Wednesday - Dec. 4, 2024 - Mission council reverses course

☀ High 7C

Good morning!

I’ve been convinced that artificial intelligence can be useful. I have a friend in construction who uses it essentially as a type of search engine that helps him find information in building codes and the like. That makes sense to me. But so much of it seems to be creating work that actually makes life harder for its users.

Take finding a job—or employees. Many jobseekers are using AI to create resumes and apply for hundreds or thousands of jobs. This reporter wrote about how he used a bot to apply for 2,843 roles (in service of the story). On the other end, though, companies are using AI to sort through applications and weed out unqualified applicants. The result is that an application may be both created and rejected by robots, with humans unaware of it all. Which leaves one to ask: what’s the point of all this?

Or look at universities (I’m writing a story on this), where students are using AI to write papers and get good grades. The grades can help them get a degree. And the degree might help them land a job. But then what? It feels like there’s a world where the reliance on AI by some people will make the ability to do basic things without using AI incredibly valuable. At least I hope that’s what happens. (Are you a university prof dealing with the difficulties of teaching in the AI era? If so, I’d love to hear from you.)

– Tyler

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Traffic & Weather

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NEWS

Should denialism be a crime?

Some think it should be a crime to spread mistruths about one of Canada’s greatest injustices.

Others see the value in allowing for the open discussion of Canada’s residential schools, even when some continue to deny facts that have been well-documented by history and the very institutions that some continue to try to excuse.

This week, FVC collaborator Aaron Pete (who is also a councillor for Chawathil First Nation) published an interview with Canada’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs, Patty Hajdu, in which he asked her whether residential school denialism should be criminalized.

Aaron, who has interviewed some of those accused of residential school denialism, doesn’t think criminalization is the best way forward.

“I want to be able to have those conversations with people,” he said. “I want to be able to go through it with them and help them understand.”

Hajdu, for her part, was sympathetic with the argument.

“What we don’t want in this country is more polarization,” she said. “Challenges are here for us and for Canadians, what I’d like to see is a way to pull together. And the way we pull together is to actually listen to each other.”

• Click here to watch the interview, which also touched on federal Indigenous policies, grants for housing on First Nations, and how the government determines who is Indigenous.

Related

Need to Know

🚑 Two young people were stabbed in Aldergrove overnight in separate locations [CTV]

🚒 Mission council may reconsider its decision not to add two more firefighters next year [Mission Record]

👉 An Agassiz angler who went missing while fishing has been found dead [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🥞 The International House of Pancakes is returning to Chilliwack [Fraser Valley Today]

🌲 Ontario-based Mexican chain Fat Bastard Burrito has opened a location in Langley; the shop serves deep-fried Mars bars [Surrey Now Leader]

🗳 A Mission man drove to Harrison Hot Springs to remove vandalism from a local restaurant [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🌻 The operators of a Maple Ridge café will operate a restaurant to replace the now-closed Blackberry Kitchen in Mission’s Fraser River Heritage Park [City of Mission]

🔥 Firefighters rescued two pets from a Chilliwack garage that caught fire Monday [Fraser Valley Today]

🚚 A semi carrying Amazon packages flipped on the Coquihalla, scattering parcels across the highway [Hope Standard]

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2024 Mayor's Christmas Card Winner

Congratulations to this year's Mayor's Christmas Card Contest winner, grade one student, Evie! Thank you to everyone for submitting your designs. Take a look at the runner up and honourable mentions in each grade!

The Agenda

Mission council backs down on sidewalk request

The builder of a proposed 41-unit apartment building in Mission will no longer be obligated to also pay for the construction of a new lighted crosswalk after persuading the city’s council to reverse a vote made two weeks ago.

Two weeks ago, Mission council was tasked with deciding whether to approve a development permit for a proposed rental apartment building on Columbia Street, just north of downtown. In addition to increased density allowances in exchange for the promise of renting several units at below-market rates, the builder had also asked council to relax rules pertaining to parking and setback requirements. City staff had suggested the builder contribute $10,000 toward a nearby crosswalk in exchange for the variances. But council demanded more, voting to require the developer to fund a new crosswalk at Stave Lake Street in exchange for allowing the building closer to the property line than would be normally allowed.

That requirement passed by a narrow margin, with Couns. Angel Elias, Mark Davies, Ken Herar and Jag Gill in favour and Couns. Carol Hamilton, Danny Plecas, and Mayor Paul Horn opposed.

On Monday, though, Horn used his power to bring the matter back to council. He said he chose to do so because, after the previous meeting, the developer told council that the crosswalk requirement put the finances of the entire project in jeopardy. That rationale didn’t sway Gill, who said the variances still demanded more than the $10,000 contribution, nor did it sway Elias. But it did seem to convince Davies, who switched sides, citing the city’s need for more rental units and affordable homes.

As for improving pedestrian safety in the area, Davies said he expected the developer to work with city staff. Horn suggested the variances were related to the property’s unique topography and that pedestrian safety concerns can still be addressed—but that a crossing should be financed by fees from multiple developments, not a a single builder.

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🗓 Things to do

Aaron + Andrew: Aaron Pete hosts Andrew Christopher for a live interview and performance at Cowork Chilliwack on Friday. Tickets and details online. In 2022, Andrew spoke about his upbringing and trauma on his own podcast. We published an excerpt of that here.

Art market: Abbotsford's Kariton Gallery hosts its holiday art market until Saturday, Dec. 21. Details online.

Country Christmas: Langley's Thunderbird Show Park hosts Christmas in the Country from Thursday, Dec. 5 to Sunday, Dec. 29. The indoor event will feature light displays, food trucks, a beer garden, photos with Santa, and more. Details online.

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

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