Where I grew up there was a large playing field behind our house. It had three huge transmission towers with wooden fences around them to stop us neighbourhood kids from climbing the towers. Naturally, we climbed them anyway, and eventually the city stopped replacing the fences. I remember how the buzzing from the power lines was louder when it snowed, and how, when I climbed them to watch soccer practices, the way the blinding floodlights on the lower field bleached colour from the soccer players’ jerseys. It never occurred to me that the lights were too bright or the coaches’ whistles were too loud. That isn’t how some neighbours of Belmont Secondary School feel about things.
Reporter, The Westshore
YOUTH SPORTS
Westshore Warriors displaced by irate neighbour
Belmont Secondary School field is surrounded by houses in a residential area. (📸 Zoë Ducklow)
The Westshore Warriors football team has been booted from using Belmont Secondary School’s field after a verbal altercation made school district staff feel uncomfortable having the team come back.
For years, the youth team had practiced twice a week from 6 to 8pm on an old grass field, but the team got an upgrade when the City of Langford installed a turf field at the new Belmont Secondary School.
The only drawback is that the new field has no lights, so the club invested in portable floodlights and a generator.
But according to neighbours, the lights were too bright and the generator was too loud.
Complaints started coming in to the school, the football club, and eventually to the Sooke School District. Facilities staff were trying to work with neighbours and the Warriors to sort out a solution.
But one neighbour couldn’t wait for a resolution.
He came to a practice in person and yelled profanities at coaching volunteers, verbally berating them, according to what staff told Sooke School Board chair Ravi Parmar. Facilities staff, fearful of future altercations, told the Warriors they had to stop using the floodlights until a permanent solution was found. The team was forced to find another field.
The Warriors found a temporary practice field at Spectrum Community School in Saanich, but a lot of players complained that the field was too far away. As of tonight, the Warriors will be back in Langford at the newly refinished grass field at Spencer Middle School, but even that is temporary.
Parmar hopes to transfer the team to Centre Mountain Lellum Middle School’s new turf field once it opens to the community. (That school was set to open this fall, but was delayed due to construction supply chain issues, but the field is already in use by PEXISEN Elementary students on the same campus.)
In the meantime, the neighbours who complained respectfully, and the one who chose a more aggressive approach, got what they wanted.
“What that one neighbour in particular did was completely inappropriate, but there was another group of neighbours who came calmly to the school district to ask for support, so I want to give those neighbours the benefit of the doubt. The school district has a role to ensure that we're good neighbours, too,” Parmar said.
While he knows it looks like they let a neighbour bully the team out of its practice space, Parmar said the district had to consider its liability. If no action was taken and there was another altercation, the district could be “in a very difficult position from a liability perspective,” he said. “I know a lot of people were very upset by that, but I think we found a solution.”
In a city often touted by the current council as a sports destination, it appears some locals don’t agree.
ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES
Horgan’s riding might change to Langford-Highlands, instead of Langford-Juan de Fuca
Purple outlines show the proposed new provincial ridings. Langford-Highlands is lightly coloured in purple. The black lines show current boundaries. (BC Electoral Boundaries Committee)
The BC Electoral Boundaries Committee has recommended a new Langford riding, to take effect for the next provincial election. It also recommended four new ridings in the Lower Mainland and one in the Interior.
The current Langford-Juan de Fuca riding, held by Premier John Horgan, has an estimated population of 70,000 people, putting it well above the goal of 54,000 people per riding. The committee proposes separating Langford and Highlands into their own new riding, which would have 49,114 people, according to 2021 census numbers.
To make room for the new riding, and to accommodate the fast-growing South Island population, the committee has recommended shifting the boundaries of most other Greater Victoria ridings. It suggested adding Victoria West to the Esquimalt-Metchosin riding and renaming it Esquimalt-Colwood. The committee says it heard from the community that Victoria West is more aligned with its Gorge Waterway neighbours than with Victoria. That riding would have 58,000 people.
Metchosin would leave the riding currently represented by MLA Mitzi Dean and join Juan de Fuca, Sooke, Port Renfrew, and the Malahat area in a renamed Juan de Fuca-Malahat riding that would include Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay, and Cobble Hill. It would have a population of 45,000. This means the Malahat area communities will leave the Cowichan riding to join the other small South Island towns.
According to legislation implemented last June, the committee must include a Supreme Court or Court of Appeal judge, BC’s current chief electoral officer, and a third member recommended by the Speaker of the House, the premier, and the leader of the opposition. In October last year the government appointed Justice Nitya Iyer, BC’s chief electoral officer Anton Boegman, and Linda Tynan, a local government advisor from the Kootenays.
Every two election cycles, the BC Electoral Boundaries Committee is tasked with reassessing the boundaries to ensure each riding has roughly equivalent population sizes. Its preliminary report was shared with the BC Legislature on Monday afternoon. The committee wants public input—attend an in person meeting in Victoria on Oct. 31, or online meetings Oct. 21 and Nov. 8. Feedback from the public is due Nov. 22, after which the committee will hold meetings with MLAs. The committee will submit a final report with boundary recommendations on April 2, 2023.
Around the ’Shore
🐻 **Salish Bear totem pole restored on the Malahat highway lookout.**The pole was damaged in a deliberate fire last summer in what appeared to be a reaction to the toppling of Captain James Cook’s statue in Victoria’s inner harbour. The totem pole was restored by Cowichan carver Doug August. It was originally carved by Stan Modeste in 1966. [Times Colonist]
✈️ LIFESUPPORT, the global leader in medical repatriation, is looking for critical care nurses, respiratory therapists, and physicians to join their team. Send your resume to their Chief Flight Nurse at hiring@lifesupporttransport.com.*
🐋 An aquatic showdown between orcas and humpbacks****gave whale watchers a memorable, if confusing and possibly scary, experience. A pod of transient Biggs orcas were spotted off the coast last week, behaving “unusually active” with two humpback whales. The two species aren’t often seen together, though both are common sights around the Island. [CBC]
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**✏️ School Board candidate survey:**Last week we shared the results of a survey our sister publication, Capital Daily, sent to every municipal government candidate in Greater Victoria. Now we've turned our attention to school board trustees, and have shared a link to candidates for a trustee survey. We'll share their answers soon. If you know of, or are a school board candidate, make sure you get your answers in quickly. Email me for the link if you can't find it.
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TOGETHER WITH CENTENNIAL COURT
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Under construction and move-in ready this winter, take advantage of early bird incentives and pricing or a rent-to-own program. Sales start in October—register today for more info at CentennialCourt.ca.
Community Events
🏘 Tonight: Metchosin all-candidates meeting, hosted by the Association for the Protection of Rural Metchosin. In person at the Metchosin Community Hall. Reception at 6:30pm to meet candidates and submit questions. Speeches and question period begin at 7pm. Speeches will be recorded and shared after the meeting for those who cannot attend.
**✏️ This week: School Board all-candidate meetings.**The Sooke Parents’ Education Advisory Council is hosting forums for the candidates running for the Sooke School Board. The board has seven seats: four for candidates from the Belmont zone (Colwood, Highlands, Langford, and Metchosin), and three from the Milnes Landing Zone (Sooke and Port Renfrew). The Miles Landing candidate forum is online, Oct. 5, 6:30-8:30pm. Belmont candidates will meet on Oct. 6, 6:30-8:30pm in the Belmont Secondary School theatre. Submit questions ahead of time.
**🚴🏼 Free transit for Go by Bike Week participants:**The fall go by bike week is happening from now until Oct. 16, and participants ride free on transit. Just use the bike rack or show your helmet.
What’s Offshore? A Boat-load!
Esquimalt Lagoon looking towards Washington State, taken on Oct. 3, 2022 (📸 Tom Gierasimczuk)
🚢**#1**The Potinais a Bulk Carrier built in 2011 and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. It is sailing from 🇯🇵 Himeji, Japan ➡ 🇨🇦 Vancouver and was scheduled to arrive last week but is delayed.
🛳️ #2 The FPMC B Foreveris a Bulk Carrier built in 2010 and is sailing under the flag of Liberia. It is sailing from 🇹🇼 Mailiao, Taiwan ➡ 🇨🇦 Vancouver and was scheduled to arrive two weeks ago.
⛴ #3 The Atmosphereis a Bulk Carrier built in 2009 and is sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands. It seems to be sailing from 🇨🇦 Vancouver ➡ 🇨🇦 Vancouver? It was supposed to "arrive" last week but seems to be delayed (or caught in some sort of inter-dimensional hamster wheel). Either way, watch this space!
🚢 #4 The SeaSpan Adonis is a Container Ship built in 2010 and is sailing under the flag of Hong Kong. It is sailing from from 🇺🇸 Tacoma, WA ➡ 🇨🇦 Vancouver and was scheduled to arrive on Sunday but seems to be delayed.
🛳️ #5The Polymniais a Bulk Carrier built in 2012 and is sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands. It is sailing from 🇯🇵 Nagoya, Japan ➡ 🇨🇦 Vancouver and was scheduled to arrive last week but seems to be delayed.
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TODAY’S PARTNER: MP ALISTAIR MACGREGOR
Proudly representing the Cowichan-Malahat-Langford riding since 2015
As your Member of Parliament, Alistair MacGregor understands that life for Canada’s workers should be getting easier; not harder. If you need assistance with federal agencies, contact him.
Westshore in Your Words
We heard from a lot of you about last week's photo essay of the Westshore Speedway’s last race. Here are some of the comments.
👎 ”I take exception to your ‘lament’ of the loss of Westshore Speedway! The wanton burning of fossil fuels is unconscionable in a climate emergency. ’Delightful’ assault of the senses!? Give me a break. We were enjoying the tranquil forests of Francis King Park. But instead of hearing birdsong, we heard the whining, roaring engine revving of the Speedway’s last big hurrah. Decades of flagrant macho mania finally gone. I pity the next municipality who ‘inherits’ the speedway. North Duncan? Why don’t you talk to some people who live there and see what their views of this obsolete, destructive, testosterone-driven, misogynistic ‘sport’ are? We had the great misfortune of one of the Western Speedway racers moving in next door to us. He cut all the trees, and built a mechanics garage. Our quality of life quickly deteriorated from the loss of nature, the noise, the toxic diesel fumes. We had to move. Why don’t you interview an Environmental Health Officer about the health impacts of all those toxic fumes, and pollution (the #1 health problem in the world today!). One of the racers proudly advertised on the back windshield of his red monster truck, “More balls than brains.” That captures the essence of the ‘sport’ in my view.” —K.W.
👍 ”I have only ever written before to criticize. Today I write to congratulate you on a brilliant article on the Western Speedway. Well done!” —Paul Stubbing
👍 ”Great photos! And story, of course, but I really loved the pics. I've tried taking photos panning, and don't get the great ones James got.” —Linda Mooney
✍🏼 Do you have thoughts about our coverage? Let me know!