B.C.’s latest LNG approval sends mixed messages about commitments to climate and Indigenous Rights – BC News
The Canadian Press – Mar 26, 2023 / 2:05 pm | Story: 418005
Photo: The Canadian Press
Then-Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation Ravi Kahlon
British Columbia says it will be providing 330 new homes for people living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside by the end of June.
Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says there are currently about 117 people living on East Hastings Street, and 70 of them have expressed a desire for housing.
The new initiative will include two temporary supportive housing projects and a mix of renovated single room occupancy and other supportive housing units, which will open “on a rolling basis” through April, May and June.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim says there has been an uptick in safety concerns for those living in the Downtown Eastside, citing an increase in sexual and violent assaults as well as fires, adding the new housing will provide safety to the city’s most vulnerable residents.
The Vancouver Fire Rescue Service issued an order to remove tents and structures along East Hastings Street last July, which Kahlon says compelled governments and service providers to develop a co-ordinated response plan to help people get off the streets and safely into homes.
He credits the response plan for getting more than 90 people who were living on the street into housing.
Matt Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative – Mar 26, 2023 / 1:00 pm | Story: 418002
Photo: .
Cedar LNG would export three million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually, about 30 per cent of what its larger neighbour plans to ship when it starts operations in 2026.
In Smithers, B.C., Sundays are shift-change days.
The grocery store parking lots fill with work trucks bearing bumper stickers that proclaim love for Canadian pipelines. The highway becomes a stream of pickups, their orange safety flags — that tower above the trucks on the worksite for visibility — tucked down for travel. Outside a local hotel, vehicles assigned to a controversial RCMP unit tasked with policing opposition to industrial projects make up a majority of the trucks and SUVs flanking the building.
They’re all here because of the Coastal GasLink pipeline being built to connect underground shale gas formations in the province’s northeast with marine shipping routes on the Pacific coast, about 120 kilometres from Smithers as the crow flies. Until recently, there was only one liquefaction and export facility preparing to receive the gas — now there are two.
In mid-March, B.C.’s NDP government approved Cedar LNG, a partnership between the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation. Pending final investment decision, the liquefaction and export terminal would be built over the tidal waters of Douglas Channel across from the Haisla village of Kitamaat, just a few kilometres from LNG Canada. Cedar LNG would export three million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually, about 30 per cent of what its larger neighbour plans to ship when it starts operations in 2026. Like LNG Canada, it would receive its supply from Coastal GasLink.
Premier David Eby and Haisla elected chief councillor Crystal Smith announced the decision at a press conference on March 14, with Eby calling it “an unprecedented opportunity for both Haisla Nation and the region.”
“Today’s announcement marks a historic milestone for Cedar LNG and the Haisla Nation’s journey towards economic self-determination,” Smith said in a statement. “Together with our partner, Pembina Pipeline, we are setting a new standard for responsible and sustainable energy development that protects the environment and our traditional way of life.”
Hot on the heels of the announcement, the province said it is developing new regulations for the oil and gas sector, including an emissions cap and a requirement that all new projects have a “credible plan” to reach net zero by 2030. For example, Ksi Lisims, a proposed liquefaction facility on Nisga’a territory, now needs to include an emissions reduction plan as part of its environmental assessment.
But the rule doesn’t apply to the newly approved project. Instead, the Haisla Nation is signing a memorandum of understanding with the province to explore opportunities for emissions reductions beyond its approved plan.
“Already proposed to be one of the lowest-emitting facilities in the world, we will be working in partnership to further reduce the project’s emissions,” Eby said.
Critics and climate activists decry B.C.’s approval of another gas export terminal, while supporters applaud the decision as an act of reconciliation. Meanwhile, energy analysts cautiously approved the province’s plan to implement new policies and regulations but question how effective they will be at curbing emissions from already approved projects.
Here’s what we know so far.
Cedar LNG’s approval was announced less than a week before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published its latest report, which warns the decisions governments make this decade “will have impacts now and for thousands of years.”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres didn’t mince words in a video message released with the report, noting, “the rate of temperature rise in the last half century is the highest in 2,000 years.” He called the document a “survival guide for humanity.” A key point in that guide, he said, is governments should not approve or fund new oil and gas projects and stop expanding existing fossil fuel reserves.
“In short, our world needs climate action on all fronts — everything, everywhere, all at once,” Guterres said.
If built, Cedar LNG would receive 400 million cubic feet of gas daily, fed from the contentious Coastal GasLink pipeline. According to documents filed with the B.C. environmental assessment office, the plant would emit around 8.6 megatonnes of equivalent carbon pollution over its 40-year lifespan. Upstream, the project would add an additional 39 megatonnes, about the same amount of emissions produced by putting 8.4 million cars on the road for a year or driving around the planet 12 million times.
The provincial approval is subject to 16 conditions, including developing an emissions reduction plan that aligns with B.C.’s climate goals. The plant will power its turbines with electricity supplied by BC Hydro, which minimizes — but doesn’t eliminate — emissions produced during the energy-intensive liquefaction process.
“Powered by renewable electricity and with plans to achieve near-zero emissions by 2030, Cedar LNG showcases what responsible resource development can look like as we transition to a clean-energy future,” Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne said in a statement.
According to an industry analysis, liquefaction accounts for less than one-third of emissions produced by the gas sector. The rest is added to the atmosphere during extraction, pipeline transport, shipping, regasification and combustion. And that’s only the emissions we track — invisible methane leaks at every step of the process are a problem industry operators and regulators grapple with worldwide.
George Heyman, B.C. minister of environment and climate change strategy, said the new energy framework and emissions cap played a prominent role in the project decision, which took 118 days, more than 60 days past the legislated deadline.
He described Cedar LNG as a relatively small and well-designed project “in terms of doing everything it can to minimize environmental and carbon impact — which is not to say it doesn’t have any” and noted the broader scope of emissions were considered in the approval.
“In my view it is far more important to have a broad-reaching, sector-wide set of clear rules and regulations that demonstrate how we are going to steadily reduce emissions in the sector, rather than to hang successive failure or credibility on the approval or failure to approve one or another project,” he told The Narwhal in an interview.
If all goes as planned, Cedar LNG would power up its turbines in 2027 and continue operating until 2067, close to two decades after the date 196 countries promised to get emissions down to zero in the Paris Agreement signed in 2015. In 2021, Canada enacted legislation that holds the federal government accountable to that commitment. That means pollution associated with the project, however small, will have to be offset in some way.
As a recent Guardian investigation revealed, more than 90 per cent of emissions offsets purchased by companies like Disney, Shell and Gucci were “worthless.” Put another way, no greenhouse gases were prevented from entering the atmosphere but corporations used the offsets to market their products as environmentally friendly.
Karena Shaw, a political ecologist and associate professor of environmental studies at the University of Victoria, worries the sector won’t be held accountable.
“What message is this decision sending out to the fossil fuel industry?” she said in an interview. “If we let industry get away with a ‘credible plan’ to be net zero, we’re going to lose. A credible plan to get to net zero could be just purchasing the cheapest offsets that are out there.”
Other methods of decreasing emissions produced by the gas sector include carbon capture and storage, but the recent International Panel on Climate Change report noted this would be the most costly and least effective way to tackle the problem.
Cedar LNG went through a joint provincial-federal environmental assessment process and the federal government gave its stamp of approval one day after B.C. approved the project. But it’s unknown how the new emissions cap and other regulations like stricter methane rules will affect industry investment in the sector.
“There are a number of projects that have not yet made final investment decisions,” Heyman noted. “They now know what the rules are and can make a determination if they’re able to meet them.”
Werner Antweiler, an energy economist and associate professor at the University of British Columbia, told The Narwhal investors will be paying attention to “local regulatory uncertainty and the global long-term outlook in the LNG market.”
He said Indigenous Rights and environmental mandates are the two main drivers of uncertainty in B.C.
“The long overdue recognition of Indigenous interest through the [United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples] requirement on Free, Prior and Informed Consent requires businesses to adapt,” he wrote in an email. “Most of the proposed LNG projects in B.C. have come to naught. Given the choice to build in B.C. or somewhere else, most natural gas firms will likely look somewhere else first.”
Adam Olsen (S?HENEP), a Green party representative and member of Tsartlip First Nation (WJO?E?P), said a “very optimistic person” would view the province’s new energy framework as a regulatory means to make B.C. oil and gas development uneconomical.
“What might come out at the other end of that emissions cap process is simply an unsustainable fossil fuel industry in this province,” he told The Narwhal in an interview.
He said others would argue the government used the framework and the memorandum of understanding — both of which lack details — as a smokescreen for green-lighting another fossil fuel project.
“With so little detail on that energy action framework, it’s near impossible to actually determine what’s going to happen.”
Heyman said the details will be released over the next few months, along with timelines on when changes will be implemented.
Getting a solid return on exporting B.C. gas to buyers across the Pacific has always been somewhat iffy, Shaw said.
“For years, there’s always been this sort of back and forth around the viability of the sector in British Columbia,” she said. “It’s going to be the first to go when the market gets pinched.”
In early February, Calgary-based TC Energy announced a revised cost estimate for the Coastal GasLink pipeline of $14.5 billion, more than double its original estimate. That price, the pipeline operator said, could rise by another $1.2 billion if construction isn’t completed this year.
Antweiler said the International Energy Agency’s analysis of global gas demand forecasts either minimal growth or significant decreases, noting “investors will be reasonably cautious given these scenarios.”
“This said, energy security can still lead to regional expansions as reliability of supply can play an important role, or if a carbon border adjustment mechanism as introduced in the [European Union] requires buyers to shift from high-carbon-emission to low-carbon-emission sources.”
Shaw said companies are holding out for now, likely waiting to see what happens as the province develops its regulations and hoping governments will make investment easier. B.C. contributed more than $5.4 billion in financial incentives to LNG Canada and committed to spend more than $700 million of taxpayer dollars to secure support from First Nations for the pipeline and the sector at large.
“If they get enough subsidies and support from the government, they can make something out of it,” she said.
That financial backing is something Ellis Ross, Skeena MLA with the B.C. Liberals and a member of Haisla Nation, would like to see.
“I sincerely hope Cedar LNG is granted similar tax breaks to those received by LNG Canada,” he said in a statement.
The Haisla nation is no stranger to industrial development on its territories. Canada-based mining company Rio Tinto Alcan has operated its aluminum smelter in Kitimat for about 70 years and, like everywhere else in B.C., the coastal community has seen the impacts of decades of commercial logging.
While the nation has financial agreements with LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink, economic benefits have largely been a byproduct of projects brought forward by outside parties. In contrast, Cedar LNG is being hailed as Canada’s first Indigenous-led liquefied natural gas project. With majority ownership, the Haisla Nation is calling the shots.
“Today is about changing the course of history for my nation, and Indigenous Peoples everywhere in history, where Indigenous people were left on the sidelines of economic development in their territories,” Smith said at the announcement.
Ross, with the B.C. Liberals, celebrated the project approval.
“I am extremely gratified that an initiative we worked on behalf of the Haisla people finally got the respect it deserves from the provincial government,” he said in a statement following the announcement.
Premier Eby said approving Cedar LNG doesn’t mean sacrificing the environment.
“We think that the dichotomy — the idea that you can only have economic development by abandoning environmental principles, or that by holding the environmental principles you have to give up on jobs and opportunities — is a false idea,” he said. “The future in British Columbia around major projects or projects involving land or resources need to be done in partnership with First Nations.”
But critics say there’s another false dichotomy embedded in the government’s actions. If economic reconciliation is only achieved through the development of fossil fuel infrastructure, other economic opportunities for Indigenous communities are obscured or displaced. The narrative also ignores the root cause of economic inequity: colonization.
“The historical context of these issues is critically important to understanding the mechanisms by which colonization, genocide, land dispossession and forced assimilation policies translate into the conditions of poverty that the Indigenous people experience today in B.C.,” a 2022 First Nations Leadership Council report on economic disparity noted.
“Indigenous revenue should not be fettered by a single project,” Olsen said. “It should be viewed as ‘How do we participate? How do Indigenous nations participate and benefit from their lands and territories without having to approve devastating climate-change-inducing projects?’ ”
The greenhouse gases emitted by projects like Cedar LNG have some Indigenous leaders speaking out against increased activity in the fossil fuel sector.
“I am deeply worried about the warming planet and resulting climate emergency that are being driven globally by major industrial resource extraction,” Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said in a statement. “The expansion of the LNG industry and associated fracking that was greenlit … is frightening when we think about how this will impact the lands and waters in this province and across the world.”
While Haisla and other nations in B.C. have historically shown support of projects like Cedar LNG and the Coastal GasLink pipeline, not all Indigenous leaders are behind the industry. Notably, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs oppose the Coastal GasLink project, which is being built on their territory without consent — a central tenet of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was passed into law in B.C. in 2019.
“While they’re saying on one hand this is economic reconciliation for the Haisla, the pipeline is being dragged across other territories,” Olsen said. “There’s huge amounts of challenges — $36 million is being spent on the RCMP protection of that pipeline against other Indigenous people.”
Premier Eby didn’t directly respond to a question about controversy and backlash over Coastal GasLink.
“We are going to have challenges along the way,” he told reporters.
Olsen said it’s important to note he’s not speaking against the Haisla by criticizing the framing of the decision. Rather, he would like to see more options provided to Indigenous communities and for all governments — Indigenous and non-Indigenous — to speak openly.
“It shouldn’t be a zero-sum game for the Haisla,” he said. “It shouldn’t be that if the government doesn’t approve this, there’s no economic development for them. We should be able to have an honest conversation about the fact that fossil fuels are increasing the climate emergency that we’re facing right now and increasing the hostility of the climate and this planet we live on.”
As temperatures continue to rise globally, ecosystems become increasingly uninhabitable for species. Extreme weather events — such as droughts, wildfires, heat domes and atmospheric rivers — can take out entire populations of fish or wildlife.
But the climate isn’t the only culprit.
In B.C., the decline of keystone species like salmon has a long list of causes, including decades of industrial activity. Clearcut logging, hydroelectric facilities, mining, agriculture and other human impacts have wreaked havoc on species and natural systems. In the northeast, where gas for Cedar LNG and other facilities is extracted, cumulative impacts were centre stage in a landmark 2021 court ruling, which found the province guilty of infringing on Blueberry River First Nations’ Treaty Rights by permitting and encouraging widespread development.
“As we’ve seen from the Blueberry River case, there are limits to how much those landscapes can take,” Shaw said.
Earlier this year, the province signed an agreement with Blueberry River First Nations, outlining a plan for how gas extraction on the territory will be managed moving forward. At the time, Premier Eby said the fossil fuel industry could continue digging as much gas out of the ground as companies could get their hands on, they just had to have a smaller footprint on the surface.
“The agreement is not a cap on production, it is a cap on land disturbance,” Eby said in January.
Now, with the emissions cap and energy framework further constraining the sector, it’s unclear how companies like energy company ARC Resources, which inked a deal with the Haisla Nation and Pembina Pipeline Corporation to provide 50 per cent of Cedar LNG’s supply, will get the gas out of the ground.
Meanwhile, construction continues on Coastal GasLink.
“There are immediate, proximate impacts around extraction and around the pipeline itself, but then there’s the broader contribution to climate change,” Shaw said. “There’s always the question of why this project, when do you start saying no. This is what the gut punch is for me. We’re trying to say no everywhere — and this is part of everywhere.”
Mike Howell / Glacier Media – Mar 26, 2023 / 7:45 am | Story: 417985
Photo: Mike Howell
A man is threatening to jump off the Lions Gate Bridge.
A man near the train station at Main Street and National Avenue has been robbed at knifepoint of his electric scooter.
Police are on alert for protesters outside a west side restaurant where a diplomat from India is dining.
These are some of the calls Vancouver police officers were dealing with Wednesday night as Insp. Marco Veronesi rolled through the city in his Ford Explorer, his laptop lit up with maps, statistics and details on each file.
The calls came in when Veronesi — the department’s duty officer for the night — was a few hours into his 12-hour shift, which began at 4:30 p.m.
By shift change in the morning, the call load will have topped 251.
Some will be serious (a woman in her 60s stabbed in the back several times in the Downtown Eastside), some not (providing a blanket for a young homeless man on Granville Street).
None of the calls will make the six o’clock news.
“A lot of us joined policing to go to those emergency calls, where the adrenalin gets going and you’re flying across the city to go do this or go do that — save a life, that kind of thing — but that’s probably 10 to 20 per cent of the job,” said Veronesi, whose laptop screen was dominated at the time by calls for suicidal and missing persons.
Others in the queue included a parent worried about her son being bullied at school, a possible break-and-enter, a suspicious person report, a car accident, an alarm call to a restaurant, a check on the well-being of a person and a request for police to provide assistance to firefighters and paramedics.
The majority of calls was generated from the north side of the city.
Pandemic proved to be crime fighter
It’s now been three years this month since the pandemic forced a shutdown of businesses and workplaces, which in turn emptied the streets of people. The result was burglaries to homes, break-ins to cars and thefts plummeted.
At the same time, violent crime increased and anti-Asian hate crimes skyrocketed.
Police predict property crime will gradually return to pre-pandemic levels.
In the meantime, the number of calls related to a person experiencing a mental health crisis remain steady and continue to be a concern for police, a point Veronesi expanded on as he drove through the Olympic Village.
“It’s definitely worse since the pandemic,” he said. “People’s mental health does not seem to be as good as it was before.”
Police released data in July 2022 that showed assaults committed by people not known to the victim found that mental health was a contributing factor in 73 per cent of 44 cases examined by the department.
Of 44 “stranger assaults,” 53 per cent involved a suspect who was previously apprehended by police under the Mental Health Act; total apprehensions under the act in 2022 reached 4,468.
Add a poisoned drug supply, a homelessness crisis, prohibitively expensive housing and food costs — all of it creating a widening gap between rich and poor — and policing the streets of Vancouver has become a challenging environment for officers.
They’re being spit on, punched and kicked more than ever, too, according to the department’s statistics. At the same time, questions around police-involved shootings and incidents where citizens have been injured or killed continue to make headlines.
Calls to de-fund the police persist.
So do the torqued-up love-hate takes about police via social media.
If there is any middle ground to the polarizing debate, it remains largely a silent public position, although the new city council led by Mayor Ken Sim and ABC Vancouver have committed to hire 100 police officers and 100 mental health workers while also backing a body-worn camera program.
It is with this backdrop that patrol officers under Veronesi’s command set out Wednesday across all four policing districts to arrest people, help people, search for people and thwart at least two potentially dangerous acts of violence involving weapons.
‘Make sure no one’s followed him’
From the seat of his SUV, Veronesi has everything at his fingertips that he needs to do his job.
As chief supervisor for officers on the road, he’s monitoring radios, taking phone calls from sergeants and dispatchers and keeping watch on the call load to see if one district is being overloaded and could use some help.
The operations command centre at the Cambie Street precinct is also a resource for him.
He takes a call from a sergeant working on the west side, where there is a concern that protests in India connected to Sikh separatist leader Amritpal Singh and internet restrictions will attract a crowd outside a restaurant where a diplomat from India is having dinner.
Veronesi: “How was the little protest that was supposed to happen?”
Sergeant: “It’s a non-event. The high council has just arrived on West Seventh and just gone inside. There’s zero activity.”
Veronesi: “Based on what you’re seeing there, what do you think?”
Sergeant: “If I was a betting man, I’d say we’re good. We can stick around for a little while longer…to make sure no one’s followed him from one of his previous locations. But there’s been no activity all day today.”
The RCMP is also on hand and the sergeant says he will consult with them and later report back to Veronesi, who is satisfied with the plan.
Broken femur
As Veronesi finishes up the phone conversation, a call comes over the radio of a car accident involving a 62-year-old man on Franklin Street. It appears the man somehow ran himself over while getting in his car.
A police officer is heard updating the call and says the man has a broken femur.
“That’s not good,” Veronesi says.
At just after 6 p.m., the operations dashboard on Veronesi’s laptop shows 24 patrol units available and 22 others responding to calls.
Another 86 non-patrol units, which could be emergency response teams, drug squads or traffic units, are also signed on.
Veronesi can pull up a map to see where officers are located across the city, obtain fresh crime statistics for a neighbourhood, overlay data such as homes of known gangsters and compare call loads to previous months and years.
“So if you’re a new cop, and you haven’t really worked the city that much, or you’re working in a different district, and you’re starting to drive through it, this will alert you to there’s been say 10 crimes in the last five days in this area,” he says of another feature on his screen.
“You can pull them up and go, ‘Oh, looks like there’s a bad [break-and-enter] person right around here, during these times and hours, and maybe I should pay attention.’”
An officer can also click on a map of the city to determine when a patrol car last toured a neighbourhood. The area will change colours on screen when it is time to send a unit for another visit.
“We now have an immense amount of information at our fingertips, which makes us way more efficient and effective,” says Veronesi, who joined the department in 1991 and recalls his car being equipped with a small computer screen with minimal capabilities and having to write reports by hand.
Shots fired at police, paramedics
Veronesi turns off Columbia Street on to the city’s most desolate strip — East Hastings, which tonight is no different than it has been since the pandemic, with tents lining the sidewalks, people in various states of being and at least one unconscious man being attended to by firefighters.
The man has overdosed outside the Carnegie Centre.
Veronesi exits his SUV and stands with other officers on the sidewalk to ensure firefighters and the arriving paramedics can do their job without any interference from people on the street.
Safety for emergency personnel on the strip is a genuine concern, says Veronesi, who went on to tell a story about paramedics and officers being shot at with a BB gun in January. The shooting occurred just steps away from where Veronesi is standing.
The shots came from the third floor of the Maple Hotel, across the street from the alley where paramedics had rolled up to a call. After being hit with pellets, paramedics called police, who were then shot at upon their arrival.
“You’ve got to have your head on an absolute swivel down here,” he says, looking up and down the strip at the chaotic scene of human misery.
Back in his vehicle, a call comes in for a man being robbed at knifepoint of his electric scooter. It’s nearby at Main and National, and apparently the victim is giving chase while providing a dispatcher with a description of the thief.
Within minutes, police locate a man in a blue tracksuit and arrest him in the Science World parking lot. The victim shows up at the scene, provides a statement for police and thanks them for returning his $1,200 scooter to him.
“So this guy will get charged with theft,” says Veronesi as officers load the man into a police wagon. “Unfortunately, nothing will happen [in terms of serious penalty], but at least this guy’s happy because he gets his scooter back.”
The Downtown Eastside will prove to be the hotspot for calls as Veronesi’s shift continues throughout the evening and into the morning, which is not unusual. As he was coming on shift, a woman in her 60s was stabbed in the back several times.
The update from hospital was that she was in stable condition, but she refused to cooperate with police. Officers were still looking for two suspects.
“We’ll take the report, we’ll investigate it, we’ll try to determine who did it because we don’t want to have people going on stabbing sprees in the Downtown Eastside,” he says, noting stabbings and weapon calls are common in the neighbourhood.
‘He looks pretty angry’
As the sun goes down, a call comes over the radio for a man with “a large hunter’s knife” in the 700-block of Main Street.
“He looks pretty angry, and he’s showing it at random people,” the dispatcher says.
Both uniformed and plainclothes officers begin to mobilize and ensure there is a beanbag shotgun available, as well as a Taser. They track the suspect to a convenience store at Main and Terminal.
Veronesi listens intently to the chatter on the radio.
“Our guys are doing all the right things here — they’re building resources, making sure less lethal [options than a gun] are there in the event that this guy does present a knife and we end up having to deal with him,” he says.
“I’ll get involved if the sergeant is making bad calls that I don’t like. Then I’ll get on the radio and go, ‘No we’re going to do this.’ But that’s not the case here.”
Officers note the concerns about pedestrians outside the store and have set up what Veronesi described as an “action line,” which is essentially a line of defence by police to prevent a suspect from harming others.
In the end, the man doesn’t put up a fight and police arrest him without incident.
The call could have easily gone the other way and resulted in the man being shot, which would have certainly made the news and triggered an investigation by the Independent Investigations Office.
“Those types of calls happen quite often, but [the public doesn’t] hear about them,” says Veronesi, as he scrolled through more calls on his laptop screen.
Calls regarding a suicidal person are also not newsmakers, but they require an emergency response that can involve several officers and mean shutting down bridges and transit service.
At just after 8 p.m., a call comes in from a person saying her friend’s ex-boyfriend plans to jump off the Lions Gate Bridge. Police mobilize and begin to search for the man, whose cellphone is “pinged” by the dispatcher to help with location.
Seven units from Vancouver are on the call, including an officer dispatched to the caller’s location. Officers from West Vancouver and North Vancouver have also joined the search for the man.
“So when you look at how many officers are involved, it’s what a lot of small departments would have for their whole night,” says Veronesi, parked on a side street in the downtown business district. “And we’re able to throw those resources at this in order to try to find the guy.”
And they do eventually find him — on the bridge, where police arrange to take him to hospital.
Drugs, meat and ‘zip gun’
As Veronesi is listening in on the suicide call, his cellphone rings.
It’s a sergeant seeking advice on next steps in a sexual assault investigation.
A woman has just told one of the sergeant’s squad members that she was assaulted about three weeks ago, which is not an uncommon time period for a person to come forward with details of an incident; statistics show 19.6 per cent of sexual offences reported to the VPD in 2022 were historical and occurred in previous years.
Veronesi provides the officer with the on-call number for an expert to respond to questions.
Throughout the shift, he is constantly getting updated from officers and dispatchers about incidents. In some cases, he will attend the scene and in others he will be on the phone or radio to resolve any issues or get details on a file.
During a stop at the department’s satellite office on East Cordova Street, he talks to constables Adam Hohmann and Boyd Richardson about an arrest they made at Carrall and East Hastings.
A man was jaywalking in front of their cruiser and carrying a bag with a $55 package of ribeye steaks from the Grandview Highway Superstore.
The officers stopped him and found that he was in possession of fentanyl, crystal methamphetamine or crack cocaine, a quantity above the legal limit under the province’s new decriminalization laws.
Most concerning to Hohmann and Richardson was that the man was concealing a “zip gun,” a crude but effective pipe-like device that can fire a bullet, which was lodged in the firearm.
The man, who is from Manitoba and has warrants for his arrest, volunteered to the officers that he was an enforcer for a gang.
“This group in particular that he’s talking about have a massive presence down here right now, and they openly wear colours,” Hohmann said. “Recently, they’ve been down here claiming to be community advocates and doing charity work and so on and so forth.”
Richardson said the man will likely be released in the morning with a future court date.
Stolen licence plates
Back on the street, five men in a Dodge pickup truck are driving along West Hastings in front of Harbour Centre when suddenly they are pinned in by police vehicles at the intersection.
They are told to come out with their hands in the air.
The scene, along with a large presence of police, stops pedestrians in their tracks.
The truck’s occupants comply with orders and are visibly confused by the interaction.
Turns out the driver of the truck, who is from Vancouver Island, reported his licence plates stolen to Nanaimo RCMP some time ago. He later recovered his plates but didn’t update RCMP, leaving VPD officers to assume the truck was stolen.
Officers apologized to the men, who said they were in town for an elders’ meeting. An officer ends up transporting them to their hotel.
As Veronesi is making the rounds in another part of the city, he gets a follow-up call from a sergeant who was at the truck incident.
Veronesi: “Were they happy with the police response, or how did that go?”
Sergeant: “They were relatively OK, despite their bumper getting pushed in a little bit. But all five gentlemen have been given contact information and a file number, and they all seem pretty positive about the experience, despite the circumstances.”
A few blocks away, on the Granville Street strip, police get called to a report of an “unwanted person,” which turns out to be a young homeless man named Evan.
He tells police he was trying fix a metal gate outside the Hotel Belmont.
Or was he trying to bend the gate enough to get behind it and have a safe place to sleep for the night?
Police aren’t sure but they learn the man is from White Rock and has family in Langley. He hasn’t had a job for more than a year, he says, and will be sleeping somewhere on Granville Street tonight.
Officers ask him to move along and promise to get him a blanket before their shift ends.
‘That’s rewarding too’
As midnight comes and goes, the calls keep coming — a female is choking a man by a downtown SkyTrain station, a suspicious man is trying the door of a person’s home near Montcalm and Southeast Marine Drive, a man just had his bike taken by another man on West Eighth Avenue, a man is carrying an imitation gun in the Downtown Eastside.
Calls regarding suicidal persons and missing persons remain constant.
Veronesi’s shift will end in three hours before he returns later in the day to start all over again.
Is there such thing as a good night in policing?
“When it’s crazy busy and you’re going from gun call to knife call, where you’re exercising your policing abilities and resolving incidents successfully — that’s a good night for me,” he says, his SUV idling in an alley in Mount Pleasant.
“There’s also other times where a kid is missing, and you find that kid and reunite him with his mother. That’s rewarding, too.”
It is not a job though for everyone.
“But for those that it is for, it’s awesome.”
Nelson Bennett / BIV – Mar 26, 2023 / 7:35 am | Story: 417984
Photo: Teck.
The Elkview coal mine: One of Teck Resources’ four metallurgical coal mines in the East Kootenays will be hived off into a separate company
Ever since its ill-fated foray into, and exit from, Alberta’s oilsands, some shareholders at Teck Resources Ltd. have been questioning the company’s leadership decisions, as well as its ownership.
The company is tightly held by the Keevil family through a dual-class structure that gives class A shareholders 100 votes to every class B share.
In 2020, two hedge funds that owned Teck stock – Tribeca Investment Partners and Impala Asset Management – publicly called for an overhaul at the company, including the replacement of former CEO Don Lindsay, an end to Teck’s dual-class structure and an exit from high-carbon assets such as oil and coal.
They are now getting what they asked for. In September 2022, Lindsay retired, and on Feb. 21 of this year, Teck announced a radical restructuring that includes hiving off its metallurgical coal mines into a separate company and phasing out its dual-class structure.
It’s a move that appears to be designed to mollify ESG-minded investors who don’t like their copper investments tainted with coal – not even the kind that is profitable and essential to making the steel that goes into electric cars, wind turbines, batteries, high-voltage towers and myriad other components of decarbonization.
Under its restructuring plan, Teck’s four metallurgical coal mines in the East Kootenays will be hived off into a separate company – Elk Valley Resources Ltd. – while Teck Metals Corp. will keep the company’s base metals assets, which include copper mines in B.C. and Chile, a zinc mine in Alaska and a lead-zinc smelter in Trail, B.C. Both companies will be publicly listed and headquartered in Vancouver.
Under the plan, Japan’s Nippon Steel will invest $1 billion for 10 per cent of the new Elk Valley Resources (ERV) coal company and will secure new off-take rights as a result. Nippon Steel will have an option to acquire up to 17.5 per cent of Elk Valley Resources’ common shares.
“In order to address a concern that steelmaking coal production capacity may shrink in the future, since capital investment for fossil fuels, including coal, has been decreasing in a trend of pursuing carbon neutrality, Nippon Steel has decided to increase its investment in high-quality steelmaking coal, which is essential in pursuing its own carbon neutral strategy,” Nippon Steel explained in a news release.
Based on Nippon Steel’s $1 billion investment, Teck puts the valuation of the new coal company at $11.5 billion – about half of Teck’s current market capitalization of $23 billion.
The restructuring is subject to a vote by shareholders next month at a special meeting. Once the spinout is approved, new EVR shares would begin publicly trading in June this year.
“I think Teck’s announcement is good news,” said Michael Goehring, CEO of the Mining Association of BC. “I think the potential to have two world-class mining companies based in B.C. is very positive for the mining industry and the province. I see a very strong value proposition for shareholders for both companies once the deal closes.”
Being a diversified mining company worked well for the company in the past. But Teck appeared to have crossed the line with some shareholders when it tried to diversify into oil.
In 2006, Teck began investing in Alberta’s oil sands, eventually taking a 21.3 per cent stake in the $17 billion Fort Hills oil sands project, and proposing to spend $20 billion to build the wholly owned Frontier oil sands project.
By the time Fort Hills went into operation in 2018, Canadian oil prices were in a deep trough, partly due to a lack of pipeline capacity. Western Canadian Select had dropped from US$73 per barrel in 2014 to US$38 per barrel in 2018. Teck recorded a meagre $10 million profit from oil in 2019. Otherwise, between 2018 and 2021, Teck recorded net losses totalling $624 million from its energy assets.
Oil was not only a money loser for Teck, the investment climate for new oil sands projects had also become uncertain under the Trudeau government. Ultimately, Teck decided to pull the plug on its $20 billion Frontier oil sands project and take a $1 billion write-off.
Tribeca Investment Partners and Impala Asset Management called for then-CEO Lindsay’s replacement, and for the company to divest from oil and coal to focus on metals.
Bob Bishop, CEO of Impala Asset Management, told BNN Bloomberg that Teck had been making bad investment decisions.
“I think it’s highlighted by the Fort Hills project, where they’ve spent about $6 billion and they’ve got nothing for it, and the Frontier project, where they spent $1 billion,” Bishop said.
While Lindsay survived the call for his head in 2020, he eventually stepped down, formally retiring in September 2022.
Teck has now fully divested from the oil sands. In December 2022, the company announced it would sell its 21.3 per cent share in Fort Hills to Suncor (TSX,NYSE:SU) and TotalEnergies EP Canada for $1 billion. Between the Fort Hills and Frontier projects, Teck took impairments of about $2 billion on its investments in oilsands projects.
Dissident shareholders also questioned Teck’s dual-class share structure and the disproportionate control it gave the Keevil family. With just 7.7 million shares, Teck’s class A shareholders hold more voting power than its 528 million class B shareholders – 59.5 per cent of aggregate voting rights, compared with class B shareholders’ 40.5 per cent, according to Teck’s latest management and information circular.
The largest class A shareholder is Temagami Mining Co., which owns 4.5 million class A shares (55.4 per cent). Keevil Holding Corp. owns 51.16 per cent of Temagami Mining, giving the Keevil family significant voting power. Norman Keevil, chair emeritus and special adviser to Teck, is a Canadian mining legend who helped build Teck into the company it is today. His son, Norman Keevil III, is CEO of Valence Water and the vice-chair of Teck’s board. SMM Resources, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Metal Mining Co., owns 1.5 million class A shares (18.9 per cent).
Under a share restructuring, Teck’s old class A shares will be acquired by Teck in exchange for one new class A common share and 0.67 of a class B subordinate voting share. Six years after this happens, all new class A common shares will automatically be exchanged for class B subordinate voting shares, which will simply become common shares.
Randy Smallwood, CEO of Wheaton Precious Metals, thinks it’s a smart move.
“That is a strong negative,” he said of the dual-class structure. “Different rights for different shareholders is never strong from a governance perspective.”
As for spinning out its profitable coal mines into a separate company, the move appears to be a capitulation to ESG fundamentalism that abjures all coal.
“In recent years, the investor bases for base metals and steelmaking coal businesses have become increasingly divergent,” Teck CEO Jonathan Price said in the company’s recent fourth-quarter earnings call.
“There’s a lot of shareholders out there that just will not invest in coal assets,” Smallwood said. “And so I think the diversity there was probably holding back value from their base metals business, which is very, very strong.”
Jeremy Hainsworth / Glacier Media – Mar 25, 2023 / 9:50 am | Story: 417909
Photo: The Canadian Press
B.C.’s Human Rights Tribunal has ordered a Metro Vancouver couple to pay $47,580 to an immigrant nanny who was fired after she was diagnosed with cancer.
“I find that Yoshiko Shimmura and Yoshiki Shimmura discriminated against Marites Bayongan in employment on the basis of her disability,” tribunal member Amber Prince said in the March 22 decision.
Of the total, $25,000 is an injury-to-dignity award.
Prince said Bayongan began working full-time as a caregiver for the couple’s three children in July 2018, under a federal temporary foreign worker program.
Prior to moving to Canada and working for the Shimmuras, Bayongan was a stay-at-home parent to her five children in the Philippines. However, Prince said, her family’s financial security was threatened when her husband passed away.
As a result, she sought employment in Canada to support her kids.
Bayongan’s contract with the Shimmuras was for two years. It was renewed for another two years in April 2020. A condition of her second contract was that she obtain and maintain a valid work permit, Prince said.
“There is no dispute that Ms. Bayongan worked 40 hours per week for the Shimmuras. Her rate of pay under the April 13, 2020 contract was $14.42 per hour,” tribunal documents state.
While working for the Shimmuras, Bayongan began to experience health issues and, in November 2020, was diagnosed with cancer.
Bayongan alleged that when the Shimmuras learned of her cancer diagnosis, they terminated her employment, did not allow her return to work and refused to extend her employer-specific work permit. She needed that document to maintain her Canadian immigration status.
Bayongan alleged the couple’s conduct was employment discrimination based on disability and contrary to the Human Rights Code.
The Shimmuras denied discriminating. They alleged they did not terminate Bayongan’s employment or refuse to allow her to return to work. Rather, they said, Bayongan was unable to work because of her diagnosis. As such, they said, as she was unable to work, she no longer qualified for a work permit. As a result, they could not extend her work permit.
“I find that the Shimmuras discriminated against Ms. Bayongan, based on her disability, by not extending her work permit, and as a consequence, terminating her employment,” Prince said.
“In some ways, there is no question that they were supportive and empathetic to Ms. Bayongan. Nonetheless, the Shimmuras’ conduct resulted in significant hardship to Ms. Bayongan, as a temporary foreign worker struggling with cancer,” Prince said.
Still, Prince noted, even after Bayongan became ill, texts indicated a possible return to work, with exchanges indicating an understanding she was on a temporary leave of absence.
Meanwhile, Shimmura gave evidence that she did not extend Bayongan’s work permit on the advice of a lawyer and an accountant.
Still, Prince found Bayongan’s situation to be a disability.
“There is no question that Ms. Bayongan’s condition was life-threatening,” Prince said. “This is as severe as a condition can be.”
The tribunal ruled: “There is no dispute that Ms. Bayongan needed to extend her work permit in order to: maintain valid immigration status in Canada; continue to work in Canada; and have access to public health-care coverage through B.C.’s Medical Services Plan.
“I accept without reservation Ms. Bayongan’s evidence that as a result of the discrimination she felt depressed, abandoned, and distressed about losing her immigration status. She worried about how she was going to pay her own rent and support her family.”
Jeremy Hainsworth / Glacier Media – Mar 25, 2023 / 9:00 am | Story: 417901
Photo: Rob Kruyt.
Virtually every industry at every level is suffering from staff shortages says the executive director of the Professional Association of Managing Agents.
B.C. strata dwellers could face prohibitive cost changes to their assets given a looming shortage of strata managers, a management company president says.
FirstService Residential said the provincial government continues to emphasize increased affordable and accessible housing, And, the company has found 1.5 million people already lived in strata-controlled housing, a number sure to increase as the government continues its housing focus.
However, as strata complex development has swelled, the pool of qualified managers has been decreasing, leaving B.C. on the brink of a critical shortage of strata management, says company president Chris Churchill.
It’s a situation that’s been developing since at least 2015, he said. And, as baby boomers retire, that’s accelerating.
“We’re going to go from being short in 2015 to being incredibly short,” he said.
It’s certainly not a new concern.
Scott Ponuick, president and senior strata agent for Surrey-based Peninsula Strata Management Ltd., told Glacier Media in December 2016 that the Lower Mainland was in need of at least 200 more strata agents to help lessen the burden on the industry and existing strata agents working in the field.
Citing the BC Financial Services Authority, FirstService said there are some 1,405 managers currently licensed in B.C. — a small increase from the 1,326 in 2019. And, almost half are within five years of retirement.
This is posing huge challenges because more than 500 new strata complexes have been built since 2019 — and the number is growing rapidly, First Service said.
If the province fails to ensure sufficient manager numbers, the result could be catastrophic shifts in asset value, insurance rate increases, increased legal costs and massive spikes in strata fees, according to the company.
“Virtually every industry at every level is suffering from staff shortage,” Roger Williams, executive director with the Professional Association of Managing Agents, told Glacier Media earlier in March. “Qualified individuals licensed for property management are not sitting on a shelf. Licensing education takes time and real qualification and competence require much more education and experience and more time.”
Churchill said UBC offers training in strata management but added just having the education doesn’t translate into being immediately capable of managing massive strata buildings that are becoming more and more the norm in the province.
Those newbies, he said, need mentoring. He suggested mentorship grants might be an option. But, he stressed, the industry isn’t looking for handouts. What is needed, he said, is awareness that such management is a career option.
Government needs to work with the industry, he added, noting the province’s recent move to lift rental restrictions on rentals in strata buildings blindsided the sector.
“We didn’t know it was coming,” he said.
It was a decision that led many strata councils wondering how such a shift would affect their buildings, leaving managers “overwhelmed” trying to respond.
“That’s unfair,” Churchill said.
Tony Gioventu of the Condominium Homeowners Association of BC was not immediately available for comment.
Jeremy Hainsworth / Glacier Media – Mar 25, 2023 / 8:00 am | Story: 417900
Photo: .
This 1969 Mustang Mach 1 Cobra was displayed at a Moose Jaw car show.
The family of a man whose passion was his 1969 Mustang Mach 1 Cobra is due $33,000 from his friend who contracted to purchase the collector’s car after his death, a B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled March 22.
Justice John Gibb-Carsley said Bailey Mah spent many hours repairing the Mustang as a passion project, spending thousands of dollars on professional help.
The judge said after Mah died Aug. 24, 2018 in Maple Ridge, his family and friend Braxton Lee Lawrence negotiated to buy the car. That process began four days after Mah’s death when Braxton texted his condolences and said he’d be interested in buying the Mustang.
“I know he’d be happy it being with me to complete the restorations the way he wanted them done,” he texted.
But, when Lawrence stopped paying, the family sued.
Lynn Ma was the executor of her brother’s estate. She said agreements set the price for the Mustang, and that Lawrence had breached those agreements.
The judge agreed.
“The lead up to the sale was pleasant, with both parties pleased that Mr. Mah’s prized possession was being sold to someone who cared about the Mustang and its restoration,” Gibb-Carsley said. “However, soon after the sale, the defendant came to believe that the Mustang’s fair market value was lower than what he paid. He kept the Mustang, but stopped making payments.”
The judge said Lawrence was the boyfriend of Mah’s daughter, and he and Mah had a close relationship.
“One of the bonds the two men shared was an interest in the Mustang,” the judge said.
On Jan. 21, 2019, Ma sent an email to Lawrence saying she was seeking $55,000 for the Mustang, but that she would sell the Mustang to Lawrence for a $35,000 as “Mah had verbally expressed an intention to gift the defendant $20,000.”
Gibb-Carsley said Mah’s will made no mention of Lawrence.
The family proposed a minimum monthly payment of $500 to $600 along with income tax refunds and work bonuses as well as the proceeds from the sale of Lawrence’s vehicles on the condition $35,000 was paid in full by June 30, 2019.
They also accepted Lawrence’s proposal to move into Mah’s house.
“I propose that the rent for Bailey’s house be $1,300 per month between now and June 30, 2019. On July 1, 2019, the rent will be $1,500 per month with a one-year lease,” the sister said. “This will give you a bit of relief if you want to make extra car payments.”
On Jan. 30, 2019, the parties entered into a $35,000 sales contract for the Mustang.
Five days later, Lawrence emailed expressing concern about the state of the car, saying a complete restoration would be $50,000 and that the car had an estimated value of $25,000.
Lawrence claimed the parties had always understood the agreements did not set the final price of the Mustang, and that the final price would be determined after an appraisal was completed.
Lawrence claimed he was entitled to apply a discount to the final appraised value; that was based on a statement made by the Ma to him during the course of negotiations, when Mah had said he wanted to gift him a sum of money.
On Feb. 9, 2019, Ma texted Lawrence saying if he was no longer interested in keeping the Mustang, that there were other interested purchasers.
The sister stood firm on the price.
By that September, the sister’s lawyer sent a demand letter for $33,000, plus legal fees.
“The defendant has not paid any further amounts for the Mustang nor has he returned the Mustang to the plaintiff,” the judge said, noting the sister had offered to rescind the contract if Lawrence returned the car.
In the end, the judge rejected Lawrence’s arguments that the $35,000 price was only conditional upon the completion of an appraisal.
“I find that at the time that the sales contract was executed, the defendant was aware that he was purchasing the Mustang for $35,000,” Gibb-Carsley said. “He then agreed to repay that amount under the terms of the promissory note.”
Alanna Kelly / Glacier Media – Mar 25, 2023 / 7:15 am | Story: 417899
Photo: .
Tensions boiled over during a council meeting in the small west coast community of Tahsis, ending in a yelling match as a councillor took the gavel from the deputy mayor.
“We are going to talk as long as we want,” shouted one resident after Deputy Mayor Sarah Fowler stopped a speaker who had gone over the allotted time.
In livestream footage of Tuesday’s meeting, Fowler is heard saying: “I have the gavel,” which she repeatedly banged as another person shouted: “I don’t care what you got, you do not treat us like that.”
Tahsis is surrounded by dramatic scenery. The village is a three-hour drive west of Campbell River. Its mill closed more than two decades ago and today’s population at close to 400.
Council consists of Mayor Martin Davis, a two-term mayor, and four councillors. Davis is on holiday but is expected to return in time for the next council meeting on April 4.
A two-minute maximum is allotted for each speaker appearing before the council during the public input session. Throughout the hearing, several speakers went over the limit.
In one instance, a speaker proceeded for five minutes with Fowler telling her time was up three times. Fowler then banged the gavel repeatedly.
Coun. Douglas Elliott walked up to Fowler’s chair and took the gavel away.
“I don’t need that — I can do this,” said Fowler as she slammed the table to shouts from an attendee calling her a child.
After sharing a video from the meeting on social media, Fowler wrote on Twitter: “This was by far my worst day in local government in the last 5 years.”
Fowler said the “temperature” at the village’s public hearings had been simmering since the municipal election.
“When people talk about tar and feathers after the two-minute limit, it is very personal. Recruiting people to run for political office is hard enough,” said Fowler.
The meeting included a rise-and-report item censuring Elliot, who has criticized council members and some senior municipal staff in recent months.
Elliot has expressed concerns over the village’s financial affairs, bylaw enforcement and borrowing for sewage treatment. He could not be contacted on Friday.
Fowler said Friday that when she is the meeting chair in the mayor’s absence, her job is “to do my best to adhere to the procedural policies of our village.”
She said she is in defence of order and opposed to name-calling.
Amid all the attention given to the video, Fowler said council made an important decision this week. “We passed a motion to become a living-wage employer.”
— With a file from Carla Wilson, Times Colonist
Lisa Joy / Glacier Media – Mar 24, 2023 / 8:44 pm | Story: 417882
Photo: .
Sir Brent Adair Habetler – a man who claims to be third cousin to Queen Elizabeth II – now finds himself under the scrutiny of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, accused of committing indecent acts at the local swimming pool.
According to police, Sir Habetler had willfully and intentionally committed these acts in the presence of one or more persons, with the apparent intent to insult or offend. He was also charged with willfully obstructing, interrupting or interfering with the lawful use, enjoyment or operation of the community swimming pool.
SASKTODAY.ca made seven attempts to contact Sir Brent Habetler and his lawyer for comment. Neither Sir Brent Habetler nor his lawyer responded to SASKTODAY.ca’s requests for comment.
Claim to Royalty
Sir Brent Habetler said that in April 2019 the German Historical Institute of London confirmed he descended from royalty. He then legally changed his name from Brent Adair Habetler to Sir Brent Adair Habetler and his wife legally changed her name to Lady Maria Habetler.
In August 2019, while I was living in Edmonton, Alta., a seasoned criminal lawyer had called asking me to meet him in person at his downtown Edmonton law firm to discuss a job he said may interest me.
Sitting in his office, he revealed that he had a client who needed a publicist. His client, he said, is related to Queen Elizabeth II. The lawyer showed me an email from Prince William that Sir Brent Habetler had forwarded to him, supposedly proving his royal lineage.
On Aug. 16, 2019, in a phone conversation that lasted for almost two hours, Sir Brent and Lady Maria Habetler told me about their royal lineage and shared their plans for the future.
Prince William had called Sir Brent, said Lady Maria. Other Royal phone calls coached them on all things regal, how to behave, and how to develop impeccable manners, said Sir Brent and Lady Maria Habetler.
Before acting as their publicist, I had asked the Habetlers for proof of their Royal lineage. They sent me a PDF genealogy chart titled, Habetler Nobility Lineage, Sir Brent Habetler’s birth certificate, and both of their driver licenses, all of which had been changed to their new-found titles.
Sir Brent Habetler’s Nobility Lineage listed Baron Frederick Von Habetler and Archducess Hermine of Austria as marrying and having had a child.
Genealogy expert, Xenia Stanford from Family Root Tracer in British Columbia, however, said that she couldn’t find any records that Baron Frederick Von Habetler existed. She also said there was no historical evidence that Archducess Hermine of Austria had any children. Instead, historical records revealed that Archduchess Hermine of Austria died at age 24 – without ever marrying or having children. She was prone to disease as a child, say historical accounts.
Sir Brent Habetler’s lineage claimed that Baron Frederick Von Habetler and Archducess Hermine of Austria had a son named Baron Ferdinand Von Habetler in 1838, in Horvatlovo, Vas, Austria-Hungary.
Stanford, however, said that Baptismal records from Hungary show that Sir Brent Habetler’s ancestor, Ferdinand Habetler, was born in 1838 in Horvatlovo, Vas, Austria-Hungary. It shows that Ferdinand Habetler’s parents were György Habeller or Habetler and Anna Rackovácz.
The Habetlers also included an Ancient Arms of Habetler with their lineage document but Stanford said that Coat of Arms is sold commercially and doesn’t mean that a person descends directly from those who originally had the Coat of Arms.
In addition, a typewritten section at the bottom of the lineage that Sir Brent Habetler produced said the genealogy lineage was confirmed on Feb 1, 2019, by Andreas Gestrich, Director at the German Historical Institute of London. Stanford, however, said that Gestrich was no longer the director in February 2019.
This raised many questions.
Did Archducess Hermine of Austria secretly marry someone named Baron Frederick Von Habetler that the history books don’t reveal? Why aren’t there any documents of a Baron Ferdinand Von Habetler being born in Horvatiovo, Vas, Austria-Hungary? Is there proof that Archduchess Hermine of Austria had a child?
In August 2019, I emailed the press secretary at Buckingham Palace asking if Sir Brent Habetler was third cousin to Queen Elizabeth. I got an email reply from the Royal Communications | Private Secretary’s Office of Buckingham Palace saying that their correspondence team has my enquiry and will be in touch in due course.
In September 2019, I received a follow up email from the Royal Communications | Private Secretary’s Office of Buckingham Palace requesting a mailing address so they could send their official response.
I received a letter through Canada Post from Buckingham Palace that was stamped “Royal Mail Postage Paid N4047,” Buckingham Palace SW1A1AA . The front had a red large capital E, smaller II centred, and then a large capital R. Above that was a red Crown. The back of the envelope was sealed with a thick, red Royal stamp. The post mark said Royal Mail Mount Pleasant Mail Centre.
Buckingham Palace was non-committal and wouldn’t confirm that Sir Habetler was third cousin to Queen Elizabeth II.
Sir Brent Habetler also said that he was contacted by the Governor General of Canada regarding his Royal status. I contacted the Governor General of Canada. Governor General Julie Payete’s office responded but were non-committal regarding Sir Brent Habetler’s alleged Royal status.
Not close enough relationship
Archduchess Hermine of Austria is from The House of Habsburg-Lorraine, whereas Queen Elizabeth II’s thirteenth great-grandmother was from the House of Hapsburg. This is not a close relationship between Archduchess Hermine and Queen Elizabeth II, said Stanford.
Sir Brent Hableter talks about descending from King Leopold.
King Leopold the Second, Emperor of the Holy Roman Emperor was born in 1747 in Vienna, Austria, and was the grandfather of Archduchess Hermine of Austria [The Royal House of Habsburg-Lorraine]. King Leopold I of Belgium was born in 1790 [House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha] and was father to Leopold the second born in 1835.
“Although this Leopold I of Belgium is a 4th great-granduncle and his son Leopold II of Belgium is a first cousin four times removed of Queen Elizabeth, they are not closely related to Archduchess Hermine of Austria,” said Stanford.
Stolen valour
In August 2019, Habetler told me he was a sniper and a weapons tech in the military. He said after being recognized as third cousin to Queen Elizabeth II, he represented the Monarchy at a military event in Wainwright, Alta.
To find out if Sir Brent Habetler was representing the Monarchy at military events, in September 2019, I called the Wainwright military base and asked if Sir Brent Habetler was participating in formal services at the base, wearing a military uniform, and saying that he was representing the British Monarchy. The Wainwright military base declined to comment.
In October 2019, information about Habetler appeared on Stolen Valour Canada. Stolen Valour said Habetler claimed to have served in the Canadian Army from 1999-2003, and was a member of 1 PPCLI / Joint Task Forces 1 & 2 [weapons tech and sniper]. He claimed to have been deployed to the Balkans, Africa, Middle East and Central America and retired on a “quarter pension” as a Master Corporal. He claimed to have a secret knighthood for his combat service in JTF2 on operations in Venezuela.
Stolen Valour said that the reality was “Sir Brent doesn’t have a single day of CF service.”
Is Sir Brent Habetler true royalty? Did he descend from the noble lineage of kings and queens?
After spending countless hours poring over family trees, digging through dusty archives, and trying to find any evidence that would prove Sir Habetler’s Royal lineage, we came up empty-handed.
Jeff Bell / Times Colonist – Mar 24, 2023 / 7:42 pm | Story: 417876
Photo: .
Greater Victoria Public Library?s Central Branch. New provincial funding for libraries will be used for such things as modernized technology and enhanced programs and services. DARREN STONE, TIMES COLONIST
Provincial funding of $45 million for B.C.’s 71 public libraries was announced Friday at the Vancouver Island Regional Library’s Cumberland branch.
The funds, which are in addition to the $14 million in annual provincial support for libraries, will be used for such things as modernized technology and enhanced programs and services.
“This is an important time for our library system with a new strategic plan on the horizon, rapidly increasing demand for our digital resources and a continuing trend towards pre-COVID use of our physical branches and collections,” said Erin Hemmens, chair of the VIRL’s 38-person board.
“Support from the ministry means VIRL can look at new opportunities to build literacy and learning, continue our journey toward reconciliation and build connections across our service area.”
Libraries offer a good return on investment “and play a pivotal role in ensuring equitable access to technology, resources, learning opportunities and safe spaces,” Hemmens said.
The VIRL’s new strategic plan is set to be adopted today, she said.
Rina Hadziev, executive director of the B.C. Library Association, said investments in libraries are investments in communities.
“With over 60 million visits per year, public libraries make life more affordable, foster lifelong learning and community connections, and provide vulnerable people with a welcoming space to access services,” Hadziev said. “This funding will help stabilize public libraries, ensuring they are able to meet the evolving needs of their local communities over the next few years.”
Digital resources at B.C.’s public libraries were used close to 16 million times in 2021, an increase of 47 per cent over 2019.
Minister of Municipal Affairs Anne Kang said libraries do everything from offering regular internet access to delivering programs to newcomers, job seekers and seniors.
Summer-reading programs and clubs are provided, as well, she said.
Kang said that libraries have been “a safe harbour” for her at times in her life.
“Libraries mean so much to British Columbians,” she said.
The new funding will be in place at libraries by March 31, with each site determining how the money will be spent.
It follows a one-time, $8-million infusion of provincial funds last spring to help meet the demand for increased digital content, develop computer and virtual-technology training and retroactively cover costs associated with COVID-19.
Allie Turner / Vancouver is Awesome – Mar 24, 2023 / 5:34 pm | Story: 417857
Photo: Brendan Kergin/V.I.A.
he piece uses large pieces of plastic to create a spider-like form.
A giant creepy crawly was installed under the Victoria Drive Bridge by Montreal-based artist Junko Playtime and while many locals have mixed feelings about the piece, titled Phobia, the City has ultimately decided it’s got to go.
The arachnid artwork was reportedly illegally installed earlier this month.
“The City was made aware of the unsanctioned spider artwork, located on a City bridge structure, last week,” a spokesperson tells V.I.A. in an emailed statement. “This space is managed by multiple partners; it serves as a corridor for SkyTrain and CN/BNSF Rail. The installation of this artwork was not done in consultation with the City of Vancouver or the rail corridor partners.”
There is no word on when the spider will be coming down but the city says it “has been working with its partners to discuss the best path forward for the removal, to ensure there is no damage to the bridge structure, and that the removal is done safely with minimal service level impacts to the adjacent rail lines.”
Junko has started a campaign on his social media to save the sculpture and encourages people to contact the city through its website and express support for the art.
“The City of Vancouver announced they are planning to remove ‘Phobia’ due to some complaints from the public,” he writes. “Unfortunately this is the only opinion that has been expressed to them and they do not see the positive response it has been getting both online and in person. By dropping them a quick message you can help change their mind!”
The “Help Save Spidey” campaign has garnered quite the response with people calling out Vancouver for being “a no fun city.”
Junko also points a finger at the garbage left on the tracks, writing that “it seems odd that the city has no problem with all the garbage on the tracks but plans to spend money to remove artwork made from garbage that many people enjoy!”
If the artwork is removed the city says it will impound the piece but that Junko will have the opportunity to claim it after due process.
This is also not the first piece of outsider art that Junko has installed in Vancouver. He has erected massive Transformer-looking sculptures in empty lots and had his own exhibit at Vancouver Mural Festival’s (VMF) Winter Arts Fest.
Ted Clarke / Prince George Citizen – Mar 24, 2023 / 5:31 pm | Story: 417855
Photo: Citizen staff photo.
A Delta Police officer speaks to a youth suspect arrested Friday afternoon in Prince George. The arrest was made in connection with a shooting incident in South Delta Dec. 29.
The long arm of the law extended from Delta to Prince George Friday afternoon.
That led to the arrest of a youth suspect after police surrounded a vehicle in a fast-food restaurant parking lot in the 1000 block of Central Street West.
Delta police took the youth into custody after making the trip to Prince George to apprehend the suspect, believed to be connected to a shooting Dec. 29 in South Delta.
The youth, whose age prohibits identification, was apparently involved in the early-morning incident after police received reports of shots fired into an occupied residence in the 5300 block of 4A Avenue in Tsawwassen.
Delta Police later arrested a youth from Surrey known to police, who faces several firearms charges.
There were no injuries as a result of that shooting.
While it is usual for a Lower Mainland city police force to send officers to north central B.C. to make an arrest, there are no jurisdictional boundaries in this case.
“Typically we would have an agency of jurisdiction try and do an arrest but our people have some specific knowledge to the point where we decided to send our investigators to Prince George,” said Delta Police acting inspector James Sandberg. “We are sworn provincially so there’s no concerns about jurisdiction.”
Three police vehicles provided by Prince George RCMP were used for the takedown. Sandberg confirmed the Delta officers involved in the arrest flew to Prince George.
Sandberg said the youth arrested in Prince George will likely make a first court appearance in Prince George.
– with files from the Delta Optimist
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