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Maurine Fryer enjoys 100th birthday milestone

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Maurine Fryer enjoys 100th birthday milestone

BY HELEN HINCHLIFF

On Sunday, March 14, the family of long-time Brinkworthy Park resident Maurine Fryer, a few of her neighbours and two pipers gathered at noon to help her celebrate her 100th birthday.

What a milestone! Few of us reach it and, insofar as Brinkworthy Park managers Rick and Lynell Vipond are aware, Maurine is the first resident of the park to reach 100 while still living in her own home.

Maurine and her daughter-in-law Anne invited me over for a cup of tea and a chat a few days before the big day. How did she feel about such a landmark, I asked. “I’m looking forward to my birthday,” she told me, adding that she was eager to receive greetings from the Queen, the Governor General, and anyone else who happened to be paying attention.

Fryer was born in Winnipeg in 1921. Her identical twin sister Audrey was born just 15 minutes earlier. “Nobody could have been closer than the two of us,” she told me. “We always dressed alike and we even married brothers.”

When I asked Maurine about the spelling of her name, she displayed an amazing memory for detail.

“I was named for ma belle Maurine,” she announced with pride. “She was the heroine of a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox who was born in 1850 and died in 1919. It was a very long poem and my mother loved it. I think there was an Audrey in it too.”

While she told me all about her mother’s love for this poem, Anne got busy googling. Soon she discovered it was a 70-page-long rhymed verse narration of the life and love of someone named Maurine. Even though Wilcox was featured in obituaries published throughout the U.S. and Canada, these days she seems to have been forgotten by pretty much everyone except Maurine Fryer.

Maurine’s family home in Winnipeg was on Seven Oaks Avenue in West Kildonan, where she attended West Kildonan United Church. She married Harold Fryer in that church, and soon found herself living outside Swift Current, Sask., where Harold was a radio operator at the Royal Air Force Base, a major training facility for RAF pilots. One of Maurine’s contributions to the war effort was to save her sugar ration coupons so she could bake pies for the young pilots.

“Their favourite was banana cream!” she announced. “Those boys would beg me to write out the recipe for their wives or mothers. I’d do it, but I knew it would be a long time before they’d be able to buy the ingredients.”

Harold and Maurine spent many years in the Lower Mainland, he as a radio operator for airports and sometimes lighthouses. She worked in the payroll office for one branch of Canada Post. In 1974, Don Clarkson (one of Harold’s radio buddies) and his wife Ruth invited them for a visit to their Sunnyside home in Fulford Harbour (where Ruth was postmaster for many years).

“We couldn’t imagine spending more than a day or two on an island,” Maurine told me, “but before we caught the return ferry, we had picked out where we wanted to live.” It wasn’t long before the two of them were building a retirement home on Fort Street.

Once settled, Harold joined the radio club and Maurine started entering knitted items for the fall fair.

“I submitted something every year between 1974 and 2018,” she told me as she proudly showed me an array of blue ribbons. “In the last few years, I was the only one in my age group who was still knitting.”

Maurine had her knitting on her lap while we chatted and I was really impressed by the quality of her tension. I had to tell her that she was a better knitter at 100 than I had been at 20.

When I asked her about her background, Maurine sighed and said, “My grandfather was born in England, and I wish I knew where.”

What better birthday present could I give her than doing a bit of sleuthing. It turns out that John Elliott, the grandfather who died decades before she came on the scene, was born in the county of Kent in 1865. Julia O’Neill, the girl he married in Toronto, was born in Killarney, County Kerry in 1869.

They both died in their 20s, so she didn’t inherit longevity from either of them. And her father died in his 30s. Her mother did better, living into her mid-60s.

To what does Maurine attribute her long life?

“I try to keep up with things,” she replied. “I celebrated Christmas on FaceTime with my children and grandchildren. And I keep busy knitting sweaters for my family.”

What a wonderful way to live a very long life!

CRD budget increase finalized

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CRD budget increase finalized

BY GARY HOLMAN, SALT SPRING CRD ELECTORAL AREA DIRECTOR

CRD’s 2021 budget will be finalized on March 24. The proposed Salt Spring Island requisition (including Capital Region Hospital District or CRHD) will be $6.854 million, a 1.2 per cent increase over 2020.

This is slightly higher than a proposed increase of one per cent in the interim or provisional budget, partly because Salt Spring’s increase in assessed values was roughly double that for CRD as a whole, increasing our share of regional service costs. Another factor is the increase in the CREST levy for system-wide emergency communications upgrades. These increases were largely offset by very welcome provincial and BC Transit COVID relief funding. The overall CRD requisition has increased by 6.4 per cent from 2018-2021, an average annual increase of 2.1 per cent.

My main focus for the 2021 CRD budget is to limit tax increases in recognition of COVID’s economic impacts, but some service improvements are still possible, including continued increases for PARC bylaw enforcement; extending public transit to the Beddis area (delayed in 2020 by COVID); and more support for our local emergency program, watershed protection and grants in aid. A number of capital projects with CRD funding are still planned, including affordable housing; pathways; shared recreation/daycare facilities; water/waste treatment investments, and Lady Minto’s new emergency room.

The total 2021 SSI CRD/CRHD requisition is $85 per month, for the “average assessed” property (versus $81/mo in 2019), supporting a range of CRD services, such as library, public transit / pathways, swimming pool, recreation programs, emergency planning, economic development and the arts.

Climate action
The Transition Salt Spring Society just released its extensive update of the island’s Climate Action Plan (CAP 2.0). My thanks to the dozens of islanders who donated their expertise in developing the plan and consulting with the public. Thanks also to Transition Salt Spring, which will be the “keeper of the plan” — advocating for action, helping coordinate agencies and providing information regarding incentives offered by senior governments to help catalyze change.

CAP 2.0 makes key recommendations to help Salt Spring adapt and respond to climate impacts already occurring as a result of longer, hotter drought periods and more extreme winter storms. The Islands Trust can play a key role by protecting our rare Coastal Douglas-fir forests, drinking watersheds and groundwater recharge areas, and keeping settlement patterns compact.

CRD can also play an important role, and is acting locally in a number of ways by continuing investments in pedestrian and cycling infrastructure and public transit; upgrading sewage treatment in Ganges; and supporting gas tax funding of EV chargers, and water and/or energy conservation measures for affordable housing and facilities like ArtSpring, Core Inn and The Root. CRD is also working with other organizations to establish composting and chipping alternatives to open burning, and on new facilities such as the hospital emergency room, a public safety building and emergency communications, in order to improve our community resiliency.

Regionally, the CRD continues to protect carbon-sequestering green space with its Parkland Acquisition Fund and will be increasing methane capture at the Hartland landfill.

Other news
New agreements will hopefully allow Island Pathways and the Salt Spring bus shelter group to collaborate more effectively with our CRD Transportation Commission on pedestrian and transit infrastructure. CRD has also signed a new lease with ArtSpring that provides security of tenure for at least 20 years.

The rollout of vaccines at our Public Health Unit Office and also at Community Services’ food bank (for the unhoused) hopefully means a return to more normal times later in the summer. Please be patient and wait your turn for your group or age cohort before calling toll free: 1-833-348-4787.

Salt Springers asked to not rally

Elizabeth Nolan
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Salt Springers asked to not rally

Salt Spring RCMP members are asking residents to reconsider gathering and to explore other options to demonstrate their beliefs instead of attending protest events that were planned for the island later this week.

Detachment commander Sgt. Clive Seabrook issued a statement Monday in regard to the Rally for Freedom, which was planned to take place at Centennial Park Saturday at noon in conjunction with similar events happening around the world.

“We are aware there is a rally planned for this upcoming weekend and while we absolutely support a person’s democratic right to demonstrate, now is not the time to be gathering; we need to remain vigilant,” Seabrook said in his statement.

Seabrook said Salt Spring RCMP will continue to work with partners at the provincial health authority and the BC Prosecution Service to address all ongoing violations of public health orders. Organizers of planned events can face fines of $2,300 and attendees may also be fined $230, he said.

The sergeant noted even though provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry relaxed some of the restrictions around gathering outside with friends last week, there continues to be high numbers of new COVID-19 cases reported daily in B.C.

“The important thing to understand is that these gatherings are still limited to people within your own cohort and gatherings for events such as a rally or protest remain prohibited,” Seabrook said.

“I want to caution people who violate the provincial health order, and reassure the general public, that Salt Spring Island is an incredible place to live, with strong community spirit, which is why I am personally asking residents, instead of attending events like these that create division in our community, to please continue to work together to keep Salt Spring Island safe and healthy during this global pandemic.”

BC Ferries communications director Deborah Marshall said Monday the company is aware that protests are planned to take place on Saturday and that Salt Spring is slated as a location.

“We certainly recognize people’s right to protest or hold a gathering, as long as it doesn’t impede our operations,” Marshall said.

The company will enforce its rule about wearing masks on board ships, however, and may take extra steps if people are causing problems.

“We may have to call the authorities,” Marshall said.

BC Ferries banned a group of anti-mask protesters from using its services after they caused a disturbance on a sailing from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay last October.

The organizer of a second protest that was scheduled to run this Friday has decided not to proceed after speaking with RCMP about the regulations. Jean Wilkinson was coordinating a Forest March BC event in which participants would be wearing masks and be spaced two metres apart, but she reversed course with new understanding of enforcement measures.

Wilkinson urges people who are concerned about provincial forestry policy and wish to “Take a Stand for Trees” to protect ecosystem health and biodiversity to participate in other ways. They can start by writing letters to elected officials and ministers, Wilkinson said.

“Emailing and writing letters to government is the key thing in the long run. And the social media campaign could be a fun way to participate,” she said.

People are also invited to support the cause through the Tree Pose Challenge by taking a photo of themselves with their favourite tree or shrub and sharing it on Facebook (@forestmarchbc), Twitter (@bcforestmarch) and Instagram (@bcforestmarch).

For more information on the provincial health orders, visit the BC Government website

Vaccine registration moved ahead for 80+ group

Elizabeth Nolan
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Vaccine registration moved ahead for 80+ group

British Columbia is making better than expected progress on booking vaccination appointments for older cohorts, and is processing dates for residents aged 80 and older this week.

People who were born in 1936 or earlier were moved ahead on the schedule to book COVID-19 vaccination appointments starting on March 12. Over the weekend, the province announced a daily call centre schedule for the next five years in age.

The program set for this week had people aged 83+ (born in 1938 or later) able to access the call centre today, Tuesday, March 16. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday the centre opens for people ages 82+, 81+ and 80+ respectively.

“To help manage the flow of calls throughout the week, we are asking eligible seniors or those assisting them to call only when they are scheduled to do so,” states a notification from the provincial government released Sunday.

The Island Health call centre number is 1-833-348-4787.

Salt Spring vaccinations for the oldest cohorts were scheduled to take place at the public health unit office at 160 Fulford-Ganges Rd. in Ganges from March 15 to April 15. Some islanders who were booking appointments on behalf of older relatives when the call centre first opened received the wrong information from call centre employees, however, and were given dates either later in the timeline or in other communities.

Island Health media relations director Dominic Abassi said the organization had been exploring multiple sites as possible clinics, and some call centre employees did not have the right information in front of them when phone lines opened last Monday. That problem was quickly rectified and the vast majority of individuals calling from Salt Spring were booked into the correct time slot and location, Abassi said.

“If you or someone you are supporting who is currently eligible was not booked into the Salt Spring Island Health Unit to receive their vaccine, please call our call centre at 1-833-348-4787, reference your issue, and a call centre agent will work to rebook your appointment at the correct clinic for the earliest date available,” Abassi said. “We sincerely apologize for this error and any inconvenience it has caused.”

Health authorities will take a whole community approach to immunization in communities that have under 4,000 residents and have challenges with accessibility, The entire adult population of those locations will have the opportunity to be vaccinated during one or two health authority visits. Galiano, Mayne, the Penders and Saturna islands have been identified for this program, with more information coming soon about April clinic dates and locations.

Wild winter swimmers embrace the chill factor

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Wild winter swimmers embrace the chill factor

By MARCIA JANSEN

Driftwood Contributor

Wild swimming — in lakes, rivers and the ocean — has gained popularity in the past years, and particularly during COVID-19. Even in winter. 

The ocean is calm on a late winter morning at the beginning of March. It’s sunny, the air is cool, but people are floating in the ocean or are getting ready to get into the water. With his back against a log, Kipp Nash is doing his breathing exercises before his dip in the ocean. 

“I started doing this two years ago,” said Nash, who was diagnosed with a benign brain tumour in January 2018. “A friend of mine told me about the Wim Hof Method and what it can do for your health. I was hesitant at first, but then he asked me: ‘What are you scared of? Healing?’”   

Frequent exposure to cold is linked to several different health benefits. 

“We all have our aches and pains, and cold therapy has so many proven benefits,” said Nash. “It can boost your immune system, it stimulates your metabolism, it is a natural anti-inflammatory and is an antidote for depression. After my most recent round of radiation, the MRI showed that the tumour in my head had stopped growing. The last MRI even revealed that it is shrinking, which rarely ever happens. I believe it is because of this.” 

Kate and Kipp Nash.

Swimming in cold water is a weekly routine for Nash. 

“I am at Beddis Beach a couple times a week and we have a pond at our property where I can swim as well. Depending on the water and outside temperatures, I am in the water for between five and 10 minutes. It is pretty uncomfortable in the beginning. But at some point, you get used to the cold, and when you are out of the water again, you feel absolutely great. It is a real re-set. After you’ve done this, you feel like you can do anything.”

Swimming in cold water is not only a great start of the day for Nash, but also for many others. Since COVID-19 hit, more and more Salt Springers have taken to the cold waters. They are not only at Beddis Beach, but also in Vesuvius. 

“For me, it is a mental thing,” said James Acken. 

He started swimming in the ocean in November 2020, followed by his wife Danielle and a bunch of friends a few months later.  

“When you’re in the water, you can only focus on that and nothing else. We always say it’s a real bullshit-cleanser; all your worries are gone for a moment.”

Wild water swimming, even in winter, might be popular right now, but the Salt Spring Seals were well ahead of that trend. Diana Hayes was the first-ever Seal in 2002. 

“She started to swim in the ocean as a way to deal with the stress after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and the passing of her mom,” said Catherine Griffiths, a long-time Seal herself. “I’ve always been a runner, but when a hip injury sidelined me, I started to join Diana in 2003. I was a scuba diver, so I had the gear, and I always loved swimming, so that became a new way of exercising for me.” 

Health benefits are not the only reasons why Griffiths jumps in the ocean once or twice a week. 

“I had a hip replacement, I recovered from breast and uterine cancer in the past years, and I always kept swimming, even during radiation. But what I really enjoy about swimming in the ocean is the wildlife. We see seals all the time, I’ve encountered a female sea lion, spotted an octopus and a cormorant, and we regularly see starfish, herring and squid when it is the season. It’s amazing.” 

The Salt Spring Seals swim year-round in diving wetsuits and snorkelling gear. 

“Vesuvius is our favourite spot in the winter because it doesn’t get as cold there as in other places. But we get cold sometimes, and changing afterwards can be a challenge. It is definitely not for everybody. You have to go out of your comfort zone for sure. But over the years we gathered a steady pod of 16 swimmers, and we hope to celebrate our 20th anniversary in 2022.” 

Richard Hayden is also swimming in Vesuvius Bay once a week; between 1,500 metres and two kilometres at a time. But if you’d told him that a year ago, he probably would have laughed. 

“I didn’t plan on swimming outdoor year-round. It just happened,” said Hayden, who is an avid triathlete. “When COVID-19 hit last year, and the pool on Salt Spring Island closed, I started to swim outside in April, which is pretty early for me. I normally swim outdoor all summer, and I kept swimming in the fall because it is really hard to book a lane in the pool. I am an exercise junkie and a crappy swimmer,” he said with a smile. “If I don’t swim three times a week, I become even more crappy, and I don’t want that.”  

Richard Hayden, left, and Marcia Jansen ready to swim in Vesuvius Bay.

When the temperatures started to fall in October, Hayden moved from Cusheon Lake to St. Mary Lake and eventually the ocean. 

“The ocean is warmer than the lakes right now. I swim in a wetsuit, with an extra neoprene vest underneath, a dive hoodie and neoprene socks and gloves, and that is actually quite comfortable. The first hundred metres are the worst, but when my face starts to get numb the cold doesn’t bother me anymore.” 

Hayden admits that swimming in the ocean can be scary. 

“The current can be unpredictable, and I definitely feel more comfortable in the lake. I never go alone in the ocean and I try to plan our swims when the tides come in, and the island in the bay is still visible.” 

Catherine Griffiths agrees with Hayden. 

“We always swim in a group. It is too dangerous to go by yourself, even when you are just taking a dip.”

Trincomali Folk Club launched

Elizabeth Nolan
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Trincomali Folk Club launched

Salt Spring Island will receive a special blessing this St. Patrick’s Day in the form of a new showcase featuring traditional Irish music.

Michaela Cunningham and Simon Trevelyan will launch the Trincomali Folk Club on March 17 with an online concert by Cunningham — an Irish concertina virtuoso — and Canadian fiddle sensation Pierre Schryer. The concert runs from 5 to 6:30 p.m. with a half-hour session where other musicians can join in to follow.

The concert night is just the start of a program that will include more online events this spring and eventually include house concerts and in-person workshops in music and dance once COVID restrictions allow. 

Though the couple have only been in their Trincomali Heights home for around eight weeks, it is a homecoming for Cunningham, who grew up on Salt Spring and has returned after 17 years. She originally left to travel to Ireland with her mother to pursue her deep passion for the country’s traditional arts. She loved what she found so much she stayed to complete a bachelor’s degree and then a master’s degree in Irish music. 

“I guess I was getting very specialized in the field. It was a full immersion, and I only grew to love it more and more,” Cunningham said. 

Cunningham also completed a degree in teaching music, and did that in Mexico City for some years. She then went to Vancouver and after seven years there met Trevelyan, who is a singer and guitar player. 

The idea for the Trincomali Folk Club sprung in part from the house they found on Salt Spring, which offers some large rooms and a large porch. 

“It’s a dream come true for us,” Cunningham said. “Both Simon and I love traditional music and dance. We hope to share our passion with islanders and promote local and regional artists.”

The couple has already made connections with the Salt Spring Folk Club and received their support. They plan to work in complementary fashion with each other’s different efforts. 

Interest in folk music and more traditional arts in general has blossomed during the pandemic, including a worldwide craze for sea shanties that erupted on TikTok and spread from there. Trevelyan actually specializes in the form and will be producing a session devoted to sea shanties in September.

“I think a lot of people are getting back to basics. I think maybe COVID has made people think about what’s important to them in this life,” Trevelyan mused. “And I hope something like this brings people away from just consuming music, but into participating again.”

As Trevelyan points out, people used to create their own entertainment, and there’s only so much Netflix one can watch before it starts to get boring. 

“I think at the end of the day people are looking for true meaning and connection, and folk music brings people together,” Cunningham said. 

People who have the relevant musical experience can sign up for a master class/workshop with Cunningham and Schryer on Irish concertina and fiddle that runs the night before the concert, on March 16. 

Tickets for both events can be purchased on the website www.trincomalifolk.com.

Cunningham and Trevelyan are also happy to connect with the community. There is a option to subscribe to their newsletter on the website, or emails can be sent to info@trincomalifolk.com. 

“If anyone wants to get in touch, we’d like to hear from them,” Cunningham said.

Viewpoint: Support basic income bill

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Viewpoint: Support basic income bill

By JILL TARSWELL

At the end of February a Liberal MP, Julie Dzerowicz, introduced legislation in the House of Commons that would enable a national strategy for a guaranteed basic income in Canada. 

Recent Angus Reid poll results show that three in five Canadians support a universal basic income (UBI).  

There are many examples of UBI being successfully trialled with at least one in Canada.  In the 1970s the Canadian town of Dauphin, Man. trialled basic income, but due to lack of funding was unable to analyze the results. When researchers looked at the data 25 years later, they discovered the experiment had been a huge success. (https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/cpp.37.3.283)   

The hospitalization rate went down by 8.5 per cent in four years, kids performed much better in school, and domestic violence was down, as were mental health complaints. People continued to work, and indeed, open small businesses. Other studies show a phenomenal decrease in drug and alcohol abuse. 

According to the Canadian Centre for Economic Analysis, a guaranteed minimum income program could grow the economy on average $36 billion per year in the first five years, without relying on debt funding, and if partial and temporary debt funding were to be used, the impact could grow to an average of $62 billion annually in the first five years. In total, this program could lead to a cumulative increase to the national GDP of $1.5 trillion over the next 25 years.  

In the past 50 years corporate tax rates have decreased by 50 per cent and are currently almost the lowest they have ever been. In the meantime, workers’ wages have stagnated in relation to inflation, and household debt to income ratios have skyrocketed. As well, the top two per cent of the population control over 60 per cent of Canadian wealth, and over the past three decades taxation of capital and the affluent has shifted to taxes on labour and ordinary working families. Lifting over three million households out of poverty is certainly a worthwhile endeavour. 

As the COVID pandemic has increased pressures on Canadians, it is apparent that UBI is a bold, common-sense solution that would ensure that everyone could afford their basic needs, like putting food on the table and a safe place to call home. I urge you to write to government representatives in support of Bill C-273.

The writer is a longtime Salt Spring Island resident.

Pandemic period offers gift for some learners

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Pandemic period offers gift for some learners

BY TERRY STAFFORD

The changes in schooling during the pandemic have many parents worrying that their children will fall behind academically. 

I feel we can take a deep breath and let that worry go. I’m not trying to make light of the very real difficulties as we live through a world pandemic, but some changes can offer rare gifts.

I myself missed months of school as a child, once at the age of 11 when my mother sent me to my grandparents’ farm because I had developed a nervous tic. (No school for six months and the tic was gone!) The next time was when I was 12 and my father’s illness inspired my mother to grant his dying wish and take us all to Mexico for nearly a year. Both times I slid back into school without a hitch. 

In fact, this hiatus in schooling proved a gift. I was able to follow my own interests, reading voraciously and learning Spanish through a cultural immersion that stood me in good stead through high school. I also learned from my father who shared his interest in Mexican art and ancient culture. 

Know that “falling behind” is far from the problem it’s made out to be. There are many instances of children catching up quickly and easily, given readiness and motivation. One well-known example comes from Sudbury Valley Free School in Massachusetts, where a dozen kids who had not previously taken math asked for instruction. This was their idea, and they were committed to it. It took them 20 weeks to cover the entirety of elementary school arithmetic. My own daughter, after homeschooling until she decided to enter Grade 6, finished catching up in math in one weekend. 

My purpose in relating these stories is simply to encourage you not to panic. In skill subjects such as arithmetic, catch-up is relatively simple. As for data-content subjects, just what information do we deem essential for a child to retain? And do children retain every fact in the museum of their minds? No, much information learned in school is rarely held for very long and, where retained, is done so through student interest, not curriculum demand. As for keeping the mind actively learning, there are many avenues, the major one being play. Besides being an expression of joy — a central feature of being human — play is a crucial means of cognitive and emotional development. 

Nor is there one hard-and-fast rule about the age at which children need to learn skills or information. The desire to learn is not age-dependent. It is inborn; it’s what humans do. From the day they are born, children are learning. By the time they start school they can walk, talk and orient themselves to the world around them. This avid drive to learn, when not discouraged, is a lifetime gift.  

In fact, the subjects children encounter in school do not necessarily cover the interests that may lead them to a future career or lifetime learning. Furthermore, coercive learning runs the risk of shutting down this innate curiosity, as sadly attested to by the many students who drop out of high school or who, once graduated, never open another book. 

It is more important to foster a joy in learning than to insist on mastering content. This time of COVID restrictions, as difficult as it is, offers opportunities: the opportunity to learn to be self-directed, to pursue and discover your own interests, and to learn who you are. An example of what I’m talking about is photographer Ansel Adams, whose father told him that school would distract him from finding his passion. He released his son from school, thus allowing him to develop his love of photography, and the rest is history. 

So, relax and give your children the gift of time — to putter, to explore, to try new skills, to discover who they are. In fact, time — a rare commodity in our modern over-organized lives — is probably the major gift these unfamiliar days offer. Don’t let the stress of worrying about missing academics deprive you and your child of this gift. You may find in future years that you and your child have fond memories of these months when the world changed and life slowed down.

The writer has a master of education degree and is director of Wildwood Educational Enrichment Centre on Salt Spring Island. 

Salt Spring RCMP seek info on street sign damage

Driftwood Staff
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Salt Spring RCMP seek info on street sign damage

Salt Spring RCMP are asking for the community’s help on an investigation into a series of street signs that were intentionally knocked over by a vehicle along Sunset Drive and North End Road on Monday night.

“Investigators are trying to identify anyone who may have witnessed this vehicle, or who may have dash-cam or other video recordings of any of these incidents,” Salt Spring RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Clive Seabrook stated in a news release.

“The majority of these signs were in place to warn of hazards on the road ahead, creating a possible dangerous situation for motorists.”

Plastic autobody parts and tire treads were left behind at the scene.

Seabrook thanked road maintenance contractor EMCON Services and their staff for getting the signs back up quickly.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Salt Spring RCMP at 250-537-5555.

Islands Trust policy session precedes council talk

Elizabeth Nolan
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Islands Trust policy session precedes council talk

Elected officials and staff from the Islands Trust who are reviewing the Trust’s policy statement gave a presentation last Tuesday evening showcasing some of the contemporary issues that may influence a future version of the document that has not been updated since 1994.

The Islands 2050 project is exploring how to “preserve and protect what is most valued in the Islands Trust Area” into the next few decades while focusing on three priority policy areas: reconciliation, climate change and affordable housing. Consultation with First Nations and the general public along with analysis by elected trustees and staff is to guide amendments to the existing policy statement.

As Trust programs committee chair Deb Morrison explained during the March 3 online open house, these policy amendments have yet to be created. The committee hopes to have a draft bylaw ready to present to Trust Council for first reading at the June quarterly meeting. They have also asked council members for input on how “directive” they think the policy statement should be in guiding the actions of local Trust committees.

Early questions during the March 3 meeting, moderated by senior policy advisor Dilani Hippola, centred on that relationship. Dan Rogers, a vice-chair of the Islands Trust Council executive, Gambier Island trustee and a programs committee member, said directives in the statement will be up to local islands to implement through their own official community plans and land-use bylaws. That relationship won’t change without changes to the provincial Islands Trust Act.

“Local autonomy is definitely ingrained in the act as it stands now,” Rogers said. 

However, he said there are some issues that affect the Trust Area as an entire region and may best be met by a unified regional response. 

Lisa Wilcox, who is the Trust’s senior intergovernmental policy advisor, reported consultation with First Nations has found the same concerns arising again and again. Some things First Nations would like to see implemented Trust-wide are protection of the foreshore ecosystem and its resources including clam beds and eelgrass; protection of ancestors, cultural heritage and sacred sites; and protection of culturally significant plant and animal species along with the ecosystem as a whole.

The B.C. government has ordered that all provincial legislation must align with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, enacted last fall. The Islands Trust committed to a reconciliation declaration even before that. 

The need for sustainable island communities does not mean increased development is proposed, but more likely could mean a change in approach to land use. One of the principles guiding policy changes on climate change is “No more business as usual: It is time for bolder environmental protections and new low-carbon ways of life.”

In answer to questions from the public on what the Trust would do to solve the housing crisis, Rogers noted that since the Trust is not a service-providing organization its main tools are land-use planning and cooperating with other government bodies. He added the Islands Trust has a constituent that no other local government in B.C. has specifically named.

“It is the environment, and it can’t be ignored,” Rogers said. 

Morrison, a North Pender trustee, suggested that people moving to the Islands Trust area must accept a different standard of living than is available in Vancouver or other nearby places, and that housing could be defined to mean smaller dwellings built with green principles instead of 4,000-square-foot show homes, for example. Limiting house size but allowing more smaller dwellings on lots is one idea that’s been proposed. 

“We’re in a situation now when we may have to start implementing policies that are not popular on an individual level,” Morrison observed, adding, “We can be a model for how to live sustainably — but we have to choose to do that as a community.”

Consultation informing the Islands 2050 project so far has included online and in-person engagement processes starting in September of 2019. The first round of public feedback received was summarized in the “What We Heard” Report published in July 2020. A second survey open over the past winter sought feedback on the policy directions that were identified in the earlier process.

Morrison encouraged people to send in their unique comments and thoughts in writing, and to share materials with other community members who might not have been engaged yet.

For more information, including presentation materials and a recording of the open house session, visit the Islands 2050 page under Projects at islandstrust.bc.ca.

Islands Trust Council also had a full day of discussion on policy directions scheduled  for Tuesday, March 9, with notice of several competing motions on whether or not to include housing and sustainable communities in the policy statement itself or to address those concerns under local Trust committees and other areas.

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