JANUARY
The Crofton Polar Bear Swim and others around the region will have to consider a name change to the Koala Bear Swim based on such balmy weather for this time of the year. It didn’t seem to matter too much to the participants at the Crofton Polar Bear Swim, though, that the temperature was 7 C on New Year’s Day for the event and about the same in the water. As Rick Smith of the Crofton Fire Department organizing group pointed out, the ocean temperature doesn’t vary much in this area throughout the year. It’s just the air temperature that makes the water seem much warmer, particularly in the summertime, of course.
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The suitcases are packed for the annual Chemainus Rotarians’ sojourn to San Antonio Palopó, Guatemala, but with a lot more than personal effects. Tom Andrews and Derek Hardacker are representing the club and being joined by Hardacker’s son Devan from Grande Prairie, Alberta, on the humanitarian trip to take supplies and assist the residents of the region with various projects. They’re carrying an extra load by taking along donated shoes from Queen Margaret’s School, plus shoes and donated funds to purchase more from Rotarians and friends of Rotarians, as well as dental supplies from Dr. Brian Megas and the staff at Chemainus Family Dental on Oak Street.
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Concerns about the Paper Excellence Catalyst Crofton pulp mill’s frequent curtailments in the past year are mounting not only for the workers but for the Municipality of North Cowichan. Mayor Rob Douglas has written a letter to B.C. Minister of Forests Bruce Ralston requesting enhanced provincial support for the Crofton mill and its workers represented by Public and Private Workers of Canada Local 2 and Unifor Local 1132. The paper side of the operation at the mill has been under curtailment since June 30, 2023. That remains in effect until at least the end of February 2024.
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It’s painstaking work sometimes, but always rewarding. Experienced filmmaker Steve Sxwithul’txw, 68, has done some amazing projects over the years, with many presenting considerable challenges and requiring a total team effort to get the job done. The latest from the Penelakut Tribe member and one of the industry’s most widely acclaimed Indigenous talents with an eye toward making his storytelling perceptions come alive is a 13-episode documentary series that premieres on APTN called Ocean Warriors: Mission Ready.
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Last Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 10, was the final ‘last call’ for Chemainus’s Riot Brewing Co. The craft brewery in Chemainus Village Square has closed its doors for good, the victim of a variety of financial circumstances that are being felt by countless small businesses across the country. Riot’s $40,000 repayment of a $60,000 Canada Emergency Business Account loan it received following COVID was due Jan. 18 and problems were compounded by its landlord only offering a minuscule amount of time from Saturday to Wednesday to pay its bills.
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The basketball tradition at Chemainus Secondary School soared in the 1960s, 1970s and late 1990s-early 2000s and then basically imploded ever since over nearly two decades. Casey Parsons’ arrival at the school three years ago brought a revival for the program and could mark the survival of basketball to rebound and reconnect with the past. Parsons has an extensive background as a player, coach and educator that goes hand-in-hand with teaching the players what it takes to be successful.
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We all knew the cold weather and some snow was coming. Just how much snow was dependent upon location and temperature at the time. It seems Chemainus was right in the midst of a stalled system that collided with Arctic air last Thursday night. Snow started to fall late Thursday afternoon and accumulated quite quickly over several hours in the evening. Other locations around the region saw just a trace of snow.
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Crofton’s Catalyst mill has been fined $25,500 by the province for two instances in which more than one million litres of wastewater was discharged into the ocean in 2021. According to a determination of administrative penalty by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, on July 23, 2021, Catalyst discharged up to one million litres of effluent, storm water and seawater into the ocean. On Aug. 7, 2021, Catalyst also discharged approximately 6,000 litres of effluent into the ocean due to a pump failure.
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The Chemainus Theatre would have normally been at this stage sooner, but reaching the 30th anniversary season is a milestone the staff looks forward to celebrating with the public. “We would have hit the 30th season in 2022, but we lost two seasons,” said managing director Randy Huber. Those COVID years are but a distant memory now, but the effects are still being felt at the box office and Huber hopes 2024 will be a big rebound year for ticket sales.
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FEBRUARY
Cowichan Neighbourhood House Association in Chemainus emerged as the lifeblood of the community during the recent cold snap and snowstorms, backed by a caring community of volunteers. The Neighbourhood House building on Willow Street was utilized as a warming shelter to serve community members in need when the temperature dipped well below normal. “We were able to put it together, mostly because we had community members who stepped up, people who wanted to be good neighbours,” said Emily Holmes, who has stepped up big-time herself.
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Paper Excellence Canada has announced the indefinite curtailment of paper operations at the Catalyst Crofton mill. The present curtailment was supposed to be in effect until the end of February, but the extension beyond that has already been determined well in advance. The company cited market dynamics, inflationary pressures on raw materials, energy cost opportunities, and a lack of local domestic fibre supply resulting in substantial increases in operating costs as the reasons for the decision.
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Brock Noseworthy will always retain his youth. The Chemainus resident was born during a leap year in 1964 on Feb. 29 so he’s technically only had 15 actual birthdays, but is going on 60. This year being another leap year, it gives Noseworthy the rare chance to mark the occasion on his actual birthday Thursday.
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Wanda Smith of Chemainus is making steady progress toward her fundraising goal of $25,000 for the new Cowichan District Hospital. She hit a significant halfway milestone in recent weeks on her campaign that began a little more than two years ago in the fall of 2021. “I just surpassed the $13,000 mark,” Smith enthused. “It feels real good”.
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Marcus Woernle is a young innovator in an ever-evolving forest industry. Woernle, 38, has utilized his experience from the time he previously worked at the Crofton pulp mill as a power engineer to meet growing demands for the residential and commercial heat market while being environmentally conscious at the same time. That led him to establish BioFlame Briquettes, with a production plant located in the Chemainus Industrial Park. He’s the sole owner of the company, with a couple of additional employees and the chance for rapid expansion of the workforce in the future.
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Saturday night’s all right for sock hoppin’. They were shake, rattle and rolling on the dance floor to the music of Jay Stevens & Friends for a sock hop as part of the Chemainus Public Market’s grand reopening Saturday. And even those who weren’t dancing enjoyed the camaraderie among the large crowd that attended and revival of a festive 1950s atmosphere. “The turnout was great,” said Chemainus Public Market owner Warren Goulding.
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It’s a tournament that comes with many honours and automatically draws a huge respect from the players fortunate to take part. The Cowichan Valley Minor Hockey Association Memorial Under 18 Hockey Tournament is in its 12th year, but it’s just the second since switching to a new place on the calendar from spring break to the Family Day weekend. “We’ve been doing it since 2010, but we lost those two years because of COVID,” said Kathy Irving, the braintrust behind the tournament concept.
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MARCH
It’s the ultimate love story of an incredible gift to ensure a couple in a long-lasting committed relationship can enjoy a better quality of life together. When Chemainus Secondary School teacher, author and yoga instructor Brittany Leonard found out she was a match and could directly help partner Ryan MacDowell with a kidney donation, she didn’t hesitate about the prospects of going through transplant surgery that she saw as benefiting both of them. The transplant happened on Feb. 5 at Vancouver General Hospital and both of them are doing well on the road to recovery and excited about what lies ahead.
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More than $37 million in joint federal and provincial funding will bring remote and under-served communities in B.C. up to speed with high-speed internet connections. The announcement was made in Chemainus Monday morning at the Chemainus Public Market, with federal Minister of Rural Economic Development Gudie Hutchings and provincial Minister of Citizens’ Services George Chow in attendance.
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There’s always exceptions, but February 2024 will go into the record books as a normal month. “The only notable events or anomalies were a shot of hail not often seen at this time of the year and a total snowfall of less than one centimetre, a tiny fraction of the normal,” noted Chris Carss, who compiles weather data at his Chemainus home for Environment and Climate Change Canada. “The number of partly or mostly sunny days was a little above normal. However, this is the month that usually kicks off our transition from winter to spring and our sunshine usually reaches nearly double what we get in December.”
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A Crofton couple is warning others after being scammed out of $8,550 in a bank fraud. Seniors Marlaine and Danny Williams say they received a phone call from someone claiming to be from their bank’s fraud department. It all seemed legitimate to Marlaine, who formerly worked in the banking business herself and knows the industry. “Danny answered the phone,” she said. “They asked for me. The fraudster informed me of his name, the bank and he said there were 12 attempts to take money out of my account and one attempt at a foreign exchange.”
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A recent fundraiser for the Chemainus Valley Museum brought the community together to heighten awareness of local history. Organizers highlighted the stories behind the town’s murals as an educational tool to spark interest in the area’s rich cultural heritage. The event raised significant funds to support ongoing museum projects and future initiatives.
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It’s never easy to determine the right time to leave a profession that’s been such a big part of your life for 44 years. But, after much consideration, the time for me is now. This is my last issue as editor of the Chemainus Valley Courier, Don Bodger wrote in March. I am retiring as of Friday, March 15. By the way, for those who are wondering, my departure has absolutely nothing to do with the pending sale of Efteen after owner David Black announced his retirement recently. It’s purely coincidental. I have actually been contemplating retirement for the last year and a half, but wound up staying on for a variety of reasons. I was set to announce it when the company sale trumped me and decided to hold off another couple of weeks at that point. Looking back on it all, it’s been a wild ride just in the conversion of the print media to an entirely different model during my time, with the increasing focus on digital and advancements in technology.
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The two-ferry service between Crofton and Vesuvius on Salt Spring Island is no longer a proposal, having received approval from BC Ferries commissioner Eva Hage. But it’s still years away before two ferries will be running simultaneously. “It’s official, the money’s there,” said David Courtney. “It’s a culmination of a lot of hard work.”
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The Western Forest Products mill in Chemainus has shut down operations for two weeks, impacting 100 to 145 employees. In a statement to Efteen, Western Forest Products senior director of communications, Babita Khunkhun, said the shutdown is based on “a number of factors” impacting production. “The temporary downtime is necessary due to a combination of market conditions and the availability of economically viable logs for that mill,” she said in an emailed statement.
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The Chemainus Theatre Festival’s new curling comedy is the perfect opener for their 2024 season, bringing big laughs and great talent to the stage. Kristin Da Silva’s script tells the story of the denizens of a small-town curling rink who want to win the big bonspiel over their bitter rivals, but who have to bring their women’s and men’s teams together after mishaps leave both short of a full roster. This means the divorced Bill (Raugi Yu) and Sandy (Emma Rendell) will have to work together to win the prize. The curling rink is scheduled to be torn down to make room for development, so this is the hopefuls’ last chance.
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APRIL
Crofton’s ferry terminal won’t be moving, B.C. Ferries has decided. In a capital planning update on March 22, the ferry corporation stated that the Crofton terminal project, as well as the Vesuvius terminal on Salt Spring Island, “will focus on the berth replacements in their original location to ensure the continued reliability of our infrastructure and to prepare the terminals for the introduction of two new Island class vessels in 2027.”
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Mount Brenton Pub in Chemainus is being transformed under the guidance of a businesswoman who is also the owner of the Brass Bell Pub in Crofton. Rachael Scott-Screaton took over operations of Mount Brenton Pub, which is located on the grounds of Mount Brenton Golf Course, in early March and renovations began in earnest so it could be ready to have a soft opening on March 17, St. Patrick’s Day.
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Paper Excellence Canada, after failing to re-start paper operations at Catalyst Crofton mill, is returning millions of dollars of funding to the provincial and federal government. In early 2023, Paper Excellence announced that it would be investing nearly $50 million to upgrade paper operations at Crofton mill, re-start the paper machine and put employees back to work. That didn’t happen, and a year later, the company announced the indefinite curtailment of paper operations in Crofton.
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Cohousing is catching on, and a local group would like to see it come to Cowichan Valley. Cohousing is different from Co-op housing and is a concept that was first developed in Europe to offer ownership privileges within a close and caring community environment. Bruce Coates, one of the members of ShareHaven Cohousing, has been working with other like-minded people in the hopes of creating a cohousing community in North Cowichan.
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Music teachers usually operate behind the scenes as they focus their efforts on letting their students shine. But on Saturday, April 27, Cowichan Valley Music Teachers Association teachers will take centre stage for a concert at Sylvan United Church titled tongue in cheek 'Played This Better At Home (really, I did!)'.
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MAY
The Municipality of North Cowichan and local First Nations will work together to establish a co-management framework and plan for the municipality’s 5,000-hectare municipal forest reserve. The Quw’utsun Nation (which consists of Cowichan Tribes, Halalt First Nation, Lyackson First Nation, Penelakut Tribe, and Stz’uminus First Nation) and North Cowichan said in a press release that the agreement is a significant step towards the shared stewardship of the MFR. In addition to working together on a comanagement framework, progress was also made on investigating a shared forest carbon-credit program in the MFR, continued dialogue on future trail development, direct awarding of silviculture contracting to qualified Quw’utsun Nation companies, and a full review and mapping for the protection of culturally sensitive areas.
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The Crofton Art Group — the oldest art group in the Cowichan Valley — is celebrating 70 years of creativity on Friday, May 10 at the Crofton Senior’s Centre and it’s sure to be a banner day.
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A four-storey rental housing project with office space on the ground floor and up to 24 units on the top three storeys is being proposed for 9800 Willow St. in Chemainus. The Municipality of North Cowichan is working with the province to fast-track the development, which will be on the site where a fire hall once stood, as part of the BC Builds program that connects public land with home builders and non-profit operators.
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The Island Corridor Foundation has a new chief executive officer. Thomas Bevan’s appointment as CEO of the ICF, which owns the deteriorating 220-kilometre E&N rail line that stretches from Victoria to Courtenay, is effective as of June 1. Bevan succeeds Larry Stevenson, who has served as CEO of the ICF since 2018.
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JUNE
Speed limits in parts of North Cowichan could be lowered as part of the municipality’s new master transportation plan. At a meeting on June 4 at which the plan was discussed, Coun. Christopher Justice suggested that a reference to the issue that is in North Cowichan’s official community plan be added to the transportation plan. That reference in the OCP is for the municipality to “critically review speed limits and lower when possible in order to preserve rural character, promote neighbourhood livability, increase walkability and improve road safety.”
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Vulnerable youth aged 15 to 18 who are in crisis, or at risk of harm or homelessness, in the Cowichan Valley will soon be able to access 24/7 services and supports at a new Youth Emergency Shelter that will be established in the downtown core later this year. Grace Lore, B.C.’s minister of Children and Family Development, made the announcement on June 10 at the Quw’utsun Cultural Centre in Duncan surrounded by community partners who care and support youth in the Cowichan Valley and have been advocating for a youth shelter in the area for years. Cowichan Tribes leadership has also been instrumental in this project as Indigenous youth are over-represented in both vulnerability and number of lives lost, and the First Nation will provide the facility where the shelter will be located.
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All residential properties zoned for single-family dwellings in the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s nine electoral areas will soon have the ability to create or construct an attached secondary suite to their home. The CVRD has completed a process to update its zoning in the electoral areas to conform with the province’s new Bill 44. Introduced in November, Bill 44 requires municipalities in B.C. to rezone in order to increase small-scale, multi-unit housing in B.C.
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To say that the new $48-million state-of-the-art headquarters for the North Cowichan/Duncan RCMP detachment dwarfs the aging and long-time old facility on Canada Avenue would be an understatement. After many years under construction, the RCMP began moving all the equipment, exhibits, files and other material from the old one-storey, 10,000 square-foot detachment to the new three-storey, 50,000 square foot one last month, and a grand opening of the facility was held on June 14.
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There appears to be no simple solutions to dealing with the increasingly frequent flooding on the Chemainus River. After a presentation on North Cowichan’s draft climate-adaptation strategy at the municipality’s council meeting on June 19, Coun. Tek Manhas asked about the status of work to mitigate the flooding issues on the Chemainus River, which was hard-hit by overflowing banks a number of times in recent years after heavy rains, including the atmospheric river event of 2021. He said debris was regularly removed from the river in the past, but it hasn’t been done in recent years, other than some targeted work last summer.
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Theatre buffs will be thrilled to know that 9 to 5 The Musical, a stage adaptation of the popular 1980 comedy film and the book by Patricia Resnick, has worked its way into the lineup of shows at Chemainus Theatre Festival this season and will run from June 28 to Aug. 25. Toronto-based director Julie Tomaino, who was born and raised in Vancouver, is thrilled to be back to direct 9 to 5 at the Chemainus Theatre Festival, and said fans of the film can expect a lot of great scenes plucked right from it.
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JULY
Chemainus knows how to throw a Canada Day party. Families, friends, and even some furry loved ones came out for the festivities that took place at Chemainus Waterwheel Park from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Canada Day to celebrate the country’s 157th birthday. Little ones were in their glory as there was much fun to be had with a bouncy castle, a giant slide, face painting, games, and more.
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Chemainus was overrun with athletes on Sunday, June 30 for the annual Cowichan Challenge. This year, the Challenge offered a standard course, a sprint course, and a full slate of youth race distances for kids 6-15. There was also a standard course aquabike (swim-bike) event. Athletes started their races with a swim in Fuller Lake before riding their bikes on the back roads between “The Little Town that Did” and Crofton. Then it was onto the trails of North Cowichan’s Municipal Forest for the run portions of their races.
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North Cowichan will support a proposed project to commemorate what was once a prosperous and plentiful Japanese community in Chemainus. The municipality’s council voted to back a planned installation of a heritage mural on municipally owned land on Croft Street, just below Water Wheel Park, as well as any infrastructure to support the heritage site, at a special council meeting on July 9. Earlier this year, the Chemainus Festival of Murals Society was approached by the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society regarding the JCLS’s eligibility to apply for a grant of between $50,000 and $150,000 to assist in planning and developing a project commemorating Japanese Canadians in Chemainus through the design and implementation of a mural and associated infrastructure. The JCLS is currently coordinating many different projects throughout B.C. and has identified Chemainus as an important site.
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Saltair has a new coffee shop called Thanks A Latte. The coffee shop, located at 10862 Chemainus Rd., held a grand opening on July 21 and the shop and the outdoor patio were blocked for the occasion as the local musical group Joyfull Jazz played tunes for the large crowd. The owners of Thanks A Latte are Danny and Precy Mendoza, and Danny said the couple were delighted that so many people showed up to help them celebrate the shop’s opening day.
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Plans to implement business licensing for short-term rental and bed and breakfast businesses in the Cowichan Valley Regional District’s electoral areas, in an effort to help deal with the housing crisis, are moving forward. In a tight vote at the CVRD board meeting on June 26, staff were directed to prepare a bylaw to allow the licensing, and that an Alternative Approval Process be held to determine if the electorate is in favour of adopting a service-establishment bylaw, as is required under the Local Government Act, to set up a business-licensing system for STRs and B&Bs. An AAP requires that 10 per cent or more of eligible voters must sign and submit response forms in opposition to the initiative to stop the licensing process from proceeding.
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North Cowichan council has decided to purchase 20,650 garbage and organic carts, at a cost of almost $1 million, as the municipality continues to move forward with its plans to transition to automated garbage collection by March. Council made the decision to award the $978,114 contract to IPL North America Inc, as recommended by staff, at its meeting on July 17 after considering two other higher bids because, as well as being cheaper, IPL also met the majority of the specifications in the request-for-proposals process when compared with the other bidders.
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AUGUST
A spate of deliberately set fires on the night of Friday, July 26 has the community of Crofton on edge. The Crofton fire department responded after at least five fires were set in the small seaside village, including one that blackened a patch of dry grass behind Crofton Elementary School, one that burned a small patch under some shrubs at the corner of Lois and Pauline Streets, and another that attempted to burn an arbutus tree near the community boat launch. Social media has been abuzz as news of the fires spread throughout the community.
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9 to 5 The Musical is working so much for theatre lovers that it has just been approved overtime. Due to popular demand, the Chemainus Theatre production of 9 to 5 The Musical has been extended until Aug. 31, giving theatre fanatics a little extra time to get in on the laughs. Under the leadership of director Julie Tomiano, the musical stars Sarah Carlé Owen, Stephanie Roth, and Jennie Neumann as three women who work together to outsmart their boss, Franklin Hart Jr.
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The Cowichan Valley Regional District is looking at providing free menstrual products in all its public facilities. The board passed a motion at its meeting on July 24 that all the district’s recreation commissions incorporate supplemental funding for a program to provide free menstrual products in their facilities’ public washrooms, as well as in community halls. The move is being considered as the first step in a program that could eventually see free period products provided in all the CVRD’s washrooms in public facilities.
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It was a celebration fit for a king! On July 18, Cowichan Valley’s Ruth Fenner was one of 60 recipients of the King Charles III Coronation Medal during a special ceremony at Government House in Victoria. Fenner was nominated by the British Columbia Women’s Institute Provincial Board for her contributions to her community and home province.
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Work has begun on an approximately $5.9-million project to restore watercourses along the Chemainus River that were hard hit by the atmospheric river event that struck the region in November 2021. The province plans to complete six bend-way weirs, in partnership with Halalt First Nation, to stabilize the right bank of the Chemainus River directly downstream of the Chemainus River bridge on the Trans-Canada Highway, with the work expected to be completed this fall.
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The Hawaii Martin Mars final flight drew in a crowd in Crofton on Aug. 11. The former water bomber was on a tour of the east coast of Vancouver Island as it made its way to the BC Aviation Museum in North Saanich for its final resting place. The Mars was joined by some Snowbirds for the flyover.
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A young Chemainus man is on a long road to recovery after he was struck by a garbage truck while biking in Germany earlier this month, according to a GoFundMe started to support his rehab. The fundraiser says 22-year-old Oscar Hanke was cycling through the city of Düsseldorf on Aug. 12, during this first trip to Europe, when the crash occurred. Hanke hit the garbage truck’s windshield and was thrown some 30 feet onto the pavement. He broke both his hips, his pelvis and his tailbone, and fractured his shins.
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The Mount Brenton Golf Course’s club championships were held July 20-21. “It was a wonderful weekend for golf and we had a fabulous finish for the Men’s Club Championship,” club captain Kevin Mills said. A three-way tie at the end resulted in a one-hole playoff between first-time competitor Colin McDougall and two past champions Dave Bigelow and Barry Casparie.
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The annual A Walk for J: Steps to Healing and Awareness will be held on the Sea Walk in Crofton on Aug. 30. The event is organized by Chadd Cawson to commemorate the thousands of people who have been lost over the years due to the ongoing toxic drug crisis, including his sister Jeni Leigh who died at the age of 36 in 2017. Cawson’s held four overdose-awareness walks in Winnipeg, where he lived much of his life and also held one in downtown Victoria before moving to the Cowichan Valley in 2023.
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SEPTEMBER
In a surprise announcement, Sept. 3, Aaron Stone said he is stepping down as the mayor of Ladysmith and the chair of the Cowichan Valley Regional District, effective the end of the month. “This is a difficult decision that I have come to after many weeks of deliberation and discussion with my family, friends, and closest advisors,” said Stone in a statement on the Town of Ladysmith’s website. “I will spend the next four weeks working with my colleagues to ensure my departure is as smooth as possible.”
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BC Ferries expects to make a decision on how it will redevelop the berth at the Crofton ferry terminal early in the new year. Floridor Oprea, the manager of the project for BC Ferries, told North Cowichan council at September’s committee of the whole meeting that the ferry company is still considering whether to rebuild the terminal’s berth on its existing location, or to just repair the current berth. “As you are aware, we are currently doing a geotechnical investigation of the conditions of the existing trestle to help the designing progress move forward, as well as working on the required regulatory permits,” he said.
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Harbour Air will no longer serve the Cowichan Valley via Maple Bay, according to a press release issued by the company on Sept. 12. “This difficult decision was not made lightly and is due to a persistent softening in demand,” said the release. “We understand that network decisions impact our guests’ transportation options, and we apologize for the inconvenience and thank our guests for their patronage and support.” The carrier also plans to temporarily suspend its nonstop route to Vancouver from Sechelt starting Oct. 8, 2024, until the summer of 2025 and Harbour Air will lay off staff due to the changes.
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A number of landowners with acreage along the Chemainus River brought their frustration with the ongoing efforts to deal with the flooding and erosion in the river’s flood plain to North Cowichan’s council meeting on Sept. 4. Colin James said the river’s delta is regularly inundated with gravel and logs, and the river’s banks are eroding, causing him to lose large sections of his property. He said the local landowners don’t want to see the river dredged, as has been done recently, they want the log jams and the gravel removed.
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It’s been more than a decade since former Chemainus Courier reporter Don Bodger and his wife Theresa started the Georgina Falt Memorial Mind Games Music Trivia Tournament in honour of Theresa’s mom. They came up with the tournament after facing the music that they could make a difference by bringing awareness to Alzheimer’s and raise money for Alzheimer’s Society. This year they celebrate their 12th annual event on Sept. 28, which starts at 3 p.m.
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Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, made a stop at Macon Fabrication in Chemainus on the morning of Sept. 4 as part of a 10-stop tour over the course of four days across the Island, as he aims to convince Canadians to vote for a Conservative government in the next federal election. “Thank you for hosting me at this beautiful metal fabricating business where you are supplying the mining sector with the essential parts and pieces that go into extracting the minerals that make our life and modern civilization possible,” said Poilievre. Poilievre reflected on how he recently told a woman he came across how important the mining industry is and how much it contributes to everyday items.
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OCTOBER
The Chemainus Health Care Auxiliary didn’t let the poor weather rain on their parade when celebrating 125 years of making a difference in the community. “It’s such a terrific feeling to be celebrating this milestone,” said CHCA committee chair Susan Beaubier. “Sometimes we just pinch ourselves and realize it’s quite the achievement to keep a group of volunteers together, and do what we do, while still producing the funds. It’s really special, we also give three $5,000 bursaries to high school students going into the human health field each year.”
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The Chemainus Theatre’s new show is a quietly heartfelt play about moving through grief, however this is anything but a dour evening out. It is also something of a love letter to music and its power to heal. With The Piano Teacher, the Chemainus Theatre proves what can be done with a powerful script and a small cast of top-notch actors tackling a universally understood experience: loss.
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The votes have been tallied and the initial results show the Cowichan Valley riding has been won by the NDP in the provincial election held in October. The riding’s next MLA will be Debra Toporowski, who won a back-and-forth battle with the Conservatives' John Koury.
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North Cowichan’s council is pushing for a new access road to be constructed to the Crofton ferry terminal that would deal with traffic congestion on Chaplin Street, as had been originally proposed by BC Ferries. Council unanimously voted for a motion made by Mayor Rob Douglas at its meeting on Oct. 16 that the municipality contact BC Ferries and the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and tell them that North Cowichan doesn’t support the continued use of Chaplin Street for vehicle storage as part of the ferry terminal’s operations.
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North Cowichan council will hold a public hearing on a development application for a property at the corner of Henry Road and Trans-Canada Highway in Chemainus, despite a recommendation from North Cowichan development planning staff that the application be denied. Approving the proposal would require an amendment to the Official Community Plan and changes to zoning bylaws to allow a commercial development at that corner, currently zoned for industrial use only. The proposed development would consist of a gas station, convenience store, two drive-through restaurants, and as-yet unspecified commercial units. Council voted to move ahead to second and third readings for the project.
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NOVEMBER
Community members packed the Nov. 6 North Cowichan council meeting to voice their views on plans for a new daycare facility in Crofton. The proposed facility would be in partnership with the Chemainus Crofton Community Schools Association (CCSA), a not-for-profit organization that operates existing after-school programs at both Crofton and Chemainus Elementary schools, as well as the Eagle Wings preschool program, summer camps, and professional development day camps. If it goes ahead, the facility would provide 44 new childcare spaces. John T. Ivison, a Crofton resident and retired engineer, presented a petition opposing the proposed facility and requested that council conduct an external traffic study.
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The annual Remembrance Day ceremony took place in Chemainus on Nov. 11 at the cenotaph. As always, the event drew a well-at- tended gathering of youth and elders alike, united in paying tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for peace and freedom. Dignitaries, community representatives, and residents laid numerous wreaths at the cenotaph, a solemn reminder to all: ‘Lest we forget.’ This tradition of respect continues Chemainus’s commitment to honouring the fallen.
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The predicted bomb cyclone weather system hit the Cowichan Valley hard Tuesday night, Nov. 19, with high winds and rain leaving thousands without power. On Nov. 19, B.C. Hydro’s outage map showed criss-crossing outages that left the Town of Ladysmith and the surrounding area without power. Also out were at least 2,200 people along the coast in the Saltair area down into Chemainus. A swathe of Maple Bay, areas around Quamichan and Somenos lakes and along Herd Road were also out, leaving thousands to weather the storm without electricity. Sahtlam, Paldi, Deerholme, Youbou, and Cowichan Lake Road also showed large outage areas.
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DECEMBER
A petition from the Chemainus and District Baseball Association (CDBA) to stop the use of a ball field as a dog park in the winter months has reignited a long-standing conversation about the need for a permanent, year-round dog park in Chemainus. The current seasonal arrangement for Field 3 has become a source of tension between dog owners and the baseball community. The existing agreement, established in 2011 after more than 400 residents petitioned for a dog park, allows dogs to use Field 3 during the off-season, from Sept. 1 to March 15, while reserving it exclusively for baseball in the spring and summer. However, the CDBA says this shared use is no longer sustainable.
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Skaters from the Fuller Lake Skating Club showcased their skills at the Vancouver Island Interclub Competition, held in Campbell River from Nov. 15 to 17. Thirteen athletes from the club competed in 11 events over the weekend, earning impressive results across various categories. In the STAR 3 Elements competition, Caitlin Varcoe, Ella Donovan, Ella Stuart, Isla Fink, Naomi Ferguson, and Quinn Montgomery captured silver. In the STAR 3 Free Skate, Varcoe, Donovan, Ferguson, and Montgomery also claimed silver, while Stuart and Fink took home bronze medals.
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A Duncan woman, who has been permanently banned from offering midwifery services, is being sued by a Chemainus couple for mishandling the birth of their son. In a lawsuit filed with the B.C. Supreme Court on Dec. 3 against Gloria Lemay, a self-described childbirth advocate and birth attendant, the couple is seeking compensation for the “psychological and physical harms collectively suffered due to the gross negligence and misrepresentations” of Lemay, who they retained for $2,800 in 2021 to provide expert guidance and support during the home birth of their son.
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Chemainus wrapped up 2024 on a festive high note with Little Town Christmas at the Royal Canadian Legion Hall on Dec. 7. More than a hundred children and their families enjoyed activities like wreath-making, shooting hoops at a giant inflatable basketball game, and creating art. They also fished for prizes, snacked on hot dogs, cookies, and s’mores, and sang Christmas carols. Of course, no holiday event would be complete without photos with Santa. The free event for families was organized by the Chemainus Valley Cultural Arts Society (CVCAS) in cooperation with the Chemainus Legion and the Rotary Club of Chemainus, with support from many local businesses.
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The Chemainus Crofton Community Schools’ Association gave a presentation to North Cowichan council on Dec. 4 to advocate for a proposed daycare centre on Berridge Street in Crofton. The presentation accompanied a petition supporting the Crofton Early Learning Centre. The petition was presented by Brandy Callihoo, director, and Lara White, early years manager with the association. The presenters said their goal was to respond to a prior petition opposing the facility, brought to council on Nov. 6. In turn, the association initiated their own petition and gathered 500 signatures as well as numerous letters of support.
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Students from Maple Bay Elementary School paid a special visit to residents of Deertrail Cottage Seniors Home on Dec. 6 to spread a little holiday cheer. The Division 1 class, made up of Grade 6 and 7 students, was asked if they could write Christmas cards to the seniors. Their teacher, Gina Posey, put it out to her students to see if they’d be willing to make some cards, but the students wanted to do more, and before Posey knew it, they had jumped into action to organize a visit.
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Negative reviews can be a death knell for small businesses. When Samantha White and Joseph Bataller, owners and operators of Coffee Shack in Chemainus, read a scathing Google review online, their hearts sank — not just because of the potential impact on their business, but because they had already faced down so many business challenges. The review didn’t mention their coffee or their food. In fact, it didn’t appear that the reviewer had ever set foot in the cafe. They just didn’t care for a sign in the window. It’s a simple, perhaps even understated sign that reads, “DO EPIC SHIT”.
