Welcome to Cowichan This Week, your source for the latest local news and events. Sign up to get this in your inbox every Thursday.
News and announcements
- The Discourse Cowichan is a finalist for two Canadian Online Publishing Awards, for best news coverage and best community news website. Find more highlights of the past year in our new report: The Best of The Discourse Cowichan 2020.
- The Ladysmith Healthcare Auxiliary Thrift Store is closed for two weeks after three volunteers tested positive for COVID-19, according to a Facebook post. According to Island Health, there were 147 known active cases on central Vancouver Island as of Dec. 1. B.C.’s mask mandate and restrictions on gatherings will remain in place through at least Dec. 7.
- A Home for Hooves farm sanctuary has earned international accreditation as an animal sanctuary, the Cowichan Valley Citizen reports.
- A documentary filmmaker has published an extended interview with Leanne Rumley, a woman from Chemainus who once led a successful class action lawsuit on behalf of 350 students who were sexually abused at a boarding school for deaf children. Rumley lived for several months this year in a tent in Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, and says in the interview that more needs to be done to support people without housing.
- Residents of Cowichan Valley Regional District Area H (North Oyster/Diamond) have elected Ben Maartman as their next area director.
- On Dec. 2 a group of people blocked logging trucks from entering the Western Forest Products mill in Ladysmith in protest of old growth logging, the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reports.
- The Cowichan Valley Métis Nation is among the groups who have received funding for projects aimed at reducing violence against Indigenous women, according to a news release.
- The Island Coastal Economic Trust has granted funds to the Chemainus Theatre Society to record and broadcast theatre productions, the Chemainus Valley Courier reports.
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Have your say
- The Cowichan Valley Regional District is currently accepting feedback on its 2021 budget through the PlaceSpeak platform.
- The City of Duncan wants residents’ feedback on its 2021 budget. Visit PlaceSpeak to learn more and provide input. Staff will submit the feedback to council on Feb. 1, 2021.
- The Municipality of North Cowichan invites residents to participate in its 2021 budget process through a series of virtual meetings. The next one is on Tuesday, Dec. 8. At that meeting, municipal departments will present their business plans.
- The Municipality of North Cowichan is seeking nine volunteers to join its reinstated Environmental Advisory Committee. Applications are available online or by calling 250-746-3103.
- The Municipality of North Cowichan is accepting feedback on its proposal to reroute sewage outfall in Cowichan Bay. It will accept comments via PlaceSpeak, email or letter mail.
- The Town of Ladysmith is looking for volunteers for its Official Community Plan steering committee. Applications are due by Jan. 4.
- The Town of Lake Cowichan is seeking applications to join its Advisory Planning Commission. Letters of interest must be received at the town hall by Dec. 17.
Community events
- Thursday, Dec. 3: 🚢 Cowichan-Malahat-Langford MP Alistair MacGregor is leading a virtual town hall with expert guests on his campaign to end freighter anchorages off the coast of Vancouver Island.
- Friday, Dec. 4: 💃 Duncan’s Little Zimbabwe Farm is hosting an online dance party.
- Sunday, Dec. 6: 🕯️ The Public Service Alliance of Canada – BC Region will hold an online memorial to mark the 31st anniversary of the 1989 Montreal massacre and the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women.
- Monday, Dec. 7 through Thursday, Dec. 10: 🤖 City of Duncan Public Works crews will pick up donations of non-perishable food and new unwrapped toys next week. Donations must be clearly marked “Food/Toy Drive” and placed at the curb on your scheduled garbage collection day.
- Wednesday, Dec. 9: 👶 IndigiNews is hosting an online panel, Barriers and Breakthroughs in Indigenous Reproductive Health.
- Through Wednesday, Dec. 9: 📸 Local businesses have teamed up to offer the Cowichan Community Challenge, a photo scavenger hunt. Participants can enter to win $1,000, and an additional $1,000 will go to Nourish Cowichan.
- Dec. 12 and 13: 🛍️ The Duncan Farmers’ Market is hosting a special two-day winter market.
If you’re planning an event that I should consider for an upcoming list, send me an email.
Community shout-out
A few weeks back we sent out a survey asking what’s making you feel hopeful, and which people and groups are making a difference where you live. I want to use this space over the coming weeks to spread some love!
“I would like to give a shout-out to all the businesses that are abiding by the current pandemic rules, and are doing so with such positive and smiling faces,” Kate Wright shares. “They ask politely if you forget or don’t know, but I have never felt chastised. Country Grocer is a good example of great service and smiling faces.”
Here’s to the Country Grocer and all the businesses supporting our communities at this time!
Got a shout-out? Send me an email! [end]
