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PR info event set for Saturday night

Gail Sjuberg
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PR info event set for Saturday night

A panel discussion on the upcoming electoral reform referendum will be held at the Legion’s Meaden Hall on Saturday, June 16.

Running from 6 to 8:30 p.m., events will include short presentations from panelists and an audience question and answer session.

A Make Every Voter Count Society representative will present on the specifics and different options of the upcoming referendum. Local Green party MLA Adam Olsen will represent his party, Bob MacKie of Salt Spring will speak from Fair Voting BC and Gary Holman will represent the NDP party in the panel. GISS student Fraser Byers, who founded the province-wide Youth for PR organization, and Green party MP Elizabeth May will also be in attendance.

“I think the tack that we’re all taking on this is that question one is the important question: ‘Do you want it, or don’t you?’ I think that’s going to be the main focus for most people,” said MacKie.

The referendum is being held to determine whether or not British Columbians want to change to a proportional representation electoral system. Four options are on the table: staying with first past the post, or changing to one of three different PR options. However, the main question will be whether or not to change from the current system.

“I think the key point is the fact that people who are unsure can try it. They can have the experience of seeing it,” MacKie said. “There will be some interesting things that come out, depending on which of the three systems they decide to try.”

For more on this story, see the June 13, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

 

Valdy and big band converge at Fulford Hall

Driftwood Staff
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Valdy and big band converge at Fulford Hall

Valdy is teaming up with the Swing Shift Big Band for a one-night only unique musical event called Valdy Goes Big Band.

The show runs this Saturday, June 16 at Fulford Community Hall. Music starts at 7:30 p.m. with doors open at 7.

“Fans will hear Valdy as they’ve never heard him before,” said Swing Shift director and trumpet player Derrick Milton.

While Milton and Valdy have performed together several times over the years, Milton said they decided “it was time for a bigger collaboration so that Valdy could stretch his jazz wings.”

That saw local arrangers Mike Reveley, Keith Ollerenshaw, Monik Nordine and others recruited to arrange some of Valdy’s music for a full 16-piece accompaniment.

Traditionalists will still get a chance to hear Valdy alone with his guitar, and hear Swing Shift alone, playing big band favourites of Glen Miller, Cole Porter, Charles Mingus and others. Special guests joining in for a couple of tunes include the Salt Spring Andrews Sisters, AKA Sue Newman, Caroni Young and Margo Milton.

“Most Salt Springers know Valdy personally, involved as he is in almost every community endeavour,” said Derrick Milton. “Other Salt Springers may know him for the hugely successful musical career that took him around the globe.”

Valdy is still one of the hardest working people in the music business, touring across the country regularly, playing festivals and theatres of all sizes. With Valdy’s 16 albums, 22 singles and multiple Juno awards he has become a Canadian household name.

Unique She Shed Tour initiated on Salt Spring

Gail Sjuberg
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Unique She Shed Tour initiated on Salt Spring

Salt Spring is getting ready for another “first,” with the She Shed Tour ready to roll on Sunday, June 24.

Susan Wetmore is one of the organizers of the inaugural event. She searched high and low but could not find an example of a she shed tour held anywhere else in the world, so concludes this must be an original undertaking.

The self-guided tour, running from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., includes 14 different properties where visitors will be greeted by the creative women behind the structures.

The tour idea arose from a conversation Wetmore had with Adina Hildebrandt of Salt Spring Books. Talking about some she-shed books in the store, Wetmore said they thought it would be great to organize a fundraiser that celebrates the she shed and the women who have created and use them.

“The concept of the she shed is very popular,” Wetmore said.

She sheds are spaces where women can get away from the demands of daily life. Some are used for meditation, writing, entertaining, quiet reading or arts and crafts activities, and for the June 24 tour, welding and blacksmithing are also included.

“The tour is very fitting for an island with lots of creative energy,” she said.

Wetmore hopes other women will be excited by the spaces they visit on June 24 and be motivated to make their own. Men and children are also welcome on the tour, of course.

SWOVA will benefit from funds raised. SWOVA is a 22-year-old non-profit society whose education programs and research activities promote healthy and non-violent relationships with a focus on youth empowerment.

Tickets with maps are available at Salt Spring Books. People with questions can send an email to ssiSheSheds@gmail.com.

Provincial housing task force to visit Salt Spring

Driftwood Staff
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Provincial housing task force to visit Salt Spring

Salt Spring Islanders are invited to share their ideas on how to ensure the availability of safe, secure and affordable rental housing at an upcoming meeting with the provincial Rental Housing Task Force.

Appointed by Premier John Horgan, the task force will visit Salt Spring on Friday, June 22 as one of the stops on its tour of communities with acute housing needs. The members are MLA Spencer Chandra Herbert, who will chair the task force, and fellow representatives Adam Olsen and Ronna-Rae Leonard.

Community meetings held in each location will give citizens the chance to make suggestions on how to improve rental housing laws and policies for both renters and landlords to make the situation more fair and secure. 

The primary audience for the sessions is rental housing providers and renters. Salt Spring’s meeting will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Lions Hall and will be facilitated as a workshop. Each group will share perspectives with the goal of identifying solutions and ideas for the task force to consider as they develop their recommendations.

Feedback will help inform the task force’s report and recommendations to Premier Horgan and Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Selina Robinson this fall.

Participants should register in advance through engage.gov.bc.ca/rentalhousingtaskforce or by sending an email to rentalhousing.taskforce@gov.bc.ca that includes their name and the location of the community meeting.

Those who can’t attend a community meeting session can contribute feedback online anytime before before July 6 at 4 p.m.

Peter Prince’s Bhutan film screens at library

Gail Sjuberg
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Peter Prince’s Bhutan film screens at library

A new documentary by a Salt Spring Island filmmaker will be premiering at the library on June 13 at 7 p.m.

Called Bhutan: The Kind Kingdom, it was filmed and directed by Peter Prince. It is a look into the kingdom, its culture, environmentalism and its relationship to the natural world. It also celebrates at the black necked crane, which is indigenous to Bhutan, and the efforts to save the endangered bird’s habitat.

“I just wanted to make a film that highlighted the beauty of Bhutan, but also to share their message,” Prince said. “They’re like a model to the rest of the world in terms of their policies towards the environment.”

Prince was inspired to make the film by a series of Robert Bateman paintings. There are only 15 species of crane in the world, and Bateman has done a painting of each one.

“He came and brought a delegation of two members from the [Bhutanese] Royal Society for the Protection of Nature and Dr. George Archibald from the International Crane Foundation to ArtSpring. I made a little video for them at the time and he encouraged me to go there and make a film about it,” Prince said.

Prince was in the country in 2003 when he shot most of the footage. Some of the footage also came from various agencies and organizations involved in the conservation effort.

“Bhutan is like a cinematographer’s dream. It’s so beautiful,” he said.

Bhutan is a country in the Himalayas. It is a Buddhist kingdom that promotes happiness amongst its citizens, rather than monetary wealth. The kingdom is the only country in the world that measures its wealth by using the Gross National Happiness Index. Its borders weren’t opened to tourism until 1974, and only a small number of foreign visitors are allowed in per year.

“It’s an incredible vision, which is not something that every country would be able to emulate,” Prince said. “Bhutan is like an island in a sea of millions or billions of people. It is sandwiched between China and India, and somehow they’ve been able to maintain their culture and their ways of doing things.”

Prince says that Salt Spring Island has a lot in common with Bhutan. The Bhutanese revere nature and their connection to the land, which is a lesson he thinks should be passed on.

“They’re inclined to seeing the spiritual link between humans and nature,” Prince said. “They have a richness in memories that goes back centuries.”

The black necked crane in particular is important to Bhutanese culture. The birds spend the summers high in the mountain ranges and come down to winter in the lower elevations of the Phobjikha Valley in central Bhutan.

The Bhutanese people are very spiritual and believe that the cranes are reincarnates of their ancestors. When the cranes return to the valleys it is considered a blessing and celebrations take place throughout the country. Prince’s film opens with a scene of Buddhist lamas blessing the return of the cranes.

“It’s a mantra that gives thanks to the cranes and the blessings that they bestow on the land,” Prince said. “They believe that the cranes are a good omen and are a symbol of peace.”

CLEMENTS, Yvette Anntoinette (nee Seynaeve)

Driftwood Obituary
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CLEMENTS, Yvette Anntoinette (nee Seynaeve)

Yvette Anntoinette (nee Seynaeve) Clements
June 4, 2018

Yvette passed away peacefully on June 4th, 2018, at the Lady Minto Hospital on Salt Spring Island, BC.

Yvette is survived by Jack, her loving husband of 71 years, son Dan (Joan) and daughter Carol (Toby) – also her sister Jenny, her grandchildren Chris (Rebecca), Kate (Martin), Kane, Emma and Natalie and great-grandchildren Isla, Breony and Emmett. Yvette also leaves behind close extended family and devoted friends.
Born in New Westminster and growing up in Surrey, she later spent some time in Coquitlam – but Yvette had called her rose covered cottage in Vesuvius Bay home for the last 43 years.  From an early age, she was self-taught in many creative pursuits – sewing, knitting, quilting, gardening and rug hooking – Salt Spring was the perfect place to indulge and nurture her interests.
Yvette was always up for an adventure. Throughout her life, she and Jack travelled to over 30 countries and she never tired of seeing new views. Whether by land, sea or air, everything was interesting to her.
A special thank you to the staff at Lady Minto, Greenwoods and Heritage Place.  And extra love to Hanna and Minzie for their commitment and TLC.

A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, July 8th at 2 pm at the United Church in Ganges.

If you wish, donations can be made to Greenwoods Eldercare, Lady Minto Hospital or the Alzheimer’s Society of BC.

MURRILL, Kim (Kimmy)

Driftwood Obituary
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MURRILL, Kim (Kimmy)

Kim Murrill (Kimmy)
June 3, 2018

A beautiful soul has left this earth…her spirit and love for everyone will live on through all who knew and loved her. Her joyful embraces, her laughter and kindness will be remembered always.
Fill your heart with love and send our blessed Kimmy on her journey to the spirit world with prayers for peace and love in the world…

A celebration of life will be planned for family and friends in the coming months.

HAENEN, Lola

Driftwood Obituary
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HAENEN, Lola

Lola Haenen
July 16, 1922 – May 28, 2018

Lola left us in her 96th year of life at 9:09 pm on Monday night, May 28th, 2018 during the Flower Full Moon. It was a peaceful death surrounded by her family and her youngest, great-granddaughter dancing nearby. The family is very appreciative of the wonderful staff at Braehaven and Greenwoods who have cared so well for Lola these past years, her doctors and especially the amazing nurses and caregivers at Greenwoods who attended so lovingly to her needs during her last days.

Helen Dolores Noel Gibb was born on July 16th, 1922 in Tuxpan, Mexico and moved with her older brother James, sister Patricia and parents to Nevis, West Indies. There another sister, Mary joined the family. Lola had an adventurous childhood in the West Indies – she loved its people and music, gorgeous flowers, fruit and wonderful places to swim. Lola became one of the first flight attendants in the West Indies. She joined the first contingent of women to volunteer for the war effort, becoming a WREN and working to deliver secret messages to Churchill during WWII. After the war, Lola moved to Indonesia with her Dutch husband and infant son Michael. Her second son, Gerrit (Sky) was born in Jakarta. After leaving Indonesia the family returned to Europe briefly then moved to Canada to settle in Quebec where her daughters Diana and Virginia were born.

It is in Quebec that Lola became a well-known potter, teaching and exhibiting her unique salt-fired sculpture and tableware in Montreal, Ottawa and Vermont. After raising her four children she moved to Galiano Island in 1979 where she lived in her small cottage surrounded by a gorgeous garden. Lola was greatly loved by the Galiano community – by the families for whom she babysat, the young children who came to her pottery classes and her artist, choir and book club friends. She taught yoga classes as well – until the age of 83! When she needed support, Lola moved to Salt Spring and made new friends at Braehaven and Greenwoods. She joined in on all the activities offered, was occasionally feisty but maintained her sense of humour and enjoyed the friendship of her caregivers.

Lola’s long life was made special by the many people she befriended along the way. She loved traveling, experiencing other cultures and meeting new people. She will be greatly missed but her legacy lives on in her sons and daughters, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

There will be a celebration of Lola’s life on Sunday, October 7, 2018
at Galiano’s South Community Hall. If desired, donations my be made to
Greenwoods in support of their wonderful eldercare work.

World Oceans Day an ideal time for raising awareness

Contributed Article
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World Oceans Day an ideal time for raising awareness

By ANN DONAHUE

Everyone is familiar with Earth Day, but did you know that June 8 is World Oceans Day?

In 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro,  the government of Canada brought forward the concept of a World Oceans Day. Following a few years of petitioning from various organizations, the UN passed a resolution in 2008 declaring June 8 the official World Oceans Day. Since then, the Ocean Project promotes the recognition of the day and  encourages communities around the world to celebrate the importance of protecting this important resource. The project also selects an annual theme to focus on. This year it is prevention of plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for a healthy ocean.

Plastic pollution is one of the major threats to the health of our oceans. The accumulation of plastic in our oceans is endangering a multitude of marine species that ingest the plastic or become entangled in it. The plastic that is leaked in our waters in the form of microbeads can also carry pollutants that are highly toxic to any form of life. We are still learning a lot about plastic pollution in the oceans but we know that we need to do something about it now.

We are all connected to the ocean, especially here in the Gulf Islands. Take the time to celebrate our ocean on June 8 and invite the younger generation to join in!

Here are suggestions for how to create awareness and curiosity about the ocean with young children:

1) Go for a beach cleaning walk.

Go to a local beach and take a walk, observing any sea life. Pick up any garbage you come across and talk about how garbag, especially plastics, pollute our oceans and what that means for sea life.

2) Reduce use of plastic.

Discuss with your children which plastic items could be eliminated in their lives and how to replace them.

3) Listen to sounds of the sea.

Go to: cetus.ucsd.edu/voicesinthesea_org and listen to the various animal sounds and play one of the proposed games.

4) Watch Nemo with a different viewpoint.

Watch Nemo and identify the “real” name of the characters, i.e. species, and find out more info on your child’s favourite character.

5) Visit the Salt Spring Public Library special ocean-themed book display and participate in the draw to win a copy of my book called Dive into Colours.

For more information about ocean issues, visit www.worldoceansday.org.

The writer is a retired Salt Spring teacher, a diver and author of Dive into Colours.

Trust advances Croftonbrook housing project

Gail Sjuberg
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Trust advances Croftonbrook housing project

A rezoning bylaw for expansion of the Croftonbrook affordable housing complex was given second reading by the Salt Spring Local Trust Committee on Thursday.

Despite the project’s water system not yet receiving the required approval from Island Health, LTC members were convinced that holding back the project for that reason was not necessary.

“If this doesn’t pan out — there isn’t enough water — they simply aren’t going to be able to proceed because they are not going to get approval [from other agencies],” concluded LTC chair Peter Luckham after a lengthy discussion with Trust staff and representatives of the proponent, Island Women Against Violence.

As IWAV project team member Janis Gauthier explained, not having rezoning in place before proceeding to the next approval phases would be extremely troublesome for the project.

She noted that BC Housing, which is providing the bulk of the project’s funding, has strong monitoring processes so that the development will not proceed as planned without the water issue being dealt with.

Although the existing 20 Croftonbrook seniors affordable housing suites are serviced by an existing North Salt Spring Waterworks District connection, NSSWD would not agree to supply the new units with potable water. That means IWAV is in the process of getting approval from Island Health and the Capital Regional District for an alternate water supply, which proposes to use a combination of groundwater and rainwater as sources. Various water-saving measures are also in the plan, with NSSWD water available for firefighting purposes.

Salt Spring trustees George Grams and Peter Grove expressed support for the project at Thursday’s LTC meeting at Lions Hall, and tweaked wording of the suggested motions to remove water approval as a roadblock at this point.

Bylaw 507 will rezone the property from its current agriculture and residential zones to a new Residential 1(b) variation. The rezoning would allow construction of 34 affordable housing units plus office use in two of Croftonbrook’s existing 20 units of seniors housing. A further project phase would add another 20 units.

A community information meeting and public hearing will now be scheduled before further bylaw readings are considered.

For more on this story, see the June 13 issue of the Driftwood newspaper. 

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