Year in Review, part 1
The first three months of 2024 ranged from the absurd to the astounding to the tragic.
Meriam-Webster broke the heart of my fourth-grade English teacher by announcing it’s now legal end a sentence with a preposition.
What they were thinking of? I guess this is what happens when you de-fund the grammar police.
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One of the more captivating stories of 2024 involved Noland Arbaugh, a paraplegic man who found a new lease on life after becoming the first human to receive a Neuralink brain implant.
This was also the year we bid a sad farewell to Anmore founder Hal Weinberg.
There were folks who disagreed with Weinberg but, as his friend Michael Geller pointed out, even they admired him.
January
One man in critical condition following third Coquitlam shooting
One man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries following a shooting near Westwood Street and Glen Drive, just north of Lincoln Station, on Saturday afternoon.
Two suspects were spotted running from the scene after the shooting, which occurred at approximately 4:14 p.m., according to Coquitlam RCMP.
“These incidents are isolated, targeted and involving a small group of individuals,” stated Coquitlam RCMP Insp. Darren Carr.
The shooting was the third in three days.
Port Moody strata council forced to remove sign outside neighbourhood playground restricting public access
A strata council was forced to remove a sign outside a neighbourhood playground in Suter Brook last month, which stated the playground’s use was exclusively for residents of their building.
The city was made aware of the “private property” sign erected outside The Grande building in mid-December, after a local resident sent in a complaint.
Port Coquitlam council vote to give themselves 12.5% pay raise
They’re still the lowest paid council in the Tri-Cities but Port Coquitlam made up some ground.
Council voted in favour of back-to-back 12.5 percent pay raises for 2024 and 2025.
While Couns. Dean Washington and Glenn Pollock each voiced some discomfort about voting on their pay, council ultimately voted unanimously for the raise.
Environmental stewardship group opposes Anmore South development
If approved, the Anmore South development could harm the ecology around Mossom Creek, according to the Burrard Inlet Marine Enhancement Society.
“If approved, this development will negatively impact the abundant wildlife, healthy riparian area and overall natural integrity of the area,” wrote BIMES President Kevin Ryan.
Death of Port Coquitlam teenager was caused by cocaine and MDMA; coroner’s report concludes hydromorphone likely not a factor
Port Coquitlam teenager Kamilah Sword died in August 2022 from a cardiac arrhythmia following cocaine and MDMA use, according to the coroner’s report. She was 14.
Sword first reported using methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy or MDMA, in December 2020.
Sword was hospitalized four times in 2021, including for issues related to substance use toxicity.
“Kamilah was not prescribed any substance use treatment medications during or subsequent to these hospitalizations,” according to the report written by B.C. coroner Dean Campbell.
The toxicology analysis showed flualprazolam – an illicit benzodiazepine, as well as hydromorphone, which is prescribed for pain as well as for B.C.’s safer supply program.
“Hydromorphone was detected at a level within a typical therapeutic range,” according to the report. “From where and when any of the substances were obtained by Kamilah is unknown.”
Hall of fame coach returning to coach Junior Adanacs
It’s A lacrosse hall of famer is returning to the helm in Coquitlam.
Pat Coyle, a Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductee and five-time National Lacrosse League (NLL) champion, will be taking over as head coach of the Junior A Coquitlam Adanacs, the team announced on social media.
Overnight shelters approach capacity; ‘We’re sending people back outside with nowhere to go’
There’s been enough space for homeless people in the Tri-Cities’ overnight shelters – but just barely.
Between the emergency weather response shelter at Kyle Centre and Coquitlam’s community churches, there are a total of 40 beds available. With snow piling up on the streets, around 35 Tri-Cities residents have been seeking a warm place to spend each night.
“We’re very grateful that we haven’t had to turn anyone away as of yet,” said Lenore Mossing, director of programs for Progressive Housing Society.
PoCo laments end of public hearings as apartment gets approval
It was a hearing in public, but it was still a long way from being a public hearing.
Port Coquitlam unanimously approved a 117-unit, four-storey apartment at Shaughnessy Street and Prairie Avenue on Tuesday – although some councillors had misgivings about the lack of commentary from residents.
“The world has changed a little bit,” explained the city’s director of development services Bruce Irvine.
Under the old rules, council debate would have followed an open forum where anyone could step up to the microphone, state their name, and offer their thoughts on the defects or merits of the proposal. However, following new provincial legislation, this project – being consistent with the city’s official community plan – didn’t include a public hearing.
It’s a change for the worse, according to Coun. Steve Darling.
“I really hope the provincial government has a change of heart on public hearings,” he said. “I think you should be able to come up and speak on a project that is in your neighbourhood. . . . You live there. They don’t live there in Victoria.”
Police repeatedly Taser and kick suspect outside pub following report of knife threat, video shows
A man was shocked with Tasers multiple times outside the John B. Pub, as documented in footage published by the DailyHive.
After getting a report that a man was threatening people with a knife at the Austin Avenue pub, police headed to the scene at about 6:44 p.m.
“Responding officers located the man, where he was apprehended outside the store,” according to Coquitlam RCMP media relations officer Alexa Hodgins.
At the beginning of the one-minute-and-40-second video, which was edited for privacy reasons, the man appears to be on his knees struggling with one of the officers on the sidewalk outside the pub. He gets to his feet and the officers stand on either side of him.
An officer seems to kick the man, who clenches his fist as he turns between the officers. A voice can be heard shouting: “Tasers, Tasers, Tasers!”
After being hit with the Tasers, the man tumbles onto the low garden wall that runs along the sidewalk. He shouts: “I didn’t do anything!”
Coquitlam native becomes Port Moody Panthers all-time leader in points
The Port Moody Panthers have a new all-time leader in two major offensive categories.
Connor Hughes became the franchise’s career leader in goals and points.
The Coquitlam native has now scored 50 goals and racked up 115 points through 108 games with the Panthers.
“When I got that last goal it put a smile on my face,” Hughes said. “I kinda kept it on the low because I value the team, the team is more important than anything, but when I got home my parents had a little celebration.”
Booze-free bar set for grand opening
Bevees, B.C.’s original alcohol-free bar, held their grand opening in Port Coquitlam this year. Read this story to find out how they got started.
Keep smiling and don’t take yourself too seriously: Anmore founder Hal Weinberg dies at 90
He didn’t want to see a slice of semi-rural paradise swallowed up by Port Moody. That was part of it, but, for Hal Weinberg, there was something more.
Reflecting on the beginnings of the Village of Anmore, Weinberg discussed what he considered Canada’s finest ideals.
“I always thought of Anmore as a model of how the diversity of opinion could be accepted with goodwill and friendliness. A model, in my own mind, of what Canada is all about,” he recalled in the series Anmore Stories.
Teacher, researcher, neuroscientist, mayor, military veteran, and village founder Weinberg died on Thursday. He was 90 years old.
“Hal passed away at home after a short illness, surrounded by family and love,” his family stated in a release.
Friends remembered the way Weinberg’s brilliance was belied by his humility. Despite spending more than half a century as a university professor, he was more interested in the thoughts of others than the sound of his own voice.
“He was rarely the first person to speak,” said friend Tracy Green. “He’d often start a conversation with a question.”
Ioco terminal employees argue Imperial Oil’s mandatory drug and alcohol testing violates privacy rights
Unionized employees at Imperial Oil’s Ioco facility in Port Moody are in a fight with management over its mandatory drug and alcohol testing policy.
Unifor Local 601 filed a grievance against Imperial Oil on Jan. 24, 2022, arguing the periodic medical examinations were a breach of their employees’ privacy rights under the province’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
The union is seeking prospective remedies to quash future certification and recertification exams, damages dating back to shortly after the grievance was filed and the destruction of any company medical records attained through these exams.
Periodic testing currently applies to 14 employees working in “safety sensitive” positions at the terminal.
It requires these employees to take certification, and re-certification medical exams every two years, testing for alcohol and certain drugs (including cannabis), fitness and management assessments.
February
Developers will profit and growth will stagnate under B.C.’s new rules, warn Coquitlam councillors
Critical changes to the municipal development process could take hundreds of millions of dollars out of city coffers while triggering a housing slowdown, warned Coquitlam council.
“We’re going to build less housing in 2024 than 2023,” predicted Mayor Richard Stewart.
For decades, developers have paid Community Amenity Charges when building projects bigger or denser than the city envisioned. Coquitlam has used those CACs to pay for rec centres, infrastructure upgrades and to support funds for childcare and affordable housing.
The province is set to phase out CACs in favour of Amenity Cost Charges. However, the precise rules around Amenity Cost Charges may not be released until fall, a prospect that has left cities grappling with uncertainty.
“We don’t know what ACCs [are] going to look like,” said city manager Raul Allueva. “We don’t know what a developer holding a building permit’s going to do right now if he can save $30 million. I don’t know. The province doesn’t know.”
Coquitlam co-ops saved after province contributes to $125 million deal
Just months after being on the edge of eviction, two Coquitlam co-ops near Coquitlam Centre are set to get a new lease on land.
The province pledged a maximum of $71 million to help non-profit developer Community Land Trust of B.C. buy and maintain the co-ops.
Besides marking the end of a long stretch of “fear and uncertainty,” Thursday’s announcement is the beginning of a celebration that 290 homes will be saved, stated Tri-Branch co-op president Jewels Cressman.
“Our hears are overflowing with gratitude for the tireless efforts of all those involved,” Cressman stated.
Métis craftsman carves his own path, with some help from his ancestors
Now Inside his makeshift workspace, a tent large enough to hold a boat, Pat Calihou needed some answers from his great-great grandparents.
Skylight filtered through holes in the tent, casting a light on the giant wooden structure that looked like it was coming to life. Beige and cherry-brown sawdust collected in piles on the concrete floor. There was a stack of wood on the outskirts of the tent.
Roughly four years ago, Calihou, a Métis craftsman now based in Maple Ridge, built a York boat replica by hand to honour his ancestral heritage at the Fort Langley National Historic Site.
York boats, a flat-bottomed bottom vessel featuring a sail and canoe-like points at each end, were traditionally used to transport goods during the fur trade.
Throughout the building process, however, Calihou questioned his ability to build the boat by hand, just like his ancestors did hundreds of years ago. Pieces of wood snapped when he tried to bend them into place and he lost confidence in his carpentry abilities.
But every time he questioned his expertise, Calihou stepped outside the tent and looked towards the sky, imagining that his ancestors were listening to him.
“It’s not working!” He shouted. “Help me, I know you did this, it worked.”
Exhibit traces the long road to freedom and complexities of being Black in B.C.
Before the California Gold Rush, before the Oregon Trail and a cabin on Salt Spring Island; back in the days of slavery and Clay County, Missouri, she was just a child who wanted to read.
Her name was Sylvia Stark. Her story was featured in a POMO Museum exhibit that examines the stories of Black British Columbians.
As an older woman, Stark would sometimes tell stories of her childhood, recalled her daughter Marie Stark-Wallace.
Those recollections were not to be interrupted, she adds.
“I kept silent for fear of breaking the spell.”
Polar Plunge for Special Olympics BC returning to Rocky Point Park
Ken Kuhn may not be in the water for a long time, but he is hoping to make a big splash for local athletes.
Kuhn, a retired teacher who now advocates for seniors in the Tri-Cities, has launched a Polar Plunge fundraiser at Rocky Point Park for Special Olympics BC, an organization that hosts year-round sport competitions for more than 5,200 athletes with intellectual disabilities across the province.
“I figured this is a small challenge I’ll face, doing the Polar Plunge, compared to all of the challenges that they face every day in their life,” Kuhn said. “I’ll be getting in the water, having a little fun and getting out pretty quick.”
Ridge-Meadows MLA takes over Robinson’s cabinet post
Two weeks after Coquitlam-Maillardville MLA Selina Robinson relinquished her ministerial role, Premier David Eby has named her replacement.
Robinson officially stepped down from her cabinet post after facing criticism for both minimizing the tragedy of mass displacement and excusing colonial expansion by saying Israel was founded on a: “crappy piece of land with nothing on it.”
Robinson subsequently apologized and committed to making amends.
At the time, Eby said Robinson’s work to address the hurt she’s caused would be “incompatible” with her work as Minister of Advanced Education.
Coquitlam school district readies for spring break trip to China; maintains close ties with former Confucius Institute
A few Tri-Cities teachers are set to spend their spring break in China.
For the first time since the pandemic, School District #43 sent a delegation including teachers to visit China as part of a cultural exchange, explained the school district’s assistant communications director Ken Hoff.
Details of the trip, including cost estimates, were not finalized prior to the trip, Hoff stated. Previous trips have cost about $8,000 per person.
The trip should: “develop staff capacity to view their students through a multicultural lens so that they can better support all learners in our community,” Hoff wrote in an email to the Dispatch.
Former Vancouver School Board chair Patti Bacchus was critical of the spring break cultural exchange, writing on social media: “When will these folks learn that sometimes free is way too expensive?”
The school district has faced scrutiny for its relationship with the Chinese Language and Culture Institute, formerly known as the Confucius Institute. However, the district doesn’t share those concerns, Hoff noted.
“The district does not have concerns about possible undue influence in our context,” he wrote.
Port Moody to build first three dedicated pickleball courts
Port Moody will be building its first three dedicated pickleball courts at Town Centre Park on Ioco Road.
Council voted unanimously to approve staff’s interim plan on Tuesday, Feb. 13. Longer-term solutions are being examined in a feasibility study on recreational infrastructure, expected to complete by the end of 2024.
Both pickleball and tennis have been increasing in popularity, leading to conflicts over space and noise due to the increasing popularity of pickleball, according to staff.
People’s Pantry to set up shop in Port Moody following two-year search
Less than one month after the demolition of their Port Coquitlam headquarters, the People’s Pantry food recovery society is slated to hand out hampers in Port Moody.
The People’s Pantry, which gives groceries to hundreds of people experiencing food insecurity each week, is tentatively scheduled to reopen March 10 on Hope Street.
“While we know we’re losing some long term clients and volunteers, we know we’ll probably find new folks at our new location,” the organization’s executive director Alice Hale wrote in an email to the Dispatch.
With 50 volunteers and two part-time employees, the food recovery society had operated out of Elks Hall in Leigh Square since 2020. However, the property was sold in 2022, leaving the organization scrambling to find a new location.
“it’s been keeping me up,” Hale said earlier this year. “Especially as we keep adding new families.”
Man who claimed he couldn’t own property wrongly claimed his property was taken, tribunal rules
A driver who argued that he shouldn’t have to pay a towing company because he didn’t consent to have his vehicle impounded recently had his case dismissed.
On February 27, 2023, the RCMP issued Ben Delville an immediate roadside prohibition and ordered his SUV-crossover to be impounded for 30 days.
The vehicle, a 2008 Infiniti FX35, was impounded by Coquitlam Towing and Storage Co.
After 32 days, Delville paid $917 to get his car back. However, he later asked for his money back on the grounds that he didn’t have a contract with the towing company nor consent to Coquitlam Towing impounding his vehicle.
The driver argued he couldn’t own property “because of the birth registration process,” wrote Civil Resolution Tribunal member Leah Volkers in her decision.
According to Delville’s reasoning, he can’t own property and therefore he: “cannot possibly owe any debt.”
However, Delville’s evidence included a recorded phone call with Coquitlam Towing in which he accused the company of taking his property without his consent and said he would charge the company $800 for each day it kept his property.
“So, it appears Mr. Delville argues both that he cannot own property or owe debts, and also that the vehicle is his property and can charge Coquitlam Towing a daily rate,” Volkers wrote.
March
Police renew call for Hazel Trembath fire culprits to come forward
More than four months after the fire that ripped through Hazel Trembath Elementary School, police have confirmed the blaze was likely caused by a person or group.
“We want to thank everyone who has already spoken to or provided video to our investigators, but we believe that those responsible still have a story to tell,” stated Coquitlam RCMP Insp. Darren Carr in a press release.
Carr asked for “those individuals who may know who is responsible” to contact police.
Port Moody to treat natural assets like civic infrastructure; create inventory with $377 million valuation
In the near future, Port Moody’s forests, wetlands and watercourses will not just be seen by the city as environmental areas in need of protection.
Instead, natural assets will be treated like other pieces of civic infrastructure, complete with financial values, inventories, and management of the services they provide.
“Traditionally, local governments, communities and industry have taken some of these services for granted,” said Jody Rechenmacher, a consultant with Urban Systems. “We need to start acknowledging these services . . . in our decision making.”
Coquitlam City Centre water tunnel construction set to get boring in 2026
After a few delays, Metro Vancouver is readying for some thirsty work.
The regional utility provider is designing a two-kilometre water pipeline that would run under Coquitlam’s downtown between Guildford Way and Dewdney Trunk Road.
The $400-million construction project is set to include two tunnel shafts and two underground valve chambers. Restoration plans are also set to be unveiled concerning the southeast corner of Town Centre Park and the area near Dewdney Trunk Road and Westwood Street.
Following salmon bones through 3,000 years of history
It was like finding a time machine on cinder blocks.
A half-century earlier, archaeologists had dug into the earth at təmtəmíxʷtən (Tamm-tamm-eeuff-ton), then known as Belcarra Regional Park. They pulled out eagle talons, the limb from a seal and moose bones, some of which dated back to the time Olmecs were turning basalt boulders into colossal sculptures.
The find was a vehicle that could take archaeologists 3,000 years into the past and offer a glimpse into a land brimming with biodiversity. But for the better part of five decades, the find gathered dust. The bones were placed in brown paper bags, labelled in pencil, and more or less forgotten.
They might have stayed there, too, if archaeologists hadn’t been forced to look inward.
Port Moody’s advisory design panel scrapped after developer complains of costly delays
When Port Moody’s advisory design panel (ADP) decided to defer review of a major development project in January, little did they know it may have been their last meeting.
On Tuesday, Port Moody council voted 5-2 to disband the ADP for a year, shortly after Wesgroup Properties complained about the delay.
“Given some of the challenges we have had, we should be looking at a way that will better streamline this process,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti. “We (need) consistent professional feedback and reviews in a timely manner.”
Coquitlam temporary homeless shelter officially closes
With no 11th hour extension in the cards, the last tenants who were sheltering at the SureStay Hotel in Coquitlam have moved out.
Located on Brunette Avenue, the hotel was been functioning as a temporary homeless shelter since May 2020 – in part to stem the spread of COVID-19 among the city’s homeless population.
The shelter was set to close in 2022 and again in 2023 but each time the province signed off on a 12-month extension to maintain support for SureStay’s approximately 30 residents.
“The shelter was always meant to be temporary as the building is not suitable for long-term use,” the Ministry of Housing stated in an email to the Dispatch.
Waterfront owners in Port moody refusing to sign port authority’s ‘egregious’ dock-licensing terms
Waterfront property owners in Port Moody say their docks are under threat, not from rot or a storm, but an new licensing agreement.
Residents on Alderside Road said they were shocked when they received new contracts from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority (VFPA) in March 2023.
They claim the updated terms strip away their rights, and open the door to completely losing access to their docks and foreshore lots in the future.
Owners were initially given a April 30, 2023 deadline to sign, but many have refused.
“This is about the erosion of our rights,” said Ryan Sayer, an Alderside Road resident. “If these egregious terms are to remain in these agreements, we’re not going to sign.”
10 Port Moody homes facing destruction to be given new life in shishalh Nation project
Ten Port Moody single-family homes that were set to be demolished will instead become affordable homes for members of the shishalh Nation on the Sunshine Coast.
The homes will be moved by truck, then barge, from Port Moody up the coast to the Sechelt.
“The shishalh Nation’s main goal is to provide new homes for our members on Nation lands,” said lhe hiwus (Chief) Lenora Joe. “We are thrilled to work with Renewal Development on this innovative form of sustainable housing and to pave the way for other Indigenous Nations looking for answers to their own housing needs.”
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