Hello there!

Today we have an update on a story that we've been following for several years—and some of you have as well. This latest update is one of the most definitive in years.

We also have an update on a more recently relevant topic: Langford's ongoing budget talks. The city just directed staff to try to trim the proposed tax increase. Read through the story below for what would be cut down in order to limit that hike.

— Cam

NEWS

Hotel fraudster Tim Durkin will be deported, court rules

The “man who stole a hotel” through an elaborate fraud scheme while a fugitive of the US has lost his fight to stay in Canada. UK-born Timothy Durkin’s bid for a judicial review was tossed out of Federal Court in Ottawa.

In her decision released last week, Madame Justice Negar Azmudeh found a Canada Border Services Agency deportation order, based on Durkin’s involvement in an Alabama Ponzi scheme, to be justified. The US had eyed extradition, but ultimately the charges were withdrawn.

Still, Canada has the power to go through with the deportation order from 2023, based on Durkin being affiliated with the criminal activity in Alabama even if not convicted in connection. That order was put on hold in part so that Durkin could get a 2024 surgery.

The Harbour House ‘odyssey’

In 2014, Durkin, 73, along with Oak Bay business partner Rodger Gregory, areed to buy the iconic Sooke Harbour House hotel, which at the time was almost $3M in the red. 

What ensued is what a judge would later call a “six-year odyssey of lies, excuses, threats, intimidation and bullying” that walloped the wallets and sensibilities of the Philip family which owned the hotel, and would-be investors—including an octogenarian from Kamloops.

Through their company SHH Holdings, Durkin and Gregory perpetually missed payment deadlines, offering “a revolving door of excuses for the holdup,” as our Tori Marlan wrote in her CAJ award-winning investigative piece.

Built in the 1920s, Sooke Harbour House was internationally known and its at-the-time-novel farm-to-table restaurant helped to pioneer the slow-food movement, spotlighting the idea of locally produced dining. 

Frederique and Sinclair Philip bought the sprawling hotel in 1979 and had three decades of success—the New York Times once wrote its restaurant was among the “half-dozen best” in Canada.

However, the 2008 global economic crisis cut into business, particularly from US patrons, leading the Philips to sell to SHH Holdings, which didn’t hold up its end of the bargain. 

The BC Supreme Court ordered Durkin’s business holdings to pay the Philips $4M in damages. In 2023, the BC Securities Commission hit SHH Holdings with $1.6M in total penalties for lying to investors. 

Sooke Harbour House is under new ownership and reopened last summer after four years—and one pandemic. It features two restaurants with a kitchen run by executive chef Melissa Craig, and a waterfront patio that seats 300. 

NEWS

Langford cutting tax increase by cutting budget—here are some areas in which council reduced funding

In its latest round of deliberations on its five-year financial plan, council took a fine-toothed comb to budget line items and was looking for ways to reduce the tax impact on residents. On Feb. 20, council had lots of questions for its finance director Mike Dillibeau as it looked to pare spending.

The draft plan initially included a proposed 14.51% tax increase for 2025, with projected annual increases of 11.56%, 6.27%, 5.18%, and 5.11% over the next four years. The proposed 14.51% increase would result in a roughly $30 per month increase in municipal property taxes for a representative household.

Director of finance Michael Dillibeau pointed out that any tax reduction in one year means a tax increase in a future year—but not at a 1:1 ratio. Instead, it is magnified based on compounded impacts.

Council has set a target of 11%, rather than 15%, and directed staff toward a few areas of reduction:

• Trim the debt payment (internal borrowing) to $250K from the proposed $750K, for a total payment of $1M in 2025. The city has occasionally borrowed internally over the last 25 years for the acquisition of land and to fund projects that have gone over budget with the intention of repaying those funds in future years.

• Look for non-taxation revenue sources to pay the Langford Aquatic Centre rent amount. The city decided to buy the property on Dec. 16. The project will otherwise represent roughly a 1.75% tax increase per year from 2025 to 2028.

• Restructure the Capital Budget to not be funded through property taxation increases.

• Reduce the Royal Roads Innovation Studio budget by 50% for 2025 (as the new downtown Langford campus is not yet open).

• Remove the E-bike rebate from the 2025 budget and add it to 2026 and 2027 budgets instead.

• Reduce council's travel and training budget 25% for the 2025 budget year

• Remove the E-Comm item from the budget—but add it back in, upon adoption of the 2025-2029 five-year financial plan, if the province is still going to transfer this expense to the local governments following their review

With respect to capital budget, Dillibeau stated there was no property tax increase impact on decisions made around the use of reserves for capital items and suggested it might be worth council looking at capital items from the perspective of where they were funded. 

The city is allowed to set aside funds in reserves for specific purposes. Once put into reserve, the funds may then be used only for the purpose outlined for that reserve.

Read more details on council's meeting last Thursday, and discussion of the possibility of delaying E-Comm costs, in the full story.

Around the 'Shore

🏉 Locally based Team Canada beats US 27-10 in 7th place match at the HSBC SVNS international rugby tourney. Florence Symonds scored 3 tries. [Rugby Canada]

🐾 Colwood looking at designating “aggressive" dogs, rather than only dangerous ones, in its bylaws. This would be a way to offer a middle ground in attack investigations such as a contentious one last month. [CHEK]

🚰 CRD not providing enough water pressure, Saseenos man claims. He has extensive records of the pressure at his residence, which has sometimes been just 1/10th of the required standard—causing pump damage. But the CRD says it is responsible for pressure up to the property line and that they've confirmed multiple times that that particular property line meets the 40psi standard. [Sooke News Mirror]

👂🏽 Despite being so common, many people affected by hearing loss are reluctant to get help. The Island Deaf and Hard of Hearing Centre aims to address one of the most common yet stigmatized disabilities in the world. Read more here.*

*Sponsored Listing

Community Events

🎼 Westshore Community Concert Band plays at Gordon United, 935 Goldstream, at 7pm Sat. Tickets $20 at the door; coffee, tea, and treats during intermission by donation.

🖌 Workshops at Westshore Town Centre: Saturday, Paper Petals. Sunday, Patterns & Simple Landscapes. [Schedule]

⚽️ Pacific FC plays UVic Vikes on Sat. at campus stadium.

🤾‍♀️ Westshore rec / sport facility public workshops are starting next week.

🏰 Royal Roads open house this weekend. 9am-2pm on March 1. [Register]

🧠 Trivia Night at Sawmill Taphouse on Monday.

🐋 Metchosin meetings: Community planning committee meets tomorrow; council meets Monday. Schedule here.

💼 Sooke Job Fair is in 3 weeks at Ed Milne School. [Info]

🤖 Island FanCon is in 4 weeks at City Centre Park. [Info]

What’s Offshore?

🚢 Off coast of Colwood: Wooyang Banders, a 2004-built bulk carrier sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands.

🚢🚢: Further out in harbour: The OOCL Seattle, a container ship built in 2024 and sailing from Seattle to Vancouver under the Liberia flag 🇱🇷. The Majorca, a bulk carrier built in 2005 and now sailing from China to Vancouver under a Malta flag 🇲🇹 

Westshore Snaps

An early bird does what it's known for.

“Can Spring be far away?” asks photographer Gary Woodburn.

That’s it!

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