AI, Californians, 'translators': Vancouver council went off the rails this week
A Vancouver Sun columnist reports that a Vancouver city council public hearing on the "villages plan" featured union representatives accused of filibustering with supposed translators who did not actually speak the languages, followed by out-of-town callers who admitted they were phoning from California and had never visited Vancouver. Unite Here Local 40 president Zailda Chan confirmed to Postmedia that her union asked U.S. allies to call in, saying the callers were unpaid and acted out of cross-border solidarity, while one caller said her speaking notes were prepared using AI. Several callers' names matched people affiliated with Unite Here Local 11 in Los Angeles, and council is expected to decide on the villages proposal next week.