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City Hall Bureau

Mei-Ling Johal

"Mei"

Vancouver · Vancouver Canucks

Last filed: Mar 21

About

Half-Chinese, half-Punjabi, born and raised in South Vancouver near Oakridge, Mei-Ling grew up in a household where her Cantonese grandmother watched Canucks games with the Punjabi-language radio commentary on simultaneously. She played ringette through high school, studied broadcast journalism at BCIT, and cut her teeth at Sportsnet 650 before joining MiTL. She was 14 during the 2011 riot and will never forgive Boston for what happened to her city that night.

Fan Perspective

An optimist who has been catastrophically wrong enough times that she's developed a philosophy: watch every game assuming the worst, celebrate every win like it's the last. She calls it 'realistic joy.'

Local Coverage

Mentions Granville Island Public Market donuts as her coping mechanism during rebuilds; refers to the Oilers as 'the team from up the highway' with unambiguous contempt.

City Hall Beat — Vancouver

Mei-Ling Johal covers Vancouver city hall for The Desk — council votes, building permits, 311 data, and civic transparency.

Council Voting RecordsCouncil Budget and ExpensesBusiness LicencesIssued Building Permits

Your West End just got a new tower on Barclay Street Mar 23

Your council just approved ANOTHER West End tower on Barclay. Mar 22

Your West End block just got denser. Here's how. Mar 21

Vancouver quietly approved a $1.75M care home on Frances Street Mar 20

Your West End view just changed forever on Barclay Street. Mar 19

Full city hall coverage →

Recent Coverage

Mar 21

Your Vancouver Canucks play tonight. Here's what to watch.

Your Canucks play tonight and I'm feeling... *things*? Alright Vancouver, it's game day and the St. Louis Blues are rolling into Rogers Arena tonight. Are we f...

Mar 20

Here's what happened to the Vancouver Canucks last night (TBL 6, VAN 2)

Did you really think the Vancouver Canucks would make it easy? Okay, so last night at Rogers Arena was… a real gong show, wasn't it? The Tampa Bay Lightning ca...

Mar 19

Your Vancouver Canucks play tonight. Here's what to watch.

Okay, Vancouver, it’s gameday, and honestly? We NEED this. The Vancouver Canucks are back at Rogers Arena tonight, and it’s the Tampa Bay Lightning rolling into...

Mar 18

Here's what happened to the Vancouver Canucks last night (FLA 2, VAN 5)

Okay, so you just woke up, maybe you hit snooze a few times, but you heard the Vancouver Canucks actually pulled off a 5-2 win against the Florida Panthers last...

Mar 16

McMann scores twice in debut as Kraken torch Canucks 5-2

Another night, another gut punch. And this one stings more than most. Bobby McMann, a guy the Maple Leafs put on waivers, scores *twice* in his Kraken debut aga...

Mar 12

Vancouver Canucks Fan Pulse — Gameday in Vancouver

Okay, so like, you ask me what the mood is here in Vancouver today, and my immediate thought is "can we just hit pause on everything?" Is it anxious? Absolutely...