2015 - Page 8

2015 Salt Spring Film Festival Guide and Schedule

The 16th Salt Spring Film Festival - March 6 - 8, 2015 (presented by Country Grocer) Welcome to your annual film festival feast! After many months of the selection process, the 16th Salt Spring Film Festival is ready to showcase the best of international and Canadian documentary films. From the Yukon wilderness to the slums of Mumbai. From a whistleblower holed up in Hong Kong to a teenager on a solo round-the-world voyage. From Indonesian street musicians to Canadian politicians fighting for their dignity. Let the Salt Spring Film Festival bring the world - and more - to your doorstep. Program Guide Program Schedule

Breaking: BC Buys Grace Islet for $5.45 million

The Nature Conservancy of Canada now holds title to Grace Islet, Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson confirmed today. The Province has contributed $5.45 million, which is broken down as $850,000 for the land, and $4.6 million settlement agreement with the previous landowner. This amount represents costs incurred over the past two decades by the landowner and his lost opportunity for future enjoyment of the property. Incurred costs include items such as utility installation and archaeological, architectural and professional fees; as well as building contract and material costs for construction of a high-end house. The Nature Conservancy of Canada, local First Nations and the Province now will be working on a remediation plan and long-term conservation management plan for the islet. Discussions are also occurring with other agencies which have expressed an interest in contributing towards the restoration and long-term conservation of the i…

Film Festival 2015: Crazywater

The following article was written by Robert McTavish as part of a series of articles about filmmakers coming to the Salt Spring Film Festival on March 6-8, 2015. Filmmaker Dennis Allen will be attending the festival and lead a discussion about the film. The filmmaker series is sponsored by Harbour House. ----------------------------- Crazywater How do you get people to open up about the most difficult times in their lives? When filmmaker Dennis Allen first pitched the National Film Board for a documentary inspired by Mohawk writer Brian Maracle's 1993 book Crazywater: Native Voices on Addiction and Recovery, it had already been difficult for him to find people willing to talk about such painfully personal issues. Then, just when he was ready to film the interviews the cold feet began and “all of a sudden people started dropping like flies." His own alcoholic past had drawn him to the project in the first place, and he now realized what he had to do. "If I committed to …

Real Estate Report: Positive Start to New Year

The following article put out by the BC Real Estate Association give us a broader picture of the market in BC as a whole. On Salt Spring we seem to be reflecting the same results. While one month’s statistics is not definitive, it does give us an indication of the direction things are going. In January 2015 there were 12 sales on Salt Spring. For the month of January of 2014 there were 5, in January of 2013 there were 6. I won’t put average values on these sales as one high end sale can skew the the numbers completely. The number of sales does show a positive direction. BC Home Sales Start 2015 in Positive Territory Vancouver, BC – February 13, 2015. The British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports that a total of 4,377 residential unit sales were recorded by the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in January, up 3.1 per cent from the same month last year. Total sales dollar volume was $2.6 billion, an increase of 8.3 per cent compared to a year ago. The averag…

People Profile: Kiva Simova

Community People Profiles is a series on the Salt Spring Exchange featuring local personalities on our dynamic Gulf Island. Our People Profiles are short interviews, with one answer questions to share with you a little about what each of the people we will feature are thinking about as they go about their lives living on Salt Spring Island. This weeks featured local people profile is: Kiva Simova Here's a bit about Kiva; I'm a musician (vocals/ keys) and designer here since Oct '14. Mostly known as an expert in advanced overtone singing (2 pitches from 1 voice). Professional since the late 70's, in all kinds of bands, including a world tour doing backup vocals/ keys with Crash Test Dummies, '94. Some locals may recall me from folk trio The Wyrd Sisters, played ArtSpring in '01. I have 3 solo CDs (available at Saltspring Sound). It's jazzy pop/ experimental/ world beat. Have lived in Winnipeg, Edmonton (Grant McEwan jazz college), Toronto, Vancouver, Tokyo (fashion desi…

Film Festival 2015: All The Time In The World

The following article was written by Robert McTavish as part of a series of articles about filmmakers coming to the Salt Spring Film Festival on March 6-8, 2015. Filmmaker Suzanne Crocker will be attending the festival and lead a discussion about the film. The filmmaker series is sponsored by Harbour House. ----------------------------- It wasn't supposed to be a film at all. But when Suzanne Crocker told friends and relatives down south what she was planning - a nine month sojourn with her husband and three young children deep into the wilderness beyond her Dawson City home - they were incredulous. In the bush her family had the chance to unplug and reconnect. Her Yukon neighbours said "way to go!" The southern city folk said "Film it!" Thank the documentary gods that she did, because the end result, All The Time In The World has met with standing ovations, festival awards, and countless fans such as David Suzuki grateful for the experiment. "As a filmmaker your go…

Video: Local Business Silent Films

Over the past few months there have been some great local businesses featured in fun black and white silent films. The films have been produced by Keith Piciot and have guest appearances from local residents and business owners alike. Check them out. They're all fun to watch. Windsor Plywood: The Dowry, A Silent Comedy With the finest materials & expert advice from the good folks at Windsor Plywood,, a clumsy groom makes good a promise to his blushing bride! The Local Barbershop: Less Bangs For Your Buck Finding "The Local Barbershop" does wonders for a fellow having heaps of trouble with his long Bangs. Dagwood's Diner: Doubting Thomas After seeing the great food and more than reasonable prices,Doubting Thomas has no doubt, Dagwood's Diner is super swell!!!!

Message from Your Fire Fighter Team

Firefighters at Salt Spring Island Fire Rescue (SSIFR), both career and on-call, are one united team. We train and work together to serve Salt Spring Island. Our team only functions as well as each and every component. We rely on each other in hostile and dangerous environments. With friendships forged through adversity, we have grown to consider each other “brothers” and “sisters.” We provide professional responses, with a combination of on-call and career firefighters. The main reason we do what we do is because of our community. We want to protect our community, and we desire to be a strong diverse team that is there for the needs of Salt Spring. The firefighting team constantly strives to perfect our craftsmanship. We are responsive to community needs and we value your feedback. Misinformation and confrontational attitudes about SSIFR politics when shared in public can be damaging to our mission, morale and team cohesion. We urge the community to learn about how SS…

Community Services Seeks Input to Family Housing

Salt Spring Island Community Services will spend a month collecting detailed information about local family composition, income and housing needs to inform the planning for their new affordable housing development on Salt Spring. The information is needed to fill the gap in available data from other official sources since the long form census was discontinued and there has been no other recent detailed studies done. The organization has had previous involvement with various types of housing on Salt Spring Island and is now looking forward to addressing the needs of families. The organization owns a five acre site on Bishop's Walk in Ganges that will eventually be developed with up to 24 units of affordable housing. The units may be rental or ownership, with several innovative models currently being explored including a community land trust approach and rent-to-own purchasing options. “We are keenly interested in receiving input from families with young and school age…

Local Recipe: Crab Cake Eggs Benedict

It’s February again, the middle of winter, the time of year we Salt Springers like to boast about our gorgeous weather and how grateful we are to not live anywhere else in Canada. While the rest of Canada deals with snow and sub-zero temperatures, here it feels like Spring is in the air and we know it’s close because the daffodils and tulips are pushing through. One of the many wonderful things about living on the west coast is the abundance of local food available year round, there may not be much in the garden right now, but there are crabs in the ocean, and the chickens are still laying eggs, so why not indulge in a crab cake? My fresh, Dungeness Crab cake recipe is always a hit with both locals and visitors alike. Its versatility lends itself well to a variety of ways to serve up. I like them for Sunday Brunch with a perfectly poached egg on top and a creamy hollandaise from scratch but if the poached eggs and hollandaise create too rich a combination for you to digest, …

Transition Salt Spring Announces B&B Electric Vehicle Charging Program

Electric Vehicles are becoming more present in the world and many off-island license plates were observed last year at the ArtSpring charging location. With a greater increase in EV ownership (over 20 were purchased on Salt Spring last year alone), and a stronger US currency, we can only expect many more visitors to come from off-island in their electric vehicles. Promoting Salt Spring Island as an EV friendly tourist destination supports the local economy and a healthier environment. CRD Director Wayne McIntyre has announced a new rebate program to assist local Bed and Breakfast owners to provide Electric Vehicle charging facilities for their guests. The program provides a cash subsidy of up to $250 to a limited number of Salt Spring Island B&Bs on completion of the purchase and installation of a certified Electric Vehicle Level 2 charger. This program was initiated and is being administered by Transition Salt Spring and has the support of the Chamber of Commerce. B…

BC Ferries Signs 10-Year Natural Gas Contract for New Long Harbour Ferry

BC Ferries is pleased to announce it has just awarded a long-term contract to FortisBC to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fuel the three new intermediate class vessels that are currently under construction. The first ship is scheduled to enter service in late 2016, the second vessel by early 2017 and the third ship by mid-2017. By the time all three ships are in service, FortisBC will be supplying BC Ferries with 300,000 gigajoules of LNG per year. “We are pleased to collaborate with FortisBC, a safety leader in gas supply, for our new LNG vessels,” said Mark Wilson, BC Ferries’ Vice President of Engineering. “The use of LNG has both financial and environmental benefits and this contract will ensure we have a long-term, secure supply to power the new intermediate class vessels.” “BC Ferries has taken the lead as one of the first passenger ferry services in the country to use LNG,” said Doug Stout, FortisBC Vice-President of Market Development and External Relatio…

Fire Service Review - Walker Group Report Released

In accordance with Bylaw No. 109 section 6, notice is hereby given that a special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Salt Spring Island Fire Protection District will be held at 10:00am February 2nd, 2015 at the Training Room, Fire Hall No. 1, 105 Lower Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C. The purpose of the meeting will be to receive from Walker Resource Group the final report on the Fire Services Review. The report has now been published. The report contains observations and recommendations representing an honest and objective assessment of the Salt Spring Fire Protection District and provides a “roadmap” for future growth as noted by the author in the letter of transmittal. Read the report below. Note from Fire Trustee Chairperson Dan Lee and Fire Chief Tom Bremner The Board of Fire Trustees & Fire Service has received the Walker Resource Group Report on the Fire Service Review and, as promised, immediately made it public. We look forward to reviewing the obser…

People Profile: Sean Mulligan

Community People Profiles is a series on the Salt Spring Exchange featuring local personalities on our dynamic Gulf Island. Our People Profiles are short interviews, with one answer questions to share with you a little about what each of the people we will feature are thinking about as they go about their lives living on Salt Spring Island. This weeks featured local people profile is: Sean Mulligan Here's a bit about Sean; Sean is the owner of the simply fabulous OutSpokin' Bike Shop. He's a bit of a bike geek / snob. He is also also a coffee, music, food, beer, and movie snob. What can I say... live is too short for anything but the best! My goal (changing now to first person) is to get this island out of the bicycle dark ages and to get as many people riding as possible. Its my version of social / environmental activism: Bikes reduce your carbon footprint, contribute to a healthy lifestyle, and save you money. What more reasons do you need? I am however, more than…

Fire Services - Seeking Solutions

No doubt there are quite a few people in our community who disagree with disclosing compensation for members of the fire department. However discomforting the information may be, we can't deal with a problem that we don't know exists or aren't allowed to understand. The Board of Trustees has resisted sharing information with the public, creating obstacles at every step of the way. As mentioned by others, it should never have required a Freedom of Information request to obtain this data. Hiring full-time fire fighters more than a decade ago was an attempt to fix something which wasn't broken to begin with… the community had been well served by a body of committed, well trained volunteers. That initial "fix" and the subsequent Union contract have restricted the involvement of the volunteers and, regardless of their training and competence, renders them "second class citizens". The result has limited the community's choices while upping the ante on the cost. It has fostered an …

Salt Spring Fire Historical Budget Review

When the Salt Spring Island Fire Protection District approves a budget it does so by passing a bylaw. The bylaw is then forwarded to the Province for its approval and then the property owners in the District are apportioned their share of the tax. I've gone back to District archives and what follows is taken directly from each year's approved budget bylaw. It should be noted that the annual budget does not reflect the total tax collected for each year as it does not include the costs for long term borrowing: 1992 $262,600 1993 $293,473 1994 $339,900 1995 $371,900 1996 $383,600 1997 $416,300 1998 $422,300 1999 $439,479 2000 $504,350 2001 $574,540 2002 $611,214 2003 $677,751 2004 $726,900 2005 $849,150 2006 $987,300 2007 $1,322,150 2008 $1,625,880 2009 $1,983,350 2010 $2,200,000 2011 $2,400,000 - [note that from 2001 to 2011 the budget more than quadrupled] 2012 $2,300,000 …

People Profile: Lynda Laushway

Community People Profiles is a series on the Salt Spring Exchange featuring local personalities on our dynamic Gulf Island. Our People Profiles are short interviews, with one answer questions to share with you a little about what each of the people we will feature are thinking about as they go about their lives living on Salt Spring Island. This weeks featured local people profile is: Lynda Laushway Here’s a bit about Lynda; I have lived on Salt Spring Island for almost 31 years. I am one of the founders of SWOVA Community Development and Research Society which has brought mainly violence prevention and healthy relationships programs to youth in our community since our inception in 1992. My two sons Chris and Matt Cecill were raised here. I live in Henry Bullock's Old Creamery, one of the original Salt Spring farm houses, originally an active creamery in the late 1800's. What brought you to Salt Spring Island? I came to Salt Spring Island because of the natural b…

Salt Spring Fire - The System is Broken

In response to the Driftwood article dated December 24, 2014, regarding our fire department quotes Union president Jamie Holmes as saying "The system must be somewhat broken…". Although our reasons differ, I couldn't agree with him more. The fire department's 2015 budget is $2,529,000 (plus a few hundred thousand for debt servicing on outstanding loans). This is almost four times what it was less than ten years ago, yet the call volume is down. Across the pond, in the municipality of N. Cowichan, the 2014 budget for its fire department came in at half of ours: $1,254,000. Their population is about three times that of Salt Spring; the land mass is the same; the hazards are significantly greater (the Trans Canada Hwy., industry, etc.). There are four fire halls, each with its own Chief, and approximately 130 fire fighters….all of whom (including the fire chiefs) operate on a Paid-on-Call (POC) basis. "Captain" Holmes (he is now Asst. Chief, effective Jan. 1, 2015) asser…

Construction Begins on New Intermediate Class Ferries

BC Ferries announced that the first steel cut for the first of three new intermediate class ferries (ICF) took place at the Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. shipyard in Gdansk, Poland last week. The event marks the construction start of the next new vessel in BC Ferries’ fleet and was recognized at a small ceremony with representatives in attendance from BC Ferries and Remontowa. Following an extensive competitive bid process, BC Ferries awarded the $165 million contract in July of 2014 to Remontowa Shipbuilding S.A. to build three new vessels. These new vessels will be the first in BC Ferries’ fleet to operate as dual-fuel, capable of using Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) or diesel fuel for propulsion and power generation. The first ICF is scheduled to arrive in August 2016. “Today is an exciting day for BC Ferries as we officially commence the physical construction of the first ICF, which will replace the 50-year old Queen of Burnaby on the Comox – Powell River route,” said Mark…

Celebration Paddle at Grace Islet

It’s time to get together and celebrate success! Cowichan Elder Luschiim is coming to Salt Spring with the big war canoe on Sunday January 18 at 10 am. We’ll join him and others for a Celebration Paddle around the islet, and mark this special moment of community solidarity, achievement and history-making. We'll be going out rain or shine. 10am: Gather at the park to share some words and sing some if the many Grace Islet songs. 11am: Paddle around Grace Islet. 11:30am: Meet back at the gazebo at centennial park to share some food, celebrate our accomplishment and discuss future community ideas for honouring our local First Nations and ancestors who have stewarded these land for thousands of years. Please keep in mind this is a sombre celebration meant to acknowledge the extended Salt Spring community who have rallied behind this cause. There is much damage and blatant disrespect that has taken place here to the ancestors and rare and endangered eco-system at Grace Islet.…

Breaking: Partnership Formed to Acquire Grace Islet

The Province is partnering with local First Nations and the Nature Conservancy of Canada on long-term conservation for Grace Islet, Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson said today. Grace Islet, a privately owned property off Saltspring Island, has special cultural and spiritual significance for local First Nations and contains at least 16 burial cairns. Building construction on the islet ceased on Dec. 18, 2014. Through a partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, which acquires properties with strong ecological values, a framework agreement to purchase has been reached with the landowner. In addition to its cultural significance as a burial site, Grace Islet is ecologically valuable for its plant communities, intertidal habitat and as a small component of the rare Coastal Douglas-fir ecosystem. If final negotiations close successfully, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, local First Nations, other interested parties and the Provi…