For the third year, COVID-19 continued to impact many facets of daily life. But the high level of vaccination in B.C., plus innovative solutions, allowed many beloved events to return in 2022.

In Richmond, events like Doors Open, the Steveston Salmon Festival, and the Richmond Maritime Festival welcomed people in-person again. Many public health restrictions were removed in the spring, including the mask mandate and BC Vaccine Card program.

In October, Richmond elected a new city council and school board trustees. Longtime city councillors Harold Steves and Linda McPhail announced that they would not be seeking re-election, and two new councillors joined the group of incumbents. Mayor Malcolm Brodie, the city’s mayor since a special by-election in 2001, was re-elected for the seventh time. Four of seven incumbent school board trustees were re-elected, joined by two previous trustees and one new one.

Ground was broken on construction projects across the city including a new sport and event plaza at the Richmond Olympic Oval, the new Steveston Community Centre, and the new five-lane Steveston interchange as part of the George Massey Tunnel replacement project.

In the last weeks of the year, Richmond saw more snowfall, with crews working 12-hour shifts clearing snow and treating roads. City council discussed updates to the snow removal plans and voted in favour of a pilot initiative for this winter that will see staff clear snow from bike lanes using existing equipment, as well as clearing snow from two multi-use paths.

The holiday season saw Santa’s return to Steveston in addition to the reprise of Songs in the Snow, which annually brings people to the Steveston Museum’s Town Square Park for festive concerts.

JANUARY

CARHA Hockey World Cup postponed again

For the third time, the CARHA Hockey World Cup was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially scheduled for spring 2020, the largest international adult recreational hockey tournament will now take place in Richmond in 2023. The week-long event includes more than 260 games, opening and closing ceremonies, and opportunities for camaraderie for the hockey community.

City fitness centres reopen

The city reopened its fitness centres beginning Jan. 20, with physical distancing measures in place to limit the number of people permitted in fitness areas at any given time. Group fitness classes also returned, although with pre-registration required and limits on the number of participants.

Young artist wins contest

Twelve-year-old Richmond artist Lukas Ma was named a winner of FORED BC Society’s National Forest Week contest for youth. This year’s contest theme was “Our forests—continually giving.” 

“A deer felt like something that could represent a forest well, and also the antlers of the deer were like branches,” said Ma of his artwork.

Art gallery presents NOURISH

The exhibition NOURISH at Richmond Art Gallery aimed to help people find connections to nourishment and care. It featured the works of American poet and writer Jane Wong and Greater Vancouver artist duo Mizzonk (Wan-Yi Lin and Roger Chen).

“Even though it’s such a dark, grief-filled, loss-filled time (with) a lot of trauma, I really wanted this poem to feel joyful like a feast,” said Wong of one of her poems that was part of the exhibition.

Lin and Chen’s work Six Acres is named after the duo’s home, a property of the same size. They made the move from New York following the events of 9/11.

“Just have a little faith in intuition, and don’t underestimate what taking a stroll in nature can do,” said Lin of the takeaways she hoped viewers would have.

School district keeps daytime custodians

Richmond School District trustees voted to continue with an enhanced daytime custodial plan through the end of June 2022. The cost of $170,000 was funded by a small budget surplus. The program was originally scheduled to end in February 2022, but trustees approved an option that saw 13 custodians working in 39 elementary schools, with each assigned to three schools.

“I think this is a way of helping people feel comfortable, as comfortable as they can,” said trustee Heather Larson.

Trustee Debbie Tablotney agreed, saying the district should “still be erring on the side of caution.”

Chinese New Year

While Aberdeen Centre again cancelled its large in-person Chinese New Year celebration, a virtual event helped people share in the festivity from afar on Jan. 31.

Meanwhile, Lansdowne Centre hosted a contest that invited people to guess the weight of a lucky tiger, make a cash donation to the Richmond Food Bank, and write down their wishes for the Year of the Tiger. The winner of the contest received gift cards to Lansdowne Centre stores, and the mall also matched cash donations to the food bank up to $5,000.

At the Richmond Public Library, people submitted entries to a couplet contest that followed the first line 白虎出山，正氣寅風摧丑運.  (The white tiger comes out from the mountain, his righteous air blows away bad luck.)

FEBRUARY

City marks Black History Month

The Richmond Public Library offered programs and resources for people of all ages to mark Black History Month. Local advocate Mary Wilson, who initiated the city’s programming in 2016, said this year’s programs would introduce people to figures like Sir James Douglas, John Sullivan Deas, and Sylvia Stark. 

The Richmond Cultural Centre also hosted the Black Artists and Creators in our Community art installation during the month of February.

Visual Arts Academy hosts tote bag contest

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Richmond’s Visual Arts Academy, founder Liyuan Liu organized a tote bag design contest in response to the city’s single-use plastics ban which took effect in March.

Among the contest’s winners were three Richmond students, and 14-year-old Richmond Secondary School student Zeng Yijia took home first place honours.

Memorial ukulele collection launches

On World Play Your Ukulele Day (Feb. 2), the Richmond Public Library launched its ukulele lending library in memory of Richmondite Linda Perron. The collection was funded by community donations made in memory of Perron, who was well-known locally for dedication to family and friends, commitment to volunteerism, and passion for grassroots music-making. It consists of 25 ukuleles that are available for teens, adults, and seniors to borrow.

Krystal Kiran is Branscombe artist-in-residence 

The city welcomed new Branscombe House artist-in-residence Krystal Kiran, who was born and raised in Penticton. Kiran, a Punjabi-Canadian performing artist and educator, explores “third culture” identity and the arts as healing practices in her works. 

“I’ve been thinking about how do you create a space of cross-cultural allyship amongst communities,” she said. “Richmond is very diverse (with a) lot of different communities of people. My real curiosity is, how do we get people engaging with each other through these practices?”

School district sustainability plan

The Richmond School District outlined its new five-year sustainability and climate action plan. According to the district’s manager of energy and sustainability Jonathan Ho, the goal is “to make waste socially unacceptable in the district.”

The result of two years of effort, the district’s plan is based on nine sustainability pillars: leadership; learning and engagement; climate action; energy conservation; waste reduction; water conservation; grounds; purchasing; and sustainable transportation.

“Ultimately we want to make sure we are good stewards of the environment with what we do from the corporate perspective,” said Ho. “But we also want to make sure that the students we are educating have that same commitment to sustainability and climate action.”

Our City Tonight partnership

The Richmond Sentinel announced a new partnership with Our City Tonight, hosted by Leeta Liepins and Jim Gordon, to share entertainment and local business stories and video segments.

Mayor’s annual address

Mayor Malcolm Brodie reflected on local achievements in his annual address hosted by the Richmond Chamber of Commerce. He said principles of sustainability guide the city forward.

“Sustainability includes the development of policies, services, and supports that ensure we maintain a high quality of life and a strong economy for present and future generations,” said Brodie.

He was hopeful that, later in the year, people would be able to gather for events like the Steveston Salmon Festival, Cherry Blossom Festival, Maritime Festival, and World Festival. 

RCMP hosts inaugural Youth Academy

Richmond RCMP held its inaugural Youth Academy program, offering teenagers the opportunity to learn about being a police officer. In collaboration with Richmond School District, the five-day program hosted 32 students in grades 10 through 12 interested in a police career.

“We wanted to provide participants with a once-in-a-lifetime experience, while creating positive and lasting relationships between the Richmond RCMP and the students of Richmond,” said youth section investigator Const. Alison Roberts. 

MARCH

Mamas for Mamas partners with outlet mall

A partnership between the local branch of national non-profit Mamas for Mamas and McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport encouraged people to show support for mothers and caregivers in crisis. People were encouraged to donate to Mamas for Mamas, with McArthurGlen matching donations up to $500.

“We envision a world where no mama, child, or family is left behind,” said Celena Arthur, the director of funding development and community engagement at the local Mamas for Mamas branch on Horseshoe Way. “We love the Richmond community (and) want to be central to families that need us most.”

Ravens host Ice Classic Tournament

After two years of cancellations, the Richmond Ravens were able to host the recreational Richmond Ice Classic tournament again in 2022. Eleven Ravens teams were among the 66 female teams that played, and three local teams medalled: the U15 C2 team won gold, and the U13 C1 and U15 C1 teams won silver. Teams travelled from as far away as the Northwest Territories and the Yukon, as well as Oregon and Washington. 

“It really was a celebration of female hockey,” said tournament director Mark Kusec. “For the first time we were able to have all female referees for all (143) of our games.”

City hall reopens to public

Richmond city hall reopened to members of the public on March 21. While city hall closed to the public when the pandemic began, customers could still conduct a range of business transactions and applications online. Other city buildings and facilities had reopened previously, including community and aquatic centres, libraries, the Richmond Museum, Richmond Art Gallery, and the city recycling depot.

Richmondite gets Medal of Good Citizenship

Richmondite Isabelle Tang was among those in B.C. who received a 2021 Medal of Good Citizenship. In all, 31 people and one group were honoured with the medal, which recognized people who went above and beyond expectations in their response to COVID-19. 

Tang raised $19,331 during the annual Children’s Hospital Balding for Dollars event, as well as volunteering her time and organizing her friends to help with the Children We Care Gala and Time to Shine Gala. She and her family supplied masks to more than nine community organizations on the east side of Vancouver. While the pandemic made it difficult for high school students to participate in community-based volunteer activities, Tang also worked to find safe volunteer opportunities for her friends. 

No more single-use plastics

Richmond’s new bylaw banning single-use plastics came into effect on March 27. Foam food service ware, plastic straws, and plastic checkout bags are no longer permitted.

“Reducing reliance on single-use plastic is integral to our city’s goals for a circular economy, and it’s also part of a global effort to protect the environment,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. 

The bylaw does not require businesses to charge a fee for alternative products like paper or reusable bags, although businesses can implement fees at their own discretion. The city also worked with local businesses to help them prepare for the implementation of the bylaw.

School district votes to upgrade ventilation 

Seventeen Richmond schools were slated to receive ventilation upgrades after school board trustees voted in favour of a $12 million package. The pandemic has highlighted the lack of mechanical ventilation in many older Richmond public schools, according to a report to the board. Ventilation can only be produced by opening windows built above radiators to warm the in-coming air. 

The district’s facilities services department estimated the cost based on allowances for electrical and boiler upgrades as necessary, as well as removal of hazardous materials like asbestos.

“Staff don’t believe that proceeding with this program using local capital reserves will have a negative impact on future seismic upgrades,” said the district’s executive director of facilities services Frank Geyer.