Salt Spring RCMP have received two reports of cougar sightings in recent days.

The first was reported on Booth Canal Road on June 20, when the photo accompanying this story was taken, and then another on Wednesday, June 25 at 1:30 p.m. on Maliview Drive.

Salt Spring RCMP Sgt. Clive Seabrook said the B.C. Conservation Office has been contacted.

“They are monitoring the situation, but based on the cougar’s behaviour, Conservation does not intend to take any action at this time,” said Seabrook.

If people are concerned about a cougar’s behaviour, they can contact the B.C. Conservation Officer service at 1-877-952-7277.

——————————————–

The following guidelines for what to do when encountering a cougar are from the B.C. government’s Environmental Protection and Sustainability website:

Stay calm and keep the cougar in view, pick up children immediately. Children frighten easily and the noise and movements they make could provoke an attack. Back away slowly, ensuring that the animal has a clear avenue of escape.

Make yourself look as large as possible and keep the cougar in front of you at all times. Never run or turn your back on a cougar, sudden movement may provoke an attack.

If a cougar shows interest or follows you, respond aggressively, maintain eye contact with the cougar, show your teeth and make loud noises. Arm yourself with rocks or sticks as weapons.

If a cougar attacks, fight back, convince the cougar you are a threat and not prey, use anything you can as a weapon.  Focus your attack on the cougar’s face and eyes. Use rocks, sticks, bear spray or personal belongings as weapons. You are trying to convince the cougar that you are a threat, and are not prey.

Salt Spring’s Local Community Commission (LCC) has voted to join a growing chorus of officials advocating for Vesuvius-based ferry crews — pushing for what they call a compromise in the face of possible local job losses. 

The MV Quinsam is scheduled for replacement by 2027, BC Ferries has said, as two diesel-hybrid Island Class ferries move to Route 6, sailing between the Vesuvius Bay and Crofton terminals, an expanded two-ship service the ferry company said will meet growing demand and reduce traffic congestion on both ends.  

Each of the planned vessels — the Island Gwawis and the Island K’ulut’a — has space to hold 47 vehicles and around 400 passengers if crewing permits, according to BC Ferries; with roughly the same foot passenger capacity, Quinsam can hold 63 vehicles. 

But while islanders may look forward to the new service, a plan to “homeport” both vessels on the Crofton side threatens the jobs of Salt Spring-based workers, according to B.C. Ferry and Marine Workers’ Union president Eric McNeely, who warned that of the 21 regular employee positions currently crewing the Quinsam, 18 are based on Salt Spring — and the remaining three are backfilled by casuals and “mobile regulars” from across the island. 

“There will be zero ship-based positions in Vesuvius if both vessels homeport in Crofton,” said McNeely.  

Pressed by Salt Spring Island Capital Regional District (CRD) director Gary Holman and in turn by a vote of the CRD’s Electoral Areas Committee, CRD board chair Cliff McNeil-Smith sent a letter to BC Ferries CEO Nicolas Jimenez on behalf of the broader board Tuesday, June 17, urging the ferry company to reconsider — and proposing a “dual homeporting arrangement” supported by the union to preserve those Salt Spring jobs. 

BC Ferries has said Salt Spring crew members would have the option to ride to Crofton for their shifts on the first vessel each day, starting their work aboard the second. McNeely pointed out that adding two hours of “unpaid commuting” to each workday was an unsustainable change that will push employees to leave the island. 

“This plan wasn’t shared widely by BC Ferries,” said LCC member Brian Webster at the commission’s meeting Thursday, June 19. “They have not spoken to a single elected representative on Salt Spring. They don’t recognize there is local government on Salt Spring Island at all.” 

Holman said the ferry company quietly announced its plans shortly after BC Ferries abruptly dissolved Salt Spring’s Ferry Advisory Committee — a group that historically would’ve offered local input before such actions were taken. In addition to the CRD Board, Holman said he had been speaking with Islands Trust chair Laura Patrick and MLA Rob Botterell, who both indicated some support. Holman said Botterell told him he’d met with Jimenez and described the conversation as “very polite, but no indication of compromise.” 

“And [dual homeporting] is exactly how the Island Class ferries at Gabriola and Nanaimo are,” said Holman. “One is stationed at each terminal.” 

In recent years the Vesuvius-Crofton route has seen problems from inconsistent staffing, sometimes leading to sailing delays and cancellations; BC Ferries has said it believes a shift to Crofton homeporting would grow its employee base for the route, drawing from a larger pool of potential crew from Vancouver Island. 

But the Island Gwawis and Island K’ulut’a can also be operated as all-electric vessels, part of a fleet-wide BC Ferries effort to reduce emissions — and the eventual shift away from fossil fuels would require significant charging infrastructure, possibly explaining the company’s reluctance to upgrade terminals on two islands rather than just one. 

“The upgrades at Crofton terminal will allow BC Ferries to consider electrification on Route 6 in the future,” said BC Ferries senior communications advisor Sheila Reynolds, “provided BC Hydro deems it feasible.” 

In a May 29 press release, BC Ferries announced it was working with BC Hydro to install shore-based rapid charging infrastructure for Island Class ferries at the Nanaimo Harbour terminal, “on track” for electrification by summer 2026. 

According to the ferry company, the battery energy storage capacity of the Island Class ferries is currently 800 kWh, and can be upgraded to a maximum of 2,000 kWh — by comparison almost 27 times the capacity of a “long-range” Tesla Model 3.  

And while the ferry’s effective all-electric range has not been specifically discussed, in a 2021 interview former BC Ferries president and CEO Mark Collins said early testing showed the fuel-efficient hybrids could sail for about 45 minutes on battery alone — making it unlikely even an upgraded vessel would complete a full day’s sailings without requiring shore-side recharging. 

BC Ferries’ cost estimates for a ferry charging station are confidential, Reynolds said, to ensure a fair and competitive bid process, as the company is still in the tendering phase for some of its shoreline electrification projects. A 2021 estimate from BC Ferries planned a high-level budget of $150 million to add charging infrastructure to nine terminals — a number unlikely to have fallen since. 

Meanwhile, LCC members are working to coordinate with the Local Trust Committee on another letter to Jimenez, meant to demonstrate the breadth of local support for dual homeporting and, Webster said, to tell BC Ferries, “We exist, and it’s important for you to connect with us.” 

Jimenez will be on Salt Spring Island to participate in ASK Salt Spring on Friday, June 27 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at SIMS. 

Editor’s note: BC Ferries has advised that this story contains an inaccurate comment from Local Community Commission (LCC) member Brian Webster made at a June 19 public meeting, i.e. “This plan wasn’t shared widely by BC Ferries. They have not spoken to a single elected representative on Salt Spring. They don’t recognize there is local government on Salt Spring Island at all.”
BC Ferries says the homeporting issue was included in an April 15, 2025 meeting attended by some local government officials, including CRD director Gary Holman. However, the four other LCC members were not invited to participate and did not know about the meeting.

A follow-up story on the homeporting issue and other ferry matters will be on this website and in the Driftwood newspaper on July 9.

The Islands Trust Council plans to table first reading of a new draft of its official Policy Statement before August, hoping to advance a rekindled amendment process 30 years in the making and conclude it before the next election. 

An update to the Policy Statement — intended to revise the guiding document to address issues such as the climate crisis, growing housing needs and the Trust’s commitment to reconciliation with local First Nations — has long been on pause, most recently due to backlash in 2021 over a proposed draft many islanders felt had been rushed. 

Under a revised timeframe approved during their three-day quarterly gathering held on Salt Spring Island June 17-19, Trust Council has set two electronic meetings it hopes will wrap up the current stage of proceedings: a Committee of the Whole meeting Wednesday, July 9, for trustees to receive legal advice following a review of the draft by Islands Trust’s legal counsel; and a special meeting of Trust Council Tuesday, July 29, to give a first reading to the draft that emerges. 

The two electronic meetings are necessary, according to staff, to achieve this Trust Council’s stated goal of adopting a bylaw enshrining the new Policy Statement before the end of the political term — a tightening schedule arguably fraught with possibilities for further delay, particularly given the difficulty of finding summertime dates where enough staff and trustees are available to hold an official meeting. 

The two days in July were selected after polling trustees, and are the best among limited choices, according to chief administrative officer Rueben Bronee, who noted in his report that since quorum is “barely achieved” on both days, it was critical that every trustee who indicated they would be available ensure they actually attend. 

“And I want to reiterate that these next two meetings are simply preparing a document for public and First Nations comment,” said Trust Area Services director Clare Frater. “This is the beginning of the next chapter; it is in no way concluding the project. It’s simply your agreement that the document is sufficiently developed to invite comment on it.” 

Trustees and staff have been grappling with reworking language in the document over several months, effectively translating dozens of individual resolutions and First Nations input into changes meant to improve structure and readability, even while addressing evolving Trust Area concerns — an exhaustive process spanning multiple council and committee meetings. 

All that work preceded what may be an even thornier “general public” phase of the process; official public engagement on the Policy Statement is in a holding pattern of sorts until Trust Council gives first reading to the draft changes — at which point a communications and engagement plan will ramp up, beginning what is expected to be at least a six-month period of referrals to Indigenous governing bodies, regional districts, the Islands Trust Conservancy Board and Local Trust Committees, alongside a Trust-wide survey and what will doubtless be town halls held on every island. 

“And then you can have an opportunity to revise it again at second reading, and revise it again at third reading,” said Frater, “before you consider adoption later in the term.” 

The timeline trustees approved last week anticipates those later readings taking place in early spring, with the possibility of referring a proposed bylaw to the province — alongside a final First Nations engagement report — in April 2026. That would increase the likelihood of adopting the new Policy Statement officially by late fall, according to a staff report. 

But even during the part of the process trustees have characterized as merely a “listening mode,” members of the public — and various advocacy groups — haven’t been shy about weighing in early.  This month’s Trust Council meeting was no exception, as islanders lined up during the public comment period to commend — or excoriate — trustees’ priorities.  

Several took the Islands Trust to task for what they felt was insufficient response to the shortage of affordable housing for workers — with many blaming trustees less than the structure of the body itself, particularly for its relevance to Salt Spring Island and its larger population.  

One delegation, from the Friends of the Gulf Islands, presented a nearly 1,000-signature petition which among other things urged trustees — and Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon — to not approve the new Policy Statement “until it affirms that the term ‘environment’ in the legislated object of the Islands Trust Act refers specifically to the natural environment, not residential development or infrastructure.” 

And Saanich North and the Islands MLA Rob Botterell — who himself served as a trustee in the 1980s — took part of his time addressing Trust Council June 18 to weigh in, offering advice he said was built from his recent experience in provincial government 

“You may want to get on with stuff, but my experience in getting to ‘yes’ on extremely complex items, where there’s strong differences of opinion, is to treat everybody — as I’m sure you will — equitably, build that consent and build that consensus,” said Botterell. “The world won’t end if you take a lot more time than you can imagine, both with First Nations and residents of the Trust, in terms of consulting on the new Policy Statement.” 

Links to agendas and viewing opportunities for the July 9 and 29 online meetings should soon be available at islandstrust.bc.ca. 

Council to bring

First Nations into process

earlier on future updates 

 Whatever changes may be ahead for the Islands Trust Policy Statement, a small amendment to that body’s strategic plan should have an outsized effect on cooperation with First Nations on future ones — and signal to subsequently elected trustees that the guiding policy document may be less immutable than its long tenure suggests. 

It has been three decades since the last meaningful update to the Policy Statement was done, and as Trust Council met Tuesday, June 17 at what may be among the last Trust-wide gatherings of representatives before a first reading of the new document, it voted to approve a Trust Programs Committee recommendation to add a “key initiative” to the strategic plan — specifically laying out an intent to work with Indigenous governing bodies to “co-design and implement future Policy Statement amendment review processes that ensure ongoing and more regular review and amendment” of the document. 

“I think we’re all aware this is meant to be a living document that’s amended regularly,” said Trust Area Services director Clare Frater, “not at 30-year intervals.” 

The change is a response to specific feedback from Quw’utsun Nation members — particularly Lyackson First Nation — that the Trust’s unilateral project management decisions have resulted in timelines insufficient for proper consideration and input from Indigenous governing bodies, according to a staff report.  

The new plan aims to bring First Nations into the amendment process itself, rather than simply seeking comment once amendments are proposed. Frater said it also further underlines that every new Trust Council should be considering whether the Policy Statement needs changes. 

“This will certainly assist staff as we go back out and have those conversations to help everyone, including the public, understand that while you might be adopting this document — hopefully in this term — there’s every opportunity in the future to keep amending it,” said Frater, “hopefully more incrementally than what we’re doing now.”