A five-vote finish, a two-stop Sunday in Metchosin, and a reason to pack sunglasses.
Don't put the sunglasses away.
They're worth bringing to Goldstream this fall. There's a salmon-spotting tip below, plus a Sunday plan that pairs Metchosin's last regular market with ArtPod's new show.
But first, Sooke counted again. Five votes separated two candidates for the last council seat, and a closer look at the ballots turned up something the machines hadn't recorded.
The Westshore team
Paid partner · Entrepreneurs’ Lunch Club
Does switching off the screen always start an argument?
Dr. Allison Rees will share practical ways to step out of power struggles while keeping clear limits. Join her Monday, Nov. 2 at Gorge Pavilion in Esquimalt for a parenting presentation and Q&A, open to the public. Tickets are $29 + GST ($30.45 total).
Local ads help keep The Westshore free. Become a partner
SOOKE · THE RECOUNT
Five votes, even after a second look
The hand count found six missed selections on five ballots. It didn't change who won.
Elliot Lifton keeps the last council seat with 2,177 votes, five ahead of Helen Ritts. Kevin Pearson is mayor-elect.
The voters' intentions were clear, the district says, but the circles weren't filled in enough for the machines to register those selections. Officials counted them by hand. The district found no equipment malfunction.
Turnout reached 5,498, up from 3,358 in 2022. That's 2,140 more voters, an increase of about 64%.
Sources · District of Sooke
Around the Westshore
Why Langford is adding bus-fire drills
After the fatal Calgary crash, Langford firefighters will practise responding to a bus explosion during spring training, chief Chris Aubrey told the Times Colonist. There's a local reason to prepare: BC Transit refuels its 133 compressed-natural-gas buses in Langford. The cause of the Calgary explosion remains under investigation.
Provincial voting: Saturday, Oct. 24, 8am to 8pm
Still need to vote in the provincial election? Advance polls have closed. Final Voting Day is Saturday, Oct. 24, 8am to 8pm Pacific. Check your assigned voting place on your Where to Vote card or the Elections BC finder. You can also vote at a district electoral office until 4pm Saturday. Bring accepted ID.
A John Stubbs reader dreams of his own comic
Elliott Lemire, a Grade 1 student at École John Stubbs Memorial School, hopes to star in his own comic through Stan Lee’s Super Kid contest. The Goldstream Gazette’s profile introduces the Colwood boy, who loves superheroes, dinosaurs and ocean creatures.
GOLDSTREAM · FIELD NOTE
Pack the polarised sunglasses
Michal Klajban · CC BY-SA 4.0 · File photograph
Heading to Goldstream to look for salmon? Bring polarised sunglasses if you have them. The lenses cut the glare on the river, making it easier to see beneath the surface.
We're approaching Goldstream's usual viewing season: BC Parks says late October through November is best.
Watch from the trails and viewing platforms, keep dogs leashed and out of the water, and leave the estuary to the wildlife. Use the day-use entrance at Highway 1 and Finlayson Arm Road. Don't cross the highway on foot.
Sources · BC Parks · Goldstream salmon-viewing guide · Photo licence: CC BY-SA 4.0
Three ways to spend the weekend
Find the warty one
Still need a pumpkin for the doorstep? Lohbrunner Community Farm’s PumpkinFest is open Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 24 and 25, 10am to 3pm, at 1152 Lippincott Rd., Langford. Free admission; pumpkins and produce are sold separately. Well-behaved dogs on leashes are welcome.
One last Sunday at the market
Sunday, Oct. 25 is your last chance to catch Metchosin’s regular farmers market this season. Go between 11am and 2pm, at 4450 Happy Valley Rd., for local produce, baking and handmade goods. There’s also a Christmas market in December.
Pull blackberry at Colwood Creek, Sunday 9:45am
Trade an hour of your Sunday for a little less invasive blackberry. Green Teams of Canada welcomes all ages and abilities, with tools, gloves, instruction and snacks provided. Meet at the Sunridge Valley Drive location on the city's event page, rain or shine. Stay as long as you're able; sign up through the link.
METCHOSIN · OPENING TOMORROW
What belongs on the table?
Metchosin ArtPod's Food: Ritual and Identity opens tomorrow. Artists were invited to explore food through harvest, hunger, celebration and waste. Donations collected during the exhibition will go to the Goldstream Foodbank, which serves the Westshore.
The opening gala is Saturday, Oct. 24, 2 to 4pm, at 4495 Happy Valley Rd. Can't make it? The show runs through Dec. 20, with the gallery open Friday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm.
An easy Sunday pairing: visit the final regular farmers market at 4450 Happy Valley Rd. between 11am and 2pm, then see the exhibition at 4495. ArtPod stays open until 4pm.
Sources · Metchosin ArtPod
What's the family dish you still make from memory? Hit reply with its name and who taught you.
The Westshore team
Pass it on
Know someone on the Westshore who'd want this?
If this was useful, forward the email. Or send them the signup page and they'll get the next issue.
The Westshore.
A twice-weekly, email-first local paper for the Westshore of Vancouver Island. Made out here. Yes, the traffic was bad.
Last light · First to know.
Sailing west, twice a week
The Westshore is produced on the territories of the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples (the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations) and the W̱SÁNEĆ peoples, whose relationship with this land continues to this day.
Something wrong in this story? Tell us at hello@news.thewestshore.ca. We fix it, log it, and say so in the next edition.