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Bob Mackin

The Pakistani student who organized and participated in illegal blockades on Lower Mainland roads, bridges and highways was led out of a Vancouver courtroom by a sheriff July 5 to begin a seven-day jail sentence.

Muhammad Zain Ul-Haq, a Pakistani national outside the North Fraser Pretrial Centre (Save Old Growth)

Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris also ordered climate change protester Muhammad Zain Ul Haq, 22, to serve 30 days house arrest (with allowance to leave for three hours every Saturday morning), 31 days under 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and perform 75 hours of community work service. He must not block or impede pedestrians or traffic at any B.C. road, highway or public space during a 12-month period of probation. 

Haq showed disdain for the rule of law, publicly encouraged others to do the same and celebrated his arrests, the judge said during the 40-minute hearing.

“His conduct speaks to an arrogance of his ideals at the expense of the democratic process, and pro-social dialogue,” Harris said.

Haq pleaded guilty in January to five charges of mischief for his role in the Extinction Rebellion climate change blockades in 2021 in Vancouver and Richmond. He also pleaded guilty last November to one charge of breaching a release order for the August 2022 Stop Fracking Around protest that blocked the Cambie Bridge. 

Haq, who also co-founded and led Save Old Growth, separately faces deportation to Pakistan and a one-year ban on returning to Canada for violating the terms of his visa to study at Simon Fraser University.

Crown prosecutor Ellen Leno had sought 90 days in jail and 18 months probation. Haq’s lead defence lawyer Ben Isitt argued for a conditional discharge. Harris had reserved his decision in March and the sentencing decision was delayed by more than a month due to his trial schedule. 

Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris (Langara/YouTube)

Harris read the circumstances of each of the charges between March and October 2021, in which Haq and others were arrested for blocking traffic on the Cambie, Granville and Burrard bridges, and intersections in downtown Vancouver and near Vancouver International Airport. 

To gain release from police custody, Haq promised each time that that he would not return to the area where he was arrested. However, he returned to the Cambie Bridge last August for the Stop Fracking Around march, which led to another arrest and the breach of undertaking charge.

Harris highlighted two occasions when the protests blocked routes normally used by emergency vehicles to access St. Paul’s Hospital, including the social media-promoted event on July 24, 2021 at the north end of the Burrard Bridge. 

“Concerned about the impact that closing the bridge would have on those trying to access St Paul’s Hospital, police contacted Mr. Haq and informed him that the group would not be allowed to access a bridge, cautioning persons would be arrested,” Harris said.

Harris said the sentence should send a message to others that committing multiple criminal offences on a “platform of change” will also lead to criminal consequences. 

“Traffic on major roadways was impacted, access to an international airport was denied, emergency traffic was impacted and significant police resources were consumed,” Harris said. “As for Mr. Haq’s moral culpability, the evidence is clear: he knowingly and deliberately broke the law, and he did so fully aware of the consequences and the impact that his actions would have on innocent parties. Further, that his placement of his wishes and desires, no matter how laudable, do not reduce his culpability. Simply. the rule of law must be obeyed, unless legal justification permits otherwise.”

Harris mentioned that Haq spent nine days in North Fraser Pretrial Centre for contempt of court in February 2022 after blocking a Trans Mountain Pipeline construction site in violation of a judge’s order. That judgment indicated Haq was the national action and strategy coordinator for Extinction Rebellion at the time of the offence.

Ian Schortinghuis on June 13 at the Massey Tunnel (Save Old Growth/Twitter)

But Harris cited a pre-sentencing report for deciding that Haq had been rehabilitated and was not a risk to reoffend. The author of that report said Haq had taken responsibility for his actions and recognized “that radical activism is not productive on many levels.” That report and letters filed in support of Haq led Harris to believe Haq is “an intelligent, motivated young person who is a staunch protector of the environment, who can, provided he does so through legitimate means, (be) a catalyst for positive change.”

In March, Harris heard that should Haq succeed in overturning his deportation on compassionate and humanitarian grounds, he has a job offer from environmentalist Tzeporah Berman at the charity Stand.earth. In late May, Harris varied Haq’s bail conditions to allow him to move to Victoria and live with Sophia Papp, a fellow protester that he married in April.

Haq and four others incorporated Eco-Mobilization Canada, a federal not-for-profit behind the Extinction Rebellion splinter group Save Old Growth in January 2022. Haq had boasted in August 2022 in a New York Times story that Save Old Growth received US$170,000 in grants from the California-based Climate Emergency Fund (CEF). Haq is now listed on the non-profit’s website as a member of the advisory board.

CEF’s 2022 annual report said it granted US$5.2 million of the US$6.07 million it raised to back “disruptive non-violent activism” around the world. 

While activities in B.C. have subsided due to prosecution of mischief charges, CEF U.K. beneficiary Just Stop Oil has run a campaign of roadblocks, art vandalism and invasions of the field of play at sporting events. Three protesters were arrested for disrupting play at the Wimbledon tennis championships on Wednesday.

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Bob Mackin The Pakistani student who organized and

Bob Mackin

What drew Yannick Joseph Alexandre Bandaogo to North Vancouver and what motivated him to go on a stabbing spree March 27, 2021, during a used book sale at the Lynn Valley Library?

Paul Cullen’s March 22, 2021 photograph.

Answers were anticipated at a three-day sentencing hearing that began July 5 in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster.

On May 29, Bandaogo pleaded guilty as charged to second degree murder of a woman whose identity is protected by a judge’s order. Bandaogo also pleaded guilty to attempting to murder five other people and one count of aggravated assault against another. 

A 25-year sentence is automatic for second degree murder. The court will hear from lawyers for the Crown and Bandaogo’s defence, about how many years the 30-year-old should serve in jail before becoming eligible for parole. The minimum is 10. 

Court will also hear the words of witnesses and victims, about how the horror that unfolded in an otherwise peaceful place on that Saturday harmed them physically and mentally. 

Bandaogo is originally from Cote d’Ivoire in Africa. He appeared in a YouTube video from 2012 set in a Longeuil, Que. boxing gym called Techno Boxe. In spring 2021, he was wanted for arrest in Quebec and Manitoba. 

B.C. court files since March 27, 2021 show he was guilty of assaulting peace officers in May 2021 and May 2022 in Port Coquitlam and Oliver jails, respectively. 

One of the many hoping for answers is an area resident who witnessed a man identical to Bandaogo five days earlier, sleeping in the mid-afternoon sunshine, beside the lane at the back of Lynn Valley Village. 

“I tend to photograph everything I see, and it seemed unusual so I took a photo,” said Paul Bullen. “His pillow was a pizza box, which I later confirmed was from pizza he bought from the pizza place inside the Lynn Valley Centre.”

Bandaogo was sleeping near the entry to Lynn Valley Village.

The shadowy area to the right of Bullen’s photograph is the passageway that leads to the public square and, ultimately, Lynn Valley Library. 

Bullen is a self-described “street photographer” who used to sneak his camera and telephoto lens into Bob Dylan concerts when he was younger. Now he uses an iPhone, which is always with him. 

On March 22, 2021, Bullen was walking with a friend near the lane between Lynn Valley Centre and Lynn Valley Village, when he saw something out of the ordinary for Lynn Valley.

“We know that he was sleeping, lying on the ground sleeping near that place where he ultimately went nuts,” Bullen said. “So, to the extent that that’s of any interest, it’s not going to bring anyone back to life or figure out who the criminal was. But it is of some interest.”

Some interest that could spur a community discussion about services for those without a roof or needing other types of emergency assistance. 

Bullen, who has a doctorate in political science and a teaching career at universities and colleges in the U.S., said that day had a “sociological effect” on Lynn Valley.

The community was wounded emotionally, desperate for ways to heal. It also sought ways to support the victims of March 27, 2021. 

A floral shrine appeared overnight and it got bigger by the hour. The community was already reeling from the pandemic, which claimed its first Canadian victim at the Lynn Valley Care Centre just over a year earlier. Three days after Bandaogo’s crime, an arsonist torched the Lynn Valley Masonic Hall.

Memorial bench near Lynn Valley Library (Mackin)

GoFundMe campaigns raised more than $400,000 for victims. The community came together in a socially distant fashion. More than 1,000 vehicles joined an emotional drive-thru candlelight vigil procession on April 3, 2021 through Lynn Canyon Park.

The makeshift memorial at Lynn Valley Village is long gone.

Near the Lynn Valley Road pathway, a faded white decal with the #Lynnvalleystrong hashtag remains on the side of a silver planter. The letter-g is missing, beside the red outline of a heart. 

On the opposite side, a rock painted blue and green, with “LV Strong” in white, beneath a planted tree. 

But, to the left, a wooden bench, where shiny gold characters on a black plaque read simply: “Lynn Valley Remembers March 27, 2021.”

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Bob Mackin What drew Yannick Joseph Alexandre Bandaogo

Bob Mackin

The fourth-place finisher in last fall’s race for the Vancouver mayoralty has been disqualified from running in the 2026 local elections and his party deregistered. 

Elections BC also announced July 4 that the finances of the Mark Marissen-led Progress Vancouver are under investigation and none of the other seven candidates is eligible to seek local office until after 2026.

Mark Marissen (right) with Daoping Bao, his daughter and Sam Sullivan (Marissen/Facebook)

“Further enforcement actions may apply depending on the results of this investigation,”Elections BC said in its announcement. “Elections BC will provide an update on the outcome of this investigation once it conclusion.”

Elections BC cited Progress Vancouver for multiple violations: taking a non-permissible loan of $50,000; receiving donations without reporting the required information (missing or incomplete contributor names and addresses); prohibited campaign contributions from outside B.C.; and contributions more than the annual limit.

Marissen received 5,830 votes in a Vancouver civic election dominated by Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver party. 

Progress Vancouver raised $256,097.79 (including the loan) and spent $265,673.53, according to its month-late filing with Elections BC, for which it was fined $500.

Six of the eight Progress Vancouver candidates did not submit their campaign finance reports by the Jan. 13 deadline. The remaining filed by the Feb. 13 late-filing deadline, but the report by the party itself did not meet Local Elections Campaign Financing Act (LECFA) requirements. 

“Elections BC notified Progress Vancouver on March 10 that they were required to file a corrective supplementary report within 30 days,” the Elections BC statement said. “Since then, Elections BC advised Progress Vancouver multiple times on their legal responsibilities and what was required of them to correct the deficiencies in the financial reports. Despite this Progress Vancouver did not provide a supplementary report that addressed the legislated reporting deficiencies by the compliance deadline.”

In a statement posted to his Twitter account on July 4, Marissen repeated much of the statement he provided to a reporter in February before a story about the prohibited $50,000 loan from Jason McLean. 

Marissen said the party failed to notice the NDP government’s amendments to local election campaign financing laws in 2021, which deem all loans to an elector organization to be loans for election expenses and subject to the prescribed limit on loans from non-financial institutions. 

Marissen also said the party received wrong advice in early January 2022 from an unnamed lawyer, that there was no jurisdictional limit, dollar limit, or limit based on individual versus corporate status to fund the day-to-day operations of a party office outside of campaign or election periods. 

“Progress Vancouver became aware of the full extent of the amendments having come into effect only after it had paid bills for the purposes set out for the party as explained above,” said Marissen’s statement. “At the time, Progress Vancouver also disclosed that there were issues with a handful of donations that came from out of province, and with some missing contributors data, and addressed those issues as best it could with the information available by the time the supplementary report was filed.”

Joining Marissen on the disqualification list are city council candidates Mauro Francis, Marie Noelle Rosa, Morganne Oger, May He, David Chin and Asha Hayer, and Metro Vancouver Regional District candidate Jonah Gonzales. 

None was elected in the Oct. 15, 2022 election. 

Under Elections BC deregistration rules, the party must file a report by next Jan. 4 for the period of Jan. 1 to July 4, 2023. A separate report must also be filed if any financial transactions are made after July 4.

Marissen is the principal of lobbying and strategic communications firm Burrard Strategy and a longtime federal Liberal and BC Liberal backroom strategist. He is also a senior advisor to McMillan Vantage, a lobbying company related to the McMillan law firm. Since the election, Surrey city hall contracted Marissen for $20,000 to lobby the B.C. NDP government to close down the Surrey Police Service and keep the RCMP as the local police force.

Sam Sullivan (left) with Jason McLean and Mark Marissen (Marissen/Facebook)

Marissen, who enjoyed success in organizing corporate-funded political campaigns before the 2017 end of B.C.’s big money era, had vowed in February to repay McLean for the loan that was intended to finance day-to-day administration of the party office. It was due for repayment on the Oct. 15 election day, subject to 5% interest.  

McLean is the CEO of the privately held McLean Group, which owns real estate, construction, film production, IT and communications, and flight charter companies. He is a former Vancouver Board of Trade chair and former Vancouver Police Board member who worked as an aide in the office of Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien. 

In a June 18 Facebook post, Marissen posed for a photograph with McLean in a Coal Harbour condo at a fundraiser aimed at paying off campaign debts: “It’s much more challenging afterwards — every bit helps,” Marissen wrote. 

Also present were ex-B.C. Premier and Marissen’s ex-wife Christy Clark, former Vancouver Mayor and former BC Liberal MLA Sam Sullivan, ex-Liberal MP Herb Dhaliwal and Daoping Bao, the CEO of Burnaby’s Smart Label Solutions, where Marissen is on the advisory board. 

Bao and chief development officer Ivan Pak were two of the three founders of the Chinese Canadians Goto Vote Association (CCGVA) that formed a week after the 2021 federal election. 

Supporters of CCGVA, including two heads of groups aligned with the Chinese Communist Party’s United Front, promoted Liberal Parm Bains in the controversial 2021 defeat of Conservative incumbent Kenny Chiu in Steveston-Richmond East. 

Chiu has alleged a disinformation campaign against him on Chinese-language social media helped topple his re-election bid   

Commissioner of Canada Elections Caroline Simard told a House of Commons committee hearing in March that her agency was investigating foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. 

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Bob Mackin The fourth-place finisher in last fall’s

For the week of July 2, 2023:

A special Canada Day long weekend edition of thePodcast, with host Bob Mackin.

Two down, two to go. It’s halftime in 2023. Which means the return of the MMA panel to make sense of it all.

MMA: Mackin, Mario and Andy, looking back at the second quarter and ahead to the third.

Mario Canseco, president of ResearchCo. Andy Yan, the director of the city program at Simon Fraser University.

Plus Pacific Northwest and Pacific Rim headlines.

CLICK BELOW to listen or go to TuneIn, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Google Podcasts.

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Bob Mackin

Only six people from the closed Lonzo Road homeless camp in Abbotsford accepted offers to move to two nearby shelters. 

The Ministry of Housing announced June 30 that the camp is gone, now surrounded by fences and awaiting construction of a 50-bed shelter. It has budgeted $4 million for the facility, to be operated by the Lookout Housing and Health Society.

In a news release, the government said 17 people had been offered indoor housing, but it did not provide a breakdown. 

Asked for details, a ministry spokesperson said that 15 people had received eviction notices on June 13, but two more people came to the site afterward. 

“Everyone at the site was offered shelter, storage and connections to housing, health, income and social supports.”

Six took up the offers to move to the Riverside and Lighthouse shelters. Nine others chose to relocate “to other locations in the region,” of which two were provided payments to subsidize their rent in privately owned accommodation. 

One person had market housing, but kept an RV at the site. The new accommodation for another person was behind bars. 

“This person was wanted for criminal charges and so is now currently in custody. As this is a police matter, we cannot provide more information.”

The site had more than two dozen RVs and cars, some of which were used as shelters. 

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Bob Mackin Only six people from the closed

Bob Mackin

Two Canadian pension funds — one of which is Victoria-based — are shareholders in London’s troubled water and sewage utility company.

The Financial Times reported June 28 that Thames Water is in talks with the U.K. government about potentially nationalizing the company, which is facing a crisis over its GBP 14 billion debt, worth $23.4 billion in Canadian funds. CEO Sarah Bentley suddenly quit June 27 and a new chair, Adrian Montague, was officially announced June 30.

(Thames Water)

Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) is the biggest external shareholder with a 31.777% stake. B.C. Investment Management Corporation (BCIMC) holds 8.706%. Other investors include sovereign wealth funds in Abu Dhabi and China.

In 2006, the BCIMC Crown corporation was part of the Kemble Water Ltd. consortium, led by Australian investment bank Macquarie, that acquired Thames Water from Germany’s RWE AG for GBP 8 billion. 

Thames Water issued a statement to the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on Wednesday, downplaying what it called “press speculation.”

OMERS has not replied. BCIMC refused comment, instead referring a reporter to the LSE statement, which said the company had the equivalent of $7.4 billion in cash, received $841 million of new funding from shareholders in March “and is continuing to work constructively with its shareholders.” 

Financial Times reported that shareholders pledged more than $2.5 billion a year ago.

BCIMC’s most-recently released investment inventory, dated March 31, 2022, showed Thames Water among 27 companies under its infrastructure and renewable resources portfolio, which represents 9.5% of BCIMC assets under management. The portfolio represents 9.5% of BCIMC’s $233 billion assets under management. 

The regulator, Water Services Regulation Authority, which goes by the brand name Ofwat, was “deeply concerned” about Thames Water and four other regional monopolies, which it deemed “the worst performing companies operationally.”

In November, Ofwat ordered Thames Water to return more than $84 million and Southern Water $50.5 million to customers after missing performance targets. 

“The poorest performers, Thames Water and Southern Water, are consistently falling beneath our expectations and those of their customers,” Ofwat said. “They need to take immediate action to improve their performance and rebuild trust with the people they serve. We will continue to hold companies to account for their performance and we will make sure that they raise their game.”

One of the biggest voices urging action to reform Thames Water is fly-fishing enthusiast and environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey, who gained fame as the lead singer of Northern Ireland punk band the Undertones in the late 70s and early 80s. 

“We, the customers, have for 30 years already provided all of the funding necessary for water companies to comply with the law, something water companies confirm to Ofwat each and every year,” Sharkey Tweeted. “Where’s our money gone? What has happened to it? When can we the customer have a refund?”

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Bob Mackin Two Canadian pension funds — one

Bob Mackin

The NDP government has rejected a freedom of information request for the transcripts and recordings of interviews with the subjects of the damning May report about the BC Housing nepotism scandal.

The Ministry of Housing claimed it has no records from meetings or correspondence between Ernst and Young (EY), which the Office of the Comptroller General contracted for the job, and ex-BC Housing CEO Shayne Ramsay and his wife, ex-Atira Women’s Resource Society CEO Janice Abbott.

Ravi Kahlon (left) and David Eby in December 2022 (Flickr/BCGov)

“Prior to responding to your request with the Ministry of Housing, Information Access Operations contacted [the Ministry of] Finance on your behalf to inquire if they would hold the sought records,” wrote Patrick Craib, a manager with the government’s centralized freedom of information office. “However, as the only EY deliverable was the final investigation report, they would not hold records either, the response to the request remains as no records.”

Of the 24 people interviewed, only the names of Ramsay, Abbott and ex-BC Housing CFO Abbas Barodawalla were not censored from the list in the EY report. 

Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon did not respond to a text message interview request. 

Despite the Ministry’s response, the template for government services contracts states that the province exclusively owns material produced by contractors and that “the contractor must deliver any material to the province immediately upon the province’s request.”

Additionally, a key 2004 ruling by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner states that records created or acquired by or for a public body, as part of its mandate and functions, are public records under a public body’s control. Therefore, those records are subject to release.  

That case stemmed from the Saanich School Board’s hiring of an investigator to report on a harassment complaint. The employee under investigation unsuccessfully applied to the school board for the investigator’s notes, but an adjudicator later overturned that decision and ruled in favour of disclosure. 

Ramsay (BC Housing)

“The duty to provide access to records under the Act is not defined by the willingness of the public body or its staff, contractors or agents,” wrote adjudicator Celia Francis.

The executive director of the B.C. Freedom of Information and Privacy Association said the government strategically bypassed the Auditor General and Ombudsperson in favour of hiring one of the big, global accounting brands for political reasons. 

“One of those dynamics where it’s in the government’s interest to outsource these types of reviews to private corporations in order to try and create barriers to people gaining access to the information,” said Jason Woywada. “That is the unintended consequence, or perhaps the intended consequence, of what they’re doing, by doing this.”

Woywada said the public has the right to see background records after ultimately paying for the EY report that the government used to justify its decision-making.

“What were the questions that Ernst and Young asked in these interviews? What is the summary of those interviews?” Woywada said. “All of that is relevant information, to inform the report that then informed [the government’s] decision. Those are relevant pieces of information for the public.”

Atira CEO Janice Abbott with Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland (second from left) (Nomodic/CMHC)

The 50-page report was dated March 6 but not released until May 8. It found that Ramsay had subverted conflict of interest rules since 2019 in order to award contracts and funding to the Abbott-run Atira. Atira’s funding outpaced other agencies, culminating in 2022 when it received $35 million more than the next-highest provider. 

The report also said that Ramsay modified meeting minutes and routinely deleted text messages, despite the Office of the Comptroller General’s explicit instructions to preserve records. 

David Eby ordered the EY forensic audit before he resigned as Housing Minister and announced his candidacy last July 19 to replace John Horgan as premier.   

Less than two weeks later, Ramsay announced his retirement from BC Housing after 26 years with the Crown corporation. He went to work in September for Squamish Nation-owned Nch’kay Development as its executive vice-president. 

Nch’kay announced May 12 that Ramsay was no longer employed with the company that is partnered with developer Westbank to build the Senakw residential towers cluster on reserve land beside the Burrard Bridge. 

Abbott resigned the following week from both Atira and the board of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., which is backing Senakw with a $1.4 billion loan.

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Bob Mackin The NDP government has rejected a

Bob Mackin

The botched inspection of an original Expo Line train switch, that should have been replaced more than a year earlier, led to a rare SkyTrain derailment, according to a draft investigation report obtained under freedom of information.

Photo of the derailed SkyTrain car on May 30, 2022 near Scott Road Station (TransLink)

The May 30, 2022 incident near Surrey’s Scott Road station disrupted service for 24 hours. The heavily censored, B.C. Rapid Transit Co. September 2022 report, titled “Derailment Investigation at Switch DC 47,” said the root cause was worn lateral surfaces and elongated bolt holes at a bolt connection, combined with poor bolt installation techniques. 

The internal investigation identified five factors that led to the derailment, including inspections on May 28 and 29, 2022 that “did not record findings” and “did not capture the condition of the bolt.”

The switch is one of 124 on the mainline that enables a train to move from one set of tracks to another. It was due for annual inspection on May 18, 2022, but other urgent work took priority. 

Additionally, the 1989-installed switch had been scheduled for replacement in the first quarter of 2021, but COVID-19 restrictions impacted plans and emergency work order changes put other repairs ahead in the queue. 

At the time of the report, there were 3,092 open work orders in the SkyTrain guideway department. 

Deficient quality control, training and resources also contributed to the incident. 

“There was no document provided to verify critical components are installed correctly to the manufacturer specifications and aligned with requirements from the Railway Act,” the report said.

The switch’s last annual inspection was July 9, 2021. Had the May 18, 2022 inspection occurred, technicians would have reassembled the components with new bolts. “This had the potential to have addressed the failed K-plate bolts,” the report said. 

In 2021, there were eight work orders for broken K-plate bolts across the entire SkyTrain system. Three of them were on DC 47, including two that broke at the same time. 

Aerial image of the May 30, 2022 SkyTrain derailment site (TransLink/FOI)

“There were previous incidents at DC 47, but no technical investigation was completed on previous broken bolt incidents.” The next sentence was censored. 

The report said the incident began at 7:40 p.m. on May 30, 2022, when the train operations centre received a fault code from the automated train. Two minutes later, a passenger reported a burning smell via the intercom at Scott Road station. Train operations tried to route the train to Columbia station, but it did not move as commanded. So an attendant was directed to walk out to the track and check the switch.

The attendant reported back that the switch was “disturbed and a ‘big chunk of the train has fallen off’.” The incident was declared a derailment at 8:01 p.m. “Work zone and power isolation were in place to off-load passengers safely to Scott Road station.”

No injuries were reported. 

The four-car, Mark II train had been traveling at approximately 69 kilometres per hour at the time of the incident. Cars 313 and 314 passed through the switch, but the frog turnout failed to remain locked. As a result, both truck sets on car 317 and truck set 1 on car 318 were derailed and made contact with the median parapet structure, travelling approximately 75 metres to the north until coming to rest.

TransLink’s communications department originally downplayed the severity of the derailment and how close it was to calamity, by calling the incident a “track issue” and “stalled train” before settling on the euphemism “partially dislodged.”

The draft report was dated Sept. 23, 2022, five days before the Sept. 28, 2022 TransLink board meeting where operations vice-president Mike Richard used the euphemism “train dislodgement” during his presentation. 

There are previous reports of SkyTrain derailments in 2010 and 2017.

SkyTrain is single-tracking until July 31 between Scott Road and King George stations in order to replace two switches near Gateway station.

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Bob Mackin The botched inspection of an original

Bob Mackin

While Simon Fraser University said publicly on Feb. 1 that the Red Leafs would play football in 2023, it was quietly drawing up the game plan to sack the 58-year-old program. 

The Jan. 30 “confidential: for issues management” document, obtained via freedom of information, was triggered by losing affiliate membership for 2024 in the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference. SFU won one game and lost eight during the 2022 season in the Texas-based conference, which cited travel distance and costs, accessibility and competitive history for dropping SFU.

(SFU Football)

“An update will be provided later this year. This season will unfold as scheduled and we will do all we can to support athletes,” said the key messages portion of the document. The team was scheduled to kick-off Sept. 2 against Linfield University and end Dec. 1 versus the University of B.C. Thunderbirds in the 35th edition of the Shrum Bowl. 

However, the confidential document also suggested that SFU did not have any future in football beyond 2023. 

“It is likely that this decision, combined with the financial review, will lead to eliminating football from SFU’s athletics experience. All communication must be delivered with that potential outcome in mind,” it said. “We must work to ensure we are bringing stakeholders along throughout the process, while at the same time keeping a future decision to a tight group of people.”

President Joy Johnson’s chief of staff, James Beresford, forwarded the document to SFU board chair Angie Lamarsh on Feb. 1. That was also the day of athletic director Theresa Hanson and head coach Mike Rigell’s joint statement that said the 2023 season was on, but the department would review the situation, explore options and provide an update “later this year.”

Just over two months later, on April 4, SFU announced the immediate cancellation of the 1965-founded program. It offered to help players transfer to another football-playing school or allow them to keep their scholarships and study at SFU next year.

Five players applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction aimed at reversing SFU’s decision, but a judge denied their application on May 11. On the same day, Johnson apologized to players, staff and alumni for “the impact and stress” and announced the hiring of a consultant from McLaren Global Sport Solutions. Special advisor Bob Copeland is expected to report in September on whether SFU could resurrect the program, which has produced the most Canadian Football League draft picks.

SFU athletics director Theresa Hanson (SFU)

Hanson’s affidavit against the players’ court application said that SFU made the decision to cancel football “in late March.” While her calendar show does show a March 31 meeting titled “final decision,” she had co-prepared a decision briefing note with vice-provost Rummana Khan Hemani in early March, two days before the team began almost a month of off-season workouts. 

On the final two days of February, Hanson’s calendar shows calls with NCAA, USports and NAIA executives. The following week, on March 6, the briefing note that provided two options: announce immediate discontinuation of football or play through the 2023 season and announce the end of football following the last game. 

Immediate discontinuation was recommended, because the “longer the uncertainty goes on, the more the situation will fester.” 

Hanson and Hemani’s briefing note claimed there were no other avenues in the NCAA, while NAIA and USports rules prevented the Red Leafs from switching. 

“If we are not in a position to say that ‘we will have football’ no matter what, then we must announce the decision sooner than later.”

Next steps included provost Wade Parkhouse meeting with Johnson and development of a full communication plan. 

“A strategic and thoughtful communications approach is required, as there will be numerous implications for football student-athletes, football coaching staff and institutional reputation,” it said. “There will be opposition from football alumni and sports media, and this will be very difficult for many including varsity staff, and other student-athletes with a connection to the football team.”

Hanson also prepared talking points for Johnson to be used at a confidential March 24 board of governors session about football. The document set April 4 as the cancellation announcement day. 

It said the university would uphold financial aid commitments to student-athletes projected at $363,500, with a ceiling of $425,000. SFU would also be on the hook for up to $200,000 in contractual obligations, specifically full-time coaching staff severance ($75,000) and to terminate affiliate membership in Lone Star (US$50,000) and contracts for non-conference games (US$35,000). 

A March 10 version pegged the next fiscal year’s budget to operate the program at $890,000, including $420,000 for coaching staff salary and benefits and $400,000 for travel. The March 24 comprehensive briefing note to chair Lamarsh said SFU teams compete across 19 NCAA varsity sports with approximately 400 student athletes. Of the 99 football players, 66 were projected to return in fall 2023 plus 13 incoming recruits. The coaching staff included four full-timers and 10 to 12 part-time coaches and staff.

Terry Fox Field (SFU Football)

The communications plan included a script of anticipated questions and prepared answers, emphasizing the depleted Red Leafs roster, risk of injury and poor 18-103 record since moving to the NCAA in 2010. SFU’s best season in its NCAA era was 5-6 in 2012.  

The plan included a full “run of show” schedule for April 3 and 4, mapping out who to contact for courtesy calls and anticipating how the announcement would roll out. While it expected the “directly impacted” players and alumni to be “upset/angry/disappointed,” it did not predict legal action nor did it anticipate the Save SFU Football campaign that quickly gained support across the football spectrum and national media attention in April.  

The communications package included a form letter to send athletes and alumni announcing the short-notice postponement to the fall of the April 5 SFU Athletics Awards and Hall of Fame banquet.

“When we gather together to celebrate the best of sports, we will also have time to incorporate a special reflection on SFU’s more than 50 years of history in football,” the form letter said. “We will work with the SFU football community to appropriately commemorate the individuals and teams that made their mark.” 

Videos profiling nominees for the SFU annual athletics awards were published on the SFU Sports YouTube channel beginning June 26. 

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Bob Mackin While Simon Fraser University said publicly

Bob Mackin

Despite lacking the required provincial backing, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) says it is still talking to the International Olympic Committee about hosting the 2030 Winter Olympics in B.C. with four first nations.

During executive board meetings in Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday, senior IOC officials said that members would decide the 2030 host no later than July 2024 in Paris.

BC 2030 Olympic bid logo (BC Gov/FOI)

It appeared to be a three-way race early last fall between 2010 host Vancouver, 2002 host Salt Lake City and 1972 host Sapporo, Japan until the NDP government refused in October to underwrite another Olympics. Then the IOC delayed its decision indefinitely, while beginning a feasibility study on rotating the Winter Games between past hosts. 

Chris Dornan, the spokesperson for the COC’s bid partnership with the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Lil’wat nations, said dialogue continues with the IOC. 

“While no meeting involving the host first nations, government partners, the COC and the [Canadian Paralympic Committee] has occurred or been scheduled, we remain open to the opportunity for all partners to come together to talk about the vision for the Games, and the lasting impact hosting a Games could have on the host nations, the province and the rest of Canada,” Dornan said by email. “Without the engagement and support of the Province of British Columbia, the project will not progress.”

That marks a change of tone for the COC, which emphasized at the end of March that it was “hopeful.” At the time, Christophe Dubi, the executive director of the Games for the IOC, said he understood that conversations would take place between the COC and local authorities. 

A technical briefing did take place for two hours on April 14, between Neilane Mayhew, the deputy minister of tourism, arts, culture and sport, and representatives of the first nations, to explain the province’s decision, which has not changed. 

“Supporting the proposal would have required dedicated provincial resources across government, which are already committed to planning other near-term international sporting events, as well as expanding on services British Columbians need,” read the government statement. “Our government remains committed to the important work of putting reconciliation into action and continuing to build strong relationships with Indigenous partners.”

Vancouver is co-hosting Prince Harry’s Invictus Games with Whistler in early 2025 and B.C. Place Stadium is one of 16 venues for the FIFA 2026 World Cup. The $67 million PNE Amphitheatre is scheduled to be completed in time to act as a venue for official FIFA watch parties in three years.

The lobbyist registry shows that the most-recent COC communication with B.C. government officials was Oct. 12 when it sought $742 million. On Oct. 27, then-minister Lisa Beare announced the government had rejected the bid.

Vancouver 2030 bid logo

The COC estimated it needed at least $1 billion from taxpayers for the estimated $4 billion project, plus a guarantee that the province would pay for any deficit. It proposed reusing most of the 2010 venues in Vancouver, Richmond and Whistler, with the exception of the Agrodome for curling, Hastings Racecourse for big air skiing and snowboard jumping and Sun Peaks resort near Kamloops for snowboarding and freestyle skiing. Board minutes and financial files about Vancouver 2010 remain hidden from the public at the Vancouver Archives until fall 2025. 

Groups from Sweden and Switzerland have recently expressed interest to the IOC about 2030. On Tuesday, Dubi mentioned a mysterious sixth country that he would not name. 

“But when it comes to who’s interested about which edition, there is only one, and you know this is Salt Lake City that has declared that it is very open,” Dubi said. “They’ve done a lot of work, but their preference would be for 2034, should these Games be awarded in the context of a double allocation.”

Last fall, the IOC had discussed awarding 2030 and 2034 at the same time, but Sapporo, the perceived frontrunner for 2030, paused its bid due to the Tokyo Olympics corruption scandal.

While the Utah legislature and governor have both thrown their support behind hosting in either 2030 or 2034, the U.S. Olympic Committee prefers 2034 in order to avoid sponsorship conflicts with the Los Angeles 2028 Summer Olympics. 

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Bob Mackin Despite lacking the required provincial backing,