Wednesday - Oct. 9, 2024 - Feds duck plea to help co-ordinate Sumas Prairie flood plans

🌦 High 15C | Your local forecast

Good morning!

There are people—including many powerful, wealthy people—who insist that they function well on five or six hours of sleep every day. I don’t buy it. I do accept that you can use time that you would otherwise be sleeping to make money or improve your career prospects. But as someone who usually manages eight hours of sleep a night, I am very skeptical about whether foregoing sleep is actually worth those supposed benefits.

I had to wake up before the crack of dawn on Monday to see my daughter off on her camping field trip. (I had previously noted that I would be chaperoning it, but those plans fell through, for better or worse.) The early start meant I got little sleep and, as usual, I immediately noticed the effects. I still functioned fine, but every bit of the day was a little worse than it would have been otherwise. My body was primed to see the figurative glass half-empty. I was, in other words, grumpy. I notice this is usually the case when I get less than seven hours of sleep, and I can’t help wonder if some people live permanently grumpy—or at least less happy than they would otherwise be—because they have convinced themselves sleep is useless. Once a lack of sleep becomes the norm, does one even notice or understand that you are grumpier than you would otherwise be? Science suggests that might be the case. Which then leads me to wonder how many of our world’s problems would be mitigated—at least a little—if we all spent a little more time in bed.

– Tyler

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NEWS

‘Cooking is a beautiful thing’

For five years, Hiro Takeda lit up Hope’s modest culinary scene, creating an ambitious and experimental restaurant at the heart of the community. And then he was gone.

In 2015, Chilliwack Times reporter Greg Laychak spoke to Takeda about his ambitions and philosophy of food. Nine years later, the Times is defunct and Takeda is a chef in Latvia, but the pair recently reconnected for a new visual podcast series—and to collaborate on a photography project involving fermented film.

• Today, Greg (a former colleague of Tyler’s) talks to Takeda about food, his new life in Hope, and the results of their photography project.

Related

Need to Know

👉 The owners of businesses damaged in Saturday’s downtown Langley fire are supporting one another and pledging to re-open [Langley Advance Times]

🚨 A pedestrian was struck and killed in Abbotsford Tuesday morning [Abbotsford News]

👮‍♂️ A driver who caused a crash that closed Highway 1 last weekend has been issued with a ticket [Fraser Valley Today]

🐶 You can’t shoot a Chihuahua just for harassing chickens, a judge has ruled; a Boston Bar man had shot and killed the dog, named Bear, in 2022 [CTV]

🔨 A massive new 600-unit apartment and townhouse complex has been proposed for Willoughby [Langley Advance Times]

🚔 A lack of ‘serious harm’ has ended BC’s police watchdog investigation into the arrest of a man in Abbotsford last month [Abbotsford News]

🏥 Surgeons at Langley Memorial Hospital have sent a letter to BC’s health minister calling for their hospital to be fixed; they say parents have compared waiting rooms to closets [Jas Johal/X]

❌ Six Chilliwack River property owners have been denied financial assistance [GoFundMe]

🥚 BC’s egg farms have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and farmers care deeply about their hens. Celebrate World Egg Day on October 11.*

*Sponsored

🗳 Election 2024

The BC Election campaign continues until election day on Saturday, Oct. 19. Advance voting begins Thursday, Oct. 10. Find everything you need to know by visiting one of our local election hubs here.

The latest

👉 An environment-focused all-candidates will take place in Langley today [Aldergrove Star]

👉 The BC Conservatives unveiled their plan to address toxic drugs in BC [CTV]

SPONSORED BY CIRQUE DE SOLEIL

Echo, the new spectacular!

ECHO weaves a tale of evolution and the symbiotic relationships that sustain life, bringing fresh twists to its Big Top experience. This spectacular performance blends poetry, stagecraft, daring acrobatics, and technology to explore the delicate balance between people, animals, and the environment. The main female heroine, Future, and her companions discover how their choices can influence the world as they navigate the stages of evolution. Motivated by youthful optimism, they collaborate to shape the planet they aspire to inhabit.

ECHO invites the audience into a vibrant world, showcasing creativity and the importance of empathy. This captivating journey highlights the interconnectedness of all living beings and encourages viewers to reflect on their impact on the planet. Catch ECHO at Concord Pacific Place starting October 9!

The Agenda

Asked to co-ordinate Sumas Prairie flood works, Ottawa points to millions of funding given to projects in other communities

The federal government has largely brushed off the BC government’s request to get involved in co-ordinating activities to protect Sumas Prairie from a future flood.

BC Minister of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness Bowinn Ma had sent a letter to federal infrastructure minister Sean Fraser asking for the Canadian government to help co-ordinate flood mitigation works and join the ongoing flood talks between the province and Washington State. Earlier this year, the federal government denied the City of Abbotsford’s request for more than $1 billion in funding to build new dikes and a pump station to try to mitigate damage from a future Nooksack flood.

In a three-page response to the letter that was forwarded to the City of Abbotsford, Fraser wrote that his ministry had provided funding for flood projects in other BC communities. He said that co-ordinating flood response is a task for the federal emergency preparedness minister. Fraser said that ministry “has engaged in national consultations with public and private-sector stakeholders to obtain views on the scope, policies, and mechanisms for co-ordinating and implementing disaster mitigation activities in Canada.” But beyond gathering views, Fraser had little to say about whether the federal government will actually participate in cross-border talks, or invite the International Joint Commission to lead treaty negotiations with the US government about how the two countries will share the burden of the Nooksack’s regular flooding. Abbotsford has not seen any letter from the Public Safety Minister Harjit Sajjan.

You can read Fraser’s reply to Ma here.

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The election stories you won’t find anywhere else

Confused about what’s happening in B.C.? Make sense of the political moment by subscribing to The Run. The Tyee’s award-winning election newsletter is back, aiming its laser focus on the political future of the west coast. Twice weekly this fall we’ll bring you the story behind the headlines, and break down key election themes happening across the province. It’s a free newsletter full of smart voices unpacking key issues, fact-checking politicians and exposing disinformation to clarifying light. Know what’s at stake when you cast your vote by subscribing today to The Run.

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📸 Current Cam

Each week we showcase a different photo from across the valley and invite readers to share their best guesses about where it was taken. Think you know where this week’s Current Cam was taken? Fill out this form.

🗓 Things to do

Gathering art: The Central Fraser Valley Graphic Guild hosts "Gathering Places," an exhibition by Mission and Abbotsford artists, until Saturday, Oct. 19 at the Mission Arts Council Rock Family Gallery. Details online.

Chiefs hockey: The Chilliwack Chiefs host the Sherwood Park Crusaders Oct. 11 at 7pm at the Chilliwack Coliseum. Tickets online.

Cranberry festival: The Fort Langley Cranberry Festival returns on Saturday, Oct. 12. The festival will feature food trucks, a community market, and a lot of cranberries. Details online.

Catch up

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