It is the end of the year. A time to reflect on the past year and make wishes for the new year. Town Council was busy in 2025 with such things as a new Official Community Plan and the purchase of a golf course. My reflection on the past year: Much of the business was conducted by Council behind closed doors. In 2025, Council held .....

Anyone following the RDN proposed purchase of the Hamilton Marsh will recall that the purchase price of this 360 hectare parcel was $30 million dollars. In their wisdom the RDN board directors which represent every property owner within the RDN including Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach and all the electoral areas, decided that the purchase was to be funded via $22.5 Million in debt to be repaid by tax payers over 20 years and $7.5M by way of funding contribu

It is refreshing to see some push back to the ongoing tax increases imposed by the RDN over the past several years. The RDN Taxpayer Alliance ( RDN TA) is a group of Resident and Neighbourhood Associations who have come together to advocate for tax reform to ensure property tax increases do not out pace the taxpayers ability to pay them. The RDN TA has been actively engaging local residents to enhance awareness and to gain understanding of ...

Recently, the Mayor of Vancouver directed city staff to produce a budget with a zero percent increase in taxes. Closer to home, John Wilson, CEO of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce, wrote an article in the Business Examiner calling on the thirteen municipalities in the greater Victoria area to follow suit.

Over the past many months we have seen the direct impact municipal decisions can have on our day to day lives. Two very recent examples include the shocking rejection of a much needed service, the new private long term care facility proposed for the old college site, and then there is the "out of the blue" acquisition ....

In October 2023 , Island Health and the Nanaimo Regional Hospital District announced a new long term care (LTC) facility to be built in Lantzville. The press release stated "The new building will bring a total of 306 long-term care beds to the region, including a 20-bed hospice unit and a 26-bed specialized population unit. The new care home is designed to have four main buildings, each containing six “households” that will include single bedrooms ...