Year in Review, part 3
In the third-quarter of 2024 we saw Coquitlam take action on creek protection and parents object to inaction on Hazel Trembath.
We also saw Loblaw and parent company George Weston Ltd. agree to fork over $500 million for their role in a 14-year bread price-fixing scheme.
Provincial politics gave new meaning to the phrase “united we fall” as party leader Kevin Falcon suspended B.C. United’s campaign and threw his support behind the B.C. Conservatives.
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The reversal came after a disastrous rebranding and ineffective commercials. I also haven’t seen that many people leave a party since my uncle turned out the lights and said he was going to show vacation slides.
Still, it seemed a shame that voters lost a choice and that anyone who stands between right and left (no matter how far to one side they might be) is standing on increasingly shaky ground.
Punched anchors and voids led to shoring wall collapse: WorkSafeBC report
Problems at 500 Foster Ave. dated back more than one year before a dramatic shoring wall collapse in November 2023, according to a WorkSafeBC inspection report.
In October 2022, Amacon development company found their efforts to remove water from the site, “was determined not to be effective,” the report stated.
The company brought in “additional dewatering measures,” however, those methods were also ineffective and soil came loose, leading to “punched anchors and formation of voids behind the shoring walls” in April 2023.
Cannabis production facility gets green light despite operating for months without Coquitlam business licence
They’re going to do what they’ve been doing, only now they’re allowed to do it.
That was Coquitlam council’s verdict Monday on a Clipper Street cannabis company that had been operating without a municipal business licence since July 2023.
“If we say ‘yes’ to you today, are we saying to anybody else that, you know what? Coquitlam’s easy. Ignore their bylaws,” said Coun. Brent Asmundson
However, Asmundson was ultimately persuaded by cannabis company proprietor Shaun Ashworth’s history in Coquitlam.
“If it wasn’t for his reputation I probably wouldn’t be approving this,” he said.
Port Coquitlam hydrovac company issued warning by province for letting waste seep into ground
A hydrovac excavation company’s waste disposal facility in Port Coquitlam has been issued a warning by the province for introducing waste into the environment.
Ministry of Environment and Climate Change protection officers inspected Badger Infrastructure Solutions Inc.’s facility at 880 Lougheed Highway on May 9.
“The lack of discharge pond containment or lining at the facility allows the solid and liquid waste to infiltrate the ground and is considered an introduction of waste into the environment,” inspectors wrote in the May 27 warning letter.
Water quality monitoring now mandatory at Coquitlam construction sites
What started in one creek is sweeping the city.
In a bid to protect Coquitlam’s waterways, the municipality now requires real-time water monitoring at all major development sites, following a unanimous vote earlier this month.
While council was enthusiastic about the new rules, Coun. Matt Djonlic raised a concern of already-approved City Centre projects with: “considerable groundwater issues.”
Djonlic urged city staff to have “very strong conversations” with those developers about implementing water quality monitoring.
Police deploy helicopter to catch alleged dangerous driver
When they didn’t catch him on the streets, the police took to the skies.
Coquitlam RCMP spotted a speeding motorcyclist with no licence plate weaving in and out of traffic along Coast Meridian Road on May 31, according to a release from the department.
Officers decided the best way to “ensure public and police officer safety” was to deploy air support.
A nearby police helicopter quickly located the vehicle.
Port Moody declared Bear Smart Community after 2-decade endeavor
After a more than 20-year effort, Port Moody has been officially declared a Bear Smart Community, one of only 11 cities to have been given the hard-won provincial designation.
Mayor Meghan Lahti, Couns. Haven Lurbiecki and Kyla Knowles, MLA Rick Glumac, city staff, wildlife advocates, and B.C. conservation officers gathered in Port Moody’s Pioneer Park to celebrate the accomplishment.
“A number of other municipalities are looking to replicate what we’ve just done,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti.
July
Replacing old fire halls sparks tension between Anmore and Belcarra over cost sharing
Two fire halls in Anmore and Belcarra are in dire need of replacement, but working out the costs has ignited an impasse between the two villages.
On June 19, the Village of Belcarra issued a letter to the Village of Anmore, the province, and Metro Vancouver, notifying that it will be seeking a formal service review in relation to the Sasamat Volunteer Fire Department (SVFD).
The letter stated Belcarra had been trying to enter negotiations with Anmore over cost sharing and governance structure of the existing agreement, but that Anmore had been unwilling to engage in discussions.
PoCo looks to ICBC for help dealing with troublesome trucks
Port Coquitlam may need to teach a lesson to some of the city’s truck driving schools.
There are 29 driving schools in the city, some of which seem to allow their students to drive heavy vehicles through residential neighbourhoods and endanger oncoming traffic by cutting through narrow streets. Learner drivers also create congestion when they get stuck at intersections, according to the city’s director of community safety and corporate services Dominic Long.
During a recent city council meeting, Mayor Brad West said the city needed to “draw a harder line” in dealing with what had become a prolonged issue in the city.
“It’s not a case of not knowing, it’s a case of: ‘I don’t think I’m going to get caught, or there won’t be any consequence to being caught,’” he said. “If they can’t train these drivers in a way that’s compliant with our bylaws, then maybe they shouldn’t be issued a business licence.”
Coquitlam bashes province over lack of supports at 3030 Gordon
There has not been a reset.
Approximately one year ago an independent report described frequent drug use, vandalism, threats, as well as frequent staff turnover and diminishing public confidence in the shelter operator at 3030 Gordon Ave., suggesting the project may need a reset.
In the past year the Tri-Cities have seen more people in need getting less help, according to Coquitlam city council.
“I’m beyond frustrated that we’re losing lives. We’re losing community empathy for the enormous number of people who cannot get treatment for their mental illness or their addictions,” Mayor Richard Stewart said Monday. “What they need is not a better cardboard box. What they need is government policy aimed at giving them their lives back.”
Appeal tossed in Coquitlam cocaine trafficking case
A man who was found guilty of trafficking after tossing a brick of cocaine into a police officer’s unmarked car recently had his appeal rejected, following a recent Court of Appeal decision.
In the spring of 2019, Scott was sitting in his car in a mall parking lot when he made eye contact with a plainclothes Coquitlam RCMP officer in an unmarked car.
Scott nodded at the officer, who was in the parking lot doing surveillance for a different drug trafficking investigation, according to court documents.
The officer drove out of the lot and Scott followed, trailing him to the staff parking lot at the Coquitlam RCMP detachment.
The officer was planning to ask Scott why he was following when Scott, “tossed a tote bag into the constable’s car.” There was one kilogram of cocaine in the tote.
Port Moody plans to require new developments be carbon-neutral by 2025, but some on council think city is moving ‘too fast’ for developers
Not everyone on Port Moody council agrees with the speed at which the city is imposing environmental building requirements on developers.
By the start of next year, the city will force all new developments to be carbon neutral, and start incrementally increasing its energy efficiency requirements on new builds.
An impassioned Mayor Meghan Lahti said the world is in a climate emergency, and Port Moody is rapidly densifying over the next two years and needs to signal changes to the developers
“We have to have this in place. We cannot afford not to have it,” said Mayor Meghan Lahti. “I don’t want to be overly dramatic, but let’s face it, every time we get government to a place where the rubber has to hit the road, they tend to fall back on, ‘Oh, it’s going to cost too much money.”
The city eventually forged ahead in September, with Mayor Meghan Lahti explaining Port Moody wouldn’t meet its climate targets if it delayed implementing the new rules.
“We are on the precipice of a massive housing boom in Port Moody,” Lahti said. “This isn’t a race to the bottom.”
Longtime Port Coquitlam city council member George Laking dies at 96
Picture an old man with a paint can, a roller, and a good dose of determination.
Talking to a CBC reporter in 2013, George Laking’s determination is on display.
For more than 20 years he was a fixture on Port Coquitlam city council and, in 1980, he became the city’s 12th mayor. But on that day in 2013, his focus was solely on graffiti.
Laking, by his account, had painted over graffiti at Elks Lodge 19 times.
It’s a pretty good illustration of a guy who spent most of his life trying to make Port Coquitlam a little nicer.
The City of Port Coquitlam announced Laking’s death on Tuesday. He was 96.
Court orders Ground X to temporarily cease Kingsway operations
After being hit with 56 tickets for operating without business licences, a waste removal company is temporarily barred from operating on four Kingsway Avenue properties, following a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision.
Port Coquitlam asked the court for a provisional order stopping Ground X from depositing and removing soil, discharging substances into ditches and altering land without a permit, after city staffers reported seeing contaminated water around the site.
Ground X disputed the charges, contending the city failed to establish a clear breach of its bylaws and permit requirements.
The Ministry of Environment eventually fined the company $150,000 for environmental infractions.
August
Shoreline Trail boardwalk $800k over budget due to environmental factors
A replacement project on the Shoreline Trail boardwalk is $800,000 over budget, but Port Moody is forging ahead on the second phase of development.
On July 25, city council approved $6.2 million to connect the boardwalk from the Suter Brook Creek to Noons Creek.
“We are investing in the Shoreline Trail boardwalk so that this landmark structure and community asset is reliable and inclusive for all residents and visitors to enjoy safely for many years to come,” wrote Mayor Meghan Lahti.
The first phase of the project, replacing the boardwalk and trail between Murray Street and Suter Brook Creek, began in December and is still underway. It originally had a price tag of $3.15 million, but the budget ultimately increased to $3.95 million following a closed council meeting in March.
Province announces $86.5-million investment to replace Montgomery Middle School
Coquitlam students will be walking into a completely different Montgomery Middle School by 2028.
The province announced an $86.5-million investment to replace for the old school on Thursday, Aug. 1, complete with 600 student spaces, and a neighbourhood learning centre offering Indigenous programming.
“The seismic replacement of Montgomery Middle school will provide safe, modern classroom spaces for students, furthering the School District 43 Board of Education’s goal to provide world-class learning facilities for the communities we serve,” said Michael Thomas, chair of the Coquitlam School Board. “We are also pleased that the building will be built with environmental considerations at the forefront.”
Short-term rentals proliferate in Tri-Cities amid attempted crackdown
They may not be around for a long time, but plenty of rentals are still around for a short time.
Despite the new provincial rules, there are approximately 921 unlicensed short-term rentals in the Tri-Cities, according to data provided by the Ministry of Housing.
That figure represents a 14 percent increase from one year ago, when a market researcher found 807 STRs in the Tri-Cities.
Citing concerns the increase of short-term rentals could be exacerbating the housing crisis, the province passed new rules May 1 with a goal of getting short-term rentals back into the long-term housing market.
The rules generally restricted short-term rentals to a homeowner’s principal residence and required business licence numbers.
Major Port Moody development defaults on $12.4 million loan and ordered into receivership, despite opposition from investors
A major development project in Port Moody has defaulted on its loans and has been ordered into receivership, despite opposition from investors.
Bayrock Terrace is a six-storey, 173-unit development project approved for the 3000 block of Henry Street, just north of the Moody Centre SkyTrain Station, which received a development permit from Port Moody council in 2021.
On June 19, KingSett Mortgage Corporation filed a petition with B.C. Supreme Court to appoint a receiver over the four mortgaged properties, collectively valued at nearly $9.8 million according to BC Assessment. KingSett said they intend to sell off the lands and recoup $12.4 million loaned to developers.
Coquitlam Reds baseball player helps wins gold at women’s nationals
Sarah Pengelly hit a home run on Sunday at the 21U women’s national championships in Prince Edward Island, helping the team take gold and making her home team proud.
“That’s our girl,” Coquitlam Reds, a team in the B.C. Premier Baseball League, posted on X (formerly Twitter).
“It was so cool,” Pengelly said in a phone interview with the Dispatch. “I didn’t even know it was a home run.”
“Like, off the bat, everybody said that they knew it was, but the fences were at like 300 feet. So I thought it was just a line drive, and I was like hustling it as a second.”
Coquitlam River records historic return of sockeye salmon
The Coquitlam River is experiencing its largest yearly return of sockeye salmon in more than a century.
Since July 17, 12 sockeye salmon have been observed in a trap at the base of the Coquitlam Lake dam — including eight that were caught and transported into a reservoir on one day (Aug. 2).
The return equals the total number of salmon that have returned to the river in the last eight years combined, says Craig Orr, an environmental advisor to the Kwikwetlem First Nation and co-founder of the Watershed Watch Salmon Society.
“If we get one or two per year, that’s sort of the standard that we’ve been seeing,” Orr said in an interview with the Dispatch. “But this year, there’s 12. And eight on one day is just exceptional.”
Coquitlam School District Superintendent Patricia Gartland announces retirement
Patricia Gartland, Coquitlam School District’s (SD43) longtime superintendent, is stepping down.
The school district made the sudden announcement on Wednesday, Aug. 21, stating that Gartland will vacate the position by December of this year, ending her 10-year run in SD43’s top role.
Gartland was praised for “her visionary leadership, unwavering commitment, and transformative impact,” in SD43’s news release.
Michael Thomas, chair of SD43’s board of education, said that Gartland’s presence on the board will be deeply missed.
Port Moody having record growth in film production
Port Moody has never gotten so much attention from Hollywood North.
A record number of film productions have been shot in the city so far in 2024, with major studios taking an interest in locations across the community, said Devin Jain, Port Moody’s manager of cultural services.
“It is the highest it’s ever been,” Jain said. “The number of request has really expanded, and there’s no reason to think that it will slow down.”
Residents have taken notice, posting pictures to social media of film crews at work on sets at Heritage Woods Secondary, Henry Street and St. George Street and at the old Flavelle Mill site over the last two weeks alone.
Adanacs’ Minto Cup title awakens local lacrosse community
Scott Wortley stood on his seat with 12 seconds left in the game.
Directly behind the home team goal, he was surrounded by close to 100 Coquitlam Adanac alumni clad in purple and yellow — roughly 80 of whom had cycled through the club since he took over as general manager of the junior team in 2012.
A couple of days earlier, when the Adanacs clinched a spot in the Minto Cup Finals, he didn’t know how he would react if Coquitlam won the tournament at home.
September
WorkSafeBC issues nearly $170,000 fine to construction company, after tower crane hits high-voltage power lines in Coquitlam
A construction company working on a Coquitlam development site was slapped with a $167,890 fine from WorkSafeBC, after its tower crane hit adjacent high-voltage lines and caused a power outage to the surrounding area.
WorkSafeBC conducted a workplace inspection following the incident on April 15, 2024, issuing a stop work order for the site.
Inspectors issued a fine to Femo Construction Ltd. on July 16, after determining the crane’s zone limiting device was not functioning, its remote control had been left unattended and there were no training records available for the crane’s operators.
“The firm failed to ensure that, before a worker starts work close to high-voltage electrical equipment, the worker was informed of the existence of the electrical equipment and the work procedures to be followed,” WorkSafeBC said. “This was a repeated and high-risk violation.”
Previously unknown creek in Port Coquitlam could be transformed into salmon-bearing stream
A previously unknown creek discovered as a result of a subdivision project in Port Coquitlam stands to be transformed into a riparian habitat and potential salmon-bearing stream.
Port Coquitlam council unanimously approved a watercourse development permit on Tuesday, Sept. 3, allowing for the modification, enhancement and protection of the creek partially located on 1160 Victoria Dr., an adjacent unopened road, and the Hyde Creek Nature Reserve.
Coun. Nancy McCurrach described the environmental work as “brilliant,” and suggested the city hold a naming and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new stream.
6-storey development with Bosa Foods approved by Port Moody council
A new specialty grocery store is coming to Port Moody’s Moody Centre neighbourhood.
Following a relatively quiet public hearing on Tuesday, city council unanimously approved third reading of the six-storey mixed-use development on the southwest corner of St. Johns Street and Queens Street.
At previous meetings, council expressed concern that the Bosa Foods slated to occupy the ground floor of the development would not solve the area’s “food desert” issues due to a lack of fresh produce offered.
However, the inclusion of any food retailer in Moody Centre is a welcome change, several councillors stated Tuesday.
“I live in this general area, and I will be visiting this grocery store regardless of what they sell there,” said Coun. Kyla Knowles.
Spirit Park to be renamed in honour of Anmore founder
After getting a few helpful words from the founder’s family on Tuesday evening, Anmore is set to honour the village’s first mayor, Hal Weinberg.
Weinberg died in January at the age of 90.
Weinberg’s daughter Sarah attended Tuesday’s meeting, thanking council for their plans to support Weinberg’s scholarship fund and to amend the name of Spirit Park to Dr. Hal Weinberg Spirit Park.
However, Sarah Weinberg expressed a concern regarding a plaque that would accompany a photo of her father at the Anmore Community Hub.
‘If 3030 Gordon never existed . . . most of those problems would not be there.’ Port Coquitlam councillor blasts homeless shelter
A routine RCMP update on crime statistics veered into a conversation on homelessness in Port Coquitlam, with one councillor warning about both community apathy and the possibility of retaliation.
Discussing Port Coquitlam’s downtown, Coun. Dean Washington said he was shocked by the number of homeless people – although he didn’t use that term.
“I don’t use the word homeless, I would use the term: people that don’t want to work,” Washington said.
The councillor described seeing people taking drugs in “broad daylight on Shaughnessy Street,” and spotting one “filthy” person “stoned out of his mind” near a coffee shop. The city is investing in the downtown but residents are scared to go there, Washington added.
“I’m sick of it,” Washington told Coquitlam RCMP Supt. Darren Carr. “I won’t say what I said in a closed meeting because it might get me unelected.”
During the same meeting, Coun. Darrell Penner described the 3030 Gordon Avenue homeless shelter as a: “government-funded crack house.”
Those remarks prompted a call for the councillors to resign.
Trinity United Church Rev. David Cathcart called Washington and Penner’s remarks “thoughtless and hateful,” as well as highlighting: “the ignorance and malice held towards our most vulnerable neighbours.”
Conduct hearing underway for three suspended Coquitlam RCMP officers accused of making racist, sexist, harassing comments
The RCMP is seeking to can three Coquitlam officers who allegedly made racist, sexist and harassing comments to other officers and members of the public.
A two-week code of conduct hearing began on Sept. 16 for Consts. Philip Dick, Ian Solven, and Mersad Mesbah, who reportedly made the comments on the RCMP’s messaging system and a private group chat with 12 other officers in 2021.
Const. Sam Sodhi filed an official complaint with his line officer, Insp. Darren Carr – who is now Coquitlam RCMP’s superintendent – on May 11, 2021, stating the officers on his shift were harassing him and other officers in person, as well as online.
All three accused officers have been suspended since June 16, 2021, and the RCMP is seeking to terminate their employment, according to the court documents.
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart later emphasized the importance of trust between the police and the community.
“Any behaviour that undermines that trust must be addressed,” he said.
Why this Men’s Shed opened its doors to the Lower Mainland
The double-doors to the beige and brown shed swing wide open, inviting men of all ages to take a peek inside.
Inside the shed, located on the western edge of Rocky Point Park and next to the PoMo Museum, are tools — screwdrivers, hammers, slabs of wood — and woodworking machinery.
Normally, the Port Moody Men’s Shed, an initiative that started in 2022 and invites men to work with tools and combat feelings of loneliness as they age, is filled with locals who meet up weekly to catch up and work on a handyman project together.
But last weekend, the site was a hub for more than 70 people from Men’s Sheds across the Lower Mainland to trade tools, socialize and learn new tricks.
“There’s benefits from sheds being able to get together with one another,” said Mike Jennings, a member of the Port Moody Men’s Shed and president of the Men’s Shed Association of B.C. “Ideas are shared, but more importantly, it’s just the camaraderie, everybody talking to one another, sharing a hamburger, it just brings everything together.”
Anmore loses appeal over decision to fire planner who took leave to look after children during pandemic
The Village of Anmore was wrong to fire an employee who was on leave during the COVID-19 pandemic, following a recently released decision from the Employment Standards Tribunal.
Jason Smith was working for Anmore as manager of development services when he took a leave to look after his children in the summer of 2020.
Approximately one month after asking to take that leave, Smith was terminated.
The tribunal awarded Smith money for lost wages and vacation pay. Anmore also faced two fines totalling $1,000.
However, the Village of Anmore recently appealed that decision, arguing Smith wasn’t on leave, and that he wasn’t fired because he was on leave.
Nearly one year later, residents still asking province for Hazel Trembath update
Before the fire, Shawna Comey walked four blocks every morning from her Port Coquitlam home to pick up and drop off her two children from school.
Some days, as executive of the Hazel Trembath Elementary School PAC, Comey would linger around the halls — check the school’s mailbox, do some photocopying or walk one of her kids home if they were sick.
Her commute to the Winslow Centre in Coquitlam — the temporary school for her children — now takes anywhere between 25 and 40 minutes, following a fire that burned Port Coquitlam’s Hazel Trembath Elementary School to the ground last fall.
“I was in my school community,” Comey said before the Oct. 14, 2023 fire that was deemed suspicious. “We don’t get those every day face-to-face connections with the school staff and community. There’s a disconnect I feel.”
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