News - Salt Spring Exchange

McDonalds and Tim Hortons Opening on Salt Spring

Big developments all around the island today. New businesses and changes in management. Busy day for Salt Spring's local economy.

Salt Spring Foundation Community Needs Survey

What do you think are our community’s most critical needs? On March 15, the Salt Spring Island Foundation is launching an online survey that will give islanders an opportunity to identify the most important issues facing our community. The survey will be available until April 15 and is intended to provide island charitable organizations and the Salt Spring community at large with information that will assist in planning programs and services. The survey results, which will be published in June, will enable the Foundation and other funding organizations to make granting decisions that consider the priorities set forth by members of the community. Since the Foundation distributes over $100,000 in grants annually, it is crucial that it effectively supports organizations that respond to our most pressing community needs. The survey also invites responses from members of Salt Spring’s not-for-profit organizations about the challenges they face in delivering services to the com…

Five Thousand+ Fans of Salt Spring on Facebook

Whew! Salt Spring Island is popular. This past week we hit a new milestone on Facebook. We now have over 5,000+ fans of our little emerald isle in the Salish Sea. This isn't a surprise to those of us that live here or have visited of course, Salt Spring Island is a special place with fans all over the world. Our community uses Facebook to share local stories, photos, news, events, classifieds and more and works together with the over 15,000+ people who use the Salt Spring Exchange site each month to stay engaged with our vibrant island community. Consider becoming a fan if you aren't already. More importantly, we just simply want to thank you. We've worked hard to build up this page to promote and share all that is Salt Spring and we thank all those you that follow on Facebook for staying with us as we work to share the beauty of the island. We thought you might be interested in knowing what 5,000+ fans of Salt Spring looks like and where everyone is coming from. You c…

Ballet Victoria's Four Seasons and Chopin's Preludes Returns to Salt Spring

Ballet Victoria returns to ArtSpring Sunday, March 25 with an afternoon of dance that includes visual art, poetry, and choreography. First there will be Paul Destrooper’s new work The Four Seasons which combines Vivaldi’s music with West Coast native legends as we follow two ravens through the seasons of a mystical relationship. The dance is accompanied by art from four first nations artists and haikus written by Victoria poet Linda Rogers and read by the Nonourable Steven Point, Lieutenant Governor of BC. Both music and spoken word for this work are recorded. Then pianist Sarah Hagen performs several Chopin Preludes live on our Steinway to accompany Sandrine Cassini’s choreographed exploration of Chopin’s life and artistic achievement. As Ballet BC puts it, this is “a unique show celebrating the West Coast and its multi-cultural, multi artistic community showcasing local international stars.” The performance starts at 2:30pm on Sunday, March 25. Tickets are availab…

One of Canada's Greatest Pianists

One of the greatest pianists Canada has ever known visits ArtSpring on Tuesday, March 20 for a 7:00pm concert. Quebec pianist André Laplante has been honoured in almost every major competition over the years, from the International Tchaikovsky Competition to the Sydney and Long-Thibaud Compeitions. He has won several Juno awards for his recordings and has performed around the world from Carnegie Hall to China. In 2005 he was awarded the Order of Canada in recognition of his contributions to classical music. He is known widely as a specialist in the music of Franz Liszt and Maurice Ravel. At his ArtSpring concert M. Laplante will play Liszt’s monumental Les Annees de Pelerinage, as well as works by Bach, Mozart and Ravel. “In recent times,” says ArtSpring Executive Director George Sipos, “we have presented some amazing young pianists near the beginning of their careers – Joyce Yang, Di Wu, Mariangella Vacatello. This time we get to hear from one of the world’s seasoned …

Video - Spring Time on Salt Spring

Response to Beddis Road Open Letter

This is in response to the open letter to myself from three Beddis water subscribers that was published in the March 14th Driftwood. For the benefit of all water commissions on SSI and the community as a whole, I felt it useful to outline some of the actions taken in the last three months to address long-standing Salt Spring water management issues. The issues around quality, delivery, quantity and cost of water on SS are indeed complex and have existed for many years and many are understandably frustrated with the apparent lack of progress. It would be nice, but not realistic to suggest that there is a quick and easy fix. From my brief time in office, with a steep learning curve on water issues, I have a perspective that it is critical to work together to take steps to not repeat the mistakes of the past and deal with the issues on many levels. The past three months have been a time of intense personal education. I have attended almost all water commission meeting, all …

BC Ferries Raising Fees

BC Ferries announced today that it is reminding customers of increases in passenger and vehicle fares effective April 1, 2012. Prices will rise by 4.15 per cent on average on all routes across the fleet. This increase was approved last spring in Bill 14, an amendment to the Coastal Ferry Act. Subsequent price caps will be determined following the Province’s response to the BC Ferry Commissioner’s report. Fare increases are required due to the rising cost of operating and capital expenditures coupled with lower than anticipated traffic levels.

See chart of fares below:

4-Way Stop at Central

Our friends at MainRoads have informed us that they will be installing a 4-way stop at the Central intersection (Vesuvius Bay Rd/Upper Ganges Rd/North End Rd/Lower Ganges Rd) today. As a reminder, the rules of the road are whomever arrives at the intersection first, has the right of way. If you arrive at the same time as another driver, the rule is yield to the right. Please use caution & drive slowly in this area.

Sh*t Salt Springers Say

Shit Salt Springers Say is a funny parody video about Salt Spring Island and the many things some locals here are known to say and do as they go about living their lives here in this unique island community. The video was filmed at various locations around Salt Spring by Lemon Grease Productions and stars Thomas Messer, Rebecca Nygard, Michelle Duncan, Billie Woods and David Alex Event with guest appearances by Jada-lee Watson, Ross Duncan and Mike Nelson. Give it a watch. Do you say some of these things? https://youtu.be/HTDkqxaWH80

Salt Spring 'Introvert' Island

Last week we ran a survey asking residents of Salt Spring if they considered themselves to be *mostly* introverted or extroverted. The results are bit a surprising. Our survey closed automatically when we hit 100 responses and of those 100 responses, 79 people identified themselves as *mostly* introverted. Speaking with a colleague via email about this who has a background in Jungian psychology, he shared that in general it is understood that about 40% of the population identify as introverts and that the dominant culture, at least in North America, is extrovertedly oriented. Is it possible that 79% of islanders are mostly introverted at double the average in North America? Is this just another thing that makes Salt Spring special? Should we have gone out and surveyed at a party where all the extroverts are? Should we become the destination for introverts everywhere, or do we need to import some more extroverts to balance this place out?

Are you introverted or extroverted?

I'm conducting a highly un-scientific poll on a subject I've been curious about regarding the dominant nature of island residents. I've been wondering if those who are attracted to living on Salt Spring have a stronger tendency towards introversion or extroversion? In the way I understand this, I would think of introverted people as those who get their energy from spending time alone to recharge and restore themselves, while extroverts would get their energy and relax by being with others in more social settings. There is much more to these labels, but let's find out. What would you say is the dominant nature of Salt Springers?

Video - History of Lady Minto Hospital

History of Lady Minto Hospital by Peter Prince https://youtu.be/gz9LcBzt_mE

Federal Election Poll Results - Another Green Landslide

The results are in from our 2nd online federal election poll. While the sample size for the vote was considerably smaller, the final vote percentages are almost statistically unchanged from the first vote a few weeks ago. Based on these poll results, Salt Spring Island is voting Green by a landslide. We'll be conducting one final poll again this coming Thursday to Saturday before the election itself on May 2nd. All candidates were again notified of the poll via Twitter. Poll Poll Poll Vote Party Candidate 07-Apr 23-Apr 30-Apr 02-May Conservatives Gary Lunn 6.83% 6.70% TBD TBD NDP Edith Loring-Kuhanga 8.81% 9.57% TBD TBD Greens Elizabeth May 79.07% 77.99% TBD TBD Liberals Renée Hetherington 5.29% 5.74% TBD TBD Vote Sample Size 454 209 Read the results from our first online poll here. Read the results from our 2nd online poll here. Thank you to…

Vote in our 2nd Federal Election Online Poll

We’re conducting another advance online poll for the coming federal election. Take a minute to indicate which party you will vote for on election day. Choose one party listed below and click the ‘Vote’ button. The polling system permits only one submission per user. Voting is open until mid-night on Saturday. Voting results are displayed in real-time after you vote. Which party will get your vote?customer surveys Read the results from our first online poll here. Thank you to our sponsor. Funding for this poll is provided by the The Smith Manoeuvre.

Federal Election Online Poll Results - Green Landslide

Federal Election Online Poll Results Our first federal election poll is now closed. In the 48 hours the poll was running on the Exchange, approximately 3091 of you visited the site at least once. Of those 3091, 454 of you voted in the poll. Expressed another way, 14% of the people who used the Exchange in that time chose to vote. In real terms, we had a voter turnout of 14%. Here's how the rounded vote broke down: Green Party of Canada - 79% New Democratic Party of Canada - 9% Conservative Party of Canada - 7% Liberal Party of Canada - 5% If the Saanich - Gulf Island riding was being determined solely by Salt Spring Islanders who use the Exchange, the Greens would win in a landslide. Thank you to those that participated. This is the first poll we have conducted. We thought our community would find this valuable. If there appears to be interest, we will conduct the poll again in the days before the election to see if there has been any kind of shift in the camp…

Salt Spring Featured on the Today Show

Salt Spring Island featured on the Today Show. Watch video at mid-way point.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Green Party Canvassing in Saanich

Tom Mitchell will be heading up a team of Saltspringers going over to foot canvass in Saanich tomorrow. Want to join? If you've never done it before, don't worry, we'll pair you with someone who has, and it's actually kind of fun. They'll be heading over on the 9:50am boat from Fulford and returning on the 3pm. No need to take a car on the ferry; we will be picked up on the other side. Drop me an email if you think you can make it so we can be sure to have enough canvass kits ready to go. Brian Smallshaw 250-653-9778

Federal Election Online Poll Continues Today

Voting in our online federal election poll continues today. Early results with 324 votes as of this posting show a very strong lead with Greens getting 85% of the vote, NDP 6%, Conservatives 5%, and Liberals at 3 %. Are the Greens going to get Salt Spring votes in a landslide? Are they better at getting the online vote out? Are there a disproportionate number of Greens that use the Salt Spring Exchange? Or are they just doing a better job connecting with Salt Spring voters? We're not sure. If you have thoughts, please comment on this post. We've notified all local riding representatives with the link to this poll and suggested they promote it with their constituents. We'll keep the poll open until end of day Thursday, April 7th, but so far in the first 24 hours there have been 324 votes logged. Our polling system tracks two methods to ensure that it is very difficult for any one person to vote more than once. If we see any multi-voting patterns we'll remove the votes f…

Vote in the Federal Election Online Poll

We're conducting an advance poll for the coming federal election. Take a minute to indicate which party you will vote for on election day. Choose one party listed below and click the 'Vote' button. The polling system permits only one submission per user. We've sent out notices to all political parties represented via email and Twitter to let them know this poll is running and to share it with their constituents. Once you enter your selection, you'll instantly see the current, real-time results of the poll. Which party will get your vote?customer surveys

There's no debate: Elizabeth May belongs in the debates

A lot of people have been telling us that they are outraged by Elizabeth May’s exclusion from the televised debates. It IS outrageous that a media consortium is determining how we conduct our democracy, and that the leader of a national party should be kept out of the debates based upon some shifting criteria that they don’t care to share with the public. If you’d like to express your opinion about this, there are a number of good places to go: Click here to vote in the CBC’s poll - currently 82% in favour. Click here to sign the Green Party’s petition. Send a text message to the Chair of the Media Consortium, Mr. Troy Reeb of Global TV on his cell phone at 647-261-3752 In the meantime, you might enjoy some one-on-one debates: Elizabeth in a one-on-one with Gary Lunn on CTV’s Question Period. Click here to watch the video. And finally, after Michael Ignatieff took up Stephen Harper’s challenge for a one-on-one debate and then Harper retreated, it seems that…