Wednesday April 7, 2021 | VICTORIA, BC
News Insights | by Mary P Brooke, Editor | Island Social Trends
Spring has arrived in many areas of BC, but snowfalls are still a possibility — especially at higher elevations and in the Interior and the North.
Winter tire regulations are still in effect for most of our highways, said BC Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Rob Fleming said today on Twitter.
He reminds drivers to check the weather and the DriveBC website before travelling, and of course to follow Public Health Officer orders which primarily means to avoid all non-essential travel.
Earlier today, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure had tweeted out a reminder that winter tires are required for early spring safety.
Regulations are still in place until April 30, 2021, on many highways to account for early spring snowfall.
A shift in gears for Minister Rob Fleming:
Rob Fleming was appointed as Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure after the October 2020 provincial election. That was a shift over from heading up the Ministry of Education which is of course having one of its most challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic (especially now with more COVID exposures in schools).
It seemed clear that having to shut down schools in March 2020 as the pandemic dug in had levelled a shock to Minister Fleming after all he had built in education.
Instead, after the Fall 2020 snap election, Premier John Horgan placed labour leader Jennifer Whiteside into the Ministry of Education top post as the COVID pandemic deepened last fall (trouble with teachers can be reasonably expected to be brewing, given the impacts on educators during the pandemic).
First elected in 2005 as the NDP MLA for Victoria-Swan Lake, Minister Rob Fleming has paid his political dues. In the 38th Parliament (2005-2009) he was the critic for advanced education and tourism, then in 2009-2013 served as the Official Opposition Critic for education and was the environment critic as well. Previous to provincial politics, Fleming was a two-term Victoria City Councilor during which time he represented Victoria at the CRD, Victoria Regional Transit Commission, Capital Region Housing Corporation and Tourism Victoria.
Back to Victoria roots:
Minister Fleming addressed the Victoria Chamber of Commerce last month about transportation developments in BC, including the improvements slated for the Keating Cross Road area on Highway 17 in the Saanich Peninsula area of Greater Victoria (public input for that closed March 24, 2021) and the impact of cruise ship restrictions on the downtown Victoria business economy.
The South Island Transportation Strategy is something Fleming spoke favourably about last month, and is keen that the Capital Regional District (CRD) has struck a transportation committee to have input into regional planning of coordinated approaches to transportation networks on the south island.
===== LINKS:
Direct link to DriveBC Webcam – current video feed
Island Social Trends – local traffic advisory page (west shore & Sooke)
Transportation Insights from Minister Rob Fleming to the business community (March 2, 2021 | Island Social Trends)
