OPSRRA Director’s Report – November 2026
October was a wild ride for our community. We made our way through two elections: first, the municipal elections for Director of the JdF EA and for three School Trustees plus witnessing a hotly contested Sooke election. OPSRRA’s “All Candidate” meeting for this election turned into a “Town Hall” as there was no election- All four candidates ran unopposed and were acclaimed in their positions. Either they are very good at their work and are proving it is possible to please all of the people all of the time or we are a complacent bunch- possibly both? Returning for a four year term was Al Wickheim as Director of the JdF EA, and the School Trustees were incumbent Amanda Dowhy, plus first timers Ed Berlando and Laurie Szadkowski. They were acclaimed back in September even though the voting day was in October. Second, everyone quickly turned to the Provincial election run which culminated on October 24 with a majority win for the BC Conservative Party. Our new Local MLA is Mike Hicks. Mike was a two time Director of the JdF and has a very good grasp of the issues in our area.
During this entire time your OPSRRA Board has been busy connecting with numerous political parties as we put together meetings and sent questions which were submitted by the community to the Candidates. Now we must wait to see how the new government will carry out its campaign promises and what effect those actions may have on our community. OPSRRA will reach out to MLA Mike Hicks in the New Year for a Town Hall meeting with our communities.
The OPSRRA Semi-Annual General Meeting will take place at the Shirley Community Hall on November 15th, a Sunday, from 2pm to 4pm. We will recap our actions since the April AGM, get an update from our Director Al Wickheim and have a featured presentation from Jordan River Watershed Awareness speaker Wayne Jackaman. Wayne has spoken with us previously and gives us this intro statement:
“The talk will be a general overview of the work completed by JRWA since the last talk I gave. The focus will be on the history of the Sunro Mine, possible future exploration and development of the mining property, and reopening of the mine.”
We are hoping to hear of the plans of this new mine given the recent election of the BC Conservatives. There is also the question of a new breakwater in Jordan River which is rippling through Facebook right now. As well, there are concerns about water security and watershed awareness and the need for a new Rural Water Commission to guide us through a rapidly changing landscape. Perhaps the audience can update us on other issues as well – fire service to Jordan River, the recent boil water advisory at Sherringham , and traffic cameras on highway 14? It will be an interesting talk and discussion. Plan to be there to get the full picture.
Members of the Board will be attending the CRD Climate Community Gathering at Royal Roads University in November . The conference attracts groups from all parts of the CRD to share ideas and knowledge and to show support for each other’s projects.
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