Oct 19 - It's voting day in BC

Good morning !

Today is the day to cast your vote to elect members of the Legislative Assembly to serve in BC’s 43rd parliament. We’ve got all the info you need as you head to the polls. It’s in our first story today.

Our election coverage is powered by our small-but-mighty Capital Daily team—if you’ve appreciated this or any of our other local news stories, consider becoming a Capital Daily Insider to support what we do.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧️ 14 / 11

Tomorrow: 🌦️ 12 / 7

Day after: 🌤️ 11 / 5

NEWS

It’s election day in the CRD—here’s the last-minute information you need to vote

Today’s the day to head to the polls if you haven’t already done so. If you aren’t sure who’s running in your riding or where to submit your ballot today, we’ve put together a list of candidates from each riding with links to their candidate pages and the official list of voting locations from Elections BC. 

While some strongholds will persist, tonight could see some major upsets and surprise surges by election underdogs. 

Remember to vote for the tomorrow you want and the world you think the next generation deserves. Good luck to all candidates across the CRD and thank you to all of the local and BC Elections volunteers helping us get out and vote all day today.

See what you need to know before you head to the polls here.

You can also check out our three-part review of campaign promises made by candidates in the run-up to today’s election.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

BC Ferries: possible delays, and cancellations today. [Windy, rainy weekend]

Free bus service today so you can get out to vote. [BC Transit]

Traffic disruptions and CCTV deployment downtown, with a rally planned for Palestine & Lebanon [Today 2-4pm].

Hwy 4 was closed last night, near the bottom-middle stretch of Kennedy Lake; DriveBC update coming this morning.

NEWS

Vancouver Island is under flood watch as more rain expected

Anticipating some serious rain today and more tomorrow, the BC River Forecast Centre has put the entire Island and parts of the coast under the advisory. 

A flood watch advisory is more severe than a heavy streamflow advisory but less Noah-esque than a flood warning. 

The flood watch is an indication river water levels have or will exceed bankful, causing flooding in those areas.

Greater Victoria is not under the same rainfall warning as most of the Island, so we shouldn’t get as much.

If you haven’t heard of the meteorological term “atmospheric river,” you will have by the end of this weekend because Environment Canada is predicting the rain you saw late yesterday to let up a bit this morning but return with more oomph tomorrow.

Atmospheric rivers are narrow corridors or bands in the atmosphere—like rivers in the sky—that transport most of the water vapour outside the tropics. Once they hit landfall, it’s bombs away with the rain. 

You likely have heard of the most well-known of these, Pineapple Express (also the name of a hilarious movie, by the way), which according to the US’s National Ocean Service can dump as much as 13cm (5 inches) of rain in California in just one day.

We won’t get that much here, but parts of the Island are expected to get from 80mm to 150mm (8cm / 3 inches to 15cm / 6 inches) of rain over the weekend, per Environment Canada, which is calling this the first significant weather event of the fall.

The temperature is expected to stay below 15C and winds will be noticeably strong, gusting up to 60 km/h.

BC Ferries cancelled some sailings yesterday—hold onto your hats for possibly more delays and cancellations today and tomorrow.

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⭐️ Capital Picks

🍵👻 Afternoon tea leaf readings for Halloween at the Empress

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

🪲 Praying for good parking: A praying mantis was seen walking through the long-term parking lot at YYJ—it was safely relocated to a nearby path. [Facebook photos]

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Six-storey rental project for Turner building gets council’s support
Victoria council voted unanimously in favour and has asked staff for a costing report on Empresa Properties' proposal which would replace the iconic, but now derelict, Turner News structure on Richmond near Royal Jubilee. The design would maintain the original’s distinct rounded front, and plans include closing Birch to traffic to create a plaza, with seating and trees. The 55-unit rental building would include commercial space on the ground floor. [Times Colonist]

Jango Unchained: guide dog dropout finds second career
Allergies got him booted from canine schools here in BC and in Alberta, but the two-year-old golden Lab has landed on his paws at New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community in View Royal, part of Our Place Society. Now Jango is pals with men living with chronic substance addictions. He’s a stress-reducer just via his Instagram photos, so you can imagine how the lads love him down at New Roads, where he’s the only male on staff. [Black Press]

Driver says he wanted to ‘demean and degrade’ pro-Palestinian protesters, not hit them with car
Christopher Sura Johnson, 40, is facing charges of dangerous driving and assault with a weapon after driving into a protester at a Pro-Palestine rally in the Inner Harbour last December. Johnson said was angry for a multitude of reasons, one of which was the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. He appeared to boast about almost hitting the protester, but his lawyer claims his driving was “mere negligence.” Closing trial arguments were given yesterday. [Chek]

Season on the line for Pacific FC in home finale today 
Whether the local soccer club is in or out of the CanPL playoffs—which it has never missed—will hinge on 3 different games today. If PFC beats league-leading Forge FC in Langford [game starts 1pm], it's in. But a loss or draw will leave it counting on bad luck for both Vancouver FC and Halifax's Valour FC, its closest rivals for the 5th and final playoff seed.

🗓️ Things to do

🐰🌙 Bunny Moon Market: An event highlighting local Japanese artists in our community with traditional food and more at the Fernwood Community Centre today. 11am-4pm. [Info]

👻 Spooky at the Station Market: This spine-chilling event promises a haunting mix of vendors offering unique, magical, and spooky items at Langford Station today. 11am-4pm. [Free]

🎃 Halloween at Bilston Creek Farm: Join in on pumpkin decorating, games, a treasure hunt, and more at Bilston Creek Farm today and tomorrow. 11am-5pm.  [Info]

🍺 Beacon Brewing’s Anniversary Party: Enjoy all-day happy hour, door prizes, free cookies and pizza, and more. [Info]  

🍀 Celebrate 20 Years of the Irish Times Pub: Enjoy live music, retro 2004-esque happy hour prices, O’Brien’s Irish dancers, whiskey tastings, an oyster bar, and more at the pub today. 1pm. [Info]

🍸 Art of the Cocktail: Victoria’s biggest cocktail party is back this year with over 50 local and national exhibitors at Crystal Gardens tonight. 6:30pm [Info]

Looking for more weekend events? See our full list in This Week in Vic. Subscribe to get our weekly events rundown in your inbox every Tuesday!

👀 In Case You Missed It

Friday’s headlines: BC ShakeOut is an earthquake reminder; Tents down, fence up on Pandora; First Nations float new maritime museum idea; John’s Place going all 1984 on us next week; And more. [Oct. 18]

Child and senior care, mental health, and addiction: Where BC’s political parties stand. [Capital Daily]

Election info: Key changes in who's running—and where—in the South Island this time. [Capital Daily]

New ballot tabulators should speed BC election results. [Vancouver Sun]