Category: In the News

City of Richmond

For the first time since 2020, the popular Richmond Children’s Arts Festival is returning in full form with a program of free, hands-on fun on BC Family Day, Monday, February 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“The Children’s Arts Festival is a long-time favourite with the community,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “Whether it’s enjoying a musical performance or interacting with a creative activity, children and their families are always delighted and enriched by the experience. It’s great to see the festival return fully in person on BC Family Day.”

This year’s festival, presented by Lansdowne Centre, will once again see the Richmond Library/Cultural Centre transformed into a celebration of imagination and creativity with an exciting line-up of music, dance, writing and more for children ages three to 12 years. For details, visit www.childrensartsfestival.ca. …

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City of Richmond

The public is invited to submit nominations for the 15th annual Richmond Arts Awards until Monday, March 13.

Nominate an extraordinary emerging or established artist, arts leader, cultural practitioner, educator, group or arts business that has significantly contributed to the arts or is deserving of recognition. …

The award winners will be honoured at a gala awards ceremony hosted by Mayor Malcolm Brodie at the Gateway Theatre. …

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Indo-Canadian Voice

BC Liberal Leader Kevin Falcon has doubled down on his pledge to cancel the approved Massey crossing project, keeping commuters stuck in traffic for an additional three years, said Richmond MLAs Aman Singh and Henry Yao on Thursday.

Speaking to Glacier Media, Falcon said he will scrap all work done to date on the tunnel project and go back to the BC Liberal plan to build a toll bridge.

“My hope is that I can become premier before it’s too far along so that we can stop it before they get any construction work done on the actual tunnelling, and we can get back to building a bridge overpass,” Falcon said. …

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie has said that any future delays on the project would be caused by Falcon’s decision to go backwards, “not the fault of the current government.”

“Kevin Falcon would delay a solution to this traffic by three years,” said Singh. “And he’s ignoring the consensus view in our community that the tunnel is the right project for our region. Building a tunnel addresses traffic while avoiding the negative impacts of a mega-bridge.” …

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Vancouver Sun

The City of Delta considers establishing a second crossing of Highway 99 near the Massey Tunnel at Ladner to be critical infrastructure for growth in that area of the municipality, so officials are protesting its apparent exclusion from the $4.15-billion tunnel replacement project.

“For Ladner and for all of Delta, having the second overpass was critical,” said Coun. Dylan Kruger, Delta’s acting mayor and co-chair of Metro Vancouver’s George Massey Crossing Task Force. …

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie backed Harvie on Delta’s position, co-signing the letter, which also asks for Fleming to support keeping B.C. Hydro’s main transmission lines underground as part of the project.

“I think any time you make a decision, or make recommendations, it’s stronger if the mayors of both cities sign it,” Brodie said.

Brodie said B.C. Hydro’s main transmission lines run beneath the Fraser River along with the existing Massey Tunnel, but the utility was going to replace that infrastructure with overhead wires, strung from “very tall” towers as part of the previous bridge.

Brodie said that would be “a step backwards,” which was mainly why he signed Harvie’s letter.

“(The River Road overpass) may be of less impact to the City of Richmond, but certainly the Hydro wires are of great interest,” Brodie said. “So we want to speak with one voice and be supportive.” …

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Richmond News

2022 was a year of reset and recovery at Richmond City Hall.

COVID-19 brought with it shutdowns of some city facilities, working from home, Zoom calls and streaming of city hall public meetings — as the public wasn’t allowed to attend.

So, this year, as things reverted to a more normal state, it was time to reflect on lessons learned during the pandemic, explained long-time Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie. Some permanent changes are live-streamed council meetings — including committee meetings — and a more hybrid office/home working situation for city staff.

City hall also saw a shift in leadership with its long-time chief administrative officer retiring. George Duncan retired in June and was replaced by an internal hire, namely, Serena Lusk, after a national search.

“George was a big believer in succession planning,” Brodie said, adding Lusk is a product of his mentorship. Their leadership styles might be different, but Brodie said he feels good about the choice. …

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CBC News

Collectively, B.C. municipalities have likely never been in better financial health.

Yearly data aggregated by the provincial government showed that in 2021, municipalities had a combined $3.1-billion surplus, the highest number on record.

That includes surpluses of $583 million in Vancouver, $305 million in Surrey and $432 million in Burnaby — which continues to have the largest financial reserves of any city in the province, at $1.9 billion in net financial assets. …

There are a few reasons for the culture of municipal financial caution in British Columbia.

One is the fact that municipalities aren’t legally able to go into debt for their yearly operating budget.

“We have to budget fairly conservatively on the expenditure side … and we have to go the other way in terms of revenue, we have to be a little conservative on that as well,” said Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie.

“So that leads to a small surplus usually every year.” …

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Richmond News

Volunteers for Richmond RCMP were recently recognized for their contribution to the community at a gala dinner.

Since 2019 and despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers have contributed more than 18,000 hours to helping the community. …

The importance of volunteering to policing and the community at large was also emphasized by Mayor Malcolm Brodie during his speech at the event.

“Richmond remains one of the safest cities in the region and we can thank the many volunteers who serve and support our community through the Richmond RCMP detachment for playing an important role in that,” said Brodie.

“Whether it be foot, vehicle and bike patrols; operating Speed Watch, distracted driver and pedestrian safety initiatives; or assisting at large city events, the involvement of the RCMP volunteers makes our city a safer and more inclusive community.” …

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Delta Optimist

Metro Vancouver board chair and Delta Mayor George Harvie has announced the Metro Vancouver standing committee and task force structure and appointments for 2023.

“The work we do at Metro Vancouver benefits tremendously from both the shared values and diverse perspectives of elected officials from across our region, which is why it was important to me that there be gender parity in the leadership of these important committees,” said Harvie. “I look forward to working closely with our committee members and the local governments they represent on our region’s most pressing issues during the year ahead.” …

Water: Chair Malcolm Brodie (Mayor, City of Richmond)

George Massey Crossing Task Force: Chair Malcolm Brodie (Mayor, City of Richmond)

The complete list of Board, committee, and task force members is available at: metrovancouver.org/boards/membership/.

Richmond News

The City of Richmond just added two “fully electric” cargo vans to its fleet, replacing two 20-year-old gas-powered vans.

The new 2022 Ford E-Transit cargo vans are the first of their kind in the city’s fleet, and require no gas and “little to no maintenance.” …

“Council remains committed to exploring new sustainable technologies and these are just two examples of how Richmond is leading the way in the area of climate action,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie.

“The City is continually looking for innovative ways to encourage electric vehicle use and provide the low-impact charging options necessary to support them as EV demand increases.” …

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