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- Feb 10 - MAID may be to die for but it's still not for everyone
Feb 10 - MAID may be to die for but it's still not for everyone
Plus, the restaurants are waiting for you, so are the city's hotels
Capital Daily team
February 10, 2024
Good morning !
Valentine’s Day is four days away, and we’re wondering how you lovebirds out there got together in the first place. Did you meet on the Island, or move here together?
The stars were aligned when you met—we want to know where you were, under those stars.
— Mark
Where did you meet your partner, and what happened?Write in with the deets of your meet-cute. (We'll include the best in our V-Day coverage) |
Today’s approx. read time: 4 minutes
🌡️ Weather Forecast
NEWS
Island leads Canada in assisted deaths,
as feds weigh MAID for mental illness
Photo: Shutterstock
Medical assistance in dying—MAID—has been legal in Canada since 2016, and from the outset there’s been debate on whether to expand laws to include patients experiencing mental illness. It’s an important issue, particularly here in BC, where assisted suicides accounted for 5.5% of total deaths in 2022, second only to Quebec and its 6.6% rate.
To qualify for an assisted death, there are two pathways:
Track-1, for foreseeable natural deaths
Track-2, for unforeseeable ones including mental illness
The mental illness variable presents unique challenges because it doesn't easily fit the "reasonably foreseeable natural death" criterion.
Vancouver Island University researchers are looking at ways to enhance Track-2 MAID access and experiences, particularly for those with mental illness, and they hope to create a supportive network. Bill C-39 extended the exclusion of mental illness as the sole condition for MAID until March 17 and now, under new proposed legislation (Bill C-62), that exclusion will continue for another three years.
As Sidney Coles writes, some view the new legislation as discriminatory while others argue more research is needed to determine whether mental illness should be a valid reason.
⚠️ Capital Bulletin
Stolen Sisters Memorial March to remember Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people who were murdered or have gone missing is today. Begins at Our Place at noon.
Belfry play As Above is cancelled today, tonight, and tomorrow due to illness among cast families.
Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.
NEWS
It’s a super weekend to dine out—here’s why
Beautiful food from the Ugly Ducking on Fisgard. Photo: Instagram
It’s your last chance to take advantage of some special pricing and offers at some of Victoria’s best places to nosh or to just plain pig out. In Dine Around and Stay In Town, area eateries take advantage of this shoulder season when tourists are home and we’ve got our beautiful city all to ourselves to explore.
So, on the final weekend of this 17-day event, here’s your culinary cue to treat your significant other, family member, or buddy to a restaurant that you’ve wanted to try but always seems so busy with out-of-towners. Now’s the time to try one of the 40 or so restos with zestos.
You’ve got until kitchens close tomorrow!
Not sure where, and what, to eat? Our Sarah Madsen put together this primer.
Bon Appetit!
Plus, from the “spontaneity is the spice of life” file: For the “Stay in Town” part of the event, you can also check out listings and check into a local hotel for a mini getaway. Rooms start at $149.
⭐️ Capital Picks
🌝 Lunar New Year today to celebrate spring and new year on the lunisolar calendar.
🍻 Victoria Beer Week event lineup announced: The 10th annual festival next month includes a corn hole tournament, a trivia night, and brewery tours.
💸 The Victoria Foundation's 2024 Community Grants Program is now accepting applications from non-profits and charities! Thousands of grant dollars are available. Click here to apply!*
🏀 Free youth basketball camps today and tomorrow. Register on arrival on first day (session starts 9am for ages 8-11 / noon for 12-14).
😊 Now hiring! Barn worker. Tally-Ho Carriage Tours.
*Sponsored Listing
🗞️ In Other News
Victoria’s unemployment rate rises to 4.5% from 4.2%
That’s month-over-month from Dec. and remains below the national rate which—for the first time in more than a year—dropped, to 5.7%. Vic saw more job growth in Dec ‘23 than Dec. ‘24 in several sectors: retail trade, health-care, financial, insurance, and education. But there were fewer openings in manufacturing, professional, scientific, technical, and food services. [Times Colonist]
VFF screening of Bonnie Henry documentary attracts protesters
Some 40-50 objectors, VicPD says, protested Our Time to Be Kind, which chronicles the top health officer’s stewardship of BC through the pandemic. Demonstrators argued Henry instilled fear and confusion. [CHEK]
Freedom of the Town Parade brings crowd out in Sidney
They shut down Beacon Ave. on Thursday so the locals could fete 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, which turned 80. One of the squadron’s six Cyclone helicopters stationed at the nearby North Saanich base thrilled the crowd with a flypast. [CTV]
Looks like a cruise ship: luxury ‘floatel’ anchors in Nanaimo
Few cruise ships have docked in the Harbour City over the last 3-4 years, but a refurbished one will be moored offshore as it awaits further refitting work at Seaspan in North Van. The retrofitted MS Isabelle is being converted into a floating hotel for construction workers. [Nanaimo News Bulletin]
🗓️ Things to do
🎉 Uptown's Lunar New Year Celebration: Celebrate the new year with a Lion Dance performance by Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club. Today. 12:30-1:30pm.
🍽️ Chinese New Year Dinner at Golden City Restaurant: Enjoy a delicious meal and celebrate the Year of the Dragon. Today. 6pm.
🌿 Workshops today on sustainable living and an introduction to lichens, via the Compost Education Centre.
🪟 Window Wanderland: Get creative and look at window displays during James Bay’s window decoration festival. Today and tomorrow. 6pm-9pm. [Info]
🖌️ Crossing: Art, Heritage, and Personal Journeys, featuring the work of three remarkable local artists, Yumie Kono, Andy Lou and Chrystal Phan. Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Today. Free public open house. 10am-5pm. [Info]
📽️ Victoria Film Festival. Two more days. Various films, various venues, including 🍁The Floating Man at the Vic Theatre. 2:45pm. [Info]
🎧 Chinese New Year’s Dance at The Hallway: Celebrate the new year with dinner and dance featuring DJs FunDipZ, MooseTraks, MyLove, Slow, and Joca. Today. 7pm-12am.
👗 The ReLove Market: Shop second-hand and vintage clothing and sustainable goods at KWENCH. Today and tomorrow. 11am-5pm.
🕺Circa: Dance Victoria’s amazing contemporary circus featuring 10 acrobats pushing their limits. Royal Theatre. Tonight. 7:30pm. [Info]
🎸 The Strumbellas. The Canadian alt-rockers/gothic folk performers are on their Part-Time Believer Tour. Capital Ballroom. Tonight. Doors at 8pm. Show at 9pm. [Info]
👀 In Case You Missed It
Friday’s headlines: Latest Fairy Creek court case is for the birds; Dangerous salad; Lunar new year activities; New treatment centre opens. [Feb. 9]
Island bird 1, Canada 0. [Capital Daily]
Man sues wife, claiming she put THC in his cereal. [Times Colonist]
3 Island hotels on Canadian top 25 list. [#10, #14, #25]
Taylor Swift tickets draw. [Details here]
City of Victoria’s new recreation activity search tool.
That’s it!
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