Frankly Speaking

Langley Township Councillor Kim Richter asked me on a Facebook post the following question, in a general discussion of the election polls last week. "What is your take on the 6 new seats in B.C.? Are they all going to go the same way (ie. Conservatives). I have heard (Dianne) Watts is in trouble in Surrey. Is this true?" Here's how I saw the B.C. results on election night shaping up, as of our Oct. 6 discussion. "Can't see Dianne Watts losing. threehundredeight.com seat projections for B.C. seem off-base to me in a number of ridings. Conservatives could lose Fleetwood-Port Kells, will likely lose Van South and possibly at least one each of North Shore and Richmond ridings will go Liberal. New Vancouver-Granville riding seems a pretty even three-way split. Surrey-Newton will also be a close three-way race. The three Coquitlam/Maple Ridge area seats will be interesting. Fin Donnelly (NDP) likely to win in Port Moody-Coquitlam, while Maple Ridge-Pitt...

Almost 40 years ago, I used to ride by bicycle over to Vancouver Island on an annual basis. I would meet up with my friends Barry and Terry O'Neill and attend the annual bottle show in the Juan de Fuca Arena in Colwood each summer. They would usually travel with Terry's parents Margaret and Ron Wagner and I could spend the night with them, so I didn't have to pack much of anything. In those days, I didn't even bother taking a bottle of water. I would drive to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, ride my bike onto the ferry and make my way to Colwood. There was no easy way to cycle in from the ferry. I rode on Highway 17, East Saanich Road or Interurban Road. All had a fair bit of traffic, although Highway 17 was far and away the busiest. It also had some steeper hills, but it was the most direct. Nowadays, there is a much better alternative. The Lochside Trail , most of which is on the former Canadian National Railways right-of-way between downtown Victoria and Sidney,...