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October 20, 2025 16 mins
The CHEK News Podcast is your daily snapshot of the news of the day. For more Vancouver Island news watch CHEK News at 5pm, 6pm, and 10pm or for news anytime go to cheknews.ca and subscribe to the CHEK Now Newsletter. You can also find local stories and shows on the free streaming service CHEK+.  ​
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Check podcasts. This is an abbreviated version of check News.
Watch full Check newscasts we days at five, six, and ten,
or anytime one Check plus or checknews dot Ca.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
BC's opposition leader demanding the province stop all negotiations with
First Nations as the property rights fight in Richmond sends
shockwaves around the province.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
What we offer, if we continue offering what Marian Ednett wanted,
is a little different than some of the other places,
and it gives them a sense of belonging and family
and love.

Speaker 4 (00:40):
It's the oldest of its kind in the capital.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
How a soup kitchen has become far more than a
food source for many, it's their community. Good evening and
thanks for joining us at BC's oppositeition leaders taking aim
at the government tonight, demanding a full stop to any

(01:04):
negotiations with First Nations. The controversy and fallouts sparked from
the landmark Aboriginal title ruling granting a claim by the
Couch and Nation over land on the Fraser River. Now
homeowners and businesses in the region are fearful they're losing
their property rights.

Speaker 4 (01:22):
Chattis Leo reports.

Speaker 5 (01:23):
In general, I would say it is.

Speaker 6 (01:27):
Utterly negative, you know, and the questions fundamentally are what
is going on? Why am I being affected and singled
out in this way?

Speaker 7 (01:39):
These are some of the questions Mayor Brody and Richmond
City councilors are trying to answer after a historic ruling
granted the Couch and Tribes Aboriginal titled over a portion
of almost seven and a half square kilometers of land
they claimed in Richmond, including fishing rights along a stretch
of the Fraser River.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
The right to live in harmony with the land and
the water is ours, it always was.

Speaker 7 (02:05):
Tonight, comments are swirling online after some Richmond landowners received
a letter from the City of Richmond telling them that
their land may be compromised. Richmond's mayor says many homeowners
feel like they were blindsighted by the court's decision.

Speaker 5 (02:17):
The court was asked twice about the necessity of giving
the homeowners and the business owners and landowners in this
area notice and they said no.

Speaker 7 (02:29):
Currently the land in the disputed area is owned by Ottawa,
the BC government, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the City
of Richmond, and private third parties.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
It could take years for us ultimate to get the answer.

Speaker 7 (02:41):
Mew Tonight, BC Opposition leader John Russett is raising the stakes,
writing a Premier David e b asking them to not
advance Drippa and pause all negotiations with First Nations until
the Supreme Court of Canada has provided clarity and apologized
to the residents of Richmond who have been impacted. Attorney
General Nikki Sharma I wanted today saying they were the
first out of the gate to appeal the ruling and

(03:03):
they will always protect people's private property rights, including the
ability to buy, sell, and mortgage land. Sharma says the
government remains committed to both upholding fees civil ownership and
advancing reconciliation with Indigenous communities. She goes on to say
the province wants to resolve land claims through negotiation, and
halting negotiations would put private property at risk by forcing

(03:24):
more on certain court decisions.

Speaker 6 (03:26):
The culture and the traditions and the history of our
people belong in the Fraser River.

Speaker 7 (03:31):
We've also reached out to couch and Tribe but did
not receive a response. In the past, Couching Tribes lawyer
stated it was up to the provincial government to reconcile
private property rights with the court's decision. For Mayor Brody,
the court decision will ripple far beyond British Columbia.

Speaker 6 (03:47):
Even if financially the province and the federal government want
to settle things up and make a payment, you've.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
Still got this devastating court decision that talks about Aboriginal
title against freehole land.

Speaker 7 (04:05):
The City of Richmond is hosting an information session next
Tuesday for landowners to ask questions and voice their concerns.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
Worried fishermen packing a couch in town hall today pleading
for a chance to make a living. Many were from
Souk and Port Renfrew, where Fisheries and Oceans is considering
closing the area of salmon fishery to sports fishermen to
protect the stocks.

Speaker 4 (04:29):
Skyriine reports.

Speaker 8 (04:33):
The thrill of catching a salmon in the waters off
southwest Vancouver Island draws thousands of sports fishermen and millions
of dollars in revenue to the region each year, and
coastal communities like Port Renfrew are built around reeling both
the fish and tourists in so concern is mounting about
potential closures to salmon fishing in that area now being

(04:55):
considered by Fisheries and Oceans Canada and Word fishermen packed
this couch town Hall Sunday pleading for help from their.

Speaker 4 (05:02):
MP for them the higher ups.

Speaker 9 (05:05):
To shut a fishery down like that when we're getting
such good return dollars per pound on the sustainable fishery
makes absolutely no sense. It's going to effectively take away
their livelihood, their way of living, and their way to
feed themselves.

Speaker 8 (05:20):
According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, closures are being considered
for recreational and commercial salmon fishing off PC's south coast
to address thrusts to southern resident killer whales. However, these
fishermen argue they are seeing some of the biggest fishing
runs of their careers right now and are urging officials
to take a look at the real numbers of salmon

(05:40):
returning to these waters.

Speaker 9 (05:42):
There's more fish out there than there has ever been
before in the last two years, not just particularly healthy.
They've been at record levels. So the salmon are there,
and they have been managing the stocks. Let's make decisions
that protects everybody's rights and.

Speaker 10 (05:55):
The seals and seal line numbers exploding.

Speaker 8 (05:58):
Thomas Sewitz does a better solution would be a DFO
approved harvest of seals and sea lions in the area
to protect the salmon. It says his campaign to use
them for their meat and hides could be a thriving
industry in coastal British Columbia.

Speaker 10 (06:12):
By having a sustainable managed harvest seals and sea lions,
we'll see over four thousand jobs created throughout British Columbia.

Speaker 8 (06:21):
The idea garnered a lot of support among fishermen. Sunday,
you have.

Speaker 11 (06:26):
To regulate the predators, and the predators in the ocean
are the fields.

Speaker 8 (06:32):
As these men and women face uncharted waters. Cowch and
Malahattan Langford and PGF Kibble is taking their concerns and
petition to keep the fishery open to Ottawa. A final
decision on the South Coast salmon fishery. He's expected in
the months to come.

Speaker 2 (06:48):
A home on Cowchin Lake Road has been destroyed after
a major fire this morning. The call came in around
eight seventeen for a structure fire at fifty nine to
twenty couchin Lake Road. The two story wood frame house
was already fully engulfed when crews arrived, and flames rising
well above the roof line. Firefighters were on scene for
several hours, bringing in an excavator later in the day

(07:09):
to access hotspots buried deep within the debris. One area
had to be avoided initially because live power lines were arching,
forcing crews to wait for BC Hydro to cut electricity
to the home. Nobody was home at the time, however,
there were two family pets, but they did manage to escape.
The cause, though is still under investigation. RCI and P

(07:30):
are asking for the public's help locating a man and
his grandchild. Norman Lacoi and his grandson, Zadane Wavy have
been missing since Friday and were last seen in the
North Couch and Duncan area. Lacoy is forty two years old,
five foot seven with black hair and brown eyes. His
grandson is six years old with brown hair and brown eyes.

(07:51):
Police are concerned for their health and well being and
believe Lacoy is heading to Winnipeg. Anybody with information on
their whereabouts is asked to contact their local police or
crime stoppers.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
Well.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
A shocking moment for people inside a business in Sanwich
when a car came crashing through the front entrance. The
front end of a vehicle smashing through this store's glass entrance,
sending debris and several directions inside and outside the business.
Witnesses inside say they could hear a revving engine before
the crash.

Speaker 10 (08:23):
It's that kind of unmistakable sound of glass shattering, and
it's just the glass of metal, everything combined kind of
overwhelms you for a moment. And yeah, thankfully, no major
injuries or anything.

Speaker 4 (08:40):
Well.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Witnesses say police arrive quickly and no major injuries have
been reported well. The City of Victoria's ambitious ten million
dollar plan to clean up the downtown includes the hiring
of a former Vancouver Police officer. Their resume is long,
spending decades with the department, including fourteen years leading its
mental health team. As Mary Griffin reports, there are high

(09:03):
hopes that experience will make a difference in the capitol.

Speaker 12 (09:08):
This is Pandora Avenue in twenty ten, a place where
community picnics brought neighbors together and children ran and played
along the boulevard of Harris Green. Fifteen years later, things
look vastly different, and with so much street disorder. The
City of Victoria has launched a ten million dollar plan

(09:29):
called the Community's Safety and Well Being Plan to clean
up Pandora and other parts of the city at the
Victoria Police Department. This is the man hired to be
the department's lead on executing the city's vision. His name
is Howard Tran. He spent nearly thirty years working for
Vancouver Police, but now is back on Vancouver Island where

(09:49):
he grew up to take on one of the city's
biggest problems.

Speaker 13 (09:53):
Pandora has changed over the years. At one time, Pandora
was considered one of the most beautiful boulevards in this
sl They need with amazing trees down the middle and
a grassy boulevard in the middle.

Speaker 12 (10:05):
Trans started with VICPD in mid September. His specific role
is to act as a central coordinator between VICPD, the
City of Victoria, housing providers, and island health health authorities
are something Tran knows well With Vancouver Police, he helped
establish the department's mental health unit. A month into his
new role, he says he already has a sense of

(10:27):
what needs to be done.

Speaker 13 (10:29):
I think they can expect to see more presence in
our impacted area. So you know, we all know what's
a nine hundred, eight hundred thousand bloc of Pandora Johnson Street,
Lis Street, Princess and Queen's. You're going to see more
police presence. You're going to see more collaboration with our
by law officers.

Speaker 12 (10:47):
The question, though, is when will the public start to
see noticeable changes. The mayor has imposed her own deadline
by the end of this year.

Speaker 14 (10:56):
Six months or less. Yes, I think I'm confident in
saying that you will see a difference.

Speaker 12 (10:59):
Tran, though, says that timeline is tight.

Speaker 13 (11:02):
I mean that's a short time frame right. January is
only two months away, so I think that's I think
that's ambitious. But you know, we have long term plans,
short term goals, midterm goals, and I feel like I'm
confident we're going to hit those targets.

Speaker 12 (11:19):
Victoria Kelselor Dave Thompson is the liaison for the downtown.
He agrees it's going to be a long term project
and results will take time.

Speaker 4 (11:27):
I certainly hope.

Speaker 7 (11:28):
The mayor is right.

Speaker 4 (11:29):
I want to see results like yesterday. What we will
probably see is the usual seasonal reduction in the number
of people that you see out on the street. But
I'm hoping we see some deeper changes as well.

Speaker 12 (11:41):
Tran says, problems years in the making will take time
to resolve, but he's hopeful.

Speaker 13 (11:47):
I think what's lacking is the coordination, the alignment, and
really I think that's what my role is to really
sort of, you know, I'm not reinventing the wheel. My
job is really to align sort of the Victoria Police
resources and priorities with that of the city.

Speaker 12 (12:02):
Trans started working in mid September and his contract runs
for six months. According to Victoria Police Chief Fiona Wilson,
Tran will provide the department with monthly reports. A final
report will be compiled in March twenty twenty six. His
contract is for six months and he'll be making nearly
one hundred thousand dollars without benefits.

Speaker 4 (12:31):
What a day. Early this morning, that rain came down
so hard.

Speaker 14 (12:35):
I woke up to the rain. It was like it
was loud.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
It was really pounding. And you called it yesterday that
it was going to clear out. It seemed to clear
out even earlier.

Speaker 11 (12:43):
Than it did then expected, and beautiful blue sky. Very
windy in parts of Greater Victoria today though blustery, blustery
conditions and that trend will likely continue tonight for some areas.

Speaker 14 (12:54):
Is that it for rain the Island.

Speaker 11 (12:55):
No, it's not scott We're into October now, yeah, we're
on the rain train.

Speaker 14 (13:00):
We're on the rain train until about February.

Speaker 2 (13:02):
Okay, yeah, okay, just the season.

Speaker 14 (13:05):
This is the season.

Speaker 11 (13:06):
Let's take a look at our satellite radar. You can
see that system moving across the timing of it, so
some pockets of heavier precipitation, the yellow and red they're
moving along.

Speaker 14 (13:14):
So October is our wettest month.

Speaker 11 (13:16):
It's been a pretty dry October so far until yesterday
and today, so we're starting to make up for all
that dry weather that we've had and sort of try
to top things back up a little bit. So let's
take a quick look at the wind and then I'm
going to get into some Saturday rainfall total.

Speaker 14 (13:31):
So here's the wind map.

Speaker 11 (13:32):
We had higher winds for parts of the North Island
BC central coast you can see than Monday again, high
winds again for the central coast getting the tip of
the island, and some heavier winds for parts of wand
if Fucus straight as well, So it might be a
bit blustery in some areas tonight, and then wet weather
for most of the island again tomorrow.

Speaker 14 (13:48):
Let's take a look at the rainfall totals for yesterday.

Speaker 11 (13:50):
So Victoria Gonzali's twenty four point eight millimeters of rain,
that's usually one of the driest spots in Greater Victoria.
That's actually almost double the month to date total. It
was just at thirteen point two from October first to seventeenth,
and then twenty four point eight millimeters yesterday, So now
at thirty eight millimeters for the month. That's actually forty
four percent of the normal, which is eighty five point

(14:11):
four millimeters. UVic had twenty two millimeters of rain yesterday.
It looks like that was one of the driest spots
on the South Island, but that's two point seven times
more than what the October total so far before yesterday was,
So only eight point one millimeters at Yuvik before yesterday.
So it's currently at thirty nine percent of the October norm,
which is seventy seven percent. But we have wet weather

(14:32):
in the forecast ahead and could be a stormy end
to October as well, So I'm confident those numbers, those
totals will keep going up. And in case you're wondering,
other areas that had a lot of rain you cool
it sixty six point three millimeters and that's from the
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. These are Environment
Canada numbers. Now today's weather photos are these great rainbow
shots from Savrey Island. They were taken by Jordan Bennett.

(14:55):
The rainbow looks like it's island hopping in that one,
and in this wider shot that shows the doc whool
is that angle it looks like it's island hopping. And
then this one makes it look like the rainbow's coming
out of the building and ending on a booie in
the water. So no pot of gold, just a booie.
And check out these funny photos. Lynn McDermott sent in
saying her farm stand on Southwood Drive was robbed again.

(15:18):
Linn's asking anyone who recognizes this brazen thief to report him.
So yesterday it was a black bear taking advantage of
rain on the golf course because the course was clear,
and today it's an unbearably bold ruin taking advantage of
the honor system. Maybe he was car bloating or just
getting the bear essentials and forgot to bring some cash there, Scott.

Speaker 14 (15:39):
So yeah, some great bear photos is fall.

Speaker 11 (15:42):
We've had some amazing bear photos, some pretty funny ones
to and coming up to damn petcheck. No bears, although
there seemed to be a lot this year, but we
do have a pet check first. Can you guess?

Speaker 4 (15:51):
Are you going to elaborate?

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Can you guess?

Speaker 4 (15:55):
Halloween?

Speaker 14 (15:56):
No? No, we've done that.

Speaker 2 (15:58):
If we did that every halloweens a first of a
kind for an animal.

Speaker 4 (16:01):
Yet, bearded dragon?

Speaker 14 (16:03):
No close? A mama rat and her two little babies.

Speaker 11 (16:07):
Oh interesting, We've never had domestic rats or a rat
family before.

Speaker 4 (16:11):
All right, stay tuned for that.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
Thanks Tess Well fingerprinted and photographed at the US border.
That's what several Canadian snowbirds say they were subjected to
when registering their winter getaway. Tonight, we're learning this is
now standard procedure.

Speaker 1 (16:26):
Watch full Check newscasts weekdays at five, six, and ten,
or anytime on Check plus or checknews dot Ca.
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