The Jas Johal Show: Oct. 9, 2026

Hey, thanks for listening to the Jazz Joe Hall Show podcast. Today on the pod, Vancouver's rats aren't waiting for an election, but one mayoral candidate wants to fight them with a blue ribbon task force on day one. Is that a plan? Well, let's see. Kareem Allam joins us. Plus, the provincial election campaign continues with David Eby and Lauren Dirksen duking it out. Keith Baldrey will have the latest. That's all next on the Jazz Joe Hall Show podcast. Let's talk rats. Yes, rats. Now, CKNW's head of talk and talent, Jeff Aldis, went to grab a bite to eat for lunch the other day. Now, his routine trip for lunch highlighted Vancouver's ongoing challenges with rats. Take a listen.

Yeah, so Jazz, today I decided to take lunch. I don't often take lunch, but when I do, sometimes I'll walk down to McDonald's. There's one down at Berard in Georgia and get a cheeseburger, which is what I did. And the restaurant was packed. So when the restaurant's full, I go across the street. There's a nice park at the church there with a waterfall and benches. And, you know, the weather was good. I sat down and I took a bite and immediately a mouse appeared. And I tried to shoo it away, but it didn't want to go away. And then the next thing I know, it was like the mouse's mom appeared. And this thing was a giant rat. So now I've got two rats and they're begging for my food. And I was alarmed. So I got up and walked away. And I realized that there were rats everywhere in the bushes around this church. Mangy looking, terrible looking rats. And a lot of them. And I talked to a guy there. He says, yeah, there's a lot of rats around for some reason. Well, I lost my appetite.

He lost his appetite. He came back to the office and he told us that story. Of course, with voting day just over a week away, you'd expect the big fights in this mayoral race to be about housing taxes and public safety, and they are. But one candidate has also picked a fight with a smaller, faster, and far more numerous opponent. Kareem Allam, the mayoralty candidate for the Vancouver Liberals, say that if elected... His party will launch a blue ribbon task force on rats on day one. His pitch is that this isn't about gross videos online, but it's about public health, which is tied to garbage, sewer, food safety, and diseases. Joining me now to discuss the issue of rats in Vancouver and this blue ribbon panel is Kareem Allam, Vancouver mayoral candidate for the Vancouver Liberals. Kareem, thank you so

much for your time. Thanks for having me on again, Jaz.

So generally we're talking about housing, affordability, personal safety, all those types of things. And you heard that clip there from Jeff Aldis, one of our managers here at CKNW, with his rat experience. And I recall you sent out a press release, or your team did, earlier this week in regards to rats. Why is this such a priority for your campaign?

It's been something that's been coming across my desk at the doors for the last year that I've been campaigning. We're seeing a dramatic increase in the rat population here in the city of Vancouver. Vancouver is now Canada's second largest rat capital, just behind Toronto. Vancouver, unlike other