West Shore This Week – Come together

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

News and announcements

• B.C. has released details and timelines for a COVID-19 immunization plan. The province says the four-phased plan is based on scientific evidence, expert advice and guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization, B.C.’s Immunization Committee and B.C.’s public health leadership committee. Those who are most vulnerable to severe illness and death, remote and at-risk Indigenous communities and seniors will be the first to receive COVID-19 vaccines.
• The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that work on the contentious Highlands quarry can continue. Read the full decision here.
• Community members have launched a petition to stop an application made by the Boys and Girls Club of Victoria in Metchosin to subdivide a large parcel of land owned by the organization. Metchosin Mayor John Ranns and other residents are unhappy about the proposed subdivision, the Goldstream News Gazette reports.
• The Sooke Region Communities Health Network wants to hear from community members in a survey on how the Sooke Region Volunteer Centre can best meet community needs. Complete the brief, anonymous survey by Feb. 5.
• The First Nations Leadership Council is calling on the B.C. government to address “systemic racism and toxic working conditions” within the Royal BC Museum. The council says reports about racism and toxic work conditions came to light after the July 2020 resignation of Lucy Bell, former head of the Indigenous Collections and Repatriation department at the museum.
• Renovations are well underway in the upper Juan de Fuca Recreation Centre to build a new childcare centre. Work to relocate the pottery studio to the Centennial Centre for Arts, Culture and Community is complete and the JDF pool reopened to the public on Jan. 20 after 10 months of closure. To read more about these updates, check out this news release from West Shore Parks and Recreation.
• The City of Colwood is embarking on a waterfront public realm improvement plan. It will outline how a multi-use pathway could connect the Lagoon Beach from the Lagoon Bridge to Royal Beach and consider other enhancements like seating, signage, lighting and washrooms. To read more, click here.
• A commercial/industrial development is planned for the former Galaxy Motors site in Colwood, the Goldstream News Gazette reports. Watch the public hearing that took place on Jan. 25 here.
• Metchosin Coun. Kyara Kahakauwila has stepped down as deputy mayor and apologized for attending a friend’s wedding in Mexico in December, the Times Colonist reports.
• In the wake of the suicide death of Langford teen Andre Courtemanche, the Island Corridor Foundation is in talks with Langford Fire Rescue and the West Shore RCMP on how to address safety issues at the Goldstream Trestle, the Times Colonist reports. Courtemanche’s family is raising money to help fund barriers on the trestle and better mental health supports.

Community events

• Thursday, Jan. 28: 👩‍💻 Vancouver Island Regional Library is hosting a free online event with Indigenous relations expert and author Bob Joseph. The event will feature a Q&A on the Indian Act.
• Saturday, Jan. 30: 💧 Hang out in Esquimalt Gorge Park virtually in an upcoming webinar series from the Gorge Waterway Nature House that will highlight topics with local ecosystems in mind. The Jan. 30 webinar will discuss the nature of watersheds and the threats they face.
• Weekends until Feb. 28: 🎨 Visit Metchosin ArtPod for its new exhibition, About Face: A Portrait Show. The show’s feature artist and guest juror is Noah Layne, who will be exhibiting several of his pieces and will do two online drawing workshops. More information can be found on the Facebook event page.
• Weekends until Feb. 5: 🖼 Visit the Esquimalt Community Arts Hub for Island, a third exhibit in a three-part series called Relations. You can also view the digital exhibit online.
• Now until Feb. 5: 📸  A call for entries for Re-Vision, a photo-based art show at Metchosin ArtPod, has been extended until Feb. 5. There is a $10 entry fee per submission and a maximum of three submissions per person.
• Saturday, Feb. 20: 👟 The Coldest Night of the Year, a family-friendly walk to raise money for charities serving people experiencing homelessness, will take place on Feb. 20 this year. The walk will be COVID-19-safe with an option to walk virtually. Register online as an individual or a team.

If you’re planning an event that I should consider for an upcoming list, send me an email and let me know.

In your words

Sean Dhillon retweeted our West Shore This Week newsletter saying it is a “must-read.”

“Long-form/investigative journalism is the slow burn of transformation ignited by a community’s pulsating and multiplying heart,” he says.

Thanks for the kind words, Sean. I couldn’t agree more. [end]