Category: the Voice

Construction fatigue is now a reality to Marpole area

As sewer upgrades on Oak Street enter their second year, residents in neighbouring Marpole say they wonder if the continuous disruption to their community is worth it. 

Charles Gauthier, a longtime resident of the area, noted that many motorists are avoiding Oak Street due to the construction and rerouting through narrow residential streets. 

“Drivers were actually running through the neighbourhood at pretty high speeds,” he said. 

Maria Auqui, a traffic controller working in the area, has witnessed motorists driving dangerously.  

“Drivers are not being respectful, especially the left turn on Oak from 67th [Avenue],” Auqui said. 

The construction aims to replace aging infrastructure with a higher-capacity separated sewer system as part of the city’s 2023-26 capital plan. It covers Oak Street, West 70th Avenue, and Fremlin Street, a key area that links Vancouver to Richmond and Vancouver International Airport. The project, which began in October 2023, is scheduled for completion by spring 2025. 

Claire Ryan, a Marpole resident, has witnessed frustrated motorists avoiding congestion by moving traffic cones to pass through blocked streets. 

“It was getting turned into an absolute mess,” said Ryan. 

The City of Vancouver says it has received approximately 360 complaints related to the project since it began.  

Problem bigger than Marpole

Fernando Figueroa, a construction worker involved in the project, pointed to a greater volume of traffic across the Metro Vancouver region.  

“Traffic has been increasing all over Metro Vancouver area because the population is growing,” Figueroa said.  

At a time when aging infrastructure throughout the city is a major concern, large-scale capital replacement projects are becoming increasingly necessary.  

Tracey Rinas, a realtor who works in the area, said residents living in affected neighbourhoods are starting to get frustrated with both drivers and the construction itself.  

She said that no one pays much attention when construction projects first begin. “It’s a minor inconvenience and it’s only for a few days, so who cares.” 

However, she said residents are feeling construction fatigue. “It’s like it’s every single day, everywhere in the city,” Rinas added.   

Not just residents

Vikus Kumar, a manager of a Chevron gas station along Oak Street, says it has been difficult for businesses to stay open during construction as customers have stayed away. 

“Things have been slow,” Kumar said. 

Despite that, she said she sees an end in sight and is looking forward to the construction wrapping up so businesses can return to normal. 

Both Gauthier and Ryan say the upgrades are necessary for the neighborhood’s future growth.  

“Personally, it’s an inconvenience to me. It’s certainly annoying to a lot of the parents and everything like that. But like it’s kind of necessary. So I think it’s definitely worth it.” Ryan said. 

Gauthier said that the construction is necessary to provide new housing units in the area, but “What we need to do is find a balance.” 

Originally posted on the Voice.

The Langara Faculty Association pleads for college intervention for permanent positions

One-third of Langara instructors work term-by-term, facing uncertainty each semester about whether their employment will be renewed, according to the Langara Faculty Association.

From Oct. 21 to 25, the LFA held its annual campus wide campaign, called Fair Employment Week, to spotlight the issues facing temporary instructors by emphasizing their limited job security and benefits compared to permanent staff.

Niall Christie, an LFA board member and department chair of history, Latin and political science, said the campaign is part of a national initiative.

He said faculty associations across the country “try to draw attention to the plight of temporary faculty and to try and encourage administrations to improve the situation.”

LFA members used the campaign to display posters around campus and had an information table in the foyer of the A Building during the week.

The impact on instructors

President of the LFA, Pauline Greaves, said the college has hired regular faculty in temporary positions and said, “There is no guarantee that the employer will need to take care of them over the long term.”

Additionally, temporary faculty are expecting their roles to be impacted given the cap on enrolment of international students.

“So in business we have the PDF program, which is the post-diploma program, that are all international students. So one can make an assumption that [it] will be impacted.”

Christie said faculty are still facing problems with the people and culture department.

People and Culture and the LFA

“The LFA has been negotiating with the people and culture department and with our administration to try and get the situation improved,” Christie said.

“They [Langara instructors] are stressed, they are worried. They don’t know whether or not they’re going to be able to feed themselves next semester,” said Christie.

Long-standing issues with the people and culture department remain a concern, Christie said. He said those issues existed before he became department chair six years ago.

The people and culture department has offloaded human resources-related tasks to individual departments, leaving department chairs with an increased workload, said Christie.

“They have essentially downloaded almost the entire hiring process,” said Christie.

Barbara Kyle, a human resources consultant, said the role of an HR department is to give “the right guidance and support for interacting with their people.”

“Recruiting and onboarding consume nearly half of HR’s workload alone,” said Kyle, noting this puts extra strain on staff who are handling dual responsibilities.

Christie said that temporary instructors could be given non-instructional roles to help with job security.

Langara’s people and culture avoid addressing LFA comments

The Voice reached out to newly hired Vice President of people and culture, Parveen Mann, for an in-person interview but was declined twice.

Adam Brayford, communications director at Langara, said in an email statement, “Having recently started her role with us, she has been meeting members across our campus community and learning about areas in which we excel, as well as areas that need further attention and support.”

Despite ongoing concerns, Greaves remains optimistic.

“I’m hoping that they [people and culture] can deal with things in a timely manner.”

Originally posted on the Voice.