Comox Valley Echo - January 20, 2015

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NEWS

10.Valley mayors look in their 2015 crystal balls.

SPORTS

12.Ski racersmake a splash atWhistler slalom.P R I C E : 5 7 C E N T S P L U S G S T V O L . 2 1 , N O . 0 6

11.RD BACK IN COURTSTOTAN FALLS BATTLE WITH 3L DEVELOPMENTS AWAITS RULING

04.SOME SHOPPERS ARE GOING TO MISS THE TARGET STORE

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COURTENAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA • Tuesday, January 20, 2015

NEWSEC

HO

www.comoxvalleyecho.comTUESDAY.COURTENAY, BC. JANUARY 20, 20152

For the latest Comox Valley Weather visit: www.comoxvalleyecho.com

Comox Valley Weather

Tuesday

Cloudy. 30% chance of showers or drizzle in the morning. Fog

patches. High 7°C.

Wednesday

A mix of sun and cloud.Low 2°C. High 6°C.

ThursdayCloudy.

Low 4°C. High 7°C.

FridayRain.

Low 5°C. High 7°C.

Saturday

Periods of rain.Low 6°C. High 8°C.

BYMICHAEL BRIONES Echo Staff

The Comox Valley Com-munity Foundation was extremely generous this year when it doled out $200,000 to local chari-ties and students.

At the Community En-richment Awards held at the Comox Recreation Centre, the foundation handed out over $118,000 in grants to 20 local orga-nizations.

“This is a 50 per cent in-crease over last year and the largest amount the Co-mox Valley Community Foundation has been able to disburse since it was founded,” said Norm Car-ruthers, CVC Foundation President. “To be able to pay such a sizable amount is very exciting for our many donors and our di-rectors.”

This year, the founda-tion received close to 60 applications from the dif-ferent organizations in the valley that need help to achieve their goals and keep their operations sus-tainable. Their needs are

diverse, according to Car-ruthers.

The selected organiza-tions fall within one of the five areas of interest sup-ported by the Comox Val-ley Community Founda-tion and include Arts and Culture, Environment and Parks, Health and Welfare, Education and Youth, and Seniors. The CVC Founda-tion has awarded over $1.5 million since 1996.

“The Community En-richment Awards ceremo-ny is one of the highlights of the year for the Founda-tion,” said Carruthers. “We hear first hand from the groups about how these funds impact each organi-zation and the community as a whole. It’s inspiring!”

The 2015 Grant Recipi-ents:

• Black Creek Commu-nity Association ($1,500) - To improve community event capacity with pur-chase and installation of a dishwasher, gas grill and event tent.

• Comox Valley Com-munity Adult Literacy & Learning Society ($3,500)

(Continued on page 3)

COMMUNITY GIVING

CV Foundationhands out largestcash awards everto local non-profits$118,000 presented in grants to community groups, and there’s more to come with busaries, endowments

We hear fi rst-hand from the groups about how these funds impact each organization and the community as a whole. It’s inspiring,”

NORM CARRUTHERSCVC Foundation president

Helen Kime of the Comox Valley Archives and Museum is pleased with the $1,500 they received to expand itsstorage area. Presenting the checks were Wendy Craig (l) of the CVCF and donor Judy Hagen (r)

Black Creek Community Association representative Dana Starrit (centre) receives grant worth$1,500 from foundtion member Mark Burger (right) and donor Bent Harder.

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Cinema #4: “The Merry Widow” Metropolitan Opera - LIVE Saturday, January 17, 10:00 am (ends approx. 12:45 pm). Doors open at 9:30. Approx. 2 hours, 45 minutes. 1 intermissionCinema #4: “Beethoven” In Search of Great Composers Sunday, January 18, 10:00 am (ends 12:15 pm). Doors open at 9:30Approx. 2 hour, 15 minutesCinema #1: “The Imitation Game” PG: Violence. Nightly: 6:50 (8:55) & 9:25 (11:30). Saturday & Sunday Matinees: 12:20 (2:35) & 3:35 (5:40)Cinema #2: “Taken 3” 14A: 14A: Violence. Pass restricted until January 23rd. Nightly: 7:00 (9:00) & 9:30 (11:30)Saturday & Sunday Matinees: 1:20 (3:20) & 3:45 (5:45)Cinema #3: “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies 3D” PG: Violence; frightening scenes. Nightly: 6:30 (9:05) & 9:35 (12:10)Saturday & Sunday Matinees: 3D 12:00 (2:35) & 2D 3:15 (5:50)Cinema #4: “American Sniper” 14A: Violence, coarse language. Nightly: 6:40 (9:05) & 9:40 (12:05). Saturday & Sunday Matinees: 12:10 (2:35) & 3:25 (5:50)

Box Office Hours for Jan. 16th – 22nd. Nightly: 6:00 pm – 9:50 pm. Saturday & Sunday Matinees: 11:30 am - 3:50 pm

The Imitation Game (PG) Nightly 6:55 & 9:30. Sat & Sun Matinees 12:55 & 3:30

Taken 3 (14A) (No Passes) Nightly 7:20 & 9:45. Sat & Sun Matinees 1:20 & 3:45

Into the Woods (PG) Nightly 7:00 & 9:40. Sat & Sun Matinees 1:00 & 3:40

Paddington (G) Nightly 7:05 & 9:20. Sat & Sun Matinees 1:05 & 3:20

American Sniper (14A) Nightly 6:45 & 9:35. Sat & Sun Matinees 12:45 & 3:35

The Merry Widow (MET Opera) Saturday Jan. 17th 10:00AM

In Search of Beethoven Sunday Jan. 18th 10:00AM

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www.comoxvalleyecho.comTUES DAY.JANUARY 20, 2015 3

(Continued from page 2)

- To deliver online and in person “Money Mat-ters” program to help low-er income learners develop their skills in the areas of budgeting and managing money.

• Comox Valley Ar-chives & Museum Society ($1,500) - To build three-dimensional dioramas for toppers on information display towers.

• Comox Senior Centre Association ($1,500) - To replace and upgrade exist-ing cabinets in the kitchen area to provide more stor-age.

• Comox Valley Commu-nity Arts Council ($3,000) - Community Loan Pro-gram - to create and stock a “Tickle Trunk” to include a sound system, projector, 2 way radios, laptop, folding table and chairs for com-munity use.

• Comox Valley Food Bank Society ($4,000) - To replace baseboard heat with radiant heat to im-prove working conditions for staff and volunteers.

• Comox Valley Hospice Society ($16,000) - To pro-vide all room furnishings

for one of the four new res-idential hospice beds.

• Comox Valley Life-long Learning Association ($3,000) - To support the “1000 x 5” Project which aims to ensure every child in the Comox Valley has at least 1,000 books read to them from birth until they are five years old, and en-tering kindergarten.

• Comox Valley Special Olympics ($24,000) - To purchase new or replace-ment equipment and pay costs of renting commu-nity sports facilities and registration and transpor-tation fees for 90 Comox Valley Special Olympians and volunteers who com-pete in 11 different sports.

• Comox Valley Ther-apeutic Riding Society ($5,660) - To upgrade paddocks and horse shel-ters and provide portable fencing for temporary pad-docks.

• Comox Valley Wheel-chair Sports Society ($8,064) - To acquire 4 new all-sports wheelchairs.

• Courtenay Recreation-al Association ($16,000) - To support the Special Needs Recreation pro-grams for adults with de-

velopmental disabilities including a range of active living, social and educa-tional programs (fitness, bowling, sewing, music and art).

• Ecole Punt ledge Park Elementary School ($1,425.85) - To support Grade 3 readers and their parents by involving them in the 40 Book Challenge which encourages students to read, build their vocab-ularies and acquire new knowledge.

• Fi lberg Heritage Lodge & Park Association ($4,000) - To purchase 250 new chairs to maxi-mize seating at various events at the Comox Rota-ry stage and elsewhere in the Filberg Park, including concerts, theatre, dance re-citals, public lectures and weddings.

• Glacier View Lodge Society ($5,000) - To pur-chase equipment for adult day programs focusing on Creativity in Demen-tia (art, music, movement, horticulture, drama and sensory programs).

• Hornby Island Edu-cational Society ($3,000) - To acquire a storage con-tainer for freezers and bulk

food bins used in the Com-munity Food Program.

• Scouts Canada - Camp Gilwell ($4,000) - To refur-bishing the kitchen to cur-rent Island Health and BC Building Code standards.

• Sid Williams Theatre Society ($5,000) - To re-place the aging theatre cur-tain system.

• The Canadian Red Cross Society ($5,305) - To purchase a shipping container for storage of medical equipment loaned to Comox Valley residents recovering from surgery or illness in their homes and emergency/disaster assis-tance equipment.

• Union Bay Commu-nity Club and Recreation Association ($3,000) - To purchase a commercial dishwasher.

The CV Community Foundation also adminis-ters a number of endow-ment funds for local or-ganizations whose total awards, disbursed in late 2014, amounted to more than $50,000.

Later this year $23,000 in scholarships and bur-saries will be awarded to local students. The CVC Foundation also sets aside

funds for grant requests that emerge outside of the grant review and award cy-cle.

Currently the Comox Valley Community Foun-

dation has assets totalling $5 million. All assets are invested in perpetuity so there will be an on-going source of funding for local initiatives.

Rene Poirier of the Comox Valley Wheelchair Sports Society received $8,064 which will be used to purchase four new all-sports wheelchairs.Presenting the checks were CVCF’s Mark Burger and donor Ken Rowe.

CV Community Foundation gives out local grants

BY MICHAEL BRIONESEcho Staff

The residents of Horn-by Island have spoken loud and clear. They are against the Comox Valley Regional District’s plan to borrow funds for the con-struction of a new fi re hall on Hornby Island.

The alternative approval process, which the CVRD has used eff ectively in get-ting major projects fund-ed like the Comox Valley Curling Club, didn’t work this time.

When the AAP closed on Jan. 15, more than 10 per cent of the electors - 83 or more electors - sub-mitted response forms opposing the adoption of a bylaw to borrow $1.6 million to fund the proj-ect. The CVRD received 212 valid elector response forms that were submitted by the deadline.

A resident said it was a strong message from the residents, who are off end-ed the CVRD board opted to apply the AAP for a ma-jor project that requires

say - ‘is not the Hornby way,’” said resident Bob Gee. “Indeed in BC this mechanism has eroded our rights.”

The cost estimate for the construction of a new fi re hall in Hornby Is-land is $1.9 million that the CVRD board decided would be funded by bor-rowing $1.6 million in debt fi nancing, $200,000 in federal gas tax funding and $100,000 from capi-tal reserves. They need electoral approval to bor-row funds, which would

be paid back through tax requisition.

Residents made sure the AAP process did not suc-ceed by keeping track of opposing votes that were delivered to the CVRD.

Gee was critical of the AAP being held during the Christmas season. It was not the best time because some residents were either absent from the island and whose attention was else-where at the time.

As well, the AAP forms were only available through the internet and

at CVRD offi ces in Cour-tenay. Not all Hornby residents have computers, said Gee, and not all travel off the island, which made obtaining a form inconve-nient.

There was also the is-sue of the true cost of the project, said Gee. They felt there is a lack of con-sistent and transparent in-formation due to confl ict-ing reports in brochures handed out by the Hornby Island Fire Department and the CVRD.

(Continued on page 4)

signifi cant funds.“To make a statement

or choice by way of not responding - as we would

Hornby residents vote no to funds for new fi re hallAAP fails as more than 210 voters submit responses against proposed $1.9m project

To make a statement or choice by way of not responding ,,, is not the Hornby way. Indeed, in BC this mechanism has eroded our rights”

BOB GEEHornby resident

csf.bc.ca

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Another resident Peter Wardle said they are not against the creation of a new fi re hall but the ma-jority are not happy with the high cost of the proj-ect.

“I am actually support-ive of a new hall,” said Wardle. “In 2013 we did public meetings and the consensus was that we should look at alternative ways to provide shelter for the equipment and also provide adequate facilities for the fi refi ghter.

“Once the process was over it became apparent that CVRD staff and the fi re chief put their blinkers on and started down the path to do a traditional fi re hall without consider-ing alternates.”

Wardle pointed out that the fi rst scheme was 10,000 sq ft then reduced to 8,780 sq ft for the debut in July 2014.

“The preliminary cost was $600,000 over bud-get,” said Wardle. “This of

course upset many people. At this point people real-ized that the process had run amuck. Anyone who spoke up was sanctioned as being against the fi re-fi ghters who deserved anything they wanted. It became somewhat of a holy war.”

James Bast, the CVRD’s Manager of Fire Services, indicated that an integral part of the project is the public consultation pro-cess.

“There had been pretty extensive public consulta-tions on Hornby Island,” said Bast. “It’s not really ours to be surprised (about the no vote), it’s ours to accomplish and provide the electorate with all the information that they re-quire in order to make an informed decision.”

Gee agreed that there had been meetings with the CVRD but called it “one-sided” as none of their input was taken into consideration.

Bast said the CVRD board will have to look at how they will proceed with

this project. They could opt to hold a referendum to obtain the assent of the electors.

The Hornby Island fi re rescue department has been serving the commu-nity since 1968. There’s an urgency to getting this project underway because the current building is old and no longer a safe place to work for the fi refi ghters and for the department to provide medical fi rst re-sponder, fi re protection, technical rescue, and am-bulance services. It has functional and spatial de-fi ciencies and will likely not survive in a moderate earthquake.

“The original plan was to begin construction in 2015 and have it com-pleted by the end of 2015,” said Bast. “We recognize the urgency but it’s at the behest of the board of di-rectors to where we will be going with this now.”

Wardle said there are other solutions and they are hoping the CVRD and residents will get a chance to explore them.

Not against fi re hall, just the cost

BY DREW A. PENNEREcho Staff

The serene Thursday morning environment is filled with the sound of milk being steamed and infrequent beeps as items are swiped through the checkout counter. There’s also positive chatter be-tween workers as they start to discuss what life will be like since their employer, Target Canada Co., an-nounced Jan. 15 it is pulling out of the Canadian mar-ketplace.

“The stores will all like-ly be closed within 16-20 weeks,” Target spokesper-son Molly Snyder told the Echo in an email. “We also don’t yet know when each store will close, but it will vary by store.”

Target, which has 133 stores with 17,000 people on the payroll, has applied for protection under the

Companies’ Creditors Ar-rangement Act and said nearly all Canadian em-ployees would receive a minimum of 16 weeks com-pensation, including wages and benefits for employees who won’t be needed in the wind-down period.

While many customers have chosen to frequent Target specifically because of the less frenetic pace of shopping, none of the com-pany’s Canadian stores were profitable, forcing it to make the tough decision and give up on its failed for-ay north of the border.

“I’m sad,” said Courte-nay resident Amy Burley, who has come to love the Minneapolis-based retailer for its great deals on toys. “They put stuff on sale and they don’t advertise it.”

Roger Langill, of Co-mox, said the local Target store did a good job of ca-tering to his needs.

“They’re one of the bet-ter stores,” he said. “It’s really clean and laid out well.”

With two kids at home he’s come to appreciate the prices at Target.

“We’re not happy they’re closing,” he added. “It’s too

When the arrow misses ...Target closing all its storesEmployees to receive at least 16 weeks pay

bad for Driftwood Mall. It’s a good anchor store.”

Nick Robinson, a profes-sor of economics and inter-national business at North Island College said the spe-cific economic climate of the Comox Valley had lit-tle to do with Target’s poor

performance.“It is a really interesting

story,” he said. “It’s right up there with

the all-time biggest fail-ures by a business to move across a border.”

The retailer just didn’t do the basic things re-quired of a department store, namely putting the right merchandise on the right shelves at the right price

“I think they underesti-mated what was involved,” he said, adding the case showed just how hearty “old Canadian chains” re-ally are. “Canadian retail-ers came out stronger than we thought they would.”

Alex Yule said she’s go-ing to have to wait for her mom to go down to Tar-get in the States in order to stock up on diapers for her children.

“I find them better,” she said of Target’s generic brand disposable nappies. “They fit better and they’re way cheaper - by $20.”

She too has enjoyed the atmosphere at Target.

“It’s quiet,” she said. “I guess that’s why they’re closing.”

Zenith Nicholson has made a point of coming to Target when she comes to the Comox Valley from Errington.

(Continued on page 5)Alex Yule and her two kids during a diaper run at Target.


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“It’s my first stop,” she said, while unloading bins from the Target cart into her car.

“These were $2.39 each. You can’t find them cheap-er.”

The employees were al-ways available and friend-ly too, she said, adding the news of the closure took her by surprise.

“I was shocked,” she said. “They haven’t been open very long.”

Over at Walmart that Thursday the checkouts beeped about once every few seconds and the gen-eral din was much louder.

As employee Lynn Hick-ey headed into work at the retailer that analysts say stands to gain the most from Target’s disappear-ance she said there are some good reasons the company with the bull’s-eye logo couldn’t survive.

“Nothing caught my eye,” she said adding their women’s clothing selec-tion wasn’t anywhere near as good as at their US loca-tions - where she has pur-chased items in the past. “I thought they’d take their buyer out and shoot her.”

Vancouver-based retail industry observer David Ian Gray of DIG360 Con-sulting Ltd. said Target

should have succeeded despite facing a sluggish economy in some parts of Canada.

“This was a strategic management mistake,” he said, extending his con-dolences to employees. “I hope everyone there lands on their feet.”

Gray notes that Target will have a lasting impact on the local environment, considering it forced other businesses to pull up their socks.

“They really did improve the game of a lot of the in-cumbent bigger retailers,” he said. “In the long-run I think Target will be forgot-ten.”

Some shoppers will miss Target

Man killed in head-on collisionBY DREW A. PENNEREcho Staff

A man believed to be from Bowser was killed in a head-on collision with a fl atbed truck Monday morning along the Inland Island Highway a few kilo-meters south of the main Comox Valley turnoff . Of-fi cials said the driver of

the northbound pickup was killed almost instant-ly after careening across the median and striking the semi-truck in a south-bound lane around 9 a.m.

The pickup was so man-gled investigators had a hard time identifying the truck at fi rst.

The driver of the Volvo fl atbed, which was carry-

ing no cargo and was on its way to Parksville, was not seriously injured.

Emergency responders from Cumberland had al-ready been looking into two other accidents just after 8:30 a.m. when the fatal collision occured about 2 km south of the Royston overpass.

Firefi ghters didn’t at-

tempt to extricate thedriver of the pickup sincehe was already dead, butinstead monitored the gasleaking from the semi.

The highway was closedin both directions asRCMP launched a majorinvestigation.

Offi cials won’t releasethe name of the deceaseduntil next of kin are noti-fi ed.

Icy roads are thought tohave caused the accident.

Towing crews prepare to take away the pick-up truck and semi-trailer truck that collided Monday Monday morning on the Inland Is-land Highway. (Submitted photos)


Further to your story, “Sediment blamed for Boil Water Advisory”

Bravo to City of Cour-tenay CAO David Allen for taking it upon himself and his staff to go take a look for themselves as to what may have caused the re-cent catastrophic flood and what exactly was contrib-uting to our ongoing water turbidity.

In essence, as they soon discovered, it leads back to all the drainages flowing into Comox Lake that have been stripped bare of tim-ber allowing for massive sediment and mud flows into the lake, the source of our community’s drinking water.

Still, how is it that the forest lands above us have been allowed to undergo full bore liquidation over the past 18 years; especially throughout TimberWest’s Oyster River Division, the old Comox Logging and Railway Co. claim? Well, in essence, it has been a per-fect storm of two incredibly toxic public policies; one provincial and one federal.

After the Liberals first came to power back in 2003, Bill 88, the Private Managed Forests Lands Act was quickly passed by our Ministry of “Sustain-able Resource Manage-ment”, Honourable Stanley Hagen Minister. And, from what I gather, it was at this point that big corporate

interests owning private timberlands became, in es-sence, “the foxes in charge of the chicken house”, (as one old logger so aptly phrased it) with virtually no accountability to any government agency at all. (This was confirmed by a source within our Ministry of Forests who stated that they’ve had no oversight of these privately owned tim-berlands since sometime back in the 1990s.)

To compound this di-sastrous provincial policy, in the late 1990s our gov-ernment in Ottawa had given the green light to resource companies to go right ahead and morph themselves into income trusts.

And what was the re-sult? Well, TimberWest did have the best intentions back around 1994 when it signed a sustainability agreement stating that it was to maintain a cut level of 400,000 cubic metres of wood for the next 10 years (An average logging truck can load 42 to 45 cubic me-tres of logs) on the Oyster River Division claim.

But then once the cor-porate giant became an in-come trust, over the next 10 or so years (according to a local source closely connected to our logging community) it found itself having to triple this figure to 1.2 million cubic metres a year in order to maxi-

A logging disasterLETTERS

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mize profits and meet its obligations of a payout of $1.08 per unit (8% return on average) to its unit hold-ers. So what happened? It seems the forest compa-ny quickly discovered it wasn’t able to harvest the cubic metres of wood per hectare originally project-ed and thereby was forced to increase their cut to a massive degree.

After hearing all these disturbing tales coming out of the local woods after the first major floods down on the Puntledge/Courtenay river flats occurred back in 2010, I thought it only fair to check directly with Tim-berWest so emailed vice-president, Timberland Op-erations, Dave Whitely.

I asked how we, the citi-zens of the Comox Valley, might access the annual harvest rate for the years between 1994 and 2009 for his company’s Oyster River Division?

He responded by noting that while they do indeed publicly disclose, in their annual reports, harvest rates by “tenure” (for all their Vancouver Island pri-vate lands, I presume) they won’t provide them for a specific operating level i.e. the Oyster River Division.

And after asking him once again for a direct ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to whether he’d be willing to provide us with the Oyster River Division

figures he never replied and our communication came to an abrupt end...

In conclusion, what makes this all more incred-ibly depressing (some are now claiming that, since 2000, Canada has become No. 1 in the world for loss of intact forest landscapes) is that some sources have it our provincial public ser-vant pension plans were, and still maybe are, heavi-ly invested in TimberWest, if not Island Timberlands, the other big private tim-berlands’ owner here on east coast of Vancouver Island. That being said, I would ask then that our re-tired public servants gather together and look into this and, if it is indeed true, urge their investment plan ad-visors to divest of all these toxic holdings a.s.a.p.

And to see for yourself hard evidence of what has transpired on privately owned timberlands along the east coast of Vancouver Island over the past fifteen years try googling: “Uni-versity of Maryland Global Forest Change” website.

Rick JamesSandwick

Logging to blameRe: Our ‘record setting’

boil water advisoryConsidering the serious-

ness of the turbid water sit-uation in the Vallley, your article had a few mixed

messages on the ‘cause’ of the mud flow affecting the high turbidity. David Al-len, Courtenay CAO, tells us that “the mouth of the Cruickshank is showing extraordinary sediment flow to the Comox Lake...this is what’s led, as far as I can tell, to the turbidity...”.

Ken Jensen, woodwork-er and mushroom picker, frankly says he hasn’t seen anything like this in his 48 years in these woods, and goes on to describe how the very steep areas above the Cruickshank have been logged off, as are the areas around the Comox and Willemar Lakes.

But the explanation by David Leitch, the CVRD’s senior manager as to the possible reasons for the turbidity really puzzles us, and I quote: “The recre-ation activity out there has changed, the weather, the major storm events have changed, the population has changed and housing” “So there’s been a lot of change. To pinpoint one thing is really difficult”.

Why is it so difficult to blame the real cause of the muddy water situation on the logging in that ar-ea? That answer actually seems a bit ‘political’. All we have to do is look at the photographs in the article - the outflow of silt from Per-severence Creek into Co-mox Lake, and the photo of

sediment from the Cruick-shank River. Open your eyes for heaven’s sake! And what ‘recreation activity’ is Mr. Leitch talking about? Please enlighten us. Ma-jor storm events? Yes we agree on that, but with seri-ous climate change gallop-ing upon us, the Advisory committee might have to burn some midnight oil to mitigate the continuing and very serious problems which the Valley will be ex-periencing from now on.

Further, how does “changing population and housing’ affect this situa-tion? Mr. Leitch ends with “To pinpoint one thing is very difficult”.

No it isn’t Mr. Leitch. The cause was the serious extent of logging in our watersheds - something that many countries would never allow, but obviously the BC government does! Someone should tell them that trees hold the soils which hold back the wa-ter when severe weather events occur.

Sadly you can’t plant trees fast enough to keep this from happening again and again, especially now with climate change star-ing us in the face. I’m ac-tually feeling quite nervous about the future of our drinking water situation in the Valley.

Rosemary BaxterCourtenay


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DISCOVER ART AT BLACK CREEK

Discover Art is happening at the Black Creek Community Centre! One Saturday per month, the Centre will be transformed into a studio for art sessions. Christine Randolph, an artist herself who has experience in every medium of art making, will be here to lead you and your young ones through unique art projects created from recycled materials. Participation is for all ages and everyone is welcome, especially parents with young children. Saturdays, January 24, February 14 & March 14. $10 per family, per session. Pre-registration is a MUST as space is limited. Call 250-337-5190 to register

SOCIAL GROUP FOR CV SINGLES

A year ago a new group was formed in the Comox Valley for singles to get together and have dinner out in a restaurant. It was a great concept that quickly grew as more people heard about it. It is a way for singles to go out to dinner in a relaxed friendly atmosphere without the pressure of dating or eating out alone. The group meets for dinner at a diff erent restaurant every second Tuesday evening.The Comox Valley Dinner Club soon became the Comox Valley Social Group as the activities expanded beyond the bi-weekly dinners. In addition to the dinners, the group has done pot luck dinners, walks, barbeques, dances, beach parties, a murder mystery, mushroom picking and even a pot luck dinner on Christmas day.The average age of the group members are between 40 and 60 years old however

etc.ECHO

LEARN HOW TO START A BUSINESS

A local radio station recently posted a “Would You Rather” question on their Facebook page.” Would You Rather a) have a job that you LOVE...but get paid crap money...OR b) have a job you HATE...but get paid really...really well...?” What if you could have it all?Take control of your life and enjoy fi nancial independence both now and for your future. Start your own business and join thousands of other successful Canadians who’ve already discovered this unique and rewarding opportunity. Freedom is...Working the hours that suit you and your family’s lifestyle.A prosperous life without worrying about debt.Being rewarded for hard work, earning what you’re worth.Setting your own goals and having the tools to achieve them.Building a future with no limits.What is your freedom worth?If you would like to fi nd out more, simply come see what business opportunities are available in the Comox Valley at The Business of Freedom on Thursday January 22nd from 6:30 to 8:30pm at 576-5th Street

all singles are welcome to attend. There is no obligation and the only cost is for the activities you choose to take part in. Once you sign up to join the group email list, you will receive information about dinners and activities by email and you can decide which activities, if any, you want to participate in.If you would like more information about the group check out the group website at http://comoxvalleysingles.weebly.com or send an email to [email protected] water; bringing a yoga mat is optional. Drop in fee is $5-7; $3 for low income. If daytime doesn’t work for you, please email your interest for an evening or weekend class.

FREE SLEEPING WELL WORKSHOP

Free Wellness Workshop: Make Sleeping Well Your First Priority in 2015 - Is Stress Keeping You Awake at Night?Hosted by Heart Drum Beat Yoga and Healing Services on Saturday January 24th from 11 am - 12:30 pm. The House of Now - 536 Fifth Street, CourtenayThe workshop is designed to help people suff ering from sleep deprivation break through their cycle of frustration and take back the night. The training is a mixture of lecture, gentle exercise and worksheet activities. It is suitable for all ages and physical conditions.During the workshop participants will:You can register for your free ticket online at: http://heartdrumbeat.com/make-sleeping-well-your-fi rst-priority-in-2015 or phone: (250)650-9905

BY DREW A. PENNEREcho Staff

An outdoor skatepark planned for Cumberland took a step into reality as the companies behind the Village Park upgrades re-vealed detailed conceptual drawings at an open house Jan 15.

Tim O’Brien, owner of Comox Valley-based Out-look Land Design, said it has been fun to work on the realignment of the proper-ty.

“The design phase is the first step in creating the vi-sion,” he said. “There are more things to do, and it’s going to be a very pleasant, beautiful project.”

The Village of Cumber-land is building new tennis and basketball courts and a 7,100 square foot concrete skate park in the heart of the community.

About 60 people attend-ed a workshop at a school library in the community last year, drawing elements they hoped would be in-corporated into the new skatepark.

Jim Barnum, president of Spectrum Skateparks, worked to incorporate this input into the comput-er models of the extreme sports facility that’s meant to appeal to riders of many abilities and ages.

“I took the feedback from the meeting and the online survey, combining it with our designer’s knowl-edge, and produced a de-sign that we feel will serve the skaters of Cumberland of all ages and abilities,” Barnum said in an email interview. “It’s a park that really has longevity and the power to keep drawing riders back due to the high ‘fun factor.’”

O’Brien said the feed-back was helpful in craft-ing the implementation of overall concepts for Village Park, which is the compo-nent of the project Outlook has been tasked with.

“You bring them into the design so that their ideas are brought forward,” he said. “All that informa-tion was tabulated and graphed.”

Over the next two-to-three months the designers will proceed with detailed

Cumberland skateparkdesigns shown to users Key featureof Village Park upgrades

construction drawings.“It is a very exciting

project for Spectrum and Outlook,” he said. “We’re looking forward to the proj-ect getting built.”

Last Thursday’s open house provided an impor-tant check point before go-ing ahead, he added, since the design team were able to hear feedback from the community members who will ultimately use the skatepark and the sur-rounding facilities.

“We were able to con-firm what they liked and areas that could be im-proved,” he said. “There will be more tweaking of the designs to follow.”

The construction of the skatepark is expected to cost about $600,000, and $338,000 of that total has already been committed to the project.

“We’ve got the design out on a survey available via the Village website so for anyone who missed the review meeting, they can provide feedback there,” Barnum said. “To get in-volved, people should reach out to the Cumber-land Skatepark Society! There’s lots of fundraising and work to still be done before this beauty can be built.”

You can comment on the skatepark designs on-line at: http://www.jotform-pro.com/cumberlandcss/sk8parkdesign

Spectrum Skateparks revealed the look of Cumberland’s new skatepark at a public meeting in the Village.


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MONEY MATTERS

By Gordon Pape

With 2014 behind us, it’s time to look ahead to the next 12 months. I think there are five major issues that investors need to consider when planning strategies for 2015. The way in which these play out will go a long way towards determining the winners and losers in the year ahead. Here they are.1. Is the U.S. economic boom for real?

We haven’t seen anything like this for more than a decade. In the third quarter, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 3.9% according to revised numbers from the Commerce Department. That brought the growth rate for the second and third quarters combined to 4.25%, the best the United States has experienced since the second half of 2003.Now the big question is whether this growth rate is sustainable. The International Monetary Fund, for one, doesn’t think so. In its latest projection, it pegs the U.S. rate for next year at 3.1%. That’s still healthy, but nowhere near as hot as the spring-summer pace we just experi-enced. By comparison, Canada’s projected rate for next year is about 2.5% according to the Bank of Canada’s October Monetary Policy Report. The IMF’s global forecast for the com-ing year is 3.2%.One reason for the caution about 2015 is the sluggish pace of growth in U.S. consumer spending. The Commerce Department report-ed a gain of only 0.2% in October, while September was flat year-over-year. Those numbers came as something of a surprise, because conventional wisdom had expected the drop in gasoline prices would translate into more spending at the malls. That doesn’t seem to be happening; U.S. retail sales over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend were down 11% from last year. So the U.S. picture is not entirely rosy.A strong U.S. economy is obviously good news for Canadians, since the Americans are our number one export market. It would also be good news for the U.S. stock market. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 set record after record in 2014. Some analysts have suggested that share prices have run ahead too quickly, but if economic growth continues at anything like

the recent pace, we will likely see more upside in 2015. The key word is “if.”2. Where will the oil price settle?

The oil shock of 2014 is not over yet. Crude prices have fallen 35% in recent months, to the US$65-US$70 a barrel range, and there could be more downside to come now that Opec has opted to keep production at current levels.Canada is caught in the middle of these global machinations. We have virtually no pricing power because of our lack of access to interna-tional markets (Keystone and Energy East would change that). Our energy companies benefit from the fact oil is priced in U.S. dol-lars, but the inescapable reality is that low world prices combined with the “Canada dis-count” will hurt bottom lines in 2015 and act as a depressant on share prices.That means that in the short term, the energy sector looks dodgy for new money. But inves-tors with long time horizons may see some real bargains in the coming weeks.3. What will happen to interest rates? The OECD surprised almost everyone late last year by saying that the Bank of Canada will probably start raising interest rates next May. That’s a lot sooner than economists have pre-dicted, but the Paris-based organization said that an improving economy and inflation run-ning near the BoC’s target 2% rate will force the issue.“Given the uncertainty surrounding the amount of economic slack, the Bank of Canada should maintain its current policy stance for the time being,” the OECD report said. “But it will have to start to withdraw stimulus as remaining slack is progressively taken up.”In its December policy statement, the Bank gave some credence to the OECD’s forecast by saying that inflation has risen faster than expected and that our economy “is showing signs of a broadening recovery.” However, it offset these observations by noting that “the labour market continues to indicate significant slack in the economy” and “weaker oil prices pose an important downside risk to the infla-tion profile.”

I think it is highly unlikely that the Bank of Canada will move before the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, since that would put upward pressure on the loonie. Both the Bank and the federal government are quite happy with a lower Canadian dollar because it increases the competitiveness of our exporters in world markets. In fact, the OECD mentioned this in its report, saying Canada’s “exports will be supported by stronger foreign-market growth and recent currency depreciation.” So why would the Bank of Canada upset that apple cart?The Federal Reserve Board wound up its quantitative easing program at the end of October but has been dovish when it comes to raising the federal funds rate, which has been stuck at near zero for several years. The cur-rent thinking is that the Fed is likely to hold its ground until at least the second half of 2015 and perhaps not move until 2016. Continued strength in the U.S. economy could change that outlook, of course. If the Fed should move earlier, then we could see a response from the Bank of Canada. But it is hard to imagine our central bank acting in isolation.When interest rates do start to rise, the effect on both stock and bond markets will be nega-tive. Defensive securities such as utilities, REITs, and telecoms will be hit, as will the prices of government bonds and, to a lesser extent, corporate bonds and preferred shares. So we need to keep close watch on the interest rate front. I think the OECD is premature in its prediction but if it turns out to be right watch out for a lot of market turmoil in the spring. 4. What will happen to Keystone XL?

President Barack Obama is out of time. He has procrastinated on this issue for years, but he won’t be able to dither any longer. The new Congress, with its Republican-dominated Senate, has prepared a bill approving the con-struction.Mr. Obama can veto it, of course, and he prob-ably will. But that’s a stalling tactic at best. The new Congress will keep the pressure on. Opinion polls show Keystone is a winner with the U.S. public and the Republicans, who already have their eyes on the 2016 presiden-

tial election, are well aware of that. They’ll milk the political optics as much as they can.It appears from his recent comments that Mr. Obama has already said no to Keystone in his own mind – his remarks about it benefitting Canada more than the U.S. were highly reveal-ing. But he may not be able to resist the Republican pressure, especially since his own party is divided on the issue. Moreover, The Wall Street Journal recently suggested that the President’s foot-dragging may be having a negative rub-off effect on the leading con-tender for the Democratic nomination in 2016, Hillary Clinton. The President has his back to the wall on this one.If he rejects Keystone, it will send a signal to the energy industry that any major pipeline projects in the U.S. will likely be put on hold, at least until after the 2016 election. That in turn will provide even more impetus to the shift to transporting crude oil by rail – which, ironically, is more dangerous and environmen-tally damaging than pipelines.Approval should give at least a temporary boost to pipeline stocks in general and to the shares of TransCanada Corp. (TSX: TRP) in particular. It will also be good news for oil sands producers, even though the pipeline won’t be operational until about two years after a Presidential permit is issued.5. Whither China?

The slowdown in China’s growth has had a huge effect on Canadian resource producers by driv-ing down global commodity prices. The country’s GDP growth rate now stands at a five-year low, com-ing in at 7.3% in the third quarter. The IMF forecasts that 2015 will be even worse, com-ing in at 7.1%. That is well below the government’s target of 7.5%.

Of course, a 7.1% growth rate in any Westerncountry would be phenomenal – too much of a good thing, in fact. But in China, which needs strong GDP growth to provide jobs for its growing labour force, any rate below 7.5% spells potential trouble. That why Beijing has taken a number of unusual steps to try to boost the economy, including cutting inter-est rates and easing lending rules for home buyers.So far, none of these moves appears to havehad much of an impact. China’s annualized GDP rates for the first three quarters of thisyear were 7.4%, 7.5%, and 7.3% and there is little optimism the fourth quarter will be any better. The World Bank recently cut its out-look for Chinese growth in 2015 to 7.2%.If the predictions of a continued slowdown inChina are correct, it means that global eco-nomic growth will remain sluggish next year,despite the resurgence in the U.S. Investments in Chinese stocks and in com-panies that do significant business there will likely underperform. And the resource sector will remain in the doldrums through 2015.Courtesy Fundata Canada Inc. © 2015. GordonPape is one of Canada’s best-known personalfinance commentators and investment experts. He is the publisher of The Internet Wealth Builder and The Income Investor newsletters, available through his Building Wealth website. This article is not intended as personalized advice.

FIVE BIG QUESTIONS FOR 2015

250-338-27025522

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318 A Duncan Ave., Courtenay (Corner of Duncan & 3rd St.)


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RACING

Back onthe waterAfter a long hiatus, MIkeMcLellan is fi nally racingboats again and he’s having a real blastBYDEBRA MARTINEcho Staff

Mike McLellan is final-ly back doing what he loves the most in life - racing fast boats.

The Comox Valley-born McLellan has had some rough years since he was named the Rookie Driver of the Year on the unlimit-edl light hydroplane circuit back in the late nineties.

Locals may remember Mike with his Digital Ark-sponsored hydroplane ap-pearing in Valley parades and other special events, as well as his appearanc-es racing at the Seattle SeaFair and the Kelowna Thunderfest.

But after some initial success, he decided to take a break from the circuit.

And then came the inju-ries suffered as a passen-ger in a crash with a log-ging truck.

That put him on the shore for years.

“It was a long hard fight,” he recalls.

But he kept up with what was going on in the world of motorboat racing, and when he saw the Formula 1 boats have a support se-ries at SeaFair, he was in-trigued.

Physically and mental-ly he finally felt ready to handle the rigours of rac-ing again, but this time in a different class of boat.

The Formula 1 boats are probably most familiar to Canadians.

They use outboard, rath-er than inboard, engines. They’re smaller and lighter than the hydroplanes Mike was used to racing.

But they’re fast and more maneuverable.

“I started doing some research, found a boat, bought a boat ...,” recalls Mike.

Getting the all-neces-sarly sponsorships to run an F1 boat is easier than for hydroplanes, mostly because they have more of a history in Canada.

“They’re a lot of fun to drive,” says Mike. “I”m having more fun in the F1

than in Hydro. They’ll pull a 6-G turn all day long.”

F1 racing uses tunnel-hull catamarans which are designed to create an air cushion under the hull re-sulting in high speeds.

The boats accelerate from zero to 100 in less than four seconds, reach-ing a top speed of up to 140 miles per hour.

“We race so much closer in to the beach. The specta-tors are right there,” Mike says.

He made an initial foray into the F1 series last year, finishing 12th for the sea-son despite only compet-ing in Indiana and Seattle.

That “great season” has encouraged Mike to con-tinue with racing again this year.

That’s why he’ll be a featured guest at the Van-couver International Boat Show all this week - you can find Mike and his boat on the main floor at BC Place stadium, by the food court. He’s one of only three Canadians licensed to drive in F1 racing.

And he’d love to see old Comox Valley and Island friends if any are attend-ing the show.

While at the Vancouver boat show this week, Mike will also be working on fi-nalizing sponsorships for the season.

It’s a long way from his first racing sponsorship by the Comox District Free Press for a bathtub in the Nautical Days bathtub rac-es. Mike has indeed ‘been messing about in boats’ from an early age, growing up near Comox Lake, rac-ing personal watercraft to a national championship for sponsor Parker Marine, then the hydroplane expe-rience.

He has access to the advice and help of two of the most experienced and ‘legendary’ F1 racers on the coast, and a crew chief with whom he has “great chemisty.”

So he’s optimistic that he’ll find success this sea-son now that he’s back do-ing what he truly loves.

Set sail this week as the Vancouver International Boat Show returns to BC Place and Granville Island with an impressive lineup of the newest and most innovative in boats and boating products, engag-ing speakers, and interac-tive displays.

Don’t miss the chance to board the luxury boats making their Canadian de-but, and meet your favor-ite sea captains and tele-vision stars at this year’s Show, January 21 - 25!

With over 100 seminars taking place this year, your weekend at the Boat Show will be jam-packed with educational and inspiring sessions from some of the most note-worthy leaders in the international boat-ing industry.

For all the sport fi shing fans out there, the Van-couver International Boat Show will off er a variety of appealing and relevant seminars, ranging from topics like deep-sea fi sh-ing off the coast of Van-couver and Vancouver Island, freshwater lake fi shing, fi shing the rivers of BC, and the opportu-nity to meet Sport Fishing TVs host, Mike Mitchell.

Pre-plan your visit at www.VancouverBoat-Show.ca.

Show Hours: Wednes-day to Saturday, 10 am to 8 pm, Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm

Admission: Adults: $15Seniors: $13; Kids (16

and under): FREE

Lots for boaters, anglers at show this week in Vancouver

Mike McLellan is back on the water again, racing F1 boats. You can meet him at the Vancouver boat show this week.


BY LESLIE BAIRD Mayor of Cumberland

The Council will be meet-ing in early February to dis-cuss our strategic prioritiesfor the next year. In the pastwe have included our infra-structure Sewer, Water andRoads as high priorities. Fol-lowed by a number of proj-ects that members of councilwould like to see completed.

My list includes updatingour Zoning bylaw to complywith the new Offi cial Com-munity Plan. The purchase ofland for the Fire Departmentto build a new Fire Hall.

We have completed a num-ber of plans for parks with-in the village and set asidefunds to start the process ofbringing positive changes tothese areas.

Over the next number ofyears the purchase of MapleLake as a day use park forvalley residents.

I would also like to look atDunsmuir Avenue and the is-sues of paving, parking, side-walks, planters, trees andboulevards as we are creat-ing a tourist destination wecan welcome everyone andbe proud of our community.

During the year we willhave projects that willcome forward that were notplanned or budgeted for butneed to be looked at.

I realize that my list is longand could not be completedwithout the support of Coun-cil and staff .

I would also like to thank allthe volunteers that are work-ing on established CouncilCommittees and soon to beworking committees.

All the best to everyone in2015!

BY LARRY JANGULA Mayor of Courtenay

I am looking forward to a sec-ond term as the Mayor of the City of Courtenay.

My priorities are those issues I considered when I chose to run again last November.

My number one priority re-mains to stop the court case against Maple Pool and work with the community to resolve this issue.

My next concern is to work with the owners and merchants of the downtown businesses in

an attempt to do what we can to cut development cost charges, hold the line on taxes and make it economically feasible to den-sify and rebuild the downtown core.

I would like to work more closely with the members of the development and construction industry to streamline the ap-plication process, wherever pos-sible.

Our city’s infrastructure needs attention. We need to protect, and in some cases, improve our streets and roads by applying a planned, long term, year over year approach to street and road

maintenance. It is imperative that we repaint the 5th Street bridge as well.

The combined taxpayers of the Comox Valley have raised funds and purchased property to build a subsidized housing facility on Braidwood, near the Old Island Highway.

The City of Courtenay has received a $50,000 grant from the Provincial Government and these funds would be used in es-tablishing a plan to develop this property.

Although the construction and operation of this building will be a Provincial and Federal re-

sponsibility, it is gratifying that the City could play an important role in making this much needed facility a reality.

I continue to be very concerned about the escalating tax bills be-ing placed on our businesses and homeowners. We need to fi nd solutions that will deliver the services to our community in an effi cient and cost eff ective way. Many of our taxpayers can no longer absorb those increased tax burdens.

These are all achievable if we focus our attention and energies on the issues that constitute our Municipal Government man-

BY PAUL IVES Mayor of Comox

The next 12 months will be very busy for the Town of Comox’s coun-cil and staff as we begin our strategic planning review process in mid-Jan-uary and work towards adopting a new budget and 5 year capital/opera-tional plan by mid-May at the latest.

Our Comox Valley regional district representatives (Councillors Ken Grant and Barbara Price) will be getting up to speed on the regional water and sewer infrastructure proj-ects, and bringing back to council reports/recommendations on water quality and sewer capacity improve-ments.

This will be of particular interest to Town residents given recent boil water advisories, and sewage pump station location concerns in the Cro-teau Beach neighbourhood.

Aside from these ‘beginning of term’ processes, there’s going to be much focus and public engagement regarding the Lorne Hotel project (public hearing to be held in Janu-ary/February), the Mack Laing Park proposal (staff report to be reviewed early in the New Year), and the Ma-

rina Park Enhancement project (funding confi rmations from Island Coastal Economic Trust anticipated in February and from Western Eco-nomic Diversifi cation anticipated in August).

While council will no doubt hear from diff erent views and perspec-tives on these and other issues that may arise, it will be important for us to make decisions with as much information and input as can be ob-tained and then with a view toward what’s in the long term interest of our community, having regard to the Offi cial Community Plan and related documents.

What we don’t know is exactly how global, national, provincial and regional economic forces will aff ect our local residents - the best we can do is to ensure that we have a safe and healthy community, a key focus on the local environment, a fi scally prudent approach to maintaining and renewing infrastructure, and a customer-oriented approach to deal-ing with local residents, investors, builder and developers.

In my view, we have a great team of councillors and staff at Town hall to tackle these challenges for 2015!

Mayors look at what the year holds ahead for ValleyWater, sewer big concerns

Top priorities are Maple Pool, holding line on taxes

Infrastructurea high priority

?

By Blair Qualey

Sales are on the upswing dueto a combination of low interestrates, increased consumerconfidence and the dozensof new makes and modelsavailable at dealerships acrossthe country.

Many 2015 cars and truckshave been for sale for weeks

now across the province, and more are beingdelivered in the days and weeks ahead.

“If you like cars and trucks, you’re goingto love 2015,” Edmunds.com wrote in an articleoutlining its choice for the best new cars of 2015.On its list was the new Ford F150, which has

received a lot of attention for its new aluminumbody, as well Tesla Motors’ highly anticipatedcrossover SUV Model X, which is expected tobe available later this year. Other manufacturersunveiling new vehicles or versions this year

include Audi, Cadillac, Jaguar and GeneralMotors, to name a few.

Drivers are also on the hunt for the latestvehicle technology. Remember when automaticwindows were considered revolutionary? Nowwe’re talking about technology that detectspedestrians and other objects around ourvehicles, offers intelligent braking features andsemi-autonomous driving.

In 2015, we can also expect to hear moreabout driverless vehicles. While the technologyisn’t expected to become mainstream for theforeseeable future, it’s proof of how rapidly theauto industry is changing.

Auto enthusiasts can get a sneak peek atsome of the industry’s latest advancements atthe upcoming Vancouver International AutoShow, which takes place March 24 to 29 at theVancouver Convention Centre.This year’s show is expected to be even larger

than last year, which featured more than 400vehicles from 30 companies around the world.Attendance for last year’s six-day event reached84,506 people in 2014, a five-percent increasefrom the year before.

We’re expecting this year’s show will beeven bigger and better. That’s in part to the newshow management team, which includes JasonHeard, one of the country’s most experiencedshow managers, his father and well-knownbusinessman and event expert Phil Heard, andhighly respected Canadian auto journalist KeithMorgan.The trio, and the rest of the auto show team,

has been working for months on making the95th annual Vancouver International AutoShow a huge success. I can’t wait for ourvisitors to experience it in just a few weeks’time. Tickets are already available at www.VancouverInternationalAutoShow.com

Our members are also looking forward toanother year of working in and giving back toour communities around the province. Thatincludes our 30-year relationship with theSpecial Olympics BC (SOBC). Since 1984,our charitable arm, the New Car DealersFoundation, has raised more than $4.2 millionfor the SOBC – the largest sum we’ve raised fora single charity.

We look forward to supporting the SOBCand other organizations in 2015, and to continuebeing a valued member of our local communitiesacross the province.Best wishes for a happy, safe and productive

2015.

Blair Qualey is President and CEO of the NewCar Dealers Association of BC. Email him [email protected].

Trending in the Right DirectionSpecial Information Supplement

2015 is shaping up to be another exciting year in the automotive industry


3L Developments, CVRD await rulingRegional District spent over $18,500 last year dealing with Stotan Falls issueBY DREW A. PENNEREcho Staff

The Comox Valley Re-gional District and 3L De-velopments squared off in a two-day legal battle held in a Victoria courtroom last week that will set the future for a popular stretch of land just outside Courtenay. The developer behind a controversial res-idential housing project along Stotan Falls is try-ing to wrestle its way to-wards a valuable Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) concession by claiming the municipality didn’t follow its own rules.

“I think we had a pret-ty good case,” said Kabel Atwall, 3L Developments manager, adding he didn’t want to hazard a guess as to which way Justice Emily M. Burke is leaning. “We’ll just have to see what hap-pens.”

A decision is expected in thee to six months.

“The lawyer for the CVRD focused his argu-ments on reasonableness, noting that it was not in

the public interest to initi-ate an amendment to the RGS when it was only two years old and had taken more than 3 years to com-plete, following extensive public engagement,” said Ann MacDonald, general manager of planning and development services at the regional district. “He pointed out that unlike an amendment to the offi cial community plan and zon-ing bylaw, where there are express provisions in part 26 of the Local Govern-ment Act providing for a land owner to apply for an amendment and be heard, there are no such provi-

sions in part 25 of the Lo-cal Government Act per-taining to regional growth strategies.”

In June the CVRD vot-ed 7-3 to shut the door on a process that would amend the RGS, and po-tentially usher in the 741-home project planned by 3L Developments.

On Jan. 6 CVRD direc-tors met in camera to discuss the 3L Develop-ments property, which

been a thorny issue for the board, snaring CAO Debra Oakman and director Ed-win Grieve with a human rights tribunal settlement that prevents these mem-bers from participating in discussions on the issue.

“There is always a pe-riod of orientation for newly elected offi cials,” MacDonald said.

“Part of that work for those newly elected of-fi cials is be to become fully familiar with that legal framework and that will help guide their deci-sions.”

Sensing the board had been weakened by the set-

tlement, 3L Developments went on the off ensive last fall, launching a lawsuit that questioned the valid-ity of the process that pre-vented the company from building the kind of lots it hopes to construct along the picturesque waterway of pooling rapids.

The company also ac-cused the regional district of failing to abide by the terms of the human rights tribunal settlement, which addressed what is be-lieved to have been a racial epithet directed at Atwall, who is of Indian descent.

For its part, the regional district took the extra step of removing the Stotan Falls lands from the Rural Offi cial Community Plan, so Oakman and Grieve wouldn’t be contraven-ing their agreement while dealing with the broader planning document.

Responding to 3L De-velopments’ legal pro-ceedings, the CVRD fi led their missive in Supreme Court Dec. 16.

The regional district claims the steps 3L De-

velopments wishes it had taken in considering their opinions about how the RGS should look would have been too onerous and cost too much.

The RGS dictates 90 per cent of all future growth must occur within the core settlement areas of Courtenay, Comox and Cumberland, within the Settlement Expansion Ar-eas and in the three settle-ment nodes of Saratoga Miracle Beach, Mt. Wash-ington and Union Bay.

Only 10 per cent of fu-ture growth is to take place in the rural areas such as 3L Developments’ lands between Stotan Falls and the Browns River.

“The prime intent is to ensure that new growth be located in areas that can support public infra-structure, including tran-sit, new and replaced wa-ter and sewer systems and road improvements by es-tablishing effi cient thresh-old levels of development,” explained MacDonald.

“Another goal is to pre-serve the rural areas for as

long as possible.”Many Comox Valley res-

idents wee Stotan Falls as a public resource, despite the reality that developer owns the land, including the riverbed.

The regional district asked the court to dismiss the 3L Developments’ ap-plication and wants to re-coup its legal costs.

Fighting the developer has been adding up.

The CVRD spent about $13,500 in 2014 to ad-minister the RGS and to obtain legal advice about the 3L Developments ap-plication. Formulating the December response cost an additional $5,000.

Atwall said the regional district was able to bypass a proper method for deal-ing with their requests by allowing a process pre-scribed in the fees and procedures bylaw to take precedent.

“Our point is you’ve got a prescribed process in the Regional Growth Strat-egy,” he said. “We couldn’t fi gure out what they’re do-ing.”

Our point is you’ve got a prescribed process in the Regional Growth Strategy. We couldn’t fi gure out what they’re doing”

KABEL ATWALL3L Developments manager

BY MICHAEL BRIONESEcho Staff

Cut the red tape. That’s the message business leaders in the Comox Val-ley expressed to local gov-ernments in a survey com-missioned by accounting fi rm MNP, the Comox Valley Chamber of Com-merce, and Comox Valley Economic Development Society.

Participants were asked, “What is the one thing you would tell the local gov-ernment they should do to improve the business climate in the Comox Val-ley?”

“Bring down the road-blocks to development” was the number one reply followed by lower proper-ty and business taxes, and third was amalgamate lo-cal governments.

The survey, conducted between Nov. 25, 2014 and Jan. 8, 2015, involved 200 local business lead-ers, who were randomly selected from a list of 527

chamber members and 115 businesses on the on-line Yellow Pages. They are owners, CEOs, presi-dents, executive directors and designated senior corporate offi cers from businesses across all in-dustry sectors in the Co-mox Valley.

The results of the survey were presented at an eco-nomic forecast luncheon held at Crown Isle last week. It featured a panel that consisted of a profes-sional economist of Vann Struth Consulting Group Inc, Jamie Vann Struth, founder and president of AFC Industries Construc-tion, Alan Fletcher, and a partner in ABC Printing and Signs, Bryan Wiley, who all gave their views on the outcome of the sur-vey.

In commenting on en-hancing the business cli-mate in the region, Fletch-er applauded the City of Courtenay for working on improving the time spent on processing develop-

ment permit applications, which have been the big-gest concern of people in the construction and de-velopment sectors.

“I am just going to give them accolades,” said Fletcher. “I think they’re heading in the right direc-tion. They’re reaching out to the construction indus-try and development com-munity to try and improve what they’re doing.”

The survey touched on a range of topics that in-cluded business expecta-tions, hiring, the future and sustainability.

Peter Van Dongen, MNP regional marketing man-ager, said the initiative was modeled after similar surveys they’ve conducted in communities across

I think they’re heading in the right direction. They’re reaching out to the construction industry and develop-ment community to try to improve what they’re doing.”

ALAN FLETCHERAFC Industries Construction

Canada. “It’s designed to be a pulse survey which re-ally provides an economic snapshot of what is hap-pening in the community,” said Van Dongen.

“Ultimately our goal and our reason for conducting the survey is, we want to generate some baseline

information that we can work with as a community and use this information pro-actively so that we can improve both the local business planet and help businesses in the commu-nity more successful.”

The survey showed 60 per cent of entrepreneurs in the valley are optimis-tic of business growth in 2015. They also feel the lo-cal impact of Western Ca-nadian oil and gas sector is more positive than neg-ative. As well, the survey indicated that the busi-ness climate in the Comox Valley is competitive with other Island regions but it still has room to grow.

The Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce has a petition asking the

community if it wants an independent review of the local government struc-ture of in the Comox Val-ley. The survey showed that 88 per cent of the respondents favoured the initiative to see if alterna-tives would better serve the region.

Around 95 per cent of the business leaders in-terviewed are members of the chamber. It involved a cross-section of business-es in the community. Ma-jority of the respondents, 60 per cent were located in the City of Courtenay (120 people).

The balance were from Town of Comox, the Vil-lage of Cumberland, and Comox Valley Regional District areas.

Local business community hears results of survey at presentation last Thursday

Business optimistic for growth in 2015Cutting red tape tops the list to improve local business climate


A DivisionCrty Legion Black CatsCrty Legion DA’sCx Legion Beer PigsComox Legion MisfitzComox Legion Bulls HittersGriffin GangElks FunGi’sGriffin Darts of Hazzard

Pts8676726867615321

POSITION12345678

Ladies Hi Score: Joanne Scott 138 Men’s Hi Score: Al Oelke, Glen Litchfield, Bill McPherson, Howard Bull, Laurie Bull, Brian Wilcox 140Ladies Hi Checkout: Joanne Scott 85 Men’s Hi Checkout: Dave Willington 97 180s: Glen Litchfield 1, Laurie Bull 1

January 13 ResultsBlack Cats 8 - Griffin Gang 1Misfitz 5 - Beer Pigs 4FunGis 4 - D.A.s 5Darts of Hazzard 2 - BullsHitters 7

COMOX VALLEY PUB LEAGUE MIXED DARTS

THE DART BOARD

Mt. Washington ski club wins big at Whistler slalom

The icy conditions from man-made snow were no deterrent for the Mount Washington U14 race team of Natalia Belle-fl eur, Luke Hoefer, Emilly Johnston, Ava Langevin, Kieran Nilsen, Sylvie Ny-mann, Chris Raduy along with Coach Krystal Fran-cisty last weekend Jan 10 and 11 in Whistler.

After one one day of training in Whistler, the athletes embarked on tackling a steep, icy and challenging Sla-lom Course on Whistler Mountain. No small task so early in what started off as a dubious season snow-wise.

As per usual, the little mountain that could team of athletes did not disap-point! The race hosted 58 athletes in both the Women’s and Men’s Divi-sions. On day 1 race 1 Ava Langev

in roared down the course for a 9th place fi n-ish with Emilly Johnston in her fi rst year of this age group hot on her heels in

10th and Sylvi Nymann in 17th. On day 1 race one for the Men it was Kieran Nilsen pulling in with an 8th place fi nish and Luke Hoefer in 37th. The second race on day one proved to be more chal-lenging as the conditions and the course changed in the afternoon. Emilly Johnston blasted down

the hill winning an im-pressive 5th place, Natalia Bellefl eur easing in a per-sonal best of 12th place for the day, Ava Langevin in 13th and Sylvi Nymann in 17th. For the men it was a stellar afternoon for Chris Raduy as he slipped in a personal best himself in 10th place and Luke Hoefer also a personal

best in 11th. What would have been a 4th place fi n-ish for Kieran Nilsen was crushed when he slipped past and missed the last gate and was disqualifi ed.

The Mount Washing-ton Ski Team continued to shine and catch the competition unaware with high placements over the weekend. On day 2 in

the combined 2 run Slalom event Emilly Johnston continued to be consistent with a 5th place fi nish and personal best, Nata-lia Bellefl eur in 11th, another personal best, Ava Langevin in 13th with Sylvi Nymann taking a 19th spot.

For the Men in the same combined event, Chris Raduy took home an impressive 5th place fi nish and Kieran Nilsen placed 11th while Luke Hoe-fer was having the race of his life, missed a gate, had to hike to make the gate in time before the next racer came by, but was not able to fi nish.

As Coach Krys-tal Francisty put it “I am so proud of our athletes with a mountain of our size and team of our size all of our athletes fi nished within the top 20 for each race - this is something that we should all be very proud of”.

Next up for this team is a U14 Giant Slalom Speed event being hosted by the Mount Washington Ski Club on Feb 14th and 15th on Allison Forsyth Invitation at

Mount Washington. Please come out and support these dedicated and hardworking athletes and enjoy some im-pressive skiing too!

Mt. Washington Ski Club U14 team: Back Row: Emilly Johnston (Comox), Natalia Bellefl eur (Campbell River) Sylvi Nymann (Campbell River), Ava Langevin (Comox). Front Row: Luke Hoefer (Nanaimo), Chris Raduy (Qualicum Beach), Kieran Nilsen (Comox)

www.20under40.caFor nominations forms and event details, visit:

Nominations accepted until

January 30th, 2015!


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The Brick House Betties roller derby team is pleased to announce that its fi rst scrimmage of 2015 will be a fundraiser on behalf of local small-business owner and Betties’ supporter, Sunday Dennis, who re-cently required emergency medical treatment.

Spectators are welcome to watch as mid-Island roller derby players,

including some male and junior skat-ers, come together to scrimmage.

Join the Betties on Sunday Jan. 25 at the CRI in Cumberland from 11:30 AM - 1:30 PM. Show your support, donate to Sunday, and cheer for your Betties!

Photo credit: John Bonner, bonner-photography.com

Betties fund-raising for Sunday

Comox Valley Echo - January 20, 2015

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Transcript of Comox Valley Echo - January 20, 2015