Vol. 26 No. 79
Plan for hospital unaltered
Your community. Your newspaper.
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COMOX VALLEY RECORD
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A division of
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October 5, 2011
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WEDNESDAY
ANNIVERSARY
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www.comoxvalleyrecord.com
VIKINGS VISIT
Fall colours
The UVic men’s basketball team’s visit was called “awesome.” ■ B5
Scott Stanfield
GUITARIST COMING
Record Staff
... see BATES ■ A2
SHOWCASING THEIR ARTISTIC skills, kids of all ages participated in crafts at the day-long Blackberries, Apples and Bears fair in Cumberland Saturday. The fair also featured a piePHOTO BY ERIN HALUSCHAK making contest, an apple press and walking tours.
Look at Courtenay – it’s No. 93 Erin Haluschak Record Staff
It’s a slow, steady rise, but it’s in the right direction. Coming in at nearly the middle of the list, Courtenay ranked 93rd on a list of MoneySense magazine’s 180 Best Places to Live 2011, up seven spots from last year. The Best Places to Live list measures what makes a Canadian city or town a great place to live, using census data to indicate livability. The data is compiled from cities or towns with populations over 10,000 people. Cities were rated based on home affordability, climate, prosperity, crime rates, access to health care and lifestyle, with subcategories in each area. Points were also given for the categories of transit, amenities
and culture. “It is encouraging that we did go up slightly,” said Mayor Greg Phelps of Courtenay, although he added that he doesn’t believe lists such as this one play a big factor in whether people move to the Valley. “The younger people move here for opportunity, while older people move here for the retirement lifestyle,” he noted, as both Victoria and Parksville/Qualicum are either unaffordable or very expensive options. The top ranked city was Ottawa-Gatineau, with Victoria second, and Burlington, Ont., third. According to the rankings, Courtenay’s unemployment rate is eight per cent, while the per cent of population change from 2001 to 2006 increased by 8.9. Factors such as lifestyle, crime, health and weather are based
on a series of points. For example, crime could be given five points, with violent crime rates (two points), total crime rates per 100,000 people (two points) and crime severity rates (one point) calculated from the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (lower is better in all three cases). Weather is based upon 18 points, with six points each for amount of precipitation, number of wet days, days below zero degrees. Walk/bike to work was assigned seven points, air quality two points, population growth 10 points, unemployment 10 points, housing 15 points, household income four points, discretionary income four points, new cars four points, income taxes two points, sales tax one point, doctors six
... see COURTENAY ■ A2
Playing in one or even two bands is not enough for someone who lives, eats and breathes music. Musical ideas come to Marc Atkinson even when he’s being interviewed by the local paper about a gig next weekend in Courtenay. “I just finished teaching a workshop all about living, eating, breathing music,” he commented in an interview from his home on Hornby Island, where he’s lived for seven years.
...Full story on page ■ B1
FINDER ■ Weather
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Revisiting the site selection process for a regional hospital would be “prohibitive in terms of cost and time,” the Health Ministry has stated in response to an appeal from Coun. Bronco Moncrief of Cumberland. In a letter, Moncrief asked Health Minister Mike de Jong to revisit issues concerning a regional facility, which is targeted for construction at North Island College. Several years ago, he said the Comox Strathcona Regional Hospital District and Vancouver Island Health Authority wanted to explore building one regional hospital in either the Comox Valley or Campbell River while maintaining a community hospital in the other community, as opposed to continuing to pour money into two facilities. The practice, Moncrief explains, has “proven successful in other regions to attract specialists. “All wholeheartedly supported VIHA in this forward-thinking approach and the CSRHD board voted 17-3 to support this model,” Moncrief states, adding the cost was to be about $350 million. However, following political debate and special-interest group lobbying, Moncrief said VIHA decided to build two facilities in each community at a new cost of $600 million. As for location, consultants hired by VIHA recommended the hospital be located at or near the Inland Island Highway. But Moncrief said a ‘local’ consultant team comprised mostly of Courtenay staff recommended Ryan Road in East Courtenay, which he and Mayor Fred Bates have criticized in terms of inaccessibility, proximity to 19 Wing,
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