Editor’s note: This story appeared in the July edition of the South Cowichan Connector. This was the first edition of the Connector, a new publication for and about the South Cowichan Valley. Look for our August edition starting Aug. 6.
From life on the sea, to enhancing it in Area C, regional director Mike Wilson shares his past, and future plans for Cobble Hill.
Born in India, Wilson moved to the UK when he was two years old. It was there he completed his training to work as an electronic officer on cruise and cable ships for the company Cable and Wireless, met the love of his life, and started his family.
“My whole life has been spent at sea working with cruise and cable ships,” said Wilson. “We looked after the systems on cable ships all over the world. A lot of people think that everything goes by satellite, but truth be told 99 per cent of everything in the past and still today goes by cable.”
In 1980, when the final stages of the coaxial cable systems had reached their peak, and the first worldwide fibre-optic systems were emerging, Wilson decided to change course in his career at Cable and Wireless and switch from shipboard electronics to the cable engineering department. This led to him accepting a six-month refit job on a cable ship in Victoria’s Burrard Yarrows shipyard which marked his first visit to Vancouver Island. He fell in love with the Island at first sight, spurring the decision to trade the union jack in for the maple leaf and move his family to Canada in 1993.
“This is where we saw a future,” said Wilson. “We had a very good life in the UK, and lots of family there but we were thinking long-term.”
More doors opened for Wilson on his career development path, which allowed him to step out of his technical comfort zone on ships, and into the legal department where he dealt with contracts and finance, preparing him for the role he has now. Working on ships enabled Wilson to be quite the globetrotter, visiting places like Hong Kong, Singapore, and Fiji where Wilson lived with his wife and son for nearly two years.
“We use to go to countries all over the world, build huge earth stations, train all the local people, and then run it for 50 years,” said Wilson.
The Wilsons made their first home in Sidney, near the Saanichton Peninsula in 1993 before falling in love with the property they live on now in Cobble Hill where they moved in 1999. Wilson decided to start his own consultancy company the same year, which he ran until 2015. After being a resident of Cobble Hill for just over 18 years, Wilson decided that instead of complaining about problems he wanted to be a part of the solution. This came about after his involvement with the Cobble Hill Association of Taxpayers. Wilson’s growing interest in local government led to him running in the 2018 local election where he was elected regional director for Area C.
“I’d never been a politician before,” said Wilson. “I won, which was very gratifying, and humbling. I only set out to do the one four-year term, but after not achieving as much as I had set out to, I decided to run again and was luckily reelected.”
READ MORE: Mike Wilson looks to be re-elected in Cobble Hill
So what does a regional director do? In short, a lot. However sometimes community concerns are out of their control, especially areas involving policing, fire departments or road repairs where there needs to be collaboration through the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure.
“They are very responsive, if we have something that needs to be done, if they can do it within the budget they have, they do it,” said Wilson.
Three controlled left-hand turning signals were recently installed along the Trans-Canada Highway at Fisher Road, Hutchinson Road, and Koksilah Road. The modifications for this project started in January, and were completed by the end of March 2023.
“None of these intersections had controlled left hand turns,” said Wilson “All three are now completely controlled. With the assistance of our MLA Sonia Furstenau, a lot of help from MOTI, and of course the support of the community, we got it all done. That is a real source of happiness for me. We will never fully stop accidents from happening, but we are now in a situation where we are minimizing them as far as humanly possible, and that’s a good thing.”
While Wilson doesn’t see himself as a green warrior, he does believe in protecting water first and foremost. This, along with finances, has been his main focus since elected.
“I believe strongly in protecting water,” said Wilson. “Water is absolutely essential, and one of my biggest protection areas, it feeds everything, the farmers, the people who drink it, the golf courses, everything. Underneath this whole area is aquifer 197 which supplies clean water to between 15,000 to 18,000 people, which is one of the biggest and best aquifers in all of South Cowichan. I am trying to protect it from any form of external aggression, which means any form of possible pollution from all kinds of sources. Protecting aquifers is absolutely paramount; I’m still working on areas where aquifer pollution is concerned. Things have gotten much much better, but it is still an ongoing thing.”
Wilson has two projects in the works that he aims to have completed by Christmas. The first, a new permanent band stage for Cobble Hill’s music in the park. Wilson has allocated $135,000 for this project which will get underway in the fall. Musical acts are not the only thing Wilson is look to shine a light on, he will be making some modifications to the area where the cenotaph is located as well.
“We are now in the design stages. It will be an open plan with a sloping roof, to act not only as a sound collector but also deflector for the elements. It will have concrete floors and power lights and amplifiers for the bands,” said Wilson. “Every year we do have a big ceremony at our community cenotaph, we have a fly over, and have the local veteran societies present. I’m working on modifying the flag staff so it has a cross piece on it with the intent to have the Canadian flag on the top with the B.C. flag on one side, and the veteran’s legion flag on the other. I would also like to run power so that we could have low-power spots which will shine down on the cenotaph so that it is always lit.”
Wilson wants people to know that Cobble Hill truly has a lot to offer, including its annual fair, which attracts thousands in August. This annual fair not only hosts 4-H and their animals for judging, but has many activities and vendors as well. Wilson will have his own stall at this year’s fair enabling him to engage with members of the community, something he is passionate about.
Wilson, who recently turned 78, does not like sitting idle. Fridays are his, and reserved for golfing, visiting family in Victoria and riding his Kawasaki motorcycle. Through it all, Wilson never loses focus on the residents of Cobble Hill.
“They are the ones that trusted me with their vote. To be honest I should be prepared to give them as much as they gave me.”
chadd.cawson@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
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