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Queen of Hearts Juice Newton coming to the Mary Winspear Centre, page 10
(a $32.50 v alue)
Seniors’ issues take the fore SHOAL Centre the site of a federal candidates forum on seniors’ issues, page 3
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Black Press C O M M U N I T Y
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Friday, October 2, 2015
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Mayors make pitch to province UBCM meeting an important opportunity for Peninsula municipalities Tim Collins News contributor
Representatives from all of the Saanich Peninsula municipalities were at Vancouver Convention Centre recently for the 2015 meeting of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM). The UBCM is an advocate organization for municipal governments and its annual meeting provides those municipalities a chance to meet with Provincial ministers and staff in an effort to raise those issues that are most important to local government. “We all go there with our own expectations and agendas,” said Central Saanich Mayor, Ryan Windsor. “For example, this year we met with the Minister to talk about enhancing the role of First Nations involvement in the Capital Region. It’s an important issue and this meeting gave us the opportunity to make that point.” “We also had an opportunity to meet with the minister of the environment to talk about establishing a ‘no-sewRyan Windsor age-discharge’ regulation for the Saanich Inlet. It’s an issue that we would otherwise have a hard time pursuing, and it is very important to our environment.” Another important issue that was a topic of discussion involved rules governing agricultural land. “Our municipality still has agriculture as an integral part of who we are, and it’s important that the rules are well understood and that we have input into their development and implementation,” said Windsor. Please see: Local government and amalgamation, page 4
Carlie Connolly/News staff
Randy, Brooke and Ray Smith, from left, of Marigold Nursery. The longtime local business will be closing its doors by Christmas Eve.
End of an era for Marigold Ray Smith takes a walk down memory lane Carlie Connolly News staff
Sitting out back of Marigold Nursery, the sunshine beaming down on owner Ray Smith’s face, there was a real sense of passion, hard work and pride in the air, as the Smith family prepares to close the business after close to 50 years. He took the PNR back to the nursery’s glory days and the people that made it all worthwhile. Opening in the early 1960s, the Smith family bought the property
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when it was just fields. Marigold will be closing its doors come Christmas Eve. Beginning as a wholesale-sales only business, Marigold Nursery later moved into retail as well, with a small store at the front. The change saw customers piling in. Now being retail only the last few years, there are still lots of customers but Smith says things have changed. “People’s buying habits have changed. Younger people can’t afford houses so the houses that they can afford don’t have any yards, so the amount of purchasing is limited.” Working at the business is Smith’s daughter Brooke and son, Randy along
with his wife, Libby. Their total number of employees is around a dozen people. When asked how it’s been to work with family, Ray replied with a laugh, saying it’s tough but that they have each other’s back. The company has had its fair share of challenges with Ray’s younger brother dying, a major fire that left them losing their whole Christmas crop and sheds burnt to the ground and a collapse of the greenhouses under heavy snowfall, but they of course bounced back. Please see: Nursery site to be new housing, page 4