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Year in review: March in Oak Bay

Oak Bay Volunteer Services earns early budget boost
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Victoria Royals mascot Marty the Marmot wraps a cast on Chris Hawkins (a nurse acting as patient) during the event to promte Hockey for Hospitals. Get tickets for the March 5 game to support Victoria Hospitals Foundation online at www.selectyourtickets.com/promo. Use the promo code STRETCHERS to be entered to win a game night prize package.


• Oak Bay Volunteer Services received a boost to its grant in aid from council, receiving $25,000 up front, the same amount approved for the organization last year.  An additional $10,000 requested was saved for budget discussions alongside a handful of other requests.

Dr. David Blades, a professor at the University of Victoria as well as Oak Bay father and grandfather was named a 2016 3M National Teaching Fellowship. There were 10 issued across Canada.

• Marty the Marmot’s took in a quick training session on casts at Royal Jubilee Hospital to promote the second annual Hockey for Hospitals campaign. The March 5 game was a win-win as The Royals hammered the Vancovuer Giants 7-3.

“It was fantastic,” said Melanie Mahlman, executive director of the Victoria Hospitals Foundation. “It was really exciting hockey and everybody had a great time and they raised $22,000.”

*March opened with the official launch of the new walkway along Bowker Creek adjacent to Oak Bay High.

A crowd gathered at the open air classroom as Oak Bay Mayor Nils Jensen and MLA Peter Fassbender, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, planted a tree to officially open the project.

• Jamie McGrigor celebrated 40 years as a figure skating coach at both the local and national level.

“It’s kind of funny. You know how most careers end with a concussion? Well, mine started with a concussion,” he said. “I got a bad concussion, a hair-line fracture, so I couldn’t play hockey. My parents put me in figure skating so I could work on my skating.”

• The Greater Victoria Regional Library launched OLiVe, the Outreach Library Vehicle a popular fixture at summer markets and community gatherings, such as the Oak Bay Tea Party.

• Oak Bay Fire Chief Dave Cockle was front and centre when the province committed $5-million to Ocean Networks Canada to develop its earthquake early warning system in B.C. that would get someone out of that dreaded chair before a quake.

• Oak Bay council supported “in principle” using a municipally owned home on Hampshire Road to house Syrian refugee families, but awaited commitment of a suitable community group to officially come forward.

• The University of Victoria started a review of policies, procedures and practices in the wake of a series of sexual assault complaints, and concerns over the processing of complaints.

“I want to make it clear that sexual assault and other unwelcome sexual conduct are utterly at odds with our values and are not tolerated. UVic has policies and practices related to education, prevention and response to sexualized violence. Recent focus on this issue on our campus and beyond, as well as advocacy by student and other groups, have made it clear that we need to do more,” said UVic President Jamie Cassels. “We will be reviewing our current policies, procedures and practices. In the time since I made that commitment UVic and other B.C. post-secondary institutions have been working with the provincial government to collect best practices and develop a framework that provides guidance and an integrated approach for responding to sexualized violence.”

• A stormy Sunday morning set the scene for Alan Gregory to find a small wooden boat.

After Oak Bay News stories and a few phone calls, word travelled back to the couple’s daughter and her husband, Lloyd and Doreen Romeo. Doreen’s daughter Sherry lives in Victoria, and and put the boat in the water.

“We are grateful and want to thank Alan Gregory for all of his efforts and time used in locating us. Thanks again – now the mystery of the little blue boat is solved,” the Romeos told the Oak Bay News.

• Oak Bay council agreed to tackle deer in its boundaries after a lengthy conversation surrounding a grant request for the Urban Wildlife Stewardship Society’s proposed Deer Plan Oak Bay. Sitting as committee of the whole, council agreed to pursue deer management “in partnership with the province.”

UWSS board member Ralph Archibald outlined the society’s proposed Deer Plan Oak Bay that  included public education, population model, survey of attitudes, deer abundance estimation and immune-contraception.

UWSS confirmed, if a cull was determined the best course, the society would not support that. Council couldn’t agree at that time to contract UWSS.