While I have advised those who have asked that I don’t intent to run for elected office in the forthcoming local government elections, I felt it was timely to release something more formal. First of all I want to thank the community for giving me the opportunity to represent Salt Spring as the CRD Director for the last two terms. It has been an honour. Like many decisions this was a difficult one for me. I have had decades of experience in local government matters and have always been involved in some capacity wherever I have lived, including ten years in elected capacities: three years in a municipality as a councillor and seven years as the CRD Director for Salt Spring Island. While the experiences were very different, based in part on the difference in governance, both were challenging, gratifying and at times frustrating and in both systems community volunteers were an essential element of the heart and soul of the communities. While volunteerism is certainly not uni…

When the Federal Court of Appeal announced its decision to quash the Justin Trudeau Liberal government approval of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) many of us in Saanich North and the Islands celebrated!

Not only did the decision recognize that the federal government needs to respect the law with Indigenous people, but it also recognized that the project’s impacts on the critical habitat of the Salish Sea must be considered.

Those of us who live here and indeed the rest of the world got a wake up call this summer through the vivid pictures of Tahlequah (also known as J35) pushing the corpse of her baby calf for nearly three weeks. Through the tenuous and tragic situation of our friends, neighbours and relatives, the Southern Resident Killer Whales, we saw that the Salish Sea is in trouble.

When the court’s decision was made public some pe…

June 16, 2018, a town hall meeting on proportional representation featured guest speakers Elisabeth May, and Gary Holman. Here are two videos from the Town Hall meeting on Proportional Representation. https://youtu.be/NvcDGvvcjxk https://youtu.be/d_EgR7vRZRI

It seems we have to cancel reopening Island Escapades, which was to be renamed BEACHSiDE. Islands Trust has told us that we will be subject to fines, etc. if we complete work on our replacement retaining wall, or the back patio, or stairs. They stressed that the permit to replace a wall will take months. (We did not even know the wall was devastated and much of the hillbank holding the house was gone until we started cutting down all the ivy! The summer IS what makes a business here!) When we were cutting down the two invasive ivy species behind the building (the equivalent of a couple dump trucks full!) we came across three major issues: 1. The ocean had been piercing through the sandstone retaining wall and had taken out massive amounts of soil from the hill bank, that holds up the building, out to sea, leaving huge entangled invasive ivy root masses without much soil. 2. The entire large boulder sandstone retaining wall had crumbled and was wrapped in ivy root masses…

I have been writing a column for Fishbowl Magazine for over 9 years. As some of you know, I write in a humorous tone about the quirky island we live on. However, if you are expecting this next piece of writing to be funny, you should surf in another direction. Allow me to start with a joke: What does Fulford Pub, The Salt Spring Coffee Company, Vesuvius Pub, Tree House and Salt Spring Metal Recycling have in common with Island Escapades? Punchline: Everything. Was that funny? I was deeply affected after reading about the stop work order the Island’s Trust has placed on the Watkin family, and their dream to re-activate the Island Escapades property. The businesses that I listed in my joke are the prominent tip of the iceberg in what is obviously a bigger issue. If you surf over to the Island’s Trust, one of the first things you will read is this: “Preserving Island Communities, Culture and Environment.” I understand that beyond this brief mission statement, there are lega…

Reasons for Voting Positively No in the 2017 September 09 Salt Spring Island Incorporation Referendum ~ From late 2012 to 2017, Salt Spring Islanders engaged in two studies, first a Governance Review Study, then an Incorporation Study. Both explored the incorporated municipal model of governance in full, as it would apply to Salt Spring. Neither study allowed an exploration of the full present-system model, only a "snapshot in time" of it, i.e. as it was currently operating, not any of its in-built or possible new means to strengthen and improve it. These studies and resultant referendum cost $400,000 (Governance Study, $85,000; Incorporation Study, $255,000; incorporation referendum, $60,000 budget, but didn't spend it all). The costs of B.C. ministry and CRD services to administer these studies cannot be determined, since personnel don't bill to projects. In total, it's reasonable to estimate that at least $750,000 of B.C. taxpayers' money was spent to present the incorpor…

After this third referendum campaign, our community has yet again overwhelmingly rejected incorporation and reaffirmed support for our present governance within the Islands Trust’s unique “preserve and protect’ mandate. As an electorate, we now find ourselves in the anomalous position of having two of our three elected representatives definitively stating their opinions that our current system is structurally dysfunctional. Our third elected official declined to take a public position supporting the governance system in which he also was elected to serve. Challenging times! There are many achievements that we have accomplished over the years: library, pool, affordable housing, bus service, water and sewage treatment upgrades, etc., etc. However, as in any other governance structure, community problem-solving depends on the political will of those elected to office. Like most communities in B.C. we are experiencing a serious housing crisis. If our two trustees a…

Peter Luckham, Chair of Islands Trust Council, made the following statement regarding the decision of the September 9, 2017 referendum with preliminary results showing 62 per cent voted against Salt Spring Island incorporating into a municipality. “The Islands Trust Council congratulates the community of Salt Spring Island for exercising its democratic right on September 9, 2017 and choosing to remain unincorporated. “The debates and discussions leading up to this vote demonstrated the high level of civic engagement among the residents of Salt Spring Island, a sign of a caring, resilient and healthy community. “I am pleased to see the strong voter turnout and the clear support for the preserve and protect mandate of the Islands Trust. “The discussions prior to the vote have highlighted both the strengths and areas of improvements desired in the present form of governance, as well as confidence in the Islands Trust to seek those improvements. “Local govern…

Adam Olsen, MLA for Saanich North and the Islands, issued the following statement in regards to the outcome of Salt Spring’s Incorporation Vote. Salt Spring Island voted against incorporating as an island municipality this past weekend. "Over the past couple of years Salt Spring Islanders have been discussing how their community is governed. It has been an emotional and divisive process which resulted in a vote against incorporation this weekend," Olsen said. "We have a responsibility to help the community heal and I am focused on that. Now is not the time to turn our attention away from this important discussion about community governance but rather to continue it in a compassionate and productive way that respects the democratic decision of Salt Spring Islanders while seeking solutions to the very real governance challenges that exist on the Island and throughout the Southern Gulf Islands. “I pledged that I would work with whatever Salt Spring Islanders decided. Movi…

The incorporation referendum is now over, complete with a clear community “no” decision on the option to incorporate. It is now time to recognize and thank many who have been involved: The Provincial Government, through the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development (now the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing) not only provided financial support for studies but staff expertise. Particular thanks to Linda Galeazzi and Marijke Edmondson who were a terrific support to Trustees George Grams, Peter Grove and myself as well as the two volunteer committees. The first committee study compared our present governance model with an incorporated one and the second was the full incorporation study complete with costing and is dated November 21, 2017. Both committees worked extremely hard, provided ongoing opportunities for public input, answered many questions and delivered quality reports to help inform our community on a variety of governance matters. The Capital…

We are very disappointed in the outcome but as the time honoured saying goes, the people have spoken. We are happy that we’ve seen a record turnout at the polls for this important decision and we congratulate the opposition on their success. Our belief remains that local government decisions should be made by a representative cross-section of Salt Spring Islanders. Today, not having taken the first step on that path, we reach out to our fellow Salt Springers who voted “no” to let them know we remain committed to more effective governance as far as the current system allows. We are extremely grateful for all the hard work of our volunteers and the funding provided by our donors. We could not have communicated our message of hope for the future without those resources. Islanders have argued for months now, sometimes politely, sometimes angrily, about the best way forward from September 9th. After all the squabbling, there is no dispute about this: born here or lured from e…

The turnout for, and the result of, the incorporation referendum yesterday were both satisfyingly decisive. For myself the result marks a conclusion to the question of which governance model is appropriate for our community and I hope others feel likewise. Work remains to be done on island to continue to preserve and protect our environment and to build a better community and I look forward to devoting my energies as a trustee to advance both. I would like to thank the ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development (now the ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing), in particular Linda Galeazzi and Marijke Edmondson for supporting the community throughout this process. The review would not have been possible without the energy, commitment and time devoted by islanders, in particular those who served on the two study committees, the Governance Review Committee that reported in 2013 and the Incorporation Study Committee that concluded its work last year. My thanks t…

I am pleased that our community has reached its decision about the Islands future form of governance. It has been a long journey for all those involved and there are so many we must thank: the two separate committees, the first looking at governance and the second being the incorporation study committee itself; the countless volunteers on both sides who put in so many hours; the Driftwood and the Exchange for reporting and communicating so effectively; our community for engaging, discussing and debating in ways which were (mostly!) respectful and thoughtful, and for participating in the vote in such record numbers. I feel privileged and proud to be a part of such an engaged and often passionate community, and to have played my part. It is clear that there are many who are dissatisfied with our present form of governance. I will do all I can to work towards changes within the system to address the concerns, to improve what we have, to better serve our communities needs. As I…

While Salt Spring residents and property owners are the only ones who will have a vote on whether or not Salt Spring will become an island municipality, that decision will have an effect on all the islands in the Trust area. In fact, the Island’s Trust mandate is to protect the islands for all British Columbians. The Gulf Islands Alliance (GIA), which exists mainly to support that mandate, feels it is important to offer our perspective on the upcoming referendum. The Province paid for a study of the impacts of Salt Spring incorporating on the Islands Trust but there was no public engagement process connected with that study. So people might not know that the study concluded that the impact of incorporation on the Trust "would be substantial, making it difficult for the Islands Trust to carry out its mandate in the way it does now.” Some former trustees and one councillor on Bowen Island believe that if Salt Spring were to become a municipality, this could signify, over ti…

Before moving to Salt Spring fifteen years ago, I lived in the small town of Port Hope on Lake Ontario, about an hour east of Toronto. The town's population was the same size as Salt Spring's, and it had a similar mix of farmers, business owners, artists and writers (among them Farley Mowat). Through unusual circumstances we needn't go into, Port Hope had kept its heritage charm while neighbouring towns were encircled by car lots, big-box malls, and sprawling bedroom suburbs. Ever since Victorian times, Port Hope had been run on the municipal system now being mooted for Salt Spring: a mayor and six councillors with near-total authority over land use, planning, and many other matters. Like national and provincial governments, councils can change radically at election time. Some are good, most are middling, and a few are disastrously bad. It is never easy for a small community to find seven smart and trustworthy people to run for office every few years, especially when develop…