Carla Wilson

Victoria

Business Reporter at Times Colonist

Times Colonist reporter. Biz/Van Island. [email protected]

Articles

Union Bay fire hall replacement among projects approved in Comox

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

Comox Valley projects including a new fire hall for Union Bay, artificial turf and initiatives to spur more affordable housing will go ahead after an alternative approval process passed for the Comox Valley Regional District. The deadline to vote against the projects was Feb. 18. In each case, the number of voters who submitted eligible forms declaring their opposition by the deadline fell below the 10 per cent needed to defeat the plan, meaning that all initiatives will move ahead.
Nanaimo to spend $1.8M looking into public works upgrades

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

Nanaimo council voted this week in favour of spending $1.8 million to obtain more precise information for possible improvements to its public works facilities. The city wants detailed designs and cost estimates for the proposed upgrades, which failed to win public support when taxpayers faced alternative approval processes in recent years.
Cell tower to fill gaps in Nanaimo's Hammond Bay area gets council support

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

A long-desired cell tower in Nanaimo’s Hammond Bay area moved closer to reality this week, after city council agreed to write the federal government endorsing the plan. Telus Communications had asked the city for a letter of support for its proposed 63-metre lattice tower with a three-metre lightning rod at 4600 Hammond Bay Rd., where a regional pollution control centre is already located. If all goes smoothly, the tower could be in place by year’s end, a Telus official told council.
Calgary hands over self-cleaning public toilets to Port Alberni

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

Two “cream of the crop” self-cleaning washrooms that didn’t work out in Calgary are heading west to a new home in Port Alberni. “They are fantastic, beautiful washrooms,” Coun. Debbie Haggard told council this week, calling public toilets the “number one most-needed item” for the city’s outdoor recreation facilities.
Short-term rental owners lose court challenge

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

A B.C. Supreme Court judge has dismissed a challenge from property owners fighting the province’s short-term rental rules, which came into effect in May 2024. Justice Jasmin Ahmad’s ruling was released Tuesday after hearing in June 2024 in Victoria.
Ladysmith takes on social-media misinformation in mayoral race

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

Social media is proving to be a headache for the Town of Ladysmith in the countdown to election of a new mayor on Saturday. The town has issued a news release saying someone was falsely claiming in an anonymous social-media post that results from Feb. 19 advance voting in the byelection had been released. The town’s statement said results have not been released and ballots from advance, mail-in and general voting will all be counted after polls close on Saturday.
Man in Sooke Harbour House legal dispute loses bid to overturn deportation order

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

A man at the centre of legal battles with the former owners of Sooke Harbour House hotel has lost his fight in Federal Court against a deportation order. Madame Justice Negar Azmudeh dismissed Timothy Craig Durkin’s bid for a judicial review of the order in a Feb. 21 decision in Ottawa. Azmudeh found that a decision by an inland enforcement officer with the Canada Border Services Agency to issue a deportation order was reasonable.
Aquaculture company sues over end of fish-farm licence renewals in Discovery Islands

1 month ago | biv.com | Carla Wilson

Aquaculture company Cermaq Canada Ltd. is suing the federal government for refusing to issue fish-farm licences in the Discovery Islands, saying it has lost millions of dollars as a result of a flawed decision-making process. In 2023, then-federal fisheries minister Joyce Murray decided not to renew fish-farm licences in the Discovery Islands, located off the east coast of Vancouver Island between Campbell River and the mainland.
Nanaimo man’s TikTok video may have convinced 2,000 Americans to visit

1 month ago | vancouverisawesome.com | Carla Wilson

Nanaimo’s Tod Maffin was so struck by how many Americans were supporting online calls for Canadians to boycott U.S. goods that he invited them to head north for a visit. “I made a little video that just said: ‘Hey, if you support Canadians, why don’t you come up?’ “ About 2,000 Americans have since told him they’ll be heading to Nanaimo on the weekend of April 25 to 27 for a holiday.
Aquaculture company sues over end of fish-farm licence renewals in Discovery Islands

1 month ago | timescolonist.com | Carla Wilson

Aquaculture company Cermaq Canada Ltd. is suing the federal government for refusing to issue fish-farm licences in the Discovery Islands, saying it has lost millions of dollars as a result of a flawed decision-making process. In 2023, then-federal fisheries minister Joyce Murray decided not to renew fish-farm licences in the Discovery Islands, located off the east coast of Vancouver Island between Campbell River and the mainland.