TransLink fares set to rise

Good morning,

Look, I’ve always had a thing against spiders. Not a fan. They creep me out. But I’ll forget my fear and stand up for this spider art installation. The city wants to tear it down and the spider-hater inside of me is cheering them on. But Vancouver needs more art, not less. So here’s hoping the city won’t tear it down, even if I can’t stand to look at it.

Today’s a busy newsletter. We’ve got some news on Vancouver’s toxic drug supply, TransLink fare increases, more weekend fires, new housing in the Downtown Eastside and some good news to start your Monday.

Let’s go!

— Geoff Sharpe, Vancity newsletter writer

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WEATHER

Monday: 12 🌡️ 4 | ☀️

Tuesday: 15 🌡️ 4 | ☀️

Wednesday: 14 🌡️ 4 | ⛅

WEEKLY LOOKOUT

Fare rise incoming: On March 29, TransLink’s board of directors will vote on whether to increase fares by around five to 10 cents per trip. [CTV]

Water returns: A motion is before council to ask staff to look into restoring art-based water fountains in public spaces that were turned off to improve water conservation. [Urbanized]

HEALTH

New drugs causing more overdoses

What happened: A recent spike in overdose deaths is being blamed on more toxic drugs entering the drug supply, according to CTV. These drugs include xylazine, used as a tranquillizer by veterinarians and benzodiazepines.

Background: On March 22, there were 45 overdoses in one day, which according to CTV is double what is normally fielded. The new drugs are used as cutting agents in the illicit drug supply.

The problem: The real concern with these new illicit drugs is that they do not respond to naloxone, which helps reverse overdose symptoms and save lives.

Zoom out: So far this year there have been 8,500 calls around the province related to overdose poisoning, and 32,000 Canadians have died since 2016 according to the Vancouver Sun. B.C.’s chief coroner said that 91 percent of overdoses in December of last year were a result of fentanyl, according to the Vancouver Sun. City of Vancouver

VANCOUVER BY THE NUMBERS

6.4%: The expected rise in the tax on alcohol on April 1. That would mean a 24-pack of beer would cost a quarter more. [Global]

3 mm: The difference in rainfall between Vancouver (83 mm) and Toronto (80 mm) for February and March. The rain capital of Canada has some competition! [The Weather Network]

TRANSIT

Fare hike incoming

What happened: TransLink has indicated that they plan to increase fares by this summer, according to CityNews. One fare zone fares are expected to increase from $2.05 to $2.10.

Background: The fare increase comes as the province previously announced $479 million for the transit authority, which ensured they could continue the same level of service and prevent a death spiral of services due to lower ridership from COVID, according to CTV. TransLink also said the investment helped prevent a larger fare rise.

TransLink noted that yearly fare increases are modest. Expect fares to increase by 2.3 percent from now until 2024. TransLink is touting the increase as less than the rate of inflation.

• Deep dive: If you want to wade through the document, here is the full report on fare increases from TransLInk.

Other issues: Quickly growing immigration targets from the federal government mean that service capacity will grow faster than anticipated in the coming years, according to the Vancouver Sun. Cities south of the Fraser River are expected to see usage rates climb faster than the rest of the area.

What it means: Increasing fares could impact people’s ability to use the service. But another concern is availability. If transit services don’t run at consistent times, or aren’t servicing critical areas, fewer people use it. It’s a balancing act.

• In other news: The new Capstan Station in Richmond on the Canada Line is not expected to open until Fall 2023. The station was originally set to open in early 2023 according to Urbanized.

NEW JOBS

Discover your new dream job:

• Head of global social impact at Electronic Arts

• Community lead in Vancouver at WeWork

• Internal communications director at Hootsuite

• Senior manager of Indigenous relations and reconciliation at ICBC

• Vice president of government relations in western Canada at Beer Canada

THE AGENDA

🚙 A driver collided with pedestrians on Saturday night, sending three people to hospital. Two were in critical condition. The collision happened near East Hastings Street and Campbell Avenue. Police say speed and impairment are not believed to be the causes. [Global]

📣 The Indian consulate was the site of a protest this Saturday as people rallied against the crackdown on Sikh’s in the Punjab province of India. Indian police have shut off the internet in the area as they search for a Sikh preacher. [Global]

🎉 Party on Wayne? There’s a plan for a 598-person event and music space and a 10-story development in Gastown located at 23 West Cordova St. Council will present the report on the development this Wednesday. [Vancouver Sun]

🍌 Banana barriers are a real thing and there’s a controversy brewing. The barriers are designed to slow down traffic and force vehicles away from the curbs. Some people claim they can’t see them (though they are big, yellow and in front of a driver) and others claim they’re doing exactly what they’re supposed to. Check out our photo of the day lower in the newsletter to see why. There are 37 of the barriers throughout the city. [Vancouver Sun]

🏒 Canucks broadcaster Jody Vance is suing an online harasser who they claim ran a campaign of harassment and invasion of privacy from March 2020 to September 2021. The man previously plead guilty to online harassment. [Vancouver Sun]

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

Music on Main presents Vicky Chow Plays Philip Glass | Christ Church Cathedral | Tuesday, 7 pm | A dynamic performance by one of the “new stars of new music” | Tickets $49.

Paradise or the Impermanence of Ice Cream | Historic Theatre | Now till Apr. 2 | A play about love, life and ice cream, with actor Jacob Rajan playing seven characters | Tickets $25.

Pretty Women, the Musical | Queen Elizabeth Theatre | March 29 to April 2 | Based on the famous romantic comedy, but in musical format! | Tickets $77 and up.

Green Drinks Vancouver | Red Truck Beer | March 28, 6 pm | Speed networking session to meet other people working towards making Vancouver a greener city | Free.

SPORTS

Hockey

The Canucks just can’t stop winning. The team defeated the Stars 3-1 on Saturday and are now 12-4-1 in their last 17 games. Talk about a turnaround. The team is currently 23rd and needs to place 21st or lower if they want any hope of selecting draft prospect Connor Bedard. [Sportsnet]

Sad news for Vancouver fans. This will be announcer John Garrett’s last season, with a final game on April 13. Potential replacements include Dave Tomlinson, Corey Hirsch and Randip Janda. [Daily Hive]

The Vancouver Giants won 3-2 against the Kelowna Rockets to close out their final game at home. The team is in seventh place with a record of 38-31-5-3. They begin the playoffs against the second-place Kamloops Blazers on Friday. [The Province]

Soccer

The Vancouver Whitecaps tied the Minnesota United on Saturday after a goal from Simon Becher. The team still hasn’t won a game and is now 0-3-3 with three points for the season. [CBC]

Star Vancouver striker Sergio Cordova, who was recently acquired by the team, will miss six to eight weeks with a hamstring strain. It happened against the L.A. Galaxy on March March 18. [Sportsnet]

HOUSING

New temporary housing coming to the Downtown Eastside

What happened: Yesterday the province announced 330 new homes for people in the Downtown Eastside, according to The Canadian Press. The homes are expected to be built by the end of June.

Background: The move comes as city officials crack down on new tent encampments, and public officials indicate they are less inclined to allow new encampments, according to the Vancouver Sun.

The numbers: According to the government, there are 117 people living on East Hastings Street. A total of 70 have said they would be interested in housing. The province says 90 have already been moved into housing since July of last year, according to CTV.

What’s being built:

• Two temporary housing projects;

• Renovated single-room occupancy;

• And other supportive housing.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• A new ESPN documentary in their 30 for 30 series will tackle the 2011 Stanley Cup riot. [CTV]

• Want to see how Vancouver has changed in 36 years? Watch this timelapse from space. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Those lucky enough last week got to witness the northern lights in Vancouver. [CTV]

• Be on the lookout for a chihuahua named Butter who went missing Saturday at Shaughnessy Street and Kingsway Avenue. [Reddit]

• It’s not yet beach season, but that didn’t stop this beaver playing at Kitsilano beach on Saturday. [Vancouver is Awesome]

PUBLIC SAFETY

Fires everywhere

It was a busy weekend for Vancouver firefighters who fought multiple fires across the city.

Broadway: Over 40 firefighters battled a blaze Saturday morning at 719 East Broadway. It was a two-alarm fire and teams were not able to enter the building due to the heat. The fire did not spread, but was deep within the building, according to Vancouver is Awesome. The cause is currently unknown.

• The fire impacted Al Fares Halal Meats and Grocery and Generation Cannabis according to Daily Hive.

Hastings: A fire broke out on Saturday afternoon in the 500 block of East Hastings Street between Jackson and Princess avenues, according to CTV. Popular spot Top Rope Birria was gutted by the fire and has no timeline for reopening.

• Other restaurants that used the commissary kitchen and will be affected include Mom’s Grilled Cheese Truck, Green Coast Coffee, Modern Perogie and Āyurvedic Bone Broth, according to Daily Hive.

Zoom out: Vancouver, especially Downtown Eastside tent encampments, are dealing with a high volume of fires. There have been 370 fires since July that started within encampments, according to Global.

GOOD NEWS

Start your day off with some good news:

Canucks fans have flocked to help a woman and her children who lost most of their belongings on Friday, according to the Vancouver Sun.

After tweeting out about her home, a Twitter user who shares a love of the Canucks, set up a GoFundMe page. So far $8,825 has been raised for the family. Said Brouse, the organizer of the fundraiser, “I hope all this help will allow Hayley to get a little bit of normalcy back, and show everyone that while there’s a lot of disagreement on Canucks Twitter when there’s a time of need — everyone comes together.”

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Congrats to the winners of Stars of Vancouver 2023, places that were voted the best in a bunch of categories. [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Beatbox championships are apparently a thing and two Vancouver beatboxers won first place. [CBC]

• Zellers is back but is it worth it? [Daily Hive]

• Lynx announced they’re offering a new flight this summer between Hamilton and Vancouver. Nothing better than cheaper flights! [CTV]

• If you see a frog, send a photo to the Frog Finders Program to help with mapping amphibian populations. [The Tyee]

• BC Place is launching a $5 menu for certain stadium events. Cheaper beer prices? Don’t count on it. [Daily Hive]

• On Wednesday, 354 Afghan refugees arrived in Canada through YVR. Welcome to Canada! [Twitter]

TWEET OF THE DAY

TOP PHOTO

It may rain often, but sometimes something like this happens.

GAME TIME

The answer to Friday’s Wordle was PACE, as in pace of change proposals for Broadway corridor.

Today’s quiz question - how many new beds did the province announce on Sunday they’re building in the Downtown Eastside? Reply with your name and correct answer to be mentioned in the newsletter!