Thursday - April 17, 2025 - Chilliwack sports complex inching towards construction

☀ High 19C

Good morning!

Last week, Toronto was still in the fringes of winter. It snowed while I was there—not much, but enough to make me wish I had remembered to get my scarf from the hotel room. Meanwhile, here in the Fraser Valley, my garden is awash in flowers. The peas are popping up, and the spinach is beginning to sprout. The only snow I’ve seen on this coast are the white petals floating down from the blossom trees surrounding my backyard. (And maybe the little bit left at the tips of the mountains.)

Sure, Toronto may be the centre of the universe. But it sure was nice to have spring waiting for me when I stepped off the plane.

– Grace

P.S. We’ll be away tomorrow for Good Friday, but back in your inboxes on Easter Monday. See you then!

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope 

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

News

What keeps Canada democratic? And other reader questions.

Democracy isn’t necessarily permanent.

That fact—clearly linked to growing concerns about human rights and democracy in the United States—is on the minds of more than a few FVC readers.

We recently asked readers for their questions about how our federal government functions, and many people asked about what, if any, safeguards exist to protect our own democracy and rights.

The questions get to the very heart of Canada’s Parliamentary democracy and constitution, so we have taken time to explain them as best we can, with insight from UBC political science professor Stewart Prest.

• You can find our explainer on our governmental safeguards here. (Along with an answer to the perennial question of how voters can fire politicians who aren’t living up to their promises.)

• On Monday, we’ll answer a larger selection of your questions, including those pertaining to local polling, our first-past-the-post system, international trade, internal trade barriers, and more.

Related

Need to Know

🥩 Langley’s Critter Care Wildlife Society needs game meat for its predator guests [Langley Advance Times]

💰 More than $124,000 in contraband—including cannabis concentrate, cigars, cell phones, and crystal meth—was seized at Mountain Institution over the weekend [Agassiz Harrison Observer]

⚠ A truck hit a CP Rail overpass above Highway 1 in Langley Wednesday morning [Global]

🚔 Langley Mounties are looking for a man wanted on multiple firearms charges [Fraser Valley Today]

👋 Abbotsford School District’s long-time secretary-treasurer is leaving the district for Surrey [Abbotsford News]

👣 Paleontologists have identified fossil footprints from a new dinosaur species in BC and Alberta [CBC]

🌳 Ancient oak trees could be given legal protection in the United Kingdom [The Guardian]

📸 CURRENT CAM: Congratulations to Gerry Borden and John Les, who were tied as the first to identify yesterday’s Current Cam as farmland off Gill Road in Chilliwack. They beat the farm’s owner, Chris Kloot, who identified his own farm about 45 minutes later.

🌍 Learning with impact! KPU connects students with meaningful projects, local initiatives, and global perspectives, so education shapes both careers and communities. Explore their impact-driven programs.*

⚽ Vancouver Rise kicks off their first match at Swangard Stadium on April 24! Be there to witness the start of a new soccer era.*

*Sponsored Listing

🗳 Election 2025

The federal election campaign continues until election day on Monday, April 28. Advance voting starts tomorrow and goes until Easter Monday. Find everything you need to know—including where to vote—by visiting one of our local election hubs:

Chilliwack & the Eastern Fraser Valley | Abbotsford & Mission | Langley

The latest

👉 A six-year-old Langley resident shared his analysis of the CPC, LPC, and NDP party leaders, based on the flyers that have come to his home [Langley Advance Times]

👉 Chilliwack-Hope’s Green candidate is hosting an Earth Day clean-up at Cultus Lake [Chilliwack Progress]

👉 Canada’s party leaders faced off in their first debate last night; the Green party was uninvited from the French-language debate at the last minute [CBC]

👉 Where each party stands on the toxic drug crisis, including their thoughts on decriminalization, harm reduction, and overdose prevention sites [The Tyee]

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The Agenda

New Chilliwack sports facility inching towards construction

Chilliwack’s big sports tent is inching towards construction, with four companies given the go-ahead to create proposals for how they would build the facility.

The City of Chilliwack plans to expand the Chilliwack Landing Sports Centre with more dry floor space. The “annex”—essentially an arena with a tent-like roof—would add dry floor space to the sports centre, providing more indoor space for sports like pickleball, tennis, roller derby, and floor hockey.

The Current reported in January that the city had agreed to spend $2 million to purchase a Britespan fabric covering for the arena. Last week, the city began moving forward on the actual construction of the annex, creating a short-list of four contractors to potentially build the structure. The contractors will need to provide a full proposal and receive approval from council before any construction can begin.

The addition to the sports centre is expected to cost around $6.7 million in total, and will include a dry arena and a wood-framed “amenity space.”

Three Fraser Valley groups receive anti-racism grants

Three Fraser Valley organizations have received provincial funding for their initiatives supporting multi-culturalism and anti-racism.

Archway Community Services in Abbotsford is creating a series of resiliency workshops to “promote healing among racialized individuals.” The organization will also use the provincial funding to increase their capacity to help immigrants who experience racism and discrimination.

The Ann Davis Transition Society in Chilliwack will use its grant money to develop an Indigenous cultural workshop, wo help challenge systemic racism for clients and society staff. A cultural advisor and/or Elder will lead workshops related to health, wellness, Indigenous history, and Indigenous culture. The workshops will be available to all women at the transition houses and the outreach centre.

Finally, Chilliwack’s Love without Borders received funding to continue its work providing housing, employment opportunities, education, and support to refugees and people in marginalized communities.

The provincial funding is part of a $300,000 pot of grant money awarded to 60 organizations across the province. (Each organization could ask for a maximum of $5,000. The full amount awarded to each group was not disclosed.) Projects will be wrapped up by the end of next March.

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🗓 Things to do

Open studio: The Reach Gallery Museum hosts its monthly open studio on Saturday from 1 to 4pm. Join for coffee, conversation, and art in any non-toxic medium you enjoy. Details and registration online.

Easter hunt: Chilliwack’s District 1881 hosts an Easter scavenger hunt on Friday and Saturday. Collect stickers, complete the form, and get prizes. The Easter Bunny will also be on site for pictures.

Sunset yoga: The Harrison Tulip Festival hosts a sunset yoga session on Monday, April 21 at 6pm. Get access to the tulip fields, a guided yoga session, and a bouquet to take home. Details and tickets online.

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Catch up

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