Special principal Reynolds secondary school principal retires. Page A3
NEWS: Changes proposed for federal ridings /A4 ARTS: Ballet Victoria, choreographer collaborate /A10 SPORTS: Judo athlete faces big decision /A12
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SAANICHNEWS Friday, February 1, 2013
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Unsolved Buziak murder hits 5-year mark
Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary executive director, Barry Janyk, outside a home that was previously owned and rented by Saanich. The municipality regularly purchases houses as part of long-term planning for future roads or parks. The Ralph Street home was recently gifted to the nature sanctuary, after many years of being rented out by Saanich.
Kyle Slavin News staff
Jeff Buziak doesn’t look at Feb. 2 as an anniversary. “I look at it as the murder day, five years hence,” he says, referring to tomorrow marking five years since his 24-year-old daughter Lindsay was found stabbed to death in a Saanich home. Lindsay Buziak was a happy girl with a huge smile. She loved her friends and she loved her family. This is how Jeff forever remembers his daughter. “There’s a high level of sadness, and a deep resolve to carry on. I miss my girl,” he says. Lindsay’s murder remains unsolved. The young real estate agent was found dead in a home she was showing at 1702 De Sousa Pl. in Gordon Head. Saanich police say Buziak was targeted and, in her position as a real estate agent, was lured to the empty luxury home where the murder took place. On Saturday, Jeff will hold the third annual Lindsay Buziak Walk for Justice. The walk begins at 10 a.m at Royal Oak Burial Park, where Lindsay’s ashes are kept, and participants will convoy past the De Sousa Place home, and finish at the Saanich municipal complex on Vernon Avenue. “It’s not a protest, it’s just a quiet walk,” Jeff says. PLEASE SEE: Two events planned, Page A8
Sharon Tiffin/News staff
Saanich as your landlord Kyle Slavin Reporting
Most Saanich residents only contact municipal hall when it’s time to pay property taxes or the family dog needs licensing. There are a handful of Saanichites, however, who call the municipality when the refrigerator is on the fritz. Saanich currently owns and rents out 13 houses around the municipality. These homes – which will eventually be torn down – are on properties that Saanich purchased in recent years with the intent to eventually use the land as part of a larger park or road-widening project. “We’ve been doing this for as long as I can remember,” said Mayor Frank Leonard. “It’s based on a willing buyer, willing seller policy. When we identify several homes that we would like to convert to either park or road, we don’t go down the street and simply force the purchase. We approach the homeowners and say ‘If and when you’d like to sell, we’d like to be the first in line.’ “Some people say ‘sure,’ and some people say, ‘go away,’ and we wait for it to go on the market. As a result you end up with a patchwork. We wait to complete all acquisitions until we make a conversion to park or
roadway, so in the meantime we rent the houses out.” Richard Butler, who works in Saanich’s lands department, fields all the calls from tenants of the municipality when and if there’s an issue. He’s also the one who posts to UsedVictoria advertising the homes for rent at market rate. Leonard points to Rutledge Park, and McKenzie Avenue between Blenkinsop and Borden as sites where the municipality successfully acquired the homes needed to complete a park or road project. “We’re not doing as much of the purchasing now. The Shelbourne Valley Action Plan could lead to that sort of approach, potentially,” he said. “It’s a fairly narrow right of way there, right now. The plans could suggest we need more roadway, so we could do there what we did along McKenzie.” Coun. Vicki Sanders points to Gorge Road as proof of Saanich’s foresight when acquiring land as part of a longterm vision. PLEASE SEE: Saanich rent money, Page A19
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