PENINSULA Peninsula opportunities
Property values released
Local issues will keep Saanich North and the Islands MLA Gary Holman busy in 2015, page 2 Black Press C O M M U N I T Y
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Saanich Peninsula homeowners will receive assessment notices this month, page 7
Wednesday, January 7, 2015
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election expenses on notice MLA Gary Holman on special committee on local election expenses Steven Heywood News staff
When municipal elections come around again in four years, candidates and electoral organizations could have stringent limits on how much money they can spend on a campaign. Before the Nov. 15, 2014 civic vote, an allparty special committee of the B.C. Legislative Assembly was struck to review the issue, with the goal of developing provisions on election expense limits and spending on electionrelated advertising. Saanich North and the Islands MLA Gary Holman is one of the eight-member committee that in early December finished the first phase of its study. “The first phase was seeking public input to identify the underlying principles involved,” Holman said. On Dec. 5, the committee announced that Gary Holman it would endorse principles of fairness, neutrality, transparency and accountability in developing proposed local election spending limits. The second phase, Holman explained, will see the committee make more specific recommendations on election expense limits at the municipal level. That report, he said, is due this June. The timing of the committee’s work has been criticized by some municipal-level politicians, as it took place during the 2014 fall election campaign. Please see: Expense formula has to be fair, page 2
Steven Heywood/News staff
3, 2, 1 ... and into the ocean for the Peninsula Celebrations Society Polar Bear Swim Jan. 1 at Tulista Park. For more photos, see page 6.
Flight of angels truly a blessing Volunteer pilots helping young cancer patients get to off-Island treatment Tim Collins News staff
When Jeff Morris met Chuck Lavallo back in 1999, he had no idea where the friendship would lead. Lavallo’s son had been diagnosed with leukemia and he explained to Morris that the travel to the mainland for treatments was both difficult and costly. As it happened, Morris knew a wee bit about flying and organizing transporta-
tion. He had joined the RAF in 1959 (when he was only 15 years old) and had flown with the military until 1974 when he went on to a 22-year administrative career with Cathay Pacific Airlines in Hong Kong. He’d just arrived in Canada when he met Lavallo, and saw the situation as something he might be able to address. And Angel Flight of British Columbia was born. Well, sort of ... the idea was born, at any rate. It was Morris’ plan to recruit some vol-
Rachel Temple
11 years insurance experience 11 years as a valued Harbord staff member
unteer pilots who would help transport children with cancer to their treatments. But recruiting the pilots was the easy part. He hadn’t anticipated the three-year battle with the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), one of two regulatory agencies in Ottawa (including Transport Canada) that needed to sign off on the plan. “It was frustrating at times,” said Morris. Please see: Angel Flight one of a kind, page 3
Joy Connor Canadian Accredited Insurance BrokerJoy Connor Canadian Accredited Insurance Broker 16 years insurance experience 16 years insurance experience 10 years as a valued Harbord staff member Rachel Temple
11 years insurance experience 11 years as a valued Harbord staff member
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