Electric future
A look at some of the vehicles to come Page A7
LETTERS: Residents weigh in on local issues /A4 SPORTS: Basketball headlines sports action /A10 REAL ESTATE: Time to talk insurance /A12
OAK BAYNEWS Friday, January 29, 2016
www.oakbaynews.com
Council aims to discuss deer philosophy Conversation slated for Feb. 15 committee meeting at Oak Bay municipal hall Christine van Reeuwyk Oak Bay News
Christine van Reeuwyk/Oak Bay News
Steve Mairs, PhD student and outreach supervisor for UVic’s telescope, ignites young minds, leading several classrooms of students of all ages through activities that inspire them to look up.
‘Gateway science’ offers peek at the stars UVic’s astronomy department opens each Wednesday Christine van Reeuwyk Oak Bay News
The University of Victoria’s “shining jewel” perches atop the Bob Wright Centre. “It’s my favourite room in the world,” says Steve Mairs, PhD student and outreach supervisor for the astronomy department – a role he took over last fall. The largest optical telescope on a Canadian university campus, it features a 32-inch mirror. It is the biggest and best and alongside its critical use in astronomy studies and research, the public aspect is just as important and fun. “That gives you an amazing oppor-
During the weekly open houses each tunity to see things,” Mairs said of the size. Winter is a particularly good time Wednesday night, a swath of people for star gazing, though anytime “it’s take to the rooftop telescopes along with the grand one inside. They’re just beautiful through this thing.” Mairs calls astronomy the “gateway led in the stargazing by senior underscience” for kids coming here – he grads who come to answer all sciencerelated questions. leads school groups those trained from pre-Kindergar“You show (students) toAmong tell the old conten to those anticipating post-second- a galaxy for the first time stellation stories and scientific quesary schooling. and their eyes explode.” address tions is Nic Annau, an The massive teleundergrad who started scope can pinpoint – Steve Mairs working the open objects in deep houses in fall 2013. space with the click “We have a few regulars,” Annau of a computer mouse. A push of a button on the remote and the massive said. While the obvious draws are stumachine manoeuvres its way to point dents from other sciences, they come from every corner of the campus, and at its destination. “We’ve handed (the remote) to kids beyond. who are four years old and they’ve used it correctly, under our direction,” PLEASE SEE: Mairs said. Astronomy nights a family affair, Page A3
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To manage or not to manage deer – that is the question expected to be up for discussion by Oak Bay council during its Feb. 15 committee meeting. The topic arose as staff offered a final report on the CRD pilot project to manage deer in the region. The staff report outlined the course Oak Bay took, from education to cull and the final deer count numbers in the fall. That CRD count showed a deer for every two kilometres of street, which Coun. Tom Croft pointed out was a bit of an awkward analogy, asking how many “kilometres” are in Oak Bay? Staff pointed out that was the way the count information was interpreted and presented by the Ministry of Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operation. It also stated the high count was 55 deer, with 14 of those at Victoria Golf Club, and all in good condition. The question quickly became: “Do we want to proceed with deer management?” posed by Mayor Nils Jensen early in the hour-long discussion. Coun. Michelle Kirby suggested no – noting the CRD has no current plans to put time and money into a management strategy. While participating in the regional pilot project showed leadership, “it’s a whole other thing to go it alone,” she said. “We have a lot on our plate and we have a strategic plan that needs time and energy of our staff. I don’t see this is our responsibility,” Kirby said, adding deer are the responsibility of the province. “If we keep taking this on … they’re just going to let us do it.” Deer are in the purview of the province, agreed Coun. Tara Ney. “But I do read from our community they do want a deer management program,” she said, suggesting at minimum an educational campaign. “We could ramp up now with providing education and support.” PLEASE SEE: Deer calls question safety, Page A3
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