AWARDS 3
Newsmaker of theYear
COMMUNITY 21
Santa stops by for a skate
SPORTS 30
A look back at 2015
A LOOK BACK AT THE YEAR IN ARTS
There’s more at Burnabynow.com
NEW YEAR’S EDITION DECEMBER 30 AND 31, 2015
SEE PG. 11
Headline makers and head shakers of 2015 NewYear’s Eve has arrived – and, for those of us in the newsroom, what better time to pause, reflect and remember all that’s happened in Burnaby in 2015. When it comes to news headlines, Burnaby is never short of things to write about – from those stories that are very specifically local to those that garner national and even international headlines. Earlier this month, the Burnaby NOW editorial team sat down to discuss the
top stories of the year. Our collection of awards, honours and special mentions include the News Story of theYear, the Newsmaker of theYear, and several other awards, such as our “Who’s on First” and “Keeping Lawyers Busy” awards. Our choices are obviously subjective. How does one judge the relative merits of the city’s huge housing crisis against the stories that came out of the 2015 federal election? Where do unusual stories, such
as the story of rescue dog Anderson Cooper, rank? We don’t pretend these “awards” can possibly touch on everything important that happened this year – but they do cover many of the highlights. To see the Newsmaker of theYear, turn to page 3. On page 12 we shine the spotlight on some people who make our city great. Meanwhile, on page 11, arts editor Julie
MacLellan takes a look back on the city’s cultural scene and hands out her own awards, and in sports, editor Dan Olson charts the year’s movers and shakers from a handful of disciplines. A big thank you to all of our newsmakers and those who pass on news tips and ideas – we couldn’t do it without you! Go to www.burnabynow.com to check out all our awards for 2015 – including those that didn’t fit in the print edition.
Burnaby: Whose city is it anyway? A development boom has the city in conflict with housing advocates, who fear the loss of affordable homes the hearing before moving on to the next step in the rezoning process. But that didn’t put an A simmering divide in end to the issue. Burnaby between the interIn September, 60 peoests of redevelopment and ple attended an affordable low-income renters blew housing rally in Metrotown. wide open in 2015. In an attempt to protect The year was marked by low-income housing from a number of local groups redevelopment, protestand associations calling on ers called on Burnaby city city hall to do more to procouncil to place a moratotect the dwindling amount rium on the demoliof affordable rental tion of affordable stock in the face of housing units unincreasing develtil a policy is creopment. NEWS ated to either reIn June, STORY place or preserve Burnaby counOF THE them. cil chambers was YEAR “We had resifilled with comdents who currentmunity activists and ly live in buildings that people worried they are slated to be demolished might lose their homes at a speak at the rally, and othhearing for a rezoning application to replace two low- ers who live in Burnaby and fear they’re going to be rise rental apartment buildnext,” Dave Diewert, one ings with highrise condo of the organizers with the towers.The three-storey Social Housing Alliance, buildings, located at 6380 told the NOW. “I think unand 6420 Silver Ave., were der this current municipal built in the early ’60s and government that seems to contained a total of 109 give green lights to all these units. massive developments, that Council ultimately decidpeople feel very vulnerable ed to have city staff compile in terms of their housing.” a report replying to the reThe issue came to a boil quests brought forward at Jeremy Deutsch
jdeutsch@burnabynow.com
On the march: Renters and their supporters took to the streets in Burnaby to protest the loss of affordable rental stock in the city. Older apartment blocks are being razed and replaced with high rises leaving low-income renters out in the cold. PHOTO FILE
in November during a public hearing about the future of another set of older buildings on Marlborough Avenue and Imperial Street. At one point, protesters, who filled the council chambers, disrupted the meeting for about 10 minutes. Council eventually returned to their desks and approved the development. In the days prior to the public hearing, council re-
leased the long-awaited report on the affordable housing issue, which said no to a moratorium on the demolition of buildings, noting the city does not have the legislated authority to withhold a building permit for construction of new buildings. Instead, city politicians were pinning the problem on senior levels of government arguing the federal government has neglect-
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ed the issue for two decades, while critics of the city suggested council’s argument was a diversion. By December, the city decided to try a new idea to spur the creation of social housing by taking the Community Benefit Housing Fund to make city lands available for non-market housing projects.The program is called the City Land Program for Non-Mar-
ket Housing Projects, and council approved the first two city-owned properties for the program. The two properties are located at 7898 18th Ave. and 3802 Hastings St. The basic idea is for the city to take bonus density money it gets from new developments and then offer city land to non-profit groups and agencies to build affordable housing.
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