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Updates to Electoral Area Water Conservation Bylaw 4492

The Capital Regional District (CRD) Board has approved an amendment to CRD Electoral Area Water Conservation Bylaw No. 4492, which regulates water use for local services providing drinking water in the Southern Gulf Islands, Salt Spring Island, and Juan de Fuca Electoral Areas. The changes to Bylaw No. 4492 will come into effect May 1, 2025. Over the past several years, seasonal droughts have increasingly stressed source water supplies in our smaller local services, making water conservation measures for local services more critical. Bylaw No. 4492, adopted in 2023, has been amended to include a fourth water conservation stage intended to restrict outdoor and residential indoor water use as much as possible at times of severe water shortage. Water use restrictions in any stage do not apply to nurseries, farms, turf farms or tree farms. Water Restrictions under Stage 4 are as follows: - All outdoor use of Water is prohibited; and - Residential indoor use of Water is re…
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Water Preservation Society hosts SSI Garden Club on Sunday April 6

According to the rain gauge in our garden upwards of 16 mm of rain fell over 24 hours on April 6, which seems fitting for a Rainwater Catchment tour. The rains didn't stop 20 SSI Garden Club members from attending the event that we hosted in our garden, sponsored by the Water Preservation Society. As one tour participant pointed out " there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices." Providing education about Rainwater Catchment systems ties in to the WPS mandate of promoting awareness of the value of water resources and sharing information about ways to conserve water. Gardeners have the opportunity to mitigate some of the impacts of climate change on our limited water resources by storing water collected during the rainy season and using it during the dry growing season. Creating systems for outdoor use doesn't have to be complicated or expensive if you work with gravity, Do It Yourself and use some recycled materials. Time was spent showing and explaini…
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Full Length Video of the Salt Spring Federal Election Candidates Debate and Q&A

Thank you to the Salt Spring Forum and Gulf Islands Driftwood for co-sponsoring the Federal Election Candidates Debate held at Fulford Hall. The debate featured Green Party candidate Elizabeth May, NDP candidate Colin Plant, and Liberal candidate David Beckham, who engaged in a lively and informative discussion. Notably absent was Conservative candidate Cathie Ounsted, whose decision not to attend elicited audible groans and a few boos from community members present at Fulford Hall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK2UK8w2E0I Election Day : Monday, April 28, 2025 You may vote from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at: Community Gospel Chapel 147 Vesuvius Bay Road Salt Spring Island Advance Voting Days On the following days: Friday, April 18, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturday, April 19, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday, April 20, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday, April 21, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. At the following address: Gulf …
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Restorative Justice: The Power of Gratitude in Challenging Times

April 11 Eleven joined this Restorative Justice conversation to explore the benefits of gratitude when facing conflict in our lives. Leading us in this conversation were Program Coordinator, Jessica Terezakis, longtime volunteer and Restorative Justice Salt Spring Island Board member, Laura Dafoe, and new volunteer, Fig, bringing her rich experiences with nonviolent communication and community activism. After a Land Acknowledgement, during which we were reminded that Restorative Justice principles are grounded in Indigenous circle practices throughout the world, we began our exploration of the power of gratitude in challenging times. We began, as we do each second Friday of the month when we welcome our Restorative Justice volunteers, by reviewing the Five Agreements: 1) Honour each individualā€™s opportunity to speak when holding the talking piece. 2) Speak and listen with care 3) Speak and listen from the heart. 4) Take the time you need while also being mindful of…
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Premier Directs Government to Cancel American Contracts Wherever Viable

The B.C. government has updated its direction to ministries, health authorities and core Crown corporations to critically review all contracts with United States companies to decrease the Provinceā€™s dependence on goods and services from U.S. suppliers. ā€œAs people are choosing to buy B.C. and buy Canadian, British Columbians expect their government to join them in choosing to avoid U.S. purchases wherever possible,ā€ said Premier David Eby. ā€œThatā€™s why weā€™ve directed our government to use its purchasing power to exclude American suppliers and support Canadian companies and trusted and reliable trading partners instead. Today, weā€™re expanding that directive to include looking for every opportunity to move existing contracts away from U.S. suppliers and cancelling non-essential government travel to the United States.ā€ The new directives order government, where viable, to: - exclude goods and services from U.S. suppliers under existing contracts with U.S. suppliers; - excl…
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Welcoming MLA Rob Botterell

April 4 Twenty-two joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome MLA Rob Botterell and Julie Luna. He began his time with us this month acknowledging his appreciation for being able to live and work on this beautiful land, the unceded territory of 14 Indigenous groups. He spoke of his dismay with the recent display of prejudice by MLA Dallas Brodie. While he recognizes importance of freedom of speech, he believes so strongly that we should stand up and confront racist rhetoric that he will be bringing a motion to the legislature to censor MLA Brodie. While he understands that it may not pass, he is clear that it is his responsibility to challenge her belittling comments concerning Reconciliation. When asked what ā€œexcited and delightedā€ him, he spoke with awe of the amazing sunrise that morning. While many of us may have enjoyed this sunrise, he had a particularly pleasing perspective: True to his Green commitment, had arrived from his home on Pender Island on his sailboa…
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Brewing Up Community: How Ometepe Coffee Connects Islanders Across Continents

Thereā€™s something magical about the moment the blossoms begin to burst open in Ganges Village, signalling not only the beginning of spring but the start of another Saturday Market season. For Ometepe Coffee volunteers, those blooms are a signal: time to spring into action! Thousands of visitors enjoy the delicious, fair trade & fair wage, organic coffee served by Ometepe volunteers every Saturday, but few know the story of what goes into every cup. 34 years ago, Gulf Islanders visiting Ometepe, a little island in Lake Nicaragua in Central America, were struck by the islandsā€™ beauty, but also its deprivations. People formed connections to the tiny island who shared an interest in community development and intercultural exchange banded together with BOSIA in the US (Bainbridge-Ometepe Sister Islands Organization) to found OGIFA:The Ometepe-Gulf Islands Friendship Association. In the three decades since, Gulf Islanders have fostered and expanded a remarkable islander…
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Obituary: Jeremy Peto Sibley

Jeremy Peto Sibley b. 20 October 1929 Kingston, Jamaica - d. 31December 2024 Salt Spring Island , BC, Canada Jeremy was born and grew up in Jamaica. His family lineage reaches back to the slave abolitionist Baptist minister William Knibb who came to Jamaica from England in 1824. Due to an injury, a great deal of Jeremyā€™s childhood years were spent on crutches. From an early age Jeremy loved sports and at Munro College, Jamaica, where he went to high school, he was given the important job of scorekeeper for cricket and football games as he couldnā€™t play himself. Later in his teens he loved spending the hot summer up in the Blue Mountains at his auntā€™s small coffee plantation and having competitions with his cousin to see who could eat the most pancakes. Architecture was his calling and after a summer drafting job in Jamaica he was on his way to the University of Manitoba, Canada, one of the leading schools of architecture at the time. He graduated in 1952. Foregoing M…
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Police Investigate After Dogs and Owners Injured in Altercation

Police are investigating after two men and their dogs either suffered bite injuries or cut wounds during an altercation. On April 6, 2025 at 4:32 p.m., the Salt Spring Island RCMP received a report of a weapons complaint at Ruckle Park. A 46-year-old Salt Spring man called to advise that he had allegedly cut another dog owner by accident after he and his own dog were apparently attacked by another dog that had broken away from itā€™s leash. According to the 46-year-old, he was bitten by the other dog which then latched onto his dog. He apparently drew a small knife to stop the attack. The other dog owner, a 51-year-old Salt Spring man, quickly arrived to assist; however, when both dogs were separated it was discovered that he and his dog had both suffered cuts. The off-leash dog was taken to a veterinary by friends, while the 51-year-old man went to hospital. The 46-year-old man was arrested in relation to weapons offences and the knife seized. He was subsequently released …
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Golden Opportunity - Sunset Community Fire Hall No. 3 - Salt Spring Island, BC

Background: There are various residential locations around our Beautiful Island of Salt Spring that are beyond 8Km from one of our 3 Fire Halls. One area in particular is Sunset Drive, North from West Eagle Drive to Southey Pt and around the North End on North End Rd to just past Epron Rd. In December 2023 a number of Ratepayers from that area came to me as a Fire Board Trustee and asked if I could help mitigate the cost of their current Fire Insurance Premiums. Some Ratepayers are paying upwards of $2000/Yr or more in increased premiums for fire insurance for being beyond the 8Km distance criteria. As we continue to move forward with the effects of Climate Change, the costs of not being Fully Fire Protected will continue to increase, perhaps exponentially. The potential for being denied Fire Insurance altogether from the Insurance Underwriters is definitely a potential threat in the coming years. Once our New Fire Hall No. 1, across from Foxglove Farm on Lower Ganges …
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