April 24 - Victoria man fights ban on bubbles

Good morning !

Today, we look at a surprising ban on a parade feature and the man pushing to have it waived. We’ve also got a glimpse into how cruise ship season is going so far.

But first, we have another riding of Island candidates who took on our Q&A.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: ☀️ 19 / 8

Tomorrow: 🌤️ 19 / 8

Saturday: 🌤️ 15 / 8

7-day forecast

NEWS

8 questions for your Cowichan - Malahat - Langford candidates

In Canada, voters elect local candidates as Members of Parliament, who then represent their region in Ottawa and in some cases form part of the government. We sent out surveys to your local candidates to ask how they, and their parties, promise to help locals on various major issues. Today we continue our riding-by-riding series on their answers.

The riding

Cowichan – Malahat – Langford is a vast riding first contested in 2015. It has been held by the NDP's Alistair MacGregor since then, with the Conservatives typically finishing a distant second.

This riding is generally seen as a toss-up in this election; the national resurgence of the Liberals could either make that party a contender in the region again or simply pull enough votes from the NDP that the Conservatives could slide past both. The Greens have also had respectable showings here in the past.

The riding is split fairly evenly between the Cowichan Valley and Langford portions of the riding. Candidates have been campaigning in both, and whoever is elected would likely maintain the current approach of having two different constituents' offices.

The questions

We received extensive responses from all 4 major parties. We have two ways for you to read them:

Question-by-question in this story at Capital Daily.

Person-by-person in this story at The Westshore. 

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Election polling has Liberals in the lead, according to poll aggregator 338Canada.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

Support local journalism by supporting Capital Daily. Become a Capital Daily Insider member today and help bring local stories to life. 

NEWS

Bubble burst: Victoria man creating ‘bubble safety plan’ to avoid ban from Victoria parades

You’ve probably seen Dave Wilson downtown or at municipal events as he waves his massive bubble wand to the delight of crowds—especially kids. He’s known around town as That Bubble Guy—both officially and colloquially.

Wilson began creating his bubbles, which he’s developed a special formula for, two years ago while recovering from a car accident. What began as a therapeutic method—creating giant bubbles for himself in his local park—started to attract onlookers. 

“I realized that I would gather pretty large crowds,” Wilson told Capital Daily. “People started hiring me for community events, like the City of Langford, municipality of Saanich, and then, again, it just kind of evolved.”

But while working at previous parades, he noticed that kids couldn’t stop themselves from running towards the mesmerizing bubbles—even when it put them in the way of parade traffic. Victoria city staff noticed this too, and made the move to ban bubbles from the event this year. 

Wilson got an email from the event organizers letting him know that the city’s new ban would boot him from the parade. He agreed with the city’s response to the problem—“it makes sense, the city has to be liable for any potential injuries”—but he felt more could be done to preserve this event highlight.

He had already been thinking about creating a safety plan for future events, so he reached out to the city staff member overseeing the parade. The staffer told him that if he was willing to create his own plan, they would reconsider the ban.

He’s got a solid plan in the works and just needs to assemble a team of volunteers—he’s hoping he’ll have a confirmed team by the end of the week to send to the city. 

Read more about Wilson’s plan and why bubbles aren’t the first childhood favourite to be banned from Victoria parades.

NEWS

Ogden Point cruise ship timetable is on schedule

If you’ve noticed only sporadic action at Victoria’s port home to luxury cruise liners, know that it’ll become busy again starting tomorrow. 

That’s when Holland America’s Koningsdam, with as many as 2,650 passengers, will pull in from Seattle to kick off a spate of ship visits that will see at least one big boat—and more often two or three—docked near the Breakwater pretty much every day until the end of September, with the ships continuing to trickle into port until the season ends Oct. 18.  

Some Capital Daily readers inquired about the empty berths at Ogden, wondering if it had something to do with Canada’s tariff war with the US.

Last month, Alaskan Sen. Dan Sullivan said the US should consider changing legislation that requires international cruise ships on the way to Alaska from the continental US to stop in Canada in response to Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on American goods. 

But Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) spokesperson Amber Hanson tells Capital Daily it’s clear sailing for the 33 vessels making a scheduled 320 ship visits to our port this year. 

“We have had seven arrivals since the season kicked off on March 6, and all but one ship docked as scheduled,” she said. 

“The Carnival Spirit was unfortunately not able to dock due to high winds on Sunday.”

Hanson says the April arrivals are always more sporadic, as the Alaska cruise season doesn’t get fully underway until May. 

It was the Koningsdam that officially started the 2025 cruise ship season on April 4, four weeks after Disney Wonder came ashore in March.

SPONSORED BY CINEVIC

Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival

For the 13th annual edition of Short Circuit, CineVic presents a rich and evocative selection of short films from British Columbia and regions around the Pacific Ocean including Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, Taiwan, Colombia, Guam, Hawaii, California, Alaska, and Yukon.

Join in on May 1-3 in Victoria for more than three dozen films in five screening programs at The Vic Theatre, plus filmmaker Q&As, networking, the return of Odeon Alley, and more. Enjoy free admission to the opening party at Sticky Wicket on May 1 and connect with the local indie film community and visiting filmmakers!

⭐️ Capital Picks

🎸 Rifflandia freezes ticket prices, keeping them the same as last year. [Details]

🎻 Daniel Lapp’s Joy of Life Concerts on April 25 and 26 unite 150+ performers in a joyful celebration of fiddle, song, and community.*

🧓 Community-based resources for seniors: Learn how to navigate resources in your community. [April 30]

✍🏽 The Victoria Foundation is celebrating 20 years of the Victoria’s Vital Signs program this year. Take part in the region’s annual checkup and enter the draw to win a $100 gift card to Country Grocer. Read the full article here.*

🧽 Purple sea sponge seen in Ucluelet. [Facebook photo]

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Woman and infant found on shore after boating incident at Finlayson Arm, man still missing
Police and search-and-rescue teams determined there were three people on the boat, which CHEK News reported to be a 20-footer that was found doing circles in the water at dinnertime Tue. night. A large search involving the coast guard and military ensued, and a woman and child were found safe and taken to hospital, but Ryan Mazar, 43, has been declared missing. [RCMP]

Conservatives accused of ‘disrespectful and troubling stance’ toward public meetings
That’s how UVic political science professor Michael Prince sees the decision by many Conservative Party candidates to skip all-candidates meetings. Victoria Liberal candidate Will Greaves says he attended the only two all-candidates meetings in that riding and calls it “disgraceful for any candidate to ask for people’s votes without even having the courtesy to show up to public events and answer people’s questions.” [Times Colonist]

Victoria Royals' season ends in double-overtime loss in Spokane
The Chiefs scored in the last two minutes of the second extra frame to take a 5-4 win and series victory in six games. Spokane won Game 1—also in double overtime—before Victoria took Games 2 and 3. But Spokane took three straight on the Island and closed out the series on home ice. The Royals, who won 40 of 68 games in the regular season to finish first in the BC division, have not advanced beyond the second round of the playoffs since relocating from Chilliwack and landing on Vancouver Island in 2011. [WHL]

Enjoying our newsletter? Help us make it even better!

Become an Insider member and help keep local journalism and storytelling alive in the Capital Region. 

🗓️ Things to do

🧶 Weaving Night: A hands-on evening of yarn, texture, and creative flow—no experience needed—at Birdhouse Creative Studio tonight. 5pm and 7pm. [Info]

 🎶 Quote the Raven: The folk duo will bring their harmonious sound to Hermann’s tonight. 7pm. [Info] 

🍷 Vincabulary: Discovering Germany: Explore German wines in this guided tasting event, featuring expert tips and regional insights, at The Art of Slow Food tonight. 6:30pm. [Info]

🖍 Craft and Connect: Drop in to work on your own art project or try something new at Luther Court Society Main Lounge today. 3pm. [Info]​

🌸 Spring Vases at The Bent Mast: Create your own spring-themed vase at this guided craft night hosted at The Bent Mast Pub tomorrow. 6:30pm. [Info]

🎻 Daniel Lapp’s Joy of Life Concerts: See the show featuring young fiddlers of the Old-Time Danceband and the BC Fiddle Orchestra (BCFO) at Alix Goolden Performance Hall, tomorrow and Sat. [Info]

🧪 S.T.E.A.M. Fair for Kids at Mayfair Mall: A fun, interactive fair where kids can explore science, technology, engineering, art, and math through hands-on activities. Sat. 11am–3pm. [Info]

🕺Tight Hair Disco: Catch the show with DJ Primitive at The Coda. Sat. 7-9pm. [Tickets]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Wednesday’s headlines: Victoria candidates answer key questions ahead of federal election; Vic’s council cuts property tax hike to 6.99%; Man accused of kicking VicPD officer. [April 23]

Pot and Pets: BC had the most cannabis poisonings in Canada. [CHEK]

Mustard Seed mural: Victoria artist Paul Archer’s latest beauty. [Times Colonist]

BC Transit route change proposal survey. [Until May 2]

46th annual Classic Boat Festival in Inner Harbour. [Register now]

Cheryl-Lynn Townsin: Royal Roads’ 2025 Emerging Changemaker.

Not tomato soup: An early season “red tide” algae bloom seen on a North Saanich beach, which displays bioluminescence at night. [Facebook photos]

That’s it!

If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to a fellow Victorian.

And before you go, let us know: