January - Farmland mega mansions beyond ridiculous
-Council begins mulling over bylaws dictating house sizes on agricultural land, as residents begin protesting.
-Unprecedented icy street conditions pave way for a new shovelling bylaw.
-Highlighting the mounting repair costs for luxury vehicles, a Richmond driver of a $200,000-plus Aston Martin cries foul over her $132,000 repair bill.
-Richmond Olympic Experience announces a $1.4 million renovation.
-Calls from local workers to fix “Misery Mile” (northeast River Road) following another tragic death.
-Mounties raid a marijuana store across from Richmond city hall.
-Two murders in the first month begins a year that would see a death count well above the city’s average.
-As U.S. president Donald Trump is sworn in, local first responders, security personnel and Richmond RCMP take an inter-faith tour of Richmond’s religious institutions to build bridges and understanding.
February - Yurkovich hospital donation tops all
-Residents revolt at Harvest Power for causing putrid odours spanning across the city. They charge the City of Richmond for not taking strong enough action.
-Nancy and Tony Yurkovich make an undisclosed, record donation to Richmond Hospital. It’s announced a new pavilion will be named after them. Money will go to a new care tower to replace the existing, seismically unsafe one.
-After 27 years, Margaret Hewlett retires from Richmond Food Bank.
-Coun. Chak Au flips from BC Liberal supporter to BC NDP candidate in May election.
-Richmond School District signs Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreement.
-Child care worker Joan Breen retires from Good Shepherd Drop-In Centre.
-Census shows Richmond’s population at 198,309.
-Census data shows an exodus of children/families from unaffordable, detached-home neighbourhoods.
March - Parents push back against gay policy
-A group of parents called Parents Care protests a sexual orientation and gender identity policy for the Richmond School District that it believes will cause students to become gay or transgender.
-A group of Millenials opens the Network Hub, an open concept workspace for people to come and go as they please.
-Farmland owners and developers protest efforts to rein in mega mansions on the ALR.
-The provincial election heats up with the BC Liberals put on the hot seat locally for failing to seismically upgrade dozens of schools. MLA John Yap says his party would refund any illegal donations after various improperly declared donations came to light.
-Bruce Okabe named Tourism Richmond CEO.
-City of Richmond makes sidewalk snow clearing mandatory for detached home owners.
-Health survey says Richmondites losing their family and community connections.
-Steveston Harbour opens new dock.
-Council, save for Coun. Alexa Loo, puts a moratorium on new mega mansion applications on farmland.
-Harvest Power shut down for two days.
-Will Ng becomes new Richmond RCMP superintendent.
April - Provincial election issues take hold
-Ground breaks on George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project but Transportation Minister Todd Stone is chased away by protesters at a photo op.
-Local health officials back a school district policy for sexual orientation and gender identity.
-Richmond RCMP officers join protest of low wages across the country.
-Seafair Medical Clinic closes, highlighting the growing doctor shortage across B.C.
-Attack ads against Coun. Chak Au of the NDP show up on Richmond streets, admonishing vulnerable people and the Vancouver Downtown Eastside.
-New pool and seniors’ centre named Minoru Centre for Active Living.
-Council rejects staff proposal to adopt Ministry of Agriculture guidelines on farmland house sizes.
-NDP MLA David Eby vows to tackle money laundering and tax evasion prior to the May election. Other issues raised in Richmond include school seismic upgrades, the George Massey Tunnel replacement, a proposed Richmond Hospital tower and housing affordability.
-Richmond Animal Protection Society announces plans for a new hospital.
May - Sea lion bite puts Steveston in spotlight
-Three of China’s “most wanted” fugitive corruption suspects listed as having Richmond addresses.
-Kaiwo Maru Japanese tall ship sails into Steveston for a special Tall Ships Festival.
-Garden City Lands perimeter trail construction begins.
-BC Liberals sweep all four Richmond ridings but fail to obtain a majority government. NDP goes on to form a minority government with Green Party support.
-A recount of the close Richmond-Queensborough election results is rejected.
-Richmond marks its 6th homicide.
-Sea lion drama unfolds at the new fish sales dock in Steveston. A YouTube video of a sea lion snatching a young girl from the dock goes global.
-Lulu Island Winery owners are taken into custody in China for alleged tax evasion.
-Seven of nine councillors choose to double the maximum size of farmland houses (compared to provincial guidelines) under a new bylaw. Couns. Harold Steves and Carol Day oppose the measure. Steves walks out of a council meeting in apparent disgust.
-Male youth at McMath secondary arrested after shooting threat on social media.
June - Council takes bite at English sign policy
-Richmond gets its first community health hub, at the corner of Lansdowne and Gilbert roads.
-City council agrees to create a policy to encourage English on all signage in the city. It’s considered a step above an ongoing education campaign for businesses but lacks the legal teeth a bylaw would bring.
-Illicit drug overdose death rate triples in Richmond.
-Save-On Foods announces it will open a store in Steveston.
-TV series Once Upon a Time moves away from filming in Steveston as plot takes a turn away from Storybooke.
-McDonald’s re-opens its first-ever Canadian restaurant on No. 3 Road near Granville Avenue.
-Musqueam First Nation signs a ground-breaking revenue-sharing agreement with Vancouver Airport Authority.
-St. Joseph the Worker celebrates 50 years in Richmond.
July - Canada 150 events peak with big Salmon Fest
-More than 100,000 people visit Steveston for a combined Salmon Festival and Canada 150 celebration, making it the biggest Canada Day party in the city’s history.
-Richmond condo prices soar, with 27 per cent sale price growth over last year.
-The Pajo’s walkway in Steveston Harbour collapses, injuring a handful of people.
-A sign clutter bylaw comes into effect, limiting business’ rights to erect the likes of sandwich boards on sidewalks, posters in windows and banners on exterior walls. The “clutter bylaw” came about after council rejected a bylaw requiring English.
-A $9.5 million lottery ticket is sold in Richmond.
-Unlicensed Chinese ride-sharing app Udi Kuaiche found to be operating illegally in Richmond.
-Corporation of Delta embarks on a pro-bridge campaign as NDP intends to review the George Massey Tunnel Replacement Project. Delta clashes with City of Richmond, which proposes to consider a twinned tunnel.
-Father Ron Mahy marks third year in which Richmond RCMP have yet to announce progress in the investigation of the cycling death of daughter Christy Mahy, who was struck by an out-of-control driver.
-A Richmond father, Sam Chen, calls for greater warning measures for flesh-eating disease in schools after son John falls ill.
August - English fading from Lulu’s lexicon
-City of Richmond is deemed the cigarette butt-fire capital of the world.
-Census data shows marriage is more popular in Richmond than it is nationwide; and one in nine residents (11.2 per cent) cannot communicate in English or French.
-A booming unlicensed, unregulated food market is exposed in local shopping mall parking lots.
-Community activist Jennifer Larsen dies.
-International fraudsters target recent mainland Chinese female immigrants and international students.
-A partial solar eclipse distracts most of Richmond for a brief moment.
-B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office targets a Richmond farmland mega mansion for operating as an illegal casino.
September - Luxury car condos for low-income city
-Sockeye salmon return is one of the worst in history, prompting Department of Fisheries and Oceans to heavily patrol Fraser River for poaching.
-A regional analysis of elementary school children populations shows Richmond’s neighbourhoods are losing families at a greater rate than in any other city, due to high housing costs.
-Businesses protest a planned homeless shelter near Ironwood Plaza.
-A “luxury car condo,” or car club and storage garage, is planned near auto mall.
-Census on income shows some of the wealthiest neighbourhoods, in terms of housing prices, show poverty-level income tax returns, prompting questions about either the local economy or potentially rampant tax evasion.
-Attorney General David Eby releases report highlighting numerous, serious concerns about money-laundering at River Rock Casino and Resort.
-Council approves speed humps for northeast River Road, dubbed “Misery Mile.”
October - Richmond is pumpkin theft capital
-Richmond School District faces teacher shortage after attempting to fill positions required from a Supreme Court of Canada ruling that deemed B.C. Liberal government labour legislation dating back to 2002 illegal.
-Two Richmond residents busted for allegedly trafficking fentanyl.
-City of Richmond and B.C. Ambulance Service open new joint fire hall and ambulance station on Cambie Road.
-The death of an international high school student from China prompts concerns from trustees Alice Wong and Jonathan Ho about counselling resources for such students, who number close to 1,000 in the district.
-City marks 8th homicide of the year.
-Birth tourism accounts for up to 17.4 per cent of Richmond Hospital births.
-City council unanimously opposes federal government plans to legalize marijuana.
-Bandits in luxury cars steal pumpkins from Steveston Highway farm.
-Richmond’s short-term rental policy panned by residents and legal expert for containing loopholes, too little enforcement.
November - Richmond’s face continues transforming
-Census data shows ethnic Chinese in Richmond reach a majority, at 54 per cent. Visible minorities account for 76.5 per cent.
-No criminal charges announced in River Road death of cyclist Brad Dean.
-An NDP-led petition of 3,000 signatures, from Change.org, calls on city council to adopt smaller house sizes for farmland.
-Onni Group offers $4.75 million to rezone Imperial Landing at the Steveston boardwalk. A decision is postponed.
-Garry Point Park to get a new, $2 million pier.
-New bus routes announced by TransLink.
-Debate rages over housing supply and demand at Housing Central conference in Richmond. In the past year, detached home sale prices are up 4.3 per cent; townhouses 12.6 per cent; and condos 27.6.
December - Storeys opens; condos go offshore
-Steveston residents rage over City of Richmond decision to turn backyards in laneways without public consultation.
-Airport workers advocate for $15/hour minimum wage at Fair Wage Commission in Vancouver.
-Province announces review of gaming policies to determine scope of money-laundering in B.C. casinos. River Rock continues to be central to an ongoing Postmedia investigation into the matter.
-Storeys affordable housing apartment opens on Granville Avenue.
-Richmond RCMP continue to announce illegal booze can (unlicensed clubs and/or bars) busts.
-City council agrees to install CCTV at major intersections.
-Child care in Richmond is third most expensive in Canada.
-Richmond Fire Rescue Captain Donald “Bryan” Kongus is laid to rest after dying from work-related PTSD.
-Politically-connected entrepreneur Paul Oei found to have committed investment fraud by B.C. Securities Commission.
-Majority of council demands $5.5 million from Onni to rezone boardwalk.
-A Chinese-only strata council heads to B.C. Human Rights Tribunal hearing for alleged discrimination.
-“Misery Mile” claims another victim.
-Census data shows non-residents own 7.5 per cent of residential property and one in four new condo units are sold offshore.
