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BAILIE, Alison Patricia (Pat)

Driftwood Obituary
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BAILIE, Alison Patricia (Pat)

Alison Patricia (Pat) Bailie

On Monday, 1 April 2019, Alison Patricia Bailie (Pat), passed away at the age of 83 at Edmonton, Alberta. She was born 25 November 1935 in Edinburgh, Scotland, daughter of William and Annabelle McLaren. Pat was predeceased by her beloved husband Ken. She will be sadly missed by her children, Fran (Patrick), William, Alison, and Rachel (Greg); her grandchildren Arthur, Erik, and McLaren; her sisters Lynda and Aileen; and her many friends.

Pat embraced learning with endless curiosity in reading, travel and conversation. In the early1960s, she travelled on her own to Australia to teach. In Melbourne, a chance meeting brought her together with a fellow traveller, her lifelong best friend, Ken Bailie. Together they explored the world as he worked in various locations, including brief stops around the South Pacific, Indonesia, with longer residences in New York City and Iran before returning to Ken’s birthplace in Calgary to raise their children. Later, Pat moved to Salt Spring Island for ten years before relocating to Edmonton.

Books are the mirrors of the soul. – Virginia Woolf

Memorial services will be held in Calgary and on Salt Spring Island (details to be announced). In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Pat’s name to PLAN Canada.

KORNBACHER, Kim

Driftwood Obituary
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KORNBACHER, Kim

Kim the photographer at the Great Bear Rainforest

A Tribute to Kim Kornbacher

Let the beauty of what you love, be what you do.
– Rumi

Kim was a Salt Spring resident from 2004 until 2014. Born December 30, 1957 in Seattle, and died on March 17, 2019 on Vashon Island, Washington State.

Kim was my friend, and perhaps her only reclusive friend. She had so many colourful girlfriends that she told me about in a most loving way when we walked in the forest together. I did not meet even one of them. Neither did I meet her sister or mother, though I recognized their places as princess and queen in her life. Kim was a true lover of women as a species, including me.

She was altruistic in all ways, and in the forests, waterways and mountains even more so. The animals she showered with all her attention. Her dog Riley as the luckiest dog around.

She and I would often hike up on Channel Ridge after the clear cut, which we nick-named “the moon”.  There she would look down along the path and show me the teeny tiny little bits of past life still there.  She was an Archaeologist, teaching whenever she had the chance, although so softly you never recognized anything but her soothing voice of intelligence. Riley & Rain our respective dogs would always be along to keep us safe.

Most likely people on Salt Spring will remember Kim as a fighter of truth in governance. She fought at Islands Trust meetings as a member of the Archeological Advisory Committee even though she might not quite belong as an American. Very shortly after that, she became a Canadian Citizen and I have never seen her proud before this.

She always longed to live in the south end of the Island where she believed her experience of living would improve away from the ferry traffic of Vesuvius and the ever present view of industrialized Crofton.

Kim did not get to the south end but instead, went west to Hawaii.  There she and Kris built a cabin together in the pure joy of their natural surroundings. Kim always cared most about the simpler things in life happening around her.

She was a special photographer. Her favourite subject was wildlife in the Great Bear Rainforest. With her camera around her neck up until the end, out in the morning on the rocky coastal beaches, putting small things in her pockets still. These were her last words I heard her speak on a video Kris made — “my little treasures”. At the end of the day her Kris would line them up on the deck railing waiting for one more day to come.

Kim was an innocent as best there can ever be. There is no doubt she was in her childhood on this earth, laughing and smiling and appreciating every new twist and turn. On the big Island of life, God and nature had the ultimate say. The volcano in Hawaii swept her home away, and ovarian cancer took her from this earth. She is still with me.
– Jacki Hayes (Yeo), Salt Spring Island

Islanders rally for forest reform

Elizabeth Nolan
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Islanders rally for forest reform

Salt Spring Islanders joined communities across the province who took to the streets Saturday morning to call for reforms to forestry practices and a more sustainable industry.

Jean Wilkinson, who was one of the community members involved on Salt Spring, said initial estimates are that 150 people turned out for some portion of the morning, whether that was for the speakers in the library, the march itself to Centennial Park, or both. Organizers had readied 216 postcards addressed to MLA Adam Olsen, Premier John Horgan and Forests Minister Doug Donaldson, and all were filled out by the participants at the event.

“I think the fact that there are a multitude of communities throughout the province basically saying the same thing might be helpful in convincing the government they actually have to do something,” Wilkinson said.

Many of the marches taking place in other parts of British Columbia had a local issue driving community concerns, but all were united in asking for better legislation and oversight when it comes to the forest industry. Salt Springers were partly motivated by the recent upswell in clear-cutting of private acreages on the island.

“We’re just liquidating our natural heritage, really,” Wilkinson said, adding individual private land owners may profit from selling their timber, but their neighbours have to pay the costs through noise disturbance, long-term drainage issues and loss of property values. “And the ecosystem impacts are huge.”

Some amendments to the Forest and Range Practices Act were announced on April 1, which the government said would “support the health and sustainability of B.C.’s forests and range lands, while strengthening public confidence in how these vital resources are managed.”

Speaking at Saturday’s march, environmentalist Briony Penn said the new NDP government has not done anything really different than their Liberal predecessors when it comes to sustainable forestry or ecosystem protection. She pointed to a few potential bright spots in new requirements for public consultation related to forest stewardship plans and operation planning, including the proposed location of cut-blocks and roads but not the bigger changes needed.

For more on this story, see the April 10, 2019 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

GISS wins gold at national improv games

Elizabeth Nolan
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GISS wins gold at national improv games

It’s gold once again for the Gulf Islands Secondary School senior improv team, who returned from the Canadian Improv Games on Friday as the new reigning champions.

The win marks the third time in three years that GISS has produced a medal, with their first national championship win in 2017 followed by a silver medal finish last year. The core members of the 2018 team — Calla Adubofour-Poku, Kahlila Ball, Jo Gaffney and Amelia McCluskey — returned this year and were joined by two musicians, Jacob Culling and Calum Duncan. Another year of developing and deepening their skills, a commitment to their training and the new musical collaboration proved just the right combination to take the lead in Ottawa.

“I think it’s not that we did anything that’s super different from last year, other than we have two new members that bring a completely different aspect to it,” Ball said. “I think the more time you train with a group, the better you can get, and with another year of maturity and another year of training, and more time as friends and teammates, we were just able to reach a higher performance level.”

The full week experience included a number of workshops and social events, plus the requisite trip to Parliament and the major museums, and even a side trip to Montreal. GISS had its preliminary round slot on the first of three nights and scored substantially higher than the other teams, both in that group and on the two following nights, ensuring their place in Thursday’s finals.

“We really did some inspired work in the preliminary rounds that scored amazingly well,” said coach Jason Donaldson.

 

For more on this story, see the April 10, 2019 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

 

 

Editorial: Taxpayers disrespected

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Taxpayers disrespected

It might be absurd to expect a drop in taxes paid to a local government body, but should it really be such a wild fantasy?

In 2014, Salt Spring residents authorized the Capital Regional District to increase property taxes by $250,000 per year for four years for a specific purpose: to fund Rainbow Road-area pedestrian safety improvements. If taxpayers’ wishes were respected, they should have seen their CRD property taxes reduced by $250,000 this year once the borrowing authority for the (still-to-be-completed) transportation project had expired.

Instead, that $250,000 in freed-up funding was quickly subsumed by a wishlist of three new part-time staff positions — two within the CRD and one at the library — and other bits and bobs. This was part of the preliminary budget supported by CRD director Gary Holman’s predecessor Wayne McIntyre, so it’s not a new phenomenon. It is also not hidden, except when the CRD tells us how little our CRD property taxes jumped between 2018 and 2019. The final figure touted is a 1.8 per cent increase. But $250,000 of last year’s budget was only there because of the 2014 referendum. No authority was ever given to continue spending a further $250,000 year after year ad infinitum. So our true 2019 CRD tax increase is more than five per cent and should be presented to us that way.

The dollars in question for the average-assessed residential property may be relatively small, but the amount is irrelevant. What is stunning is that rather than respect the legal wording, intention and spirit of referendum borrowing — for a specific purpose for a specific length of time — the CRD has assumed our approval in 2014 to contribute $250,000 to pedestrian safety on Rainbow and Lower Ganges roads can be transferred to whatever projects or departments it feels could use some cash.

And as Holman hints in his March 27 budget report in the Driftwood, the same fate could await the $580,000 in annual debt-retirement costs we are presently carrying for the pool, library and liquid waste facility.

It really calls into question the rationale for referenda. Or perhaps it’s time to change the wording of all CRD referenda so that voters know they will be paying that authorized amount forever and ever — on whatever the CRD, not taxpayers, deems is necessary.

If you’d like to see this practice changed in the future, let your CRD reps know how you feel.

Year-round homeless shelter proposed

Marc Kitteringham
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Year-round homeless shelter proposed

A year-round shelter and outreach centre on Salt Spring would serve people experiencing homelessness and help mitigate islanders’ concerns about use of Ganges parks, according to initiators of the proposed new project.

Though it will not solve the problem of homelessness on the island, the group hopes that giving people a place to sleep and offering programming will help with some of the issues that arise when community members are  unsheltered.

Initiated by leaders of some island church groups, the plan is to raise funds to purchase the Salt Spring Metal Recycling property at 251 Fulford-Ganges Rd., which is listed for $800,000. While the church organizations themselves still have to sign on to the idea, Salt Spring United Church Reverend Chris Levan hopes that converting the site to a year-round shelter will help address community concerns about homeless people’s use of the United Church meadow on Hereford Avenue.

“We have been working at the concerns in the meadow constantly for the last five months,” Levan said. “It is getting better, but it will get more complicated, not necessarily worse, but more complicated when there’s no place [for people] to go at night.”

The seasonal shelter run by Salt Spring Community Services with provincial government funding provides a spot for people to sleep and an evening meal from November through March each year.

“We got together and felt there was desperation in the community because the shelter was closing, and that’s where the idea began,” Levan said.

He and other clergy members realized that “come April 1, 20 people who stayed there every night weren’t going to have any place to go. It was kind of a desperate thing . . . when the shelter closes, we have to pick up more of the slack because people have nowhere to go.”

Looking for a solution, they felt that the metal recycling property recently put on the market could be a potential solution. The building is structurally sound, has access to water and the potential to tie into the Ganges sewer system. It also has a large open area adjacent to the building, which would provide a place for shelter users to gather, opening up parks and other public spaces for other community uses.

“The church owns the meadow. It has been a gift for many years. More recently it has been renovated to be more accessible,” Levan said. “We have more to do. I’m going to be talking to the [church] board about adding more facilities. That will be ongoing, giving it more multiple uses so that it signals that it’s not just the place for one group.”

Some residents have reported being uncomfortable using the park or even walking through it, particularly after someone was bit by a dog there, which prompted a new rule to keep dogs on leashes. Sarah Hamilton, who runs a law practice from an office across the street from the site, said she and others in the neighbourhood have been harassed in the area.

“My dog and I have thrown a ball in that park every work day since I’ve occupied this office with no problems and it’s unfortunate that she now has to be kept on leash,” Hamilton said. “I’ve been harassed by the people in the park, and told that if I enter the park again I would be similarly harassed.”

Hamilton agrees with the year-round shelter option and that providing a space for everyone to congregate is in the best interests of the community.

“I’m not advocating for a wholesale ban on people hanging out in the park. It would be really helpful if other people could still use the park,” she said.

The new shelter is still an idea, with a long way to go before possibly becoming a reality. The first fundraising effort is to collect pledges of at least $1,000. Then the building will need to be renovated, rezoned and approved before it can open. Levan thinks  the sooner it can happen, the better.

“What happens is when you’re without shelter, your ability to make good decisions declines dramatically,” he said. “You can’t get a shower, you can’t get clean, you can’t feel dry, you can’t settle, and you have no place to recuperate. That’s just the start . . . We all recognized that there was a need for a drop-in [program] and for more shelter space. Everybody sees that, that’s not the issue. It doesn’t solve homelessness. Homelessness is more complex than that, but in the meantime how do we deal with it?”

Prince George youth choir performs at All Saints

Driftwood Staff
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Prince George youth choir performs at All Saints

The Anglican Parish welcomes a vibrant youth choir to present a concert at All Saints By-the-Sea on Friday, April 12.

Led by Carolyn Duerksen and accompanied by Maureen Nielsen, the senior group of the District 57 Tapestry Singers is comprised of grades 8 to 12 students from Prince George.

Their Circle of Friends concert, which begins at 7 p.m., includes selections ranging from contemporary to traditional genres. Repertoire includes familiar melodies such as By the Rivers of Babylon, And So It Goes, A Thousand Years,We Rise Again and Vivala Musica.

According to press material, singing a wide range of musical styles is a focus of Tapestry’s program, along with the development of music skills and musical understanding.

The District 57 Tapestry Singers also performs as a larger group with its younger members. They sing at sporting events, collaborating with local choirs, performing together with the Prince George Symphony Orchestra and drumming with The K’hastan Drummers.

The senior group members have also travelled to music festivals in other provinces and in the U.S. These experiences have allowed Tapestry to sing with their peers in many different venues and to work with well-respected choral clinicians, resulting in many awards.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is by donation.

A Tournament of Two Halves sees Old Boys End Season on a High Note

Contributed Article
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A Tournament of Two Halves sees Old Boys End Season on a High Note

By FRASER HOPE

Driftwood Contributor

The careful team planning and pleading for Old Boys to turn out for a marathon weekend of soccer at the Bill Drew Memorial Tournament at Finlayson was somewhat disrupted by late calls off and flight cancellations.

Senior management had managed to corral sufficient bodies. I will rephrase that: sufficient players to provide a cushion of subs to cover for the expected drop-off in game-fit Old Boys.The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men left coach Graham Tweddle busily rejigging his preferred diamond formation to fit the remaining personnel.

The weather was so inclement that there was no usual circle of meditation in the Fulford terminal early Saturday as all seemed to prefer the warmth of their vehicles. Once in the Old Boys Lounge on the Skeena Queen the team list continued to be adjusted as the tweets came flying from all directions telling of sickness, injury and delayed flights. Old Boys seemed deep in thought regarding the immense task that now faced the team playing four games over two days. The buffeting that the Skeena Queen was experiencing gave some idea of the wild conditions that could be expected on the wide open Finlayson Park. More to the point the Be . . . the Soft Drinks Garden was still waiting the arrival of supplies and the hamburger stall was yet to fire up the grills.

9:45 a.m. kickoff saw 11 Old Boys ably assisted by Old Boy Eamon Murphy, once an Old Boy always an Old Boy, playing on the infamous Blanshard pitch, which resembles a WWI battled field against Westsiders from Vancouver. It really was a contest amongst the uneven bounce of the pitch, the swirling arctic wind, skillful opposition and Old Boys renowned for their slow starts. It is best to draw a veil over the proceedings as the only moments of any significance were a Westside corner kick that swung outwards towards the centre circle and then turned at right angles behind a howling gale and was bundled over the goal line for a 1-0 lead. 

A ferocious shot was tipped onto the bar by Richard Steel, and came to a Westside who managed Old Boys style to hit the crossbar, whence a third Westside shot went wide of the goal.

Despite valiant counter-attacks, Old Boys were unable to solve the problem of the physical conditions that disrupted their normal silky-smooth passing game and the 1-0 scoreline remained at the final whistle.

Undeterred, the Old Boys retired to the sanctuary of the Soft Drinks Garden where they fortified their spirits with electrolyte replacement health drinks and delicious grilled cheeseburgers. Communications personnel provided good news that Matt Johnson would arrive in time to drum up support for the second game at 4 p.m., along with the return of “D.B.” Cooper after his cosmetic surgery, to provide some pace at the back, the sidelines, up from and wherever his gyroscope would dictate. The one concern for coaching staff was the long interval between the end of the first game at 11 a.m. and the start at 4 p.m., a known hazard from all previous tournaments.

Bolstered by the new arrivals, Tweddle was now able to employ “The Diamond” and the team nodded in assent to his explicit and lengthy tactics. Methinks we are maybe being a tad generous here. The wide open turf field of Finlayson once again provided the Old Boys the surface for their well-known passing game — the SS Tiki Taka — honed over the years on the playing fields of Hydro, High School and Fernwood stadia. The opponents, Calgary, had requested of the Tournament Organizers a game against the Old Boys because of the connections between Tweddle and his old Calgary mates.  The Calgary team travel the world to participate in tournaments in Hawaii, U.S., Italy and Australia and expect to win!

Needless to say the Old Boys relished this challenge and provided a complete contrast to the a.m. performance and swept majestically downfield behind the skilled, controlled defence marshalled by Donny Brown and Tweddle, who was ably supported on the outside by Martin Thorn and Scott Howe. The midfield of Dave Eadie, Mark Aston and Mike Berndt carried on providing opportunities for goals to the strikers Mike McCormick. Dave Toynbee and Mike Davis. Such was the versatility of the team that substitutions slotted in successfully to any role they were assigned. Dennis Shaw provided cover for all positions on defence.

Not surprisingly, Old Boys took the lead when Eadie ran onto a pass to crash the ball into the net for 1-0 lead. Unaccustomed to being behind, Calgary mounted a series of attacks with aplomb, but one tremendously powerful shot from 25 metres saw GK Steel turn the ball over the bar to safety — a defining TSN Turning Point in the Game. A goal for Calgary at that point may have been a fatal blow for the Old Boys.

Spurred on by Steel’s timely save, the Old Boys started the second half full of confidence, such that a Calgary defender in attempting to prevent Eadie from scoring threw him to the turf, hogtied him at the ankles and jumped into the air triumphantly with only the white stetson missing from his performance. Eadie calmly slotted the resulting penalty for a two-goal lead.

A further attack down the right wing saw Eadie shoot/cross/slip towards goal to see a defender connect to leave the keeper stranded. A “H”at Trick for Eadie, hotly disputed by the Golden Boot Award statistician, could seal the victory. The Old Boys up 3-0 was not a scoreline one would expect but it was richly deserved. 

Calgary, seeking some reward to uphold Alberta’s dignity, stormed back and a fierce shot reduced the scoreline, but Old Boys were still in complete command, especially when “D.B.s” software was set to defence and provided speed in defensive coverage.

The Old Boys quickly retired to the Garden for a quick celebratory drink before some headed for the ferry. The remaining four members and their entourage would remain in Victoria to ensure a full team list for Sunday’s games. A curfew had been arranged so that all would be safely tucked up for the night, fresh for the morrow!

Day Two of the Tournament

Sunday saw a welcome change in the weather with Old Boys determined to capitalize on the win over Calgary in the two remaining games of the tournament. Same team, bolstered by the fly-in appearance of Charley Mayer from the Interior; same field but different opponents — Gordon Head — but unfortunately the same result of the previous morning session. An added difficulty was in the referee having a more than neutral connection with Gordon Head, which saw two assistant referees’ decisions overruled and not to the advantage of the Old Boys.  

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology employed for the first time at the tournament confirmed the assistant referee’s decision that Mayer was onside, but a combination of loud complaints from the Gordon Head bench managed to persuade the referee that he was indeed offside and cancelled out Mike McCormick’s goal. The game was decided on a breakaway goal that squeaked inside the post that gave Gordon Head an undeserved victory.

Last Game of the Season

Having less time than normal to replace electrolytes in the Garden, the Old Boys headed for the main stadium to play the last game of the season. As the players ran out of the tunnel to resounding cheers for each Old Boy announced on the public announcement system there came a sudden hush as the dreaded words “Darcy, GK Vantreights” was announced! The Old Boys’ nemesis was in the opposition line-up!  Could this last-minute blow destroy the hopes of a winning end to the season?

Naw! Old Boys quickly moved into the precision style of the previous day’s victory over Calgary and soon had Vantreights on the ropes. The high-line pressure soon caused mistakes on defence and allowed Aston to pounce on a pensive slip to provide Murphy with the opportunity to beat Darcy to the far corner.

The Old Boys’ large travelling support lead by the cheer leaders provided all the encouragement needed to keep a tight grip on the game. Backing music  

“Take it Easy, Take it Easy 

Don’t let the sound of your team drive you crazy 

We may lose and We may win, though we may never be here again

So open up the opposition, So Take it Easy!” (Eagles 1972)

provided a cautionary warning as GK Steel had to perform one of his TSN Turning Point saves to keep up the momentum. 

Ben Cooper, our own Exocet human missile, went the length of the field  and did a 360-degree pirouette that confused everyone, Ben included, which seemed to demoralize the opposition. At half time, IT reprogrammed Cooper’s software so as to stop him from crossing the halfway line in an attempt to hold on to the 1-0 lead. Pas de probleme! Acting as a decoy, Tweddle allowed Johnson to cut back from the byline and McCormick roofed it with Darcy stranded. Not even by his big toe-poke:  2-0.

It was all but over bar the shouting when Tweddle, obviously on a mission, stole down the right wing and in unselfish fashion squared the ball into the centre for Murphy to increase the lead to 3-0.

By this time, Davis and Aston had retired aggravating injuries acquired while surviving the overnight stay. Aston, looking at the clock, realized the Garden would close shortly and managed to negotiate with the Vantreights coach a shortened half so all could make “Last Orders, Please” before the closing bell at 5:30 p.m. Everyone was in agreement and after a quick handshake streaked to the refreshment tent.  

Fastest we’ve seen the team run all weekend! Thanks to the Fourth Mike, Salt Spring summer resident, for making a valuable contribution in the final victory.

Old Boys left the stadium to the music –

“Whether you’re a defender, or whether you’re an attacker 

You’re Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ alive 

Feel the stadium breakin”, and everybody shakin’

And we’re Stayin’ Alive, Stayin’ Alive

Ah,ha,ha,ha, Stayin’ alive, Stayin’ Alive

Ah,ha,ha ha, Staaayin’ Alive!!!!”

(Bee Gees 1977)

On the ferry home everyone agreed that it was a Tournament of Two Halves. Afternoons are better than mornings, a turf field is better than a minefield. The discussion continued using The Alexandria Quartet (Lawrence Durrell, 1957-1960) as a model for future Old Boys planning: to be named The Finlayson Quartet 2019, contrasting on an exploration of relativity and the notions of continuum and subject–object relation, in modern senior classic football.

Such was the success that Old Boys, with considerable credit given to the many, are busy planning on future tournaments in Vancouver, Oregon and Washington.

A Joint Independent Press Tournament Committee and SVICSA awarded Old Boys FC the Most Sportsmanlike Team of the League and Richard Steel MVP of the Old Boys FC for TSN Turning Point Saves.

That’s All Folks! It has certainly been a Looney Tunes sort of a season!

Old Boys Stay’n Alive! Stayin’! Just!

“It was the Crocs that did it!”

Viewpoint: Don’t stand in the way of housing solutions

Contributed Article
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Viewpoint: Don’t stand in the way of housing solutions

By RON COOKE

I would like to respond to Frants Attorp’s Viewpoint in the March 27 paper, as it is symptomatic of a certain mindset that some islanders still carry, and which proves detrimental to the integrity of our community, and perhaps even to Mr. Attorp himself.

I am admittedly an affordable housing advocate — a volunteer with no skin in the game except to be concerned about what I see as a crisis that should concern us all here. I am also retired, own a home and live comfortably and could easily close my mind to the struggle of others. But I have also looked beneath the surface and realized that we all stand to lose a lot if we do not open our minds.

A well-rounded community is made up of not just those who can afford the high costs of buying property and building a home to retire to here. I seldom even meet these folks. They are often off to Mexico for the winter or they just come to town to get groceries and then it’s back to their estates. They are not the islanders I rub shoulders with.

The folks I know are the ones I meet every day in town: the folks behind counters, office workers, nurses and teachers, small business owners, artists and musicians, our sons and daughters who collectively give our community its unique flavour and keep our economy chugging along. And these folks are facing a BIG problem. Talk to them, and you will quickly learn that most of them live here tenuously, making just enough to get by and facing a real struggle to find any kind of suitable housing at all.

Or ask their employers about how hard it is to find and keep staff as more and more employees are forced to move away due to our lack of housing stock.

And this brings us to the “evil” developers. Yes, there are outside forces who would love to buy up property here to build condos and bedroom communities, and I fear them as much as Mr. Attorp. But our official community plan is also supposed to look after not just our unique environment but those who live within it. We are doing pretty well on the first count but poorly on the second one.

What I have learned through my working with the affordable housing groups here is that we are blessed to have a fair number of community-minded individuals and organizations that are not in it for any monetary gain at all but rather to see our island remain healthy and viable. The housing developments that they are spearheading are not for the wealthy, who need no such help. They are offered up to meet the needs of young families and our working-class and elderly pensioners who are slowly, almost invisibly being forced off the island, to the detriment of all.

It is also important to say that none of these folks are wanting to change the rural landscape of our island. They think very carefully about location, home size, impact on the environment and the community.

Unfortunately, these projects all continue to fall victim to the rules and attitudes in place, and struggle to make progress. Every month or year wasted on red tape sees the costs rise and the problems grow. Fortunately, all three of our newly elected officials see the problems clearly now, and do what they can to be on board, but they too are dealing with the very set of rules they are sworn to uphold, and with the unrealistic drawbridge mentality of the comfortable minority.

Added to this whole schmozzle is the water moratorium, which has perhaps done the most damage to all of these new projects. It is heartbreaking to watch. I do understand the position that NSSWW finds itself in, and even empathize. And yes, we do need to carefully look after our resources, but not to the detriment of those who live and work in our community.

It has been said that we don’t have a water problem, we have a water collection, storage and distribution problem. I see it as being somewhere in between. I would also say that my friend Rhonan Heitzmann, who Mr. Attorp is so quick to dismiss, is one of the leading lights on our island on this front, looking for ingenuity in alternative water collection and storage.

And very importantly, I would also add that the people who these projects are designed for are already living here, using water and flushing toilets. They will not be adding much new draw on our water supply, if at all. In fact, all these new affordable home projects are designed with water conservation and recycling in mind, and they all have stringent guidelines in place to ensure preference to those who already live here.

So I would ask my fellow islanders to suspend your complacency for a moment and poke around a bit. Educate yourselves on our housing crisis and think about what you can do to be part of the solution. At the very least, don’t stand in the way.

The writer is a board member of the Salt Spring Housing Council, Salt Spring Community Services, Wagon Wheel Housing Society and Dragonfly Commons Housing Society.

SSIFR responds to smoke call

Gail Sjuberg
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SSIFR responds to smoke call

The Salt Spring Fire Department responded to a call for smoke in a commercial building at 186 Atkins Rd. on Thursday afternoon.

The smoke was caused by an electrical malfunction in the HVAC system of the building. Fire crews laid down hoses to fight the fire, though Capt. Dale Lundy explained that the fire was mitigated after the occupants shut down the power to that part of the building.

“We just cleared the building of smoke and made sure there was no extension into the rest of the building,” Lundy said. “The occupants did everything they needed to. The alarm sounded, they shut the power off, evacuated the building. It made our job a lot easier.”

Atkins Road was blocked off to traffic both ways for around one hour on Thursday. Lundy said that the department would be conducting further investigation into the cause of the fire, but the building itself did not appear to have sustained any damage.

“I think that was a textbook call for us. The occupants did everything they should be, closing doors and shutting down power, it just saves a lot of potential,” he said.

Nobody was injured in the incident.

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