THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2022 TRICITYNEWS.COM
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Coquitlam
Port Coquitlam
Port Moody
Mental health calls up 40% this spring: RCMP
Council sets its priorities for the next four years
When local entrepreneurs team up, Vacation happens
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OCTOBER 27
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2022 A LIST
2022
OUR READERS WEIGH IN ON T H E I R TO P P I C K S
2022 EDITION
FIRST PLACE
A LIST
2022
FIRST PLACE Y O U R FAV O U R I T E T H I N G S and a few of theirs as well…
THE VOTES ARE IN!
THE 2022 A-LIST VIVIEN SYMINGTON Club Aviva Recreation
NAHEED WALJI Astoria Retirement Residence
P O RT C O Q U I T L A M ★
HALLOWEEN HAUNTS
JUDY ZHU Eagle Ridge Hospital Foundation
ANDREW ABRAHAM Thrifty Foods Port Moody
GINA CHONG Asian Arts and Culture Society
P O RT M O O DY ★
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CHIEF ED HALL Sχəpχeyləm Si:ýém’ Chief Kwikwetlem First Nation
inside today’s
COQUITLAM ★
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CITY HALL
Lots of projects, not enough staff at Coq. City Hall
Ken Honigman has been crafting his Anmore Manor horror show for eight years, raising money for the SHARE food bank. It’s one of several Halloween frights around the Tri-Cities. See the story on Page 17. MARIO BARTEL/TCN
YOUR TRI-CITIES
WILLS, ESTATES AND TRUSTS TEAM
FAVORITE LAW FIRM & BEST LAWYER DON DRYSDA
Coquitlam city hall may be sitting pretty financially. But it hasn’t got enough staff to get some of its major projects off the ground. Monday (Oct. 24), council-in-committee heard from senior corporate managers about the tight labour market that’s affecting all Lower Mainland municipalities, post–pandemic. According to the latest newsletter by CivicInfoBC, released Monday, there are 678 positions available at municipal halls and civic facilities across the province — in every department. In Coquitlam, staff vacancy rates tend to be around the five to six per cent mark; however, as of August, there were 90 jobs available, representing an 8.5 per cent vacancy rate.
Leaving your next of kin without a well-planned will makes an already tragic situation even worse. We have helped thousands of families develop thorough, tax-effective estate plans.
By comparison, Port Coquitlam’s rate is at 5.8 per cent; Port Moody’s at 4.86 per cent. Coquitlam’s staff shortages mean some big projects scheduled in the 2022 Business Plan — OK’d by council last year — will be put on hold or delayed, city manager Peter Steblin said. In its second trimester report, the city put two projects “on hold,” citing the lack of civic staff: the Coquitlam River Park Master Plan and the Town Centre Park Gateway Planning. It’s the first time that the City of Coquitlam has been forced to put major projects in a true holding pattern, said Graham Stuart, director of corporate planning, at Monday’s meeting. see
Don Drysdale
Richard Rainey
Lawyer Don Drysdale
‘THERE’S TOO’, page 3
Alexander Huxtable
Law Firm