Category: In the News

Langley Advance Times

Drought conditions have reduced Lower Mainland river levels to the point where Chinook salmon have been unable to cross the sea dam on the Nicomekl River in Surrey, said Nigel Easton, president of the Nicomekl Enhancement Society that operates the volunteer-run hatchery in Langley.

“All our fish are sitting at the dam,” Easton told the Langley Advance Times on Sunday, Oct. 16, after visiting the dam located near King George Blvd.

“There’s a lot of salmon swimming around.” …

Malcolm Brodie, chair of Metro Vancouver’s Water Committee, said current water use is about 20-per-cent higher than normal for the region this time of year.

“Our reservoir levels are lower than we typically see for this time of year, and this higher-than-expected water usage is leading to ongoing drawdown of our water storage reservoirs,” Brodie said. …

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The Province

Voters across B.C. got their chance on Saturday to determine who takes care of their municipal matters for the next four years.

In an election that saw the mayoral and council incumbents in Vancouver and Surrey knocked out, here’s a look at some of the interesting things that happened on Oct. 15, 2022. …

6. A tale of four cities

The largest municipalities in B.C. by population are Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby and Richmond. And when it came to voter turnout this year, the larger the electorate, the greater the percentage of voters.

Polls showed that in both Vancouver and Surrey, it was a vote for change, reflected in a relatively high 37.4 per cent turnout for Vancouver, followed by 32 per cent in Surrey. Richmond, meanwhile, saw a 25 per cent turnout with incumbent Malcolm Brodie winning yet again, while Burnaby saw just 20 per cent of voters turnout in an election that saw no competition for incumbent Mike Hurley. …

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Richmond News

Malcolm Brodie handily won his seat as mayor of Richmond for the eighth term in a row.

The polls closed at 8 pm. on Saturday, Oct. 15 as Brodie won with 23,239 votes (about 68 per cent of the votes) from the Richmond community.

John Roston received 9304 votes followed by Wei Ping Chen who had 1,859 votes. …

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Richmond News

Students in Richmond agreed with adults in the municipal elections and elected Malcolm Brodie as the city’s mayor once again.

Brodie was elected as mayor with 52 per cent (1,003) of the votes from the students of 17 schools that participated in the Student Vote program. …

Student Vote is organized by the non-partisan charity Civix, which mirrors elections and students vote for the candidates on the ballots in the actual election.

While students are under the voting age, the Student Vote program teaches youth about the election process and the importance of voting. …

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Vancouver Sun

Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie, who has been in the seat for 21 years, was a shoo-in for being re-elected for the eighth time.

He drew 23,239 votes, about 13,935 more than his closest competitor, RITE Richmond’s John Roston with 9,304 votes. Third place candidate, Wei Ping Chen, only drew 1,859 votes.

Brodie has been used to handily winning the Richmond mayoralty.

In 2018, he took 65 per cent of the vote and in 2014, he won with nearly 70 per cent.

“I’m highly gratified that it appears that I’m going to be successful,” said Brodie, celebrating a substantial enough lead ahead of all polls reporting at the Four Points By Sheraton Vancouver Airport hotel on Alexandra Road in Richmond. …

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Mission City Record

I’m big on irony.

I see irony in so many things, like when opposition parties that used to be in power and never sold a certain problem now lambaste a ruling party for not solving that same problem.

That’s one.

Some ironies are not so wonderful.

Like what happened to me recently as I drove through the forests of Mission looking for the site of a nasty fire that nearly ignited a group of trees.

I was driving through the Silverdale area after hearing about a fire in a barn that nearly blew up some propane tanks.

The fire was especially concerning because the forests are tinder-dry due to a depressing drought that’s meant I’ve been able to roll around in shorts and a T-shirt in the middle of October.

So a fire near a forest is a big deal.

That’s when the irony slapped me in the face because as I drove trying to find a fire, I witnessed some clown in the car approaching me flick a cigarette out his window.

Yes, despite all of the recent wildfires in West Vancouver, Coquitlam and Chilliwack, plus assorted grass fires all over Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, this idiot decided it was a good idea to flick his cigarette. …

With no rain in sight, Metro Vancouver is also encouraging residents and businesses to use less treated drinking water so that we can continue to meet the region’s needs.

“Our current water use is about 20-per-cent higher than normal for this time of year,” said Malcolm Brodie, chair of Metro Vancouver’s Water Committee, in a news release. “Our reservoir levels are lower than we typically see for this time of year, and this higher-than-expected water usage is leading to ongoing drawdown of our water storage reservoirs.” …

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Global News

Metro Vancouver residents are being urged to cut back on water use as drought-like conditions continue to persist well into the fall season.

In a Thursday media release, Metro Vancouver Water Committee chair Malcolm Brodie said people were using about 20 per cent more water right now than they typically do this time of year.

“Our reservoir levels are lower than we typically see for this time of year, and this higher-than-expected water usage is leading to ongoing drawdown of our water storage reservoirs,” he said.

According to Metro Vancouver, the region’s watersheds have received just 50 millimetres of rain since the start of August, an eighth of the 400 millimetres that fall on average between Aug. 1 and the middle of October. …

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Richmond News

Political alliances are ramping up in Richmond with the municipal election just days away.

For the first time in more than 20 years Richmond mayor, Malcolm Brodie, who is looking for re-election, publicly endorsed eight candidates on Tuesday.

This includes four incumbent councillors, Andy Hobbs, Alexa Loo, Bill McNulty and Chak Au. Harold Steves and Linda McPhail are not seeking re-election, so the only two incumbents Brodie is not endorsing are RITE candidate’s Carol Day and Michael Wolfe.

Brodie said he’s not endorsing Day and Wolfe because they have their own mayoral candidate, John Roston. …

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Richmond News

One of the biggest challenges for voters in a civic election with 45 different candidates (the majority of whom most of us have never heard of) seven slates (some of which only formed in the last month) is knowing how candidates would actually vote on key issues.

To that end, the Richmond News asked all council and mayoral candidates to answer “yes” or “no” to questions we posed to them regarding everything from housing, to development, to the arts.

We also gave candidates the opportunity to answer one question in a longer format. See below for their answers (not all candidates chose to give long-form answers; some candidates sent several long-form answers but didn’t indicate which one they wanted posted online).

We hope this helps you narrow down the selection and find the candidates that best reflect the direction you want to see Richmond city council take in the next four years. …

Malcolm Brodie

The city currently requires 15 per cent affordable rentals in new developments in City Centre and 10 per cent in the rest of the city. Is that enough?

NO: The Affordable rental provision must be analyzed together with the mandatory 15% market rental requirement. Council has worked with development to provide many types of rental homes to increase affordability through a range of housing. This gives different housing options to people with varying incomes and family situations.

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Daily Hive

Plans to significantly expand the district energy utility systems within Richmond City Centre have received the financial support of the federal government.

Canada Infrastructure Bank, the federal crown corporation that provides financing for infrastructure projects, recently announced it will provide $175 million in financing to Lulu Island Energy Company (LIEC), which is a private company wholly owned by the City of Richmond to oversee its district energy utility systems. …

“The benefits of this expansion will be realized not only by the residents and businesses connected to the utility, but the entire community as it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated one million tonnes when completed,” said Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie in a statement.

“District energy is a key pillar for achieving Richmond’s short- and long-term community greenhouse gas emission reduction goals as well as the delivery of efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly energy for the community.” …

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