THURSDAYOCTOBER 23, 2014
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COMMUNITY MOURNING A LOSS
Parksville woman joins dragon boat team in Florida this week
Genesis Boxing and Fitness owner Rick Rae died this past weekend — he was 53
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RDN ELECTION ISSUE
Studying seaweed Government grants VIU a contract for a study CANDACE WU
news@pqbnews.com
In what director Bill Veenhof is calling “a step in the right direction,” the government has granted a long-awaited research contract to study Deep Bay’s controversial seaweed harvest. The Ministry of Agriculture made the announcement Tuesday morning, vowing to work with Vancouver Island University Deep Bay Marine Field Station, who is slated to present their final report by March 25, 2015. This comes after years of fighting from local residents concerned about the environmental impacts of removing seaweed from Deep Bay’s coastline. This is countered by some who point to the seaweed’s economic potential. The seaweed in question is called mazzaella japonica, a foreign resource rich in carrageenan that is found in many products including processed foods like ice cream, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. In January of this year the ministry’s senior biologist Gary Caine said the carrageenan market is worth $700 million worldwide. VIU marine station manager Brian Kingzett, who is spearheading the research project, said he recognizes “there are competing narratives in the community.” “We are not taking sides,” he told The NEWS Tuesday in an e-mail. “We are a non-advocacy research group and will be providing science to the topic.” Kingzett said researchers will monitor the ecological aspects of the storm cast seaweed harvest in the Deep Bay area. See HIGHLY CONTENTIOUS, page A6
CANDACE WU PHOTO
SAFETY CHECK: Const. Mark Gaschler of the Oceanside RCMP checks a pick-up truck during the annual winter driving campaign Tuesday along the Inland Highway. Hundreds of vehicles were checked. See story page A9.
QUALICUM BEACH ELECTION
Debate challenge denied JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
Qualicum Beach mayoral candidate Denyse Widdifield has challenged incumbent Teunis Westbroek to a one-on-one debate over and above the scheduled all-candidates meetings. Westbroek has declined. “The upcoming all-candidates meetings in Qualicum Beach offer very little opportunity for debating the issues,” Widdifield said in a news release announcing her challenge. “Their main purpose is to allow the voters to review the candidates’ platforms and point of view. I believe that it would be beneficial to arrange a
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mayoral debate to present both our views to the Qualicum Beach voters. I am ready to coordinate a mayoral debate at a time suitable to my opponent. My campaign will be happy to
2014
ELECTIONS
SATURDAY, NOV. 15
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arrange and pay for a venue.” In response, Westbroek disagreed with Widdifield’s premise, saying the formats of the already-scheduled meetings work well.
“My first reaction (to Widdifield’s challenge) is it’s a bit of a slight to the people who organize these all-candidates meetings,” Westbroek told The NEWS in a phone interview Wednesday. “From my experience, they work quite well. It (the challenge from Widdifield) shows a lot of inexperience.” Westbroek also said it’s important voters hear the views of candidates for both council and mayor. “This election is not just about electing a mayor,” he said. “I think the people need to see all the people running for council — they all have one vote (on issues before council).”