Feb 15 - Langford councillor harassed at home

Good morning !

Random Acts of Kindness Week is taking place in Victoria until Saturday. We’ve got a story today to show you the benefits of doing something nice for others—maybe it will give you (and me) the push to help out a stranger today.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 4 minutes

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NEWS

Langford councillor 'harassed' by 'disgruntled' citizen, mayor says

Langford’s mayor has taken the unusual step of asking his predecessor to denounce some “inappropriate and troubling behaviour which erodes the foundation of the community,” after a person was seen peering into the home of an unidentified city council member.

“We had an individual basically staring through an elected official's window and seemed to be filming the inside of their house,” Scott Goodmanson said yesterday. 

“Anytime that any elected official is being targeted on their own property, that is a call for alarm,” the mayor said. 

The incident happened “recently” in the evening, with the councillor  “harassed” by the suspect, who they recognized, the mayor said.

In a release, the city said the incident involved “a disgruntled member of the public who has spent the last year being angry and unaccepting of the results of a democratic election.”

“It is just absolutely inappropriate, and we cannot let this behaviour continue,” said Goodmanson, who has asked former mayor Stew Young to condemn not only the incident but the frayed discourse that seems to have struck Langford since he and his council were swept aside in the 2022 municipal election.

“It is time for current and former leaders in our community, including former mayor Stewart Young, to strongly denounce this inappropriate and troubling behaviour which erodes the foundation of the community.”

Read the full story by Mark Brennae on Capital Daily.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Missing person found: Central Saanich police were looking for Sarah-Jane ‘Alaska’ Byers-Deathrage, 25. She has been located. 

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

COMMUNITY

It’s a nice week for a nice gesture

It is Random Acts of Kindness Week, and here’s your gentle push to pay it forward or to just randomly do something to help out a stranger.

“We just really want to show what kindness can do for the community,” says Jaime Clifton-Ross, spokesperson for the Victoria Foundation, a charity dedicated to improving society and a big backer of applying altruism into our daily lives.

This bit of benevolence began in New Zealand in 2005 and landed on our shores a decade later. “We just feel like this is also another way to sort of help, you know, improve community well-being, and just to remind people that kindness can really go a long way,” Clifton-Ross tells Capital Daily.

Frederick Grouzet, an associate professor of psychology at UVic, says people who do things for others get a “helper high” and feel much better about themselves. 

“When I give, I get the same benefits as when I receive,” he says.

Have you done a solid for a stranger?

Be kind to Mark and read the rest of his story here.

SPONSORED BY BELFRY THEATRE

As Above premieres tonight at the Belfry

After a week-long delay due to illness, As Above will open tonight at the Belfry Theatre (and play through until March 3).

Playwright Christine Quintana was commissioned by the theatre to write the play in 2019.

Set in Victoria, As Above centres on Jo, eight years sober, and attempting to rebuild the life she destroyed. Once a prominent botanical researcher, she now lectures at a horticultural centre, while embarking on a new relationship with Rick, who may be too good to be true.

A mysterious phone call sends her on an urgent quest to find Ada, her estranged daughter, as her research bleeds into her complicated personal life in rich, unexpected, and life-changing ways.

The Belfry offers pay-what-you-want tickets to their performances.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🦭 Peek-a-boo: A harbour seal peeks out from the pink water during sunset in Nanaimo.

⚾ HarbourCats March Break Kids Camps open for registration. [Play ball]

👷 New Vancouver Island Building Industry Awards. [In June]

🌼 Refresh your perspective on your current career or dive into new directions with Continuing Studies at UVic. Enrich your skills and receive valuable training.*

🤝 Now hiring: Finance Manager at Pacific Opera Victoria.

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Residents escape fire in Victoria condo complex
Flames were shooting from a top-floor balcony and roof system at the Bay Street building Tuesday night. Mutual aid was requested from Saanich FD and it took four hours to fully extinguish the fire. The cause of the fire is still being investigated. [Times Colonist]

Six-storey designed by former Victoria mayor planned for Saanichton
The luxury condos would be built starting next month if an archaeological assessment clears the former Central Saanich Medical Clinic building for demolition. [Peninsula News Review]

Police seize $11M in contraband smokes on Island, Mainland
The commandeered cigarettes, drugs, and firearms—and the arrest of four people with known ties to gangs, police say—were the result of a months-long investigation. It’s BC’s largest one-time seizure. [CTV]

SPONSORED BY VICTORIA FOUNDATION

Nonprofits: apply for a community grant

The Victoria Foundation's 2024 Community Grants Program is now accepting applications from registered non-profits and charities for up to $30,000 in funding each, to support vital wellbeing initiatives and activities across Greater Victoria.

Click here to apply using an easy and accessible application form!

🗓️ Things to do

🪩 Disco Party with The Free Label: Dance to music from this high-energy Toronto band at Victoria Event Centre, tonight at 8pm.

🎭 100 Years of Broadway: Go on a journey through a century of Broadway music at UVic’s Phoenix Theatre, kicking off tonight at 8pm and running until the 24th.

🎶 KSAR: Hear the enchanting melodies of this local band at Hermann’s, tomorrow at 7pm.

🎸 American Rock Legends: See this tribute to Bob Segar and other rock legends at McPherson Playhouse, tomorrow at 7:30pm.

🩰 Dance Victoria presents: Nrityagram Dance Ensemble in collaboration with Chitrasena Dance Company at the Royal Theatre on March 8 and 9. Learn more at the Dance Victoria website.*

*Sponsored Listing

👀 In Case You Missed It

Love stories from Capital Daily readers. [Capital Daily]

Saanich-Victoria amalgamation gains steam. [Capital Daily]

36 security screeners and managers fired at YYJ. [CHEK]

Missing Campbell River teens: Dommie Malcolmson, 15, and Cora Potoski, 16, were last seen Monday.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in BC for the Invictus Games. [Daily Mail]

That’s it!

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