Camosun Chargers golfers get fifth
The Camosun College Chargers golf team placed fifth overall in the recent Canadian University/College Championship, which was held at the Morningstar Golf Club in Parksville from May 30 to June 3. Camosun closed the final round with a collective total of 299.
Chargers coach on CBC broadcast team for Olympics
Camosun Chargers men’s volleyball head coach Charles Parkinson will be joining the CBC/Radio Canada team of analysts and commentators for the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. This is Parkinson’s fifth time covering volleyball and beach volleyball for for CBC/Radio Canada. Parkinson is also a faculty member of Camosun’s Centre for Sport and Exercise Education.
Camosun Director of Ancillary Services position filled
Camosun College has hired Dalia Gonzalez-Harney as Director of Ancillary Services. Gonzalez-Harney took over for Katherine LeGros in early May.
Tires slashed at Lansdowne
On Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5, six vehicles had their tires slashed in the parking lot at Camosun’s Lansdowne campus. It happened to four vehicles on Saturday and two on Sunday; Oak Bay Police say the Saturday slashings occurred between 1 pm and 4 pm. Anyone with information can call Oak Bay Police at 250-592-2424.
Growing health-care needs spur on provincial funding
The Ministry of Advanced Education has announced targeted funding that will allow Camosun College to offer 56 additional seats to students in health-care programs. The funding will be one-time allotments of $550,000 for three short-duration programs offered through Camosun to address the immediate need for more health-care assistants and mental health and addiction workers.
New Brunswick making BC look bad
New Brunswick is the second province in Canada to announce a solid student financial aid program in this year’s budgets. The budget plans to make tuition free to students from families that make less than $60,000 per year. The British Columbia Federation of Students (BCFS) says education is not a priority for the Christy Clark government, as earlier this year tuition and ancillary-fee increases were announced at many colleges across BC; BCFS claims that many of these increases violate the government’s Tuition Fee Limit Policy.
Calling all dark nights
Habitat Acquisition Trust is looking for volunteers to take part in their annual bat count, Code Name: Dark Night. Volunteers who participate will be helping the BC Ministry of Environment collect baseline data about bat populations in BC before the white-nose fungal disease—which has wiped out millions of bats since its discovery—affects local populations. Ideally, volunteers would conduct one or two counts between June 1 and 21 and then another set of counts between July 21 and August 15. For more information or to get involved, please visit bcbats.ca.
Cinema Politica launches video on demand service
By using the Vimeo platform, Cinema Politica is now able to share their creations with a wider audience. Many of the 21 social-justice documentaries included in the launch will be screening for the first time. Their documentaries can be accessed through vod.cinemapolitica.org and vimeo.com/cinemapolitica/vod_pages.
Canadians join Break Free from Fossil Fuels campaign
In May, Canadians held a peaceful protest at Kinder Morgan’s marine terminal in Burnaby to voice their opposition to the proposed expansion of the existing Kinder Morgan pipeline. Groups opposed to pipeline expansion are calling on Justin Trudeau to live up to his global climate commitments by transforming Canada’s energy sector to renewables.
Government partners in housing initiative
The Capital Regional District and the BC government have agreed upon a partnership that will provide capital funding of up to $60 million in combined forces toward affordable or supportive housing projects across the region. Island Health is a partner in the agreement and will be providing health support services as well as ensuring that the mental health and addictions service planning is aligned to help the region’s most vulnerable residents.
Bill C-16-A to protect gender identity
May 17 was International Day against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia; it was a big day for those who fight for freedom of gender expression because Bill C-16-A was tabled. The bill would bring broad legal protection to Canadians by classifying discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression as a hate crime. The bill tabled is the seventh version to be introduced in the House of Commons; it was first introduced 11 years ago to the day.
Chamber of Commerce gets new CEO
The Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce board of directors announced Catherine Holt as the organization’s new CEO in May. Catherine succeeds Bruce Carter in the role and started in her new position in the beginning of June.
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