A dispute over the former Seabreeze Inne spilled over into court last week as one Salt Spring Island charitable society filed legal action against another.
Salt Spring Island Community Services (SSICS) is being sued by the Lady Minto Hospital Foundation (LMHF), which has owned the Seabreeze property since March. In a notice of civil claim filed Wednesday, Oct. 26, LMHF asked the B.C. Supreme Court for an injunction and damages resulting from SSICS and “its agents and representatives” allegedly trespassing at the former hotel.
The foundation is also seeking a declaration by the court that SSICS is wrongfully in possession of the property, “and that the plaintiff is entitled to vacant possession,” as well as a writ of possession and legal costs.
A second part of the lawsuit is aimed at nearly a dozen named and unnamed individuals allegedly occupying rooms at the Seabreeze; in that action, LMHF is seeking a similar injunction against trespassing, declaration of wrongful possession, and writ, but no damages or costs.
In its claim, LMHF alleges neither its lease agreement with BC Housing nor that agency’s earlier lease with former property owner 1035525 BC LTD gave the Provincial Rental Housing Corporation (PRHC) — the property-holding entity administered by BC Housing — rights to enter into the sort of residential tenancy agreements governed by the province’s Residential Tenancy Act.
Asserting its entitlement to possession of its property, LMHF argues both leases only granted PRHC the right to use the Seabreeze for transitional or emergency shelter accommodation; neither of those kinds of housing arrangements are covered by the Act. Trespassing and damages occurred, according to the filing, after occupants remained and SSICS allegedly continued providing services at the Seabreeze after the lease ended, despite a notice of trespass.
LMHF purchased the former hotel with the intent of renovating it, once vacant, to provide housing for hospital staff; the lawsuit alleges the foundation suffered damages as a result of the trespass, including “being unable to renovate the Seabreeze Inne to provide much needed housing for health care workers on Salt Spring Island, and the threatened loss of a major grant if construction of the housing for health care workers is delayed.”
SSICS executive director Rob Grant declined comment on behalf of the agency, due to the pending litigation, but said SSICS was aware of the lawsuit and would be responding.
Three people living at the Seabreeze made applications for dispute resolution to B.C.’s Residential Tenancy Branch in September, seeking an order confirming the Residential Tenancy Act applied to their living situations; that hearing is set to come before an arbitrator in December.
BC Housing made a request this month to the board of trustees of the North Salt Springs Waterworks District (NSSWD) for 12 months of temporary water service to the residential units at 154 Kings Lane — intended as a stopgap housing solution for people formerly living at the Seabreeze. Those units, according to BC Housing, are anticipated to be vacated as supported residents are moved to 161 Drake Road when that project is complete — in 2023, BC Housing said. NSSWD trustees tabled the request Thursday, Oct. 27, to seek legal advice before responding.
Lawsuit launched over Seabreeze
Cyclist recovering after collision with van in Ganges
A 23-year-old Salt Spring cyclist is recovering from a collision with a vehicle last Wednesday, where riding cautiously and wearing a helmet likely saved his life.
Kio Grooms was riding his electric bike to meet his mother in Ganges when witnesses saw a vehicle cross in front of him as he was reaching the bottom of Ganges hill.
Robin Jenkinson was about 100 metres behind when the crash occurred. She said she saw a blue van turn into the driveway that accesses some residences across from Seaview, although didn’t see where the vehicle originated from.
“Basically, the man turned into the driveway, just as Kio came right there and he kind of got T-boned by that. It was so shocking. I pulled over right away and called 911 and then went down to help.”
Salt Spring RCMP say the van driver has been cooperative with police, and thanked community members for assisting on the scene.
When Grooms didn’t show up by 3 p.m. for their planned 2:45 meeting time, parent Jennifer Middleton said she had a bad feeling.
“I drove to go looking for him . . . and then I saw all the first-responder vehicles and the backed-up traffic. Because I couldn’t drive there I pulled over and started walking over there and asked a spectator, ‘Do you know what happened? Was it a young man on a bike?’ And they said ‘yeah, a young man and a bike.’”
Salt Spring Fire Rescue Capt. Warren Nuyens gave her a ride to the hospital as it was already known that Grooms would be transferred to Victoria from Lady Minto Hospital by air ambulance.
Middleton said there was some concern because while her son was on the ground it appeared he may have been having a seizure. But testing indicated that was not the case. He also suffered no broken bones.
“The doctors said all the tests came back really good, and that it’s just soft-tissue damage and a concussion at this point,” she told the Driftwood on Saturday.
Grooms was still “very sore” she said, but in good spirits.
His bike helmet was seriously damaged.
“I am absolutely sure that if it wasn’t for that helmet it would be a very different story.”
She said Grooms is also aware of the need to slow down when coming into Ganges, so was not travelling at a high speed.
Middleton said she is grateful to all who assisted on scene, and for community support and expressions of caring that resulted. She particularly appreciated the response to an update she provided on the Salt Spring road and ferry report Facebook page.
“I felt really, really touched and moved. I felt very cradled, very cared for. It was a great stress reliever for me to get to see all that care. And then I passed it on to Kio, and that really meant something to him.”
Middleton said that the incident has not deterred her son from wanting to ride his bike again, which Jenkinson, as facilitator for the Cycling Salt Spring group in Island Pathways, finds heartening. Their group is also welcoming Grooms to an upcoming meeting.
“If too many people are scared away from cycling, we will never make safe cycling islands, you know, because the more cyclists on the road, the more aware people are of them,” she said.
She recommends cyclists make themselves as visible as possible with bright clothing and flashing lights on their bikes, and that drivers make extra efforts to be aware of cyclists and pedestrians.
Salt Spring has only a few hundred of metres of designated bike lanes, she notes, so cyclists are entitled to travel on the main part of the road.
“The roads are designed to be shared by cyclists and walkers and cars within the white lines,” she said. “People keep saying, ‘Those cyclists didn’t stay on their side of the white edge line, the shoulder line.’ Well, that’s a shoulder line, that’s not a bike path. That’s the edge of the road. And so the cyclists have a right to be on the road just like the cars. So if people can realize the roads are 99 per cent shared transportation corridors, they need to be aware that they are sharing them with cyclists and walkers and drive appropriately and slowly enough.”
Efforts to include Salt Spring in the Salish Sea Trail Network to create a cycling corridor on southern Vancouver Island have been underway for several years. A current Action Network online petition addresses the issue and seeks more signatories.
Viva Chorale marks ‘Remembrance’
A pair of choir performances at ArtSpring offer music marking Remembrance Day and honouring all victims of war.
Viva Chorale! choir director Caroni Young said the program will present selections that focus on soldiers and all who are affected by conflict through music. Two performances of the choir’s “Remembrance” concert feature a choral suite from The Armed Man: a Mass for Peace by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. Six movements instead of 15, Young said it was a “slightly reduced” version of the work, originally written for a full symphony orchestra and choir.
“It’s about remembrance and peace, really an anti-war piece,” said Young, “even though the title is about an armed man.”
The work was originally written to honour families involved in the crisis in Kosovo, according to Young; its performance premiere was, coincidentally, on Sept. 11, 2001.
“The melody is actually from a medieval French folk song, ‘L’homme armé’,” said Young, “and that song was so popular at the time that it was taken up by the church — used in religious ceremonies — and many composers have used it as part of larger works. It was very popular at the time, people would know it to hear it.”
Contemporary audiences would find familiarity in the music, even as the lyrical matter became more challenging. Jenkins’ gift, she said, was to make these traditional-rooted compositions feel modern and emotionally engaging.
“It’s nice to do a larger work with multiple pieces by the same composer, so you’re really digging into their ideas,” said Young. “So our first half is all by Karl Jenkins.”
The second half features songs of love, from countries that have experience with war and conflict; included are a setting of a Ukrainian prayer, arranged by Andrea Ciona, as well as a movement from Eric Whitacre’s Five Hebrew Love Songs and a “gorgeous” setting of a Syrian song arranged by Shireen Abu Khader.
“That was rearranged by one of the directors of the Toronto Children’s Chorus,” said Young. “I’m really looking forward to that one, it’s just a beautiful text. The basic translation is, ‘if I pass on, my voice will remain, my songs will remain.’ Sort of keeping the hope, and continuing to fight for what is right.”
Performances will take place Saturday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 13, at 2 p.m. Tickets are available on the ArtSpring website at www.artspring.ca.
“This concert will be a beautiful way to remember our veterans and to reflect upon the current global issues,” said Young.
The final concert of the year after “Remembrance” will be a holiday food bank fundraising event Friday, Dec. 16; admission will be by donation.
Reflections on 10 years at the Long Harbour Road broom removal site
BY JANE PETCH
NATIVE PLANT STEWARDSHIP GROUP
I am inching across the steep hillside, an axe in my hand, my quarry half hidden behind an ocean spray bush. Definitely I need cleats. Cutting broom here on this broom removal site seemed much less precipitous 10 years ago.
Members of my Native Plant Stewardship Group are scattered along this Long Harbour hillside, searching for escapee Scotch broom plants and newly sprouted seedlings. The escapees, it turns out, are either camouflaged, or were badly cut in previous years, just high enough for the photosynthetic stem to sprout again.
We will pound in a few stake markers to find out whether cutting in the fall is as effective as cutting in the spring when the broom is in bloom.
This work over 10 years has paid off. Native plants are returning to this cleared hillside: baldhip roses, monkey flower, blue-eyed Mary, yarrow, miners lettuce, willow and ocean spray. We see Oregon grape, with its bright yellow blossoms that provide early nectar and pollen for bees, and later berries for birds, spreading down the hillside.
Qualicum Beach, which advertises that it is almost broom-free, confirms what our demo site on Long Harbour Road shows us. It is possible to get rid of broom, and take back our roadsides and properties. Many Salt Springers at our Invasive Weed Drop-offs tell us similar stories.
Today, it takes us an hour and a half to clear the slope. In 2012, after MainRoad gave us permission to set up the broom removal demonstration site, it took two days of hard work, and multiple truckloads to clear an area a quarter of the size we have monitored today.
This morning our take-away is five large garbage bags of cut broom destined for the Blackburn Road transfer station, which now takes these invasives; that and the great satisfaction of seeing a more fire-safe broom-free hillside with so many native plants now recovering and thriving.
Viewpoint: Drug deaths – time to act
BY DARLENE GAGE
Our community has lost two very young women to tainted drugs in the past weeks. A loss felt deeply by the many who knew and loved them.
These are not isolated incidents, but rather part of a growing trend on Salt Spring and elsewhere that is dooming those who suffer from addictions to a death sentence.
Where Salt Spring is lagging behind other communities is in our almost utter lack of response to this growing threat, and it’s time that we turned our attention to this and learned how to deal with it. Just continuing to believe that we are a small, rural community that does not have “city” problems is ignoring the signals all around us that the world is getting more and more unequal and many more people are falling through the cracks in our systems.
If we listen to those who use non-prescription drugs on Salt Spring, and look at the examples of communities who have seen success in their responses, here is what we know helps:
Ensuring a safer supply of drugs by cracking down on known “bad” dealers. Folks here know exactly who those people are, so let’s listen to them and ask our local RCMP detachment to act.
Providing fentanyl tests and naloxone kits free of charge to whoever asks for them. Lots of folks won’t go into a pharmacy or hospital, but they will go to friends. We’ve provided Covid vaccines to whoever wants them, and way more people are dying of tainted drugs and overdoses in B.C. than of Covid. Why are we not responding accordingly?
The local Mental Wellness Initiative organized by the Salt Spring Health Advancement Network saw hundreds of islanders gathering over a period of months to begin to figure out the best ways we as a community can support mental wellness for everyone. What was the number-one thing to come out of those consultations? The need for peer support and peer volunteer counselling initiatives. This would see new and previously trained volunteers being available to help friends and neighbours deal with mental health issues and crisis response, and could include basic safe drug supply response for those able to do so. Our current professional counselling services are not sufficient to meet the growing needs. People often wait many months to see someone and are lucky to get a few sessions. Folks in crisis can’t wait. Peer support and volunteer counselling could be a real response to a real problem.
The last thing I’ll mention here is the need for a safe, warm and consistent place for people to gather during the day – in particular those who don’t have secure housing. We’ve talked about it for years, and a few attempts have been made to find a suitable spot. It’s called “harm reduction” – and it starts with reducing the health and social harms that comes from addiction.
Without a place to be, people will continue to suffer and die in isolation and despair. We all know that it is community and connection that help all of us get through our rough patches. Where is that place of connection here on Salt Spring, besides in the cold, rainy parks?
I realize that this issue is a complex one, with no simple solutions. But there are strong lessons we can learn from other communities and from those who are living with addiction right here. I am calling on this wonderful community to listen, to learn and to act.
Editorial: Cyclists deserve safer travels
Unfortunately, another flag can be added to the injured cyclist map maintained by longtime cycling infrastructure advocate Brenda Guiled.
Earlier this year, Salt Spring resident Guiled presented her map in conjunction with raising awareness about the need for Salt Spring Island to be included in the Salish Sea Trail Network. That would see dedicated cycling lanes built between the Vesuvius and Fulford ferry terminals, including the island in an official southern Vancouver Island-area loop.
Fortunately, when a van crossed in front of a young man at the bottom of Ganges hill on Oct. 26, the bike rider’s helmet took the brunt of the impact and he was not severely injured. As well, all of the support provided by people on scene and expressed by community members afterwards has helped the family cope with a traumatic event.
It’s easy for both cyclists and drivers to imagine themselves being either the cyclist suddenly confronted with a vehicle in front of them, or the driver who did not see the bicycle and rider.
Robin Jenkinson of the Cycling Salt Spring group of Island Pathways was one of the people providing assistance that day, and offers good advice for everyone to follow. She says cyclists should make themselves as visible as possible by wearing bright clothing and installing flashing lights on the front and back of their bikes. She urges drivers to slow down and be on the lookout for cyclists, who are entitled to use the roadways. Drivers need to train their brains to be looking for not only other vehicles but cyclists and pedestrians as well when they are ready to make a turn or driving on a windy road.
A wider paved shoulder is part of the plan when Fulford-Ganges Road is supposedly repaved from the bottom of Ganges hill up to Cranberry Road this summer, which should be an improvement. But it is not the same as a bicycle lane.
Everyone is encouraged to help promote safe cycling and the benefits of including Salt Spring in the Salish Sea Trail Network. A petition is available for signature on the Action Network site.
As the preamble to that petition states: “Completing the network’s only ‘broken link’ — Salt Spring Island — would also solve a terrible safety problem keeping cycling from being a part of our lives, like it was only a generation ago.”
Television, streaming content and soccer at Forum’s John Doyle evening
Salt Spring Forum members look forward to welcoming John Doyle, The Globe and Mail’s television critic and soccer writer, to Salt Spring Island.
Doyle will appear at ArtSpring on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 7:30 p.m. to share his opinions on: The Golden Ages of Television and Soccer. Are They Over? Or Have They Just Begun?
Doyle writes about television and streaming services in his regular columns, thus influencing what millions of Canadians choose to watch. He is a Rotten Tomatoes “Top Critic.”
Doyle also writes about soccer for The Globe and Mail and, from time to time, The Guardian and The New York Times. He has covered a number of World Cups and is the best-selling author of The World is a Ball: The Joy, Madness, and Meaning of Soccer.
Television and especially streaming services play an ever-increasing role in our lives, our society and our economy. The month-long World Cup later in November is expected to have a global television audience of five billion people.
Soccer and television, two of the world’s biggest businesses, are turning the “Beautiful Game” into one that is coached, played, refereed and presented for a television rather than a live audience.
How much control do we have over what we watch? Are streaming services eroding our sense of community? Is having more choice better, or worse? Is soccer still a game, or has it become something else?
Described by his own newspaper as “always argumentative,” Doyle is perfect for an entertaining Salt Spring Forum discussion about art, culture, sport, technology and the influence of money on the things that we love.
The audience are invited to join the discussion by asking Doyle their own questions on anything from what to watch this fall on television to what Canada’s chances might be in the World Cup in Qatar this November.
Tickets are available from the ArtSpring website and box office.
Salt Spring Island RCMP provide 2022 third-quarter statistics
SUBMITTED BY SALT SPRING RCMP DETACHMENT
As of Oct. 1, 2022, Salt Spring RCMP have now responded to 2,217 calls for service so far this year. In this last third quarter of the calendar year, Salt Spring RCMP responded to 857 calls and conducted an additional 400+ foot patrols in Centennial Park and other Island areas. SSI RCMP members conducted an additional 125 licensed premises checks (bar walks) and issued over 200 violation tickets and traffic warnings over this third quarter.
As part of the 850+ calls during this three-month period, SSI RCMP responded to 12 firearms offences, six sex-related offences, 106 mental health-related calls and 20 impaired driving reports. Regarding traffic statistics, 12 no-insurance violation tickets were issued and 25 motor vehicle incidents (collisions) were attended by police. Multiple frauds were reported during this quarter with monies taken by fraudsters reported to be in excess of $67,000. Many of these frauds take place via websites and email and are untraceable, so police are urging the public to exercise due diligence when people are requesting funds online.
Regarding public involvement, members assisted with a ‘Cram a Cruiser’ food drive for the local food bank that was very successful, resulting in hundreds of pounds of food and over $1,000 cash donated by generous members of this community. Salt Spring RCMP had a booth at the fall fair where visitors took the time to meet our officers and speak to us about what they are seeing in the community. In addition, members also gave a presentation to the law class at Gulf Islands Secondary School in September.
Some of the calls from the third quarter of 2022 are detailed below:
July
• A youth used multiple knives to cut herself and stab the walls of her home. Police attended and transported the youth to Hospital for assessment.
• Police are investigating an arson on Island that resulted in a vehicle and residence set ablaze.
• SSI RCMP responded to a report of a young child assaulted by a parental figure, coupled with domestic violence in the home. Charges were recommended to Crown and the investigation is continuing.
• A stolen bicycle was reported to police.
• A boat exploded in Ganges Harbour; an investigation revealed no criminal act had taken place.
• Police apprehended an adult female in mental health crisis who had broken into multiple houses. The female was safely apprehended without injury and transported to Lady Minto Hospital for assessment.
• SSI RCMP responded to a male in an apparent mental health crisis who was threatening to harm others. Under Mental Health Act provisions, the male was safely taken to Lady Minto for assessment prior to his injuring anyone.
• A prolific property criminal was arrested on Salt Spring Island. Multiple warrants were executed and the male was subsequently transported off-Island and into police custody in Duncan.
August
• Police provided some parenting advice for a parent sending rude, insulting and vulgar texts to his children.
• RCMP responded to a domestic dispute where the male was yelling and belittling his spouse for pruning the bushes and landscaping around their jointly owned property. The situation was mediated and respect was encouraged/expected in the future.
• A report was received by police of a car “keyed” in the downtown Ganges area; with no CCTV video or witnesses in the area, no suspects were identified.
• SSI RCMP conducted a marine patrol in the Ganges Harbour area with multiple boats being checked for safety compliance. The occupants of one boat refused to answer police questions, became belligerent and aggressive, attempted to board the police patrol boat and threatened to assault police. Pepper spray was subsequently deployed and both occupants were then arrested for obstruction and assaulting a police officer.
• The youth who was responsible for all the “Oil” and “Oiler” graffiti tags throughout the community (in excess of 300 tags) was caught and will be referred to Restorative Justice program to take responsibility for his mischief and vandalism.
• Police received a report of a stolen vehicle from a grocery store parking lot. It was later determined the driver had simply forgot where they parked.
• A male was arrested after he was found trying to buy a gun to kill multiple people on Salt Spring Island. Charges have been recommended to Crown and the male was escorted off the island.
September
• SSI RCMP arrested a male who was found to be trafficking suspected methamphetamine and charges have been recommended to Crown. The suspect, who is not originally from Salt Spring Island, was subsequently released with several conditions including not to be on Salt Spring Island.
• SSI RCMP received a report of child sexual exploitation at the hands of a family member. The Ministry of Child and Family Services is investigating.
• A female was located by Salt Spring RCMP and arrested for multiple outstanding arrest warrants. She was then transported off-island to address her breach charges, which were in another jurisdiction.
• A male was arrested by SSI RCMP and charges are being recommended to Crown Counsel for cocaine trafficking.
• On a warm and sunny day, police were advised of an overheating canine in a vehicle. The dog’s owners were found and the situation addressed.
• A domestic dispute in the downtown Ganges area was reported to police and upon arrival, police confirmed the presence of both drugs and stolen property in the vehicle. The male and female were both arrested and charges recommended to Crown Counsel.
• SSI RCMP responded to a pedestrian struck by a vehicle south of Ganges. The driver of the vehicle was located, found to be impaired by alcohol and was subsequently charged with impaired driving, given an immediate roadside prohibition and his vehicle impounded for 30 days.
Salt Spring RCMP have identified multiple traffic concerns throughout the island, including and especially, impaired driving. Salt Spring RCMP are also reminding motorists that school zones are in effect and that drivers must obey school bus signs as students are picked up and dropped off. School buses have CCTV and drivers who do not stop will be fined accordingly.
Burn ban in place on Salt Spring until Nov. 2
Despite the recent rainfall, backyard burning remains banned on Salt Spring.
As smoke could be seen billowing around various spots on the island on Friday, Salt Spring Fire Chief Jamie Holmes reminded the public that the burn ban had not been lifted.
“Even though people may be seeing smoke around the island, backyard burning remains closed at this time,” he said.
The ban will be lifted to allow burning of hand piles of debris at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 2.
In addition to requiring a burning permit from the fire department, hand-pile fires must be a minimum of 10 meters from any structure and 5 meters from standing vegetation and fencing. The size of the pile must not exceed 3 meters in diameter and 2 meters in height. The fires should only be burned in open areas. No material is to be added less than two hours before sunset.
“Just because it’s raining and the grass is wet, does not mean it’s safe to burn,” Holmes said. “Simply scraping down a few inches in the soil will show how dry it still is over most of the island.”
Burning bylaw regulations are available on the saltspringfire.com website.
Cookie-tin samurai aims to inspire recyclers
“You’ll laugh,” said artist Karen Leonard. “But it was the Tom Cruise movie!”
Leonard is chuckling to herself, describing the inspiration of the 2003 movie The Last Samurai that brought her to design and create “Recycle Samurai,” a sculpture installed at the Salt Spring Recycling Depot.
“And it was a great movie. I was surprised, because he’s sort of a goofball.” Leonard laughed again. “But that image just kept sitting in my mind, of him with the two swords.”
The final product is the “re-use” part of “reduce, reuse, recycle” manifest in found — and donated — items. Wood came generously from Windsor Plywood, twist ties came courtesy Country Grocer, and the cookie tins were, in a sense, donated by all of us.
“Peter [Grant] at the recycling depot let me put out a bag for the tins,” said Leonard, “and then everyone on Salt Spring contributed!”
Recycle Samurai’s two swords were from old barbecue spits, said Leonard — and his ski boot feet and helmet were among items from the “Blackburn Mall,” the donation-priced re-usable goods section at Salt Spring Garbage’s Blackburn Road transfer station. Once the pieces were sourced, there was the nontrivial matter of putting it all together — an effort carried out over the last year (whenever weather permitted) in the driveway at Leonard’s home. The work attracted the interest of a few neighbours, she said.
“They said all the hammering sounded a little like Santa’s Workshop!” recalled Leonard, who said they were ultimately quite understanding once they saw the sculpture coming together.
The final product at the depot — bigger than she’d imagined it would be — needed only a single attachment to the roof, at the samurai’s larger sword, to support the weight.
“But he’s made out of all recycled stuff,” said Leonard.
“I think we often feel like the world’s coming to an end,” she continued. “But meanwhile, we can do little things.”
With a little planning, Leonard said, we can all find ways to re-use things, and not add unnecessarily to landfills. Leonard hopes the sculpture will inspire visitors and recyclers.
“There’s still a lot we can all do,” she said. “Probably more than we think.”