Arms-length economic development corporation to launch for City of Nanaimo

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Nanaimo hasn’t had an EDC for four years

Nanaimo council will create a new, arms-length economic development corporation. The move comes four years after a previous council killed a similar organization that was rife with conflict, resignations and firings. The new economic development corporation will see the city of Nanaimo as the main shareholder. So-called Class B Shareholders will include the Snuneymuxw First Nation, the Nanaimo Airport, the Chamber of Commerce, the Nanaimo Port Authority and Vancouver Island University. The membership will also include one representative from the non-profit sector and two members at large. The city's Director of Community Development, Bill Corsan described the corporation's purpose at a presentation to council on Monday night.

"The mandate is to maintain and update the economic development strategy and make sure that certain initiatives that attract business and employers to the community are being done and help with that coordination piece. There is kind of a common goal here to have a group of people providing leadership at that level."
—Bill Corsan, City of Nanaimo Director of Community Development.

The city's economic development strategy includes the redevelopment of downtown and the waterfront as well as making Nanaimo a healthcare center of excellence. The corporation should be in place by the middle of this year, with a five-year-long mandate. Its first annual budget will be just over half a million dollars, which is far less than the minimum million dollars that similar-sized cities spend on Economic Development Corporations.

COVID-19 updates from Cowichan Tribes temporarily suspended

The Cowichan Tribes will not be providing any COVID-19 outbreak numbers this week. Last Friday, the nation reported 26 active cases of the virus, for a total of 181 cases since the outbreak began in early January. The acting general manager of the Cowichan Tribes, Derek Thompson says updates will be suspended until next week.

"We decided to pause in an effort to be mindful and respectful of families in our community who are hurt and going through a process of grieving. We want to be respectful of the family going through a process of just profound loss and in the broader context of things, just families in our community who have gone through such profound loss."
—Derck Thompson, Acting General Manager for Cowichan Tribes.

One member of the tribes died from COVID-19 last week. Thompson says case counts continue to rise and they will continue to do so until more members of the community start following provincial health orders and a local shelter in place order that is set to expire on Friday.

Meanwhile, there have been 27 new cases of COVID 19 confirmed in the Island Health region over the past 24 hours. With 23 on the central island, 3 in the south and one in the north. There are 17 people in the hospital with the virus, six of whom are in intensive care.