On the first anniversary of the fire that destroyed Lytton, the New Democrats predicted that the village would soon begin to
re-emerge from the ashes.
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Advocates say the number of homeless in Abbotsford has never been higher, with several camps in rest areas, park-and-rides, and
truck-parking lots bordering the highway.
Vancouver Sun reporter Glenda Luymes spoke with Glen Henderson, who explained how his run of bad luck saw him go from
homeownership to living out of a camper at the Cole Road rest area.
(The Canadian Press)
Two years after Lytton burned, not a single building permit has been issued
Vaughn Palmer
VICTORIA — On the first anniversary of the fire that destroyed Lytton, the New Democrats predicted that the village would soon
begin to re-emerge from the ashes.
“We know that for people waiting to get back to their properties and to rebuild their homes and lives, the recovery process can’t
move fast enough,” said Premier John Horgan and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth in a joint statement on June 30, 2022.
“On this sombre anniversary, we reaffirm our commitment to all those affected by last year’s wildfire that we will not stop
working until everyone can see the pathway to returning home.”
In a followup interview, Farnworth told The Canadian Press that “residents are going to be able to start rebuilding in September,”
2022.
He further predicted that most of the 150 homes, businesses and other buildings destroyed in the fire would be rebuilt by the time
the second anniversary rolls around this June 30.
It didn’t happen. There’s been no rebuilding to date. Not even a building permit.
The failure was underscored by Opposition MLA Jackie Tegart as the spring session of the B.C. legislature wound to a close.
“My hope was that 672 days after the community of Lytton burned to the ground, I would be standing here sharing with you the
exciting news of residents rebuilding, the exciting news of businesses reopening and of health services returning, of people
rejoicing about coming home,” she told the house on May 4.
“Unfortunately, that is not the story of Lytton today: not a home rebuilt within the village or a business community
re-established. I received word yesterday of another resident of Lytton that has passed away waiting to go home.
“Six hundred and seventy-two days. Surely, we can do better.”
As to why B.C. hasn’t done better, excuses abound.
The federal government has put up $77 million toward rebuilding Lytton. The province has committed $56 million.
“We have not closed the door on providing more support if required,” Emergency Management Minister Bowinn Ma told the legislature
this spring.
But as Tegart said in response, “$36 million spent already and not a shovel in the ground.”
When I asked the government for a response to Tegart’s lament, I got back a statement that tried to put the onus back on poor,
beleaguered Lytton.
“Under the leadership of the village of Lytton, the province continues to support the village in their recovery activities,” it
read in part. “The village has indicated that they are ready to start receiving building permits.
“The village continues to move forward in a measured, thoughtful manner” the statement continued.
“The province is committed to supporting the village to bring the site to a point where it is safe, clean and ready for rebuild
with heritage resources protected.”
However, in one of those dog-that-didn’t-bark moments, the New Democrats have stopped predicting when Lytton will be fully
restored.
Notwithstanding Farnworth’s initial vow that “we want to see Lytton rebuilt and rebuilt quickly,” the provincial bureaucracy has
contributed to major delays over the two years.
It took almost four months for the province to deliver the first $1 million recovery grant to the village, as The Vancouver Sun
reporter Derrick Penner discovered recently through an access-to-information request.
Other delays were attributed to the destruction of village records, supply chain issues and the havoc caused on local highways and
bridges by record floods in the fall of 2021.
Lytton’s mayor Denise O’Connor, elected in 2022 on a vow to get things moving, says she doesn’t fully understand why progress is
so slow.
“People have asked, ‘Why does Monte Lake, why do they just get to go rebuild? Why does a building in downtown Vancouver burn down
and they get cleaned up and start rebuilding right away?’” she told reporter Michele Brunoro of CTV.
The two big holdups these days are archeological assessments and soil remediation.
Lytton was built on the site of an ancient Indigenous community, hence every building lot has been subjected to archeological
assessment and investigation.
Some of the excavations have uncovered culturally significant artifacts connected to the previous Indigenous community and the
assessments continue.
“In the event an artifact or item of cultural significance is found, excavation work must cease and additional permitting would be
required through the archeology branch,” the government said in a news release last year.
Still, the province claims that “archeology work has not delayed rebuilding efforts.”
Also continuing are extensive environmental remediation, which entails removal, then replacement, of the toxic soil.
“The properties have to be cleared free of contaminants … so there’s testing going on and soil removed from properties,” explained
the mayor. “Apparently, some properties have finished that process. Others, it’s still ongoing.”
Another challenge is the insistence that Lytton be rebuilt to world-class standards of energy efficiency and fire resistance,
making for a “model community” that senior governments can point to with pride.
Not surprisingly, that grandiose talk doesn’t impress displaced residents of Lytton.
“We don’t want to hear that anymore. We just want to go home,” as O’Connor declared at one point in the two-years-and-counting
saga of a village in limbo.
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Voices
It may be beneficial to preserve a very limited model of safer supply that differs dramatically from the grossly irresponsible one
Canada uses today, writes National Post columnist Adam Zivo.
However, safer supply is a poor solution for chronic pain management and the strategy must address the diversion crisis, which is
only serving to add fuel to the opioid epidemic.
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There are two reasons California Sen. Dianne Feinstein is staying in office despite having recently suffered from shingles,
encephalitis and other wasting illnesses, writes author Andrew Cohen.
The first is the politics of choosing her successor. The second is the politics of the judiciary committee.
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