Vancouver Rundown

The BC Ferry Queen of Surrey is out of service due to a mechanical issue. Sailings between Horseshoe Bay and the Sunshine Coast were cancelled Wednesday morning after a generator failed. BC Ferries had to add water taxi service to the run. An unrelated issue on the same ferry forced delays during the busy Easter long weekend.

Mayor Ken Sim wants Vancouver to land a Major League Baseball team. Sim hopes an ownership group can put together a competitive bid as MLB contemplates expansion. He says Vancouver has a strong sports culture and proven track record of supporting professional teams. A fleshed out plan has not yet been presented to council.

Prime Minister Mark Carney’s Liberals now have a majority in the House of Commons, sweeping all three Monday by-elections. The Liberals now have 171 seats in the House after winning two Ontario races and one in Quebec. Carney has issued a statement congratulating the three newly elected MPs - he also promises to work collaboratively in the reshaped Parliament.

Police in West Vancouver are alarmed over a car being torched in the parking lot of a synagogue. The fire happened early Sunday morning in the parking lot of Har El Synagogue on Taylor Way. There are no injuries and no damage to the synagogue itself. No arrests have been made and West Vancouver Police say they understand how the congregation and the greater Jewish community may be concerned. Police say the situation is stable and the community is safe.

Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is calling on Mark Carney’s Liberal government to protect B.C.’s private property rights. Poilievre used a Thursday stop in B.C. to push a four point plan on property rights. That plan includes making sure fee simple property takes priority over land claims, rights are secured in future federal deals with First Nations, those rights are safe across B.C., and Ottawa sets up a parliamentary committee to study the issue. Both the federal and B.C. governments are appealing the recent Cowichan decision that found Crown and city titles over land are defective and invalid.

Mayor Ken Sim says Vancouver will spend $400M to rebuild and renovate five community centres. The promise comes in Sim’s state of the city address. The mayor calls it the most ambitious funding package in the city’s history. Details, including which community centres will be included, have not been unveiled. Last September, the city’s independent auditor said Vancouver had not put aside enough money for the replacement of pools, rinks and community centres which have reached the end of their useful lives.

An early season wildfire is burning out of control near Pemberton’s airport. The 100 hectare fire is burning in a grassy area on Lilwat Nation land. There’s no early word on how it started but at least on nearby resident says he heard a couple loud bangs late Tuesday afternoon. So far, there are no reports of any damage to buildings.

pecial Weather Statements have been posted by Environment Canada as the B.C. south coast gets hit by strong wind. Gusts of up to 70 km/h are expected over a wide area of Metro Vancouver, Greater Victoria and the Gulf Islands - BC Hydro crews and contractors are on standby to deal with expected outages. BC Ferries is closely watching the situation in anticipation of possible cancellations.

Meanwhile, some BC Ferries customers are now making unexpected Tuesday trips following a long weekend of delays and cancellations. BC Ferries had to deal with three ships experiencing mechanical problems while two others remained out of service during the busy long weekend. That forced several cancellations on main routes between Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. The BC Conservatives blame the BC Ferries Board and the NDP government for failing to fix serious issues over the past nine years.

Premier David Eby is spending Thursday meeting with First Nations trying to get approval ahead of changing DRIPA - the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act. Chiefs invited to a virtual meeting are asking questions about watering down legal language that aligns B.C. with the UN Declaration. The BC Conservatives have attacked the NDP government over its handling of the issue.

A new mechanical issue has removed a BC Ferry from the Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay run, two days after she was put back in service. An electrical problem on the Spirit of Vancouver Island forced the vessel to return to Tsawwassen Tuesday morning - cars had to back off the ferry to unload. The Spirit of Vancouver Island broke down over spring break - it’s unclear whether she will be back in service for the Easter long weekend.