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Mask mandate for schools announced

Elizabeth Nolan
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Mask mandate for schools announced

A change to provincial health guidelines on COVID-19 means masks are now mandatory at schools in British Columbia for all students who can wear them in grades four through 12. 

All staff, adult volunteers and visitors must also wear masks while indoors at school. 

The British Columbia Centre for Disease control made an addendum to the Public Health guides for K-12 Schools on Tuesday, March 30. The new rules, which were effective immediately, will be in place until at least April 19.

Exceptions are permitted to any person who is unable to wear a mask because they do not tolerate it (for health or behavioural reasons); any person unable to put on or remove a mask without the assistance of another person; if the mask is removed temporarily for the purposes of identifying the person wearing it; if the mask is removed temporarily to engage in an educational activity that cannot be performed while wearing a mask (e.g. actively playing a wind instrument, high-intensity physical activity, etc.); if a person is eating or drinking; if a person is behind a barrier; and while providing a service to a person with a disability or diverse ability (including but not limited to a hearing
impairment), where visual cues, facial expressions and/or lip reading/movements are important. 

The changes were made following the province’s announcement Monday of a three-week “circuit breaker” with new restrictions to reverse an upward trend in COVID cases.

Island health had additionally sent a letter to all Vancouver Island-area school districts over the weekend stating the region had ben experiencing a high number of coronavirus  cases over the past weeks, and that new cases in schools could be expected to follow. 

Asking families and staff to take strong precautions, the letter warned, “all signs indicate there will be significant numbers of exposures in schools in the weeks to come.”

Gulf Islands Secondary School reiterated that caution in a welcome back from spring break message sent to families Monday.

“We cannot stress enough the importance of daily health checks, that you continue to perform them and that you contact the school office regarding student absences. Absent students are asked to be in touch with teachers regarding missed work, and work they complete at home. Our teachers will ensure that students absent for COVID-related or other illness-related reasons suffer no academic penalty,” the message states.

Students glean facts about local pollinators

Contributed Article
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Students glean facts about local pollinators

By ROBIN JENKINSON

SPECIAL TO THE DRIFTWOOD

Late winter, early spring is time to think about Mason bees, also known as blue orchard bees or BOBs. These native pollinators are a fruit farmer’s best friend. During a few weeks in March, Tanya Grant and Gail Bryn-Jones’ grades 4-5 classes at Salt Spring Elementary were gleaning the nectar of apiarian knowledge about these special insects from island experts Ken Hargrove and Harry Burton. 

Students first foraged for information at the Rainbow Allotment Gardens behind the Rainbow Road Aquatic Centre, where Marian Hargrove pointed out flower beds filled with heather, crocuses, hellebores and other early bloomers that provide native bees with shoulder-season nectar and pollen. The children were then regaled with Mason bee facts by her husband Ken, and shown the BOB nesting boxes around the community garden. 

Ken shared that “Mason bees pollinate about 115 times faster than honeybees.” The crowd was really wowed by his statement that “It takes 2,000 honeybees to pollinate a large apple tree, but only 10-15 mason bees.” The kids suggested that for more effective pollination and honey, someone should cross a honeybee with a Mason bee  and call it a “money bee.” 

This past week, Harry Burton of Apple Luscious Orchards and Salt Spring Apple Fest fame continued this pollination of young minds in the school’s geodesic dome. He taught about native bee diversity (there are over 450 native bee species in British Columbia) and described the differences between European honey bees and native bees (70 per cent of  native bees are ground-nesting and 90 per cent live solitary lives, like the BOB). Although honey bees are familiar pollinators, local wild bees are better adapted. They get busy pollinating even when the air is cool or in light rain, conditions when honeybees stay in their hives. 

Then Burton demonstrated how to build the right kind of BOB nests, so they can be taken apart and cleaned each year. 

Following Burton’s guidance, 5/16” (about 8mm) grooves were routed in 1×6 pine boards and cut into six-inch pieces. The kids smoothed out the grooves and stacked the pieces and tied them together with baling twine, along with an overhanging roof board. 

Finally they mounted it on a sunny fencepost in the Salt Spring Elementary Hillside Garden. Burton provided Mason bee cocoons to release into the garden to pollinate the apple trees when they begin to bloom. Moistened clay will be placed near the nest when the BOB season begins. The children loved gently touching the cocoons and imagining the bees cracking out of their “eggs” in the spring warmth. Pollinator gardens here they come! 

The lesson closed with Monika Grunberg’s picture book called Sunshine and Pollen; The Life of Mason Bees, all told from a cheerful Mason bee’s perspective. After she hatches, warmed by the spring sun, the tiny heroine emerges to smell the delicious nectar and revel in all the colours. 

“Each flower shows us exactly where to sip. I could hardly wait to dive into one!” she buzzes. “From plants to insects to fruit to seeds and back to plants: this is the Circle of Life.”

Here are Ken Hargrove’s instructions for getting started with your own Mason bee project: 

1. Choose the type of Mason bee nest or condo (wooden or plastic nests, or paper tubes, all available at garden supply stores or easily built) and mount it near your gardens at about six feet high, facing southeast where it can get sun.

2. Acquire Mason bee cocoon.

3. Get a small cardboard box and place the cocoons inside. Cut a couple of 3/8” diameter holes in the bottom corners of the box. 

4. When the blossoms are out and the temperature is 10-12 degrees Celsius, put the box with the cocoons outside near your mounted nest box, along with a container of damp, clay soil on the ground nearby. (They’ll use this to separate the eggs in the nesting tubes.)

5. You’ll see the bees fly about, and in some weeks the condo tubes will be full and the openings will be sealed with a mud derivative. 

6. After late May or early June, you’ll notice there’s no more activity. Remove the nest box/condo and store it in a cool space like a garage in a sealed plastic container.

7. In early November, carefully remove the cocoons from the condos. Clean them in a light bleach solution or sand, then store them in a sealed, cool place until mid-March, and start again! 

Other good resources: 

• Background and guidance on Mason Bee Nests by Linda Gilkeson.

• Foxglove Farm & Garden on Salt Spring Island sells Mason bee cocoons and pre-made Mason bee nests from BeeDiverse, plus guides on how to encourage native pollinators. 

• The David Suzuki Foundation has Mason bee home building instructions and how to enhance habitat for other native pollinators.

Viewpoint: Trust area community needs differ

Contributed Article
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Viewpoint: Trust area community needs differ

By STEVE WRIGHT

As the target of lobbying groups, and personal and editorial comments which have misunderstood and mischaracterized the intent of my motions to Trust Council earlier this month, I’m surprised no one has taken the time to contact me to find out what was their purpose. 

I did reach out to Rhonan Heitzmann of Salt Spring Solutions but he did not take up my offer to discuss their intent. It is also disappointing that Jason Mogus did not contact me to ensure he had the facts straight before starting his lobbying efforts. 

Any suggestion that I am in any way “anti-affordable housing” or “anti-community” is untrue and nothing in the motions leads to those conclusions. Nor is there anything I have said or written that diminishes the need for a variety of housing, including lower-cost housing. 

I understand housing is a critical issue on Salt Spring and I admire trustee Laura Patrick’s attention and efforts on her community’s behalf. What I fail to see is how any reference to community needs in council documents is going to assist her in that effort or make any difference to local communities simply by having those issues at the council level. The Local Government Act directs them to be addressed at the local level, not by council. 

The inclusion of community matters in the policy statement or the strategic plan will have no demonstrable effect within communities other than draining resources away from local Trust committees (LTCs), which could be better used to facilitate their efforts. No blanket policy endorsed by council will fit all islands or solve their individual problems. If they did, then consider that those policies have been in effect since 1994 and perhaps that in itself indicates how successful they have been. Their placement on successive strategic plans have not produced any measurable solutions. If we have any hope of resolving these critical issues we will need actions rather than platitudes. I believe community groups, of which Salt Spring has a number of articulate and resourceful organizations, will have more creative solutions that better reflect their own needs than offered by Trust Council.

Policies are powerless by themselves. Council has no real means of enforcing LTCs to enact council policy. So what other purpose is there, other than to create more work for staff and some false sense of accomplishment by council members, to include these matters in council documents? What my motions suggested is council should focus its attention on ensuring that the environment, rural character and natural resources are not adversely affected by the infrastructure needed to support community needs. That should be council’s priority. Community needs should be the priority of LTCs.

The result of council’s decision to defeat motions to prioritize the environment in the decisions made by trustees is something worth noting.

In closing, I am fully aware that being elected opens one up to criticism and I have no problem with that, but I would prefer it is about something I actually did or said. 

The writer is a South Pender Island Local Trust Committee member.

Middle school could become community performing arts space

Elizabeth Nolan
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Middle school could become community performing arts space

Salt Spring Parks and Recreation could become the lead agency to manage community use of vacant Salt Spring Middle School facilities if the business case makes sense.

Much of the school campus will no longer be needed by the Gulf Islands School District when it converts to a grade K-7 elementary school model on Salt Spring starting this September. Following a vote by the island’s parks and recreation commission on March 16, parks manager Dan Ovington will investigate business plan and partnership alternatives for managing that space in a way that opens facilities to other community groups. 

“This is an exciting but also somewhat daunting opportunity for the Capital Regional District and the community,” said Salt Spring electoral area director Gary Holman when announcing the news during the Islands Trust meeting last Tuesday. 

Holman noted Salt Spring Parks and Rec has experience managing recreational programming for others. There will be significant costs to operating the facility, however, which could include some or most parts of two separate classroom blocks, so staff will need to examine the potential for rental revenue.

“It certainly makes sense for the CRD to hold a tenure, but the devil is in the details,” Holman said.

Considerable public interest in the space has already been expressed, including through the formation of a new umbrella arts organization in 2020. The Salt Spring Community Performing Arts Society (SSCPAS) coalesced around the need for a central space large enough to accommodate equipment, set and costume storage plus rehearsal space for multiple member groups. The society now has 16 member organizations representing island theatre companies and schools, dance schools, bands and choirs.

Those groups account for 545 rehearsal dates in a year, and a total of 109 performance dates. 

Visual arts groups such as the Salt Spring Arts Council have expressed interest as well. Sports-related programs for youth such as Salt Spring Gymnastics and Tsunami Circus are also looking for options for practice space and equipment storage. 

SSCPAS had originally pitched the idea to the school board that they could be the lead agency managing the space, and envisioned renting some rooms at the market commercial rate to subsidize much cheaper rentals for non-profit arts groups. 

“There’s enough space there that all of us could get a piece of it,” said Derrick Milton, who chairs the SSCPAS board.

Milton said the north wing of the middle school alone has around 36,000 square feet. The performing arts groups figure just 5,000 square feet could accommodate all of their needs. But without a commercial rent component, community space may have to be subsidized through other means. 

“There’s no easy solution, that’s for sure. Everybody wants a piece of the pie, and who’s going to pay for it?” Milton observed.

Having the CRD investigate alternative business case scenarios for the middle school does feel like forward movement, though.

“It seems like Dan and Gary are both pretty positive about at least providing some space for the arts,” Milton said. 

Editorial: Charitable support matters

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Charitable support matters

While the impacts of the pandemic on families, performing artists and some businesses have been obvious in the past year, a lower-profile affected group is charitable organizations.  

That impact was recently quantified through release of a Salt Spring Island Foundation survey of some 40 local charities. Seventy-five per cent of respondents said the pandemic has “significantly” impacted their ability to deliver on their mandate. Almost half said the long-term impact on their organization is unknown. 

Several non-profit entities have seen reduced revenue due to bans on public gatherings and fundraising storefronts being restricted. Some have been unable to provide services due to their volunteers not wanting to risk exposure to COVID-19 through public activities. 

Many groups’ revenue streams were also choked off by being unable to hold traditional fundraisers since those usually involve people getting together in one spot. 

Charities have had to be nimble by coming up with innovative online fundraisers. One of those kicks off on Friday, April 2 when The Circle Salt Spring Education Society (formerly SWOVA) launches Purses With a Purpose, Satchels With a Story. It sees some 75 high-quality new and gently used purses, satchels and handbags auctioned off online until April 11.

Earlier this year the Salt Spring Island Conservancy raised some $28,000 from an online art auction that received great support from both donors and purchasers of art. Islanders Working Against Violence also held a successful fundraiser that saw home delivery of picnic baskets replace its usual Stowell Lake Farm dinner.

Our One Year Later COVID-19 timeline centre spread this week illustrates how islanders and foundations have stepped up to ensure residents are as safe as possible and that many activities can continue despite COVID-19. Everyone’s efforts have been truly impressive. 

But as the pandemic continues to affect local charities and the people who are served by them, island residents are urged to keep on supporting non-profit groups so they can survive through the rest of the pandemic and hopefully thrive once again when things return to some kind of normal. 

Nobody Asked Me But: How-to YouTube videos don’t cut it for everyone

Shilo Zylbergold
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Nobody Asked Me But: How-to YouTube videos don’t cut it for everyone

I always wanted to be the guy who could fix anything. In my daydreams, I pictured a garage half filled with broken-down appliances dropped off by neighbours and friends who had consummate faith in my ability and stubborn perseverance. I would bring their machines back to life. They all knew I had the “knack.”

The best part of these daydreams was the fact that I didn’t charge any fees for my work. I fixed things in my spare time and received my payment in smiles from everyone who went back home with a working appliance. Just the knowledge that I had succeeded in resurrecting another broken toaster or malfunctioning weed whacker was reward enough.

As I said, this is who I am in my daydreams. In real life, on the other hand, I am better at breaking things than I am at resembling a Mr. Fix-it. When put in my hands, screws get stripped, bolts bend, and washers and nuts disappear faster than Harry Houdini.

I suppose I should have expected life to turn out this way for me. As a child, I used to take great pleasure in dismantling any wristwatch, clock or radio that stopped working in our house. I loved seeing how many parts I could pull out of the thingamajig and I especially relished in the sight of all those little parts lying neatly spread out on an open sheet of newspaper on the floor.

What I found really exciting was my belief that when I reassembled all the pieces back together again, the clock would start to tick again and the radio would once more blare out ‘50s pop music. Alas, that never happened. And even though I had carefully made mental notes as to how the parts went back together again, not only were the appliances still broken, but there were always a few small dials, springs and screws still sitting patiently on the newspaper sheet after the contraption had been put together again.

Fast forward to just a short while ago and everything, it seems, has changed for the better. The Age of YouTube is upon us. With the advent of YouTube, not only are we able to enjoy practically every musical concert ever performed, every lecture ever given, and every stupid cat video ever recorded, but we now have at our fingertips the information needed to fix just about anything that has ever been broken.

Correct. YouTube instructional videos have made it possible for all men to become Mr. Fix-it and all women to transform themselves into Ms. Do-It-Yourself. All we have to do is browse the internet for the video that tackles the problem, follow the easy repair instructions, and … Bob’s your uncle … problem solved.

Or so I thought. By watching these helpful home repair videos, I could become the repairman I had envisioned myself in the daydreams of my youth. All I had to do was search YouTube for the video clip that dealt with my problematic repair job, select the solution that seemed the most promising, watch it carefully, follow the steps and success was sure to land on my doorstep.

As luck would have it, my loftiest daydreams have turned into my most abysmal nightmares. My hopes of being able to fix anything have been flushed down the toilet and my personal mantra of “I can do that” is now rusting away in the junkyard of insipid aphorisms.

Why all the doom and gloom? Why am I feeling like a first class, bona fide loser? The answer lies in my possibly warranted realization that something is sure to go wrong. Maybe I won’t have the proper tools for dismantling the cover on the lawn mower. Perhaps there are too many sheets of paper jammed between the rollers of my printer to allow me to jerk open the lid. Even if I was able to pull out all the crumpled sheets of blank paper, why is it impossible for me to replace the empty cartridges so they will sit snugly in their holders? The old ones came out easily, so why won’t the new ones slide into their positions just as smoothly?

It always looks so easy on YouTube. The bolts never get cross-threaded. The vacuum cleaner dust bags don’t ever become stuck so that they tear when I pull hard and I end up depositing a thick layer of dust back onto the carpet I just vacuumed.

These YouTube instructional videos make me feel the same way as I do when following the printed directions after purchasing a wooden bedframe or shelving unit at IKEA. The instructions come in 23 different languages, but the most confusing are the ones in English. The diagrams for assembly make it look as if I’m seeing the front, side and top views of the piece of furniture at the same time. And always, and I mean always, there are too many of one kind of fastener but not enough of another to hold the unit together.

The worst part about watching these videos is having to tolerate the person demonstrating the repair procedure. Usually, it’s an “ordinary Joe” who is not being condescending or trying make me feel inferior. It’s just that nothing ever goes wrong with the repair job in the video. Sometimes the machine is already partially disassembled right at the beginning and I realize that I will never get to the same point as where the video starts because I can’t even pry the cowling off my leaf blower.

Nobody asked me, but I’m pretty sure that YouTube is deliberately trying to make me feel like a dweeb when it comes to doing home repairs. I don’t think I’m being paranoid, but I’m certain that the videos are skipping essential steps which render the repair job impossible. Or maybe they are using an appliance model which is slightly different than the one I have, which is why I can’t back off the red throttle screw a quarter turn because I don’t have a red throttle screw.

I guess it just wasn’t meant to be. It seems to me that it’s going to take more than a quarter turn to fix this here repairman. Until something drastic happens to improve my repairing abilities, I’ll have to switch over to the YouBoob website.

Now where did I put that whatchamacallit that screws into that doohickey? 

Vaccination clinic added to address Salt Spring demand

Gail Sjuberg
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Vaccination clinic added to address Salt Spring demand

Salt Spring residents of a certain age were frustrated when they tried to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments this week. 

Several people in the 75+ age bracket contacted the Driftwood to describe their unsuccessful attempts to get an on-island vaccination appointment through the 1-833-348-4787 number for the Island Health region. 

Marc Lalonde, 77, phoned the line on Wednesday and was advised no appointments were available on Salt Spring for two months. He was offered and accepted an April 2 appointment in Duncan for both himself and his wife Ann.

Also on Wednesday, Doug Wahlsten was told he should call back on another day since the Salt Spring appointment slots were all booked up. Wahlsten wondered how the lack of space would affect every other age group on the island in the coming weeks. 

“If it stacks up it is going to get very difficult,” he said.

Other people said they had taken the off-island appointment option — in Duncan or Sidney — despite the extra time and costs involved.

Island Health’s media relations department told the Driftwood on Friday that the problems were occurring because the Salt Spring immunization clinic “has experienced unexpected demand.”

Appointment capacity has now been expanded with an additional clinic set for ArtSpring during the week of April 12 to 18. While Island Health would not confirm exact ArtSpring clinic dates with the Driftwood, advising us to instead tell readers to check the Island Health website, other islanders have said they were given vaccination appointments at ArtSpring in the week before and after April 12-18.

“All our clinics are designed to be flexible, with the ability to scale up and scale down to meet demand,” states Island Health. “If one clinic has higher demand for bookings than another on a given day, staffing resources are allocated to meet the demand.”

Vaccination call centres are operational from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. On Good Friday and Easter Monday, April 2 and 5, hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

People are asked to not contact ArtSpring or the Public Health Unit in Ganges, where vaccinations have been taking place to date, with questions or concerns, or to try to book an appointment. The only valid number to call is 1-833-348-4787.

For more on this story, see the March 31, 2021 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

Bowen Queen returns to Vesuvius-Crofton route April 1

Driftwood Staff
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Bowen Queen returns to Vesuvius-Crofton route April 1

Travelling between Vesuvius and Crofton should get a little less stressful as of April 1 when the Bowen Queen returns to the route for several months.

The Bowen Queen will replace the Quinitsa beginning with the 12:55 p.m. departure from Crofton on Thursday and will remain in service on the route until Oct. 11.

“The Bowen Queen has more vehicle capacity and has better operational speed than the MV Quinitsa,” states BC Ferries in a press release.

The company adds that the MV Bowen Queen has washroom facilities available on the car deck.

Three generations of Batemans reflect on climate change

Contributed Article
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Three generations of Batemans reflect on climate change

SUBMITTED BY TRANSITION SALT SPRING

We often talk about the impacts of climate change falling disproportionately on the shoulders of future generations. One way to make the need for action real is to think of it in the context of our loving ties with family across generations. Who amongst us wants to see our children, and their children, suffer as a result of the decisions we made today?  

It’s this level of intergenerational urgency that inspired this interview with three generations of Batemans. With the release of Salt Spring’s Climate Action Plan in March, Transition Salt Spring chair Bryan Young sat down virtually with world-renowned painter and naturalist Robert Bateman, his daughter Sarah Bateman, and her daughter Ruby Barnard.  

Robert Bateman has dedicated his life to expressing the beauty of our natural world in his painting and environmental advocacy. His daughter Sarah has made environmental education the focus of her teaching at Salt Spring Middle School. Sarah’s daughter Ruby, who is studying architecture at the University of British Columbia, fuses her twin passions for social equity and a livable future into her work towards climate justice.  

Bryan: When we talk about “climate action,” there are so many balancing acts required if we are to do the “right thing.” Starting with you, Ruby, what risks do you feel we need to avoid in undertaking bold action on the climate crisis? 

Ruby: Well, I worry that some people will get left out. I mean climate action has uneven effects on different people, communities and ecosystems. Often those who are most affected are from marginalized communities. We need to make sure that bold climate action considers its impacts on all members of our community — on Salt Spring, and in the wider global community.

Sarah: Yes, I agree. I’m concerned about how the richest countries — and we on Salt Spring are certainly in that category — are still benefiting from the legacies of a racist colonial capitalist system that’s been defined by its exploitation of people and the natural world. These inequities must be addressed at the same time as we’re addressing climate issues. They’re completely intertwined.

Ruby: I also think that settlers and their institutions need to make room for First Nations in whatever climate action we take. Any initiatives, even Transition’s Climate Action Plan, have to make Indigenous voices, needs and priorities central — and those initiatives might need to be adjusted to reflect this collaboration.  

Robert: One area where we need to take care is in the transition away from fossil fuels to clean renewable energy. There will be temporary pain — like job losses  and we need to account for that. 

Sarah: This is a big concern of mine. We risk dividing or alienating people while we transition away from industries or ways of doing things that are not sustainable. I think of logging, for example. But this transition also has so much positive potential for meaningful work that helps heal the planet. We need ecosystem restoration, sustainable forestry, permaculture-based farming — all of which can benefit people and the natural world. 

Bryan: This brings me to the question about the roles for individual action, collective action, and actions taken by governments and large corporations. What’s the role of each in tackling the climate crisis? 

Sarah: I think our governments have to show more courage and leadership. We have been so lucky to have leaders like Elizabeth May and Adam Olsen who are not afraid of doing what is right, even if it may be unpopular. Because of our economic system, people putting pressure on corporations will probably be the main way that the corporations choose doing the right thing over just making the most profit. Individuals can make choices every day that support climate action, and they need to be educated about the choices so that they can make informed decisions.

Robert: Maybe so, but I think individual action is almost meaningless unless it can be scaled up to actions led by the government. Individual actions might get you to heaven, but I don’t think they make a difference on their own. All of that needs to be led by legislation. I also don’t think that people are going to take action just because it is the “right thing to do.” We need to raise taxes on bad things, like the use of fossil fuels and cutting down forests, and lower taxes on things that will help.  

Bryan: People can often feel overwhelmed by what to do about climate change. If you were our guides on this journey, where would you take us? 

Robert: It’s true that this can be overwhelming, but even having a small but workable example of positive action can get the ball rolling for people. The mere exercise of preparing your Climate Action Plan and engaging fellow Salt Springers initiates thought processes that can take us to action. Looking to other parts of the world for examples of a positive direction can be very useful, too. In my view, Scandinavia and Holland are shining examples. It is impressive to see that Holland has a tax on new cars to cover the recycling of that car when its job is done. The Salt Spring community also has a chance to be a shining example that could spread to other communities. But it’s urgent that we act now.  

Sarah: I think it’s time to be brave and make some sacrifices — and work together. I honestly believe that this shift in priorities will not only benefit the planet but also our communities. And I think the Climate Action Plan is headed in the right direction. I’m excited by the idea of First Nations communities being a big part of the work we can do storing carbon in our forests and oceans.  

Bryan: Ruby, as the youngest member of the Bateman clan with us today, the last words are yours.  

Ruby: Well, I think collaboration is key. And I think the Climate Action Plan is clear on that, but like my mom said, I think this big transition to a sustainable carbon neutral future can be — and needs to be — fun and fulfilling.  

The Salt Spring Climate Action Plan was created by Transition Salt Spring volunteers.  To download it, to make a donation, or to become a member go to https://transitionsaltspring.com. TSS thanks Birgit Bateman for transcribing her husband Robert’s words, and Robert, Sarah and Ruby for their participation in this virtual discussion.  

Call for rodenticide ban gathering support

Elizabeth Nolan
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Call for rodenticide ban gathering support

The Islands Trust has joined a growing list of local governments in British Columbia that are calling for the provincial government to ban anticoagulant rodenticides.

A resolution moved by Salt Spring trustee Laura Patrick and seconded by Galiano’s Jane Wolverton on March 11 urges the province-wide ban because anticoagulant rodenticides are known to move through the food chain, endangering wildlife. The case for this position was made earlier in the week by Saanich resident Deanna Pfeifer, who gave a delegation to Trust Council on the Rodenticide Free B.C. campaign.

Speaking to the Driftwood on Thursday, Pfeifer explained she was prompted to make the delegation because she had been contacted about a rare long-eared owl that died on Salt Spring and was a suspected poisoning case.  

She has been dedicated to learning everything she can about rodenticide and alternative ways for dealing with rats ever since she discovered a dead resident barred owl in her neighbourhood in November 2019. A necropsy revealed poison was the likely cause of death, with both brodifacoum and bromadiolone detected in the owl’s liver.

“I thought I was pretty well informed until I held this beautiful dead owl in my arms and then had the necropsy arranged,” Pfeifer said. “Then I asked, ‘How is this getting into our beloved owls?’ The more I learned the more I realized this has to be banned.”

As Pfeifer explained in her presentation to Trust Council, anticoagulant rodenticides are ingestible pesticides used to kill rats, mice and other target rodents. While the B.C. government acknowledges that these rodenticides present some risk, the B.C. Integrated Pest Management Act permits their use for now.

In response to a question from the Driftwood, B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman stated, “I am very concerned about reports of wildlife such as owls, eagles, bears — and even pets — being poisoned by the improper use of rodenticides. Ministry staff are looking at the circumstances of these poisonings and developing recommendations on appropriate preventative actions.”

Heyman said those actions could include public engagement, education, training, and also whether the products need to be more strongly regulated.

“We are also engaging with other provincial, federal and territorial jurisdictions to understand how other agencies are managing the issue, and what we can learn from them.”

A number of municipalities within the Capital Regional District have now banned anticoagulant rodenticides on properties owned by their cities and have asked the province to go further by enforcing a ban. Esquimalt council joined the group just last Monday after the male partner of a nesting barred owl pair succumbed on March 15. 

Over the last decade, numerous wildlife organizations and animal welfare groups have noted that ingestible rodenticides poison non-targeted species at all levels of the food chain. Species that have been significantly impacted include owls, hawks, small birds, earthworms, coyotes and cougars, as well as children and family pets.

Owls and other raptors are especially vulnerable because of their rodent-dependent diet. A single owl will eat 1,000 rodents in a year and a nesting pair even more. Birds that are not killed directly by poison may still suffer an indirect death, such as collision with vehicles after their system has slowed down. 

By law, commercial-grade rat poisons can only be sold to licensed professionals or to farmers in B.C. and contact information must be collected at the sales point. Non-compliance notices issued by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change show rules around pesticides are not always followed by garden supply stores on Salt Spring or in Saanich, Duncan and Nanaimo. And despite detection in multiple owl deaths, Owl Watch BC says brodifacoum sales increased by 19 per cent and bromadiolone sales increased by 279 per cent between 2003 and 2015. 

Keeping poison in the hands of the professionals is also insufficient for protecting the rest of the food chain, Pfeifer said. Anticoagulant poisons cause a slow, painful death, and leave plenty of time for poisoned rodents to be eaten by other creatures. Insects that are themselves not impacted by the toxin still eat the bait and then pass it on to predators.

According to Owl Watch BC, anticoagulant rodenticides are not even effective at decreasing rat infestations. Rodents that have been poisoned but haven’t died yet are triggered to reproduce quickly before they go. 

As well, Pfeifer said some private home and business owners contract pest control companies to keep bait boxes supplied on a monthly basis, but they fail to address the reasons rodents are being attracted in the first place. 

“In the pest management industry, rodenticides are recognized as only a short-term solution. Other preventative measures, including remediating structural access points, are known to be far more effective in reducing pest issues over the long term,” she said. 

Pfeifer is hopeful about work being done by Vancouver-based company Humane Solutions. They are developing new trap technology that provides a poison-free method for managing rodent populations by providing instant, automated kills and collects data at the same time. The technology is currently being trialled in various municipalities and will be available to the public within the next few months. Humane Solutions also has a blog on home rodent control that some people have reported being helpful.

The petition to ban rodenticides can be found at https://actionnetwork.org/groups/rodenticide-free-bc-2. Pfeifer recommends concerned people also write directly to Minister Heyman. 

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