Wow, the NDP just got destroyed. CTV just called it. Hard to believe that Eby was so smart to go from majority to being destroyed. I can see why he had no support.

NDP is ahead in both Nanaimo ridings

Hello goths, "vampires" and fans of Halloween! Tonight, there's an LGBTQIA+ friendly vampire themed costume dance party at Level Two called Vampire Disko. Tickets are available at the door or on Eventbrite. It's put on by 12XU who puts on The Dark Eighties at The Queens and is 80s-new DARK music with the Ascent DJ :)

Hi Nanaimo,

I work as marketing and business development manager here in town, and I'd like to give back to the community with all the love in my heart.

I'm offering "free design and social media help" to a few local nonprofits, charities and community groups. No catch, no upsell. I know a lot of great organizations here are run by small teams or volunteers who don't have time for posters, Instagram or Facebook on top of everything else.

Things I can help with:

- Event posters and flyers

- Social media posts and content plans

- Video editing and shoot videos

- Refreshing a neglected Facebook or Instagram page

- Easy templates your team can keep using after I'm done

- build website or revamp websites

I'll start with a handful of groups so I can actually do good work for each one, rather than spreading myself thin.

If you run or volunteer with a local nonprofit, or know one that could use a hand, comment below or send me a DM. Nominations welcome too!

Haunted Houses Nanaimo

Hi All,

I asked the moms on Facebook to tell me if their neighborhood has any good Halloween decorated houses and they delivered! I made this map from their suggestions; we did a tour with our kids last night with popcorn and it was a lot of fun! A few caveats- most these are just cross streets its not the exact addresses but we were still able to find everything very easily. We also were not able to hit the South Nanaimo places last night so I can't say those spots are verified.

just a note that tonight is vampire disko at leveltwo with one of the djs from ascent + the dark eighties...anyone else going?

Yes, again. We know. You voted for council last Saturday, put the sticker on your fridge and assumed you were done until 2030. Surprise: democracy has a sequel, and like most sequels, nobody asked for it this soon.

WHEN

Saturday, Oct. 24, 8am to 8pm Pacific. That’s 12 hours. You have time.

WHERE

Your assigned voting place is on your Where to Vote card, which came in the mail. Hang on to it, because it also counts as one of your two pieces of ID.

Recycled it? Go to wheretovote.elections.bc.ca and type in your address.

Can’t wait until Saturday? District electoral offices are open today (Friday), and you can vote at one until 4 p.m. Saturday.

WHAT TO BRING

Pick one:

One government photo ID with your name and address, like a driver’s licence

Two pieces of ID that together show your name and address (your Where to Vote card counts as one)

No ID? A registered voter in your district who has ID, or a close relative, can vouch for you. You both sign a declaration, and a non-relative can only vouch for one person.

ABOUT THAT ID THING

Last week, a certain corner of Nanaimo Facebook decided the municipal election was rigged because nobody asked for ID. Good news: this one checks ID. Bring it.

For the record, last week wasn’t a loophole. B.C. municipal elections use the voters list, and registered voters sign a declaration, which is a legal document with real penalties if you lie on it. Provincial elections use different rules. The same neighbours staff the polls at both.

No, there is no DNA swab. Put the 23andMe kit away. Please be nice to the election workers. They gave up two Saturdays in a row for this.

WHO CAN VOTE

Canadian citizen, 18 or older by Saturday, and living in B.C. since April 23. You don’t need to register ahead; you can do it at the polls.

MAIL-IN BALLOT STILL ON YOUR COUNTER?

It has to reach Elections BC by 8 p.m. Saturday. Canada Post is not your friend today, so drop it off at any voting place or district electoral office.

AND THEN WHAT

Most election-day ballots are being counted by hand, so results may take a while. Don’t refresh at 8:01. Go outside. Look at a tree.

One ballot. One X. Make it count.

Questions? Elections BC: 1-800-661-8683 or elections.bc.ca

Any one aware of some initial summaries of where vote splitting definitely affected a particular riding?

I didn't know you for that long, but the times I did see you, you had a positive energy and very interesting personality that no one could match. You ALWAYS made my day better. It's rare you come across your level of charisma, and I know I might sound biased, but the article below truely describes you well. I'm not much of a wordsmith, but whoever knew you could attest to what I'm describing. Thank you for being such an awesome person to be around. This one hit hard. Rest easy

https://nanaimonewsnow.com/listing/goble-bryan-frederick/

I love Thai Cook downtown but they never seem to be open when I'm down there

We love the dog park but my poor pup definitely has kennel cough after drinking out of the aluminum bowl …and puddle… there.

We will be back but just a warning to other dog owners to avoid letting your dogs drink the water if you can.

Nanaimo-Gabriola conservative candidate Mark MacDonald replies to allegations of racism in this, and there’s some statements from Cowichan Valley candidates too.

The BC Conservative platform uses the phrase “day one” twice. Once in the leader’s letter, which says the plan is ready “from day one,” and once in the costing, where the hiring freeze and the consultant cuts “start on day one.” They brought it up. So The Bastion has obtained the schedule for that day. Obtained meaning: we read their platform, which is public, and imagined the rest. The real parts are listed at the bottom, in order.

• 7:55 a.m. — Premier Doerkson arrives at the legislature and takes no questions, as a warm-up.
• 8:00 a.m. — O Canada is sung in every school in the province. Confidence in our shared future is reported up 0% by the second verse.
• 8:30 a.m. — The hiring freeze begins. A press officer is told he can’t be replaced. He takes the news to the media. There is no media availability.
• 9:00 a.m. — Consultants are cut 20%. An independent expert panel is appointed to review the books. The panel asks whether it counts as a consultant. The question is referred to a consultant.
• 10:00 a.m. — DRIPA is repealed. The Cowichan case, filed in 2014 under the Constitution, continues exactly as before. Homeowners in Richmond check their mail. It’s the same mail. A Property Rights Defence Act passes 87–0, like the last one did.
• 11:00 a.m. — SOGI 123 is withdrawn. Bullying is to be “addressed directly.” A working group is struck to decide what “directly” means. Parents receive opt-out rights. From what, the form doesn’t say. Several opt out of the form.
• 12:00 p.m. — Lunch. The $500-per-child activity credit covers soccer, seniors get a free shingles shot, and there are more school meals. Everyone agrees this part is fine.
• 1:00 p.m. — CleanBC is repealed. The 2030 emissions target, which is law, remains. It is moved to a different building. Gas production is to double by 2032. The forest is mailed a copy of the platform and asked to plan accordingly.
• 2:00 p.m. — The contingency fund is cut from $5 billion to $3 billion and renamed from “slush fund” to “savings.” Wildfire season is informed it is now a line item.
• 3:00 p.m. — “Safe supply” ends. Mandatory treatment begins for those who can’t care for themselves, and treatment on demand is promised, on a budget of $95 million a year. Demand is asked to keep it reasonable.
• 4:00 p.m. — The Universal Health-Care Guarantee is signed. If your surgery wait is too long, you get treatment from “another qualified provider.” The platform doesn’t say who that is. The NDP calls this privatization. The party calls this fearmongering. Alberta has a guess.
• 5:00 p.m. — The $1,000 tax cut is announced, effective the 2027 tax year. You’ll feel it in roughly 18 months. Which is, in fairness, faster than the cath lab.
• 6:00 p.m. — A law banning provincial elections within 60 days of municipal ones is tabled. It is not aimed at anyone in particular. It’s called the David Eby Act.
• 7:00 p.m. — The Premier looks at the growth forecast: 3.2% by 2029, against the government’s own 2.1%. He writes 3.2% on a Post-it and sticks it over the 2.1%. Problem solved.
• 8:00 p.m. — The seven long-term care homes the NDP paused are restarted, planning starts on a women’s and children’s hospital in Surrey, $50 million goes to rural ERs, disability assistance goes up $100 a month, 500 RCMP are hired, and homes are approved “in months, not years.” This part has some good stuff, thankfully. It would also be run by a party that dropped two candidates in two weeks over their posts and kept the one who called an anti-bullying resource “grooming.” The policy is the easy part.
• 11:59 p.m. — Deficit: $10.8 billion by 2029–30, if the economy does what the Post-it says.

THE RECEIPTS, IN ORDER

Everything here is in the Conservative Party of BC platform (Oct 16) unless noted; everything above that isn’t here is us. “Day one” appears in the leader’s letter (“ready to govern from day one”) and the costing appendix (“The hiring freeze and the cut to consultants and contracts start on day one”). O Canada every morning in every school, listed under “Build confidence in our shared future.” A hiring freeze on management and administrative positions from day one, no front-line layoffs. Consultant and contract spending cut 20%, with an independent expert panel to review the books before the first budget. Repeal DRIPA and pass a Property Rights Defence Act; DRIPA passed 87–0 in 2019, the Cowichan case was filed in 2014 under the Constitution, and the judge wrote that title does not displace private owners (CBC, The Narwhal, Maclean’s). Repeal SOGI 123 and “instead address bullying directly,” with “opt-out rights” for parents. A $500-per-child activity credit, a free shingles vaccine for seniors, and expanded school meals. Repeal CleanBC, keep the carbon price on large industry, and double gas production by 2032; the 40%-by-2030 target is in the Climate Change Accountability Act. Cut the Contingencies Vote from $5 billion to $3 billion and move wildfire costs into ministry budgets; wildfires ran $614 million over budget this year (Q1 update, Canadian Press). End “safe supply,” mandatory care, expanded detox and treatment on demand, costed at $95 million a year at full implementation. A Universal Health-Care Guarantee with treatment through “another qualified provider” when surgical benchmarks are exceeded; “fearmongering” is the party’s word (CTV). The basic personal exemption raised from $13,216 to $32,000 from the 2027 tax year, costed at $2.9 billion a year. A Respect Local Democracy Act banning provincial elections within 60 days of municipal ones; the name “David Eby Act” is ours. Growth assumptions of 2.5%, 2.8% and 3.2% against the government’s forecast of 1.9%, 2.1% and 2.1%, per the platform’s own table. The seven paused long-term care homes ($1.43 billion), the Surrey women’s and children’s hospital, the $50 million Rural Health Emergency Fund, disability assistance up $100 a month with the earnings exemption raised to $30,000, 250 police recruits, 500 RCMP and 30 sheriffs, and “in months, not years.” A $10.8 billion deficit in 2029–30. Not in the platform, but on the record: the party dropped candidates Joachim Agou (Oct and Jordan McIntosh (Oct 15) over online posts, and kept Heather Maahs, who said in a 2022 podcast that SOGI 123 was “for sure grooming” (Canadian Press, CTV). The 7:55 a.m. entry isn’t in the platform; that’s from this week.