Beloved Sidney waterfront pub and restaurant closes after 32 years
Sidney lost a beloved waterfront watering hole in 2023 after serving the community for over 32 years.
The Rumrunner Pub & Restaurant closed on April 30 because pub owner Bill Singer retired.
“I’m having people breaking out in tears because I’m going,” Singer said during the Rumrunner’s final week in business. “That makes it hard. I’ve always regarded this as my living room and office. I enjoyed this business. I feel like I was an integral part of the local community. It’s been a great experience.”
Singer believes the pub was known for its beautiful location next to the breakwater and its delicious food and drinks.
“The marina in front of us is probably one of the premier marinas on the West Coast of Canada and the United States. Our food was a cross between good pub fare and restaurant-style meals.”
The Rumrunner opened on June 10, 1990 and had a large number of regulars who hold a special place in Singer’s heart.
“It was like their neighbourhood,” he said. “Children have wanted to throw their parent’s celebration of life here because this was their favourite place. It’s a great clientele.”
The staff at the Rumrunner were a big reason customers kept coming back, and they were instrumental in the pub’s success.
“It’s one of the best staff I’ve ever had,” Singer said. “They’ve supported me and have been just wonderful. They’ve been really great at making my life easier.”
Singer said a highlight of owning the pub was the people he has met along the way.
“I’ve made a lot of acquaintances and friends. People that have come to the marina have been from everywhere. A large number of customers came to Sidney every year, and they would come in to see me.”
Singer hopes the Rumrunner will be remembered as a warm and welcoming place.
“I hope that people think I was a considerate person to deal with and that I tried to accommodate them. I was here all the time and I was here to greet customers and I enjoyed greeting them. That’s paid me back in spades because I’ve done fairly well.”
Sidney veteran takes to the skies once again
At 102 years old, Peter Chance was able to fulfill a long-held dream to return to the skies this year, thanks to his friend Paul Seguna and the Victoria Flying Club
Chance turned 103 on Nov. 25, but on Feb. 13, he was able to take the controls and fly a Cessna 172 for nearly an hour, including some maneuvers.
“It was one of the best things to ever happen to me,” Chance said. The whole thing was just sheer excitement beyond measure. It’s been a long time since I flew a plane, but it all started coming back to me with the controls at my feet and hands. It was the icing on the cake for me, just marvellous.”
The flight took Chance, Seguna and flight instructor Darren Rich – all veterans – along the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, up as far as Nanaimo and over the Gulf Islands. Chance said it was a perfect flying weather, with clear skies and excellent visibility.
Chance has lived a life filled with adventure and community service, spending 30 years in the Royal Canadian Navy and more than 40 years of his life in various roles with the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
But despite being a staunch sailor, his experiences learning to fly Tiger Moths in England during the Second World War - in between fighting German submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic and surviving the sinking of his ship off the coast of Iceland - stuck with him.
Seguna said the idea for the big flight came about during one of his regular lunches at an aviation-themed restaurant at Victoria International Airport.
At one point as they were driving around the area, Chance made an off-hand comment that he would love to get back in a plane again, and Seguna took note.
He reached out to Rich to see if it would be possible to organize a flight. Rich checked with the club’s general manager, Michael Schlievert, who was all too happy to arrange for the club to provide a plane and fuel for the flight.
“We’ve been a club here since 1946 and we have been leaning toward flight training. And it’s easy when you do that to see the club participation side of things slide away,” said Schlievert. “We’ve been on a turn here to make us more of a club with Saturday morning coffee and, this really fit with that … we are friends of aviation, we have a history with it, he has a history with it, so we just jumped on it.”
Seguna said there were some challenges getting schedules to align with good flying weather, but the work paid off and he is proud to have had a part in making it happen.
“The satisfaction of giving Peter an experience that was so important to him and that he got so much enjoyment out of, made it so worth it,” said Seguna. “He was right on board with it from the get-go, and he was in good shape to be able to do it.”
Chance said he is forever grateful for the efforts of Seguna and the members of the flying club for making his dream a reality.
Parks Canada eradicates fallow deer on Sidney Island
A mass kill of the fallow deer on Sidney Island was a highly discussed topic in 2023.
According to Kate Humble, superintendent of the Gulf Island National Park Reserve, the purpose of Park’s Canada’s deer eradication project was not to have a small controlled population of fallow deer on Sidney Island, but instead to eliminate the invasive fallow deer from the island to allow the native black tail deer to recover.
The cull began in December and is part of a $5.9-million contract, and Parks Canada said this will help restore the native understory growth.
“Why is our government spending $5.9 million on this project when the majority of the island is private,” said Sharon Glynn at a Nov. 3 demonstration she helped organize to protest the cull. “We think this is unjust and unnecessary.”
Approximately 50 people gathered in Sidney for the protest.
The fallow deer are being killed by sharpshooters in helicopters and hunters on land with tracking dogs.
“The decision to use a team of sharpshooters came about partly in consultation with the BC SPCA because humane methods of dispatching deer have been project partners’ number-one priority from the beginning,” Humble said.
“Sharpshooters are gifted, skilled people, many of these people are also trained veterinarians. So this is the method that is going to allow the deer to be dispatched instantaneously as humanely as possible.”
Tsawout First Nation hereditary chief Eric Pelkey had previously voiced support for the Parks Canada project.
“This is the main element of the restoration of the island from the destruction we have seen caused by the fallow deer after they were introduced onto the island,” Pelkey said.
Pelkey said the invasive deer – introduced onto the island in the early 1900s by European settlers and thought to now number between 500 and 1,000 – had eaten and killed much of the native vegetation on the island, denying Indigenous peoples the food and medicine they have harvested for generations.
Flair Airlines launches flights from Victoria to Vegas
Flair Airlines got travellers excited about heading south with the announcement of a new Victoria to Las Vegas route at the beginning of August.
“Canadians want affordable options to sun this winter, and we’ve heard them,” said Stephen Jones, president of Flair Airlines. “The addition we’ve made to our schedule reflects our commitment to offering exciting options for our customers to create their own getaway without breaking the bank.
With exceptional operational performance this summer and increased depth in our network this winter, Canadians can travel in confidence to the destination that excites them most.”
The new route is scheduled to take off starting in February 2024 and will depart from Victoria International Airport twice a week.
“We are pleased to see non-stop Las Vegas service introduced by Flair,” said Geoff Dickson, president of the Victoria International Airport.
Stranded Greater Victoria passengers stuck in long lines forced to watch planes take off
Flair Airlines also made headlines for a different reason in August.
The airline apologized after long lines at Victoria International Airport left 50 to 100 passengers stranded on Aug. 26.
Victoria resident Nicole Kemp was scheduled to fly from Victoria to Toronto that day, but when she arrived at the airport a little over two hours before her flight in order to drop off her checked baggage with the airline, she was faced with a line running through much of the check-in area as dozens of passengers on three Flair flights tried to do the same.
“All of a sudden, we could hear passengers at the front starting to get agitated, then a man in line turned around and said ‘none of you are getting on your flight and the staff are closing the counters,’” said Kemp.
“There was this panic of ‘what’s going on.’ We were trying to get closer to the counter to hear what was going on, and all we could really hear was staff saying ‘sorry, there is nothing we can really do about it, you’ll have to contact Flair on Monday (Aug. 28), the counter is closed and the plane is departing.”
Kemp and her travel partner ended up buying new tickets with Air Canada for $600 apiece, and she said some affected passengers had rushed to try and catch a ferry to Vancouver in hopes of finding new flights there.
“The vast majority of Flair Airlines customers have an excellent experience with the airline. That was not the case here, and we’re sorry for it,” a spokesperson for the airline wrote in a statement.
“Flair Airlines takes full responsibility for this situation, and we regret the impact it had on our customers’ travel plans. Our unwavering commitment remains to provide safe and dependable air travel at the most affordable prices, and we are devoted to preventing similar incidents from occurring in the future. For passengers who have been affected, we will be reaching out via email in the coming days to arrange full refunds.”
In situations when flights are delayed or cancelled for reasons within an airline’s control, the CTA requires airlines to provide clear communication of the situation to passengers, arrange and offer alternative travel options or a refund for the affected flight, and pay compensation for the inconvenience. In situations where flights are impacted for reasons outside an airline’s control or within their control but for safety reasons, communication requirements and assistance with alternate travel options must still be met, though no compensation or refund is required.
Man drowns in waters off Coles Bay Regional Park in North Saanich
A man died on Sept. 18 after drowning at Coles Bay Regional Park.
The man was trying to get to his boat when the drowning occurred, Sidney/North Saanich RCMP media liaison Cpl. Andres Sanchez said.
After a report about a man in his 40s who was struggling to swim, police responded to the Pauquachin boat ramp around 5:40 p.m. Some officers swam out to the man in a rescue attempt that also involved several civilians.
“With the assistance of several brave bystanders, police officers retrieved the man from the water where he was transferred to ambulance and firefighters who began first aid,” police said in a news release. “Sadly, the man was unable to be resuscitated and died at the scene.”
Police believe the man was trying to retrieve his boat after it drifted from the launch, and it was reported that he began to struggle due to the water temperature.
“We are deeply saddened by the outcome of this event and our thoughts and condolences are with the family and the community. This incident should stand as a reminder to the public that even the strongest swimmer is at risk without proper flotation equipment in cold water,” Sanchez said in the release.
Small child stopped by Sidney/North Saanich RCMP for driving carefully
A traffic stop rarely results in good news, but a small child wheeling down the sidewalk in her bright pink convertible caught the attention of Sidney/North Saanich RCMP.
In a social media post on May 3, Vancouver Island RCMP said the little girl and her father were stopped by a constable with the Saanich Peninsula detachment and she was issued a “positive ticket” for driving so safely.
Detachments across the country have launched positive ticket campaigns aimed at engaging with young people for their positive choices. Some of the tickets can be redeemed for snacks such as ice cream or chocolate bars, depending on the program’s community partners.