Serving as your Vancouver City Councillor has been one of the greatest honours of my life. In this short video, I share why I’m running again, what we’ve accomplished together over the past four years, and why I believe we can’t afford to lose the momentum we’ve built.… pic.twitter.com/rAwUEgtwgL
— Mike Klassen 麥嘉信 🇨🇦 (@MikeKlassen) July 28, 2026
Since 2004, Vancouver City Councillor Mike Klassen has acted in the role as webmaster of VanRamblings, the blog he created, commencing work over the holiday Christmas season in 2003, VanRamblings making its — perhaps inauspicious (but celebrated by the two of us) — début, on February 15, 2004.
“Raymond, you need a website,” Mike told me. “You have a voice that needs to be heard. You are one of the most opinionated people I know, and your opinions deserve a wider audience than just my ears, and the ears of your close associates. In the coming weeks, I will create a blog for you, in order that you might emerge as the difference maker you have long been over your many years working within Vancouver’s vibrant left community.”
And thus, VanRamblings was born.
I first met Mike Klassen in 1991 through my friend, legendary Vancouver broadcaster J.B. Shayne, at J.B.’s request having Mike tag along with J.B. and I to restaurants my editor asked me to review that week — at the time, I was a Vancouver restaurant critic, each week writing a restaurant review for the long gone, but hardly lamented east side community newspaper, The Highland Echo, as well as other publications.
Mike lived nearby my housing co-op in west Kitsilano, where he resided in a shared house just inside the eastern border of the Point Grey neighbourhood.
Mike Klassen and I have remained close ever since.
I know Mike Klassen to be one of the most honourable, kind, and most dedicated friend to the citizens of Vancouver people I have ever met. There is not a mean bone in Mike’s entire body; he simply won’t allow meanness and malice to be a part of his life. Ever.
That’s not who he is, nor has ever been, or will be.
Daniel Fontaine and Mike Klassen, creators of the well-read and respected CityCaucus online journal
I recall in 2009. when Mike had published a thoughtful story in CityCaucus, an invaluable and critically important online journalism, Mike and his friend Daniel Fontaine — currently a New Westminster City Councillor running to become Mayor of that city — had created to cover civic politics in Vancouver.
Unlike VanRamblings, which has not made comments on the site available for some time, CityCaucus was wide open to commentary from its many readers.
Mike had published a story about the Vancouver Park Board. I commented on the site in response to the Park Board story in a manner that was, in a word and not to put too fine a point on the matter, “mean“, as I engaged in a form of character assassination respecting one of the Park Board Commissioners.
Soon after I submitted the comment, I received a call from Mike.
“Raymond, I’ve received your comment on the Park Board story I published a few minutes ago. To be perfectly frank, I find your comment to be untoward, malicious and mean-spirited, and I am simply not going to publish your comment on CityCaucus. I don’t mean to cause you offense, but vituperative commentary is not what CityCaucus is about, not now, not ever.”
That ought to tell you a great deal about the integrity of the man Mike Klassen.
For those who don’t know, Mike Klassen — at my request — in 2008 created former COPE City Councillor Tim Louis’ first website, a campaign blog.
At the time, Ifny LaChance, Tim, Tim’s partner Penny Parry, and I were co-managing Tim’s 2008 campaign for office. I felt Tim needed a website. At no financial cost to Tim or I, Mike set about to create a pretty skookum campaign website for Tim that I could post to throughout the campaign.
The four of us were all grateful for Mike’s fine work.
Vancouver City Hall | Photo credit, Mike Klassen (photo taken by Mike after a long day at Council)
I can tell you that this term of office, although satisfying for Mike in many ways, has not been an easy term of office, emotionally, for the good Councillor.
Early in his term of office, Mike chaired the Selection Committee that appointed all of the members of the 33 advisory committees to Council, working closely with Councillors Lisa Dominato and Pete Fry; in addition, again working with Councillor Dominato, Mike and Lisa focused on creating more child care spaces across more child care centres — centres he and Lisa prioritized and fought for, creating more child care spaces in Vancouver during this past term of office than all previous civic administrations this century.
Still, Mike perseveres, unsung, doing the work of the people each and every day.
One morning, a couple of years back, when Mike was under constant — unwarranted, undeserved, and pejorative — attack by a particularly vocal group of ABC Vancouver opponents, as well as a couple of opposition Councillors, I spoke with Mike. I could hear the frustration and the hurt in his voice when we spoke.
That morning, Mike was ready to call it a day.
I asked Mike what his agenda looked like that day, what he would set about to accomplish, an achievement that would be unlikely to receive press or recognition, but was meaningful to him. After a brief pause, Mike said …
“Awhile back, I met with an organic food producer in the Fraser Valley, and together we worked to create a programme wherein each week he would deliver organic produce to Theodora Lamb, and the Quest Non-Profit Grocery Market, both the Hastings Market and the Dundas Market, at no charge to the markets.”
I’m willing to bet you’ve never heard about this Mike Klassen-initiated programme that makes such a difference to the quality of life of so many families, and so many children growing up on Vancouver’s east side.
But that’s City Councillor Mike Klassen for you — the best man I know.
