Gulf Islands’

Giving The Coast A Collective Voice For 25 Years Volume 26 Number 9 May 15—May 28, 2014 $2 at Selected Retailers Canadian Publications Mail Product Sales Agreement Nº 40020421

Photo: Patrick Brown Western Canada Marine Response Corporation’s 50-foot Burrard Cleaner Nº9, tied up at Bedwell Harbour while participating in an oil spill training exercise near Boundary Pass. The corporation is tasked with oil spill cleanup along 2,700 kilometres of BC’s Pacific coast. Can University of Victoria lead the way News In Brief - Patrick Brown Local elections every four years; no spending on divesting fossil fuels?- Carol Linnitt limits yet Professors at the University of Victoria (UVic) student, Divest UVic student organizer, and Bills 20 and 21 introduced in the BC legislature would set local elections (after November 15 this are demanding the school's administration chair of the UVic student society, said such year) on the third Saturday in October, every four years (this would include the Islands Trust freeze all new investment in fossil fuels and strong faculty support for the campaign comes and Regional Districts). There would be no term limits for elected officials, and no provision for initiate a three-year divestment of all fossil fuel as a surprise. ‘I am floored. I am so blown proportional representation. holdings. away,’ she told online news site DeSmog There would be no spending limits (yet) for candidates, local political parties, or third parties The university endowment fund has Canada. (Enbridge is reported to have spent $4.50 per registered elector on the recent Kitimat plebiscite); approximately $21 million currently invested ‘Our goal was to have 100 faculty sign on by There will be no donation caps, but all donors giving over $50 must be identified. The government in fossil fuels. end of April. We blew that target out of the has promised that there will be a ‘second phase’ (after this fall’s elections) which will include In an open letter addressed to Lisa Hill, water as we are already at 160, representing spending limits, but hasn’t said when or how much. chair of the University of Victoria Foundation just shy of 20%,’ she said. Nearly 2,000 UVic Gabriola ferries take longer midday break, and copied to university president Jamie students have signed a petition in support of Cassels, faculty members voiced concerns over the divestment campaign. stretch schedule the ethical and financial viability of fossil fuel ‘I’ve been organizing on campus at the The Gabriola Ferry Advisory Committee next meets on May 27, to review the results of ‘tweaking’ investments, noting ‘the growing North University of Victoria on various the schedule to reduce the number of runs, to comply with the Minister of Transportation. American movement, led by students, to see environmental issues for the past five years, Problems with a proposed reduced schedule related to cutting early morning and late evening their universities act as moral leaders for their and I have never seen something light up the runs. Negotiations with BC Ferries have resulted in a longer early afternoon break, during which communities by disinvesting from such campus like divestment has,’ said Mech. ‘I’m crews will change over, and early morning and late evening runs will have small schedule companies.’ beyond thrilled, and so grateful for everyone adjustments. Kelsey Mech, Salt Spring’s Gulf Islands who is willing to take a public stand for our Gabriola travellers can refer to creative community websites showing Best Times to Travel, the Gabriola FerryCam (so you can see the line-up) and a map showing Where the Ferry is Now. Secondary School graduate, award-winnning DIVESTING please turn to page 11 NEWS IN BRIEF, please turn to page 10 is at these SERIOUS COFFEE locations — look for the ‘Island Tides’ yellow boxes outside or racks inside! Sidney—Beacon Avenue Nanaimo—VI Conference Centre Parksville—Heritage Centre Mall South Duncan—Sun Valley Mall Nanaimo—Beaufort Centre Courtenay—Southgate Centre, Cliffe Avenue Nanaimo—Crnr Island Hwy @ Hammond Bay Rd Duncan—Cowichan Commons Mall Port Alberni—Shoppers Drugmart Plaza, 10th Ave Nanaimo—South Parkway Plaza Mill Bay—Island Highway @ Frayne Rd Nanaimo—Hammond Bay Rd CO-OP Campbell River—Willow Point Village Looking for Gulf Islands and East Vancouver Island customers? You’re looking at the newspaper that will do it all. Call 1.250.216.2267 today! Page 2, ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014

Site C dam review: not yes, not no- Patrick Brown report with his own take on alternatives that would involve geothermal, wind, tidal, and small-scale hydro generation, he federal-provincial Joint Review Panel environmental strongest criticism for Hydro’s failure to properly evaluate distributed throughout the province and coupled with existing report on BC Hydro’s proposed hydroelectric dam at alternatives. Noting that the dam, when built, would result in dams. This approach, he said, would yield substantial economic ‘Site C’ on the Peace River failed to draw any firm significant financial losses for an already cash-strapped public benefit to communities, especially First Nations. Tconclusion about whether it should be built or not. Instead, it utility, the panel questioned the potential for further Demand He also noted that, if Site C were built, BC Hydro would incur referred the decision right back to the BC and federal cabinets, Side Management (user conservation); the exploitation of substantial financial losses for several years, ‘accentuating the with recommendations that most of the economic and electrical ‘geographically diverse renewable resources’; the ‘optimal intergenerational pay-now, benefit-later effect’. He emphasized demand calculations should be reviewed by the BC Utilities integration of intermittent and firm resources’, and ‘climate- potential power savings from energy conservation. The result, Commission. (The proposal had been specifically exempted induced changes to hydrology’. he noted, would be energy supply that more closely follows from BCUC review by earlier BCLiberal government demand. 0 legislation.) No Conclusion Environmental Damage Finally, noted the panel, the government needed to ‘update its guidance’ on the ‘social discount rate’. All of this clearly meant Turning the tide: a people’s The Joint Review Panel (JRP) report noted that the dam would that the panel did not trust BC Hydro’s calculations, either on do significant damage to fisheries potential, wildlife habitat, and the dam or on any alternatives. agricultural lands. This damage would affect both First Nations Thus the panel’s conclusion: ‘Proponent has not fully paddle for the Salish Sea peoples and settlers on the Peace River Valley, and it could not demonstrated the need for the Project on the timetable set be mitigated. The report also described the panel’s concern You are invited to join in a mass paddle from Swartz Bay to forth’. Combine that with the certainty of environmental about the changes to the entire Peace River region from the Pender (Port Browning Marina) to Salt Spring (Ruckle Park) damage, and one can see why no firm conclusion emerges. cumulative effects of the dam, oil and gas development, forestry, and back to Swartz Bay on the weekend of July 25–28. mining, and energy production. Interpretation Varies This event will demonstrate opposition to new pipelines and Counting the Benefits? This equivocal result enabled supporters and opponents of the increased tanker traffic on our precious coast, says Victoria The panel expressed considerable uncertainty when it came to dam to register a variety of initial comments. BC Energy group, Turn The Tide. The group see the paddle as part of a the benefits of building the dam, particularly about virtually all Minister Bill Bennett’s interpretation was full speed ahead: ‘We larger movement to protect the coastal environment and the figures presented by BC Hydro. Project costs, currently are pretty darn sure we are going to need [the electricity] ten resource economy and to build a mass-movement focused on estimated at $7.9 billion, were questioned. Electricity demand years from now.’ building solutions beyond the petroleum-based economy. figures were doubtful. Future energy prices (particularly for the BC Hydro’s spokesperson David Conway explained the Turn The Tide is inviting help with on-the-ground support LNG industry) were unreliable. All of these should be reviewed figures: ‘It’s not an exact science. You can’t forecast this on the on Pender and Salt Spring Islands, envisioning community by BCUC before construction begins, said the panel. head of a pin.’ gatherings and musical events on both islands, and workshops Provincial NDP leader John Horgan described the on the Saturday on Pender. How About Alternatives? BCLiberals’ approach as, ‘We have a government proposing to Visit Turn The Tides’ website: turningthetide.ca, or email The dam, concluded the panel, would (on the basis of the figures spend $8 billion on power that we may not need at a time that supplied by BC Hydro) produce electricity cheaper than any we don’t have the money to spend.’ [email protected] with any suggestions and offers of other clean and green alternative. But the panel reserved its Green Party MLA Andrew Weaver followed up the panel’s help. 0

IS YOUR Something Fishy? Why vaccinations matter In ninety years upon this earth WELLSAFE TO WATER DRINK? One thing I’ve learned - there is no dearth Charmaine Enns Contamination can occur Of lame-brains, who upon election, In the past 50 years, vaccinations have saved more lives than any other health Can lead us in the wrong direction. intervention. Vaccines are very safe, safer than therapeutic medicines and without changes in colour or Now logic should be in the making far safer than the consequences of the diseases that they protect against. They taste. Be safe, test annually. Of every large-scale undertaking; are also highly cost-effective. For example, for every $16 invested into And fish-farming’s only one of many Proposals where there wasn’t any. providing the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to children, a life is saved. 250-656-1334 This can be compared to other effective public health interventions such as Apart from that, it must be said driver and passenger air bags, which cost $61,000 per life saved, or smoke We need them like a hole-in-head. detectors in homes at $210,000 per life saved. Atlantic fish in the Pacific? But vaccines are not just kids’ stuff. Adults need them, too. While some The whole idea’s unscientific; vaccines provide lifelong protection after a short series of shots, certain fax: 250-656-0443 Website: www.mblabs.com Transplanted viruses galore; vaccines need booster doses, most notably tetanus, which should be received Email: [email protected] Pollution on the ocean floor; every 10 years. Other vaccines are only routinely recommended once one 2062 Unit 4 Henry Ave. West, Sidney, B.C. V8L 5Y1 Threats to our wild fish, too, withal becomes a senior. Pneumococcal vaccine, which protects against pneumonia The Cohen Commission says it all. and blood infection, is suggested for those over 65 years of age. The Zoster vaccine, which protects against shingles, is also suggested for anyone over Now BC’s natural heritage the age of 50. Of wild fish stocks is hard to gauge; FULL MOON: WED, May 14 & THURS,June 12 But we do have a DFO Young adult women are now being offered the HPV vaccine, which (Somewhat emasculated)—so protects against 70% of the causes of cervical cancer. This is of course very AT FULFORD HARBOUR Imagine BC one big farm exciting, as we start to experience the benefits of preventing a serious form MAY Of wild fish who, without a qualm, of cancer that typically affects women in the prime of their lives. Day Time Ht./ft. Ht./m. Day Time Ht./ft. Ht./m. Can live and feed and propagate, Unlike other vaccines, the influenza vaccine is given annually. This vaccine With DFO to keep them straight. is formulated each year based on the types of circulating influenza viruses 0309 10.2 3.1 0627 5.9 1.8 1022 1.6 0.5 1116 7.2 2.2 that are causing the most serious disease. Response to the vaccine is best in 14WE 1813 10.2 3.1 22TH 1654 4.6 1.4 With aids like hatcheries, but free healthy individuals and only partially effective in people who are frail, elderly 2244 8.6 2.5 They’ve every chance to thrive, if we or have significant chronic diseases. This is why it is so important for healthy 0340 10.2 3.1 0014 10.8 3.3 Can keep dim-witted politicians 1059 1.0 0.3 0715 4.6 1.4 people who live with or care for those most at risk of severe outcomes from THU15 23FR From making asinine decisions. 1859 10.5 3.2 1312 7.5 2.3 influenza also to get the vaccine. 2335 8.5 2.6 1801 5.6 1.7 Sixty-four million to find the truth— 0415 10.2 3.1 0051 10.5 3.2 Which they ignore—in sooth, If you are travelling abroad, going back to college, pregnant, entering into 1140 0.7 0.2 0758 3.6 1.1 a health care profession or have any chronic underlying health conditions, 16FR 1946 10.8 3.3 24SA 1444 8.2 2.5 They even quietly took a stand 1908 6.6 2.0 Supporting fish-farms to expand. you should ask your physician or call your local public health unit to find out 0031 8.5 2.6 0124 10.5 3.2 which vaccines are recommended for you. Note that there may be a fee for 0455 9.8 3.0 0836 3.0 0.9 17SA 1224 0.7 0.2 25SU 1555 9.2 2.8 BC is blessed with many things, some of these vaccines. 2033 10.8 3.3 2013 7.2 2.2 We’ve sockeye, humpies, coho, springs The best reason to get vaccinated is that it protects you, and it protects the 0138 8.5 2.6 0157 10.2 3.1 And other species besides fish; people around you. This is an important concept because vaccinated 0540 9.5 2.9 0913 2.3 0.7 18SU 1312 1.0 0.3 26MO 1652 9.8 3.0 But don’t let Harper have his wish. individuals become a ring of protection around the most vulnerable people 2121 11.2 3.4 2114 7.9 2.4 With balanced budget in the making in our families and communities, such as infants and children, the elderly 0225 8.2 2.5 0229 10.2 3.1 He’ll give much less than he is taking; and those with chronic diseases. 0634 9.2 2.8 0949 1.6 0.5 While War on Science once was rife, 19MO 1402 1.6 0.5 27TU 1742 10.2 3.1 Vaccines have been a powerful tool to reduce disease, disability, death and 11.5 8.2 A new one’s here - War on Wild Life! 2208 3.4 2212 2.5 inequities for people of all ages and in all places. But they can only work if 0415 7.5 2.3 0303 9.8 3.0 —H.Barry Cotton 0742 8.2 2.5 1025 1.3 0.4 people continue to be vaccinated. Are you up to date? 0 20TU 1454 2.6 0.8 28WE 1826 10.5 3.2 2253 11.2 3.4 2309 8.5 2.6 0528 6.9 2.1 0337 9.8 3.0 SHORELINE • SpecializingSpe in water 0916 7.5 2.3 1101 1.3 0.4 Butler Gravel & 21WE 1551 3.6 1.1 THU29 1908 10.8 3.3 …Better DESIGN accessacc over steep 2335 10.8 3.3 Concrete from the ground up! & rugged ADD ONE HOUR FOR DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME Reliable Service, Quality Products terrain Tide Table Courtesy of Durable dock systems for & Competitive Prices • Fully insured exposed locations Serving All The Gulf Islands • Excellent Ross Walker references 250-537-9710 Phone 250-652-4484 Email: [email protected] Fax 250-652-4486 On Time & On Budget www.islandmarine.ca Peter Christenson • 250-858-9575 6700 Butler Crescent, Saanichton, B.C. www.shorelinedesign.ca www.islandtides.com BW-3

ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014, Page 3 The Twilight Zone... What it’s like to be an intervenor in the Kinder Morgan application Elizabeth May hen I became an intervenor in mid- the least useful and redundant material, it was Researchers put salt water in tanks and larger than the ruler and developed an April, realizing that the first deadline possible to start finding useful information. then dumped in dilbit. Then they stirred and asymmetric form.’ to submit questions was early May— The project will cross 1,000 water courses took other action they claimed approximated They conclude: ‘A better-equipped test is andW that preparing questions required getting (streams and rivers), with directional drilling wind and wave action. The tanks held 26.5 m3 certainly recommended for future through the 15,000 page submission in two under 15 rivers. The volume of dilbit will (7,000) gallons. Additional tests were done in consideration.’ Ya think? weeks, it was hard to know where to start. increase from one tanker a week to a 1m x 1m x 1m fish tank and in plastic five In other news, Clayton Ruby has agreed to Fortunately, I have been in dozens of approximately one a day. gallon pails. I kid you not. represent me to challenge the refusal to allow environmental assessments and NEB Still, a great deal just came down to being The 7,000 gallon tanks in Gainford, Alberta oral cross-examination. If I am not allowed to hearings. If the predictable scams were used, I the stuff of comedy routines. There is attention were supposed to mimic the natural conditions cross-examine Kinder Morgan’s evidence in reckoned that 15,000 pages might contain a devoted to the risk of Avian flu being spread in found in Burrard Inlet, with temperatures of oral hearing, I will go to court. thousand pages of critical information; so I construction, with promises that construction 10ºC and at 7 pH. As if the notion of a tank in decided to perform triage on the patient. workers will not enter poultry barns. The threat Alberta representing the Salish Sea is not FARLEY MOWAT I began the evaluation by printing out the of spreading diseases such as clubroot will be sufficiently absurd, the testing failed to meet 1921- 2014 on-line NEB report —all 15,000 pages (double- fought with footbaths at every site. The threat the parameters the researchers had When someone you love dies, it is not possible of infectious workers will be addressed with established. It got quite hot in Alberta during to begin to express the love and loss. Farley THE KINDER MORGAN APPLICATION: hand-washing. the 13 days of the testing, so the water in the Mowat was one of my dearest friends. His 93rd BEFORE & AFTER TRIAGE There are pages on the construction impact tanks heated up to 19.5ºC. The study reports birthday would have been Monday, May 12 on livestock and poultry. We are informed that that temperature is okay as it would be like and—as always—I was looking forward to ‘Milk cows are very curious...’ Apparently, they Burrard Inlet in the summer. (Have any of the talking with him. will lose interest in construction in a few days Kinder Morgan brain trust ever been to Farley Mowat was a champion for the wild and milk production will return to normal. Burrard Inlet in the summer?) things. He spoke with unflinching courage The following excerpt, from the socio- The pH went to alkaline as high as 8 pH. In against humanity’s destruction of each other economic section on the impacts of pipeline the real world, the oceans are getting more and of the other species with whom we share spills, has made ripples in the media, coming acidic, not more alkaline. this planet. in for a direct attack by Rachel Maddow on The five gallon pail and fish tank research He raised public consciousness of the MSNBC. also went awry, even according to the famine that laid siege to the Inuit. ‘Pipeline spills can have both positive and researchers: Farley spoke for whales and seabirds, for negative effects on local and regional ‘Errors occurred in the fish tank, because tadpoles and mosses. He was possessed of a economies, both in the short and long term. the spill was installed in a manner that resulted ferocious talent, able to write stories that Spill response and clean-up creates business in a large amount of dispersion at the outset, provoked laughter, tears and action. and employment opportunities for affected due to air ingestion, and the resulting slick was We owe him more than I can say. 0 communities, regions, and clean-up service providers. This demand for services and BULLETIN BOARD personnel can also directly or indirectly affect businesses and livelihoods. The net overall effect depends on the size and extent of a spill, the associated demand for clean- Car Rentals FIREWOOD up services and personnel, the capacity of Near Sidney, Saanich, local businesses to meet this demand, the Victoria, Ferries & Airport F O RServing S AVictoria L E & willingness of local businesses and response Seniors’ Specials Southern Gulf Islands opportunities, the extent of business and Long & Short Term 2-4 Cord Loads livelihoods adversely indirectly) [sic] by the Mention ad for discount! Call Ian for pricing spill, and the duration and extent of spill 1.800.809.0788 sided and onto recycled paper!). That made response and clean-up activities.’ gsaautorentals.com 250-539-5463 getting a handle on the document possible. As bad as that is, the shockers for me are the As I suspected, the submission, as is the details of the testing conducted for Kinder custom in such processes, was deliberately Morgan. (For which the key questions should redundant and impenetrable. Some pages are be the impact of dilbit spilling along the Hy-Geo repeated dozens of time, ditto maps and charts. pipeline route or in the marine environment.) Consulting Every presentation by Powerpoint shown at Dilbit On The Comedy Technical services for On Time & On Budget any community hall is reproduced (even Channel though the presentations were virtually Water Wells • Foreshore Applications The report asserts repeatedly that dilbit identical). Aquifers • Docks • Moorings behaves much like conventional crude (not Another few volumes are descriptions of the • Ramps • Pile Driving that crude’s good for the environment), that it Groundwater current state of our rich coastal environment Ross Walker can be cleaned up using the same methods and those areas along the pipeline route. Also (250) 658-1701 250-537-9710 used for crude, and, that dilbit is not more MOORINGS included are descriptions of the wide range of INSTALLED, SERVICED, [email protected] dangerous, and so on. MAINTAINED www.islandmarine.ca successful economic operations threatened by www.hy-geo.com Kinder Morgan says that it commissioned any mishap with toxic dilbit. Dock Chain Inspection research to find how dilbit behaves. In an & Replacement Fifteen thousand pages sounds impressive. appendix, I finally found the technical report And in that much paper, it is possible to bury Chris West setting out how this was done. FREE! the inadequacy of the research. The goal is to Dive Services Scrap Car, Truck, Evidence for behaviour of dilbit in the Bus & Equipment overwhelm the intervenor and bedazzle and 250-888-7199/250-538-1667 ATER ELLS marine environment was conducted in Alberta • W W bamboozle the media through simple [email protected] YDROFRACTURING REMOVAL over a thirteen-day period. Correct: 13 days of • H repetition of the phrase ‘a 15,000 page report’. TO IMPROVE WELL YIELDS No Wheels? tests in Alberta. Once I had reduced the pile, by eliminating WAHL MARINE LTD. • DRILLING FOR GEOSOURCE No Problem! 135 McGill Road Salt Spring Island    Medium & large bins Victoria sewage moving to new phase 30 years experience     for metal clean-up also available On May 5, Oak Bay-Gordon Head MLA that the residents and businesses in Greater dock building & repair wwwdrillwellcom Andrew Weaver presented three petitions to Victoria are deeply concerned about the pile driving & drilling drill@drillwellcom Gulf Islands • Victoria An Island Family Business for Sooke • Sidney • Duncan the Legislature calling on the provincial proposed project both in terms of its cost, as aluminum gangways & ramps  Years! government to pause and review the Capital well as its appropriateness as a solution,’ said wood piers & wood floats 250-744-6842 Regional District proposal for secondary MLA Weaver, ‘The region needs sewage crane barge service & towing 250-732-4285 sewage treatment. The petitions totalling over treatment. And we know the province has mooring systems & service 2,600 signatures from residents throughout promised to provide funding even with a 2020 FOUND Gord Wahl 250-537-1886 Greater Victoria were organized by the deadline. What’s needed is a firm commitment A wooden,dingy oar, with ring and cell 250-537-7804 pin found floating in the ocean near Prospect Lake Community Association and the of 1/3 federal funding so that the CRD will have Shingle Bay, Pender Island. If it’s Sewage Treatment Action Group. full confidence that a review of the present plan All Types of Residential yours, Contact 250-222-5646 or, In light of the rejection of re-zoning is the right way to move forward.’ FOR SALE & Commercial [email protected]. McLoughlin Point for a treatment plant by the In submitting the petition to Weaver, Dr VINCE SMYTHE 1991 Prowler 21½-foot 5TH wheel LAND SHARE Township of Esquimalt, following a series of Fred Haynes, past president of the Prospect RV, sleeps 6. Rubber roof, 3-way 250-213-6316 public forums, and community concerns over Lake Community Association noted: ‘The fridge, gas stove, gas heater, A/C. Quality Workmanship Land Partner required to grow Newish awning, battery, power food, nurture Nature. Multiple the proposed plant at Hartland, the CRD plan newer technologies demonstrated at Dockside supply. Used occasionally. Reliable Service options available to help steward appears to be on hold. Green (Victoria); Ladysmith; Blaine, Currently on Mayne, delivery Free Estimates 10 acres of paradise on Quadra The Minister of Environment has stated she Washington; and Guadalajara, Mexico show it available. I can send pix. 2,500.00 Island. Helene Lepage Barry, 604-240-3627. [email protected] 250.285.3779 has no intention of intervening on the is possible with this budget to invest taxpayers Esquimalt re-zoning and has indicated the money in building a world leading system.’ NEXT DEADLINE: May 21 • 250.216.2267 affected municipalities and regional district Andrew Weaver will continue to work with [email protected] should come forward with a solution. She has community groups, regional mayors and also officially noted the deadline for completion councils, and community groups to encourage BOXED ADS - Start at 1-1/2 inches is 2020, allowing time for alternative a sewage treatment plan that is affordable, B&W: $24.50/in+gst • COLOUR: $32/in+gst approaches to be discussed. meets current and future needs, and is backed WORD ADS $18 (25 words), additional words 27¢ each ‘These petitions, townhalls, letters to editors by the community. 0 and community actions clearly demonstrate www.islandtides.com Page 4, ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014 Readers’ Letters Geoduck Expansion Opportunities members who are too afraid to speak publicly. A version of this letter was sent to Jennifer Mollins, Senior Co- You can research everything I am saying if you have time. If you don’t have time, and if you got this letter from someone you Every Second Thursday ordinator, Shellfish Aquaculture Management, Geoduck Expansion oportunities. trust, I beg you to take 5 minutes to try and stop this law. I do Strait of Georgia’s only not care, by the way, if it is not stopped forever. I just want it Free & Mail-Delivered Newspaper Dear Ms Mollins and related evaluators: This letter is a personal and formal complaint, about lack of due stopped until citizens understand what is happening and get to public process! The April 19, 2014 cut off for public input, is a have a say before the government wrecks something of great 21,000 copies this edition importance for our shared future. 14,747 print copies delivered to travesty of democracy and due process! The Discovery Islands Chamber of Commerce, meeting April If you have a few minutes here is what you do: You look in households on 13 Gulf Islands 17, received a presentation. All attending members were the phone book for the number of your MLA and call them and say you don’t want them to pass Bill 24. Or you send them an e- Salt Spring • Mayne • Galiano • Pender • Saturna appalled at the short notice and lack of public courtesy in the Gabriola • Denman • Hornby • Quadra • Cortes call for submissions. A motion was passed to write a formal mail by looking here: www.leg.bc.ca/mla/3-1-1.htm to find their Read • Texada • Lasqueti letter of concern to Aquaculture /Pacific Region / DFO / address. Then you send this request on to the people who trust Canada. your judgement enough to read it. Issues discussed were as follows: This probably won’t work. I am asking, though, because • failure to take into account the economic values of Marine nothing else will. In a week or so we will all know how it turned out. Thank you for reading this. Tourism; Corky Evans, Winlaw • failure to take into account the economic values of Check out some of Corky’s amazing Legislature speeches at waterfront real estate; www.islandtides.com. 3,253 print copies on Ferry Routes and in: • failure to take into account local knowledge of area waters, Victoria • Saanich • Sidney • Cobble Hill beaches; Bill 24 - Losing Farmland Protection Mill Bay • Crofton • Duncan • Chemainus • failure to quantify the impacts on the existing marine The following letter was sent to incoming Agriculture Minister Ladysmith • Nanaimo • Bowser • Courtenay Norm Letnick. Port Alberni • Campbell River environment; • failure to quantify the impacts on other marine harvest Dear Minister: 3,000 online readers each edition enterprises ie. herring fishery, salmon fishery, sport fishery; Welcome back to agriculture, Minister Letnick. Please delay Owner, Publisher & Editor: • failure to take into account the impact of turning more of passage of Bill 24 pending the broader consultation it deserves. Christa Grace-Warrick the marine environment into a massive marine feedlot, with We are writing because, like you, we have a concern for and Contributors: Patrick Brown, H Barry Cotton, Priscilla known impacts of waste discharge, at unnatural levels; a commitment to the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) and its Ewbank, Elizabeth May, Heather Menzies, Jane Petch, • apparent failure to take into account, or have a discussion regulator, the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC). The BC Brenda Huh, Will Thomas, Tom Hobley, Lia Chalifour, on, the likely impacts of PVC piping and surface predator Food Systems Network is a 15-year-old organization made up Carol Linnitt, Charmaine Enns, netting, to the native and migratory bird populations; of farmers, fishers, chefs, indigenous people, nutritionists, and Frants Attorp, Rikki MacCuish, Laura Dunsmuir • failure to discuss the potential or likelihood of water people involved with food programs or organizations such as Island Tides Publishing Ltd contamination, sourced from the proposed Raven Coal Mine Food Policy Councils all around BC. We focus on sustainable Box 55, Pender Island, BC V0N 2M0 development, Baynes Sound region of Vancouver Island; food systems and related policy. Tel: 250.216.2267• News: [email protected] • consideration of the potential for mining tailings sourced We appreciate your willingness to consult stakeholders Advertising: [email protected] water contamination and the cross contamination of existing about the proposed changes to the ALR and the ALC that are Deadline: Wednesday Between Publications shellfish / clam, oyster, scallop leases in Area 14; contained in Bill 24, the Agricultural Land Commission Off-Island Canadian Print Subscription: $57.75 • failure to take into account the known acidification of Amendment Act. Voluntary Mail & Box Pick-up Subscription: $30.00 We were sorry to note in the Vancouver Sun on Friday April US Subs: $80.00 • Online PDF: free existing waters and the identified kill off / die off of area shellfish www.islandtides.com (scallops); 25 that your colleague Minister Bennett seems unwilling to give • failure to discuss / take into consideration the recent you the space and time you need. We believe this open letter Canada –China FIPA trade agreement, and a corporation’s may be our last chance to contribute to a public discussion More On Lyme Disease right to expect profits from their investments and the specific before Bill 24 is passed into law. In September 2013, we first Dear Editor: opportunity for an investing corporation to sue the Canadian, asked for meaningful public consultation and a meeting with I comment here on Priscilla Ewbank’s recent ‘Saturna Notes’ British Columbia and regional governments for loss of business your Ministry regarding changes to the ALR; we are still waiting. (Island Tides, April 3rd edition) on ticks and Lyme Disease (LD). profits, stemming from earlier inaction of the governments BC’s 40-year-old farmland protection system upholds four I spent my whole career researching various aspects of the (water contamination from other industries); and key principles. physiology of ticks at the University of Alberta until I retired to Salt • lack of cross ministerial discussions on impacts to other 1. Long-term public interest. The ALR is intended to serve Spring in 2012. I hope that the following comments will clarify a economic and social interests. the long-term public interest of food security. few points. You have a formal letter from the DICOC and, from a 2. Protection of arable land from runaway development. 1) I continue my tick research at the Gulf Islands Veterinary personal position, I am passing sending this summary of the Less than 5% of BC’s land base has food-producing capability. Clinic on Salt Spring, and I too was led to believe that the local high Since 1973, with the ALR in place, the rate of loss has slowed season for ticks is the springtime (with a more modest autumnal Discovery Islands Chamber of Commerce’s April 17 discussion. from 6,000 hectares per year to just over 600. season), but with virtually no activity in the summer and winter. The Discovery Islands Chamber of Commerce will be in 3. Basis for regional planning. Over the past 40 years the My experience here after two years so far, however, is that there communication with other coastal Chambers and the Provincial ALR has served a planning role as an urban containment seems to be basically a single ‘high season’ for adult ticks from Chamber of Commerce, to support other coastal communities boundary, recognized by local and regional government bodies approximately October through May, with a distinct lull for the in the grave concerns over the aquaculture/geoduck expansion in Official Community Plans, Agricultural Area Plans and remaining months. I suspect that the ticks don’t disappear in the initiative. summer, but at that time it may be mostly the larvae and nymphs Rod Burns, Quadra Island regional growth or sustainability strategies all around the that are active; these juvenile life stages feed mostly on rodents, Saving The ALR, An Open Letter From province. and in any case are very hard to see, and so are not usually 4. Land use decisions have been removed from local Corky Evans development pressures. Although the option exists for local discovered by pet owners (my source for ticks). Dear Editor: 2) Priscilla is basically correct that the usual folk methods for governments to request that the ALC delegate its powers to My name is Corky Evans. I them, of the 190 local governments in BC, to date only two have removing ticks are not recommended by experts. The following garden and farm in the video clip shows a much better way to remove ticks: done so. Most local governments recognize the valuable role the Kootenays of BC. Many years http://canlyme.com/lyme-basics/tick-removal/. ALC plays, and wish to see it continue. ago I was the Minister of 3) The actual risk for contracting LD here on the Pacific coast Bill 24 was designed without the benefit of advice from the Agriculture. is only an educated guess, as Priscilla indicates, but it’s certainly ALC, farm or food organizations, local governments or I do not understand lower than in the eastern US, where the disease was first identified interactive public consultation. Ninety-five percent of the popular culture or electronic decades ago. But of course that does not minimize the grief for applications for exclusion or non-farm use currently before the those who have contracted LD and who are not diagnosed and communication. I have not ALC are from non-farmers. We conclude that Bill 24 is intended treated early enough. learned to do Facebook. to favour development rather than agriculture. Its key 4) Priscilla reports that the nymphal stage of the tick is the most What I have been told is that provisions—two zones, adding non-agricultural criteria for effective transmitter of LD. However, the adult stage (female when people find something CORKY decision making in Zone 2 (90% of the ALR), and largely primarily), if infected with the LD spirochaete (a type of interesting from someone restricting decision-making to local three-person panels— bacterium), is just as capable of transmitting LD as an infected they trust, they send it on to other people and in this way it is undermine the four principles above. The BC Agriculture nymph. possible to engage more people, faster, than ever before. Council is on record as objecting to the two-zone structure and If the available statistics suggest that transmission is more I have decided that this technology that I do not understand the structure of the six regional panels. Regional local common from the nymphal stage than from the adult, this is may be the last chance we have to influence the Government of government associations and a growing number of local almost certainly because a nymph, being so much smaller, is much BC not to dismantle the historical protection of farmland where governments are passing resolutions expressing concerns about less likely to be seen and removed than is an adult. we live. Bill 24 or asking for it to be withdrawn. 5) As Priscilla indicates, a tick has to be attached for at least a I am not going to try to explain the issue or the history or the Of course, there is no point protecting farmland for BC’s food day or two to transmit the spirochaete. This is because the tick legislation that is being debated in Victoria, as I write. You do security if there is no-one able and willing to grow food on it. begins to secrete a significant volume of saliva only after this time, not have to know that stuff to know that food is important and When the ALR was imposed on the farm community, there was and it is via the saliva that the spirochaete enters the host. So if you that land to grow food on needs to be protected from being an understanding among all parties that the provincial are outdoors during the day in an area harbouring ticks, and you paved-over. That is all you need to know. For forty years we have government would demonstrate its commitment to agriculture remove any that you find later in the day, the chances for you had rules in BC that protected farmland pretty well. The through a variety of programs and services, such as research contracting LD from an infected tick are remote. Government is trying to pass a law that will destroy the and farm income insurance. Over the years these have all 6) Do be aware that LD is only one of quite a few tick-borne protection of farmland. disappeared and today the provincial government’s diseases. And if a given tick is infected with more than one disease The Government didn’t think up this idea. They got it from contribution to the Ministry of Agriculture budget is one of the agent, it can transmit all of them, and the resulting mixture of the Fraser Institute. You may have heard of those people. They lowest in the country. symptoms can make it difficult for a physician to arrive at a clear represent the largest corporations and banks in the province. The BC agri-food sector, with 62,000 jobs and about $12 diagnosis. They are not known for caring a great deal about public policy. billion in revenue, is a steady, sustainable contributor to the You can learn much more about ticks and the diseases they They will get richer paving farmland than by leaving it alone. provincial economy. It’s time for the provincial government to transmit from the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation website: I think lots of the MLAs in Victoria know this law they are demonstrate an interest in the sector through effective dialogue http://canlyme.com debating is a bad law. The law is opposed by Greens, New Information on my Salt Spring Island tick project: with farmers, ranchers, and others about how to maintain and Democrats and Independents. They are, as I write, trying to grow a strong agri-food sector for a sustainable food future. It’s www.biology.ualberta.ca/faculty/reuben_kaufman/?Page=8930 delay passage to give citizens a chance to learn what is Reuben Kaufman, Salt Spring happening and react. I think it is also opposed by some Liberal LETTERS, please turn to facing page www.islandtides.com ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014, Page 5 Island Tides Needs Your Speedy Support! managed with prudence, fiscal responsibility, and lots of into the foreseeable future and relieve the burden on a single There is a tide in the affairs of men [and women]. dedication. But what of the future? person. Already unique, Island Tides would become a reader- Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Nowadays, with all the challenges facing our communities, funded newspaper across a community of islands—rather than Is bound in shallows and in miseries. we don’t want to lose any more newspapers. The Salish Sea is in a city—an amazing feat! One which you could pull off. On such a full sea are we now afloat, hard to imagine without a newspaper connecting islands, big This is a big ask, we know, dear readers, but spread amongst And we must take the current when it serves, and small. all of you, it is possible. Or lose our ventures. This week, Priscilla Ewbank came up with an idea of what, Raising any lesser amount would also contribute to keeping — Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act 4, scene 3 essentially, amounts to a Salish Sea version of the internet’s the paper in print and buy time to create that firm future. I am ‘crowd funding’. past retiring age, so that future needs to be planned in any case. sland Tides is now on the flood tide—a turning point, and we The ‘ask’ is: please donate what you can to buy us time We will not only have saved something we love, we will have need our readers’ help. (editions) to create a vibrant future for Island Tides. moved it into a vibrant future, fit to face and help solve the I Twenty-five years ago, when our multi-island, free Luckily, in this venture (unlike Brutus’ adventure in the challenges we all see around us in the Salish Sea and to celebrate distribution newspaper began, with a steep learning curve and Shakespeare quote at the top), no-one has to die or suffer. Still, our triumphs. great deal of hard work, advertising revenues were enough to Island Tides is at such a now-or-never moment. Today, that future depends on you, our readers. Please fund its publication and keep body and soul together. The ‘Ask’ donate what you can, as swiftly as you can, so that we can see Nowadays, advertising can no longer be the major funding where our way forward lies. Raising $150,000 (that’s $30 from each of 5,000 readers, from formula: increasing costs, the financial crash, and the internet, Mail your cheque to Island Tides, Box 55, Pender Island, BC. our audience of 40,000) would pay for Island Tides for a year, have seen to that; especially, with the amount of news Island Mark your cheque: ‘Island Tides’ Crowd Fund’ and please including some paid office work. It would, in fact, create the Tides’ prints. include your phone number and email address. different funding formula for Islands Tides’ future. We thank our advertisers for their continuing support. And tell (Facebook, email) your friends that you are doing That amount would guarantee the newspaper’s continuance Island Tidesis solvent and in good standing. It has always been it. Thank You. —Christa Grace-Warrick 0

- Priscilla Ewbank Alert!his message is forAlert! you, dear readers upReaders! and down the coasts bodies Fellow are just for us and tell us Islanders!what we need to know. We have this valuable affect upon our souls. Island Tides fits us so well, of the Salish Sea. regular updates at the federal, provincial and the island level on is dependable like clockwork; for no effort expended on our part, TAt the very least, Christa Grace-Warrick — issues that concern us. A listing of events and meetings held we are richly rewarded. owner/editor/publisher/writer/photographer/bookkeeper/co- throughout the islands also makes us aware of other islands’ Each island has its ‘treasures’ that we are all proud of—not ordinator/front desk//layout person/ graphic artist/advertising triumphs and interests. necessarily to brag about—because in our hearts we know that rep/ delivery driver—must have an enthused, capable, hard- Christa decided to create the paper in 1989. Patrick Brown they hold the community just that much more securely together. working, paid, young assistant, to help with all these tasks. and I have written in almost every edition—twenty-five These treasures carry weight, our pleasure in living is Also, from throughout the Salish Sea we need to chip-in to newspapers each year for almost 25 years. It is always there, enhanced. And we suspect that these benefits are tangible— create a segue to a new configuration of Island Tides’underlying dependable, committed to us—contributors, readers, and that people buy into our island life because they sense the structure for the future. advertisers. This newspaper is created as an act of love and vibrancy and observe the strength and largesse of passionate, This newspaper has given us a communal voice, powerful passion, with fiscal reponsibility and community involvement. successful human endeavor. Island Tidesis one of our treasures. guidance through editorials, local views through letters to the It is beautiful; pleasing in its layout, photos, colours and Life changes. We are mortal. Christa is 7o but she is still here editor, and article contributors. Island Tides’ pages, allow us to typefaces. Island Tides is, itself, a creative act on the part of and on the job. A new configuration will, sooner or later, need see the full spectrum of ourselves, in agreement and in Christa Grace-Warrick, and within its folds it allows a venue for to be found. Here is our chance! We need to buy time or— disagreement. the writers, photographers, event organizers, and active maybe even in one fundraising effort—set the base for that This newspaper has let us see ourselves: how brave we are, participants in our communities. future. how articulate, how creative, how thoughtful. Its pages chart Canada Post delivery and those bright yellow Island Tides The value of a good newspaper—a mirror of ourselves living our lives, newspaper after newspaper: caring and able political boxes, are like our very local CBC. Island Tides is like ‘This out our personal and communal lives and presenting a chance representatives elected; the value of the arts, in their glory and Country in the Morning’ was—broad, and encompassing our to see each other doing the right thing—is too good to let go. power; advising us about issues by diligent reporting above the the family of islands. One of Island Tides’ taglines is: ‘A snapshot So please donate, large or small, right away. 0 usual level; and letting us know about issues and happenings of the Salish Sea’. from our fellow communities. Messages from governmental Like the gorgeousness of our islands, sometimes we forget

LETTERS from previous page Nominees for Islands Trust community stewardship awards time for the provincial government to invest in agriculture, not slanders have nominated three individuals, two couples and (posthumous) of North Pender Island for creating an ecological divest farmland. two groups for the 13th annual Islands Trust Community legacy for the Pender Islands; Bill 24 undermines the principles of our farmland protection Stewardship Awards Program. The activities nominated • Paul and Monica Petrie, Pender Islands for fundraising to system. It arose out of an inadequate consultation process. BC includeI fundraising to complete a regional park, inspiring complete the Brooks Point Regional Park; and, farmers oppose its key provisions. For any and all these reasons, people about the natural world, championing coastal ferry • Christa Grace-Warrick, for Gulf Islands’ Island Tides, 25 we respectfully request that you delay passage of an amended services, creating an ecological legacy, promoting community years of promoting community connection through newspaper Bill 24 until the fall session of the Legislature or, more connection through newspaper publishing, protecting the publishing. appropriately, pull the Bill out of the House and engage in a full, marine environment, and sustainable community building. The Islands Trust Council will select the recipients during its transparent public consultation process, as was done for the ‘As always, the calibre of the groups and individuals quarterly meeting on Saturna Island, June 17-19. The award Water Sustainability Act. Your leadership now to update BC’s nominated is outstanding,’ said Sheila Malcolmson, Chair of the program recognizes people for work that supports the Islands farmland protection system will set the stage for a visionary and Islands Trust Council. ‘The dedication and passion of the Trust mandate to preserve and protect the Trust Area and its effective food security and agri-sector strategy for decades to nominated individuals are inspiring. Our communities and unique environment and amenities. come. islands have benefitted tremendously from their efforts.’ For more information on this year’s nominees and past Brent Mansfield and Abra Brynne, BC Food Systems Network Nominees are from six local trust areas: Denman, Galiano, recipients: visit www.islandstrust.bc.ca and search ‘awards’. Devolving Ambulance Service Salt Spring, Saturna and the Pender Islands. The Islands Trust is a federation of local government bodies Dear Editor: Group Nominations representing 25,000 people living within the Islands Trust Area I just wanted to let you know that the LMLGA (Lower Mainland • Association of Denman Island Marine Stewards for and another 10,000 non-resident property-owners. Local Government Assoc) passed the following resolution: protecting the marine environment over a 15-year period; and, The Islands Trust is responsible for preserving and Where as the provincial Health Services Authority • Galiano Conservancy Association for 25 years of protecting the unique environment and amenities of the Islands (PHSA) within the Ministry of Health made the leadership in sustainable community building. Trust Area through planning and regulating land use, unilateral decision to change service delivery for BC Individual Nominations development management, education, cooperation with other Ambulance Service (BCAS) has created an • David Denning of Salt Spring Island for inspiring people agencies, and land conservation. unprecedented downloading of costs and risk onto about Salt Spring Island’s natural world; Its area covers the islands and waters between the British local government first responders; • Brian Hollingshead of Saturna Island for championing Columbia Mainland and southern Vancouver Island. It includes And where as the October 2013 changes by BCAS to coastal ferry services; 13 major and more than 450 smaller islands covering 5200 the Resource Allocation Plan (RAP) has created a • Barrie Morrison and Nancy Waxler-Morrison square kilometres. negative impact on response time and patient safety: Therefore be it resolved that the Province of BC Canada’s longstanding nation-building immigration system—managed the file competently to begin with, such a moratorium develop an effective, well-integrated, patient-centred where we welcome permanent immigrants and their familieswould not have been necessary. emergency response service for our citizens provided and encouraged them to become citizens and full participants The Liberal Party has proposed a reasonable five-point plan by fire and rescue services and BC Ambulance Service in our communities. The Tories sought to replace that systemto fix this mess. Scale the program back and focus on its original working together. with guest workers who come here for a few years and are thenpurpose—to fill labour shortages when there is a legitimate What more will it take for this government to understand shipped out. need. Tighten the rules to ensure employers genuinely seek that their prehospital care policies are not going in the right This has been intentional. In 2007, Minister Diane FinleyCanadians first. Enforce those rules and impose severe direction? Hans Dysarsz, Vancouver was clear, saying ‘we’ve expanded the temporary foreign penalties on violators. Increase the transparency of the program workers program very significantly and very deliberately.’ Theso that Canadians can know the number of jobs in each Temporary Foreign Workers Conservatives loosened all the rules in the book. They shortenedoccupation and community that are being offered to TFWs. And Dear Editor: the time an employer had to actively search for Canadian finally, re-focus on bringing in immigrants for whom a path to The Conservative government has mismanaged the Temporary workers before accessing the foreign worker program. Theypermanent residence is available. Foreign Worker Program so badly they have more than extended the length of time a temporary foreign worker can We cannot allow Canada to become a country that exploits doubled its intake of temporary foreign workers (TFWs), work in Canada. Yet they failed to create safeguards to ensurelarge numbers of guest workers who have no realistic prospect admitting almost as many temporary workers to Canada as new employers were telling the truth on those applications. of citizenship. We must restore our core Canadian value of permanent residents in 2012. Then, like a reckless driver, after years of pushing the fairness: fairness for Canadians who need work, and fairness The end result has been fewer jobs for Canadian workers, accelerator to the floor on TFWs, a political crisis broke out,for and vulnerable people who travel to Canada from abroad in the suppression of Canadian wages, and, in some cases, the the government slammed on the brakes, imposing a search of a real opportunity to succeed. exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers. moratorium on the whole food services sector. Had they Rodger Cuzner MP, Employment and Social Development0 Critic More fundamentally, the Conservatives undermined www.islandtides.com Page 6, ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014

ROUND THE ISLANDS Written & Compiled by Christa Grace-Warrick

an individual, as a team leader, or as part of a team. Contact [email protected] for more Bike To Work Week information, or these contacts: Nadine, [email protected] on Gabriola; Don & The annual Bike To Work week is coming up May 26–June 1 Niall, [email protected] on (see advertisement on facing page). Though that’s not so easy the Penders; Dave, [email protected] on the Islands, the object of the campaign, to get people out of on Thetis. their cars, is easy. Jan asks if you would like to be a contact Gulf Islands’ organizer Jan Slakov says, ‘I’m sure most for your island. Call her:250-537-5251. people come to live on the Gulf Islands because they love the beauty and the wonderful communities. Getting out of our cars Avaaz Petition to walk, cycle and run reinforces both the health of our Lots of you will be used to signing Avaaz online petitions for good international environment and our communities. And it’s fun! More May fairies—on Mayne this time (see What’s On? page 12). Photo: Tom Hobley ‘There’s no better time to start than during Bike to Work causes. Now the Salish Sea has it’s own things, read, watch TV or go to the movies. Week, May 26 – June 1. This province-wide event means more petition about ferry service, initiated by Hornby Islanders and Fortunately, Vlad, as he likes to be called, was inspired by a cyclists, pedestrians and people using mobility aids are on the bcmarinehighway.org. You can see if you’d like to sign it at: companion in the household whose eyesight was failing at the roads and there is generally more awareness of the need to share http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/British_Columbia_Premier same time. ‘My dog Ziggy was going blind from cataracts. He the road respectfully.’ _Christy_Clark_and_Mike_Corrigan_CEO_BC_Ferries_Red kept me optimistic. As his vision declined he didn’t turn to drink, If you really want to go for it, it’s easy to register at uce_BC_Ferries_Fares_and_No_Cuts_to_Services/?luLaJab didn’t curl up in a corner and say, ‘I’m done.’ He dealt with it.’ www.biketowork.ca, click on ‘Register Now’, then choose ‘Salt &pv=2. Vlad and his wife Julie Wakellin, took their schnauzer to a Spring & Other Gulf Islands’ as the region. You can register as Mayne Island’s New Firehall veterinary ophthalmology clinic in New Westminster for A couple of months ago you were reading about Mayne Island cataract surgery and Ziggy was quick to resume chasing Improvement District’s long process of securing a fit-for- squirrels and rabbits. Vlad went to Nanaimo Regional General purpose firehall for Mayne Island. Another milestone has been Hospital (NRGH) for corneal transplants in June and achieved; the necessary referedum, on Easter Saturday, was September 2013 and had his own dramatic improvement of successful, 396 in favour and 301 against. The following week, eyesight. at the improvement district’s AGM, a record turn-out elected The transplants were possible because of the work of the Eye Brian Dearden and Cilla Brook to the two vacant trustee Bank of BC, a provincial non-profit organization responsible for positions, says Board Chair Bob McKinnon. providing eye tissues for transplantation, education and Once the building bylaw has the ministry stamp of approval research. The eye tissue, which is retrieved within eight hours Discover The Koolest Toy Store approval, demolition of the old firehall will begin. It shouldn’t of a person’s death, enables a variety of procedures that make #102-2517 Bowen Road, Nanaimo be too hard since it is built of cinder block! enormous contributions to the quality of life for others. ‘I don’t 1-888-390-1775 • www.koolandchild.com It’s going to be an organizational feat, and a squeeze, to know who the two people were in my case but I’m eternally accommodate offices, firefighters, vehicles and equipment grateful to them and their families who made it possible,’ Vlad during construction. Completion of the new facility is expected said. in March 2015. Shannon Leonard, Donor Development Liaison for the Eye Meanwhile, out back of the site, a Mayne Island heritage gem Bank, encourages individuals and families to consider donating has to be moved about 1ooft. The Mayne Island Firefighters Rec organs and tissues. Donors can range in age from two to 75 and Hall, which was once Mayne’s first 0ne-room school, is being a single donor can benefit two people with corneal transplants moved by the Firefighters Association. Nickel Bros (see ad, left) and up to six more with scleral grafts. will be doing the lift on the day. Meanwhile firefighters, led by The Palliative Care Unit at Nanaimo Regional General Ron Willick, are pitching in to do the dirty work like taking off Hospital had 78 eye tissue donations in 2013, the highest the kitchen, deck. and porch and disconnecting the electrics and number of any facility in the province. Victoria Hospice had the plumbing. Firefighter’s host the Mothers’ Day Brunch, the kids second highest number of donors. Hallowe’en Party and a teen night in their building. Renovations will be needed to get it ready for the next series of events. Candid Photographer Shot Doantions are welcomed. Photographer Toby Snelgr0ve, whose work is often seen in A new building comes to life and an old building gets a new Island Tides, was caught on the other side of the camers at life. BUY RAISE MOVE LEVEL The Gift of Sight On Gabriola RECYCLED INCREASE SUBDIVIDE FIX YOUR Vladimir Yakimov reluctantly began to abandon many of his HOMES SQ. FOOTAGE YOUR LOT FOUNDATION retirement activities six years ago when a hereditary condition WWW.NICKELBROS.COM 1-866-320-2268 caused a serious decline in his eyesight. ‘It was like I was in a

The Water System Experts Since 1972 TOBY -caught in the frame t Fountains & Watergardens t Rainwater Harvesting t Well Pumps & Water Systems t Swimming Pools & Spas his recent exhibition on Mayne. t Waste Water Pumps & Controls t Landscape Lighting Grants For Independent Media Artists t Water Treatment & Filtration t
Irrigation Project assistance up to $25,000 is available to independent media artists to support the creation of new works in the areas of film, video, audio/sound art and new media, including new 461 Dupplin Road Victoria B.C. 250-383-7145 information and communications technologies used for artistic expression. www.vanislewater.com Artists can apply for project grants from the BC Arts Council. Applications may be made by individuals or a collaboration of two more artists. The deadline for applications is June 2. The Simple The BC Arts Council is the Government of British Columbia's VLAD & ZIGGY lead agency for arts funding and development. The council High-Performance fog,’ said the Gabriola Islander. ‘I loved to cook but I really enlists artists to evaluate grant applications through a peer Septic System couldn’t do that anymore—or work in my workshop, repair review process independent of government. Eljen GSF…Your A ordable Solution for Today’s Wastewater Challenges!

Ideal for New or FREE Replacement Systems SHIPPING in Canada with order over $70.

Innovative Products and Solutions Since 1970

‹ eljen.com www.islandtides.com ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014, Page 7 Chasing Fairies -Lia Chalifour n late March this year, on a steep cliff on the side Our trusty Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Roasting Fancy Coffee of Galiano’s Mount Sutil, Ken Millard and I went Team species-at-risk handbook showed the flowers for mail orders since 1982 looking for fairies—fairy poppies, to be precise. as they were open, pointing straight up to the sky Against all odds, we found one. with all petals flung wide in a triumphant serenade The White fairpoppy, Meconella oregana, is a delicate to the sky. Even this tiny discrepancy caused us annualI that flowers during a brief window of time in very concern as many plant species can be delineated by from Thetis Island to you early spring. This little flower clings to the side of steep a simple difference, such as the nodding onion slopes and, at only a few centimeters tall, can be muscled versus the Hooker’s onion. (The easiest way to tell www.potofgoldcoffee.com out by larger herbs and grasses. Its complex habitat those two apart is that one has a flower that nods or requirements, combined with threats from development, hangs downward, while the other’s flower points up to the sky.) MINI-ADS! recreation and invasive species have led to the White 1-250-216-2267 fairypoppy being considered imperilled throughout its We photographed the hopeful Meconella nearly natural global range in British Columbia, Washington, to death, feeling guilty as we gently poked and Oregon and California. It is at the northernmost limit of prodded the one potential specimen in our planting its range up here in BC, and the handful of populations area. Could it really be? that remain are scattered across Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands. The next morning, sitting on the Galiano So how did we come to find one on Mount Sutil? Conservancy’s school bus at 6am, I waited for Ken so we could board the early ferry to Victoria (the bus gets a biennial check-up). Ken came toward the bus We had a clue about where to look. Defying all odds, the Galiano Conservancy BUY | RAISE | MOVE | LEVEL embarked on a journey to re-introduce the rare flower to the steep mossy slopes with a huge smile on his face— ‘You’ll never believe it.’ He had checked his email, and found the most delightful news waiting for him. Hans Roemer had already BUY RECYCLED HOMES of Mount Sutil a year ago. As no previous attempts to restore Meconella oregana RAISE Increase Square Footage in the wild have succeeded, we had to use a combination of education from replied to the email we had sent after the trek, and to our shocked delight, he Subdivide Your Lot! immediately confirmed that one of the photos we had attached of our nodding MOVE leading expert Dr Hans Roemer and our own intuition, as we chose the location LEVEL Repair Foundation Issues and methods to plant the seeds. Spreading over 300 seeds the size of ground beauty was indeed Meconella oregana. He congratulated us on our find, and in pepper into three separate 1m x 1m squares on a breezy but sunny day, we put doing so, put us both on cloud nine. We had done it! www.nickelbros.com 1-866-320-2268 our best foot forward and hoped for the best. A year later we were scrambling Now that we have discovered re-introduction is possible, we hope to refine back up to the site and scoured the slopes in hopes of finding the tiny plant. our planting methods and work to establish a population of White fairypoppies A few potential tiny white flowers poking up; we dared to allow a sliver of on Mount Sutil, aiding the recovery of this fragile species. In the face of mass hope into our hearts. One in particular seemed to have just the right form, with extinctions happening all over the world, it is such an incredible feeling to take the basal leaves that looked like little green spoons, forming a rosette from which part in increasing biodiversity in a place, and helping a species to survive. Together with our seed donors and partner organizations, we hope to change a tiny stem emerged, bearing a few lance-shaped leaves and a graceful little white • harvesting systems flower. The flower was not yet open, and it nodded as though in a deep and gentle the fate of this delicate flower on Galiano Island. Here’s to believing in fairies. 0 • design • installation slumber. • service VISIT OUR WEBSITE! ROUND THE ISLANDS from previous page BOB BURGESS The Government of British Columbia is providing Director, said that it needed 250-246-2155 $24 million to the BC Arts Council this year. In total, 16,000 riders a year to be [email protected] $60 million is being invested in artists, arts viable. Clearly people like to www.rainwaterconnection.com organizations and cultural institutions in 2014-15. get on the bus! Experience Counts! Meares Tribal Park Is 30 The service is funded, 25% Friends of Clayquot Sound let us know that it’s 30- by fares, 25% by property years since the first declaration of the Meares Island taxes, and 50% by BC Transit. park. In April 1984, with Meares Island slated for Reducing CO2 is a good immininent logging, Tla-o-qui-aht Chief Councilor way to spend tax dollars, it’s Moses Martin read out the Meares Island Tribal also a good economic driver. Park Declaration. Later that year Meares Celebrating Photo: Brenda Huh defenders—Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations and Friends Local Bookstores of Clayoquot Sound—used the declaration as a basis Meredith, who loves sushi, won Pender Sushi’s monthly drawing contest. Penguin Canada lets us know of their 1984-85 logging blockade (Canada’s first), Here she is with her parents Margo & David enjoying her party tray prize that they have a campaign then as part of the successful court case that stopped PENDER SUSHI celebrating the importance of of fun purple rice sushi. See her drawing, in advertisement to the right. BISTRO MacMillan Bloedel’s proposed clearcutting (and local bookstores, tied to one 250-629-6263 protects Meares to this day). the full enjoyment of the right to life.’ At The Golf Course of its new books titles, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry. Barlow is the author of 17 books, the most recent Local Meat Gets A Local Gal This novel depicts the life of the owner of a small, In April, Jacques Campbell, of Saturna’s Campbell being Blue Future: Protecting Water for People and independent bookstore and the profound effect he the Planet Forever. She co-founded the Blue Planet Farm, was elected as a director of the BC Association and his shop have on the community. of Abattoirs. The community-based board will be Project, an organization that works to protect water Penguin tells us that, in our area, you’ll find copies worldwide. She has been awarded Canada’s highest guiding its membership through the launch of a of The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry at Talisman Books variety of high profile programs aimed at increasing environmental honour—the Citation of Lifetime on Pender Island, Mulberry Books in Qualicum Achievement Award—and numerous honorary demand and access for British Columbia meat in BC Beach, the Laughing Oyster in Courtenay, and Coho markets. degrees. Books in Campbell River. There may be others. Barlow’s activism extends to all issues of These programs will educate consumers and Check out your local bookstore, in any case, for a raise awareness about the benefits of buying local BC environmental protection, public health care, spring read in the garden. democracy, and fair trade. A recent speech that she 1.888.296.8059 meat products and link consumers to local farms, Maude Barlow At Salt Spring restaurants and grocers that sell and serve these delivered against bitumen pipelines in BC is posted www.wintonhomes.ca Forum - Catherine Paquettee on the Salt Spring Forum’s website at: meats. The first of these programs has been You’ll Feel Right At Home launched: www.bcbeefnet.ca helps chefs buy local Some of us take clean water for granted. We turn on www.saltspringforum.ca. Certified BC Beef online. the tap and drink. If we cannot do that, we filter our The Salt Spring Forum is proud to host this Canadian hero in a community discussion about GERTIE gets to 10,000! water or buy bottled water. If we have the means, we quench our thirst and move on to other things. water protection and environmental activism on On April 24, Gabriola’s much-loved community bus, Etienne Design This is definitely not the case for everyone. The May 25, see What’s On?, page 12 for details. GERTIE, welcomed her 10,000th rider trip in 10 World Bank has predicted that 3.5 billion people will short months since the service was inaugurated. Out-Of-This-World Musical not have enough clean drinking water by 2025. Ridership is rising, so organizers are in great It’s not so often that the Salish Sea is the launching 3.5 billion is 350,000 times the population of Salt anticipation of the annual total coming up. pad for a large-scale, original musical, but that's what Custom Home Design Spring Island. Meanwhile on Salt Spring (about 3 times the will happen in May and June with the world Maude Barlow, the National Chairperson of the Design Services population), the bus service which got started in premiere of the musical Moonbound! Council of Canadians, is leading the campaign for 2007, is celebrating having 100, 000 fares in a year. Freely based on a novel by HG Wells, and over Project Support clean water around the globe. From 2008-2009, 10-years in the making, Moonbound! is presented Don McLennan, Chair of Salt Spring Island t (250) 702²7854 Barlow served as the United Nation’s first senior by Over the Moon Theatricals, a consortium of local Transportation Commission comments that, when [email protected] advisor on water issues. Thanks to her efforts, the production companies and performing arts schools. the service started, Gary Holman, then CRD www.etiennedesign.ca UN now recognizes that clean water is ‘essential for ROUND THE ISLANDS continued on page 10 May 26 – June 1

BIKE TO WORK WEEK + = Want more pedestrian/cycling-friendly communities? Please register at www.biketowork.ca Greenhouse Gardening Starts Here! Info: Jan Slakov, Coordinator Salt Spring & other Gulf Islands Halls English Greenhouses are known for high quailty & affordability. [email protected] or 250.537.5251 Five models, 6 or 8ft wide, 4 to14ft long. Easy to assemble kits. Throughout BC, including the Gulf Islands See our website for details. Russell Nursery, Island Agent for Halls Greenhouses 1370 Wain Road, North Saanich, BC (first exit off ferry) 250-656-0384 www.russellnursery.com/greenhouses A big ‘thank you’ to our advertisers! www.islandtides.com Page 8, ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014 My Excellent Heart Attack - William Thomas ix weeks after my death, I don warm clothes, pocket a you were building an electric outrigger canoe to carry you across waterbottle and essential provisions, and set out to the River Styx. And save the ferry fare. summit Ford Cove trail. Pacing Lambert Channel for Just for luck, I turned back toward the dock. By the time I three-and-a-halfS klicks, this well-travelled woodland path finished tying up my 17-footer, low tide had transformed the includes four uphill sections just long and steep enough to keep ramp into the Hillary Step on Everest. At the top I had to sit the ol’ ticker ticking. Especially, if it’s already busted. down. Lying down on that wooden bench felt even better. Just In olden times before last December, when my former life for a minute. To catch my breath. abruptly ended and my unexpected ‘afterlife’ began, this This new flu going around was a doozy! I would have asked beginner-rated trek provided a mildly exerting yet meditatively Nick to drive me to the clinic, but it’s closed on weekends. And soothing 45-minute shortcut to the ferry. With one artery now I was reluctant to bother the doctor on-call. I just needed a little propped open like a shored-up cave-in, and a pharmaceutical rest. Inside my hideout, I took two aspirin—just in case—and ‘speed governor’ turning extra exertion into laboured gasping went to bed. But no matter how I emulated a rotisserie, I could until the rest of me catches up, I’ve been preparing for this not find relief from the nagging pain and nausea. Captain Will aboard Electra attempt with slightly longer walks every day for the past month. As Yogi Berra would say, I kept making wrong mistakes. crazies trying to wreck the place, too many simultaneous alarms Yesterday, I made it to the base of the final long incline. Today Deferring medical attention turns out to be a common trait keep going off. The result, of course, is too many pizza slices, is the day. among cardio survivors. And I was used to tending my own cookie monsters and prepackaged meals, while tap-tap-tapping It nearly wasn’t... wounds. Alone, in pain, nausea, darkness, and my thoughts, I the keyboard like Jack Phillips keying those last frantic Maydays That first un-rainy Saturday in December dawned crisp and toughed it out as I’d done so many times before. It’s what sailors onboard Titanic. clear on Hornby. Strolling down to the cove, I realized that being learn to do. And people living alone. Even though Royal Jubilee is a top-notch cardio facility, my on the water would feel even better than walking beside it. So I The night was nearly eternal. By 3am I figured if this is the request for a cold beer was denied. headed to the dock, broke out the lifejackets, snugged up my flu, Ebola is a hiccup. I consider dialling 911. But all that Was that really my heart pumping like a bellows on the big parka, tilted the electric trolling motor into the water, and cast- commotion in my driveway, a two-ferries call-out and the long monitor overhead? In a day filled with wonders, a mouse was off Electra. As the shore slid past in its usual conjuring trick, the trip to town felt more appalling than appealing. Besides, crawling up the inside of my arm. With some kind of tube fully outrigged Grumman and I settled contentedly on Mom’s slow- whoever heard of a heart attack lasting 12 hours? inserted at the juncture of cardiovascular calamity, a miniature heaving bosom. Home is the sailor. Home on the sea. By the time I realized I really was about to check right off the balloon was inflated, re-opening the collapsed artery. That felt Less than 10 minutes into this relaxing silken glide an planet, I barely had time to freak out. So I didn’t. Whatever nice! Then a miniature synthetic viaduct was expertly nudged invisible boa constrictor dropped out of the sky, coiled around comes next, I figured I was about to find out. into place to hold that tunnel open. Amazing! I was now an my upper chest and squeezed hard. Compounding my What came next was my morning call to Dr Chapman’s official member of the Stent Club. amazement, this unheralded pain rotated to the middle of my pager. Nausea was the reddest flag. ‘Get up here right now,’ No one could explain why my other arteries were okay. But upper back. And stabbed deep. demanded this former heart surgeon. I groggily packed a bag. since deterioration of the downstream heart muscles begins Ouch! I sagged back, feeling astonishingly weak. Despite the King drove me to the clinic. within minutes of shut-off blood flow, being a tough guy had below freezing temperature, my T-shirt was wringing wet. Must Next thing I knew, I was flat on my back in Hornby’s new not been the cleverest response. ‘It looks like you have major be my mono coming back. Or maybe a reprise of that Hong clinic with a fancy machine tasting my blood. ‘Heart attack’ heart damage,’ the angioplasty pilot pronounced. Kong bronchitis. pronounced the enzyme readout. ‘How bad’s your pain?’ Dr ‘Okay,’ I said. Fine. I was thrilled to be alive. When the probe This could not be a heart attack because: 1. I don’t get heart Chapman kept asking. ‘On a scale of one to 10.’ was retracted, so was this diagnosis. attacks 2. My arm didn’t hurt. 3. I was not grabbing my chest ‘Maybe a five,’ I answered. No biggie. ‘Mmmm. Looks like you have very little heart damage,’ he and keeling over. And 4. I was still alive. (Always a good sign.) I got major points for taking blood-thinning aspirin. But amended. Handing me a printout of my ticker, he pointed to a Of course, the first symptom of a heart attack is denial. waiting 19 hours before seeking professional palliatives... not so pair of squiggly lines that would have denoted rivers on a I burst out laughing. Smooth move, ace. You never guessed much. Still, the morphine was nice. topographical map. ‘See those? Your heart has been trying to It was not a crowd of angels, but a jet-turbine Sikorsky that grow new veins to compensate for that collapsed artery.’ bore me heavenward. After nearly four decades’ on the How cool was this? But what could you expect from an organ RING YOUR RECYCLABLES TO US activist/journalist front-lines, it seemed fitting to be medevaced crammed with neurons—exactly like the brain cells they connect B … from a grass strip. Touching down at Royal Jubilee, my gurney with up top... We’ll take anything with a was wheeled inside with MASH-like alacrity. A cardiologist Breathing deeply, evenly, gratefully, I gear down for that last deposit for a full refund. examined my readouts. uphill slog. Don’t look at the distance left to go. Just watch my ‘What are you doing here?’ LAND ACT: steps... Wooden steps! Then I am standing on the footbridge Open daily 9am to 6pm NOTICE OF INTENTION he asked. leading down—down!—to Vance’s place. I did it! I made it! TO APPLY FOR A ‘I have no idea,’ I replied. Having embraced my death, I am astonished to be alive. 250.539.2936 DISPOSITION OF ‘Do you smoke?’ Update: ‘No.’ ATURNA ENERAL TORE CROWN LAND There’s nothing like a heart attack to straighten out your S G S John Reid ‘You shouldn’t be here,’ he ARVAEZ AY OAD ATURNA SLAND Take notice that has priorities. Daily walks up to an hour or two are now habitual. 101 N B R , S I insisted in a tone that said, applied to Ministry of Forests, And letting go of wheat, sugar and processed foods was so easy ‘you are not a high risk Lands and Natural Resource once I started asking: is eating this worth my life? candidate’. Operations (MFLNRO), West That Yogi knew my future isn’t what it used to be. Four Stress, I guessed. Your TotalTYour otaTYour lota Coast Region for a Private months after my adventure on the water, I am feeling excellent. Moorage Volunteering does not pay WateratW SolutionolutionolutionSer situated on Provincial I’m two pants sizes thinner and have just started jogging Crown land located at Wellbury real well. And year after sections of that trail. Why not? As Berra believed, if people don’t Bay, Salt Spring Island. relentless year, with a Gulf Islands Water Treatment want to read this, how am I going to stop them? Whatever The Lands File Number that seemingly endless supply of follows is always and only a heartbeat away. 0 has been established for this ~ Rainwater Harvesting application is File #1414164. ~ Water treatment for wells, Written comments concerning surface supplies & seawater this application should be FIPA’s Secrecy Article Exposed ~ Filtration & Disinfection directed to the Section Head, Ministry of Forests, Lands and Frants Attorp ~ Slow sand filtration tephen Harper’s free trade deal with ‘confidential’ and ‘in the public interest’? Natural Resource Operations at ~ Small systems Health China has been condemned by experts in Corporate lawyers? Stephen Harper? Note 142–2080 Labieux Rd, Authority approvals there is absolutely no requirement to release Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6J9, or international law and by First Nations Bacteria, Arsenic,n-ss,nserAa,ireactB Turbidity, Tannins-TOC,sninTan,tyidibrTu,ci CTO Hardness,dnearH, much more!!ermouchmss, acrossS Canada. It is the focus of numerous any supporting documentation to the public. emailed to: Authorizing If the Conservatives were really serious www.watertiger.netwwww.. igerttwa erer.. tne [email protected]. ‘Stop FIPA’ campaigns and is being challenged in court by the Hupacasath First Nation. about transparency, they would introduce VictoriaatoricVi BurnabyyrnabBu CourtenayouC aynrteou Comments will be received by Serving The Gulf Islands & BC since 1988 June 22, 2014 The agreement, which has yet to be ratified, Canadian legislation requiring public (-1110(250) 412-11101240)25 1110 (-4(604) 630-1114036)046 111 (250)0)25( )-14 339-69149330 96 MFLNRO until . [email protected] TF: 1-855-777-1220 MFLNRO may not be able to gives foreign corporations sway over domestic disclosure—not just of awards by the tribunal— consider comments received policy by exposing Canadian taxpayers to but, more importantly, of all claims settled ‘on after this date. multi-billion dollar lawsuits. Harper is signing the quiet’ before they reach the tribunal level. Please visit our website: away our sovereignty by granting special 2. Where, after consulting with a disputing http://arfd.gov.bc.ca/Applicati powers to corporations (and their lawyers who investor, a disputing Contracting Party onPosting/index.jsp for more operate in secretive, offshore tribunals where determines that it is in the public interest to do information. Canada’s laws have no meaning). FIPA will be so and notifies the Tribunal of that Be advised that any response to locked in for decades as it contains no determination, hearings held under this Part this advertisement will be significant escape clause. shall be open to the public. To the extent considered part of the public Public Access to Hearings necessary to ensure the protection of record. For information, contact confidential information, including business the Freedom of Information and Documents confidential information, the Tribunal may Advisor at the Ministry of One of the more odious parts of FIPA is Article hold portions of hearings in camera. Forests, Lands and Natural 28 which deals with the public’s right to know: Critique: Again, there is no requirement Resource Operations regional 1. Any Tribunal award under this Part shall be to make anything public—including the claim office in Nanaimo. publicly available, subject to the redaction of itself. Faced with an embarrassing claim by a confidential information. Where a disputing Chinese corporation, how much information Contracting Party determines that it is in the will any government want to disclose? Won’t it public interest to do so and notifies the be more politically expedient to settle the claim Tribunal of that determination, all other in secret using taxpayer money? documents submitted to, or issued by, the 3. A disputing party may disclose to other Tribunal shall also be publicly available, subject persons in connection with the arbitral to the redaction of confidential information. proceedings such unredacted documents as it Critique: Who determines what is FIPA, continued on next page www.islandtides.com ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014 Page 9 Reclaiming the Commons in the Salish Sea Islands - Heather Menzies everal recent issues covered in Island Tides suggest a nulth to share in governance decisions, through negotiation. necessarily science and data-based; possibly more experience- possible revival of the local self-governing commons, at When this affirmation of local self-governance is coupled with based as someone who dwells in the local habitat and has come least they do to me. I’ve spent years exploring the the SFU archaelogical research finding that herring to feel implicated enough in its welfare to speak up. My research commonsS as alternative to state or market control, stocks remained abundant over at least 10,000 into the commons helped me understand the importance of ‘Commons specifically in the Highlands of Scotland where self- years and the Supreme Court judgement such knowledge and knowledge practices. inhabitants became governing commons as shared farming hamlets, recognizing the traditional indigenous Commons inhabitants became knowledgeble participants in knowledgeble participants plus fields and pastures, emerged from traditional fishery as a ‘trading’ not just a local local decision-making as they lived immersed in the habitat and in local decision-making as hunter-farmer clan communities on the land. subsistence economy, it suggests that what’s attuned to the inter-relationships at play there. The common Such a revival might also be timely as they lived immersed in the being affirmed is not just traditional good and wellbeing of the commons was directly affected by corporations threaten local water, air and land, habitat and attuned to the indigenous rights. their input on decision-making, for example in setting stints, or and governments too often read ‘the common inter-relationships at This is also an alternative model for limits, on the number of sheep and cows each family could send good’ as what’s good for corporations. play there.’ running an economy: one that is directly to the common pasture, to prevent over-grazing. This, in turn, The story of the herring roe fishery dispute and its governed, at least partly, by local inhabitants and helped affirm them as responsible commoners, as implicated resolution is one example. First, because a recent federal court also by right relations with the environment, to prevent in the commons. decision broke the monopoly of the federal government over-fishing. As Deb Foxcroft, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council This commons sense, this sense of being implicated in the (through DFO) in regulating the west coast fishery. It recognized President, was quoted in this newspaper as saying: ‘Together fate of the commons—water, land, seashores and their the right of First Nations communities such as the Nuu-chah- we can create fisheries that will benefit our coastal communities inhabitants—seems to be on the rise on the Gulf Islands. It’s and all Canadians.’ evident in people taking responsibility to map local beaches in NEB’s pipeline hearing To me, it’s equally significant that the Federal Court seasonal beach walks, to participate in community-based - Patrick Brown challenged the adequacy of the knowledge on which the DFO’s monitoring of local water wells and water tables, and as they process decision to throw open the commercial herring roe fishery was volunteer as citizen scientists working with credentialled ones The National Energy Board’s unusual hearing procedure for based. Potentially at least, this creates space for a plurality of associated with the Suzuki Foundation, the Raincoast Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP) knowledge on which fishery and related governance decisions Conservation Foundation or, through the Seagrass has been challenged by the North Vancouver based Tsleil- can be based. This includes traditional indigenous knowledge Conservation Working Group, mapping Eelgrass meadows that Waututh First Nation, and traditional knowledge practices that informed fishery provide food and protection for over 80% of local fish and The Nation is commencing legal action in the Federal Court regulation in the past—practices that were anchored in direct shellfish. of Appeal, claiming that the NEB has ignored them throughout experience, in oral dialogue and narrative. The more people engage as co-inhabitants of habitat, the the review process. Reuben George, representing the Nation, Non-native communities can help open this knowledge, and more they become more aware of the intricate inter- said, ‘The actions we take are to benefit everybody, because perhaps also governance space through some of the issues relationships and inter-dependencies among all the co- Canada is making the wrong decision in supporting Kinder they’re involved in. For example, challenging the federal inhabitants, and the more they’ll understand that becoming Morgan.’ government’s public-consultation only approach to licensing implicated in the welfare of our commons is important. The NEB has already had to change its schedule (see geoduck farming and the provincial government’s seemingly In her next article: self-organizing, self-governing capacity- previous Island Tides), allowing an extra ten days for the first unilateral decision to declare seaweed an agricultural product building in the Gulf islands, including The Commons on round of intervenor requests—intervenors have to read and sort and to issue licenses permitting its strip-mining off local beaches. Gabriola. For details of Heather Menzies’ 10th book launch, out Trans Mountain’s application, which is 15,000 pages long As Rita Dawson of Ladysmith wrote, in a letter to the editor, Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Good see ‘What’s (see Elizabeth May’s article, page 3). The deadline is now May ‘this has… disrupted wildlife feeding patterns, wiped out On?’, page 12. 12, changed from May 2. No other dates have been changed. animals’ food sources and tampered with Nature’s weave...’ Heather has just been invested with the Order of Canada for Clearly, she has considerable knowledge of the local habitat. Not Other Challenges her ‘contribution to public discourse’. 0 Meanwhile, the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby have challenged the lack of oral cross-examination in the hearing schedule. Economist Robyn Allan and MP Elizabeth May also filed Notices of Motion requesting that the schedule be amended to include an oral cross-examination phase. ForestEthics, along with eight Lower Mainland residents, have filed a Notice of Motion with the NEB asserting that the hearing procedure as currently scheduled violates their Charter right to free speech through undue restrictions on public comment. The group also challenges the NEB’s restrictions on subject matter which bans discussion of the upstream and downstream consequences of extracting and burning the oil carried in the pipeline. ForestEthics indicates their willingness to proceed to federal court if necessary. Rebuttal On May 7, the National Energy Board dismissed the motions by Robyn Allan and Elizabeth May for oral examination. In its letter of reply, NEB asserts that it is ‘master of its own procedure’. Subsections of the NEB Act, added in 2012, require it to meet a time limit of 15 months from the date when the Application (for the TMEP) is declared complete. With this time limit, and 400 intervenors, the NEB has determined that it is ‘appropriate to test the evidence through written processes’, and that there is no ‘absolute entitlement to oral cross-examination’. 0

FIPA from previous page considers necessary for the preparation of its case, but it shall ensure that those persons protect the confidential information in such documents. Critique: Standard clause for internal business. 4. The Contracting Parties may share with officials of their respective federal and sub-national governments all relevant unredacted documents in the course of dispute settlement under this Agreement, but they shall ensure that those persons protect any confidential information in such documents. Critique: Also standard, but again, we see ‘may share’ rather than ‘must share’. There is no requirement to release any information to lower levels of government. 5. To the extent that a Tribunal’s confidentiality order designates information as confidential and a Contracting Party’s law on access to information requires public access to that information, the Contracting Party’s law on access to information shall prevail. However, a Contracting Party should endeavour to apply its law on access to information so as to protect information designated confidential by the Tribunal. Critique: This gives politicians great leeway in preventing the release—through the Access to Information Act—of anything deemed ‘confidential’ by the tribunal. The word ‘endeavour’ is a very slippery legal term that can be interpreted and applied in many different ways. Reminder In 2011, the Harper government was found in contempt of parliament for withholding financial information from parliamentarians. It is also recipient of the Code of Silence Award from the Canadian Association of Journalists. 0 www.islandtides.com Page 10, ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014 Trust working on many regional issues Islands Trust Council Chair Sheila Malcolmson provincial Minister of Forests, Lands and has recently written to: Natural Resource Operations about finding • The Premier of British Columbia to solutions to derelict vessels. express concerns about BC government’s BC • Transport Canada’s Tanker Safety Expert Ferries service cuts, fare hikes and Panel to provide input to their review of infrastructure funding. requirements for a potential Ship-source • The provincial Minister of Transportation Hazardous and Noxious Substances (HNS) and Infrastructure about a BC Ferries Incident Preparedness and Response Regime Economic Impact Analysis report. in Canada. • Staff at Fisheries and Oceans Canada to The letters can be read online at provide comments on the draft Pacific Region :www.islandstrust.bc.ca/trustcouncil/chair/cha Integrated Geoduck Management Framework. ircorrespondence/2014.aspx. 0 • The federal Minister of Transport and the Most people not voting in municipal elections Getting a majority to vote in local government we can too.’ Earth Day message on Galiano’s Sturdies Bay dock elections continues to be a challenge. A new It is no secret that fewer people are voting. report from the Columbia Institute looks at Voter turnout in elections in Canada has reasons why some people vote while others decreased at the federal and provincial levels Reading and literacy: librarian cuts don’t and outlines new solutions. to under 60% of the eligible voting population. Research into who didn’t vote in Even more dramatically, in municipal elections Cuts to school library programs should be a order to meet its budget shortfall for next year. Vancouver’s last civic election highlights a voter turn-out is frequently as low as 20-30%. warning for BC parents, much like a canary in The Coquitlam School District is also one of democratic deficit in participation. People who ‘The vast majority of people simply do not a coalmine, says BC Teacher-Librarians’ several districts proposing cuts to school didn’t vote last time out were more likely to vote in school board or municipal elections. Association Vice-President Jeff Yasinchuk. librarian positions. speak a first language other than English, be We need to do a better job of voter literacy,’ said The Coquitlam School District, which ‘School librarians are teachers and literacy young, lack higher education, move more Charley Beresford, Executive Director of currently has teacher-librarian positions at experts,’ says Yasinchuk. ‘Imagine a math frequently, or have a low income. They were Columbia Institute. ‘Ultimately when we re- over 65 schools, has proposed reducing its classroom without a math teacher. It should less likely to be connected to social networks in engage people in voting, they also re-engage in budget line item for teacher-librarian staffing follow that we wouldn’t stand for school their community. Their non-participation their communities.’ to zero. libraries without teacher-librarians.’ likely means their concerns are under- ‘Libraries and literacy are at the heart of The BC Teacher-Librarians’ Association represented in civic dialogue. The report is grounded in interviews and public education,’ Yasinchuk says, ‘and they took the step of speaking publicly, after its Report author Norman Gludovatz says focus groups with non-voters from the last are under attack once again. In the Coquitlam annual Spring Council Meeting where there are new ways to increase turn out. ‘We Vancouver municipal election. And its School District, over 30,000 students will be members unanimously endorsed a campaign need to stop talking at people with facts and solutions are timely, in the lead up to municipal impacted. Many may no longer have access to to demonstrate the true cost of losing figures about voting and start inspiring them elections in BC, Manitoba, Ontario, PEI, and the same learning opportunities as students in professionally staffed school libraries. to engage,’ said Gludovatz. ‘A good place to parts of Saskatchewan, Nunavut, and the other districts.’ Yasinchuk notes that the effect of these cuts start is early voter registration of youth. We Northwest Territories. The Nanaimo Board of Education is also will mean a further erosion of public know the best indicator of life-long voting is The full report is available online at: contemplating cuts, proposing to eliminate all education: ‘Is this the best literacy strategy the early participation. Other jurisdictions are http://www.civicgovernance.ca/getting-the- of its secondary teacher-librarian positions in BC Liberal government can produce?’ 0 having success in getting more people to vote— majority-to-vote. 0

ROUND THE ISLANDS from page 7 ‘Moonbound! is a musical in the tradition of The Wizard of Oz or moon. There they find an unusual civilization living on the surface— IPCC Report Wicked,’ says Gabriolan Frank Moher, who wrote the book and lyrics and an even more extraordinary one living underground. A The Environment’s this vast umbrella and directs the production. ‘Kids will enjoy it, but there’s a lot in it for combination adventure story, love story, and comic look at imperial ’Neath which we live—no story-teller adults as well. And it’s on the same scale as those musicals—big. To folly, Moonbound! brings the fun of both sci-fi and musicals to the Could properly describe it’s worth pull it off, we had to put together a production team that’s big too.’ stage. Without it, there’s no life on earth. Starring Antonio Gradanti and Kathy McIntyre, supported by a cast Moonbound! premieres May 23 and May 24 at The Haven on But lately this Environment of 54 (yes, 54), Moonbound! follows an eccentric Victorian scientist Gabriola Island. It then moves to Nanaimo for performances at Has got a grave impediment, and a hard-nosed London businesswoman on a surprise trip to the Malaspina Theatre at Vancouver Island University. 0 For oil’s become a climate-changer - The IPCC highlights the danger. NEWS IN BRIEF from page 1 Now there’d be no anomaly Two new woodlots threatened on Gambier support from all sides of the House on Second Reading. If world affairs ran logically; Some 3,300 acres in two new woodlots have been advertised for The bill will establish a framework for collaboration between the But Economy’s become a norm logging by the provincial Ministry of Forests, Lands, and Natural federal, provincial and territorial ministers, representatives of the To which all persons must conform; Resource Operations. Gambier Island residents claim the lands are medical community, and patients’ groups, to promote greater Based on a market growth in which zoned as ‘wilderness conservation’ and contain local hiking trails, awareness and prevention of Lyme disease, to address the challenges We sink or swim, and some get rich. campgrounds, Gambier Lake, and the community watershed. If fully of timely diagnosis and treatment, and to push for further research. Gold was its basis years ago, developed, nearly 25% of Gambier Island could be clearcut. And now it’s oil that makes it grow. Fracking report seeks more data, The Gambier Island Local Trust Committee says it ‘has repeatedly particularly on water use requested’ public consultation and has ‘been rebuffed’. David Graham, But since Economy’s man-made An expert report on hydraulic fracturing in the extraction of natural Chair of the LTC, has written to the Minister pointing out that there We could agree to live and trade gas raises more questions than it answers. The report, ordered by should be provision for community input prior to the issuing of a Using some medium to displace previous federal Environment Minister Peter Kent, says there is a lack woodlot license. He has also requested that Gambier Island’s Crown Oil as an economic base; of scientific data that is needed to assess the risk to water resources. Land not be regarded as part of the Sunshine Coast timber supply, and The scientists would all accept The report also notes that the chemicals and other substances that the woodlots in question be reduced in size. Clean Energy as a new concept; added to the water used for fracking have risks of their own, and little The woodlot leases are estimated to yield $9,000 per year to the But we must act right now, or faster, data is available to evaluate their potential for harm. ‘What is perhaps government. Or future years will see disaster. more alarming is that where substantial adverse impacts were Starfish infected, but by what? anticipated, these concerns were dismissed or ignored by those who Now any normal government Researchers still don’t know what is killing millions of starfish in embraced the expected positive benefits of the economic activities that Would take due steps to circumvent coastal waters from BC to Mexico. Researchers suspect a pathogen— produced those impacts,’ the report states. The onset of climate extremes - bacterial or viral—is causing the starfish to dissolve into piles of goo. Woodfibre LNG plant in 2017? But not in Canada it seems; Populations of several different species have been destroyed; A proposed natural gas liquefaction plant at Woodfibre, owned by We’re going just the other way - around the Salish Sea, sunflower stars were the first to be affected, but Singapore-based Pacific Oil & Gas, may be the first-off-the-mark in the A policy that seems to say other varieties are now suffering. Occurrences have been reported from race to export natural gas to Asia. Pacific Oil & Gas is a unit of the RGE To scientists: “Get lost - we know Montague Harbour to Port Hardy. Group, which was founded by Indonesian businessman Sukarno That oils’s the only way to go”. Riparian area regulations ‘an example’ of Tanto. The plant will be relatively small, with an export capacity of 2.1 So now, with needed statutes trashed ineffective enforcement million metric tons per year. It will be located on the site of a former And service cuts and budgets slashed, Provincial Ombudsman Kim Carter says these Riparian Area pulp and paper plant on Howe Sound near Squamish, and connected What means have we to stop the trend - Regulations require that a developer engage a ‘qualified professional’ to an existing FortisBC pipeline. LNG ships will travel through Howe We must accept it in the end; to carry out environmental assessment, and the Ministry of Forests, Sound, the Strait of Georgia, Boundary Pass, Haro Strait, and Juan de So - welcome ice-storms, hurricanes, Lands, and Natural Resources then reviews the reports. Fuca Strait to reach the Pacific Ocean. And rising seas and non-stop rains ! Carter points out that the Ministry decided to review only one out Is my conclusion all that strange - of five reports, and, due to cuts in staff, it does not even meet the Compliance receives new Anderson Lake That Harper wants this climate change ? oversight role; nor does it meet its own goals for site visits. She notes coal license that this ‘professional reliance’ system of using private sector H.Barry Cotton The BC Ministry of Energy, Mines, and Natural Gas has issued a new professionals, hired by proponents, and whose work is theoretically coal tenure license to Compliance Coal Corporation on May 5, 2014. reviewed by Ministry staff, is widely used by the government. The license covers some 1,448 hectares in the Anderson Lake area, part A warm ‘thank you’ Lyme disease act passes second reading of the Tsolum River watershed west of Comox. Bill C-442, the National Lyme Disease Strategy Act, passed second The issuance of the license was opposed by the Comox Valley to Island Tides’ reading in the House of Commons on April 30 and has now been sent Regional District. Compliance has consistently missed deadlines for to the House Standing Committee on Health. The Bill was introduced environmental information to the CEAA, and recently posted record subscribers! by Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Elizabeth May in June 2012, and received losses for its 2013 financial year. 0 www.islandtides.com ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014, Page 11 Do you know who you are? - Jane Petch Listen… can you hear the cornerstone of our democracy knowledge. SANDY (BRIAN) PEARSON 1928-2014 cracking? Next stop, community services. How does it happen that so Now, it used to be in Canada, if you were a person, you had many people do not have ID, I asked. a vote. Not any more. The changes to the Elections Act, Bill C- No permanent place to live, so no secure place to store 23, propose that you will only be able to vote if you have the documents; information gets stolen, or lost, or destroyed as they proper ID. ‘ move from one place to another. People with mental illness Without ID, the proposed ‘Fair’ Elections Act rules that you have a hard time just dealing with day to day life without lose your most basic democratic right, the right to vote. You lose keeping track of documents, especially if they are homeless. your standing as a fully recognized Canadian citizen. You don’t The process of obtaining a birth certificate involves literacy count, and you won’t be counted in. skills, being able to access and use a computer, filling in forms Now, I have lots of primary identification—a driver’s license, correctly, sending money when you don’t have a bank account, a passport, a birth certificate, and lots of secondary ID—a care then establishing an address to which the certificate can be card, a bank account, a credit card, a utility bill mailed to my mailed, never mind finding an extra eighty dollars. address (though it might have come by email). I have ID hidden Get some ID, says Pierre Poilievre, without making it any in my purse that I haven’t seen for months. easier to get. But the rookie Minister of State For Democratic But it wasn’t until I joined the volunteers at the Salt Spring Reform, forced by outraged public opinion, did backtrack Library that I realized how many people live their lives with no somewhat. He unveiled the changes to the Economic Club of ID. Canada at the Chateau Laurier on April 24. I asked one young man if he wanted a library card. ‘I don’t April 25 Amendments have any ID,’ he replied. The new changes allow for vouching again. Don’t they? ‘Do you have a bill, like a Hydro bill, with your name on it?’ No, there is no vouching for the actual person. Only for his ‘No. I don’t get bills. I live on a boat.’ or her residence (if he or she has one). A neighbour in the same ‘A BC Identity Card?’ voting poll can vouch, only once, that the elector without proof ‘Too much money, and it’s too hard to get.’ of residence does live at a certain address. And woe betide a Sandy Pearson was born March 13th, 1928 in Sydney, I called the local insurance company, and asked what was false oath, warns Poilievre. The maximum punishment is fifty Australia. His mother was 44 years old at his birth and his involved with getting a BC ID Card. The answer was you need thousand dollars and five years in jail. That’s a chill factor. father 56. His dad was a Reverend of the Church of England. some primary ID, like a birth certificate, a current passport, an No, unlike the old Elections Act where a neighbour could He had I think a good childhood but a short one as he was Indian Status Card, (all original or certified copies) and some vouch that Fred Jones really was Fred Jones even if he didn’t sent off to a boys boarding school at the age of ten. It was a secondary identification. And thirty five dollars. have ID, under the proposed (Un)fair Elections Act nothing will place of harsh discipline and he was hungry a great deal, but A birth certificate…how hard could that be? I googled Birth save Fred’s vote now but the proper documentation. he made some good friends and played rugby. This was the Certificates. The answer: send eighty dollars to Ottawa and fill So sorry, Fred. You used to have a vote and now you don’t. time when his name changed from Brian to Sandy. There was in some forms. They then mail the certificate back to you. One Thank the Conservative Government, the same one that a Pearson Sandsoap Factory next to the school and all the of the questions is where your father and mother were born. declines to give the Commissioner of Elections full powers to Pearson boys were given the nickname Sandy. At one point My dad was born in England, somewhere on the south coast, investigate election fraud. two of his brothers answered to the name Sandy as well was it Brighton or Portsmouth? My mother is alive. I called her. Ungenerous, undemocratic, unfair and unCanadian. 0 which must have been very confusing to his mother when The answer was Bournemouth. So much for my family friends called. Shortly after his 21st birthday he was wandering about DIVESTING from page 1 town when he was approached and asked if he wanted to work on a ship and see the world. He had a few hours to pack collective futures.’ terms of employee pensions. his bags and get down to the port. One can only imagine how In their open letter, faculty members state ‘the science is ‘If you can believe it, my faculty pension has no ethical his mother felt. clear’ on human-caused climate change, which is expected to screens. We can invest in arms, tobacco, and so on. It's When he first arrived in Great Britain he asked the cost the Canadian economy $5 billion per year by 2020. The outrageous, really. But of all places in society, the university is question, as young men tend to, ‘Where do you meet adverse effects of a warming planet, they note, has already killed well-positioned to lead, to find creative solutions to these women?’ The answer, ‘The pub’. When he arrived in Toronto, thousands and creates vulnerable environmental refugees. The complexities.’ She clarified that her UVic pension is not, as far up from New York where the ship came in, he asked the same burning, transportation and refinement of fossil fuels, they add, as she knows, invested in arms or tobacco, but there is no screen question. The reply this time, ‘church’. So off to church he perpetuates these negative impacts. in place that would prevent the pension trustees from doing so. went, where he met my mother Edith. They were married a ‘We should not support, let alone profit from, companies She added, ‘Who is better placed than UVic law faculty and few months later in 1950. responsible for this suite of effects.’ students to innovate and propose concrete changes to currently They traveled by ship back to Australia where they The divestment campaign will be presented to the board of unethical but legal mandates like fiduciary duty to maximize thought they would live, but after the birth of their first child the endowment fund and the board of governors at UVic this returns?’ and my father’s struggle to find work, they returned to summer. James Rowe, another professor at the School of Canada. His first job was that of a door-to-door salesman of Environmental studies professor and letter signatory Jessica Environmental Studies and lead organizer for the campaign, insurance. It didn’t take him long to realize he was not a Dempsey said faculty support for the initiative is growing: said there is also a strong financial case to be made for salesman. He was too honest. ‘Every day there are more signatories as more faculty become divestment. It did spark his interest in insurance though and he soon aware of the issue.’ ‘The current valuation of oil companies includes huge embarked on a career as an adjuster. He moved jobs every 7 ‘I think both students and faculty are looking for ways to reserves of fossil fuels that cannot be burned if humanity wants or 8 years in order to challenge himself. As a result the family seriously engage and confront the climate crisis, in a time when to avoid run-away climate change. When policy-making lived in many cities, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Montreal and we have no governmental leadership, and no signs of it on the inevitably catches up with the scientific consensus on climate Vancouver. He was hired in 1974 by the new government horizon,’ she told DeSmog Canada. change, share prices for oil companies will be negatively corporation ICBC. He became Vice-president of Claims. impacted, generating losses for investors,’ he said. ‘It’s Complex’ He and my mother had six children in all. They had many Investment in fossil fuels ‘conflicts’ with the university’s Although there has been some resistance on campus, says challenges with raising all of us through the sixties and environmental leadership role on campus, the open letter states, Dempsey, the majority of it has not been against divestment in seventies. There were health issues that they needed to deal including the housing of the influential Pacific Institute for principle. with along the way as well as all the work six kids bring, but Climate Studies. ‘There is pushback on campus, of course,’ she said. ‘But what they never seemed to complain. They were best friends and ‘As with the movement against apartheid in South Africa, is surprising is how much of that pushback—at least so far— helped each other the best way they knew. students have challenged the university to fulfill its role as a comes not in terms of outright disagreement, but rather is My dad kept his Aussie ways about him even though he leader on issues of justice. And as with the anti-apartheid focused on the difficulty of implementation. A common refrain was proudly Canadian. He lived in shorts and bare feet inside movement, this movement will not retire until it has succeeded,’ is that ‘it’s complex’. the house no matter the weather outside. He would change the letter reads. The UVic endowment and pension investments are into pants every time he left the house but would soon be Divestment, according to Mech, is not only practical, but managed by trustees with a fiduciary duty ‘that legally enshrines back into shorts upon return. His Aussie accent stayed with gives institutions like the university a productive way to move them to maximize returns,’ Dempsey explains, leading to him when he was reflective and slow in answering. It the climate conversation forward. questions about how these and similar funds can account for sometimes annoyed him that strangers would ask him where ‘Divestment is an extremely impactful way to shift the ethical considerations as well as their legal mandate to he was from, here of course, Canada, he would reply. narrative around our reliance on fossil fuels and to force people maximize returns to the beneficiaries. Pensions, she notes, are He moved to Pender after retiring from ICBC in 1987. The to recognize the urgency of the climate change crisis,’ she said. governed separately from the university's endowment. family was unsure what he would find to do on this little ‘When major institutes, like universities, choose to divest According to Kelsey Mech, ‘The university has asked fund island after living in big cities all his life, but it wasn’t long from these dirty industries it sends a strong message that we managers to consider environmental, social and governance before he was in love with the place, working as a volunteer, are no longer willing to accept the status quo and are factors when deciding on investments, but there is no formal or stirring the pot of politics, and working hard in his garden. demanding a transition to a clean energy future,’ she said. mandatory screening process to follow.’ The family teased him he was a frustrated farmer, constantly More than 300 other North American universities are These kinds of investment ‘complexities’ should be trying to build soil on a rock and bring forth food. He would currently home to a divestment campaign. Recently the Simon confronted, according to Dempsey, and the university is an ideal row out in his boat and harvest kelp to bury by his fruit trees Fraser University Faculty Association voted to create a fossil place to do so. in an attempt to keep water and compost by their roots. He fuel free option in their pension and the City of Seattle voted to ‘Surely fiduciary duty needs to be revised, or reinterpreted loved throwing the pick over his shoulder to remove his field divest from fossil fuels. so that we don’t retire to an increasingly uninhabitable planet,’ of boulders down the embankment. I think, other than when she said. Carol Linnitt is Site Manager and Director of Research of us kids were small, Pender was where he was happiest. ‘And concerns surrounding investment in fossil fuels bring online news source DeSmog Canada (www.desmog.ca). —Laura Dunsmuir up a host of other considerations for Dempsey, especially in Follow her on Twitter: www.twitter.com/carollinnitt. 0 If you wish you had been reading Island Tides for years—you still can! Catch up with our online archive at ww.islandtides.com

www.islandtides.com Page 12, ISLAND TIDES, May 15, 2014

Photo: Rikki MacCuish Participants rallied to listen to speakers at the BC Legislature on May 10, ‘Defend Our Climate, Defend Our Communities’ Day of Action, Soon, Prime Minister Harper will make his decision on the Enbridge tar sands pipeline to the coast. People of all ages and walks of life rallied across Canada. What’sOn VANCOUVER ISLAND & ALL THE GULF ISLANDS Single-venue (50 words): $39.90 • Multi-venue (70 words): $50.40 • Payment with order by Visa or MasterCard, please Now till March 31, 2015 Wednesday, May 21 to Saturday, 31 Sunday, June 8 Mayne Island’s ‘Your Passport to Success’ Intrepid Theatre’s UNO FEST—14 solo shows from across North Gulf Islands Bridge Tournament–all islands is in full swing—Silver Maynes and Chamber America! Live solo comedy, drama, spoken welcome, fundraiser for the Galiano South of Commerce’s promotion invites visitors and word and more, featuring a Stratford Hall, four hand bridge rules will apply, ferry residents to buy their $2 passport from Festival smash-hit, a Canadian Comedy friendly event • Galiano South Hall • 10:30am participating on-island merchants, get it Award winner and more! Every Opening to 3:30pm • $25 includes lunch, must register stamped 40-times while shopping, and Night at Uno Fest is Pay-What-You Can. • by June 1st • Info: Sylvie at 250-539-3077, or return it to Silver Maynes for a chance to win Single tickets $20, discount 5-show passes [email protected] • GALIANO prizes and to become certified ‘Mayniacs’; fun for everyone and $79 • Metro Studio & Intrepid Theatre Club Canada Day, Monday, July 1 helps local businesses • Info: Millie Leathers 250-539-5526 • • Info: 250.590.6291, intrepidtheatre.com • VICTORIA 65th Annual Saturna Island Lamb Barbeque—traditional lamb MAYNE Saturday, May 24 dinner or casual and vegetarian Saturdays till Thanksgiving Les Amusements de la Chambre fare, children’s games, live Pender Farmers Market—fresh, local produce, baked goods, local presents ‘Pleasure Gardens’—a entertainment, beer garden, arts art, artisan works & demonstrations, culinary delights; guest concert of rarely heard early English & crafts, moorage at Winter speakers on current topics, buskers, musicians; bring your friends and German chamber music for 2 Cove, shuttle to/from ferries dock and family, enjoy lunch or a snack, you never know what you’ll find violins and piano by Arne, Purcell, (sorry, no dogs) • Gulf Islands or who you’ll meet! • Community Hall • 9:30am-1pm • Info: JC Bach, Pachelbel, Froberger, and National Park Reserve, Winter www.pifi.ca • PENDER ISLAND Brandes. • Agricultural Hall • 3pm • Cove Park • Grounds open Fri, Sat, Sun & Mon, May 16–19 Tickets $20/$15/$10 at Happy Tides 10am-4:30pm; dinner served • www.amusementsdelachambre.com • MAYNE 1:30-2:30pm • Dinner tickets: Same, Same but...Different—artworks by Kelly Irving and Joanna Adults $20, Children $10, Group tickets available • Info: Melanie Rogers, Opening event: Friday 4–8pm, wine Saturday, May 24 Gaines, 250.539.2452; www.saturnalambbarbeque.com • by Sea Star, food by Amy Heggie, music by 19th Annual Bob Dylan Birthday Party—an SATURNA Pender Young Violins • Sea Star Vineyards, evening listening to, or performing your favourite 6621 Harbour Hill Drive • Exhibition: Sat, Bob Dylan tunes • Galiano Community Hall • Wednesday, July 23 to Sunday July 27 Sun & Mon, 11am–4pm • Info: Show at 7pm, Bob’s cake at 8:30pm • Admission: 4th Annual Quadra Island Festival of Chamber Music—WED: samesamebutdif.wordpress.com • donation to Galiano Community Land & Housing Your Carriage to Paris: Music of the French PENDER Trust • Performers’ or general info, please call Tom Baroque, United Church, 6:30pm, $20; Saturday, May 17 250-359-2960 • GALIANO THURS: Friends of the Festival Donor Dinner, Gowlland Harbour Resort, 6pm, $90; FRI: Mayne Island Conservancy’s 9th Annual Sunday, May 25 Celtic Magic, South End Farm & Vineyard, May Day Celebration—starts 1pm in Salt Spring Forum presents Maude Barlow—internationally 6pm, $40; SAT: Piano Favorites throughout Farmers’ Market, mad procession with renowned activist, non-fiction author and the the Ages, Quadra Island Community Centre, drummers to Miners Bay Park; maypole, National Chairperson of the Council of 6pm, $18; SUN: Sheer Delight, music & labyrinth for the May Queen’s crowning, Canadians • Gulf Islands Secondary School, luncheon, Gowlland Harbour Resort, 10:30am, $40 • Tickets: dancing and games, delicious refreshments, 7:30pm • Tickets: $20 General/$15 Forum www.gowllandharbour.com/events/ • Info: www.quadrafestival.com raffle • Free event, everyone welcome: elves, Members, available at 250-537-2102, • QUADRA fairies and others • Info: Helen O’Brian 250- www.tickets.artspring.ca, or at Salt Spring 539-5619 • MAYNE Books • SALT SPRING Next deadline May 21 • 250-216-2267 Sat, Sun & Mon, May 17, 18 & 19 Wednesday, May 28 Victoria Day Weekend Family Fun Swims—enjoy the wavepool, Saanich North & The Islands Constituency Office Hours—on- waterslide, Wibit inflatable on Sat & Sun afternoon, diving boards, island help with programs and agencies, share your concerns • pirate ship and toddler pool, swirlpool, steam, and sauna • Saanich Saturna Island Café, 101 Narvaez Road • 11:30am—3pm • Info & Commonwealth Place, 4636 Elk Lake Drive (right off Pat Bay Hwy at Appointment: 1-855-955-5711 or [email protected] • Royal Oak exit) • Sat: 1-4pm, 6:30-8:30pm; Sun: 1-4pm; 6-8pm; SATURNA Mon: 10 am-noon, 1-4 pm • SAANICH Friday to Sunday, May 30–June 1 Wednesday, May 21 & Friday, May 23 Jonathan Goldman Sound Healing Reclaiming the Commons for the Common Retreat—discover the secrets of sound Good, Book Launch—Heather Menzies’s talks healing with world-acclaimed teacher, about her 10th book, an engaging memoir of author, musician, pioneer in the field of personal and political discovery, published by healing with sound. No singing experience Gabriola’s New Society Publishers • MAY 21: necessary • Ocean Resort, Oyster River • Vancouver Public Central Library, 7pm; MAY 23: Admission: $333+meals and Gabriola Island Commons, 5-8pm • Everyone accommodation, Registration: www.soundsdivine.ca • Info: Welcome • Info: Elizabeth Hurst 250-247-9737, Mikeoula 250-871-4882 • CAMPBELL RIVER ext 121 • VANCOUVER & GABRIOLA www.islandtides.com