Dean Murdock Saanich Councillor

Saanich girl goes for the goat
Saanich News - June 13, 2013

Residents in suburban Saanich can raise chickens on their property, and in one case, even cattle. A nine-year-old girl is petitioning the municipality to add goats to the list of allowable residential farm animals.

Jillian McCue says there are a slew of benefits to owning a goat – something she hopes to be able to do at her Gordon Head home in the near future, if she can garner support from Saanich.

“One of the reasons is they eat grass, so the air- and sound-polluting lawn mowers wouldn’t have to be used as frequently.

Towers of recycling power at Saanich school
Saanich News - June 10, 2013

Recycling isn’t a passing fad at Royal Oak middle school, where students have taken it upon themselves to change the way the school – and the district – manages its waste output.

For four years now, students have taken recycling to the extreme, finding ways to keep paper, plastics and food waste out of the garbage.

The school now diverts 80 per cent of its waste from being tossed in a garbage can, destined for Hartland landfill. Instead, a series of 50 recycling towers are installed around the school

In every community in BC, food banks are struggling to meet the complex nutritional needs of the diverse population they serve: working people, single parents, people living with disabilities, seniors, and the addicted and/or mentally ill, many of whom are still inadequately housed.

In every community in BC, food banks are struggling to meet the complex nutritional needs of the diverse population they serve: working people, single parents, people living with disabilities, seniors, and the addicted and/or mentally ill, many of whom are still inadequately housed.

In every community in BC, food banks are struggling to meet the complex nutritional needs of the diverse population they serve: working people, single parents, people living with disabilities, seniors, and the addicted and/or mentally ill, many of whom are still inadequately housed.

Saanich gives green-thumbs up to kitchen scrap collection
January 08, 2013 CFAX 1070

Saanich is the latest to take up curbside kitchen scrap collection.

Council voted Monday night to proceed with the plan. The program will be up and running in about 15-months (Spring 2014), with kitchen scraps picked up alongside garbage.

Councilor Dean Murdock says Saanich's system will be different than how the City of Victoria does it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your family, and best wishes in 2013!

I thought I’d take a moment to share a few highlights from this busy year. I look forward to new challenges in 2013. I welcome your feedback on the priority initiatives you’d like see in the New Year.

Saanich hands decision on Gordon Head farmland to Agricultural Land Commission
By Kyle Slavin, Saanich News December 11, 2012

The fate of an unused parcel of agricultural land in suburban Gordon Head is now in the hands of the Agricultural Land Commission.

The four-acre property at 1516 Mount Douglas Cross Rd. was recently slated to become a 12,000-hen poultry operation or, failing that, a cattle farm with 100 cows.

Sandy spurs Saanich, Victoria to talk sea change

Bill Cleverley , The Victoria Times Colonist November 25, 2012

Arguing recent events like hurricane Sandy can't be ignored, Victoria, Saanich and the Capital Regional District will team up to assess, map and start to prepare to manage effects of rising sea levels brought on by climate change.