WEDNESDAY JULY 9 2025
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Bicycle Bells
District of North Vancouver council moves to make them mandatory
NORTH POINT BREWERY CO-OWNER SEAN ANNABLE
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Order or Canada
A local artist and civil servant each receive the highest civilian honour
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ROYAL CANADIAN NAVY
North Shore man takes command of Pacific fleet ABBY LUCIANO
aluciano@nsnews.com Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A man with North Shore roots is taking command of the Royal Canadian Navy’s Pacific Fleet.
Capt. Samuel Patchell signed on to the role in a change of command ceremony aboard HMCS Vancouver at the Burrard Dry Dock on July 2, taking over for Rear-Admiral David Mazur. Patchell said he looks forward to the challenges that lie ahead. “I’m really humbled … it’s a little emotional,” he said. “I have an awesome responsibility to lead our Canadian sailors. It’s absolutely incredible, the people, the best of Canadians serve in our navy. They need strong leadership and guidance. I’ll do my best to support them, because the real hard stuff we’re going to ask them to do needs strong leadership.” The long-serving navy member was born in North Vancouver and grew up in West Vancouver and even remembers delivering the North Shore News in 1989. “I never would have imagined delivering the North Shore News and the guy here,” said Patchell, who now lives in Victoria. Patchell said he was inspired to enlist by his grandfather, a Second World War veteran who used to take him aboard visiting ships and tell him stories about his time in
Royal Canadian Navy Capt. Samuel Patchell and fellow personnel salute during the national anthem at a change of command ceremony on the North Vancouver waterfront, July 2. ABBY LUCIANO / NSN the navy. The new commander first joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 2001. Patchell served as a navigating officer in 2006 and, two years later, specialized as a deck officer where he was deployed on Operation Hestia, Canada’s
humanitarian response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Patchell has also served as the executive assistant to the deputy commander of United Nations Command in Pyeongtaek, South Korea in 2018. Shortly after returning to Continued on A17