute inability to speak the language of expertise -- which is full of coded elite shibboleths. But Trump veritably shouts the language of competence. I don't mean he is actually competent at governing. But he is effectively blunt about calling leaders, experts and elites -- of both parties -- stupid, ineffective, weak and incompetent. He lost in 2020 because voters didn't believe he was actually good at governing. He won in 2024 because the exhausted majority concluded the Biden administration was bad at it. Nostalgia for the low-inflation pre-pandemic economy was enough to convince voters that Trumpian drama is the tolerable price to pay for a good economy. About 3 out of 4 Americans who experienced "severe hardship" because of inflation voted for Trump. The genius of Trump's most effective ad -- "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you" -- was that it was simultaneously culture-war red meat and an argument that Harris was more concerned about boutique elite concerns than everyday ones. If Trump can actually deliver competent government, he could make the Republican Party the majority party for a generation. For myriad reasons, that's an if so big it's visible from space. But the opportunity is there -- and has been there all along. Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch: thedispatch.com . Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!
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Apparently, having six Super Bowl rings as a head coach, along with two as a defensive coordinator no longer moves the needle in the NFL. Having one of the greatest defensive minds in the sport doesn’t mean what it used to when filling a coaching vacancy. Why else would Bill Belichick , who was in the process of finalizing a deal to become the head coach at the University of North Carolina Wednesday, flee to college? Twenty-four years ago, Robert Kraft surrendered a first-round pick to the New York Jets to make Belichick his head coach. That’s how much he thought of Belichick. Most people thought the Patriots owner was nuts for doing that. But he had the last laugh. Today? Forget a draft pick, Belichick’s not even worth a phone call from NFL types. What’s up with that Chicago? He’s exactly what the Bears need. They need a coach who knows how to coach, and who won’t let the clock run out before kicking a game-tying field goal. And what about Jacksonville, who is expected to dump Doug Pederson at season’s end? The Jags have underachieved. They were expected to be a playoff team. Instead, they’re in the mix for the first overall pick. How does Belichick, who is friends with owner Shahid Khan, no longer have appeal? He’d make that defense one of the NFL’s best, and bring along Josh McDaniels to make Trevor Lawrence and that offense great again. Then, there’s Jerry Jones. He supposedly likes Belichick, too. And yet, the Cowboys still have Mike McCarthy in the saddle. Didn’t Jones hire Bill Parcells to bail out one of his losing teams? Why not have the Hoodie do the same? What about New York, where Brian Daboll is hanging on by a thread? Belichick worships the Mara family. He holds a special place in his heart for his time as an assistant with the Giants. He was part of two championships there with Parcells. Isn’t the feeling mutual? Apparently not - across the board. The pro teams aren’t bullish on Belichick , arguably the GOAT of NFL coaches. “I can’t believe that a guy with his reputation, and the things he can do coaching-wise, people (in the NFL) should be jumping at the opportunity to give him a job,” Patriots Hall of Famer Rodney Harrison told MassLive Wednesday. It didn’t happen. When the former Patriots head coach put his hat in the ring for UNC, and that became public, why wouldn’t one of those NFL teams with an opening, or an expected opening, whisper in the Hoodie’s ear to hold on? Don’t settle for UNC so fast? The answer has a few layers. Age, baggage and power are all in the anti-Belichick mix. Why would an NFL team blow up its coaching staff and organization for a 72-year-old - Belichick turns 73 in April - who might only coach a couple more years? The feeling is Belichick - who needs 15 more wins to surpass Don Shula’s all-time record for wins (playoffs included) would retire once he achieves that, or soon thereafter. Baggage? Wherever Belichick goes, he’s going to bring along his people. Whether its on the coaching staff (McDaniels, Matt Patricia, Joe Judge) or front office (Matt Groh, Michael Lombardi?), Belichick will understandably, want his friends alongside. There were reports out of Carolina that Belichick wanted assurances that his son Steve would succeed him at UNC. Not sure about the validity of those reports, but Belichick’s reputation - employing both of his sons in Foxborough - makes it seem plausible. In Atlanta, Arthur Blank’s front office types reportedly helped talk the owner out of hiring Belichick. While there have been claims that Belichick doesn’t need to run the show, it’s hard imagining that. He grew to have total control in New England. It’s hard giving back power. That has to be a deal breaker in the NFL, especially given Belichick’s recent history with free agency and the draft. Neither is good. Respective GMs looking for head coaches are all in self-preservation mode. Given all of the above, hiring an old, control freak - albeit a great coach - wasn’t worth the trouble. But are all these issues non-negotiable? Couldn’t a compromise have been worked out on the issue of control? It sure seems like none of the NFL teams tried, or perhaps Belichick is too stubborn to relinquish control of any operation. UNC, meanwhile, was enamored by Belichick’s star power, and his plan for resurrecting the program - he reportedly submitted a 400-page bible on how to win. Even though Belichick has zero experience coaching at the college level, or dealing with the transfer portal, recruiting and the NIL, his handling of the draft and free agency was close enough to suit the powers that be at Chapel Hill. At first, the thought of Belichick coaching at the college level seemed more like a joke. Now it’s a reality. There are those - including Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski - who voiced their belief that Belichick won’t be able to stand it coaching college kids, and all that comes with it. That might prove to be the case. But just like all the naysayers doubting Kraft’s move more than two decades ago, it’s never a good idea to bet against Belichick, no matter his age. He can still teach, and coach. And that’s half the battle. “He’s ultimately a coach, and that’s what he wants to do,” said Harrison, who won two Super Bowls with Belichick. “If he can impact some of these kids lives given the opportunity, hey, why not?” Why not, indeed. More Patriots ContentZscaler Reports First Quarter Fiscal 2025 Financial Results
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