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MLA Adam Olsen: British Columbia's Restart Plan

Last week British Columbia moved into phase two of our restart plan. Nothing about the past few months has been easy. Asking British Columbians to stay home, miss important occasions like births, funerals and religious celebrations, close their businesses, and stay at least two metres away from each other has been very difficult. However, it’s necessary in order to protect the most vulnerable people in our society - our friends, family and neighbours who are immune-compromised, and our elders. Thankfully we were successful in flattening the curve and limiting the transmission rates in British Columbia without having to close down our economy as far as many other jurisdictions did. Now officials have begun to ease the restrictions they are asking each of us to maintain the new habits we have learned while still limiting ourselves to 60% of our pre-COVID interactions. From what we are learning about this awful disease we will need to re-organize aspects of our society to…
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Meadowlane Seniors Housing Project Proceeding With a Final Project Design

The Gulf Islands Seniors Residence Association (GISRA) Meadowlane Project Chair, Janet Smith met with the GISRA Board of Directors to share the proposed design for the residences at Meadowlane. The board reviewed the plans and approved the design for the 50 unit residential facility that also includes dedicated space for the Salt Spring Seniors Services Society office and program room. “We are very pleased to have the final design.” said Ken Lee, GISRA Board Chair. “The board considered all of the options and settled on what we believe to be the best scenario for seniors and the community as a whole. The planned facility has 50 residential units as allotted under the zoning approved by Islands Trust. In addition, the medical clinic will remain in place and we have space for the Salt Spring Seniors Service Society.” In March we were facing up to a six-month delay due to the rejection of our application for a grant under the Canada/British Columbia Community, Cultural and R…
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The Pandemic Postcard Project - Salt Spring Edition - New Contributions Photo Gallery

The Pandemic Postcard Project, Salt Spring Edition, is a literacy and/or art-promoting project, started by Literacy Alberni, that fosters community connection and legacy-keeping through storytelling and sharing. There have been some remarkable contributions that have been submitted so far. See some of the contributions below. The project is ongoing and more contributions are welcomed. We’re inviting everyone in our community (as individuals or as families, partners, roommates, work teams, etc.) to share their stories, thoughts, struggles, successes, lessons learned, blessings given or received, and resolutions made during this moment in history… on postcards. Why? We’re connected primarily through technology these days through our own profiles and pages. The goal of this project is to celebrate that, while also creating a lasting, physical record of our resilience. Throughout the project, as submissions come in, we will share some of the Pandemic Postcards on the Sa…
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Country Grocer Community Kudos - This Week's Winner Is Charles Gosset

Each week Country Grocer will give a Community Kudos $50 Gift Card to a nominee submitted to the Salt Spring Exchange. Our first Kudos goes to Charles Gosset. Amidst  busy construction days in response to COVID prepping, Charlie donated his time to source free giant boulders, transport them and bring machines to construct a boulder meeting circle at Salt Spring Elementary in April. This stone circle is proving perfect for outdoor, social distance learning for students as they begin to return to school. For years, Charlie's Excavating employees have been super generous with time, materials, and machines to create outdoor learning spaces at Salt Spring Elementary. Congratulations Charlie! Next Thursday May 28th We’ll be announcing next week’s Community Kudos winner, please get your nominations in. If you’ve already sent in a nomination, it’s still in the running. Kudos to you! Together we’ll get through this.
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Our Islands Trustee, Laura Patrick, Answers ASK Salt Spring Questions

What is the scope, timing, and expected outcomes of the proposed Ganges Village Plan? It is a desire of mine to see work advanced on Ganges Village planning and on harbour planning. (Better yet, I support planning for all of our villages.) This work needs to be scoped and funded in collaboration with other agencies and organizations. I would like to see pre-planning happening now, which could result in a business case and budget request for the 2021/22 fiscal year. In 2007, as part of the Official Community Plan update project, a Ganges Village and Harbour focus group issued an excellent report. Little has changed in the 13 years since that report was issued. In a few weeks, the Climate Action Plan 2.0 will be made public. It will include maps showing that rising sea levels will submerge some of our village core – let’s plan for this. The Fire Protection District is pursuing a new fire hall which will leave the old fire hall vacant – let’s plan what should come in its pla…
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BC MyHealth Provides Virtual Access to Health Records, Including COVID-19 Test Results

Enrollment in Island Health’s Patient Portal — MyHealth — has gone virtual, giving patients across Island Health easier access to their own digital health records, including COVID-19 screening results. In support of efforts to reduce unnecessary visits to our facilities, people can now sign up for MyHealth remotely. “With the newly available virtual enrollment feature, we are pleased the recently-launched MyHealth patient portal can play an even larger role in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Leah Hollins, Island Health board chair. “This is an empowering step for patients while adhering to the Provincial Health Officer’s direction on physical distancing and limiting visitors to our hospitals. With access to their own health records anytime from anywhere they can get all kinds of test results quickly, review results in real-time during virtual care visits, and make informed decisions about their care plan.” Information about the enrollment process is available…
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Reimagining Salt Spring Island: Forward for the Better - not “Back to Normal”

This is an offering to our Salt Spring Island community in these troubled times where crisis and opportunity are the two faces of the situation we face as a community, as society, as a planet.  In order to get through this to some kind of better normal, we all need to raise big questions.  We need to talk about what’s hard to talk about.  That’s what we are trying to do here.  In doing so, we might upset some of you.  We can’t get this all right but we want to start the conversation. This is coming from a place of care and concern about the world we live in.  And of hope for the one we could co-create. What if we don’t go “back to normal” on Salt Spring Island. Normal was nurses and teachers without stable housing.  Normal was tons of visitors travelling by CO2 emitting planes, ferries and cars to go for a hike and have a nice dinner.  Normal was watching the Sysco food trucks drive off the ferry and past fallow farmland every single day.  Normal was locals avoiding Gange…
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Salt Spring Island Foundation Announces Spring 2020 Grants

The Salt Spring Island Foundation is pleased to announce over $84,000 in spring grants for island charities. The Foundation thanks the many caring donors who make our grants possible. Capacity-Building Grants. This spring, $15,000 is being directed to projects that aim to strengthen our local charities: Graffiti Theatre: $5,000 toward a feasibility study for a multi-use performing arts education and recreation centre. I-SEA (Institute for Sustainability Education and Action): $2,500 to assist in strengthening the organizational capacity of Transition Salt Spring by implementing a new governance structure that would enable it to effectively manage the ongoing work of climate action implementation on Salt Spring Island. Salt Spring Island Community Services/Salt Spring Health Advancement Network: $7,500 to develop a stewardship committee and a two-day mental health symposium to be held in November 2020. The goal of the symposium is to better address mental health an…
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Gallery: Ramona Lam The Front Step Photography Project

Local photographer Ramona Lam shares her charming photo series with the community taken during her Salt Spring 'The Front Step Project. She joined several photographers across the country in the #TheFrontStepsProject, a project started by Needham, Massachusetts, photographer Cara Soulia. This is not a typical get-dressed-up-and-pose-for-the-photographer kind of session. Participants met outside, sometimes in their pyjamas and slippers with whatever they felt most comfortable from around their home. Some even included their pets and kids, all at an appropriately safe distance with their photographer. In exchange, the participants were asked to make a donation to the Salt Spring Island Food Bank, SPCA or any local small businesses who are struggling, and reference #TheFrontStepsProject. Ramona continues her series until the end of the month and will share additional photos with us as the series continues. Be in touch with her if you wish to participate in the project.…
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Breaking: Canadian Forces Snowbird Jet Crashes Near Kamloops On Way to West Coast Fly Over - One Team Member Dies, 2nd with Serious Injuries

One Canadian Forces Snowbird jet that was to fly over Salt Spring Island this weekend in honour of honour Cpt. Kevin Hage, whose has family that live on the island, crashed enroute in Kamloops. UPDATED March 17th - 08:00 PM: One member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was killed on Sunday May 17, 2020 and one other member injured in an accident involving a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) CT-114 Tutor aircraft in the vicinity of Kamloops, British Columbia. Killed was Captain Jennifer Casey, the team’s Public Affairs Officer, originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Captain Richard MacDougall, one of the team’s coordinators and pilot of the aircraft, was injured and is being treated for his injuries. The Canadian Forces Snowbirds were deployed on Operation INSPIRATION, a cross-Canada tour to lift the spirits of Canadians and salute front-line workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time of the accident, the CF Snowbirds were taking off from the airport in Kamloop…
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