Month: June 2015

Richmond News

Sitting down at the outdoor patio at Richmond City Hall, where Henry Yao has been spending a lot of time lately, a gust of wind knocks over a water bottle not belonging to him.

“Oh, sorry,” said Yao.

Yao, a city council candidate from last election, has gone from a Taiwanese immigrant at age 11, to a McNair graduate at age 18 to a cancer survivor at age 25. And after 10 years as a youth worker, he’s become as humble and apologetic as your stereotypical Canadian. …

Every other Monday evening he is present at Richmond City Council meetings, unlike many other past challengers.

“I heard Mayor Malcolm Brodie criticize Richard Lee for never attending a meeting, so I want to understand the process and read the documents and understand the issues,” said Yao.

Richmond News

The 70th Annual Steveston Salmon Festival – “Canada’s biggest little birthday party” – will celebrate our nation’s 148th birthday and the local heritage of the village of Steveston.

The festival’s main attractions are the Canada Day parade and the famous salmon bake, which serves wild sockeye salmon expertly cooked over open, alder wood fire pits. It’s a fun-filled day of live entertainment, trade, art, craft shows and many fun activities for children and youth. …

Immediately after the parade, the festival is officially opened with the singing of O Canada followed by a declaration by Mayor Malcolm Brodie around high noon. …

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News 1130

With Vancouver bringing in pot shop regulations, could we see other cities follow suit? Are other municipalities going to consider licensing medical marijuana dispensaries?

City staff in Richmond is currently investigating the merits of medical marijuana licensing. Mayor Malcolm Brodie says there are no pot shops in his city but are taking a more proactive approach.

“Maybe today it’s not an issue and tomorrow it could, so we are following to see whether any of these dispensaries get set up in our city and then we have to take steps to deal with them. At this point we don’t seem to have the issue in our community but we are following it very closely.” …

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Richmond Review

Editor:

I had the opportunity to witness and participate in the recently conducted first-ever Philippine flag-raising ceremony held in the quadrangle of Richmond City Hall on Saturday. The event commemorated the Philippines’ 117th Independence Day. It was a touching and emotional experience to see my native land national flag being unfurled and raised in this city I have lived and loved since I arrived in this country 18 years ago. Richmond City Hall will surely become a memorable place and a historic ground for being the place to hoist our national colour. …

Richmond MP Alice Wong, Richmond East MLA Linda Reid and Mayor Malcolm Brodie, together with some members of Richmond city council, were seen huddling and chatting around with excited members of the Filipino Canadian community. …

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Richmond Review

Richmond is a great model of multiculturalism. Our No. 5 Road is home to more than 20 prominent places of worship. Some of the world’s major religions—Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism—are well represented on this Highway To Heaven.

The presence of some very impressive places, including a mosque, a gurdwara (Sikh Temple), various Christian churches, a monastery and a pagoda, are just some of the places of worship that stand out and call No. 5 Road their home. Furthermore, there are a number of religious schools that complement these places of worship. It is a true reflection of the Canadian Mosaic. …

Also, for the first time this year, the association will be celebrating B.C. Day on Monday, Aug. 3. The venue will be the Lingyen Mountain Temple, 10060 No. 5 Rd. Mayor Malcolm Brodie, MP Alice Wong and Richmond East MLA Linda Reid have accepted our invitation to join us. A number of other dignitaries are also expected to attend. The program will commence at 11 a.m. and conclude around 2 p.m. The VIPs will be bringing greetings around noon. There will be information booths by the participating places of worship. Furthermore, there will be ongoing multicultural entertainment throughout. …

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Richmond News

A new all-access playground at McNeely elementary school has opened to the public.

The $230,000 project was the idea of local resident Amanda Bostik after coming to the realization many play areas are not accessible for children with disabilities, such as her daughter Gemma. …

“Being a fully accessible, inclusive and barrier-free City is an important goal and priority for Council. Projects such as this bring immeasurable benefits to all those in the community,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie.

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News 1130

As the City of Richmond continues to deal with the possibility of a jet fuel pipeline running to the airport, it’s putting bunker fuel and jet fuel side-by-side, looking at the impact of and response, to spills.

The city has issued a report which shows some of what’s been found seems to put jet fuel in a more favourable light, but the city still has major concerns. …

Mayor Malcolm Brodie acknowledges the jet fuel may have less of an effect on the river, but says it doesn’t make him more open to having more tankers there.

“Because the tankers pose a great deal of risk, not just with the load that they carry with the jet fuel, but how they are fueled themselves, with the bunker fuel. If there’s an incident, there could be great danger to life around the Fraser River, and that comes from the ships on the river.” …

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Richmond Review

The new General Currie Community Garden was officially opened Wednesday on the south side of General Currie elementary school, complete with community garden plots for the public to use, several others set aside for the school’s students to maintain and use as an educational resource, and a finely crafted, eye-catching wood pergola above a series of picnic tables.

On hand to celebrate the opening was Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, school trustees Donna Sargent and Alice Wong, and other city and school district officials. …

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Richmond News

A small, quiet and tight-knit Hamilton neighbourhood may be turned into a truck-filled nightmare as a result of a decision by Farrell Development Corporation, owned by the family of Coun. Linda McPhail.

The issue has roughly 50 residents hopping mad and could spawn the city’s second ratepayers’ association.

Is Hamilton’s Dyke Road a recreational trail or a route for heavy industrial truck traffic?

That’s the question that will soon come before city councillors, save for McPhail, who will not take part in any decisions. …

When asked what his vision is for the area, Mayor Malcolm Brodie said residents should be prepared for industrial uses on the properties in question.

“If you buy a residential property next to industrial land, I don’t see how we can fetter the industrial owner for using that land as it’s intended under the zoning,” said Brodie, who, nevertheless, said council has asked staff to investigate the road condition and possible solutions.

“Maybe the first mistake was allowing a residential development along the river,” said Brodie. …

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Richmond Review

Richmond City Hall is creating a “carbon marketplace” and urging the community to help in its bid to meet environmental goals.

A new pilot program will see the city trade cash for carbon credits from businesses, non-profit organizations and even individuals. The goal is for the city to maintain its carbon neutral status in future years.

“We’ve already made great strides at the corporate level and this innovative, locally-based carbon marketplace will allow us to work together with our community partners to move forward in our goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout Richmond with solutions developed right here,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie in a news release. …

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