The Chilliwack
Progress Wednesday
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Our Community. Our People.
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SPECIAL FEATURE
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Meet some of the people who make up ‘Our Community.’
Transit ridership continues to grow.
Huskers show promise.
Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • W E D N E S D AY, J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 4
■ O FF T O T HE R ACES
Slight climb in Chilliwack crime rate
Peter Holmes (second from left) with Chilliwack Optimist Club helps dump a tarpaulin full of rubber ducks off the Keith Wilson Bridge and into the Vedder River on Saturday. The fourth annual Chilliwack Optimist Club Duck Race saw 1,172 yellow ducks float 1,500 metres down the river. People purchased tickets at $5 per duck and five prizes were awarded to the first five ducks to cross the finish line: first was a cheque for $1,500, second was a monthly family meal from Vedder Panago Pizza for a year, third was an iPad Air 32GB donated by Vedder Panago, fourth was a flight for two over the Fraser Valley from Upper Valley Aviation, and fifth prize was a one-night stay for two at Harrison Hot Springs. The organizers have tracked down four of the five winners but are unable to read the phone number for the fourth-place winner. They are asking for the person who has ticket #041 to call Coralee Lord at 604-799-3287 to claim their prize. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Major changes eyed for Cultus Lake Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Once again the balance of power at Cultus Lake Park could be in flux. A town hall meeting set for Wednesday night will hear feedback from the public on proposed boundary changes that would see the FVRD Electoral Area E split in two. It’s all happening very quickly, but governance changes and boundary realignments under consideration right now could
impact both Cultus Lake and Chilliwack River Valley. The proposal to divide the Electoral Area E in two is not a new idea, but is one that’s recently had new life breathed into it by Chilliwack-Hope MLA Laurie Throness. First the composition and size of the Cultus Lake Park Board is set to change. Bill 27, the legislation shifting the balance of power on the Cultus Lake Park Board, was the very last order paper to be introduced, and passed, in the spring session of the B.C. leg-
islature.The upshot is that this November, five park board commissioners – down from seven – will be voted in during the 2014 election. Three commissioners will be elected by Cultus Lake voters, with only two by Chilliwack residents. Now in the latest twist, if MLA Throness is successful in this bid, there will be a new Electoral Area director on the FVRD board to specifically represent the Cultus Lake area. “It’s my hope that in the fol-
lowing year, we will be able to start new era of co-operation and accountability,” said Throness. The current FVRD rep, David Lamson, has been Electoral Area E director for nine years, and has been supportive of the idea to split it in two for years. However, it didn’t get any serious momentum provincially until the new MLA picked it up and ran with it. “I’m in favour of the idea,” Lamson said, about splitting the electoral area, which he has Continued: CULTUS/ p5
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Chilliwack’s overall crime rate inched upward in 2013, reflecting a three-year pattern of marginal increases. According to data released by Stats Canada, total Criminal Code violations in Chilliwack (excluding traffic) rose by 1.5 per cent in 2013. That’s slightly more than the 0.6 per cent increase in 2012, and the 0.9 per cent rise in 2011. And it bucks the provincial trend, where the crime rate province-wide fell 5.7 per cent in 2013. Much of the increase can be blamed on property crimes. Chilliwack saw a 3.5 per cent increase in that categor y last year, reflecting 5,256 total reported incidents in 2013. Property crimes also rose in 2012 by 5.24 per cent, following three years of double-digit declines. Violent crimes, meanwhile, reached their lowest point in the past five years. There were 1,083 incidents reported last year – a 10.5 per cent decline over the year previous. The Crime Severity Index (CSI) also continued a five-year slide. The statistic – which doesn’t just measure the volume of crime, but the severity – fell to 104.3, down 5.30 per cent since 2012. That good news, however, is tempered by a provincial average of 89.18 Also, a steep decline in the CSI for violent crimes (down 23 points), masks an almost stagnant year in the non-violent category, which would include property crimes. While down slightly from last year, it still sits at 117.13 – 25 points above the provincial average.
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