Talk:Oak Bay, British Columbia

Affiliation with Victoria

I am new to the Victoria area and depending on who you ask you get differnt answers to the affiliation Oak Bay has with Victoria. I know Oak bay has their own police force but if I'm not mistaking many services are shared with the city of Victoria. I hope someone with knowledge could elaborate. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 206.87.81.3 (talk) 19:53, 31 March 2012 (UTC)

McNeill Bay

I thought the previous name for McNeill Bay was 'Shoal Bay' and that 'Oak Bay' is the larger bay on the east side of the municipality facing Mount Baker, where Willows Beach is located. Corlyon 03:47, 13 October 2006 (UTC)Corlyon

You're right. Editing time! --BlueSquadronRaven 08:03, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

- Uplands was not developed by the Guiness family so I've taken out that reference.

Merging in of Oak Bay Police Department

As a result of this AfD discussion, Oak Bay Police Department will be merged into this article. The most recent non-redirect version of that article is here. Please do not change the redirect. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 18:43, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

kind of dubious

Oak Bay is "stereotyped" as a "holdout" for the old and the wealthy because of its "well-maintained homes with equally well-tended gardens"? I don't know if you call that weasel words or just a total lack of objectivity, but perhaps it could be rephrased in terms of number of retirees, median household income, and not mentioning the gardens at all, unless they are public or especially notable?66.183.63.185 (talk) 08:21, 25 September 2009 (UTC)

Certain of Greater Victoria's neighbourhoods are indeed notable for their gardens, including Oak Bay and adjoining Uplands and Rockland areas. And the rep as a "holdout" for Oak Bay is very true, even in a greyhair ghetto such as most of Victoria is (or was). It could be rephrased, yes, but a passage similar to what you've queries is fairly citable/quotable as a "review" of the place. Not for nothing is Oak Bay known as "across the Tweed Curtain", though less so than was formerly the case.Skookum1 (talk) 11:06, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

archival images of Gonzales Hill

There isn't yet an article on the landform or the park, so "parking" these images here for potential use; from the British Library collection at the commons

and

.Skookum1 (talk) 11:07, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

Oak Bay on Wikipedia

Currently under the section Oak Bay - History, it is noted that "Oak Bay is the unceded territory of the Coast Salish People of the Songhees First Nation."

As the Douglas Treaties (signed between 1850 and 1854) were signed between the Sonhees Nation and the government of the day which included the lands of Oak Bay, the word "unceded" needs to be changed to "historical"

Comments please — Preceding unsigned comment added by Oakbayresident (talk • contribs) 00:50, 2 December 2020 (UTC)

So its a tricky issue, but the Douglas treaties really do not mean much in terms of actually signing away land. Both because the indigenous leaders at the time signed blank pieces of paper on which the terms were later written down, and also because Douglas' successor proceeded to break every single term of the treaty without returning the land. Relevant here are the Chilcowitch and Chekonein treaties, the terms of which were unambiguously broken by the settlers.

This really comes down to a question of legality and how we understand contracts; our only source that the Songhees agreed to the treaty or even understood the translation is given by an HBC agent who to put it lightly is not a reliable source (I say despite my fondness for James Douglas). The entire narrative of the Douglas Treaties is one written by the colonizers, and the fact that the narrative they wrote already brings into question if the lands were truly ceded should be enough to discount it.

All that said, I think just saying "unceded" in that section isn't the best way of communicating this nuanced history. I'm going to be rewriting much of this page this week and I'll try to give better justice to the early history of Oak Bay. SomerIsland (talk) 23:58, 12 December 2020 (UTC)

References