May 28 - Parking fines going up downtown

Good morning !

Make sure you’re keeping track of time while out and about in downtown Victoria—the cost of parking tickets will be rising this weekend, with fines going up by $20.

Thankfully, the city’s parking app will give you a warning when your time is nearly up, but not everyone has downloaded the app yet.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧️ 14 / 9

Tomorrow: 🌦️ 14 / 9

Day after: ☀️ 15 / 8

7-day forecast

NEWS

Parking tickets get pricier this Saturday

Starting this weekend, it’s going to cost more if you get a parking ticket. A parking ticket in a time-limited, metered spot will jump 50% to $60 from $40. Tickets issued in no-stopping commercial and residential zones will increase to $80 from $60. In both cases, fines are cut in half when paid within two weeks.

It’s the first set of parking ticket increases in 16 years. It comes after the city compared its fines to Calgary’s ($50), Winnipeg’s ($60), Hamilton’s ($65), and Vancouver’s ($77), and found there was room for an increase.

“We also need to make sure that the fines are somewhat in alignment with those as well, so that it's not cheaper to get a ticket than to pay the actual parking fee,” Suzanne Thompson, the city’s director of finance tells Capital Daily.

Thompson said the best way to avoid a ticket is to use the city’s parking app: “It actually reminds you when your time is about to expire—you can pay for the full amount—but if you come back sooner to your car, it will refund you and the unused time so you can sort of avoid getting the tickets.”

The city is also increasing the fees developers pay when they need to close sidewalks or lanes for construction. Closing a local road used to cost $25 per lane per day, now it’s $50-100 depending on the road. Shutting down a main road such as Blanshard or Douglas is now $250 per lane, per day. The cost of reserving a sidewalk has doubled to $20 per 13 square metres. 

Those changes, plus an increase to $4 from $3.50 to park in downtown 90-minute zones, are expected to generate $1.7M in revenue, enough to avoid a 1% increase in property taxes, Thompson said.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Recall: Nutrl Tumblers—which had been offered as a gift with purchase recently—have been recalled for containing sulphuric acid.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

NEWS

BC Ferries must improve relationships with communities, says report

BC Ferries must take steps to repair its damaged relationships with ferry-dependent communities, according to a report released last week by the BC Ferry Commission.

The commission said BC Ferries had “mixed results” in implementing recommendations handed down two years ago, which included the release of an annual report.

The Commission said the ferry company’s relationships with Indigenous communities, including the 18 First Nations it directly serves improved in the last two years. However, its relationship with ferry-dependent communities, such as those on the Sunshine Coast, has deteriorated. 

This is largely related to the tense Ferry Advisory Committee (FAC) meeting held last Sept. on the Sunshine Coast when a woman threatened those in attendance with a gun. BC Ferries cancelled all in-person FAC meetings moving forward, with the company saying there was a rising number of incidents of aggressive behaviour toward staff. The Commission said it’s heard from FAC members that frustrations were high “due to the lack of communication” from the company after in-person meetings were cancelled.

It was announced last month that these meetings would return in June, with new security policies in place. BC Ferries called reinstating these meetings a “return to engagement.” According to the report, FAC members were upset that they weren’t involved in the development of these new security measures.

The Commission “strongly recommends” that BC Ferries achieve the following steps in fiscal 2025:

1. Demonstrate to the commissioners the steps the corporation intends to take to make customers feel respected, heard, and valued, and that those steps were developed in consultation with the communities, FACs, First Nations, and other stakeholders
   

2. Demonstrate to the commission how the corporation intends to monitor progress in enhancing public engagement
   

3. Clearly define and communicate what role the FACs will have in the enhanced vision of BC Ferries’ public engagement
   

4. Ensure that all online communication on the Community Pages is relevant, comprehensive, and timely

SPONSORED BY SOUTH ISLAND PROSPERITY PARTNERSHIP

Attracting healthcare workers to Greater Victoria

Access to healthcare isn’t just a necessity. It’s a cornerstone of a thriving community and economy. Recognizing the pressing need for healthcare workers in Greater Victoria raised by municipal leaders, South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP) is gathering regional stakeholders to help attract and retain these essential professionals.

As a starting point, SIPP and the South Island and Victoria Divisions of Family Practice are convening a roundtable of organizations, each with a role to play in attracting family doctors.

SIPP recently launched the Victoria Rising online platform to attract vital talent and share relocation success stories, such as Dr. Dennis Kim, Medical Director of Trauma Services at Island Health, who relocated to Victoria from L.A.

Want more information about SIPP's initiatives? Sign up for the e-newsletter.

⭐️ Capital Picks

📅 CityVibe event guide available. [City of Victoria]

🤝 Now hiring: Line Cook at Rose Neighbouring Public House.

🗞️ In Other News

Swiftsure survives possible cyberattack, sails past US sub
The boat races’ 79th edition featured a US navy submarine playing through. One crew reported seeing a passing periscope so boats were told to stay clear. There was also a sub-performance from the Hungary-based race-tracking software which was down on Sat. due to “an attack from a foreign country.” It was back up and sailing Sun. [Times Colonist]

Auditing firm PwC says Vic’s Greg Martel ran a Ponzi scheme
PricewaterhouseCoopers examined the fund flow of Martel’s company My Mortgage Auction Corp. (MMAC) for the past five years and determined the company was operating a Ponzi scheme—allowing newer investor money to pay earlier investors, giving a false sense of success. More than 930 creditors have filed $317 million in claims against the company. Martel fled the Island and is believed to be in Dubai. None of the allegations has been proven in court. [CHEK]

Sounds great: Victoria Symphony attendance up 16%
More than 36K saw and heard the Victoria Symphony (VS) in person in the 2023-24 orchestral season and 228K were able to watch free broadcasts at home. The VS also released the soundtrack You Are My Bones for a CBC minisieries on residential schools. CEO Matthew White says it was a successful season but the VS still faces a cash crunch. [Black Press]

Hullo Ferries hits passenger milestone 
The ferry company, which launched its services between Nanaimo and Vancouver last summer, has served 250K customers since starting operations. It had reached 100K passengers by Dec. and 150K by Feb. It’s also grown from eight employees to 100, 80% of whom live on the Island. [Daily Hive]

🗓️ Things to do

🎶 The Simon and Garfunkel Story: This concert-style tribute show will take you through the story of the iconic folk duo at the Royal Theatre tonight, 7:30pm. [Info]

🩰 Victoria Academy of Ballet: In Performance: See the dancers perform ballet and contemporary pieces by award-winning choreographers Thurs. 6:30pm. [Info]

Looking for something to do this weekend? Subscribe to This Week In Vic to get the full list of what’s on this week.

👀 In Case You Missed It

Monday headlines: Local innovators float heated life jackets; 2 dead in plane crash near Squamish; Car drives off Clover Point; And more. [May 27]

Low snowpack, high drought risk. [May 27]

Ducklings catch a ride on Mommy’s back. [Video]

A porthole view of a trip through the Inside Passage & Desolation Sound. [Photog Kristian Gillies]

Whitecaps respond to messy Messi ticket situation. [CTV]

That’s it!

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