The A to Z of 2024 – Highlights of The Year that Was (in Alphabetical Order)
A for amphitheatre
The PNE is building one. It has doubled in price to $138 million. Pierre Karl Peladeau’s Freedom Mobile bought the naming rights for an undisclosed sum and it will be called the Freedom Mobile Arch when it opens to host FIFA World Cup 26 viewing parties.
2024 sign in Times Square, New York (Times Square/YouTube)
B for Bitcoin
Mayor Ken Sim wants Vancouver city hall to accept Bitcoin for tax payments and for city hall to invest in the cryptocurrency. It may never happen, but he did divert attention from two other Bs: budget and Broadway Plan. During the same period of 2023, his vow to end the elected park board distracted from the logging of Stanley Park.
C for Chip
Maverick athleisure and real estate billionaire Chip Wilson became the talk of the town when he erected a sign outside his mansion critical of his MLA — Premier David Eby. Judging by the Oct. 19 results, many voters around the province agree with Wilson.
D for Dobrovolny
Metro Vancouver commissioner Jerry Dobrovolny revealed the $3 billion cost overrun at the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant, now scheduled for a 2030 opening. Dobrovolny’s $711,500 pay and perks package from 2023 and his travel spending came under scrutiny. It sparked calls for an independent public inquiry and direct elections for Metro Vancouver directors.
E for Eby
The Premier hung on to power after the most-divisive and disinformation-riddled NDP campaign B.C. has ever seen. Eby’s party ended up with 47 seats, a slim majority, thanks to a 22-vote judicial recount in Surrey-Guildford. In December, new finance minister Brenda Bailey announced a $9.4 billion deficit.
F for Falcon
BC United leader Kevin Falcon pulled his party out of the election in a surprise Aug. 28 announcement. It eased fears of vote splitting and paved the way for John Rustad and his Conservatives to battle the NDP head-on.
North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant construction site on July 10, 2024 (Mackin)
G for Green
Leader Sonia Furstenau gambled and lost in Victoria-Beacon Hill, but the party remains with two MLAs — newcomers Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell. Furstenau formally agreed to prop-up the NDP.
H for Horgan
Ex-premier John Horgan became Canada’s ambassador to Germany, but cancer returned. This time, it would not go away. He died at age 65 on Nov. 12 and was remembered with a Dec. 15 memorial at the home of his beloved Victoria Shamrocks, Colwood’s Q Centre.
I for integrity commissioner
Sim’s ABC supermajority tried to get rid of Lisa Southern, who was investigating several complaints against the ruling party. The public outcry forced ABC to make an aboutface.
J for John
John Rustad was one of two Conservative MLAs at the start of 2024. The party won 44 in the Oct. 19 election and might have won had Rustad performed better in the debate and had he been more discerning with candidate recruitment.
K for Kerfoot
Vancouver Whitecaps majority owner Greg Kerfoot hired Goldman Sachs to help sell the club. The reclusive Kerfoot rescued the USL version in 2002, but it has never been a threat to win a league championship since joining MLS in 2011. No guarantee the Whitecaps will remain in Vancouver, even though the club completes the Cascadia and Canadian trios.
The failure to beat the Lionel Messi-less Inter Miami on May 25 (and lacklustre compensation for disappointed ticket holders) epitomized the franchise, which said “addio” to popular coach Vanni Sartini, the Italian Ted Lasso, after the playoff loss to LAFC.
L for Lions
B.C.’s 70th anniversary season in 2024 did not go as planned for owner Amar Doman, who hosted the Toronto Argonauts and Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Nov. 17 Grey Cup at B.C. Place. Quarterback Nathan Rourke returned from NFL tryouts mid-season. Afterward, Buck Pierce replaced Rick Campbell as coach.
M for murder
Four Indian nationals charged with the 2023 assassination of Surrey Sikh temple leader and Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. On Thanksgiving Day, the Canadian government expelled India’s ambassador and five other diplomats.
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A for amphitheatre The PNE is building one.
