June 7, 2023 by North Shore News Features

WEDNESDAY JUNE 7 2023

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Opioid crisis

Father fights for change after son’s death from fentanyl overdose

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The Brewyard

Summer pop-up brings Brewery District into Lonsdale Quay

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Sam Reinhart

West Van hockey star suits up in Stanley Cup Finals

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WEDNESDAY JUNE 7 2023

$1.25

NEWSSTAND PRICE

NEWS4

Opioid crisis

Father fights for change after son’s death from fentanyl overdose

FOOD&DRINK16

The Brewyard

Summer pop-up brings Brewery District into Lonsdale Quay

SPORTS22

Sam Reinhart

West Van hockey star suits up in Stanley Cup Finals

Canada’s #1 community newspaper

local matters . since 1969

BUILDING NEW HOMES

Two North Shore districts end up on provincial housing ‘naughty’ list BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

Two of the three North Shore municipalities haven’t been building enough new homes, the province says, so the Ministry of Housing will be setting new targets for them.

The District of North Vancouver and District of West Vancouver are among the 10 municipalities in B.C. named by Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon at a press conference on May 31. Others on the list include Victoria, Delta, Oak Bay, Abbotsford, Kamloops, Saanich, Port Moody and Vancouver. “While housing affordability is a challenge in communities across British Columbia, we selected these municipalities on an objective, thorough and measured process that factored in housing availability, affordability and unrealized potential in delivering more homes for people,” said Kahlon, noting housing experts and economists were consulted in making the list. In 2022, the government passed the Housing Supply Act, allowing the

government to set development targets for municipalities. Those exact targets will be made public later this summer. “We need all communities to be participating in that work, and I expect most communities will be co-operating fully with this,” said the minister, noting the government can bring in an independent advisor after six months to determine where barriers exist for a municipality to reach a target. “And if we find that progress isn’t being made, then we have the ability as a province to step in and make the decisions we believe are necessary to ensure affordable housing in communities.” While some mayors on the list welcomed the province’s announcement, the affected North Shore mayors have been more skeptical. District of North Vancouver Mayor Mike Little said he was not surprised to see his municipality on the list, given previous discussions they’d had with the province. According to CMHC data, the district had 6,044 housing starts between 2013 and 2022, 4,722 of which were in new Continued on page 34

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BLAST FROM THE PAST

SHIPYARD PALS “Sam” (Charlie Cook) and “Sal” (Kelsey Ranshaw) will be conducting historical, theatrical walking tours of North Vancouver’s Shipyards district throughout the summer. See the full story online at nsnews.com. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN

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FOR NEWS AT ANY TIME, GO TO NSNEWS.COM OPIOID CRISIS

Dad advocates for change after son’s death from fentanyl JANE SEYD

jseyd@nsnews.com

When Matthew Witt’s son Sebastian came to live on the North Shore at nine years old, he took to playing soccer right away. He’d played it before, while growing up with his mother’s extended family in Costa Rica, but there it was much more informal.

Here, “he got to have a real uniform and real referees,” said Witt. Later Seb spent two years taking skating lessons so he could finally join a minor hockey team. When he was older, Seb and his friends would go out on Witt’s 14-foot sailboat and drop crab traps for the day. It’s the same sailboat where Matthew and Seb were to head out on a week-long father and son trip together in May 2015. “We had been out on shorter trips. But that was going to be our first big one,” said Witt. But the trip never happened. Four days before they were due to leave, Seb was found dead of an opioid overdose in the family home, his dog Rio by his side. He was just 20 years old. It’s the same boat where Witt – who has since moved from the North Shore - recently shared memories of his son with one of Seb’s closest friends, who recently got engaged. Such moments are bittersweet.

Matthew Witt and Rio spend time on their family sailboat in April of 2021. Matthew holds a photo of his son Sebastian, who died in 2015 of a fentanyl overdose. MIKE WAKEFIELD / NSN “His friends are getting married, having kids,” said Witt. “I’ll never see him do that.” Witt hopes that by continuing to speak about his loss, it’ll help people to see drug overdose deaths don’t just happen to “other” types of people in other places. Growing up, Seb laughed a lot, said Witt. “He was very funny. Very sharp.” But when he got into his teen years, “We noticed changes in his

behaviour.” “At first, I thought he was staying up too late and being a teenager. But eventually, you know, it became obvious that it was something more.” Eventually Seb told his dad and stepmom he’d been taking drugs. It had started when a friend was prescribed a painkiller for a sports injury and shared it with his friends. “A few of them started experimenting with Oxycontin. I don’t think they

really had any idea what they were doing. From there it led eventually to heroin and fentanyl and the whole show.” At the time, Witt was working as a firefighter in Surrey. “We started to get these (calls to) overdoses that weren’t responding normally” he said. “So we heard about fentanyl, and we were googling it to try to find out what it was.” His parents struggled to find Seb help, eventually finding a

sympathetic doctor who got him on Suboxone. He graduated from Rockridge Secondary, then went to live with family in Costa Rica for a year. When he returned to the North Shore, Seb seemed to be doing well. But then one night, something happened. Seb relapsed after two years, using drugs alone in his room. His stepmom found him dead the next day. “I got the call at work,” said Witt. “It’s not something you get over.” Seb’s friends and Witt’s own friends and family have always been supportive. But there were also, in the years that followed, conversations with people who didn’t know how his son had died, who talked about addiction, “in that old school way, that it’s a moral lapse and a criminal matter,” said Witt. “There’s a lot of stigma around that.” Witt found support in a North Shore chapter of Compassionate Friends, a group for parents whose children have died. When he first joined, Witt remembers being one of only two or three people whose children had died of an overdose. But over the several years he attended, that number grew. “Maybe half of the group had lost children to opioids or Continued on page 20

NORTH SHORE STATISTICS

Those who overdose are most likely to die in their own homes JANE SEYD

jseyd@nsnews.com

Seven years into B.C.’s drug overdose crisis, the trends that have been reported across the province are also reflected on the North Shore.

“The North Shore is not immune,” said Dr. Alex Choi, the North Shore’s medical health officer. As in the rest of B.C., a once-hopeful sign when drug overdose deaths dipped

in 2019, was replaced in 2021 and 2022 with the highest number of overdose deaths ever. “Starting in 2020, we started to see between 20 and 30 deaths (a year) on the North Shore,” said Choi. There were 19 overdose deaths in North Vancouver last year, 18 the year before, according to statistics from B.C.’s Coroner’s Service. In 2020 there were 22. The statistics are similarly grim for West

Vancouver’s smaller population, with seven overdose deaths last year, six in 2021 and six in 2020. By the end of April this year, 11 people on the North Shore had died of overdoses. Since 2018, there’s also been an increase in contamination of the drug supply that already contains fentanyl with benzodiazepines – drugs like Xanax, Ativan or Valium. “What it can lead to is an increase in

the impact of the opioid itself,” said Choi. Choi said she sometimes hears questions about whether those dying of overdoses on the North Shore are regular North Shore residents. Ninety-five per cent of people dying of overdoses here are. Some local statistics are similar to provincial ones – that 85 per cent of those dying of overdoses are male, for instance. Continued on page 20

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023 | A5

YO U ’ R E I N V I T E D T O O U R

OPEN HOUSE

Allied Shipbuilders in North Vancouver could benefit from a federal plan to build more than 60 smaller vessels. NSN FILE PHOTO

BIG FUNDING FOR SMALL VESSELS

Allied Shipyards welcomes $2.5B federal construction plan JANE SEYD AND CARLA WILSON

jseyd@nsnews.com

A recent announcement of $2.5 billion in federal funding for construction of dozens of small vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard is being welcomed by North Vancouver’s Allied Shipbuilders.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans recently announced that federal funds will pay for construction of up to 61 small vessels. According to the DFO, contracts for construction of the small vessels will be competitively tendered. News about the new federal ships has been welcomed by Allied Shipbuilders in North Vancouver, where president Chuck Ko told Glacier Media the company is “absolutely” interested in building vessels for the Coast Guard. According to the DFO, bidding on the smaller vessels will be open to smaller shipyards and suppliers across Canada, but will specifically exclude large shipyards like Seaspan, already building federal ships under the national shipbuilding strategy, in order to spread benefits to other companies in the marine industry. Construction of the first small vessel to be built with this funding, a near shore fisheries research vessel, is expected to begin in the next one to two years. The federal announcement follows B.C.’s recent decision to allocate up to $25 million over three years to upgrade shipyards in the areas of shipbuilding, refit, repair and maintenance. Under the B.C. Maritime Industries Strategy, the province will kick in up to $25 million towards grants aimed at helping

companies modernize and become competitive in international markets. Dave Hargreaves, senior vice-president of business development at Seaspan, described the announcement as good news for the whole shipbuilding industry. As part of Ottawa’s national shipbuilding strategy, Seaspan in North Vancouver is currently building two massive joint support ships for the Canadian Navy, plus an offshore science vessel for the Canadian Coast Guard, and has a supply chain of more than 500 maritime companies. Hargreaves said he hopes the strategy will help the shipyard source more B.C.based technology, products and services in its shipbuilding. Hargreaves said the provincial strategy could also help local shipyards get back in the running when it comes to bidding on future contracts to build BC Ferries vessels, for instance. “We think there’s real opportunity there,” he said. Last week, Seaspan marked another milestone in the federal shipbuilding program, cutting steel for a first ‘prototype block’ for the polar icebreaker to be built at the North Vancouver shipyard. According to a press statement, the prototype block will test new systems and tools needed to work with the very thick specialized steel needed to build a heavy icebreaker. Construction on that ship, scheduled to start at the end of 2024, will mark the first construction of a heavy icebreaker in Canada in over 60 years. According to the province, the marine economy in B.C. contributes $7.6 billion to the province’s GDP, and 43,000 jobs.

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Woman dies in North Van house fire BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

North Vancouver RCMP say one woman is dead following a house fire in the Queensbury neighbourhood Friday night.

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The blaze on the 400 block of Queensbury Avenue broke out just before midnight, according to North Vancouver City Fire Department chief Greg Schalk. It was a relatively small fire, which was quickly put out, but the house was fully charged with heavy smoke, Schalk said. “Unfortunately, while they were [putting out the fire], they came across the victim. They were able to bring the victim out. Fire crews along with ambulance crews did perform some lifesaving interventions but sadly, we weren’t able to bring her back,” Schalk said. The victim, a woman in her 30s, lived alone in a suite inside the house. Her family is receiving help from the RCMP’s victim services unit.

A home in North Vancouver’s Queensbury neighbourhood remains boarded up following a fatal fire on June 2. The victim was a woman in her 30s. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN A post shared on social media by the victim’s family identifies her as Lindsay Emma Bailey. “She had the absolute biggest heart and the best sense of humour. She was, and still is, loved beyond belief. You have left a huge hole in our hearts,” a post written by her sister stated on Monday.

Bailey was a care aid who worked for Vancouver Coastal Health. Three other people who live in a separate suite within the home have been displaced. They are receiving the assistance of North Shore Emergency Management, Schalk said. North Vancouver RCMP spokesperson Const. Mansoor Sahak said there is nothing to indicate the fire was suspicious in nature, but they will conduct an in-depth investigation before anything is ruled out. “We have to investigate it thoroughly to determine what happened. I think we owe it to the victim to determine what happened and we’re working in partnership with the fire department,” he said. Sahak said they are hoping to hear from any members of the public who saw what happened. “If anybody was in the area or has video from a dashcam or anything like that, call us,” he said. “Any little information helps.”

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023 | A7

NEWSBRIEFS MAN DROWNS IN RICE LAKE A 26-year-old Burnaby man drowned in North Vancouver’s Rice Lake on Saturday afternoon. Emergency crews were called to the lake in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park around 3:30 p.m. for a report of a man in medical distress. District of North Vancouver Fire and Rescue crews were the first to arrive on the scene. Assistant chief Dwayne Derban said it appears a group of friends had been fishing in the north east part of the lake and had ended up in the water, possibly to go for a swim. The man, who was reportedly an inexperienced swimmer, began struggling and eventually sank underwater. A friend and bystander both jumped in to rescue the man, but “they say he was under for possibly up to two minutes before friends got to him,” said Derban. The man’s friend and bystander pulled him out on to a rock offshore and began performing CPR. Firefighters wearing PFDs swam out to the rock, then put one of the lifejackets on the unresponsive man and

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got him back to shore where a team of B.C. Ambulance advanced life support paramedics took over CPR. Efforts to resuscitate the man continued for about an hour, said Derban, including use of a chest compression machine and defibrillator. The man was declared dead at the scene. Drownings are uncommon at the lake, which is primarily used for recreational fishing. – Jane Seyd

BLACK BEARS FOLLOWING THEIR NOSES INTO HOMES The North Shore Black Bear Society is urging residents not to have an open-door policy after a string of incidents involving bears following their noses into people’s homes. Society acting executive director Christine Miller said they are aware of at least three recent incidents over the course of a week. In one case, a bear entered a kitchen and snagged some “organic material.” Possibly the same bear also made its way into at least one garage as well, Miller said. And

in one instance, the home’s residents saw the bear just as it was coming in the door and shooed it away. That’s the best possible outcome, Miller said. Most often when a bear enters a home, it’s an adolescent male “who hasn’t learned the proper way to behave in a residential area.” “When a bear enters an enclosed space like a house or garage, especially if he obtains any food reward, it usually means that he will be killed because the authorities believe that he will then know there’s food inside those places,” she said. Despite the warm weather, Miller said residents living in bear territory shouldn’t leave ground-floor doors and windows open unless they are there to monitor them closely. It also underscores the need to keep yards free of attractants like bird feeders and tree fruit, which draw the bruins in. “It can happen anywhere with any bears,” she said. “We’ve got bears moving around all over the place.” Miller said unlocked/open dumpsters have also been an issue this year. – Brent Richter

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2022 ANNUAL REPORT The 2022 Annual Report will be available online on June 9, 2023 at westvancouver.ca/annualreport. The 2022 Annual Report will be considered, along with submissions and questions from the public, at a Council meeting at 7 p.m. on June 26, 2023. For instructions on how to participate, please call 604-925-7004 or visit westvancouver.ca/virtual-meetings. Email written submissions to correspondence@westvancouver.ca.

For more information, please contact the Finance Department at 604-925-7000.

A8 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023

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Toxic tragedy

or the past two weeks, Glacier Media has brought you stories about B.C.’s opioid crisis – who is dying, families whose lives have been shattered by those deaths, what governments are doing about the issue and what average people think about those efforts. It’s a tragedy that’s touched every part of the province. We’re not immune on the North Shore. People – often younger men – are continuing to die here on disturbingly regular basis. Most aren’t dying on street corners. They die in their own homes, with their families in the next room. Even among those who don’t die of an overdose, the contaminants in the drug supply have left many users with irreversible brain damage – a horrific legacy that

will continue for decades to come. Greater minds than ours have pondered what to do about the worsening crisis. It’s a complex problem that defies easy solutions – here and all over both Canada and the U.S. B.C.’s chief coroner has estimated that more than 100,000 people in B.C. have an opioid use disorder. In the Metro Vancouver area, there is public support for expansion of a safe supply of drugs, which would be the most immediate way to keep more people from dying. That’s the first step. Also important is access to a full range of treatment programs, which are still too often lacking on the ground, despite the political rhetoric. One thing is overwhelmingly clear: what we’re doing now isn’t working. It’s beyond time to try something new.

Eby’s heavy hand unlikely to fix West Van housing crunch KIRK LAPOINTE

klapointe@biv.com

The hammer hasn’t dropped quite yet on West Vancouver, but it is in the hands of the premier and his housing minister, and its ominous presence is pressing upon us.

My first North Shore News column last year suggested the NDP government would be willing under David Eby to force communities, probably including this one, to accelerate housing development. A couple of councillors sent along notes doubting it would happen. As we know now, it is happening and is a real threat. Even if in our case it’s politically unpopular, there are no NDP seats to lose in forcing the issue.

The district is among 10 B.C. communities on the first of at least two lists of places that the province will direct this year to build, build, build. Any perceived, prolonged balking will see the Eby government early next year (in time for an election) possibly take matters into its own hands and order construction. It has the constitutional right and last year’s Housing Supply Act to do so. It’s become time for a plan – whether it’s to proceed with rapid development or a rugged challenge to the idea. In the immediate term, West Vancouver is at a loss to understand what will satisfy the province because many details of the provincial housing initiative remain cloaked. You can’t fight what you can’t figure out. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon

cleverly released the list of naughty, not nice communities, and the criteria for assessing who belongs on the list, but cannily neither the scores for each community on the 10-item list nor the prescriptions necessary to be nice, not naughty. We will learn this summer about the expectations of how much and how soon, but on several criteria – rental affordability, social housing waitlists, the renter/owner ratio, housing units per land units, and the density of growth over the last decade – I can imagine Santa feels correct in putting coal into the fireplace stocking. What I wonder is not so much where it expects West Vancouver to build but what it expects West Vancouver to build. The province isn’t looking for more pricey

CONTACT US 114-400 BROOKSBANK AVE. NORTH VANCOUVER B.C. V7J 2C2 nsnews.com North Shore News, founded in 1969 as an independent suburban newspaper and qualified under Schedule 111, Paragraph 111 of the Excise Tax Act, is published each Wednesday by North Shore News a division of LMP Publication Limited Partnership. Canada Post Canadian Publications Mail Sales Product Agreement No. 40010186. Mailing rates available on request. Entire contents © 2023 North Shore News a division of LMP Publication Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. Average circulation for the Wednesday edition is 58,911. The North Shore News, a division of LMP Publication Limited Partnership respects your privacy. We collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with our Privacy Statement which is available at www.nsnews.com. North Shore News is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, please email editor@nsnews.com or call the newsroom at 604-985-2131. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the web site at mediacouncil.ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.

condominiums and certainly not looking for more single-family residences, the two staples of the West Vancouver housing profile. It’s looking much more for purpose-built rental development, below-market units for lower-income residents, and what people call but have some trouble defining as housing’s “missing middle” of townhouses and high rises. There thankfully is no pretense this will lower prices, only that it will somewhat slow the increases in them. For West Vancouver and other communities on the 10-town list, this represents quite the defining moment: to cooperate or to challenge. By including West Van and the District (but not the City) of North Vancouver, arguably the list’s two Continued on page 9

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023 | A9 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR must include your name, full address and telephone number. Send your letters via our website: nsnews.com/ opinion/send-us-a-letter. The North Shore News reserves the right to edit any and/or all letters based on length, clarity, legality and content. The News also reserves the right to publish any and/or all letters electronically.

THANK YOU TO STRANGER WHO SAVED MY TINY DOG

have. Whoever that young man was, from the bottom of my heart I thank him.

Recently my dog Babette and I were leaving Shoppers Drug Mart near Marine Drive in North Vancouver when two young men that were filming themselves doing tricks on skateboards jumped over me and my dog in her stroller. My dog was so terrified she jumped out of the stroller, headed directly to Marine Drive. She was so terrified she was weaving in and out of oncoming traffic. This continued through three lights – she went under a bus and came out the other side. It is incredible that she was not harmed. I was chasing after her and the two young men, very apologetic, were chasing after me with my baby carriage. Cars were stopping on both sides of the road trying to stop and get out and catch this little dog. Finally a young man in an SUV stopped traffic both ways. He jumped out of his truck, caught my dog. and brought her to me. I was so shaken, and he very gently told me to get back on the sidewalk. He got in his truck and drove away before I could thank him. He was a true hero. My little dog has a greater purpose: she’s a therapy dog and we go to hospitals to take care of others. I just recently lost my husband eight weeks ago, so she’s all I

ABOVE 50? HERE’S WHY YOU NEED THE SHINGLES VACCINE

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Dear Editor:

While the nerve pain impact from the shingles virus is excruciating, the potentially permanent side effects may be even more dramatic, such as permanent facial paralysis and hearing loss. Please take this seriously: anyone aged 50 plus, get vaccinated. I neglected to get my shingles vaccination. I had all the COVID vaccinations and all the boosters. When it came to another shot, well, I thought it could wait. Very wrong decision. I got shingles. It was caught very early so it did not spread and was focused in only one small area. The expedient strong medication worked its magic for severity but not so magical for the unbearable nerve pain. Three days into the experience, hearing in my left ear was blocked or so I thought. The virus attacked the ear nerve, did its damage and my ear cannot be repaired. Morale of the experience: health prevention.

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ENVIRONMENT WEEK. JONATHAN WILKINSON

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Housing for workers? Let’s be real

Continued from page 8 highest-incomed communities that are but small specks of B.C.’s population, the Eby government is making a statement about the inherent social obligation of wealthier locales. (Conspicuously absent from this top-down exercise, of course, is any self-evaluation on public transit, road infrastructure, health care delivery, school construction and the like.) A doubling or tripling of local construction wouldn’t contribute any more than two or three hundred units, a rounding error in the Lower Mainland’s anticipated growth demands. West Vancouver and North Vancouver districts are being made examples of, as they were earlier with the so-called “school tax” and the pandemic-era tax increase solely in the highest income bracket. The NDP can’t help being the NDP, capturing and redistributing income wherever imaginations venture and there is no particular political cost. Local politicians say they would like

more affordable housing for first responders, teachers and public servants, most of whom live elsewhere. Let’s be real. Today I found only two West Vancouver units online for less than $500,000 – one is a mobile home, one is in probate. Project that out three or four years and it’s even less pretty. Other places offer some bang for the buck for five-figure incomes. Without substantial subsidies, the repatriation of local workers is folly to contemplate. West Vancouver’s stagnating population is economically worrying, but the heavy hand of senior government is a dreadful remedy. This council needs to march to its own drummer, not the beat set in Victoria by a government with whom there is little mutual respect. Kirk LaPointe is publisher and executive editor of Business in Vancouver as well as vice-president, editorial, Glacier Media Group, the North Shore News’ parent company. He is also a West Vancouverite.

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A10 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023

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PROVINCIAL COURT

Former bus driver who drove passengers while drunk sentenced BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

A former Whistler coach bus driver who drove drunk with dozens of passengers on board will face a $1,000 fine and a one-year driving prohibition.

Craig Randle, 66, was arrested late in the evening of Aug. 5, 2022 after one of his Vancouver-bound passengers called 911 to report him driving erratically and swerving between lanes, the court heard at his sentencing in North Vancouver Provincial Court on Thursday. West Vancouver police officers pulled the Epic Rides bus over on Highway 1 near the 15th Street exit. Despite needing the help of two officers just to stand up, the Delta resident told investigators he hadn’t had a drink in two days. Taken to the police department, Randle took a breathalyzer test, which detected 210 to 220 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood – an amount that would be considered highly intoxicated. “This is very clearly an aggravated impaired driving [case],”

A former coach bus driver from Delta has been sentenced for driving drunk from Whistler to Vancouver with passengers on board. DOUGLAS SACHA / MOMENT/ GETTY IMAGES

Crown prosecutor Adrienne Lee told the court. “There were 36 passengers on that bus. It is beyond fortunate that nothing happened on that evening given Mr. Randle’s level of intoxication.” Randle’s defence lawyer Jennifer Currie said her client resigned from his job and began

seeking treatment for alcoholism the day after the arrest. He has since completed detox and has been attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly ever since. Randle was not a frequent drinker but was prone to binge drinking, she said. On the day of

his arrest, he began drinking vodka and beer with his lunch in Whistler before driving his passengers to Vancouver. “I can advise Mr. Randle is extremely embarrassed and remorseful for his behavior, and in Mr. Randle’s case, those are not just words. Rather, he’s demonstrated his remorse in the fact he’s taken responsibility for his behavior,” she said. “As a result of all this effort by Mr. Randle, he has remained 100 per cent sober since the incident occurred and has approximately nine straight months of sobriety.” The Crown and defence jointly submitted that a fine of $1,000 and a one-year driving ban would be appropriate punishment for Randle – the mandatory minimum for the charge. Lee said had it not been for his immediate and lasting efforts to stay off alcohol, she would have sought a tougher sentence for Randle. Given the opportunity to address the court before his

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sentencing, Randle spoke only about his rehabilitation. “Basically, I took the one common denominator of the problems in my life, which was alcohol, and I’ve just taken it out of my life completely,” he said. Provincial court judge Joseph Galati said he agreed with the Crown that Randle’s case was “very aggravated” but emphasized his actions since he drove impaired. “I accept that you’re truly remorseful for what you’ve done and your actions speak to that in terms of what you started doing the day after,” he said. “You must consider yourself very fortunate… and at the same time, give yourself some credit for what you have been able to accomplish.” Although Randle never did seek to get his licence back after it was temporarily suspended last year, Galati wished him good luck once his driving prohibition expires in 2024. “If you can’t control your drinking, you can control your driving,” he said.

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023 |

SPONSORED CONTENT

Calling all foodies: Sink your teeth into the third annual NOSH Foodie Fest, Metro Vancouver’s hottest food festival PHOTOS NOSH FOODIE FEST

The event will take place on June 10 and 11 for its most delicious and diverse year yet Here’s a tip for foodies: the hottest spot for eats and treats in North Vancouver is at the Capilano mall.

NOSH has something tastier in mind: a culinary hot spot, as the centre’s west parking lot at 935 Marine Drive transforms into the ultimate destination for Metro Vancouver’s food-loving community.

Back by popular demand at the North Shore’s preferred value and convenience mall, the festival runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, rain or shine. After all, with this many mouth-watering options, there will be puddles in the parking lot, however you slice it. Supported by media sponsors Dished Vancouver and Vancouver Is Awesome, this two-day outdoor extravaganza is free to attend and promises to tantalize your taste buds (and your best buds, and your

whole family) with an array of fabulous foodie delights and unforgettable experiences. Scrumptious curries and soups from Super Thai Grill, Indian-inspired rice bowls and paratha wraps from Indish, Eastern European-inspired dishes from Baba’s House, Egg-tastic sandwiches from Crack On, Halifax-style lobster rolls from Salty’s Lobster Shack, mouth-watering Greek cuisine from Meet2Eat, and comfort food favourites like the smashed cheeseburger and cauliﬂower veggie tacos from Steamworks Food Truck. If there’s still room for dessert once you’ve eaten all that, fret not, BeaverTails will be on-site Sunday, serving up their ﬂaky namesake pastry, a true Canadian staple food. In addition to must-try food truck fare from Metro Vancouver’s best meals on wheels, new ingredients for year three of this highly-anticipated foodfest include a food-meets-science activity at the Flavour Lab that’s

Located along the busy Marine Drive corridor, Capilano Mall is easy to access by vehicle or bicycle and is served by frequent TransLink bus service. Catering to active, time-sensitive, value-driven customers who relish a great deal, Capilano allows customers to get a little (or a lot) of this and that at a price they can brag about. Whether it’s Kin’s Farm Market for spinach and strawberries, COBS Bread for delicious savouries, the BC Liquor Store for a refreshing rosé, or even the North Shore’s only Walmart for Brontosaurus-sized Angus beef burgers, Capilano Mall serves it up on an impressively affordable silver platter.

No, it’s not the food court, although the indoor dining options are awesome too. It’s outside, in the parking lot, and when it’s outside, it’s called a food festival. More speciﬁcally, the NOSH Foodie Fest is returning to Capilano Mall on June 10 and 11 for its third and most delectable year ever.

And if all this doesn’t get you dancing, the live DJ will. Throw down to their sweet sounds while enjoying sample food and beverages from participating Capilano merchants.

sure to blow your mind, and The Good Eats market featuring artisans from across British Columbia. Attendees are invited to vaporize their tastebuds in the Flavour Lab with an explosive burst of pineapple-ﬂavored clouds that will blow your mind. Next, hack your hunger with a complimentary tasting of liquid nitrogen ‘ice-cream dot’ ﬂavors. Engaging food scientists will be on hand to share the captivating science and process behind these unique activities. Be sure to stop by the Good Eats Market, created in partnership with The Mom Market Vancouver and The Mom Market Vancouver Island, to bring home some artisanal goodies.

Now even foodies can brag about grabbing a bite at the mall. Capilano’s got you covered. Bring a bib or, if you’re feeling spicy, use your shirt as a napkin and buy a new outﬁt before you head home. To experience a festival like no other this June while mingling with local foodies and supporting local merchants, visit the NOSH Foodie Fest. Visit capilanomall.com/ nosh-foodie-fest to learn more.

A11

A12 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023

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2023 TRAVERSE

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023 | A13

ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT | FOOD | HOME |

| HEALTH | COMMUNITY

ACTOR ALIZA VELLANI

From Little Mosque on the Prairie to Netflix hit Sweet Tooth NICK LABA

date hasn’t yet been announced.

What does humanity look like through the eyes of a child?

From Sweet Tooth main cast to cycling podcast After filming season two, she returned home to North Vancouver, where she’s lived with her cycling fanatic, real-life husband Jamshed Colah for the past seven years. “It’s hard to imagine myself living anywhere else. It is the most magical place to be,” she said. “My husband and I really built a community on the North Shore which has been such a joy and such a place of gratitude for me.” Vellani has embraced a local rite of passage by joining The Last Drop cycling club, and has branched out from her acting career into the world of podcasting. On Super Domestique, she takes on the role of producer while her husband Colah hosts. Taking on the role of podcast producer has been an amazing experience, she said. “It allowed us the opportunity to meet so many incredible leaders in cycling in B.C. in particular, and so many people from the North Shore, surprisingly enough,” Vellani said. “And it was such a beautiful place as a producer to find stories in a world that wasn’t quite my hobby, it was my partner’s hobby. So that’s been really beautiful.”

nlaba@nsnews.com

On Sweet Tooth, a Netflix series adaptation of a graphic novel by Canadian comic book mastermind Jeff Lemire, main character Gus navigates an apocalyptic landscape through a lens of innocence, optimism and a love of chocolate bars. North Vancouver-based actor Aliza Vellani, who plays main cast member Rani Singh on the show, got her start on Little Mosque on the Prairie, as Layla Siddiqui, a teenage Muslim girl navigating her own human challenges by balancing her desires to respect her heritage and be a normal Canadian youth. Being in that role for six years cascaded into an acting career that’s seen her on popular TV shows including The X-Files, Riverdale and on the animated series Marvel Super Hero Adventures, as the voice of Ms. Marvel. When reached for an interview, Vellani was in Regina, filming season two of Zarqa, a new comedy series on CBC Gem. On Sweet Tooth, Vellani said she fell in love with Rani, a woman hiding her infection with “the sick” – a fictional virus that decimated the world’s human population – while her doctor husband does

Rani Singh, played by actor Aliza Vellani, shows her husband that her pinky finger isn’t vibrating, a sign that a fictional virus called “the sick” has taken hold. Sweet Tooth has been confirmed for a third season. NETFLIX whatever he can to keep her healthy. “I related to that as a newly married woman, and in a world with the pandemic,” she said. “There were a lot of parallels in the beginning.” The show’s pilot was filmed June-July of 2019, but the rest of Season 1 was delayed when COVID-19 hit in March 2020.

“Mom’s illness has everyone worried.”

Fortunately for the cast, filming resumed in New Zealand that August. “It was surreal in March to walk through the grocery stores, or see people in masks and really feel like I was reliving something that we had acted in June of 2019,” Vellani said. “We filmed it. And I’m seeing it in real life. How is this even possible? And that’s really all of us

having that reaction.” Many scenes filmed for the pilot were cut out of the final version because there wasn’t much of a need to show what global virus-related panic looks like, she added. “That was very, very surreal for me.” In May, Netflix announced that Sweet Tooth will be getting a third and final season, but a release

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A14 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023

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‘PER DIEM’

Warhol and other unseen pieces among Griffin Art Projects collection MINA KERR-LAZENBY

MKerrLazenby@nsnews.com Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A unique collection of private paintings from a selection of internationally renowned artists, including Andy Warhol, Lynda Benglis, Cindy Sherman and Donald Judd, is now being showcased locally at Griffin Art Projects.

Per Diem Part II: The Gerd Metzdorff Collection is a continuation of the gallery’s exhibition of the late Gerd Metzdorff’s extensive art collection. Instead of the photo-based and print elements showcased in the former edition, this collection will feature more than 60 paintings, collected across the

1980s and ’90s during Metzdorff’s time as a flight attendant. Particular highlights include two of Andy Warhol’s spray-painted portraits of Toronto socialite Miriam Davidson, never before exhibited prints in both green and yellow, and four previously unseen framed lithographs by Donald Judd. Major Canadian historical works, like Jack Shadbolt’s Dark Abstraction and Gordon Smith’s Coastal Town, are also included, alongside works from other local artists like Jack Weldon Humphrey, Tim Gardener and Sonny Assu. Art aficionados have curator Lisa Baldissera and collectors David Birdsall and Grant Mann to Continued on page 15

Two of Andy Warhol’s Miriam Davidson portraits are among the paintings showcased at the gallery. GRIFFIN ART PROJECTS

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023 | A15

Art pieces collected through years of travel as flight attendant Continued from page 14 thank for the impressive showcasing. As his best friend for “many, many years,” Mann said he inherited Metzdorff’s 300piece collection when he passed away in 2020, following a two-year struggle with cancer. There had been no question as to whether he and husband Birdsall would keep the collection for their own viewing pleasure, or display it for a wider audience. “Putting it on display was something that was very important to me and David,” said Mann. “Gerd was a really interesting man and he loved collecting art, but he wasn’t so much focused on hanging the work. He was more about collecting it. We felt that art is really created to be enjoyed, and so we’re now so excited that the public gets to see it, and for free.” Making the collection free to view was part of Mann’s mission to make art accessible to all, because art, he said, “is for all ages, and for everyone.” “It’s one of those common language things that allows people to really feel a unifying bond. I think for the young people, it’s really amazing that they can encounter

what has become art from another generation now. I think this collection is very inspiring in that way.” Ensuring the art world is approachable and accessible is an ode to Metzdorff in itself, said Grant, for the man who had garnered the collection hadn’t been some hoity-toity art collector with uber wealth. He had simply been a flight attendant who liked art, one who saved his per diems diligently and used them to purchase works on his routes from New York to Germany. “Gerd didn’t come from a family that collected art, it was all his own initiative,” said Birdsall. “He was just a working class kind of guy who worked for the airlines, and it was that which allowed him to explore the art world.” “He ended up with this pretty massive collection of art. So this can just be a reminder to people, or show people, that you don’t have to be a trust fund baby and have a history in the art world to appreciate art when you start collecting.” Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

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A16 | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023

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THE BREWYARD

Lonsdale Quay pop-up serves a taste of brewery district NICK LABA

nlaba@nsnews.com

North Vancouver has one of the most bustling brewery districts in the Lower Mainland, although it is one that many from outside the community might not even know exists.

Windfall Cider co-owner Nathaly Nairn and Copperpenny Distilling coowner Jenn Kom-Tong came up with the idea for the pop-up after being approached by Lonsdale Quay. NICK LABA / NSN The idea for the pop-up started when Lonsdale Quay approached Copperpenny Distilling co-owner Jenn Kom-Tong and Windfall Cider co-owner Nathaly Nairn, who

have previously run community events in the nearby brewery district. The marketplace brewery space has been empty since Green Leaf Brewing exited last August and is set to be the new

district businesses are pasted on the pop-up’s windows, and patrons can collect maps and other information about the local craft beverage producers. “We wanted this space to be treated like a tourist office for the district,” Kom-Tong said. One of each of the producers’ beverage offerings will be on display, but only a select few will be on sale at one time. “Then we rotate out every week to get different offerings, so that you’re not just staying here instead of doing a brewery tour,” she said. “This is just like a little hint of what there is.” In the works is a painting on a partition wall that will feature a timeline of the brewery district’s history, which features firstcomers Beere Brewing Co., House of Funk and Streetcar Brewing, who fought for and won more progressive zoning in 2019 – and continues on with new additions like Braggot Brewing and Shaketown Brewing Co.

Helena S. & Astrid H., Gr. 5, Eastview Elementary

A new pop-up venue will give people in Lonsdale Quay a taste of the many exceptional beverage makers in the area. Opening this month and running until the end of August, The Brewyard is setting up on the ground floor of the market. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays throughout the summer months, enjoyers of adult beverages can order a rotating selection from the seven breweries, cidery, distillery and winery of The Shipyards Brewery District. The Brewyard will open for rotating events on Thursday nights starting in June, and can host private functions on weekdays.

home of Strathcona Brewing later this year. The prime waterfront space was facing the prospect of a lonely summer. “It’s such a perfect space,” Kom-Tong said. “So the two of us put our heads together and came up with this concept. “We’ve called it the Brewyard, basically to showcase the Shipyards Brewery District because there’s just not a lot of info out there. We all do our own thing,” she said. But the bright patio location, facing thousands of tourists pouring out of the adjacent SeaBus terminal, is sure to attract more awareness. Inside the pop-up is a casual atmosphere, featuring picnic benches, artificial turf, a jumbo Connect Four game and a photobooth. People that wander in from the marketplace are welcome to bring their food with them into the venue. Large logos of the brewery

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A17

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DEPOSIT DISPUTE

Lawsuit against developer comes down to the definition of ‘must’ BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

A legal dispute between a North Vancouver townhouse developer and two sets of buyers who backed out of a deal over construction delays has put the definition of the word “must” on trial.

At issue in the civil suit was whether the buyers should get their deposits back. “Does ‘must’ mean ‘must?’” Justice David Crerar posed at the outset of his ruling released last week. In the fall of 2017, both Blair Michael Peters and Sandra and Peter McDonald agreed to purchase units in the Evolv 35 townhouse strata project on East Third Street in the Moodyville area, according to the written ruling, but construction fell behind schedule. The day before the promised outside completion date set by the developer, East 3rd Street North Vancouver Limited Partnership, the purchasers’ lawyer wrote to the developer’s lawyer and trustee,

The Evolv 35 townhouse strata project on East Third Street in the North Vancouver was the subject of a legal dispute. GOOGLE EARTH stating his clients would terminate their agreements and demand the return of their deposits if their units’ occupancy permits hadn’t been granted by the deadline. Through their lawyer, the developer responded that the occupancy permits would be in place by the deal’s closing date of June 29, 2020. The developer’s

lawyer/trustee sent an information package and an interim certificate of occupancy that day. On July 23, the developer, through a litigation lawyer, advised the purchasers that it accepted their repudiation of the purchase agreements, and asserted that they had forfeited their deposits. The purchasers demanded their

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deposits back, arguing the trustee should not have released the funds to the developer, given the ongoing dispute. Instead, the money should have been deposited with the courts, they argued, adding that the trustee breached his fiduciary duties. The Real Estate Development Marketing Act states that trustees “must release the deposit to the developer” when certain conditions have been met, but the purchasers argued “must” should not be read literally, as it could be abused by developers who produce blatantly false certifications on lots the trustee knows to be vacant. Crerar rejected that logic. Under B.C.’s Interpretation Act, “must” is to be construed as imperative, he noted. “Without ambiguity, hypothetical absurdities cannot contort the plain language of the statute,” Crerar wrote, adding that developers who violate the act are subject to criminal, civil, and regulatory punishments. Under the legislation,

developers who provide false certifications are liable for a fine of up to $1.25 million for a first offence, and individual developers may also face jail time, the judge noted. Crerar conceded it may have been prudent for the trustee to apply to have the deposits sent to the courts, but he found there was no legal obligation for him to do so. “With respect to the legislation and the purchase agreements, just as ‘must’ means ‘must,’ ‘may’ means ‘may,’ he wrote. Lastly, the complainants argued the trustee shouldn’t have blindly accepted the developer’s certifications, but Crerar found it would be untenable to require trustees to investigate the validity and veracity of the developer’s documentation. “These exercises would be difficult and inefficient, even where the trustee is a law firm. They would be more profoundly difficult and inefficient with other trustees,” he wrote. The ruling did not specify the value of the purchasers’ deposits.

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WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023 |

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