bc.-announces-new-clean-energy-building-rebates
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B.C. announces new clean energy building rebates

ByCharlie Carey

Posted September 18, 2024 7:38 am. A new program aimed at supporting people and communities to make the switch to clean energy and save on their energy bills was announced by the B.C. government Tuesday. Minister of Energy, Mines, and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne explained the ministry is launching the Clean BC Multi-Unit Residential Building Retrofit Program in partnership with BC Hydro. She says this program will provide rebates and energy coaching to business owners, strata councils, and equity co-op boards to undertake whole-building retrofits. “This includes everything from heat pumps to LED lighting, electrical upgrades, to better windows and ventilation,” she said. “Rebate amounts will depend on what retrofits and upgrades the building requires.” Osborne says one example could be that a building is switching from fossil fuel heating to electric heat pumps and may then receive $3,000 per heat pump installed. The minister says retrofitting buildings to make them cleaner is complex, and this program provides one-on-one advice and energy coaching to support building owners and managers in navigating the process. The ministry expects that a typical 65-unit building could save as much as $16,250 per year, or $250 per year per suite, after switching from central gas heating to in-suite heat pumps. “Making smart choices about how we use clean electricity has been core to our business for over 35 years,” said Chris O’Riley, president and CEO of BC Hydro. “Energy-efficiency programs defer the need for additional capital infrastructure, helping to keep rates affordable and offer additional flexibility to our electricity system. But equally important, programs like this one and the many others we offer provide our customers with the opportunity to save energy and money.”

bc-commits-$2.65-billion-for-hwy-1-widening-project-between-langley-and-abbotsford
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B.C. commits $2.65 billion for Hwy 1 widening project between Langley and Abbotsford

Byvancouversun

The project was originally slated to be completed by 2026 Published Aug 14, 2024  •  2 minute read The Trans-Canada widening project — a 2020 NDP campaign promise — has been delayed, much to the frustration of commuters often stuck in traffic jams and businesses clamouring for an improved corridor for the estimated $65 million of goods transported every year. Photo by Francis Georgian /PNG The B.C. government has announced $2.65 billion in funding to widen and improve Highway 1 in the Fraser Valley in order to reduce traffic congestion and cut commute times between Langley and Abbotsford. The Trans-Canada widening project — a 2020 NDP campaign promise — has been delayed, much to the frustration of commuters often stuck in traffic jams and businesses clamouring for an improved corridor for the estimated $65 million of goods transported every year. Most of Abbotsford will be served by the widened freeway. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Vancouver Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. Sign In or Create an Account or Article content Premier David Eby acknowledged the delays and cost increases for the project, which was originally slated to go to Whatcom Road and be completed by 2026. He said flooding at the Sumas Prairie in 2021, global inflation, and the increase in volume on the highway has made the project challenging. “I feel the frustration of everybody who sits in traffic who wants to get this road open as quickly as possible,” he said Wednesday. “That’s what I want too.” He said the expanded and improved highway will help residents of the fast-growing Fraser Valley region by cutting commutes by car and transit, and help improve the shipment of goods. The widening project spans 21 kilometres of Hwy. 1 between the 264th Street interchange and Highway 11, or the Sumas Way exit, in Abbotsford. It has been broken up into two sections. Last fall, the province announced $2.34 billion in funding for upgrades for the first section, the 13-kilometre stretch between 264th Street and Mount Lehman Road in Abbotsford. Construction will start this year and is expected to be completed in 2029. The announcement commits the province to funding the remaining eight-kilometre stretch from Mount Lehman Road to Highway 11. The ministry said procurement for this stage will begin in 2025, with construction starting the year after and completion slated for 2031. Article content The project will be expanded to include Whatcom Road in Abbotsford through the Sumas Prairie toward Chilliwack. The province has not announced funding or a start or completion date for this phase. In addition to widening the highway, the government plans to rebuild overpasses at Peardonville Road, Bradner Road, and the CPKC rail overhead to improve height clearance for commercial trucks, said the ministry. A new crossing at Glover Road has been completed. New interchanges will be built at 232nd and 264th streets in Langley and on Mount Lehman Road and Highway 11 in Abbotsford as part of the project. These interchanges will include HOV lanes and bus-on-shoulder lanes. More than 80,000 drivers use the highway between Langley and Abbotsford and through the Sumas Prairie to Chilliwack daily, says the ministry. Recommended from Editorial Vaughn Palmer: NDP ditch election promise on Hwy. 1 widening Fraser Valley business groups to province: Speed up highway widening Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add VancouverSun.com and TheProvince.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber: For just $14 a month, you can get unlimited access to The Vancouver Sun, The Province, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Vancouver Sun | The Province. Article content

west-vancouver-council-narrowly-passes-housing-density-bylaw
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West Vancouver council narrowly passes housing density bylaw

Bymichael

District of West Vancouver councillors have reluctantly passed a bylaw rezoning single-family lots to allow the building of multiple housing units by a narrow 4-3 margin. The vote Monday, Aug. 12, came after B.C.’s Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon gave the municipality an ultimatum last month requiring that it comply with provincial requirements to rezone outstanding properties to allow multiple units within 30 days. The vote also came after a public war of words between Kahlon and West Vancouver Mayor Mark Sager about the province’s demand to allow more density on single-family properties to help with the provincial housing crisis. Municipalities were supposed to approve new housing regulations by June 30. The housing dust-up with the province began in May when council voted to reject passing bylaw amendments that would have had the municipality fall in line with provincial housing density rules. Then in July, council sought an extension to the end of September to deal with the issue. But Kahlon made it clear he wasn’t going to consider that. Council ‘strongly opposed’ to provincial demand On Monday, Sager said he wasn’t happy about being forced to rezone by the provincial government. “I don’t think this is a particularly democratic way to run a province,” he said, adding, “We all appreciate there is a need to address housing, but we don’t think that the solutions necessarily get drawn on a desk in Victoria.” In casting the deciding vote on the issue, Sager noted that “most of us are very strongly opposed” to the provincial directive. “It makes me ill” to vote in favour of the rezoning, Sager said, but added he was concerned about what a rejection could mean for the community if the province stepped in and imposed its own zoning bylaw. Three councillors refused to go along with the rezoning, lambasting the province for its top-down approach and refusal to push back against unprecedented levels of immigration to B.C. as driving the housing crisis, as well as criticizing senior levels of government for a laundry list of problems. ‘We’ve developed Stockholm Syndrome’ says Watt “It’s almost like we’ve developed Stockholm Syndrome,” said Coun. Linda Watt, who pointed to a huge wave of immigration to B.C. while private sector housing starts are down. Watt said passing the rezoning bylaw was “not a solution” to the housing crisis. “We have an authoritarian government that is ignoring basic planning principles in a reckless effort to please a prime minister who’s hell bent on beating the Canadian economy further into the ground,” she said. Both Watt and Coun. Christine Cassidy suggested the province had chosen to make an example of West Vancouver ahead of the fall provincial election. Coun. Sharon Thompson said she also didn’t believe rezoning single-family properties would do much to create more housing. Just over 300 properties impacted According to West Vancouver staff, the rezoning bylaw means 313 properties will see an increase in density. Most of the properties impacted by the changes are former land use contract sites in the Ambleside and Dundarave neighbourhoods which in the past have specifically disallowed coach houses. Most single-family lots in the rest of West Vancouver already allow both secondary suites and coach houses, so wouldn’t have been impacted by the change. The new rules provide for between three and six units to be built on single-family lots – depending on the size of the lot and its distance from transit routes. Coun. Nora Gambioli was the lone councillor who spoke in favour of the provincial zoning bylaw Monday saying West Van is “way way off” its housing targets. “We’ve actually only approved 50 units that are getting hopefully built in the next couple of years,” she said. “I don’t think we’ve been doing enough for the whole time I’ve been on this council.” Gambioli added the change will impact less than three per cent of the lots in West Vancouver. Coun. Peter Lambur and Coun. Scott Snider – who called in to the meeting by satellite phone from a remote location – both said they weren’t happy with the provincial ultimatum but added passing the bylaw was a better option than leaving it up to the province to make changes. “My duty to the district is more important than my political views on the matter,” said Snider. “The province can tell us what to do,” said Lambur. “That’s exactly what they’re doing.”

letter:-changes-on-mount-seymour-parkway-important-for-community-safety
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Letter: Changes on Mount Seymour Parkway important for community safety

Bymichael

A number of safety upgrades to the North Shore highway are vital to its improvement, despite recent backlash Re: Letter: Mt Seymour Parkway upgrades pushed through without public consent Re: Mount Seymour Parkway bike lane draws mixed reviews Dear Editor, This letter is in response to a recent Letter to the Editor, titled, ” Mt Seymour Parkway upgrades pushed through without public consent”. The letter uses a lot of language without backing any of it up with factual information, so I will attempt to provide some here. Firstly, the Parkway was the only street in the District of North Vancouver with a speed limit of 60 kilometres per hour. Everywhere else, people contend with a 50 km/h speed limit. According to statistics from the City of Edmonton, a pedestrian’s chances of survival are only 45 per cent if hit by a vehicle going 50 kilometres per hour. The probability of the pedestrian being killed increases to 85 per cent if the vehicle is travelling at 60 km/h. As the district notes, observed speeds were regularly up to 77 km/h. The author also claims the changes to the Parkway are purely political. Despite having a Bicycle Master Plan since 2012, little has been done District-wide. Other than changes to Lynn Valley Road and some of 29th, council has done almost nothing to make cycling safer in years prior. Cycling infrastructure in the district is starkly absent compared to the City of North Vancouver or the City of Vancouver. As for “inefficiency”, as the author notes, let’s do some simple math. From Riverside Dr. to Parkgate Village, the distance is 3.5 km. A drop in the speed limit from 60km/h to 50km/h results in an addition of 42 seconds to one’s trip to Seymour. I will leave it to readers to determine if, as the author states, this constitutes “an assault” on the “working class” and “the entire community,” including seniors. The lanes have only been narrowed minimally. According to the sistrict, the Parkway vehicle lanes are now the same as Lynn Valley Road and Marine Drive. If you are at risk of swerving into a concrete curb or barrier, then you were by definition at risk of hitting, injuring, or killing someone in the bike lane prior to the implementation of concrete separation. If the author is having trouble empathizing with the kind of discomfort many cyclists feel riding in an unprotected bike lane, I would ask them to try this: ride, run, walk, stand, or sit — whatever they are capable of — in an unprotected bike lane while a car or truck speeds past them within inches, regularly, at speeds of up to 80 km/h. And stay there for longer than 42 seconds. The recent changes are important because they provide real safety measures for people riding bikes (roughly 400 per day). But they are also important because they have a tangible effect on the comfort that riders feel as they make their way back and forth from the Seymour area. If we as a community feel it is important to reduce vehicle trips and traffic, and foster a healthy active community, then changes like what we see on the Parkway are an important step in the right direction and long overdue. Jordan Manley, North Vancouver What are your thoughts? Send us a letter via email by clicking here or post a comment below

volunteers-plant-trees-in-area-they-say-was-damaged-by-pipeline-construction
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Volunteers plant trees in area they say was damaged by pipeline construction

ByStan S.

Posted August 9, 2024 9:27 pm. Last Updated August 9, 2024 9:31 pm. The Mountain Protectors — an Indigenous-led group dedicated to monitoring the construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion in Burnaby — says it is trying to regenerate the land that has been damaged during that process. Jim Leyden and Sam Munn, along with a handful of volunteers, have planted more than 100 trees in the stretch of land between Gaglardi Way and Lougheed Highway in Burnaby. “Every tree we plant, we take power back from the oil industry that would rather just come through here and gut everything and leave,” said Leyden “We want to remediate the sites so they get back to where they were. Be good neighbours.” They are hoping to revitalize the area and return it to a forest — measures they say should be taken by Trans Mountain. “I would like them to come and do the things they say they would do and take care of the things they say they would take care of,” Leyden said. “A spiritual contract goes from the beginning to the end, and not the beginning until someone gets out what they want. And that is the history of the resource industry.” In a statement, Trans Mountain says, in part, “Work crews are finishing final cleanup and reclamation activities along the pipeline corridor in Burnaby, which will continue through 2024. All remediation work is performed under a Canada Energy Regulator-approved Reclamation Management Plan…” Part of the company’s reclamation commitment, in a section for parks and sensitive areas, reads, “Our goal is to protect rare plant species and reestablish native plant communities,” but the Mountain Protectors say this hasn’t been fulfilled by Trans Mountain. “Even that kind of bare-minimum commitment they made to the people here,” Munn said. Munn is hoping the trees they planted will survive the summer, and the group is looking for volunteers to help them water the saplings to help replenish the land.