AGMs & Special Meetings

with more to come as the election heats up in our region. OPSRRA is pleased to be co-hosting this candidates meeting with the Sooke Chamber of Commerce.

Special Meeting – Development in the Region | February 23, 2025 • 2 – 3:30pm

What should development look like in Otter Point, Shirley and Jordan River over the next twenty years? The townhall discussion brought up some great ideas for our community, click here for notes from the meeting.

Will our thoughts be considered when 1,200 new homes are required to be built over the next ten years? What other infrastructure will have to be built and paid for to support this growth? How much are we willing to pay to stay the same as we are now? If you run a short term rental, why could you be facing escalating fines up to $50,000 for reoccurring offences? How does the directive affect B&Bs now? These and other questions will be answered.

Provincial Election – Candidates Debate | Sept 29, 2024 • 2 – 3:30pm

OPSRRA had the pleasure of hosting a Candidates Debate with our three primary candidates for our brand new Electoral District of Juan de Fuca-Malahat. 

It was a packed house as we conducted a moderated forum with:

• Marina Sapozhnivov  •  BC Conservative Party
• David Evans  •  BC Green Party
• Dana Lajeunesse • BC NDP

Posing questions you’d provided us on issues that matter such as logging, forest fires, water security, housing and transportation, healthcare and Indigenous rights. Voting is more than a right, it is a responsibility and we wanted to make sure that you had a chance to hear first hand from the three people who generously stepped forward to represent our region. For more on the areas of your life that our new MLA will impact, click here.

Special Meeting – Provincial Electoral Boundaries | Aug 10, 2024 – 1 – 2:30pm

This October we will be asked to vote for a new MLA for the new Electoral District of Juan de Fuca-Malahat.  The new District drops Langford and adds a region from the Cowichan Valley.  Our population now spans Metchosin, Sooke, Otter Point, Shirley, Jordan River, Port Renfrew, Shawnigan Lake, Mill Bay and Cobble Hill.  The average population is reduced to about 24 people per square kilometre making us much more rural based than ever before. Four candidates have been declared and will run to be our next MLA.  How did the new District come to be? How have the demographics changed? How will the priorities of North and South be realized and what questions should we be asking our Candidates?

Thank you to those who attended. Philip Cameron, Chief Electoral Officer for Juan de Fuca- Malahat, Elections BC was kind enough to share his presentation on the new Juan de Fuca-Malahat Electoral District and you can view it in full here. 

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AGM – April 24, 2022 | 1:30 – 3:30pm

We are pleased to announce a return to an in-person Annual General Meeting!

In our 30th year working to better the communities of Shirley, Otter Point, and Jordan River, we will be hosted at Camp Jubilee | Girl Guides of Canada. Our guest speakers include our host, Susan Zedel and JdF Director Mike Hicks.

We look forward to seeing you again!

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AGM – April 19, 2021

The April 2021 meeting was our second virtual AGM. Here are the Meeting Minutes (pdf).

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AGM – August 17, 2020

The August 2020 AGM was our first virtual meeting. Here are the Meeting Minutes (pdf).

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Federal Candidates Meeting – Sept 29, 2019, 2-4PM

The candidates forum was held at the CRD Services Building, 3 – 7450 Butler Road, in Otter Point. This was the Agenda (pdf).

Millions of our tax dollars are sent to the Federal government annually to improve services and ideally make both our country and our community a better place to work, live and play.

OPSRRA invited the candidates for the 2019 local election to introduce themselves, tell you how they hope to help and answer a few direct questions from our group.

Our membership chose the first three questions posed to all of the candidates.

1. The Climate Crisis is a real issue globally and locally as extreme weather events become the norm. What tools and strategies would you advocate using to solve the crisis?
2. Federal infrastructure dollars for programs like high-speed internet access and clean water are critical for our region. Over $45 million in federal and provincial tax dollars was allocated between 2016 and early 2018 to create high speed access for our region and the coast of BC. To date no progress has been shared with this community, nor is there a clear confirmation that the program will do anything beyond delivering potential access. Without a provider agreeing to connect up end users, local residents will still be without access. How would you work to ensure that this program proceeds in a timely way with real results?
3. Chinook fishing restrictions and closures were imposed this year to protect fish stocks and local orca populations. What regional and national solutions would you work towards to address this issue?

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Held Sunday, April 14th, 1:30 – 3:30, at the CRD Services Building, 3 – 7450 Butler Road, Otter Point

Meeting minutes (pdf)

This year, based on how isolated the communities were during the February snow storms and forecasts of a hot 2019 fire season, we were pleased provide our members with access to a panel of guest speakers on Emergency Preparedness

Local experts spoke about Emergency Services for our region – what exists, what’s coming soon and ways to be self-reliant and prepared. Our thanks to  Juan de Fuca Emergency Program Coordinator Jeri Grant & Otter Point Fire Dept Chief John McCrea.

CRD Regional Director Mike Hicks also joined us to share news and updates for our region.

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All Candidates Meeting – Sept 30, 2018

Millions of our tax dollars are spent each year improving services and ideally making our community a better place to work, live and play.

OPSRRA invited the candidates for this year’s local election – Voting Day on October 20th – to introduce themselves, tell you how they hope to help and answer a few direct questions from our group.

Thanks to the nearly 60 people who came out to the September 30th All Candidates Meeting scheduled from 2 – 4pm at the CRD Juan de Fuca Building in Otter Point – Unit 3 – 7450 Butler Road. The speeches from candidates were impassioned and the questions for local residents added quite a bit of value to the meeting.

We heard from these Milne’s Landing Zone School Trustee & JdF EA Director candidates:

• Allison Watson
• Britt Santowski
• Margot Swinburnson
• Neil Poirier
• Robert (Bob) Phillips
• Daniel Yates
• & Mike Hicks