Dec 28 - VicPD to remain in Esquimalt

Good morning !

We’re in the strange period between Christmas and New Year’s where time no longer seems to exist. I like to keep the holiday cheer going with eggnog in my coffee and the tree lit until the new year, but I’m sure some people would rather move on. How do you spend this stretch of time between the holidays?

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

We’re holding our 4th annual holiday fundraising drive! Every dollar readers donate from now until Dec. 31 will be matched and donated to Saanich Neighbourhood Place.

Funds raised will be used to support local families in the areas of inclusive childcare, parent education and support programs, and food equity services. Get all the details here.

Help us reach our goal of $100,000 by the end of the year!

Special thanks to Lochside Software and Tiny Foundation for generously matching donations

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌦️ 12 / 9

Tomorrow: ☁️ 11 / 5

Day after: 🌧️ 9 / 5

7-day forecast

NEWS

VicPD to remain in Esquimalt for at least another year

Esquimalt council voted unanimously in Aug. 2022 to end its shared policing deal with Victoria, arguing the Township was paying for more than it needed. But now it has pivoted to renewing for a year (with options for two more year-long extensions). Mayor Barb Desjardins told CHEK that its contractor's report on Esquimalt’s alternatives is not yet ready.

Desjardins told Capital Daily last fall that she expected the report before 2024, but not the actual transition. Consulting firm Perivale and Taylor was picked in fall 2022, and paid $140k to deliver a report expected by June 2023. The province has final say over letting Esquimalt out, and requires that this work be done first (though it refused to cover the cost, which the Township had requested).

Esquimalt feels it pays core’s costs

Victoria and Esquimalt are BC’s only cities sharing non-RCMP police, and Esquimalt officials have argued this makes them chip in for regional costs that their other CRD peers evade.

Esquimalt spends over a fifth of its budget on a police deal that, per a 2020 provincial report, gives it less service than it pays for. Its council voted not to fund its $184k portion of VicPD's $1.3M 2022 budget increase, but was later forced to by the province.  

The province put Esquimalt under VicPD in 2002, and in 2011 would not let it switch to the RCMP (which most of BC uses and which a 2009 report said would be cheaper).

Result could be region-wide PD rather than split

Last April, BC's report on reforming its Police Act recommended a move toward regional forces rather than “fragmentation.”

Both Desjardins and Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto told Capital Daily a year ago that they would like to see integrated regional policing. Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock is open to the idea, while Oak Bay's Kevin Murdoch has been skeptical—fearing that smaller municipalities would lose direct input on how they're policed. 

-Cam Welch, with files from Shannon Waters

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Wind warnings remain through this evening for south Island.

Blue box pickups that fell on Christmas Day will be rescheduled to this Saturday.

Free rides on New Year’s Eve with BC Transit, starting at 6pm. 

Port Hardy ER closed today due to staff shortages, with plans to reopen tomorrow.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

How Greater Victoria museums are changing their storytelling

This year we’ve seen shifts take place for museums like the Royal BC Museum (RBCM) and Point Ellice House. From new approaches to representation, to repatriation of Indigenous artifacts, check out some of our stories on the changes happening within Greater Victoria museums.

Decolonizing history

Victoria museums large and small are looking to shift how they tell stories from the past. 

James MacDonald took us behind the scenes at RBCM as it reopened sections of its third floor exhibits, which had closed in 2021 while museum operators determined how stories in the First Peoples Gallery and Old Town could be told through a decolonized lens. Some sections of these exhibits remain closed as the museum works with local communities and First Nations in reshaping the narratives.

Earlier this year, former Point Ellice House operators made efforts to retell the story of Peter O’Reilly, the home’s original tenant who played a large role in displacing Indigenous people in BC as Indian Reserve Commissioner, adding signage through the museum. The historic house has changed hands twice this year, with Métis Nation of BC recently taking over operations. 

Indigenous artifacts head home

In February, Nuxalk First Nation brought home a totem pole that had been taken from its lands more than a century ago, with many of the nation’s members in attendance as it was removed from RBCM.

This month, RBCM received a repatriation declaration from Gwa’sala-‘Nakwaxda’xw Nations, with treasures like ancestral masks and regalia set to be returned.

SPONSORED BY SOUTH ISLAND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP

Embracing the well-being economy

Don’t miss the latest Rising Economy podcast from South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP). This series features leading thinkers, news-makers and change-makers sharing bold insights about economic issues and trends impacting Greater Victoria.

The latest episode explores the well-being economy. They say money isn’t everything, but since World War II, governments have largely relied on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to assess economic progress. Now, support is growing globally for a well-being approach to the economy where quality of life, greater equality and environmental protection are measured alongside traditional economic performance.

Join Chris Forester of the Island Community Mental Health Association and Emilie de Rosenroll of SIPP as they explore this economic movement.

Listen on Chek+ and any platform you listen to podcasts.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🏓 Registration is open for pop-up pickleball at Crystal Garden.

🚴‍♀️ VO2max is more strongly associated with reduced mortality risk than any other metric we know of. Get the test at Tall Tree Health.*

🥪 Ready to brunch like never before? Swing by The Root Cellar deli, the brunch game-changer! With our scrumptious selections, your morning is set to sizzle! Check out our deals today!*

🤝 Now hiring: Corporate Controller at Westin Bear Mountain Resort.

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

CRD investigates parking options for Salt Spring campers
As people are displaced from encampments on Salt Spring, the CRD board has asked staff to outline legal ramifications of temporarily “decriminalizing” long-term RV parking. The board hopes to reduce people parking throughout the village. [Gulf Islands Driftwood]

Metchosin drafting plan to protect farms from development 
With no current agricultural plan in place, Metchosin’s farmlands could be at risk for land development. Metchosin council and its agricultural committee will take info from its recent surveys completed by farmers and citizens to develop a new plan for 2024. [Victoria News]

🗓️ Things to do

Gage Gallery Arts Collective: Small Works Show: A variety of styles and mediums in a format ready to take home for gift giving or enjoying for yourself. 19 Bastion Square. [Info]

Relics: An early Pink Floyd Experience: See Relics take on hits from the 1967-1975 period of Pink Floyd’s music at Hermann’s, tonight at 7pm. [Info]

Strumming for Sue: Hear blues tunes and support cancer research at this show at Hermann’s Upstairs, tonight at 8pm. [Info]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Wednesday’s headlines: Sad end for baby bear rescued from highway, new playground in Sidney, Highway 4 reopens. [Newsletter]

Photo: Boxing Day full moon in Esquimalt Lagoon.

Photo: A rock with a red beak, or a semi-disguised Black Oystercatcher? 

Crystal Pool to remain closed until Jan. 2.

That’s it!

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

And before you go, let us know: