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Central Saanich awaits report on geese cull
CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
Tim Collins News contributor
According to the assistant manager of Visitor Services, Suraj Domeli, the response to the reopening of the highway location has been beyond all expectations. As many as 1,000 people per week drop by the centre, with that number climbing to 1,200 on long weekends. Domeli said the forecast was for about 600 people per week to use the centre. “So far, it’s been really good,” he said. “We weren’t really expecting the numbers we have gotten.” The centre, which is staffed by volunteers, is open from the time the 7 a.m. ferry arrives to after the 3 p.m. ferry sends its passengers shuttling down the Pat Bay.
Canada geese. They’ve been a modern success story for wildlife management -- right up to the time when they became too successful. That’s certainly the case in Central Saanich where this year a pilot program to cull up to 300 of the iconic birds took place in the last week of June and the first week of July. “We’re not quite certain of how many birds were taken during the cull, but we authorized up to 300. We’re just awaiting the final report on the process and its File photo relative success,” said Canada geese have Ryan Windsor, Mayor become a problem in of Central Saanich. many B.C. communities. The geese have now completed molting and the time for a cull has passed. “You have to get them while they are molting...while they are flightless … it’s really the only time that it can happen.” While Canada geese were once in serious decline, the actions of various wildlife agencies and governments have caused a rapid and significant increase in their numbers which are now estimated at nearly six million in North America. In Canada, they are protected under the Migratory Birds Convention Act, although in recent years the Canadian Wildlife Service has issued special permits to use acceptable detent techniques like the removal of potential nesting sites, egg sterilization or, as was the case in Central Saanich, the direct culling of birds.
PLEASE SEE: Chamber move, page A8
PLEASE SEE: Geese cull completed, page A8
Jim Zeeben/News staff
Denny Warner, executive director of the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, sees opportunity for the extra space outside the chamber’s new home.
Tourists flock to reopened centre Chamber and Visitors Centre benefit from return of highway location Jim Zeeben News staff
A return to its past has proven to be a big boost for the Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. In May, the chamber moved from its previous location in an upstairs back office in Sidney to the refurbished visitors centre on the side of the Pat Bay highway in North Saanich. “The response has been overwhelming,” chamber executive director Denny Warner said, about working out of the higher profile location. The biggest change has been the constant buzz of visitors who stream through the building after every scheduled B.C. Ferries sailing. The chamber shares its space with Visi-
tor Services, funded by Destination B.C. For decades, the buildings on the property were something of a landmark for visitors arriving on Vancouver Island until the Visitor Information Centre closed in 2013. “This building has been here since the early 1980s, Warner said. “The decision was made about two years ago to close it -- we just couldn’t financially keep it open anymore.” However, after reviewing its options for the building, the chamber decided to reopen the highway office and instead shutter its Sidney site. So far, the experience has shown Warner that there’s tremendous value in faceto-face communication, despite what she said is the perception that people get all their information digitally.
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