Southern spell

The biggest challenge has been understanding the health-care system in the U.S., which is very insurance-driven compared to Canada. A hospital here can refuse to treat a person if it does not accept their insurance. more...

Flying high

The water in Nitinat is extremely cold, so you need to wear a thick wetsuit, plus a helmet, life jacket and harness. But it’s all worth it; a surfer might ride a wave for a few seconds, but on a kiteboard you can go back and forth, back and forth, without stopping. more...

Lane Merrifield

When you join a company like Disney, you’ve got a whole new set of tools at your disposal. One of the things we’re most excited about is international expansion, and this spring we’re going to be launching a dedicated U.K. version of Club Penguin.
It’s now an old story: how the trio of twentysomethings just wanted to build a safe social-networking site their kids could enjoy free of advertising more...

Is bigger worse?

Canada’s economic growth rate is up, and that’s good; Canada’s economic growth rate is down, and that’s bad. Ever since the invention of national accounts in the 1930s, the prevailing world view has been that the higher the gross domestic product, the better off we are as a nation.

Any faltering in the continued increase in this economic measure is perceived as a cause for concern, a threat of a recession and diminished opportunities for citizens. more...

A berth in the majors

Every year hundreds of new B.C. companies start up with a hope of someday building a list of major-league clients. But for many, especially in B.C., that A-list never happens. It’s a small-business province, and many businesses remain stuck on the small-business-client track.

Occasionally, though, a company does break out of this trap and becomes a market leader. One such company is Verrus Mobile Technologies Inc. more...

Trevor Linden

Do hockey players wear a lot of suits?

This is what I wear to work, pretty much. In Vancouver we’ve always worn suits and ties to games and on the road; when we go into an airport or check into a hotel we always have a suit and tie on. That’s pretty much the uniform. more...

Ship shape

Inside the cavernous Richmond Yachts plant off Dyke Road, the smell of fibreglass permeates the air. Along half its width is an unfinished 142-foot yacht, whose sleek superstructure reaches to the ceiling. It is surrounded by a maze of scaffolding.
Fibreglass workers, electricians, plumbers and other tradespeople go purposefully about their work. The sounds of grinders, drills and hammers fill the plant. more...

Corporate climb

When Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) dropped more than a quarter-million dollars to help turn a popular rock-climbing site into a provincial park, the obvious question was: why?
The iconic retailer will surely score some goodwill through the donation, but there are also some less karmic business reasons for this kind of generosity. This may well be a stellar example of just the kind of corporate community involvement more and more companies are struggling to do right. more...

Life after death

Frail bodies move like shadows through the well-worn interior of May’s Place, a six-bed hospice located on the third floor of a nondescript building on Powell Street in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The air is filled with the sound of gentle murmurs, while anxious visitors walk purposefully in and out the front door.
“Today’s a busy day because we have someone who’s actively dying,” explains Micaela Simon. more...

Moving mountains

The internal shakeups at Intrawest ULC may have reached their peak as B.C.’s resort heavyweight announced its third CEO in just over two years.

Long-time CEO and founder Joe Houssian retired in November 2006, shortly after the company was bought by New York-based Fortress Investment Group LLC, a sale that took the company off the stock markets and gave it some deep pockets to draw from to acquire new resorts. more...