Abbotsford 2023: The year in review

JANUARY

• The first baby of 2023 in B.C. was born in Abbotsford. Gabriella Louise Camayan was born at 12:02 a.m., weighing in at 5 pounds, 10 ounces, to proud parents Arben Camayan and Thea Villanueva.

• Abbotsford council approved the first stage of a plan for the development and management of Mill Lake Park over the next 15 to 20 years. The initial phase of the Mill Lake Master Plan stated that among the options to be considered in the second stage would be park cleanliness and the maintenance of pathways, the use of the lake for swimming and non-motorized watercraft, and the addition of food services.

• Three men were charged with several drug offences in relation to the bust of a “super lab” in Abbotsford in January 2022 and related activities in Surrey. The bust had taken place at a property on Lefeuvre Road, just north of Starr Road, but it took a year for charges to be announced. Police said the amount of pure fentanyl seized could have amounted to more than 27 million doses. All three men charged – Kevin Gonzales, Jemroi Ibarra and Doc Phung – were reported to be at large. Current court records indicate that none of the men has yet been arrested.

• Anureet Dosanjh, 24, of Surrey was sentenced to house arrest and a three-year driving ban for a head-on impaired-driving crash in Abbotsford in May 2021. The court was told that Dosanjh reached a speed of 197 km/h before crashing into a couple with two young children, ages seven months and six years. The family survived but all four adults – Dosanjh had a passenger in her vehicle – suffered significant injuries.

• Transit operators in the eastern Fraser Valley issued 72-hour strike notice to their employer, First Transit, on Jan. 30, saying that if talks weren’t successful, they wouldn’t collect fares on Feb. 2. Their union, CUPE, said a full-service withdrawal was planned for Feb. 27 and 28.

FEBRUARY

• Abbotsford recorded its first murder of the year on Feb. 3, when a man was shot to death on a rural property in Nicholson Avenue in northwest Abbotsford. The property housed a drug lab. The name of the victim has not yet been released nor have any charges been laid.

• Council voted unanimously to name a block of South Fraser Way – from Ware Street to Fairlane Street – Komagata Maru Way in memory of the 1914 incident in which the Komagata Maru steamship was prevented from docking in Vancouver for 63 days, with 376 people aboard from Punjab Province in India. Twenty of the passengers were killed in an encounter with British Indian police and troops after returning to India. Citizens in Abbotsford had been among those fighting in support of the passengers stuck aboard the ship.

• One of two men who killed Alex Blanarou of Surrey in Abbotsford in 2017 was sentenced to 14 years in jail. Edrick Raju, 24, had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm and conspiracy to commit murder. The get-away driver, Michael Schweitzer, received four years for driving the get-away car. Blanarou, 24, was shot to death on Dec. 28, 2017 in a blueberry field in the 5300 block of Bateman Road.

• Abbotsford council passed the first step of an estimated $4 million project that would see the realignment of Montvue Avenue in the historic downtown core and a public plaza in a closed-off section of the road. The concept design included a West Railway Plaza with a small space for community gatherings, cultural programming, performances and/or street market activities. The project is now in the detailed-design stage.

• School district superintendent Kevin Godden announced he would be retiring at the end of the school year after 12 years in the role. Sean Nosek was later announced as his replacement, joining the district in July.

MARCH

• Islam Nagem, the third man involved in the 2017 shooting death in Abbotsford of Alex Blanarou of Surrey, was sentenced to 10 years in jail. He previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm.

• Concerns about wildlife protection, trail preservation and First Nations consultation dominated an almost five-hour public hearing on March 6 on the McKee Neighbourhood Plan. The plan, an amendment to the Official Community Plan, was to be used by council in making decisions about a 1,900-acre area of McKee Peak on Sumas Mountain. More than 50 speakers addressed city council. A previous procedural error was discovered after the hearing, resulting in another public hearing having to be scheduled.

• A trial began in Nelson for Alex Willness, the man accused of killing Abbotsford Police officer Const. Allan Young, 55, by striking him over the head with a skateboard. Young was taken to hospital on July 20, 2020 and died five days later. Willness was found guilty in June of manslaughter. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the new year.

• The Panthers senior girls AAA basketball team from Abbotsford senior secondary captured the provincial title with a 67-64 win over Victoria’s St. Michael’s University School Blue Jags on March 4 at the Langley Events Centre. The Panther girls had previously won the provincial title in 2020.

• Transit workers in the eastern Fraser Valley failed to reach an agreement with their employer, First Transit, and a full strike began March 20. Prior to the full job action, a three-day strike took place. The strike affected transit users in Abbotsford, Mission, Chilliwack, Agassiz, Harrison Hot Springs and Hope. The union’s previous contract had expired on March 31, 2020.

• London Drugs announced that its Highstreet location would be closing, effective June 25. The company was also in the process of moving its West Oaks Mall location to Sevenoaks Shopping Centre. The new location opened May 26.

APRIL

• Abbotsford Police Chief Mike Serr announced he would be retiring at the end of the year. Serr joined the Abbotsford Police Department in 2015 after 26 years with the Vancouver Police Department and had been chief since 2018.

• The city reported that demand for swim lessons had risen by more than 1,600 per cent at Abbotsford’s three pools – two indoor facilities at Abbotsford and Matsqui recreation centre and one outdoors at Centennial Park. There were more than 12,000 spots occupied for lessons in 2022, compared to 700 in 2021. But challenges had arisen due to a short of lifeguards related to the pandemic.

• Abbotsford school Trustee Shirley Wilson shared in a 13-minute video the heart-wrenching story of her son Jacob’s toxic drug death. Wilson worked with the Abbotsford Police Department to make and release the video on YouTube in hopes that it would compel change, in big and small ways.

• Many transit users, including newcomers to Canada, were reporting the impacts that the ongoing strike was having on them. Many newcomers don’t have their own cars and rely on transit to attend language classes, apply for jobs and get social services. The cost of other forms of travel – such as taxis – was prohibitive for many, and they pleaded with CUPE and First Transit to reach an agreement.

• The Abbotsford Canucks began the first round of playoffs by eliminating the Bakersfield Condors in two games. The series win marked the first time that a Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate had won a playoff round since the 2014-15 season. Abbotsford was then eliminated from the playoffs after three straight losses – 3-2, 4-3 and 3-2 – to Calgary on April 26, April 28 and May 5.

MAY

• A man with an extensive criminal record across the Lower Mainland was charged in relation to the assault of an Uber driver in Abbotsford. A video of the incident was released online, showing a passenger in the back seat suddenly punching the driver in the head. William Tickle was later sentenced to one year of probation.

• Two people who participated in a 2019 protest at the Excelsior Hog Farm in Abbotsford filed an application to appeal their break-and-enter convictions. Amy Soranno and Nick Schafer had been sentenced in October 2022 to 30 days in jail and one year of probation. The appeal was heard in November, but the judges’ decision had not been released as of press time.

• Frustrations were growing about an area that the Abbotsford Police Department deemed “the most violent homeless camp in the city” and Mayor Ross Siemens called “the Wild West.” The camp on Lonzo road and Highway 11 in west Abbotsford was lined with rotting motorhomes, makeshift shelters, used needles and garbage. It was drawing on police and fire resources, but the city had no authority over the site because it was on provincial land.

• A torch-lighting ceremony was held May 13 in Jubilee Park to mark the 100-day countdown to the 55-Plus BC Games. The 34th Games were set to run Aug. 22 to 26 at various locations across the city.

• The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team announced that two people had been charged in relation to the shooting death on March 21, 2022 of Chad Colivas of Abbotsford at a home on Latimer Road. Tanner Fox, 22, was charged with second-degree murder, while Laetitia Acera was charged with manslaughter. The case is still making its way through the courts, and no trial date has yet been set.

JUNE

• Yale Secondary’s AAA girls rugby team won the provincial championship in Abbotsford, defeating Coquitlam’s Gleneagles 41-0 in the finals. The squad won the first-ever provincial rugby title for the school in 2022, defeating Carson Graham 45-12.

• Professional golfer Nick Taylor of Abbotsford made history on June 11, becoming the first Canadian in 69 years to win the Canadian Open. Taylor sunk a 72-foot eagle putt in a fourth playoff hole with England’s Tommy Fleetwood to clinch the win at Toronto’s Oakdale Golf and Country Club.

• Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon announced on June 13 that occupants of the Lonzo Road homeless camp were being given a deadline of June 26 to clear the property. He said a temporary 50-bed shelter would be built on the site immediately after it was vacated. The property was successfully dismantled on the deadline, but the shelter has not yet been built. A ministry spokesman indicated in October that site work would begin “within the next few weeks,” and modular housing units were being prepared off site.

• A second public hearing for the McKee Neighbourhood Plan was held June 12, drawing about 30 speakers over two hours. The plan was then approved unanimously by council on June 26. Mayor Ross Siemens said the plan will guide future development on McKee Peak, and no development applications had yet been made.

JULY

• Abbotsford pitcher Raine Padgham announced that she had signed with the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack baseball team and would be the first female in team history. The 2023 Abbotsford Senior Secondary grad has made local headlines for years, first drawing attention by becoming the first player to play on both the boys and girls teams at the Western Canadian Baseball Championships in 2017.

• The Abbotsford Canucks and Vancouver Canucks announced a partnership with the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings on July 10. The one-year agreement gives Abbotsford the ability to send players to Kalamazoo or call them up. The ECHL is considered one tier below the American Hockey League and two tiers below the NHL.

• Chanchal Badwal, 46, of Abbotsford was charged in relation to the homicide of 62-year-old Imtiaz Hussain. The body of Hussain was discovered by police in the 31000 block of Madeira Place on July 18 and an investigation by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team followed.

• The City of Abbotsford announced that it had renamed a portion of South Fraser Way to Komagata Maru Way. The section runs in front of the national historic site Gur Sikh Temple. The renaming serves to honour the passengers on the Komagata Maru ship who were essentially kept as ship-bound passengers for two months before being sent back to India.

AUGUST

• A former finance director with the Abbotsford Police received a conditional sentence of two years less a day for embezzling $312,000 from the department. Shelley Mickens, 64, served with the Abbotsford Police Department from April 1999 to June 2016. The police board and the City of Abbotsford also launched a civil suit – separate from criminal charges – against her in 2017. She was ordered to pay a total of $312,417, as well as the City of Abbotsford’s court costs of $15,000 in the civil case.

• After more than four months of no service, buses in Abbotsford and the Fraser Valley returned to the roads on Aug. 6. CUPE 561 transit workers ratified a mediated settlement with First Transit to end the strike the week prior. BC Transit also announced that service would be free until the end of August.

• Colin Watson was announced as the new police chief for the Abbotsford Police Department. Watson had previously served more than 26 years with the Victoria Police Department. He officially assumed the new role on Nov. 15 and replaced the retiring Mike Serr.

• London, Ont.’s Alan McLean took home the 2023 PGA Seniors’ Championship of Canada, which occurred at Abbotsford’s Ledgeview Golf Club on Aug. 11. The three-day event saw hundreds from across Canada compete. It was the first time ever that Abbotsford had hosted the event and just the second time it had occurred in B.C.

• The Abbotsford 55-Plus Games officially opened on Aug. 23, with thousands of athletes and volunteers arriving for the event. The event ran until Aug. 26 and participants competed in 23 different sports in and around Abbotsford. The Games were deemed a great success by organizers.

• A former Abbotsford masseur was sentenced to two years in prison for sexually assaulting 12 women while providing services to them. Reinhard ‘Bud’ Loewen, 59, also had to submit his DNA to the National Sex Offender Registry. Loewen advertised his services for free or very low-cost on Facebook pages, sometimes in the form of contests, specifically targeting pregnant women. Some of his victims suffered anxiety attacks, required anti-depressants, and had significant impacts on their lives and relationships following the assaults.

SEPTEMBER

• Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman left the BC United Party and joined the Conservative Party of British Columbia. He stated that he came to the decision after careful consideration and that he was proud to join his friend John Rustad as the voice for everyday hard-working people. He said the Conservatives are the only party that stands for what’s right in the legislature, rather than what’s politically convenient or politically correct.

• The Abbotsford school district announced the addition of four new faces. Nathan Ngieng was named deputy superintendent, Patricia La Framboise-Lo was hired as associate superintendent, human resources and both Bruce Cunnings and Jay Pankratz were named assistant superintendents.

• Thousands showed up at Jubilee Park to protest what they called indoctrination and sexualization in schools. The 1 Million March 4 Children protested provincial education materials known as SOGI, which stands for sexual orientation, gender identity. Many chanted about how they want to ban certain books at schools and how they want to remove their children from schools. Others attended the event to counter protest. Similar groups held smaller protests throughout Abbotsford in the months that followed.

• Students and staff at the University of the Fraser Valley stated that a Pride display they had set up on school property had been destroyed a dozen times in 2023. The most recent destruction, which occurred in September, saw flags stolen, damaged and spit on.

• RBC Canadian Open champion Nick Taylor visited his home course at Ledgeview for Nick Taylor Junior Golf Day on Sept. 15. The event saw 94 boys and girls get the chance to watch Taylor tee off and ask questions. The event came on the heels of the Nick Taylor Charity Classic, which saw $275,000 raised for local golf programs. The event occurred at Cultus Lake Golf Course on Sept. 14.

• Abbotsford council reversed its decision on a 20-bed emergency shelter on Pauline Street, allowing the facility to remain open after originally voting for a move that would have resulted in its closure. A public hearing saw several residents of an adjacent apartment building detail their experiences with open drug use, breaks-in, violence and theft in the area. However, it was determined that those issues were not a result of the shelter and the closure could make the problem worse.

OCTOBER

• Abbotsford school trustees and staff were escorted from the monthly board of education meeting after disruptions from an anti-SOGI protest involving about 300 people. Protesters chanted “Leave our kids alone” and “Stop SOGI 123” and also allegedly banged on windows and doors. No arrests were made, but several trustees and staff stated they felt unsafe.

• Abbotsford’s Madison Hendry earned the 2023 Teacher Award from the Canadian Parents for French BC and Yukon. The W. J. Mouat grad was recognized for her work as a Grade 8 French immersion teacher at Chief Dan George middle school.

• A new video board was revealed at the Abbotsford Centre. The new screen is significantly larger than the previous one, which had been in place since the building opened in 2009. The new video board was part of a $1.5 million upgrade package that was proposed earlier in the year. As per the city’s contract with the Canucks, all upgrades to the AC will be paid for by the city. In addition to the centre-hung video board and ribbon boards, a new 50/50 display, a video wall processor, a control system and new media server were installed.

• The Abbotsford Soccer Association penned a letter stating that they were unhappy with the decline of local fields. Safety and cleanliness were two major issues. They aimed to start a dialogue with the City of Abbotsford for solutions, but later in the year shared that they were disappointed with progress.

• Following disruptions by anti-SOGI protesters, the Abbotsford board of education moved to a virtual format for meetings. By the end of the year they had returned to in-person meetings.

• Abbotsford South MLA Bruce Banman apologized for foul language he used during question period at the B.C. legislature. He read a quote from a book titled Eleanor & Park and asked why this book was available in public schools. After apologizing, he withdrew the comment from the official record.

• Abbotsford’s Chase Claypool was traded by the Chicago Bears along with a seventh-round pick to the Miami Dolphins for a sixth-round pick. Claypool was told to stay home by Chicago after he expressed his unhappiness with how the Bears were using him. He has played a limited role in Miami since joining that team.

• The Vancouver Canucks played a preseason hockey game at the Abbotsford Centre for the fourth straight season. Vancouver hosted the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 4 and lost 2-1.

• Occupants of an encampment on the south side of Highway 1 at Clearbrook Road were given notice to vacate the area as of Oct. 18. An eviction notice was delivered to the site on Oct. 11. The area was vacated without incident.

• For the first time in over five and a half years, the Columbia Bible College Bearcats women’s basketball team won a regular-season game. CBC posted a 63-47 win over the Camosun Chargers on Oct. 13. The team hadn’t won since Feb. 16, 2018. The women’s team, led by new coach Taylor Claggett, has an impressive record of 6-6 heading into the holiday break.

• Abbotsford rugby legend Ken Peace died on Oct. 12. Peace was inducted into the Abbotsford Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 and was the first member of the Abbotsford Rugby Football Club to represent Canada internationally.

• Outgoing Abbotsford Police chief Mike Serr said goodbye to the community during the annual Breakfast with the Chef – Crime is Toast event on Oct. 25. Serr officially left the position on Nov. 2.

NOVEMBER

• Abbotsford athletes scored a number of medals at the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games, which wrapped up on Nov. 4. Shalaya Valenzuela and Lucie Romeo both earned silver as part of the women’s rugby sevens squad. Judo athlete Isabelle Harris also won silver in her 63 kilograms division. Jake Thiel and the men’s rugby team, as well as Callum Pilgrim and the women’s softball team, both captured bronze. Abbotsford wrestler Nishan Randhawa also won bronze in the men’s freestyle 97 kg division.

• Earlier at the Pan Am Games, Abbotsford-trained gymnast Zachary Clay become the first-ever Canadian to win gold in the pommel horse. Clay also collected a silver as part of the men’s artistic gymnastics team. He heads to the Olympics in 2024.

• Longtime volunteer Ann Penner and professional golfer Nick Taylor were both honoured by the City of Abbotsford for their achievements. Penner received the Order of Abbotsford, while Taylor was given the Community Champion Achievement Award.

• Trustee Korky Neufeld was re-elected as the chair of the Abbotsford board of education at its annual organizational meeting on Nov. 7. Trustee Preet Rai was named vice-chair at the meeting.

• The Robert Bateman Timberwolves senior varsity football team’s nearly two-season long run of undefeated play came to an end with a 15-13 playoff loss to the Windsor Wolves on Nov. 17. Bateman had been the defending AA provincial champions and had not lost a game since 2021.

• Vendors at a cancelled Abbotsford craft market spoke out after not receiving refunds or being able to contact the event organizer. The Krafted Handmade Christmas Market was slated to take place Nov. 30 to Dec. 3 at the Ag-Rec Building at Abbotsford Exhibition Park and was being organized by West Kelowna resident Ange Eely of Krafted Canada. But weeks before the event was to occur, the Krafted website and Eely’s private Facebook page were both taken down. Vendors were still looking for answers at year’s end.

DECEMBER

• The historic red barn on the former Cooper farm in the area of McMillan and McKee roads was demolished. It had been on the property for decades, but city council voted unanimously in July 2022 in favour of a plan to develop the 63-acre property into a mix of parks and housing.

• Abbotsford’s Sophie Schmidt capped off her international soccer career inside BC Place on Dec. 5. Schmidt and Canada took on Australia and it was also the final game in red and white for Schmidt’s longtime teammate and friend Christine Sinclair. Canada picked up the 1-0 win.

• Abbotsford’s Markus Delves announced that he will be the BC United candidate for Abbotsford South in the next provincial election. Abbotsford-Mission MLA Pam Alexis also announced she will aim to retain her seat in the next provincial election

Abbotsford 2023: The year in review

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