Month: April 2025

Port Moody to ponder food rescue policy

Port Moody could soon become the first municipality in British Columbia to compel new grocery stores participate in a local food recovery program.

Tuesday, April 22, council will consider a motion by Mayor Meghan Lahti that staff report back with a city policy requiring all new grocery stores partner with a recovery program to distribute food that would otherwise be thrown away to local charities and non-profit organizations.

Currently, participation by grocery stores in such food recovery efforts with organizations like the Food Link Society is largely voluntary.

Lahti said with three new grocery stores planned as part of major development projects in Port Moody — downtown, the Inlet District and Portwood — the time is right to get them on board.

“From a municipal perspective, these programs are best initiated at the outset through policy,” she said in a report. “It will be important to implement this policy as soon as possible to ensure that this requirement is understood prior to negotiation with any potential grocery store provider.”

Lahti said food recovery programs help reduce food waste, increase food security, save grocery stores money on their disposal costs and reduce greenhouse gases.

One million kilograms of rescued food

Igor Bjelac, the director of the Food Link Society, said his group currently serves 11 communities from 29 distribution points around the Lower Mainland. Last year it rescued a million kilograms of edible food that otherwise would have been sent to a landfill.

He said a policy making new grocery stores in Port Moody participate in food recovery programs would be a huge boost.

“It would reduce the time and effort we currently spend persuading stores to come on board,” Bjelac said. “Instead, we could focus our energy on expanding services — like increasing the number of families we serve, boosting meal production in community kitchens, and supplying even more food to schools and housing facilities.”

In February, Food Link opened a community kitchen facility in a Coquitlam industrial park that will allow volunteers and professional staff to transform imperfect vegetables and fruit, as well as other staples nearing their best before date, into healthy meals, appetizers and snacks to be distributed to local families in need.

Cassie Neigum said she’s seen first-hand the benefits food recovery programs can have in the Coquitlam middle school community where she teaches.

“You can’t teach kids if they’re hungry,” she said, adding the number of families at her school who receive hampers of food items recovered from local grocery stores increased from 32 to 52 in just the past year.

“Kids can’t learn in class if they’re concerned about where their next meal is coming from.”

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These competitors on Port Moody’s Brewers Row are joining forces

This story was first published by the Tri-City News

Port Moody’s Brewers Row is getting smaller.

But the number of individual craft breweries will stay the same.

Brave Brewing and Twin Sails are merging. 

The Site B community space and The Fountainhead Network co-working space will also operate under the same umbrella.

Tech entrepreneur Chris Peacock, who’s part of a group that owns Brave and Site B, said the consolidation will to build community through the business partnerships.

“Our reason for being has always been about community and community thrives when the desire to buy, support and say local is paramount,” he said.

Twin Sails’ Clay Allmin said joining forces with Brave is better than the alternative, as the craft brewing industry in British Columbia faces challenges like higher costs and changing consumer tastes. Several breweries have closed in recent years, such as Studio in Burnaby and Broadway in Port Coquitlam, while others like PoCo’s Taylight and Train Wreck on St. Johns Street have changed ownership.

“This consolidation allows us to push forward and scale our ability to offer high quality, locally crafted places and products to our community,” Allmin said.

He added Twin Sails will use Brave’s excess brewing capacity to launch new products while its sales team will be able to help promote and improve distribution of its new sister brewery’s beers.

“This opportunity allows both breweries to get back to their roots of creativity and providing customers a unique experience every time they come to our tasting rooms,” Allmin said.

Mike Arboit, co-founder of The Fountainhead Network, said tightening his alliance with the breweries and the Site B event space with which he shares a warehouse on Murray Street, strengthens the collaborative eco-system he’s been trying to build where work, play and community engagement co-exist and help boost each other.

“This merger will create the time, resources and confidence to grow,” said Arboit, who’s also promoted professional wrestling events at Site B.

The event space was recently granted a three-year extension of its temporary use permit by the City of Port Moody and several members of council said the concept has been such a success hosting gatherings like holiday sales, weightlifting competitions, long-table dinners, wedding receptions and even roller derby, they’d like to see the arrangement made permanent.

Peacock, who co-founded tech start-up Traction Demand that grew to more than 1,000 employees before it was acquired by Salesforce Professional Services, said he’d like to bring the concept to other communities.

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Port Moody to boost communication efforts

This story was scheduled to appear in the Tri-City News.

A changing media landscape, including the demise of the Tri-City News, has the City of Port Moody scrambling to find new ways to share factual information with residents and counter disinformation spread on social media.

Tuesday, April 15, council approved an expenditure of $50,000 this year, and an $85,000 budget item in 2026, to boost the city’s communication resources.

The money will be spent to help fill an “anticipated information gap on timely information” about council decisions, as well as other general city news, good news stories, details about city services and programming along with calls to action.

The information will be posted on the city’s redesigned website, which is expected to be ready to launch in June, through a newsfeed that would trigger emails to subscribers or possibly even an e-newsletter, said Port Moody’s manager of communications and engagement, Lindsay Todd, in a presentation.

Todd said with the closure of the Tri-City News, which its parent company Glacier Media announced Feb. 21 (and subsequently occurred April 17), “a gap will emerge in information being pushed out to residents.”

The News has covered civic affairs and other happenings in Port Moody, as well as Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and the villages of Anmore and Belcarra for more than 40 years. It ceased its print publication in Aug., 2023 to exist exclusively online, a model the company said has proved “unsustainable.”

Another publication that also covered the Tri-Cities, the Coquitlam Now, closed in 2015.

Todd said having the city take more control of disseminating its own information and sharing its good news stories will “improve trust and transparency.”

Coun. Diana Dilworth said the rise of social media and demise of traditional media is making it challenging to ensure residents get factual information about what the city is up to.

“There’s got to be a better way to do something different and better.”

Coun. Amy Lubik agreed.

“I think it’s really important we’re being proactive, especially with the loss of local media,” she said. “Humans are storytelling creatures and if there’s a gap in information, we fill it.”

More often than not, she added, that gap is filled with misinformation or disinformation spread on social media that polarizes residents.

“I hope we can use this as a tool to bring people together.”

But a journalism instructor at Langara College and former editor of the Tri-City News, Rich Dal Monte, said it can be challenging for an institution with a vested interest to gain trust that it’s disseminating a fulsome set of facts.

“For better or for worse, since the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s a lot more mistrust of institutions,” said Dal Monte. “There’s always going to be people who don’t believe what they’re being told.”

Dal Monte said an independent news entity, however, has no vested interest when reporting on civic affairs.
“Whatever they do, we’re going to cover it.”

Coun. Haven Lurbiecki, the only councillor to vote against the motion, said no amount of message massaging by the city can counter unsubstantiated misinformation residents may read on social media or the way they feel about council decisions.

“I’m just wondering what the problem is we’re trying to address,” she said.

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Coquitlam Express face off-season challenges after playoff disappointment

The following story was scheduled to appear in the Tri-City News.

Despite exiting the first round of the BC Hockey League playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, there’s no time for Coquitlam Express general manager Tali Campbell to wallow in disappointment.

Even as players head home for the summer following Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the Victoria Grizzlies that eliminated the Express from the post season in six games, Campbell is putting together a busy schedule that includes further building out of the program’s development teams, attending spring evaluation camps, managing more renovations to its off-ice training and lounge facilities across from the Poirier Sport and Leisure Complex, meetings with scouts, as well as potential recruits and their families.

“The work never stops anymore,” Campbell said.

This summer, though, presents some new challenges.

A recent decision by the NCAA to accept players from the Canadian Hockey League into its Div. 1 programs beginning Aug. 1 has significantly altered the junior hockey landscape.

The allure of preparing players for lucrative scholarship opportunities at American universities to continue developing on the ice while getting an education was once the BCHL’s ace-in-the-hole over the Western, Ontario and Quebec Maritime Junior hockey leagues, which the NCAA had considered professional because of the stipend players get to help them cover expenses while living away from home.

Play to strengths

With that advantage now gone, Campbell said the Express and the rest of the BCHL teams must play to their strength of giving young men the time, space and tools to develop and mature as players and individuals ready to take the next step in their hockey journey, whether that’s college programs at U.S. or Canadian schools, or even turning pro or semi-pro.

“Our league has always been the long runway league,” Campbell said.

Already that approach has paid dividends with a commitment from potential 2026 NHL draft prospect Cole Bieksa, the son of beloved former Vancouver Canucks defensemen Kevin Bieksa.

“I think the reputation of our program just gets boosted by something like that,” Campbell said, adding the 18-year-old forward, whose Fairmont Prep Academy team in California just missed out winning the Chipotle-USA Hockey national 3A high school championship, will still have to earn his place on the Express come September.

Home-grown talent

Campbell said the increased competition for players also boosts the importance for BCHL teams to cultivate home-grown talent through their own developmental pathway.

“The feeder system is critical to the lifeline of our program,” said Campbell of the Coquitlam HC program that’s partnered with School District 43 to give local players as young as 13 a chance to hone their game in an intensive hockey environment while going to school at nearby Centennial and Port Moody secondary schools.

“We need to get families and kids into our programs at a young age, show them exactly what we offer over the course of three to four years.”

Still, Campbell said, with several players who were key to the Express’s run to the playoffs graduating out of the BCHL, including goaltender Andrew Ness, forwards James Shannon, Joseph Odyniec, Andrej Kovacivic and Mason Kesselring, along with defensemen David Brandes and Sam Frandina, uncertainty about what the team will look like come September abounds.

With more options available, players and their families are unlikely to make quick decisions about where to play until training camp is nigh.

Toughen up

“Every player is going to try their best option,” Campbell said, adding he’s targeting those who do choose the Express to be bigger and more willing to go to the wall for their teammates when the going gets tough.

We have to set the expectation that from Day One, you’re going to have to give a hit, you’re gonna have to get into a lane to block a shot,” Campbell said. “We owe more to our fans, we owe more to our corporate partners and the community.”

Express announce soccer partnership

The Expess is making tracks in soccer.

The BCHL team has announced a strategic partnership with Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club’s new Evolution FC program that competes in the semi-pro League1 BC.

The league positions itself as a bridge from high-performance youth soccer to the sport’s elite professional and amateur leagues like the Canadian Premier Soccer League and the new women’s Northern Super League.

Campbell said the arrangement will create opportunities for cross-promotion and marketing of the hockey and soccer teams while allowing Evolution FC to draw upon the expertise the Express already have in place for public relations, game day management and ticketing.

“This partnership is about more than just sports,” said Campbell in a news release. “It’s about united two organizations that are passionate about community, youth development, and creating unforgettable experiences.”

The Evolution FC team already has a win and a draw in its first two matches in the nine-team men’s league while the women’s side has a win and a loss. Both teams are based at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Stadium.

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Port Coquitlam motorcycle champion reaches speeds of 120 km/h. He’s just 10 years old

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News.

Tommy Molnar is a champion motorcycle racer.

But he’s still six years away from getting his driver’s licence.

Molnar, a Grade 4 student at Central Elementary School in Port Coquitlam, recently qualified to compete in the FIM MiniGP, an international road racing series for kids 10-14 that culminates with the top competitors from 22 countries earning their way to the world championship in Spain in November.

Tommy’s destiny to pull on racing leathers and throw a leg over a 160cc Ohvale racing motorcycle was pretty much bred in the bone. 

His dad, Tom, raced in his native Hungary for 20 years and ascended to compete in the European championships. His uncle and grandfather were also racers.

Tommy’s grandmother bought him his first pocket motorbike even before he born. At three, he learned to ride it, tottering down a back alley while his father and grandfather ran alongside to catch him if he fell over.

“It was pure joy,” recalled Tom Molnar of that moment.

Not that he particularly wanted his young son to follow in his tracks.

“It comes with a lot of sacrifices,” Tom Molnar said.  “It comes with a lot of injury.”

In fact, any further thoughts of motorcycling took a back seat when the family immigrated to Canada during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three years later, Tommy started dirt biking but quickly expressed his preference to ride around a road track.

His dad got him his first racing bike and he practised in the parking lot of a nearby school before entering his first race at the Greg Moore Raceway in Chilliwack.

Tommy finished third.

“It shocked and surprised me,” Tom Molnar said. “He just figured things out.”

To take measure of Tommy’s commitment, the family set goals for lap times; if he attained them, they’d carry on for another season.

SUBMITTED PHOTO Tommy Molnar, 10, with some of the trophies he’s won racing motorcycles.

Young Tommy was more than game.

“At the end of the day, he has the mindset of a racer,” said Tom Molnar of his son. “We go to a competition to race, not just ride a motorbike.”

Tommy said he loves the adrenaline rush of attaining speeds up to 120 km/h. But mostly, he said, he enjoys the collegial atmosphere of the track.

“Everybody is nice to each other,” he said. “If one person has a problem, everybody helps out.”

Graduating to the FIM MiniGP series means Tommy will be competing against racers who are up to four years older. They also have more experience and strength to lean the 130-pound bikes through the corners.

To get ready for the races that will take place at tracks in Ontario and Quebec from July through September, Tommy practises in the parking lot at a Richmond shopping mall with several other racers who’ve secured permission to use the area, as well as an overflow car park in South Surrey. Some track time at Mission Raceway is also a possibility, along with regional events at Cariboo Raceway Park in Quesnel and tracks in Alberta.

Physically, Tommy’s dad has designed a workout regimen to build his strength and stamina and he does Tae Kwon Do three times a week.

“It does take a lot of energy,” said Tom Molnar of motorcycle racing’s demands.

Mentally, Tommy said he just tries to focus on the task at hand. There’s no room in his thoughts for fear of crashing.

“If you think about it, it’s going to happen,” he said. “You just have to hold your breath and just do it.”

Tom Molnar’s not quite as dismissive of the sport’s dangers. In fact, he said the easiest way to soothe his qualms for his son’s safety is to get on his own bike and join him on the track.

“Somehow it feels less scary than standing stationary and waiting for something to happen.”

Tommy said he’s looking forward to the challenges of the upcoming season.

“Everything is brand new,” he said. “I feel very happy that I can do this.”

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Massive Anmore development proposal sparks tensions

When I returned to the Tri-City News in 2017, I was assigned to cover civic affairs in Port Moody, with occasional dips into the neighbouring villages of Anmore and Belcarra. They’re the three smallest communities in our coverage area. But they’ve proved to be anything but sleepy.
For four years, Port Moody was governed by a mayor under the cloud of a sexual assault charge. There was a raw sewage crisis on the grounds of a school at the border between Port Moody and Anmore. Development pressures have sparked division.
And now, in the twilight of our publication, a war of words is percolating.
This story first appeared in the Tri-City News.

A request by Port Moody for more time to comment on a massive development proposal in Anmore has drawn a sharp rebuke from the village’s mayor.

John McEwen said the village has already gone above and beyond by extending an invitation to its municipal neighbour to provide input on a proposal by Icona Properties to build 2,200 new homes on a 150-acre property the company owns at the corner of 1st Avenue and Sunnyside Road. 

He said similar consideration wasn’t extended to Anmore when Port Moody made the decision in 2020 to remove the David Avenue right-of-way through Bert Flinn Park, eliminating the possibility of building a third road connection to the village.

As well, McEwen said, the city has never asked Anmore about the potential impacts to its traffic from several new developments near the Moody Centre and Inlet Centre SkyTrain stations that could bring more visitors to təmtəmíxʷtən/Belcarra Regional Park and the Buntzen Lake recreational area.

“I’ve always said we look forward to broader regional development, but what about hearing from Port Moody about the traffic impacts to Anmore of its development?”

In a letter dated March 26, Port Moody Mayor Meghan Lahti said city staff hadn’t yet had a chance to review several technical studies examining the proposed development’s impact on traffic, transportation infrastructure, sewer and storm water systems as well as surrounding watersheds and ecosystems so they could provide comment by Anmore’s March 26 deadline.

She then highlighted several areas of potential concern the city has about the development proposal, including:

  • the need for a new agreement to connect the new development as well as the rest of Anmore to the regional sewer system that currently ends in Port Moody
  • clarification on how the new development will receive water and potential impacts on a 2018 agreement that connects Anmore to the city’s water system
  • traffic congestion on Ioco and East roads and the possible effects on Port Moody master transportation plan to reduce the dependence on cars to get around
  • impact to environmentally sensitive areas, fish habitats, wetlands, wildlife corridors as well as neighbouring steams and forests

In February, Anmore council approved an engagement plan for Icona’s proposal. It includes consultation with neighbouring communities, First Nations, TransLink, Metro Vancouver, Fraser Health, BC Ambulance, RCMP, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, as well as village residents.

Planning consultant Tim Savoie, who recently retired as Port Moody’s longtime city manager, said it’s still early days for such consultations and all interested parties will have several opportunities to provide “detailed technical analysis.” 

Savoie said the majority of the technical studies have been submitted to village staff and are currently being reviewed before being made publicly available.

He added Port Moody is welcome to attend future open houses about the development proposal as well as provide official responses during a public hearing or during referral to Metro Vancouver should it get that far.

“It’s just one of the first opportunities to provide comment.”

McEwen said Lahti’s letter pretty much made Port Moody’s feelings about Icona’s development proposal be known already.

“I’ve never seen a letter of this detail.”

Anmore Couns. Kim Trowbridge and Polly Krier agreed.

“They seem to be getting overly involved in Anmore’s business,” said Trowbridge.

“We can’t let another municipality drive our decisions,” added Krier. “It’s important for us to stay in our lane and a neighbouring municipality stay in their lane.”

But Coun. Doug Richardson, whose motion to grant Port Moody the 60-day extension didn’t even get a seconder, said it’s important the communities remain “good neighbours,” adding the city will likely feel the greatest impact should the village eventually decide to let Icona’s development proposal proceed.

Anmore council then voted to receive Lahti’s letter for information.

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Fear and violence at the hospital

This story first appeared in the Tri-City News.

Fraser Health says it’s bolstered security at Port Moody’s Eagle Ridge Hospital after three assault incidents since last November.

But the union representing nurses says that’s not enough.

A spokesperson for the health authority that administers Eagle Ridge said it’s increased security staffing at the hospital and is conducting “refreshed training for site security” as well as coaching to “ensure all personnel are fully equipped to manage violent incidents when they occur.”

The latest of those incidents was last Thursday, March 27, when Port Moody police were called just before 8:30 p.m. for a report of a man assaulting a medical staff member.

On Jan. 14, staff at Eagle Ridge were advised to seek a safe escape route when a man started waving a machete “in a threatening manner” inside the hospital’s emergency ward. And last Nov. 20, a 41-year-old man was arrested and charged after a nurse sustained serious injuries in an alleged assault by a discharged patient.

Alarming trend

Tristan Newby, the vice-president of the BC Nurses’ Union, said the run of incidents at Eagle Ridge is alarming, adding it “isn’t the environment that nurses should be expected to provide care and patients shouldn’t have to be concerned about being exposed to violence.”

Newby said a program that places at least two special “relational security officers” around the clock at busy hospitals like Burnaby and Royal Columbian in New Westminster should be expanded. The officers are trained in de-escalation techniques and are qualified to restrain violent patients.

“They’re fully integrated with the care team, they’re not reactive,” Newby said. “Nurses really appreciate that extra support.”

Newby said a recent survey of the union’s membership indicates 34 per cent of nurses in British Columbia are exposed to weapons at least once a month and 81 per cent have experienced verbal or emotional abuse while on duty. He said the problems are exacerbated by understaffing.

“People are coming in stressed,” Newby said. “The stress is compounded because we have a nursing shortage and the emergency department is larger.”

Constant contact

Fraser Health said it is maintaining constant contact with the Port Moody Police Department to debrief on the recent incidents and staff at Eagle Ridge have access to the health authority’s critical incident stress management team.

“When distressing incidents occur, we will reach out to the impacted individuals to offer support,” said the spokesperson.

As well, all hospital sites maintain joint occupational health and safety committees that work with unions to review workplace violence incidents and suggest improvements.

Other measures include:
• integrated security to support staff and medical personnel
• a regional workplace violence committee
• violence risk assessments for all sites
• training in Code White procedures
• provincial workplace violence training for all staff to de-escalate and minimize threats
• advance team response training for key hospital units on the handling of physical violence from patients

Newby said violent incidents like those that occurred at Eagle Ridge compound problems like the nursing shortage.

“We can train up as many nurses as we have capacity, but in the absence of a safe working environment, people are going to choose where they know they can go home safe.”


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Port Moody player is ready to take her game to ‘the next level’

One of the great rewards of working in community journalism is being able to tell stories before they get wider attention. Sometimes it’s our stories that spark that spotlight.
I first told our readers about Jenna Buglioni in 2017 when she was getting attention as a top ice and high school field hockey player.
Since then, we’ve caught up to her efforts playing for Canada at IIHF U18 women’s world championship, the start of her collegiate career at Ohio State University in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic and various other minor updates about her triumphs and disappointments.
But alas, the Tri-City News — where this story first appeared — won’t be around to share Buglioni’s next chapter, as she prepares to go pro and help grow women’s hockey.

Port Moody hockey fans could soon be cheering for another pro player.

Jenna Buglioni has declared her availability for June’s Professional Women’s Hockey League draft.

In the Hockey News’ mid-season rankings in January, she was rated 15th of 72 top prospects.

Buglioni was actually eligible for the league’s 2024 draft, but she opted to return to Ohio State for a fifth season with the Buckeyes while she completed her Master’s degree in sports management. She was also the team’s captain.

Buglioni, who started her hockey journey playing with NHLer Kent Johnson in Port Moody Minor Hockey, won two conference and two national championships at Ohio State along with a cabinet full of individual playing and academic awards. She scored 164 points in 167 games and set a school record for career and single season game-winning goals. She also tied the program’s record for career short-handed goals.

To top it off Buglioni even sang the national anthem prior to her final regular season series for the Buckeyes.

Buglioni told the Tri-City News her decision to play an additional year of collegiate hockey has better prepared her for the anticipated rigours of the PWHL.

“I have gotten that extra time to work on skills and get more game experience that will be needed to make the jump to the next level,” she said.

More importantly, Buglioni’s academic pursuits have laid a foundation that will put her in a position to help grow women’s hockey even beyond her playing days.

“It is incredibly important that women are in leadership positions within our sport and sports in general,” she said, adding she hopes to coach in the NCAA when she hangs up her blades. “This helps show everyone that women are capable of filling those roles and making a difference.”

Ohio State came within 18.9 seconds of winning a third national championship — and second in a row — during Buglioni’s tenure when Wisconsin’s Kirsten Simms scored on a penalty shot to tie their Frozen Four championship final on March 30 then scored again 2:49 into overtime to wrest the title for the top-ranked Badgers.

Buglioni said the loss was “devastating.”

“We were so close to getting that outcome we wanted and it almost felt stripped away,” she said. “It’s what we work towards all season so to have the year and my collegiate career end like that was heartbreaking.”

Still, as the Buckeyes’ captain, it fell to Buglioni to comfort her teammates through her own disappointment.

“It was tough,” she said. “Obviously everyone was upset and there usually isn’t words that can take away that feeling. I just tried to provide support and tell the girls how proud I was of them.”

One of those girls is Coquitlam’s Jordan Baxter, a sophomore.

Buglioni said she and Baxter played together for the Greater Vancouver Comets when they were in high school and spending the past two years as teammates at Ohio State has brought their friendship and camaraderie full circle. She said she hopes their shared experience also inspires other female hockey players in the Tri-Cities.

“There are so many opportunities for girls to play hockey collegiately and I hope that they know they can do it.”

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