Karate group buys Royal Oak community hall
The Royal Oak Women’s Institute has sold its community hall of more than 90 years to a Saanich karate group.
“We are pleased to pass this important piece of Saanich’s history to Kenzen Karate and wish them all the best at the hall for the many decades to come,” the group’s board of directors said in a statement announcing the sale of the community hall at 4516 West Saanich Rd.
Kenzen Karate chief instructor Richard Mosdell said the sale should end rumours about the fate of the building after the quarter-acre property was put up for sale.
“There were unfounded rumours of this hall becoming a pot shop, a fast food restaurant or even cut from the foundation and shipped to a Gulf Island,” Mosdell said.
Commercial real-estate firm Avison Young had listed the property and its heritage-designated 1911 hall for $1,475,000. Kenzen Karate has not publicly disclosed the final purchase price.
Mosdell said the hall’s existing user groups will continue to use the building, and Kenzen Karate will transition its classes into the hall in September.
Island Corridor Foundation head steps down
Larry Stevenson is stepping down as chief executive of the Island Corridor Foundation, which is launching a search for a replacement.
Stevenson, who joined the organization in 2018, will remain as chief executive for now to help with the transition.
In recent years, the foundation, which owns the E&N rail corridor, has been in the spotlight over the future of the currently unused corridor. It has presented options to resume rail, with cargo and passenger service. Other groups, however, have advocated for the corridor to be turned into a multi-use trail.
In a statement, the Island Corridor Foundation said that under Stevenson’s leadership, the foundation has achieved many notable milestones, “including bringing critical focus to the importance, and the value, of the rail corridor to the future development of 91原创 Island.”
India envoy meets with MLAs
The flag of India flew in front of the B.C. legislature last Wednesday while the country’s high commissioner visited a number of MLAs to discuss how they could deepen B.C.-India engagement.
High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma met with Raj Chouhan, Brenda Bailey, Bruce Ralston, and Jagrup Brar, and other MLAs to discuss issues of clean tech, hydrogen, innovation, agritech and education, India’s 91原创 consulate said in an online post.
Verma made the Victoria stop before travelling to the Lower Mainland, where he was met with protests from pro-Khalistan Sikh activists at a Surrey Board of Trade event.
Researchers to assess startup sustainability
A research team at the University of Victoria is working on tracking how well B.C. startups as well as small and medium-size employers align with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The initiative, headed by University of Victoria associate finance professor and Impact Investing Hub director Basma Majerbi, aims to provide more information for investors who are increasingly using sustainable development benchmarks.
Researchers have already completed an initial round of assessments based on public information and are now conducting further assessments through a survey.
The initiative is being supported by Innovate BC, a Crown agency, and InBC Investment Corp., a B.C.-owned strategic investment fund.
