A road in Sidney was briefly closed to traffic after a seven-vehicle collision.

The Sidney Volunteer Fire Department and Sidney/North Saanich RCMP shut down Henry Ave between Chicory Place and Seventh Street in all directions after the accident in front of Sidney Elementary School.

A video shared with Victoria Buzz shows the seven vehicles crushed against each other while parked in parking spots outside the school.

The cause of the collision is unknown at this time but did occur after classes were dismissed for the day.

One person was transported to hospital with minor injuries.

The road has been reopened to traffic as of the time of publication.

A Tofino Chef and restaurant owner will be featured on this Thursday’s episode of CBC’s Dragon’s Den the CBC announced on Monday.

Lisa Ahier, the owner of SOBO Restaurant, is appearing on the program on November 12 in the hopes of finding a partner to sell a grocery store version of her famed salmon chowder.

“I serve a wild smoked salmon chowder, and it’s such a popular item that people were asking to take home,” Ahier said in an interview with Victoria Buzz.

“My problem is that I can’t produce enough chowder in my restaurant to keep people stocked. If that many people are wanting that chowder in just this little town, I feel that there’s definitely a market all across Canada.”

She says it’s just the latest step in the 18-year journey for SOBO. The restaurant began as an award-winning food truck in 2003, and over time evolved into a large brick-and-mortar location that has operated for 12 years in downtown Tofino.

The menu was personally crafted by Ahier, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in New York’s Hyde Park.

At age 60, though, Ahier wants to come out from the kitchen and find a business partner to help her make the leap to nationwide distribution.

“It’s a hard industry to be in and COVID’s made it much harder, but I do believe the timing’s right for a high-quality product like this to make its way into people’s homes,” said Ahier.

She auditioned for the program in March, and after production was delayed by the pandemic, was contacted in August to see if she could appear.

Because of the busy summer season, Ahier was unable to fly out in person to the studio, but because Dragon’s Den was already adapting to a COVID-19 reality, they were able to accommodate her with a remote setup.

Ahier says the taping was made somewhat challenging by the socially distant form of communication.

“I had to be super conscious,” she said. “I feel like I made it work. It was surreal, about 20 minutes in a dark room looking into the hole of a camera and seeing nothing else.”

While the show’s audience will have to wait and see how her pitch went over with the Dragons, Ahier says she is prepared to move forward with any business partner who can offer her expertise and support.

“I believe COVID is changing the face of sit-down restaurants,” she said.

“I want to be ready with the next phase of my restaurant, and I want to be able to serve all the people who can’t get here.”

Dragon’s Den airs Thursday nights on CBC at 9 p.m.

Friends and neighbours have identified the victim of a suspected murder in Langford.

On Friday, November 6, West Shore RCMP found the body of a woman at a residence in the 1200 block of McLeod place in Langford.

That woman has now been identified as 55-year-old Kerri Weber.

Her husband, 56-year-old Kenneth Lawrence Weber, has been charged with second degree murder and is scheduled to appear in court next week.

One source, who has requested to remain anonymous, tells Victoria Buzz that the victim’s dog was also found dead in the residence.

Investigators believe this was an isolated incident and not related to any other ongoing investigations taking place on Vancouver Island.

No information has been released about the motive of the alleged murder.

Family members have not been given any details about what took place inside the residence the night police found the victim’s body.

The Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit (VIIMCU) is working closely with the West Shore RCMP, the Integrated Forensic Identification Services (IFIS) and the BC Coroners Service to continue their investigation.

John Horgan says he can’t guarantee promised payments to families and individuals throughout British Columbia will arrive before Christmas.

The recently re-elected premier told media on Monday at his first post-election presser that he can’t commit to a hard deadline for when people will see money from a key NDP campaign promise.

During the election, the BC NDP said they would offer one-time direct deposits of $1,000 to families with combined annual incomes under $125,000 (with a sliding scale up to $175,000) and $500 to single people with annual incomes up to $62,000 (with a sliding scale up to $87,000).

The policy plank was a major talking point in opposition to the BC Liberals’ proposed PST cut.

On Monday, Horgan said he didn’t know what restrictions his government might face getting the legislature back into place.

“I have been advised by finance officials that once the dollars are appropriated, it won’t take very much time at all to direct deposit the money,” the premier said.

He added that he is hopeful that his government will be able to enact the policy “very quickly” and suggested it could occur in December or early January.

“I can tell British Columbians that the commitment we made during the election campaign will be fulfilled,” Horgan said.

Elections BC has released the final count for the 2020 Provincial Election, solidifying returning Premier John Horgan’s victory.

At the close of General Voting Day, with in-person ballots counted, the NDP were leading or elected in 55 of 87 ridings, while the Liberals held 29 and the Greens held 3.

Following the tabulation of all remaining ballots, the NDP have won 57 seats, the Liberals 28, and the Greens 2.

Mail-in ballots tipped the scales slightly, winning Abbotsford-Mission for the NDP by a margin of 744 votes for Pam Alexis, and knocking out ousted Liberal candidate Laurie Throness from Chilliwack-Kent, who lost by 1,304 votes to the NDP’s Kelli Paddon.

The Green Party may be ousted from the mainland, as their election night victory in West Vancouver Sea-to-Sky was cast into doubt by a reversal that saw Green candidate Jeremy Valeriote losing by 41 votes to Liberal Jordan Sturdy.

The close call triggered an automatic recount under B.C’s Election Act, which specifies a threshold difference between the top two candidates of more than 1/500 of the total ballots cast to solidify a victory.

With 24,768 votes cast in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, the threshold for a judicial recount was 49 votes. The BC Supreme Court will determine the date for the recount.

Nanaimo RCMP have arrested a man caught cycling erratically after they found illicit drugs and a large amount of cash among his belongings.

At around 2 a.m. on October 31, officers saw the cyclist racing eastbound on Fitzwilliam Street while not wearing a helmet and not sporting lights.

The cyclist nearly crashed into a vehicle before police tried to stop him, but he refused to stop even after officers used a loud haler and emergency lights.

The suspect continued weaving along streets and alleys before hitting a curb and falling off his bike. A short foot chase ensued before police caught up with him and arrested him for Obstruction on Terminal Ave.

Officers then searched the 26-year-old man’s belongings and found $10,550 in Canadian currency, 6 ounces of fentanyl, 7 grams of methamphetamine, 8 grams of cocaine, and a small quantity of cannabis.

“This was not what the officers expected when they attempted to stop the cyclist but it certainly worked out well,” said Cst. Gary O’Brien in a statement.

“Fentanyl is a deadly drug that has claimed hundreds of lives in communities across BC. By removing just this amount, upwards of 1700 lives may have been saved.”

After arrest, the man was later released on an Undertaking with a court date for December in Nanaimo Provincial Court.

Quality Foods announced on Friday that they have received 2,500 poppies ahead of Remembrance Day, in recognition of a donation to the Poppy Fund.

A company spokesperson told Victoria Buzz that the donation is an annual contribution by the Qualicum Beach-based company.

In a post to the company’s Facebook Page, Quality Foods says the poppies will be distributed to their stores so that any staff member can choose to wear one.

“The extra ‘pre-paid’ poppies will be available in-store for customers, to ensure the donation cost isn’t an obstacle for anyone that wants to wear a poppy with pride this year,” the company added.

Angus Stanfield,  Dominion Vice-President and Chair for the Poppy and Remembrance Committee, says that companies and individuals don’t technically “buy” poppies.

Anyone who wants to wear a poppy can have one for free. Donations are welcomed in-person or online, via legion.ca.

Quality Foods says the donation was especially important this year due to the challenges the Poppy Fund is facing with COVID-19.

The grocery chain was started in 1982 by Qualicum Beach residents Ken Schley, John Briuolo and Noel Hayward, and later sold in 2017 to B.C-based Jim Pattison Group.

Multiple U.S. networks are projecting Democratic Party leader Joe Biden will win the 2020 U.S. presidential election, unseating incumbent President Donald Trump.

With mail-in ballots making up hundreds and thousands of votes, the counting process continued for several days, coming to a nail-biting conclusion on Saturday.

After networks projected Pennsylvania will turn blue for the Democrats, it became clear that Biden would attain the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.

While Trump and his campaign team declared victory in several states Tuesday night — including key states like Michigan and Pennsylvania — the vote count on Wednesday morning made it clear that Biden is projected to win those states.

The incumbent President went so far as to claim he had won the entire election during a speech.

Trump and his most ardent supporters are now refusing to accept vote counts, claiming there have been a “large number of secretly dumped ballots”.

As explained by CNN fact checker Daniel Dale, these “dumps” refer to “a substantial number of newly counted votes from a particular state or county entered into (“dumped” into) the public totals.”

The President essentially claimed it is a “terrible thing” that mail-in votes were being counted, many of which turned states that Republicans were in the lead in last night into a victory for the Democrats.

Incessant false claims by Trump and his supporters led Twitter to block many of their posts from view, due to their misleading nature.

The Trump campaign has also begun raising money to possibly legally challenge vote counts in close states, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

New data from Statistics Canada released on Friday shows a small improvement in B.C.’s unemployment numbers over the month of October.

The overall unemployment rate fell by 0.4 per cent from the previous month to end at 8.0 per cent for October.

Metropolitan Vancouver saw significant job gains, with an increase in the employment rate of 3.8 per cent.

The increase in jobs brought B.C’s employment rate to 2.4 per cent below where it stood in February, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Recently re-elected Premier John Horgan said the figures showed a positive sign for the economy but emphasized the hardships that still exist in the country.

“The numbers, while welcome, do not fully reflect the continuing serious hardship in some sectors of the economy,” said Horgan in a statement.

“We know there is much more to do as some businesses are still struggling.”

The Premier also said that his government will continue to prioritize managing the COVID-19 pandemic, calling collective efforts to slow the spread “first and foremost” at the minds of British Columbians.

“British Columbia has proved the key to a strong economic recovery is effective management of public health and preventing the spread of this virus,” he stated.

“We must redouble our efforts.”

With record-breaking case numbers announced on Thursday and Friday across the province, a second wave of the virus could lead to further economic restrictions.

An alleged drunk driver made a splash after they drove off a boat launch in Nanaimo early Thursday evening.

RCMP say the incident took place just before 6 p.m. on November 5 when a vehicle was driven off the Brechin boat ramp, located next to the BC Ferries Departure Bay terminal.

Emergency crews including police, fire and paramedics responded. Witnesses told police the vehicle appeared to be accelerating prior to landing in the water.

The area in which the vehicle landed was estimated to be six feet deep. Two bystanders managed to remove the female driver from the vehicle before it sunk.

She was uninjured and was taken to one of the bystanders’ vehicles to warm up.

Investigators spoke with the driver, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol. They asked her to supply a breath sample under the Criminal Code and she refused.

Officers charged the driver under the Motor Vehicle Act, leading to a 90-day driving prohibition and a 30-day impoundment of the vehicle.

A local tow company removed the vehicle from the water, and a friend arrived on scene to escort the driver to her residence.

Whole Foods will allow employees to wear poppies on shift, after reversing a ban on the symbolic flowers that was widely criticized on Friday.

That criticism included a unanimous motion in the House of Commons condemning Whole Foods for the move, while also calling on the company to appear before a Veteran Affairs committee.

At 11:50 a.m. on Friday, federal Veteran Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay tweeted that he had personally spoken to the Chief Operating Officer of Whole Foods.

“Employees will now be able to wear their poppies at work,” MacAulay stated.

“The poppy represents those who’ve served, fought, and died for Canada, and it’s deeply personal to everyone here. Glad to hear they’re changing course.”

The incident is not the first time the Amazon-owned grocery chain has found itself at the centre of controversy for enforcing a strict dress code.

This summer, employees were prohibited from donning non-medical face masks and other pieces of clothing that supported the Black Lives Matter movement.

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh took to Twitter on Friday to slam the company for both the poppy ban and for the Black Lives Matter ban.

The Black Lives Matter ban attracted significantly less attention from Canadian politicians and leaders, and is currently being fought in Massachusetts District Court.

Saanich Police have arrested six people after finding drugs and weapons inside a residence.

Officers with Saanich Police and the Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team executed a search warrant at a home in the 3400 block of Whittier Avenue on November 5.

The search warrant was granted in the process of an investigation of suspicious activity at the residence that began in October 2020.

Once inside, police seized drugs and weapons, and arrested six people.

The type of drugs and recommended charges against those arrested have not been revealed. At this time, none of the people arrested have been charged with any crime.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

A Whole Foods policy banning employees from wearing poppies while on shift has triggered a social media firestorm of angry responses.

In an emailed statement to Victoria Buzz, a Whole Foods Market spokesperson said that the company dress code “prohibits any additions to our standard uniform.”

They added that Whole Foods supports Remembrance Day with a moment of silence on November 11 and by donating to the Royal Canadian Legion Poppy Fund.

As the news broke on Thursday afternoon and into Friday morning, a slew of angry responses emerged online, including from prominent politicians and local leaders.

Federal Conservative leader Erin O’Toole posted a video slamming the policy, calling it “stupid” and said he wanted “Whole Foods to stop trying to be Woke Foods.”

Federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh pointed out that this is not the first time Whole Foods’ strict adherence to a dress code has courted controversy.

Singh said that it was also wrong when the company banned staff from expressing support for Black Lives Matter.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not personally express an opinion online, but he retweeted Federal Veteran Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay, who called the decision “absolutely unacceptable.”

Premier John Horgan said Whole Foods needed to “give your heads a shake” over the decision.

In Victoria, Oak Bay Police Chief Ray Bernoties said Whole Foods “don’t deserve our business” while also talking about a time he personally visited Afghanistan during Canada’s military engagement.

Friday morning, the House of Commons passed a unanimous motion condemning Whole Foods, and calling on the company to both rescind the decision and to appear before a Veteran Affairs committee.

Whole Foods was purchased by U.S. tech giant Amazon in 2017, and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Fire crews in Victoria battled a massive blaze that broke out late Thursday evening.

The fire broke out just after 10 p.m. at the Capital City Center Hotel on Douglas at Discovery Street.

Video from the scene showed large flames on the exterior of the building and smoke billowing from windows.

According to VicPD Inspector Jamie McRae, police were initially called to the Hotel for a report of an individual experiencing a mental health crisis.

Police attempted to negotiate with the person to exit a suite in the Hotel, but he refused.

“Not too long after as we were in conversation with him between the door, some of the units detected the smell of smoke,” McRae said in an interview on the scene with Victoria Buzz.

Officers continued to try to convince the man to exit until alarms went off in the building. That prompted police to contact fire crews.

“Shortly thereafter there was quite a fire coming mostly from what looked like the rear area of the suite,” McRae said.

Police and fire crews then evacuated other residents from the building.

One resident on the scene told Victoria Buzz he had ignored the police sirens at first, but when the fire alarms went off he evacuated quickly.

“I looked out my window and saw smoke just spewing out one of the vents,” the resident said. “I grabbed my stuff and got out of there.”

He says a police officer directed him to an evacuation zone on Caledonia Avenue. The resident added that he didn’t know if he and other residents would be relocated.

McRae says the individual who had been barricaded in the suite did eventually emerge and was taken into custody.

The suspect was then transported to hospital and was undergoing treatment as of 11:30 p.m. for unconfirmed injuries.

McRae said four additional people were taken to hospital to be treated for various injuries.

Two BC Transit buses were supplied to provide evacuated residents with a place to keep warm while crews worked to contain the blaze. Officials were not able to comment on if residents would be permitted to return.

https://twitter.com/thestablevic/status/1324602763804778502?s=20

After months of reports rumouring a new Walmart Supercentre location in Victoria, the company has officially confirmed this to be true.

In an emailed statement to Victoria Buzz, a spokesperson for the department store chain confirmed that Walmart will open a new Supercentre location at Hillside Shopping Centre, taking over the space formerly occupied by Sears.

See also: Walmart Supercentre confirmed at Hillside Centre, met with mixed reactions

The new store will occupy 139,000 sq. ft. and, like other Walmart locations, offer groceries, baked goods, frozen food and pantry items, and general merchandise.

“Customers will also have the option to shop in-store or online and pick up or have their orders delivered to their doors.”

The company estimates that the creation of this new store will add approximately 200 trade and construction jobs and 250 in-store jobs to the labour market.

This will be the third Walmart Supercentre to operate in Victoria, adding to outlets in Uptown and Langford.

The store is slated to open in early 2022.

As results from the 2020 U.S. general election trickled in on Thursday, it appeared that the final fate of the next president rested in the hands of millions of voters who cast their votes via absentee balloting.

Among those millions were up to 623,000 eligible voters living in Canada, according to Giles Hogya, Acting Chair, Democrats Abroad Victoria and the Islands.

Hogya says his organization personally contacted nearly 1,900 voters around Victoria and Vancouver Island, encouraging them to exercise their democratic rights from a distance.

“I would say it has been a 99 per cent easy experience for them,” Hogya said in an interview with Victoria Buzz.

That sentiment was echoed by the majority of voters who got in touch with Victoria Buzz to share their experience voting abroad in the 2020 election.

Liz Lewis, who has lived in Victoria since 2018 and voted in her home state of Oregon, said the process was “super easy,” and described absentee balloting as a “natural extension” of normal voting practices.

Fellow Oregonian Felix Mann, who enrolled at UVic this year, mostly agrees.

“I found the voting process a little confusing, but using the website www.democratsabroad.org I was able to get what I needed and registered with my state,” Mann wrote in an email to Victoria Buzz.

“I definitely think that the process is a little more complicated than it needs to be, but it wasn’t a huge hassle.”

Washington native Heidi Morrison, who moved to Victoria in 2004, says she found the process easy, and mostly credits her state and country representatives for that.

“The absentee ballot process in Washington State is really easy,” Morrison wrote in an email to Victoria Buzz.

“I used to have the ballot sent to me by mail, but the last 2 elections I’ve printed the ballot directly from their online system.”

Hogya says that the only issues he heard about personally involved people who were somewhat confused about how to return ballots.

He says that for this election and for future elections, Americans abroad can find a tailor-made app to help them register to vote and cast their ballot at votefromabroad.org.

The Victoria branch of Democrats Abroad also moved quickly and early in the election to encourage U.S. citizens in and around Victoria to vote, taking out ads, running phone campaigns, and distributing e-newsletters.

Voters were enthusiastic to join Democrats Abroad in Victoria during this election, too.

“500 joined within the last couple of years,” said Hogya. “Every election we get a big bump, but nothing like this.”

He admits that living in Canada has made him envious of the federalized election system used up north.

“I actually think the Parliamentary system is better,” Hogya said.

“The one thing I really like about the Canadian system is that the Federal election is run by the Feds. In the States, each state has its own idiosyncratic things. I think it’s a flaw. I’ve never understood the electoral college.”

Despite the flaws he sees in the U.S. system, Hogya says he isn’t worried about the legitimacy or results of the election.

“Am I worried? No. I have faith in the States, that they are going to count every vote.”

Republicans Abroad, a similar organization to Democrats Abroad, disbanded in 2013.

While the U.S. grappled with an uncertain presidential outcome in a highly polarized environment, some Canadian twitterati put aside their usual snark in praise of an unlikely institution: Elections Canada.

The non-partisan institution which oversees all elections and byelections at the federal level put out a tweet on November 3 offering information on voting up north.

By Thursday the tweet had exploded in popularity, with over 700 retweets, more than 460 quote tweets, and more than 2,400 likes.

A follow-up tweet thanking people for the kind words and support similarly exploded in a viral fashion, receiving thousands of likes and retweets.

“We certainly weren’t expecting such an overwhelming show of support for Elections Canada,” said Elections Canada spokesperson Natasha Gauthier in an interview with Victoria Buzz.

“We’ve seen mostly overwhelmingly positive comments from people, comparing our system favourably to that in the U.S, based on the fact that Elections Canada is independent, non-partisan, and administers the election in the same way across the country.”

It was a rare moment of positivity on a platform known for its toxicity, which has reached a peak in recent days with fact-checking warnings placed over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tweets.

“The political discourse on Twitter does tend to be toxic,” Gauthier said. “but because we are non-political, the interactions that we see are mostly positive or neutral.”

She says a lot of the praise focussed on how Elections Canada is a nationwide institution, whereas voting rights and accessibility can vary from state to state in the U.S.

Gauthier added that the social media recognition does feel good, but Elections Canada is used to working behind the scenes all throughout the year, ready at any time for an election.

“We don’t necessarily find it stressful to be under the possibility of an election at any time, that’s just part of what we do,” she said.

“That being said, we’re not an organization that ever rests on our laurels. We’re always looking to improve the voter experience.”

Gauthier says the organization is always adjusting its processes based on recent experiences, and on laws passed down from the government.

Most recently Elections Canada ran byelections in the Toronto area with new COVID-19 protocols, an experience which can be used to shape a possible full pandemic election.

In the meantime, Gauthier says Elections Canada is pleased to see people engaging with informative content.

“Thank you to the people who took the time to reach out to us. Your kind words are certainly appreciated, and we always try to do better as well.”

A possible hazardous materials incident at a site in downtown Victoria halted construction temporarily Thursday afternoon.

Emergency crews including fire and paramedics responded to the 1400-block of Quadra Street at roughly 12:30 p.m. for a medical aid call.

The area is currently the site of a new 14-storey residential building, replacing Island Rent-a-car.

Acting Battalion Chief John Mokosak said in a press huddle that dozens of workers reported symptoms from an unknown source.

“People were coming down with symptoms of burning nose, burning throat.” Mokosak said.

“We raised to a second alarm and brought in more staff and evacuated the building.”

Police closed the intersection at Quadra and Johnson while fire crews performed a sweep of the building with gas detectors.

Mokosak up to 29 people were experiencing symptoms including irritated airways and nostrils. Workers on multiple floors were affected, but mostly in the basement and second-floor areas.

Once paramedics triaged the affected individuals outdoors, Mokosak said all the workers were cleared medically and seemed in good health in the fresh air.

Meanwhile, CRD Hazmat teams arrived and performed a second, more intensive sweep of the construction site, but could not find any issues.

Mokosak said at this point — just before 2:30 p.m. — teams called an all-clear and workers were permitted back into the building.

Some workers were sent home due to the prolonged site shutdown, but none had to be treated further for medical issues.

Mokosak said it’s not yet known what caused the issues, and unfortunately, it may remain unknown.

“One person said pepper spray, one person said something else,” he said.

“It’s all what that person at that time thinks they smell. I can’t really comment what it was. We don’t know where it came from, we’re just happy that it’s gone.”

Mokosak says that at this point unless another incident is reported the investigation is concluded based on the thorough readings that were taken by CRD Hazmat and fire teams.

“Hopefully it’s not an issue that’s gonna re-occur,” he said.

“I don’t think there’s any more that the Hazmat team can do unless we specifically find a source.”

A major drug bust in Victoria has prompted serious concerns about the province’s overdose epidemic.

Victoria Police Strike Force officers and Greater Victoria Emergency Response Team (GVERT) have arrested one man and seized one kilogram of extremely high-concentration fentanyl.

The drug sample was seized as a result of a months-long investigation in which police identified a supply of the high concentration fentanyl being trafficked locally.

On October 21, officers arrested a suspect associated with organized drug trafficking in a parking lot in the 0-block of Dallas Road, and seized one kilogram of high-concentration fentanyl.

The suspect has since been released from custody on a promise to appear, and will face recommended charges of drug trafficking.

Police are also recommending several drug trafficking-related charges against two men from Surrey, and a man and woman from Vancouver.

The most disturbing aspect of this particular drug bust is the concentration of fentanyl in the substance.

Analysis by Health Canada revealed that it had a concentration of 90 per cent fentanyl, which is extremely rare and troubling, according to Acting Inspector Conor King.

King, a provincially recognized drug expert, says drug samples typically have about 10 per cent fentanyl. Only one sample in Canada tested above 75 per cent in 2019, but in 2020, seven samples were found to have the same concentration.

“In the midst of an opioid overdose pandemic, the dangerously high concentration of this seized fentanyl, in this amount, would undoubtedly have resulted in more deaths,” said King.

Police estimate that the wholesale value of this kilogram of 90 per cent fentanyl is $140,000, but the street value is much higher, at $1 million.

They say this amount of fentanyl is enough to supply 495,000 lethal doses.

The finding caused VicPD Chief Del Manak to advocate for a safe supply of drugs for those who live with addiction.

It also led him to call for more funding for a second Strike Force team, adding that an investment in this proposed initiative would lead to less need for harm reduction and prevention services, at a press briefing on Thursday.

“Make no mistake, we at VicPD join with police departments across B.C. in advocating for a safe supply for those who are living with addiction,” said Manak.

“The targeted enforcement of drug traffickers associated to organized crime groups in our community is an important step in combatting the unsafe supply of these toxic drugs, ending the public health emergency, and saving lives.”

Dr. Richard Stanwick, Chief Medical Health Officer for Island Health Authority added that it is important to stick to the ‘four pillars’ in the province’s response to the ongoing overdose crisis.

“We don’t want to take away from prevention, harm reduction … This is part of a bigger picture and we are working collectively as a system to address this crisis,” said Stanwick.

An ongoing toxic drug alert for the Greater Victoria area has been extended for a second week in light of this drug seizure.

He added that between April and September, 13 per cent of all deaths in Victoria have involved extreme fentanyl concentration.

“Even more grim is that we tragically lose as many people to overdose in a single week on Vancouver Island than the total number of lives claimed since March by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the pandemic has likely contributed to the resurgence in overdose deaths compared to last year,” he added.

No charges have yet been laid in connection with the arrests related to drug trafficking charges in Victoria and on the mainland.

The fentanyl seized by police was stored in a bucket and was deemed too toxic to present at a media briefing on Thursday.

It was, instead, filmed and photographed by police in a secure drug processing room. A video of the fentanyl is shared below:

Two incidents in two days involving passengers refusing to wear masks while on board BC Ferries led to delays and police calls this week.

The first incident occurred on Tuesday, around 7:16 p.m. A spokesperson for Delta Police says they were contacted by BC Ferries staff in regards to a disruptive passenger.

The passenger who refused to wear a mask was causing a disturbance, and police say they were able to remove that person without incident.

However, the incident led directly to a disruption in service, with BC Ferries tweeting on Tuesday that the Spirit of British Columbia was delayed by nearly an hour.

The next day, another incident led to Delta Police being called at around 11 a.m.

In the second incident, police received a report of a woman refusing to wear a mask who was taken off the boat without issue and transported to another location within Delta.

According to a spokesperson for BC Ferries, the woman has “caused disturbances on several occasions recently” and was denied travel based on earlier behaviour.

“We appreciate that there are some customers who have medical reasons with doctors notes for not being able to wear masks, however inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated,” the spokesperson said in an email to Victoria Buzz.

A tweet from BC Ferries says that the incident caused a 49 minute delay on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route.

Delta Police say no charges were laid in relation to either incident.

A woman was arrested and charged with drunk driving after she crashed her vehicle into a cycling trail.

At around 4:20 p.m. on November 4, Saanich Police received reports of an erratic driver driving in the oncoming lanes of Interurban Road near Hector Road.

While police were on their way to the scene, a witness reported that the vehicle had crashed in the 5500 block of West Saanich Road.

During the drive, the vehicle crossed the southbound lanes, veered off the road, uprooted a BC Transit bus post, and crashed into a fence on the Interurban Rail Trail.

There were no pedestrians or cyclists on the trail at the time of the crash.

When first responders arrived, they determined that the driver, a 59-year-old woman, was not injured in the incident either.

Officers on site conducted a roadside breathalyzer test, which the driver failed. She was arrested and taken back to Saanich Police headquarters where breath testing determined her blood alcohol concentration level was more than double the legal limit.

“We would like to thank the public for reporting this driver to us in a timely manner. As this took place during the evening commute, and in poor weather conditions, this incident posed serious safety risks to other motorists, pedestrians and cyclists,” said Cst. Markus Anastasiades in a statement.

The driver was charged with impaired operation of a motor vehicle, and operating a motor vehicle while her blood alcohol exceeded 80 milligrams.

High winds collapsed trees on Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands Wednesday night, knocking out power lines across several areas.

BC Hydro reported numerous outages in over a dozen different municipalities, including Saanich, Langford, and Duncan, and across Gulf Islands including Mayne and Galiano.

Falling trees were blamed for power blackouts starting at around 5 p.m. in the evening all the way until 5 a.m. Thursday morning.

Throughout the windy night, over 12,000 customers lost power for reasons related to trees falling onto power lines.

By 6:30 a.m. Thursday morning the vast majority of outages had been restored.