Oil spill cleanup underway in English Bay

Good morning!

Congrats to everyone involved in the Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown. I attended and had a blast. It was lovely seeing so many people and families together!.

What isn’t a blast is the oil spill in English Bay. We’ve got a breakdown of what happened and an ode to popular coach Bruce Boudreau.

Onwards!

— Geoff Sharpe

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Weather Report

Monday: 5 🌡️ 3 | 🌧

Tuesday: 7 🌡️ 4 | 🌧

Wednesday: 8 🌡️ 2 | ⛅

WEEKLY LOOKOUT

Cold weather incoming: The weather is about to get extremely cold in Metro Vancouver this week, with temperatures dropping to -10 degrees next weekend. That sound you hear is the rest of Canada laughing at Vancouver for thinking -10 is cold.  [Vancouver Sun]

Get out and eat: Dine Out Vancouver is in full swing, with participating restaurants offering heavily discounted multi-course meals.

ENVIRONMENT

Weekend oil spill cleanup underway

What happened: A container ship leaked 60 to 100 litres of oil into English Bay over the weekend, and the Coast Guard worked to clean up the spill, according to CBC.

Saturday morning, the Coast Guard was notified of the spill by the container vessel MV Europe. As of Sunday morning, according to the Coast Guard, there was no further oil released into the ocean. 

The damage to local ecosystems is currently unknown. Environment Canada is currently undertaking trajectory modeling to understand the spills’ potential impact, according to CityNews.

Breaking it down: The City of Vancouver has a detailed breakdown of how they respond to spills. The Canadian Coast Guard activates what’s called “unified command” to direct the overall response, with all levels of government working together. 

• The normal response is to launch a support vessel that deploys booms to limit the spread of oil. Mechanical oil skimmers collect the oil, store it in storage barges and then dispose of it. 

The BC government provides a detailed list of spills throughout the province, with differing levels of severity. The most recent ones listed in Vancouver were a capsized tug near Deering Island in 2018 and an oil sheen in English Bay, from an unknown source in March of that year.

• The most recent large occurrence was a grain container ship in April 2015 that leaked 2,700 litres of fuel, and may have caused damage to wildlife more than 10 kilometres away, according to CBC. 

Go deeper: How concerned should we be about the dangers of shipping in our coastal waters? The Times Colonist does a historical deep dive on the issue.

VANCOUVER NUMBERS

$2.65: Expected cost of one litre of gas in the Lower Mainland by the summer, according to Kalibrate’s gas forecast. [CityNews]

3: The number of players — including a top prospect —, the Canucks is demanding in any trade for captain Bo Horvat. [Daily Hive]

SPORTS

Bruce, there he goes

What happened: In what has to be the worst kept league-wide hockey secret, fan-favourite Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau was fired and replaced by Rick Tocchet, according to the Province.

Background: Fans have increasingly voiced their displeasure in the recent weeks over ongoing media speculation about Boudreau’s potential firing. The winningest coach in the NHL, he was brought in last year to help the struggling team. After his hiring, the team went 32-15-10 in 2022 and only missed the playoffs by five points.

• The recent season has been beset by losses, blown game leads and poor player performance. The team currently sits 14 points out of the playoffs. 

Bruce endeared himself to the city, with fans even adopting a variation of their well-known chant “Whoomp there it is” with “Bruce, there it is.” For his part, Bruce savoured the final moments, and was clearly emotional as fans cheered him on:

• “I just wanted to savour looking at the stands because who knows if I’m ever going to get this chance again,” he said.

Management responds: Canucks President Jim Rutherford apologized for the handling of Boudreau’s firing, blaming his directness in communication for creating a long, drawn-out firing. 

Analysis: If you’re thinking the team seems to replace coaches often, you’d be right. The team has gone through eight coaches in the past 10 years, with little playoff success to show for it. 

• In the last decade they’ve made the playoffs only twice. In 2020 they lost in the semi-finals, and in 2015 they lost in the first round. 

So who’s to blame? Sportsnet analyst Iain MacIntyre points to contract issues, the paramount one being Ekman-Larsson’s massive salary, making him the highest paid player with little to show for it. Defence also continues to be a huge problem. Really, nothing is working.

What comes next: Canucks management clearly believe Rick Tocchet, and his new coaching staff can right the ship. The fans? Not so much. 

NEW JOBS

Discover your new dream job.

1. Communications advisor, Translink

2. Digital content marketing lead, City of Vancouver

3. Manager, marketing technology trailblazing, TELUS

4. Manager, sponsorship and events, BCAA

5. Email marketing specialist, Meda Agency Inc.

QUICK HITS

🛗 Residents of Single Residency Occupancy Portland Hotel at 20 West Hastings say they’ve been trapped in their rooms after an elevator broke. One man says he’s forced to crawl down the stairs and must arrange for someone to bring down his wheelchair. PHS Community Services Society has not responded to the allegations. [Global]

🚌 Police are looking into another smashed window on a Translink bus caused by what appears to be a BB gun. There were no injuries. [Global]

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Our food editor Jamie has some thoughts on soup and some soup restaurant recommendations.

• A Vancouver dad, along with local artists, are re-imagining the red envelopes that are part of Lunar New Year celebrations. [CBC]

• A tweet criticizing Vancouver for not inspiring great novels has resulted in a handy list of books to read. [CBC]

• In some lighter news, a crow has moved into YVR. Rumour has it he’s still waiting on a rescheduled Air Canada flight. [Vancouver is Awsome]

• AKitsilano Pool now has a tiger dam to protect it from high tides. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• See what an $11.8 million home looks like. (Spoiler alert: It looks like you have too much money.) [BC Business]

• Check out Douglas Copeland’s newest art installation Spawn at the Scotia Tower downtown. As far as we can tell, it’s unrelated to the 1990’s comic. [Vancouver Magazine]

• A group of locals have formed a group to try and save the Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Want your event or news featured? Hit reply and let us know

GOOD NEWS MONDAY

Start your week off with some good news:

For the first time in three years, locals came together to celebrate the first day of Lunar New Year with the Chinatown Spring Festival Parade. Tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Chinatown to watch the parade. Politicians even marched together!

Check out all the event photos courtesy of the CBC.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

This photo comes from Reddit user philyue from the Lunar New Year parade.

Have a photo you want featured? Send it along with your name we could use it in an upcoming edition.

GAME TIME

Friday’s Wordle answer was “lots”, as in the proposed changes to the number of homes on Vancouver home lots. 

Today’s quiz question - when was the last time the Vancouver Lunar New Year parade was held in the city?

Reply with your name and answer and we'll feature it in the newsletter.