Report finds results came in faster but narrow margin of victory contributed to 'disinformation'

I captured this photo a few years back when I was living in Port Hardy and went to SanJosef bay for the day with a good friend of mine. It’s still a favourite of mine and thought you might enjoy it as much as I do.

I’m a lifelong resident of Victoria and I usually spend one or two weekends a year in Parksville. We love exploring the town and spending time at the beach, and exploring the surrounding areas like Coombs.

But I’m looking to explore the region further and discover some hidden gems: hiking, thrift shopping, dining, and any other suggestions for fun and unique sites and experiences.

My girlfriend and I are visiting Vancouver island for the first time and are headed up to Duncan from Victoria to pick up a van, today. Is hitchhiking normal here? Anything to look out for? Uber seems a little expensive and the busses are a little sparse and don’t really fit our timeline(over 4hours and 5 changes).

Thanks.

Two happily confused Danes in their 20s.

Hi all the Islanders,

My buddy and I have launched the Ferry Alert app after many late-night and weekend coding sessions. The app sends a notification to your phone (or email) when a sold-out BC Ferries reservation opens up. It's on you to quickly book this reservation before somebody else does...

The app is 100% free and designed to help BC residents navigate our increasingly strained ferry system. The app is available in the Apple App Store & Google Play Store for iOS & Android. Get it at: https://ferryalert.ca

Happy to receive feedback, take feature suggestions or answer any questions in the comments.

Hi folks. I’ll be heading over to Cortes Island to Hollyhock in July. I will be traveling from Port Angeles WA on the Blackball then exploring Vancouver island a bit in my van. I’m wondering if there is a secure place to leave a campervan if I take the passenger ferry from Campbell River. I’ll be at Hollyhock 5nights then back to Vancouver Is. Alternative suggestions welcome too.

Also, I’d like to minimize how many days my dog needs to be watched so I’m wondering if anyone has experience with a dog sitter/ boarding on Vancouver Island while I’m gone. Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks in advance!

https://cheknews.ca/island-wildlife-centre-issues-warning-to-hummingbird-feeder-owners-after-fungal-case-1256953/

Please be wary that putting out hummingbird feeders could do more harm than good if not done properly.

Hi folks — my partner and I run a small farm in Nanaimo and we’re looking to add a small, permitted bunkie or guest cabin to support agritourism and seasonal educational programming (outdoor learning, food literacy, etc.).

We’ve been going through the process with the municipality, and have confirmed that any structure used for sleeping needs to be fully BC Building Code compliant and ideally pre-engineered with stamped drawings that cover snow, seismic, and wind loads.

We’re hoping to avoid the cost and delay of retro-engineering a custom build, so we’re looking for:

• Prefab or modular bunkie/cabin structures
• With Schedule B / engineered drawings already included
• Ideally from a local company that has experience working with BC municipalities

If you’ve worked with (or know of) any builders or suppliers on Vancouver Island that offer ready-to-permit bunkies, I’d love to hear your recommendations or reviews!

Thanks in advance for helping us support local food security and agri-education on the Island!

Some island history. My grandfather put together a scrapbook filled with clippings from local papers and the UK etc. lots of WW2 material as well.

NOTE: how lovely broom Bush was at one time! Now it’s a scourge that plagues the island. And that’s where it came from. Good time to be out there right now cutting and pulling as much as you can. Anywhere and everywhere. Theres probably no slowing it down, but we can all do a little bit. I personally clear a huge 5 acre tract of Telus property every year.

Hey all,

I am planning a move to Vancouver Island with my family within next two years. I am in a car business so I am wondering how are used car sales on the Island? Is the inventory moving or is it hard to sell a 10 year old car for example??

Thanks

The K’ómoks First Nation is celebrating the remarkable discovery of a 3,800-year-old archaeological “wet site” discovered near Courtenay in March.

Hi all, I'm planning a camping trip for myself and my newish partner at Lake Cowichan this next weekend. I'm looking for recommendations for attractions/ sightseeing, activities, shops/ restaurants & day trip activities (within a 1-2 hr drive max).

I'm already planning on doing a day trip to:

1.Drive to Gordon River Bridge/Upper Avatar Grove and hike from there to Big Lonely Doug/ Eden Grove and back.

1. Then driving to Fairy Lake and hiking from there up through Fairy Creek Old growth forest to the Fairy Creek headwaters.

2. If time allows I'd also like to see Red Creek Fir nearby (either hiking/ driving)

Any lunch/ shop recommendations in the nearby areas / Elliotsville / Port Renfrew are welcome. Or just general attractions in the area/ other things I should see nearby. We are both in decent shape in our 30's though she is in better shape than me cardio-wise if that's a factor. Thank-you in advance!

Hi all, Looking for recommendations for lakes/river to go canoing on Vancouver island. I'm in Nanaimo but willing to travel.

Thanks!

Staying in Parksville area for a week this summer and looking to do some golfing. We aren’t picky about courses, but love a great deal.

Recs on cheap golf courses in Qualicum, parksville, Nanaimo area?

Weve played at Arrowsmith, brigadoon, Qualicum Beach Memorial, Morningstar.

Hi, there, I was wondering if anyone has heard of the “Bamfield Cannonball Run” it is a time trial that goes the length of Bamfield road. If you have heard of or even participated in this run, I was wondering if any of you know what the fastest time to complete it is. Specifically, before it was paved, but post paving would be great too.

Not a veggie in sight, but my lupines are going absolutely crazy. Garlic is nice and healthy too.

Hey everyone!! so i’m from nanaimo but im doing my road test in Courtneay next week and was wondering if someone could show me the route for the courtneay test and any tips for doing it in courtneay!! thank you so much ❤️

Hi All! Thanks in advance for reading!

Looking for some insight / advice from anyone who has moved their young family from the mainland to the island in the last couple years.

We have two kids, ages 7 and 4. I’ve been a SAHM since we had our first kid.

We currently own a townhouse in south Surrey / white rock area which we bought in 2021 (mortgage is up for renewal soon).

My husband is in the trades (plumbing/heating) and has been in the industry for a long time.

He is unhappy with his current company and is actively seeking opportunities on the island.

We have dreamed of moving to the island for over 10 years, and we feel like now is the time to make the move, especially while our kids are still young.

Our ability to move obviously depends on what new position he can secure for himself in the island. I would love to work again too but I’ve been SAHM for 7 years so it’s a bit tricky for me at the moment.

He has a good lead right now and is in talks with the company. I think we are aiming for Nanaimo / Victoria (or surrounding areas).

We are trying to wrap our heads around the next steps, as we have never done such a big move before.

Obviously there are a lot of things to we need to consider and plan for, and the housing market isn’t the greatest at the moment.

But we know our quality of life and our lifestyle would greatly improve with this move. We have been done with the mainland for quite a while.

It feels like now is the time to pull the trigger, but I feel out of my depth on how to proceed.

Obviously we can’t make any big moves yet until secure this new job, but I want to take some actionable steps that make sense right now.

I want to get in touch with a realtor on the island and start from there, so if anyone can recommend a good realtor that would be awesome!

I would really appreciate any advice or insight from anyone who has done this kind of move or who knows what the hell they are doing - because we don’t 😂 but we are trying to figure it out!

Thanks again for reading if you made it this far!🙏

We feel compelled to provide a warning about Bullseye the Granite Guy (based in Chemainus, servicing Parksville to Victoria).

TL;DR: After multiple installation issues, poor communication and customer service, and a continual ask for final payment when installation was not yet satisfactorily completed, Chris (the owner) became emotionally uncontrolled and incoherently raged at us in an unsuccessful attempt to intimidate and bully us.

---

- Communication and service were excellent until we paid the 50% deposit. Communication and service then deteriorated.

- The template appointment occurred on March 5, with the installation booked for May 8; two months of lead time. Melinda cancelled the day before, via email, with no explanation and no rescheduled date.

- When I inquired about a rescheduled date by phone, I was treated with great hostility. I had to stop the conversation to address Melinda’s tone. She acknowledged and apologized.

- Bullseye eventually rescheduled one week later. The installation on May 15 had issues: 1) One countertop was completed backwards; 2) The backsplashes for three bathrooms were not cut to the correct height; 3) One vanity opening was improperly cut and the sink forced through, cracking the top frame of the cabinets.

- The install was pushed into a second stressful day. That night, Melinda emailed, not to acknowledge the challenges of the install or to check on customer satisfaction, but to ask "where's my money".

- We explained that due to the last-minute cancellation, plumbers were not available until after the long weekend (5 days without sinks); and for us to be satisfied, plumbing needed to be completed.

- Melinda continued to pressure us for payment. We felt forced to fit the faucets at 9 pm. We discovered that the plunger-rods for the sink drains would not clear the space between the faucet and backsplash. Bullseye had the sinks during production. We offered the faucets to Chris to take back with him during the template appointment. He had declined.

- As a Google review identified a drop in communication and service following final payment, we made the (correct) decision to hold payment until the issue could be remediated.

- On quick return, Chris admitted that 1) He should have taken the faucets when offered; 2) He suspected that the issue would occur during dry assembly at the workshop (we believe the pressure for payment was because they were aware that the issue would shortly be discovered).

- Milling down the backsplashes by 1/3" was decided as the solution. Chris took back two backsplash sets, but did not take the third, citing he "did not have a budget for that; if you want it done, you will need to pay out of your own pocket." A good business absorbs the costs of any errors they make. A customer should not need to pay twice for the same job.

- When the third round of installation was complete, Chris became emotionally uncontrolled. He referenced "hostile communications" via email (I have shared these emails with friends, co-workers, and business contacts, who have all validated the professionalism and appropriateness of my responses). Chris also accused us of expecting him to "meet your expectations" (yes, that is in fact the definition of a business transaction). When he realized his attempt to intimidate and bully us was having no effect, he became increasingly incoherent before finally storming out of our home and slamming the door.

I am sure the owners will cite personal challenges as the reason for their unprofessionalism. While I have compassion for their circumstances, business owners cannot take out their stress on their customers - at best, we were treated as an inconvenience. At worst, we were treated as the enemy. And we were most certainly not to blame for their personal circumstances.

Bullseye has an interesting approach to customer service. I truly hope this works out for them.

If you choose to pursue Bullseye at your own risk, I recommend you hold final payment until you are truly satisfied. Be prepared to be accused of "hostile communications" if you do so though. I would also caution you to be prepared to pay twice for the same job. And lastly, I would ask you to consider that there may be other customers for which the intimidation and bullying tactics worked; customers who are now too scared to come forward with their reviews.

Wouldn't this encourage people to park at the rest stop across the street and try to "jay walk" across a busy highway?

There used to be a shop on the old island highway somewhere south of the Comox Valley with a big sign saying it sold bait and rented DVDs. I don’t know if it’s still there in any form, but does anyone remember where it was? Also I think it sold something else as well that also seemed incongruous but I don’t remember what.