Wednesday - Aug. 14, 2024 - Harrison's candidate list is set

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Good morning!

I don’t remember all too much about elementary school, but I still remember the speech therapist’s big black moustache. That’s about all I remember from the speech therapy sessions I attended as a kid and I’m not sure how much they helped. Even into college, I didn’t feel all that great putting sounds together. Did I have a lisp? I’m not sure? Do I still sometimes have a lisp? Maybe! I try not to think about it, but I’m occasionally invited to speak on the radio so it can’t be that off-putting. One thing I do know is that, very occasionally, something in my brain misfires and I lisp when I write.

That’s what happened in today’s story when I intended to write “message” but instead my fingers came out with “method.” A moderately confused Grace caught the wrong word, though she couldn’t figure out what I had intended to say. It doesn’t happen often, but it shows how speech is not just the movement of your lips, but the translation of words into physical movements.

– Tyler

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Traffic & Weather

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NEWS

The public health push to stop drinking in parks

The Lower Mainland’s public health doctors want to make alcohol harder to buy and more expensive.

And they definitely don’t want you drinking a beer in the park on a sunny day in sight of impressionable kids.

As backyards disappear, local governments and politicians have begun to reconsider long-standing prohibitions against drinking in public places. But with more and more research emphasizing alcohol’s health risks, public health doctors in BC have begun taking an increasingly hardline stance against any bending of long-standing bans on booze in parks.

Physicians have warned municipalities they risk “over-normalizing” drinking and a range of other negative outcomes. But they have encountered stiff resistance to their advocacy and failed to find many allies, with elected officials frequently questioning the consistency of their substance use advice.

• Today, Tyler writes about BC’s public health officers’ call for increased restrictions on access to alcohol, the push back from politicians, and the contradictions at the heart of efforts to get people who like drinking to stop consuming alcohol.

Related

Need to Know

🚧 Highway construction is causing headaches for Langley businesses, the local chamber of commerce says [CBC]

💦 Mission’s former outdoor swimming pool is visible as construction begins on a new condo [Mission Record] / We wrote about the former swimming hole, and those in other communities, in 2022 [FVC]

👉 A mentoring program for would-be female firefighters will be in Abbotsford this weekend [Abbotsford News]

🏪 Costco is beginning to require customers to scan their cards before entering the stores to crackdown on ‘membership moochers’ [Vancouver Sun]

🚑 A man drowned at Albert Dyck Park in Abbotsford Monday [Global]

🎪 Chilliwack’s fair didn’t allow the BC Conservative Party to set up a tent—but did allow the NDP MLA to donate a shade tent [Fraser Valley Today]

🎰 Abbotsford’s casino has re-opened following a strike [Abbotsford News]

🚒 A chemical spill on Prest Road in Chilliwack drew fire crews to the scene [Chilliwack Progress]

🔨 A developer hopes to build more than 200 homes near the intersection of Vedder and Keith Wilson roads in Chilliwack [Fraser Valley Today]

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The Agenda

Harrison mayor and council candidates finalized

The candidates for Harrison’s next race to the council table are now known.

In June, then-mayor Ed Wood stepped down from his position, beginning the countdown to the second Harrison by-election in as many years. With the deadline to submit papers having passed on Friday, there are two official candidates for the mayor’s seat: Harrison newcomer Fred Talen and longtime politico John Allen. To run for mayor, Allen has had to resign his council seat, leaving two vacancies to be filled in the by-election.

Talen is a relative newcomer to the community, moving to Harrison in 2021 for retirement. He had formerly been Director of Aboriginal Rights negotiations in the Northwest Territories government, and is certified in conflict resolution. He is also an active member of a number of local clubs, including the Fraser Valley Paddling Club, the Agassiz-Harrison Cycling Group, the Chilliwack Symphony Chorus, and the Harrison Wild Dragon Boat team. He said in a Facebook statement that he would “work towards creating a consensus” where residents’ quality of life is at the forefront.

Allen, the other mayoral candidate, has had his fingers in Harrison politics for decades. He was first elected to council in the 1970s, and served as mayor in the early 2000s. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2011, 2014, 2018, and 2022. But last year, he won a by-election after Coun. John Buckley resigned. During the last year, he was Wood’s lone ally and frequently outnumbered by Couns. Leo Facio, Allen Jackson and Michie Vidal. Most recently, he said that a press release issued by current council members about the results of workplace and confidentiality investigations amounts to a “scurrilous, defamatory, mud-slinging campaign against us.” (No members of council were named in the release. You can read more about that here.)

Harrison will also need to vote on a new councillor. Among the candidates is Wood himself, who has confirmed he was the subject of the aforementioned workplace investigation. Other council candidates include Gary Webster, a member of the Environmental Advisory Committee and Harrison’s Blockwatch program; Mark Schweinbenz, another member of the Environmental Advisory Committee and owner of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory; and Teresa Omelus, a former nurse who narrowly lost to Allen during the 2023 by-election.

The Harrison by-election is set for Saturday, Sept. 21. Campaigning officially begins on Saturday, Aug. 24. Details on when Harrison residents can vote, and who is eligible to vote, are available online. Our stories from the past two years on Harrison council can be found here.

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🗓 Things to do

Christopher at Cedarbrook: Cedarbrook Park near Chilliwack hosts singer-songwriter Andrew Christopher for an outdoor concert at 5:30pm on Friday, Aug. 16. Details online.

UFV ‘walk out’: UFV is hosting a walk-out at its Abbotsford campus on Thursday, Aug. 15 in support of women in Afghanistan. Afghan women have been banned from attending high school and university, and now are not able to attend school after Grade 3. The walk begins at noon. Details online.

Langley Ribfest: RibFest Langley returns from Friday, Aug. 16 to Sunday, Aug. 18 at McLeod Athletic Park. Check out famous ribbers, live music, a kid zone, and more. Admission is free. Details online.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Catch up

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