Vancouver rundown for Tuesday, April 15, 2025.
A couple dozen protesters, mostly unionized hotel
workers, have staged a Monday afternoon rally
at Vancouver City Hall demanding affordable housing.
It comes as City Council considers a plan for
the building of more hotel rooms. Destination
Vancouver claims the city is short close to 10
,000 hotel rooms. One campaigner says such an
idea is insulting when people who live and work
in Vancouver are being pushed out due to a lack
of affordable housing. They also note Mayor Ken
Sims should be getting the message following
ABC's inability to win a seat in the city by
-election. Other news, police in Surrey hope
witnesses will come forward with information
in a hit -and -run in Crescent Beach that injured
a man and a teenage boy. It happened shortly
after 8 Sunday evening on McKenzie Avenue. Police
did not get a good description of the vehicle
or its driver. TransLink hopes to boost bus service
in Delta, Surrey, and Langley. The Transit Authority
is collecting public feedback for its 2025 investment
plan. That plan still requires close to a third
of a billion dollars in extra provincial funding,
fare, and airport surcharge increases, a 0 .5
% increase in property taxes, and a 5 % increase
in the transit tax on off -street parking. Contracted
bus drivers and attendants who provide services
for the Vancouver School Board have been told
their wages will be cut. It comes after the VSB
backed off its requirement to pay employees and
contractors a livable wage of close to $25 an
hour. The company that directly employs the bus
drivers admits its workers will likely be paid
under $20 an hour now. However, a two -month
grace period has been extended to those workers.
A mix of sun and cloud for Tuesday, windy at
times, sunshine for Wednesday and Thursday, inland
highs about 20 degrees. For all the details on
these local Vancouver area stories, along with
those links, go to VancouverRundown .Substack
.com.