GOLDSTREAM Be prepared
Icy conditions leave roads, sidewalks treacherous Page A3
NEWS GAZETTE
COMMUNITY: Kindness during recent storm noted /A2 OPINION: Readers weigh in on traffic plans /A9 SPORTS: Junior volleyballers off to provincials /A20
Wednesday, November 25, 2015
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View Royal monitoring Watkiss logging
Entrepreneurial students making strides at Belmont Hearing former Dragon speak inspires action at high school
Katherine Engqvist Travis Paterson News Gazette staff
Katherine Engqvist News Gazette staff
It’s not every day you find a handful of high school students who are passionate about business and all that it entails. It’s even rarer to find a group aiming to use that passion to inspire their peers to succeed. After attending an event that featured speaker former Dragon’s Den panelist Brett Wilson, a handful of Belmont students were inspired to learn more about entrepreneurship and innovation. And so, the Belmont Student Entrepreneur and Innovation Club was born. The purpose of the club is simple: to inspire and empower students to come up with innovative ideas to change their community for the better. “We want to create change in the school through innovation and creativity,” said club president Aiden Lindal. He and vice-president Cam McMicken have been spearheading the initiative with late-night phone calls, brainstorming sessions and meetings with school administrators. “We want to raise the (grade point average) of the school,” Lindal said. On a scale out of 10, schools are annually ranked based on their provincial exam marks. The boys said Belmont only scored a 4.8, a number they feel doesn’t represent the student body at all. Their plan is to make sure the wealth of intelligence of their peers is measured correctly. As such they want to help schoolmates meet their full potential by making sure the student body is fuelled with proper nutrition. The Grade 11 duo have hit the ground running and are working towards starting their own café within the school. “We’re in the midst of finding a supplier,” said McMicken, noting that the plan is to “get students involved and fed better.” PleASe See: Café’s aim to boost brainpower, Page A3
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Katherine Engqvist/News Gazette staff
Belmont Student Entrepreneur and Innovation Club president Aiden Lindal (right) and vice-president Cam McMicken hope to inspire more students to create change in their community.
PleASe See: Wetlands area, Page A3
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West Shore residents are voicing concern over clearcut logging being done on a Watkiss Way property bordering View Royal. “It has far more effect on View Royal residents,” said Mayor David Screech, noting that town residents are seeing an impact on their skyline and neighbourhoods. “Unfortunately, it’s not within our jurisdiction.” In October, Saanich issued a permit to remove upwards of 4,900 trees on a 12-hectare parcel of private land along Watkiss Way, directly north of Victoria General Hospital, with a portion bordering a wetland in View Royal. “It would have been a courtesy to at least discuss it with us before it started,” Screech said, adding that transporting the logs off the property violates a View Royal bylaw relating to heavy truck traffic, but now their hands are tied. Nonetheless, he said, View Royal is monitoring the project. “At the beginning, we wanted to make sure it was being done properly.” With regard to the wetlands, Screech’s understanding is that all of the proper setbacks will be observed. That said, he doesn’t see much point in trying to pause the project. “At this point, you wonder if the damage is already done,” he said. “The owner has no intention of stopping. To me, it’s a done deal.”
Colwood • Esquimalt • Victoria • Duncan • Nanaimo