Hands across the border: Inside the U.S. Consulate garden party in Vancouver
A pleasant occasion, without talk of tariffs, 51st state or FIFA lifting Folarin Balogun’s red card ban.
The United States Consulate in Vancouver hosted its annual garden party. Just a little later than usual.
It was two days after the last FIFA World Cup match at B.C. Place Stadium, five days after the Fourth of July and eight days after Canada Day.
But the notable numbers on July 9 were: 250 (for years of American Independence), 165 (years since the U.S. consulate opened in B.C.) and 159 (years since Canadian Confederation).
WATCH: anthems and speeches
Ambassador Pete Hoekstra, the Dutch-born, Michigan Republican appointed by Donald Trump in 2025, was the guest of honour.
B.C.’s Lt. Gov. Wendy Cocchia and NDP Minister of Transportation and Transit Mike Farnworth joined him at the 1911-built Shaughnessy residence of Consul-General Shawn Crowley (previously Hoekstra’s chief of mission at the embassy in Netherlands from 2016 to 2018).
Politicians (Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, School Board Chair Victoria Jung, various NDP and Conservative MLAs, a Conservative MP and even Carney Liberals Taleeb Noormohamed and Parm Bains), business executives and academics (Vancouver Anti-Corruption Institute’s Peter German) chatted among the greenery. Washington State’s 133rd Army National Guard Jazz Combo played the tunes, including both national anthems.
WATCH: Ambassador Pete Hoekstra’s speech
Guests’ elbows went up (and down) with sips of California wine and KFC chicken fingers. They were greeted earlier by a display of Harley Davidsons, just around the corner from a banner acknowledging sponsors of the Trump White House’s Freedom 250 semiquincentennial organization — including CN, Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, McCain and Telus.
On the back porch, which doubled as a stage, there was no talk of tariffs, 51st state or FIFA lifting Folarin Balogun’s red card ban.
Only pleasantries about cross-border friendship, with cursory mentions about the recent ups and downs of that friendship.
Hoekstra did joke about bootlegging bourbon on the streets of Vancouver — in defiance of the NDP government’s U.S. booze ban.
Maybe Premier David Eby ought to invite Hoekstra for a B.C. Lions or Vancouver Whitecaps game at provincial-owned B.C. Place, where the public can still buy Jack Daniel’s?
