I understand the pro-development campaign to bring back some vibrancy to Qualicum Beach. I have also lived here for two years and notice that in winter people hole up and don't venture out to connect with each other. Connections make a community, not more homes and businesses.
Come out to the Shady Rest on a Monday night and listen to superb musicians, come to the Rotary Centre on Thursday nights to dance to the fiddlers, who are also excellent. Monday night is free, Thursday night costs $2.50 which includes tea and cookies.
If each one of us made a choice to connect with someone new, we'd feel that sense of community which is slipping away. The streets are safe, the tourists have gone, and I bet taxi drivers would love to be busier. All that's needed is a commitment to doing something different one or two evenings a week. There are some fascinating characters who do come out, and you may make someone's night when they strike up a conversation with you.
Victoria Fabling
Qualicum Beach