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Family’s fraud experience prompts warning

Gail Sjuberg
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Family’s fraud experience prompts warning

While scams that involve a phone call from a distressed relative claiming to need money due to an accident, robbery or being arrested are nothing new, a Salt Spring woman wants to warn others of the sophistication of a scam that recently victimized her family. 

The woman’s mother first took the phone call from a person claiming to be her son and a Salt Spring RCMP officer, but the woman was also convinced she was talking to her brother and an RCMP member. Both said the brother had rear-ended a vehicle where a child was injured and he was going to be charged with “reckless endangerment,” which was later threatened to be “manslaughter” because the child had reportedly died. The whole episode covered a span of about four and a half hours, and only ended when the real brother/son walked in the door, clearly unharmed. By then the sum of $2,000 “for bail” had been sent to the scammers via e-transfer.

“It left both my mother and I reeling,” the woman said. 

She said the scammers had obviously done their research about the family, down to knowing the nickname her brother calls her when they are working together. 

“That’s the really chilling part.” 

Salt Spring RCMP Sgt. Clive Seabrook confirmed that an investigation into the incident is ongoing and as such he cannot comment further on the specifics of the case.

However, he added, “I can say that a variety of frauds occur here and around the province every day, frauds that are only limited by the perpetrator’s imagination.”

Seabrook said it is not uncommon for a person to receive a phone call from somebody claiming to be a family member who is in some kind of distress.

For example, the scammer pretends to be a grandson who needs money sent immediately because they’ve been arrested, robbed or in an accident.

“The problem with this is that the caller really isn’t the relative that they claim to be and your money is going to the scammer,” said Seabrook. “Often, all the information the scammer needs to pull off the scam is provided on social media or simply by the victim themselves.” 

Seabrook said this particular scam has evolved over the years “and become even far more sophisticated. The voice used in the phone call may be altered to sound real. This can be accomplished using digital manipulation, likely with the help of artificial intelligence.” 

The woman said her mother did challenge the caller about their identity, but the voice really did sound like her brother under stress. 

Seabrook has some specific advice to help people avoid becoming a fraud victim. 

Automatically be suspicious of:

• Anyone asking for money, or gift cards;

• be extra suspicious if the money is requested through a wire (which are difficult to track and almost impossible to recover);

• also, an increasingly common tactic, if the money is requested to be sent through a cryptocurrency ATM (which is also extremely difficult to recover).

To avoid being a victim: 

• Ask for the name of who is supposedly speaking rather than offer it.

• Do not be afraid to make calls of your own. Verify identities or whereabout of the caller with other family members, even if they say “don’t tell mom and dad.”

• Do not be afraid to say “no” to the caller. You don’t need to send money immediately.

• Never give your personal, banking or credit card information to anyone who calls you over the phone, never send cash/gift cards in the mail and never buy someone cryptocurrency under these circumstances.

March is Fraud Prevention Month in Canada.

‘Pie Ladies’ disburse $12,000

Contributed Article
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‘Pie Ladies’ disburse $12,000

SUBMITTED BY SSI WOMEN’S INSTITUTE

February is Women’s Institute Month, and in honour of the birthday of our founder, Adelaide Hunter Hoodless, the Salt Spring Island Women’s Institute (also known as the “Pie Ladies”) is pleased to announce our annual 2023/2024 donations.

We are a group of only 24 members, but with the enthusiastic help of 14 community women, we were able to make and sell nearly 750 pies at the 2023 Fall Fair and Apple Festival. The wonderful support we get from the community when we sell our pies, plus donations from Salt Spring Island gardeners, farmers and grocery stores, helps keep our costs down so that we can give away more money.

This year, we are donating over $12,000 to local, provincial, national and international groups.  We have made nearly 12,000 pies since 2001 and have given away over $10,000 in the past 10 years, an outstanding amount for a group that has historically had fewer than 20 members. We make all of our pies by hand and from scratch.

The Women’s Institute emphasizes donations to groups that help children and women, especially in agriculture and health care. 

Donations for Children and 

Youth on Salt Spring 

• Santa’s Workshop: $300 to buy Christmas gifts for children in families who would not have enough money to buy them gifts.

• SSI Girl Guides: $200 to help with their programs and to thank them for washing the reusable plates at the Fall Fair.

• SSI Therapeutic Riding: $250 to support a program which helps many special needs children and adults, both physically and emotionally.

• GISS Bursary: $2,000 for a GISS graduating student who will be studying agriculture, environment or education.

• SSI 4H: $500 to pay for the membership fee for four children who might otherwise not be able to join.

Donations for Families 

in Need on SSI

• Copper Kettle: $500 for a group that helps so many on a shoestring budget.

• SSI Food Bank: $500 for an important community service.

• SSI Transition House: $500 for start-up kits for families fleeing violence.

• Island Comfort Quilts: $200 to help make quilts for people from the SSI community undergoing medical treatments.

• Greenwoods Eldercare: $500 for small items for enrichment activities.

• Lady Minto Extended Care Kitchen: $200 for small items for use in the kitchen.

Donations to SSI Institutions

• Salt Spring Farmers’ Institute: $1,000 for the rental of the booth at the Fall Fair.

• Salt Spring Island Museum: $250 to help the museum with ongoing costs so that our island history is kept for the future.

• Fulford Community Hall: $1,000 for the upkeep of an important community asset which was originally built and paid for by the Salt Spring Island Women’s Institute.

Donations for B.C. Women’s and Children’s Health and Wellbeing

• B.C. Children’s Hospital: $500 for an institution of which the WI was a founder.

Sheep breeders seek Salt Spring members

Robb Magley
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Sheep breeders seek Salt Spring members

There are currently no active Salt Spring Island-based members in a regional sheep association, according to its new president, who hopes an upcoming field day in Metchosin might change that.  

Inter-Island Sheep Breeders Association (IISBA) president Garrett Jolicoeur said the regional organization would be holding its first workshop of 2024 on Saturday, March 2 — the IISBA’s Lambing Field Day. 

“We’re trying to plan three or four events throughout the year to get people connected,” said Jolicoeur. “We have a few current members from Quadra, from Galiano, Saturna and Gabriola, but not Salt Spring.” 

IISBA has been serving the interests of sheep producers within the Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands coastal region since the 1960s; as one of the founding organizations of the BC Sheep Federation, IISBA brings the concerns of sheep producers to the provincial table and then on to the federal level through the Canadian Sheep Federation, Jolicoeur said.  

But the association also has a long history of being a means for people in far-flung communities to connect, he added; membership is open to anyone who has sheep, would like to have sheep, is interested in wool crafts, or just wants to support local sheep farmers. 

Jolicoeur said dwindling numbers — and then, the pandemic — led to a drop-off in IISBA event participation some years ago.  

“It’s been about a year now we’ve been back active,” said Jolicoeur, “and our membership has probably doubled since then. So it was definitely needed.” 

The event is free to current members — and anyone interested is welcome to join. A $10 annual membership he said is a great bargain for the wealth of knowledge exchanged. 

“We’re pretty passionate about the sheep industry,” said Jolicoeur. “There aren’t a lot of big flocks anymore; farming is getting so hard these days, and expensive. We want to be a support network for all these small farmers to learn how to do better, and to be able to make it in these changing times.” 

Pre-registration is mandatory for the workshop — “We’re going to have catering, so we sort of need to know numbers!” laughed Jolicoeur — and hands-on participation is encouraged, so attendees will need appropriate clothing and gumboots. 

Topics to be covered include lambing record keeping and marking, ear tagging and maintenance, lamb pulling strategies, tail banding procedures, bottle feeding/bucket raising, lambing pen setup/foot bath, Selenium administration, and barn camera setup and monitoring. 

“So everything to do with lambing season,” said Jolicoeur, “the problems that can occur, and how to deal with them.”  

The March 2 event will be held at the Parry Bay Sheep Farm in Metchosin, from 10 a.m. to noon — with refreshments to follow. 

For information or to become an IISBA member, email Jolicoeur at iisbapresident@gmail.com or visit interislandsheepbreeders.ca. 

Editorial: Saving at SIMS

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Saving at SIMS

Community groups who have settled in to the Salt Spring Island Multi Space (SIMS) are understandably feeling threatened these days. 

That’s due to recent talk of local government offices being set up there beyond the current PARC office, Capital Regional District (CRD) meeting boardroom and the Salt Spring Island Emergency Program. With the Islands Trust losing its current space in the BC Hydro building this summer, bringing that body into the SIMS fold has also been suggested.

Having the Trust and CRD offices under the same roof has long been on CRD director Gary Holman’s wish list. It seems logical for a community to have its local government offices close to each other, although in this age of easy digital communication, staff of those agencies don’t need to be physically close to each other. And except for someone in the initial steps of a development or building permit application, proximity of the CRD and Islands Trust office is not important. 

Bringing the two bodies together might be a laudable long-term goal, but the Trust’s need for space is almost immediate. It’s not a viable short-term solution. 

One of Holman’s arguments for moving the CRD’s main and building inspection offices from their current downtown spots to SIMS is that it would “save money,” as the CRD would not be paying commercial rents to private Ganges landowners. However, as CRD staff recently pointed out to Salt Spring’s Local Community Commission, changing the current use of SIMS comes with some potentially expensive challenges. 

The promise of “saving money” just doesn’t hold much weight. The CRD pattern is that once funds are freed up, as when the Rainbow Recreation Centre construction debt was paid off ($171,000 was in the 2020 budget for pool debt charges; $26,000 in 2021), another use is always found for those funds. In that case, the “savings” allowed for the setting up of SIMS. 

Then there’s the question of the location itself. Compared to the CRD’s highly accessible McPhillips Avenue main office, SIMS is not easy to get to for anyone with mobility challenges. 

If people are happy with the primary use of SIMS as a community/recreation centre, and if taxpayers won’t really “save” money by using a bigger chunk of it for government offices, is it really worth pursuing at this time?

Opinion: Salt Spring’s ‘Unique’ form of governance

Contributed Article
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Opinion: Salt Spring’s ‘Unique’ form of governance

By JULIA LUCICH

The Driftwood, of late, has published numerous opinion pieces with much handwringing over the mission statement (or lack thereof) of the Islands Trust. I’ll venture to say that whatever that mission statement may be, it will have as much relevance for the civic and social wellbeing of this community as the proverbial arrangement of the deck chairs on the Titanic.

On any given day, in almost any newspaper from any community across the country, there will be an acknowledgement of the “housing crisis.” In that regard, Salt Spring is in the same boat. One significant difference, though, is that we lack a governance structure with authority to address it. Every other community of our size has municipal status, enabling coordinated decision-making. That’s not to say that those decisions are coherent or prudent . . . only that there is, at least, the possibility for such an outcome.

By contrast, we have a disparate, dysfunctional and dizzying array of autonomous and quasi-autonomous silos (each with its own governing body, letters patent/charter/bylaws/mandate), some of which intersect while others appear to exist in an isolated bubble. By way of example, much of the island is serviced by a checkerboard of “water improvement districts,” each of which is mandated to provide potable water to its members. Overlaying this checkerboard is the fire improvement district whose mandate, not surprisingly, is to eradicate the hot stuff . . . which requires access to the wet stuff. One might reasonably expect that pipes of the various water districts would be of sufficient gauge to satisfy the fire service . . . an expectation that presumes coordination. Oops. And this is just one example.

A casual peek at our property tax statements offers interesting revelations. In the last decade, our overall property taxes have increased by 67 per cent. For “local services,” the changes have ranged from negligible (the hospital) to double (fire district), with the Islands Trust coming in at an increase of 50 per cent and CRD at 72 per cent. While some of these increases may be easily justified (labour costs), some of those same costs may be attributed to redundancies. For argument’s sake, how much could be saved through centralized administration as opposed to the current situation where each of these entities necessitates its own budget/administrative staff?

Aside from these obvious, tangible costs, this diffused structure has another, more insidious cost . . . that of undermining and frustrating civic engagement. The old adage that you can’t fight city hall becomes even more fraught when you can’t even determine with whom to take up the fight. How many of us understand how and with whom to navigate to find answers: do we go to the fire department to get a street number for a new home; to the CRD; to the Islands Trust; to BC Hydro? How many members of young, working families can prioritize the time to attend the assorted meetings of these numerous taxing authorities? How are people with limited transportation expected to attend/participate?

If we really hope to do more than constantly bemoan our problems, perhaps it’s time that we abandon our quaint dysfunction and enter the real world.

The writer is a Salt Spring resident.

Nobody Asked Me, But: Multiple pros and cons mulled in the gristle of laboratory meat 

Shilo Zylbergold
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Nobody Asked Me, But: Multiple pros and cons mulled in the gristle of laboratory meat 

The year was 2013. There are a number of reasons you might remember this particular year. Maybe it was because of tragic events such as the death of Nelson Mandela or the Boston Marathon bombing. Perhaps it was something more upbeat like the birth of Prince George to Prince William and Princess Kate.

What you have probably overlooked is an earth-shattering, history-making occurrence that may indeed reshape the future of humanity. For it was on March 5, 2013, that the first lab-grown burger was cooked and tasted on live television in London, England. That’s right; Peter Verstrate and Mark Post, the cofounders of the Dutch cultured meat company Mosa Meat, pioneered a whole new age for food production. Let’s ignore, for now, that the burger was constructed from over 20,000 thin strands of muscle tissue, cost more than $325,000 to develop, and needed two full years to produce (and you think your grocery bill is high and the service is slow). The point is that no longer would farmed livestock be the sole source for that steak sizzling on your barbecue grill. The dawn of cultivated laboratory meat was now upon us.

Much has happened since that historic day when cellular agriculture, or Frankenfood as some detractors refer to it, made its entrance onto the epicurean dinner table. In a sense, food scientists have eliminated the cow, pig or chicken from the production of meat and replaced them with test tubes and Petri dishes. Now, we seem to be able to go right from the animal cell to the packaged meat without ever having to go through the actual living animal. Talk about cutting out the middleman!

Apparently, you can have your meat and eat it too without a stop at the slaughterhouse. Imagine it resembling a high school biology lab class except much larger in scale. Or perhaps, imagine something resembling making homemade yogurt or using sourdough starter.

How is it done? Scientists start with a critical number of animal stem cells which are also known as building block cells. These are bathed in a liquid which is loaded with nutrients that will make the cells grow and duplicate. When the time is right, they are put into a giant bioreactor where they are allowed to replicate. What results is a great number of unstructured muscle and fat cells which are then shaped into familiar meat-like masses that are made to look like steak or chicken nuggets. Soy protein, gelatin and other substances are usually added to this cellular spam to give it a recognizable structure. The process takes between two to eight weeks, depending on what kind of meat is being cultivated.

If this trend continues to take off, soon the planet’s feed lots and slaughterhouses will be replaced by cultivated meat factories. That old advertising question of “Where’s the beef?” will be answered synthetically and meal specials like surf and turf will be replaced by cultured laborghini-burgers, smoked mockeye salmon, shamburgers, hoax beef and labster bisque. Even now, the industry is growing . . . well . . . like microbes in a laboratory, with over 20 new corporations being established in Europe alone. Among these are Dutch-owned Mosa Meat and Meatable, Biotech Foods in Spain, and Israel’s Future Meat. Singapore’s Eat Just has become the first country in Asia to have sales of cultivated meat approved by its food regulations and is now marketing chicken nuggets that are manufactured in the U.S. by Upside Foods. Although two companies in America have been approved to sell the product, so far none in Canada have followed suit.

Detractors of cellular agriculture argue that cultivated meat supporters can promote the product til the cows come home, but the unnaturalness of what ends up on your plate can only be perceived as disgusting to both meat eaters and vegetarians alike.

Wait a minute, answer the proponents of Frankenfood. Just hold your horses. Cultivated meat is humankind’s chance to feed a crowded planet without causing environmental disaster. This is our chance to change the way we eat. This is how we can end hunger and famine. Think about it. Feedlots and slaughterhouses are environmentally unfriendly. Large-scale cattle production leads to mass deforestation and loss of biodiversity. The high volume of methane, a major byproduct of animal husbandry, creates 30 times more greenhouse effect than does carbon dioxide. In addition, the main energy needed for cultivating meat is electricity, which is much preferable to troublesome and stinky methane. Even the production of lab cultivated fish is far superior and economical to fish farming because so much less heat is needed for maximum efficiency. 

Wait, there’s more. If people are worried about cultured meat being unnatural, how natural is much of the meat that we buy in our supermarkets? Much of conventional meat production comes hand in hand (or should we say hoof in hoof) with growth hormones, antibiotics, inhumane living conditions, demand for unsustainable amounts of water, and the increased chance of future pandemics caused by the crossover of viruses and bacteria from livestock to humans. Furthermore, cutting down on the antibiotic treatment of livestock would also lessen the growing crisis of bacteria resistance to antibiotics.

Some claim that the transition of conventional meat production to cultivated meat would not only reduce methane emissions, but also decrease land and water use by 95 per cent. So what’s the hold up? Why aren’t we all jumping on the Frankenfood bandwagon? After all, many of us have already made the jump to plant-based meat substitutes such as tofu, tempeh, veggie burgers, tofurkey and chickpea cordon bleu. How much of a leap would it be to think outside the soybean and embrace the test tube?

Nobody asked me, but I think I’m still straddling the fence on cellular agriculture. I’m all for saving the earth and protecting the natural environment, but does it really have to be done by eating somebody’s science project? If I really wanted to eat something truly disgusting, there are a whole slew of jars filled with indeterminate contents sitting at the back of the bottom shelf of my fridge just waiting for me to chow down.

DAVIES, Tudor

Obituaries
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DAVIES, Tudor

Tudor Davies left this world on January 15th, 2024 after a courageous battle with prostate cancer.

Tudor was born in 1945 in Wales, a very proud Welshman. In 1964 he joined the Gloucestershire Constabulary and served until 1995. Tudor was a fire­arms officer and during the last seven years of his career he was attached to the Royal Household Protection group. He was posted at Highgrove House, then home of the Prince and Princess of Wales. This was an enjoyable time for Tudor as he could carry out his passion for bird and wildlife watching. He loved sharing his knowledge with the future King. After retiring from the police force he moved to Savannah, Georgia, where his family lived.

Tudor returned to the UK in 1998 and later met Gwenlais Morgan – a meeting that was to totally change his life. In August 2012 he married Gwen, the love of his life. They moved to Canada and settled on Salt Spring Island where he joined Search and Rescue, the Trail and Nature Club and the Royal Canadian Legion. In October 2012, he became a Canadian citizen and, soon after, the Legion allowed him to carry the Canadian flag on Remembrance Day.

He moved to the Okanagan in 2019 after being diag­nosed with prostate cancer. This meant he was closer to family and made happy memories following his passion for fishing. In 2023, he rallied from his cancer treatment and came to Salt Spring on November 11th to deliver his powerful rendition of “In Flanders Fields.” In the weeks before his passing, Tudor was awarded the 2024 Judy Burch Memorial Award, which recognizes SAR members that have made an outstanding service to Salt Spring SAR and the community.

Policeman, humanitarian, volunteer, raconteur, humor­ist, wood craftsman, ornithologist, outdoors man, fish­erman, rugby fan and true friend…he loved life and was sorry to leave but was very grateful for everyone and everything. He wrote “please think of me if you see a raven (my favourite bird) and whenever Wales scores a try, especially against England”.

Da boch chi (Welsh for Goodbye/farewell).

All are welcome to come and celebrate Tudor’s remark­able life at the Legion on Salt Spring Island Saturday, March 9th from 2pm to 4pm.

MAINWARING, Eric “ACE”

Obituaries
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MAINWARING, Eric “ACE”

Eric “ACE” Mainwaring, age 76, passed away peacefully in Nanaimo on Saturday, February 24th. A man full of character and humor throughout life, he will be forever loved and remembered.

He was born to Gordon and Enid Mainwar­ing on Friday, February 13th, 1948 in Daw­son Creek, BC, and was raised in Edmonton, Alberta. As a young man Ace went to RCMP basic training in Regina, Saskatchewan. In his first post, Port Hardy, he met his future wife Gunna, when he walked his muddy boots across her freshly mopped floor. They were married on May 20th, 1972 and enjoyed almost 52 years together.

Ace continued his career as an RCMP officer, working in Island communities around BC. He served Port Hardy, Courtenay, Saltspring Island and Haida Gwaii, before settling his family in Nanaimo.

Some of his affiliations included Admi­ral Lodge #170 on Saltspring Island, The Saltspring Volunteer Fire Department, and the Royal Canadian Legion. He played hockey, baseball, and loved curling. He passed on his love of sports to youth as both a hockey and fastball coach in Courtenay and Nanaimo.

Ace was also an avid hunter who did sea­sonal trips to Northern BC for moose with his hunting partners. Ace lived a full life and retired early to spend time with his family and grandchildren.

Ace enjoyed his Thursday morning break­fasts, strong handshakes, games of crib for a penny a point, chess, monopoly and cheezies with the grandkids, maple fudge, Kenny Rog­ers, watching curling, and the morning coffee routine with Gunna. He was a generous man and a great host; never wanting anyone to leave his house hungry.

Ace was also known for a lot of “Ace-isms”:

“Walk backwards so you can see where you’re coming from”

“Five bucks”

“About a four”

“To make a long story short…”

“Give yer head a shake”

“Hello, my name is John Johnson”

“Hey Alice!”

“Don’t go there…”

Ace leaves behind his wife Gunna, daugh­ters Inga (Lyle), Loa (Dan), and his son Gor­don (Cindy… his favorite daughter-in-law), along with his grandchildren Hailey, Josh, Nik, Emma, Cashel and Roman.

Respecting Ace’s wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial. As an RCMP member for 35 years, Ace’s family would appreciate it if you would take some time to thank a first responder today. In lieu of flowers, contri­butions in memory of Ace can be made to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital’s Pallia­tive Care Unit.

Ace’s parting words to those he loved were in line with his life as a cop. “Drive slow and watch the cars”.

Photo Credit: Hjordis Didi Jonsdottir

SELLAR, John Andrew Cordiner

Obituaries
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SELLAR, John Andrew Cordiner

A Memorial Service for John Andrew Cordiner Sellar will be held at 2pm on Monday, March 11th at Dignity Memorial, located at 4725 Falaise Drive, Victoria, BC. Livestream available on request.

Born in Buckie, Scot­land to a commercial fishing family, John had a strong connec­tion to the sea. A sea­farer from an early age, John travelled throughout the world in his career with the Royal Navy and the Merchant Marine in the UK. After coming to Canada, John worked as a Cap­tain with BC Ferries for many years, living on Salt Spring Island, BC.

He is predeceased by his mother, father and two sisters (Jean and Anne), and his dear wife Claire (Tennant) Sellars, RN. Both he and Claire were proud members of the local Salt Spring Legion Branch No. 92.

He is survived by his niece Jean McGilveray, by Claire’s family in Ontario, and by aunts, uncles and cousins in Scotland. Thank you to the staff at Island View Place and Veterans Memorial Lodge for their excellent care over the past five years.

Film festival 2024 features voices of dissent

Contributed Article
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Film festival 2024 features voices of dissent

By STEVE MARTINDALE

For SALT SPRING FILM FESTIVAL SOCIETY

Salt Spring has long been a refuge for dissenting voices, welcoming American draft resisters who refused to comply with mandatory military conscription, alternative health practitioners who question Western medicine, and bohemian writers and artists who challenge the status quo.

Many of the documentaries at this year’s Salt Spring Film Festival feature such voices of resistance, shining the spotlight on courageous people from around the world standing up to oppressive regimes, Canadians from across the country speaking out on issues that affect us all, and descendants of European settlers here on the Southern Gulf Islands finding new ways to be in relationship with Indigenous peoples.

The very recent death of Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison makes Evgeny Afineevsky’s Freedom on Fire: Ukraine’s Fight for Freedom essential viewing, amplifying the voices of journalists, clergy and ordinary citizens resisting Putin’s morally indefensible invasion and bombardment of Ukraine. Another global conflict currently on everyone’s mind is the focus of Guy Davidi’s devastating film Innocence, in which principled young Israelis resist mandatory military conscription and pay the price for refusing to participate in state violence against Palestinians.

Dissenting voices from within a particular community are also heard in Sharon Roggio’s fascinating documentary 1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture, in which outspoken evangelical Christians question their faith’s longstanding condemnation of homosexuality. Conventional attitudes towards sexual orientation and gender norms are also upended in Vancouver filmmaker Ali Grant’s Not Quite That, a layered exploration of butch lesbians and body image; Tünde Skovrán’s eye-opening Who I Am Not, featuring courageous South African intersex activists; and Jennifer Markowitz’s joyful Summer Qamp, celebrating an Alberta refuge for trans and non-binary teenagers.

Gender issues are also front and center in the upbeat Breaking the News, directed by Heather Courtney, Princess A. Hairston and Chelsea Hernandez, in which a feisty group of women launch a national news service amplifying marginalized voices; and two films on reproductive rights: Tracy Droz Tragos’s very topical Plan C, in which a grassroots collective reacts to the overturning of Roe v. Wade by quietly shipping abortion pills across state lines during the pandemic; and Eliza Capai’s deeply moving Incompatible with Life, in which women denied reproductive options are forced to carry non-viable foetuses to term in Brazil, where abortion is almost always illegal.

Women’s rights are nowhere more starkly addressed than in Steffi Niederzoll’s enraging Seven Winters in Tehran, in which 19-year-old Reyhaneh Jabbari – sentenced to death for killing the man who tried to rape her – becomes an international symbol of resistance for refusing to be silenced by Iran’s repressive, patriarchal theocracy. Another fearless woman who becomes an international symbol of resistance, Tanja Nijmeijer – a Dutch citizen who joins the FARC guerrillas to fight the Colombian government and improbably emerges from the jungle as a key negotiator in ending Latin America’s longest-running civil war – is profiled in Marcel Mettelsiefen’s truly astonishing Tanja: Up in Arms.

Environmental activists who stand up and speak out on behalf of the planet are featured in Boil Alert, directed by Stevie Salas and James Burns, in which Mohawk journalist Layla Staats uncovers the personal stories behind the monumental battles for safe drinking water in First Nations communities; Josh and Rebecca Tickell’s Common Ground, an exposé on the harms of industrial agriculture which unveils the powerful potential of regenerative farming; Matthieu Rytz’s Deep Rising, about the risk posed to deep ocean ecosystems as we transition away from fossil fuels; and Jérémy Mathieu’s Salmon Secrets, in which Dan Lewis and Bonny Glambeck from Tofino — well-known to Salt Springers for their instrumental role in Clayoquot Sound’s 1993 War in the Woods — sound the alarm on how fish farming is pushing wild salmon to the brink of extinction.

Even closer to home, Salish Sea residents reject the perpetuation of colonial injustices and work towards reconciliation between settler descendants and Indigenous people — including respect for SENĆOŦEN language revival — in two locally produced short films: Searching for SȽEW̱ÁȽ NOṈET* (peace of mind at last*), directed by Mary Anne Paré and Kenta Kikuchi from Pender Island; and ĆELÁṈENs TŦE ṮEṮÁĆES (W̱SÁNEĆ Homelands of the Southern Gulf Islands), directed by SX̱EDŦELISIYE (Renée Sampson) and Tye Swallow from Saanich.

Our relationship as Canadians to the land and its original inhabitants is also a central theme of Dianne Whelan’s 500 Days in the Wild, co-presented by Salt Spring Arts, in which she treks the entire Trans Canada Trail without the use of motorized vehicles, in a remarkable six-year, 24,000 km journey of discovery and reconciliation.

The Salt Spring Film Festival takes place at Gulf Islands Secondary School from March 1 to 3. Full festival passes, which include the opening gala on Friday, March 1, can be purchased in advance from the ArtSpring box office or online.

Tickets to the gala and other types of passes are available at the door. For more info, see saltspringfilmfestival.com.

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