Wednesday - Sept. 4, 2024 - A vet's goat dairy plan

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Townhome complexes can be an antidote to helicopter parenting. You don’t need to be responsible for setting up playdates if roving bands of kids show up on your doorstep begging for your children to come out and play. And although there’s inherently risk in turning them loose, there’s also a danger that comes with keeping your children cooped up in a bubble until they are teens.

For townhome kids, the biggest danger is posed by vehicular traffic. And although that risk has always existed—and can be mitigated by design, signs and driver behaviour—a new problem has emerged. The increase in online shopping has brought Amazon vehicles to townhome complexes everywhere—often multiple times a day. From what I’ve seen firsthand and heard from other parents, the vehicles are some of the worst speeding offenders, ripping over speedbumps and unaware of the children on bikes, scooters, and foot who may be coming around the next corner. I would like to think that Amazon itself could get its drivers to slow down, but I doubt it. So increasingly, I think, it will fall to developers or strata complexes to find ways to slow down these speed demons—or provide parcel drop-off locations that keep them out of complexes altogether.

– Tyler

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope (We have had to temporarily change our forecast links to the Weather Network due to a technical error.)

🚘 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

David Eby on his ‘heartbreaking’ reversal

Premier David Eby said his government was taken by surprise by some of the negative repercussions of its decisions to decriminalize the possession of some drugs.

But he says that admitting that his government made a mistake is a sign of strength—and that other politicians should admit when they mess up.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Chilliwack podcaster Aaron Pete, Eby talked about how his background as a prosecutor set the stage for his government’s controversial decriminalization decisions, and explained why the NDP reversed course after concerns from police chiefs and the public.

• Today, we have a story based on those parts of Eby’s interview, along with links to the longer conversation.

• Pete, a frequent collaborator with the Current, has interviewed the leaders of all four political parties. His Kevin Falcon interview was published last week, a day before Falcon bowed out of the race. Interviews with Conservative leader John Rustad and Green leader Sonia Furstenau will be published in the coming weeks and highlighted in the Current.

Related

Need to Know

👉 Sts’ailes First Nation removed its chief, with councillors citing allegations of spending improprieties and a failure to attend meetings [CBC]

🐻 City trash policies can have deadly consequences for bears [The Walrus]

🚒 Langley Township has bought 11 new fire trucks from the same manufacturer [Firehouse]

⛳ A UFV golfer led Canada’s university golfing team to a 12th place finish at an event in Finland [Abbotsford News]

👉 Jackie Tegart, the longtime MLA for Hope and the Fraser Canyon, won’t run in the next election after the collapse of BC United [Castanet] / Tegart says she won’t endorse a party [Shannon Waters/X/RadioNL]

🔊 Most complaints about security guards result in no repercussions [CBC]

👉 Mission’s BC United candidate says he has no problem supporting the BC Conservatives [Mission Record]

🚨 A man found dead near a Coquihalla exit may have been killed in a hit-and-run days earlier [CBC]

🎸 Trooper will headline Saturday’s entertainment Hope Brigade Days [Hope Standard]

⚡ A new Tesla Supercharger station has finally opened in Langley [DriveTesla]

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Tickets are selling fast for Chilliwack and Mission shows! Get your tickets today.

• October 4 at Chilliwack Cultural Centre in Chilliwack. Get Chilliwack tickets here.

• October 7 at Clarke Theatre in Mission. Get Mission tickets here.

All British Columbia dates can be found HERE.

The Agenda

Rosedale vet plots goat dairy

Farm animal veterinarian Josh Waddington is hoping to get a goat dairy up and running on Camp River Road in Rosedale, but he needs to move a few property lines first.

The City of Chilliwack received an application from Waddington to take roughly five acres from a property owned by Cedarbrink Farms and add it to his own small residential lot. The lot, located at 49962 Camp River Rd., is surrounded by Cedarbrink’s fields and currently only used for housing, despite being in the ALR. The added five acres would include several barns which have been vacant for more than a decade, as well as one secondary dwelling.

The vacant buildings were previously used for cows, and would be simple to convert into use for goats, Waddington said. The remaining acreage would be used for pasture and exercise yards for the goats, as well as some seasonal crops. The second house transferred to the property would be used to house a goat dairy employee.

If he is successful, Waddington plans to operate a goat dairy with up to 150 animals, milked in a modified herringbone parlour. Although the raw milk would initially be processed off site, Waddington aims to add an on-site processing plant in the future. He said he wants to provide a “ ‘farm-friendly’ face for the agriculture industry on one of the most scenic and well-travelled farm access roads” in Chilliwack.

The City of Chilliwack was scheduled to discuss the proposal at its meeting Tuesday evening; the Agricultural Land Commission will get the final decision on the proposal.

Delves says he will support Conservatives

Abbotsford South BC United candidate Markus Delves said he was taken aback by his party leader’s decision to abandon its 2024 election campaign, but indicated that he is generally supportive of the BC Conservatives’ bid to unite the province’s political right.

Delves is a longtime BC Liberal/United supporter and insider. He had originally sought the party’s Abbotsford South candidacy for the 2020 election, only to lose that bid to Bruce Banman. After Banman fled for the BC Conservatives, Delves won the BC United nomination battle for the upcoming election, setting up a rematch between him and Banman in one of the province’s most chaotic ridings.

Speaking to The Current last week, Delves said BC Conservative leader John Rustad has an opportunity to unite the centre-right—if he reviews his list of candidates. BC United had previously derided the Conservatives’ candidate roster as being overly extreme.

“If he can make some important changes, I think if he can do that he has a good chance to both form government and also succeed in government, most importantly,” Delves said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how he acts over these next couple days and weeks.”

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Classifieds

• Harrison Hot Springs Information is available. Ask me anything. [email protected].

• Wanted: Laying hens. Abbotsford area. Contact: [email protected]

• 2019 Harley Davidson Sport-glide. 18,502km. Black. $17,299. No accidents. [Email]

• Paid Help with housework for senior [Email]

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🗓 Things to do

Quilters meet: Abbotsford Quilters Guild invites novice and experienced quilters to join their quilting community. The group meets on the second Tuesday of each month between September and June at Ross Roads Church (3160 Ross Rd.). For more info contact Carole (694-853-0867) or Donna ([email protected]).

Swinging ball: Langley's Rock Step Swing Dance Society hosts its Great Gatsby Swing Dance Ball on Friday, Sept. 6 at Murrayville Community Hall. Come dressed in your dancing shoes and your '20s best. Tickets and details online.

Golf for cats: The Chilliwack Animal Safe Haven is hosting a charity golf scramble fundraiser Sept. 7 at 9am at Mt. Cheam Golf Course. Register online.

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Catch up

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