In May, Vancouver’s City Council passed a motion to make False Creek and other urban waterways “swimmable as soon as possible,” and clean enough that First Nations could harvest shellfish safely once again. The Creek has been polluted since the late Nineteenth Century, when it was lined with lumberyards and industrial sites which used the waterway for transportation— and as a sewer.

The Creek is now lined with condos, parks, walkways and bikeways, and regularly navigated by Dragon boaters and paddlers. But while it’s much cleaner now than in its industrial past, it’s still polluted by overflow runoff during winter rains, and scofflaw sailors who flush their bilges.

What’s being done now, and what will it take to make False Creek safe? Councillor Andrea Reimer and Lauren Brown Horner, Executive Director of Fraser Riverkeeper, and one other presenter will start the conversation. Then it will be your turn to ask questions, make observations and offer opinions. Please feel free to bring your lunch.