Try to imagine what your life would be like if you didn't have complete access to your bank account. Let's say that Parliament passed a new law preventing you from withdrawing more than $250 per week, regardless of how much money you owned. Would you still be able to cover your car payments, your mortgage, or even buy enough food for your family?

Members of Tourism Vancouver will hold an extraordinary general meeting on December 6 at the Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina to vote on major governance changes. The board has recommended reducing the number of directors from 31 to 15. If the changes are approved, the City of Vancouver will no longer appoint a city councillor to the board, and the president and CEO, Rick Antonson, will cease to be a director.

Author Peter C. Newman has claimed that Conrad Black's wife, journalist Barbara Amiel, was a "catalyst" that partly explains why the former publishing tycoon "blew himself out of the water" and ended up in the sights of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Besieged former newspaper tycoon Conrad Black hasn't hesitated in the past to file libel suits against his critics. Simply Googling the phrases "Conrad Black" along with "libel chill" brings up three pages of references, though they don't all refer to his court actions.

A Studio City, California, entrepreneur says he wants to build a $350-million ethanol plant in the Lower Mainland. On July 14, Paul J. Finestone, president and CEO of Ecology Energy, told a Greater Vancouver Regional District committee that the project would convert wood cellulose into ethanol using a "gassification process".

A small Vancouver company has contacted the provincial Environmental Assessment Office about developing a $276-million geothermal power project. Craig Aspinall, spokesperson for Meager Creek Development Corp., told the Straight that if the project is built, it will be Canada's first commercial geothermal power project.

Some left-wing commentators say there is very little difference between the federal Conservatives and the federal Liberals on economic issues.

The Greater Vancouver Regional District has reported that vehicle ownership continues rising faster than the rate of population growth in the region.

The president and CEO of Concert Properties, David Podmore, has told the Straight that he and company chairman Jack Poole will personally pay most of the company's political donations to the B.C. Liberal party in 2003.

A major petroleum retailer, Imperial Oil Ltd., has filed a petition in B.C. Supreme Court to try to force the City of Vancouver to award a development permit for a new gas station at 4064 Fraser Street.

The head of the B.C. Liberal government's Progress Board has made progress of his own in stemming his company's first-quarter losses.

Great Canadian Gaming Corp. has claimed that the recent defeat of the Richmond/Airport/ Vancouver Rapid Transit project will not cause any serious problems for the company's most ambitious development.

A major bond-rating agency has warned that rapidly rising regional debt could lower the credit rating of the Municipal Finance Authority of B.C.

The CEO of a large Canadian energy company says the production of natural gas has already peaked in North America. Gwyn Morgan, CEO of Calgary-based EnCana Corporation, made the comment following an April 7 speech to the Vancouver Board of Trade.