Breaking down the shootings throughout Vancouver

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Good morning,

This is completely unrelated to anything in Vancouver, but I just have to share my love for Conan O’Brien after this recent appearance on the chicken-wing hot sauce-based interview show The Hot Ones. To me, Conan is a singular talent, one the best talk show host ever, someone who just gets comedy. 

As I said, totally unrelated to Vancouver, but I just had to get that out there. 

But back to local news. Today, we’ve got a look at the recent shootings in Vancouver and some recent federal government housing announcements and what they mean for the city.

Let’s dive in!

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WEATHER

Monday: 11 🌡️ 3 | 🌧️

Tuesday: 12 🌡️ 4 | 🌧️

Wednesday: 14 🌡️ 6 | 🌤️

CRIME

Breaking down the shootings throughout Vancouver

With the recent spate of shootings taking place in Vancouver, we thought it would be worth looking at the broader context of violent assaults in the city.

Recently: On Friday night a student from India was found dead in his vehicle from a shooting, according to the Vancouver Sun. Chirag Antil has been in Canada since 2022 and the family has set up a GoFundMe to help pay to bring the body back from Canada. No arrests have been made and police have not said if it’s gang-related. 

Zoom out: As of April 4, there had been four major police incidents, with two shootings, the death of a woman from unknown injuries and a homicide investigation of someone found dead in Fraserview, according to CityNews. At that time, the police said they were increasing their presence and patrols throughout the city, though they noted none of them appeared to be connected.

• One of those wounded from gunfire, a 46-year-old man, was not deemed to have been connected to any gangs, according to CTV, while the shooting before that at Robson and Richards streets where two people shot at a black SUV, was connected to gangs.

What’s going on: While not all of the shootings are gang-related, there has been an uptick recently, with around 12 incidents being related to gang violence since July of last year, according to the Vancouver Sun. The most recent one in March, targeting the black SUV, was an attack on the Brothers Keepers gang.

• They and the United Nations gang have been involved in a number of target attacks, which according to the Times Colonist, are related to attacks inside BC jails. Former provincial solicitor general Kash Heed noted that this targeted attack likely came from hit men outside the province.

The numbers: Data from the Vancouver Police Department Crime Incident and Crime Rate Statistics shows that violent crime was down last year, by 0.2%, compared to rises in 2021 and 2022. Assaults were higher by 0.4% last year, compared to 3.1% in 2021 and 0.5% in 2022.

• Across BC, Statistics Canada data showed that the homicide rate rose 21 percent in 2022 compared to 2021, according to CTV. 

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The report revealed that more people visited downtown Vancouver in 2023 than they did in 2019, however, their frequency of visits has significantly decreased. In 2023, the downtown core saw more unique visitors than in 2019, but total visits still lagged pre-pandemic numbers.

Learn more about this and other key findings here.

VANCOUVER NUMBERS

🎉 200,000: The number of people who attended the Vaisakhi Vancouver parade this weekend. Major politicians attended, including Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim, Conservative Leader Pierre Poillievre and BC Premier David Eby. [CBC]

📈 4: Speaking of politicians, thisare the percentage points that separate the BC NDP and the upstart BC Conservative Party. Even though it’s close, the pollster says it would likely mean an NDP majority government. [CityNews]

🏠 62%: The percentage of their income that people in Metro Vancouver are spending on rent. [CityNews]

HOUSING

What the federal housing announcement means

What happened: As part of the lead up to tomorrow’s federal budget, the government announced the Canadian Housing Plan, with the goal to build 3.9 million homes in seven years, according to CBC. But just what does it entail, and is it likely to achieve its goal?

Background: The increasing unaffordability of housing has dominated at all levels of government. The scale of the housing problem is daunting. It’s estimated that Canada needs to build 4.1 million new homes by 2030 to fix a major housing gap, according to the parliamentary budget officer. As noted in the plan, Canada ranks 37th out of 38 OECD countries when it comes to development approvals and is three times slower than the US. Not great! 

It’s all about land: One of the major parts of the plan revolves around building on underutilized public land. But rather than sell it off, the land would be leased, with more details to be released in the budget itself. 

Other stuff: Could there soon be limits on private equity buying up homes? It’s hinted at in the plan, with more details expected in the fall. The plan also would remove the GST on new student residences built by public universities and colleges, including ones that started construction last year and after. Low interest loans will be created for people to build secondary suites.

• One of the bigger announcements is increasing the capital cost allowance on apartments to 10 percent, which reduces the taxes home builders have to pay. Here is a good breakdown of why this could have a major impact on building. 

In Vancouver: The plan also includes money to end homeless encampments, with $250 million set aside towards groups that can create new supportive and transitional housing, according to the Toronto Star.

What it means: While it all sounds great, there are jurisdictional challenges. The federal government’s main policy lever is money (the carrot rather than the stick), but provincial governments have been perturbed by the federal government going around them. Alberta has tabled a bill to prevent the federal government from working directly with municipalities and other government groups, requiring them to go through the province. Housing Minister Sean Fraser says he’s ready to negotiate with Alberta over funding, according to CTV. 

• While BC has made similar noises about working with municipalities, there has been no indication that NDP wants to go the Alberta route, especially considering many of the federal government’s housing policies are similar to BC’s.

NEW JOBS

Find your dream job in Vancouver:

1. Sr. communications and community engagement manager at PavCo

2. Director of food security and market development at Community Impact Real Estate Society

3. Senior manager of strategic planning at ICBC

4. Manager, engagement and outreach at SFU

5. People and culture manager at Legends Haul

THE AGENDA

🏠 Vancouver, congratulations to everyone, we are no longer the most expensive city to rent in Canada. Condolences to those in North Vancouver which is now number one, which now has an average rental price of $2,704 for a one-bedroom, $70 more than Vancouver. [Urbanized]

🏥 Readers who are older, and those families with older relatives, will appreciate this news. The provincial government plans to roll out a program called Hospital at Home, where people can receive acute care at their homes instead of the hospital. It will only be for certain conditions and patients have to be selected by the hospital. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🔥 Residents at a Mount Pleasant rental building that burned down have been waiting nine months for money. The building had multiple fire code violations, and the owners, Fu De (Henry) Ren and Feng Yan, own other buildings that also had fires. [CBC] 

🚴 Pedestrians and cyclists will have a new way to travel through the Southeast False Creek east of Cambie Bridge, where the Seawall is closed. A new pathway will be built and will be ready by early May. It will be near the old route, which has been closed due to problems with a retaining wall. [Urbanized]

🚆 Well, you don’t see that every day. A train collided with a truck in North Vancouver on Friday, at an uncontrolled train crossing. Police have not released any details about why the truck was on the tracks, but the good news is that the train was not going very fast. [Business in Vancouver]

🏒 The Canucks beat the Oilers 3-1 on Saturday, the team is now all but guaranteed to place first in the Pacific division, ahead of the Oilers. [Sportsnet]

⚽ It was an extra tough loss for the Whitecaps on Saturday against the LA Galaxy, as the team lost their first-place position to them by one point. Vancouver sits at second in the standings, with a record of 4-2-1. [Sportsnet]

EVENTS

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Food Fest | Spots around town | Now until April 28 | Enjoy special limited-time food options from spots around Vancouver | Learn more

A Conversation with Kevin Falcon | Terminal City Club | Starts at 4 | Come hear the official leader of the opposition share his thoughts | Tickets $64

IQ 2000 Trivia | The American | April 16, 7 pm | Free trivia to play with your friends, and prizes for the top three teams | Free

Shaping Vancouver 2024 | SFU Goldcorp Centre | April 16, 7 pm | Come listen and learn about community engagement for planning as well as criticisms of community planning | Free

From Oysters to Orcas | Fanny Bay Oyster Bar | April 17, 7 pm | A shellfish and seafood experience, with an array of canapes made from local seafood | Tickets $54

Hot Chefs and Cool Jazz Gala | Fairmont Pacific Rim | April 19 | Live chef cooking stations with exclusive dishes, paired with wine and live music | Tickets $185

Coast City Country | BC Place | April 19-20 | Nickelback, Luke Bryan, Dierks Bentley and more. If you love country, this is for you | Tickets various prices

Food Truck Wars | 20901 Langley Bypass | April 19-21 45+ food trucks, entertainment and beer garden | Free

The Trail of Coffee Festival | The Pipe Shop | April 20, 12 pm | Workshops, tasting and latte art contests, plus late night coffee cocktails | Tickets $25

FOOD PREVIEW

A Vancouver wine bar doing something different

One thing I’ve noticed lately is the prevalence of wine bars throughout the city. Some have been around for a while, and some are brand new. 

These types of places can sometimes, how do I say this, have a one-note offering. Great wine, but sometimes the food is a miss. Or the food is secondary to the wine. That’s totally fine, people are there to explore grapes. But my preference is for both the food and wine to shine.

This wine bar, which I visited in February, takes the food part to a whole new level. It’s a harder place to review because the menu changes constantly, but the creative approach to what they offer made it a must-write-about place. It makes it a place worth visiting multiple times. 

To read this review tomorrow, subscribe to our Vancity Lookout Eats, our free food newsletter.

GAME TIME

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• If you love spot prawns, then you’ll love the Spot Prawn Festival which takes place on May 26 at Fisherman’s Wharf. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• 🌍 Geopolitics in <5 minutes? Get International Intrigue, the free global briefing crafted by former diplomats. [Sponsored]

• A reminder that TransLink service changes are taking place today. You can see the change here. [TransLink]

• The City of Vancouver is hosting a free online emergency preparedness workshop on April 17 at 6:30 pm. 

• Someone captured this very cute video of two otters in Stanley Park. [Reddit]

• Next year it’ll be a little easier to get to the top of Grouse — a new gondola will be open for part of the ski season next year. [Urbanized]

• Sun, beaches and betting on the horses… You know it’s summer when The Cup (formerly the Deighton Cup) at the Hastings Racecourse returns. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Vancouver’s public golf courses are now open later in the spring, ’til 8 pm each night. [Twitter]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

I love a good historical photo, and this one of the UFO-H20 waterpark at Expo 86 has a real vibe to it!

Do you have a photo you’d like to share with the Lookout community? Send it in!