Welcome to The Westshore. As much as I love the flexibility of working from home—read: casual wear—it is so nice to meet readers in person. I had lunch this week with a few Sooke subscribers at the new India Delight Bistro & Bar, and it was a delight. Read my mini review at the very bottom of today’s edition. And if you have story ideas or local issues you want to talk about, let me know! I’m always up for a coffee or naan. (Not at the same time though, that’s crazy.)
Reporter, The Westshore
CRIME
How a violent prison escapee was allowed to transfer to minimum-security William Head Institution
A watch tower at William Head Institution at the far west side of Metchosin. Victoria is visible in the background. (📸 Zoë Ducklow/The Westshore)
The usually quiet Metchosin was rocked by the murder of 60-year-old Martin Payne in 2019. As the murder trial approaches this fall, his family has filed a lawsuit claiming the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) “breached the standard of care owed to members of the public” and that Payne’s death was a “direct and foreseeable consequence” of that breach.
On July 7, 2019, two inmates at William Head Institution, the nearby minimum-security prison, escaped by walking around the perimeter fence at low tide, and past the unoccupied watch tower. The inmates, James Lee Bush and Zachary Armitage, both had a history of violent crime and behaviour that didn’t seem suited for a minimum-security facility. Crown prosecutors allege that in the two days they were on the run, they murdered Payne.
Capital Daily has accessed a document showing how Armitage ended up in minimum security, despite his history of violent crimes and four previous escapes. A warden overrode Armitage’s assigned security level, allowing him to be transferred from Mission Institution, a medium-security prison in the Fraser Valley, to William Head.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Billing change will shift fire dispatch costs around in Westshore
Highlands Volunteer Fire Department (📸 Zoë Ducklow/The Westshore)
A recent billing change means Sooke and Highlands will save on fire dispatch costs, while Metchosin and the Juan de Fuca electoral district will pay a little more. The four communities (plus Salt Spring Island and the Southern Gulf Islands) have a joint contract to handle their emergency fire calls through Saanich Fire Dispatch.
They opted recently to share the cost by call volume instead of a population-based percentage. The change financially benefits Highlands and Sooke, which will save $16,000 and $3,400, respectively, each year, while the other four will pay slightly more.
Metchosin will pay about $9,000 more, and the Juan de Fuca electoral district’s bill will increase by about $6,500. (Salt Spring Island also saves an estimated $11,000, while the Southern Gulf Islands will pay an extra $16,000.)
The savings are on top of a 40% drop in the bill that kicked in this year when Saanich moved to E-Comm 911 from Langford Fire Dispatch.
For decades, when a fire emergency occurred in the Westshore, the 911 call was directed to Langford Fire Dispatch, which then coordinated firefighters from the closest station in either Langford, Colwood, View Royal, Sooke, Metchosin, or Highlands. The dispatchers were a locally developed service that met the needs of the rural and slowly growing communities.
But since there were only eight municipalities as clients, the local dispatch program was more expensive to operate than larger services that cover bigger geographic areas—like Surrey Regional Fire Dispatch, which has contracts across the province.
In 2012, Colwood and View Royal applied to leave the group and moved their fire dispatching to E-Comm. That drove the cost for the remaining communities even higher, but it was the looming requirement to upgrade technology standards that caused Langford Fire Dispatch to reach its end. The cost to achieve Next Generation 911 (which could add capabilities like video calls, texts, and GPS integration) was too high for the small outfit, so Langford decided to close it down last December.
Langford signed a new contract with Surrey Regional Fire Dispatch, and the remaining four districts that still operate as a group moved to E-Comm. That move saved around $200,000. This latest change doesn’t reduce the bill overall, but reallocates how costs are shared.
Even though dispatching happens in a piecemeal manner throughout the municipalities, neighbouring fire departments have mutual-response agreements in place so that no department is on its own when responding to an emergency.
Speaking of fire, the South Island remains on high alert for wildfire risk and all outdoor fires are banned.
Around the ’Shore
🎣 Fishing fight lands one man in hospital and another in handcuffs. Two men appear to have fought over a fishing spot at Gordon’s Beach in Sooke on Aug. 9. The accused has been released, and is scheduled to appear in court mid-October. [Sooke News Mirror]
🏡 Willow + Glen is a community of beautifully curated residences nestled between nature and urban amenities. Discover Langford’s newest collection of townhomes by Abstract Developments.*
🐷 View Royal family recognized for 100 years of farmingby the province. [CHEK]
🏃🏽 ♀️ Frontrunners Footwear is Vancouver Island’s largest locally owned running and walking footwear and apparel store. Check out their Westshore location at 755 Goldstream Ave!*
🏄🏽 ♂️ Golfing, surfing, and even mountain biking: not off limits for paraplegics, proves Langford non-profit. Recreation Adapted Society (RAD) rents out the expensive and highly specialized equipment all over BC to let people with limited mobility experience recreation, anywhere they want. RAD is fundraising to open a gear shed in Langford to make adapted equipment even more available. [Goldstream Gazette]
*Sponsored Listing
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TOGETHER WITH TINY
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Community Events
🎶 TODAY—Pop up Opera! comes to Langford. Stumble across the delight of live music in Veterans Memorial Park at 2:30pm, or at Langford Station at 3:30pm, where Pacific Opera performers will sing in the open air for whoever is there.
🚴🏼 Tour de Victoria cycling race comes through the Westshore this Saturday morning, entering View Royal through to Langford. Some cyclists will go as far as East Sooke before looping back through Metchosin and Colwood on their way back to Victoria for the finish line. View the route here.
🚘 Langford’s 10th Annual Show & Shine is happening this Sunday on Goldstream Avenue on both sides of the roundabout, and on Station Avenue across from Langford Station. The event is free for participants and spectators; if you want to show your car register online ahead of time. Car setup is between 7am and 9:30am; awards at 1pm, show ends at 2pm.
👩🏽 🌾Halfway through summer, and the farmers markets are in full swing.****Langford: Saturdays from 10am to 2pm in Veterans’ Memorial Park. Sooke: Saturdays from 10am to 2pm in John Phillips Park. Metchosin: Sundays from 11am to 2pm at 4440 Happy Valley Rd.
What’s Offshore?
🚢 The MSC Olia is a Container Ship built in 2007 and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. It is sailing from 🇺🇸 Seattle ➡ 🇨🇦 Vancouver and is scheduled to arrive over the weekend.
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Westshore Eats
Brothers, chefs, and business owners of India Delight Bistro & Bar, Ram and Somnath Bhatt, show off some of their favourite dishes: (L-R) vegetable jalfrezi, garlic naan, vegetable pakora, and chicken tikka masala. Yum! (📸 Zoë Ducklow/The Westshore)
🥗 The Westshore has partnered with Tasting Victoria, Vancouver Island's largest food-themed Instagram account, to curate a must-try recommendation on the Westshore.
🍤 Tasting Victoria recommends: India Delight Bistro & Bar. Two brothers relocated their restaurant from the mainland to Sooke, where they make all the top northern Indian dishes. Think roasted meats doused in flavourful sauces that you can sop up with naan bread or flavoured rice. I recently visited with a few Sookies, and two of them had never had Indian food! The medium spice level did not make any of us sweat, and it was a great success for the first-timers. Located at 6676 Sooke Rd.
🥘 Must-try item: Chicken tikka masala. The sauce is perfectly seasoned and would satisfy on its own, but the chicken! It’s roasted in spices with a delightful pink-red colour. And of course, get naan.
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