Million dollar items to be auctioned for Richmond charities

Richmond News

Alan Lau, who made a fortune in business, is hoping a monthly auction of Chinese collectibles will pour millions of dollars into local charities.

Lau kicked off his campaign Wednesday morning with a celebratory opening of a Buswell Street office that will serve as headquarters for auction organizers with Lau’s group, the Richmond Community Publication Society.

“I want to pay my debt to all the salary class, the sweat to build up my empire,” said Lau, an 89-year-old from Hong Kong who made millions in business ventures overseas. “I should return every single cent to them.” …

Wednesday’s event began with the singing of O Canada. A traditional lion dance followed before Mayor Malcolm Brodie was handed a cleaver to cut into a roast pig.

Lau also said he is dedicating himself to the community — to Richmond. “This is my wish, my commitment to myself because my children are all millionaires — they don’t need my money.” …

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Richmond looks at moving to a municipal police force

News Talk 980 CKNW

Three years after signing onto the 20 year RCMP contract the city of Richmond is taking a serious look at dumping the Mounties for a municipal police force.

Mayor Malcolm Brodie says the city will ask its residents for feedback while they prepare a report to be tabled this fall.

Brodie says the city can get out of the 20 year RCMP contract signed in 2012.

“It has a two year opt out clause. If we made a decision by early 2016 it would be for two years after that. In order to get there we first of all want to go through a public consultation and ask the citizens of our city what kind of a police force do you like?”

He says the RCMP have served the community well but the problem is the force’s governance model, cost, and dealing with RCMP hierarchy in far away Ottawa. …

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City of Richmond considering giving RCMP the boot

Vancity Buzz

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said the city is opening up the floor to the public on whether they should eliminate the RCMP and move to a municipal police force.

At the moment, the city is tied into a contract with the RCMP for 20 years, but the contract can be broken with two years notice and provincial approval of a new police force.

Mayor Brodie told Vancity Buzz the two issues he’s concerned with are that of governance, since the RCMP is Ottawa-based, and finances.

“There are a lot of financial issues with the RCMP that don’t get easier over time.”

One of the major financial issues Mayor Brodie cited was the building of the Green Timbers RCMP headquarters in Surrey when they had a “perfectly good headquarters” that they left behind in Vancouver.

“The province and the federal government have been quarrelling and debating ever since who should be in there and the like and we’ve had virtually no input into the situation. It’s a terribly dysfunctional situation,” he said. …

Farm Feud: Richmond asks feds to rein in Port Metro Vancouver

Richmond News

The City of Richmond has fired back at Port Metro Vancouver’s assertion that the city is not doing enough to protect industrial land.

Furthermore, the city is demanding new federal regulatory changes be enacted to prevent future acquisitions of protected farmland by PMV.

The city intends to make its case by sending letters to the port, Premier Christy Clark, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and various senior government ministries and local representatives. …

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Matt and Kim headline Richmond World Festival

Richmond News

Dynamic indie dance duo Matt and Kim will headline the inaugural Richmond World Festival in Minoru Park on the Labour Day weekend.

The Richmond World Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5 with music all day long on the YVR Main Stage, an international food truck festival with more than 35 food trucks and the Richmond Centre Culinary Stage, the Global Village with interactive cultural activities and performances, Artisan Marketplace, Wide World of Sports and more.

“We’re going to transform Minoru Park into a global village that celebrates our cultural diversity, with something to satisfy all interests, ages and tastes,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “We invite everyone in Richmond and visitors from around the region and around the globe to join us for a great end of summer festival.” …

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City of Richmond researching municipal police force

Richmond News

Richmond residents may soon be asked if they want to cut ties with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Last week, Mayor Malcolm Brodie announced the City of Richmond was continuing to research the feasibility of forming its own independent municipal police force.

At issue for Brodie is costs and governance.

“We’ve got issues on the governance side of things, consisting of the difference between having an Ottawa-based police force that interacts with council through a community safety committee …compared to the controls you can set with a police board, appointed by the mayor,” said Brodie.

A major thorn in the side of the city, according to Brodie, has been the RCMP’s decision to build a $1 billion E-Division headquarters in Surrey named Green Timbers.

Brodie said the facility wasn’t necessary and, furthermore, local municipalities were not properly consulted, particularly when it came to the bill.

Brodie said to the best of his knowledge, the dispute over the bill is ongoing between the RCMP and the Province of B.C.

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