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Harbourcats coach Salt Spring ball players at training camp

Gail Sjuberg
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Harbourcats coach Salt Spring ball players at training camp

The Victoria Harbourcats baseball team hosted a training camp for Salt Spring Peewee and Mosquito boys teams on July 5.

The Harbourcats brought over pitchers Cade Brown, Gunnar Friend and Ethan Fox to coach the kids. The players worked on fielding techniques in the morning and moved on to batting in the afternoon. Assistant coach Curtis Pelletier was also working with local coaches to give them ideas on new ways to instruct the kids.

“We’re working with the coaches as well to get the coaches and the players on the same page,” said Pelletier. “We’re not trying to come in and change things, but to reinforce the fundamentals and basic mechanics that kids 10 years old and kids 20 years old struggle with all the same.”

The Harbourcats play in the West Coast League, a summer collegiate baseball league.

The camp was organized by Jenny Lange, a parent of one of the boys on the mosquitos team. Lange attended a Harbourcats game and training camp in the spring and inquired about having a camp on Salt Spring. The Harbourcats do have other training camps for young players throughout the year. Most of the camps are in Victoria and this was the first time the team came over to Salt Spring to coach. The event was sponsored by local businesses.

“Any kind of outreach that we can do is awesome for raising awareness of good baseball skills,” Pelletier said.

The Salt Spring teams are in the middle of their summer seasons. Tom Langdon, the coach of the mosquito team, said that his team has been learning and improving throughout the year.

“It’s an awesome opportunity for them to learn from the best,” Langdon said about the camp. “We’re having fun . . . improving every day.”

The teams are trying to qualify for provincial championships, which take place on August long weekend.

Mosquito players are ages 9-10, and peewees are 11-12.

For more on this story, see the July 11, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

Nature and nurture theme produces delicious fruit at Artcraft

Elizabeth Nolan
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Nature and nurture theme produces delicious fruit at Artcraft

The journey from seed to harvest and back again gets unique treatment at the Artcraft Showcase exhibition this month, where painter Margarite Sanchez and basket-maker Joan Carrigan have joined forces for a richly textured show.

‘Harvest gather Nature nourish’ is the title of this effort, where Sanchez gives portrait-like attention to various examples of cultivated produce and Carrigan elevates equally humble materials from outside the garden to reveal their delicate majesty.

Sanchez has a splendid colour sense that is heightened by her use of vibrant oil paints. That sensibility, combined with simple-yet-bold compositions, suggests her style may owe some influence to Diego Rivera (a favourite that she mentions in her artist’s statement). But there is also a satisfyingly blocky approach to her application of background paint and to the shape she gives normally round fruits and vegetables, which calls to mind the thick chisel marks of a graphic woodblock print and creates an expressive, painterly quality all at the same time.

It may be hard to believe a trio of parsnips could inspire much passion, but Chirivias brings home the sheer joy of freshly pulled vegetables. One of the larger paintings on view, this vertically oriented piece has three vegetables lying beside each other head to toe, which brings focus to the geometry of rounded bulbs, tapering roots and green tops that flow out of the canvas space. The background space is limited, with small blocks of brown and terra cotta tones suggesting light rippling over uneven earth.

Dreamscape is William Morris meets Henri Rousseau — a screen of luscious snap peas backed by towering artichokes. Dominant green moves into shading that hints of blue and purple, while the few bright white pea blossoms in the closest plane are contrasted by warm golden light behind.

Carrigan also pays tribute to the harvest and the importance of food to culture in her work. Her baskets are made from sustainably harvested materials — she grows many types of willow on her property just for that purpose. This show also features delicate hangings made from hand-stripped and woven wood fibres, into which sprays of tiny dried flower buds, miniature cones and seed pods are interspersed like precious jewels.

Carrigan has truly achieved a masterful knowledge of her craft that is matched by artistic flair, as evidenced in seemingly standard objects. One cheeky example is her Flight of Baskets. Arranged and sized like the tasting flight commonly found in craft beer or cider houses, here it is the vessels themselves that are the treat, each one featuring a different type of weave and base material. Examples are cedar bark, ornamental grass and morning glory vine.

The Viking Baskets show an entirely different aesthetic, with slender pod shapes reflecting the boat meaning of vessel. The horizontal cross lines are bent twigs that alternately point up or down, with pieces in reddish bark rippling through the darker brown. The nautical theme extends to suggest an exotic spiked sea shell as well as the longship.

Sanchez and Carrigan will talk about their showcase exhibit during an artists’ talk starting at 2 p.m. this Sunday, July 15 at Mahon Hall. The show continues daily during ArtCraft hours to Aug. 1.

For more on this story, see the July 11, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

Salt Spring paddler part of winning Yukon Quest team

Gail Sjuberg
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Salt Spring paddler part of winning Yukon Quest team

A local paddler is celebrating his team’s success in the Yukon River Quest paddling race.

Gus OIiveira was part of the six-person Yukon Wide Adventures voyageur-class team that crossed the line first in their category on June 29. It took them 44 hours and 21 minutes to traverse the 715-kilometre course from Whitehorse to Dawson City. This was Oliveira’s sixth time competing in the race and second time as part of the voyageur canoe team. Oliveira started competing in the race in 2010.

The race begins in downtown Whitehorse. Racers navigate the Yukon River north to Lake Laberge. After crossing the 50-km lake, they enter the river system again, moving until they reach the first mandatory rest stop at the village of Carmacks. After seven hours of resting, they continue on their way, passing through two sets of rapids before stopping once more for three hours at an old mining camp. This is the racers’ last chance to rest before the final push into Dawson.

Though Oliveira has placed well in the race for the last few years, and his Yukon Wide Adventures team also won the voyageur class last year, he has spent more time as a solo racer than as a part of a team. He was approached by a friend in 2016 about being part of a bigger team made up of former podium winners in the solo category. The team uses a canoe that is specially designed for this race. Oliveira took the chance to race in the bigger boat, even though his expertise was as a kayaker.

“I’ve only ever kayaked, I’ve never canoed. For me it was switching over, putting the double blade down and switching to the single blade,” he said. “It’s a whole new stroke to learn, new body mechanics. But being a coach myself it came pretty easy.”

Although people are drawn to the Yukon Quest for the seclusion and nature, one of the biggest challenges for Oliveira is not the distance and time but the lack of sleep.

“The sleep deprivation is the big one. You are paddling through the night,” he said. The race takes place near the summer solstice, so the sun does not set. “When you’re looking through the trees, things are kind of out of focus a bit, but that’s about it. The night monsters do creep in on you.”

To keep in shape for his races, Oliveira trains year round on St. Mary Lake. He will be competing again in the Canadian Downwind Championships on July 14 in Squamish, and again in Washington state a few weeks later.

For more on this story, see the July 11, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

Fire board projects major hit from MSP download

Elizabeth Nolan
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Fire board projects major hit from MSP download

The Salt Spring Fire Protection District is asking the provincial government to put its Employers Health Tax on hold until there is further study of the implications for local governments.

The improvement district is facing a 7.8 per cent increase to its operations budget in 2019 mainly due to employee wages and benefits, which account for 80 per cent of the budget. One reason for the increase stems from the proposed new tax, which will see employers cover health care costs that were formally paid as Medical Services Plan premiums.

The district already covers MSP premiums for its union employees and other paid staff. Changes to the provincial regulations mean that those premiums were reduced in 2018, but the district will have to pay both the remaining premiums and the new tax until Jan. 1, 2020.

“A $25,600 increase in 2019 for MSP expense increases payroll expenses by 1.29 per cent,” fire board chair Per Svendsen explained in a letter sent to Finance Minister Carole James, Municipal Affairs Minister Selina Robinson and Labour Minister Harry Bains. While the new tax was supposed to remove the burden of MSP premiums from regular British Columbians, Svendsen observed the cost to service organizations like improvement districts will be inevitably passed on to those same people.

“To budget increases, local governments must chose between reducing services, increasing property taxes, or a mixture of both. For the district, increased expenses will most likely be funded by increased property taxes,” Svendsen wrote.

Organizations with payrolls under $500,000 will be exempt from the new tax. Some public services, including universities, community-health and social-service providers, school districts and health authorities will receive funding to offset the cost. The exemption has not been extended to improvement districts at this time.

According to the Ministry of Finance, “improvement districts that pay MSP premiums for employees will see substantial savings from the 50 per cent cut to premiums this year and next, and elimination in 2020.”

The ministry also noted that “households that benefit from improvement district services will also be saving up to $900 or $1,800 a year on MSP premiums.”

Employee wages and benefits will be increasing next year regardless of the new tax, so the fire district is looking to avoid budget hikes as much as possible. The board passed a resolution at its June 18 meeting to limit non-payroll expenses to an increase of no greater than 2.2 per cent in 2019 compared with the 2018 budget, reflecting the change in the Consumer Price Index.

Viewpoint: Choosing Proportional Representation is the Right Choice

Contributed Article
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Viewpoint: Choosing Proportional Representation is the Right Choice

By BOB RANSFORD

Our old first-past-the-post voting system isn’t fair. It doesn’t work to support democracy. It works for political insiders. Those insiders know how to use the system to get elected without having support from the majority of all voters.

The voting system is the hardware of our representative democracy. It is supposed to elect people to government to make decisions that represent the views of not just the people who elected them, but everyone in society. Most often, provincial governments in B.C. have been handed 100 per cent of the power with less than 50 per cent of voters supporting them. Outcomes like this make it easy to ignore the public.

I know that because I’ve been an insider. I was first attracted to become a political activist 40 years ago because I believed in the fundamental principles of democracy and wanted to strengthen them. I’ve regrettably seen, close-up, democracy cast aside and, instead, party politics and political preservation prevail. That’s why I’ve long been an advocate for a new voting system that makes democracy stronger.

Soon, voters will have a chance in a referendum to scrap the first-past-the-post voting system and choose proportional representation as our new voting system.

Proportional representation will strengthen democracy and re-activate its basic principles at a time when we desperately need to make representative government work. Our individual freedoms, our human dignity and the strength of community depend on understanding that not everyone can have their way, but everyone must have a say. Voters can’t have a say if the representatives they voted for have no way of being elected as MLAs. Proportional representation will ensure that everyone’s vote counts.

Governing is all about addressing community concerns and making decisions for the welfare of all people. This is the software of our democracy. In our inter-connected world, where decisions of all kinds are becoming increasingly more complex, involving so many more diverse concerns than in the past, we’ve begun to realize we need to enhance that software by seeking more public input, embracing more diversity in our institutions and demonstrating more fairness in our decision making. So, we’ve started upgrading the software. But the old hardware — the voting system by which we choose those who govern us — has proven to be incapable of truly representing voters.

Too many people have opted out of democracy by not voting, and many more don’t feel that political activism is worthwhile because the same small group of people they didn’t vote for seem to forever hold all the decision-making power.

We will soon have an opportunity to choose a new voting system based on proportional representation and that will mean we will have the ability to elect governments that are more accountable to voters and MLAs who will put people ahead of party interests. Choosing proportional representation is the right choice.

Bob Ransford has worked in the national government of Brian Mulroney and in a B.C. Social Credit provincial government. He was a founding director 20 years ago of Fair Voting BC. He lives in Steveston.

Editorial: Creeping bureaucracy

Driftwood Staff
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Editorial: Creeping bureaucracy

Capital Regional District senior staff on Salt Spring have made it abundantly clear they don’t have enough time to work on all the issues under their vast portfolio at once.

That seems to indicate they would accept a little help from the volunteer commissions that were established to ensure community involvement in local government decisions.

Lately though, some commissioners may be feeling less like valued participants in the governance process and more like children who get slapped for trying to head down the block in dad’s shiny work shoes. A warning letter sent from the CRD’s Victoria office last week to members of the Salt Spring Transportation Commission has exactly that tone.

Acting CAO Larissa Hutcheson chided commissioners for going outside their authority and incurring potential personal liability as a result, taking a hardline approach that will surely rub many the wrong way.

The bewildering thing about the rebuke is that the crime — collaborating with a community group seeking unique handcrafted bus shelter designs — replicates something the commission has done once before on its own, and from within the CRD envelope. No one is proposing the exact same process be followed a second time. In fact, the newly formed volunteer group Island Bus Shelters intends to learn from past mistakes. They have asked for “design-build” concepts using a framework based precisely on previous CRD staff feedback. Yet the idea is apparently now impossible to accommodate.

Yes, local commissions are “advisory” bodies who must filter their decisions through the higher-ups. That doesn’t mean they don’t or shouldn’t do the legwork required to pass on their recommendations. Senior staff should realize volunteers have an important role to play in the non-municipal areas of the regional district. But they won’t be likely to sign up if their work is dismissed or never gets any results. We’ve seen Salt Spring residents resign from multiple commissions for those reasons.

Bureaucracy for its own sake is not valuable, and it’s not supportable in a small community. CRD director Wayne McIntyre is working to change attitudes by bringing the organization’s highest staffer to Salt Spring. Let’s hope he gets the message across so our unique, decentralized form of government can keep functioning.

TOYNBEE, Barbara (Laurence)

Driftwood Obituary
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TOYNBEE, Barbara (Laurence)

Barbara (Laurence) Toynbee
1923 – 2018

On Saturday morning, July 7th, our Mom slipped away gently and comfortably, surrounded by her loving children and the beautiful plants and flowers on her patio, with the sun shining down. It was exactly as she wanted.

Barbara lived a long, full and fortunate life. She was born in Prince George, October 5, 1923, the middle of seven children (Jack, Yvonne, Robert, Barbara, Jimmy, Muriel and David). Barbara was raised in Edson, Alberta and left to attend the University of Toronto, where she received her bachelor’s degree. During the war, she served four years as an Officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force. She then moved to Vancouver to complete her studies in Social Work at UBC, where she met Richard Toynbee.

Richard and Barbara were married in Vancouver September 10, 1948 and soon moved to Kemano and on to Terrace in northern BC. There, they began raising seven children of their own and enjoyed a wonderful life among many young families in the pioneering community.

In 1967, the family moved to Richard’s beloved Salt Spring Island, where they became shareholders of Mouat’s Trading Co., and Barbara assumed management of Mouat’s clothing department.

Barbara loved their busy life on Salt Spring, involved with Mouat’s, the vegetable garden, the School Board, boating, social events with dear friends and community members and opportunities for travel throughout the world — a passion for Barbara and Richard.

They were married for 63 years when Richard died in 2011. Barbara felt blessed with her life, her children: Frances, Nicola (Kevin), Richard (Deborah), Jane (Dave), Jessie, Katharine (Mark) and David (Chris), 20 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren, for whom she served as an example of strength of conviction, devoted care, humour, courage and dignity. She dearly loved all her family.

Thank you to Tracy Stibbards for her loving care of our Mom and to the doctors who professionally and respectfully supported Mom’s wishes.

A Celebration of Life to take place in the fall.

OWEN, Sharon (Edith Sharon Ann)

Driftwood Obituary
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Sharon (Edith Sharon Ann) Owen
(Mama Bear)

Sharon died suddenly and peacefully at Cowichan Regional Hospital on Wednesday, June 27, 2018.

She is survived by her husband of 37 years, Terry and her son Thomas.
The family would like to thank the staff of the Cowichan Regional Hospital, Cowichan Reginal Centre and Dr. Toth, Dr. R. Carson and Dr. Ron Reznick.

The family will be hosting a Celebration of Life for Sharon at the Royal Canadian Legion on July 19, 2018 at 12 pm.

We are filled with sorrow but rich with memories of a wonderful loving mother and life partner.

MARON, Lena Marie

Driftwood Obituary
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MARON, Lena Marie

Lena Marie Maron
1972 ~ 2018

Our beloved Lena, so painful not to have you here with us. Your loving kindness, openness, strength, and grace touched so many. You were so brave and inspirational in your battle.

Your departure is unbearable for Hunter, your son; Roberta, your mother; your sister Jesse, who you supported so much; your brothers, Luke (Jaxun, Lucia, Travis, and Andrea) and Billy; your other sisters, Melissa and Heron; Wayne and Becca (Tyger); your aunts Anne, Clare, and Kimi, and your uncle TV and so many friends who loved you so much because you were such a remarkable giving person.

Even though you had such a wide circle of friends, you were the glue that connected us. We pray you are in a place to smile down on us and support us in our journey through life. We will hold you in our hearts forever.

LYNGARD, Donald Jack

Driftwood Obituary
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LYNGARD, Donald Jack

Donald Jack Lyngard
January 23, 1933 – June 26, 2018

With heavy hearts we announce that Donald, better known to his family and friends as Jack, died peacefully in his home in Qualicum Beach on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.

He leaves behind to forever miss him, his wife of 61 years, Barbara (Coopsie) Lyngard; children, Danna (James) Hadden and Pauline (Darren Rieberger) Lyngard; grandchildren, Daniel Brandsma, David Brandsma, Kyle Fraser, Michael Fraser; great grandchildren, Ethan Brandsma, Zoey Brandsma, and Abigail Brandsma; brother, Dalbert (Mary) Lyngard; sister, Daphne Shera; nieces and nephews, Evelyn, Cecelia, Deloris, Darlene; Douglas, Denise and Dianne Lyngard; David Shera; David, Steven and Alan Coopsie; close friends, Jerry and Barbara Annable, Ted and Shirley Moller, Ross and Mary Lou Green, Jacquie and Delmar Dahlstrom, Bonnie Clarke, Agnes Cunningham, Elsa Drummond as well as many many other friends and extended family members.

Jack was predeceased by his parents, John and Pearl Lyngard; sisters, Dolly Lyngard, Doreen Garbutt; brother, Dale Lyngard; niece, Dawn Lyngard, and nephew, Eric Coopsie.

Jack led a full and dynamic career as a marine engineer with the Royal Canadian Navy and BC Ferries and spent many satisfying years as a bush pilot.

He enjoyed spending time with his wife, daughters, grandsons and great grandchildren and lived life to the fullest. Jack will be sadly missed by his family and friends but his great stories, memories, accomplishments, and love for all of us will live on forever.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, September 8, 2018 from 1:00 to 3:00 pm at the Vimy Community Hall, 3968 Gibbins Road in Duncan, BC. In lieu of flowers those wishing to honour Jack’s memory may do so by making a donation in his name to a charity of your choice.

To send a condolence to the family please visit www.yatesfuneral.ca

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