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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 5h

Quick reflection: the 2025 draft builds on the 2014 OCP but with the constraints of the provincial legislation applied & new policy overlays. This new OCP feels like a natural evolution — one that reflects today’s realities, including provincial housing legislation.

Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 5h

#portmoody first reading of the draft OCP passed 6-1, onward to second reading. I think the vision for the next 25 years is aspirational, and I’m hopeful we can collectively realize it.

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 1d

That’s a significant amount of participation — though like all engagement efforts, these numbers measure intensity, not necessarily reach or representation. If you are interested in the details, read more here: buff.ly/RyfGCwO

Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 1d

When people ask whether community engagement on OCPs is “enough,” it helps to look at the data. Port Moody’s engagement rate (≈112 participations per 1,000 residents) remains among the highest of similarly sized cities.

#CommunityPlanning #OCP #PortMoody #CivicParticipation #UrbanPlanning

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 1d

Beautiful photos. Would you consider submitting one for the 2026 calendar photo contest?

eforms.portmoody.ca/Calendar/202...

2026 Calendar Photo Submissions - Port Moody City

eforms.portmoody.ca

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 2d

• Catastrophic losses due to severe weather are rapidly increasing.
• Climate adaptation and mitigation pay off, e.g., every $1 invested in fire-resistant building measures, $34 in future costs can be avoided.

Read my recap here: buff.ly/FqHgBF0
#ubcm2025 #planforthefuture

2025 UBCM

Reflections on the annual Union of BC Municipalities Conference

sam4pomo.beehiiv.com

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 2d

UBCM Study Session: Climate Hazards and Housing: Risk, Resilience & Local Action
🛡️ Hazards may be inevitable — but disasters are not.
Key highlights:
• 2024 became the costliest year ever for insured natural disasters in Canada — over $8 billion in losses.
#ubcm2025 #climateresilientcommunities

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 3d

Worth watching!

BC Policy Solutions @bcpolicy.bsky.social · 4d

Couldn't make it to this webinar on Wednesday?

Here’s the video recording! Senior economist Alex Hemingway and Housing Squamish E.D. Sarah Ellis walk us through key policies and local lessons to solve the housing crisis in BC.

🎬 The Housing Crisis Is Solvable Key Policies + Local Lessons

[Webinar recording] Alex Hemingway ( senior economist, BC Policy Solutions) and Sarah Ellis (Executive Director, Squamish Community Housing Society and former city planner) discuss BC’s housing crisis and what is needed to make real progress to tackle this critical issue that has been overwhelming B

bcpolicy.ca

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 3d

It’s definitely fall when you have to remove spiders from your living space.

Reposted by Samantha Agtarap

Scott Santens @scottsantens.com · 3d

Clip from our most recent episode of The Basic Income Show where we talked about Ireland's basic income experiment results and how artists increased their incomes from doing art thanks to their income base and how it benefited the economy and reduced welfare spending. Essentially it was win-win-win.

Ireland's basic income experiment resulted in higher incomes and the economy benefited $1.39 per $1

YouTube video by Scott Santens

youtube.com

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 4d

Busy September: UBCM in Victoria, full council agendas & community highlights like the new boardwalk 🎉. In my newsletter: Guildford Way bike/ped upgrades, trail plan, childcare study, housing advocacy & more. Read it here: buff.ly/r4G7ALy
#portmoody #monthlyupdate

Photo of Pigeon Cove with the tide out. The boardwalk and house post is in the distance.

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 5d

Interesting article from April 2025: Campbell River amended its zoning bylaw to allow housing to be built right on the hospital grounds. The goal is to create homes for healthcare professionals and for families visiting loved ones at the hospital.

Do you think Eagle Ridge Hospital should do this?

Bylaw to allow apartments on Campbell River hospital grounds passes third reading

Zoning Amendment Bylaw No. 3989, 2025, received first, second and third reading at a recent council meeting

buff.ly

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Reposted by Samantha Agtarap

Chris Istace 🇨🇦 @stasherbc.bsky.social · 6d

This 💔👇

Guy Felicella @guyfelicella.bsky.social · 6d

There is something seriously wrong when we live in a world that humanizes and defends billionaires, while stigmatizing and criminalizing people who are poor and homeless!
We live in a very broken world.

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 6d

It would be great if the province gave municipalities the authority to deploy traffic cameras where needed.

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 6d

I agree - there are two parts to this - 1 enforcement of existing regulations & 2 designing cities (and roads) to mitigate noise.

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 6d

The Motor Vehicle Act regulations were exceeded 374 times in 7 days.

Staff have met with the Traffic Review and Coordination Group (TRAC) and shared the results to date with PMPD.

As time goes on, we will gather more data and use this to build a case for automated noise cameras.

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 6d

Data shows that there were:
• 619 total instances of noise exceeding 80dBA,
• 334 instances exceeding 83 dBA, and
• 40 instances over 91 dBA.

During the week above, two readings exceeded 100 dBA, with the highest noise level registered during the period being 102.8dBA.

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 6d

You may recall that Council approved the purchase and installation of a noise sensor (this was all completed within existing budgets). It was installed at the Ioco & Murray intersection at the beginning of September. The photo shows the data from 7 days of operation, Sep 15-21. Data ⤵️ #noisesensor

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 8d

This morning at the Noons Creek Hatchery, on the site of the ancestral Tseil-Waututh winter village Say-mah-mit, we came together to honour Survivors, their families, & the children who never returned home from residential schools.

Many thanks to @manuelaxelstrain for your teachings.

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Reposted by Samantha Agtarap

BC Policy Solutions @bcpolicy.bsky.social · 8d

Join senior economist @1alexhemingway.bsky.social and practitioner Sarah Ellis in a one-hour webinar to learn how BC’s housing crisis can be brought under control and to hear about on-the-ground efforts to create new non-profit housing.

Register now!

Oct 1, noon PT
bcpolicy.ca/events

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 9d

Safe travels!

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Reposted by Samantha Agtarap

Stand.earth @stand.earth · 9d

10 years ago today, then-Governor of the Bank of England @mark-carney.bsky.social gave his landmark “Tragedy of the Horizon” speech.

In it, Carney warned of the existential threat that the climate crisis poses to the global financial system.

Blue background with photo of a clear blue ocean and a stunning horizon. Text reads “TRAGEDY OF THE HORIZON 10 YEARS ON” “Statement to central banks and prudential supervisors on the

10-year anniversary of the Tragedy of the Horizon speech: A Call for Global Financial Reform” “Endorsed by 55 international climate finance organizations” “www.tragedyofthehorizon.org”

Red background. Quote reads "A decade after Mark Carney's landmark 'Tragedy of the Horizon' speech, it's tragic how little progress we've made. Global financial institutions have largely failed to address climate risk, propelling us toward a future of severe climate impacts. This anniversary must be a clarion call: it is time for decisive regulation to mitigate climate-related financial risk and accelerate the transition to a sustainable Canadian and global economy." Attribution reads “Richard Brooks, Climate Finance Director, Stand.earth”

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 10d

Other points:
• BC has Canada’s lowest personal income taxes for anyone with taxable income up to $150,000

• B.C. faces record high income inequality

• Deficit panic serves a political purpose — it’s used to justify underfunding, underpayment & downsizing

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 10d

“…taxes, fees and royalties the province has control over — has plummeted from 19.2% to 15.4% of GDP over 25 years. This 3.8% drop represents $16.8 billion in foregone revenues annually — enough to eliminate the deficit with money left over for child care, education and other vital investments.” ⤵️

BC Policy Solutions @bcpolicy.bsky.social · 10d

Before we panic about government spending, @iglikaivanova.bsky.social examines what really created BC’s current fiscal challenge.

The numbers tell a clear story she says. #bcpoli

Opinion: B.C. has a revenue problem, not a spending problem

Experience from early 2000s shows that underfunding public services and failing to address poverty leads to higher economic and social costs

vancouversun.com

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Samantha Agtarap @sam4pomo.bsky.social · 10d

Last week, local elected officials from across the province gathered in Victoria for the annual conference. From study sessions to meetings with ministers, including running into Minister @ravikahlon.bsky.com, I've written about the week & some thoughts in my newsletter. Link: buff.ly/FqHgBF0 #ubcm