Abbotsford

Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens stands at a lectern delivering his remarks during a joint news conference with the mayors of Merritt, B.C., and Princeton, B.C. Mayor Siemens has short light grey hair, and is wearing a dark grey suit jacket, with a light blue button-down shirt, and a pattered blue tie. The front of the lectern features the municipal logos for each of the involved municipalities. A Canadian flag hangs in the background just beyond Mayor Siemens’ left shoulder. Mayor Siemens is standing inside, and behind him are windows that reveal green foliage outside.

‘Something’s going to break’: Abbotsford mayor calls on federal government to fund $1.6B flood mitigation projects

June 7, 2024 by Mike McCulloch

The Mayor of Abbotsford is calling on the provincial and federal governments to help fund the city’s “urgent works,” three flood mitigation projects that together cost approximately $1.6 billion.

Abbotsford’s application to an Industry Canada disaster mitigation fund was denied, prompting the city, in concert with fellow municipalities Merritt, B.C. and Princeton B.C., to hold a joint press conference, in which the municipalities insisted the federal government change the way it funds climate change disaster prevention.

Mayor Ross Siemens speculated that there may be party politics at play, “one is left to wonder if this isn’t a political decision, because I’m not naïve enough to know that [the Justin Trudeau Liberal government is] in crisis mode, and so they’re trying to shore up their support, and their support is not out West.”

An arial shot of the city of Abbotsford, facing North. Mill Lake is pictured in the centre and Sumas Mountain is in the background on the right.

Abbotsford water restrictions in place through summer

June 7, 2024 by Surjit Atwal

The City of Abbotsford’s annual water restrictions are again in place until the end of summer.

Nathan Koning, the municipality’s general manager of engineering, told CIVL Radio that he is grateful to Abbotsford residents for following the restrictions, which began May 1.

“I really appreciate and express my gratitude to everyone for doing their part … to help conserve the water supply,” said Koning.

“There are penalties in place if folks are choosing not to follow the restrictions, Koning said, “then we do have a system in place that allows us to provide that extra encouragement.”

Koning said current water restriction details can be found at ourwatermatters.ca.

Abbotsford fire chief Erick Peterson, a middle-aged man with brown crew-cut hair, is pictured. He is smiling and wearing a navy-blue uniform with a navy-blue tie, and white button-down shirt. There is green foliage in the background.

Abbotsford Fire Chief advises preparation for wildfire season

May 31, 2024 by Surjit Atwal

While wildfire risk is currently low, Abbotsford Fire Rescue Service (AFRS) Chief Erick Peterson is urging that the community prepares.

“Right now, our fire rating is low, which is really typical for this time of year, but with the lower-than-normal snow accumulations, and those hotter and drier summers, it’s important that we prepare,” Peterson told CIVL Radio.

AFRS trains all its staff annually in wildfire suppression and ensures all trucks are equipped accordingly.

Peterson said citizens can prepare by planning for potential evacuations, following the B.C. Wildfire Service on social media, and readying their homes by maintaining sheds and other structures, moving fuels and combustibles away, and cleaning out gutters and roofs.

The City of Abbotsford offers additional wildfire preparedness tips on their website.

A large, illuminated, puppet with the likeness of a mink hovers feet above an audience of predominantly children. One of those children has raised their arm, apparently to try to pet the puppet. The puppet has a glowing light-yellow hue, with a black nose and eyes that are lined black. The puppet is depicted with a brown and yellow iris, and has scruffy hairs hanging off of its face and body.

Luminous Waters returns to Abbotsford to mark National Indigenous History Month

May 30, 2024 by Mike McCulloch

The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford is showcasing a pair of performances based on a children’s book it published called Semá:th X̱ó:tsa: Sts’ólemeqwelh Sx̱ó:tsa – or Sumas Lake: Great-Gramma’s Lake, honouring National Indigenous History Month.

The book was written by museum staff with Stó:lō knowledge keepers.

Three large, illuminated puppets to tell the story of Semá:th X̱ó:tsa – or Sumas Lake – before it was drained by colonial settlers 100 years ago, according to organizers. This year, students from Abbotsford School of Integrated Arts (ASIA) – Sumas Mountain will be featured in the performance.

First, the puppets will appear at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival on Saturday.

The performance on June 3 at 7 p.m. is open to the public, while school groups are invited to attend the show on June 5. Teachers who are interested in bringing their class to the free show can contact The Reach for more information.

National Indigenous History Month is observed in June.

A portrait of Muhi Bakini, in which the subject, a bearded Black man, smiles, while looking into the camera. He is wearing a gold and black patterned suit jacket on top of a black shirt. He is wearing a pendant around his neck. His arms are folded across his chest. He is wearing a black fitness watch on his left wrist.

B.C. anti-racism initiatives a move ‘in the right trajectory’: Abbotsford DEI educator

May 29, 2024 by Mike McCulloch

The Government of British Columbia is observing anti-racism awareness week from May 27 to June 2.

“Governments can only do so much,” said Muhi Bakini, a supervisor of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) education and resources, with Archway Community Services in Abbotsford. Bakini runs anti-racism workshops and helps immigrants settle in the Fraser Valley.

Bakini praised a pair of pieces of provincial legislation passed over the last two years that zero in on racism as “practical.” The first, passed in May 2022, which facilitates race-based data collection, and another act passed in April that aims to make use of that data.

Parliamentary Secretary for Anti-Racism Initiatives Mable Elmore also calls on British Columbians to learn about their neighbours by attending cultural festivals and “building a province where everyone’s welcome.”

Advocate Joseph Sakura criticizes British Columbia government’s drug policy reversal

May 24, 2024 by Surjit Atwal

Former drug addict and homeless individual turned advocate Joseph Sakura disagrees with the British Columbian government’s drug policy and decision to shift away from decriminalization.

Sakura, who runs a homeless group called Ground Zero Ministries, says in a CIVL Radio interview that he disagrees with the policy that hands drugs to the homeless community in the city of Abbotsford. He believes the policy allows the homeless community to live in comfort care while the government waits for them to die. Ground Zero Ministries’ mandate is to take people off the streets and place them in recovery facilities so they can lead better and more productive lives.

CIVL has more on the story.

Dean Irving a 69-year-old man, and owner of Sound of Music in Abbotsford, stands to the righthand side of the iconic storefront of Sound of Music. He has grey hair and is wearing a blue button-down shirt, dark slacks, with a black belt, and running shoes. Dean's right hand and arm are raised in a waving gesture. The storefront includes a mural featuring a staff and music notes, as well as various representations of musical instruments and equipment.

Abbotsford music store Sound of Music closing after decades in business

May 24, 2024 by Mike McCulloch

Long-running Abbotsford music store Sound of Music will close its doors in June.

Owners Dean and Eloise Irving will “redirect” their lives into more leisurely pursuits, and shut down the business which evolved from a piano and organ shop in Langley in 1965, to a wholesale distributor, and finally to its last-standing location at 2631 West Railway St., which served Abbotsford musicians since 1998.

The Irvings sold the building for $1.5 million in March and are now carrying out liquidation of the remaining inventory.

The business was founded by Dean’s elementary school teacher, Robert Press. Dean started working for Press at 11-years-old.

“I started washing windows and cleaning out old pianos,” Dean said.

“June 25 will actually be Sound of Music’s 59^th birthday, on that day. That will probably be the last day to buy anything,” Dean said, adding music lessons will run until June 22.

A blue tarp lays on the ground beside a shopping cart filled with a few plastic bags of belongings next to the brown brick wall of a building.

The 5 and 2 Ministries leader thinks Abbotsford homeless population larger than city count

May 24, 2024 by Surjit Atwal

The leader of an organization that works with the unhoused in Abbotsford believes the actual number of homeless people living on the streets of Abbotsford is far greater than the city’s official count.

In an interview with CIVL Radio, Executive Director of The 5 and 2 Ministries Ward Draper said he believes the figure to be greater than 800 people, rather than the approximately 500 people that the city has counted.

Draper said it’s challenging to get an accurate count in Abbotsford because it is the third largest city in British Columbia, and people could be sleeping anywhere. He attributes the rise in homelessness to the cost of living and the lack of shelter in this city.

The province, the federal government, and the community must work together to improve the situation, Draper said.

MLA for Abbotsford South, Bruce Banman, stands at a microphone in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia to deliever a Mother's Day speech. He has grey hair, parted to the side, glasses, a grey beard. He is wearing a charcoal-coloured suit jacket, a light blue button-down shirt, and a navy blue tie. This is a screencapture from the BC legislatures video feed, and because of that, Banman's name, riding, and political affiliation, Conservative BC, are watermarked as part of the image.

Abbotsford South MLA Banman refutes anti-abortion ‘dog whistle’ accusation from NDP

May 17, 2024 by Mike McCulloch

Bruce Banman, MLA for Abbotsford South, said it wasn’t his “intention” to use anti-abortion rhetoric in a message in the legislature last week ahead of Mother’s Day.

“Moms are the embodiment of love, strength, and sacrifice. From the moment of conception through the journey of pregnancy and childbirth, and throughout the myriad of challenges and triumphs that follow, mothers serve as the nurturing force that sustains life and shapes the future,” the member of the Conservative Party of British Columbia said in his speech. The NDP government’s parliamentary secretary of gender equity and Chilliwack Kent MLA Kelli Paddon shared this section of Banman’s comment on social media afterwards. She told CIVL Radio that she wants to know where all BC Conservative candidates stand on a woman’s right to choose. Meanwhile, Banman affirmed that “it is a woman’s body and a woman’s choice,” and accused the NDP of politicizing Mother’s Day.

French academic Louis-Georges Tin, the founder of International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, pictured in 2016 wearing a black blazer over a navy-blue button-down shirt. He is a black man with short hair black hair and a receding hairline. He has a mole on his left cheek. His upper lip is ensconced with a sparse moustache.

No Space For Hate Abbotsford to hold LGBTQ rally Friday night

May 16, 2024 by Mike McCulloch

The Abbotsford chapter of a group known for standing up against anti-LGBTQ hate is planning to hold a rally to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT).

IDAHOBIT is observed annually around the globe on May 17. At Jubilee Park in Abbotsford, No Space For Hate will be joined by organizers from Fraser Valley Youth Society and Fraser Valley Pride.

“[We] will have folks and volunteers there in attendance. So be sure to say ‘hi,’” said Ali Slack, executive director of Fraser Valley Youth Society and the chair of Fraser Valley Pride.

Brittany, a transwoman who is not completely out and asked to have her last name withheld, is in charge of organizing the event on behalf of No Space For Hate. She told CIVL Radio she has reason to believe this event will be targeted by counter-protesters, yet she welcomes the opportunity to “change minds.”

The event takes place on Friday from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.

A portrait of Canadian author Jay Lang. She is wearing a tan-coloured brimmed woven hat on her head. Her blonde hair flows out from under the hat and across her forehead and shoulders. She is wearing pink lipstick.

Abbotsford author Jay Lang weaves latest twisted tale through Fraser Valley

May 15, 2024 by Mike McCulloch

Abbotsford suspense-thriller novelist Jay Lang revisits last year’s One Take Jake with a new sequel.

One Take Jake: Last Call catches up with Lance, a North Vancouver session musician turned vigilante justice killer, right before he busts out of prison while locked up at Matsqui Institution. From there, Lance sneaks across Abbotsford border crossing into the United States on his way to New York, with an eye toward eventually escaping into Mexico.

A best-selling author with publisher Books We Love (BWL), Lang, said like the original, One Take Jake: Last Call is written in “musician-speak.”

“I do have a somewhat musical background, so … it’s a very colloquial way of telling a story,” Lang said.

Rainbow and Deep Purple frontman Joe Lynn Turner wrote the foreword. Lang credits New York Times best-selling author David Baldacci for offering his expertise. Meanwhile, famed Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield makes an appearance.

Photo of an Abbotsford Police vehicle moving at highspeed through traffic

Abbotsford Police Department looks to reduce impaired driving as 2023 Traffic Report nears release

April 22, 2024 by Surjit Atwal

The Abbotsford Police Department (AbbyPD) will soon release its traffic statistics report for 2023.

Ahead of that publication, CIVL Radio interviewed Constable Art Stele about traffic trends and road safety from the last year.

Stele said the AbbyPD recorded 363 roadside prohibitions for drivers whose alcohol levels they found over the legal limit. It’s a statistic, he said, they would like to reduce.

“Looking at these statistics from last year, we noticed that there was still a persistent trend with impaired driving as well as speeding,” said Stele. “That number is high for our liking.”

Listen to the complete audio interview for details on how the AbbyPD intends to “mitigate, impede and educate the public as to the risks” of impaired driving, and other road safety concerns.