NANAIMO REGION
Ladysmith buys up land for new town hall Town says it needs to move from site on Esplanade to integrate municipal staff under one roof. A3
NANAIMO REGION
Minister shifts on recession
Agencies see numbers of homeless increase Samaritan House and other agencies have noticed increasing occupancy levels so far this year. A3
Joe Oliver now says statistics will show status of the economy my Nation & World, A7
The newspaper of record for Nanaimo and region since 1874 || Wednesday, July 8, 2015 CITY
NEDC boss announces departure Sasha Angus will continue official duties until fall and will fill in on temporary basis until he is replaced SPENCER ANDERSON DAILY NEWS
NEDC board chairman Andre Sullivan said the advance notice will enable the board enough time to choose a replacement. He said the NEDC will likely hire a recruitment firm to find a suitable candidate. “We want to cast our net further” than the city, he said. Angus was hired to helm the NEDC in fall 2012 after the resignation of previous CEO Susan Cudahy. Cudahy had resigned after a rocky eight months on the job. Since his time as CEO, Angus has pursued a number of policies, including setting up the city’s SquareOne office downtown, a common office space
aimed at supporting new business and tech start-ups. Angus has also been a behindthe-scenes force in marketing the Nanaimo region for foreign investment, such as the proposed new Gordon Street conference centre hotel project. Some in the community have called for more scrutiny of NEDC spending. But Sullivan said the NEDC has run smoothly under Angus’ watch. He added that Angus “has done of a lot of groundwork” for a new CEO. “Sasha’s been the steady hand that the organization has needed over the last three years,” Sullivan said. Nanaimo Coun. Bill Yoachim,
a former NEDC board member, said Angus was a stabilizing influence on the organization. Mayor Bill McKay praised Angus’ competence. The mayor said the departing CEO was “well-respected.” “I’m going to miss him and I really enjoyed working with him, McKay said.
The Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation is losing its CEO. Sasha Angus, chief executive for the city-owned agency for three years, informed the NEDC’s board of directors on Tuesday that he would step down in October to move to Victoria with his family. Angus said he and his wife, an applied linguistics professor at the University of Victoria, made the decision after she was offered new research opportunities at the university. The couple decided the move was preferable to having her continue to com-
mute five days a week between Nanaimo and Victoria. The pair also have a seven-year-old son. “In these sorts of scenarios, family comes first, but it was a very difficult decision to come to,” he said, adding they spent “a good three or four months” making the decision. Angus said he will continue his official duties into the fall and has committed to filling in on a temporary basis after his official departure while a replacement is selected.
Cannabis dispensaries popping up around city
» Transportation RDN directors want to see E&N rail contract as concerns emerge about future costs of service
City says as registered societies they do not fall under bylaws and recent court decisions have limited action by the RCMP. » Nanaimo Region, A5
Accused bomber seemed to have got over divorce
Court documents obtained Tuesday show Winnipeg man stopped fighting a lawsuit filed by his ex-wife over $40,000 and agreed to pay her by auctioning off equipment. » Nation & World, A8
Longwood celebrates 15 years of craft beer
Celebrating their 15th anniversary, Longwood Brew Pub has been a landmark for Nanaimoites as a local craft brewery and pub. » Food, B1
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he Regional District of Nanaimo has taken a cautious tone while it awaits word from the B.C. Ministry of Transportation on the release of funding for upgrades to the E&N rail line. The RDN board of directors passed a motion from director Julian Fell in late June calling on the Island Corridor Foundation — the non-profit group that owns the E&N line — to supply the RDN with the text of an impending agreement between the ICF and Southern Rail. Southern Rail is the company that is poised to operate the rail service between Courtenay and Victoria. The motion says having the ICF provide the agreement would “ensure that there are no unacceptable entanglements, conditions, commitments or liabilities that might descend to the Regional District of Nanaimo should the member-owners of the Island Corridor Foundation decide to change the structure, status or mission of the (ICF).” RDN director Bill Veenhof seconded the motion. He said there is uncertainty surrounding the future of the ICF if $15 million in provincial and federal funding to repair the rail line and restore passenger service is not released. “If that funding doesn’t come through, we’re going to have to have a fulsome discussion on where we’re going with the ICF,” he said.
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The Regional District of Nanaimo wants the Island Corridor Foundation and Southern Rail to disclose the text of an impending deal about the future of the railway. [DAILY NEWS FILE PHOTO]
Veenhof noted that local governments along the length of the rail line have also kicked in funding for rail repairs. The amount is approximately $5 million. The Ministry of Transportation is in the process of reviewing the proposed rail line improvements, ministry spokeswoman Sonia Lowe said. A recent report by RTC Rail Solutions, the firm hired by the province to review the project, concluded that the $15 million allocated by senior governments
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would be inadequate to address safety concerns with the E&N rail line. The ICF has submitted a detailed review of the report’s finding in response and has questioned the information the report was based on. Nanaimo Mayor Bill McKay, who also chairs the ICF, supported the motion. He said he has no objections making an agreement between the ICF and Southern rail available to board members. He acknowledged there were
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questions about the ICF’s future if funding for the project is denied. “I think the big elephant in the room is the funding request,” he said. McKay said conversations he has had with Transportation Minister Todd Stone indicates ministry officials are “guardedly optimistic” the project will proceed. Spencer.Anderson @nanaimodailynews.com 250-729-4255
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