1. Is it time to leave Vancouver?
The Affordability Crisis was our Newsmaker of the Year, so it's not surprising our most-read story for 2015 is an opinion column written by Jessica Barrett that went viral. Barrett wondered whether it was time to leave the city — an inner debate many precariously employed millennials may be having given the outrageous price of real estate and the difficulty many renters have finding a reasonably priced suite. The popular hashtag #donthave1million also emerged this year, leaving one to wonder what Vancouver will look like in a decade.
2. Soapbox: Saying 'No' to TransLink is the new Canadian Way
This opinion piece written by Ryan McCleery landed in second place. McCleery argued people should vote 'No' in the transit referendum, which asked for a 0.5 per cent tax hike to help pay for a 10-year, $7.5-billion transportation and transit plan designed to ease congestion. It turns out a lot of Metro Vancouverites took his suggestion — 61.68 per cent voted No, while 38.32 per cent voted Yes. The vote was much closer in Vancouver, with 50.81 against the plan and 49.19 per cent in favour of it. "Government institutions continue to self-endorse their very own vacation and retirement packages, far exceeding the private sector. Then, when these institutions get financially jammed, they simply ask for more," he wrote.
3. Election 2015: Guide to Vancouver federal candidates
Those of you worried people aren't interested in the news anymore and that they prefer to watch lighthearted cat videos online, will be heartened to learn that our federal election guide garnered enough views to earn a top-three finish on our most-read list. The popular guide offered summaries of candidates running in Vancouver's six federal election ridings. Ultimately, Vancouver turned red, following the national trend that swept the Liberals into power with a majority government under our now Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Liberal Jody Wilson-Raybould was elected in Vancouver-Granville, Vancouver-Centre went to Liberal incumbent Hedy Fry, NDPer Jenny Kwan captured Vancouver-East, Don Davies of the NDP was re-elected in Vancouver-Kingsway, as was Liberal Joyce Murray in Vancouver-Quadra, while Liberal Harjit Sajjan won Vancouver-South. Wilson-Raybould and Sajjan earned cabinet posts in the new government.
4. Syrian refugee finds hope in Vancouver
Pacific Spirit columnist Pat Johnson's engaging piece on Syrian refugee Issa Alwadi, 23, who arrived in Vancouver in late November, proved extremely popular on our site and earned a lot of supportive comments on social media. "I would like to have a normal life. I would like to have a job, I would like to work, I would like to eat, I would like to send my kids to school," Alwadi said. The article was the first of a two part-series on Syrian refugees and Vancouverites of all religions mobilizing to welcome them. The second piece was entitled 'Churches inundated with offers to help Syrian refugees.'
5. Online dater takes ‘dudes’ to task
Cheryl Rossi’s story about Hannah Maté’s experiences dating online took fifth place. Not surprisingly the piece struck a chord with readers. Maté has received so many introductory messages from men about her body, sex and ripping her apart for saying she was hoping to meet a man who identified as a feminist or a feminist ally, that she was losing interest in meeting someone, Rossi wrote. Ultimately, Mate started a blog, Hey Sup Girl?: Celebrating the Real S*** Dudes say Online Dating, before moving it to the Tumblr platform.
6. Pass It To Bulis: Canucks take unnecessary risk exposing Frank Corrado to waivers
The Courier signed popular and irreverent hockey bloggers Daniel Wagner and Harrison Mooney to write about the Canucks this season. Wagner’s post from early October earned sixth position on our Top 10 list. “It’s great to see the Canucks following through on their commitment to giving younger players like [Ben] Hutton, Jake Virtanen, and Jared McCann an opportunity to make the team based on merit. The only issue: they didn’t need to put Frank Corrado on waivers at all.”
7. Queen Elizabeth Park zipline takes off
Photographer Rebecca Blissett’s photo story on the highflying attraction took seventh spot. The zipline had its critics, but it also attracted a lot of interested from visitors who were more than happy to shell out some cash to take a ride on the 600-foot-long zipline, which reached 100 feet up at its highest point. It was also very profitable for the Vancouver Park Board.
8. Spy in the living room: can you trust the Xbox Kinect?
Former Courier editor Barry Link, who’s now producing podcasts for Glacier Media, wrote this story back in March of 2014, but it’s still attracting a lot of clicks. Interestingly, it was the Courier’s third most-read story last year. Looks like we’re a paranoid bunch.
9. Vancouver Community College sues Save on Meats owner
This story by Business in Vancouver reporter Jen. St Denis grabbed readers’ attention. The report focused on a lawsuit filed Sept. 11 in which Vancouver Community College alleged among other things that the owner of the well-known social enterprise in the Downtown Eastside misappropriated all or part of $300,000 the college contributed to a kitchen-training project. [Business in Vancouver and the Vancouver Courier are both owned by Glacier Media]
10. Christy Clark government gets goofier by the day
The final spot on our Top 10 list goes to long-time Courier columnist Allen Garr for his opinion piece on the B.C. Liberal government. His wrote: “The goofiness — and I’m trying to restrain myself — of Christy Clark’s Liberal government is making itself increasingly apparent. Let me refer to the latest examples.” Read all about it here.
