The town council of View Royal has voted narrowly to add two new councillor seats, in an effort to attract a more diverse array of candidates to seek election. Mayor David Screech argues the move to expand council is long overdue, but his detractors have questioned whether the move is necessary, given the town's small size ‚ÄĒ and have wondered whether any new candidates will apply. ("The three or four people I have heard from who are interested in running are people like me, white men. So we could end up with more of the same," said councillor John Rogers.) We speak with Mayor Screech about the vote, why he feels it's important, whether amalgamation would be a better option, and how his council plans to encourage a more diverse array of candidates.

A charitable non-profit primary care network on The Saanich Peninsula is working to fix the doctor shortage in their area. By focusing on what works for doctors, they've gone from five doctors to twenty-five in just five years. For Good News Friday, we learn more about who they are, and how they're doing it.

Tonight, Victoria city council will debate whether to exempt cruise ship tourist shuttles‚ÄĒwhich drop off an estimated 110,000 passengers downtown per year‚ÄĒfrom restrictions on driving through the car-free portion of Government Street. To get more insight into the debate, along with what‚Äôs being proposed and what it would mean for Victorians, we speak with business owners along Government Street, Downtown Victoria Business Association executive director Jeff Bray, and Victoria councillor Jeremy Loveday.

Facing a growing waitlist and a funding shortage, the Victoria Sexual Assault Centre has announced it will suspend its long-term counselling program. With the need for crisis support services as high as ever, where do we go from here? We look into the issue with Sam Loppie, Direct Client Services Manager at VSAC, and Jonny Morris, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s BC Division.

Need support?: Victoria Sexual Assault Centre | Free services for survivors of sexualized violence | Phone: 250-383-3232 Email: [email protected] | Website: www.vsac.ca

For Black History Month, we look back at the incredible life of John Craven Jones, Salt Spring Island’s first-ever school teacher, through conversations with Silvia Mangue Alene, President of the BC Black History Awareness Society, and Crawford Kilian, author of Go Do Some Great Thing: The Black Pioneers of British Columbia.

A new grant of $200,000 for the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations has been approved by the City of Victoria. The idea comes from Mayor Lisa Helps, although the grant has changed a lot since her first proposal. For Municipal Monday, we speak to Mayor Helps to learn more, and we also hear from Councillor Geoff Young who voted against the grant.

A volunteer-led effort to reintroduce salmon into the Bowker Creek watershed after a 100-year absence is nearing its moment of fruition. After over a decade of habitat restoration, members of Friends of Bowker Creek and the Peninsula Streams Society have planted 30,000 chum salmon eggs into the creek, with hopes of seeing the waterway returned to its former pre-industrialized state. To find out how they got there, what happens next, and what salmon would mean to the area, we pay a visit to the creek and speak with restoration coordinator Kyle Armstrong.

On Monday, Parks Canada announced their support of PaRx: A Prescription for Nature. PaRx is an initiative of the BC Parks Foundation that is working to improve Canadians' health by connecting them with nature. Today we speak with the Director of PaRx, Dr. Melissa Lem to learn more about how it works and the health benefits nature provides.

We speak with Capital Daily reporter Ryan Hook who went to Saturday's protest and spoke to participants. Then, we speak with Edwin Hodge, Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at UVic and Right-Wing Extremism Expert about why Canadians are following this ideology and how this movement should be addressed.

Some University of Victoria students and faculty are uneasy with the return to in-person learning. This has prompted multiple student-led petitions, including one that calls on the school to better accommodate students who are isolating or feel unsafe. Today we look into these concerns and speak to petition organizer Anika Fairholm.