The typical summer news drought was apparently cancelled in favour of an actual drought that proved most newsworthy. Our water reservoirs ran dangerously low and forest fires ignited at the drop of a hat (or more likely, drop of a cigarette butt).
A federal election campaign call in August gave more than ample time for voters to suss out their options and change their minds a few times before the Oct. 19 election.
North Shore Rescue sounded the alarm that, after a record number of calls, they too were in need of a rescue.
JULY
The TransLink funding plebiscite landed with a thud on July 2. Metro Vancouver residents were asked if they were willing to pay a 0.5 per cent sales tax in order to fund the municipal share of a $7.5-billion expansion plan and 61.98 per cent said no.
The two North Vancouver mayors who championed the tax were quick to lament that there was no “Plan B” to deal with the transportation needs of a region expected to grow by another million people. West Vancouver Mayor Michael Smith, however, praised it as a victory for common sense. Smith said it should spur the province to reform TransLink. Transportation Minister Todd Stone declined.
Smoke and Haze
Lower Mainland residents awoke on Sunday, July 5 to see the sky blackened with smoke and the sun reduced to an eerie orange orb. Forest fires burning in Elaho Valley, the Sunshine Coast and Boulder Creek, covering more than 25,000 hectares in all, blanketed the Lower Mainland with smoke.
Metro Vancouver issued an air quality advisory warning for those with respiratory conditions as the level of particulate in the air reached four times the normally acceptable levels. “These are amongst the worst conditions I remember,” said Julie Saxton, Metro air quality planner.
The smoke dissipated over the next two days.
As if everyone wasn’t thoroughly sick of smoke and flames threatening the province, someone deliberately set 13 small fires along the trail through Hastings Creek Park in Lynn Valley early in the morning on July 8.
Residents formed bucket brigades to keep the small fires from spreading in the bone dry forest. The RCMP arson unit investigated; however, no arrests were ever made.
Is It Getting Dry in Here?
After an almost complete lack of rain in May, June and July, Metro Vancouver laid down the law when it came to water use. For the first time in 12 years, Metro went to Stage 3 watering restrictions, which meant no car washing or pressure washing, no lawn watering, no refilling pools or hot tubs – not even running through the sprinkler.
“It showed we are in uncharted territory, City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussato said. “We’re using too much water.”
Residents took to social media to “drought shame” the “midnight hosers” and “grassholes” with still-verdant lawns.
AUGUST
Seeking an early start to the campaign, then Prime Minister Stephen Harper officially called the 2015 federal election and more than a dozen candidates representing the four major parties got out door-knocking in the North Shore’s three ridings.
West Van Cop Sent Home with Boozy Breath
Eyebrows were raised when it was revealed a West Vancouver police officer showed up to work impaired and then drove home.
The incident happened in 2014 but came to light in a report by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner. The officer received a one-day unpaid suspension and a written reprimand.
Lions Gate ‘Bump’ Spreads Traffic Misery
Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure crews installed the 4.5-centimetre plate at the south end of the bridge to accommodate maintenance work being done on the bridge’s joints underneath. But cars and buses slamming on their brakes led to a chain reaction that choked traffic in all directions for kilometers
To avoid the mess, TransLink rerouted buses to the SeaBus but with only two SeaBuses on the water, crowds were lined up well outside the terminal at peak periods.
The province postponed the work and went back to the drawing board.
Despite severe drought and watering restrictions, the City of North Vancouver went ahead with a 300-metre (1,000-foot) waterslide down Lonsdale Avenue for a day. More than 6,000 ticket buyers slid from Keith Road to Third Street.
“I booked it in March. I was like, ‘Hell, yeah,’” said slide user Tara Payne.
Slide the City organizers purchased 50,000 litres of H2O from a bottled water company in Abbotsford to run the slide and a portion of it was recycled to irrigate plants and trees in the city.
SEPTEMBER
After lying dormant for months, the wet, stormy weather came back with a vengeance.
An early September storm brought 100-kilometre winds, causing 28,000 power outages, damage and injuries, downed trees and at least one wedding to blow into the harbour. Rain totalled 150 millimetres at higher elevations.
North Shore Rescue Run Off Their Feet
After completing a record number of rescues and more distress calls coming in every weekend, North Shore Rescue members said they were in need of a rescue themselves.
“Oh man, it’s shocking,” team leader Mike Danks said with an exasperated laugh.
The team typically faces 80 to 100 calls per year but by late September, they’d spent more than 4,500 hours carrying out 113 rescues.
North Vancouver-Seymour MLA Jane Thornthwaite pledged to convene a meeting with NSR to discuss how the province could offer more support.
A chain of sliders made a splash on Lonsdale Avenue, Saturday, during Slide the City, which drew more than 6,000 people from around the Lower Mainland. photo Lisa King
$25-million Donation for Lions Gate Hospital
Keith Plumbing and Heating owner Paul Myers stepped up with a $25-million donation to the Lions Gate Hospital Foundation, the largest such donation reportedly ever made in B.C. The money is earmarked for a new patient care facility.
“I’m just a plumber who worked hard and had some good luck in my life,” said Myers, 82. “I can’t take it with me.”
Trail Vandal Pleads Guilty
The woman accused of setting traps for mountain bikers on Mount Fromme pleaded guilty to a charge of mischief that “renders property dangerous.”
Tineke (Tina) Kraal previously faced a more serious charge of mischief likely to cause danger to life. The Upper Lynn Valley resident admitted to repeatedly laying branches, logs and sticks across steep sections of the Lower Skull and Quarry Court trails on Mount Fromme between January 2013 and January 2014. Kraal was arrested after mountain bikers placed hidden cameras in the trees that captured footage of her in the act. The Crown prosecutor said he would be seeking a sentence of house arrest.
OCTOBER
A crimson tide washed across Canada and delivered a Liberal majority government in Ottawa, including three MPs on the North Shore. Pamela Goldsmith-Jones and Jonathan Wilkinson reclaimed West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country and North Vancouver ridings after they were held by the Conservatives for the last two terms. Terry Beech won the new and up-for-grabs riding of Burnaby North-Seymour, which had drawn high-profile candidates from all four major parties.
On the eve of the election, Justin Trudeau made a rally at the Pipe Shop in North Vancouver’s Shipyards district, his final stop of the election campaign.
At 68.3 per cent, voter turnout in the election was the highest since 1993 and North Vancouver topped that average, posting the fourth highest turnout in B.C. at 76.4 per cent.
Province Approves LNG
The provincial government gave its OK for Woodfibre LNG to build a liquefied natural gas plant on Howe Sound, subject to 25 conditions.
Byng Giraud, vice-president of corporate affairs for Woodfibre LNG, described the province’s environmental approval as “a significant milestone, but one of many.”
Prior to this, Squamish Nation council voted 12-2 to issue its own environmental certificate.
The federal government must still give its approval before Woodfibre can move ahead. When asked during the election if they would support the project, both West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country candidate Pamela Goldsmith-Jones and federal Liberal leader Justin Trudeau were non-committal.
Turning Point Approved
The Turning Point Recovery Society won approval to build a recovery house for men with addictions on Burr Place in the District of North Vancouver.
An earlier proposal to locate the nine-bed facility on Windridge Drive resulted in public backlash and fears over criminals and mentally unstable homeless people being taken in by the recovery house, putting children and property values at risk.
When it came time for a vote, however, district council did not share those fears. “I (would) not send those that need help off to some far-off hinterland and certainly, not to the 123 addictions service providers in the eight-square-block area of the Downtown Eastside drug ghetto,” said Coun. Doug MacKay-Dunn. “No, I say we must look after ours.”
Two West Vancouver homeowners in the British Properties were found guilty of violating a host of municipal bylaw offences after illegal landscaping triggered a landslide into fish-bearing Rodgers Creek.
Despite being given a stop-work order, Mohammadreza Morshedian and Seyedeh Shahrbanoo Janani continued landscaping their property on Chelsea Close without permits until it triggered a landslide in March 2013. The two face fines of up to $160,000 plus $80,000 in cleanup costs.
“It sends a strong message to property owners. The district bylaws are there for a reason. And they’ll be enforced,” said Jeff McDonald, spokesman for the district.
NOVEMBER
After years spent decaying in a legal tug-of-war, West Vancouver’s historic Binning House was sold to a local realtor.
The former home of artist B.C. Binning was intended to be left in trust and open for public and scholarly access but it wound up in bankruptcy sale as the troubled Land Conservancy of B.C. tried to bail itself out of debt, angering heritage preservationists.
The new owner says he intends to restore and live in the home and allow public and scholarly access.
23-year Sentence for Pimp
Reza Moazami, 30, was handed a 23-year prison sentence for 30 prostitution-related offences.
Moazami was convicted of offences against 11 teens, who were between 14 and 19 when he forced them into prostitution. As a pimp, Moazami used both psychological and physical threats to force the girls to work for him. He took their photos to post on websites advertising sexual services, took calls to arrange their clients, pocketed the money and gave the teens drugs to keep them dependent on him.
“Well informed members of our community would be shocked and disgusted at Mr. Moazami’s conduct,” the judge wrote in her sentence.
Syrian Crisis Comes Home
North Shore residents and charitable organizations were mobilized as the new government announced it would begin fast-tracking the arrival of refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.
Canyon Heights resident Hisham Wattar had been waiting more than three years for his privately sponsored family members stuck in Egypt. Seven North Shore united churches combined resources to sponsor a Syrian family of seven. Meanwhile, four local women travelled to the Greek island of Lesvos to aid refugees who were coming in by the boatload.
“What would it be like if we had 2,000 to 3,000 refugees landing on Cates Park beach every day? How would we cope?” Laurie Cooper said.
Climate Change Labels Coming to Gas Pumps
The City of North Vancouver made headlines around the world when it became the first jurisdiction to announce it would enforce climate change warning labels on gas pumps – similar to the ones that have emblazoned cigarette packages.
DECEMBER
Wanting to give a little warning to those most affected, BC Assessment mailed out 2,130 notices to property owners on the North Shore to let them know their assessment will be up “significantly more than the average for their area.”
Those in single-family homes will likely bear the brunt of any jump in municipal taxes as a result of the super-heated real-estate market,
“If you went back to 1980 there would be only two or three other times when the single-family market across the North Shore has moved as quickly and by as much as it has in the last year,” said the assessor.
Monster Homes Addressed
After years of facing complaints about the loss of neighbourhood character, West Vancouver council took some baby steps towards addressing monster homes. New regulations favoured by council include limits to fence heights and the size of homes built on assembled lots.
The new rules, however, won’t be in effect for some time. With older homes disappearing and being replaced with mega-mansions at a rate of 150 per year, council ought to be acting fast, Coun. Nora Gambioli warned.
Rescue the Rescuer
Community members rallied around North Shore Rescue volunteer and paramedic Jay Piggot in his hour of need. Piggot was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and needed financial support for his family while he undergoes treatment. The rescue team organized a crowdfunding campaign that pulled in $103,180 in two weeks.
“Never in my wildest dreams would I have expected the community and complete strangers to come out and support me like this,” Piggot said.
The first privately sponsored family of Syrian refugees bound for North Vancouver landed at Vancouver International Airport on Dec. 21.
Hisham Wattar’s sister, two nieces and two great-nieces had fled Damascus after Bashar al-Assad’s forces raided their home. The United Nations High Commission on Refugees granted them refugee status in 2012 but they spent years caught in a web of bureaucracy in Cairo.
“There was lots of hugs and tears and emotion. The kids were excited too, their cousins, their relatives,” Wattar said.
The family was co-sponsored by Canyon Heights Church.
