Jan 21 - How to make friends in Victoria

Good morning !

One year ago today, we published a round-up of some of readers’ best ideas for how to make friends as an adult in Greater Victoria.

The chilliest, most indoor time of year has come around once again, so we’re once again sharing that advice—and looking for more, if you’ve got it!

Read (and/or write) below.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧️ 8 / 7

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 7 / 5

Tuesday: 🌧️ 8 / 5

7-day forecast

NEWS

How do you make friends in Victoria?

That’s a question we first asked in 2021, when writer Tim Ford’s article explored the city’s reputation for chilliness. Lots of people are moving here, but plenty of locals seem to already have their social circles filled. Meanwhile, the cost of living is leading to more hours spent working and less money with which to go out and do things. There has also, in recent years, been the isolating effect of the pandemic. 

That article proposed a few solutions, but we wanted to learn more of yours. So, a year ago, we asked you and then collected some of your best and most helpful responses. They ranged from volunteering to geocaching to greeting more strangers to, of course, pickleball. 

Read that story here, and add your own below.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

“Oil-type substance” found on Gorge on Fri. evening. Booms were deployed. No negative effects yet reported. [More info]

Yesterday’s East Island fog advisory expected to end today.

Missing teen from Westshore last seen in Victoria. [Photo/info]

Protest downtown will block some streets from about 1 to 3pm today.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

Hockey Day in Victoria:
An icy week ends on the ice rink

The Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations and Canucks icon Geoff Courtnall paddled the Stanley Cup into the Inner Harbour yesterday morning as thousands of locals looked on. This entrance kicked off the culmination of months of planning that began when Victoria was awarded the national event last summer.

Victoria was home base for the broadcast booth during Saturday’s Hockey Day in Canada programming, with locals looking on at Ship Point or gathered for a group watching event at Tillicum Centre. The day’s 12.5-hour hockey marathon included every Canadian NHL team and a game in the newly formed Professional Women’s Hockey League game.

That PWHL game featured the New York team captained by Micah Zandee-Hart, the local 2022 Beijing Olympic gold medalist and world champion. Her journey from Brentwood Bay to the biggest stage was one of the main stories in the Hockey Day coverage. 

While the waterfront played host to the national NHL broadcast, the Victoria Royals also got airtime. Sportsnet put together a segment on their efforts to make hockey more accessible and affordable to local kids.

The Royals play back-to-back games this weekend to mark the occasion; they won the first last night, 7-2 over Kamloops.

The event brought with it a week of festivities all around town, which saw kids playing ball hockey at Ship Point [video] and an outdoor rink in the Inner Harbour.

NEWS

6 Islanders died outdoors in early January

BC lost 36 residents to outdoor deaths from Jan. 1 to 16, per the BC Coroners Service. The count does not include vehicle strikes or deliberate killings.

The deadliest day was Jan. 12, when 5 died while multiple temperature records were broken or nearly broken. In Victoria, that was the coldest day in more than half a century. Despite the cold, though, deaths were not significantly higher than last year’s 34 over the same period.

The causes of death and exact communities have not yet been released.

Multiple recent Victoria deaths, shelter spokesperson says

Grant McKenzie of Our Place told the Canadian Press that he has heard of multiple Victoria deaths on the streets. He says drugs are the likely culprit but that the cold is a factor: it drives many unhoused people to take drugs to cope, which in turn make them less aware of the cold. 

Deaths while homeless rising in recent years

The BC Coroners Service reported last month that 342 BC residents (64 Islanders, 28 Victorians) died in 2022 while living without proper housing—far more than in most years from 2015 to 2020.

⭐️ Capital Picks

📺 Victoria stars on PBS today as Samantha Brown's Places To Love checks out our gardens, bistros, whales, puzzles, Chinatown sights, and more. [Episode preview]

🍽️ Dine Around and Stay in Town Victoria kicks off its 20th anniversary with its annual Gala Launch. Enjoy bites and bevvies from over 50 Victoria eateries, as well as live music, circus performances, and more! You don’t want to miss this one – get your tickets!*

🐐 Snow day for the goats as they make their daily run through a winter wonderland in Beacon Hill. [Photos]

🍽️ Nominate your favourite local restaurants in the Tasting Victoria Restaurant Awards. Enter your nominations in any of the 18 categories here!*

 🤝 Now hiring: Seed & Gift Store Retail Supervisor at The Butchart Gardens.

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Victoria woman gets $1M for 2016 car crash
The BC Supreme Court concluded that the rear-ending, by a Sooke driver's F-550, caused lingering injuries that reduce her lifetime earning potential. [Sooke News Mirror]

Island mill fined for putting a million litres of waste in the ocean
Crofton’s Catalyst Paper Mill must pay $25,500 for multiple discharges, in summer 2021, of effluent, storm water, and seawater. The fine could have been 10 times that, but the ministry wanted to recognize the quick response and ongoing prevention efforts. [CHEK]

Man falls through ice rescuing sister, who fell through rescuing dog
It started when the dog ran out onto Beaver Lake, and ended with them hypothermic but alive thanks to bystanders’ aid. Saanich Fire's Rob Jones says the close call shows the danger of seemingly frozen deep lakes. [Saanich News]

UVic men’s basketball slips back to #2 in Canada
The men (9-3) were briefly #1 before going 2-2 across two recent road series. They and the women (4-8) both split their weekend games in Winnipeg.

🗓️ Things to do

 ✒️ Robert Burns Memorial Concert: Today’s performance at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Kirk Hall honours the Scottish poet will feature music, poetry, Scottish dancing, tea, and shortbread. 2:30-4:30pm.

🎉 Wassail Day Festival: This winter celebration at Sea Cider Farmhouse and Cidery will include live music, artisan vendors, and hot mulled cider. Today. 11am-4pm.

🖍️ Family FUNdays: This family friendly event at Kaleidoscope Theatre includes storytelling, crafts, and dress-up. Today. 9am-12pm.

🎞️ Silent films scored by local music master: “The Sound of SiIence” event pairs the work of Ernst Lubitsch and Buster Keaton with piano improvisation by UVic music faculty’s Bruce Vogt. 7-9pm tonight (delayed from Weds.)

👀 In Case You Missed It

18,000 salmon wasted: Too much of BC’s catch is being caught and then chucked, reducing orcas’ food source. [Capital Daily]

Un-paving a parking lot to put up paradise? Victoria buys land for urban park. [Friday newsletter]

Victoria’s food scene this week, via Tasting Victoria.

A blow to BC community news as Black Press files for creditor protection; expansion into Ohio may have been the tipping point.

Missing senior with dementia, last seen in Esquimalt. [Photo/info]

Hot chocolate festival is on for the next month. [Tasting Victoria]

Poll results: Seeing Stanley

Only about a fifth of you wanted to catch the Cup during its visit to Victoria, with many simply not interested in hockey and others not close to downtown.

Some were interested, but deterred or defeated by the weather or the crowds and lines. Others didn’t think much of a pilgrimage to a shiny hunk of metal. “It’s just a trophy!” one reader wrote; “It's like pagan worship,” said another.

But many readers went and visited, even enjoying the crowd, or knew folks who did (such as a wide-eyed grandson in awe of the trophy’s history).

Still others had spent time the cup already, and treated us to some of their stories. One person was a neighbour of the keeper of the cup in the ‘90s in Toronto, and got to hoist it that way. And one of you former Edmontonians told a story of being friends-of-friends with the Oilers team during their dynasty, rubbing shoulders with Gretzky and eating jumbo shrimp out of ice sculptures.