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GROWTH RATE

North Shore population passes 200,000 in latest stat projections BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

The North Shore’s population reached 205,478 in 2023, according to the latest projections from BC Stats, up 7.6 per cent over the last five years.

Of those new residents, 5,704 were either born or moved here in 2022 or 2023, the data shows.

Every winter, BC Stats releases updated population estimates, which are based on census data, as well as trends in births, deaths, migrations and MSP registrations.

As is always the case, the City of North Vancouver had the most growth locally both in raw numbers and as a percentage, adding 7,403 new residents since 2018, a growth rate of 13 per cent.

The District of North Vancouver has grown by 4,961 new residents in the last five years, or 1.1 per cent per year, on average. The district’s total population as of July 2023 was a projected 94,851.

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The District of West Vancouver, meanwhile, posted a gain of 2,274 residents since 2018 for a total of 46,113.

That works out to a growth rate of 5.2 per cent over five years.

Metro Vancouver growing faster The North Shore’s growth, however, lagged behind the province’s growth as a whole, which was 7.7 per cent in the last five years. We’ve also been adding fewer residents than our Metro Vancouver counterparts, with the region seeing 10.4-per-cent growth in that time.

The BC Stats report notes that from 2022 to 2023, the province experienced an annual growth rate of three per cent, marking the highest single-year increase since 1974.

The report states that British Columbia’s population is projected to reach 7.9 million by 2046, up 44 per cent compared to 5.5 million today.

By 2046, the modelling projects that the North Shore will have grown to Continued on A26

FOR BETTER OR FOR BOTS Well-known North Vancouver cartoonist Lynn Johnston of For Better or For Worse fame is releasing a new book series for kids called Alottabotz. See page 13 for the full story. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN

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FOR NEWS AT ANY TIME, GO TO NSNEWS.COM 100-YEAR-OLD HERO

West Van WWII veteran awarded French Legion of Honour NICK LABA

nlaba@nsnews.com

As more than 175,000 Allied troops sailed toward the shores of Normandy, France, on D-Day, Frank Patterson was aboard a motor torpedo boat, defending the invasion force as it approached the beaches of gold-coloured sand.

Nearly 80 years after that historic battle on June 6, 1944, Patterson has been awarded the Chevalier Medal of the French Legion of Honour, the country’s highest decoration, for his personal involvement in the liberation of France in the Second World War. The Royal Navy veteran now resides in West Vancouver, and will celebrate his 101st birthday on April 15.

As a stoker aboard a motor torpedo boat – a class of smaller but deadly vessels, often called “Spitfires of the Sea” – Patterson was responsible for keeping its powerful petrol engines running below deck.

“I was scared,” he admits, describing the feeling of rubbing up against 5,000 gallons of high-octane fuel amid the hull-ringing sounds of combat.

Apart from engine duties, Patterson had jobs on deck too, loading the heavy guns and torpedoes the MTBs were named for. This was dangerous work. Not only did he face the threat of his enemies, his own crew was a hazard as well.

“I was loading up a gun, and I said to the guy, ‘Don’t swing the gun around,’” Patterson said. “So he swung the gun.”

That accident put him in hospital for two weeks, and left his hands permanently damaged. Still, Patterson recalls the event with a characteristic wisecrack:

Frank Patterson was awarded the Chevalier Medal of the French Legion of Honour in September 2023 for his direct involvement in the liberation of German-occupied France in the Second World War. The veteran lives in West Vancouver, and will celebrate his 101st birthday on April 15. NICK LABA / NSN “He was a gunner, supposedly. Probably knew better than I did, but only just.”

Royal Navy veteran defended ground troops bound for Gold Beach After the war broke out, Patterson volunteered to join the Royal Navy but was rejected as he was only 17 years old at the time. He was told he could join the army, which he refused due to his particular distaste for marching.

Patterson joined the navy a year later. “I was proud,” he said. He relished the feeling

of being in uniform.

Following basic training, he was assigned to serve on an MTB. These nimble gunboats were typically around 22 metres long and six metres wide, and could hit speeds of up to 40 knots (74 kilometres per hour). MTBs were used primarily to protect Allied shipping routes and attack Axis ones, and had a German counterpart called the E-boat.

Patterson served in the Coastal Forces, a division of the Royal Navy. He was first deployed to defend the eastern coasts of

England and Scotland, and to carry out raids on Norwegian ports occupied by the Germans. Based in Scapa Flow, he faced bitter cold in the middle of winter.

On D-Day, Patterson’s crew and other MTBs provided crucial protection for the thousands of ships carrying the ground invasion force to the beaches of Normandy.

The naval component of the offensive was dubbed Operation Neptune.

Canada’s significant role in the June 6 ground offensive is well known, and Canadians were heavily involved in the naval operation as well. Fighting alongside Patterson were flotillas of MTBs from the Royal Canadian Navy. The main targets of their torpedoes and machine gun fire were German boats trying to stop soldiers and war machines from reaching the shore.

Patterson’s vessel protected Allied boats bound for Amaranche, code named Gold Beach, right at the heart of the Normandy invasion.

Torpedo boats had a huge impact in this type of assault from the sea. According to historical records, one key aspect of the Normandy invasion’s continued success were risky air raids of German-held ports that crippled the enemy’s own force of E-boats.

Following D-Day, Patterson saw action in Malta, Italy, Egypt and North Africa, as the Allies aimed to cut off German supply routes through the Mediterranean.

Survival at sea involved subterfuge, and sometimes singing To ensure their continued success and survival at sea, Patterson’s crew would pull from a diverse quiver of tactics, which often involved subterfuge.

Continued on A27

PETTY CRIME

Police look to return stolen items found with house cleaner BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

West Vancouver police are hoping to reunite some stolen goods with their rightful owners after they were found in the possession of a house cleaner.

Police received a report of jewelry stolen from the home of an elderly couple in September 2023, according

to a release from the West Vancouver Police Department. An investigation led to the arrest of their house cleaner and after executing a search warrant at her home, investigators seized 52 items they believed to be stolen.

Imelda Lacanaria was charged with three counts of possession of stolen property over $5,000. She made her first court

appearance in December and is due back in late February. Lacanaria has not yet entered a plea and the charges have not been proven in court.

There is still a trove of items seized from her home.

“WVPD is urging any individuals who suspect they or their family members may have fallen victim to theft to contact

police. The department’s primary objective is to facilitate the return of stolen property to its rightful owners. Presently, there are 45 stolen items in custody awaiting identification,” the release stated.

Anyone who believes they are missing an item of value is asked to contact WVPD at 604-925-7300.

north shore news nsnews.com SUSTAINABLE DEMOLITION

Jimmy Pattison’s house given over to ‘urban miners’ BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

It was once the cradle of Jimmy Pattison’s business empire, but today it’s real value is in “urban mining.”

Over the last week, Pattison’s little yellow house on Argyle Avenue on the West Vancouver waterfront has been picked apart to be trucked off the North Shore.

Pattison lived in the home in the 1950s when he was working as a car dealer.

He used the property as collateral for his first loan when he was going into Erik Serpas Ventura and his wife Vannarady Lim grab some business for himself. lumber that is being salvaged by their deconstruction The municipality company Vema Deconstruction at the site of Jimmy acquired the property Pattison’s former home in West Vancouver. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN in 2023 in a land swap with Pattison as part of a long-standing plan to purchase all of the materials and salvage lumber. remaining properties on the Argyle water“Typically in a 2,000-square-foot home, we’re able to salvage 20,000 pounds of front and convert them into park space.

Initially, the municipality had hoped to lumber,” Serpas Ventura said. “If we’re doing just one home a month ... that’s see the home picked up and transported 120,000 board feet of lumber that is availin one piece so it could be reused elseable that was not available before.” where but the building’s structure and Metro Vancouver estimates that tight timeline made that unviable. deconstruction can divert 80 per cent of a When it came time to get rid of the home’s materials from the dump. home and get on with the park plans, Homes built between 1940 and 1980, Vema Deconstruction won the bid with a which are now the ones most likely to be uniquely sustainable pitch. up for redevelopment, are the best candi“We’re mining urban resources,” dates because the quality and cuts of the said Erick Serpas Ventura, company wood are better than what you’d find in a co-founder. “All the material that is coming from this project can be upcycled, can lumber yard today, Serpas Ventura said.

But, it’s not so simple as yanking be repurposed, can be brought back into the nails from two-by-fours and dropthe circular economy, can create more ping them off at a construction site. jobs. It can create a better community.”

Wood can’t legally be reused for strucSerpas Ventura, a 10-year Royal tural purposes until it’s been regraded Canadian Air Force vet, and his by the Canadian Lumber Standards wife Vannarady Lim started Vema Accreditation Board or the Canadian Deconstruction with ambitious plans Wood Council. It’s a layer of red tape to make socially and environmentally deconstruction businesses don’t have responsible demolition the norm in B.C. to deal with across the border in According to Metro Vancouver, construction and demolition debris makes up Washington and Oregon, Serpas Ventura a third of all the refuse filling our landfills, said.

Vema has been working with UBC’s but homes like Pattison’s are loaded with Materials and Manufacturing Research valuable materials that can be put back Institute on a study to better understand to use. how demolition waste can be repurposed.

Vema will see that the house is dis“We are working really hard to get that assembled into panels, loaded onto a end product back into building,” he said. flatbed truck and taken to a processing In this case, the bones of Jimmy site in Burnaby where it will be broken down into wood waste, recyclable Continued on A26

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A5

A6 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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CLICK POLITICS

North Van District council asks province to log on to online voting JANE SEYD

jseyd@nsnews.com

What if voting in a civic election was as easy as clicking a “like” on Instagram?

The District of North Vancouver is hoping to level up the idea of online voting, by asking civic leaders to once again endorse the idea at the annual Union of BC Municipalities conference.

Council voted Monday night to bring a motion to the municipal conference asking the province to change the law to allow online voting.

Coun. Jordan Back said he sees online voting as a way to potentially increase voter turnout for municipal elections, which often hovers between 20 and 30 per cent.

Online voting is not currently allowed in B.C., although it is permitted in some other parts of Canada.

“I do believe that when we look at voter turnout of 22.6 per cent in 2022 here in the district with an all-time low, I think, of around 16 per cent, we should be looking at everything we can possibly do to make voting more accessible,” said Back.

“We live most of our lives online and do so much of our day-to-day tasks online.

Looking to local elections as a place to

What if voting was as simple as logging on to your computer or cell phone? District of North Vancouver wants another discussion among civic leaders about the merits of online voting. NITO100 / GETTY IMAGES PLUS start online voting makes a lot of sense,” he added.

Other councillors agreed. “The world’s evolving. The way we do things needs to adapt,” said Coun. Herman Mah. Coun. Catherine Pope was also on-side with pushing the province on online voting. “I think we have to do whatever we can to try to increase voter engagement,” she said. “In my mind, it’s worth another shot.”

It’s not the first time the issue has been debated by civic leaders.

UBCM has passed three resolutions since 2011 asking the provincial government to move forward on the issue.

Online voting has been a hot button topic, with just over 51 per cent of delegates voting in favour of the idea in 2015.

So far, however, the province has been reluctant to log on to the plan, citing concerns over security and accuracy of results.

In 2014, an Independent Panel on Internet Voting recommended against online voting, warning there were substantial risks to the accuracy of the voting results.

Coun. Lisa Muri said concerns about security have likely only grown since then.

Foreign interference in elections at all levels has become much more of a worry in recent years, she said, and “AI is another concern.”

“We are getting hacked all the time,” she said. “We are getting emails that are coming from nefarious sources. I do believe the province will probably have the same response.”

Coun. Betty Forbes agreed, adding governments and businesses are regularly getting hacked and suffering security breaches. “So, I don’t think anybody has a

full handle on security right now … I don’t think it’s been worked out enough to go this route.”

Mayor Mike Little said one of the concerns with online voting is what happens in the case of a very close or disputed election result, which is currently usually resolved by a judicial recount, involving re-examining paper ballots and re-counting them under the authority of a judge.

Little pointed, tongue in cheek, to the Port Moody election of 2022, where District of North Vancouver CAO David Stuart was elected by just two votes – then subsequently declared unelected after a judicial recount resulted in a tie, and the other candidate’s name was drawn from a hat by a judge. If voting had been online, “Who knows who they would have been stuck with on their council,” joked Little.

A similar situation played out in West Vancouver in 2018 when Mary-Ann Booth won the mayor’s chair over challenger Mark Sager with just 21 votes following a judicial recount of paper ballots.

The majority of District of North Vancouver council members voted to forward the resolution on online voting to UBCM, with Forbes opposed.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A7

COUNCIL GOODIES

Pie shop coming to West Van municipal hall NICK LABA

nlaba@nsnews.com

The scents of freshly baked pies are set to waft through West Vancouver municipal hall.

After baking up goodies in West Vancouver’s Ambleside for more than 30 years, Savary Island Pie Company is set to expand into the district’s place of politics.

The project was discussed by council behind closed doors, with a budget of $100,000 that was passed as part of West Vancouver’s Phase 2 capital budget last fall. Any additional costs will be covered by the vendor.

In Mayor Mark Sager’s Jan. 23 newsletter, “partnering on a new coffee bar in the atrium of municipal hall” was included under a list of “recent actions and accomplishments.”

The project was initiated by council’s desire to provide an additional gathering place in the community, as a place for interaction, said district spokesperson Carrie Gadsby.

Several local businesses were approached by the district, and

Savary Island was selected on the merits of its proposal, Gadsby said.

There was no public bid process for the project.

“This is not a lucrative business opportunity, and the purchasing manager made the decision that a public notice and public competition was not required,” Gadsby said. “He then advised corporate services that they could enter into direct negotiations with any firm willing to conSavary Island Pie Company has been serving baked goods for more than 30 years. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN sider this.”

More than one busiis costly for both the district and ness was approached that turned business.” staff down, she said.

According to district policy, “The original decision not to post there is no requirement for revenue a public notice was made when the contracts to go to a public bid. For concept was a coffee cart,” Gadsby construction contracts of $200,000 said. “The final version is slightly or more, the district must initiate a more sophisticated, but still does public bid process. not warrant a public process, which

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Click with caution

W

ith only 22 per cent voter turnout in the last election, District of North Vancouver council members are asking the province to consider allowing online voting in municipal elections. We see the appeal. Our turnouts are abysmally low and so much else in our lives is done online now, including interactions with government like paying our taxes, booking vaccinations and making legal declarations.

And the easier we make it to vote, the more likely people are to do it. But there are foreseeable risks.

As anyone with an email address can attest, online fraud attempts are a daily occurrence.

When people cast their ballots online, what assurances are there that they are voting free of undue influence?

If an election’s results are disputed, how do we scrutinize the numbers with the same confidence we would with paper ballots? In 2018, West Vancouver’s mayoral race faced judicial recount in which every single ballot was pulled, examined and recounted.

We are open to re-examining how e-voting might work in B.C., particularly if any provincial study into the matter includes a sharp focus on how those risks can be mitigated.

Getting informed and voting is a civic responsibility. Anonymous paper ballots behind a cardboard privacy screen in an elementary school gym may be a bit old fashioned, but they are backstops that ensure the legitimacy of both the election process and final results.

If we are thinking about ditching the gym for higher online turnouts, then we must proceed with extreme caution.

Love quiz: What is the most romantic spot on the North Shore?

ANDY PREST

aprest@nsnews.com

Valentine’s Day is here, which brought to mind a spirited conversation from earlier this week.

“What is the most romantic spot on the North Shore?” was the question asked, in honour of Feb. 14.

“Valentine’s Day,” my friend replied.

“Total scam.”

Note that this response came from a happily married fellow who often treats his wife to flowers, just not on particular calendar dates that are pre-specified by Love Inc. Fair enough. But the question is still valid, no matter the length of the lineup of saps and sweethearts at the florist shop today.

So let’s take a closer look at what might be the most romantic spot on the North Shore. We’ll mostly skip over some of the

higher-priced attractions, theatres, bridges of various styles, fine-dining establishments and alpine slopes, snow-covered or otherwise. Those are all great options for romantic escapes and I’d encourage you to explore them all, but any cupid could blindly fire an arrow and land on the bright idea of spending money on something fun.

We’re here to explore the other options, such as: Oceanfront parks and strolls: Whytecliff, Lighthouse, Seawalk, Dundarave, Waterfront, Maplewoods, Spirit Trail…. There are a lot to choose from, and all are great places to stroll hand-in-hand with someone special. If the sun is shining, a North Shore oceanside stroll can whisk you and your partner away from a Canadian winter and land you in a windwhipped wonderland.

Potential downside: One time my wife and

I saw an eagle rip a seagull apart and start feasting on its entrails beside the Seawalk.

Fascinating? Yes. Sexy? No. Deep Cove: This oceanfront spot deserves a note all its own. The calm waters, the fun shops steps away from the stunning cove, the gigantic doughnuts. Deep Cove has been winning hearts for generations.

Potential downside: Few things can be more aggravating than a couple’s shared search for a parking space, and in that regard, Deep Cove can be a major mood killer. Can your love survive a third lap around the block?

The beach: The North Shore has several to choose from, some crowded and some “secret.” The little hidden ones can make for a marvellous date, as you wind your way down some shifty staircase and emerge from the forest onto a little stretch of isolated

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paradise in the middle of the city.

Potential downside: Be careful with this one. Some people hate the sand, and the swimsuits, and getting their hair wet, and stinky seaweed, and did I mention the sand?

For those folks, a beach date is just dirty, in the worst way.

Shipyards District: This is a lovely spot for strolling, with the excitement of the busy harbour and bustling restaurants complementing the natural beauty of the scenery.

It’s a perfect place for people-watching too, which can be a great way to spend time with someone and get to know their quirks by finding out what they notice about the people around them. You can even go skating!

There’s not much downside, unless you don’t know how to skate and fall down and trip your date and they fall too and crack Continued on A9

ADMINISTRATION/RECEPTION 604-985-2131 ADVERTISING 604-998-3520, sales@nsnews.com REAL ESTATE ADVERTISING 604-998-3520, realestate@nsnews.com CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING 604-630-3300, 604-444-3056, nmather@glaciermedia.ca DISTRIBUTION INQUIRIES 604-986-1337, distribution@nsnews.com NEWSROOM 604-985-2131, editor@nsnews.com PHOTOGRAPHY 604-998-3532, photo@nsnews.com

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FOUR POLICIES TO SAVE JOURNALISM JOBS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

Dear Editor:

Late last week, British Columbia Premier David Eby dropped some verbal firebombs as he went on a tirade blasting BCE, the parent of Bell Media, after their announcement of 4,800 job cuts and the sale of 45 radio stations across Canada.

“The fact that they cannot find it possible with all of their MBAs to operate a few local news stations, in British Columbia, to ensure that people get accurate, impartial, reliable information in an age of disinformation and social media craziness is such an abandonment of any idea of corporate responsibility,” Eby said. “I find it reprehensible.… I think it’s appalling.”

The premier’s outspoken support for local journalism was admirable. We hope that unwavering support and passion will continue into next week’s Speech from the Throne. There are four policies he can champion that will help support quality public service reporting in the province.

First, B.C. should exempt newspapers from extended producer responsibility fees.

The capture of newspapers in B.C.’s regulation fails to recognize that newspaper is the product, not the packaging, and effectively subsidizes actual waste producers. The B.C. government exempts paperback romance novels and single use paper towels from the regulation, yet they are trying to have publishers pay excessive fees to Recycle BC – a monopoly run by large retailers and packaged goods companies – which will most likely result in the direct loss of about 80 journalism jobs in B.C.

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.

Second, Eby should direct 25 per cent of the province’s domestic advertising spend to support local news. Like many provincial and municipal governments, B.C. does not disclose where provincial ad dollars are spent. Looking at the federal government’s most recent advertising report, we know that too many dollars are going to Facebook/ Instagram, X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok – social media giants that do little to combat misinformation and disinformation.

Third, Eby can borrow a page from Quebec’s approach and introduce a 35 per cent refundable news media labour tax credit. This credit has saved jobs and put journalism on a more sustainable footing in that province.

Fourth, Victoria could introduce a provincial program similar to the federal government’s Local Journalism Initiative or the California Local News Fellowship. Funding journalist positions in areas of news poverty, particularly in remote areas in the province, would help keep communities informed and connected.

To date, the federal government has adopted a suite of policies designed to support quality public service journalism.

Now is the time for other provincial governments, including British Columbia, to do the same. The Feb. 20 Speech from the Throne is the time to put Premier Eby’s passionate words into concrete action. The cost of inaction will result in the loss of journalism jobs, the shuttering of local media outlets, and a less informed and less engaged citizenry.

Paul Deegan, president and CEO of News Media Canada Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists

Don’t let your date fall off a cliff

Continued from A8 their skull open. Important tip – ice is slippery and hard.

Mountain trails: The trails found in the North Shore mountains can be the perfect place to fill up your own soul and connect with another. If you really want to get your hearts racing, find a lake or swimming hole and jump into the icy water with your beloved. You’ll cling to each other for warmth, and as you catch your breath, you may catch something much grander too.

Potential downside: Make sure you don’t get your date lost up there or jump off the wrong rock and break a leg. North Shore Rescue is always ready to help, but once those rugged volunteers show up, you may

find your date’s eyes wandering away from your stretcher and over to the superhumans in the red jackets.

There are so many more options as well, including leisurely bike rides and tandem paddleboards. You might even see a pod of orcas! Just be careful not to fall in and become orca pod food. That’s a relationship killer whale.

If you have other favourites spots, I’d love to hear them. Whatever you do, go ahead and enjoy the day, whether you’re coupled or not. Scam? Don’t let those North Shore orcas and eagles hear you say that.

Andy Prest is the editor of the North Shore News. His humour/lifestyle column runs biweekly.

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PROVINCIAL ELECTION

New BC United candidate announced in West Vancouver-Capilano JANE SEYD

jseyd@nsnews.com

Less than one day after West Vancouver-Capilano MLA Karin Kirkpatrick announced she will not seek re-election for BC United, the party announced Caroline Elliott as the party’s candidate in the North Shore riding.

Elliott, 39, is a political commentator, PhD student and has been involved with BC United – formerly the BC Liberal Party – as both a ministerial staffer and a party volunteer for the past 20 years. She was most recently vice-president of the party, resigning that position Friday in order to run as a candidate in West Vancouver-Capilano.

Elliott is a mother of two young children, who are six and four, and also runs a communications business, providing advice for clients in the resource sector.

So far, Elliott is one of only two publicly confirmed candidates in North Shore ridings for the next provincial election, and the only

one in what is usually regarded as one of the safest seats in the province for her party.

BC United announced Elliott’s candidacy less than 24 hours after Kirkpatrick announced she wouldn’t run in the next election.

Outspoken commentator Elliott said Friday she’s running because she wants to help shape the way decisions are made for the public.

“You see the path that B.C.’s on. I’m really troubled by it,” she said, listing high taxes, the rising cost of living, high housing costs and the frustration of North Shore traffic gridlock as among the issues locals are dealing with.

As a political panellist on local TV and radio programs and print opinion writer, Elliott hasn’t been shy about taking on controversial topics. In recent opinion columns she criticized B.C.’s intentions to change the Land Act by entering agreements giving Indigenous groups the power to make public land decisions affecting all people

Caroline Elliott is the new BC United candidate for the West VancouverCapilano riding. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN in B.C. In a similar vein, Elliott criticized the NDP government for going along with the Líl̓wat Nation and the N’Quatqua First Nation

when they announced a unilateral closure of Joffre Lakes Provincial Park in the fall. Elliott also recently received blowback on social

media for criticizing the ouster of Advanced Education Minister Selina Robinson.

Elliott said she doesn’t see her style changing now that she’s a political candidate.

“My whole adult life I’ve spent taking on issues that people aren’t always super comfortable with,” she said. “It doesn’t mean I’m always right. I am willing to say things that aren’t always the warm and fuzzy things.”

As when Kirkpatrick was announced as a candidate in the riding following the retirement of longtime Liberal MLA Ralph Sultan prior to the last election, Elliott was directly appointed as a candidate rather than winning the race in a nomination contest.

That has raised eyebrows in some circles, especially given Elliott’s status as the sister-in-law of party leader Kevin Falcon.

Elliott said, however, that her involvement in politics and the party long predated her sister’s marriage to Falcon.

Continued on A11

Come find out more about proposed changes to Ambleside’s Apartment Area and share your input at a Town Hall meeting!

Join us on Thursday, February 29 from 4 to 8 p.m. in the Activity Room at the Seniors’ Activity Centre, 695 21st Street.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A11

Kirkpatrick not running again Continued from A10 She added that in cases where the party wants to ensure a diversity of candidates, including younger people, women and members of minority groups, appointing is more likely to get that result because “you don’t often achieve that through nomination meetings.”

“It’ll be up to the voters whether I get a job at all,” she added.

BC United has recently appointed candidates in a number of other seats, while musing about the possibility of a snap election call by the NDP government.

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West Vancouver-Capilano BC United MLA Karin Kirkpatrick will not seek re-election in 2024. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN

Kirkpatrick’s health challenges changed priorities BC United announced Thursday that Kirkpatrick, who was elected as a B.C. Liberal MLA in 2020, will not be on the ballot on Oct. 19.

Kirkpatrick said in an interview Friday that her decision not to seek re-election came down to a personal one, following several health challenges, including a breast cancer diagnosis in 2021. Kirkpatrick said while she’s now cancer-free, the health crisis changed her perspective on how she wants to spend her time and make sure she is present for her family.

“Health issues kind of helped me re-frame my personal priorities and what I should be doing,” she said. “I felt if I couldn’t do my job 100 per cent, it wasn’t really fair.”

Kirkpatrick said one of the things she’d like to do is take up music again – noting that before she became an accountant she was part of a rock band that travelled around B.C. and Alberta in the 1980s.

Longtime Sea to Sky MLA also won’t run; Green Party candidate declared Longtime West Vancouver-Sea to Sky MLA Jordan Sturdy also announced last month he will not seek a fourth term in the upcoming provincial election.

Sturdy, who also sits as a BC United MLA, was first elected in 2013, and re-elected in 2017 and 2020 as a BC Liberal. Before that, he was the mayor of Pemberton, where he still lives and where his family runs North Arm Farm.

Sturdy’s retirement opens up the race for the West Vancouver-Sea to Sky riding, which was a close three-way race in 2020. Sturdy won the riding by only 60 votes following a judicial recount, fending off BC Green candidate Jeremy Valeriote.

Valeriote – a former Gibsons municipal councillor, professional engineer and former staffer with the District of Squamish (who is also married to Whistler CAO Virginia Cullen) – announced in April 2023 he would be running again for the Green Party in the riding.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A13

ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT | FOOD | HOME |

| HEALTH | COMMUNITY

LYNN JOHNSTON

Beloved comic artist embarks on kids book adventure MINA KERR-LAZENBY

MKerrLazenby@nsnews.com Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In the first few weeks of 2024, eagleeyed Lynn Johnston fans will likely have spotted hints of something new and exciting to come from the famous cartoonist. On Johnston’s website and social media pages were drawings, but not of John, Elly, Farley and the rest of the For Better or For Worse gang.

Instead they were of Johnston herself.

One saw the artist slumped over her studio desk, daydreaming of a light blue robot and his mechanical canine friend.

Another depicted Johnston wandering a nature trail, sketchpad and pencil in hand, drawing the sea of colourful robotic characters that surrounded her.

The sketches served as the first introduction to Allottabotz, the robotic world at the centre of a new series of children’s picture books written and illustrated by the artist.

“I’ve always loved children’s books,” says Johnston from her North Vancouver studio, a vibrant space where sofas come adorned with googly-eye shaped cushions, and cartoon aliens hang from the ceiling. “I love going into children’s stories. I love looking at the illustrations. If you’re a creative person like me, you want to take a shot at everything. I just wanted to give it a go.”

The first three books in the series, The Botshop, Marvellous Things, and A Dog With No Name, follow the adventures of Timothy Bot, a nine-year-old robot boy who moves to the sprawling factitious city

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Lynn Johnston’s new book series follows the adventures of nine-year-old robot boy Timothy Bot as he moves to the fictitious Cyberland City. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN of Cyberland.

Johnston says she was always fascinated by robots and “can’t get enough” of the world of mechanics and animatronics, and so the robotic characters, unusual homes and futuristic modes of transport found within the Allottabotz world made their way to the page naturally.

Less easy to manifest was the actual narrative – writing a children’s book and putting together a comic strip aren’t

as similar an experience as you might expect, she says.

“Often with children’s books, the illustrations are superb but the stories need some work. It was only when I took a shot at it myself I found that it really was quite difficult.”

Johnston found she was “more comfortable and confident” when writing in rhyme, an approach which has lent the stories a Seuss-like rhythm, and stories

were easier to conjure when she made the decision to keep the narrative simple.

“There is a small message with each of them, but mainly they are just simple, charming little stories,” she says, adding how kids these days have “heard enough about recycling and climate change” and she doesn’t want to be forcing lessons down children’s throats.

All three books are geared towards children between three and five years old, but longtime fans of Johnston’s heartfelt comic strips, likely their parents and grandparents, will no doubt garner equal amounts of joy from being gifted fresh Johnston material.

“The people who have been reading For Better or For Worse are wonderfully loyal, many of us have actually been writing back and forth for many years,” Johnston says of her ever-dedicated fan base. “So I wanted to open this new project up to the readers first, if anything just for their feedback. I’m hoping that some of my readers will get the books and then let me know what they think, and we can have a dialogue there.”

It was certainly a blow for longtime fans when Lynn retired from writing and drawing the family-based saga in 2008 – by that point the strip had been running for 29 years, appearing in more than 2,000 newspapers worldwide.

The cartoon currently lives on in a republished format on Johnston’s website and in certain newspapers across North America (heads up: fans who mourned the loss of family dog Farley the first time Continued on A28

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north shore news nsnews.com FERRY BUILDING GALLERY

New exhibition explores a world post-environmental crisis MINA KERR-LAZENBY

MKerrLazenby@nsnews.com Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

While good art can make an audience feel something within the confines of an exhibition, great art can incite change and inspire thought long after that audience has left the gallery.

FAMILY DAY AT MONOVA MONDAY, FEB. 19, 10 A.M. - 5 P.M. MONOVA: MUSEUM OF NORTH VANCOUVER Visit MONOVA on Family Day to participate in the opening of our latest exhibit Symphony of Nature: The North Shore from a Newcomer’s Perspective. Curated by our talented New Voices Volunteer Team, Symphony of Nature looks at North Vancouver through the eyes of a newcomer.

For more info: monova.ca COMMUNITY CONVERSATION THURSDAY, FEB. 15, 6 - 8 P.M. MONOVA: MUSEUM OF NORTH VANCOUVER Join us for a community conversation to explore the future of the Royal BC Museum. Together, we will discuss how the museum can be responsive, representative, welcoming, and inclusive for all visitors. Our intention is to engage actively, welcome feedback, build meaningful relationships, and hear from diverse voices and perspectives. Light refreshments will be served.

For more info: monova.ca Events listed here are supported by the North Shore News.

Check out more listings on North Shore’s online event calendar: nsnews.com/local-events

Diane Evans and Sunlight

Ends Sunday, Feb 25

The Polygon Gallery 101 Carrie Cates Court Territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam Nations

Photo: Dennis Ha

@polygongallery thepolygon.ca

Biliana Velkova’s Sirin (2022), an oil on canvas painting, is featured in the Harvest exhibition. FERRY BUILDING GALLERY

With their joint exhibition, artists Janine Dunn and Biliana Velkova hope to not only offer food for thought within West Vancouver’s Ferry Building Gallery, but to inspire guests to reconsider how they approach sustainability and environmentalism in the days, weeks, and even years after they’ve departed it.

Harvest, running from Feb. 8 until March 3, brings together the work of painter, photographer and performance artist Velkova and rural farmer and artist Dunn. It is the first exhibition in a series by the gallery that aims to address climate fatigue and encourage more engagement in climate action from the local community.

“I think in today’s world, a lot of people are looking to find more skills related to self sufficiency, and how to live in a more sustainable way, like growing our own food and not taking for granted these things that come from the earth,“ said Dunn, whose large-scale paintings depict scenes of her own rural, homestead lifestyle in Gibsons.

Crafted from natural pigments and materials from her own farm land, including leaves and soil, Dunn’s pieces aim to highlight the benefits of co-existing with nature, and living in harmony with the four seasons.

Velkova’s approach to art creation was to envision a world after such practices of sustainability and green living have taken place, one where climate action has helped the return of vibrant flora and fauna.

“If we had a chance to reset, what would that look like? My work comes from this magical realism viewpoint, and so there are these very bright and colourful magical birds and landscapes. We’re imagining new worlds,” she said.

Originally from Bulgaria, Velkova was inspired by elements of her home country’s traditional folklore that focus on the inextricable connection between nature and humans. In Bulgarian culture, birds

Janine Dunn’s Guy Leaning is a 2024 work of soil, acrylic and oil paint, and charcoal on canvas. represent harvest and fertility, but it was the Kukeri, a tradition where masked creatures appear in late January and February to ward off evil spirits and assure good harvest in the year ahead, that served the most inspiration.

“Art is very much about telling stories, and presenting new possibilities, new worlds,” said Velkova.

“It takes us out of our every day, it makes us look at our reality through a different lens.”

Dunn said she hopes the audience connects with the art in a way that inspires them to be more in touch with the land, to help create the world that both artists strive for.

“I’m hoping that people see these works and feel encouraged to look upon these more farm-based lifestyles, because there is such an inherent beauty to them and a simplicity that we don’t always see in our modern world, or in city life,” she said.

Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

north shore news nsnews.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A15

BIG SCREEN SHOWCASE

North Shore News film festival announces full lineup MINA KERR-LAZENBY

MKerrLazenby@nsnews.com Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Have you got your popcorn ready? The full running list for the North Shore News’s first ever film festival has been selected, and you can rest assured the Coast Mountain Film Festival has something for all manner of cinephiles.

More than 20 films that showcase the vibrant and diverse filmmaking talent of the North Shore community will be screened at participating theatres across the North Shore, from the Kay Meek in West Vancouver to North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre.

Split into five categories, the locally made movies will span North Shore profiles, dark comedies, environmental, dramatic shorts and a special Canadian festival premiere of feature film Krow’s TRANSformation.

Directed by Gina Hole Lazarowich and released

in March last year, Krow’s TRANSformation follows the transition of North Vancouverraised male model Krow, from his final shoot as a female model to walking the runway for Louis Vuitton at Paris Fashion Week as a trans man.

Lazarowich, who grew up in West Vancouver before raising her own family in North Vancouver, said she was “honoured and excited” to be part of a festival that highlights local talent and local stories.

“It is wonderful to celebrate and have a platform for our local talent here,” she said.

“I found that when applying to Canadian film festivals they mostly included films from everywhere else, and not locals in their backyard. So to actually have a festival that celebrates our filmmakers here is just fantastic,” she said.

Director Mary-Jo Dionne pointed out her film Never Broken, a work based on Dionne’s TEDx Talk that aims to

The North Shore’s Christine Chatelain and Paige Phung play the two leads, Shirley and Grace, in Mary-Jo Dionne and Jeff Macpherson’s Never Broken. ROD MCLEAN debunk the myth that single-parent-led families are “broken,” was only made possible thanks to an “overwhelming number of enormously generous people” from Deep Cove.

“Film lovers deserve exposure to local film talent, because it is robust here on the North Shore,” said Dionne,

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who co-directed the film with fellow North Shore director Jeff Macpherson.

“I don’t feel there exists the understanding of what projects our own neighbours are embarking on, in our own backyards, and how meaningful and impactful these projects are. We live in an area so rich in creative

talent, we need more of these types of opportunities.”

With the North Shore’s long standing relationship with film – being home to both the Capilano University film school and several award-winning studios and filmmakers – it came as no surprise that the festival received an overwhelming response of over 40 submissions, said North Shore News publisher and festival curator Matt Blair.

Blair said the film festival was initiated to help the industry which, between the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent film strikes, has tackled difficult times in recent years.

“Many local filmmakers haven’t had the opportunity to showcase their work on the big screen. I felt the North Shore News had an opportunity and obligation to help if we could,” he said.

“After a brief submission period, supported by Michael Continued on A28

A16 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A17

‘WIND IN YOUR FACE’

New doc details B.C.’s Indigenous Youth Mountain Bike Program MINA KERR-LAZENBY

MKerrLazenby@nsnews.com Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

To some, mountain biking delivers an escape from stress, an opportunity to improve fitness, and a chance to connect with nature. To others, the sport, and the community that accompanies it, offers a lifeline.

The hundreds of riders, trail builders, community activists and youth members that have participated in the Indigenous Youth Mountain Bike Program since its inception in 2012 will vouch for the latter.

A non-profit that assists First Nations communities in the development of nature trails, the province-wide program aims to build relationships, encourage reconciliation and heal intergenerational trauma.

It has helped thousands in its 12-year lifespan, and now the founders are set to spread its message further with new documentary, Dirt Relations.

Due to make its world premiere at the opening night of the approaching Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival, the film follows founders Thomas Schoen, Patrick Lucas and Tom Eustache as they deliver the program across British Columbia.

Thomas Schoen, Patrick Lucas and Tom Eustache founded the Indigenous Youth Mountain Bike Program in 2012 with the aim of encouraging reconciliation and healing through mountain biking. DIRT RELATIONS While the Youth Mountain Bike Program has received much media coverage in its time, never before has there been such attention given to the men who run the operation, said the film’s director Matthew Clark.

“There is this deep dive into their individual stories, how they are all connected

and how they founded this incredible program,” he said, adding how the film showcases how the three – Eustache, a member of the Simpcw First Nation; Schoen, a director for the Williams Lake Cycling Club and president of the Cariboo Mountain Bike Consortium; and Lucas, an award-winning professional land planner – each bring something unique and important to the operation.

The goal of both the program and documentary, said Clark, is to highlight a simple lesson – the importance of listening to First Nations communities.

“This is really about learning how to have the patience to listen. Unfortunately, many people don’t have enough background in being exposed to First Nations communities, and the most common thing we learned while travelling these locations was how vital it is to just listen and learn, without judgment.”

For Jules Philip, a former councillor for the Simpcw First Nation, the program helped in “ways you can’t believe.”

Philip had been battling demons of his own when he joined the program in its early years. Now, he leads programs in his hometown of Barriere, building trails, leading singalongs of traditional songs

and lending a listening ear to others facing similar struggles.

“I hope that when people see this documentary, the message that they get is that no matter how hard it gets, there’s always somebody there that can help you,” said Philip.

“Riding a bike, feeling the wind against your face, having your friends along with you and talking with other men who have the same issues in that way, it’s such a positive way out.”

Philip said the film will open eyes to what it truly means to be listening to the stories of Indigenous communities, and experiencing the sights and sounds of different First Nations lands.

“It gives you a warm feeling to know, this is so much more than just riding a bike,” he said.

Dirt Relations will make its world premiere on opening night of the VIMFF, Friday, Feb. 23 at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre. For more information and tickets, visit the festival’s website at vimff.org.

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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A18 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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INTERSECTING ORBITS

Griffin Art Projects exhibition celebrates trailblazing artists MINA KERR-LAZENBY

MKerrLazenby@nsnews.com Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

As pioneers of the conceptual art movement throughout the 1960s and ’70s, artists Joan Balzar and Michael Morris were once two of the most influential artists on the West Coast. Their works continue to be the subject of intense fascination, hence why one local gallery is celebrating their legacy with a dedicated exhibition.

Intersecting Orbits: Michael Morris and Joan Balzar, running at Griffin Art Projects, dives deep into both the artist’s works and private collections.

Lisa Baldissera, director of Griffin Art Projects and co-creator of the exhibition, said Intersecting Orbits will give the public a greater sense of the profound impact Balzar and Morris had, on both the local art scene and the history of art in Canada as a whole.

She is especially hopeful it will bring some much deserved praise

Joan Balzar, Silver Scape, 1962-1965, chrome aluminum and acrylic on canvas, 53 x 90 inches. Courtesy of Shawn Macmillan. KEN DYKE to the works and creative process of Balzar, whose experience of industry sexism often meant her paintings were overlooked in favour of those from her male counterparts. Her lack of recognition was only exacerbated when a large number of her works were lost in a fire that ravaged her West Vancouver studio and home in the ’70s.

“Joan Balzar was a

foundational, major artist on the West Coast,” said Baldissera.

“Balzar’s tremendous innovation has not been fully appreciated on a national scale, having received limited attention across the country and known primarily from presentations in B.C. institutions.”

Baldissera said the exhibition is “a special opportunity” for art lovers to learn about Balzar’s

importance “as they explore the numerous connections that link her to Morris and the larger West Coast art scene.”

Fascinated by science and the atomic age, Balzar’s works were famous for being vibrantly coloured and crafted from industrial materials like neon light, aluminum and Plexiglas. The result was a sensory experience that she likened to spontaneous combustion – hard edge, abstract pieces that shimmered and shone in the light.

Balzar studied at the Broadway Edison School in Seattle and graduated with honours from the Vancouver School of Art, later going on to feature in major exhibitions in Canada, South America, Mexico and Guatemala – her home for many years before she settled in West Vancouver later in life.

As bright and vivid conceptual art began to gain momentum in the late ’60s, so did the careers of both Morris, whose works featured geometric abstractions and

the use of Plexiglass and mirrors, and Balzar. It was one of numerous times their careers and lives would intertwine – despite the two artists being a decade apart in age, both Morris and Balzar studied at the Vancouver School of Art alongside many of the same painters.

Balzar might not have gained recognition until later in life, and even more so posthumously following her death in 2016, but she’s since joined the ranks of Morris in being regarded as one of the most cutting-edge artists in Canada.

The exhibition will house 90 pieces of bold, luminous works from the two artists, alongside pieces collected over their lifetimes. Intersecting Orbits will run at the Griffin Art Projects gallery at 1174 Welch St. in North Vancouver until May 5.

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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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A19

MOVE ON

There’s debate over helmets, but cyclists should still wear one HEATHER DRUGGE

Contributing writer

In 2018, I helped a municipal council candidate during his campaign.

We used our bikes to aid door-knocking efforts in keeping with campaign values. I even had a “mobile office” on my bike rack.

It was super fun, and people loved that we used environmentally responsible transportation for the campaign.

At some point, we decided not to wear helmets to make ourselves more approachable. That was also super fun. But. We put them back on when a bike shop employee reminded us that it was illegal not to wear a helmet and that perhaps a candidate running for municipal office did not want to be breaking the law. Right.

In British Columbia, by law, people riding a bike must wear helmets. There are some exceptions. For example, children under 12 years old riding a three-wheel or four-wheel bike without a chain don’t have to wear a helmet. But

most parents prudently get their kids to wear helmets anyway.

There’s no question that if you are hit by a vehicle and wearing a helmet, your survival rate is higher than that of people not wearing one. In 2016, The American Journal of Surgery reported that helmeted bicycle riders admitted to hospital had 51-per-cent reduced odds of severe brain injury, and 44-percent reduced odds of death.

A helmet is the mobility version of personal protection equipment, or PPE. But they only work if you are in a crash. As such, helmets aren’t a primary health prevention measure.

A UBC professor in occupational and environmental health, Kay Teschke, headed research efforts to determine the impact of helmet laws. As reported in the British Journal of Medicine, the UBC team found that “helmet legislation was not associated with hospitalization rates for brain, head, scalp, skull, face or neck injuries.”

As far back as 1996, researchers

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Light Up Ride participants in the City of North Vancouver get ready to roll. JESSICA MCILROY found that wearing a helmet makes little difference to cycling safety.

Countries with mandatory helmet laws, or high levels of helmet usage, show no reduction in head injuries compared to countries without legislated helmet use.

In Denmark and Germany, where very few people on bikes wear helmets, separated infrastructure, traffic calming, diversion and reduced vehicle speeds are

effective at keeping people on bikes safe.

It’s a paradox. In places where cycling infrastructure is unsafe, helmet use is higher due to laws (or common sense). Where the infrastructure is safe, we don’t need helmets or any legislation to make people wear them. Except, even in Denmark, where cycling is relatively safer, the Danish Road Safety Council promotes helmet

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So, what’s the takeaway? Wear a helmet in places where the infrastructure sucks. And even if it doesn’t. Here on the North Shore, despite ongoing efforts to improve, gaps in safe routes and exposure to fast-moving vehicles mean people riding are not protected enough for us to give up helmets.

Oh, and here’s a parting thought. If we were to be genuinely public health-minded, people driving cars should probably wear helmets. According to an Australian study, a mandatory helmet law for vehicle drivers has the potential to save 17 times as many people from death by head injury as a helmet law for cyclists.

Maybe until we get autonomous cars, people driving should wear helmets too? Time for legislation?

Heather Drugge is a sustainable transportation advocate who has used her bike for transportation for more than 20 years. She’s got an e-bike now, and maybe a jetpack next. Northshoremoves@gmail.com

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A20 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A21

EXPLOSIVE DECISION

Fireworks ban fizzles (again) in District of North Vancouver JANE SEYD

jseyd@nsnews.com

A proposal to ban fireworks in the District of North Vancouver has fizzled out.

Several members of council lit the fuse to once again consider a ban – which has debated in the past – at a regular council meeting held last month.

But the plan to ban fireworks was quickly defused by a 4-2 vote of council.

Those opposed to the ban spoke about fireworks displays as a unique West Coast cultural phenomenon and fun community building activity. Those in favour of ending explosive festivities said fireworks are dangerous, add to fire risk and result in noise complaints and stress to animals and the environment.

The decision puts the District of North Vancouver among a dwindling number of Lower Mainland municipalities that still allow private fireworks displays at Halloween. On the North Shore,

the City of North Vancouver, District of West Vancouver and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) have all banned fireworks.

The last time council debated the issue, two years ago, it reached a similar conclusion.

Council decided to take another look at the issue this summer.

According to the fire chief, firefighters typically seize large numbers of fireworks on Halloween, primarily from teens letting fireworks off in parks illegally.

The district’s current fireworks regulation requires a permit to buy and set off backyard fireworks, and fireworks may only be set off between 6 and 10 p.m. on Halloween night.

Last year there was only one fireworks seller in the district who had their $1,500 bond revoked over numerous bylaw infractions, according to a staff report. Just under 200 fireworks permits for

backyard displays were issued.

Speaking in favour of a ban Monday night, Coun. Jim Hanson said “I strongly believe our community will be best served by a fireworks ban.”

Hanson said he’s consistently heard from members of the community that fireworks are upsetting to pets and wildlife and put a strain on fire and police resources.

Coun. Betty Forbes – who acknowledged she’s voted against a fireworks ban in the past – said she’s come to believe banning the pyrotechnics makes sense. If police and firefighters say they’d like to see a ban, “I’m agreeing with them,” she said.

Forbes said because neighbouring jurisdictions have banned fireworks, allowing them in the district means the municipality ends up supplying the rest of the North Shore.

Mayor Mike little opposed the fireworks ban, saying neighbourhood fireworks displays are

“community building.”

“Fireworks have become a uniquely cultural event on the West Coast. It’s something at Halloween time that you don’t experience in other parts of Canada,” he said. “This bylaw would take the four hours of the year that it is lawful to have fireworks and get rid of those four hours and move it entirely to professional displays.”

Little said three months of pile driving for a construction project is probably more disruptive to wildlife, and trick-or-treaters knocking repeatedly at the door probably spook pets more than fireworks. “Nobody’s talking about banning trick-or-treaters,” he said.

Couns. Back, Muri and Mah also lined up to snuff out the ban on sparklers.

Back said there are more positives than negatives that come out of annual fireworks displays.

Muri argued that banning fireworks wouldn’t mean an end

to explosive Halloweens because anyone can still buy them online.

Fireworks are also still legal on (səlilwətaɬ) Tsleil-Waututh Nation land, she said.

“Writing a bylaw to say don’t do it is not going to stop it because if it did, no one would speed on the parkway, or the Upper Levels, because there’s a sign there that says 80 is the speed limit,” she said. “And we know that people drive well over 80 on the Upper Levels.”

But Hanson said bans still have a dampening effect on law-abiding citizens. “How fast do you think people would drive down the parkway if there was no speed limit?” he said. “On Halloween night in Blueridge you might as well be in a war zone.”

On Halloween night this year, a teenage boy was taken to hospital after a firework blew up in his hand in the 3000-block of Edgemont Boulevard.

Coun. Catherine Pope was absent from the council meeting.

A22 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

north shore news nsnews.com

ST. FRANCIS-IN-THE-WOOD

West Vancouver approves budget to pave gravel lane near church NICK LABA

nlaba@nsnews.com

Instead of a pot-holey gravel lane, road users near a West Vancouver church would rather be living on a paver.

At a meeting on Jan. 22, council approved a motion to pave the parking area at Pilot Road House Park and St. Francis-in-the-Wood Church with interlocking brick.

While most of council voted in favour, Couns. Nora Gambioli and Christine Cassidy dissented, objecting to the district paving a park area for the benefit of a non-municipal organization, and using community amenity contribution funds in an area not building any more density.

But with the motion passed, staff will now determine the feasibility of doing the paving work on a budget of $50,000.

The gravel area in front of St. Francis-in-the-Wood is showing its age, said John Moonen, chair of the church’s repairs fundraising committee.

“I think this is the only part of

West Van council has approved the budget to pave a small section of parking lot near St. Francis-In-The-Wood Church. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN Piccadilly that remains unpaved.

And I haven’t done a complete survey, but it must be one of the last dirt roads in West Vancouver,” he said. “There’s potholes, erosion … failing edges. So there needs to be some hard surfacing.”

It’s not just parishioners using the lane, Moonen added. There’s a Montessori school, people going to the park and attendees of other events at the church.

In terms of road surface materials, Moonen said the church’s preference is interlocking pavers rather than asphalt, as the bricks “would complement what our neighbour has done with their driveway.”

After the church’s presentation, Mayor Mark Sager said – perhaps in jest – that if the current budget isn’t enough, that people in council chambers could do some of the

work themselves.

“Is $50,000 enough to do this?

Or will we be putting on our gumboots?” he asked staff.

In a previous report, based on an existing contract with a paving contractor, those costs came in higher than the budgeted amount, said Jenn Moller, district director of engineering and transportation services.

“We’ll probably refine [and] have a closer look at the limits of the paving area,” Moller said.

Coun. Christine Cassidy said paving the lane isn’t necessary.

“If I were to be honestly representing the taxpayers of West Vancouver, I need to be thinking of the areas which have the greatest use, and that would be the sidewalks in Ambleside, Dundarave and Horseshoe Bay,” she said.

Sager chimed in with a clarification that the project would be funded through community amenity contributions – paid to the district through new developments – not taxpayer money.

Cassidy shot back that “those

community amenity contributions arrive in our pockets at the district because neighbourhoods within this district have had to accept densification,” which is not the case near St. Francis-in-the-Wood.

Coun. Nora Gambioli said that she hadn’t heard the result of community discussions that took place since the matter was last heard at council.

Moonen said there was no dissent among the parishioners. “We have two neighbours up Piccadilly who wanted to keep it as a dirt road. But they like the paving and they’re no longer objecting to making the improvements.”

“It’s not our road. It’s not our parking lot. It belongs to you. And it’s dangerous. And it needs to be fixed,” he added.

In response, Gambioli asked staff if the road is dangerous and needs to be replaced.

“Periodically we conduct maintenance to even the surface,” Moller said. “I don’t believe it’s dangerous.”

Continued on A23

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A23

BUDGET SEASON

Taxpayers in North Van District facing seven per cent tax hike Seven per cent is the new three per cent when it comes to annual property tax increases.

That was the message last week as District of North Vancouver council gave third reading to a “status quo” budget bylaw which calls for a seven-per-cent tax hike.

The seven-per-cent tax increase will mean a $180 tax hike to the average home in the district and is significantly higher than the usual three per cent tax hike council has typically approved.

District staff said higher taxes are the result of inflationary pressures, particularly in the areas of construction and wage increases, and are needed to maintain services and deliver on council priorities.

Mayor Mike Little said Monday he’s not enthused about the higher-than-usual tax hike, but added, “I don’t see a way around this at this time.”

Bids on district construction contracts are coming in “dramatically higher than originally planned,” Little noted, adding some of those projects are needed just to keep district infrastructure in good repair.

Most councillors agreed with those sentiments, with Coun. Herman Mah commenting, “We either pay now or potentially pay more later.”

But Mah said he’d like to see staff propose some cuts in the next budget.

Coun. Jordan Back said he also doesn’t want to see seven-per-cent increases become the norm.“But at the end of the day, we have made a number of commitments to the community, and I’m pleased that all of those commitments are being honoured in this year’s budget.”

Both Couns. Jim Hanson and Lisa Muri voiced concerns about taxpayers’ ability to keep paying more tax, especially seniors on fixed incomes.

Hanson said he’s disturbed by the suggestion that “everyone in the district is wealthy because they have expensive homes. The truth is that people in the district have a great range of income levels. And I don’t want it to become an assumed fact that we’re just going to increase taxes as much as necessary because the public can afford to pay it. They can’t,” he said.

Muri said increased development has not kept up with costs associated with servicing that additional population.

Potholes a problem

Continued from A22 The lane isn’t in the district’s short- or long-term capital plans to resurface the area, she added.

Gambioli expressed concern that approving this work could be a bad policy to set.

“I’m concerned that if word gets out that we are spending $50,000 paving parking which is actually in a park, for the benefit of a church … we’re going to get some requests from the other 13 places of worship [in West Van].”

With the Montessori school and weddings that “the whole community delights in,” Coun. Sharon Thompson said St. Francis-in-the-Wood goes beyond the average church the way of community contribution.

A date has not yet been set for the matter to return to council.

“I have heard for 28 years, ‘Well it’s only $25. It’s only $35. It’s only $55. It’s only $100,’” she said of continued tax increases. “When is too much too much?”

The district’s total budget for next year is $387.6 million, which includes $220.7 million for operating costs, $85.3 million in capital project spending, $6.3 million in debt servicing costs and an allocation of $75.3 million towards reserves.

The district’s five-year capital plan includes $550.5 million in spending, including $212.2 million on maintenance and repairs and $338.3 million on new capital projects.

Among the spending on new projects is $181.8 million on “transportation and mobility” projects, including $56.4

million on “active transportation,” $19.4 million towards addressing housing needs, $16.1 million towards “climate adaptation,” $1.5 million in “climate mitigation” and $17.4 million for utility upgrades. The capital plan also includes $92.3 million towards “community health and safety,” including $16.6 million towards artificial turf sports fields, and $21 million towards facility upgrades and technology.

A majority of council gave third reading to the financial plan, with Muri opposed as a “protest vote.”

Council expects to adopt the financial plan later this month. A bylaw setting tax rates must be passed by the middle of May.

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A24 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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NEW LIFE

Organ donation gives two families a chance to look forward JANE SEYD

jseyd@nsnews.com

In the small community of Lions Bay, two families in the past year have had their lives profoundly touched by organ transplant.

For Ross and Mary Brown, organs donated by their son Michael Brown following a tragic surfing accident have helped bring some comfort following their son’s death.

Just up the street from them, 27-yearold Ryan Burke received a second chance at life after receiving a double-lung transplant.

Burke said he was working as a carpenter in the spring of 2021 when he began to experience shortness of breath. He didn’t think a lot of it at first. Physical work was part of what was required on the job site.

But when the problem got worse, Burke found himself bouncing between different specialists and diagnostic tests.

He was grocery shopping on the North Shore when he got a call about the results of an echo cardiogram he’d just had done at Lions Gate Hospital that had identified concerning high pressure in one of chamber of his heart. He was told to turn around and go back to the ER. From there, more precise testing hurriedly followed.

He was told that constriction and swelling in his pulmonary artery was putting pressure on his heart, that would eventually result in heart failure.

Officially, the diagnosis was latestage idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension.

“It’s an incurable and progressive disease,” he said.

Growing up in Lions Bay, Burke had always been an active person. “I did a lot of skiing,” he said, as well as hiking and pick-up sports with friends.

But as his health declined, “I couldn’t walk out my front door,” he said, noting that the direction in Lions Bay tends to be uphill. “I would drive to flat places to walk.”

Burke’s medical team tried various drugs but “they were all relatively ineffective,” he said.

Doctors didn’t sugar coat his prognosis, telling him unless he had a transplant, he probably had about two years left to live.

“I was pretty confident that my time was quite limited,” he said.

A second chance at life But that all changed one Sunday in April 2023 when Burke, then 26, got a call telling him a set of lungs was available.

On the drive down to the hospital in Vancouver, Burke said he felt a range of emotions – including gratitude mixed with apprehension.

“All the emotions kind of balance each other out,” he said. “I knew that’s what I needed to go through.”

Burke was in an induced coma for three days after the transplant and spent a further month in hospital, adjusting to his new lungs. He remembers the first time he could walk around the hospital floor and not be out of breath.

The day he got out of hospital in May, the air was warm and fresh, he remembers.

Months of rehab exercises followed.

Slowly, he began walking the local trails, uphill into the forest. He hiked to St. Mark’s Summit and has been out paddleboarding

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Lions Bay resident Ryan Burke has been given a second chance at life with a double lung transplant. BC TRANSPLANT and skiing again.

In keeping with BC Transplant policies, Burke doesn’t know who his organ donor was. (Donor families and recipients may write to each other anonymously but contact only happens if both parties independently request it and over a year has passed.)

But he’s had a glimpse into their world through the family of Michael Brown, whose parents live just a short distance away in Lions Bay. Donor family takes comfort amid tragedy Growing up, Burke knew Michael’s father Ross Brown was “a very respected and accomplished surgeon,” he said.

Burke said it was devastating to hear about the tragedy that struck the family in August of last year, just a few months after his own transplant.

A surfing accident off the coast of Tofino left Michael, 36, with a non-recoverable brain injury, from which he later died.

For Brown’s family, however, Michael’s

decision to sign up as an organ donor and give hope to other families has provided comfort.

“He gave us the ability to look forward,” said Ross Brown.

As a trauma surgeon, Brown said he had lots of experience with medical crises.

That had led to early conversations as a family about organ donation.

“Our kids knew we [had signed up] as organ donors,” said Brown. “It gives the opportunity to have a discussion around that.”

Jaclyn Ko, Michael’s wife, said knowing how her husband felt about organ donation was “very helpful for me” and the rest of Michael’s family when faced with the news that the medical team could not save his life.

“He felt strongly that if he didn’t need those organs and tissues someone else could benefit,” she said.

That was just part of his character, she said. Michael had always been the sort of person willing to lend a hand to those less fortunate and champion the underdog.

During his life, Michael had used his training as an emergency medical technician to carry around a large first aid kit, which he’d often use to help out whoever needed it, said his wife, including administering Naloxone. He saved at least seven people from overdosing with those kits.

According to BC Transplant, Michael Brown ended up saving or transforming 10 lives by donating his organs.

“It gives us a sense of something positive happening out of our tragedy,” said Ko. Last year saw a record number of 562 organ transplants performed in British Columbia, according to BC Transplant.

As of Dec. 31, 2023, there were 512 British Columbians still waiting for organ transplants.

Anyone who wants to register as an organ donors can do so at taketwominutes.ca.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A25

WHITE COLLAR CRIME

North Vancouver man guilty in $1M theft from investors BRENT RICHTER

brichter@nsnews.com

A North Vancouver man who stole more than $1 million from investors he was advising has pleaded guilty in court.

Ward Derek Jensen, 55, was arrested in 2022 and charged with nine counts of fraud and four counts of forgery, following a B.C. Securities Commission investigation.

He was scheduled to go to trial last month but instead, he appeared in North Vancouver provincial court on Jan. 29 to plead guilty to one charge of

theft over $5,000.

According to an agreed statement of facts submitted to the court, Jensen admitted to stealing US$971,585 from nine investors.

He had promised them he could generate returns of 14 to 18 per cent annually through a Chicago-based private investment fund, administered through his B.C. company, Kassel Enterprises.

“In reality, he misappropriated investor funds for his personal use and lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of investor funds making bad

stock trades through his own personal brokerage account,” a release from the B.C. Securities Commission stated. “Jensen concealed his theft and the trading losses he incurred by providing forged monthly statements to his victims showing their investments growing continuously over time.”

At the time, neither Jensen nor his company were registered to trade securities as required

by B.C.’s Securities Act. The BCSC release notes that Jensen’s first victim was a close personal friend who later referred their friends and family

members.

According to the release, at one point Jensen texted the friend to apologize for his actions.

“What I have done is unforgivable and I never meant for any of this to happen,” the text read. “I’m so sorry I have betrayed you and your family and friends.”

An investigation of Jensen’s banking records found he rarely if ever had enough funds to return investors’ principal, let alone the income he purported to be making for them.

When one victim asked to

withdraw funds, Jensen lied and said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had frozen the funds in his account, the release states.

Jensen has been on bail since he was arrested in October of 2022. During that time, he has been under court order to have no contact with his victims and not participate in selling, promoting or trading securities.

Jensen applied for and the Crown agreed to bail conditions that would allow him to travel to Mexico each year in December.

Jensen is due back in court for a sentencing hearing in May.

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A26 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

north shore news nsnews.com

Immigration driving growth Continued from A1 more than 277,000 residents.

Are you interested in the port?

The North Shore Waterfront Liaison Committee is recruiting for one community representative from the City of North Vancouver.

This committee brings together the port authority and industry, municipal, First Nations, and community representatives to receive updates, identify concerns, and provide input on port-related activity and operations on the North Shore.

If you live in the City of North Vancouver and have an interest in the Port of Vancouver, we invite you to apply.

Learn more and apply at portvancouver.com/nswlc.

The deadline for applications is February 15, 2024.

Questions?

Phone: 604.349.3127 Email: nswlc@portvancouver.com

New housing rules catching up The level of growth speaks to the urgency seen in the provincial government’s sweeping new housing legislation, which sets housing targets for municipalities, mandates upzoning along transit routes and allows multiplexes on single-family lots by right, said Andy Yan, director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program.

In September, the District of North Vancouver and District of West Vancouver were named to the housing minister’s “naughty list” for failing to build enough new homes to accommodate a growing population, and told they must see through to completion more than 4,000 new strata and rental homes in the coming five years.

As development and population growth are left less and less to the discretion of local councils, the discussion has to become more about accommodation and infrastructure, Yan said.

“What you’ll see in front of you is a ramp up to discussions like SkyTrain to North Van – major transportation initiatives, which we now know are also then attached to density and housing mandates,” Yan said.

Yan said he would not be surprised to see growth in the City of North Van slow down in the years ahead as developable

lots become built out and municipal infrastructure becomes maxed. But, he said, the two North Shore district municipalities have a lot of progress to make. “[The rate] is almost three-times bigger in the City of North Van than it is in West Vancouver,” he said.

Without enough new housing options, communities will stagnate and become more reliant on commuters for their workforce, he added.

“How much is our housing market shaping demographics as opposed the other way around?” Yan asked. “No change is not an option.”

Canadian immigration growing Much of the population growth is due to immigration, with most newcomers settling in the Vancouver area, the BC Stats report finds. Canada has one of the highest population growth rates among developed nations due to high levels of international migration, the report adds.

B.C.’s fertility rate of 1.11 was the lowest in Canada in 2022, and without immigration, our population would be in decline.

The report also notes that there are record numbers of non-permanent residents arriving – more than 600,000 in 2022 alone, making them the leading contributor to the country’s growth. As of 2023, 8.2 per cent of B.C.’s population was made up of non-permanent residents.

House has community connection

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Continued from A5 Pattison’s old home will be donated to Habitat for Humanity, which can then use it or sell it for flooring or furniture making.

The price won’t be the same as simply bulldozing a structure into a bin and carting it off to the landfill, Serpas Ventura readily admits, but he said in the context of an entire redevelopment project, the cost difference is negligible.

Deconstruction will likely pencil out even more favourably as technology, regulations and tax incentives improve, Serpas Ventura said. But builders may eventually find themselves going that route whether they want to or not.

In 2023, a District of North Vancouver bylaw came into effect mandating deconstruction for homes built before 1950.

The district usually processes about 100 demolition permits for single-family homes per year, although in the first year of the bylaw being in effect, applications were down significantly and only one

met the criteria for mandatory deconstruction, said Caroline Jackson, director of climate action, natural systems and biodiversity for the district.

Vema did the job and donated the wood to a First Nation in Northern B.C. Another deconstruction permit is pending, Jackson said, the district is looking forward to seeing the bylaw result in less waste, less need to harvest new resources and less carbon being emitted in the building industry.

Victoria already had such a bylaw in place, and other municipalities across Metro Vancouver are considering their own bylaws, Serpas Ventura said.

Back in West Vancouver, Serpas Ventura said folks walking by the little yellow house over the last week have immediately bought in when they learn what’s happening.

“The house has a soul. The house as a spirit. It has meaning to the community and we shouldn’t be destroying it,” he said.

north shore news nsnews.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A27

Veteran recalls sabotage and soccer against the enemy

Continued from A4 “We’d go in at night, blow the hell out of ‘em, and in the morning went back out with the German flag flying – ‘Bye, sorry Germans!’” he exclaimed, followed by a raspy chuckle.

Sometimes, under the cover of night, Patterson and his crew would sneak plastic explosives into enemy positions, he said.

On other nights, he would play soccer with the Germans.

“They were friendly kinds of guys,” Patterson said. He remembers experiencing some conflicted feelings, having a laugh one minute with the people you were trying to kill the next.

On his own ship, there was a fair amount of merrymaking, aided in part by the Royal Navy’s rum ration, which stayed in force until 1970. When sailing through the waters near Egypt, for instance, you might have caught him singing a raucous refrain in mockery of King Farouk, the country’s ruler at the time.

As the war drew to a close, Patterson thought he’d be on his way home. But following an assessment, he was chosen to command a German prisoner of war camp in Tobruk, Libya in 1945.

Patterson and wife known as exceptional ballroom dancers in West Vancouver When he returned to England, Patterson took up his former job as a truck driver delivering beer for a company called Haigh and Howard.

Living in Lancashire, he rejoined his wife, Doris, whom he married in 1943. Patterson described civilian life as “quiet,” and required some adjustment after years of serving in the navy.

Seeking new opportunities, the couple immigrated to Canada in 1957 with their son Myron, an only child.

They settled in North Vancouver before moving to West Vancouver, where Patterson has lived for the past 30 years.

In the community, Patterson and his wife were wellknown as exceptional ballroom dancers, regularly lighting

up the floor at the Harmony Arts Festival, as well as the Grand Ballroom in Richmond. For a time, Patterson returned to life at sea, as the couple was employed to lead ballroom dancing on a cruise ship.

France honours veteran for his service 80 years ago Over the past several years, the French consulate in Canada has put out renewed calls in its search to honour surviving veterans of the Second World War. Upon learning this, Patterson’s good friend David Petitpierre suggested that he would be eligible to receive the Legion of Honour.

Patterson’s son Myron then filled out the necessary documentation, which included the record of his father serving

on one of the ships that supported the liberation of France at Normandy.

In a letter dated Sept. 20, 2023, French Ambassador Michel Miraillet expressed his country’s respect for Patterson’s contribution to the combat that ended the German occupation.

“Through you, France remembers the sacrifice of all your compatriots who came to liberate French soil,” reads the letter.

With a glint in his eye, perhaps casting back to memories of his service eight decades ago, Patterson reflected on receiving the high honour.

“It felt nice,” he said.

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE Proposed Miscellaneous Amendments to the Zoning Bylaw WHAT: A public hearing will be held regarding proposed Zoning Bylaw No. 4662, 2010, Amendment Bylaw No. 5270, 2024.

WHEN: 7 p.m. on February 26, 2024 WHERE: Municipal Hall Council Chamber, 750 17th Street, and via Webex electronic communication facilities. Attend in-person or via Webex (visit westvancouver.ca/webex); or watch the hearing at westvancouver.ca/cc.

SUBJECT LANDS: The proposed bylaw amendments would apply to all lands within the District of West Vancouver subject to Zoning Bylaw No. 4662, 2010.

PROPOSED ZONING BYLAW NO. 4662, 2010, AMENDMENT BYLAW NO. 5270, 2024 would: update the definitions of “Gasoline station, full-service” and “Gasoline station, self-service” to clarify that the sale of motor fuel may include electricity for charging vehicles; and correct inadvertent errors.

COUNCIL WELCOMES YOUR INPUT: All persons who believe their interest in property is affected by the proposed bylaw will be given an opportunity to present written submissions and to be heard during the public hearing regarding the proposed bylaw. To participate in person, please attend the Municipal Hall Council Chamber at the time listed here. To participate by electronic communication facilities, please call 604-925-7004 on February 26, 2024 to be added to the speakers list.

Instructions on how to participate are available at westvancouver.ca/ph.

PROVIDE YOUR SUBMISSION: via email to correspondence@westvancouver.ca; via mail to Municipal Hall, 750 17th Street, West Vancouver BC V7V 3T3; or address to Legislative Services and place in the drop box at the 17th Street entrance of Municipal Hall. Please provide written submissions by noon on February 26, 2024 to ensure their inclusion in the public information package for Council’s consideration. No further submissions can be considered by Council after the public hearing has closed.

MORE INFORMATION: The proposed bylaw and other relevant documents that Council may consider in deciding whether to adopt the proposed bylaw may be inspected at westvancouver.ca/news/notices and at Municipal Hall from February 8 to 26, 2024 (8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, excluding statutory holidays).

QUESTIONS? John Carbon, Planning Technician Frank Patterson served as a stoker on a motor torpedo boat in the Royal Navy. COURTESY OF MYRON PATTERSON

jcarbon@westvancouver.ca | 604-921-3449

A28 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

north shore news nsnews.com

TIME TRAVELLER

A weekly glimpse into North Shore’s past from MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver

Aunt Rose and her silver dollar plant

Robot boy stars in new series

Photo: NVMA, 12448

Rose Esdaile was the maternal aunt of George and Jack Barker. Her nephews ran the Lynn Valley General Store, which eventually opened multiple locations, using a horse and delivery wagon to bring goods to their numerous customers.

The two bachelors were busy with their business, and as such, their aunt, Rose, came from England in 1913 to live with them and “keep house” at 1565 Doran Road.

Just as her nephews made good money, Rose holds bunches of dried lunaria annua, also known as annual honesty or, most notably, the silver dollar plant. Money was clearly inside and outside the house!

Visit monova.ca for more information about the history of the North Shore and to learn about MONOVA: Museum of North Vancouver, now open at 115 West Esplanade in The Shipyards. MONOVA: Archives of North Vancouver is located at 3203 Institute Road in Lynn Valley. Contact: archives@monova.ca

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The stories were put together in Johnston’s North Vancouver studio, a space adorned with flying saucer decorations and an octopus-style couch. PAUL MCGRATH / NSN

Continued from A13 around should bolster themselves for his soon-to-be second departure), but Johnston is adamant there will never be any further new For Better or For Worse material.

Prior to Allottabotz, the artist had in fact planned to retire officially, but putting down the pencil, it seems, is out of the question for an artist like Johnston.

“I tried to retire … I really did, but I just can’t. I don’t really know how to stop,” she says, noting the friends who are cartoonists, painters and writers who have also found it impossible to put down their craft. “I mean, you really can’t. If you’ve got a gift, you can’t waste it, you don’t let yourself waste it.”

The first three books in the Allottabotz series will be followed closely with the release of another three later this year.

And if they’re a hit? Johnston promises we’ll be seeing much more of Timothy Bot and his lively gang in the future, whether that be in the pages of more books, or emblazoned on backpacks and T-shirts.

Either way, retirement certainly isn’t on the cards just yet.

Mina Kerr-Lazenby is the North Shore News’ Indigenous and civic affairs reporter. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative.

Film festival tickets on sale now

Continued from A15 Thoma at CapU, we ended up with some absolutely superb films that have been seen at festivals around the world, but for one reason or another never been shown here at home.”

The chance to influence and deliver important messages to a more local audience is not one lost on the North Shore filmmakers, especially those who are hoping to incite change with their directorial offerings.

Farhan Umedaly, whose film HA NII TOKXW: Our Food Table dives into the conservation efforts of British Columbia’s Gitanyow Nation, said he hopes his film will inspire the North Shore community to have meaningful discussions around indigenous rights and environmental protections.

Umedaly said the festival is beneficial for North Shore directors because they can “support one another on projects that can make a positive impact in the world.”

“Filmmaking brings communities together, and I am so glad this is happening in my hometown,” he said.

Director Gina Hole Lazarowich embraces Krow’s TRANSformation cast members Kas Baker, Krow Kian and Ashton Sciacallo.

COURTESY OF PENDER PR

The Coast Mountain Film Festival runs March 29 to April 18 at various theatres across the North Shore. Visit coastmountainfilmfest.com for the full line-up and to reserve tickets.

north shore news nsnews.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 | A29

SQUAMISH CAMPUS

Capilano University to host national women’s soccer tournament

CROSSWORD

Solutions can be found in the Wednesday February 21th issue.

NICK LABA

nlaba@nsnews.com

For the first time, Capilano University will host the premier tournament for female soccer players in colleges across Canada.

Nov. 6 to 9, CapU will host the 2024 Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association Women’s Soccer National Championship at the school’s turf field on its Capilano’s Alanah Dulong fights for the ball against Douglas Squamish Campus.

College on Oct. 21, 2023. VANCOUVER SPORTS PICTURES At the event, CapU’s in 1983. The Capilano Blues soccer program players will face seven of the other top has 11 national titles between its womteams in the country. The Blues were No. 3 in the CCAA rankings at the end of last seaen’s and men’s teams. In 1999, the school received the Quarter-Century Supremacy son. They finished first in PacWest league award for its dominance over the first 25 play in 2023 but lost in the provincial final years of the CCAA. against Douglas College.

CapU has three inductees into the The national tournament will coincide CCAA Hall of Fame: women’s coach Doug with this fall’s opening of the new campus, Abercrombie, men’s coach and athletic at the former site of Quest University. director Joe Iacobellis, and standout female The last time CapU hosted a national athlete Melissa Artuso. soccer event was the men’s championship

CLUES ACROSS

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1. Seclude 5. Acted like 9. Health club 12. Point-scoring serves 13. Identical 14. Join forces with 15. Allowed to be used 16. Comes first 18. Young chicken 20. Holiday drink 21. Comforted 24. Lighthearted 28. Twinkle 31. For heaven’s ____!

32. “____ Town” (play) 33. Roost 36. Vigor’s partner 37. Sis’s sibs 39. Lasagna seasoning 41. Conveyed 42. Laundry machine

43. Fear 45. Waits in secret 49. Coiled 54. Tiny 55. Female pronoun 56. Fantasy 57. Make a splash 58. Chatter 59. Tot 60. Evergreen plants

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1. 50% 2. Cake froster 3. Declare untrue 4. Repute 5. Deadly reptile 6. Duffer’s goal 7. Edit text 8. Art ____ 9. Downhearted 10. Bakery offering 11. TV airings 17. Breakfast order 19. Incline 22. Look upon 23. Fielder’s muff

25. Volcano’s output 26. Like 27. Sample 28. Large quantity 29. Angler’s bait 30. Smooth, as clothes 34. Mew 35. Scoundrel 38. Lead actor 40. “____ Old Men” 42. Impede

44. Power unit 46. Peeve 47. Be informed 48. Drinks daintily 49. Wary 50. Pod vegetable 51. Tick off 52. Antlered animal 53. Barely passing grade Crossword puzzle answers use American spelling

Wednesday February 7th Solutions:

Daily crossword available at: nsnews.com/crossword

A30 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

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MARKETPLACE classifieds.nsnews.com

A31

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REMEMBRANCES Obituaries

Obituaries

Obituaries

In loving memory of

Each Loss Each loss is very different, The pain is so severe.

Will I ever stop missing This one I loved so dear?

Good times we had together, The moments that we shared We didn’t have to tell each other How much we really cared.

I never dreamed you’d go away, Never thought of sorrow.

So sure you’d always be here Took for granted each tomorrow.

Now my life is all confused Since you went away.

You took a part of me And for help I daily pray.

But when God sent you to me He never said that you were mine, That I could keep you always – Only borrowed for a time.

Now, He’s called you home, I’m sad and I shed tears.

Yet I’m glad He loaned you to me And we had these many years.

Anne Elizabeth Gale (O’Dell) Anne Elizabeth Gale (O’Dell) passed away on January 29, 2024, in Palliative Care at the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, surrounded by loved ones. Anne was born in 1935 in Langley, BC to Eric Norman and Aurelia Olive (Relly) O’Dell (nee Mufford).

Anne was predeceased by her beloved husband of 48 years, William Basil, her parents, Eric and Relly, her sister Joan Evans, and her sister-in-law Betty Louise O’Dell.

She is survived by her four children: Stuart (Susan); Laura (Duncan); Stephen, (Amy) and Scott (Danae), and her 7 grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

She is also survived by her brothers Eric O’Dell and Jim O’Dell (Jenny). She is also survived by her dear friend and companion of over 45 years, Sharon Terry. Sharon is a part of our family, and we will never be able to thank her enough for the care and love she gave to Anne.

We were blessed to have had her in our lives and are mourning her loss. She leaves a gaping hole in our hearts and will be forever remembered as the wonderful Mom, Grandmother, friend and person she was.

Anne will be cremated and her ashes will be spread in the waters of the Salish Sea near Howe Sound.

There will be a gathering of family and close friends to celebrate her life.

In lieu of flowers, Anne requests that you make a donation to a charity of your choice.

Condolences may be left and information found at WWW.evergreencremationcentre.com

BATTISTON, Lucina “Lucy” December 13, 1940 - February 5, 2024

NICKERSON, David Winslow November 2, 1936 − January 23, 2024

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Lucina “Lucy” Battiston on February 5, 2024.

David Nickerson, age 87, died peacefully on January 23, 2024, in Kamloops, BC. He was born on November 2, 1936, in Halifax.

Lucy was born in Portogruaro, Italy and immigrated to Vancouver in 1960. With her loving husband, Gino, she built a wonderful life on the North Shore.

Lucy was genuine, kind, and strong. She was a phenomenal cook, gardener and devoted to her family. A business woman, she ran a successful mini storage for 41 years.

Moving to the West Coast, he raised five children − Rob Nickerson (deceased), Scott Nickerson, Andrew Nickerson, Chris Nickerson, and Saralyn Porta (nee Nickerson).

Lucy was predeceased by her son Robert and her daughter Gloria. She is survived by her husband Gino, her grandchildren Brandon (Alena), Stephanie (Josh), Max, Samantha, her greatgrandchildren Marcus and Caroline, and many great friends and family here and in Italy.

Forever young, he enjoyed ski patrol, sailing, RV clubs and rail fanning.

David is survived by his four children, nine grandchildren and four great−grandchildren.

We will deeply miss her warm heart, caring demeanor and her beautiful laughter that could light up any room.

A service will be held at 11:30 am on February 16th at St. Anthony’s Parish, 2347 Inglewood Avenue, West Vancouver, BC.

RANDOLPH, Jason Robert It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Jason Robert Randolph on February 3, 2024. Proud father of Sierra (Tyler) and loving grandpa to Kowen. Jason is also survived by his mother, Sheila; brother Christopher (Sarah); and former partner Kelly. Predeceased by his father, Bob; cousin, Scott; half brother, Ken; and aunt, Heather. A graveside service is being planned with Jason to be placed in his father’s grave.

Celebrate the lives of loved ones with your stories, photographs and tributes

May the Sunshine of Comfort Dispel the Clouds of despair

A32 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

north shore news nsnews.com

REMEMBRANCES Obituaries

Obituaries

Obituaries

POCKLINGTON, Simone (nee Lirette) December 22, 1929 - February 2, 2024

One Final

Gift

We not only mourn the passing of a beautiful soul, but celebrate Simone’s extraordinary life as a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and sister. Simone is a woman whose presence brought a zest for life, joy, and fine music to our hearts. She was a mother of 5 boys, a grandmother of 20, a great-grandmother of 14 and the middle sister to 6 siblings.

Simone was born in Quebec City with a song in her heart; she enchanted those around her with her mesmerizing voice, leaving an indelible mark on all who were fortunate enough to hear her sing. So fortunate, that one day, while flying in the skies, James Pocklington heard her perform on the CBC Ottawa French radio program and then proclaimed to his navigator that he was determined to meet her. Who would have thought that this event would have turned into a marriage that lasted 65 years until his passing in October of 2020.

Simone brought passion to everything she did, whether it was the raising of her five boys into men, or speaking multiple languages as she helped converse with clients in the global aerospace market following Jim’s career with the Canadian Air Force. She also volunteered at many Military hospitals both at home and abroad including the Red Cross.

Simone was a devoted Roman Catholic. Her relationship with God was profound and gave her courage through the many trials and tribulations that life brings.

Today, as we bid farewell to Simone, let us not dwell on the sadness of her departure but instead rejoice in the legacy she leaves behind. A life of laughter, of music, and a zest for life that continues to inspire and uplift us. May her songs echo in our hearts and her adventurous spirit guide us as we navigate the journey of life.

ROBERTSON, Kennard Monteath March 17, 1931 - January 25, 2024 Much loved husband, brother, uncle, and son.

dad,

grandpa

(‘nard),

Survived by his wife of 59 years, June, his daughters Mairi (Paul), Karen (Scott), Isla (Marty); grandchildren Michael, Kaylee (Preston) and Rory; sister; Patricia Margaret; nephews; James, Donald, Andrew, niece; Jennifer, and their families, sister-inlaw; Marie. Predeceased by his parents; John and Stella; brother Keith; brother-in-law; Trevor.

Kennard became a doctor in 1953 in Glasgow, Scotland. He further qualified as an OB-GYN in Vancouver, BC, after he and June immigrated to Canada to start a new life and family of their own.

He had a passion for photography, film, fast cars, boating, travel and music. He was a talented pianist, a natural (with not a single lesson).

Kennard was a gentle, kind, humble and loving family man with a witty, dry sense of humour. He will always be fondly remembered and dearly missed.

A heartfelt thank you to Dotrie, for over a decade of dedicated and compassionate care. And to the care team at Lynn Valley Care Centre who assisted in his journey with dementia with genuine kindness.

SCHOPP, Herbert Donald March 15, 1933 − February 1, 2024 Herb passed away surrounded by his loving family at noon. He went peacefully into the arms of his Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and to meet up with his loving wife, Constance Schopp, who predeceased him.

He is survived by his children Joyce Griffiths and her partner Monique Holloway, Frank (Louise) Schopp, Thomas (Linda) Schopp, Sandra (David) Galbraith, and Daniel Schopp; six grandchildren; and nine great−grandchildren.

He was known as a "Jack of all Trades." He held many jobs in his lifetime, including insurance and hardwood salesman, auto wrecker/mechanic/tow truck driver, antique/furniture businessman, Bulldozing Company Owner/Operator and Building Site Supervisor.

Herb was also very dedicated to his faith and his church community. He was well known for making his famous Shepherd’s Pies for the Lutheran Urban Mission lunches on the Vancouver Downtown Eastside, being the Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church handyman, and helping out with the "treasurers" from the church Heavenly Garage sales.

Herb was a compassionate and caring man, going above and beyond what was needed. He was always willing to help his family, friends, neighbours, church community and those who were less fortunate. People loved him and enjoyed seeing that Herbie smile!!!

To send condolences to the family, please visit www.memoriesfuneral.com Memories Funeral Home & Crematorium 780-454-9111 Honoured Provider of Dignity Memorial

As per the family’s wishes, no service will take place.

.

SEARS, Jack Terence (Terry) November 24, 1949 - February 8, 2024 As you lay at peace, we are together celebrating your life.

We remember your mom and dad, Evelyn and Jack, who started our story.

Your brother Bob joined me with Michael and Jodi, Thomas, Vanessa and Greg, and Nicola.

I was comforted by all of our loving grandchildren, Austin, Miller, Alden, Wyatt, Liam and Evan, and your forever faithful Abi.

Celebrate the lives of loved ones with your stories, photographs and tributes.

Contact Nadia at 604-653-7851 or nmather@glaciermedia.ca

You are here everywhere we look; you were such a gift to us all. Mai Tai’s were raised in a room adorned with the beauty of Maui as we toasted you. Our hearts overflow with love and gratitude for the blessing you have been in all of our lives.

Forever, Bren

Celebrate the lives of loved ones with your stories, photographs and tributes

Scatter me not to restless winds, Nor toss my ashes to the sea.

Remember now those years gone by When loving gifts I gave to thee.

Remember now the happy times The family ties we shared.

Don’t leave my resting place unmarked As though you never cared.

Deny me not one final gift For all who come to see A single lasting proof that says I loved... & you loved me.

by DJ Kramer

north shore news nsnews.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 |

A33

REMEMBRANCES Obituaries

Obituaries

Funeral services

North Shore’s Only Family Owned Funeral Provider ANDERSEN, Andrea Mary 08/01/1958- 12/15/2023

TAIT, Allan January 9, 1968 − January 23, 2024 It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Allan Mackintosh Tait. Allan slipped away peacefully at home, surrounded by family.

Allan will be remembered as a devoted son, brother, husband, father, papa, and friend.

Family meant everything to Al, and his loyalty knew no bounds. Everyone who met Al loved him, he was universally adored.

Allan is survived by his father Thomas Tait; mother Ida Tait; siblings Dean (Dawn), Evan (Aly), and Wendy (Martin); wife Michelle; children Alliyah (Cam), Cheyenne, Brayden (Marissa), and Lucas; as well as four grandchildren and many beloved nieces and nephews.

Gone way too soon, may he rest in peace.

There will be a Celebration of Life on March 1st, 2pm − 6pm, at Newlands Golf & Country Club in Langley. All are welcome.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Langley Hospice Society.

Andrea passed away in her home in the early hours of the morning on December 15th, 2023 at the age of 65.

Andrea grew up in North Vancouver and in her later years worked as a Library Technician at the Lynn Valley Library for nearly 18 years.

When she was younger, Andrea enjoyed playing sports such as basketball, as well as taking part in spin class working up a good sweat. She always had a sweet tooth and loved making desserts such as the cheesecake she would often bring to family gatherings. Andrea especially loved cats, books, and finding all the little joys that life had to offer. She touched the hearts of so many and will be remembered fondly by all who had the pleasure of knowing her.

Andrea is predeceased by her father Ross and brother John. She is survived by her son Kyle, mother Ardis, sister Sandra, brothers Geoff and Scott, and nieces Samantha and Lucy.

George & Mildred McKenzie

604-926-5121 • mckenziefuneralservices.com 200-100 Park Royal South, West Vancouver

taking care of each other

is what community is all about.

Hollyburn Funeral Home 1807 Marine Drive, West Vancouver Thank you for continuing to place your trust in us now and always.

Proudly serving the north Shore for over 80 years

Fond memories linger every day, Remembrance keeps them near.

604-922-1221 HollyburnFunerals.com Dignity Memorial is a division of Service Corporation International (Canada) ULC.

ExEcutor sErvicEs

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donating to the NVDPL. Information can be found here: https://nvdpl.ca/donating-library.

Because I Love You So Time will not dim the face I love, The voice I heard each day, The many things you did for me, In your own special way.

All my life I’ll miss you, As the years come and go, But in my heart I’ll keep you, Because I love you so.

Caring and Professional Executor, Trustee and Power of Attorney services based on the North Shore Brian Dougherty

heritagetrustcompany.ca

Westcoast Wills & Estates

Probate made easy.

Let our experienced lawyers help you.

604-230-1068 | westcoastwills.com 604-210-2211 *A law corporation

-Anonymous

Chairman, Heritage Trust Tel: 778-742-5005

Celebrate the lives of loved ones with your stories, photographs and tributes

To advertise in the Classifieds call: 604-653-7851

A34 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

north shore news nsnews.com

COMMUNITY

MARKETPLACE

HOME SERVICES

Announcements

Free

cerAmic tiLing

Pillow Inserts Polyester Fiberfill Good Condition 18 x 18 inch x 8 14−16 inch x 3 604−319−7349

WAnted Breast Cancer Survivors Dragon Boat Team New Members Meeting We are the only breast cancer survivors dragon boat team located on the North Shore.

Join us for Dragon Busters New Members Meeting: February 29th, 6:30 − 7:30 pm Parkgate Library (Enid Deering Room) Contact us at newmembers@dragonbusters.ca

CASH for your CLUTTER I will pay CASH for your UNWANTED ITEMS! I specialize in RECORDS, English Bone China & Figurines, Collectibles, Tools, Antiques, ETC

Rob • 604-307-6715

Old Books Wanted. Also: Photos Postcards, Letters, Paintings. No text books or encyclopedias. I pay cash.

604-737-0530

Found SET OF keys on copper ring, 2 large brass and two small silver ones. 604-984-7385

REAL ESTATE

Lost FEB 6TH, gold earring lost in the vicinity of Lonsdale Quay.

604-990-1504

Lost − Prescription reading glasses in pouch lost on Feb. 1st in the vicinity of Fresh St. Market and John Lawson Park.

Please phone 604−926−0956. Reward.

NEW TO YOU

Place your Legal and Public Notices in the Classifieds!

Call 604-653-7851 Your junk is someone’s jackpot.

1BR/1BA Creekside $889,000 Gondola Village 1 bdrm + loft. Views up Whistler Mountain. Short walk to Creekside Gondola, lakes, valley trail, and Creekside village amenities.

In suite washer/dryer.

Has been a good producer on Airbnb.

Please contact via email for further info and pics. ashleyan@hotmail.com

RENTAL To place your ad email nmather@glaciermedia.ca

3 BR CENTRAL LONSDALE,

rec rm, carport, fresh paint, n/s, n/pets. $2950 Call 604-813-7312

BUSINESS SERVICES Accounting/Bookkeeping *denotes Professional Corporation

VISION TAX*

U.S. & Canadian Personal Tax Compliance & Consulting Services Emily Lo, CPA-CGA Canada, CPA US (WA) Tel: (604) 495-0075 (Vancouver, BC) Email: emily@visiontax.ca Website: www.visiontax.ca Emily Lo is a tax accountant with 15+ years of experience in providing cross-border U.S. & Canadian tax services. We ensure timely filing of your tax & information returns & provides cross-border tax consultation & tax saving strategies.

Financial Planner Investments, advice, and planning to help you define your goals and achieve them.

236−838−0172 advisor.rbcfinancialplanning .com/julia−prawdzik

To advertise call

604-653-7851

FLooring

A & A Millwood Quality Drywall Service. Repairs, renos, new construction. Prompt service.

BATHROOM RENOVATIONS

Tiling - All Installations HOME BUILDER

Santo • 778-235-1772

Richard cell 604-671-0084 or 604-986-9880

eLectricAL

Maid it Bloom

Spring, regular, office, move out & same day house cleaning.

Fully licensed. www.maiditbloom.ca

Call 604-833-7217

18 YRS Professional cleaner.

Excellent refs, N. Shore 604-980-1495 www.maidinheaven.ca

A CLEAN SWEEP! Home and Move Out Cleaning. 778-836-9970

concrete

AGGRECON SPECIALTIES

• Polished Concrete Floors • Pumping • Placing • Sealing • Acid Staining • Decorative Concrete • Forming • Demolition • Foundation Pouring Professional Work

.

YOUR ELECTRICIAN Lic#89402.

Insured. Guaranteed.

Fast same day service.

We love BIG & small jobs!

604-568-1899

goldenleafelectrical.com

All Electrical, Low Cost, Licensed, Res/Com, Small job expert, Renos, Panel changes.

(604)374-0062 Simply Electric

GOLDEN HARDWOOD, LAMINATE & TILES. Install Hardwood, Sanding/Refinishing, Tiling. + Home Renovations.

• 778-858-7263 •

N.C.B. CONCRETE LTD.

Low price, big/small jobs, satisfaction guar. Free est

#89724

604-765-3329

Fencing

Renovations, Tiling, Wood Floors, Drywall, General Carpentry, Stonework & Landscaping.

chulavistahomeservices.ca

Francisco 604-710-9837

Handyman on the North Shore Fully Insured & WCB 604−551−4267 www.nv−handyman.ca

HeAting

INSTALLATION, Free Est. • Great Prices.

Satisfaction Guaranteed.

604-518-7508

gutters

INSTALL • SERVICE • REPAIR • Furnaces • Boilers • Heat Pumps • Air Conditioning • Tankless Water Heaters • Hot Water Tanks • Fireplaces Kyle

604-916-4141

License No: 89267

Best Rates & Free Est. Res/Com/All Electrical Service/Panel Upgrade

HAndyperson

REFINISHING, SANDING.

604-999-2332

ALP ELECTRIC

All advertising published in this newspaper is accepted on the premise that the merchandise and services offered are accurately described and willingly sold to buyers at the advertised prices. Advertisers are aware of these conditions. Advertising that does not conform to these standards or that is deceptive or misleading, is never knowingly accepted. If any reader encounters non-compliance with these standards we ask that you inform the Publisher of this newspaper and The Advertising Standards Council of B.C. OMISSION AND ERROR: The publishers do not guarantee the insertion of a particular advertisement on a specified date, or at all, although every effort will be made to meet the wishes of the advertisers.

Further, the publishers do not accept liability for any loss of damage caused by an error or inaccuracy in the printing of an advertisement beyond the amount paid for the space actually occupied by the portion of the advertisement in which the error occurred. Any corrections of changes will be made in the next available issue. The North Shore News will be responsible for only one incorrect insertion with liability limited to that portion of the advertisement affected by the error. Request for adjustments or corrections on charges must be made within 30 days of the ad’s expiration.

For best results please check your ad for accuracy the first day it appears. Refunds made only after 7 business days notice!

• Repairs • Staining • Installation • Free Estimates

DNE Electric

778-919-7707

Specializing in residential concrete. Repair, removal and new installation.

Patio specialists 604-988-9523 or 604-988-9495

Hardwood Floor Refinishing Experts

604-376-7224 centuryhardwood.com

cLeAning

ADVERTISING POLICIES

FinAnciAL services

dryWALL

www.kylesheating.ca 604-644-9648

Gutter Cleaning, Power Washing, Window Cleaning, Roof Cleaning

Call Simon for prompt & professional service 30 yrs exp.

604-230-0627

LOOKING TO FREE UP SOME

LAndscAping SHAW LANDSCAPING LTD. Complete Landscaping WINTER CLEAN-UP. Lawn Cuts.

Shrubs & Tree Pruning.

778-688-1012

NORTH SHORE FENCE and YARD

Quality work by professionals Repairs and construction

604-230-3559

604-653-7851

TODAY'S PUZZLE ANSWERS

north shore news nsnews.com

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024 |

HOME SERVICES PLuMbinG

roofinG

.

A-1 Contracting & Roofing

• Hot Water Tanks • Plumbing • Heating • Furnaces • Boilers • Drainage • Res. & Comm.

• 24/7 Service

New Roofs & Re-Roofing ALL TYPES All Maintenance & Repairs GUTTER CLEANING Gutter Guard Installations • RENOVATION WORK • WCB. 25% Discount • Emergency Repairs •

Jag 778-892-1530

604-240-2881

604-437-7272

A.A. BEST PRO

DELBROOK PLUMBING & DRAINAGE

.

.

GARDEN SERVICES LTD.

Lawn aeration & Lawnmaint, maint., Moss, moss control, powerTrims, raking, Power Raking, trims, pruning, topping, cleanups.

Pruning, Topping, Clean-Ups

Free Estimates Call Sukh

604.726.9152 604.984.1988

SERAFINA

Garden Services Garden Services Ltd. • Winter Clean-Up & Maintenance • Pruning, weeding etc.

• Design & advice • Professional & experienced

www.serafinagardens.ca 604-984-4433 contact Cari

MovinG

ABE MOVING • DELIVERY and Rubbish Removal $45/hr per person. 24/7

PaintinG/ waLLPaPer

PRISM PAINTING Interior & Exterior Repaint Specialist 18 yrs experience

ü Senior disc available ü Free estimates

3 rooms

$699 (paint included)

CALL 7 DAYS A WEEK SUNNY

778-893-1786

RICKY DEWAN PAINTING Exterior Interior // Interiors Exterior Spring Specials Fall Specials Winter Specials BOOK NOW.

ABE Rubbish Removal + Delivery & Moving Services.

PROMPT. RELIABLE.

604-999-6020

ClutterMan

Gardening & Rubbish

Removal. 604-709-6230

tree services

a1kahlonconstruction.ca

TREE WORKS

TREE SERVICES Tree & Stump Removal

75 ft Bucket Trucks

604-787-5915

.

604-729-6695

www.treeworksonline.ca

renos & HoMe iMProveMent

* on jobs over $1000

RAIN FOREST STONE MASONRY

$50 OFF

Re-Roofing & Maintenance Repair

SPECIALISTS

20 Year Labour Warranty Available Family owned & operated.

18 Years serving the North Shore Walls, Fireplaces, Brick, Stairs & Patios New & Repairs

604-591-3500 604-502-8683

Your Community Newspaper

allseasonsroofing.ca

Bros. Roofing Ltd.

Michael

604-802-7850 ..

ALL RENOVATIONS • Kitchen • Baths • Additions • Stairs • Patio • Decks • Fencing • Gates • Painting • Drywall & MORE. Quality Workmanship

778-892-1530

a1kahlonconstruction.ca

MASTER CARPENTER

• Finishing • Doors • Moulding • Decks • Renos • Repairs Emil: 778-773-1407 primerenovation.ca

Over 40 Years in Business SPECIALIZING IN CEDAR, FIBERGLASS LAMINATES AND TORCH ON.

Liability Insurance, WCB, BBB, Free Estimates

604-946-4333 MCNABB ROOFING

ALL Roofing & Repairs.

Insured • WCB 40+ yrs exp • Free Est’s

Roy • 604-839-7881

call to place your ad 604-653-7851 604.630.3300

Grow Your Business

Serving the North shore for over 20+ years

604-299-5831 or 604-833-7529

To advertise call

604-653-7851

Please recycle this newspaper.

PUZZLE ANSWERS ON SEPARATE PAGE

Pruning, Hedge Trimming

• Licensed & Insured • No Job Too Small • Hot Water Tanks • Specializing in Waterline

604-999-6020

Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a Sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes.

DOWN

25+ years Experience.

Fully Ins’d. Lic’d & WCB Winter Clean-up Specials • Lawn Maintenance • Power Rake • New Sod & Seeding • Tree Topping & Trimming • Power Wash • Gutters • Patio’s • Decks • Fences • Concrete • Retaining Walls • Driveways & Sidewalks & Much MORE All work guaranteed Free Estimates

SUDOKU

rubbisH reMovaL

ACROSS

Lawn & Garden

A35

To place your ad conTact Dawn at 604-653-7851 or nmather@glaciermedia.ca

1. Gene type 5. Persian male given name 10. Type of protection 12. Cloud 14. One who returns to life 16. Gym class 18. General’s assistant (abbr.)

19. Baby’s dining accessory 20. Enchantress 22. Prefix denoting “in a”

23. Spiritual leader 25. Cavities 26. Relative biological effectiveness (abbr.)

27. Foot (Latin) 28. Sweet potato 30. Pharaoh of Lower Egypt 31. Land 33. More inquisitive 35. Dog breed: __ Apso 37. Stood up 38. Direct and uninhibited

40. Authorless 41. Blocking type of drug (abbr.)

42. Retrospective analysis (abbr.)

44. Root mean square (abbr.)

45. Macaws 48. Actress Remini 50. Polynesian wrapped skirt 52. City of Angels hoops team (abbr.)

53. Fitzgerald and Baker are two

55. Bowling alley must-have 56. A way to cool down 57. Ethnic group in Asia 58. A way to alter 63. Set of five 65. Removes from the record 66. Dummies 67. Set period in office

1. DC Comics superhero 2. Brew 3. Play 4. Single-celled animals 5. Rough to the touch 6. Small island (British) 7. Often noted alongside cons 8. Preparation of rootstock 9. Atomic #44

10. Egyptian unit of capacity 11. About secretary 13. Particular groups 15. Poke fun at 17. Make certain that something occurs 18. Financial term 21. Justify 23. Arbiter 24. 007’s creato 27. Czech name for Prague 29. Groans 32. American time

34. No seats available 35. __ Stahl, journalist 36. Cleft lip 39. Talk incessantly 40. Expresses atomic and molecular weights (abbr.)

43. A part of a river where the current is very fast 44. Curdled milk 46. Running competitions 47. A team’s best pitcher

49. Carthaginian explorer 51. World-renowned city 54. Most common Japanese surname 59. The bill in a restaurant 60. They __ 61. City of Angels football team (abbr.)

62. Distinctive practice 64. One quintillion bytes

A36 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2024

W NO

S

IN L EL

G

ELEGANTLY URBAN In North Vancouver’s urban heart, Elle by Polygon offers a boutique collection of one, two, and three bedroom homes in a concrete 22-storey, mixed-use building just off Lonsdale and 15th. Located in a neighbourhood with a diverse mix of restaurants, shops and amenities lining Lonsdale, Elle puts homeowners at the centre of convenience.

One bedroom homes from $ 918,000. Two bedroom homes from $1,188,000.

1604A Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver | Open noon to 5 pm daily (except Fridays) 604.239.3382 | elle@polyhomes.com | polyhomes.com

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