Tuesday - Aug. 20, 2024 - Rising employment—and unemployment

⛈ High 19C

Good morning!

First of all: we had a technical (i.e. me) problem with our story yesterday. If you opened it before 10:30am, you may not have seen the big list of politicians' salaries that we had promised and created. It's there now!

Anyways, I opened the ol' mailbox today, and started to weed through the latest batch of emails (unread count now stands at 14,890, most of which are from PR people and various governments). Inevitably, I find things that make me think and smile. One email in response to our member's email (hi April!), kindly asked if we might do a story on the history of why we have lawns and grass. As it happens, last year I wrote about lawns and included a bit about how North Americans came to love grass. It answers April's question relatively briefly, but I'm going to call the fact the story already exists a win. You can find the story here.

Another email highlighted the cost-overruns of the Langley SkyTrain system and pointed to Ottawa’s LRT project as an example of getting better bang for the transit buck. Now, I don't want to make excuses for governments underestimating costs, but I do think it’s more of a government problem than a SkyTrain-specific issue. And the Ottawa LRT system bears that out. Last year, in an article titled Ottawa’s Transit Gong Show, The Walrus wrote this about the problem.

"[Ottawa] is more than eleven years into a $6.7 billion civic calamity once promised as a ‘world-class transit system’ but which—with the help of two train derailments, one monster sinkhole, countless engineering failures, and general bureaucratic ineptitude—has become a local disgrace and a national joke. It has triggered the fall of several politicians, tainted the legacy of Ottawa’s longest-serving mayor, and prompted a public inquiry that culminated in a damning doorstopper of a report. And the project’s not even halfway done."

Ooof.

– Tyler

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

The argument for higher politician pay

Langley City’s mayor makes more than the leaders of Chilliwack and Abbotsford, despite presiding over a much-smaller community. But Nathan Pachal isn’t apologizing.

Pachal, 41, is the region’s youngest mayor, says the pay of politicians needs to be fair and decent to attract qualified candidates—especially those of prime working age. Indeed, he says that if Langley City’s mayoral salary was much lower, he probably wouldn’t have run to lead his community.

• Yesterday, Tyler reported on the salaries of every Fraser Valley politician. Today, he talks to Pachal about political pay and the arguments for competitive compensation for mayors and councillors.

• Tomorrow, we’ll look at why staffers at BC’s municipalities keep recommending big pay hikes for their political bosses.

Related

Need to Know

🚑 A series of speed humps near Langley’s hospital may be removed because of their impact on ambulances [Langley Advance Times]

💰 An Abbotsford senior won a half-million dollars in the lottery [Abbotsford News]

🚉 Freight trains are expected to stop running Thursday due to a contract dispute [CBC] / Last week, we answered your questions about freight trains in the Fraser Valley [FVC]

⚽ The turf field at Chilliwack’s Exhibition Park will be replaced next year [Chilliwack Progress]

🔊 Experts say the provincial government should be more forthcoming about delays and cost overruns for the Langley SkyTrain project [Vancouver Sun]

🏥 Mission’s mayor hopes that renovations to the local hospital’s ER will increase the facility’s ability to attract and retain staff [Mission Record]

🚧 A heavily trafficked section of Maclure Road will be closed for a week between 6pm and 7am for paving [City of Abbotsford/X]

🚂 A family survived with minor injuries after their car was struck by a train in Langley [Langley Advance Times]

🔥 Mission firefighters put out a large fire in a vacant home Saturday [Mission Record]

👉 A relief fund has been created to help those who lost their homes in the Shetland Creek wildfire near Spences Bridge [Venables Valley Wildfire Relief Fund]

🎤 Join The Debaters at Chilliwack Cultural Centre on February 12 for a night of stand-up comedy and hilarious debate featuring Yumi Nagashima and Charlie Demers!*

🍋 Lemonade Day – Langley, BC is on August 24!  Please support budding entrepreneurs and visit their Lemonade stands – location map available on the website!*

*Sponsored Listing 

SPONSORED BY THE CITY OF ABBOTSFORD

Let’s Talk Community Contest

What does community mean to you? Is it parks and natural spaces, maybe it’s family and safe places to play with them, or local restaurants featuring Abbotsford grown food.

Let the City of Abbotsford know what community means to you. Send in a photo, statement, or a story by September 13.

The Agenda

Increasing unemployment—and employment

The unemployment rate for the Abbotsford-Mission area ticked upwards in July to 6.3%, leaving it above the provincial average and BC’s other large communities. But the statistics hide some good news.

Abbotsford-Mission’s estimated unemployment figure has risen from 5.1% in the last 12 months, even as the provincial unemployment rate of 5.4% is unchanged. (The standard error for the figure is relatively large—0.7%—but smaller than the change in the rate.)

But the increase in the rate is not the result of large-scale job losses. Employment in the region is actually significantly higher than it was 12 months ago, with some 8,000 more people employed. The number of unemployed people, meanwhile, rose by an estimated 2,000 people. The unemployment rate, then, reflects the fact that around one-fifth of those 10,000 additional workers don’t have a job.

Chilliwack long-term care home to open in 2029

With an election on the horizon, the provincial government has finally officially announced the construction of a new long-term care facility in Chilliwack.

On Monday, Health Minister Adrian Dix visited the city to officially announce the construction of a new facility near Chilliwack General Hospital. A new five-storey facility will be constructed on Mary Street. It will have 200 beds and replace the 90-bed Bradley Centre, which is attached to the western end of the hospital. The cost of the new building is pegged at $274 million.

Local health officials have been budgeting for the new facility for years. The Current reported in 2022 that the local hospital board had set aside $60 million for new facilities in Abbotsford and Chilliwack. Last year, we reported that Fraser Health was spending $7 million to buy land near Chilliwack General Hospital and to demolish homes to prepare for construction.

The province says construction is expected to start in 2026 and be completed by 2029.

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