The Parksville Beach Festival Society announced their annual community give-back donation on Friday, Oct. 9, made up of a portion of gate donations from visitors to the popular sand sculpting competition this past summer.

Society president Cheryl Dill said a record $89,270 will be shared between 24 local non-profit organizations and community groups who helped staff the entrance gate through the multi-week event.

“As a not-for-profit society, we want to invest in what we do, and part of that is recognizing how important volunteerism is to Parksville Beach Festival Society. We were able to surpass last year’s donation slightly and honour all of that great work that our volunteers do.”

This year’s donation sees the Society pass $1.2 million in donations made since 1999.

Among those receiving funds for various community programs and events are Arrowsmith Care Home Society, Fraternal Order of Eagles, Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers, Parksville Lions Club and Rotary Club of Qualicum Beach.

The 2026 festival attracted around 119,480 visitors through the gates to view incredible works of sand art, sculpted over a few days in July.

Dill said while overall donations were slightly down from those attending, their relationships in the community have enabled bigger givebacks over the years.

“We also have a lot of in-kind donations from organizations that help us set up the event…whether that’s through fencing, through traffic control, through provision of the sand. We’re incredibly grateful to these contractors who are local in our community that recognize the value of giving back as well.”

Organizers are turning their focus towards the 2027 event, with Dill telling NanaimoNewsNOW they’re “keen not to disappoint” every year.

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The Mariners have an exhibition game on Saturday, Oct. 17 against the Island Surge and they’ll have a home game a week later against an opponent to be detemined.

Team president, general manager and coach Kris Kennedy said the idea to start the team came from his own experience with his daughters going through the female hockey system.

“I just watched a lot of friends and family and players that I coached have to leave the Island to go play elsewhere. I just saw with the numbers growing and being involved with everything that it was time that we started trying to look at doing something here in Nanaimo.”

The Mariners will play in the BCIHL along with two other teams, Thompson Rivers University and the Okanagan Lakers.

The hope is to play nearly 40 games with eight to ten at the Nanaimo Ice Centre.

‘We’re doing three showcases, two in Logan Lake and one in Kelowna, and we’re hoping to host one here in the new year at some point where other teams come to us. With exhibition games included there’s going to be various teams we’re going to play throughout the year that we’re working on as well. This year we’re just trying to get as many games as we can in, then adding another team or two next year.”

The Mariners have 16 players on their roster with about 80 percent from from the Nanaimo area.

In early October the club announced its leadership group including captain Rhys Winchell of Nanaimo, Addison Battie from Campbell River and Emmy McKinnon out of Nanaimo.

Kennedy said those players and others bring a lot of experience to the table from different levels and many of them already know each other.

“We’re very quick, which is great and we’ve got a little edge to us too. We’re really excited about how this will go, and it’s also girls who have played on teams together in some capacity over the years in their minor hockey careers, and a bit of their collegiate career as well.”

The BCIHL season is just about to begin but the Mariners already know where it will end.

The three league teams will play in a championship tournament in March at Thompson Rivers University.

Kennedy said a near full schedule should be released some time in October.

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The incident took place on March 13, 2026, involving the offender, 13 years old at the time, and a victim described at Nanaimo Law Courts as having the intellectual capacity of a four- to five-year-old.

The offender elected to plead guilty as opposed to the matter proceeding to trial.

Names of the parties involved can’t be published under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The complainant was walking home from school when the offender threw a pine cone at him, outlined Crown counsel Meghan Rahme.

According to an agreed statement of facts, the victim grabbed the offender’s backpack, then received several punches, which didn’t lead to long-lasting injuries.

Another student in the vicinity intervened to break up the altercation.

Defence attorney James Arends told court his client has since performed well on release conditions and is undergoing counselling.

In offering context to the offence, Arends noted his client himself has some developmental issues, adding the victim’s brother also got involved.

“There were certain issues of self-defence and a consensual fight were at play here…”

The offender was handed a conditional discharge and six months probation.

Court was told the offender benefits from supportive parents, who were in court for the Oct. 1 sentencing hearing.

Judge Brian Harvey told the offender that he won’t have a youth record if he abides by his probation conditions, which includes counselling provisions and no contact with the victim, with the exception of incidental contact at school.

“To your credit you’ve taken responsibility, and you’ve done well on bail,” judge Harvey said.

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The Nanaimo Ambassador Program is underway, open to any grade 11 student in the region to submit their name and candidacy to represent Nanaimo at a number of community events over a 12-month period.

Program chair Jayse Ruckstuhl told NanaimoNewsNOW activities run through the program will help attendees build confidence and life skills, leadership, and better local connections.

“All grade 11 students, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, we want everyone to be involved, and it’s more about leadership-based promoting tourism to Nanaimo, learning public speaking, and employability skills.”

The program was last run in 2017, with Ruckstuhl a former representative through Ladysmith.

She said the program was “rooted in pageantry” and she, along with others working with her, wanted to take it in a new direction.

Those enrolled must connect with a community sponsor, whether they be a business, non-profit group or other organization, and then they take part in a number of different courses and skill-building programs, including a speech class through Toastmasters.

In May, three winners will be selected to move forward.

“All we’re looking for is for the students to get out there, be in the community in a different capacity than just the school. Understand what’s going on in our community, municipal government, and different local events to really get them out there, and understanding what Nanaimo is as a whole and what we do in our city.”

Ruckstuhl added they were very deliberate about opening up this program to grade 11 students, a move inspired by her own experience.

She represented Ladysmith toward the end of her grade 12 year, often creating some conflicts between her responsibilities as a result, along with her post-secondary ambitions.

“It would give them the opportunity to still stay involved and have this opportunity to volunteer, get their 30 hours of volunteerism for their grad year…and then they can graduate from high school, and they’re not worried about any other responsibilities or leadership duties.”

Students have already signed up for the program, mainly from Cedar Secondary and NDSS, with Ruckstuhl hoping for more from across Nanaimo.

Full details on the program, as well as registration, is available through the Nanaimo Ambassador Program website.

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It was a special night for the team with the return of forward Patrick Fortune for a third season in Nanaimo.

Although the 20-year-old was held pointless in his first game he created plenty of offensive opportunities and drew praise for his performance from his coach Colin Birkas.

Clippers scoring leader Charles Béland continued his hot play with two goals and veteran Hudson Gill also scored.

Cowichan had the first goal of the game on a first period tap in by Roan Burgess before Nanaimo rallied for the 3-1 victory.

The Clippers outshot the Capitals 24-19 while going 1/6 on the man advantage and killing off the only Cowichan power play.

Hugo Laring was strong in net to improve to 5-2 on the season.

Capitals goalie Evan Maillet took the loss.

Nanaimo is now 2-0 this season against Cowichan Valley as they embark on a trip to Alberta for games on Tuesday, Oct. 13 and Wednesday Oct. 14 at the BCHL Showcase against Blackfalds and Brooks.

Then the Clippers will travel to Sherwood Park on Oct. 16 and Oct. 17 to Okotoks.

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While winds didn’t warrant issuing of any warnings or alerts, sustained winds reached around 30 kilometres per hour in Nanaimo overnight Thursday, Oct. 8, and into the early morning hours of Friday, Oct. 9.

Impacts were minimal, with the lone major outages happening in Cedar and affecting around 1,100 BC Hydro customers.

“We know we’re going to get [outages], it’s just a question of when,” Hydro spokesperson Ted Olynyk said. “We always advise our customers to make sure they’re prepared, you never know when a storm’s going to hit, and if it’ll impact you, so we prepare year-round.”

Preparation includes “extensive vegetation management,” according to Olynyk, who said their goal is to lessen the frequency and severity of outages.

In addition to work year-round clearing branches from near transmission lines, Hydro also works with its own internal meteorologists, third-party sources, and Environment Canada to ensure they’re ready if a storm looks set to hit a particular region.

“We know what’s coming up, making sure crews are available…and we also manage hydro generation facilities across the island, making sure they’re prepared if there’s going to be a heavy inflow of water.”

He said both residents and businesses share some responsibility in these situations.

BC Hydro recommends creating a 72-hour emergency kit with enough food, water, power, medication, and other essentials to last three days without any support.

Olynyk added if any lines are downed as a result of a storm, as was the case in Cedar overnight, the area should be kept clear.

“The line could still be energized if it never tripped out when it hit the ground. We could be trying to bring the system on remotely, or someone in the area has a generator and it’s not wired properly, and they’ve just plugged it into their home, and it’s feeding back into the system, in essence, making the lines live.”

Details on BC Hydro outages are available on their website.

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NANAIMO — Mayor and Council contenders in the city this election cycle are largely uniform in their belief property taxes are too high for most residents, but less agreement is found on how specifically to lower them.

Analyzing the 36 responses we received from the 44 candidates running in the Oct. 17 election, there was broad consensus with our statement saying “Increases to property taxes over the last 10 years in Nanaimo is at a manageable rate for the local tax base.”

Approximately 78 per cent of candidates either disagreed or strongly disagreed, while 14 per cent were neutral and just eight per cent said increases were at a manageable rate.

Editor’s note: Candidate responses included in this article are taken directly from their Know Your Vote survey submissions. Not all candidates will appear in each story, however NanaimoNewsNOW will endeavour to provide fair and equal representation of candidates across this series.

“I feel we need to look into additional sources of revenue including tourism and commercial revenue instead of placing all the burden on residential taxation,” Ryan Djakovic said. “Seeing as we are hub for Vancouver Island it is important to share the costs of growth with those who benefit as opposed to placing all the burden on Nanaimo home owners.”

“Most property owners have seen 50-60% increases in that time,” Jeff Annesley added, in strong disagreement to the statement. “Yet there are no new services that have benefited them. Many seniors are in fixed incomes and cannot afford to continue to subsidize these tremendous increases.”

“Residents understand that services and infrastructure cost money, and there will be years when increases are necessary,” Paul van Ryssel stated. “However, Council needs to put greater pressure on priorities, spending and value before continually asking existing taxpayers for more. We also need to grow and diversify the tax base by attracting responsible private investment, businesses and good-paying jobs.”

“People are getting squeezed out of their homes by unaffordable taxes and yet the reckless spending continues and borrowing on the backs of taxpayers is projected to ballon over the next three years,” Mayoral candidate Anne Marie Dryden said. “This must stop. We need fiscal responsibility and creative ideas to reign in the financial picture.”

Those more neutral on the statement said several factors were at play.

“Nanaimo needs sufficient revenue to maintain core services, public safety and infrastructure in a rapidly growing city, and responsible asset management requires long-term investment,” Andréa Coutu said, while suggesting Nanaimo’s industrial base was too small and there had been little growth in large employers. “We have had to shoulder 40% of the new hospital costs before we even have it secured. Taxes have risen steeply. Part of the increase is the 1% dedicated to General Asset Reserve, which I support to reduce costs.”

“The major reason for the recent tax increases is that previous councils did not raise taxes incrementally to build reserves for the replacement or expansion of critical infrastructure, including our hospital, sewers and public works building,” incumbent Paul Manly added. “Instead, those replacements and upgrades were deferred and the cost of completing them continued to grow. For decades, we have known that NRGH needs major upgrades, including a new patient tower and a life-saving cardiac care unit.”

The three in agreement were all incumbents, who said increases are a result of many challenges outside the City’s control.

“Tax increases happen for a number of reasons: inflation in labour and material costs (it now costs as much as $3000 to construct 1 meter of sidewalk!); replacing old infrastructure; providing services for a larger population; providing funds to the Nanaimo Regional Hospital Board to support our demands for necessary improvements in local health care and hospital services,” incumbent Mayor Leonard Krog said, while echoing others’ views about a lack of an industrial tax base.

“We have made sure the safety of Nanaimo is a top priority so hiring more officers as in CSO, RCMP help to keep a lid on the street disorder but it’s expensive,” incumbent Janice Perrino added. “Keeping up the infrastructure to a safe and secure level is a priority at our council table and that keeps the taxes high. Our hospital taxes are high because we don’t want to be paying back the debit for many decades. Buying parks, improving parks is expensive but important to growing families.”

When asked how to cut spending, answers from candidates were less clear.

In responding to the statement, “Essential infrastructure projects such as water and sewer upgrades and major capital projects should be scaled down, or delayed, to reduce the current tax burden on residents,” only 11 per cent agreed.

Eighty-one per cent were opposed, while eight per cent remained neutral.

Those opposed to delaying essential infrastructure now to help stabilize the short-term said in many cases it costs more later.

“Calgary‘s an example of delaying agent infrastructure,” incumbent Sheryl Armstrong said. If we don’t keep up with replacement, it could cost us hundreds of millions of dollars more than if we deal with it before it failed.”

“Nobody wants to see their tax bill climb every year,” Zaki Mohammed said. “But water and sewer are not line items we can push down the road without consequences. Half the housing delays we are trying to fix in this city come back to capacity limits in that same infrastructure. Delay it, and you delay the housing supply we desperately need too.”

“Upgrades to essential infrastructure is needed in Nanaimo,” Mayoral candidate Sarah Lovegrove added. “I believe there are alternative approaches which involve reallocation of elements of our current municipal budget that would create opportunities to save the taxpayer from shouldering the heavy cost of these infrastructure improvements.”

“If infrastructure projects for water and sewer upgrades or replacement are essential, it would be foolish and shortsighted to delay them,” incumbent Ian Thorpe stated. “Calgary provided proof of that last year. Cost of resulting damage and repairs would be huge, risks to public health would be caused, and delays to the project would only increase the eventual expense to taypayers”

“Essential means essential. If they can be scaled down or delayed, then they’re not essential,” incumbent Hilary Eastmure said. “Water and sewer upgrades are absolutely essential for the maintenance of the City as it currently exists and going into the future. We are suffering from the fact that past Councils delayed moving ahead with essential infrastructure projects, which pushed them further down the road and caused costs to escalate.”

Candidates with a more neutral viewpoint to the statement said a balance could be found between needed replacement of essential infrastructure, and the costs to do so.

“I believe Nanaimo should consider scaling down or delaying major capital projects where doing so would not compromise essential services or public safety,” Bryant Marshall suggested. While water and sewer infrastructure must be maintained and upgraded when necessary, not every capital project needs to proceed immediately. Given the increasing tax burden on residents, the City should carefully prioritize projects based on urgency, affordability, and long-term value.

“Balance is crucial,” Austin Seng said. “How, what, where, and when we invest matters, while respecting and listening to the voices of our community through improved communication.”

Of the candidates to agree with scaling down essential projects, more thought and process was largely favoured before proceeding.

“Necessary infrastructure and upgrades must be built not on a scale that does not unreasonably increase tax burdens,” Sandy Bartlett said. “Capital Projects that require large expenditures and in some cases borrowing should be thoroughly disclosed to the public in a meaningful way to obtain needed balancing once the people have reviewed. The Referendum process appears to be expensive but would be affordable for any issue provided it was brought during the election cycle every 4 years.”

“This is most times the first place to cut, but it can come at the expense of future problems by taking the hatchet to some projects,” Mark Chandler added.

A majority of candidates, 61 per cent, would not support a reduction of reserve funding in a bid to lower annual tax rate increases, with 17 per cent in support of the idea.

“REserve contributions are good but for now it should come after dramatically reducing taxes first,” Holden Southward argued in favour.

“YES! At least until we have clear stated goals with binding construction dates such as the hospital example,” Rod Moreno added. “City council has been to tepid with the provincial government by following party lines. We need non partisan candidates that align with all of us.”

Speaking against the idea, several candidates suggested the reserve funds help contribute to keeping future tax burdens down.

“Reducing contributions to reserves can lower a tax increase today, but it does not make the underlying cost disappear,” Erin Hemmens said. “It shifts more of that cost onto future taxpayers when infrastructure, vehicles and equipment need to be replaced. Responsible budgeting means planning for expenses we know are coming rather than creating a larger problem later.”

Reserve fund is important to maintain, managing our capital expenses with common sense is critical,” Ken Bennett added.

“The reserve is the one line in the budget that lowers taxes later,” Richard Harlow said. “Council put one per cent a year into it because the City owns $4.8 billion in assets and a 20-year plan showed the renewal money was not there. Cut the contribution and the same pipe still fails; it just gets paid for with a rate spike or with borrowing, at interest.”

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The proposed development, located at 3481 Rock City Rd. between Ocean Pearl Ter. and Landalt Rd., would bring a four-storey, L-shaped multi-family rental building with 101 rental units in total to the 2.73-hectare lot.

Paul Koopman from dHKarchitects told Nanaimo’s Design Advisory Panel on Thursday, Oct. 8, one of their guiding principles was to design it to minimize development pressure and preserve the area’s natural appeal.

“We know there will be a lot of work to create a two-storey excavation, but once it’s done, we believe that this building will appear to be very integrated into this landscape, with as much of the natural environment around this building intact.”

The proposed lot does extend across Rock City Rd. into an area of protected wetlands to the south, but all construction would take place on the north side of the road, with the two-storey underground parking lot being built in areas of soil and trees. (Image Credit: dHKarchitects)

The building would be divided into eight studio, 46 one-bedroom, 39 two-bedroom, and eight three-bedroom units, several of which are planned to accommodate residents with mobility challenges.

No surface vehicle parking is being proposed, with 171 vehicle parking stalls provided underground on two levels buried into the hillside.

The project will also provide long-term (51) and short-term (11) bicycle parking spaces.

The south portion across Rock City Rd. contains a protected wetland area where no development related to this project will take place.

“We like that the Rock City Rd. is here because it provides us with very strong and efficient access to our building site, and it also offers sort of an environmental protection area with Rock City Rd. between the construction site and the wetland habitat across the street,” Koopman said.

The north portion of the property contains mostly Douglas-fir trees and a variety of native vegetation.

The developer said in the report they plan to preserve the large existing rock formation located in the area. (Image Credit: dHKarchitects)

A glass-enclosed connection bridge will be located between the two wings of the buildings with a proposed elevated green roof courtyard.

Additional amenities, both indoor and outdoor, include fitness rooms, children’s play structures, and a landscaped pavilion.

A pedestrian link connecting the southern part of the lot to the public trail network across Rock City Rd. is also planned.

Additional plants and landscaping to “reinforce the ecological character of the site” are also being considered, including 164 replacement trees, according to the staff report, along with replanting any trees removed during construction.

A variance in the building’s height of 1.8 meters is being requested, occurring only at the entrance due to the site’s natural grading.

Recommendations made by the Panel include considering adding more natural green tones, sun shading elements for south and west-facing windows, adding soundproofing near the car park entrance, signage directing people to nearby public trails, and considering raised and/or illuminated pedestrian crosswalks.

The project must still be presented to Council for development permit approval.

The developer said the building is designed not to overshadow the natural rock formation, with the main entrance being built in a naturally occurring gap in the rocks along Rock City Rd. (Image Credit: dHKarchitects)

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Whether it’s taxing the wealthy to pay for services like health care or suggesting that tax cuts will “supercharge” the economy, whoever becomes premier will be facing a projected deficit of about $13.8 billion.

NDP Leader David Eby is proposing to suspend the gasoline taxes, while bringing in a new tax bracket for people making more than $1 million and increasing taxes on the two highest existing income brackets starting at about $190,000.

Eby has said the changes would generate $1 billion, while the Conservatives say increasing taxes will drive away much-needed doctors.

The Conservatives promise no new taxes, holding multiple tax-related campaign stops saying they would eliminate the PST on some items and cut provincial taxes by $1,000 for nearly every working British Columbian.

Interim leader Lorne Doerkson has not said how much his changes would cost but argues they are needed to “supercharge” the economy, which lost 26,000 jobs in August.

The BC Greens’ election platform includes a promise to introduce a one-time “fair share tax” on extreme wealth, beginning at five per cent on net wealth above $50 million, 10 per cent above $100 million, and 20 per cent above $1 billion.

The party estimates the changes would raise approximately $22.2 billion.

Leader Emily Lowan has criticized Eby for co-opting “the language of the left” after she said he refused her proposal for an extreme wealth tax while he was in power.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 9, 2026.

The Canadian Press

Members from BC Highway Patrol say they wrote 214 tickets for using an electronic device while driving on Vancouver Island alone through the month of September, up from 76 issued during the same period last year.

Sgt. Michael McLaughlin told NanaimoNewsNOW people are clearly not understanding how dangerous it can be, even with each offence carrying a $368 fine.

“We recognize that there is a problem, unfortunately, we were hoping the problem wasn’t as bad as it is. Even taking into account staffing increases or better enforcement on our part, there’s still a very concerning trend, and we think the driver behaviour is the biggest reason for this increase.”

Province-wide, 1,587 tickets were written for device usage while driving, over double the 734 issued in 2025.

McLaughlin said drivers not wearing seatbelts was also a major issue, with 148 drivers fined $167 each through the month-long campaign, up from 79 motorists a year ago.

“There’s no reason people should still be avoiding their seatbelts or using their cell phones illegally while they’re driving. We’ve done lots of education on this, but clearly a lot of people still don’t feel the law applies to them. We’re going to have to keep doing enforcement, these are very concerning trends, and a lot of it just must be that personal exceptionalism.”

McLaughlin said the mentality of ‘the rules don’t apply to me’ is extremely strong among some motorists.

He added the fix is incredibly simple.

“Don’t even move [your vehicle] until that belt is on, and just put your phone out of reach. So many people are being tempted by that little addictive device, and it’s showing in these expensive tickets that we’re giving out to people on the roads.”

RCMP will continue to watch for distracted and unrestrained motorists through November, ahead of a major nationwide campaign in December focusing on impaired driving through the holiday season.

— with files from Jordan Davidson

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