From provincial election coverage to the story of an Oak Bay art swindler, here are the articles that generated the most interest with oakbaynews.com readers in 2024: 

1.  B次元官网网址� Oct. 19

When the dust had settled on one of the closest provincial elections in B.C. history, the B.C. NDP secured the slimmest of majorities.  

Led by David Eby, the party walked away with a slim 47-seat majority. The Conservative Party of B.C. snagged 44 seats while the B.C. Greens took two.

"People want their elected representatives to deliver results," Eby said in a statement. "A majority of B.C. voters have elected a legislature that shares common values B次元官网网址� like addressing affordability, tackling climate change, making sure health care is there when you need it, and building an inclusive province with safe communities where everyone belongs," he added.

In Oak Bay-Gordon Head, NDP's Diana Gibson maintained a hold on the riding with a decisive win over Conservative candidate Stephen Andrew. 

B次元官网网址淲hat resonated at the doors and that shows up in the numbers, Oak Bay-Gordon Head wants to see the NDP continue progress with health care, housing, education, environment," Gibson said, while celebrating her victory. 

The riding's Green candidate Lisa Gunderson, who trailed Gibson by over 7,500 votes, requested a recount days after the ballots had been counted. The party cited "discrepancies" in the vote that saw Gibson capture 13,726 votes.

"On election night, [Gunderson's] votes were steadily increasing, yet the final tally displayed a reduction of approximately 2,000 votes the following day on the Elections BC website. This variation prompted Dr. Gunderson to seek clarification, as transparency in the voting process is of utmost importance," said the B.C. Green Party in an email.

The request, however, didn't meet Elections BC's requirements for a recount.

2. B次元官网网址� Jan. 11 

Oak Bay ranked second on a list of the best places to live in Canada this year, thanks to the quality of life it offers its residents. 

Moving Waldo B次元官网网址� a tech company that helps users book movers online B次元官网网址� produced the list, comparing cities and towns using three metrics: safety, affordability and quality of life. 

The only Western Canadian town to make the list, Oak Bay placed behind Wellington County, ON. LaSalle, ON ranked third, followed by Levis, QC, Burlington, ON and Edmundston, NB.

As of November 2023, the average one-bedroom apartment in Oak Bay cost $2,108 per month, while the average property cost $685,542. The district's crime severity index was 29.18.

The ranking also promoted Oak Bay for its stunning natural views, beaches, recreational opportunities, schools and Edwardian architecture.

3. B次元官网网址� Aug. 19 

This summer, Oak Bay police clocked a teenage driver doing double the speed limit in a high-priced car. 

Officers were conducting "summertime counter-attack enforcement" in the area of Newport Avenue and Beach Drive on Aug. 14 when they observed a 2024 Porsche Macan travelling northbound at 90 km/h in a 40 km/h zone.  

According to Oak Bay police, officers immediately stopped the motorist, identified as an 18-year-old woman with a class 7 novice driver's licence. The driverB次元官网网址檚 father B次元官网网址� the sports carB次元官网网址檚 registered owner B次元官网网址� was in the passenger seat. 

The woman was issued a $368 ticket for driving at excessive speed and the vehicle was towed and impounded for seven days. 

4. B次元官网网址� Jul. 29 

After a 2022 investigation, the operator of the former Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay was charged with fraud over $5,000. 

On April 11, 2022, an art owner told Saanich police that they entrusted the dealer Calvin Lucyshyn with four pieces of fine art B次元官网网址� those pieces included Emily Carr paintings and one David Blackwood watercolour B次元官网网址� for consignment and potential sale, according to a release from the Saanich Police Department. 

After the gallery closed and attempts to contact the art dealer went unanswered, the paintings' owner got suspicious. A resulting police investigation found that several other people reported similar circumstances. 

Saanich detectives executed search warrants at storage sites across the region in the following days. Those searches found 600 pieces in Saanich, more than 100 in Oak Bay and a Langford stockpile that eclipsed 300 works of art, most of which were returned to their rightful owners. 

5. B次元官网网址� Sep. 1 

Of the dozens of letters Oak Bay B次元官网网址 ran this year, one piqued readersB次元官网网址� interest more than the others. 

The letterB次元官网网址檚 author, Frances Flynn, called on Oak Bay to use golf course land to meet its housing targets. 

"Surely, somebody, besides me, must have thought that Oak Bay, if indeed we are to be in lock-step with the B.C. governmentB次元官网网址檚 housing target, should make use of at least one of these properties for just that purpose,B次元官网网址� said Flynn. B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e mentioned this idea to a few people here in Oak Bay. The overriding response has been the same. Oak Bay council would never upset 'the rich' users of the Victoria Golf Club, and the less pricey Uplands Golf Club by having the temerity of expropriating the land to meet the housing target number.B次元官网网址� 

Flynn made the assumption that if Oak Bay were to develop on a golf course in the district, it would do so on Henderson Golf Course B次元官网网址� a small, public par-three. 

"It would make more sense to expropriate either one of the other courses. Both Victoria and Uplands golf courses would provide far more land upon which to build," the letter said. "They would also avail Oak Bay the opportunity to institute a new network of basic infrastructure: water, sewage, and electrical systems from scratch. Communication networks and business opportunities would be available, along with transportation systems."

6. B次元官网网址� Nov. 7 

In November, two salmon carcasses spotted in Bowker Creek gave Oak Bay residents hope that a run of chum would soon repopulate the waterway. 

Once home to salmon and trout, the creek, which meanders through Saanich, Victoria and Oak Bay, where it empties into the ocean near the Glenlyon Norfolk School, hasnB次元官网网址檛 boasted fish of any kind for years. 

B次元官网网址淚t has been several decades,B次元官网网址� said Gerald Harris, the director of a local non-profit called the Friends of Bowker Creek Society, which works to enhance, restore and protect the waterway. B次元官网网址淚 would say in the neighbourhood of 70 years.B次元官网网址� 

Efforts to return Bowker to its previous glory involved the incubation of chum salmon eggs in the creek, which the non-profit's volunteers searched for all November from the waterway's edge. The roe came from the Goldstream Hatchery, and the fully-grown fish that develop from these eggs are always expected to return to the same place they were incubated four years later.

In December, however, Oak Bay B次元官网网址 reported that Harris miscalculated when the Bowker fish had been incubated, thinking they had been placed there in January and February of 2021. The director recently confirmed that they were actually incubated in January and February of 2022, which means the fish are expected to return next November.

Harris apologized to the Friends of Bowker Creek Society volunteers who spent hours monitoring the creek for signs of chum.  

B次元官网网址淚 am very sorry for having recruited you all into the daily observations for the past month and a half," he wrote in an email. B次元官网网址淵ou have done such a great job of keeping eyes on the creek.B次元官网网址� 

7. B次元官网网址� Jul. 18  

B次元官网网址淎s far as we know, thereB次元官网网址檚 never been a modular building like this moved to the Island,B次元官网网址� Miguel Melgar of Rangeland Truck and Crane based out of Airdrie, Alta., told the Oak Bay B次元官网网址.

When the Oak Bay Fire Department commissioned its new 105-foot rear mount aerial ladder truck, it was the best fit for community safety, but not for the heritage hall the department works from.  

Knowing that, Oak Bay sussed out options, whittling down to a steel structure built by Extreme Modular Buildings in Alberta, which seemed to magically appear in Oak Bay in July. 

What residents didnB次元官网网址檛 see were the months of planning and days of inching travel that the project manager figures were a B次元官网网址渇irst of its kind.B次元官网网址� 

The building, which arrived on a 46-by-5.22-metre, near-100-ton trailer, inched all the way to the Island, primarily between midnight and 5 a.m. 

Challenges included precarious balancing as the trailer crossed bridges, counterflow crossing on a Highway 19 ramp and traffic stoppages including Highway 1. It also included clearing streets of cars, and 20-minute turns at intersections such as Monterey at Oak Bay avenues.

B次元官网网址淭he streets in Oak Bay are very, very narrow," said Melgar. "In some sites, we were the size of some of the buildings we were moving along.B次元官网网址�