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October 10, 2025 18 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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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Check podcasts. This is an abbreviated version of check News
Watch full Check newscasts week days at five, six, and ten,
or anytime one, Check plus or checknews dot CA.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
You just looked at me. You have this one latful
look of odds become gone.

Speaker 3 (00:28):
Just six weeks after he was killed while rollerblading near
his home, the family of twelve year old Xaviers share
their grief and call for change to driving laws.

Speaker 4 (00:39):
It's important. It's important for our people to grow and
move forward and heal.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
A monumental and historic moment for the houses community as
they tear down a residential school that represents so much pain.

Speaker 5 (00:54):
We're obviously very product Nat in what he has accomplished.

Speaker 3 (00:58):
A former member of the Victoria Harbor Cats helps lift
the Toronto Blue Jays to the next playoff round to
the delight of frenzied fans right across the country. Check
News starts now, good evening. Thanks for joining us. A

(01:19):
South Island family is pushing for changes to driving laws
after their twelve year old son was killed while rollerblading
with his family on a country road outside their home
six weeks ago. In their grief, they were surprised to
find out. The driver who may have been responsible may
still be out there behind the wheel, As Cory Sitaway
tells us, that's why they're calling for Xavier's law.

Speaker 6 (01:43):
Traces Xavier are everywhere, from his hockey jersey hanging in
the front window to his science projects. Everything but Xavier Savior.

Speaker 7 (01:53):
He was the most kind hearted, loving punching bag that
I had.

Speaker 6 (01:59):
Six weeks ago, Xavier was beside his brother on their
last set of sprints on rollerblades before hockey tryouts the
next day. It was still light out. Dad was watching
nearby their ATV parked partially on the road to slow
drivers down, when they heard a car coming.

Speaker 8 (02:14):
The car was going so fast that it didn't hit
Xavier going forwards.

Speaker 6 (02:19):
Either drifting horizontally across the road on a civic flew
by Pice, but not Xavier.

Speaker 2 (02:26):
Yeah, this one last look in his eyes.

Speaker 9 (02:30):
That there was gone.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Hat.

Speaker 9 (02:35):
You know, it's a look that I'll I'll never forget
for the rest of my life because it was like
staring into my soul.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
But it was like a look of like.

Speaker 9 (02:47):
I'm not gonna see you again in this lifett.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
And he was gone.

Speaker 6 (02:58):
Xavier's body launched one hundred and five feet away. His
dad ran to his son so fast he tore both
his hamstrings.

Speaker 8 (03:06):
By the time I got out to the road, Josh
was doing chest compressions and mouth to mouths, but I
could tell he was already gone. All the bones in
his body were broken, and even though he was wearing
his hockey helmet with full face cage, all of his

(03:28):
teeth were knocked out too.

Speaker 6 (03:30):
The driver, a seventeen year old male, survived with minor injuries.
Police said at the time speed was an important factor.

Speaker 10 (03:38):
The thought of taking my car out and going at
a speed like that, it's just it doesn't make sense
to me, like it's just selfish.

Speaker 6 (03:49):
Today, a month and a half later, though the investigation
is still ongoing, no charges have been laid and RCMP
are unable to confirm if the driver is still on
the road.

Speaker 8 (03:59):
There is no law that governs it, and that's why
we're pushing for Xavier's Law.

Speaker 6 (04:05):
The family is advocating for change, petitioning publicly and meeting
with elected officials to ensure drivers who kill people have
their driver's license provoked until they go to trial.

Speaker 11 (04:16):
We're looking at all options, taking the proposal with utmost seriousness.

Speaker 6 (04:20):
And though any changes wouldn't bring Xavior back.

Speaker 8 (04:24):
We don't want that to happen to another family because
it is like a nightmare. You know, you go to
sleep at night if you can't sleep, and you wake
up in the morning, and then it hits you that
this is all real, and then you just do it
all over again day after day.

Speaker 6 (04:38):
It's what's helping them to get through their unimaginable grief, guilt, shock,
pain and anger.

Speaker 8 (04:45):
You don't ever get over the death of your child,
and you will always have this massive hole in.

Speaker 6 (04:50):
Your heart to remember and honor their little baby born.

Speaker 3 (04:58):
A historic and powerf full demolition and a small community
off to Fino today has torn down a painful symbol
of that region's past. Over one hundred survivors of Christie
Residential School surrounded the building they were forced to attend
as small children and where many suffered abuse that has
haunted them for decades, and as sky Rhine reports, together

(05:19):
they watched it crushed to pieces.

Speaker 12 (05:23):
Hope for closure. Brighton spaces Thursday. As survivors of the
Christi Residential School arrived by the boatloads and step foot
on the ground, they desperately wanted to run and swim
away from as children couldn't make.

Speaker 2 (05:37):
Feeling expredence. It's a painful place to grow up now.

Speaker 12 (05:41):
Gray haired in wheelchairs, yet still recognizing the friends they
once met here. They surround the building that's haunted them
for seventy years and more to watch it be demolished.

Speaker 4 (05:52):
Quite a memory walking up the road coming coming here today.

Speaker 7 (05:57):
I walked these floors and I walk these groans when
I went to school.

Speaker 9 (06:01):
Here.

Speaker 12 (06:01):
Now survivors Thomas John and Thomas Rush take a final
look around. You were here too, Yeah, Before the machines
go the work, this is the gym where many of
the abuses happened. Survivors throw rocks through its windows, take
crowbars to its walls, and John take some mementos.

Speaker 7 (06:20):
When I first came here, I was six years old.
I'm over sixty hours, so I survived, like I literally
survived the residentials.

Speaker 2 (06:28):
It's just something to think about. You got to see him,
by God down. I had to be here today to
get closure.

Speaker 13 (06:34):
Here.

Speaker 4 (06:34):
You'll find it, you hopeing I'll find it today.

Speaker 12 (06:37):
His own nephew, tasked with running one of the machines
in the demolition.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
Oh, it feels beautiful.

Speaker 7 (06:45):
It's an honor and a privilege to be able to
do this for so many hurt You know, there's so
many hurt souls out there.

Speaker 12 (06:55):
But survivor Bruce Luca, who arrived here at just ten
years old, he's the first hair runs of the building,
bringing a cheer from the crowd as these services.

Speaker 1 (07:06):
What was that like it?

Speaker 4 (07:10):
What's incredible? I remember my first date. I'm sixty six.
I remember like it was a few minutes ago.

Speaker 5 (07:21):
When you call it scary today you're feeling strong.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
Yeah, it.

Speaker 13 (07:31):
Fit to see help me. Mad Avance is about healing.
It's about fending the property so that it can be
fully restored to Howard was, so that we can carry
on with healing exercises.

Speaker 12 (07:50):
The Christie Roman Catholic School was operational until nineteen eighty three,
making it the last residential school functioning in BC. The
demolition that is expected to last days now, reducing it
to rouble at the hands of the very people it
tried to control.

Speaker 3 (08:11):
Seniors care home providers are urging the BC government to
rethink funding cuts that covered overtime at outside nursing costs
for more. Let's check in with Robshaw at the BC Legislature.
So Rochell's more about what's being cut here.

Speaker 11 (08:25):
Well, Stacey. BC has pumped in hundreds of millions of
dollars and extra funding into long term care homes assisted
living at home since the pandemic. It's around thirty five
million dollars a year and it is set to end
October thirty first. Care providers that will say the purpose
of that money to address severe staffing shortages and improve
quality of life remains worse than ever. The BC Care

(08:48):
Providers Association today saying care levels and quality of life
will be worsened once the money runs out because more
than eighty percent of the facilities indicate they lack the
registered nurses and LPNs to meet their requirements for the province,
and over half use staff from care agencies, which are
private companies a contract out nursing staff temporarily to help

(09:09):
fill in gaps, particularly outside of urban areas. There's more
than seven hundred and fifty care beds and almost one
hundred and forty assisted living beds at risk of closure.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
Here's the Association.

Speaker 5 (09:19):
Today, Well, without the funding to be able to pay
for the appropriate staff, this means that facilities are not
going to be able to accept new residents, and it
also means they're going to have to close some beds.
We think the number is going to be fairly large.
All of those seniors, unfortunately, are going to be waiting

(09:40):
in acute care beds in hospitals or in emergency rooms
for the chance to get into now a more limited
number of beds in long term care assisted living.

Speaker 11 (09:53):
Health mister Josie Osborne saying the financial top up was
always meant to be temporary. She says she is working
on long staffing and recruitment plans, but the move comes
as the BCNDP government starts internal cuts to try and
address its record eleven point six billion dollar deficit this year.

Speaker 14 (10:12):
We'll continue to work with operators. Health authorities are working
with operators directly too and seeing what the impacts of
changes in the removing temporary funding is. But again, we
can't build a sustainable long term system that's based on
these temporary measures. We need to have the workers in place,
the people there to support seniors, the standards of care.
That's exactly what we're focused on. We're going to continue

(10:34):
to do that.

Speaker 11 (10:35):
The larger picture here from BC's Senior Advocate Dan Levitt
has warned that BC's falling behind on long term care,
home care, other needs for seniors. More than the quarter
of the population is expected to be seniors within ten
years in the province, so there's a lot more than
just this financial top up at play. BC needing a
lot more bed Stacy, But this end of this money

(10:55):
could have some ramifications by the end of this month, Stacy,
It certainly could.

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Thanks so much for the update.

Speaker 9 (11:01):
Rub.

Speaker 3 (11:03):
The BCGU says about twenty five thousand workers are now
on strike at four hundred and seventy five work sites
across the province. The latest escalation involves workers at eleven
provincial ministries and Crown corporations that are fully on strike,
including the Ministries of Finance, Citizens Services, Infrastructure, Energy and
Indigenous Relations. Another thousand Professional Employees Association workers are also

(11:26):
on strike. The job action has prompted ICBC to relocate
some driver licensing services, moving certain road tests to nearby
ICBC claim centers. Road test services normally offered at all
other Service BC locations are continuing at these locations. Other
driving licensing services typically available at the counter, though, like
knowledge testing and driver license renewals, are not available at

(11:50):
any Service BC locations.

Speaker 11 (12:03):
Oh, good girl.

Speaker 3 (12:06):
The Chosen Search and Rescue has a new good girl.
Venna is their newest four legged member. Along with handler
Sandra Hardy. Vena recently received RCMP validation for wilderness searching
and is one of four new search and rescue dogs
to be certified on Vancouver Island. Her training started small,
with people running away and Venna having to find them.
Her final test involved searching a thirty acre area in Merritt,

(12:28):
bc MI. Chosen Search and Rescue congratulates the pair and
says they look forward to having Vena out in the field.

Speaker 10 (12:34):
Well.

Speaker 3 (12:35):
Even non baseball fans are probably aware by now that
the Toronto Blue Jays are on a fall ball mission.
October Baseball is alive and well thanks to a series
win last night over the New York Yankees. What you
may not be aware of is that last night's hero
is a former Victoria Harbor Cat, and as Jordan Cunningham
shows us, the next series could be an Island. Baseball

(12:57):
fans dream.

Speaker 15 (13:01):
Here will never be able to root root for the
home team when it comes to Major League Baseball, but
our national team, so to speak, is one step closer
to the World Series, and that means everything with the
j on it is flying off a shelf.

Speaker 8 (13:16):
The Stannard Jay's how I think is the and the
alternate those are rocking.

Speaker 15 (13:20):
Kirby source for sports is hockey first, But when it
comes to merch, the Blue Jays are selling in stacks.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (13:26):
Fanatics said it's the busiest September October they've ever seen,
so thanks thanks to the Jays.

Speaker 2 (13:31):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (13:31):
John Tackaberry has just ordered seventy new Jays jersey shirts
for Jays fans of all sides. The Blue Jays are
through to the American League Championship Series. Not even Mantle
himself could have stopped the Jays dismantling of the New
York Yankees to advance to their first American League Championship
Series since twenty sixteen.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
It's been the lucky hot warn every game.

Speaker 15 (13:51):
The biggest smile at Kirby's belongs to the biggest Jays
fan on staff. Were you injured leaping off the coach
after Nathan Lucas singled home two runs?

Speaker 16 (13:59):
I wish that was it, but I got smoked into
the boards and a hockey gave last night and the.

Speaker 15 (14:06):
Game winning RBI from Nathan Lucas is enough to take
the sting out of anything. The Blue Jays hero used
to be a Harborcat.

Speaker 5 (14:13):
We're obviously very proud of Nate and what he has accomplished.

Speaker 15 (14:16):
Lucas played here in twenty fourteen and was can't miss
Nathan Lucas.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
We thought had a real shot to make it.

Speaker 5 (14:22):
And what's cool for us is that the summer he
spent here he really started the trajectory that put him
to where he is.

Speaker 15 (14:29):
Let's just say he's arrived and with the rear axle
already set to snap on the Blue Jay bandwagon, imagine this.
A win Friday by the Seattle Mariners of the Detroit
Tigers sets up a Jay's Mariners matchup, and if that
happens Victoria Clipper wants to make it a reality for
Island fans with eleven am sailings to Seattle on game days.

Speaker 17 (14:48):
Your experience with baseball will begin when you step aboard Clipper,
because we're gonna have a fan zone on board.

Speaker 3 (14:53):
You know, we'll be playing clips of famous ballgames, getting
people in the mood, play.

Speaker 15 (14:57):
A swinging about touch them all. Joe and the Batista
bat flip in heavy rotation on the high seats for
a company that straddles the border, it's tough to pick sides.
Should a West Coast diamond dream become reality?

Speaker 2 (15:10):
Baby, complete this sentence, let's.

Speaker 17 (15:13):
Go Oh, I may have to duck smart, So grab
a hat, sit back and wait for who's on deck.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
I check point to that. We want to know if
you think the Blue Jays will go all the way?
Will they win the World Series? You can vote at
check news dot Ca. We'll have results for you a
little bit later in the newscast. All right, it's not
baseball but curling that we're talking about tonight. On the upside, guys,
I recognize that curling club.

Speaker 18 (15:43):
Yes, you would as an avid curer yourself, And we
have some very great and special currs with us here
tonight at a squirmal the Victoria Wheelchair Curling Club.

Speaker 16 (15:52):
Yeah, that's right, and they're just going the season underway
right now. The game differs a little bit because there's
no sweeping and you actually fire Stacy from the hog line.
It's hog line to house in wheelchair curling. So we're
gonna tell you a little bit more about the sport.
But actually we're looking for a little funding tonight for
them to get their season goal.

Speaker 13 (16:12):
We're trying to.

Speaker 18 (16:13):
I mean, they're having a hard time. A lot of
the wheelchair athletes here are on disability, so you know,
money is an issue for sure, but they love to
play and there's a chance they may not get to
play unless they can cover auth their expenses, which are
not all that much this year huge so about fifteen
hundred per ceve for the fall, fifteen hundred for the spring.
So we thought we'd ask if anybody is interested in

(16:34):
helping them out to save the season, if you will
and make a donation. If you want to, just email
us The Upside at Checknews dot Ca will send you
the link to the GoFundMe page, which has just started.
We're getting a little help tonight from our friends at
Golf for Kids, Dale and Murray going to help us
out there as they do as they always do. But
we'd love to get that three thousand dollars race tonight

(16:55):
so we can sort of save their season and keep
them on the ice.

Speaker 16 (16:57):
Yeah, they love getting out here, and you know they've
adapted did the curling rink, They've got their their own ramp,
they're making some of their own uh to throw the
rocks and uh, really enthusiastic group, really nice bunch as well.
And actually if you, uh, if you'd like to get
out and uh and join this group. They're looking for
more curdlers as well. So we're gonna tact to Matthew

(17:19):
and Renee find out more about the Victoria Wheelchair Curling
Club and hopefully get some donations from you coming up
over the next couple of hours.

Speaker 3 (17:27):
Yeah, I hope.

Speaker 10 (17:28):
I check.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
The viewers always come through and I hope they will
tonight too. It's such a great sport and such a
great thing for anybody to get out and do. So
look forward to hearing more guys from your final curling club.
We'll check back in a couple of minutes. Also still
ahead tonight, the Little School that Could will tell you
about the school that raised more money for the Terry
Fox run than any other school in the province.

Speaker 8 (17:48):
And this.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
It's very stressful.

Speaker 5 (17:52):
Is it drowning us out?

Speaker 1 (17:53):
I'm in situation. I don't know where to go now.

Speaker 3 (17:56):
Some business owners in the Komaks Valley say a massive
construction project is putting them at risk, driving customers away,
and they want compensation. We'll have that story after a
short break.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
The Road Report is brought to you by Craftsman Collision,
VC's favorite family owned Craftsman Collision All Better.

Speaker 18 (18:14):
Here's a look at the current Vancouver Island roller conditions
from the drive BC webcams.

Speaker 1 (18:26):
Watch full check newscasts weekdays at five, six, and ten,
or anytime on Check plus or checknews dot Ca.
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