Previously, Saanich police employed a parking enforcement officer on contract to handle parking issues Monday to Friday. Outside of business hours, however, responsibility for parking complaints fell to police officers in the traffic safety and patrol units. Saanich Police Chief Scott Green made clear in a briefing note to Mayor Fred Haynes last year that parking enforcement was eating up too much of his officers’ time, and there were more efficient ways of doing things. Green noted that parking complaints increased by 484 per cent from 2013 to 2017, and his patrol and traffic officers were dealing with more than 60 per cent of those concerns when they could have been focusing on other duties.
The family that owns the property has allowed community access to it for the past 50 years. They have decided to sell but have given HAT the opportunity to purchase the property so it can be protected from development. The CRD has pledged $2 million toward the $3.4-million purchase price, and more than 200 individuals have donated since the fundraising campaign began in December. Habitat Acquisition Trust is aiming to raise the remaining $1 million needed by April 22 Earth Day to complete the purchase. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to purchase a significant coastal fir forest and protect it into perpetuity,” said Katie Blake, executive director of Habitat Acquisition Trust. “It is hard to not feel your soul fill up a little bit when you visit the property.”
Mike Geric Construction Ltd. wants to put up two buildings on the site, starting at 11 storeys and “terracing down” to a five-storey structure beside the existing apartments and townhouse developments, a city report says. The project would have a total of 242 condos including 43 that would be secured in perpetuity as “affordable” and sold at 15 per cent below the appraised value. Residents have voiced concern about the project’s proximity to the park as well as its density and height, which exceeds the four-storey limit in the official community plan There’s also a covenant on the 1.3-hectare property that restricts the site to 98 residential units.
A woman s complaints about being asked about a walk of shame by a Saanich police officer after reporting an alleged sexual assault has prompted British Columbia s police complaints commissioner to call for provincial standards for sex crimes investigations.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner s annual report includes details of the unnamed woman s complaint about a yearlong sexual assault investigation where she felt devalued and disrespected by an officer she perceived as biased. In addition, the complainant reported that the officer made comments and asked questions during their meetings which she felt were improper, says the report. This included comments related to the consumption of alcohol and medication, asking whether she stayed in the park because she did not want to do a walk of shame.
VICTORIA A woman s complaints about being asked about a “walk of shame” by a Saanich police officer after reporting an alleged sexual assault has prompted British Columbia s police complaints commissioner to call for provincial standards for sex crimes investigations. The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner s annual report includes details of the unnamed woman s complaint about a yearlong sexual assault investigation where she felt “devalued” and “disrespected” by an officer she perceived as biased. “In addition, the complainant reported that the officer made comments and asked questions during their meetings which she felt were improper,” says the report. “This included comments related to the consumption of alcohol and medication, asking whether she stayed in the park because she did not want to do a walk of shame.”