Sometimes, a new and valuable perspective can be found hiding at ground level.

In an effort to take advantage of the recently completed work on Fulford-Ganges Road — and to reap the fitness, mental health and environmental benefits — some of us here at the Driftwood have been literally walking the walk lately, commuting when practicable on foot. We’re going to agree with our local pathways experts that at least for pedestrians, the “final” product on Ganges Hill leaves something to be desired — bicycle-grabbing drainage grates aside, the shoulder width on the uphill side feels on a knife’s edge for safety, never mind the sliver of walkable asphalt going downhill.

But we’re happy to report that, on balance, we’re enjoying the days we aren’t contributing to Salt Spring’s growing vehicle traffic statistics. And while we’ve learned a great deal about rain gear and time management, most importantly we’re reminded what a difference can be made to someone on foot when a passing vehicle changes speed by just a few km/h — one way or the other.

When we were compelled to ease off the gas through the village, 30 km/h felt at first comically slow to some, harder to get used to even than the four-way stop at Central. Others rightfully noted our sensible islander drivers slow down already, particularly on busy summer days when the Ganges Exclusion Principle (“vehicles and tourists cannot occupy the same space at the same time”) applies.

Today, most agree 50 km/h through town would feel reckless; on side streets, where crossings have poor visibility and pedestrians are commonly children, we believe it even more so.

Provincial studies estimate pedestrian crash survivability rates sit at about 20 per cent when a vehicle is travelling at 50 km/h, versus 90 per cent at 30 km/h. That’s a big difference to be made just by doing the thing we most commonly ask of our off-island guests: slow down.

As much as we might improve our own habits, our visitors have little familiarity with the island and can hardly be expected to know which roadside hedge is most likely to produce a hidden pedestrian. Tourists will recognize a speed limit sign, and so will the rest of us.

We applaud Local Community Commissioners for making the request, and hope the transportation ministry will act quickly to make our side streets that much safer.

Long before there was the World Wide Web, the internet and social media, we had something that was just as powerful if not more so. Back in the early days of human interaction, ages before fire and the wheel, we had a method of communication that radiated out from the source at just under the speed of light. We named this early technology “gossip,” which soon developed into another potent tool we came to call “rumours.”

Marching hand in hand with gossip and rumours and therefore completing the spying and snooping triangle is the long valued art of eavesdropping. This skill got its name from the fact that the piece of ground where rainwater dripped down from the roof was called the eavesdrop and was usually very close to a house. If someone stood on this piece of ground, it would be possible to overhear conversations in the house. Hence, eavesdropping.

Gaining popularity lately in the world of gossip and rumours is a game called “snippets.” As the name suggests, contestants are encouraged to collect little snippets of local gossip, blend them with other eavesdropped specimens of recent “word of mouth” samples, and kick-start a whole new rumour that’s just busting to go viral.

Just imagine you are walking between the cars sitting in the lineup in the ferry compound. As you pass each car, you can hear a small snippet of conversation floating out from an open window. Perhaps as you pass the first vehicle, you hear someone complaining about the price of coffee. When you reach the driver’s side of the second car, you hear someone commenting on the lack of quality of the toilet paper in the ferry washrooms. When you next get to the rusty pickup truck, the driver is bemoaning the rabbit and poultry judging at the last fall fair. You are now ready to roll. If you do a little rearranging and tweaking, you can come up with the juicy rumour that the coffee grounds from the local restaurants and cafes are being dehydrated and mixed with fur and down feathers collected from wild bunny hides and hen roosts. The resulting mishmash of ingredients are finally pressed into sheets which are then assembled onto rolls, which then allows the ferry corp to claim it has gone totally organic with its toilet supplies.

Another sample of a snippet moment can be gleaned while you are waiting with your shopping cart in the checkout lineup at the grocery store. Think of it as a “cut and paste” exercise, except in this case you are dismembering conversation instead of digital text. As shoppers exchange pleasantries, you may find yourself eavesdropping on several unrelated conversations occurring simultaneously. Always on the lookout for a snippet or two, you find your mind focusing upon comments on the housing shortage as well as pet peeves such as blinding headlights that are improperly aimed. One of the shoppers who has a hearing problem mistakes the headlight complaint for an infestation of head lice in the local schools . . . and off you go. The resulting merging creates a snoop effect that is sure to launch the epic rumour that the shortage of housing on the island is actually a fake conspiracy formulated by the health ministry. In reality, there exists plenty of available housing here on Salt Spring, but it has been sitting vacant for so long that the spaces are now occupied by creepy pests such as bed bugs and head lice. These are mostly invisible to the naked eye, but become very apparent when illuminated in the beams of badly aimed headlights shining from passing road traffic on foggy nights. Ding! Another scoring snippet.

The fodder for playing snippets is seemingly endless. Where better to listen in on conversations than in the waiting room at your doctor or dentist? Could you do better eavesdropping while waiting your turn for a blood test at the Lady Minto Hospital lab? The possibilities seem endless.

Rumours that begin as little snippets of conversations but eventually merge into completely unexpected phenomena act very much like that old parlour game “Broken Telephone.” You may recall that in this game a secret message is started at one end of a line of people and whispered down the line from one ear to the next one until it reaches the last person. When the end of the line person reveals what they heard, it is usually quite different from the opening message and often produces hearty laughter. Similarly, snippets overheard on the bus or in a restaurant may lead to rumours tying together pickleball disputes and pizza wars or building bylaws with float plane noise.

Win or lose, there is no limit to the pleasure you can derive by watching your newborn rumour being launched out into the universe with little or no chance of total retraction. Once it’s out there, it takes on a life of its own and can only spawn further gossip and more outrageous hearsay. You will certainly find yourself in league with all the other meddling busybodies and nosy scandalmongers who live for the purpose of prying and making mischief.

Nobody asked me, but I don’t imagine that it’s possible to spread more information about island life and its social framework than by creating snippets rumours and passing them around. What you lose in reliability is more than made up for in notoriety. Don’t be surprised, though, if one of your best snippets comes back to bite you on the bum.

Say, did you know that the dude who writes those corny columns for the Driftwood once offered to teach an adult ed course called “Math for Absolute Pinheads” but had to cancel the course because nobody signed up for it?

It’s not uncommon for Canadians to respond to reports of school shootings in the U.S. with a sense of comfort that at least such things rarely happen on our side of the border.

While we should always remember that Montreal was the site of one of the first horrific educational institution shootings with the killing of 14 women at École Polytechnique de Montréal in 1989, similar “active shooter” incidents of gun violence resulting in the deaths of random students and educators in Canada since then can be counted on one hand. In the U.S., according to security.org, a website that analyzes such data, an average of six active shooter events occur in K-12 schools each year, and 796 people were killed and 1,740 injured from all types of gun violence at K-12 schools in the U.S. between 1999 and 2025. It may be of little comfort to those who lost loved ones in Tumbler Ridge last week, but there is still no comparison between our two countries when it comes to safety at school or elsewhere. 

Another stark difference is the ability to set aside partisan animosity to honour victims and help hold up a community together. That’s exactly what the world saw at the Feb. 13 vigil in Tumbler Ridge, with the attendance of all federal political party leaders, the Governor General and Lieutenant Governor of B.C., and provincial government and local officials, and what will be a photographic image for the ages: Prime Minister Mark Carney and Leader of the Official Opposition Pierre Poilievre holding hands in a line with others as part of that vigil.

By participating in and proving to be true class acts at the vigil, our elected officials and dignitaries gave Canada another reason to be proud. It’s not that we always want politicians to be on the same page, of course, but this is a case when witnessing unity and collective compassion is extremely powerful and the only appropriate response.

For the rest of us, events in Tumbler Ridge remind us of the importance of reaching out to community members and holding them up in whatever way we can through their struggles and grief.

People wanting to contribute to the long-term healing of Tumbler Ridge residents impacted by the events of Feb. 10 can do so through the Tumbler Ridge Community Resilience Fund of the Northeast B.C. Community Foundation at nebccf.ca.

BY SALT SPRING ISLAND SEARCH AND RESCUE 

No matter the weather or time of day, if you happen to find yourself lost, injured or missing in the outdoors on Salt Spring or the Southern Gulf Islands, you can always count on the more than 40 highly trained volunteer men and women of Salt Spring Island Search and Rescue (SSISAR) to come in your time of need. 

This dedicated and selfless entirely volunteer team of Salt Springers drop everything at a moment’s notice, putting their countless hours of training and experience in search and rescue operations into action, dispatching emergency response vehicles and purpose-designed medical and technical rescue equipment they deliver help at absolutely no cost to the person in distress. 

Now these same committed and community-minded volunteers find themselves in need of your help. 

SSISAR needs a new home 

The lease at the existing SSISAR hall on Fulford-Ganges Road will expire Aug. 31, 2026 and cannot be renewed. This centrally located site, ideal for serving our local Salt Spring and Gulf Islands communities, has functioned as our base of operations, equipment cache and training centre for over 20 years. We are grateful to the owners, the federal government, for leasing this site to SSISAR for a nominal annual fee throughout this time and recognize and understand the change in circumstances. 

SSISAR now needs to appeal to the community for help finding a suitable new location to maintain this invaluable community emergency service. 

How can you help? 

This is what SSISAR is looking for: 

Essential 

• Centrally located with 24-hour access, as calls for service occur at all times of day;

• Parking for 2 SAR response vehicles; mobile incident command vehicle and rescue equipment truck; 

• Space for a 20 foot sea-container to store vital SAR equipment;

• Electrical power, to keep vehicles able to respond at a moments notice and keep equipment dry and temperature controlled. 

The following are desirable 

• The ability to erect two shelters to protect SAR vehicles from the elements; 

• Parking for an additional vehicle (rescue truck);

• Parking for member vehicles while attending training or callouts placement for additional sea-container;

• Access to a meeting room;

• A drying area for wet gear and equipment;

• Access to washrooms. 

SSISAR is prepared to offer some remuneration, and is open to proposals. 

If you know of any leads or have any suggestions to help your local SAR team find a new home, please send us an e-mail at: SARneedsaHome@ssisar.org.

While Salt Spring Island Search and Rescue Society does receive funding support from the provincial government and Capital Regional District, the non-profit society still relies heavily on community donations and grant funding in order to expand and improve this vital service. 

To donate, please visit our website: saltspringsar.org. Help us help you.