Cowichan This Week – Election season heats up

Welcome to Cowichan This Week, your source for the latest local news and events. Sign up to get this in your inbox every Thursday.

With nine days until the provincial election, The Discourse wants to help get essential election information out to community members. We’ve built riding guides for Cowichan Valley, Nanaimo-North Cowichan, Nanaimo, Langford-Juan de Fuca and Esquimalt-Metchosin. 

The riding guides include the basics on how to vote, plus candidates’ answers to questions we heard from you. Not sure what riding you’re in? Check out this map from Elections BC.

Advance polls are open through Oct. 21 and voting day is Saturday, Oct. 24. Elections BC recommends those that wish to vote by mail request a package by Oct. 17, though I’ve heard some are still waiting for packages requested weeks ago. 

Is there something you want to know to help guide your voting decision that you haven’t found an answer to? Reply to this email to let me know.

News and announcements

• Sonia Furstenau, newly elected BC Green Party leader and incumbent MLA candidate for the Cowichan Valley riding, faced off against BC NDP leader John Horgan and BC Liberal Party leader Andrew Wilkinson in a provincial election leaders’ debate on Tuesday, Oct. 13. Check out debate coverage by CBC News, the Tyee and the Vancouver Sun. Or, watch the whole thing. 

• Candidates for the Cowichan Valley riding answered questions on Oct. 13 at an election forum hosted by the Duncan Cowichan Chamber of Commerce. Video from the event is available on YouTube. 

• The Town of Lake Cowichan heads to the polls on Oct. 24 in a mayoral byelection. Check out The Discourse’s guide for voters. 

• New research sheds further light on how Coast Salish peoples, including Quw’utsun people, bred dogs and used their fur for wool, the New York Times reports. 

• The Cowichan Lake Community Services Society will rename its building to honour Carol Blatchford, the Lake Cowichan Gazette reports. Blatchford served 32 years with the society before her retirement in June.

• Cowichan Tribes youth are speaking out in response to the overdose crisis. The two-video series is available on Cowichan Tribes’ Vimeo channel. 

• The Town of Lake Cowichan will poll residents on whether they support allowing backyard chickens, according to a memo. 

• The Municipality of North Cowichan has reopened the Cowichan Aquatic Centre for certain programs and services. The Town of Ladysmith’s pool, at the Frank Jameson Community Centre, will reopen Nov. 2, the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reports. 

• The Town of Ladysmith is considering a proposal for a seniors’ rental housing complex that could be five storeys tall, the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reports. 

Community events

• Thursday, Oct. 15: 🌎 Get earthquake-ready at the Great British Columbia Shake Out, an annual earthquake drill and education campaign. 

• Saturday, Oct. 17: 🎸 Cowboy poet Diamond Joe White will perform afternoon and evening concerts, featuring Nathan Tinkham, at the Duncan Showroom. Seating is limited.

• Sunday, Oct. 18: 🌲 Wildwood Ecoforest invites you to A Wildwood Hallowe’en MYTH-tery, a self-guided, family-friendly forest adventure. 

• Wednesday, Oct. 21: 🏥 Learn about opportunities to work for Island Health at an online employer information session hosted by WorkBC Cowichan Valley. 

• Saturday, Oct. 24: 🐝 Join the Cowichan Green Community’s native plant nursery program and help build a network of pollinator-friendly gardens in Duncan. 

• October: 🎃 McNab’s Corn Maze, near Ladysmith, will welcome guests every day through Halloween, with COVID-19 protocols in place. 

• Friday, Nov. 6 and Saturday, Nov. 7: 🌱 Youth ages 15 to 30 are invited to participate in a hands-on workshop on ecological restoration with expert plant ecologist David Polster, hosted by the Cowichan Estuary Nature Centre. 

What did I miss? Let me know what events are coming up near you by sending me an email. 

Photo of the week

Jordan Luscombe caught this magic moment in Cowichan Bay. Thanks for sharing, Jordan!

Do you have a photo that showcases life in Cowichan? Send me an email, I’d love to see what this place looks like through your lens. 

In your words

At The Discourse, we want our community to lead the conversation as much as possible. Why? When it comes down to it, you are collectively a heck of a lot smarter than a few of us reporters. And you ask great questions. Like this one, for election candidates in the Cowichan Valley riding: 

“If you could accomplish one goal during your mandate, what would it be?”

After we published the candidates’ responses, Bob wrote to me and said, “Good one, Jacqueline  – I think they actually told us something.”

Thanks, Bob. But the credit goes to Carrie, in Duncan, for asking such a great question!

Thanks for reading,

Jacqueline [end]