Wednesday - Feb. 12, 2025 - Abbotsford road closed for rail upgrades

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Good morning!

It's easy to take one's health for granted but I occasionally find myself reflecting these days about how everything does not hurt. For a prolonged stretch of time around my 30th birthday, my body seemed to be falling apart. I blew out my knee, my ankle, and my groin in fairly short succession. My back and various other muscles ached for days. These days, it's different. I'm still playing sports, but I'm not constantly getting hurt.

There are many possible reasons. I’m inevitably going slower, which probably helps. I’m also smarter: I’ve learned that at some point, it’s better to fall to the ground rather than try to keep upright. Mostly, though, I think my body has just adapted, adding stabilizing muscles where once there were none. I guess it's why a variety of exercise is important (even if you’ll find me in a gym)—the more you challenge your body, the more your body can withstand. I'll be putting it all to the test this weekend. I've signed up for an old timers' hockey tournament and some madman has scheduled us to play three games in a single day. We'll see just how unbreakable these 40-year-old legs really are.

– Tyler

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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

Why a single FOI request can now cost up to $280

Ten dollars is just the start.

Three years after the government introduced a new $10 fee for freedom of information requests, reporters, citizens, and news outlets are finding that the real cost of asking for information from the provincial government can run much, much higher.

Last fall, The Current reported on massive pay increases for politically appointed members of BC’s six health authority boards. The story prompted a pledge from Premier David Eby to look into the massive increase in pay. But our efforts to follow-up on that story—and file a freedom of information request to learn more about the provincial response—revealed that requesting documents from the province can cost far more than just $10.

Before the creation of the application fee, such requests could be accomplished with a single email (for free) sent to a single address. Government staff would then seek out documents from relevant ministries. But now, the government requires $10 to be paid not just for each request, but for each individual ministry that might have relevant documents.

In The Current’s case, we sought information from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance (which signed off on the pay increase), and the office of the Premier. That has cost us $30. And although we are still waiting for documents, one ministry has replied to say they had no records to share. There is no refund.

The new scheme means the cost to file a single individual request can quickly balloon.

The Current isn’t the only one to discover how the provincial government has made investigative journalism much, much more expensive.

Today, we’re sharing a piece by BC legislative reporter and columnist Rob Shaw, who spoke to BC’s Information and Privacy Commissioner and calculated how much it now costs to probe government spending habits and other issues of public concern.

• You can read the column here.

Related

Need to Know

🚗 An Abbotsford motorist who was allegedly impaired when he fled police yesterday has been arrested for impaired driving offences three times in the last three years, police say [Abbotsford Police Department/Facebook]

👏 Longtime Abbotsford News photographer John Morrow was one of 26 locals presented with the King Charles III Coronation Medal last week [Abbotsford News]

👉 Two brothers have been identified as the fishermen who died after falling through the ice of a lake near Agassiz [Fraser Valley Today]

💰 Langley Township residents have until the end of Thursday to provide feedback on the municipality’s budget [Township of Langley] / The Current reported on the township's use of loan money to fund 'strategic land' purchases and other projects last month [FVC]

👉 The District of Hope has received $150,000 to identify disaster risks [Hope Standard]

🔊 Mission Mayor Paul Horn says he expects an announcement soon on the future of an 11-storey building that needs provincial funding [Mission Record] / The Current wrote about the low-income apartment building last year [FVC]

🏒 Aldergrove’s junior hockey team lost all 48 games they played this season [Aldergrove Star]

🍷 Discover new wines, new regions, and new favourites at the Vancouver International Wine Festival with 43 events in downtown Vancouver, February 22-March 2.*

*Sponsored Listing

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The Agenda

Railway upgrades close Langley-to-Mission route

A well-used road in northern Abbotsford will remain closed throughout February as crews upgrade a rail crossing.

A significant stretch of Harris Road, a east-west two-lane artery frequently used by drivers travelling between Langley and Mission, has been closed since mid-January. The road is currently blocked between Bates and Glenmore roads. (The stretch is east of the place the driver of a pickup truck struck and killed a pedestrian on the weekend.)

After an FVC reader asked us about the length of the delay, we asked the City of Abbotsford. A city spokesperson wrote that the road has been closed between Bates and Gladwin roads to allow for the upgrading of a rail crossing. The road is currently expected to re-open on March 15. Updates and details on road closures can be found on the City of Abbotsford web page.

In recent years, Abbotsford has spent millions of dollars to improve rail crossings. The upgraded crossings are intended to both improve safety, and reduce the need for trains to sound their whistles as they approach junctions. Cities are responsible for funding crossing upgrades if the railway predates the road that crosses it.

In November, The Current investigated safety issues and rail deaths on tracks in the Fraser Valley. Although Abbotsford has been the region's busiest city when it comes to improving rail crossings, Chilliwack has had, by far, the most recorded rail deaths in the Fraser Valley. That city has had the third-most rail fatalities in Canada over the last 40 years.

Seniors advocate asks for feedback about care home waitlists

If you have a family member waiting for long-term care, BC’s seniors’ advocate wants to hear from you.

The seniors’ advocate office—an independent provincial body that focuses on issues related to BC’s elderly—is undertaking a review of BC’s long-term care facilities, and especially the shortfall of beds in the province. Currently, there are nearly 6,500 seniors waiting for a care bed, and some have waited as long as three years to get into their preferred facility.

The office is now conducting a survey to help inform its review, specifically looking at the challenges faced by family caregivers during the wait for a bed. The office is hoping to reach people currently caring for a senior family member who is waiting to get into long-term care, or individuals who had a family member enter long-term care in the last year.

“Many caregivers tell our office home support doesn’t provide enough care or is too expensive, respite through adult day or community programs are not available or insufficient, and they experience burnout as a result of these shortfalls,” Dan Levitt, the BC Seniors Advocate, said in a press release. “We want to make sure their experiences are captured in our review and contribute to the recommendations in the report.”

Once the review is complete, the seniors’ advocate office will make recommendations to the province for changes to the long-term care system. Specifically, the office will ask the government to come up with a detailed plan that will identify how many new long-term care beds are needed, how many need to be replaced, and how the province will address the shortfall over the next decade.

The survey is available online until March 4, and is expected to take between five and 15 minutes to complete. Caregivers can find the survey here.

You can read our stories from 2022 on how long-term care homes compare to each other in the Fraser Valley and which facilities rank among the best—and worst—in BC.

You can share this newsletter by forwarding it or copy and pasting this link—https://fvcurrent.com/p/february-12-2025/—into a social media post.

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🗓 Things to do

Blues Valentine: The Fraser Valley Blues Society hosts a Valentine's concert with the Andrew Michael Band at the Highwayman Pub in Abbotsford on Friday. There is no cover charge, but table reservations are recommended. Details online.

Bingo fundraiser: Sunshine Valley Volunteer Fire Department hosts a music bingo event Feb. 15 from 7 to 10pm at Holiday Trails Resort. Details online.

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Catch up

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