Cowichan This Week: A busy news week!

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

[optin-monster slug=”oumb8fdbhobnnyoko29k”]

News and announcements

• The Cow-op online farmers’ market is expanding delivery and pick-up options, The Discourse reports. The marketplace boomed in the early weeks of the pandemic as more people sought out local, online shopping.
• Economic Development Cowichan has published a report on local economic indicators related to the pandemic and recovery. It plans to release new numbers quarterly. 
• The Cowichan Valley Regional District has produced housing needs assessments for the region and for municipalities and areas within the region. The intention is for those reports to guide planning decisions and help communities access federal and provincial affordable housing funds. The reports are available on the CVRD website. 
• The Municipality of North Cowichan has switched its virtual meeting software to allow members of the public to speak directly to council, rather than emailing questions. Visit the website for instructions on how to join. 
• This week at North Cowichan council, a consultant presented options for the municipality to meet its climate change goals. The report is at Page 194 of the meeting agenda package. The municipality will consult the public on the options before finalizing the plan. 
• Municipality of North Cowichan staff have presented a report to council on what has been done and will be done to ease conflicts over increased usage of the Kaspa Road trailhead at Mount Tzouhalem. The report is at Page 268 of the agenda package. In addition to flagging traffic at busy times and limiting commercial access, the municipality is working on expanding parking and amenities at alternative access points to Tzouhalem and other trail systems. The municipality received several letters from people objecting to the restrictions on mountain bike schools using the parking lot, which are also in the agenda package. 
• The Town of Lake Cowichan is accepting input from residents to help guide the municipality’s goals and priorities. The survey must be returned by Feb. 26. 
• The Town of Lake Cowichan is considering options to support community members without housing, the Lake Cowichan Gazette reports. It is eyeing the sleeping cabins recently installed in Duncan as a potential solution.
• The Ladysmith Resource Centre Association Food Bank and Nanaimo-based Loaves and Fishes have teamed up to recover produce from grocery stores that would otherwise be wasted to distribute to those in need, the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reports. 
• The Cowichan Valley Regional District will apply for funding to update flood maps of the Chemainus River, the Chemainus Valley Courier reports. The Chemainus valley saw devastating floods in early 2020.
• The Cowichan Lake District Chamber of Commerce has decided to close the Lake Cowichan Visitor Centre after failing to reach an agreement with the Town of Lake Cowichan over funding for the facility, the Lake Cowichan Gazette reports. 
• Cowichan Tribes has extended its shelter-in-place order on reserve lands through February 19. The First Nation has produced a video to explain that the intention of the order is to stop visiting between households, not to prevent residents from shopping, going to work or making other essential trips. All deliveries and service calls to reserve homes are permitted as well. 
• Darla Smith, a member of Cowichan Tribes, is fundraising to buy and deliver food to members of the First Nation to support them through the pandemic, CHEK News reports. 
• The Vancouver Island Connector & Tofino Bus will suspend all service indefinitely as of Feb. 12, the company announced in a Facebook post. The company says it has asked for funding from the province to continue the service but has not yet reached a deal. 
• A Ladysmith woman says her family received discriminatory treatment at the Ladysmith Community Health Centre because they are Indigenous, the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reports. The mayor of Ladysmith, the chief of Stz’uminus First Nation and Island Health have responded to the incident.
• Duncan/North Cowichan RCMP seek community feedback to help shape policing priorities. The online survey is open through Feb. 21. 
• The Lake Cowichan Animal Rescue Society has shut down due to funding issues, the Lake Cowichan Gazette reports. Cowichan Cat Rescue will step up to fill some of the gaps in service.
• The Cowichan Valley School District wants feedback on its proposed school calendar for 2021-2024. The public survey is open through March 1. The province is expected to announce new safety measures for schools on Feb. 4 at 10 a.m.
• The Cowichan Valley School District board has signed a community care pledge. In part, the pledge declares, “We value all races, cultures, faiths, socio-economic diversities, sexual orientations, gender identities, and the incredible contributions that these differences bring to our collective well being.” Community members are welcome to add their names to the pledge online. 
• A number of Cowichan region schools have recorded COVID-19 exposures in recent weeks. The province is expected to announce new safety measures on Feb. 4. 
• The BC SPCA has seized 12 dogs from Mixed Blessings Puppies on Herd Road in North Cowichan and alleges that the dogs lacked appropriate veterinary care, the Cowichan Valley Citizen reports. 
• Shawnigan Lake RCMP have closed their investigation into tree poisonings in Mill Bay and will not lay charges due to a lack of evidence, the Cowichan Valley Citizen reports. 
• North Cowichan will give a portion of the Dike Trail a new name, the Cowichan Valley Citizen reports. The Somenos Marsh Wildlife Society consulted with Cowichan Tribes on the new name: S’amunu Trail, named for the traditional Cowichan village of S’amunu.
• The Vancouver Island Canadian Football Association has suspended the head coach of the Ladysmith Steelers youth football team, Greg Owens, for harassment and abuse of power, the Ladysmith Chemainus Chronicle reports. 
• A fuel spill from an abandoned vessel has forced a closure on shellfish harvesting at Xwaaqw’um on Salt Spring Island, the Gulf Islands Driftwood reports.

Community events

• February: 🖤 It’s Black History Month. Check out the Digital Museums Canada exhibit on B.C.’s Black pioneers, the Salt Spring Island Archives records on early Black settlers and resources from the BC Black History Awareness Society. For more resources and local conversation, visit the Black Lives Matter Cowichan Valley and Cowichan Valley International Women’s Day – Discussion Facebook groups.
• February: 💃 This month, red dresses will hang along highways between Victoria and Port Hardy to honour and remember missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Read more about the project on CHEK News. 
• February: 🌱 It’s Seedy February. As part of the month-long event, local seeds are available to purchase at the reFRESH Marketplace in Duncan and through the Cow-op, online.
• Saturday, Feb. 6: 🏃 Join the Town of Lake Cowichan for a virtual open house on its Active Transportation Network Plan. 
• Wednesday, Feb. 10: 🏥 Join Dawn Thomas, Aa ap waa iik, associate deputy minister for Indigenous health with the BC Ministry of Health, for a presentation on a Vancouver Island response to the recent report on anti-Indigenous discrimination in the B.C. health-care system. The event is part of Vancouver Island University’s Engaged Citizens Speaker Series.
• Tuesday, Feb. 16 and Wednesday, Feb. 17: 🏘️ The City of Duncan is hosting public dialogue sessions on a proposed supportive housing development. The city will also accept feedback via an online survey, open through Feb. 21. 
• Ongoing: ❓ The Mill Bay Malahat Historical Society is producing a series of history trivia quizzes for a bit of virtual pandemic fun. The first two videos are now available on Vimeo. 

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

In your words

We received this anonymous feedback through our website this week: “I appreciate all of the in-depth reporting about serious social issues in our community of Duncan.”

Thank you, kind reader! We strive to provide news and information that matters to Cowichan region communities. [end]