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After Nanaimo city council heard from community members at a recent city council meeting about comedian Ben Bankas performing at The Port Theatre, I heard back from a number of readers who took me up on the opportunity to weigh in on the matter. 

A couple of people allowed us to print edited versions of their comments, which you can find below in our Have Your Say section. 

As The Discourse’s website does not allow comments and news organizations are banned from posting on Meta products such as Facebook, we really do appreciate hearing directly from our readers about the stories we cover. 

As I write this, a town hall for the One BC party is scheduled to take place this evening at the city-operated Beban Social Centre. The location of the event was kept secret until yesterday afternoon after community pushback led to cancellations and protests in other cities. 

The town hall is billed as being a place where “the state of UNDRIP (UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples) and defending private property” will be discussed along with the One BC platform.   

I’ll be there to document the event and ask questions and hope to bring you a full report next week. 

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

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—  Barbara W., from our newsletter survey.

The Discourse is teaming up with Cowichan Valley International Women’s Day again to host a unique event featuring regional changemakers and artists. They’ll be speaking to issues affecting women, including non-binary folks, on Vancouver Island and beyond. This year’s guiding question for the event is: How does consent make for a better community?

You are invited to join us on Sunday, March 8, at 11 a.m., at the Cowichan Public Art Gallery, traditional and unceded Quw'utsun' territory.

Speakers include:

Debra Toporowski, (Qwulti'stunaat), Cowichan Valley MLA

Corina Fitznar, educator and literacy specialist

Kiera Chealine, Indigenous poet, mother and advocate

And more

To cover the costs of hosting this event, we charge a small fee. If this cost poses a barrier to entry, please just show up. No one will be turned away.

Council Corner

Monday’s city council meeting was a short, 25-minute affair. 

Mayor Leonard Krog reported on the new public art installation marking the locations of Nanaimo’s former Chinatowns. He also gave a short update on the city's consultation on pre-zoning areas for social housing.

Council approved the city applying for a $15,000 grant from the B.C. Health Communities Age-Friendly Communities funding program. If approved by the province, the grant would be used to produce a printed guide on emergency preparedness for seniors, translated into languages commonly spoken in Nanaimo. 

An application to the Union of BC Municipalities Emergency Operations Centres Equipment and training was also approved. The money would be used to hire temporary, part-time contract staff to provide training and design full-scale emergency operations centre exercises. 

A bevy of previously discussed bylaws were adopted including those regulating bylaw enforcement, business licenses, housing agreements and home energy retrofit parcel taxes.  

A request for a letter of support for the Nanaimo BMX Association’s bid to host the Canadian National Championship BMX event was agreed to, as was a request for a letter in support of a grant for the Vancouver Island Exhibition. 

A request by the BC Council of Forest Industries for the City of Nanaimo to endorse its “Forestry is a Solution” campaign failed on a 4-4 vote with councillors Tyler Brown, Ben Geselbracht, Paul Manly and Hilary Eastmure opposed.

Coun. Brown gave a notice of motion for a future city council meeting that would have staff write an amendment to the Council Procedure Bylaw that would limit council’s ability to act in response to a delegation at the same meeting.

A motion by Coun. Brown for a staff report on options to mitigate noise from car wash facilities near residential properties passed unanimously.  

Council designated Coun. Manly as the acting mayor from March 16 to 22 and as the city’s delegate to the Smart City Summit and Expo and Net Zero City Expo in Nanaimo’s sister port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Manly said he would tour the port and meet with officials and trade delegates. Manly or event organizers will be responsible for covering the cost of the trip. 

"This is a significant invitation to attend this and I have encouraged councillor Manley to go," Mayor Krog said. "I'm not available to go myself, and I wish him well." 

The next regular council meeting will be held on Monday, March 23, in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium.

On the Island

🌊 Gone are the days of open town hall events in Canadian politics. They have been replaced with partisan events that cater to party loyalists and potential donors, a political scientist says. Cowichan Valley Reporter Eric Richards has the story.

🌊 The Crofton mill closure marks the end of an era for 350 workers. As North Cowichan meets with investors and officials to find a path forward, The Discourse’s Eric Richards has compiled a timeline of the mill’s 70-year history

In other news

👉 British Columbians will be saying goodbye to dark winter afternoons after the province announced it isn’t waiting for west coast U.S. states to get rid of the time change. The switch to permanent daylight savings time in the province will take effect on March 8. The Narwhal has the story.

👉 The Regional District of Nanaimo has purchased Hamilton Marsh, a forested area west of Qualicum Beach, for $28 million. Of that, the district covered $21.2 million from long-term borrowing and $4 million from capital reserves. The province made a $1.25 million contribution in partnership with the federal government and the Nature Trust of B.C. chipped in $841,832. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

👉 The VIU Mariners have won the PACWEST women’s volleyball championship, beating out the Capilano University Blues on Feb. 28. Nanaimo News Now has the story.

👉 Nanaimo RCMP is warning people about a scam where callers pose as a bank’s fraud department after a local resident was bilked $24,000. The victim told police the number was spoofed to look like a real Royal Bank of Canada number and that they gave the fraudsters information that allowed the criminals to access their bank account. My Coast Now has the story. 

In your words

Re: Why Nanaimo city council won’t ban Ben Bankas

I have no idea who this comedian is but to me, cancelling the show is a step towards censorship. If he is committing a hate crime then go the legal route. Also, I feel he is getting a lot of free publicity with all this talk about him. Just don’t attend and encourage others to do the same! 

— Frank Higgins

I don’t believe this is about “values not aligning." This is much bigger than that. It is about hate speech and what we allow. It is not just about someone with a different opinion, or different angle on things than ourselves. The kind of people who booked tickets to this sort of thing will come out, riled up off kilter, and actually act out violently against one of the groups, feeling justified and bolstered by a performer’s viewpoints expressed in a public venue in their town. This is serious and we’re acting like it’s a difference of opinion. 

— Debby Keith

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