Cowichan This Week: Winter is here!

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

• Cowichan Tribes opened a seasonal emergency youth homeless shelter in the former VIU building on Cowichan Way. The shelter will be open from 3 p.m. to 9 a.m. daily until May, 2021.
• The provincial government and Cowichan Tribes entered an agreement to allow Cowichan Tribes to produce and sell cannabis. This agreement is the second of its kind in B.C., the first being with Williams Lake First Nation. 
• Island Health administered the first COVID-19 immunizations to health care workers in greater Victoria on Tuesday. The health authority received 1,950 doses in its first shipment. Immunization clinics for staff and physicians will expand across Island Health in the coming weeks. 
• The expansion and retrofit of the Cowichan Aquatic Centre is now complete. Construction on the centre started last June. To find out which programs and services are available and to pre-register, visit www.northcowichan.ca/recreation.
• The Municipality of North Cowichan council will discuss a proposed recommended motion asking that North Cowichan communicate to Island Health and Premier John Horgan that it does not support the proposed wellness centre site at 5878 York St. The proposal came from A Voice for Our Children, a group advocating against the site’s proposed location. 
• The Animal Responsibility Bylaw in North Cowichan has been amended to add more seasonal, off-leash dog areas at the Pender Road stairs, Crofton Beach Park foreshore and Cook Street to Vista Grande foreshore.
• The Municipality of North Cowichan council directed staff to provide a report on short- and long-term solutions to traffic and parking challenges at the Kaspa Road trailhead at Mount Tzouhalem. 
• The CVRD is conducting an Alternative Approval Process so a Saltair water system service loan authorization bylaw can be adopted by Area G electors. The loan authorization would be for $3.7 million for water treatment upgrades, the Chemainus Valley Courier reports.
• The Town of Ladysmith council voted to allow 2020 Grant in Aid recipients to carry unused funds into 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions impeding the way recipients could use their funding, the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reports.
• BC Transit and the CVRD released the Cowichan Valley Regional Transit System holiday service schedule for this year. You can find it here.

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Community events

• This month: 🚂 Enjoy a virtual Christmas Express with the BC Forest Discovery Centre. This year, watch the annual fundraising event online with videos from previous years and narration from North Cowichan Mayor Al Siebring. 
• This winter: 👕 The Shawnigan Lake Basin Society is running a Wear Clothing that Matters campaign for the winter. Funds raised will assist project and core costs for the society.
• Now through Jan. 16: 🎻 The Cowichan Symphony Society and Victoria Baroque recorded a live performance featuring the first part of Handel’s Messiah and the Hallelujah chorus. View the performance online for free. Any donations will go to the artists.
• Saturday, Dec. 26: 🎭 Watch Hunting for the Holidays, a lighthearted, live, online performance presented by One Voice Institute. Admission is $10 per household and proceeds benefit special initiatives of various charities. Show times are 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.

What did I miss? Let me know what events are coming up near you, 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 love my local farm store here in Mill Bay, Sweet Meadows. The staff are friendly and helpful. The owner is trying to grow and sell local. There are many locally made products on the shelves. It is an open air set up so this helps in the COVID times too. It is a local business that I am happy to support!” writes Catherine Wallace.

It’s so great to be able to support local! Here’s to the many local businesses in our community. [end]