Another missing patient

Man who broke out of Colony Farm back in care

But we cannot have a full house, so another patient goes missing:
Patient missing from PoCo psychiatric hospital
The Coquitlam RCMP websites information about this patient, Kurt Derksen, age 58. Note that he went missing in Richmond, on a visit with his family, and that he has a full beard, last time he was seen.
[Update: Kurt Derksen has been found in Ontario!]
   Missing Port Coquitlam psychiatric hospital patient found in Ontario

Missing patient

Charles Albert Hansen missing;
Have you seen this man? Colony farm escapee wanted by police
Coquitlam Mounties seek patient who left psychiatric hospital
The Coquitlam RCMP official site: Missing Person from Colony Farm Forensic Hospital

Student farmers

Agriculture lab planned for Colony Farm wins cautious nod

Also you may be interested in the heritage information gathering exercise that is called:
Riverview heritage values 2012
Which is primarily gathering information about Riverview, (but really one cannot talk about Riverview without talking about Colony Farm)

Violence at the Forensic

Ongoing saga of issues at the forensic institution.
Counsellor allegedly stabbed with kitchen knife at Colony Farm psych unit

If you are concerned about Riverview Hospital, have a look at my Riverview Blog. And have a peek at some of the comments generated by the Riverviewvalues historic values exercise that is still going forward, with another open house in the next few days.

Riverview Values 2012 Questionnaire results  ( 1.8 MB PDF )
Over 300 pages, but many interesting comments about what the public values about the site.

Colony Farm industrialization

Metro Parks are scheming behind the scenes as usual to industrialize OUR parks. A sane person would think that they would learn from the previous experiment at the farm with the heavily publicly subsidized PICS farming experiment, that failed the minute it ran out very quickly of OUR money.!

Regional Parks Plan, draft  ( 1.08 Mb, PDF )

They want some Feedback from the above document, Give it to them !
As usual the feedback form is very poorly constructed.

Vancouver Sun article:  Colony Farm agricultural academy plan goes to committee despite objections

Tri-City News:  Planned academy at Colony Farm advances

Yikes ! A done deal, it appears; 5 Million of OUR dollars; those are some heavily subsidized vegetables.!

The best land of the farm is now mostly alienated by the Lougheed Highway corridor, and Riverview Hospitals arboretum.   I have the detailed records of production and costs associated with Colony Farm/ Riverview growing years; and they never could have got the production that they sometimes achieved without the almost free, Huge patient labour pool.  The high production came at a cost; they were using herbicides; pesticides, and there are well-documented records of pesticide resistant insect pests because of it.

Download the draft Colony Farm Sustainability Plan (published  way back in August, 2009)
I guess that there must be a Final report somewhere that the bureaucrats based their decisions on; or maybe not.
The September 13, 2011, Agenda where they voted it as a go.
And another draft plan, labelled with the cryptic Attachment_4

Barn Swallows declining in B.C.

A Global News article about Barn Swallows declining in B.C
 There is also a short video that talks about the barn swallows; was filmed at Colony Farm and Minnekhada Farm. The team led by Derek Matthews of the Vancouver Avian Research Centre has a bird banding station set up at Colony Farm; and also as seen in the video at the Minnekhada Farm stables.

May 2011

From the Tri-City News;   Colony Farm plan fishy to Port Coquitlam mayor

Colony Farm tidal restoration proposal, causing concerns

Colony Farm park habitat compensation risks disrupting wildlife By Anne Murray, Georgia Straight

Colony Farm fish habitat will hurt birds, naturalist says. By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun June 18, 2010

Fish habitat will hurt birds, naturalist says. By Kelly Sinoski, Vancouver Sun June 19, 2010

Draft conceptual plan for Wilson Farm north tidal channels. ( PDF 809 Kb ) The plan has been changed a few times since this report was generated.

Metro Vancouver, Parks Committee agenda for June 17, 2010. ( PDF 4.96 Mb )


Dr. Golds brings up an important point, in that there is nothing in place to protect bird, small mammal habitat loss, through the existing parks bylaws, via a "No net loss policy".

If a portion of the parks are removed for other uses, they should be replaced with the same amount of habitat, preferrably nearby. These proposed "tidal" channels will impact considerable hectares of land, now used by other forms of life. Restoration of part of the farm to tidal flows, may seem a good thing at first glance, but the bed of the Coquitlam River is actually raised above the surrounding area, a condition that did not exist prior to the dikes being built in 1908.

The riverbed of the Coquitlam River, has infilled considerably mainly due to gravel extraction, channelization throughout most of its length, and lastly urbanization of a large part of the lower watershed.

DFO, affectionately known as the Dysfunctional Fisheries Organization, is also to blame for their policy of not restoring old channels, but creating entirely new ones, that can take many years, if ever to gain their full potential. Whereas the old channels frequently still have intact riparian areas, and the streambeds are intact.

Wilson Farm proposed destruction, Open House

Notice of Open House

Colony Farm Tidal Restoration and Habitat Enhancement Project

Metro Vancouver Regional Parks and the Transportation Investment Corporation invite you to attend an open house on Monday, May 3 to view and comment on a proposed project to restore tidal flow and enhance habitat for fish and wildlife in the Wilson Farm, an area within Colony Farm Regional Park that was drained and diked for agriculture in the early 1900s. This work is proposed as part of Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project’s environmental commitments.

The project has been designed to meet multiple objectives including: the restoration of natural tidal flows to improve water quality; the provision of winter rearing habitat for juvenile coho and chinook; greater control and flexibility of drainage regimes for vegetation management; and enhanced habitat for resident and migratory birds.

The open house will provide information on:
· Existing conditions and project objectives
· Proposed work required to restore tidal flows and allow fish passage
· Drainage improvements and the implications for park management
· Potential benefits for salmon and other aquatic wildlife
· Habitat enhancement components for resident and migratory birds

When: Monday, May 3, 2010

5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Informal open house
7:00 – 7:20 p.m. Presentation
7:20 – 8:00 p.m. Question and answer session

Where: The Outlet, 2100 - 2253 Leigh Square Place, Port Coquitlam

For more information, contact Metro Vancouver Parks at 604-520-6442.

W.J.Moore panorama's 1913-4

from the Georgia Strait

Coquitlam's Colony Farm is a hidden oasis

Colony Farm 1914

1921 Colony Farm

CPR station, located in the middle top area of the map

1920 Colony Farm

Notice how Pitt River Road, is named Dewdney Trunk Road

1919 Colony Farm

1914 Colony Farm

The CPR station shows up on this map in the far left, as a black pie-shaped object, just inland from the steamer landing. This is the earliest map, I have of the property.

Veterans Unit at Colony Farm in 1949

Aerial view in 1928

From the 1928 Hospital annual report

Farm House,(Farm Cottage) 1924

This building housed the patients who worked the farm. The building was removed many years ago.

Clydesdale at Colony Farm 1924

"Colony Lady Pride" They actively bred Clydesdales at Colony Farm.