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Gulf Islands Community Radio Station (finally!) about to Go On-Air

I know from experience how valuable community radio is, so I truly admire the determination and perseverance of those who are nearing the end of a 10-year journey to get a Gulf Islands community radio station on the airwaves. Sometime this summer, at least in Ganges and the North End, you will be able to tune into 107.9 on your FM dial and hear local programming on CHIR-FM (pronounced “cheer!”) emitting from an antenna on Mount Belcher. By next winter, thanks in part to a key grant-in-aid that came in last week from the CRD’s Local Community Commission, a repeat transmitter on Mount Bruce should be in place to reach most people in the South End on 102.1 FM. Altogether, about 20,000 residents on SSI, other Gulf Islands (aside from areas blocked by mountains) and parts of east Vancouver Island will be able to hear CHIR-FM on their radios, according to Damian Inwood, president of the Gulf Islands Community Radio Society. In places the radio waves won’t reach, people can st…
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Save Salt Spring Music Appeal

The Salt Spring Island Saturday Market Society (SSISMS) recently implemented a “no amplified music” policy. This policy has sparked objections from many people, who believe it discriminates against musicians and is detrimental to the Saturday Market’s reputation and the community as a whole. As a music creator and longtime vendor at the Saturday Market, I, Peter Prince, am negatively impacted by the “no amplified music” policy, which threatens my livelihood. As the sole market vendor relying on amplification to sell my products, this policy constitutes a major challenge to my business. The policy was formulated without due process, consultation, or regard for my rights as a citizen, an artist and market vendor. The policy also contravenes CRD Noise and Sound Bylaw No. 3384, Section 4, Exemptions #6. This exemption allows amplified sound in public parks and public gathering places such as the market. In 1987, I began my journey at the market with a dream, a guitar, and …
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We Don't Have a Housing Crisis

There used to be a 2002 report on the Islands Trust website called “Crisis in Paradise - Accelerating the Provision of Affordable Housing on Salt Spring Island,” by Clare Heffernan. It’s cited in other reports, but I haven’t been able to find it, gone down the memory hole. But the title of the report still tells you what you need to know. We don’t have a housing crisis on Salt Spring. That was decades ago. What we have now is a housing consequence. I found references to that missing paper when I was reading those other reports, trying to educate myself about the history of housing on our island after I was asked by Transition Salt Spring (TSS) to find out how much common ground there is in our community about housing issues. TSS is not a housing organization, but they know that a community can’t be resilient against the impacts of climate change and other habitat issues unless a) people have stable housing and b) they trust each other. COVID and social media have been a doub…
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Minister Rejects Trust Council’s Request For “Review” Of Islands Trust Act

By Frants Attorp Cool your heels and go back to the people. That’s the basic message Minister of Municipal Affairs Ravi Kahlon has sent to Trust Council, the political body of the Islands Trust, after its recent request that the Province conduct a full “review” of the Islands Trust Act—including the “preserve and protect” mandate which has restrained development on the Gulf Islands for the past 50 years. In an April 28th letter to Trust Council, which consists of all our 26 elected trustees, Minister Kahlon quashed any speculation that the Trust area, protected by the Islands Trust Act since 1974, can be governed much like any other part of the province. The Minister indicated the provincial government has other more pressing matters on its plate “during this time of extraordinary change and uncertainty,” and stated: “I am therefore not in a position to consider a review of the Islands Trust Act prior to the next general local elections.” This is definitely not what…
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ASK Salt Spring Welcomes RJSSI in "Listening as a Path to Connection" on May 9

ASK Salt Spring Report: Listening as a Path to Connection This month’s Restorative Justice Dialogue Circle invited community members into a deep exploration of listening as a core skill for navigating conflict and bridging division. Together, we examined how restorative listening practices can strengthen relationships, support accountability, and contribute to more connected and resilient communities. The circle offered a space for reflection on what it means to truly listen—not to fix, debate, or correct—but to understand. With a focus on practical tools and relational insight, participants explored how listening can serve as an active, healing practice in times of tension or disconnection. Laura began the session by grounding the group with a land acknowledgment and the importance of listening and centering Indigenous voices as part of reconciliation. After introducing the circle team, the group was guided in setting shared agreements to create a space of care, respe…
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What Bird Language Teaches Us About Listening to Ourselves

Birds as the Nervous System of The Forest What are Birds Communicating with Their Song? My friend and I recently started learning bird language. She said that she had come to think of bird language as the nervous system of the forest. The birds "alarm" when predators are nearby, they sing when they’re safe and happy, you can hear juveniles "begging" for food from their parents in the nest if you’re lucky
 Side note: For those of you who have never learned about bird language, there are 5 types of communication: -contact calls: more simple vocalizations used to communicate with other birds especially within the same flock/family, such as knowing each others location -alarm: rapid vocalizations used to alert other birds of potential dangers such as predators -song: melodic and complex vocal expressions, used just because (e.g. at dawn), by male birds during the breeding season to attract mates, to defend territories, etc -territorial aggression: more inte…
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Streamlined Process Cuts Wait Times, Bringing More U.S. Nurses to B.C.

New streamlined credential recognition means nurses from the United States can now work in B.C. much quicker, with registrations taking only a few days, compared to the previous average as long as four months. “American health-care professionals are increasingly drawn to B.C. as a place that supports science, protects reproductive rights and takes care of people no matter how much money they have in their bank account,” said Premier David Eby. “That’s why I’m delighted to see that our new, fast-tracked credential recognition has cut registration time from months to just days and is bringing in new U.S. nurses to strengthen our public health system and deliver better care for British Columbians, faster.” Since launching the new, streamlined process, applications from the U.S.-trained nurses have increased by 127%. The BC College of Nurses and Midwives is leveraging common systems and exams to make the registration process more efficient. Nurses can now apply directly to th…
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Province Helps Strengthen Indigenous Food Security, Sovereignty

More than 100 Indigenous-led projects are underway in communities throughout B.C., helping to strengthen local food security and food sovereignty with another round of funding set to open. “Working alongside Indigenous partners is crucial to growing and maintaining our province’s food systems and part of our government’s ongoing commitment to reconciliation,” said Harwinder Sandhu, parliamentary secretary for agriculture. “These Indigenous-led projects highlight how Indigenous knowledge supports increasing local food supply and food security, especially in rural and remote communities.” In 2023, the New Relationship Trust (NRT) launched the $30-milllion Indigenous Food Security and Sovereignty Program and is supporting both on-reserve and off-reserve projects, such as revitalizing food harvesting and Indigenous agro-ecosystems, expanding production capacity, boosting local food processing and distribution, and growing commercial value-added enterprises. On Vancouver Is…
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Astrology by Danielle Blackwood: This Full Moon

by Danielle Blackwood Happy Full Moon in Scorpio! On Monday May 12 th at 9:56 am, the Full Moon in Scorpio invites us to enter a portal while gifting us visions of unseen depths. Watch for secrets revealed, hidden power dynamics exposed, and a meeting with the archetypal Shadow. But while this is a particularly potent Full Moon, it also brings its gifts. Although seeing what has been hidden can be disruptive to our worldview, once seen we cannot look away, and we may be called to reckon with ‘what is’ during this lunation. However, the medicine itself is often in the sting of the scorpion, a catalyst that begins a necessary release, so that healing can begin. And while this can play out in the outer world, it can just as easily be a cathartic inner process. And as tempting as it can be to put the blinders back on, Scorpio medicine teaches us that if we look unflinchingly at the truth of something, to sit with it, to hold it with equal measures of courage and compass…
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Welcoming Rob Botterell – ASK Salt Spring

Welcoming Rob Botterell – ASK Salt Spring 2 May 2025 Twenty-three joined for all or part of this ASK Salt Spring discussion with MLA Rob Botterell. Changing things up a bit, Ron Cooke, the facilitator sitting in for Gayle Baker, asked Rob what concerns him. Rob answered that this week in the Legislature the government introduced legislation to streamline approvals for projects, the environmental assessment process, and infrastructure projects. Rob thought this wasn’t a bad thing, but as the “devil is in the details”, he is concerned that the Green Caucus will have sufficient time to thoroughly examine the legislation and ensure it is not an over-reach. With this said, Rob started the conversation with a territorial acknowledgment and his thoughts about the tragic events that occurred at the Lapu-Lapu Festival on April 26th. He reminded us that today is a day of mourning and wanted to express his heart-felt sympathies to the community impacted directly by the trag…
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