Sad news indeed
Did my training at boundary bay airport, went to the mission area for all my private and commercial training.
Just a few things i noticed:
It really is not the safest place to be. The terminal airspace has made this area smaller over the years, sometimes in the summer as many as 15-20 planes could be seen in that area(roughly 10x5 NM Area, upto a height of 5000-6000 from the surface) all working on their spins,stalls,spirals etc.
I personally had to cancel one of my flight test items due to traffic, add to this that not all of the guys would make position/intention reports really makes you think twice about this place when its busy.
There are two more practice areas close by one being pitt meadows and the other north east of abbotsford(sumas?) not really utilised by many.