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On this episode of Nonpartisan Hacks, Parksville City Councillors Joel Grenz and Sean Wood take the show “on the rail”, recording aboard a high-rail vehicle rolling along the old E&N corridor from Parksville to Coombs. They are joined by Thomas Bevan, Executive Director and CEO of the Island Corridor Foundation, the non-profit charity that owns the historic rail corridor running from Victoria to Courtenay and Port Alberni to Parksville.

Bevan walks the hosts through what the Island Corridor Foundation actually is: a charity owned collectively by 14 First Nations and 5 regional districts, responsible for stewarding roughly 289 kilometres of corridor land. They dig into the corridor's history as a resource railway, why VIA passenger service ended in 2011, and why a bullet train is not coming anytime soon. The bigger conversation is about strategy: clearing vegetation to reduce wildfire risk after last year's Cameron Lake Fire, building trail agreements with regional districts, and finding tourism and revenue opportunities in Coombs, Ladysmith and beyond, all while keeping an eye on Victoria's Colwood Crawl and Nanaimo's growth.

“We have to do something and not nothing,” Bevan says of the Foundation's approach. It is, he adds, “the art of the possible” - a philosophy that shows up everywhere from vegetation clearing to Victoria's Reconciliation Corridor Initiative to tourism ideas in Coombs and Port Alberni.

Listen for:

• What the Island Corridor Foundation owns, and why its 14 First Nations and 5 regional district members are stewarding it together

• Why vegetation clearing became a wildfire safety priority after the Cameron Lake Fire

• The realistic, step-by-step vision for rail and trails, from Parksville-to-Coombs to Victoria's Colwood Crawl

• How the corridor could become financially self-sustaining, and how residents and businesses can get involved

Non-Partisan Hacks is a Vancouver Island political podcast hosted by Joel Grenz and Sean Wood, featuring lively, independent conversations about local government, public policy and the issues affecting communities. Non-Partisan Hacks is part of The PULSE Podcast Community.

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Non-Partisan Hacks is a Vancouver Island political podcast hosted by Joel Grenz and Sean Wood, featuring lively, independent conversations about local government, public policy and the issues affecting communities. Non-Partisan Hacks is part of The PULSE Podcast Community.

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