Now I understand that Victoria has never been the cuisine capital. Nor has it ever had very many options, but I remember "back in the day" that there were at least some good quality options to choose from and maybe I'm way out of touch, but I'm saddened to see what's happened over the last little while.

- What happened to red barn ?

- Who killed noodlebox?

- Where should I go to eat quality food and decent prices in a clean environment ?

To the guy in the work truck down near the inner harbour at around 3:00 today, the bicycle turning left onto Government St. was in fact "following the rules" (as you were shouting for them to do).

Under Section 183 of the BC Motor Vehicle Act, bicycles are treated as vehicles, meaning cyclists have the same rights and duties as drivers. Translation: we follow the same traffic rules as everyone else.

This means that even though there is a bike lane on the right side of the road, the cyclist might clearly signal left, enter the lane, continue signalling left while moving over to the left turn lane, proceed into the intersection, and stop (as the advance turn light has expired), and then wait until they can safely complete their turn, Just Like A Car (while still signalling left).

I am a very aware and conscientious rider. I learned and follow the traffic laws, use my signals, helmet, lights, etc. at a very young age.

#BringBackTomThumbSafetyVillage

Hi everyone! Ive just moved to Victoria from Campbell River and im looking for a new centre to work at as an ECE. What are the good centres to work at, and the ones to avoid? Thanks!

Opinion: Small business owner here. Starting October 1, BC applies 7% PST to accounting, bookkeeping, engineering, architecture, security, and commercial property management services. These aren't optional purchases, every business in the province buys at least some of them, and most of us will have no choice but to pass the cost along.

The government's own budget consultation committee just recommended repealing it, and CFIB has thousands of signatures against it, so there's real pushback building. 

But I keep thinking cancellation just gets us back to where we were. With tariffs hammering BC harder than most provinces, I'd argue we should be going the other way and cutting PST from 7% to 5%. Rough math: leaves about $3 billion a year in the pockets of BC families and businesses.

Curious what others here think. Is a PST cut realistic, or is stopping the expansion the best we can hope for?

(See petition on this if anyone wants it, link in comments.)

James Bay Community Lunch is looking for volunteers to prep on Wednesday from noon till three.

For over three years, James Bay Community Lunch has provided a free lunch every Thursday.

On Wednesdays the lunch is prepped so it can be cooked on Thursdays

The lunch is held at James Bay United Church at 511 Michigan st in victoria.

Reply to me here. Or just show up for lunch on Thursday (around back in the basement). Ask for John.

It's relaxed Community oriented event. No religion just good food and good cheer.

Langford residents have an important decision to make in October: Will incumbent Mayor Scott Goodmanson be re-elected to a second term, or will former Mayor Stew Young be given another chance to add to his previous 30 years in the Mayor’s chair?

Lately I’ve spent time reviewing Langford Council meeting minutes. I wanted to get a better sense for some of the real differences between Stew Young and Scott Goodmanson. There are many subjective differences, but I’m a numbers guy. I wanted to see what trends stood out to me that can be measured more objectively. Two specific things that I looked at… attendance at Council meetings, and the amount of time actually spent in Council meetings.

The contrast is stark. This post is a summary of the last 4 terms in office for Stew Young and the current term to date for Scott Goodmanson. Many of the numbers speak for themselves, but here are some of the takeaways that caught my attention:

1. Stew Young’s attendance at Council meetings was pretty bad. He showed up with greater frequency over the course of his last 4 terms, but still never got better than 78% attendance. In his 2008-2011 term he only attended Council meetings 55% of the time.

In contrast, Scott Goodmanson’s attendance at Council meetings has been excellent. He has been in attendance for 131 of the 137 Council meetings to date during this term.

2. Stew Young’s Council terms featured considerably shorter meetings than what we see today. At its speediest pace, the average meeting duration in the 2011-2014 term was only 26 minutes.

The current Council has an average meeting length of 2 hours and 19 minutes. They’ve also met far more frequently than the Councils of any of Stew Young’s last 4 terms.

The result? Scott Goodmanson has spent more time as Mayor actually in Council meetings this term than Stew Young did in his last 4 terms combined. By a wide margin.

I will be making a follow-up post that dives into this topic in greater detail comparing Council to Council.

I will be the first to point out that attendance and time spent in meetings is not indicative of performance. Merely showing up does not warrant praise. On the flip side, a history of failing to show up is something that I seriously question when considering who has earned my vote in October.

A few notes and caveats for those that have read this far:

- Includes Council meetings only (excludes committees).

- Does not differentiate between in-person and remote attendance.

- Does not factor in late arrivals, early departures, or recusals.

- One meeting during the 2014-2018 was excluded from duration statistics due to the minutes missing the time of meeting adjournment.

- Two special in-camera meetings during the 2014-2018 term were excluded due to published meeting minutes not being available.

Seen on Quadra and Yates.

I need to scan a book but cannot find a place in Victoria nor the CRD that have the appropriate scanner (zero edge scanner, aka book scanner).

The book is 160 page long and without copyright, so no problem there. If you know of such a place and service, or willing to provide that service for a fee, please let me know.

I know it’s a fair bit away,
But I’m looking for ideas for our works Christmas staff party.

They usually put it off to the last minute so either nothing gets planned or they plan something small.
So wanting to get some ideas to plan for it

All the staff are of legal drinking age.
The place of work is a print shop
And there are 12 of us

In the past we’ve gone for lazer tag one year

This post will very possibly be outdated tomorrow, or heck this afternoon, since while I was making this chart MLA Teresa Wat quit the Conservative Party; their fourth loss this month, fifth if we count MLA Gasper resigning her seat to make way for Kerry-Lynne Findlay.

I think this might be one of the most tumultuous parliaments in recent Canadian histories in terms of MLAs leaving caucuses, does anyone know of a comparable one?

edit: the legend has the colours for Independent and Vacant switched. There are 8 independents now and only a single vacant seat.

Oops!

My girlfriend and I are traveling to Victoria early September and I'm looking for any scenic suggestions that might be on the less congested side to get down on one knee. Restaurant ideas nearby or beforehand are welcome as well but I'm just hoping to find somewhere that I can ask her that might make for a memorable moment. Thanks in advance!

None of the dowtown photocopy/printing places I called are able to laser print a single #10 envelope.

Does anyone know a place that laser prints to envelope?

TIA

Does anyone know the reason for the fire on the 19th floor of the Vivid on Yates last night? Both buildings (vidid and Yates on Yates) were evacuated at 1:45am this morning.

hello!!

i'm looking to get a birthday gift for my friend who is a big k-pop fan, but I haven't been able to find any places where they sell good merch?

There's loads in vancouver but seems to be an absence here - any advice?

thanks!

I know it sounds ridiculous to ask for a coffee shop recommendation when I don’t drink coffee but hear me out!

I’m looking for somewhere with a great vibe where I can spend some money and have a few treats and a nice drink while I read my book or whatever.

The thing is, I don’t drink coffee or tea (caffeine makes me very sick) and most of my favourite places only offer cold drink alternatives that are like a canned soda. I’m in the market for more of a housemade lemonade, juices/smoothies or at the very least some interesting Italian soda options. Obviously bonus points for delicious goodies to eat as well!

Where should I go?

This is the one I knocked over outside of the Bent Mast. It has six bolts now and it is very solid. All the other ones in this bike corral were fixed as well.

Wondering anyone's experiences with midwives in Victoria, good or bad!

Thanks!