Topic: Local News

Photo courtesy Cosmo Knives

Cosmo Knives company brings artful touch to culinary champions
Elizabeth Nolan Gulf Islands DriftwoodBritish Columbia Canada February 22, 2012

Canada’s top chefs will now be able to put a little piece of Salt Spring into their work with handcrafted knives made by the unique island company, Cosmo Knives.

Master knife-maker Seth Cosmo Burton donated a selection of specially handcrafted knives as the official culinary knife supplier of the 2012 Canadian Culinary Championships, held recently in Kelowna. The Gold Medal Plates event supports Canadian Olympic and Paralympic athletes by pairing chefs from across the country with medal competitors from their home cities.

The showpiece knife Burton created for the event is worthy of its own small podium: the multi-layered blade has a wave pattern in blue and bright steel, contrasting with a red and black marbled box elder handle. Technically, it’s something only a few people in the world could accomplish, while aesthetically it’s a pure visual delight. ...

Last year he had a display booth at a national chef’s convention in Duncan and all four chefs competing in the top challenge requested to use Cosmo knives in the event. ...

Jim comment: My son, the hunter, swears by his Cosmo knives. Seth has made two for him which serve my son's needs most excellently.

Jim comment: The Coastal Great Horned Owl I communed with for two hours on Canada Day is stll hunting in the valley. So far my cat is still untouched. Today there are reports of a cougar prowling the central island (they are not resident but they appear from time to time). The following advice is from the SSI Emergency Program sent out to the island at just after noon today.

The following are guidelines in the event that you do encounter a cougar:

Stay calm and keep the cougar in view. Pick up children immediately – children frighten easily, the noise and movements they make could provoke an attack. Back away slowly, ensuring that the animal has a clear avenue of escape. Make yourself look as large as possible. Keep the cougar in front of you at all times.

Never run or turn your back on a cougar. Sudden movement may provoke an attack.

If a cougar shows interest or follows you, respond aggressively. Maintain eye contact with the cougar, show your teeth and make loud noise. Arm yourself with rocks or sticks as weapons. Crouch down as little as possible when bending down to pick up things off of the ground.

If a cougar attacks, fight back. Convince the cougar you are a threat and not prey. Use anything you can as a weapon. Focus your attack on the cougar’s face and eyes.

On another matter, this week I was about half way through getting rid of a pesky, invasive patch of blackberries when they began to flower. I went out the other day to finish the job but something stopped me. It wasn't a conscious decision. But I have been rewarded since with dozens of native bumblebees feeding on the blossoms. I'm pleased. I'll finish the job when the blossoms drop.

In regard to all of the above I say, with feeling and gratitude, L'Chaim!

Island artisans - Cosmo Knives
Don Genova Don Genova's Blog Canada November 5, 2009

This week on "All Points West" I introduced listeners to Seth Burton of Cosmo Knives on Salt Spring Island. I’ve collected a few knives over the years...my bread knife, my filleting knife, various paring knives, a cleaver, and a bunch of knives commonly known as chef’s knives, the all-purpose sort that can be used for most chores in the kitchen, slicing, cutting, chopping.  I have my favourites, but I am always on the lookout for the next great knife, one that might feel better in my hand, keep its edge longer, slices a tomato better...so when I heard about Seth Burton’s shop on Salt Spring Island, I had to go visit. ...

Cosmo Knives: Art with a cutting edge (home page)



Seth Cosmo Burton has always been interested in knives: even as a kid he carried a hatchet or knife with him and whittled knives out of wood. Since he forged his first ‘real’ finished knife in 1994 from a leaf spring of a 1957 Chevy, Seth has made over 1500 knives including a wide-variety of chef knives, fishing, hunting, utilitarian and art knives. Seth runs Cosmo Knives out of his shop on Salt Spring Island, B.C. He’s been making knives almost full time since 1998 when he met and was inspired by master knife maker, Jay Fisher. ... Recently Seth returned from Japan, which took his craft to an entire new level. There, he visited 14 knife makers and their studios and made two knives with them. Since his return, he’s been utilizing some of their tools and techniques, which is improving his efficiency and the sharpness of his edges. ...

Jim comment: My eldest son uses a Cosmo knife. It is a magnificent tool, as much at home in the field as it would be in a museum.

The Zero Mile Diet Seed Kit
Salt Spring Seeds n.d.

This kit is for gardeners or groups of gardeners eager to become more self-reliant in food. The 13 seed packets contained in it are Red Fife Wheat, Purple Barley, Hulless Oats, Wren's Abruzzi Rye, Golden Flax, Quinoa, Amaranth, Heritage Bean Mix, Carlin Soup Pea, Winnifred's Garbanzo, Russian Kale, 20 Lettuce Blend, Ardwyna Paste Tomato. Included in the box, apart from the seeds, is a 20-page comprehensive growing and recipe guide. A treasure trove of possibilities for the ardent grower!

The beans, grains and other seeds in this Kit could help you grow most of your own food. If you are living on a piece of farmland, you could easily grow them all and get a rich and diverse harvest. By combining them with locally grown vegetables, fruits and nuts, you could become close to 100 per cent self-sufficient in food. In an urban environment, you could sow these seeds with family, friends and neighbours as you convert lawns into gardens. One family might have a shady spot for growing greens or peas while someone else could have a hot spot for growing beans and soybeans. City blocks could garden together whereby many households could create a shared food harvest and thereby lessen reliance on food coming from elsewhere.

• It is time indeed to create new ways of nourishing ourselves. The way we mass-produce food is undoubtedly one of the major reasons for accelerated and drastic climate change. Industrial agriculture as currently practiced is unsustainable in the manner in which it pollutes and destroys our environment and us.
  
• The agriculture we now have is all about ownership, secrecy and control. It designs Terminator seeds. It blasts genes from foreign species into seeds so that plants can survive powerful herbicides and pesticides. It tells farmers what seeds they are allowed to grow.
  
• A community-based agriculture could replace our corporate-based one with a spirit in which seeds are openly, lovingly and enthusiastically shared. It would be an agriculture in which the growing community could stretch across the country, with small and larger communities pooling their experiences, observations and seeds so that everyone worked together to create the best possible diet for all.
  

...

Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone: A Photo Narrative of Black Heritage on Salt Spring Island
The Patriotic Vanguard USA November 17, 2009

Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone: A Photo Narrative of Black Heritage on Salt Spring Island By Evelyn C. White and Joanne Bealy. Dancing Crow Press, Canada. ISBN 978-0-9732519-1-3

Disaffected with increasingly repressive laws that aimed to curtail their hard-won freedom, a courageous group of blacks in California left the state in the 1850s and settled in western Canada, notably on Salt Spring Island. Today, direct descendants of the early black pioneers still reside in the pastoral landscape also hailed as one of the top artist colonies in North America. In recent years, people of African descent from the U.S., the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, the South Pacific Islands, and other regions of Canada have settled on Salt Spring inspiring a renaissance in the island’s black heritage. Resplendent with archival and contemporary photos, Every Goodbye Ain’t Gone documents the intriguing racial history of Salt Spring and, as such, serves as a celebration of the multicultural roots of Canada. ...

Salt Spring Island resident Evelyn C. White is the author of Alice Walker: A Life (2004). She is at work on an illustrated book about Aretha Franklin. Joanne Bealy is a photographer/writer who lives on Salt Spring Island.

The Fulford Hall Christmas Craft Show will be held this year on December 5th, 6th & 7th. Susan Astill has sent this message to several organizations on Salt Spring Island.

I am really struggling with the dishwashing crew for the Craft Fair. Many folks are either no longer available or their phones are disconnected! I wonder if you could put out a call on your network. We need dishwashers (under the supervision of trained help) for both Sat and Sun a.m. and p.m. Any other ideas for recruitment would be helpful – but names on last years list are, for the moment no longer available.

That many volunteers are no longer available or have had their phones disconnected for whatever reason speaks volumes about what happened to our community over the last few years before social sanity has begun to restore itself (for whatever reason). If you are a Salt Spring resident, please consider helping out at the Fulford Christmas Craft Fair, a community event of long-standing. Susan's phone number is in the Lions Directory.

Saanich-Gulf Islands MP Gary Lunn with Stephen Harper. Mysterious groups helped with minister's re-election bid. As did robo-calls and a non-existent candidate on the ballot.

Gary Lunn's shadowy grassroots
Andrew MacLeod TheTyee.ca British Columbia Canada October 21, 2008

Yet another shadowy community group has registered as a third-party advertiser with Elections Canada using Conservative Victoria lawyer Bruce Hallsor's contact information. On Oct. 16, the Citizens Against Higher Taxes registered under Lynda Farmer's name, using the 800-1070 Douglas Street address and phone number of the law firm where Hallsor works, Crease Harman and Company. Hallsor is a long-time associate of Conservative incumbent Gary Lunn and worked on his campaign in a hard-fought victory against Liberal challenger Briony Penn. In 2006, Hallsor was a co-chair of the Conservative campaigns in B.C. The groups using Hallsor's contact information were all supporting Lunn, he said. "That's how I know them." They did things like buy lawn signs and ads in the local daily newspaper, he said. Citizens Against Higher Taxes brings the total to five groups registering through Hallsor's office to advertise during the election. To put that in perspective, as of Friday there were just 59 third party advertisers registered throughout the country, or less than one for every five ridings. And while many of the 59 registered advertisers are long-standing bodies such as the National Citizens Coalition, the Simon Fraser Student Society and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, there's much less known about the ones using Hallsor's contact information. ...

Neither Farmer nor Trottier could be contacted by press time. While both are successful business women in their own rights, they have very high-powered husbands. Farmer is a board member at Camosun College, where her biography describes her as a philanthropist and a partner in three businesses: Trilogy Group, Westside Equestrian Centre at Bonnie Brae Farm Ltd. and Beckton Estates Inc. Her husband is Murray Farmer, whose University of Victoria board of governors biography identifies him as the president of Farmer Industries Group Inc., a vice-president of Accent Inns and Beckton Estates Inc., and a vice president of Farmer Management Inc. He is also UVic's chancellor-elect. Until September, Trottier was a director of CV Technologies, the company that promotes the controversial Cold-FX remedy championed by Don Cherry. Her husband is Gwyn Morgan, the former president and CEO of EnCana Corporation and a former fundraiser for the Canadian Alliance and Conservative parties. ...

Voting fraud in Saanich BC
Peace Earth and Justice News British Columbia Canada October 16, 2008

Julian West recently withdrew from the federal election in Saanich but his name remained on the ballot because it was too late to remove his name from the ballot. It later comes to light that there were mystery calls to voters to vote for him. On voting day there were no signs at the polling stations or in the voting booths to indicate that Julian West was not a candidate. Julian West the NDP candidate got 3,667 votes. ...

Intro: Overseas modelling: 'Exploitation'
Patrick White Globe and Mail Canada July 9, 2008

Every year, hundreds of Canadian models travel overseas with dreams of high-fashion catwalks, glossy photo spreads and easy money. For many, those dreams die fast amid the grimy realities of life as a low-end shill: dirty apartments, manipulative agents, sexual advances, poor pay and degrading work. ... “So much of the business is simple exploitation of girls,” said Barbara Pilling, a former model who now runs Edge Models, a small agency in Victoria. ...

Items: Report: Suspect caught in Canadian model murder case
Lydia Chen and Dong Hui Shanghai Daily China July 11, 2008

The man who allegedly killed a 22-year-old Canadian model in Shanghai last week was caught in Anhui Province today, Eastday.com reported. The suspect, surnamed Chen, was apprehended in Langxi County about 9am, the report said. Police found money that was assumed to have belonged to the victim Diana Gabrielle O'Brien and a weapon on Chen, the report said. Police refused to confirm this information to Shanghai Daily.

Chinese arrest man in slaying of B.C. model
Geoffrey York Globe and Mail Canada July 11, 2008

SHANGHAI — An 18-year-old Chinese man has been arrested in connection with the brutal slaying of Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, the young B.C. model who was stabbed to death in her Shanghai apartment building. Police say the man admitted that he saw Ms. O'Brien on the street on Sunday night and followed her into her apartment with the intention of robbing her. The woman resisted, a struggle broke out, and Ms. O'Brien was killed. The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Chen Jun, was arrested at 9 a.m. this morning in Anhui province, several hundred kilometres from Shanghai. Police say the suspect had possession of Ms. O'Brien's laptop computer and other items stolen from her apartment. According to a Chinese media report today, the police found a weapon on the suspect, along with money that was presumed to belong to Ms. O'Brien. The suspect had worked in a restaurant near her apartment building, the report said. Police say they cracked the case yesterday after taking evidence from a bicycle found on the street. Residents said the bicycle had been abandoned for several days at an Internet café near the apartment tower where Ms. O'Brien lived. A cleaning lady found the 22-year-old woman's dead body in a pool of blood in a stairwell in the early hours of Monday morning. A trail of blood led from her sixth-floor apartment to the stairwell and down the stairs to the fifth floor. It appears she may have tried to escape and then collapsed or was attacked again.

The arrest and the latest details about the killing will likely raise serious questions about lax security at the apartment building where Ms. O'Brien had been placed by the little-known Shanghai modelling agency that had recruited her through an agency in Victoria, B.C. ... After 13 years in the modelling business, Radek Kantor has seen it all. But he says he was astonished and angry when he learned how the Shanghai agency had treated the Canadian woman. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Kantor raised a series of questions about how Ms. O'Brien was handled by the JH Model Agency, a small agency in Shanghai that closed its doors and disappeared after the killing. ...

Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, the girl Jim and the community knew, at home on Salt Spring Island.


Modelling work by Diana Gabrielle O'Brien is seen in these images taken from television.

Model from Salt Spring found dead in Shanghai
Victoria Times Colonist British Columbia Canada July 7, 2008

A 22-year-old model from Salt Spring Island has died mysteriously in China. ... At the time of her death, O'Brien was believed to be working for Jh Model in Shanghai. The agency specializes in providing models to fashion stores, television commercials, promotions and exhibitions. On its website, Jh describes itself as one of the top agencies for eastern China. ...

B.C. model found dead in Shanghai
Ian Bailey and Dakshana Bascaramurty Globe and Mail Camada July 7, 2008

A 22-year-old B.C. woman who had planned to fly home early from China after a bad experience with an overseas modelling agency was found dead near Shanghai yesterday morning, reportedly the victim of a homicide. Diana Gabrielle O'Brien's body was found by Chinese police, exactly two weeks after the budding model had arrived in Shanghai for what she thought would be a promising international assignment with Jh Model Agency, but turned out to be a gig as a bar dancer. ...

Ms. O'Brien had grown up in the small island community and worked as a waitress after graduating high school. [Melanie Callas, Ms. O'Brien's childhood friend of 10 years] said her modest friend had always dreamed of modelling. "She was always really into fashion and into photography, too, probably since her teen years," Ms. Callas said. About a year ago, she joined a small agency and got a few jobs modelling for the website of a local company. Wanting to break out of her small community, she contacted the Barbara Coultish Agency based in Victoria and was hired as a model, Ms. Callas said. After getting a bit of local work, Ms. O'Brien got her big break: two months of work in Milan. Ms. Callas said her friend returned from Italy, raving about how much she loved the excitement and glamour of the industry. "She had such a great time in Milan. It was the time of her life," she said. "She made so many great friends." She had wanted to return to Milan as soon as possible, but jumped at the opportunity to work in China with Jh Model Agency — a job that came up after she had only been home for two weeks. The agency had been impressed with Ms. O'Brien's freshly made international portfolio, and booked her to work in Shanghai....

Joel Berry, the long-time boyfriend of Ms. O'Brien, was shaken up yesterday morning after Mounties travelled to Salt Spring Island with the sad news. Mr. Berry's older brother, Ben, spoke for him. "It's been a pretty hard day for all of us," Ben Berry said from his brother's Salt Spring apartment where Joel Berry and Ms. O'Brien had lived together. "She's very well liked and a loved person. It's pretty tragic news to everybody that knows her and loves her." Ben Berry said he was frustrated with both Foreign Affairs and the RCMP for the lack of information that they had for Ms. O'Brien's friends and family. RCMP Constable Annie Linteau in Vancouver confirmed that the police were asked by Foreign Affairs to inform Ms. O'Brien's family of her death, but that she had no other details on the case, including comment on media reports that Ms. O'Brien was murdered. Spokespeople for the modelling agency were not available for comment.

Friends set up a small shrine at Diana O'Brien's Salt Spring Island, B.C., home after learning of her death in China Monday. Photo: CBC

B.C. model working in Shanghai found dead: Friends
CBC News Canada July 7, 2008

A young model from Salt Spring Island, B.C., was found dead in Shanghai, China, her friends told CBC News on Monday. Diana O'Brien, 22, had been in China since mid-June after landing a contract with a modelling agency in Shanghai. RCMP confirmed Monday that they notified a Salt Spring Island family of a death but refused to divulge any details or say whether the young woman was a victim of a homicide. Police said they are investigating her death. ...

Several of O'Brien's friends, including her boyfriend, gathered at her Salt Spring Island home Monday, after learning of her death. O'Brien had told friends she didn't like working in Shanghai and had bought an airline ticket to return to B.C. in two weeks, after finishing her last assignment. O'Brien told friends that she did legitimate modelling work but was also asked to dance partially nude for elderly men. "She thought that was weird. It was right to one of these bars … the agency had her dancing on the podiums," Brittany Brown, one of O'Brien's friends, said Monday at O'Brien's house. ...

O'Brien was one of 27 female international models listed on the website of Barbara Coultish Model Management, a Victoria-based modelling agency. She just finished three months of modelling in Milan and was in Shanghai this summer on contract work, according to the website. A spokesperson for the agency refused an on-camera interview with the CBC but said nothing like this has ever happened in its 27-year business in the modelling industry.

Related: Barbara Coultish Talent & Model Management


Photo from the Coultish site. Description of Diana:

Height: 5' 8"

Hair: Auburn

Eyes: Hazel

Bust: 33

Waist: 24

Hips: 34.5

Dress: 3

Shoe: 8

Jh model agency info page

... JH model agency was established by the top booker Michael in China and bringing the very best foreign models to Asia. ...

Updates: Botched robbery suspected
Aileen McCabe, Linda Nguyen and Judith Lavoie Victoria Times Colonist/Canwest News Service British Columbia Canada July 8, 2008

SHANGHAI - A 22-year-old B.C. model who was found dead in China earlier this week may have been the victim of a botched break-and-enter, her boyfriend said Tuesday. "Everything had been stolen from the apartment - all their cameras and laptops," said Joel Berry from the Saltspring Island, B.C., home the two share. His girlfriend of five years, Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, was found dead in a stairwell of her Shanghai apartment Sunday by her roommate, another B.C. model. ...

O'Brien was a week into a three-month modelling contract with Jh Model Agency in Shanghai but was homesick and had planned to return to Canada on July 24 or 25. "She had just been in Milan for two months, been here on Saltspring for three-and-a-half weeks, but when they gave her this opportunity, she took it," Berry said. "It was her dream to be a model." Berry said the agency had arranged an apartment for her in a safe neighbourhood of Shanghai to share with another model, Charlotte Wood, 21. The two women had not met before arriving in China. O'Brien also had an escort while she was working and a bodyguard who drove her to all her modelling assignments. But, since her death occurred after regular working hours, there was no security present, Berry added.

The young model's friends said she recently told them that she was not happy with the type of assignments she had been given in Shanghai. The day before her death, O'Brien was supposed to go to Kunming, Yunnan, a city near the Chinese border with Vietnam, on assignment over the weekend. She left her apartment Saturday, but obviously did not leave Shanghai. Unlike many countries, it is not all photo-shoot jobs in China. Many models are hired for club and restaurant openings or product launches, where their job is to "decorate" the scene. It is not unusual for them to be sent to "dancing" jobs. ... The Shanghai agency has a professional-looking website with pictures of dozens of Chinese and international models. The website said it was one of the top agencies in China. On Tuesday, however, the site was no longer accessible past the home page in either English or Mandarin. There was no answer Tuesday at either of the phone numbers listed for the agency and a visit to the published address proved puzzling. ...

B.C. model found dead in China had wanted to return
CTV News Canada July 8, 2008

... "According to friends and family back in B.C., it was Diana O'Brien's roommate that found O'Brien's body on the steps of the building they were living in in Shanghai," CTV's Steve Chao reported Tuesday from Shanghai. "Supposedly, O'Brien was supposed to go on a modelling shoot over the weekend but disappeared Saturday and was found by her roommate on Sunday." Chao said police in Shanghai are keeping very quiet about the whole situation. ... Meanwhile, questions are emerging about the company -- Jh Model Agency -- that O'Brien had a three month contract with. "Supposedly, on their website, they are one of the top three modelling agencies in China," said Chao. However, when Chao visited the agency's office it was in a run-down building. An employee at the agency said they had never heard of O'Brien. ...

Island grieves model’s death
Amy Geddes Gulf Islands Driftwood Salt Spring Island British Columbia Canada July 9, 2008

Diana O’Brien serving drinks at a Christmas party last year. Photo: Derrick Lundy

Word of the death of Diana O’Brien, a model from Salt Spring on an assignment in Shanghai, is taking a toll on the local community that knew her well. Friends who worked with the 22-year-old woman at Mix Cafe and The Oystercatcher left work in droves on Monday to grieve in private after hearing the disturbing news, said owner of both establishments Barry Kazakoff in a telephone interview. “It was just too hard on everyone; there was a lot of pain. We lost 50 per cent of our staff yesterday,” said Kazakoff. ...

O’Brien was a former Gulf Islands Secondary student who worked as a manager at Moby’s and partial manager at Mix Cafe. She worked at several local food outlets to help fund her international modelling assignments. Kazakoff said, “She was a free spirit but not a risk taker.” He noted she was a responsible “leader” and he is convinced she “did her homework” on the safety of the Shanghai agency before she left. O’Brien had worked for him for four years and was “like family” to him, he said. Before she left they talked on the Mix Cafe patio about the safety of her modelling trip. “The people she worked with in Milan were professional,” said Kazakoff about her first modelling assignment that helped build up her portfolio and didn’t give O’Brien any reason to question the Shanghai assignment. O’Brien’s mother is scheduled to arrive this week on Salt Spring from her home in Mexico. And in the meantime, to help friends and family grieve, Kazakoff said he is considering having some kind of ceremony on the Ganges boardwalk where he vividly remembers O’Brien walking. ...

Overseas modelling: 'Exploitation'
Patrick White Globe and Mail Canada July 9, 2008

Every year, hundreds of Canadian models travel overseas with dreams of high-fashion catwalks, glossy photo spreads and easy money. For many, those dreams die fast amid the grimy realities of life as a low-end shill: dirty apartments, manipulative agents, sexual advances, poor pay and degrading work. ... “So much of the business is simple exploitation of girls,” said Barbara Pilling, a former model who now runs Edge Models, a small agency in Victoria. ...

Report: Suspect caught in Canadian model murder case
Lydia Chen and Dong Hui Shanghai Daily China July 11, 2008

The man who allegedly killed a 22-year-old Canadian model in Shanghai last week was caught in Anhui Province today, Eastday.com reported. The suspect, surnamed Chen, was apprehended in Langxi County about 9am, the report said. Police found money that was assumed to have belonged to the victim Diana Gabrielle O'Brien and a weapon on Chen, the report said. Police refused to confirm this information to Shanghai Daily.

Chinese arrest man in slaying of B.C. model
Geoffrey York Globe and Mail Canada July 11, 2008

SHANGHAI — An 18-year-old Chinese man has been arrested in connection with the brutal slaying of Diana Gabrielle O'Brien, the young B.C. model who was stabbed to death in her Shanghai apartment building. Police say the man admitted that he saw Ms. O'Brien on the street on Sunday night and followed her into her apartment with the intention of robbing her. The woman resisted, a struggle broke out, and Ms. O'Brien was killed. The suspect, identified as 18-year-old Chen Jun, was arrested at 9 a.m. this morning in Anhui province, several hundred kilometres from Shanghai. Police say the suspect had possession of Ms. O'Brien's laptop computer and other items stolen from her apartment. According to a Chinese media report today, the police found a weapon on the suspect, along with money that was presumed to belong to Ms. O'Brien. The suspect had worked in a restaurant near her apartment building, the report said. Police say they cracked the case yesterday after taking evidence from a bicycle found on the street. Residents said the bicycle had been abandoned for several days at an Internet café near the apartment tower where Ms. O'Brien lived. A cleaning lady found the 22-year-old woman's dead body in a pool of blood in a stairwell in the early hours of Monday morning. A trail of blood led from her sixth-floor apartment to the stairwell and down the stairs to the fifth floor. It appears she may have tried to escape and then collapsed or was attacked again.

The arrest and the latest details about the killing will likely raise serious questions about lax security at the apartment building where Ms. O'Brien had been placed by the little-known Shanghai modelling agency that had recruited her through an agency in Victoria, B.C. ... After 13 years in the modelling business, Radek Kantor has seen it all. But he says he was astonished and angry when he learned how the Shanghai agency had treated the Canadian woman. In an interview Thursday, Mr. Kantor raised a series of questions about how Ms. O'Brien was handled by the JH Model Agency, a small agency in Shanghai that closed its doors and disappeared after the killing. ...

Salt Spring Islander Valerie Williams sent this along. We ask our local visitors to consider participating and we ask all our far-flung visitors to consider the ill effects of engine idiling.

Calling All Island Environmentalists! Support Needed For CRD Engine Idling Bylaw!

The CRD [Capital Regional District] is finally considering adopting a regional anti-idling bylaw. As most of us already know, engine idling is a serious contributor to greenhouse gases and air pollution. Vehicle emissions greatly contribute to the pollutants that contribute to greenhouse gases – the gases that are responsible for the climatic warming we are experiencing on Earth.

Natural Resources Canada unequivocally states, "If every driver of a light-duty vehicle in Canada avoided idling for just five minutes a day, we would prevent more than 1.6 million tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year". This potentially represents an enormous contribution to Canada's climate change efforts. Engine idling reduction strategies are one example of how communities can assist citizens in taking responsibility for their climate change contributions.

Even though the proposed CRD-wide engine idling bylaw would unfortunately exclude the British Columbia ferry terminals located within the region - the ferry terminals are sites of an inordinate amount of unnecessary vehicle idling - the proposed engine idling bylaw is a good first step in the right direction. It is extremely important that we demonstrate to the CRD board members and municipal politicians support for initiatives that reduce greenhouse gases and work to mitigate climate change.

The CRD is holding engine idling public forums on June 12 (1-3 p.m. at Mary Winspear Center and 7-9 p.m. at Ambrosia Catering & Event Centre) and June 13th (2-4 p.m. at Fieldhouse, Juan de Fuca Rec Centre). Individuals wishing to support the proposed engine idling bylaw can pre-register to speak at the forums (or just show up), take an online engine idling survey and/or submit their comments and letters via the CRD's website: http://www.crd.bc.ca/#

I encourage people to support this bylaw. After all the evidence is irrefutable; unnecessary vehicle idling is a health concern, a major pollutant and a serious contributor to greenhouse gases.

Valerie Williams
Salt Spring Island, BC

Press release Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation Canada June 5, 2007



June 5, 2007— The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation is proud to salute four students in Salt Spring for their 2007 millennium excellence awards (entrance). The award recognizes students entering university or college for their outstanding achievements in leadership, innovation, academic performance, and, moreover, community service.

The following students have been rewarded for their good citizenship, fresh ideas, and academic merit:

• Eric Sigmund, Gulf Islands Secondary School, provincial-level award
  
• Fiona Munro, Gulf Islands Secondary School, local-level award
  
• Heather Munro, Gulf Islands Secondary School, local-level award
  
• Emma Rimmer, Gulf Islands Secondary School, local-level award
  

Together with her sister, Fiona Munro co-founded a Sustainability Board for her school that incorporates an accreditation process based on social and environmental measures. The group is developing a set of goals encompassing diversity, energy use and chemical use with the ultimate objective of becoming the first sustainable high school in Canada. In addition, Fiona has traveled to Behchoko in the Northwest Territories as a volunteer fiddling instructor with Strings Across the Sky Foundation to teach Aboriginal youth to play the violin.

Heather Munro’s interest in educating others has led her to get involved in many social and environmental initiatives in her community. For the past four summers, she has volunteered as a fiddle instructor for First Nations youth in a remote community in the Northwest Territories. She has also served as a youth coordinator for the Salt Spring Energy Strategy and helped to organize the Canadian Youth Climate Change Conference in 2005.

For the past eight years Emma Rimmer has served as a volunteer warden for BC Parks on the uninhabited Mitlenatch Island, which is home to the largest colony of nesting seabirds in the Strait of Georgia. Her interest in environmental education has also led her to volunteer as a youth mentor at summer camps through the Gulf Islands Centre for Ecological Learning, where she has the opportunity to share her knowledge with local youth.

There are three levels of entrance awards:

1. National – awards of $5,000 renewable to a maximum of $20,000.
   
2. Provincial/Territorial – awards of $4,000, renewable to a maximum of $16,000.
   
3. Local – one-time awards of $4,000.
   

Local and regional awards are distributed in each province and territory based on their share of the Canadian population, while national awards are allocated to the most exceptional applicants across the country, regardless of provincial and territorial quotas.

“An investment in the education of these outstanding citizens is an investment in the future of our society,” said Norman Riddell, executive director and CEO of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation. “These young, and sometimes not so young, individuals have already demonstrated their ability to change the world around them – they know how to make a difference. The Foundation is pleased to recognize their past successes, but above all is proud to help them reach their future goals.”

The Foundation awarded a total of 1,052 entrance awards this year. British Columbia is home to a total of 141 laureates — 17 national, 31 provincial/territorial, and 93 local.

Since 2000, the Foundation has delivered over 15,000 in bursaries and scholarships worth close to $48 million, to students across British Columbia. For a complete list of this year’s laureates and more information about the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation and its programs, visit www.millenniumscholarships.ca

- 30 -

For more information or to arrange an interview please contact:
Georgia Tsoromocos with NATIONAL Public Relations at 604-691-7394 or gtsoromocos@national.ca

An NDP party press release.

For Immediate Release
Thursday, May 31, 2007

FUND SOLUTIONS TO THE PROSPERITY GAP NOT FENCES AT BC FERRIES

Announcement of $1.5 million at Swartz Bay is a "misguided priority"


Swartz Bay - Julian West, NDP candidate for Saanich-Gulf Islands challenged Gary Lunn to clearly reject his own government's George Bush-like spending on fences and lighting. West further called for increased spending on priorities like foreign aid to support families in war torn countries, closing the prosperity gap in Canada, improving early childhood education, and increasing the supply of affordable housing for average families.

"The federal government's $115 million Marine Security Contribution Program shows the misguided priorities of Stephen Harper," said West. "People who ride the ferries aren't complaining that there aren't enough fences. They are complaining that the government is neglecting an essential part of our transportation network, that the ferries are in the process of being privatized and that small route ferry fares have been allowed to increase on average 50% since 2003."

"There are many people in the world who have security concerns, including the nearly 1 million children living in poverty in Canada," continued West. "Spending $1.5 million for lights and fences does nothing to address the growing prosperity gap in our country or the real security concerns of those living without adequate or stable housing."

"We need leadership on early childhood education, housing, electoral reform and an honest plan for meeting our Kyoto commitments. That's more important than putting in more fences and lights at Swartz Bay," said West.

The federal government has publicly stated they are funding these measures in-part as a result of a report written by the RAND Corporation, an American defense industry think-tank, a report that suggests ferries are easy targets.

The Swartz Bay terminal is the transportation hub at the centre of the federal riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands. In addition to regular service to Tsawwassen terminal on the mainland, ferries also service the approximately 14,000 residents of Salt Spring, Mayne, Pender, Galiano and Saturna Islands.

-30-

For more information:

Julian West, 250-984-0716
Morgan Stewart, pre-election organizer, 250-686-5516

Related: The slow slide to barbarity
Laura Carlsen TomPaine.com USA June 1, 2007

July 4, 2020. U.S. Border Security officials announced that a record 193 IFs (Immigrant Invading Forces) were eliminated in the American Militarized Security Zone yesterday as a result of illegal attempts to invade the homeland. In response to the latest deaths—the highest fatality count since last week's record-setting 177—a press release from Border Security (BS), a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, states: "The high number of aliens whose attempts to invade U.S. territory were thwarted reflects the continued success of the combined technological and military measures to secure the border. While the division laments the loss of life, Americans can sleep soundly knowing that the sacrifice of our troops has once again protected them from hostile threats to the American way of life." For its part, the Mexican government immediately issued a statement apologizing for the surge in lethal attempts to incur in U.S territory, and promising to increase raids on "potential migrating groups," both in border zones and in the 30 states throughout the nation that report "high to extremely high" out-migration rates. In its daily bulletin, the Binational Body Recovery Unit (BBRU) reported that of the deaths along the Territorial Delineator, 77 aliens died of electrocution along the Laredo-Brownsville high-amp fence, 37 were shot to death by border troops for suspicious actions, 46 died from land mine explosions, and 33 from exposure to toxic substances after attempts to forge the Rio Grande. In the northern part of the American Militarized Security Zone—a hundred-mile wide swath along the length of the former U.S.-Mexico border, expropriated by the U.S. government for security reasons in 2013—another 15 immigrants were hit by moving vehicles while fleeing ground troops or aerial fire, and 17 expired from exposure or dehydration in the Sonora desert. ... I

In a related story, the president of the Border Business Council reported that the presence of over 50,000 troops in the region has caused an exodus of legal businesses and consumers. Since the 2010 crackdown on immigrant invaders, Mexican shoppers who filled Texas malls have virtually disappeared behind the tortilla curtain, leaving a landscape marked by the giant shells of abandoned commercial centers, many of which have been converted to immigrant detention centers. U.S. consumers have been unable to fill the void due to the depression resulting from massive labor shortages and economic paralysis in the region. Real estate values have also plummeted in the region, according to the latest realty association reports. Since then-Border Patrol Director David Aguilar's announcement on May 9, 2007 authorizing the use of firearms against unarmed migrants, the sound of gunfire has become a daily occurrence and families that have lived in the area for generations have moved out to escape the violence. Local school psychologists report that symptoms of school-age children are similar to those found in prolonged war situations, and the presence of low-flying unmanned surveillance aircraft, ground troops, and persecutions have resulted in a climate of fear that is internalized by the children.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
... We have not yet reached the year 2020, when hindsight will yield only a cruel "I told you so." We still have a chance to ask ourselves what kind of society we are, and what kind of society we want. Answers are not easy, but supposed solutions that build walls, divide people, foment hate, and increase violence lead only to barbarity.

* All statistics on present and past dates are real, all future are extrapolated from present trends.

Intro: Art's common language
Tom Maloney U Magazine Alberta Winter 2006

John Lefebvre (pictured here on one his three Salt Spring Island properties) believes culture makes for a more compassionate world.

John Lefebvre’s latest project is a ramshackle building called the Vesuvius Pub, once a launching pad for folk singers and rockers alike, now closed down and deteriorated. This is Lefebvre’s pet project, his hobby. He bought the pub to renovate it back to former glory, fully intending to restore it as a musical mecca. With all the other purposeful endeavours he’s taking on, why become involved in something so trite by comparison? Easy. Because he loves music and, seemingly overnight, he acquired the means to do such things. By a fateful combination of dedication, entrepreneurial instinct, and happenstance, Lefebvre, aged in his 50s, suddenly has money to spend–as in, tens upon tens of millions of dollars. The former U of C Students’ Union president followed an uninspired career in law by diving headlong into launching NeTeller, the world’s largest Internet money-transfer service. Within two years of its IPO, NeTeller had acquired some $2 billion in market capitalization. Lefebvre has diverted a portion of his partnership stake toward a new calling. “ I thought for a long time that to be a philanthropist would be the greatest career and then it came to me–now I get to do it!” he says. ...

Items: 'Teddy bear hippie' is unlikely multimillionaire
Doug Ward Vancouver Sun British Columbia January 17, 2007

To former Vision Vancouver mayoral candidate Jim Green, John Lefebvre seemed like a "teddy-bear hippie, a sweetheart kind of guy." James Hoggan, president of a prominent Vancouver public relations firm, described him as "extremely generous" and "one of the friendliest people you'd ever want to meet." Friends said his passions were giving away money from his huge fortune to worthy causes like the work of the Dalai Lama. They said their long-haired, shambling friend was passionate about playing his guitar, and noted the front room of his Saltspring Island house features black-and-white photos of his baby-boomer generation's heroes: Neil Young, John Lennon, Bob Dylan and Tom Waits. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is less positive about Lefebvre. On Tuesday, agents arrested him in connection with his role in creating and operating NETeller, one of the world's largest online money transfer companies for gamblers. The Internet has created many unlikely instant multimillionaires, but few as improbable as Lefebvre, a 55-year-old Calgary-raised lawyer who divides his time between Saltspring Island and Malibu, Calif.

Just over a decade ago, Lefebvre quit his Calgary law practice to busk in that city's transit stations, living off the change that landed in his guitar case. A few years later, it was Lefebvre who was handing out money: Millions of dollars for projects promoting environmental protection, social justice, the arts and a variety of causes. "There's a lot of irony in that. A lot of irony and I don't think it was lost on him," said Hoggan, president of Hoggan and Associates, referring to his friend's amazing shift from busker to philanthropist. "He's generous in a very impressive way. He has a generosity for people who are marginalized and for issues that are marginalized." Lefebvre donated $170,000 to the centre-left Vision Vancouver's campaign in the 2005 municipal election. Lefebvre said at the time he donated the money, believed to be a record amount, because he wanted to help Vision's Jim Green in his bid for the mayor's chair. Lefebvre donated $1.2 million in 2005 to the fine arts faculty of his alma mater, the University of Calgary. He has provided funding for the David Suzuki Foundation, the Dalai Lama's new Centre for Peace and Education in Vancouver and has backed the West Virginia-based Future Generation's campaign to protect the ecology of the Four Great Rivers section of Tibet. Lefebvre also gave more than $300,000 to help Hoggan establish a website devoted to exposing the links between fossil-fuel companies, critics of climate change science and the public relations industry. Hoggan said he became dismayed a few years back that a few public relations firms were helping a small number of skeptics undermine the scientific consensus that humans are changing the climate by burning fossil fuels. He talked to Lefebvre about the need to debunk misinformation about climate change and received a huge donation to start and operate a website called desmogblog.com. ...

Two Canadians charged in Internet money laundering
Jorge Fitz-Gibbon The Journal News New York state January 17, 2997

Federal prosecutors have lodged money laundering charges against two men accused of transferring billions of dollars in illegal online gambling proceeds, including over a computer at a Westchester library. The arrests yesterday of Stephen Eric Lawrence, 46, and John David Lefebvre, 55, both Canadian citizens, followed a seven-month investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. Investigators said the two men transferred billions in gambling dollars through Neteller PLC, an online payment services company they founded in 1999. In 2005, the company had $7.3 billion in transactions and earned $91.5 million, the complaint said. "Internet gambling is a multibillion-dollar industry," Mark Mershon, assistant director-in-charge of the New York FBI office, said in a statement. "A significant portion of that is the illegal handling of Americans' bets with offshore gaming companies, which amounts to a colossal criminal enterprise masquerading as legitimate business." ...

Founders of gambling accounts firm arrested
Simon Bowers and Andrew Clark Guardian UK January 17, 2007

The two founders of the British "virtual wallet" group Neteller, which provides gambling accounts to online punters, have been arrested in America and charged with money laundering offences which carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison. Neteller's former chairman, Steve Lawrence, 46, was detained in the US Virgin Islands on Monday and his co-founder, John Lefebvre, 55, was picked up by the US authorities in the millionaires' playground of Malibu, California. Both men are Canadian citizens but they hold stakes of 5.9% and 5.5% respectively in Neteller, which is listed on London's Alternative Investment Market and incorporated in the Isle of Man. Trading was suspended in the company's shares yesterday. The US attorney's office in New York said the pair were charged with conspiring to transfer funds with the intent to promote illegal gambling. They are due to appear in court today. ... Neteller's e-wallets are particularly attractive to US punters because they allow gamblers to open betting accounts which get around laws barring credit card companies from dealing with gambling websites. Neteller became the market leader in gambling e-wallets five years ago when PayPal was forced to close its gambling payments business under the terms of its takeover by eBay. ...

NETELLER: No more InstaCash for U.S. residents
Shawn Patrick Green CardPlayer.com USA January 17, 2006

Some poker sites have limited or completely restricted NETELLER transactions following the detainment of two former NETELLER executives by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Since the incident, NETELLER has banned the use of its InstaCash feature for U.S. residents, but continues to allow users to fund sites with money that already resides in their NETELLER accounts. ...

Related: A lawyer's look at the US's Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Legal landscape of online gaming has not changed
Allyn Jaffrey Shulman CardPlayer.com USA October 5, 2006

Misleading news stories abound both online and in print regarding the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The completely incorrect interpretation states that the new bill essentially outlaws most forms of Internet gambling. The new bill absolutely does no such thing. I have been analyzing legal issues for 25 years. I have gone to court thousands of times interpreting statutes and I have taught new lawyers the correct method by which a statute should be analyzed. For over 15 years I was part of a legal hotline where California attorneys would call me with a legal question. As this is my field of expertise, I am flabbergasted at the misinformation being perpetuated regarding the new bill.

The new bill attempts to make it more difficult to get money into a site by forbidding US financial Institutions from funding the type of online gambling that the law has previously made illegal. The new bill does not make online gaming illegal where it was not illegal before. Let me say that again. The new bill does not make online gaming illegal. The bill merely speaks to the mechanism by which an online account is funded. I am going to spend some time in this article explaining the accuracy of my reasoning. ...

"Peace It Together" Initiative will bring together Palestinian, Israeli & Canadian youth to engage in a two-week peace-building and film-making program at The Gulf Islands Film & Television School [GIFTS] on Galiano Island.

"Coming to GIFTS is not always about making a film,” says Kenna Fair, the school’s director. “Many people come here and undergo life-altering experiences, and end up learning as much about themselves through the creative process they are faced with." GIFTS provides hands-on training in a range of genres: Drama, Documentary, Visual Effects, Animation and Film. Over 1500 shorts – many award-winning - have been produced by nearly 4000 students since 1995. Students work in small teams of four, and are guided by leading industry professionals. GIFTS emphasizes independent production, respect for the creative process and cultivating students’ confidence in their own creative vision. Kenna feels that collaborating with Creative Peace Network for Peace It Together 2006 is a natural extension of the school’s vision for its second decade of media training and education. “We feel responsibility as artists and communicators to put our resources to work for the betterment of our societies.” GIFTS aspires to do this by spreading the ability to produce independent, awareness-raising media; broadening access to media education so that all voices may be empowered through this medium.

About Creative Peace Network: The Creative Peace Network Society is a diverse group committed to fostering a culture of collaboration and justice through creativity and dialogue. In this context, they engage communities in new possibilities for change, provide forums for dialogue, and act as a catalyst for creative initiatives. Based in Vancouver, the Creative Peace Network is a Canadian charitable organization. They are a non-partisan, grass roots group committed to promoting peace and harmony by ending the culture of blame, revenge and counter-revenge and building a culture of mutual respect among people affected by violent conflict. ...

Click on full story to read a full description of the workshop program.

Brian Hutchinson National Post June 23, 2006



Robert Bateman's work adorns the Salt Spring Island $$100 note.

Robert Bateman is painting yet another picture. This time, a bison, one of many he has put to canvas in three decades as a full- time wildlife artist. Check that: He hates the label. "I'm an artist who paints wildlife," he counters, from his home on Salt Spring Island. Prolific, too. So possessed is Mr. Bateman that he has not put down his brush; he continues painting as we speak, via telephone, about the difficult choice he recently had to make. Several American institutions came calling at his idyllic island studio. "They already have some of my work in their collections," he says. "They all wanted more." In fact, they wanted everything: as much original work as he could muster, plus his sketchbooks, his notebooks, his personal archives. A major donation, in other words, perhaps worth millions. Who to endow? Such a decision can be made only once. Mr. Bateman, 76, was flattered by the interest shown south of the border, but not completely surprised. After all, he has shown at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C., at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, and elsewhere in the United States. He was also slightly peeved. No one from his native country, the one he portrays so well, had ever made such a request. While private collectors and museums the world over clamour for his work, Mr. Bateman is a pariah in certain Canadian art circles. ... He has received accolades and awards. He holds honourary doctorates from nine Canadian universities. He is an officer of the Order of Canada. Yet Mr. Bateman has reason to be bitter, and skeptical of critics. He has never been invited to show his work inside a major Canadian gallery. The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa boasts not a single Bateman wildlife painting or print. Neither does the Art Gallery of Ontario. The nation's arbiters of taste and style "haven't just overlooked me, they have rejected me," he says. ...

[Colwood's Royal Roads University, an obscure post-secondary institution on Vancouver Island, near Victoria] specializes in business education but also places special emphasis on environmental stewardship and sustainability. Naturally, this appealed to Mr. Bateman, who for decades has been an outspoken environmental activist. The Batemans were introduced to Dan Spinner, executive director of the school's fundraising arm, the RRU Foundation. Mr. Spinner had somehow learned that the artist was considering an endowment to one of several hopeful U.S. institutions. His task, he decided, was to guide Mr. Bateman down another path. Would he not consider donating his work and archives to little RRU, instead? He would. And he has. ...

On April 13, 2006, Hon. Shirley Bond, Minister of Education announced a review of school district business companies. Douglas Hibbins of TRILLIUM Business Strategies Inc. has been engaged to complete the review. Doug has conducted a review of the records of School District No. 64 Business Company and has met with the Board and staff of SD 64 BC.

Doug will be available to meet with parents and others as follows:

Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
commencing at 3 PM
United Church
111 Hereford Ave.
Ganges, BC

Individuals wishing to contact Doug Hibbins directly can do so as follows:

Douglas Hibbins, P.Eng.
TRILLIUM Business Strategies Inc.
#3 - 868 Central Spur Road
Victoria, BC V9A 7R3
Telephone: (250) 370-9001

Facsimile: (250) 370-9007

e-mail: dhibbins@trillium-bc.com

Thompson Rivers University
For Immediate Release-June 13, 2006

KAMLOOPS-At its Convocation Ceremony held June 9th at its Kamloops campus, Thompson Rivers University bestowed the University Medal in Natural Resource Science upon Gulf Islands Secondary graduate Tiera A. Machell, who graduated this year with a Bachelor of Natural Resource Science degree. The university medal is awarded in each degree program to the graduate achieving the highest standing.

Tiera Machell was born in Ganges, Saltspring Island, in 1983, and graduated from Gulf Islands Secondary school in 2001. An avid outdoorsperson, Tiera, whose hobbies include horseback riding, target shooting, and guitar, also achieved her black belt in Tae Kwon Do. As an active volunteer and animal lover, Tiera has continued to volunteer at the Kamloops Wildlife Park, where she has been a docent [a person who leads guided tours] and animal health care volunteer. After completing some science prerequisites at TRU this fall, Tiera will continue her studies at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon.

Christian Paul-Tatonetti Salt Spring News May 23, 2006

Christian sent us this note from Victoria.

So the challenge was huge: Settle in a new city, find a job that would still allow me to go to school and go to school. I took music theory and musicianship courses, along with piano and voice lessons with my new voice teacher, Rebecca Hass (She is the best!) at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. I survived my winter sleeping in my beloved VW van and I ate more that my share of canned food but that is a minor detail when one is reaching for his/her dreams. It’s really the mornings that can be brutal when there is ice on both sides of the windshield. ...

Click on full story to read the entire postcard.

Algae and Alzheimer's? Does chronic exposure to algal toxins pose a public health threat?
Salt Spring News May 2, 2005

Nine links. How safe is our drinking water and the food we eat? How is science affected/effected by the corporatist ideology prevalent on North American campuses and in academic research labs? Why do governments like the Bush and Campbell regimes (to name but two) abdicate public health responsibilities? And a host of other questions....

Leech River watershed seen as vital to CRD's drinking water supply
Louise Dickson Times Colonist/WaterTiger.net September 23, 2005

In other parts of B.C., livestock, agriculture and human settlement is contributing to the deterioration of water quality. Livestock farming is a serious problem for the quality of water in Abbotsford, said Mazumder. St. Mary's Lake on Saltspring Island has "absolutely poor" water quality because of activities near the lake. "You can still drink it, but sometimes St. Mary's becomes absolutely green with blue-green algae blooms which sometimes form toxins which at high levels can be fatal." Conserving water is the way of the future, said the [UVic] biologist [Asit Mazumder, chairman of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council's water and watershed management program].

St. Mary Lake has a huge subdivision underway on one side of the lake and a newly constructed large-scale commercial horse operation on the other.

Report probes lake toxins
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood February 8, 2006

According to a report written by North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) trustee Bob Watson, islanders consuming water from St. Mary Lake were exposed to liver-damaging toxins produced by blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) that exceeded Health Canada limits last year. “The whole research field of cyanobacterial (algal) toxins is relatively new,” Watson said. “Understanding of the organisms, toxins and health risk, monitoring and treatment techniques is still evolving.” Between March and May of 2005, test results from St. Mary Lake found algal toxins in numbers that exceeded Health Canada’s lifetime-exposure limits by as much as 13 times. Health Canada has not yet developed guidelines for short-term exposure to algal toxins and guidance has been sought from the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), Watson noted. “We’ve put a question to the B.C. Ministry of Health and the Centre for Disease Control to come up with some information for short and medium-term exposure,” said VIHA supervisor of environmental health Gary Gibson. “With the levels that have been indicated at St. Mary Lake, there is not a health concern at this particular time,” Gibson said. ...

Toxic cyanobacterial waterbloom, courtesy Wayne Carmichael, Wright State University. Sigma-Aldrich provides an overview of blue-green algae toxins. We offer it for information purposes only.

Cyanobacterial Toxins
Sigma-Aldrich n.d.

Cyanobacteria (also referred to as blue-green algae) are a small group of photosynthetic-planktonic bacteria whose evolution dates back more than 3.5 billion years. Although usually unicellular, they often grow in colonies large enough to see. Cyanobacteria that produce algae blooms can be extremely toxic. Cyanobacteria have proved to be a source for a large quantity of novel organic compounds with biological activity. Several genera of cyanobacteria have been found to be toxic, and have been linked to the death of large numbers of birds and mammals. Human fatalities have occurred from exposure to the toxins from contaminated water supplies. Toxins from cyanobacteria are released primarily when the cell is lysed or compromised. When substances are added to water to break up the occurrence of blooms of cyanobacteria, the cells die and break open, releasing potentially deadly concentrations of toxins. Cyanobacterial blooms continue to increase in number and the incidence of such blooms is widespread in surface waters throughout the world. ...

One of the groups of toxins produced and released by cyanobacteria is called microcystin named from the species Microcystis aeruginosa. The microcystins are a group of cyclic heptapeptide hepatotoxins produced by a number of cyanobacterial genera. ... The most common of the toxins, microcystins are also the ones most often responsible for poisoning animals and humans who come into contact with toxic blooms. They are extremely stable in water because of their chemical structure, surviving in both warm and cold water and can tolerate radical changes in water chemistry, including pH. To date, approximately 75 different kinds of microcystins have been discovered. These hepatotoxins inhibit the protein phosphatases inside hepatocytes. They damage the liver by affecting the maintenance of the cytoskeleton by disrupting the balance of phosphate groups on cytoskeletal proteins. The hepatotoxins cause the cytoskeleton to collapse, causing the hepatocytes to collapse inwards. The hepatocytes and also the capillary cells then pull apart, spilling blood into the liver. The blood pools in the liver, causing death.

Another cyanobacterial toxin is Nodularia spumigena, characterized as Nodularin. In 1878, George Francis issued the first scientific report of the potent toxicity of Nodularin cyanobacterial blooms. The structure of nodularin is closely related to that of the potent cyclic heptapeptide hepatotoxins, the microcystins. The difference lies in that nodularin is composed of only five amino acids in the peptide ring. Not only are the structures of these two cyanobacterial toxins similar, but they also show the same hepatotoxic effects through the potent inhibition of protein phosphatases. It is speculated that low-level exposure to these toxins may promote the development of cancer in the liver and other chronic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. This is likely to occur because the protein phosphatases that are inhibited by hepatotoxins play an important role in regulating cell division. While not initiating the cancers, these toxins have been shown to hasten the development of cancer in animals. Carmichael suggests that "the extraordinarily high rates of liver cancer in parts of China may be tied to the cyanobacterial toxins in water." Analytical testing confirms the amount of cyanobacteria toxin in water samples. In recent years, HPLC, ELISA, and the protein phosphatase assay have made the quantification of total and individual toxins possible. Lyophilized cultures and bloom samples are used to determine the quantitative concentration of toxin. Results are expressed as milligrams or micrograms of toxin per gram of dry weight. ...

VIHA uncertain about water risk
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood April 26, 2006

Health authorities advise islanders that water from St. Mary Lake is safe to drink during the current algae bloom. But there is still some uncertainty about the future risk of exposure to algal toxins. Tests on untreated water from St. Mary Lake have found no recent traces of cyanobacterial toxin since January following an algae bloom that began last fall. But levels of Microcystins-LR exceeded Health Canada guidelines by double and triple the Maximum Acceptable Concentration (MAC) this winter (5.64 micrograms per litre on January 11 and 2.8 micrograms per litre on December 22). ... NSSWD has been testing for Microcystins-LR every week since the bloom was detected and it shares testing information with the Capital Regional District (CRD), which also conducts its own tests for the Highland and Fernwood water districts that draw water from St. Mary Lake. “Last year was the first time we were aware of it and we can’t really say whether or not it was in the lake previously. It might have been; it was an unknown factor, nobody knew about it until it came up last year.” NSSWD tests have found no traces of Microcystins-LR in treated water samples, he noted. And the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) has not been concerned about algal toxins contaminating the drinking water supply at St. Mary Lake. “With the levels we have seen so far, there has been no concern expressed by VIHA as to the levels that have been seen intermittently at St. Mary Lake,” said Gary Gibson, VIHA supervisor for environmental health. Gibson indicated that microcystin levels could exceed Health Canada guidelines for short terms at St. Mary Lake before VIHA would respond. ...

Murky fears taint water AGM
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood May 3, 2006

Islanders shared their fears, uncertainty and frustration about the St. Mary Lake water supply during the North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) annual general meeting on April 25. In response, trustees and staff from NSSWD, along with representatives from the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA), assured islanders about the safety of local water while consciously sipping from glasses tapped from St. Mary Lake. ...

Related: "A Water Quality Assessment of Cusheon Lake (Saltspring Island, British Columbia): A Summary of Data Collected between 1974 and 2003"

Prepared by:
Sherri McPherson
For the Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection
March 31, 2004

From the Executive Summary:

Cusheon Lake is located on Salt Spring Island, BC. It is a relatively small lake with a surface
area of 0.3 km 2 , and a watershed area of 7.24 km 2. The lake is an important water source,
recreation area, and habitat for fish and other aquatic life. Ongoing algal blooms have resulted in
the necessity to understand lake water quality conditions, and seek out reasons for these
occurrences. Through a review of water quality data that has been collected at Cusheon Lake
since 1974, this report has identified the following major conclusions....

Here is the Google HTML cache for this report.

Noted: This report from the USA offers a part solution—non-scientific, non-governmental—to the problem. Eventually the manic real estate madness on Salt Spring Island will have to end and with it some of the physical and social problems it is causing. Irresponsible lending has created myriad 'houses of cards'. Property owners should worry; so should their lenders. Perhaps, soon, our island can begin healing.

The housing bubble has popped
Bill Fleckenstein MSN Money April 24, 2006

A recent story in the Wall Street Journal, "Hot Homes Get Cold" (subscription required) offered lots of its useful vignettes that serve as a microcosm of manic markets -- starting with the bravado-cum-denial displayed by a medical-equipment salesman in Stuart, Fla. ... The story went on to note that many formerly hot markets in California, Arizona, Washington, D.C., and Florida are now "languishing without buyers or even prospects. Many once-booming markets are seeing double-digit declines in sales." The magnitude of the drop in Florida home prices (once the frothiest market in the country) is striking. Single-family home sales declined 20% in February, year-over-year. Similarly, California sales dropped 15%. Some of the hottest towns in those states were off twice as much. I loved the point that what seems to be really alarming is how "real-estate agents in some of these formerly red-hot markets have been surprised at how suddenly (my emphasis) market conditions have deteriorated in the past few months." Of course, that's what happens when manic markets and bubbles turn. Prices change radically and, seemingly, for no reason. ...

The only way any of this might make some sense is if B.C. taxpayers were helping educate poor kids as a foreign aid project. But what these school boards are doing is beggaring the education of B.C. kids so that rich kids in other countries can get a good education and a chance to compete for spots in B.C. universities when they graduate with their Dogwood certificates. - Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun April 14, 2006

Overseas education initiatives 'not losing money'
Jeff Bell Times Colonist April 11, 2006

A private company that runs international programs for the Gulf Islands school district is not a money-loser and has not had a negative effect on things at home, says school superintendent Wendy Herbert. Herbert was responding to recent reports that the company had lost money on two significant overseas initiatives -- a total of $113,000 on a preschool in Poland and an online education project geared to the Asian market. ... Education Minister Shirley Bond has received complaints about school district companies and is expected to comment soon, but Herbert said the Gulf Islands school district has not heard from the ministry on the issue. ...

School biz co. under attack
Sean McIntyre Gulf Islands Driftwood April 12, 2006

Gulf Islands School Board chair May McKenzie is standing by the district’s business company, despite a $113,000 loss in 2004/05, and a call for a public inquiry. ... In the meantime, Gulf Islands parents concerned about increasing privatization of the education system in the wake of provincial government cutbacks and declining enrolment are calling on Education Minister Shirley Bond to hold a public inquiry into the workings of school district business companies across the province. “This is not the same as operating a coffee shop, this is our education system,” said Salt Spring parent Mona Fertig, who was a founder of the Keep Five Alive group opposed to implementation of the four-day school week. “We need to do our best to build it up and the secrecy just makes it worse.” Fertig questioned why the company was set up as a corporation instead of a non-profit organization open to increased public accountability. She challenged the business company’s decision to promote overseas projects and devote district resources for international students at a time when the school trustees must resort to a four-day school week to reduce costs and preserve programs. “We need to shed some light on the workings of the company,” she said. “How can we do that if they keep hiding behind that private business hedge.” McKenzie agreed the decision to start up a business company in 2003 remains a highly charged philosophical debate that has engaged teachers, parents and board members. ...

Mona Fertig sent us this email yesterday reporting on Wednesday's board meeting.

A small victory today. [SD 64 trustees] Wolfgang Temmel and Peter Williams voted for the 5-day school week, despite the rhetoric of the rest of the board and the treasurer. But the 4-day school week is here to stay. Most likely for good. Unless there's a big change in the board in 3 years. As usual GISS students who love the 4-day school week were brought in to speak in favour of it. Same stories as before. It's always interesting and sad to note the absence of their concern about fellow students who are not doing well. It's an "I'm OK, so we're all OK" mindset. Peter Williams has replaced Duane Sutherland on SD64 Business Co. And they said they will be appointing 2 members of the community to Business Co. board this year.

Good Friday updates: B.C. gov't orders review of school district investments
Janet Steffenhagen Vancouver Sun April 14, 2006

Education Minister Shirley Bond has ordered an independent review of school district business companies after parents complained about money being spent on offshore schools and enterprises in Asia while pennies were pinched at home. ... The Liberal government gave school boards the right to establish business companies in 2002, with former education minister Christy Clark urging trustees to become more entrepreneurial during a time of government restraint. Of the 60 boards, 14 set up companies but only a few are active. In addition to the Gulf Islands, they are New Westminster, Surrey, Langley, Peace River North and Kamloops-Thompson. All are in the red except for Kamloops-Thompson, which was created last month. May McKenzie, chair of the Gulf Islands school board, also welcomed the independent review. "It can't hurt. There are still some grey areas for everyone," she said. "It's a new thing . . . and boards are doing things differently." ...

School boards need to look at priorities
Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun April 14, 2006

Kids in the Gulf Islands only go to school four days a week because the school district can't afford to keep the schools open five days. Yet the district has spent $113,000 setting up a pre-school in Poland and marketing on-line education programs in Asia. Kootenay Lake chopped five instructional days off its 2005-06 calendar to save money and help pay back the $3.9 million it owes the province. But there was money for then-superintendent Brian Butcher and his successor Bill Reid to fly to China last spring to negotiate a deal with a B.C.-certified school in China.And the deal? Well, it sure didn't do much to help the kids back home. It's a four-year agreement to provide "educational support" to the private school that Butcher's brother, Mark, runs in Dalian -- a school for the children of China's elites. It allows Kootenay teachers to work for up to two years in China without losing their seniority. The New Westminster School District has plowed almost $1 million into getting B.C.-certified schools started in China. So far, it has no profit and no accreditation. Its two proposed schools are on a list of 20 that the ministry is currently assessing.

The only way any of this might make some sense is if B.C. taxpayers were helping educate poor kids as a foreign aid project. But what these school boards are doing is beggaring the education of B.C. kids so that rich kids in other countries can get a good education and a chance to compete for spots in B.C. universities when they graduate with their Dogwood certificates. All of the overseas schools are private schools with tuition fees well in excess of what average Pole or Chinese can afford. The Gulf Islands' Polish pre-school, for example, charges $500 a month in a country where the average wage is just over $900 a month. The Dalian school run by Mark Butcher charges tuition fees ranging from $5,400 a year for an elementary school day student to $10,100 a year for a student in the English elementary program. The average Chinese wage is $2,580 a year. ...

Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood March 1, 2006

When Chris bought his property our 78-acre family farm was his closest neighbor. Tragedy (personal and communal) befell our farm and it is now subdivded. We argued, in good spirit, with Chris about some of the things he did at the Cove in the past. But now we are humbled by his gesture, generosity and spirit. Good on 'ya, Chris. Bless you, man.

Thanks to generous donations and two years of wrangling, Ruckle Park will likely acquire another 100 acres of forest, farmland and foreshore by the end of March. The province of B.C. has already committed its share toward the $2.7-million purchase at Cusheon Cove, said Ian Atherton, supervisor of land acquisitions of parks and protected areas branch, Ministry of Environment. “This is going to happen — it’s not a matter of a 20 per cent chance it might — it will,” said Atherton. B.C. Parks was attracted to the acquisition because the property borders Ruckle Park, it includes one kilometre of waterfront and it came with a “significant donation” from the property owner and support from The Land Conservancy of B.C. (TLC), said Atherton. “That made the cost to B.C. taxpayers a lot less than if they had to pay full cash for market value.” TLC signed a commitment to raise $490,000 by the end of March and they’ve already collected $250,000, Atherton said. “The process is slowing down slightly because everyone is trying to catch their breath.” Chris Hatfield has owned the land at Cusheon Cove for the past 20 years, ran a farm and aquaculture business there and lived on the property for the last eight years. “The property is so beautiful. I didn’t want to see it broken up and developed or taken over by a wealthy person who wouldn’t allow public access,” Hatfield said. “It kind of rounds out this end of Ruckle Park.” Approximately 20 acres of the property is farmland with gardens, pasture and an organic orchard with 100 trees. A foreshore lease held by Marine Harvest Ltd. included a salmon farm that was removed last summer. B.C. Parks is still in negotiations with marine harvest regarding the foreshore lease. The foreshore area also includes a dock, mooring buoys and a protected deep-water bay that would be useful for a marine park, Hatfield said. The initial park donation-purchase is 90 acres. The second phase will involve another eight-acre piece and Hatfield plans to live in a residual one-acre lot that includes his house. He hopes to maintain a long-term plan to live on the site and eventually transfer the property into parkland. “That’s the last phase and that will be up in the air.” The last two years of negotiations involved settling differences of opinion in Hatfield’s family, he noted. “The land is all subdividable and if I wanted to exploit it to its full potential, it would be worth millions.” He identifies with pioneer John Bullman, who developed the property with farmland and a sawmill (that employed 150 people at its height) between 1905 and 1930. “It makes you tired just thinking of all the work they did here.” As a marine biologist and entrepreneur, Hatfield has always held a fascination with the challenge of harvesting food from the ocean. So now his only regret to transferring the site into parkland is the closure of the aquaculture business and working farm that’s operated on the property and employed approximately 20 people. But Hatfield plans to maintain his retail seafood business and will wind down shellfish farming this summer. ...

John Lefebvre at home on Salt Spring Island. This and second photo by David Borrowman.

The fine art of giving
Tom Maloney On Campus Weekly University of Calgary October 14, 2005

Here’s a man embodying the spirit of a generation. One moment, he’s speaking intensely about eradicating political global tyranny, and in the next, slipping on his gumboots to stand ankle-deep in the Pacific Ocean and strum the mandolin; one moment plotting to save old-growth forest in China from clear cutting loggers, and in the next, whimsically tinkling “M-i-c … k-e-y, M-o-u-s-e” on a William Knabe & Co. piano, circa 1904. In this bright front room of a modest house with spectacular views, he’s surrounded by black-and-white photos of his musical, philosophical and political influences, the cultural heroes of his generation: Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Tom Waits and other rockers from the 1960s and ’70s. A lawyer by trade and frustrated musician by passion, John Lefebvre became a founding minority partner in NETeller six years ago. In that speck of time, the company specializing in Web-based money transfers mushroomed from a mere notion to more than $2 billion in market capitalization. NETeller, listed on the London Stock Exchange, boasts a user base of two million customers worldwide (and zooming, daily) and 1,700 merchant clients. Lefebvre, who was barely getting by on cash borrowed from friends a decade ago, has since built a fortune in the hundreds of millions. ... Lefebvre moved back to Canada last February, ready to get on with more ‘60s-ish pursuits. He’s combining with Vancouver businessman Victor Chan to under-write the Dalai Lama’s Centre for Peace and Education in Vancouver, supporting the David Suzuki Foundation, backing the West Virginia-based Future Generation’s successful campaign to preserve the ecologically vital Four Great Rivers section of Tibet and thinking of funding an educational chair on human rights. Oh, and producing a movie too, about the life of Constantine. So intent about conducting his philanthropy pointedly and properly, he asked U of C law graduate Geoff Savage to oversee his charitable foundation and become his most trusted right-hand man. Says Savage: “The buzz word around here is, ‘unbelievable.’” For all his newfound pursuits, one thing that lights up Lefebvre’s face is his pet project in his newly adopted town. With Savage, he is renovating the Vesuvius Pub. After lunch at a café overlooking the ferry dock, Lefebvre walks with a visitor next door to the boarded-up pub, his eyes gleaming and expression joyous as he discusses plans to return live music to an establishment once reputed for promoting new artists. ...



A safer online gamble
Market comment by Ed Bowsher Motley Fool UK November 8, 2005

On the basis of those figures -- especially the margin -- Neteller certainly looks very interesting. Sadly, at least some of the good news is already in the price. Shares in Neteller are trading at 681p this morning, which puts the company on a price to earnings (P/E) ratio of 17. I don't have any analyst forecasts for FireOne, but if one assumes that third-quarter earnings of 6 US cents are repeated across the year, Fireone is trading on a current P/E ratio of 27. Both ratios look a bit steep given the risk that US gambling laws may change. If Internet gambling is legalised in the US, gamblers may not bother with e-wallets anymore and just pay with their credit cards. What's more, a 56% margin may well attract more competition into the sector. On the other hand, Neteller hopes to diversify away from the US gambling business by becoming an internet bank. Neteller looks the more interesting of the two London-listed e-wallet players, but I would want to do more digging before I paid 681p for shares. Notably, two of Neteller's founders have decided it's time to lock in some of their profits. Chairman Stephen Lawrence and fellow director John Lefebvre sold shares worth £218m yesterday -- reducing their holding from 49% to 20%.

Treaty Group maps out land-use plan
Edward Hill Ladysmith Chronicle November 22, 2005

The Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group is releasing a far-reaching land-use strategy next week, a document it would like Cowichan Valley municipal planners to respect as a guide to First Nation interests. The Interim Strategic Land Plan, called "In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors", lays out a detailed Hul'qumi'num vision for resource management, agriculture, environmental stewardship, tourism, and heritage conservation. It also maps out broad areas designated as having traditional hunting, historical or ceremonial uses. "This is a simple tool to start dialogue," said Brian Thom, one of the plan's authors and a negotiation advisor to the HTG. "Planners right now operate in an information vacuum. Now from the get-go with this they will know what First Nations think about whatever the issue is. It will be an invaluable tool. "In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors" essentially acts as a type of official community plan, a legal document most communities generate to guide zoning and land development policies. But the Hul'qumi'num document has a few important distinctions from a typical OCP. ...

Chief negotiator calls treaty process 'a sham'
Edward Hill Ladysmith Chronicle November 22, 2005

After more than a decade at the treaty table, the top negotiator for Cowichan Valley First Nations is calling the treaty process a sham and says serious negotiations are effectively not happening. Robert Morales, the chief negotiator for the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group, based in Ladysmith, says despite building a framework for future self government, federal government negotiators will not broach the problem of private land and monetary compensation. "When we raise the issue of land and compensation at the table, we are told it is a high-level policy issue, not a table issue," Morales said in an interview with The Chronicle. "So how do you get to a point of negotiating? That is the frustration." The colonial-era British Columbia government gave much of southern Vancouver Island, including traditional aboriginal territory, to Robert Dunsmuir in 1884 for building the E&N railway. About 85 per cent of that land is now privately held by timber companies, municipalities or homeowners, leaving little Crown land on the table for future Hul'qumi'num territory The government will not expropriate private land, meaning any settlement will likely come down to compensation. Morales said without knowing how the government values the land or how much is on the table, the treaty process lacks fairness and transparency. ...

Budimcic works to clear name
Staff Gulf Islands Driftwood November 9, 2005

Following national news coverage alleging a war criminal past in the former Yugoslavia, Salt Spring resident Josep Budimcic gave the following written submission to the Driftwood on Tuesday. ...

From last week: Joe Somebody: Salt Spring Island resident imprisoned in swirling fog of war
Salt Spring News November 2, 2005

"The evils of war are great in their endurance, and have a long reckoning for ages to come." ~ Thomas Jefferson

Convicted Croat war criminal told not to go home
CBC News May 21, 2001

A Regina lawyer representing a convicted Croatian war criminal says his client did not receive a fair trial. Josip Budimcic is living in Weyburn. He was convicted in absentia on kidnapping and murder charges. But his lawyer, Wayne Bernakevitch, says the outcome would have been much different if there had been a fair trial. "My advice to him at this point in time is that he not go back until he is guaranteed we have a proper forum, and I'm not sure that's possible given the state of affairs that they have over there right now. If he was to be tried in Canada, it would be a whole different story." ...

Saltspring 'Joe' wanted by Croatia for war acts
Pat Burkette Victoria Times Colonist November 1, 2005

He's known as "Joe Somebody" on Saltspring Island, a mobile mechanic and general handyman who drives a big white van with two phone numbers and his real name, Josip Budimcic, painted on the side panels. He is the same Josip Budimcic who is wanted by the Croatian government for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Budimcic came to Canada in 1995 as a refugee. The following year, a Croatian court sentenced him in absentia to 15 years in prison for allegedly torturing and executing prisoners. An official with the Croatian Embassy in Ottawa confirmed Budimcic's conviction. Budimcic "was a member of the irregular police force of the Serbian paramilitary forces," said Ante Barbir, charge d'affaires for the Croatian Embassy in Ottawa. The Croatian government has been asking the Canadian government to extradite Budimcic back to Croatia, said Barbir. Budimcic is from Slavonia, a region of Croatia, and is a Croatian citizen, he said. Canadian government officials refused to comment on Budimcic's case, or on any other individual cases involving war criminals. ...

Serb war criminal living on Saltspring Island
Robert Matas Globe and Mail November 2, 2005

While in Saskatchewan, he denied the charges in an interview with the Star Phoenix, a Saskatoon newspaper. "I'm an easy target because I'm not there," he said. Mr. Budimcic told the Star Phoenix he came to Canada in January of 1995. He said he had landed-immigrant status and had applied for Canadian citizenship. He said he was a Yugoslav policeman in Osijek in Eastern Slavonia from 1984 to 1991. Thousands of people were killed during what has been described as ethnic cleansing as the former Yugoslavia disintegrated around that time. The Serbs occupied Eastern Slavonia, now part of Croatia, from 1991 to 1995. Croatian media reported Mr. Budimcic lived in the Croatian Danube River region until he left for Canada in 1995. Unconfirmed reports say he worked as a mechanic for Canadian Forces soldiers in Croatia under the auspices of the United Nations. The year he left Croatia, he was convicted in absentia in the execution and disappearance of Croatian soldiers in Eastern Slavonia in 1991. The ruling was overturned on appeal. But in a second trial the next year, Mr. Budimcic was found guilty once again. He was sentenced to 15 years. The Croatian media reported that, after Croatia requested Mr. Budimcic's extradition, four Canadian investigators went to Osijek for seven days, starting Jan. 14, 2001, to collect information about the crimes. An on-line account of the report from the Croatian media states that two members of the 3rd Guard Brigade told the Canadians they were subjected to physical and mental torture after surrendering in August of 1991. They told the investigators that two other prisoners of war were executed, and five were taken to a nearby village, from which they disappeared. Four of the five bodies were exhumed. ...

War past haunts ‘Joe Somebody’
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood November 2, 2005

Living as a minority Serb in Croatia, Budimcic fled with his wife and two children to Canada as a refugee in 1995.

Slumped in a chair at the Driftwood office on Tuesday, there was little Budimcic could say in his own defence about accusations he’d tortured and executed prisoners during the 1991-95 war in former Yugoslavia. Budimcic has lived on Salt Spring with his wife and children since 2003 and he runs a mobile mechanic and general handyman business called “Joe Somebody.” But before Budimcic could share his story with islanders about how in 1996 he was sentenced to 15 years in absentia for alleged war crimes in Croatia, he’d need to consult with his lawyer, he said. And so his story will need to wait. In the meantime, island friends have stepped forward on his behalf. ...

Related: Lacking conviction
Juliet O'Neill Ottawa Citizen April 13, 2002

After losing a high-profile court case in 1994, the federal government developed a new strategy to go after killers, torturers and other fugitives from brutal foreign regimes who live in Canada. The results, admits one expert, have been 'extremely disappointing.' This is a four-page PDF of O'Neill's story which we downloaded from a Concordia University site. On the first page is a photo of Budimcic with the cutline: "Josip Budimcic: A former member of the Serbian paramilitary who is wanted by Croatia to serve sentence for war crimes."

"At the rate we're going, looking at World War Two now, we'll be doing Croatia and Rwanda in the year 2040," says one insider. ... Once a war criminal is in Canada, working claims for refugee or landed immigrant status through official tribunals and the courts, years can pass as appeals wind through a judicial and quasi-judicial systems shaped to protect the persecuted, but often protecting the persecutors. Since 1989, on paper at least, people shown to have complicity in war crimes or crimes against humanity have been ineligible for access to Canada's refugee determination process. And since 1993, people who were senior officials of a regime which committed gross human rights violations are deemed inadmissable to Canada. The regimes now include the Bosnian Serbs, the Siad Barre regime of Somalia, former military governments in Haiti, former Marxist regimes and the Taliban of Afghanistan, Iraq since 1969, Rwanda between October, 1990 and July 1994, and the Milosevic regime of former Yugoslavia. But there are cases dating back before these changes and hundreds of others have slipped through. In many cases, there is insufficient evidence or cases turn on legal matters even when the person confesses gross human rights violations. And dealing with the relatively new concepts of war crimes and crimes against humanity is not easy for some adjudicators and some judges. ...

Background: It is often argued that the victors (in this case the Croats) use their political dominance to suppress their defeated enemies' version of historical events in favor of their own propaganda. For some background on the bloody war in Eastern Slavonia, click on full story and scroll down.

Martha Tropea and Vern Faulkner Esquimalt News August 3, 2005

Children: Don't try this at daycare (just at home). Daisy Meissner hangs upside down on the monkey bars at Saxe Point Daycare. Due to tough new VIHA regulations, this well-loved playground item will likely have to be removed forever. Photo: Vern Faulkner, Esquimalt News

The message is clear: get rid of almost everything kids climb, slide on, crawl under or play with, and do it now. ¨So ordered the Vancouver Island Health Authority in an April 1 decision affecting play equipment used by more than 1,000 childcare providers throughout the region. In order to comply with the Community Care and Assisted Living Act and Child Care licensing regulations, childcare centres must now follow strict Canadian Standards Association guidelines when it comes to what kids can play on outside. Regulations now require such things as height restrictions on outdoor equipment and deeper layers of impact-absorbing material under large equipment such as swings. They apply to licensed family childcare centres, preschools, group daycare centres, out of school care centres and child minding centres. Unacceptable playground equipment includes those with an elevated surface like swings and slides, or equipment intended for family or home use. The decision leaves Meagan Brame, operator of Saxe Point Day Care, utterly fuming. "They're telling us that kids don't need to climb," she said, calling the regulations "excessive." She offered the example of a simple consumer teeter-totter that raises a child about 30 cm off the ground: under new rules, that teeter-totter is considered a danger and therefore illegal, but only if used in a daycare setting. "It seems like they're saying that our own children are not as important as someone else's - if its safe enough for a child in your backyard (why is it not) safe for someone else's children?"

Climbing structures must now feature strict limits on height, construction and surface: so many limitations that the equipment is no longer fun to play on, Brame argued. "They want us to wrap our children in bubble-wrap and have them sit in the yard," she said. "Children need a chance to climb, a chance for undirected but supervised play." Brame claimed $17,000 spent on CSA-standard equipment in Sooke - gear she said toddlers don't like playing on any more because the newer "safer" equipment doesn't offer challenges any more. View Royal Preschool owner Heather Peeters spent $10,000 on a new play structure several years ago, but said she can't afford the estimated $16,000 to $20,000 required to install equipment that meets the new standards. "My playground is a lovely playground. It's in a natural setting, it's really friendly and it's really safe," she said, adding that no child ever suffered injuries using it. With many centres expecting to close off their play structures, Peeters said playgrounds will become a determining factor for parents choosing where to send their kids. VIHA's assistant regional manager for licensing, Marcia Thorneycroft, disagreed. Yet Thorneycroft has rd complaints from childcare providers who say parents will take children to unlicensed centres because they will have opportunities that are more exciting for children. "There are many other opportunities for children to get physical development without getting fancy playground equipment," she said. ...

The Salt Spring Seals, a group of open water swimming enthusiasts, are planning to swim across Stuart Channel again this year as a fundraiser for the Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre of Salt Spring Island. Last year, the Salt Spring Seals raised over $5,000 for the cause. The Salt Spring Seals hope that islanders and visitors alike will join them at Vesuvius Bay on their triumphant arrival, between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. A banquet is also planned at Meaden Hall, The Legion (120 Blain Road) at 6:00 p.m. that evening. Everyone is welcome.

Click on full story to read the Seals' press release and for information on how to make a monetary donation, donate a door prize, and/or purchase tickets for the banquet.

COMMUNITY DISCUSSION ON CLIMATE CHANGE & THE SALT SPRING ENERGY STRATEGY

Tuesday, Feb 22, 7:00 pm,
GISS Multipurpose Room
Rainbow Road

Featured Speaker: Trevor Murdock, Associate Director of the Canadian Institute for Climate Studies, University of Victoria (CICS)

SSI Draft Energy Strategy now available at:

www.saltspring-onetonnechallenge.org

Are the targets achievable? Are the proposed actions realistic? Do we have the right recommendations? Please come and contribute your comments.

Sponsored by the Earth Festival Society
Contact: Marion Pape or Elizabeth White

Admission by donation

Saltspring Ecovillage Education & Development Society has a new domain name, and some website changes, and a new webmaster! Most of the basic pages are the same right now, with one important addition: the "Wiki" link.

A wiki is a collaborative authoring environment. It's probably quite different from anything you've experienced. Taking a little time to understand it will be necessary, but soon you'll be editing and adding material in a more organized manner than can be done with common web-based bulletin boards. Unlike bulletin boards, which have a chronological orientation, a Wiki is an ideal tool for organizing large unknowns -- like an ecovillage. It is egalitarian -- anyone can change anything that hasn't been locked. It is definition-oriented, so you don't have to search through lists of messages for relevant content. This combination makes it ideal for consensus-driven authoring, supporting dissenting points of view as well. The Wiki concept was invented by Ward Cunningham, and a nice intro to the concept is in this interview. 

Introduction to S.E.E.D.S.

As we face the worldwide destruction of our natural resources, the rapid erosion of traditional cultures and the globalization of our economies, communities that stand together and empower people to live sustainably are crucial. They are the foundation stones for our children and a meaningful future. To meet this challenge, a group of concerned citizens has formed S.E.E.D.S., a B.C. not-for-profit Society.  Our mandate is to enhance quality of life by promoting the education and development of sustainable living practices.

Our Society's goals are:

1. To develop an Ecovillage on the island that will be a living, working sustainable community
2. To develop and demonstrate viable ecological alternatives for housing, education, agriculture and technology
3. To enhance individual creativity, spiritual growth and healing
4. To provide land, structure and infrastructure for these purposes

The Keep Five Alive Coalition sends these results and news.

1. The school district has called a public meeting Jan. 18th Tue. 1-4 pm at the school board office on Salt Spring specifically for the purpose of responding to budget questions. We will also ask questions abut the school business company. We hope you will take the time to come if you are not working,
or send us questions to ask Rod Scotvold and Kathi Hansen. We will meet for lunch at Calvin's at noon if anyone would like to join us.

2. The results of the task force/ board survey was released on Wednesday. KFAC has written a response. 1/3 of the respondents replied that it has negatively affected them. Mitchell Sherrin will be writing an article for Wed's Driftwood.

Brief Summary of Survey Results:

1580 responses
1259 from Salt Spring Island
154 from Pender
609 from GISS
378 from SIMS
111 from Pender Elem/Secondary
53 Galiano
375 parents
1093 students
42 teachers
14 school administrators
10 from kindergarten
10 from Phoenix Elementary
133 from Grade Eleven
913 take the bus
103 Water Taxi

How has the increased length of school day affected you?

In the negative range: 37.4%
In the No change range; 23.4 %
Positive range: 36.1%

Less time to spend with family and/or do other things: 33%
No effect: 15.7%
More time to spend with families etc: 47.9%

Overall, how do you rate the 4-day week? Scale of 1-5

1. Negative: 10%
2. 11.7%
3. 17.1%
4. 24.7%
5. Positive: 34.6%

There were also over 7,000 written comments. The school board was very surprised. They will probably hire someone to write an executive summary. Apparently they will put all the comments on their website at the end of the month. They had intended to print them and leave copies at the school, but each copy would be 1,000 pages. This tells you how important this issue is to the community. If you would like the survey please send your fax number.

3. KFAC will be at the Middle School PAC meeting Tue 18th 7 pm and at the SSE PAC meeting Wed. 19th 11:45 am.

Vancouver, January 11, 2005 – Vancity Credit Union and the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia have awarded $35,000 to the Islands Trust Fund to support its rainwater catchment and education project. The project will see a complete rainwater collection system installed on the Ruby Alton Nature Reserve house on Salt Spring Island as a demonstration project for the southern Gulf Islands. The system will show how a substantial proportion of the total water demand of a four-person household can be supplied by rooftop catchment of rainwater and will educate the public on the need to conserve and use rainwater.

This project is one of three awarded grants in the first year of the Green Building Grant program, a new intitiative that provides annual grants of up to $50,000 to non-profits or cooperatives for building renovations, retrofits and regulatory changes to support more environmentally friendly buildings. This year’s recipients also include O.U.R. EcoVillage in Shawnigan Lake for the greening of its climate change demonstration building and the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation in Vancouver for its sustainable energy public demonstration building.

Louise Dickson Times Colonist January 11, 2005

While some went four days without power, everyone rallied 'to take care of each other'.

SALT SPRING ISLAND -- Lo Camps heaved a 50-kilogram backpack onto his shoulders and trudged into the snow-covered forest on the south end of Salt Spring Island. The naturalist, who has studied wolves and caribou in the Canadian Arctic, seemed right at home in this most unlikely winter setting. Beneath his feet, the forest trail was covered in snowdrifts up to one-metre high. Above him, Douglas fir branches dipped beneath the weight of heavy wet snow."There's nothing you can do but make the best of it," said Camps, who was heading home with a pack full of groceries. Salt Spring Islanders are making the best of it. "The great thing about Salt Spring is the community takes care of each other," fire captain Jamie Holmes said Monday. "A lot of people are looking after their elderly neighbours." ...

While all eyes are on the devastation in Southeast Asia, millions in Africa still suffer from AIDS and its community and family-destroying effects. Don't let's forget them. You can help, and enjoy a gourmet African meal at the same time.

Gail Meyer, a member of SOLID (Saltspring Organization for Life Improvment and Development), is going to Kenya in January to work as a volunteer for five months. She’s volunteering with the African Canadian Continuing Education Society (ACCES) which provides desperately needed HIV/AIDS education, primary and literacy education, and post-secondary scholarships. To help off-set expenses, Gail is putting on a five-course gourmet African dinner on January 8th at the Saltspring Island Sailing Club, 6 pm, as a fund raiser.

Tickets are available at Salt Spring Books ($30) or you can phone Gail. Vegetarian and regular food is on the menu. If you can’t make it to the dinner but would like to make a donatation to the cause, please call Gail or send a cheque to 221 Isabella Point Road, SSI, V8K 1V6.

Gail Sjuberg Gulf Islands Driftwood

MLA Murray Coell gave hope Monday to a Lions Hall full of islanders who want to pursue new models for Salt Spring local governance and keep the incorporation wolf at bay. Eighty-five people attended the by-invitation gathering to let Coell know the island has an appetite to seek improved government without becoming a municipality. Coell's Communities, Aboriginal and Women's Services (CAWS) ministry oversees local governance matters in B.C. "There is obviously a desire to see something different from an incorporated model," said Coell after hearing several questions and opinions from speakers. ...

Michael Linehan of IROCA sends us this email. Click on full story to read his comments on the still unresolved Telus antenna. Why is this still unresolved? It seems a no-brainer. Still, that's how life is in a corporatist world, isn't it? Sigh, even on Salt Spring Island.

Reduced school week on Gulf Islands wasn’t necessary
Press release CUPE BC

Gulf Islanders sent more money to Victoria last year than ever before yet provincial allocations for public schooling on the Island were decreased. In addition, mistaken projections for anticipated total revenue and enrolments expected in Gulf Island Schools propelled the school board to shorten the school week by one day per week – an action that has caused chaos this school year. This according to details found in a report by independent researcher John Malcolmson, commissioned by CUPE local 788, Gulf Island Schools, as a means of getting to the bottom of the apparent funding crisis in their school district, a crisis that affects students, parents and support staff in particular.

Information in the Malcolmson report [38 pages, PDF], which examined funding allocations, budget and staffing in District 64, Gulf Island Schools, makes it clear that panic was the driving force behind the Gulf Island School Board’s reason for cutting the school week from five days to four. “It’s ironic,” says Barry O’Neill, president of CUPE BC 'that a community, like the Gulf Islands, nationally hailed to be growing in leaps and bounds and sending increasing amounts of money to Victoria via property tax revenues, can’t afford to send its own children to school five days a week. Something is wrong with the picture.” ...

Click on full story and scroll down for the Executive Summary.

In our mind, the desecration of Walker Hook is the most egregious assault on the morality of our island community--and there are many extant today. By several--no, many standards--this development violates the ideals of right human conduct.

Donna Martin writes:

Walker Hook is one of Salt Spring Islands ecological, geological and archaeological treasures. Home to a rich and diverse array of terrestrial and marine plants and animals its worth lies in its stunning natural beauty and habitat value. The tombolo is layered metre deep in middens from coastal first nations peoples who camped, fished and gathered shellfish along its shores for thousands of years. Excavating this area and disturbing and removing the skeletal remains of FN ancestors to accommodate the infrastructure required for the waste management system was cultural vandalism. Walker Hook is designated a high priority protected site by the Federal/Provincial Georgia Basin Ecosystem Conservation Partnership. Environment Canada, the BC Ministry of Water Land and Air Protection and the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management all agree that 3 rare and sensitive ecosystems are present within Walker Hook.

Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd, is a venture capital company headed by Gidon Minkoff that produces large numbers of juvenile sablefish for net cage farms in our coastal communities. This companies stated intention is to expand and diversify to other species and sell out to a large industry player.This development poses ecological threats not only to Walker Hook but to all the coastal communities that will be the recipients to these net cage pen farms. The very concept of industrial use such as this violates everything that the Trust stands for.There has been loud and strong community opposition to this hatchery development from day one. The Salt Spring Residents for Responsible Land Use together with the Penelakut FN elders and the Canadian Sablefish Association filed joint appeals with the Environmental Appeal Board regarding Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. temporary waste permit which allows them to pump 619 cubic meters of hatchery effluent into the tombolo each day. We are still awaiting this decision.

Salt Spring Island Residents for Responsible Land Use member, Dr. Kathy Dunster, provide links to more information and urges everyone to write saying they are adversely affected by this proposed discharge. Click on full story to read her submission.

"When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically." -- an early definition of the precautionary principle in applied science

In other words, actions taken to protect the environment and human health take precedence. This is critical as the fire board will soon make a final decision whether or not to install the proposed clock-tower antenna--within a couple of hundred feet of the park, a busy children's playground, and numerous businesses and residences. The precautionary principle must be respected. The trustees are being pressured to make a decision in the face of ignorance of existing data dating back decades and becoming evermore clear and cogent . Help them with this dilemma. The Island Residents Opposed to Cell Phone Antennae ask you to bring your common sense and to please attend the next fire trustees meeting, Monday, October 18. Click on full story to read IROCA's email

We received this email from IROCA.

CELL ANTENNA NEWS and CRITICAL ACTION UPDATE SEPTEMBER 28th.

This update summarizes some of the critical points that have been made over the last few weeks.
It also contains one specific request - a very easy-to-do action that will greatly help our efforts to prevent this antenna being installed.

Contents
1. Some key points
2. Our conclusion (in light of...)
3. Action: You can stop this antenna
4. Appendix: A few scientific and authoritative statements (Click on full story for these.)

SOME KEY POINTS

We have written these to attempt to show how profoundly mistaken this idea of installing a cell antenna is. If you have any questions about this material, please get in touch.

1. It is clear there are potential serious health consequences for you personally, and even more so for your children.
The Fire Trustees have been given enough scientific evidence of possible harm to choke an elephant!

2. Telus and the Fire Trustees have not offered you one shred of evidence that this antenna is safe.
Actually, it's quite fascinating to wonder why Telus won't come right out and say, "We can show it's safe." We believe that is simply because they can't - and they know it.

3. We are NOT protected by current regulations.
When asked about safety, Telus just keeps repeating the mantra, "It's within regulations." Canada's "Code Six" figures are patently ridiculous - based on the idea "If it doesn't immediately heat up a bag of sugar water, it's safe". This takes absolutely no account of the well documented health damage from long-term, low level exposure. It's similar to saying if the arsenic in your water doesn't immediately cause convulsions, it's safe - and we all know that wouldn't be true. In fact, we have the 2nd most abysmal standards on the planet, surpassed only by Britain.

4. The Trustees' one reason for installation is no reason at all.
The ONLY reason they have offered to justify the installation of this antenna is to act as a back-up system to their normal radio. This is completely invalid. Most of the island does not offer the consistency or strength of signal required for a reliable back-up.

5. Telus intends to raise the signal intensity and the numbers of antennas.
Why would Rick Carlson, DIRECTOR OF NETWORK IMPLEMENTATION for Telus come personally to Salt Spring over one itty-bitty antenna? Answer - he wouldn't. In response to a phone call from IROCA, a senior administrator made it very clear that this is only the first step in a network. (That's their normal tactic.)

6. The Fire Trustees wanted safety assurances in the contract --- but didn't get them.
The Trustees wanted an "out" clause that could allow them to escape the contract (in the case of negative health or economic consequences?) They also wanted a clause in the contract limiting Telus to this one proposed antenna. It seems clear Telus gave them a big, "No", or the Trustees would have brought this assurance back to the community long ago. You can easily check this by asking the Trustees for a look at the Telus contract.

7. The 265,000 member International Association of Fire Fighters has called for a complete moratorium on fire-hall installations.
You can see this at http://daily.iaff.org/convention/04pics/04Final%20Reso.pdf, pages 21 to 23. Unfortunately, our fire department is not bound by this resolution, as they are not members. But you'd think it might give them a hint about the right way to go!!!

8. The BC Confederation of Parents Advisory Councils urges the prohibition of cell antennas in any areas regularly used by students.
http://www.bccpac.bc.ca/who_are_we/organization/resolutions_index.tracking.htm#2003.7

9. Where did the Precautionary Principle go?
If the Trustees had a scientific research paper that said there was a faulty bolt on the fire truck that had a 1 in 10,000 chance of breaking on the way to a fire, that bolt would be replaced IMMEDIATELY. In other words, they would err (dramatically) on the side of caution. The antenna situation is being dealt with in the reverse. And here it's not a 1 in 10,000 chance: it's a virtual certainty that our children and elders especially will be harmed by the proposed antenna. (See references below for a small sample.) Why are they not erring on the side of caution? Why are they still so determined to proceed with this antenna proposal when there is so much evidence of potential harm?

10. The cell industry can't get insurance for health consequences of their technology at ANY price.
Lloyd's of London and Swiss Re won't insure them and are advising all other insurance companies to follow their lead. The insurance industry - experts in risk assessment - seems to know and have accepted something that the general public doesn't

11. Are the Trustees prepared to accept personal responsibility for their decisions?
We all have the examples of Walkerton and others such disasters to show that officials, paid or volunteer, are legally responsible for their actions. Given these examples, and all the evidence of potential harm that we have given the Trustees, the fact that this decision is still pending seems foolish in the extreme. Are the Trustees prepared to accept personal responsibility for the consequences of installing an antenna? If not, it would be immoral of them to allow installation.

12. A large number of individuals and businesses are very concerned.
What more do the Fire Trustees need to make a decision? It's obviously not more information.
Why is this situation still hanging over our heads?

IN LIGHT OF
- all the scientific evidence of possible harm,
- the moratorium on cell antenna installation passed by the International Association of Fire Fighters,
- the incredible inconsistencies and holes in what has been said by Telus,
- and simple requests by community members to act according to the "Precautionary Principle",

We consider the proposal by the Fire Board Trustees to allow Telus to install an antenna to be outrageous and completely indefensible. We want the Trustees to immediately reject the Telus contract and to inform the community they have done so.


YOU CAN STOP THIS ANTENNA

Come to the next Fire Trustees meeting.
Monday, October 18th, 7:30pm at the Ganges Fire Hall

You don't need to speak (although you certainly can, if you wish.) Your simple presence will be a very powerful statement of disapproval of their (so far) failure to reject the Telus contract. What has stopped installation to this point is public pressure. You can add enormously to that pressure by coming to the next meeting. They are very disturbed by community opposition to the antenna and very nervous about being held legally responsible for their decision.

Please email Chris Anderson at canderson@uniserve.com to say you'll be there. We'd love to know, for sure, that you'll be there. But, if you get in touch, we can also let you know if they change the meeting for any reason, or if there are any critical developments.

Thanks for reading.

The Keep Five Alive Coalition is disappointed and dismayed that the School Board of District #64 did not respond to their “Open Letter to The School Board” signed by over 150 people at the 1st board meeting Wed Sept. 15th. The Open Letter was presented to the Superintendent on camera (CTV and Global TV) at the public education demonstration in front of the school board office on Salt Spring Island Monday Sept. 7th. The Open Letter was also published in the Driftwood Sept. 8th and announced at the forum on the Impact of the 4-day School Week at GISS in which Jinny Sims, BCTF president and Barry O’Neill CUPE BC president participated Sept.13th. These public events have given the board the opportunity to respectfully read and address the letter about the KFAC's concerns about the 4-day school week and its impact on public education in the Gulf Islands. However, at the school board's meeting of Sept.15th the board failed to acknowledge receipt of KFAC's Open Letter, was unwilling to discuss any of the concerns raised by KFAC in the course of the public events it organized during the first week of school, and made no reference to Keep Five Alive's petitions which contain 500 signatures (the petitions were announced at the education forum). We call for a written and public response before the next board meeting. And we call for membership on the board’s 4-day task force to ensure that a comprehensive and fully professional evaluation process takes place and that there is a voice from the wider community involved. In their policies on Community Relations the school board states that, “There is a much greater overlap in roles and functions between and among individuals and groups in the school community and the community at large than one would expect to find in a metropolitan area. Positive and negative affects on morale within our school community are felt throughout the greater community. We believe that continued work on clear communication, co-operation and collaboration between and among all partner groups and the greater community and acknowledgement of the contributions of our employees can best be served..."

The Keep Five Alive Coalition is a coalition of parents, teachers, students, workers and concerned citizens striving to restore the 5-day school week on the Gulf Islands. The KFAC stands for quality full-time public education five days a week for all children. It was formed June 2004.

The coalition calls upon all parents, students, teachers and community members to speak up about the impact of the 4-day school week on their family and lives. For more information please visit www.keepfivealive.ca

Louise Dickson Times Colonist Sept. 16, 2004

Clear-cut section provides a water view from the controversial Channel Ridge building site on Salt Spring Island. Photo: Deddeda Stemler, Times Colonist

Saltspring Island has been given a sudden reprieve from development plans many feared would turn their island into the next Whistler. Each of the 405 condos and homes being developed by Channel Ridge Properties Inc. on the north end of the island will not be sold to multiple owners, Ross Sullivan, vice-president of Peak Communicators confirmed. "Fractional ownership is no longer being offered. The board have shifted their direction," said Sullivan. "They found it was one of the strongest hot points on the island."

The news brought whoops of joy from island resident Judy Norget. "This is a major victory. We're extremely pleased the developers have listened to the islanders," said Norget. "Since there's going to be a village, this is infinitely better. We will have real people in homes, able to contribute to the community, to work as volunteers, to support the arts, maybe even to enrol their children in school. Saltspring Islanders will be delighted to hear of the change in direction." ...

We hope Judy's optimism is justified. Open and transparent Channel Ridge Properties and their flacks seem not. Past history proves these guys shoot as straight as Blair, Bush and Campbell and have the same self-serving drives as Conrad Black, David Radler and Richard Perle. Hardly a contribution to an island culture and indigenous economy under sustained attack on multiple fronts.

The SSNews hopes everyone will consider the fact that the Ganges firehall cell transmitter is part of a much larger social issue. That said, we received this report from Island Residents Opposed to Cell-phone Antennae (IROCA). Click on full story to read their report and local action request.

Pursuing bureaucratic remedies such as environmental impact reports and e-mailing regulatory officials who came straight from the industry may be necessary tactics, but they fail utterly as an ongoing strategy. We delude ourselves if we think that the new industrial aristocracy will be any more responsive to the people than the old feudal one, or that our votes will solve structural problems. So long as we permit wealth -- both corporate and private -- to dominate political life, “democracy” will be a platitude from the mouths of demagogues rather than a reality. The extension of corporate “rights” has reached a level unthinkable a few decades ago. - Jeffrey Kaplan and Jeff Milchen

Over and over, we see examples of greed for money and power endangering the lives of ordinary people. So what about the cell industry? The industry has arranged (in the US) for it to be ILLEGAL to speak against the technology in any kind of official meeting for any kind of environmental or health reason --- (Section 704, Telecommunications Act 1996). Therein lies a single sentence that prohibits anyone from talking about health concerns in ordinances, community planning meetings or anywhere actual votes are taken regarding whether or not to site a cell antenna or tower. That includes all hearings in city hall and county commisions across the USA. - Michael Linehan

Firefighters to study health effects of cell towers
Jeffrey Silva RCR Wireless News August 25, 2004

The EMR Policy Institute said the IAFF, the nation’s top firefighters union and an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, approved a resolution at its annual convention in Boston last week to study whether cell towers located on or near fire stations in the United States and Canada are making firefighters sick. ... Firefighters plan to seek nearly $1 million for the study, said Janet Newton, president of the EMR Policy Institute. The group is working with other firefighter proponents on the cell-tower issue. Cities and towns are paid money by mobile phone carriers to erect towers close to fire stations, which tend to be in densely populated areas.

Lt. Ron Cronin of the Brookline, Mass., Fire Department and Acting Lt. Joe Foster of the Vancouver Fire Department, also vice president of Vancouver, B.C., Local No. 18, spearheaded the passage of the resolution, said the EMR Policy Institute. “Some firefighters with cell towers currently located on their stations are experiencing symptoms that put our first responders at risk,” said Cronin. “It is important to be sure we understand what effects these towers may have on the firefighters living in these stations. ...

Firefighter association opposes cell towers
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood September 2, 2004

"I would love to see a place like Salt Spring stand up and say, 'You know what? There's got to be a big tree just outside of town we can put [this cell transmitter] on," said Vancouver Local IAFF vice president Joe Foster Tuesday. During the IAFF annual convention in Boston on August 17, fire fighters passed a resolution to seek funding for an independent study investigating the long-term health effects of cell tower radiation exposure, said Foster. ...

"On the floor, it was further resolved that the IAFF oppose any cell towers on fire stations until an independent study has been completed showing there are no ill-health effects to our members for long-term occupational health exposures," Foster said. Working as a fire fighter in Vancouver, Foster is exposed to enough hazards without returning home to the firehall to be bombarded by cell-tower radiation, he said. "I don't think I really want to be cooked here too." Foster refutes industry claims that the eight-watt transmitter planned for Ganges would be too small to pose a risk to local firefighters and other community members. ...

Fire trustees handed cell-antenna petitions
Pat Burkette Gulf Islands Driftwood September 15, 2004

Continuing opposition to the installation of a cell-phone repeater in Ganges fire hall came in loud and clear at the regular monthly meeting of Salt Spring Fire Protection District trustees Monday night. ... [Fire board chairman Michael] Schubart explained that there is a need for fire chief Dave Enfield to be able to communicate from the Ganges fire hall when dispatch radios and land lines are down. Enfield, the island's emergency program co-ordinator, said the cell-phone repeater had seemed a logical step in covering all bases for communication during a provincial emergency. ... Agni Wilson, owner of Silver Shadow Taxi, said, "I consider this antenna to be completely unnecessary. We are totally dependent on cell phones and we have always had excellent coverage in the downtown core." ... Asked when a vote on adoption of the cell-phone repeater contract with Telus might occur, Schubart said, "We have no schedule on the cell-phone tower contract." ...

Related: From protest to rebellion: Lessons from Tom Paine
Jeffrey Kaplan and Jeff Milchen ReclaimDemocracy.org/Common Dreams September 11, 2004

Paine's approach [Common Sense] may inform our own strategy as we struggle to halt oppression at the hands of the dominant institution of our time -- the corporation. Today's corporations not only wield immense power over our law and government, they also control many physical conditions of our existence. Agribusiness dominates our food supply; the oil, energy and chemical industries determine what's in the air we breathe; and, to a frightening extent, corporations influence whether we live in peace or in war. Of course corporations are no more a part of the natural order than was the English monarchy. ...

Courts subsequently have ruled that municipalities attempting to control the placement of cell phone towers are violating corporate civil rights. ...

Michael Linehan, a spokesperson for Island Residents Opposed to Cell-phone Antennae (IROCA), applauds the IAFF resolution to oppose cell towers until an independent study can be completed. He wrote us August 31 concerning the resolution. A search on Michael Linehan on the Salt Spring News site will yield six items about the fire hall cell transmitter issue. Here is a part of one of our email exchanges, relevant to the issues, large and small--though endangering Ganges citizens is not a small issue.

In the early nineties, the US government gave a $25,000,000 grant to the cell industry to study the effects of cellular radiation on people. (And I always love having foxes guard my chickens. They're the best. I'm just puzzled about where my chickens have gone.) The cell industry looked around for someone to head the research. They settled on Dr. George Carlo PhD. M.S. J.D. He had worked for DOW chemicals and Philip Morris tobacco company, and looked reeeeeally good to the cell companies. But what he found wasn't what they wanted. Here's what he said after a massive, six-year research project involving dozens of scientists (1993-99).....

“They cannot guarantee that cell phones are safe. We've moved into an area where we now have some direct evidence of harm from cellular phones. The industry said that there were thousands of studies that proved that wireless phones are safe and the fact was there were NO studies that were directly relevant. They have shown total disregard for mobile phone users.”

Since then, he has co-authored a book - Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age. Here is an excerpt... “One by one, alarming signs appeared in Dr. Carlo’s research: that cell phones interfere with pacemakers, that developing skulls of children are penetrated deeply by the energy emitted from a cell phone, that the blood brain barrier which prevents invasion of the brain from toxins can be compromised by the cell phone radiation and most startling, that radio frequency radiation creates micronuclei in human blood cells, a type of genetic damage known to be a diagnostic marker for cancer.”

Remember, this accomplished scientist was THE head of research and THE poster-boy for the cell industry. And he ends up saying this! Does anyone still think concern about cell radiation is pseudo-science and unfounded fear?

Cell phones: Invisible hazards in the wireless age

George Louis Carlo, Martin Schram and George Carlo, Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age: An Insider's Alarming Discoveries About Cancer and Genetic Damage, Carroll & Graf Publishers, 05 January, 2001. ISBN: 0786708182

George Carlo and Martin Schram are aiming to become information-age Ralph Naders. They ask a question that ought to concern America's 103 million mobile phone users, as well as those who merely come within earshot of these popular devices: Is the wireless future a threat to public health? "Visit any public building, college classroom, courthouse, or commuter train, and look around: You'll see people using not just wireless phones but also wireless laptop computers and miniature palm tops," write Carlo and Schram. "What you won't see are the microwaves that are criss-crossing a confined space where a number of people who are not even using these instruments are bombarded by these waves." It sounds creepy. And Carlo, an epidemiologist who once oversaw a multimillion-dollar research project on health for the cellular industry, believes the news is not good: there may be a link between cell phone use and brain tumors. The research is not conclusive, but Carlo and Schram think it's disturbing enough to warrant government action. Needless to say, the industry that once backed Carlo's work now considers him persona non grata. ...

Tonight, Monday, September 13, at GISS, 7-9 pm

The Keep Five Alive Coalition, with the support of the B.C Teacher's Federation, CUPE BC and Kid's First on Pender Island are presenting a forum chaired by Bob Wild with questions and answers on the education cuts in BC and the IMPACT OF THE 4-DAY SCHOOL WEEK in the community. Topics covered will be the importance of public education, the history of the 4-day school week, impacts on parents, teachers, workers and community, options to 4-day school week, board transparency and the future of public education in the Gulf Islands. This event will be held at the Gulf Islands Secondary School on Salt Spring Island in the multi-purpose room, 7-9 pm. Monday Sept. 13th.

Guest Speakers will be: JINNY SIMS, President of the BCTF, introduced by Jean-Claude Leveque, president of the Gulf Islands Teacher's Association, and BARRY O' NEILL, CUPE BC president, introduced by Kelly Blackwood, CUPE Local 788 President. Local speakers will include:

GARTH HENDREN - is a long time resident of Salt Spring, father of two, former School Board Trustee, Chair of the Salt Spring Island Public Library Association and the Advisory Design Panel for the Islands Trust.   Vice Chair of the Salt Spring Island Community Services Association.   Director  of Ssplash, the Salt Spring Island Association created to construct an indoor pool on Salt Spring and the Salt Spring Island Community Education Association. 
 
KIMBERLY LINEGER: was District Parent Advisory Council Chair - October 2001- May 2004. She was involved as parent rep. on the Futures 64 Task Force, and sat on 4-day school week sub-committee; Phoenix Alternative High School Parent Advisory  Council Chair -  September 2000 -  May 2003; elected Trustee for Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee in November 2002 and employed as Program Coordinator for Salt Sping RCMP Victim Services Program . She is Director for the Salt Spring Emergency Social Services Program.

DAVID BANKS: Parent, educator, writer, researcher. He has written several articles on the 4-day school week. He was schooled on Salt Spring Island and completed his secondary school teacher training at Cambridge University. He was elected to the Cambridge University Faculty of Education Board for 2002–3 and also sat as Acting-Chairman of the Faculty's Post-graduate Certificate in Education Committee. He is a former Management Committee member at William Goodenough College, a UK-based residential college for advanced Commonwealth post-graduate students and researchers in London, Cambridge and Oxford.

KATHY PAGE: Parent, writer and teacher. She moved to Salt Spring with her family, from England three years ago. She presently teaches at Malaspina College. She has also worked in the local schools teaching children creative writing.  Her fifth novel, The Story of My Face (2002) was long-listed for the Orange Prize in 2002.   Her new novel Alphabet has just been just released, it was inspired by her experiences  as Writer in Residence  in a category B men’s prison.  She is a member of the Writers' Union of Canada and has two young children.
       
Coffee and tea.
ALL Welcome!
Doors open at 6:30 pm.


Related: “The rural school represents more than a place for the children to be educated. In many ways, it also represents the right to preserve a rural culture and a viable economic development plan.” - Ministry of Education provincial task force report, 2002

Rural schools don't die easily
Scott Deveau TheTyee.ca

B.C. towns and villages are struggling to save their community anchors. Forest Grove elementary is one. At this time last year, 26 of the 81 students in the area could just walk to school. But they now face a 20-minute bus ride. For the children who live on the outskirts of town, some as young as five years old, the trip is now an hour each way on an 85-passenger bus that also takes kids to high school in nearby 100 Mile House.

Last July, the school district won an injunction to ban Forest Grove residents from the school and its grounds. Now there’s a 24-hour camp in the parking lot of the community centre beside the school. The camp has a giant canvas tent, a fax machine, a bed, and is littered with legal documents and newspaper clippings. There is a solitary wood stove outside and a couple picnic tables. It’s served them well for the summer, but with winter coming and the three to four feet of snow it brings, the camp can’t last much longer, putting pressure on their cause. Since the RCMP and district officials came in July, Forest Grove elementary has sat gutted of its furnace, water pump, and the district’s records and possessions.

Conflicts over school closures, cutbacks and four-day school weeks have been common throughout the province in the last few years. Declining rural enrolment and provincial budget restraints have put pressure on trustees, administrators, parents and children. On Galiano Island, some high school  students will be away from home for nearly 11 hours each day when they travel to Salt Spring Island for a new four-day school week. Other communities have simply lost their schools. One hundred and thirteen schools, the bulk of them rural, have closed across the province in the past two years. ...

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST EDUCATION CUTS TODAY
3:30 pm in front of the school board office on the corner of Rainbow Rd. Salt Spring Island.

There will be some music, an open mike, we have made an effigy of the Minister of Education, a large Keep Five Alive banner, petitions, bumper stickers, a blackboard giving detention homework for elected representatives (from Premier Campbell on down), we have invited a representative of the school board to be present to receive our Open Letter asking them to Reverse the 4-day week decision, on camera. It will be tied with a ribbon. CTV news will be there and will be doing interviews with various parents before the demo as well as covering it. CH News will be there with a full crew. We are hoping everyone will come out for an hour or two.

Education cuts and the 4-day school week will affect our whole community. St. Margaret's has signed up 15 more students from Salt Spring. 8 students from Mayne Island are leaving our school system. This is only the tip of the iceberg. There were better decisions to be made. 90 students leaving the islands is the aprox count.

Come out and support us! Bring friends!

Keep Five Alive Coalition
www.keepfivealive.ca

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST EDUCATION CUTS TUESDAY
Sept 7th 3:30 pm in front of the school board office on the corner of Rainbow Rd. Salt Spring Island.

There will be some music, an open mike, we have made an effigy of the Minister of Education, a large Keep Five Alive banner, petitions, bumper stickers, a blackboard giving detention homework for elected representatives (from Premier Campbell on down), we have invited a representative of the school board to be present to receive our Open Letter asking them to Reverse the 4-day week decision, on camera. It will be tied with a ribbon. CTV news will be there and will be doing interviews with various parents before the demo as well as covering it. CH News will be there with a full crew. We are hoping everyone will come out for an hour or two.

Education cuts and the 4-day school week will affect our whole community. St. Margaret's has signed up 15 more students from Salt Spring. 8 students from Mayne Island are leaving our school system. This is only the tip of the iceberg. There were better decisions to be made. 90 students leaving the islands is the aprox count.

Come out and support us! Bring friends!

Keep Five Alive Coalition
www.keepfivealive.ca

SD #64
Att: May Mackenzie, CHAIR
RE: 4-day school week

The Keep Five Alive Coalition of Gulf Islands parents, teachers, students, workers and citizens demand that the School District immediately reverse their decision to institute the 4-day school week before educational and community loss is irreparable.

A safe and full public education is the inherent right of all children. This right is being threatened by the retrograde vote of the school board. It opens the door to the development of a two-tiered entrepreneurial education system that many can not afford. It places the issue of finances before the quality and value of public education paid by our taxes.

The fundamental reason for the budget shortfall is declining enrollment. The evidence of declining enrollment has been regularly presented to the board by the Secretary Treasurer at its scheduled monthly meetings since 1998. What has the school board done about this issue? Over the years it has eroded, consolidated and removed services and programs for the students in an attempt to fix a problem that needs a wider community involvement. It is the school district’s role to act in trust of our children’s education. But it is obvious that this responsibility has been to offload this problem on to the backs of students and the community. This appeasement is reprehensible.

The 4-day school week is the wrong solution. It will not attract new families and students to our islands or keep ones that want the 5-day school week. Find a realistic solution to this serious issue. Less destructive and more creative ideas were suggested but not heeded. Listen to the wishes of the community that elected you.

Repeal the motion. Stand up and be counted. We are prepared to offer you our expertise and support in making better decisions for the future of education in the Gulf Islands.

On behalf of the community,


Keep Five Alive Coalition
www.keepfivealive.ca

We received this press release outlining Keep Five Alive Coalition sponsered events over the next two weeks.

Barry O'Neill CUPE BC President has been confirmed to speak at the Keep Five
Alive's public forum Sept. 7th Monday night 7-9 pm at GISS high school on Salt
Spring Island. He will speak, along with Jinny Sims; president of the
BC Teacher's Federation; Garth Hendren; former School Trustee and
Kimberly Lineger; Islands Trust Representative and past DPAC Chair,
on the impacts of education cuts in BC, especially the effects
of the 4-day school week in a community.

For more info on Barry O' Neill contact Louise LeClaire -CUPE
Communications Rep -
Louise LeClair <lleclair@cupe.ca> or 604-291-1940

PUBLIC DEMONSTRATION
AGAINST EDUCATION CUTS
Tuesday Sept.7th 3:30 pm in front of the School Board office.
232 Rainbow Rd. Salt Spring Island.
Bring signs or make signs at 3 pm.

THE IMPACTS OF THE 4-DAY SCHOOL WEEK
A Forum with Q&A’s: Monday Sept. 13th 7-9 pm
G.I.S.S. Multi-purpose room, Rainbow Rd. Salt Spring Is.

Guest speakers will include:
JINNY SIMS - President of the BCTF
BARRY O’NEILL - President of CUPE BC
KIMBERLY LINEGER - Islands Trust, Past Chair of DPAC
GARTH HENDREN - Former School Trustee

Everyone welcome!
Coffee & Tea.

VISIT OUR WEBSITE:

Keep Five Alive Coalition
www.keepfivealive.ca

We received this email from the Keep Five Alive Coalition.

At our Aug 19th meeting the Keep Five Alive Coalition planned 3 actions for September.

1. Large demonstration/media rally at the school board office on Salt Spring Island, first day of school. Tue. Sept.7th. Time to be confirmed. Probably about 12- 12:30 when the high school gets out to allow for maximum participation from students, teachers and parents.

2. Publication of Dave Banks essay as an insert in the Driftwood Sept. 1st. or via post office distribution.

3. Public Meeting & Panel Discussion on the 4-day school week Sept. 13th Monday night 7 pm.

CONFIRMED: Keynote speaker- JINNY SIMS-President of the B.C. Teacher's Federation and hopefully BARRY O' NEILL- CUPE BC President. Panel would include local parents, etc. More info soon. We will have petitions, bumper stickers available. The BCTF is encouraging teachers not to be afraid to speak up against the 4-day school week. Place: to be announced. Possibly GISS.

We are working hand in hand with Kid's First-the Pender Island parents group.
The injunction to stop the 4-day school week will be launched in Sept.

The Driftwood is doing a big article on the 4-day school week for this coming Wednesday (August 25).

The BCTF will be confirming their contribution of $1,000 to the Keep Five Alive Coalition next week.

We will be on the agenda of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens of Salt Spring meeting Aug 31st.

People are snapping up the bumper stickers. They are vinyl and will withstand the rain. They are available along with petitions at Apple Photo or at Mother Tongue Press Fri & Sat 11-4. 290 Fulford-Ganges Rd. We will have 10 clipboards this afternoon.

The school board's next meeting will be Sept 15th. Representatives of the Keep Five Alive Coalition will be there.

We will have a KFAC table at the Seth Klein talk on Poverty in Sept.

There is a huge new Coalition for Public Education just launched in Victoria on Friday. Visit their website.

Did you notice that despite 5 full pages on "back to school", in this week's Driftwood, nowhere is there information telling parents that there is no school on Friday. School will be open on the 5th day for [high-paying] International students but other than that we know little else.

Related: The Coalition for Public Education is composed of groups representing teachers and support workers from kindergarten to post-secondary. Stealing from the poorest students while catering to the wealthly isn't just confined to SD 64. It is fundamental to the neo-liberal ideology and the neo-libs will use any kind of verbal, legal and legislated subterfuge to attain it.

Gordo's seat $ale
Charlie Smith Georgia Straight

The Campbell coalition has promised to create 25,000 new spaces in colleges and universities by 2010. Who will be able to afford them?

During his first three years in office, Premier Gordon Campbell eliminated student grants and presided over the largest tuition-fee increases in B.C. history. In the fourth and final year of his mandate, he has gone on the road to emphasize his deep commitment to postsecondary education. It started with last February's speech from the throne, when the B.C. Liberal government promised to create 25,000 new spaces in colleges and universities by 2010. Since then, the premier has travelled to communities across the province to announce thousands of new seats in various regions. His office has cranked out more than 10 news releases on this topic. The premier's Web site even features a map showing where these positions will be created. In all, Campbell has proposed an increase of more than 15 percent--double the expected growth in the 18- to 29-year-old population attending colleges and universities.

His critics are not impressed. Representatives of student and faculty associations told the Georgia Straight that the premier has no plan to fund all these new seats. The result, they claimed, will be even higher tuition fees and less access for students from low- and middle-income families. ... Tiffany Kalanj, a member of the Simon Fraser Student Society's board of directors, criticized Bond's comment. "That makes me really angry when the government eliminates first-year grants, makes a $6 training wage, doubles tuition fees, and then says they want to make sure that every child can go to postsecondary education," Kalanj told the Straight. "That to me is completely hypocritical. If you really want every child to go to postsecondary education, then make education accessible by increasing funding for postsecondary education, by reducing tuition fees, by making a fair wage for students." She claimed that the public's definition of accessibility differs sharply from the government's. "Accessibility doesn't mean making extra seats for the elite," she said. ...

We received this notice from Marion Pape.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 20th 7 - 9 PM
LOCATION: GANGES UNITED CHURCH BASEMENT, 111 HEREFORD AVE.

SPEAKERS:

Milt Bowling, Executive Director E.M. Radiation Task Force and board member EMR Network and Health Action Network - on an overview of the world wide global health threat of electomagnetic (E.M.) radiation.

Chris Anderson (EM Radiation tester since 1989, consultant, electrical worker) - on research showing negative health problems asssociated with exposure to microwave cellular radiation from cell antennas.

Walt McGinnis (veteran electrician, Low EMR Wiring specialist) - on the key issues and strategies employed by citizens in several local communities who have recently stopped this type of hazardous installation.

Strategy session on how to stop this installation


IROCA - ISLAND RESIDENTS OPPOSED TO CELL PHONE ANTENNAE
canderson@uniserve.com Phone : 537 - 5102

Update: Michael Linehan sends "an urgent and immediate request for action. The 7 trustees are RIGHT NOW examining Telus contracts. Voice your opposition! If you don’t, this is a done deal. Write or phone the Fire Chief and every Fire Trustee."

Fire Chief Dave Enfield - Fire Hall - 537-2531

FIRE TRUSTEES:

Chairman Mike Schubart
Ken Lee
Ted Hinds
Hans Hazenboom
Don Irwin
Dan Lee

Michael Linehan sent us a summary of scientific fact and opinon. Click on full story to access his email.

Dear Editor,

A substantial number of your readers may be interested the following, which arrived in my e-mail this week:

PHONE MASTS: The vital report you must read

The authorities tell us they are safe, but evidence is suggesting that mobile phone masts can cause cancer, especially among the very young. So far 18 sites in the UK have been identified as health hazards. Planning authorities throughout Europe have dismissed residents' concerns, and have said that base stations have not been responsible for clusters of illnesses, even though they have happened only after installation.

• In one street in South Woodford, Essex, five people contracted cancer after 16 mobile phone antennae were placed on top of a block of flats 30 yards away.
  
  
• Of just 180 people living within 250 metres of a 15-foot mast, three died of brain hemorrhage and one child contracted epilepsy.
  
  
  
• A housing development in Leeds has the highest cancer incidence in the area. It also happens to have the greatest density of masts.
  
  
• In Wishaw, Warwickshire, of the 50 people living within 500 metres of a base station, 34 have reported medical problems, including seven cases of cancer. The residents have pulled down the mast.
  
  
• In Paris, Orange, the mobile phone operator, has dismantled a mast it had erected on a schoolhouse roof after eight children who attend the school contracted cancer.
  
  
• In Valladolid, Spain four young children were diagnosed with cancer after a mobile phone base was installed 50 metres away, seven times the average national incidence. "In 32 years there had never been a case of childhood cancer here," said the local doctor Luis Martin.
  

This vital report is included in the August issue of What Doctors Don't Tell You. It provides all the available evidence on the dangers-and what you can do to protect yourself and your family. Too many of us live close to a base station-and it's essential you find out what you can do. To subscribe to WDDTY from just £6.99 a quarter, and receive this report as part of your subscription, click on this link.

sincerely,
Pat Barclay

The Keep Five Alive Coalition launched their informative grassroots website www.keepfivealive.ca on Wednesday August 11th. It contains more information on the 4-day school week issue on the Gulf Islands than can be found, past or present on the School District #64's website. It may be the most informative community website in North America on this issue. Check out the research, vote in the poll, read the people's response, the board's decision, see photos of the May 1st education rally on Salt Spring Island, sign the petition, ask for a bumper sticker and join the coalition to restore the 5-day school week in SD #64.

Parents have the right and responsibility to participate in the process of determining the educational goals, policies and services provided for their children.

The Keep Five Alive Coalition is a coalition of Gulf Island parents, teachers, students, workers and concerned citizens striving to restore the 5-day school week in SD #64. It was formed in June 2004.

Noted: Literacy is a key social issue. According to a press release we received this weekend, teachers are acting on that understanding to improve their skills.

Island teachers meet to improve classroom literacy programs

Even as everyone else enjoys the dog days of summer, Island school teachers are gathering in Parksville on August 24th for a workshop to learn and collaborate with other teachers to work on creating and strengthening their literacy programs. "Composing Your Literacy Program" is designed to help teachers tailor a literacy program that reflects their beliefs, passions and knowledge of literacy instruction. 

Tandy Gunn , a primary teacher from Nanoose Bay, is leading this workshop. She uses her workshops, monthly newsletters and her web site to help all teachers integrate new strategies for reading and writing workshop into their literacy goals at any grade level. Tandy has over 15 years of experience to develop workshops and products that are practical for today's classrooms

For further information please contact Christopher at chris@meetingbuddy.com or 250.338.0083 or visit Meetingbuddy.com

David Banks has revised his essay which we originally posted August 2. Below is our introduction to that post. This version provides more supporting detail than the first. Click on full story for David's revised essay.

The four-day school week makes the Gulf Islands less attractive for families considering moving here and for families who want to stay. David Banks (who began his own education on Salt Spring Island and who has returned to live among us again), has had an impressive academic career including postgraduate training at Cambridge University, McGill University, and at William Goodenough College, a UK-based residential college. He has also been involved as an admistrator in the private school field. David has some informed observations on SD 64's decision to implement a four-day school week in September. As he comments: "Clearly, this is a complex educational question with a range of social, economic, geographical and political variables." Elsewhere in his essay he points out: "Perhaps it is also telling that no urban school district in North America operates a four-day week. The trend is a purely rural one, tied very much to both problems of declining student enrolment and unique rural geographical features that impact operating budgets. Changes to the B.C. Provincial Government education funding formula in March 2002 have only worsened the state of our rural schools."

A coalition of Gulf Island parents, teachers, students, workers and concerned citizens striving to restore the 5-day school week in SD #64. News, research, action, etc. A good example of rural communities coming together around a vital issue to protect each other and their future.

"Parents have the right and responsibility to participate in the process of determining the educational goals, policies and services provided for their children. They have a primary responsibility to ensure that children are provided with the healthy supportive environment necessary for learning. They have a responsibility to help shape and support the goals of the school system and share the task of educating their young."

from the Statement of Education Policy Order, Mandate for the School System, Province of British Columbia

If we are to believe the Ministry of Education's own statement of policy, it is both our right and our responsibility to speak out against any irresponsible change that will adversely affect our children's education. There is considerable evidence that the 4- day school week will have a variety of adverse educational and social effects and that these have been inadequately researched. If you are upset about what is happening in our schools and would like to return to the 5-day school week and take a stand against educational cuts, then please join the Keep Five Alive Coalition and support us in our campaign. ...

Gary McNutt sends this announcement.

Saltspring Organization for Life Improvement and Development (SOLID), in partnership with Victoria International Development Education Association (VIDEA), is excited to announce our upcoming conference, Community to Community: Practical Tools to Tackle AIDS in Africa.

This two-day event will take place September 18 and 19, 2004 on beautiful Salt Spring Island.

Why are we excited? We're excited because the two days we've got planned are jammed full of terrific workshops and panel discussions, and because this wonderful event culminates in a talk with visionary Stephen Lewis, UN AIDS Envoy to Africa!

We've planned this event to provide practical tools, ideas, examples and inspiration. We have speakers coming from across Canada and Africa to offer their knowledge and expertise. Planned workshops include:

African Prospectives
Removing the Margins: Transformative Community Practice
Communications Savvy: How to identify audiences and make the best use
of limited resources
The Power of the Individual: Changing the World One by One
Effective Fund Raising
Making a Good Match: Ensuring both ends of the project spectrum benefit
Networking and Forging Links Between Communities
Setting Organizational Goals that Work
Preparing Volunteers for an Overseas Experience
Advocating for Change
Outreach That Gets Results: Finding and securing the best donors and volunteers

Our presenters and panelists will include representatives from:

• Rwandan Women's Network
  
• Volunteer Services Overseas (VSO)
  
• Victoria international Development Education Association (VIDEA)
  
• Institute for Media, Policy and Civil Society (IMPACS)
  
• RESULTS Canada
  
• Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD)
  

SOLID is keeping this conference small and will limit registration to just 100 people.

Attendance includes a ticket to Stephen Lewis's address. We know people are going to want to participate in this event and so are inviting you personally before we open registration to the general public. Your registration fee of $180 includes accommodation on Salt Spring Island; $150 is the fee if you do not require accommodation.

Fill out the registration form available on the SOLID website, and mail your fee to SOLID to secure your place in Community to Community now.

You can also get tickets for the Stephen Lewis talk alone - Sunday Sept. 19 at 5:30 p.m. There are full priced tickets at $30 and student tickets for $15. Call the Artsping box office at 250-537-2102.

Syuheâmun (Walker Hook): Protecting Sacredness

Penelakut Elders & SSI Residents for Responsible Land Use invite you to

a forum of First Nation Elders and friends speaking about protecting their cemetery and resource gathering areas from desecration and development.

Guest speakers include Penelakut and Cowichan Elders, archaeologists Kim Kornbacher & Eric McLay and First Nations lawyer Renee Racette who represented the Penelakut in the Environmental Appeal of the waste management permit which allows Sablefin Hatcheries to pump their effluent into the tombolo at Walker Hook.

Saturday, August 14

1:30 - 3:30

GISS Multipurpose Room, 332 Rainbow Road, Ganges

Admission by donation

August 6th
 
HIROSHIMA DAY
 
Vigil at dusk in
 
PEACE PARK (across from ArtSpring)
 
bring a small flashlight
 
please come out for a short while and remember the victims of this horrendous day in history when the first Atomic Bomb was exploded over the earth



59 years after Hiroshima--Two traditions: WMD and disinformation
Mickey Z. CounterPunch

With "Good War" references and rhetoric bandied about by politicians and pundits of all stripes, it's instructive to consider how the U.S. and its allies, 60 years ago, allegedly engaged in a life-and-death battle to prevent a tyrant from wielding WMD. "Working at Los Alamos, New Mexico," writes historian Kenneth C. Davis, "atomic scientists, many of them refugees from Hitler's Europe, thought they were racing against Germans developing a 'Nazi bomb.'"

Surely, if it were possible for the epitome of evil to produce such a weapon, it would be the responsibility of the good guys to beat der Führer to the plutonium punch. While such a desperate race makes for excellent melodrama, the German bomb effort, it appears, fell far short of success.

Thanks to the declassification of key documents, we now have access to "unassailable proof that the race with the Nazis was a fiction," says Stewart Udall, who cites the work of McGeorge Bundy and Thomas Powers before adding that, "According to the official history of the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), those agents maintained 'contacts with scientists in neutral countries.'" These contacts, by mid-1943, provided enough evidence to convince the SIS that the German bomb program simply did not exist.

Despite such findings, U.S. General Leslie Groves, military commander of the Manhattan Project, got permission in the fall of 1943 to begin a secret espionage mission known as Alsos (Greek for "grove"). The mission saw Groves' men following the Allies' armies throughout Europe with the goal of capturing German scientists involved in the manufacture of atomic weapons. While the data uncovered by Alsos only served to reinforce the prior reports that the Third Reich was not pursuing a nuclear program, Groves was able to maintain enough of a cover-up to keep his pet project alive. In the no-holds-barred religion of anti-communism, the "Good War" enemy was never fascism. Truman's daughter, Margaret, remarked about her dad's early presidential efforts after the death of FDR in April 1945, "My father's overriding concern in these first weeks was our policy towards Russia." ...

George Bowering was born in Penticton, British Columbia, in 1935. After serving as a photographer in the RCAF, Bowering attended the University of British Columbia. There he met Frank Davey, Fred Wah, David Dawson and James Reid, with whom he started TISH. He later founded Imago and is a contributing editor for Open Letter. Bowering has taught at the University of Calgary, University of Western Ontario, and at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. On November 8, 2002, George Bowering was appointed as the first Canadian resident poet to Parliament Hill for a two year term. His official title is The Parliamentary Poet Laureate. His first poem in that capacity begins:

Whatever you do, do not
slam the year open with a bang,
waken the child
sleeping under that tree
into terror, that tree
dying in our back yard,
birds lining up to mourn. You

wanted a cheer for new
lang syne?

Bowering is well recognized as one of Canada's most prolific writers of poetry, short stories, and novels with over forty titles. Bowering won the 1969 Governor General's Literary Award in the poetry category for his works The Gangs of Kosmos and Rocky Mountain Foot. He won the GG for fiction in 1980 for his novel Burning Water.



George Bowering,

Poet Laureate of Canada

Saturday, August 7 (8:00pm)

A stimulating, witty and thought-provoking evening of readings.

Meet the author following the event.

Contact:
www.artspring.ca
250-537-2102 (box office)
866-537-2102 (toll free box office)

The four-day school week makes the Gulf Islands less attractive for families considering moving here and for families who want to stay. David Banks (who began his own education on Salt Spring Island and who has returned to live among us again), has had an impressive academic career including postgraduate training at Cambridge University, McGill University, and at William Goodenough College, a UK-based residential college. He has also been involved as an admistrator in the private school field. David has some informed observations on SD 64's decision to implement a four-day school week in September. As he comments: "Clearly, this is a complex educational question with a range of social, economic, geographical and political variables." Elsewhere in his essay he points out: "Perhaps it is also telling that no urban school district in North America operates a four-day week. The trend is a purely rural one, tied very much to both problems of declining student enrolment and unique rural geographical features that impact operating budgets. Changes to the B.C. Provincial Government education funding formula in March 2002 have only worsened the state of our rural schools." Here is David's opening paragraph. Click on full story to read his entire submission.

To the surprise of many in this community, and against the strong objections of some, School District # 64 trustees have voted overwhelmingly in favor of adopting a District-wide four-day school week. We therefore join a growing educational trend toward reduced numbers of school days, a trend that is impacting rural communities across North America. More rural communities are considering the four-day model in an effort to reduce transportation, custodial and substitute teaching costs. In September 2002, Boundary School District # 51 became the first in B.C to initiate a four-day school week. Nisga’a School District #92 and Coast Mountain School District #82 followed. Some school districts like Boundary profess success with the four-day program. However, many "pioneering" districts like Saratoga, Arkansas and the Rocky View School Division in Alberta have failed to realize projected cost savings and have abandoned the four-day week over concerns about levels of academic achievement, special educational needs provision or reduced extracurricular opportunities due to longer school days. The Nisga’a District recently announced they will return to a regular five day schedule in September 2004.

Michael Linehan emailed us this yesterday. Click on full story to read his entire message.

You may have read in the Driftwood how the Fire Trustees confirmed their previous decision to allow installation of a cell antenna in the Fire Hall clock tower right in the middle of Ganges. But this proposed antenna presents a clear and unacceptable health risk. We must not allow it in.

In the near future, you will receive a notice about a public hearing. Such a hearing is part of the process recommended by Industry Canada - the Federal licensing authority. Telus and the Fire Trustees will be invited. We urge you to come out and hear both sides of the situation. We believe you will be horrified at the clearly demonstrated danger and at the willful blindness of some key individuals. Meantime, here are some critical points to ponder.

Murakami family recalls internment 60 years later
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood

The Salt Spring Island $$100 note face design features Kimiko Okano Murakami. The image used on the note is from a photograph by Salt Spring Island resident Barbara Woodley. Reproduced here, a silver gelatin print is now owned by the National Archives of Canada (PA-186936). After the Murakamis returned to Salt Spring in 1954 to farm again, Kimiko Okano Murakami became very involved with the community. She died in 1997. This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Murakami family's return to Salt Spring Island after eviction, confiscation, internment and exile.

Spirits of Japanese-Canadian pioneers might roam the island with an eye toward property taken from them in WW II. "The people of Salt Spring should know about the spirit of people who lived in those houses," said Alice Tanaka. "After all these 60 years, the spirits still live there." ... Her maternal grandparents, the Okanos, had settled on Salt Spring in 1909 and Tanaka was born on the island to Kimiko and Katsuyori Murakami. But police rounded her up along with 77 other islanders from 11 Japanese-Canadian families and took her from Salt Spring to Vancouver before relocation to internment camps in Alberta and the Kootenays. ...

"All of the Japanese Canadians on the coast, they wanted to move us 100 miles (160 kilometres) from the protected zone (coastal B.C.)." They were told that their remaining possessions would be taken care of by the Custodian of Enemy Alien Property but all their homes, land and possessions were either looted, destroyed or sold off at bargain prices, [Rose Murakami] said. "There were 1,000 acres on Salt Spring that were stolen from the Japanese people." After nine years work clearing their land here, the Murakami family only collected $500 from a government auction of their 17-acre farm on Sharp Road. Her grandparents, the Okanos, lost their neighboring 200 acres. ... Murakami remembers how fellow Salt Spring resident Torazo Iwasaki was particularly attached to his 640 acres on the north end of the island.

"When the Princess Mary gathered up Mr. Iwasaki . . . , he got off the boat on Mayne Island and wouldn't leave. He said, 'My home and my land is on Salt Spring and I'm not leaving it.'" Iwasaki even fought the government in court and she thought he would never let go of the struggle. "He loved that house and that land so much that when he was 93 and died at Greenwoods, he still believed he owned the land." ...

Michael Linehan responds to Telus' remarks in this week's Driftwood.

So the telecom company assures us that the level of 0.048 uW/cm2 is safe.

What they fail to mention that these 'acceptable level' figures are arrived at by the industry itself! And that so-called safety levels are based on tests of immediate results - if it doesn't warm up within moments like something in a microwave, that's called a 'safe level'. Industry has taken absolutely no account of long-term effects of low levels. Virtually all INDEPENDENT scientists (i.e. not funded by the industry) say such cell antennas emitting low levels, long-term are also dangerous.

Telus also fails to mention their normal tactic. Once they gain a foothold in a community, there are ALWAYS subsequent additions of antennas and of intensity of signal, which can then proceed without further hinderance.

On the subject of liability - did you know that the insurance industry won't touch this with a barge pole? Lloyds of London, famous for being the insurance company who'll insure just about anything anywhere, won't. Why? Because the insurance industry is one of educated gambles - how much money they can make balanced against what they'll have to pay out and the chance of paying out. Lloyds, with all their experts, scientists and analysis systems reckon they'll be paying out way, way too much if they insured the cell industry.

Does everyone know that this industry falls outside regulations that govern ALL other industries in Canada. Their lobby group is so powerful that they can do things that even big oil cannot try. Wouldn't you like to know why they need such an exemption?

They use much deceptive information even in their short Driftwood piece. They say, "Island Residents Opposed to cell Phone Antennae"... specified that [2uW/cm2}..." One - IROCA had no part in specifying a figure. Two - the APC recommendation is that an antenna be nowhere within 500 meters of any habitation - WHATEVER THE INTENSITY. And they say, "This [cell phone repeater] produces less energy than you'd actually get standing beside a cell phone user". Hmmm. Wouldn't you then like to know why then the antenna needs to be the size of about 800 cell phones?

This is so wrong and in so many ways. It is normally risky to trust the assurances of big industry. They're just a teeny bit biased - like mult-billions of dollars biased. To trust this particular industry, that feels the need to take itself outside the normal regulatory process, would be foolhardy in the extreme!

"Most kids in North America are raised to be self centered, that life is all about gaining wealth and climbing up the ladder, no matter what it takes. As grown ups, they do it through sweet talk, through bullying, dishonesty, disrespect, they have no shame when they hurt another...." - A Canadian Muslim parent discussing raising children (item is below in today's posts as part of "Muslims in America").

Cell company responds to tower fears
Driftwood Staff Gulf Islands Driftwood

Islanders are buzzing with concern over a proposed cell-phone repeater for Ganges but their worries might generate more wattage than the facility itself, according to a company spokesperson. "This [cell-phone repeater] produces less energy than you'd actually get standing beside a cell-phone user," said Rick Carlson, western-region director of network implementation for Telus Mobility. "It's not a full cell-site, by any manner of means. It's a little repeater that will be taking an off-air signal from our Mayne Island site, which is a full tower serving a larger area, and rebroadcasting this service just in the downtown core of Ganges," he said. ...

Telus had previously planned to install a larger facility on B.C. Hydro property near King's Lane but cancelled the plan in response to local controversy pinned on "fear, uncertainty and doubt," he said. "One of the reasons [the plan was cancelled] is a concern with island residents and the strict standards the APC have put in place." ... It could still be some time before Salt Spring can receive consistent cell-phone coverage on all areas of the island, Carlson said. "In reality, the money we had allocated to go to Salt Spring, which would have benefited the island dramatically in my opinion, went to other communities."

Gosh! Sorry we're such fearful, bad people, Mr Carlson. What a punishment--no consistent cellphone service. Our life, at least, is ruined. Agni and the crew at Silver Shadow Taxi somehow carry on. The inconvience she and her customers and drivers sometimes experience seems worth it in the light of evidence.

Susan Foster Ambrose (a medical writer), recipient of the 2003 "Hero Award for Protecting the Health and Safety of Firefighters", has written a letter to Michael Schubart, Chairman, Salt Spring Island Fire Protection District, Board of Trustees. She begins:" It has come to my attention that your Fire Board recently decided to install a Telus microwave transmitter, to be concealed in the fire hall clock tower. I’m writing to urge the Salt Spring Island Fire Protection Board to rescind this decision under the Precautionary Principle of Science. This principle, which is widely used throughout Europe, calls for the avoidance of that which has not yet been proven safe." Later in the letter she says: "I feel both qualified and compelled to tell you that you would be making a very, very big mistake by going ahead with your plans to install any telecommunications equipment in the fire station." [Emphasis added.] Click on full story and scroll down to read the text of her letter dated July 14, 2004.

Yet another example of how the dominating culture is imposing itself on Salt Spring Island. For anyone who doesn't know, Salt Spring Island Fire Trustees held a secret meeting with Telus and agreed to let them install a cell phone antenna in the clock tower of Ganges Fire Station. This decision is contrary to our local APC's wishes, to local PAC opposition (the elementary and middle schools are within a few hundred metres of the firehall, the Centennial Park playground even closer), and flies in the face of the International Association of Fire Fighters who thinks this type of antenna is unsafe. They are convinced that there is very good evidence that cell antennae are causing brain damage in fire fighters throughout North America, and are drafting policy to eliminate cell antennae from all fire stations in Canada and the US. Parent Michael Linehan sent us this impassioned letter in response to the local decision. Click on full story to read Michael's email.

Photo: Salt Spring's Raging Grannies

The Citizens' Assembly is an independent, representative, non-partisan group of 160 randomly selected British Columbians. They must decide by December 15 whether to propose a change to BC's electoral system. If they recommend a change, it will be the subject of a referendum for all voters in the May 2005 provincial election. Click on full story for a brief report regarding yesterday's public hearing held on Salt Spring Island.

If you have ever looked out at Vesuvius Bay on a cold, wet stormy afternoon in winter and witnessed a lot of splashing and hilarity, you have experienced the Salt Spring Seals in action! The "Seals" are a group of women ranging in age from 45 to 65 who swim in wetsuits almost daily in the ocean. This diverse group of empowered swimmers love the water surrounding their beautiful island of Salt Spring and share their passion for ocean swimming. They swim for at least an hour at a time, some fast, some not so fast but they all enjoy that sense of renewed enthusiasm for life after a chilly dip.

As a unique fundraising event, the Seals have organized a relay swim which will have them cross Stuart Channel from Crofton on Vancouver Island to their home Bay of Vesuvius. "The Crossing", as the event has been fondly named, will be a celebration in the spirit of teamwork and in honour of the harbour seal pups rescued and cared for by the Island Wildlife Natural Care Centre. The event will take place on the Summer Solstice Sunday, June 20th.

Salt Spring Dollars are gratefully accepted and encouraged as part of the island spirit for the event. Click on full story for the full story of this event.

Members of the Citizens’ Assembly on Electoral Reform are holding 50 public hearings in communities throughout the province during May and June to listen to British Columbians’ views on the best electoral system for our province. 

A hearing takes place in Salt Spring on: Saturday, June 19, 1:30pm-4:30pm at Lions Hall, 103 Bonnet Avenue, Ganges

The meeting is open to the public; admission free. Anyone who wishes to make a presentation to the hearing can pre-register by visiting the Assembly website. It's not essential to pre-register, but it does assure the presenter of a spot on the agenda. After formal presentations are complete, and if time allows, audience members will have the opportunity to discuss their thoughts on electoral systems. 

Six members of the Assembly are due to attend each hearing. If you need names and contact information in advance of the meeting, let us know. We’ll be at the venue from 12pm onwards on the day.

Related: Fair Vote Canada

The voting system is the heart of representative democracy. The voting system is the means by citizens delegate their political voices to elected representatives to act on their behalf. “A national consensus is building around the idea that our democracy needs to be fixed – that the first-past-the-post method of electing Parliament is grossly undemocratic.”

A good voting system produces democratically accountable government by: 1) ensuring fair results, 2) treating all votes equally, and 3) making every vote count. If the voting system distorts, discounts or ignores what voters are saying, then democracy is undermined. And there lies the problem in Canada’s political system. We are hobbled with an antiquated and widely discredited voting system (called first-past-the-post) that was scrapped by most major democracies between 50 and 100 years ago. - Anthony Westell, Globe & Mail , June 6, 2001

Dubious Democracy Report

The 15-page Dubious Democracy Report provides data and commentary on wasted votes (nationally, and by province, riding and party), distorted outcomes (nationally and by province), phony majority governments, poor representation for women, and declining voter turnout. The report also includes a Letterman-style top-ten list of low points in Canadian elections.

Bob Stuart sends this along.

Peace Works! presents Mohammed Achmed and Mystic Journey

An evening of performance, sufi dancing, sacred poetry and music.
Saturday, May 29 doors open at 7:30, Beaver Point Hall. A Family event.
Mohammed is warmly welcomed back from his family reunion in Baghdad.

Advance Tickets, $12.00 at Acoustic Planet or Stuff 'n' Nonsense

"Come, come whover you are
wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving. . ."

The survivors are expected to testify later this week.

Emotional testimony at Cap Rouge 2 inquest
CBC British Columbia

A Coast Guard diver broke down into tears on Monday, as he described his frustration over not being able to rescue five people trapped in their overturned fishboat. The five, including two children, drowned when Galiano-based Cap Rouge 2 capsized off Steveston in August 2002. ... Rick Foreman, who was among the first Coast Guard divers on the scene, was not allowed to go in and pull them out. In often tearful testimony, he described how he was forced to wait 90 minutes for military divers to arrive from CFB Comox. ...

Emotional coast guard diver recalls sinking of Cap Rouge
Neal Hall CanWest News Service/Times Colonist

But just before going into the water to try to rescue those trapped inside the Cap Rouge, which had a significant air pocket keeping it afloat, Foreman recalled his commanding officer, Capt. Mike Kelly, ordered him not to enter the overturned boat. "What if you had ignored the rule?" one of five inquest jurors asked Foreman. "This order was meant to be followed," replied Foreman, who added the dive team was loyal to their captain. "Once you disobey an order, the system starts to break down."

Although the coast guard hovercraft had received a mayday call from a passing sailboat at 9 a.m. and arrived on the scene 19 minutes later, the dive team was told to wait for a navy dive team, which was authorized to enter the overturned hull. The navy dive team, based in Comox, did not arrive by helicopter for almost two hours after the boat capsized -- it was hit by an unusually large "rogue" wave, the inquest was told by a sailor, Ron Ingalls. Foreman and another coast guard diver, Capt. Bruce Briggs, searched around the outside of the ship while waiting for the navy dive team. ...

One of those attending the inquest Monday was B.C. MP John Cummins, who hopes the probe will finally make the government accountable. "I think the government still hasn't learned the lesson it should have from this incident," he told reporters. He said West Coast coast guard operations haven't received proper government attention, resulting in equipment problems and putting bureaucrats in charge who are unfamiliar with fishing, boating and public safety.

SALT SPRING WRITES

Fourth and last reading of successful series featuring Salt Spring writers

Wednesday night, May 12th
8 pm at ArtSpring.
Doors open at 7:30 pm
$5 at the door

Proceeds go towards the Salt Spring Writers & Friends Scholarship Fund for a graduating GISS Student who wants to become a writer and the Clark Little Book Prize for Poetry.

This series is presented by Salt Spring Writers & Friends with support by The Salt Spring Public Library Association and The Canada Council For The Arts.The last reading of the series, May 12th, will feature Joanne Bealy, Maureen Moore and Kathy Page. Authors will have their books for sale afterwards.

HOST: Peter Levitt received the Lannan Foundation Literary Award in Poetry. For more than thirty years, he has published poetry, fiction, translations from Chinese, Japanese and Spanish and taught writing workshops privately and at univesities since 1976. He lives on Salt Spring Island.

Joanne Bealy is a freelance writer and poet who has lived on Salt Spring Island for the past 3 years. Her essays on film and cultural critiques have appeared most recently in Bright Lights Film Journal and in the anthologies Unveiling AIDS and Salt in our Blood. Her poetry has appeared in various journals in Canada and the United States. A chapbook of her poetry, Crooked Love, was published in the spring of 1999 and a collection of poems, At the Mercy of Gravity, was published in April 2003. She is currently working on a series of poems in different voices and, of all things, a novel.

Maureen Moore is a novelist who grew up as a book-obsessed child in Montreal where she dropped out of high school before moving to Vancouver. After working as a waitress and shop assistant, she entered university as a mature student. Her latest novel, Not the Orient, (Oberon) tells the story of an immigrant family lost in Canada's underclass. Her previous novel, The Illumination of Alice Mallory, (HarperCollins) was short-listed for the Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize.

Kathy Page was born and lived much of her life in London, England. She has taught fiction writing in universities in the UK, Finland and Estonia, and held residencies in schools and a variety of other institutions and communities, including a fishing village and a high security men's prison. In 2001, she and her family moved to Salt Spring Island. Kathy has written for radio and television and her short fiction is widely anthologised in the UK. Her fifth novel, The Story of My Face, was short-listed for the 2002 Orange Prize. Her themes are loss, survival, transformation: the magic by which a bad hand becomes a good chance. Her next novel, Alphabet is due out in July 2004.

Sandi sends us this email about yesterday's rally. Thanks, San. Wayne said the organizers counted about 400 in attendence.

It was well-attended and well-organized. There were several speakers – students, teachers, social workers. What they had to say made a great deal of common sense and they all want the Campbell government out. The outer Gulf Islands were well-represented. The speaker from Galiano was especially clear in her emphasis of the rights and needs of children. Peter Haas explained very succinctly how we’ve lost our democracy in B.C., how a fascist government works and how, ultimately, the Campbell cabinet will go on the big corporate jobs. Irene Wright brought a bedpan as a prop. She talks like the teacher she was. Claire Heffernen from the hospital workers is one gutsy woman. She’s written some good letters for the papers which you may have read. In one she outlines the wages of hospital employees, making it very clear that there are no fat cats there.  She wore a ‘Kill Bill’ placard and explained clearly that this isn’t a movie we’re in. There were a couple of musicians there and also the Raging Grannies. They all had original Campbell material. Someone made an excellent larger than life puppet – Campbell in a Hawaiian shirt with a cocktail glass in hand.

School board prescribes 4-day remedy
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood

A cancerous budgetary tumour prompted the local school board to prescribe a radical treatment to save threatened educational services on the Gulf Islands. But parents are concerned that a proposed four-day school week therapy could jeopardize the patient. "This is going to be a very difficult day for all of us," said Gulf Islands School District vice chair Bonnie MacGillivray.

Trustees voted 4-2 in favour of a calendar change to close schools for 30 days next year and add the instructional time to the remaining days. The plan aims to save $400,000. "I cannot vote for this motion," said MacGillivray. ...

Mona Fertig wants everyone to know:

Hello People and Parents,

Buttons ("Restore Education Funding Now" No! to the 4-day school week! ) are ready and will be available at May 1st Rally this Sat. 12 noon. If you want more than a couple let me know $1.00 each. 90 have already gone. An extra 100 being printed today. Some are at Apple under my name.

This is an invitation to you and your friends to join together in opposition to the proposed changes to the school district. A number of parents and concerned citizens in the Gulf Islands are gathering for a public rally in opposition to the four day week.This rally will include speakers with community concerns and a walk to the BBQ pit. This is an all ages event.
 
When: May 1st, 2004.
          12 noon.
 
Where: School District 64 Office
            Parking lot.
            112 Rainbow Rd.
            Salt Spring Island.

Related: Slashed Phoenix school struggles to soar
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood

Parents, staff and students are grieving plans to uproot Phoenix Elementary, which would graft half the students to another school and see the other half cut from the program. ...
 
Click on full story for the motions passed at the April 14, 2004 School Board meeting. Community Consultation Meetings regarding the School Calendar for 2004-05 are being held across SD 64 to provide feedback opportunities. The Salt Spring meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 3 at GISS. Time is 7:00 pm. Note the change. The meeting was originally scheduled for May 4 but is now set for May 3. The final board vote will happen at GISS on Wednesday, May 19 at 12 noon.

Marian Pape writes:

I returned from the UN CSW in New York a few weeks ago and determined that I wanted to share what happened at the sessions dealing with the two themes:"Women and Peace Building "and "The Socialization of Men and Boys".

Each year since 1995, two themes are selected for discussion out of the Beijing Platform for Action .

I am making a presentation on Tuesday evening, April 27 at 7pm in the GISS Library about the UN CSW, the process of how decisions were made at this particular meeting, dynamics of various member countries and blocs such as the US against the world, discussions about the de-legitimization of war project presented by Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, and some interesting developments about Beijing + 10 and discussions about the next World Conference for Women. 

The presentation will be around 20-30 minutes and then we can have a discussion.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Islands Trust

The results of the Measuring our Progress program are provided in a number of reports. A Trust Area Report provides results for the entire Islands Trust Area. It provides details about the indicators, why they are important, how we are doing, where we want to go and some of the things we can do to get there.

Results are also provided for each Local Trust Area and Island Municipality in the Trust Area. To get the full story, these individual reports should be read in conjunction with the Trust Area Report.

Mona Fertig sends this along. We have heard from many others on this as well. Mona's is a representative voice.

Last Thursday our School Trustees gave a 30 day notice of motion for a vote on the 4-day school week. I was furious when I heard that, (with the exception of Judith Boel and Bonnie MacGillivray) they had not listened to the majority of parents & workers. At a large public meeting at GISS, everyone spoke against the 4-day week and told the Board to say NO! to more educational cuts. The proposed 4-day week will cause 20% loss of income for many, increasing problems for the working-poor on this island. Students who already have trouble with schoolwork will have a greater risk of falling behind. Single-parents, latch-key kids, and parents that work, will experience increased anxiety. Students who love sports will suffer from the demise of many after school games. All students will endure longer school hours, arriving home, exhausted. Some families will leave the island because they can not survive with a four-day week, some will turn to private education or home-schooling. Increased police presence on Thursday night may be needed. This 4-day school week does not put children first. It is a band-aid solution to the per-student education funding that has declined dramatically over the years. In 2003 the government mandated an increase in the municipal educational tax of 2.5% without passing on the incremental tax revenues to the provincial education budget. An increase of $300 million above current projected levels in 2004/5 is required to restore real per student funding to 1990/01 levels. If we can find billions for the Olympics we can reinstate funding to schools. Education plays an important role in sustaining democracy, economic development and growing informed citizens who will become the productive and visionary future for our communities. Our school trustees must take a courageous stand and insist that the Education Minister replenish funding to civilized levels. Come to the May 3rd meeting, 7 pm at GISS and to the public meeting of the School Board vote, May 19 GISS noon. We must not be silent while our education system is being eroded. The people united, can never be defeated.

Pia Shandel's political soap opera
Sean Holman TheTyee.ca March 27, 2004

Welcome to the Saanich-Gulf Islands Liberal nomination battle, where every day is a soap opera. After a short run, the TV pundit's try for the federal Libs ends with cries of "dirty tricks" and a sneer at the party she'd embraced.

Late entrant wins Liberal nomination
Cindy E. Harnett Times Colonist

In a stunning upset, lawyer David Mulroney won the contentious Saanich-Gulf Islands Liberal nomination race Sunday night after a feverish three-day campaign. "It's a dream come true because it's something I've always planned to do," said Mulroney, who threw his hat in the ring Thursday, a day after the party's national committee pulled the plug on TV personality Pia Shandel's week-long campaign. Mulroney -- "it's my name, too" -- expected he would have another four years before running for the federal party candidacy. In the end he had 72 hours. ... With the support of big-name organizers, backroom organizers, Mulroney swept the vote out from under Bob Russell, a businessman who says he knocked on 1,000 doors during the course of his eight-month campaign. ...

The Saltspring Ecovillage Education and Development Society (S.E.E.D.S.) is hosting a major education and networking event for promoting Sustainable Living. S.E.E.D.S. is dedicated to promoting sustainable living. Part of our mandate is education, after all, raising awareness allows individuals to make conscious decisions in their daily lives - which is our most potent ally for positive change. We feel that a great way to educate the larger community about sustainable living would be to host a 'Sustainability Expo'.

The goal of this Expo is to promote systemic social changes towards sustainable human habitats and to encourage deep environmental awareness, loving personal growth, caring relationships and the celebration of cultural and individual differences.

We plan to hold the main event on Saturday April 24, 2004 and Sunday the 25th at Mahon Hall on Rainbow Road in Ganges. Various local and visiting groups are invited to host information booths as a way of promoting their group's initiative. In addition, we'd like to invite any group to host presentations, workshops or films focusing on issues concerning sustainability. We hope that within these presentations, groups will tell us their mandate and how they can contribute towards the Greening of Salt Spring Island

********************************
The Sustainability Expo Schedule
********************************
Thu April 22 :: Earth Day :: Start of the Expo
Outdoor ritual & celebration honoring Mother Earth, tree planting, herb walk &
wild edibles workshop

Fri April 23 :: Greenman's Day
Celebrate a man of the Earth

Sat April 24 :: Booth Presentations and Speakers
9:00 Booth set-up am at Mahon Hall
Speakers:
11:00 S.E.E.D.S. :: Why Ecovillages are a Sustainable Answer
11:30 Elizabeth White :: Salt Spring Baseline Energy Report
12:30 SS Biodiesel Group :: Making Fuel from Vegetable Oil
13:00 Island Pathways :: Regional Trails
13:30 Sheila Harrington :: The Land Trust Alliance
14:00 Salt Spring Institute of Technology
15:00 Dan Jason :: Seed Sanctuary and Salt Spring Seeds
16:00 Karen Hudson :: The Land Conservancy :: Land Stewardship
16:30 Dinner Break
18:30 Guy Dauncey :: Earth Futures :: Positive Visionary
20:00 Clean-up

Art Raffle and Silent Auction: on-going throughout the event

Side Room Discussions:
Topics: How SSI can be more sustainable
What can you contribute to S.E.E.D.S.
How can S.E.E.D.S. help you

Sun April 25
10:30 Doors Open
Speakers:
11:00 S.E.E.D.S. Directors' Visions
11:30 Open Mike :: Ragging Grannies and other inspired people
12:00 Salt Springers for Safe Food
12:30 Brandy McPherson :: O.U.R. Ecovillage
Regulatory Reform and Sustainable Design (2 hours)
14:30 Ellen Garvie :: Community Housing and Land Trust Society
15:00 Greater Victoria Composting Education Center
16:00 Pat Hennebery :: Cob Works :: Workshop and Video
17:00 Andrew Lewis and Ken Rouleau of the Green Party
17:30 Dinner
21:00 Celebration

Facilitated Group Discussion: on-going

Side Room Discussions:
Where should the first S.E.E.D.S. Ecovillage be?
Sustainable Public Transportation Solutions.

Information Booths (so far):
Salt Springers for Safe Foods
Salt Spring Biodiesel Group
Island Pathways
Salt Spring Conservancy
Salt Spring Seeds
Salt Spring Community Housing and Land Trust Society
Salt Spring Institute of Technology
Earth Festival Society (Energy Strategy Baseline Study)
Greater Victoria Compost Education Center
S.E.E.D.S.

Watch for schedule updates at http://www.aum.ca and the Expo website.

Our dissatisfaction with the two-page message in this week's paper sent us looking. Why is the Channel Ridge website owned by West Edmonton Mall Property, Inc.? This is from a Whois search at

https://secure.registerapi.com/services/whois.php?siteid=4798:

Registrant:
CHANNEL RIDGE ESTATE HOLDINGS LTD. (CHANNELRIDGE-DOM)
6725-40 Avenue
RED DEER, AB T4N 3M4
CA

Domain Name: CHANNELRIDGE.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Schuldhaus, Joseph (JS773)
jschuldhaus@WESTEDMALL.COM
West Edmonton Mall Property Inc.
#3000 8770-170 Street
Edmonton AB T5T 4M2, AB T5T4M2
CA
780 444 8100 fax: 780 444 5372

Record expires on 04-Nov-2005.
Record created on 04-Nov-2000.
Database last updated on 21-Mar-2004 13:33:36 EST.

Domain servers in listed order:

INFO.WESTEDMALL.COM 204.209.132.36
NS2.WESTEDMALL.COM 204.209.132.45

It also seems Channel Ridge Real Estate Holdings has hired a major PR firm that specializes in arranging for corporations to be able to do what they want with land. These folks are very good. Sounds like they can get through just about anything. We wonder why Channel Ridge thought they needed such heavy hitters.

Epic Central: Strategic Communications

Cruise around the site yourself. Here's a foretaste--emphasis added.

Epic Central encompasses the expertise of Marzolf & Associates Strategic Communications Corp., who have extensive experience in the public relations disciplines required to obtain land use entitlements.

(Extracts from next few paragraphs)

... a positive community effort, minimizing controversy or unpredictable (and costly) damage control efforts.
... We employ a strategic, multi-level outreach program that pro-actively influences the public...
... We are uniquely qualified to represent landowners, developers and property managers of retail, residential, institutional and commercial projects.

You might also want to visit the Triple Five Group website. Their Canadian head office shares the same phone and fax numbers and postal code as West Edmonton Mall Property, Inc. Triple Five Group also has a Vancouver office.

We greatly admire our volunteer fire department. Individual members are skilled, brave and community-minded. That said, we remain deeply troubled by what is going on within and around the department. A volunteer fire department is a vital organ of a community's body politic. We posted this January 18, 2004:

What can a volunteer fire department tell us about a community?

John Pottinger has this posted to the Save Salt Spring website:

This fire isn't out yet

Since I first wrote about the improper termination of Fire Captains Bruce Patterson and Jeff Outerbridge, dozens of people have approached me to discuss the issue. While many share my view that the firings are symptomatic of a serious problem with the management of the Salt Spring Fire Department, a few have surprised me with the kinds of comments that can (and have) ruined innocent people in small communities.

I'm fed up with the poisonous rumour mongering that some folks call chit-chat. Comments like "I hear there's more to it" send my blood pressure through the fire-house roof. In every case where somebody has said that about Bruce or Jeff, I've asked them to tell me what that other information is. In all but one case the response has been either "I don't know" or (worse) "I heard someone else say that." In one case, a prominent islander told me he'd heard they were fired because they'd used some fire department equipment without authorization. I suggested (somewhat impatiently) to all these nice folks that next time they hear something derogatory about someone, they confront the mud-slinger, and never pass on such defamatory crap.

I want these next few sentences to ring out clearly: Any suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of Bruce Patterson or Jeff Outerbridge is simply untrue. Jeff was fired because a couple of people near the helm of this island's fire department decided they didn't like his attitude. He expressed concerns about the decision to purchase the new pumper truck - the cost, the appropriateness of the equipment, the impact of that purchase on other purchases, etc. Bruce was fired because he supported his friend Jeff.

Luckily most folks sit down when they read a newspaper. That's a good idea, 'cause the next few paragraphs could cause you to drop your tea or start a coughing fit. (If you have heart problems you should drive over to Lady Minto and sit in the admissions area before reading further.) I've spent dozens of hours over the last few weeks speaking to some of the people in charge of purchasing fire trucks in this country. I've had lengthy talks and email exhanges with folks from such places as Burnaby, Ottawa, Nanaimo, Toronto, Kelowna, Regina, North Vancouver, London, Winnipeg, Vancouver and a whole lot more.

Here's some of what I found out: ...

This below is from last week's local paper:

New returning officer oversees postponed fire election
Pat Burkette Gulf Islands Driftwood

Salt Spring Fire Protection District trustee elections are going where the regional district and Islands Trust have gone before. Thomas Moore, of Thomas Moore and Associates, has been appointed by the fire board to run the upcoming annual general meeting's (AGM) trustee elections. Tom David, who acted as returning officer for the January 26 fire trustee by-election, decided not to continue in the returning officer role. "As far as I'm concerned," said Moore on Monday, "we start the process all over again." Nominations for two trustee positions will now be opened again. ...

[Ken} Lee took issue with [fire chief Dave] Enfield, as a paid employee of the fire protection district, checking nominator qualifications of those effectively running to become his employer. "The nomination papers are a confidential communication between me and the returning officer," said Lee. ...

Peter Lamb and Jean Gelwicks sent this along. Click on full story for their entire email.

Urgent Action in opposition to application for INCREASED disturbance and destruction to Syuhe'mun/Walker's Hook

Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. has applied to an amendment to the permit they received to disturb the archaeological site on the tombolo a Syuhe'mun/Walker's Hook, in order to substantially increase the scale of their operations there.

Judy Harper Village Views

Islanders took a blow three years ago when PARC shut down its adult education courses due to funding shortages. Since then, the long winter nights have seemed darker. For most islanders winter is a welcome downtime following the summer insanity of tourism. It’s a time to regroup, reconnect with friends, and maybe dust off an old academic interest or pursue a new one. Good news - beginning this spring, Salt Springers will once again be able to do just that. A dedicated bunch of islanders have been working hard for nearly a year to bring continuing education back to the island. These people are a diverse group with a common bond - a passion for teaching and learning. ...

The Society for Community Education (SCE) was born. Programmes Coordinator Anne Miller, an adult educator who recently moved to Salt Spring from Vancouver is one of the driving forces behind the SCE. Her enthusiasm for learning is unmistakable. Philosophically she feels that educators in our society have a great responsibility - to effect change and to raise social awareness through teaching. "The challenge", she says, "is to make learning attractive, and to present courses that will appeal to all age groups. For me, community education is more encompassing, more responsive than simply offering courses for money."

A broader community involvement in higher learning is a basic SCE mandate - and what differentiates this group from other types of continuing education. Most of the instructors for the courses beginning this spring are islanders. Scratch a gum booted farmer on Salt Spring, and you may find a professor emeritus. There is at last count, well over one hundred retired professors here, many of them eager to teach again. There are tradespeople, artists, psychologists and craftspeople ready to deliver courses. The SCE’s beginning line-up is impressive in its variety, whether your interest is auto mechanics, computers, figure drawing, or Chaucer. Some courses will cover several weeks, but there will be one-day workshops as well. ...

SALT SPRING WRITES
every 2nd Wednesday at ArtSpring
Feb 11. March 10, April 14, May 12
8 pm
Doors open at 7:30 pm
$5 at the door
Proceeds go towards the Salt Spring Writers & Friends Scholarship Fund
for a graduating GISS Student who wants to become a writer.

A brand new 2004 reading series featuring Salt Spring writers at ArtSpring
Presented by Salt Spring Writers & Friends with support by The Salt Spring Public Library Association and The Canada Council For The Arts.

Each night will have an introductory reader and two feature readers.

The first reading of the series, tonight Feb.11, will feature Murray Reiss, Sandi Johnson and Brian Brett

Host: Derek Lundy, writer and author of Godforsaken Sea and The Way of A Ship.

Murray Reiss has lived on Salt Spring with his wife Karen, a ceramic sculptor, since 1979 — nine years in the north end, eleven years in the south end, with four years in Vancouver in between. His poetry and prose have been published in literary magazines and anthologies in Canada and the United States, including the League of Canadian Poets' "Vintage" anthologies from 1996 to 1999. Most recently, his poems have appeared in Coming Home along with those of four other Salt Spring poets. A freelance writer and editor, he has also worked in Salt Spring's schools, social services, pizza parlors and watersheds.

Brian Brett, poet, fiction writer, critic, journalist, is the author of nine books of poetry and fiction including The Colour of Bones in a Stream, Tanganyika, and The Fungus Garden. He has been publishing since 1970. A collection of poems and a memoir, Uproar's Your Only Music, will appear in 2004. As part of the Saltspring Collective, he has just completed a CD of his 'Talking Songs' called Night Directions for the Lost, produced and arranged by Ramesh Meyers at Allowed Sound Studios. He lives with his family on his farm on Salt Spring Island. His most recent novel, Coyote, was released in October. .

Sandi Johnson is interested in imaginative writing that is socially relevant. She is the author of two books. The Comfort of Angels is based on her experience of working with Ojibwa Indians in Northwestern Ontario. The Wonderful Naked Man, poetry and line drawings, is Sandi’s effort in the war against inhibitions.She’s currently expressing childhood memories in poetry. ‘By surrendering to memories and allowing them to teach us we can create something that is new.’ On Salt Spring Island where she lives, she’s completing a script, The Colours in My Eye which is based on her work as a caregiver.

Salt Spring Writers & Friends was formed by a group of writers last spring to raise money for a GISS scholarship for a graduating student who wants to become a writer. All donations collected at the door of this series (after expenses), will go towards the $500. annual scholarship. The first award was presented last June to Meaghan Leitch. Anyone wishing to donate to the scholarship can email SSW&F@telus.net

MARCH 10
HOST: Pearl Luke
Readers- Chris Smart, Lorraine Gane, Peter Levitt,

APRIL 14
HOST: Lorraine Gane
Readers- Shirley Graham, Pearl Luke and Robert Hilles

MAY 12
HOST: Peter Levitt
Readers- Joanne Bealy, Maureen Moore, Kathy Page

Photo by Kevin Oke. Painting "Shoreline at Walker Hook" by Carol Evans
Fighting to save sacred ground
Stephen Hume Vancouver Sun January 31, 2004

Down there on Walker Hook, he [Myrus James] told me, our provincial government has granted a permit to use the old Penelakut burial ground for sewage disposal. I thought I'd misheard. Myrus was pouring us a strong black coffee in his snug kitchen while the rain drummed on his roof. But no, I hadn't misheard.

It turns out that this place, potentially one of the richest archaeological sites in the southern Gulf Islands and of indisputable spiritual importance to the Penelakut, was approved last spring for use as a dispersal field for effluent from a commercial fish hatchery.

Then-sustainable resources minister Stan Hagen's department approved the alteration of the archaeological site and then-water, land and air protection minister Joyce Murray's waste management branch approved the daily discharge of up to 619 cubic metres of "effluent" with a maximum of 10 milligrams per litre of "suspended solids" into the burial grounds.

Unless my math is wrong, that means the province has approved the flushing of more than 200 million litres of liquid and more than a tonne of "suspended solids" per year through the bones of Myrus James' ancestors.

Nobody knows how many graves there are -- some estimate there could be more than 700. But everybody knows they were intended to rest for all eternity in the place that's been home to them for who knows how long -- 20 centuries? Thirty?

Marine charts have called the place Walker Hook since 1859, the blink of an eye in Penelakut history. To the archaeologists it is DfRu-002, a large village site and midden the size of four football fields laid end-to-end. Geologists call it a tombolo, a tide and current-carved spit of sand and rock. But in the lilting language of Myrus and the Penelakut -- the "Buried Edge" people -- it will always be Syuhe'mun, "the Place to Catch Up," a site that resonates in the stories, songs and ceremonies by which traditional knowledge is passed from one generation to the next. ...

Related: Walker Hook's Sablefin hatchery: More looks
Salt Spring News August 5, 2003

Developer says of 9,400 square foot hatchery: "That's the beauty of this project -- it does not have any environmental impacts."

Sablefish hatchery: Dominant culture colonizing Salt Spring Island
Salt Spring News July 23, 2003

Salt Spring's sablefish hatchery is at the center of a national controversy. We won't look today at the Dutch transnational (Nutreco which operates under the PR title Marine Harvest Canada) salmon farm in Cusheon Cove except to note that it was the first despoiling invader to arrive when it took over Chris Hatfield's research project and developed it to incorporate into its worldwide commercial empire. Salt Spring Aquafarm doesn't even begin to replace the dozens of jobs lost on Salt Spring Island where 20 fish boats have ceased operating in the last five years as a result of the collapse of the fishing industry on the West Coast. A collapse in which the aquaculture industry is increasingly implicated.

Marion Pape wants all Salt Springers to know:

The Town Hall Meeting dedicated to Community Energy Planning, Islands Trust Maps and more will be held at All Saints Church at 1pm on Saturday, January 31 and NOT the Lions Hall.

Hope to see you on Saturday at 1pm, All Saints Church

Islanders defy lock-out vote
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood

A local society will refuse to lock out local community service workers if bargaining negotiations break down between unions and an employers association. "We voted that even if they directed a lock-out, we wouldn't do that," said Salt Spring Community Services Society (SSCSS) president Joanne Elizabeth. She was surprised to hear the Community Social Services Association (CSSEA) received a 73 per cent vote to lock out workers Monday but she emphasized the SSCSS stance."I think it's extremely sad and disappointing. And it doesn't affect us."

Islanders applauded the SSCSS during a board meeting [last] Thursday when directors voted a unanimous "no" in answer to the lock-out vote. ... The Community Services Society is required by legislation to remain members in good standing of the CSSEA in order to receive provincial funding, but several SSCSS board members indicated defiance is necessary. "Just because there's an act that says, 'You can't do those things, or there will be all sorts of consequences,' doesn't mean that we won't do those things," Elizabeth said. ...

Representatives from the Concerned Citizens Coalition of Salt Spring Island (CCCSSI) were also on hand at the SSCSS meeting. "People who supported the lock-out vote are either just going along with the Liberal agenda or they don't care. I think what we saw from our people was caring," said CCCSSI member Irene Wright. She wrote a letter on behalf of the CCCSSI that was read at the Community Services meeting.

"It seems to us that your society has been targetted, precisely because you work with the most vulnerable and because the people who work for you are not entrepreneurial but caring," Wright wrote. The community services sector has seen budget cuts of $100 million prior to bargaining and another $35 million since then, she said. "We value our Community Services Society. We don't want to see your good work dismembered and our valued workers victimized."

Related: Christy Clark's next battleground
Barbara McLintock The Tyee.ca

The Ministry of Child and Family Development faces deep cuts. Many frontline workers fear they lost an advocate in Gordon Hogg. ...

Arbutus tree on Mt. Maxwell, Salt Spring Island

This communications site is maintained by the Salt Spring Ecovillage Education and Development Society. It contains much information about sensible, sensitive community events and initiatives and a contact list of groups and individuals.

The diversity of our community is one of its profound strengths. Though much of our way of life, particularly agricultural, is under deliberate threat by the corporatist state, our will to maintain our birthright or chosen way of life on Salt Spring Island unites residents across many philosophies and many walks of life.

Noted: We just received a press release from local MLA, Murray Coell. Salt Spring elementary is one of 60 BC schools to receive awards and a total of $180,000 in grants. The award comes courtesy of the School Improvement Excellence Fund. In addition to recognizing schools for improving student achievement, the awards are also intended to foster professional conversations about teaching and learning. The awards are funded by the province and the new University of British Columbia School Leadership Centre. Salt Spring elementary received $3,000 and will develop a comprehensive set of writing skills that combines performance standards, new teaching strategies and more parental involvement.

Speaking of Murray: Les Leyne had this to say in yesterday's Victoria paper:

Victoria readers will have noticed the enormous grin of relief on Murray Coell's face. He's the happiest demoted cabinet minister I've seen, shuffled out of Human Resources and into the catch-all Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services, just in time to avoid the showdown over welfare eligibility this spring.

Ian Dutton Times Colonist

CROFTON -- In the cool recesses of the Crofton Community Centre basement, a dozen youngsters ran and jumped, unaware of the fight going on upstairs Tuesday night. Behind them, slumped in rows of chairs, their weary parents listened to the debate on speakers. They were part of an overflow crowd participating in a scientific tug of war the results of which could have a profound effect on the future of these children.

On one side of the fight is Norske Canada which operates the Crofton pulp mill and which wants to try alternative fuels -- coal, chipped rubber tires and used railway ties -- to fire up its mill's boilers. On the other is a group of citizens concerned about the current emissions from the mill and which wants to see those lessened before any new fuels are introduced.

Last Sept. 15, we posted this item

What can a volunteer fire department tell us about a community?

At the time we wrote:

We think the firing of two long-term island fire captains by the relatively recently arrived from the big-city fire chief is another manifestation of how our Island community is seriously under threat. This apparently straight-forward issue, reinstate Jeff and Bruce or not, is as deceptively simple as a Johnny Cash lyric. A volunteer fire department is a vital organ of a community's body politic. This whole affair is yet another symptom of the disease that has infected our once healthy island community and seems to be about to overwhelm.

We've just read Pat Burkette's front page story in this week's Gulf Islands Driftwood "Fulford concerns flare at meeting". It seems not much has changed since September. We still sense in this many larger issues not the least of which is a decline in the social interactions that add value to both our community and our lives. We hope we are wrong because there are many issues against which our community must be united. To name just one, Salt Spring Island's farmers are again under attack. See the following item.

Food is central to human happiness, and celebrating food's production and consumption in a slow and deliberate way can fill stomachs, revive communities and regional cultures, and help maintain biodiversity. ... Simple empirical deductions lead one to understand that the greatest danger to food quality and safety is agri-biz. We believe it is the transnationals that are behind these proposed regulations. Small farms and high food quality expose their practices and products. See our post of Jan. 11 Mad Cow springs from madness of industrial meatpacking--you can't call it husbandry and our post of Jan. 12 Support your local grower and farmer as two examples. A search on the site will yield much more from over the years. We received these two emails. We pass them on. The first is from Pearl Gray.

The forwarded is a very important issue that could change the very nature of our Island with it's long term repercussions for small farmers. I hope you will have time to send some protest letters to these ministers. Time is of the essence. And if you are as worried about it as I am, perhaps you could post it.

The forwarded message is from Al and Margaret Thompson.

Thank you for your interest in the proposed Meat Inspection Regulations. We are snding you a brief recap of our concerns and suggest you write to Kersteen Johnston, Executive Director, Health Protection Planning Division, 1515 Blanshard St., Victoria, BC V8W 3C8 with a copy to your MLA, the Premier and the Ministers of Health Services and Agriculture, Food and Fisheries and to the following website: www.bcfarmnet.org. Please state your concerns as a producer or a consumer. It would also be helpful to request a postponement of the 2005 implementation date so that existing processors can upgrade. Please note that there is a deadline of Jan.30/04 for submissions, and feel free to contact me if further information is required.


CONCERNS OF SALT SPRING FARMERS


The provincial government is proposing that from January 2005 all meat sold should be inspected. This means that a government inspector would check each animal before slaughter and then assess the carcass. The proposed regulations include standards for buildings, including such matters as cleanable surfaces, floor slope and temperatures.

The Island Farmers Alliance, an umbrella group of Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands farmers, is asking for an extension to this timeframe in order to allow the many unregulated slaughterhouses on Vancouver Island to upgrade. We on Salt Spring Island have to take a different approach.

There is no facility here that could be upgraded. Slaughtering is done by a few farmers for other farmers, on a very small scale. We would therefore have to ship all livestock off island, causing stress to the animals (with loss of meat quality) and additional expense to the owners. Profit margins are already small, so this may have the unfortunate effect of driving capable farmers out of business. Since many farms are not in the ALR they could be built on without delay, and permanently lost to agriculture. Farm Gate sales account for 90% of island meat and poultry sales. The proposed regulations have the potential to eliminate Farm Gate sales. There are enormous implications for Organic Farmers as well.

We are therefore asking for exemption from the regulations, as was traditionally the case. The Food Safety Act permits such exceptions. Farm gate sales could then continue, with all products clearly labelled with their origin.

We are conveying our point of view to the Health Planning department, MLA Murray Coell and relevant Ministers (see attached list). If you wish Salt Spring meat to be available in future please write to the above with your point of view.

Margaret Thomson
Chair, Farmers Institute Committee responding to proposed regulations
537-4669
almargthomson@uniserve.com

Please write to

Kersteen Johnston,
Executive Director,
Health Protection Planning Division,
4th Floor,
1515 Blanshard St.,
Victoria, BC V8W 3C8

with copies to

Murray Coell, MLA,
2412F Beacon Ave.,
Sidney, BC V8L 1X4

Hon. Gordon Campbell,
Premier,
P.O. Box 9041,
Stn. Prov. Govt.,
Victoria, BC V8W 9E1

Hon. Colin Hansen,
Minister of Health Services,
P.O. Box 9050,
Stn. Prov. Govt.,
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2

Hon. John Van Dongen,
Minister of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries,
P.O. Box 9058,
Stn. Prov. Govt.
Victoria, BC V8w 9E2

John Wilcox is Chair of the District A (Vancouver-Gulf Islands Region) Farmers Institute. He received this reply from Murray Coell.

Dear Mr. Wilcox:

Thank you for your email and attachment. Please be assured that I will continue to communicate my constituent's concerns on this issue with my colleague, the Minister of Health Planning. The Ministry is also encouraging input from consumers on this issue at their Health Planning website.

Thank you once again for writing.

Sincerely yours,
Murray Coell, MLA
Saanich North and the Islands

John goes on to say:

I recently sent a notice to our Island Natural Growers list about a new website www.bcfarmnet.org where people can see docs posted about how the production of local "safe food" (organic and other) may very well cease to exist, if the governments' proposed new meat inspection regs go into effect as they are presently written.

It is important for those of us who demand "safe quality food" to do as Murray Coell suggests in his reply to our District A Farmers Institute notice to him, about the negative impacts the new regs pose to community agriculture and our local food supply. Please advise people to go to BC Farmnet.org site to review and respond to these concerns.

The BC Farmnet.org site contains an index of articles and letters on the new meat inspection regulations.

Mona Fertig sends this along.

Dear Salt Spring Writers & Friends,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I'm pleased to inform you that the Canada Council has awarded the Salt Spring Writers & Friends Association & the Mary Hawkins Library our first reading grant for four readings at ArtSpring! They received applications for 817 readings across the country. I'd like to thank Mark Hand of the library board for helping me with our grant application. He has kindly offered to design a poster. Naturally there are more writers on Salt Spring than could be included in our first series. The abundance of writers is important for a continual yearly event. If these readings are successful and we pack the place, maybe we will apply for a larger grant. ...

SALT SPRING WRITES
2004 READING SERIES

@ ArtSpring

7 pm
2nd Wednesday of each month

FEB. 11th
HOST: Derek Lundy
Readers- Murray Reiss, Sandi Johnson, Brian Brett

MARCH 10
HOST: Pearl Luke
Readers- Chris Smart, Lorraine Gane, Peter Levitt,

APRIL 14
HOST: Lorraine Gane
Readers- Shirley Graham, Pearl Luke and Robert Hilles

MAY 12
HOST: Peter Levitt
Readers- Joanne Bealy, Maureen Moore, Kathy Page

Ron wants everyone to know.

Kind Holiday Greetings.

Our 2 local papers have been incorrectly advertising S.E.E.D.S.
meetings for Monday. We are not meeting until the new year and when we
do, there will be focused meetings for sub-committees.

Monday meetings at Starbooks will be for 'potential members' to discuss
Ecovillage concepts. Ideally, sub-committee leaders could show up and
report on their group's activities and progress.

For the next 2 mondays, I will be hosting a Monday Meeting on-line at
5:30 pm if anyone is interested. We can Chat or you can browse and
comment on the website. Click on 'Community Info Network' at
http://seeds.aum.ca to access the new functions.

Ron William Schnider
http://seeds.aum.ca

Government policies--good and bad--have effects at home.

Park legislation worries island groups
Carey Rudisill Gulf Islands Driftwood

B.C.’s provincial parks may house more than squirrels and deer, if it’s up to Water, Land and Air Protection Minister Joyce Murray. On November 18, Murray introduced new legislation that could open B.C. parks to private-sector resort and lodge development, but local conservation groups are concerned about the potential impact on Salt Spring Island. The Parks and Protected Areas Statutes Amendment Act received second reading last week. During an interview Monday, Murray said she hoped the matter would be settled soon. “ My intent is that it’s passed by the end of the week,” she said. According to the minister, the act aims to increase tourism and have more people using parks. The changes will allow for increased choices for park visitors, especially international tourists, Murray said. ...

Saturna begins life with new national park "elephant"
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood

Residents of Saturna Island may see massive changes in their community now that more than half the island is part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. With Parks Canada now looking for local representation on a new volunteer advisory board, the park presence is taking shape and growing.

"You can feel two ways about it — positive or negative. I believe you might as well feel positive since it's already here," said resident John Money during a recent interview on Saturna. He promoted the park plan in his capacity as a member of the Saturna Local Trust Committee (LTC) between 1984 and 2002, but Money also recognizes challenges the park may pose for islanders. "All of us have some apprehension, even those who are accepting of the plan," he said. "It magnifies the fear all Gulf Islanders feel — that this is becoming a place where young people can't afford to live." The community requires meaningful employment and the park could remove the potential for many types of work, he said. "Usually everyone thinks of 'preserve and protect' for land. Now the Islands Trust has to think of 'preserve and protect' in terms of the community." ...


Financial woes prompt school distress calls
Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood

Long-range forecasters for the Gulf Islands School District predict a spiralling pattern of educational doom and gloom if trends continue with ongoing squalls in declining enrolment and reduced provincial funding.

But members of the district's “Futures 64” task force are attempting to divert a financial storm with proactive efforts to save money and generate revenue by collecting innovative ideas from community members. "Although there is some urgency, we're not in a crisis, we're trying to avoid a crisis," said school district superintendent Wendy Herbert. Consequently, the school district held public meetings on Saturna, Mayne, Pender, Galiano and Salt Spring Island to find more solutions to their budgetary woes last week. The meetings had two purposes, Herbert said. ...

Anne Miller sent us this announcement regarding the Salt Spring Island Council for Community Education.

We are thrilled to announce that we have very recently set up the Salt Spring Island Council for Community Education. We are a registered non-profit with the purpose of offering educational opportunities and experiences to the community of Salt Spring Island. The Council’s co-chairs are Garth Hendren and Judi Francis, and I am on the board, responsible for the programming function. We are aiming to roll-out a modest program in the spring to get the initiative underway and to engage the community.  

One of the most significant tasks right now is to determine the unmet needs and wants of the community for formal learning. I have designed a feedback form to distribute to as many segments of the community as possible so that we can begin to get a sense of what people want, when and how. We also hope to identify interests in teaching. In that respect, I am contacting you with a request. Since I believe that your members can gain from this initiative and we can gain from knowing their unique perspectives, it would help us a great deal it if you could pass along this form to your membership by email. If printed copies are preferable, we can make them available to you.   

Your assistance and the input of your members are important to us, and I hope you will agree to participate. If you have any comments or questions please contact me. We look forward to many more exchanges in the future.

Sincerely, Anne Miller

You can email Anne and she will send you their feedback form as a Word document attachment. Or you can go by the Salt Spring Island Chamber of Commerce office or the CED Project office (if you are not a Chamber member) to pick up a hard copy.

Mitchell Sherrin Gulf Islands Driftwood

One case of "Mad Cow" disease discovered in Alberta earlier this year has spooked the provincial government into tightening meat-inspection regulations that could push some local farmers out of business. ...

One more assault in the long running war on smallholders. Take back our country, hell! Let's take back our home first.

The Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform will select members from four Island constituencies Thursday night in Victoria.

There, four men and four women will be selected as members of the Citizens' Assembly -- one man and one woman from each of the electoral districts of Esquimalt-Metchosin, Malahat-Juan de Fuca, Saanich North and the Islands, and Saanich South.

The random-selection meeting is open to the public:

·       Thursday Oct. 23
·       Laurel Point Inn, Victoria (680 Montreal St.)
·       Registration starts at 6:30 p.m.
·       Meeting at 7 p.m.

By Nov. 25, the Citizens’ Assembly will have its full membership of 158 -- one man and one woman from each of the 79 provincial ridings.

They will spend much of 2004 examining electoral systems in use around the world, and will decide if they should propose a change to B.C.’s current system of translating votes into seats in the Legislature.

If the Assembly members recommend a change, it will be the subject of a referendum for all voters in the 2005 provincial election. Any change approved by the voters would take effect with the 2009 B.C. election.

Full details are at www.citizensassembly.bc.ca

For further information, please contact:

Don MacLachlan
Associate director of communication
Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform
#2288 - 555 West Hastings St
PO Box 12118
Vancouver BC V6B 4N6
Phone: 604-660-1207 (1-888-667-1232)
Fax: 604-660-1236
E-mail: dmaclachlan@citizensassembly.bc.ca
Web:      www.citizensassembly.bc.ca
Cell: 604-329-2090

Related: First four picked for Citizens' Assembly
Neal Hall Vancouver Sun

FORT ST. JOHN -- Darleen Dixon, a 65-year-old Fort Nelson fabric store owner, made history Tuesday when she was selected as the first member of an assembly that will reconsider how politicians are elected in B.C. "I was honoured and pleased," Dixon said after the first four members of the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform -- two women and two men -- were selected to represent the electoral districts of Peace River North and Peace River South. ...

We urge as many Salt Spring Islanders as possible to attend this AGM to learn more about the foundation, our currency and the value of both. We think the concept and the work of the SSIMF is one of the better things to have emerged on our island in the past two years. Supporting the currency and the foundation is one step toward taking control of our future as a viable community. Bob McGinn, the SSIMF president, sent this email our way.

The special guest speaker at the SSIMF AGM next Friday, the 17th, will be Julian Darley MA MSC. Julian is a journalist, environmental philosopher, and Executive Director of The Post Carbon Institute. Julian's talk is called "Blacking Out: The Great Power Denial." He will talk about how energy is becoming the defining issue of this decade, highlighting massive and systemic problems with oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear, coal, and many of the supposed panaceas, especially the 'hydrogen economy.' Julian will also talk about how energy is linked to global warming (which will likely be the defining issue of the century), and why local money is so important in a world growing short of big, centralized energy, and needing local, micro-energy.

Julian is currently writing a new book called High Noon for Natural Gas. High Noon for Natural Gas will be one of the first popular, serious, but non-technical books on natural gas. If North Americans haven't already discovered why they should know about natural gas, they soon will, as the crisis deepens and starts to bite not just those that heat their homes and offices with gas, but all those who use electricity. Most of the new electirc power stations built in the last few years use natural gas, and this is one of the hidden causes behind the Californian crisis of 2001, and many of the recent massive blackouts across the industrial world. High Noon for Natural Gas will give readers an understanding of the phenomenal rise of natural gas in the last fifty years; explain why North American supply is in trouble; why moving the world to natural gas is an historic mistake; and why we may soon witness gas wars as well as oil wars. At both the personal and political levels, practical policies and actions will be offered to help communities and cities move away from oil and gas addiction, and start the simultaneous, serious development and implementation of reducing energy use while increasing the use of renewable energy.

The Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation Annual General Meeting is at the Lions Hall, Friday, October 17th. It starts at 7:00pm and Julian's presentation will start at 8:00pm. Admission by Donation.

Bob's notice of meeting and the guest speaker made our mind jump to these related items:

Pender Island's Island Tides published a call-to-action essay by John Carlton in their Sept. 25, 2003 edition entitled "Fossil Fuels: Feast and Famine?" Well worth reading. Here's a bit from Carlton's introductory paragraphs.

But is there really that much [oil and gas] left? We are used to being told that the oil supply is for practical purposes unlimited, and if it ever falters, we will have alternatives waiting in the wings. However there are appearing diverging viewpoints from some surprising sources. Interestingly, none of these people have anything to do with either Greenpeace or the Fraser Institute. They are an increasingly vocal body of very senior geophysical scientists, economists, and bankers who have worked for decades within the oil industry. They include consultants to governments on energy resources, and heads of a variety of international organizations and think tanks. Methodology varies, and debate continues around details, but the conclusion is that the day when oil ceases to be an unrestrictedly available energy source is much closer than we have been given to believe. Further, there really are no alternatives that will work the way we need them to. There is no conspiracy suppressing this information, no wild-eyed website ranting about Armageddon, just knowledgeable people collecting their data and publishing. An excellent compendium of these conclusions, as well as contrary arguments is: The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrialized Societies by Richard Heinberg, a faculty member at New College of California. It is Heinberg’s book that I am summarizing in this review, of our energy sources, current and future, real and imagined, starting with oil and gas. ...

Eating fossil fuels
Dale Allen Pfeiffer From The Wilderness Oct. 3, 2003

Summary

Some months ago, concerned by a Paris statement made by Professor Kenneth Deffeyes of Princeton regarding his concern about the impact of Peak Oil and Gas on fertilizer production, I [Michael C. Ruppert] tasked FTW's Contributing Editor for Energy, Dale Allen Pfeiffer to start looking into what natural gas shortages would do to fertilizer production costs. His investigation led him to look at the totality of food production in the US. Because the US and Canada feed much of the world the answers have global implications.

What follows is most certainly the single most frightening article I have ever read and certainly the most alarming piece that FTW has ever published. Even as we have seen CNN, Britain's Independent and Jane's Defence Weekly acknowledge the reality of Peak Oil and Gas within the last week, acknowledging that world oil and gas reserves are as much as 80% less than predicted, we are also seeing how little real thinking has been devoted to the host of crises certain to follow; at least in terms of publicly accessible thinking. ...

This From the Wilderness article was pointed out to Julian Darley in the PCI's forum section. Darley replied:

Energy issues are already coming to the foreground in North America, partly thanks to Alan Greenspan talking about the natural gas crisis in America, and partly thanks to the huge power blackout a couple of weeks ago. What will it take to wake enough people up & how many/what percentage is enough, are frequently discussed questions amongst those of us who see Business-As-Usual (BAU) as a non-option. The number of people who question business as usual appears to be growing, and more people appear to be under no illusions about BAU, nor the kind of BAU-lite that certain techno-greens and 'ecological modernisers' would like us to believe in. Our 'culture of make believe' (to use Derek Jensen's phrase) may at last be meeting up with some rock-hard physical and mathematical limits, just as some much vilified people dared to suggest in 1972.

As to the disaster of NAFTA, especially Chapter Six, which only Canada signed: this could be the undoing of Canada, but only time will tell - certainly the forces of neoliberalism will fight very hard and quite ruthlessly to save their wretched and anti-democratic system. it is now being suggested that the election and anointing of Paul Martin (arch free marketeer, and apparently member of the obnoxious and dangerous Bilderberg group) will happen in the spring of next year, after Chretien, complete with his newly found social conscience, steps down. By next spring the natural gas situation may have delivered the worst, or else somehow North America will scrape through once again. The recent and predicted relaxation in air pollution laws by the Bush regime will allow more coal to be burnt in power stations (as long as the likes of FirstEnergy, Ohio manage to run their plants a bit better) and theoretically free up more gas for refilling the storage system. Today's estimated figure from the eia is 53 bcf (2003.08.28), leaving the US storage system still 400 bcf short of its figure this time a year ago. One of the big questions however, is whether the new gas-fired power stations, surely being chased by hungry and possibly angry investors, will foreswear the gas saved by allowing more coal-fired pollution and allow it to be either reinjected or used to heat the houses (or 'homes' as people insist on saying in North America) in the vital swing states of the Mid-West ahead of the primaries. As to cold Canadian voters, they may tend to be dead as well, which makes it harder for them to vote, but may persuade others to ask some more searching questions than is usual. All this needs to be seen against the background of climate change affecting Canada (some still deny it though). In British Columbia, where Post Carbon Institute is based, we have seen the worst forest fires in recorded BC history and the driest summer in the Vancouver region in 52 years, the third driest since records began. Alberta has also been hard hit with the same kinds of problems. Water problems are therefore rising up the priority list, and in British Columbia, water problems can mean power problems, since so much of BC power is hydro. A certain amount of this power can be exported... And so it goes on, everything is quite literally, ultimately connected to everything else, and in the energy business that is true in spades.

Yesterday we linked to this Canadian Press story on Canadian natural gas pipeline construction.

Renewed talk of building new pipelines out of the northern Alberta oilsands, along with aspirations to run two natural gas lines down from the Arctic, could lead to serious cost pressures as multi-billion-dollar projects compete against each other for labour and materials. ... Until recently, talk of major new pipeline projects centred on the need for natural gas lines to ship major reserves from the Northwest Territories and Alaska down to energy-thirsty markets in the United States. ...

Shipping to the US is still the plan. Only now the major talk is not the wisdom or lack thereof in exporting our diminishing natural resources but rather the intense competition for everything from steel to welders to crews and engineers to build the pipelines required. The two main competitors are Larry Bell's bastard child, Terasen Inc. (taken from the citizens of BC during his first tenure at BC Hydro and placed in private hands) and Enbridge, Inc. (formerly Interprovincial Pipeline). Both companies are now transnationals with no primary loyalty to Canadians who are not investors. Come to the SSIMF AGM and discover the bold but simple truth that all we need is the will to escape this energy economy and how we can create the means to establish our own energy independence. Some may think this improbable. Perhaps. But the certainty is--it is possible.

Bob McGinn sent us this. We think the concept and the work of the SSIMF is one of the better things to have emerged on our island in the past two years. Supporting the currency and the foundation is one step toward taking control of our future as a viable community.

The Annual General Meeting of the SSIMF will be held on Thursday, October 17, 2003 at the Lions Hall at 7:00 P.M. Our special guest speaker will be Julian Darley MA MSC. Julian is a journalist, environmental philosopher, and Executive Director of The Post Carbon Institute.( check out http://www.postcarbon.org/events.php) The topic of Julian's presentation will be "The Party's Over: Uncommon knowledge of oil, war, money, and the fate of industrial societies".

Tourists continue to LOVE SS Currency and are still taking away substantial amounts, as indicated by our ever increasing bank balance (more details in our AGM financial report). However, we believe the rate of the bank balance growth would dramatically improve if we can convince more Islanders to use Salt Spring Currency on a regular basis (how much is in your wallet). If usage increases, then the visibility and the chance that tourists will be exposed to it, use it, and take some home, should increase. More discussion on this at the AGM.

New 1,2 & 5 Dollar denomination Bills will be available at the AGM. Actually they look the same as our old bills except the new ones have a specially applied foil covering the expiry date line. We have decided to discontinue the expiry date on all future bills because we now have sufficient history showing how many of the bills go out of circulation. As each edition expires, a special metallic foil will be placed on all the remaining uncirculated bills of that denomination. It is important to emphasise however, that any currency without this foil will still be accepted for deposit.

The new foil serves 3 purposes; it eliminates the expiry date, it allows us to use up what would otherwise be expired bills, and it adds another very visible security feature. New bills with new artwork will still be issued but this will happen as we use up each denomination of the current issue.

We have been successful in obtaining a Community Economic Development Grant, which will allow the hiring of a full time person for a one year period to work exclusively on the Salt Spring Currency concept. This will help ensure our continuing development. Thanks to Ellen Garvie, Perry Newport, and everyone else responsible for this great news.

Bill Krebs has decided to step down as a Director. He has put in countless hours over the past 2 &1/2 years helping us become more organised and ensuring that we follow proper accounting practices and we will certainly miss his involvement in the Foundation. I am pleased to announce however, that Baron Fowler has joined us as the newest member of the Board of Directors. Baron has a keen interest in monetary systems and we really appreciate his enthusiasm regarding this project.

Update, 2100 hrs:

The topic of Julian Darley's Presentation at the Monetary Foundation AGM has been changed to the following:

He will talk about how energy is becoming the defining issue of this decade, highlighting massive and systemic problems with oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear, coal, and many of the supposed panaceas, especially the 'hydrogen economy.' Julian will also talk about how energy is linked to global warming (which will likely be the defining issue of the century), and why local money is so important in a world growing short of big, centralised energy, and needing local, micro-energy.

Salt Spring Island: Writers Information Exchange tonight

Friday, September 26th at 7:00 p.m.
ArtSpring, Salt Spring Island
FREE EVENT, everyone welcome!

Bring your book, bring an emerging writer, share wine
and cheese!

The Writers’ Union of Canada presents an Information
Exchange for Writers. Professional writers Brian Brett,
Kathy Page, Briony Penn and Maureen Moore will speak
on their life as writers. Deborah Windsor, Executive
Director of the Writers’ Union of Canada, will be on
hand to share ideas on how writers facing modern
challenges earn a living by writing.


Weekend Apple Festival invites taste-full crowds
Carey Rudisill Gulf Islands Driftwood

This weekend locals and visitors have the unique chance to participate in what local orchardist Harry Burton calls “a treasure hunt.” The hunters, however, will be looking for different varieties of one item: apples.

On Sunday, 15 farm owners are inviting the public into their orchards as part of the fifth annual Salt Spring Island Apple Festival. Harry and his wife Debbie, owners of Apple Luscious Organic Orchards, are the main organizers for this year’s festival. Burton sees Salt Spring as a unique place and worthy of hosting the festival. ... The island was also among the first areas in the province to grow apples — way back in the 1860s. More than 350 varieties of organic apples are currently grown on the island. ...

Friday, September 26th at 7:00 p.m.
ArtSpring, Salt Spring Island
FREE EVENT, everyone welcome!

Bring your book, bring an emerging writer, share wine
and cheese!

The Writers’ Union of Canada presents an Information
Exchange for Writers. Professional writers Brian Brett,
Kathy Page, Briony Penn and Maureen Moore will speak
on their life as writers. Deborah Windsor, Executive
Director of the Writers’ Union of Canada, will be on
hand to share ideas on how writers facing modern
challenges earn a living by writing.

Bill Krebs sends this urgent message.

On Friday, September 5, Mitchell Sherrin, staff writer for the Driftwood, spoke to Bruce Reid, Inspector of mines at the Ministry of Energy and Mines, about a public meeting regarding the proposed Stewart Road gravel quarry. Mr. Reid told Mitchell they would only hold such a meeting if they had evidence of sufficient public concern. So far they have only received "2 or 3" letters.

Please take the time to write to Bruce Reid as soon as possible. A public meeting is essential to delaying or preventing the granting of the mine permit. You don't have to live on Salt Spring to ask for a proper public process.

If you have written a letter, our huge thanks.

Here is a sample letter.....use parts of it --or all of it, but please email it soon! (thanks)

Click on full story for text of letter template and addresses for those to whom it should be sent.

"Come discover the future of jazz." - Jenny Ross, Montreal Mirror





Jennifer Ryan, Jordan O'Connor and David French are visiting BC, Aug. 27 to Sept 4. The tour is to be recorded and released on Go Play Records. Jenn and the guys will be on Salt Spring Island, Sunday Aug. 31.

Sunday, August 31st
Moby's Pub
8:00-11:00 p.m.
no cover
for more info please call Moby's at 250-537-5559

Nelson-born Jennifer Ryan is one of BC's most delightful exports and a jazz vocalist extraordinaire. For us, Diana Krall is a branded commodity--a singer who suits the age and is packaged and performs as such. We think artist Jennifer Ryan is the real thing.

Mark Miller wrote in the Globe and Mail: "Jazz singers, it seems, are born, not made. Either they've got it, or they don't. No amount of trying will compensate. Jennifer Ryan's got it."

Vocalist Jennifer Ryan and bassist Jordan O'Connor have been musical co-conspirators for the past eight years, following in the tradition of such wonderful bass-voice jazz duos as Sheila Jordan and Harvey Swartz (and fellow Canadians Karen Young and Michel Donato). Since 1999, tenor saxophonist David French has worked with Ryan and O’Connor on creating a "whimsical mix of originals, jazz standards and discovered snippets of words, recordings and melodies, rewoven into a daring new jazz tapestry" (Kootenay Express).

Visit Jennifer Ryan's website (requires Flash plugin) for details of the BC tour and more about her and the O’Connor-led Cash Cow [Jordan O'Connor (bass), David French (sax), Craig Harley (piano) and Nick Fraser (drums)] whose own album "When We Were Little Girls" was named '2000 Jazz Recording of the Year' by Paul Wells of The National Post.

The 19-year old Cuban alto saxophone prodigy, Roberto Martinez Pereira, was to have been part of the tour but Jenn emailed us today to inform that visa problems have nixed him.

Update: We responded to Jenn's email and asked if we would be seeing Cash Cow out here soon. We got an affirmative reply from Denman Island where the threesome is staying with the Frenches. They have been "doing nothing but relaxing" after a three-day (Aug. 22-24) New York City gig.

Hi Jim -

Definite bummer about Roberto - and yes, the tour is just the threee of us - sort of a last minute jaunt to give us a little taste of the west (Dave and I are from BC and haven't been home in a bit...) We'll all be out in the spring to support a new album that will be released later in the year. ...

Cheers - Jenn

Photo: Walker Hook, a rare tombolo formation on the east side of Salt Spring Island, is the site of a Sablefish hatchery. Wells will be drilled in the sand bar for salt water supply and effluent discharge.

Hatching trouble in Paradise
Carla Wilson Times Colonist

Developer says of 9,400 square foot hatchery: "That's the beauty of this project -- it does not have any environmental impacts."

Even as Gidon Minkoff seeks to raise the final $1 million he needs to start rearing sablefish -- a prized rich-tasting species also called black cod -- his hatchery is at the receiving end of every environmental and economic complaint that critics can throw at fish farming. For months now, protests have been held, letters written and governments lobbied.

After several months of searching, Minkoff settled on Saltspring because the site and land-use rules suited his project. Rather than being pristine, his site has been used for agriculture for many years, he said.

And he calls his project environmentally friendly. Solids would go into a septic tank. The remaining water would be filtered through the sand and gravel of the spit, eliminating any phosphates, nitrogen and bacteria naturally spit, so the wastewater would flow into the sea clean and with no impact on the mud flat, he said. "That's the beauty of this project -- it does not have any environmental impacts," he said. "Whatever you do, you have got to do it right. You don't go and destroy the environment for a few fish." ...

Environment is by no means the only complaint. Commercial fishermen fear losing a grip on the lucrative wild sablefish stock that is worth $30 million a year to them, mostly by selling to the Japanese market. Saltsping Islanders fear the hatchery will pave the way for more aquaculture and will hurt tourism and archeological values. They also worry about lack of local control over land use, even whether aquaculture has a place in B.C.

Commercial fisherman are underwriting the residents' battle by paying for a lawyer. The Canadian Sablefish Association, representing commercial fishermen, has spent about $50,000 so far, says executive director Eric Wickham. ...

Saltspring's official community plan earmarked the privately-owned site for future acquisition for parkland. But Minkoff's Sablefin Hatcheries Ltd. won subdivision approval from B.C.'s Agricultural Land Commission, which has approval authority for property in the agricultural land reserve. He has a 20-year lease for the site. Saltspring Island's Local Trust Committee voted July 26 to tell the Agricultural Land Commission that it does not support the subdivision. ...

So far, $1.4 million has been raised for the hatchery that he said will turn out two million young sablefish annually in five years. His goal is to raise $2.5 million from investors.

He's also on a tight deadline, hoping to bring in 60 to 100 broodstock within four weeks. Those fish would be expected to produce 100,000 juveniles, which he wants to sell starting next year. But a Ministry of Water, Land and Air Protection official said summer's end is the earliest Minkoff can expect a B.C. waste-discharge permit, required to run the hatchery.

The Campbell coalition has introduced Bill 48 whose main purpose is to beat back local governments who wish to restrict fish farms in their jurisdiction. It would allow the province to designate ‘farming areas’ along island shorelines. In these farming areas, the province could then over-rule local zoning provisions that restrict aquaculture. Islanders may be angry but on Howe Street and in the boardrooms of Norway and Holland, they are cheering. (Only five corporations own 90 percent of the fish farms in British Columbia, and these multinational companies are nearly all based in foreign countries, such as Norway. In the early 1990s, companies faced such strict regulation from the Norwegian government that they decided to colonize the Canadian coast.)

Island Tides (PDF)

The current Island Tides examines the industrialization of Salt Spring's agricultural land (which this venture-capital-funded enterprise represents) with a focus on environment, social justice and economic issues. Excerpts:

Sablefish hatchery raises concerns

The company plans a hatchery building fed by a salt water supply drawn from wells at the eastern end of the tombolo. The water would be discharged into wells dug at the western, or Salt Spring Island end, of the tombolo. The wells would be several hundred feet apart.

As far as is known, no in-water net pens are planned, although promotional material states that ‘once hatchery operations are profitable, the farm may pursue diversification into the blackcod grow-out sector.’

Our comment: Fish farms concentrate roaming species in a tightly packed area, which fouls the seabed under their pens with uneaten food pellets and excrement. Fish farms create dead zones extending up to 500 feet in the waters below the pens. These impacts have earned the name "feedlots of the sea" by an LA Times report last year.

The entire hatchery operation is on land, but the amount of effluent pumped down the discharge wells is estimated at 619 cubic metres daily (which exceeds the effluent production of the entire Ganges sewer system). The effluent is presumably expected to filter out into the sea. While digging the effluent wells, the company has already unearthed six bodies, probably ancestors of the Penelakut or the Cowichan. ...

‘We are concerned about any provincial initiative that would diminish local control over land use planning, including planning along the foreshore,’ said [Islands Trust chair David] Essig. ‘Our policy statement recognizes aquaculture as a valuable activity in the Islands Trust Area, provided it is compatible with the maintenance of the Trust Area’s ecosystems and community
character. Community members rely on their locally elected trustees to make land use decisions and they express significant concern whenever provincial legislation over rules them....this provincial initiative could lead to an erosion of our jurisdiction in this matter and that is certainly a concern to us.’ ...

Sablefin is attempting to raise money through a BC Venture Capital Corporation. Its prospectus, issued earlier, is presently being revised. VCC’s are given favourable tax treatment under BC law; investors receive a tax credit of 30% of their investment. Promotional material which was recently pulled from the internet said ‘The Hottest Stock May Be Live Stock but don’t look for it on Wall Street’. ...

On page A14 of this week's Driftwood, Kimberly Lineger devotes her "Trustee Repot" column (a must-read this week) to the provincial Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's Bill 48. Here's a brief excerpt.

Support, activism needed to stop finfish operations

Bill 48's purpose is to allow Cabinet to designate Crown Land (including foreshore) as a "farming area" to which the Farm Practices Protection (Right to Farm Act) would apply.

LTCs [Local Trust Committees] would not be able to prohibit aquaculture in areas designated as "farming areas" by the provincial Cabinet. ... Given our recent experience in dealing with the provincial agencies responsible for aquaculture on the Sablefin Hatchery, I have doubts whether consultation (if any) between the provincial government and local communities will be meaningful in terms of addressing community concerns.

I am even more doubtful that the Islands Trust's preserve and protect mandate will provide our island some protection in the selection process of future farm areas as sites for aquaculture, given the government's drive to expand finfish aquaculture in our province. ...

In response to Bill 48, the Trust executive has drafted a resolution for the Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting in September asking the provincial government to withdraw Bill 48 and implement mesures to achieve provincial goals for agriculture and aquaculture through collaboration and consultation with local governments. ...

If Salt Springers are to have a choice about how aquaculture [and the scale and intensity of agriculture, including on-land aquaculture] is regulated within the Trust area, we must act now to pressure the provincial government...

If you want to know more about how you can get involved, please email me at: klineger@islandstrust.bc.ca or call me at 538-0042.

Upon this, the vaction-rentals issue, and the "Working Forest", rests the future for Salt Spring Island as a living, diverse and sustainable community. Here's a link to our most recent post, July 23, 2003. Sablefish hatchery: Dominant culture colonizing Salt Spring Island

Environment Canada
Canadian Wildlife Service
3567 Island Highway West
Qualicum Beach, B. C.
V9K 2B7

June 13, 2003

Jeanie Lanine
Woodward & Company
844 Courtney Street, 2nd Floor
Victoria, BC, V8W 1C4

Re: Walker Hook Sensitive Ecosystems

Dear Ms. Lanine,

I am writing in response to your request for information on the significance of the sensitive ecosystems on Saltspring Islandís Walker Hook tombolo and area. Our Sensitive Ecosystems Inventory (SEI) maps show that there are three ecosystem types represented within the area of the proposed development by Sablefin Hatcheriesósalt marsh wetland, sparsely vegetated gravel spit and a coastal bluff/woodland complex. The SEI was conducted by Environment Canada and the BC Ministries of Water, Land and Air Protection and Sustainable Resource Management (1993 and 1997) to encourage conservation-based land-use decisions.

Throughout the Gulf Islands we found few remaining examples of the three sensitive ecosystem types that occur on Walker Hookóonly 1.9% of the entire Gulf Islands contains either wetland, sparsely vegetated or coastal bluff ecosystems. All categories of wetland are particularly rare on these dry rocky Gulf Islands, and salt marshes such as the type at Walker Hook constitute only a fraction of that. The two other ecosystem types are similarly scarce throughout the region.

Every effort should be made to protect wetlands in a natural state because they provide critical support to both wildlife and people and are particularly vulnerable to human disturbance. They are nodes of high biological diversity and support a disproportionate number of rare species or plant communities.

Since wetland processes are highly complex their natural hydrological processes must be maintainedóany changes to wetland hydrology have significant impacts on the viability of any wetland. Water quality must also be maintained as even limited changes in nitrogen or phosphorous levels can reduce the zone in which specific wetland inhabitants can live. Efforts should be made to avoid nutrient loading and the introduction of substances that would harm the fragile wetland system.

Coastal bluffs are also rare and fragile and their shallow soils and species inhabiting them are susceptible to damage from any form of human intrusion. They are also choice nesting sites for a number of birds including some provincially rare species.

Similarly, sparsely vegetated spits such as the one at Walker Hook are rare and highly unstable landforms that can be easily disturbed or destroyed. There are a number of species, some of them rare, which are unique to these habitatsóa large variety of migrating and wintering shorebirds and waterfowl frequent these spits and some even nest there.

In recognition of the high conservation value of this site, the federal/provincial Georgia Basin Ecosystem Conservation Partnership identifies Walker Hook as a high priority site for acquisition, covenant or other form of protection.

If the proposed facility cannot be relocated to avoid impacts to these sensitive ecosystems, we recommend that qualified professionals conduct hydrological, engineering and environmental impact studies and work to incorporate designs that are sensitive to the existing natural ecosystems.

In summary, our primary concern is that these rare and ecologically fragile ecosystems be protected. To this end the Canadian Wildlife Service has a policy of not condoning any further loss of sensitive ecosystems. We believe these remaining ecosystems could be our collective legacy to future generations.

Sincerely

Peggy Ward
Ecosystem Mapping and Conservation


cc. Ken Brock, Head, Habitat Conservation, Canadian Wildlife Service.
Andrew Robinson, Environmental Assessment Coordinator, Canadian Wildlife Service.

A recent meeting of representatives from the American San Juan Islands and the Canadian Gulf Islands put “cruise ship impacts” at the top of a list of challenges facing island communities on both sides of the border.

“While we try to give it attention, there’s not a lot we can do,” says Wayne Quinn, the Islands Trust’s director of local planning. On both sides of the border, marine traffic is regulated by federal governments. “I guess there’s a sense of frustration we share with our neighbours in San Juan County about local governance and our ability to deal with this kind of thing.”

The representatives were responding to a report that the Norwegian Sun, owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines, had discharged 60,000 litres of waste water while travelling from Seattle to Victoria in May. Says Quinn, “This particular incident, I understand, was an accident, but it’s the kind of thing that causes people to pay attention.”

Other top challenges facing the islands include protecting orca whales and proposed changes to aquaculture policies in B.C. that may make it harder for local governments to regulate the controversial industry. -- Monday Magazine

Islands Trust Press Release

VICTORIA
July 16, 2003

ISLANDERS CONCERNED ABOUT CRUISE SHIP IMPACTS

Islanders on both sides of the Canada - US Border expressed concern about the impacts of the burgeoning cruise ship industry, as San Juan County Commissioners met with their counterparts at the Islands Trust Council meeting on North Pender Island recently.

"We received a report from the Oceans Blue Foundation indicating that the number of cruise ships going into Seattle has grown from six in 1999 to 100 this year", said David Essig, Chair of the Islands Trust Council. "These are like floating towns and they produce everything from raw sewage to photo processing chemicals and dry cleaning fluids. At this point, Canada is only developing voluntary environmental guidelines for the operation of cruise ships. We don’t believe this is good enough."

The Norwegian Sun discharged approximately 40 tons of raw human sewage into the Strait of Juan de Fuca last month and is under investigation. This has heightened the concerns of island communities that are closely linked to the marine waters on both sides of the border.

Essig has written to Transport Canada to comment on Canada’s draft guidelines. Both his letter and the Islands Trust’s comments on the cruise ship guidelines are available on the Islands Trust website under Letters from the Chair.

Real Food Faire 2003

Fulford Hall - July 19th & 20th


Sat July 19th     

6:30pm        Doors open
7pm-9pm    Presentation: Who Owns the Seeds on your Land?
Ann Clark, Dan Jason & Percy Schmeiser

Admission by Donation - Proceeds to support Percy's legal fight against Monsanto. Suggested donation: $5 good, $10 better, $15 excellent.

Sun July 20th - Free Admission   

10am    Doors open
10 -11am    Coffee and muffins with
Ann Clark, Dan Jason & Percy Schmeiser

11am    Speaker- Ann Clark

11am to 2:30    Delicious local lunch available from kitchen

11:30            Live Music-

12:30    Deadline for Pesto Passion entries- bring to kitchen
12:30    Live Music-Classical Tub

12.30    Loonie/ Twoonie Auction

1pm     Pesto Passion! contest featuring The Geezers as judges
1:30    Live Music- Triskele

2:30     Live music- Raging Grannies

3:00pm     Speaker- Percy Schmeiser

3:30pm     Loonie/ Twoonie Auction

4pm    Doors Close

Instructors: Kathy Page and Maureen Moore, writers who have published both short and long fiction.  Kathy's novel, The Story of my Face, was nominated for Britain's prestigious Orange Prize and Maureen Moore's novel, The Illumination of Alice Mallory, was nominated for Canada's Ethel Wilson Award.
 
When and where:  Sunday  6th and Sun 13th of July. From 12 - 3pm.  The class/workshop will be held in the beautiful Kairos Centre on Blackburn Rd.
 
This course is suited to beginners as well as experienced writers.
Cost $115
Max class size 10

Course Description: Exercise based.  How to nurture your idea and develop it into a satisfying story.

Part one: Making a beginning.

1) What is an idea?  (A story does not usually arrive fully formed.) How to foster the growth of an idea.  Exercises for beginning.

2) Character.

How to create vivid, 3D characters though specifics-- their histories, contradictions, desires and motivations.  Exercises.

3) What makes the story move?

Friction/Instability/Conflict
Exercises and Homework.
 

Part two: Writing it through.

1) read and discuss the beginnings. What expectations have been set up in the reader?
 
2) How to develop the story. Exercises.

Point of view--who is telling the story? Examples and exercises.
Compression -how to achieve this.
Scenes -all the aspects that work in a short fiction form. Exercises

3) What to do when you feel "blocked" when developing a story.

4) How to edit.  Exercises.

5) Ending a story.

INFO: 537 -5367
cheques to Kathy Page, 238 Isle View Drive, Salt Spring Island.

Mona Fertig wants us all to know:

We now have a number for the Writers & Friends Scholarship at
THRIFTY'S (#101) - just tell the cashier the number.

And

GVM (#95) - just put your receipt in box (at the bottom) before you go out the door.

Salt Spring Writers' & Friends will receive 1% of the receipt amounts during the year for our next writing scholarship.

Writing is no trouble: you just jot down ideas as they occur to you. The jotting is simplicity itself - it is the occurring which is difficult. --Stephen Leacock

My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way. --Ernest Hemingway

I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead. --Mark Twain

A 39-year-old man known for his jovial nature has died in Salt Spring Island's first traffic fatality in years.

John Russell Collins, who went by the name Russ, died Wednesday after the 1972 Toyota Landcruiser he was driving failed to make a right turn coming down the gravel road on Mount Tuam. The vehicle struck a tree and rolled. Collins, a B.C. Ferries worker, was announced dead on arrival at Lady Minto Hospital. A 38-year-old male passenger, a relative from Surrey, received minor injuries and was released from hospital.

"It's a real shock to our community," said RCMP Sgt. Mike Giles. "We've been blessed with a good stretch of luck, and haven't had a road fatality in several years." Giles believes the last fatality was five years ago. ...

Donna Martin sends this along.

Today, Thursday June 26, at the Trust meeting we will have an opportunity to persuade the trust once and for all to take a stand regarding the hatchery at Walker Hook. Our trustees communications with other government agencies has been consistently vague enough to be construed as a tacit approval of the whole project. We are asking our trustees to go on record as being against this project and to write the appropriate letters to the Ministry of Agriculture Food and Fisheries and the Ministry of Transportation.

Kimberly has agreed that we can have the town hall portion of the meeting from 1-2 pm. The whole purpose of the Islands Trust is to protect environmentally sensitive and archaeologically significant sites like Walker Hook.

Let's show our trustees that this is devastatingly important to the future of our island and demand them to follow the mandate to preserve and protect this beautiful environmentally, archaeologically, and recreationally significant area from the industrialization that is damaging it.

Please come out to the meeting, it may be our last chance to make a difference. That's 1 pm, Thursday the 26th of June, at the Lions Hall.

Donna Martin
Residents for Responsible Land Use

At Trust Council in March it was recommended within the 3 resolutions passed regarding aquaculture that an information meeting be set up with provincial government agencies.

That meeting will be held this Friday May 23 at 2pm at the Lions Hall. Doug Westlake from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries has confirmed that 5 or 6 provincial reps will be attending. The Provincial reps will include Doug Westlake (MAFF), Andrew Morgan (MAFF), Galvin Last (MAFF), Stephen Shute (MAFF), Dr. Craig Steven (MAFF) and Bernie Taekema (WLAP) - Colin Fry from the Land Commission has declined. There should be an ad in the Driftwood tomorrow.

The province tabled a bill last week to help fish farms by taking over local zoning decisions. The changes will allow the province to overrule local governments that use zoning regulations to prevent fish farms from setting up in certain areas. Please everyone let's have a good turnout for this and
please bring your questions and concerns and dismay with you.

At Trust Council in March it was recommended within the 3 resolutions passed regarding aquaculture that an information meeting be set up with provincial government agencies.

That meeting will be held this Friday April 23 at 2pm at the Lions Hall. Doug Westlake from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries has confirmed that 5 or 6 provincial reps will be attending. The Provincial reps will include Doug Westlake (MAFF), Andrew Morgan (MAFF), Galvin Last (MAFF), Stephen Shute (MAFF), Dr. Craig Steven (MAFF) and Bernie Taekema (WLAP) - Colin Fry from the Land Commission has declined. There should be an ad in the Driftwood tomorrow.

The province tabled a bill last week to help fish farms by taking over local zoning decisions. The changes will allow the province to overrule local governments that use zoning regulations to prevent fish farms from setting up in certain areas. Please everyone let's have a good turnout for this and
please bring your questions and concerns and dismay with you.

As fast as you can snap your fingers, kids are dying in Africa because they don't have clean water. Ryan Hreljac age 11, is a powerful speaker. He has worked since the age of six to make a difference in the lives of thousands of African kids. Ryan Hreljac and Akana Jimmy are both smiling today. Their visit to Gabriola Island BC helped to raise almost $15,000 for wells in Africa. The original goal was $2000.

Kids at Aurora Learning Centre opened the tap by voting at their kids meeting to "do a project that will make a difference in the world".

Serena Wong, a seven year old Aurora student, heard about Ryan, who started raising money for wells in Africa when he was six. She contacted Ryan by email, and invited him to visit Gabriola.  His acceptance set off a flurry of activity. Kids from Gabriola Elementary School joined the Aurora kids. They put donation cans at local businesses, held a car wash, and sold hot dogs.

A teacher at GES bet his class that they couldn't raise $500 in a week. If they did, he would pierce his eyebrow and wear a stud to school. His students spent their lunch hours collecting change from other students and teachers. He's wearing a shiny new stud this week.

Students and parents organized a community event with Gumboot Dancers from Salt Spring Island, Drummers from Gabriola, Gabriola Community Choir, and other entertainment, in addition to a presentation by Ryan that made the plight of kids who have to walk for hours to get water real to everyone in the room.

Gabriola Island, population about 3500, responded with open hands and hearts. At a school assembly this week, students presented Ryan and Akana Jimmy, Ryan's penpal and friend from Uganda, with a check for $11,700. By the time new donations had been counted, the total is almost $15,000 and still rising.

The original goal was $2000. The kids have learned that if they set out to make a difference in the world, they can inspire their community, meet and exceed their goals, and have a lot of fun along the way!

Kate Jaimet and Amy O'Brian CanWest News Services



Photo: Sidney Spit Marine Park will form part of the new national park, which has been eight years in the planning.

Parts of the picturesque Gulf Islands will be officially declared a national park this week, the first of 10 new parks promised as part of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's parting legacy.

Ottawa and the provincial government are to sign an agreement Friday that will establish the park, covering 26 square kilometres of land on 15 islands in the southern Strait of Georgia. ...

Kate Jaimet and Amy O'Brian CanWest News Services

An agreement formally declaring the long-promised national park in the Gulf Islands is to be signed Friday, federal Heritage Minister Sheila Copps says.

The federal-provincial agreement will cover 26 square kilometres of land on 15 southern Gulf Islands, an area under stress from heavy ship traffic and urbanization.

"It's like a little part of heaven. It's probably one of the most beautiful places on Earth," Copps said Tuesday in Ottawa. "And we will now keep it forever. Thousands of years after all of us are gone, the islands will be stronger because of what we're doing this week." ...

Sabine Jessen, conservation director of the B.C. chapter of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, a parks advocacy group, said Friday's official announcement about the Gulf Islands park will be a huge day for her and her colleagues.

"This is basically the final announcement on the park that will allow it to be up and operating," she said. "It is a very big deal. It is like, the day for the beginning of this national park." ...

AN EVENING OF CANADIAN LITERATURE

with Rosemary Sullivan

The acclaimed author of Shadow Maker, her Governor-General award winning biography of Canada's great mystic poet, Gwendolyn MacEwen, a biography later made into a documentary film directed by Brenda Longfellow. Rosemary Sullivan has also written biographies of Margaret Atwood, The Red Shoes, and Elizabeth Smart, By Heart / A Life. Her latest book is Labyrinth of Desires: Women, Passion, and Romantic Obsession, which the National Post archly called "a slippery and easy pleasure." She is the author of Memory Making: The Selected Essays of Rosemary Sullivan. A noted poet, she has recently published The Bone Ladder: New and Selected Poems. A longtime activist, Sullivan has edited numerous important anthologies, including The Oxford Book of Stories by Canadian Women, and Poetry by Canadian Women. She is also the co-editor of The Writer and Human Rights.

8:00 p.m. Saturday, May 3rd
All Saints by the Sea Anglican Church
(Upstairs)
(110 Park Drive, Ganges)
Free Admission
(All Donations Appreciated)
Sponsored by Theatre Alive! & The Canada Council

As improbable as it seems, the CRD is proposing that small scale farmers must get permits and pay annual fees for composting.

Under the draft regulations if you are a farmer in the ALR you are only exempt if you compost your own products, or you compost waste from another farm.

If you compost any other products - grass clipping, wood chips, sawdust etc. you must register as a Class 2 Composting Facility. The registration fee is $1,000 and there is an "Annual Licence Administration/Monitoring Fee" of $1,650 - every year.

By the way, if you are a farm, but not in the ALR, then you are not exempted from anything! You must register and pay the fees even if you compost your own material.

Click on full story to read the email we received from Jason Austin by way of Terry J. Klokeid.

Gail Sjuberg Driftwood

With so much suffering and poverty in the world, it's often hard to know where or how to help first.

For Genesis Davies of Salt Spring, who turned 23 on April 12, that decision has been easy.

While travelling in Guatemala last year, she came across an institution that cried out for the compassion, skills and hugs she was eager to share. Called the Hospital Hermano Pedro in Antigua, it's both a hospital and an orphanage — home to no "ordinary" orphans. ...

While Genesis has thrived on her connection to the orphans, and the rest of the Davies family and some friends have felt its warmth vicariously, they want to share the joy with others.

They are now inviting others to contribute funds of any amount or get involved in making crocheted, stuffed bears, hand-knit dolls and multi-textured quilts to bring some happiness into the lives of the orphanage residents. ...

• Helen Caldicott, a legend in our own time, will be speaking at the High School Gym, Saturday evening, April 26 at 8 pm.
  
  
• Salt Spring WRITERS' DAY at the Library in celebration of Canada Book Week
  
  Everyone Welcome
  
  Sunday April 27th. 3-5 pm
  
  Brian Brett will give a talk on his "Writer's Life" 3:45 pm.
  
  Come and meet our local authors, see our book display, coffee, tea and finger food.
  
  Sponsored by the Library, Salt Spring Writers & Friends and The Writers Trust of Canada.
  

Jennifer McLarty Cowichan News-Leader



Provisions for willing seller property in a Nanaimo First Nation’s agreement in principle is good news for the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group, says chief negotiator Robert Morales.

The proposed treaty — recently reached between B.C., Canada and the Snuneymuxw First Nation — allows for the purchase of 2,800 hectares of private property to make up for scarce Crown land on southern Vancouver Island. “We’re particularly interested in the willing-seller, willing buyer aspect,” Morales said Thursday. “This is willing seller land contained within an AIP, which is something we’ll probably be looking at given our situation.”

Within the HTG’s proposed 290,000-hectare settlement area, only 39,000 hectares (13 per cent) is negotiable Crown land. About 245,000 hectares (84 per cent) is private land. Reserve properties account for 5,000 hectares or 1.8 per cent of First Nations traditional territory. ...

Both B.C. and Canada have indicated they’re not interested in expropriating land as part of a Snuneymuxw treaty, although the AIP does give them that option. But Morales warns what’s been negotiated in Nanaimo won’t necessarily be a template for the HTG, which is still working toward its own "unique" agreement in principle.

"We intend to negotiate a Hul'qumi'num treaty, and don’t intend to base it on the Snuneymuxw template," said Morales. "We’re not simply going to do the same kind of negotiation. It will have a distinctly Hul'qumi'num approach."

Both self-government and natural resources management are currently being discussed at the HTG treaty table, says Morales, adding details are being kept confidential. But he did hint the Hul'qumi'num — which represents six First Nations, including Cowichan Tribes — is pursuing stronger powers than the Snuneymuwx under both categories. ...

• Swanson's Pond preservation initiated
  Gail Sjuberg Gulf Islands Driftwood
  
  Swanson's Pond could become part of community green space if sufficient green paper material is amassed.
  
  Elizabeth White — who coordinated the Salt Spring Appeal for local contributions to the Texada lands purchase in 2000-2001 — is part of a community group investigating a possible conservation purchase of the 3.3-acre parcel between Park Drive and Kanaka Road. Speaking at Saturday's town hall meeting in Beaver Point Hall, White and others outlined possibilities for raising the estimated $400,000 needed.
  
  
• Audio: The Coast Guard is expanding the dive team as a response to the Cap Rouge II tragedy. (Real Player 4 min 45 sec)
  
  
• Helen Caldicott, a legend in our own time, will be speaking at the High School Gym, Saturday evening, April 26 at 8 pm.
  
  
• Salt Spring WRITERS' DAY at the Library in celebration of Canada Book Week
  
  Everyone Welcome
  
  Sunday April 27th. 3-5 pm
  
  Brian Brett will give a talk on his "Writer's Life" 3:45 pm.
  
  Come and meet our local authors, see our book display, coffee, tea and finger food.
  
  Sponsored by the Library, Salt Spring Writers & Friends and The Writers Trust of Canada.
  

Gail Sjuberg Gulf Islands Driftwood

Tourist-reliant Salt Spring business owners can't help but be worried about impacts of destabilizing events - from the war in Iraq to loose-lipped politicians and the SARS scare in Ontario.

Early indications hint at a quieter local season than usual, but it might still be too soon to tell.

The new nuclear danger
Guerilla News Network

Bush and the myth of nuclear disarmament



Every American Gen-Xer remembers the 1983 made-for-television movie, The Day After. Cheesy and poorly acted as it was, the film brought the nightmare of nuclear holocaust into our living rooms, and galvanized a nation against the increasingly out-of-control nuclear arms race.

Think of Dr. Helen Caldicott as a sort of one-woman Day After. Beginning in the early ‘80s, the Australian-born physician and activist began traveling the United States describing in clinical detail the effects an atomic blast would have on our population centers. Her words shocked a complacent country into action.

By the mid-80s, the anti-nuke movement, thanks in large part to her eloquent testimonials, had succeeded in bringing about a massive shift in public attitudes towards the nuclear arms race, and in many ways, helped push the two superpowers to begin reducing their missiles. In 1985, Dr. Caldicott was nominated for the Nobel Prize by Linus Pauling. That year, the Nobel committee awarded the Peace Prize to the umbrella group she helped found, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

 She has briefed and presented to government leaders (including Reagan and Gorbachev), editorial boards of major newspapers and numerous universities. Senator Edward Kennedy called her "one of the most eloquent voices on earth" and Meryl Streep has cited her as "my inspiration to speak out."

 You would think Dr. Caldicott would be on to other issues. The Cold War is over and aren’t the U.S. and Russia working together to reduce their nuclear arms?

Wrong, according to the good doctor. ... In her new book, The New Nuclear Danger: George Bush’s Military-Industrial Complex (New Press, 2002), Dr. Caldicott examines what she claims are the new dangers the Bush administration’s nuclear policies pose to the survival of the planet.

"We will all go together when we go."--1960s Cold War lyric by Tom Lehrer

HELEN CALDICOTT TO SPEAK ON SALT SPRING

Dr. Helen Caldicott, a legend in our own time, will be speaking at the High School Gym, Saturday evening, April 26 at 8 pm. The award-winning film," If You Love This Planet," was constructed around her insights into world tensions in the seventies. She founded Physicians for Social Responsibility, which was co-winner of the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize. Dr. Linus Pauling, himself a multi-laureate, individually nominated Dr. Caldicott for the prize.

Helen Caldicott is the author of several books, the latest of which is titled, The New Nuclear Danger: George W. Bush’s Military Industrial Complex. Copies of the book will be available for autographing at the April 26 event. Another recent Caldicott project is the Nuclear Policy Research Institute (NPRI). This organization has been headquartered in San Francisco, but is soon to open an office in Washington, DC (website: www.nuclearpolicy.org).

Music appropriate to the occasion will be provided by Tuned Air and by Valdy. Admission will be by donation, but to assure that each attendee will have a seat, tickets will be distributed in advance through et cetera, Stuff and Nonsense and Volume 11. The ticket holder is asked to make a donation when acquiring the ticket.

Sponsoring organizations are Concerned Citizens of Salt Spring Island, Salt Spring Island Conservancy and Voice of Women. Inquiries may be directed to Marion Pape 537-4567, Maggie Schubart 537-9804 and Irene Wright 537-5347. The website to explore is www.cccssi.ca.

Theatre Alive! presents multi-talented author and editor, Michael
Redhill. His play Building Jerusalem was shortlisted for the
Governor-General's award and won both the Chalmers and the Dora award
for best first play. His best-selling novel, Martin Sloane, about a
woman's search for a mysterious artist, received rave reviews across
Canada and in the New York Times, was shortlisted for the Giller Prize,
and won the Amazon.ca/Books In Canada First Novel Award, as well as the
Commonwealth Writer's Prize for best first book. He is also the author
of two much-praised collections of poems, Light-crossing and Asphodel.
His journalism has appeared in the Globe and Mail and Time Magazine. He
also edited Lost Classics with Michael Ondaatje and Esta and Linda
Spalding. Along with the Spaldings and Ondaatje he is an editor of the
acclaimed literary magazine, Brick, one of the most important
international literary magazines being published today. Come and hear
and meet this vibrant author.

8:00 p.m. Saturday, April 5th
All Saints by the Sea Anglican Church
(Upstairs, 110 Park Drive, Ganges)
Free Admission
(All Donations Appreciated)
Sponsored by Theatre Alive! & The Canada Council

Gail Sjuberg Driftwood

The Salt Spring Local Trust Committee's policy review on vacation rentals announced last week has been showered with initial positive reaction.

At last Thursday's local Trust committee (LTC) meeting, trustees Eric Booth and Kimberly Lineger approved a process "roadmap" set out by Trust regional planning manager John Gauld. Its checkpoints include holding two community information meetings with the LTC and its Advisory Planning Commission (APC) and creating a "balanced" APC "resource subcommittee" made up of representatives from various interest groups.

Subcommittee terms of reference could be framed for the next public LTC meeting in April, and the first public information meeting held in May, with APC recommendations expected by August 15. If proposed bylaw amendments are needed, they could then be done in time for the 2004 tourist season.

Don't forget the important public meeting today at the Lions Hall, 2pm

There will be a one time meeting with Rob Howatt from the Ministry of Transportation, at the Lion's Hall on Friday, the 28th March, at 2pm. After the meeting Rob will make the FINAL decision on granting a 20yr lease and subdivision on the Caldwell property at Walker's Hook.

There will be a one time meeting with Rob Howatt from the Ministry of
Transportation, at the Lion's Hall on Friday, the 28th March, at 2pm.

After the meeting Rob will make the FINAL decision on granting a 20yr lease
and subdivision on the Caldwell property at Walker's hook.

'Aquaculture' is a permitted land use under the ALR and therefore Rob's
decision is likely to reflect that, which is why it is CRUCIAL that we go to
this meeting and express our concerns.

Salt Spring is NOT the place for industrialized farming operations of any
kind - especially aquaculture, and the owner of the proposed hatchery (Gidon
Minkoff) plans to significantly expand his operations if he is given the
go-ahead by highways (check out his website: money-works.com.)

'Agri-Business'- local produce of all kinds, helps us to grow and buy
locally, it also attracts thousands of visitors each year. We need to send a
strong message that we support local 'cottage' industry and NOT industrial
operations that ship their produce off island. We will be left with all the
NEGATIVE environmental impacts and nothing else!

The Friday meeting which is being chaired by Kimberly Linegar, will be our
last chance to send the message that we DO NOT want to see 'aquaculture'
replace the more traditional farming practises, on our beautiful island.

Please be there!!

Thank you,

Andrea Collins
Tamar Griggs
Kathy Scarfo
Chris Acheson
Nina Raginsky
Donna Martin
Audrey Wilde

Salt Spring Residents for Responsible Land Use.

Mona Fertig, BC/Yukon representative for The Writers' Union of Canada sends along this open letter to other professional writers resident on Salt Spring. Any volunteers? Contact Mona at (m)Öthêr Tøñguè Press.


Dear Salt Spring writers,

The SS library has asked if Salt Spring writers would like to co-host the Canada Writers' Day at the library.

For the past two years it has been a meet and greet affair, with many of the 100 writers on the island turning up.

I said I would be interested in co-hosting, co-ordinating, if I can get about 5 other writers to help. (I have two so far)

The writers would be in charge of contacting other writers, possible program, picking up some donated food, and having 2-3 writers available for clean-up. The library would do publicity, poster, get food donations lined up, book display, name tags, greet writers and also help clean up.

Date would possibly be April 27 Sunday afternoon.

If you are interested let me know,

happy spring

Mona Fertig

Following is an announcement from Mallory Pred and Jane Squier. Attention to the issues around transportation is long overdue here, and must be undertaken with an eye to broad community needs rather than merely to service between ferries and Ganges. So please consider how you might be willing and able to become involved.

The Salt Spring Public Transportation Society was established as a registered, non-profit organization in 1994. The Society was formed with a broad aim of supporting and encouraging ALL forms of public transport on Salt Spring. However, at that time, interest was just not sufficient to implement any effective systems.

Now that our global and local consciousness has been raised a few notches; now that we face decisions regarding the quality of our roads (whether to upgrade, widen, etc.) which ultimately reflect our attitudes toward the rule of the automobile and our rural identity; now that the price of oil is rising and the flow dwindling, perhaps we are ready to begin thinking hard and creatively about ways to activate the Society and make it a working entity which serves all of us and our environment.

In order to retain its legal status, the Society has called an AGM for March 25, with the election of a board and solicitation of membership as its most urgent business.

This is an open invitation to islanders who recognize that alongside agriculture, affordable housing, water and forestry, transportation merits a high priority if our still enviable island life is to be preserved and protected.

Come to the meeting. Come with ideas. Ideally, we will be able to elect a strong Board which can reflect a broad spectrum of concerns, including those of seniors, parents, youth, cyclists, hikers, the business community (including B & Bs), and commuters.

The ride-share program for registering resident hitchhikers and drivers, and the Seniors Transportation Committee, both of which have already begun planning, are examples of groups which will be able to work under the umbrella of the Society. In addition, the Society is in a position to work cooperatively with agencies such as BC Ferries, BC Parks, the School District and the Capital Regional District.

We hope for input from community members regarding: transportation needs; other communities that have working systems; expertise in transportation, alternate fuel systems, grant writing, fund raising.

Let us do this with care and good will. Better to do it slow and well, with an intention for building a true grassroots, islander-driven transportation system-than too fast, like our cars…...

JOIN. March 25, 7 PM, at the Golf Club.

Mallory Pred & Jane Squier

Salt Spring Island writer L.W. Pitman in today's Globe and Mail

The Raging Grannies are a force to be reckoned with in these unsettled times. I was one of several male Granny-followers who tagged along to a recent peace march. ...

I am not a Raging Granny, principally because I'm the wrong sex, but my wife, a bona fide member of some standing, invited me to join in the recent Victoria Peace March, one of many taking place across the world.

Thus it was that I found myself on a B.C. ferry on a bright winter's morning surrounded by a contingent of the Saltspring Raging Grannies, resplendent in their wildly decorated hats and outrageous dresses. Fortunately, there were a few other grandfather-husbands and male Granny-followers for balance.

Andrea Collins reminds us: "It's vitally important that we continue to support the Islands Trust in following O.C.P. policies and bylaws, which reflect an approach to 'sustainable development' and also seeks to avoid industrial development that can cause environmental harm or change the social fabric of our community." She sends along this letter with the comment: "Please feel free to copy this letter or use it as a template for your own letter to the Islands Trust."


To: Kimberly Linegar
Eric booth
John Gauld

Islands Trust
1206-115 Fulford Ganges Road
S.S.I. V8K 2T9


Dear Local Trust Committee Members,


Please consider the following four points for a farm plan for Salt Spring,
and with your discussions with the Land Commission, and for our O.C.P.

1) The inventory of metchosin soils, the most arable of island lands, must
be used for agricultural purposes ONLY

2) When polygons from the sensitive eco-system inventory overload with
agricultural land, an environmental impact study shall be required before
any alteration to the land takes place

3) All First Nation midden, burial grounds and village sites will be
mapped and flagged for any applications that might have an impact on those sites.

4) Please delete the use of ALL fin fish hatcheries that would sell their
product for open net cage farming and export on all upland areas of the
island.

Thank you for your help in protecting farmland and sensitive wild life
habitat, so that these endangered spaces will be preserved and protected for
many future generations to enjoy, and for conserving wild fish stocks and
First Nations cultural sites.

Yours truly,

Nina Raginsky

SS Residents for Responsible Land Use

Fraser Institute awards GISS top marks


Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) has been lauded as one of the top schools in the province by the Fraser Institute's Report Card on British Columbia's Secondary Schools released Monday.

But GISS principal Nancy Macdonald isn't celebrating accolades promoted by the independent public policy organization.

The Fraser Institute ranked GISS 15th out of 279 schools in their Report Card with a score of 86 per cent. Among B.C.'s public schools, only Vancouver's University Hill Secondary (tied among 10 schools for first place) and Prince of Wales Secondary (ranked 14th) can boast a better score from the Report Card.

"I take it obviously with a grain of salt," said Macdonald. "I've gone on record as being pretty critical of the Fraser Institute Report Card."

Trust limited to "in the box" change

Dramatic changes in how the Islands Trust functions or spreads its tax burden among the islands won't be stealing the political limelight in the near future.

Islands Trust Council heard last week that the provincial government is not entertaining any "out of the box" restructuring concepts - such as allowing the Trust to assume responsibility for service delivery - for at least the next few years.

And while trustees voted to include the issue of "tax equity" in an overall examination of governance renewal taking place in the next few months, two other proposals put forth by Salt Spring trustee Eric Booth were soundly rejected.

Dorothy Cutting sends this along.

On Sunday, March 16th, at 7:00 PM in Centennial Park, Salt Spring Island will hold a candlelight vigil against the war. 

These vigils will be happening all over the world --all at the same time. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other leaders have called for these vigils as a worldwide statement for peace. Our vigil will be coordinated along with thousands of others in thousands of cities.

Those unable to attend can light a candle in their homes.

Public opinion is really having an effect -- let's keep the pressure on. Please join us. By giving a little time, we can make a big difference.

You can sign up for the vigil online at:

Globalvigal.com

We hope to see you there!

Don't forget to visit Dorothy's website regulary. Stop Thermageddon

Dorothy Cutting sends this along.

On Sunday, March 16th, at 7:00 PM in Centennial Park, Salt Spring Island will hold a candlelight vigil against the war. 

These vigils will be happening all over the world --all at the same time. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and other leaders have called for these vigils as a worldwide statement for peace. Our vigil will be coordinated along with thousands of others in thousands of cities.

Those unable to attend can light a candle in their homes.

Public opinion is really having an effect -- let's keep the pressure on. Please join us. By giving a little time, we can make a big difference.

You can sign up for the vigil online at:

Globalvigal.com

We hope to see you there!

Don't forget to visit Dorothy's website regulary. Stop Thermageddon We love our island and its residents. We are blessed. "We are strong, we are proud" if we recall the Helen Reddy lyric correctly.

This item links to the CED webesite. Check it out during the next few weeks for news that the funding is confirmed. And contact them to see what you can do to help this valuable local program.

Prohibition of boats and floathomes as dwellings will be enforced in Fulford Harbour following an Islands Trust determination that it has the authority to do so. ...

At the February 22 Trust meeting, island resident Marilyn Marshall voiced concerns that eliminating boats as a residential option would exacerbate the affordable housing crunch. She said there should instead be an effort to help the boat dwellers with problems such as sewage and garbage.

Donna Martin contributes this information.

Three resolutions were passed unanimously this morning by the Trust Council that give us a foot hold to continue our efforts to prevent Sablefin Hatcheries from starting up their hatchery on Walker Hook. Kathy Scarfo and Chris Acheson can give you more details

The resolutions are

That the Islands Trust Council request:

1. the Trust Programs Committee to consider community concerns regarding on-land aquaculture, including the proposed resolutions from Woodward and Company in their letter of March 6, 2003, and develop recommendations for Trust Council in June, 2003, pending consideration of already scheduled work program items; and

2. the Islands Trust Council request the Executive Committee to take other actions to address this issue before June, 2003, if it feels this is necessary.

That the Islands Trust Council request the Chair to communicate the Trust Policy Statement policies, precautionary principle and island community concerns regarding on-land aquaculture to the appropriate provincial and federal ministries and responsible agencies.

That the Islands Trust Council request the Chair to seek a suspension of on-land aquaculture application processing pending the development of siting criteria and the establishment of an Aquaculture Protocol with the Province, concerning due diligence, community consultation and environmental assessment.

When Islands Trust Council gathers on Salt Spring this week, a sample of recent Salt Spring controversy will land on its meeting doorstep. A group of islanders plans to bring out the placards Friday afternoon to impress on council a desire to see on-land aquaculture banned in the Trust area.

Salt Spring residents Kathy Scarfo, Chris Acheson and Donna Martin have also registered as delegations to speak about aquaculture at the opening of the business meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Friday.

Trust should protect beautiful Walker’s Hook

Nancy Wigen asks: "Are our own official community guidelines being used as a "loop hole" to defeat our real purpose, the purpose of keeping our beautiful island as a Trust area? I'm writing about Walker's Hook."

"For thousands of years people have camped at this beautiful place, enjoyed its wide sunny tombolo, feasted on its shellfish and watched their children play on its sand beach and swim in its clear waters, and they left it unharmed. Surely we can do as well as they did."

Taxes and the Trust

This may well prove to be a significant week in the history of the Islands Trust.

With a proposal to rejig the Islands Trust's property tax formula and trustee voting system on financial matters, Salt Spring trustee Eric Booth isn't wasting any time addressing the inequity he fingered during the election campaign last fall.

And before he brings the matter to Trust Council attention at its meeting on Salt Spring next week, he and fellow trustee Kimberly Lineger are holding a public information session Saturday at 1 p.m. at All Saints By-the-Sea to prime islanders on the topic.

A group of Salt Spring writers have formed an association of “Salt Spring Writers & Friends” for the purpose of giving a $500. creative writing scholarship each year, to a graduating gr.12 student who wants to become a writer. This is the first writing scholarship to be offered to graduates on the island. The award will be accompanied by a selection of books written by island writers.

If anyone is interested in contributing to this new scholarship, a cheque for $20 can be made out to: “Salt Spring Writers’ Scholarship” and mailed c/o 290 Fulford-Ganges Rd. S.S.Is. V8K 2K6 or dropped off at the Apple Photo drop off box in Ganges. All non writers who donate money toward this scholarship will be appreciated as friends. All writers who donate will become members. Donations beyond $20 are also welcome.

This scholarship will be awarded on the sole basis of writing submitted and judged by readers, who are professional writers, from SSW&F. Academic grades will not be relevant. A manuscript of ten poems (typed on 8 1/2 x 11") or one chapter of a novel or a short story (2000 words +) should be submitted by applicants, as well as a covering letter saying why they want to be a writer. Student should have plans to study creative writing at a recognized writing workshop, university or college creative writing course after they graduate. Three readers from SSW&F will be judges. Deadline for scholarship application is April 25,2003. See the Gulf Island Secondary School scholarship booklet for further info.

From a splashy gathering of people and placards outside Lions Hall, through hours of tense meetings on Friday and Saturday, the Walker Hook sablefish hatchery issue continued to galvanize community debate last week.

With pressure from the Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) to cough up a response to a 20-year lease application for eight hectares (20 acres) of land between landowner Henry Caldwell and the hatchery company, both the Salt Spring Local Trust Committee (LTC) and its Advisory Planning Commission (APC) were under the gun.

Mona Fertig sends this along

After a successful meeting at Moby's last Wednesday, we have created a new group " Salt Spring Writers & Friends" (SSW&F) to initiate a creative writing scholarship for a graduating student. If you'd be interested in contributing, please drop a cheque for $20 ( or more) at Apple Photo, in the drop off box. Cheque should be made out to, "Salt Spring Writers' Scholarship". Writers become members and other contributors become Friends. We will be sending out a press release soon.

Click on full story for minutes of the first meeting which include details for graduating grade 12 students who might want to apply for the scholarship.

Wayne Fraser asks you to attend

Please attend the Island's Trust meeting @ 2:00 this Friday at the Lions hall and again on Saturday @ 1:00pm at the Anglican Church to voice your concerns over the fish farm hatchery application at Walker's Hook. This will be our last chance to address this issue before the Island's Trust makes it's recommendations to the province.

Today, a fish farm hatchery operating in Ocean Falls has been shut down by a protest being led by our native leaders. If we are to have any say in protecting our island and our coastline from this industrial feed lot industry we must act now while the issue is in the public eye.

As we are all aware, our island is about to become the home to a sablefish hatchery. This hatchery will eventually raise up to 10,000,000 smolts at a time destined for the growing open pen fish farm industry that is taking over our coast. The proponents of this fish farm industry point to Chile as an example of how successful the industry is.

"The 10th region " of Chile has indeed been the host to this feed lot industry that has grown to over 800 fish farms in this one coastal region of Chile . The industry came with the promise of jobs and prosperity for the region. When the fish feed lot industry arrived in Chile some 25 years ago this was one of the poorest regions of the country with a mixed agrarian economy ( farming, fishing, tourism). Sound familiar? Today it is still one of the poorest regions in Chile where people have abandoned their traditional economy to work on the low paying fish farms that are becoming more mechanized and laying more people off all the time. Chile's coastal environment is being devastated, their food fishery has been largely taken over to produce fish feed for farmed fish, and they have become dependent on this one industry for their survival. Is this our future? It is if we let it happen.

Please take a stand on this important global issue. The future of our coastline and our mixed economies are at risk. To not act will be seen by our government and the industry as an endorsement for the industry and we will become just like Chile.

Click on full story to go to yesterday's related items.

Some other related items: Sablefish hatchery "not consistent with what Salt Spring stands for"

Aquaculture's troubled harvest

Raising salmon in ocean pens was supposed to preserve the wild and feed the world. But all over the globe, industrial-style fish farming is threatening native fish and the ecosystems that depend on them. The latest battleground: British Columbia.

Farmed salmon pink becomes grey area for EU

Fish farms: To join or fight?

Wrong direction on fish farms


Don't let Salt Spring sablefish hatchery endanger this fishery

Judi Stevenson sends this along

The official "public information" meeting of APC meeting is on Friday, tomorrow, Feb 21st, 2 pm at Lion's Hall -- but then the APC has to make its recommendation immediately, because the Trustees will be meeting on SATURDAY, the 22nd, 1 pm at All Saints, for their regular local trust committee meeting and will have to make a decision on this specific application at that time, as I understand it. They are under a deadline from provincial government. The company is expected to be there on Friday with lawyers ready to make their case. There will be a public PROTEST, so if you wish to express yourself that way, make placards etc and get ready to join. WRITE A LETTER to the trustees TODAY (or by Friday at 2 pm at the very latest), expressing your position on the hatchery. They use these letters as one important way of gauging public opinion and they really matter. Even if you don't know all the technical/legal details, express your views that industrial fish farming is not an appropriate land use on Salt Spring. Its not what we mean when we say we want to support and encourage the local farming community! Fax letters to the local Trust office at 537-9116, or deliver directly to the office which I think closes at 4 pm. Its probably too late for email. If this specifc application cannot be stopped, the Trust Council for all the islands can still be pressed to fight for a legal means of stopping future fish farms and hatcheries. They meet here March 5th - 8th, with a Town Hall session Friday March 7th, 3:30 to 5:00 pm.

Related: Driftwood wades into fish farm/hatchery

If Salt Spring and other islands don't want to become known for their on-land fish farms or hatcheries supplying open-net fish farms with fingerlings, they will need to make it a Trust-wide concern.

The topic will surely be high on the discussion list when Islands Trust Council meets on Salt Spring from March 6-8, and council should consider proactive measures to deal with the issue.

Related: Full impact study needed on fish-farming
Viewpoint by Clea Adair

I am writing to voice my opposition to the proposed sablefish hatchery.

I am a student at the University of Victoria, a past resident and many-time visitor to your lovely island. There is no place in Canada that has the "feel" of your island. The wonderful and engaged community, the summer market with its interesting artistic stuff of all shapes and sizes, its organic produce and homemade goods and, most importantly to me, your beautiful parks - both marine and terrestrial - all combine to create a very special place to live and visit. This is why I am deeply concerned to hear that the ecologically conscious Salt Spring community (who seem to be advocates of the precautionary approach) will be the first site for a sablefish hatchery.

The Liquor Distribution Branch has started this year's dry grad fundraising campaign.

Until March 22, B.C. Liquor Store customers will be able to support dry grad celebrations in their communities by donating $1 at their government liquor store. All donations will be given to the local school district to be distributed to high schools planning alcohol-free graduations. This is the third year the Liquor Distribution Branch has sponsored the campaign.

Last year, customers were given a bookmark in exchange for a donation. This year no more of those civic-minded bookmarks. They might have encouraged people to use the public library systems which drain so much from the public coffers and steal taxes from people who can afford to buy their own books. No sirree. This is a marketing opportunity.

In 2003, the Liquor Distribution Branch has partnered with Jelly Belly, the original gourmet jelly bean company, to provide sample-sized packages of Jelly Belly dies to customers as a thank-you for their donation in support of dry grad. (We can't help but wonder what was the process to propose for this opportunity?)

This year, 56 school districts are participating in the campaign. The contributions by liquor store customers top up funds raised by parents, students and teachers who work all year to fundraise for dry grad celebrations.

Sponsoring fundraising for alcohol-free grads is part of the Liquor Distribution Branch's public safety and social responsibility program to promote the responsible use of beverage alcohol - a program that includes the prevention of underage drinking and zero consumption for minors. Liquor store employees across the province are required to check the ID of young clients, and seasonal awareness displays in the stores remind customers that it is illegal and a serious offence to buy alcohol for minors. We hope the mandated private liquor stores will continue this program and policy.

During the first two years of the campaign, $194,918 was raised across British Columbia. Salt Spring Island has consistently been in the top rank of per capita donations. Let's keep our record up this year.

BC Liquor Stores--Worth Keeping

We think closing BC's liquor stores is bad for consumers, bad for workers and bad for communities. Visit this site for more facts and figures and argument and to sign the online petition.

Harrowsmith Country Life magazine has dubbed Salt Spring Island one of the 10 prettiest regions in Canada, as part of the magazine's annual salute to rural Canada. The top-10 story runs in the March/April issue.

"Every year we do something like this," said Harrowsmith editor Tom Cruickshank last week. "Usually we do it on towns, but we thought we would broaden it a little." Cruickshank said the subjective list is compiled from the opinions of Harrowsmith writers and photographer

The Islands Trust meeting today regarding the sablefin hatchery at Walker Hook is at the Lions Hall building starting at 2 pm not 1 pm as we reported previously.

For your interest and information the hatchery website is here. This will give you a sense of the folks behind this aesthetically and environmentally sensitive issue. And of the size and nature of the construction.

Photo by Kevin Oke--The mud flats at Walker Hook

Painting by Carol Evans--Shoreline at Walker Hook

If you have any love or affection for this beautiful piece of property please come out to the Trust meeting. If you feel that building a fish hatchery to supply fish farms on other shores and properties in coastal British Columbia when we have decided in our own community plan that we will not have aquaculture on our shoreline is hypocritical please come out to the meeting. If you feel that digging wells and settling ponds on the tombolo (spit) for the hatchery is wrong, please come to the meeting. It is the number of people who show up to these meetings that give the trustees direction and a barometer of what the community feeling is. Walker Hook beach and spit and the adjoining island are one of the most beautiful land forms in the Gulf Islands. Our community plan has designated this property as highly desirable to acquire for recreational, scenic park land. Our trustees need to know the depth of our affection for this unique and endangered property. The Islands Trust need a show of support to pursue the Min. of Agriculture and change the bylaw that allows aquaculture on agricultural land in the Gulf Islands.

Donna Martin sends this along;

The Trust Meeting this Thursday, Feb. 13 at 1 pm will be discussing the Sablefish hatchery that is under construction at Walker Hook. If you have any love or affection for this beautiful piece of property please come out to the Trust meeting. If you feel that building a fish hatchery to supply fish farms on other shores and properties in coastal British Columbia when we have decided in our own community plan that we will not have aquaculture on our shoreline is hypocritical please come out to the meeting. If you feel that digging wells and settling ponds on the tombolo (spit) for the hatchery is wrong, please come to the meeting. It is the number of people who show up to these meeting that give the trustees direction and a barometer of what the community feeling is . Walker Hook beach and spit and the adjoining island are one of the most beautiful land forms in the Gulf Islands. Our community plan has designated this property as highly desirable to acquire for recreational, scenic park land. Our trustees need to know the depth of our affection for this unique and endangered property. The Islands Trust need a show of support to pursue the Min. of Agriculture and change the bylaw that allows aquaculture on agricultural land in the Gulf Islands.

Please send this on to your friends and acquaintances, so we can all work together to save "the hook".

On Wednesday, February 26th, Alexandra Morton will be in Victoria to give an evening slide presentation and talk on issues surrounding salmon farming.

Click on full story for venue, etc.

Salt Spring youth and family counsellors received lay-off notices Friday as ministry funding for the school-based program expires next month.

Related: Cuts threaten Fulford daycare

Salt Spring is in danger of losing a vibrant non-profit daycare centre that has served island families for the past nine years. And provincial government subsidy cuts appear to be responsible for reducing the number of families able to use Tree Frog Daycare in Fulford.

The Campbell coalition has other priorities. With civil society getting uppity, the world at war, and the global economy sinking, the province's transnationals need all the help they can get.

Forested Crown lands on Salt Spring could be slated for industrial logging if the provincial government follows through on a new "working forest" policy introduced January 22.

"At first I was thinking, 'Surely to God they wouldn't be thinking about Crown land on Salt Spring.' But I think differently now," said Salt Spring's Capital Regional District director Gary Holman.


See also: Communities the losers in new forest policy

An alliance of municipal politicians, First Nations leaders, environmentalists and labour unions is drafting a private members’ bill to counter proposed changes in B.C. forests.

It says the provincial government’s plan to introduce dramatic shifts in policy will benefit big corporations and leave resource-dependent communities in the cold.

“All the corporate obligations that existed in the past, and were part of a social contract, are getting tossed out,” said Matt Price, a Valley resident and member of the Coalition For Sustainable Forest Solutions. “A lot of the things that made public property public are going to be gone, and people should be worried about it.” Of particular concern to the CSFS, is the province’s “working forests” strategy, which was released as a discussion paper last week.

Salt Spring's Local Trust Committee (LTC) kept the rubber stamp at bay Saturday when it came to deciding whether or not to give its blessing to a 20-year lease for a Walker Hook sablefish hatchery. Before a standing-room-only crowd eager to learn more about the proposed hatchery and research facility, all three trustees - Kimberly Lineger, Eric Booth and David Essig - said they felt more than an afternoon was needed to make a decision on the issue.

The application will now be referred to the LTC's Advisory Planning Commission and a public meeting held on the topic. While the technical application before the LTC had nothing to do with the political, ethical or scientific debates about aquaculture, the public turnout and questions pushed discussion in that direction.

We believe strongly that the local Trust committee (LTC) should seize the vacation rentals issue, take it out of the hands of interest groups, and place it squarely on the public agenda. With due respect to ASTAR and the Chamber of Commerce, this is a whole-community issue and not the preserve of those who see benefits in the commercialization of island homes.

The internationally controversial topic of aquaculture will surface at the Lions Hall this Saturday afternoon when the Salt Spring Local Trust Committee (LTC) considers a proposed sablefish hatchery on Walker Hook agricultural property. ...

Chris Acheson, who is both president of the Canadian Sablefish Association (CSA) and a Salt Spring resident, will be addressing the LTC about the hatchery on Saturday.

He thinks Salt Spring Islanders should consider if they want their island known as the home of a major experimental fish hatchery. His association feels the millions of fish that will be raised from the hatchery stock could lead to eventual elimination of the wild sablefish stock in the North Pacific.

Related: Fish farmers halt hatchery construction

A fish farming company operating on the Central Coast has stopped building a hatchery at Ocean Falls pending discussions with opponents. After a protest at the site last Wednesday, Omega Salmon Group [owned by Norwegian company Pan Fish] is trying to arrange discussions with the Heiltsuk people in the area, company project manager Kjell Aasen says in an interview from Campbell River.

Fish farms: To join or fight?

This week a state lawmaker introduced legislation to make fish farming legal in Alaska; a report found that sea lice from Atlantic salmon farms pose the biggest threat to BC's wild salmon populations; and protests against BC's expansion of salmon farms grew international in scope. The protests were peaceful but the "situation is unlikely to stay mellow for long," Seattle P-I columnist Joel Connolly wrote "The largely pristine coast is a large-scale battlefield. The B.C. government has industrial-strength designs on the region: big logging operations, big offshore oil exploration, big salmon fishing resorts and big fish-farm operations."

Praising everything from being greeted at the door by trustees to proposals for more community participation in local government, islanders gave warm approval to the first Salt Spring Local Trust Committee meeting held with Eric Booth and Kimberly Lineger at the helm Saturday afternoon.

Billed as a "town hall" meeting inviting islanders to raise issues of concern the new trustees could consider in formulating their work plan, close to 50 people eventually filed into Lions Hall.

Environmental celebrities offered endorsements for Salt Spring Dollars at a gala launch of new bills January 7, but the question remains whether islanders will embrace the local fundraising project. ...

Some 250 people heard popular scientist David Suzuki, wildlife artist Robert Bateman and federal environment minister David Anderson promote the currency plan. But it would be tough to say if anyone gained greater understanding of SSIMF benefits as a result.

The prospect of double digit property tax increases for Capital Regional District homeowners has some politicians seeing red. ... Overall, in a preliminary budget, the tax increase for services that all municipalities participate in is 6.29 per cent, CRD director of finance Diana Lokken said.

The proposed increases for CRD (percentage property tax increase/amount per average home) are: southern Gulf Islands 8.05 per cent or $14.69; and Saltspring Island 4.42 per cent or $11.97.

"This is huge," said Isobel Mackenzie, executive director of Peninsula Community Services. Mackenzie was referring to the announcement by the Vancouver Island Health Authority that PCS had been awarded the Home Support contract for a new area that includes the southern Gulf Islands, the Peninsula, and Saanich east and west. PCS has been offering home support on the Peninsula for more than 20 years, and took over the Gulf Islands in a merger with the Southern Gulf Islands Home Support Society last year.

PCS was up against Bayshore Health Services, a for profit agency based in Toronto that had been providing the service in the Saanich area.

On January 10, 2003, Ken Fraser, Executive Director of Investigations, advised the Foundation Treasurer, by telephone, that BCFIC legal advisors have made the determination that the Salt Spring Monetary Foundation is not taking deposits and therefore does not come under the jurisdiction of the BCFIC. Accordingly, the file on the Salt Spring Monetary Foundation has now been closed.

Recent accusations and demands directed toward the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation and some of its Directors have certainly been disturbing to me as President of the Foundation.

President Bob McGinn says" The Monetary Foundation is a small, not for profit society, formed to raise money for the community" Thanks, Bob. We believe you. And support you. But we sincerely want to hear from Bill and Mario. Let them tell us how different from the prevailning ethos they are.

I had stopped to buy some honey at a roadside stand on the road to Fulford, and encountered the bee man - who thereupon became a candidate for "Island Character of the Month."

Dave Harris, a former math and science teacher, bee keeper, orchardist, sheep farmer, thinker, collector, raconteur prefers "different" to "eccentric."

From the Gulf Islands Driftwood

Storms last Thursday night and Friday morning kicked up a ruckus and left thousands of Gulf Islanders without electricity as trees crashed through power lines.

While a few individuals had troublesome moments, Salt Spring Fire Department, Canadian Coast Guard and Gulf Islands Water Taxi crews made efficient lifesaving rescues, B.C. Ferries sailings were not significantly delayed and Hydro crews restored power to most homes within a short period of time.

Mona Fertig writes:

I am shocked that the directors of the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation have still not:

1) sent out a public letter to the citizens of Salt Spring, stating what action they are going to take to dispel the fears, quanderies, and doubt steaming around the foundation;

2) had an audit;

3) accepted the resignation of directors Eric Booth and Bill Krebs;

4) called an extraordinary meeting of the membership and asked for guidance.

I will settle for no less. There is no excuse for the lack of accountability.

The directors have been very successful in publicizing and promoting SS Dollars. It's hard to believe the cat's got their tongue.

"When the shit hits the fan come up clear and clean and open or the way back will be deep and mighty." --2003 (poet from Salt Spring)

"Read this column carefully. Very carefully" John Pottinger says to Eric Booth, Bob McGinn and Don Monteith, all directors of the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation.

John Pottinger has been using his "Isle Say!" column in the Gulf Islands Driftwood to attack the SSI Monetary Foundation. Last Wednesday's column (Jan.1)--"SS Dollars in for a stormy ride"--says that the directors produced a misleading Annual Report, that its partner in the community transportation scheme (wind energy developer Sea Breeze Energy) is less than it seems and under its new owner International Powerhouse Energy (in fact, says John "a penny mining stock") is pursuing river-run hydro-electric generation projects around the province despite local opposition. Pottinger casts his aspersions on Sea Breeze Energy, makes his allegations against International Powerhouse Energy and then directly threatens SSIMF treasurer Bill Krebs. "There's still a lot more about you and your past promotions that the folks on this island need to hear about." Inferring that Krebs should resign from the SSIMF because he has made his money in stock promotions at the expense of investors, Pottinger says to Krebs: "If you could see the cards I haven't played yet--I bet you'd fold."


Eric Booth, Bob McGinn and Tony Duggleby, President of Sea Breeze Energy have all responded to the column. Click on full story to read their replies.

We believe Sea Breeze Energy, to date, has acted responsibly in its efforts to establish itself as a wind energy generator in BC. We interviewed President Tony Duggleby last October about their Salt Spring Island plans. International Powerhouse Energy announced an agreement to purchase 100% of Sea Breeze Energy on Nov. 4, 2002.

We do feel that neither the SSIMF nor Bill Krebs have responded fully and openly to David Baines' allegations about his career as a stock promoter published in the Sun newspaper Nov. 26 and Nov. 27, 2002.

We continue to endorse the vision and the efforts of the SSIMF and encourage everyone in our community to do so. Let's get SS dollars and the work of SSIMF back on track and operating openly and transparently.

A reminder that tonight is the gala launch of the $$50 and $$100 notes at ArtSpring.

Local history and the international environmental movement will meet under one roof January 7 as the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation (SSIMF) presents its official launch of the $50 and $100 bills.

The ArtSpring stage will be a who's who of Canadian sustainability proponents, with scientist David Suzuki, federal Environment Minister David Anderson, artist Robert Bateman and Salt Spring resident Dorothy Cutting, who recently made national headlines by driving across Canada to promote Bob Hunter's book on global warming called 2030: Confronting Thermageddon in our Lifetime.

Martin Burger, president of Blue Energy Canada Inc., will talk about ocean power, where either waves or tide are harnessed to produce electricity.

Rose Murakami and a representative of the Akerman family will also speak, in reference to their families' photographs on the two bills.

0800 hrs

All of Pender, Galiano, Saturna and Mayne Islands and large sectors of Salt Spring Island are without power because of the overnight windstorm. Click on full story for an estimated time that power will be restored in each area.

Heady plans to open the taps of privately-owned liquor stores are brewing on the islands in answer to newly loosened liquor regulations distilled by the provincial government last summer. ...

New liquor rules also came into effect December 2 that will allow restaurants to dedicate up to 20 per cent of their space to a lounge where customers can drink without eating food, Stephenson noted.

And even though pub owners said they work well with the existing liquor store in Ganges, it is still destined to close, said Liquor Distribution Branch general manager Jay Chambers. "We will ultimately be closing all of the government liquor stores," he said.

At the request of the Islands Trust Council, Chair David Essig has responded to a recent article in the National Post about land use planning on Galiano Island.

"Trust Council passed a resolution asking for a public response to the article", said Essig. "There was concern around the Council table that the article would give readers of the National Post a very inaccurate impression of the Galiano Island community and its elected representatives".

The National Post's columnist Elizabeth Nickson wrote a column, published on November 30, 2002 regarding the controversial 'forest lot' situation on Galiano Island. One of her main contentions was that Galiano Island fit a continental trend that saw urban environmentalists taking over land use decisions from rural residents.

"It's important to stress that land use decisions on Galiano Island are made by locally-elected Trustees", stated Essig. They are not made by the Islands Trust Council, the Sierra Legal Defence Fund, or any other unelected body cited in the article. Further, the community has supported the underlying principles of their bylaws at the polling station for the last three local elections, most recently on November 16, 2002. Their right to make these decisions locally is fundamental to BC law."

"I don't think anyone would argue that the situation has been easy", continued Essig. "But the island's newly elected representatives have indicated they wish to find solutions that will address local concerns, while upholding the community's broader goals. We support the community in these efforts and believe they are best assisted by accurate reporting, rather than by half-truths and misinformation".

Click on full story for the full text of the letter, dated today.

A Salt Spring student fulfilled the dreams of a talented young Cuban musician when she gave him her own trombone while visiting his impoverished country on a recent high school field trip. Band and choir students from Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) visited Cuba to perform at local schools and tour cultural sites December 2-9. And while playing in Havana, they met three local young musicians and performed together on several occasions.

A Salt Spring student fulfilled the dreams of a talented young Cuban musician when she gave him her own trombone while visiting his impoverished country on a recent high school field trip. Band and choir students from Gulf Islands Secondary School (GISS) visited Cuba to perform at local schools and tour cultural sites December 2-9. And while playing in Havana, they met three local young musicians and performed together on several occasions.

As a result of controversial publicity, the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation (SSIMF) is facing further challenges with a review by the B.C. Financial Institutions Commission (FICOM). "We're trying to determine what they are doing," said FICOM executive director of investigations Ken Fraser. ... The current FICOM review of the SSIMF will determine whether or not the local fundraising venture needs to meet requirements set out in the Financial Institutions Act, Fraser said. "We're simply looking at their operation to see if they fall under the legislation. If they do we would make them come under compliance."

As a result of controversial publicity, the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation (SSIMF) is facing further challenges with a review by the B.C. Financial Institutions Commission (FICOM). "We're trying to determine what they are doing," said FICOM executive director of investigations Ken Fraser. ... The current FICOM review of the SSIMF will determine whether or not the local fundraising venture needs to meet requirements set out in the Financial Institutions Act, Fraser said. "We're simply looking at their operation to see if they fall under the legislation. If they do we would make them come under compliance."

If women came from around the world, one of the first intersections of these varied cultures was here on the rumpled landscape of Saltspring Island with its sheep paddocks, sunny upland meadows, pastoral lifestyle and still-liberal sensibilities. The evidence endures in more than the genealogies of old Island families.

The Gulf Islands School Board joined an increasing number of disaffected school districts when they passed a motion of non-confidence in the Ministry of Education on December 4. "I believe we should hold the province accountable and work in solidarity with other districts," said local trustee Judith Bo�l, who introduced the motion.

Coastal Council, a ferries advisory stakeholder group for west coast communities, including Salt Spring and the southern Gulf Islands, responded to the changes with optimism.

By Tricia Leslie
Parksville-Qualicum News B.C. Centre for Disease Control officials have found the cause of a listeriosis outbreak at the Little Qualicum Cheeseworks Ltd. factory. "The investigation at the plant itself is winding down ... we feel we've isolated the source -- the water supply system," said Larry Copeland, director of food control services at the BCCDC.

By Julia Caranci
Cowichan News Leader Two people caught attempting to harvest clams from a sewage-contaminated area in Crofton were handed conditional sentences last month. The pair, both Ladysmith residents, were charged after an incident on Feb. 18, 2002. Fisheries officers were notified by a member of the public who noticed numerous sacks containing clams in a closed-off area near the Crofton mill. "That area is closed year-round due to sewage contamination," said Nanaimo Fisheries officer Tom Pawloski. "They (the clams) were hidden in amongst the rocks."

Foundation rocked by Sun article A scathing Vancouver Sun article attacking the integrity of Salt Spring Dollars treasurer William Krebs has left local monetary foundation directors concerned and angry. In the course of researching the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation (SSIMF), Sun financial columnist David Baines investigated islander Krebs and described his business dealings in an unfavourable light with a November 27 article. While the reporter didn't directly accuse Krebs of any improprieties, he implied that the chartered accountant had profited from a series of money-losing ventures and questioned the viability of Krebs' current projects--the SSIMF and the Voice Mobility communications company. Tried and convicted The column traced the business activities of William Krebs, pointing to his involvement in public companies whose stock prices soared to spectacular levels, but made little money. The writer implied that Krebs had managed to inflate stock prices long enough for him to cash out and pocket the proceeds. An independent financial audit is planned for 2003. It should be conducted immediately, and Krebs should step aside as treasurer until it has been completed, when it should be circulated as widely as possible. The type of activity described by David Baines is all too common and is another manifestation of the cancer growing in the body of our political economy. We have worked with David Baines and know him to be a skilled, principled and responsible investigative reporter. We don't know enough about Mr. Krebs or the string of companies he has been involved with to make a reasoned judgement. We understand that "burn money" is necessary to start a new business and that sometimes the business plan is not fulfilled. What is most important is the SSIMF. We do believe the SSIMF (both through its means and its founding community vision) is one of the most potentially beneficial initiatives our island has seen in recent years. We believe it should be supported and protected.

Medical services on Salt Spring could get a boost from sweeping changes recommended by the Romanow report on Canada's health-care system. "I'm very much in favour of his findings," said Lady Minto Hospital chief of staff Dr. Don Shea. ... Another distinguished local doctor also applauded the Romanow report. ... With over 35 years in medical administration, [Dr. David] Bolton has observed the health care system from a number of perspectives.

The Salt Spring Community Housing and Land Trust Society ... is an exciting project with great potential. It requires--and deserves--broad community support. Let's show we care about the provision of affordable housing. Nice to see the Driftwood on the "right" side of a community issue. For more information on how these trusts are being operated by our cousins in the San Juans you can start here--The San Juan Community Home Trust--and here. Here's a link to the US Housing Assistance Council's Community Land Trusts and Rural Housing pages. Finally, for now, here's a guide to Community Land Trusts in the United States and Canada.

Is Salt Spring outta sight for the $8-an-hour crowd? Whistler. Some islanders blanch at the comparison, all but making the sign of the cross when the name drops into conversation. Gumboots quiver at the mention of Whistler, where nature's playground has been priced beyond the reach of all but the uberwealthy, served by an eight-buck-an-hour underclass housed in broom closets and under stairs. ... Saltspring is the place you dream of when stuck in traffic or an office cubicle. The men are all ruggedly handsome, the women all lithe and beautiful, as are the children. ... [blush--we know this is true] Still, if there's one thing that may save Saltspring from itself, it's that the people who love it best don't want the values to change. It's the friendliest place on Earth, albeit occasionally riven by the kind of fratricidal squabbles that would make Cain and Abel blush. It's eternally, passionately fractured, but that just shows a keen sense of ownership. The median employment income of a Salt Spring taxfiler was $15,520 in 1996.

David Baines' numerous investigative pieces about the Vancouver Stock Exchange have drawn national attention and acclaim. His astute understanding of the business world has led to numerous awards for his reporting, including the National Newspaper Award, the B.C. Newspaper Award, the Jack Webster Award and National Magazine Award. Yesterday he turned his attention to the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation. He admits even he is charmed by the idea. Part 2: Trail of money-losers leads to Island William Krebs controlled a series of companies whose losses mounted but whose shares soared.

Would you like to meet others for social activities such as--walking, supper club, games, book club, bridge club, casual get togethers, etc. This is a new group and we'd love your input. Monthly Get togethers/Social evenings Please call Mary at 538-0082 or Roz at 538-5550 Hmm. Her eyes said 537 but her boots said 653. Where do we fit in 538? Mary, Roz?

If at first you don't merge, try again. That's what managers of Duncan-based Island Savings Credit Union and Nanaimo's Coastal Community Credit Union plan to do after last week's merger attempt failed to gain enough votes from Coastal's voting members. Are the Bankheads pleased?

0130 hrs to daylight tonight: second peak 0223 to 0247--up to 30 "shooting stars" per minute In mid-November each year, the Earth passes close to the orbit of the Tempel-Tuttle comet and encounters the debris left behind by the comet. As the dust and bits of rock from the comet burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, they create trails of light in the sky and become "shooting stars". This natural display of fireworks is called the Leonid showers because the meteors appear to originate from the constellation Leo. A thick cloud of comet debris entering the atmosphere would create a meteor storm. Click on full story for more info.

0130 hrs to daylight tonight: second peak 0223 to 0247 up to 30 "shooting stars" per minute In mid-November each year, the Earth passes close to the orbit of the Tempel-Tuttle comet and encounters the debris left behind by the comet. As the dust and bits of rock from the comet burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, they create trails of light in the sky and become "shooting stars". This natural display of fireworks is called the Leonid showers because the meteors appear to originate from the constellation Leo. A thick cloud of comet debris entering the atmosphere would create a meteor storm. Click on full story for more info.

0130 hrs to daylight tonight: second peak 0223 to 0247 up to 30 "shooting stars" per minute In mid-November each year, the Earth passes close to the orbit of the Tempel-Tuttle comet and encounters the debris left behind by the comet. As the dust and bits of rock from the comet burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, they create trails of light in the sky and become "shooting stars. This natural display of fireworks is called the Leonid showers because the meteors appear to originate from the constellation Leo. A thick cloud of comet debris entering the atmosphere would create a meteor storm. Click on full story for more info.

Adriane Carr, Leader, Green Party of B.C, is on a B.C Tour at the moment. She will be speaking at a public meeting on Salt Spring, Sunday, November 24th, 4:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Fulford Hall. The hosts will be the Salt Spring Greens. The Greens will be serving hot chili, cold beer, as well as juice, and coffee. There will be live music too. Andrew Lewis says they are hoping to have a relaxed atmosphere to encourage feedback and debate on the issues that face us all, and how the success of the Green Party can help. Shilo Zylbergold will MC the event. Musicians confirmed so far are AndrŽ BerubŽ and Derek Duffy. Each will perform about a half-hour set. If you have questions or want to help, you can reach Andrew Lewis by email or by phone at 653-4770. Click on full story for the event press release.

Adriane Carr, Leader, Green Party of B.C, is on a B.C Tour at the moment. She will be speaking at a public meeting on Salt Spring, Sunday, November 24th, 4:30pm to 8:00pm at Fulford Hall. The hosts will be the Salt Spring Greens. The Greens will be serving hot chili, cold beer, as well as juice, and coffee. There will be live music too. Andrew Lewis says they are hoping to have a relaxed atmosphere to encourage feedback and debate on the issues that face us all, and how the success of the Green Party can help. According to the latest Ipsos-Reid poll, the Greens have gained in popular support province-wide since the election. They actually lead the Campbell coalition among decided voters on Vancouver Island. If you have questions or want to help, you can reach Andrew (who swept the polls last election--on Salt Spring that is) by email or by phone at 653-4770. Click on full story for the tour press release.

Adriane Carr, Leader, Green Party of B.C, is on a B.C Tour at the moment. She will be speaking at a public meeting on Salt Spring, Sunday, November 24th, 4:30pm to 8:00pm at Fulford Hall. The hosts will be the Salt Spring Greens. The Greens will be serving hot chili, cold beer, as well as juice, coffee. There wil be live music too. Andrew Lewis says they are hoping to have a relaxed atmosphere to encourage feedback and debate on the issues that face us all, and how the success of the Green Party can help. According to the latest Ipsos-Reid poll, the Greens have gained in popular support province-wide since the election. They actually lead the Campbell coalition among decided voters on Vancouver Island. If you have questions or want to help, you can reach Andrew (who swept the polls last election--on Salt Spring that is) by email or by phone at 653-4770. Click on full story for the tour press release.

SSMIF president Bob McGinn, talking about how dollars help the community: The SSI Monetary Foundation is about building community and supporting a sustainable economy. When you give out SS Currency as change it increases the chances that it will be spent on the Island, or kept as a souvenir. Spending SS Currency personally, or carrying it in your cash register so you can give it out in change, gives the message that you support local spending. It also indicates a pride in our Island and our unique lifestyle, promotes our local economy, and helps the Foundation fund community projects. There's more! Click on the Full Story link below to read all of McGinn's comments.

The CED Project (Salt Spring Island Community Economic Development) has some exciting news about a contest for anyone interested in helping to promote the wide range high quality, unique products made right here on Salt Spring Island.

If you're a local resident, they're looking for your ideas for a logo of a truly original image that Salt Spring Island growers, artisans and other manufacturers will be proud to attach to their wares as an easily recognizable symbol that people will associate with buying locally produced products.

Grand prize for the winning design will be chosen from the submissions of all age groups and will consist of $$250 (Salt Spring currency), plus gifts donated by local businesses.

Click on full story for contest guidelines.

The CED Project (Salt Spring Island Community Economic Development) has some exciting news about a contest for anyone interested in helping to promote the wide range high quality, unique products made right here on Salt Spring Island.

If you're a local resident, we're looking for your ideas for a logo of a truly original image that Salt Spring Island growers, artisans and other manufacturers will be proud to attach to their wares as an easily recognizable symbol that people will associate with buying locally produced products.

Grand prize for the winning design will be chosen from the submissions of all age groups and will consist of $$250 (Salt Spring currency), plus gifts donated by local businesses.

Those far-thinking folks at the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation (a registered non-profit society) have started us on our way to a locally produced energy alternative while offering the means to fund a non-polluting public transit system. Thanks to their vision and committment, we need only to back (with our full, knowledgeable support) our own Salt Spring $$ to have an immediate start on improving, securing and sustaining an island way of life. The net proceeds from SSI currency are fed back into community projects that benefit us all. Pay for your local purchases with local currency, ask for Salt Spring $$ in your change, tuck a $$ in that Christmas card to your cousin--its a way to be communally active while going about your daily business. The first SSSIMF project in the pipeline is hydrogen-powered public transit for Salt Spring Island. The public buses in Denver, Colorado have a fleet of hydrogen fueled vehicles in regular operation. London, England will have them by next year. Salt Spring Island needn't be far behind. The transit system will run between the three ferry terminals, perhaps as early as next summer. Initially the emphasis is to give people an option of coming here without their vehicles. This would help decongest the roads, alleviate parking difficulties, and decrease pollution. In the future the system will be expanded to include resident use and could also be used for tours to Studios, Ruckle Park, Mount Maxwell, etc. Generating the electricity to make the hydrogen to fuel the bus is proposed to come from wind. Why? Because, in the long-term, wind generators have the potential to make us an electrically self-sufficient community with the opportunity to earn income by selling excess production to pay for those higher taxes, policing costs and whatever other surprises are in our future. Let's all get onboard that bus. This item links to our look last week at wind and hydrogen power for Salt Spring. It includes our interview with Tony Duggleby, president of Sea Breeze Energy, Inc.

The Department of National Defence says the five people who drowned aboard a capsized fishing boat near the mouth of the Fraser River this summer were probably dead by the time rescue crews arrived.

Those far-thinking folks at the Salt Spring Island Monetary Foundation have started us on our way to a locally produced energy alternative while offering the means to fund a non-polluting public transit system. (Click on full story to go to their website. See the bottom of today's page for an item on the release of the $$50 and $$100 bills.) Thanks to their vision and committment, we need only to back (with our full, knowledgeable support) our own Salt Spring $$ to have an immediate start on improving, securing and sustaining an island way of life. The net proceeds from SSI currency are fed back into community projects that benefit us all. Pay for your local purchases with local currency, ask for Salt Spring $$ in your change, tuck a $$ in that Christmas card to your cousin--its a way to be communally active while going about your daily business. The first SSSIMF project in the pipeline is hydrogen-powered public transit for Salt Spring Island. The public buses in Denver, Colorado have a fleet of hydrogen fueled vehicles in regular operation. London, England will have them by next year. Salt Spring Island needn't be far behind. Generating the electricity to make the hydrogen to fuel the bus is proposed to come from wind. Why? Because, in the long-term, wind generators have the potential to make us an electrically self-sufficient community with the opportunity to earn income by selling excess production to pay for those higher taxes, policing costs and whatever other surprises are in our future. Let's all get onboard that bus.