Leslie Campbell

To S Ison above:

Given the nature of the story and the refusal of those on Our Langford or the previous mayor and council to talk with Focus—indeed two people threatened us with lawsuits—I believe we did the right thing, i.e. not be intimidated into silence or even ignoring a difficult community conflict. 

We were very careful with this article. We always are, but in this case in particular, we did not want to cause more divisiveness.

Judith Lavoie did a great job in my view.

UPDATE (July 14, 2022): Stephen Andrew published the results of his survey today, at https://www.stephenandrew.ca/mmi_survey_results. Of more than 550 respondents, 41% said they support the City’s Missing Middle initiative, 26% opposed it, and 31% said they needed more information before deciding; 53% said they weren’t sufficiently consulted by the City. Around 48% said they thought the initiative should be decided upon by the next Council, after the October 15 election, while 43% said it needs to happen as soon as possible. Today, Victoria’s Council will give the first two readings to the Missing Middle bylaws, and decide when to set a public hearing. 

This controversial development proposal for 902 Fairfield heads to Victoria council today (Feb 24, 2022) for consideration. Minor tweaks have been made. There will be only 4 "affordable" suites--at 20% below market price, but similar overall in size of buildings and tree removal.

BC Government just announced: it is beginning a process to phase out B.C.'s mink-farming industry due to ongoing public-health risks associated with COVID-19.

"This decision follows the recommendations of public health officials and infectious disease experts about managing the threat of the virus for workers at the farms and the broader public," said Lana Popham, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries. "Our government will work with affected farmers and workers to help them pursue other farming, business or job opportunities that support their families."

The press release states: "The proposed phase out follows the conditions of the provincial health officer's order and includes:

* a permanent ban on breeding mink;

* a permanent ban on live mink on farms by April 2023; and

* all operations ceasing completely, with all pelts sold, by 2025.

The decision follows data from the BC Centre for Disease Control, which identified the potential for the SARS-CoV-2 virus to mutate in mink and be passed back to people, along with additional concerns that mutations could have an impact on vaccine effectiveness."

Linda makes a good point about the fish farm question. But the report by the Pacific Salmon Foundation—which by the way has advocated for all fish farming to be “contained” since 2018—indicates more data is needed to make conclusions about its role in relation to wild salmon health in the Salish Sea.

Read the full report here: https://marinesurvival.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021PSF-SynthesisPaper-Screen.pdf

As for the federally-funded “Local Journalism Initiative,” funds to hire reporters are distributed via arms-length organizations like (in the case of the National Observer), News Media Canada. Other media like FOCUS are granted the right to re-publish such stories for free. The government has no direct influence on the stories produced.

Here's a story re the federal government and fish farms by Rochelle Baker: 

New cases of COVID-19 have been found on another mink farm—and government is taking action. Here's the government press release just in (bolding mine):

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries

INFORMATION BULLETIN
Mink test positive for SARS-CoV-2

ABBOTSFORD - Two mink have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 in humans, on a farm under quarantine after it had mink test positive in May 2021.

Five additional mink samples from the same farm have initially tested positive at the B.C. Animal Health Lab, with final results pending from The National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg.

The two positive mink were identified through a co-ordinated wildlife surveillance project led by the Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, in co-operation with the One Health Working Group. One of the main objectives is to assess the potential for virus transmission to free-ranging animals from an infected premise. In this instance, four mink had escaped their cages and were captured on-farm.

As a result of the latest infections, a provincial health officer's order has also been issued to all mink-farm operators in the province, placing a moratorium on any new mink farms in B.C. and capping existing mink farms at their current numbers. The order is effective immediately. Each farm is required to report the total number of mink, both breeding stock and non-breeding mink, to the provincial health officer and the medical health officer in their health authority. 

The Province is conducting a review of its policies and regulations with respect to fur farms, while ensuring the recommended mitigation measures are in place and enforced to protect both public and animal health.

Three B.C. mink farms have had mink test positive for SARS-CoV-2 since December 2020. All three remain under quarantine, with no mink being moved to or from the properties. Fraser Health, WorkSafeBC and the Province continue to ensure biosecurity measures are in place to protect workers and families on mink farms, as well as making sure each farm is taking all necessary precautions to reduce the risk of spreading SARS-CoV-through human-to-animal or animal-to-human transmission.

The nine B.C. mink farms, all located in the Fraser Valley, employ approximately 150 workers. The exact locations of mink farms are not being released as per Section 16.1 of the Animal Health Act, which prohibits the disclosure of information that would identify a specific place where an animal is located.

Learn More:

Provincial health officer's order on mink farms:
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/health/about-bc-s-health-care-system/office-of-the-provincial-health-officer/covid-19/covid-19-pho-order-mink-farms.pdf

According to the Canadian Association of Journalists, a major victory for press freedom has just been won::

"In his decision, Justice Thompson agreed with the press coalition, stating: “I am not satisfied that geographically extensive exclusion zones, and associated access checkpoints, have been justified as reasonably necessary in order to give the police the space they need.” 

He continued: “I exercise my discretion to make the order sought by the media consortium, on the basis that in making operational decisions and exercising its discretion surrounding the removal and arrest of persons violating the order, the RCMP will be reminded by the presence of this additional language to keep in mind the media’s special role in a free and democratic society, and the necessity of avoiding undue and unnecessary interference with the journalistic function.

“This is, without question, a watershed moment in the history of Canadian press freedom advocacy,” said Brent Jolly, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists. 

“The RCMP have now been told by two different courts, as well as their own oversight body, that their treatment of journalists is unacceptable in a free and democratic society. It is our hope that this latest defeat will prompt the RCMP to reexamine their approach with regards to allowing journalists to do their jobs.”  "

Arguments are being heard in court now, continuing Friday, July 16. See the formal submission by media organizations here.

The Public Hearing for the 647 Goldstream Ave. development is now scheduled for Monday, April 19. Citizens continued to be concerned about lack of information and process.

Readers concerned about the wolves might want to also read a recent piece by Cheryl Alexander on the anniversary of Takaya's death, reflecting on what really caused it. Also senior wolf researchers Dr. John and Mary Theberge write an open letter to BC's Forests Minister recommending 5 important steps that need to be taken. 

See this open letter to Minister Conroy by Canada's senior wolf researchers Dr John and Mary Theberge. It accuses BC of decades of mismanagement of wolves based on faulty assumptions and poor data, and urges the immediate stop of aerial killing and trophy hunting of wolves, as well as more funds for wolf censusing.

The public hearing for the Fairway development is on March 15, 2021 at 5:30pm.

Thanks Frank. We've changed that to "few" rules, which are described, to some degree, earlier in the article: "Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland have a bag limit of three wolves for anyone holding a basic hunting license, but in some other areas of the province there is no bag limit, no closed season, and no requirement to report wolf kills. British Columbians do not require a tag or special license to kill a wolf and non-residents pay a fee of $50." —Editor

Though first reading on the Fairway proposal was supposed to take place at the January 18 Langford council meeting, an error in the agenda—listing it by the wrong bylaw number and address—caused it to be delayed at the last minute till February 16 at 5:30 pm.

TLC just announced the organization was successful in raising more than $600,000 and therefore able to protect the 11.1 hectares (27 acres) of Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem in the District of Highlands. The most at-risk biogeoclimatic zone in the province, the CDF zone has been most affected by human activities. To learn more about this project please visit http://conservancy.bc.ca/2021/01/news-release-millstream-creek-watershed-property-protected/ to see video and images from the site.

The CRD has extended the public consultation period on its draft Solid Waste Management Plan to February 15, 2021. The Mount Work Coalition, with other community groups, requested the extension so that more people could review and comment on the plan.

On Thursday, December 17, 2020,  DFO renewed the licences of 19 Discovery Island fish farms—but only for 18 months. All farms must be emptied by June 30, 2022, with no new licences to be issued.