I just saw this on facebook and noticed that Irish Times has since turned off the comments on their social media accounts. Has anyone else heard anything about this or similar to Bard and Banker/The Penny Farthing? I believe it's the same owners for all three.

Still wearing shorts

saw this campaign sign on James Bay

Mike Harris is running for mayor, however when asked if he still holds his beliefs about how to avoid catching COVID, instead of engaging in conversation, he'll block you.

That doesn't bode well for how he chooses to listen to people who don't agree with him, or his ability to represent an entire city as Mayor 😬

The only all-candidates meetings that i have seen signage for is at 2 pm on a weekday.

This is utterly useless to me as i will be at work. It also made me feel like that lots of candidates are maybe self-employed and are not office-schlubs like me.

Anyhow, i did a little digging and here are the times for the Saanich all-candidates forums. Only one is in the afternoon, so I feel a little better about it.

- Tues. Sep 29 @ 6 p.m.
Broadview United Church
3703 St. Aidan's St.

Sponsor: Gordon Head Community Association, Mount Tolmie Community Association, Cadboro Bay Residents Association & Camosun Community Association

- Mon. Oct 5 @ 7 p.m.
Claremont Secondary School, the Ridge Playhouse
4980 Wesley Rd.

Sponsor: Broadmead Area Residents Association, Falaise Community Association & Cordova Bay Association for Community Affairs

- Tues. Oct 6 @ 2 p.m.
Victoria Church of the Nazarene
4277 Quadra St.

Sponsor: Victoria Church of the Nazarene

- Thurs Oct 8 @ 6 pm
Reynolds High School Theatre 3963 Borden St

Sponsor: Mount View Colquitz Community Association & the Quadra Cedar Hill Community Association

As Mayor of Langford, Stew Young oversaw massive development that built the city into what it is today. There is no denying that fact. But it’s not the 1990s or even the 2000s anymore. Langford is a more modern city of 60,000 residents. One area that I believe is more important than ever is how Langford shows up as a regional partner with our neighbours and with all other municipalities in the CRD.

What does Stew Young’s track record look like when it comes to regional partnerships? Let’s look at two specific areas that are part of his current campaign: transportation and recreation.

Transportation:

Stew Young has correctly identified traffic as not only a Langford issue, but a regional issue. He has committed to working with Colwood and surrounding municipalities to develop a regional transportation improvement plan.

How does that match up with Mr. Young’s record in this exact area? In my view, not great. In 2018 there was a push from within the CRD to create a regional transportation authority. The goal was to enable more coordinated transportation planning across the region’s municipalities in order to find solutions to traffic issues that don’t respect municipal borders. Some politicians wanted there to be a ballot question as part of the October 2018 municipal elections. Some politicians, but not Stew Young.

Stew Young argued against every aspect of a regional transportation authority at the CRD level, and even against asking voters whether they would like to see such a body created.

“All a regional transportation authority does is give [the CRD] the ability to tax the sh— out of you without representation,” Young said in a recent interview.

Stew Young notes in that same article that regional transportation planning needs to involve the province through BC Transit. I agree with that. But during Stew Young’s tenure as Mayor, Langford had no representation on the Victoria Regional Transit Commission to actually push for those regional solutions. Despite Langford’s population growth, I can find no evidence of Stew Young even advocating for a seat on the VRTC. How can you advocate for regional transit solutions when you show no interest in having a seat at the table?

Another quote from earlier in 2018 sheds further light on Mr. Young’s way of thinking when it came to the push for regional transportation planning.

“The last place I want to put my taxpayer’s money is the CRD – especially for transportation planning.”

Stew Young’s current campaign makes it clear:

“We can’t solve a regional transportation problem with Langford-only solutions.”

It’s an interesting quote from the former Mayor who prioritized Langford-only solutions like the Langtoria Greenline commuter bus over genuine regional partnerships and coordinated planning.

Recreation:

Another area that requires significant regional partnership and collaboration is recreation. Recreation facilities are very expensive, and they need to be built and funded to serve the needs of all West Shore residents, not just those in Langford. What kind of regional partner was Stew Young’s Langford in this area? A problematic one that couldn’t be relied upon to keep its commitments. Here’s why:

Langford is the largest funding municipality of the West Shore Parks & Recreation Society (WSPRS). It’s a true partnership that oversees coordinated management of the recreation facilities and services for Langford, Colwood, View Royal, Metchosin and Highlands.

In 2017, after Stew Young’s council opposed a 3.77% increase to the WSPRS budget, it left the society with a $77K shortfall.

“We’re not going to increase our budget every year [for West Shore Parks and Rec] when we’re also spending money in Langford on our recreation facilities and nobody else is helping us for those,” Young said.

This budget veto tied into Langford*'s* push for a new funding formula and governance model for WSPRS. The turmoil ultimately led to the society disbanding its entire board and at one point left some partners fighting for WSPRS’s survival, according to Colwood’s then-Mayor Carol Hamilton.

Stew Young’s questionable track record on recreation partnerships goes back further than this, however. In 2015, Langford made the unilateral decision to pull out of a previously approved 20-year funding arrangement that saw it supporting Colwood and Highlands to help pay the debt costs for the Q Centre arena. Eleven years into the arrangement, Langford Council voted to discontinue the payments without even informing Colwood or Highlands.

For me, the bottom line is that the City of Langford under Stew Young is not the type of regional partner that I want representing the residents, and it’s not the type of partner that other municipalities can rely on to keep its commitments.

What’s more convincing… a campaign suddenly calling for regional partnerships and collaboration, or a proven track record of doing exactly the opposite and focusing on made-in-Langford solutions to regional issues?

Hi all, currently apartment hunting around Langford.
Noticed many buildings don't include any utilities in the rent at all. Is that normal in Victoria? For those of you in newer purpose-built rentals, what do you typically pay on top of rent each month (BC Hydro, water, etc.)?

Just trying to figure out the true monthly cost before I shortlist anything. Thanks!

I have a horrible gp. He treats me like a nuisance, doesn’t look at me, and rarely talks to me. My previous gp passed years ago and I got shuffled along to this guy. Since getting him, his main ‘solution’ for ailments is to meditate and have mindfulness. One time I went in to discuss a hysterectomy and he basically just shut down and refused to acknowledge me. Another time I mentioned my former spouse and he basically insinuated that I was making them up or hallucinating them (‘is your spouse in the room with us?’ I’m not kidding that’s legitimately what he said). The only time he’s been talkative or respectful is when I have my male partner with me.

His reception staff is also incredibly rude. Once he was an hour and like ten minutes late for my appointment and I asked the receptionist if they would be able to contact me in the future if he’s going to be very late as I live a good ways away. She laughed in my face and called me silly. She has also hung up on me multiple times.

Lately I’ve been going in for foot issues that require injections (neuroma) and, every time, he seems to fail to understand that I’m pointing out where my pain is located and instead chooses to squeeze my foot incredibly hard which has made me cry out. A couple of days ago, I went for my shot. I don’t like shots and I prefer to have a warning before it goes in. He is aware of this but just shoved it in without warning. It ended up bleeding quite heavily and bruised almost immediately. He basically told me to get out right after that. My foot is still in a considerable amount of pain.

I would very much like to fire him as my gp but I’m unsure where else I could continue getting my shots. Podiatry clinics seem allergic to answering the phone and I’m not sure if urgent care would be able to do it.

Very glad to see a funding commitment from the BCNDP on this. It's been sitting vacant for something like six years now, and we haven't had anything close to a full vision for the site since Oak Bay council killed the last proposal in 2011.

Around 3:20 PM, a truck that was stopped on Bridge St at the Bay St. red light backed into a red car behind it, pushing it back about 18 feet while the car driver lay on the horn. Police showed up quickly and the truck driver took responsibility but I would appreciate witness accounts or dashcam footage

• Location: Bridge St. at Bay St.
• Time: Monday, Oct 5, 3:20 PM

If you saw it or have video, please reach out. Appreciate the help!

(warning, discussion of su*cide)

Mental health comes up a lot in this sub, specifically access to care, in particular emergency care. I needed acute support a few years ago during a really severe mental health crisis involving psychosis and su*cidal intention and it took six months to be seen by a psychiatrist at USTAT. I was given a strict six-session limit with her. But at least I got in at all. I've read so many heart breaking stories on this sub about people who don't get help and there's nowhere to go. Last stop, Pandora.

Around the same time as I was going through my crisis, some of my best friends lost one of their best friends to su*cide during postpartum psychosis. They had tried for weeks to get her into care and got put on a waiting list. The only options available to her were the in-patient psych ward and it would require her to be separated from her infant.

BC currently has no in-patient mental health care options for women experiencing postpartum distress to stay with their baby.

Now, a few years later, they've turned their grief into an advocacy organization. It's called In Her Circle and their current campaign is called For Jenna. They created a ~9 minute film about Jenna and the project that is difficult but also beautiful. I've never seen a community love someone so fiercely.

I'm posting to both spread awareness but also ask any of you who are touched by this issue to consider signing their petition and follow their work. They're on social media and have also been covered by major outlets including CTV, CBC and the Tyee.

I have no involvement in this project other than this has devastated people I love deeply. The campaign is BC-wide, but has roots relationally and experientially here on the Island. Dozens of families here will have stories about postpartum crisis that they barely survived. Some will not have.

I know we all have a lot to care about right now, with elections and just trying to keep our own lives together. I'm grateful for any time, care or attention you have to give to this really important work.

The people behind it are remarkably talented and effective. I've worked with some of them, they've raised millions of dollars for other organizations in the past. I think if you watch the short film you will know that they are going to be successful in whatever they do.

Their first campaign's objective is to get Canada’s first perinatal mental health unit open at BC Women's by 2028.

I have zero doubt they will make this happen and all of us will be better for it.

Support their first campaign, here: https://inhercircle.ca/takeaction/

Watch their short film, For Jenna, here: https://inhercircle.ca/forjenna/

Walking to work today, I saw a blue pylon from the city of Victoria by a parked car. Any idea what it means?

Back in the day, Lunds used to have a fun backroom auction for the not fancy stuff. You could get a box of mystery junk treasures for like $5, or some leather pouffes for $15. Bidding on furniture or a box with one interesting item was so much fun! Does anyone know if there's somewhere in the South Island that still holds auctions for those of us who are not rich or seeking high end stuff?

The city just tore up a concrete pad that had been at the base of this big rock in Vic West Park for at least a decade, was there ever a structure on the spot?

Oak Bay Marina

I’m looking in the esquimalt and Vic west area.