Bob Mackin
Four days after Vancouver city council rejected a proposal for rental townhouses to replace a mansion in luxurious Shaughnessy, Vancouver Police dealt with a bizarre incident next door.
“Officers were called to the [Vancouver Hospice Society] just before midnight on June 29 for a man banging on the front door,” Sgt. Jason Robillard told theBreaker.news. “Officers attended and spoke with the man who appeared intoxicated and confused. They walked him to a residence which was close to the hospice building. No charges and no injuries.”
Vancouver Hospice Society
On June 25, city council voted 7-4 against rezoning the single-family property at 4575 Granville St. The majority cited the proximity to the hospice and feared noise from building 21 townhouses and underground parking would distress patients in the last days of their lives. An 11th hour “good neighbour agreement” to minimize construction-related impacts on the hospice was not enough to rescue the staff-recommended proposal.
Asked if the incident involved the rezoning applicants from 4575 Granville, Robillard said: “As there are no charges that have been approved by Crown, I am unable to confirm anyone’s identity and I am unable to share anything further.”
Co-applicant Jagmohan Singh Pabla told a reporter that he was home on June 29, but did not remember if police spoke to him.
“I was upset, I had drink, but I don’t know anything,” Pabla said.
His son, Gurveer Pabla, later said that his father had gone inside the hospice.
“He called the police and he actually called the ambulance as well, because he was having chest pains and went to the hospital,” Gurveer Pabla said.
Said Stephen Roberts, chair of the Vancouver Hospice Society: “His father didn’t call police. Our staff called police.”
Vancouver Hospice Society chair Stephen Roberts (Twitter)
Roberts said that the elder Pabla tried giving his house keys to staff and said he wanted to die in the hospice. “They, of course, declined them and tried to keep him quiet, [that was] what their main objective was.”
“Somebody was upset, it happened to be the neighbour,” Roberts said. “It was disturbing and worrying for staff and we were concerned about residents, of course, in the hospice.”
Meanwhile, WorkSafeBC cited Pabla Development Group Ltd. for violating safety regulations after a subcontractor’s grisly facial injury at a construction site in Squamish on June 5. The company president is Gurveer Pabla.
WorkSafeBC documents obtained by theBreaker.news say the project to build a 29-unit commercial and residential complex at 37830 Third Ave. was under a stop work order from June 13-17. It was lifted after Pabla completed a preliminary investigation, hired a consultant and cleaned up most site debris and hazards. Workers were finally given site orientation and written first aid procedures.
Jagmohan (left) and Gurveer Pabla at city hall. (City of Vancouver)
In his June 11 inspection report, WorkSafeBC occupational safety officer Lee Fletcher called the site untidy and unsafe, with boards and nails sticking out and piles of unguarded rebar.
Fletcher wrote that Pabla Development Group failed to make a statutory report to WorkSafeBC after the subcontractor was injured.
“The response was that it was the subcontractor’s responsibility to contact WorkSafeBC,” Fletcher wrote. “I then outlined that it was [censored] that was injured and the expectation would be that the prime contractor needs to assume the responsibility of the investigation and would have been expected to also contact WorkSafeBC in the event of an accident at their work site.”
Fletcher’s June 11 report also said that he advised Pabla in April to have on-site first aid and a safety coordinator, and to register with WorkSafeBC.
Gurveer Pabla said it was the first workplace injury on one of his company’s sites.
“We weren’t registered with WorkSafe, because we’re a private contractor,” Pabla said. “That’s why I didn’t really know.”
The Squamish Chief reported that the subcontractor was airlifted to hospital after rebar entered his lower lip and exited his nose. He is now on the road to recovery.
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