Thanks to the efforts of Joan Peggs, the Rotary Club of Oak Bay’s President-Elect, our Polio Plus lightup, so recently cancelled due to snow, was ran and we managed to get some news coverage. Oak Bay News has covered the event, and better yet, /A\ came out and had Bruce Williams do the weather with the Polio Plus logo in the background. Check it out:
Although the project has been flying under the radar these past months, the most recent Oak Bay Parks & Recreation Committee meeting on March 2nd contained this update:
Councillor Braithwaite reported that the presentation of the Oak Bay High Project Definition Report including the NLC [Neighbourhood Learning Centre] submission has been delayed a month. It is expected the project definition report will be presented for approval to the School District Trustees in March an then be presented to the Ministry of Education [for approval].
Councillor Braithwaite also informed Commission that there has been some question around whether there will be a lighted, artificial turf field included within the project. The Ministry of Education will fund regular grass fields as will be shown in the definition report. However, once the project definition report has been approved by the Ministry of Education, the Project Design Team intends [to] embark on a fundraising campaign in the hopes to raise sufficient monies for the installation of a turf field with lights.
FYI, the next SD 61 Board meeting should be the 21st of March at 7:30pm in the Tolmie Boardroom at the 556 Boleskin Road headquarters of the school district, although I can’t find anything on the SD 61 website to confirm that.
Three years ago the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce was instrumental in killing one of the best transit projects this city has seen: the Douglas St. busway. They had this to say:
The Greater Victoria Chamber does not support the proposed plan for the bus rapid transit system on the Douglas Street corridor. While in support of bus rapid transit, the chamber is concerned that all the transportation modes included in this plan cannot be accommodated in the available space on Douglas Street. (from the GVCC’s policy page)
Worst of all, it was already paid for. After years of unfunded projects, they had to go and kill one of the few that was. Now, I fear they are going to do it again. The Victoria Regional Rapid Transit project is nearing completion and they have again selected Douglas St. as the corridor, as they should given it is the most logical route. Just like last time, the Douglas St. merchants are complaining
What the Chamber of Commerce should be doing is working on behalf of all their members, not just the blinkered ones on Douglas St. A new transitway will speed people into downtown, people who will spend money at chamber members. They are a business lobby group after all.
But all is not lost. The GVCC’s stubbornness isn’t unique; the US Chamber of Commerce is shedding members because of its opposition to climate change but an alternative has recently appeared: the US Green Chamber. An out-growth of the San Diego Green Chamber, this new group promises to be a forward-thinking business group, exactly what the US (and Canada, given our proximity) needs. Maybe what Victoria needs is something similar, something like the Values-Based Business Network — who are currently rethinking their mandate — but in a wider scope.