Mike Howell
Mike Howell covers Vancouver civic politics for Business in Vancouver, tracking how decisions at city hall and within local institutions shape public safety, elections, neighbourhood economies and major developments. He brings a long-running civic affairs background, having previously reported on municipal issues for the Vancouver Courier before shifting his focus to Business in Vancouver. His work stands out for its close attention to the mechanics of local power and the concrete impact of policy on residents, businesses and city infrastructure.
City hall, elections and the mechanics of local power
Howell devotes significant coverage to Vancouver’s municipal elections and the functioning of council, with pieces that walk through the details of byelections, council vacancies and ballot questions. In an explainer on the April 5 Vancouver byelection, he outlines the field of 13 candidates vying for two vacant seats and highlights advance voting trends and turnout figures. He follows the democratic process through to the numbers, reporting that 2,876 ballots were cast on the first day of advance voting, and noting how that represented a marked increase over a comparable civic race.
He also examines who gets to participate in municipal democracy, dedicating a story to whether permanent residents should be allowed to vote in Vancouver civic elections, foregrounding councillors’ arguments and the policy considerations behind expanding the franchise.
Beyond elections, Howell tracks how elected officials use the ballot as a policy tool. In a Q&A with Mayor Ken Sim, he dissects the decision to add non-binding plebiscite questions on public hard drug use and involuntary care to the municipal election ballot, pressing on both the intent and the criticisms from non-ABC councillors who see the move as electioneering and an expensive gesture. He situates these questions in the city’s longer history of using municipal instruments to tackle persistent social issues, keeping the focus on what specific wording and legal framing could mean for future policy debates.
Policing, oversight and public safety
Policing and accountability are recurring themes in Howell’s coverage, where he follows both operational changes and oversight reform. He reports on a new public database launched by B.C.’s police watchdog to track officer misconduct, relaying the watchdog’s insistence that the goal is transparency rather than shaming and explaining how such a database fits into broader accountability efforts. In another piece, he details the Vancouver police department’s use of technology, noting that officers conducted 1,826 drone flights in 2024 and relaying an officer’s assurances that the program is not intended for intrusive surveillance into private spaces.
His reporting on police infrastructure spending shows the same focus on specifics, as when he highlights that Vancouver police allocated $410,000 for 16 barriers designed to prevent vehicle attacks at major events and outlines how those barriers are slated for use at local gatherings and sports fixtures.
Howell also covers leadership changes within the police service, such as the appointment of Steve Rai as Vancouver’s new police chief, drawing out biographical details and tenure within the department to contextualize the transition. When he turns to city hall, he traces the relationship between municipal politics and public safety, including the mayor’s calls for the federal government to do more on crime and addiction and councillors’ views on infrastructure gaps and housing investment.
By linking council debates, watchdog initiatives and operational policing decisions, his work builds a picture of how public safety policy is negotiated and implemented across institutions.
Neighbourhood economies, Chinatown and city-building projects
A notable strand of Howell’s reporting looks at how major projects and policy choices play out in specific neighbourhoods and business districts.
In his coverage of Chinatown, he reports that local businesses did not see a bump in customers during the FIFA World Cup, quoting merchants who describe a 20 per cent drop in business and pointing to road congestion and diverted traffic as reasons regular customers stayed away. In another story centred on Chinatown Plaza, he follows the city’s search for a new restaurant intended to act as a catalyst for the plaza, examining how municipal intervention is being used to try to revive foot traffic and commercial activity in the area. His work on a large social housing–detox centre project in Vancouver quantifies the scale of city-building investments, noting that the project’s costs have risen to about $200 million and that federal funding includes a substantial loan and contribution package.
Howell extends this focus on development to high-profile proposals and bids. He covers a major “transformational” project proposed by Holborn Group for downtown Vancouver, detailing the planned mix of hotel space, condominiums, rental and social housing, and an Indigenous art gallery across properties that include parts of the Downtown Eastside. He also reports on the Vancouver real estate developer behind a bid to bring Major League Baseball to the city, explaining how civic leaders frame the bid, what level of taxpayer involvement is contemplated, and how council’s role is positioned as backing private proponents to strengthen the city’s chances to land a franchise. His coverage of FortisBC’s Tilbury LNG expansion under a “one project, one review” framework similarly digs into regulatory and federal approval structures, showing how national policy processes intersect with local industrial projects.
Across these pieces, he consistently links the financial structure and governance of large projects to their likely effects on neighbourhoods and local economies.
Reporting format and background
Howell’s reporting relies on clear formats that help readers navigate complex civic issues, including Q&As with key political figures and explainer pieces that set out what voters “need to know” about upcoming elections. He foregrounds direct quotations from officials, experts and community members, often placing them early in his stories to capture the stakes and tone of the debates he is covering.
He consistently incorporates concrete data - such as ballot counts, cost figures, flight numbers and project budgets - to anchor political arguments in measurable facts.
His X profile describes him as a longtime civic affairs reporter who now reports for Business in Vancouver, underlining that he brings deep experience on municipal issues to his current beat. That background, combined with his detailed tracking of council decisions, oversight bodies and development proposals, makes his coverage distinctively focused on how civic power is exercised and felt at street level.
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