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  • Jan 14 - "Regrettable but necessary": Police security at council meeting

Jan 14 - "Regrettable but necessary": Police security at council meeting

Park camping passes open soon. Son pleads not guilty. Movies get cheaper.

Hello there!

Hello to you in the future. I'm writing this yesterday (your yesterday; my today), which means I don't yet know exactly what, if anything, went down at Langford's Monday evening council meeting. That outcome will be in The Westshore on Thursday, along with some of the other big recent news out of Langford. For today, though, we have the story of how that council meeting became such a big deal.

You can read that story below, and then our second story may prompt you to send your own message into the future. Beginning this week, you'll be able to send your 4-months-from-now self on a vacation by reserving a park camping pass.

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NEWS

RCMP called in as security for Langford council meeting

Langford City Hall. Photo: James MacDonald / Capital Daily

Yesterday Langford announced that two West Shore RCMP officers would be present for last night’s council meeting. The city's release said safety concerns prompted the “regrettable but necessary” use of “proactive measures [to] protect staff and members of the public from physical threats and verbal assaults,” which it says can hinder democratic expression. 

The council website stated that “as a result of the recent inappropriate behaviour, yelling, and outbursts from some members of the public during Council proceedings, members of the community have expressed that they do not feel safe attending in person or speaking to items during City Council meetings.” 

Move comes after Dec. meeting outbursts & councillor controversy 

A month ago, hecklers opposed to the city's purchase of the embattled Westhills Y continued to call out as council took the final steps of voting and explaining the decision. 

A reason for the specific concern at last night's meeting wasn't shared. Some locals speculated that part of the impetus was a planned rally to demand the resignation of Coun. Lillian Szpak, after a recent investigation found that the city violated privacy law in her 2021 dispute with her son's neighbour.

Not the first boiling-over of tensions around Langford council

Supporters of the previous council and three-decade mayor Stew Young have been critical of their replacements, to the point that current mayor Scott Goodmanson asked Young to denounce bad actors 11 months ago. That came at a conference at which councillors alleged that a “disgruntled” person, who had been “angry and unaccepting” of the election, was at Coun. Keith Yacucha's home looking in windows and taking photos.

There has also been frustration at council meetings over recent property tax increases—which current councillors argue have been necessary to break from their predecessors’ reliance on dipping into the city's dwindling community amenity fund to deflate taxes. 

In 2022, RCMP were called during a Metchosin meeting

That closed-door council dispute involved former mayor John Ranns allegedly flinging his papers and pen either toward now-mayor Marie-Térèse Little (she said) or onto the table (he said).

More on these issues, and the results of last night's meeting, later this week. 

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NEWS

Camping reservations begin this week for Westshore’s provincial parks

Sights along the West Coast Trail. File photo by Jolene Rudisuela / Capital Daily

Reservations are opening this week, with most parks offering spots as of Thursday 7am. That marks 4 months until the Victoria Day long weekend—fitting since 4 months ahead of your desired arrival time is the earliest you can reserve a campsite. 

BC Parks announced this week that it has added 60 campsites in three of its parks—including a baker’s dozen at China Beach Campground in Juan de Fuca Park—to its reservation service. The 13 new sites include 8 park-beside spots for tent camping and 5 walk-in spots. 

That’s in addition to the 33 new spots (22 drive-in and 11 walk-in) added last year as part of a $2.7M upgrade.

Two new accessible showers and flush toilets are being built and are expected to open in May, although it wasn’t clear if they'll be in time for the Victoria Day weekend (May 16-18).

West Coast Trail bookings open Monday 

The iconic but often grueling trail has special requirements for hikers who want to brave it, and due to the level of risk in bad weather it has a more limited set of dates on which you can hike it (May 1 to Sept. 30).

The Westshore’s own Juan de Fuca Trail is an easier trek, but don't underestimate it—last spring one of its hikers got stuck for hours in a muddy waist-deep clay pit.

Around the 'Shore

Son pleads not guilty to second-degree murder of mother on Christmas night 2021: Raymonde Elder was found on New Year's Eve 2021, dead at 59 in her Langford home. Police said they found knife, blunt force, and strangulation injuries; they claim her son Ryan Elder, now 29, disposed of clothes and electronics in the days after her death. He had a long history of mental health issues; his lawyers intend to argue he was not criminally responsible. [CHEK

👨‍🚒 Sooke Fire testing out new gear free of “forever chemicals”: The dept. wants to avoid the potentially cancer-causing PFAS chemicals found in protective equipment, but new gear is so expensive that it is initially trying out three different options before committing. A proposed BC bill could ban PFAS content from firefighting foam by 2026 and personal gear by 2029. [Sooke News Mirror]

🐆🛀 Cougar visiting hot-tubbers in Tofino [video] has renewed memories of a Westshore schoolkid's own face-to-face encounter with one of the big cats—and questions about whether these wildlife encounters are increasing.

🚍 Bus travel from the ‘Shore to the core will now route primarily through Uptown, with a new “Mobility Hub" transit exchange bringing together UVic, Westshore, peninsula, and other routes. It's set to open this summer.

🛩 BC crews head down to California wildfire: Forests minister Ravi Parmar, the Langford-Highlands MLA, said the first of the firefighters promised by Premier Eby have departed. [CP]

🌳 Thursday Westshore: New rules to protect trees in Langford. The most-read Westshore stories of the past year. [Newsletter]

📚 World-class education is closer than you think. Attend an information session on January 30 to discover why attending Glenlyon Norfolk School is possible and worth the journey.*

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Community Events

🍿 $5 Tuesdays at Cineplex Odeon Westshore. [Until Feb. 11]

☕🎻 Tea & Symphony is Feb. 16 from the Sooke Philharmonic. Hear Mozart & Tchaikovsky while enjoying tea, coffee, finger foods, elegant tablecloths, and porcelain teacups. [Info]

📚 Sooke Library events this week: Lego club, documentary discussions, seniors’ chair exercises, story time, crafts, and more.

🌳 Drop off your branches at the Colwood public works yard on Sat. [Info]

🌌 Look up in the night sky a week from today and you may be able to see as many as 6 planets aligning—a once-in-a-century sight. [Black Press story]

What’s Offshore?

🚢 Near Colwood shore: UTE (container ship, built 2007, Liberia flag, heading from Prince Rupert to Vancouver)

🚢 At Ogden Point: BBC Everest (general cargo ship, built in 2011 & sailing from Japan to Victoria under an Antigua & Barbuda flag)

🚢🚢 Further out: Don Carlos (vehicle carrier built in 1997, sailing from Tacoma to New West under Norway flag) & Seroja Lima (container ship built in 2011, sailing from Prince Rupert to Victoria under Panama flag)

Westshore Snaps

Left: A blazing sunrise at Royal Beach. – Paul Young

Right: A cloud-covered sun over Witty's Lagoon. – Michel Besler

Polar bear plunges at Whiffin Spit photographed by the event organizers at the Otter Point Fire Dept. Read more about all the local cold-water dips on New Year's Day at Capital Daily.

📸 Snapped a photo you’d like to share? Send it with a caption and don’t forget to add where you live.

That’s it!

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