What’s made the headlines in the South Delta Leader over the past decade?

There’s been a variety of stories—ranging from the first edition on July 30, 1999 that asked if Delta was going to have its own 911 call centre to the July 3, 2009 headline that covered Delta South MLA Vicki Huntington’s opposition to South Fraser Perimeter Road construction along its current route.

In between there have been elections—municipal, provincial and federal—one close recall result for former B.C. Liberal Party MLA Val Roddick, the downgrading of services at Delta Hospital and the community’s subsequent united opposition, the protest of upgrading of power lines through residential Tsawwassen, and the implementation the Tsawwassen First Nation treaty.

Here we look back through the past 10 years at the stories that made our top 10.

july 30, 1999

a delta 911 call centre?

In the July 30, 1999 edition reporter Neal Razzell wrote on the Leader’s very first front page that if Delta opted out of the region-wide E-Comm communications system in favour of a locally based one, response times by emergency personnel could improve.

“Rather than have another party answer the phone and then pass it to our dispatch, our dispatch would answer it first and then deal with it,” said then Delta Fire Chief Randy Wolsey.

Meanwhile, GVRD—the forerunner to Metro Vancouver—officials had misgivings about the proposal.

“It wouldn’t work,” said GVRD planner Ken Cameron. “You couldn’t run 20 different call centres 24 hours a day and have the same level of service at a lower cost.”

The local call centre was never established in Delta and the municipality’s emergency agencies subscribe to the centralized E-Comm service.

Jan. 14, 2000

axe falls hard

The Jan. 14, 2000 edition followed the surprise firing of senior management at Delta Municipal Hall. Reporter David Marsh wrote that the dismissals were expected to cost local taxpayers $400,000 in severance.

Chief administrator Tom Fletcher, finance boss Rick Elligott and city clerk Tanalee Hesse were shown the door Tuesday (Jan. 11, 2000) by new mayor Lois Jackson and her Tri-Delta majority on council, wrote Marsh.

The staff purge, which has also cost two executive assistants their jobs, took two councillors by surprise and sparked a raucous behind-closed-doors scrap at a regular council meeting Tuesday.

Coun. George Hawskworth of the Independent Delta Electors’ Association (IDEA), the slate which lost control of council to Tri-Delta in the November (1999) civic election, said he only found out what was happening when he bumped into Fletcher leaving the (municipal) hall Tuesday afternoon.

The sacking of Fletcher had been widely speculated when Jackson and Tri-Delta took over in December (2000). Jackson had a well publicized spat with IDEA and Delta administration over Fletcher’s business expenses while she was a minority councillor and frequently criticized IDEA for allowing Fletcher, Elligott and other staff too much influence over decision-making.

sept. 14, 2001

delta offers safe haven

The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre buildings in New York City sent ripples around the world, including South Delta which prepared to lend a hand to those air travelers stranded by a short, no-fly edict as the incident grounded commercial flights.

“It is a very black day in human history in my opinion and I’m sure in others,” Mayor Lois Jackson said during a Delta Council meeting on the evening of the incident after two commercial airliners slammed into the towers and eventually brought them tumbling down. “It’s been a major despicable act by a lot of monstrous people and reminds me of a lot of other times in history that a lot of children only read about in history books like Pearl Harbour and the assassination of President Kennedy, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, which I remember. Some terrible things happened today and I know I speak for council and the rest of the community that we must pledge to ensure democracy and freedom be defended. I know our hearts and our prayers go out to the people of America, those who have been lost and those who have friends and family who have been lost.”

Local hotel space was quickly booked up as airline travelers sought refuge until their flights were given the green light to continue tot their destinations.

By noon, the Tsawwassen Best Western—now the Coast Tsawwassen Inn—was full and then general manager Darlene Mack said her hotel was considering setting up cots in the ballroom to handle any overflow.

One traveler forced to make an unscheduled stop in South Delta was Manoj Sharma, a web designer on his way home to San Jose, California after a trip to India.

Sharma said passengers on his flight were told technical problems forced their plane to land at YVR. But once on the ground he found out the truth after calling his wife on his cell phone.

“That was terrible news. I just couldn’t believe what she was telling me,” he said.

jan. 4, 2002

uncertain future for Delta ER

The complete closure of Delta Hospital’s emergency department was one of several cost-saving measures being considered in the newly formed Fraser Health Region.

The Leader broke the story after learning an Acute Care Review of hospitals in the recently expanded region, that now includes Delta, Surrey Memorial, Langley Memorial and Peace Arch Hospital, would save a total of $1.4 million and significantly change the role of the hospital.

The Acute Care Review obtained by the Leader outlined two cost-saving scenarios. In the first, the hours at Delta Hospital’s emergency department would be reduced at night for a saving of $500,000. Hours could also be reduced at Peach Arch Hospital and Langley Memorial Hospital for a further saving of $800,000 and $1 million respectively.

An option in the first scenario also called for Delta’s ER to shut down at night and non-ER savings of five percent to be found at the other two hospitals.

The document stated that patients admitted to the emergency will have to be transferred to inpatient units in order to achieve the savings. And the communities affected would face transportation challenges when patients will be forced to travel to other hospitals for emergency care.

In the second scenario, three ERs would be closed at night in Delta, Langley and White Rock (Peace Arch Hospital). Resources would then be added to Surrey Memorial’s ER department to treat the anticipated increase in volume. That option would save $2.3 million, while the reallocated resources at Surrey Memorial would cost an additional $500,000.

Other options could also see the complete closure of the ERs in Langley and Peace Arch or Delta.

“We have to look at all of the services we’re providing and see where we might be able to reduce some costs while still providing the best possible service to the community within the resources we have,” said then Fraser Health Region spokesman Don Bower. “That process is underway.”

Bower said the review was necessary because the region was facing a potential $20 million deficit in 2002, and if no adjustments to services were made it could soar to around $74 million by 2005.

“We do have to make some changes. Everybody recognizes that it’s not unique to the South Fraser,” Bower said. “Ultimately the teams involved will make the recommendations to senior management who will make recommendations to the board.”

In a letter to then Fraser Health Region CEO Lynda Cranston, then Delta Hospital Foundation chair Kimberley Arthur-Leung stated that despite assurances from Delta MLA Val Roddick that the emergency department will not be affected, “meetings around the reduction of hours at Delta Hospital’s Emergency Department are ongoing and that there is a recommendation on the table to reduce the hours of operation of the emergency department. This is simply unacceptable.”

The community rallied around their hospital and the ER remained open—and last year Fraser Health announced the hospital’s return to acute care status.

march 29, 2002

Gone, but not forgotten

Outside Delta Secondary school’s theatre department was an anonymous note on the billboard for one of the students who passed away in a March 21, 2002 tragic car accident involving five Ladner teens. Four died and one was treated for serious injuries in Vancouver General Hospital (VGH).

It reads: “You were gifted with much more than the average guy was! The way I will remember you most is on stage. The way you could do anything. Making people laugh was your best quality. I promise you this from my heart. No one will ever take your spot away from the Genesis Theatre Stage. You will be remembered always. R.I.P. . .Thespian!”

Reece Marshall, one of the four teens who passed away, was in a car with Kevinjit Sanghera, Spencer McBride, Michael Parker and Anthony Nason when they collided with a tractor-trailer on Deltaport Way.

“He had a beautiful, beautiful voice,” said Janet Worrall, drama teacher at the school. “He was a wonderful singer.”

Worrall said that Marshall had been active in theatre since he was in Grade 8. “When he was in Grade 9, he had a leading role in the Christmas Carol and in Oliver. Most of the kids remember him from his role as the Artful Dodger in Oliver,” she said.

“It’s devastating to all of us,” she continued. “Especially in our theatre department because we are so close to each other.”

Another student, Thomas Peardon in Grade 12, said he was finding it hard to be at school.

“I’m trying not to cry, I’m trying to be strong,” said Peardon. “I’m trying to set an example for the younger students, but it’s hard.” “All we can think about is the friends that we lost. The pain that they must’ve felt.” Coates said that the accidents have made his mind cloudy and that he couldn’t concentrate. “They won’t be forgotten,” he said.

Delta Secondary principal, Ray Holme, is in his first year at the school. He said he has taught at schools where there has been one death, but not four.

“The community has been very encouraging,” he said. “The counselling offered today has been very good.”

The incident prompted a change in the number of passengers drivers holding a novice designation could carry.

Feb 27 2003

MLA survives

Delta South MLA Val Roddick escaped being branded the first Canadian politician to be recalled by constituents while in office.

According to results from Elections BC, Roddick avoided being ousted by a total of 1,950 signatures in a recall campaign that failed to amass the required 40 per cent (11,949 signatures) from the Delta South voter’s list to be considered a success.

Recallers said they had collected a total of 13,082 names over a 60-day campaign. Elections BC recorded a total of 13,171 petition lines that required verification, but some submissions were rejected for reasons such as the use of improper dates on the sign-up sheet, names signed in pencil, addresses that did not match up with voters list information, ineligible voters, or duplicate signatures.

The final tally of accepted recall signatures was 9,999, or 33.5 per cent of local voters.

While Roddick said she was relieved the recall campaign was over she did not feel the outcome was any cause to celebrate, adding she learned from the recall experience that local residents want her to cut a higher profile and make herself more accessible.

Jan. 21, 2005

A current of danger?

Tsawwassen residents sounded alarm bells after learning changes to the existing BC Hydro power line were coming. In breaking the story in the Jan. 21, 2005 edition, former editor Chris Bryan and then reporter Philip Raphael talked to homeowners living near the lines, one of whom was John Bulloch who said he knew what he was getting into when he bought his house at 1680 53A St. in 1995.

Bulloch asked his neighbours about the power lines that ran through the backyards of all the homes on the east side of the street.

Any concerns? Any health risks? He even took some readings with a measuring device that reads the magnetic field-radiation given off by common appliances in small doses, more so in microwaves, and also commonly found around power lines.

Some scientists have suggested links between this type of radiation and leukemia, brain tumours and miscarriages.

The power line fight would continue for another three and a half years, culminating with the installation of the upgraded lines amid a flurry of protests last summer as the poles went into place.

The majority of homes along the right-of-way were eventually sold to the province in a buy out scheme.

Feb. 3, 2006

A Mother Nature’s fury

Mother Nature unleashed her fury on the residents of Boundary Bay Feb. 3 as a combination of 80km/h winds and high tides led to pounding surf and plenty of flooded homes.

Residents turned out numbers to fill sandbags to protect their low-lying property from the rising waters, while municipal crews also helped clean up the storm damage.

Apr. 3, 2009

Historic moment for Tsawwassen first nation

A historical occasion was made official April 3 when the Tsawwassen First Nation’s treaty was made effective.

The agreement when into effect at 12:01 a.m. and later that morning hundreds of people gathered at the band’s Longhouse for the day-long ceremonies and celebrations.

Many people from outside the TFN community came to witness the occasion, lining their vehicles along the stretch of North Tsawwassen Drive leading to the Longhouse.

Before a packed audience in traditional regalia Chief Kim Baird told the gathering it was hard to believe the day had finally arrived after 16 years of negotiations with the province and federal government.

“I can’t believe the Indian Act is gone now,” she said to cheers and claps. “Since midnight it’s shadow no longer impacts our lands.”

Baird said the day’s theme was taking back their rightful place.

She added that today the band is once again self-governing.

“I cannot begin to tell you how it feels to be in front of you today,” she said. “This has been a long journey for me, my family and the families of my community.”

Baird said the process of de-colonization is a painful process and the negotiations leading up to the effective day of the treaty have elicited controversy from within and outside the TFN community. But she expressed her pride for courage her community has shown.

June 2, 2009

Vicki remains victorious in South Delta

South Delta made provincial election history after a judicial recount made former Delta councillor Vicki Huntington the first independent in 60 years to be elected an MLA.

Huntington kept her 32 vote lead from a previous recount that included absentee ballots, said she was relieved the recount process was over, although there is a 48-hour window during which any party can appeal the decision.

“I’d like to tell the other candidates they ran great campaigns, but I guess we will have to wait and see what happens over the next couple of days,” she said.

The judicial recount was automatically triggered by the close finish between Huntington and B.C. Liberal Party candidate and Attorney-General Wally Oppal.

On election night (May 12) a mere three votes gave Oppal the win, but a recount last week overturned that and gave Huntington the 32-vote margin heading into the judicial recount.

Huntington is B.C.’s first independent MLA in 60 years.

Oppal, who has lived in Tsawwassen for 11 years, left the riding of Vancouver Fraserview to run in South Delta after former MLA Val Roddick retired from politics.

n If you have any suggestions for the top stories over the last decade in the South Delta, email editor@southdeltaleader.com.

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