The search for B.C.’s best small town is underway in a March Madness U.S. college basketball style bracket competition being considered mostly friendly, with Chemainus up against Ladysmith in an ironic twist in the first round.
Voting in the first round for the Vancouver Island region is only being conducted until 10 p.m. today (Tuesday) so you have to act fast, Chemainus residents, to make your vote count.
Click here to make your vote count.
After a 2019 competition to find Metro Vancouver’s best neighbourhood, CBC is doing an expanded version for the entire province.
It’ll take seven weeks to determine which community reigns supreme.
Every community in the province has been included that’s either a municipality with under 12,000 people, based on the 2021 Census, or an unincorporated community, small island or Indigenous community with at least 500 people, based on estimates from the 2021 Census.
A series of play-in votes were conducted last month to narrow the field to 128 entries, leaving 32 towns that roughly fit into each of the following four areas of the province: Vancouver Island (voting Tuesday); Southwest B.C. (voting on Wednesday); Interior (voting on Thursday); and The North (voting on Friday).
Each day from Tuesday to Friday, there will be a new series of one-on-one votes in a different region. Each week, the field will be narrowed down from 128 to 64 to 32, 16, four, two and one – the champion.
CBC is hoping the competition will spur some pride and friendly debate.
If Chemainus gets past the first round, it will take on the winner of the Qualicum Beach-Coombs battle in the second round next week.
