ask

ASK Salt Spring Welcomes Kurt Irwin and Our Archives Staff to Discuss Reconciliation

November 1 Fourteen joined us to welcome Penelakut Councillor Kurt Irwin, his uncles Ken and Chuck, and Archive volunteer managers Christina Marshall and Ceridwen Ross Collins. A unique and fun ASK Salt Spring, all seemed to enjoy a fascinating glimpse at our past as well as a future Salt Spring rich with First Nations partnerships. Kurt began by offering a heartfelt and very personal Territorial Acknowledgement sharing his rediscovery of his Indigenous roots. It all began almost exactly a decade ago when he offered an Indigenous funeral service for his Penelakut mother, Lil Sampson Irwin, on October 1, 2014 at Fernwood Dock. With only four days to prepare, Kurt worked quickly and learned a lot, also quickly realizing that he had much more to learn. RCMP officers and Firefighters saluted as Penelakut Elders arrived at the dock drumming. As a part of the ceremony, Kurt also prepared four plates of traditional foods, including venison, corn, and vegetables, to burn. Whe…

ASK Salt Spring Welcomes the Alliance to End Homelessness Team

October 18 Nine joined this ASK Salt Spring conversation with the Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region CEO Sylvia Ceacero and Michelle Vanchu-Orosco, Director of Research and Data Analysis. This organization was established in 2007 by the mayor of Victoria and other local leaders. Its mission is to arrive at functional-zero homelessness by 2030 as agreed with community through the 2025-2030 Community Plan. Functional-Zero is described as experiences of homelessness being rare, brief, and non-recurring which implies that there are sufficient wrap -arounds to ensure people entering homelessness will safely and rapidly transition out of homelessness to never return. Sylvia began our time together with a meaningful Territorial Acknowledgement noting that she had immigrated to Canada and that she had consistently been welcomed by First Nations individuals throughout her time here. With Spanish roots, as a child she had been taught about the Spanish impact upon …

ASK Salt Spring Welcomes All MLA Candidates

October 4 We had four very special guests at this ASK Salt Spring gathering - all of our MLA candidates (in alphabetical order): - Rob Botterell (Green) - David Busch (Conservative) - Amy Haysom (Independent) - Sarah Riddell (NDP) Need to learn more? These candidates will be debating this Wednesday, October 9, 5:00-6:30 at ArtSpring in an event sponsored by the Salt Spring Forum and the Gulf Islands Driftwood And, when and where can I vote? The election is Saturday, October 19 with advance polling on October 10-13 and October 15-16. Read all the details at: https://elections.bc.ca/2024-provincial-election/. With a standing room only crowd of over 50, after a lovely Territorial Acknowledgement by Amy, we began our conversation with our first always question: “What excites and delights you?” Rob, telling us that, as a budding politician, he will keep it short, began by expressing his love of sailing, recalling a recent voyage from his home on North Pender to Salt…

ASK Salt Spring Welcomes Owen Page, our MoTi Area Manager

April 19 Fifteen joined us for all or part of our time together at this ASK Salt Spring gathering that welcomed our Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI) Area Manager Owen Page. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, we asked Owen what excites and delights him. Personally, he was looking forward to watching a great basketball playoff while enjoying a beer that evening. Professionally, he loves spending time in the communities for which he is responsible, always listening, learning, and seeking the best use of the resources he has been allocated. Later ,when asked if the number of Salt Spring emails were a bit overwhelming, he responded a resounding No. He appreciates hearing our suggestions. He is able to address some. Others he routes to the correct managers, keeping track and advocating for them, as appropriate. When asked to detail his area of responsibility, we learned that, although the Gulf Islands are split between three Area Managers, leaving Owen …

ASK Salt Spring Welcomes Two Local Community Commissioners

April 12- Ten welcomed two of your Local Community Commissioners, Ben Corno and Gayle Baker, to this ASK Salt Spring gathering. While the numbers were small, the conversation was rich, masterfully facilitated by Ron Cooke. We began with a Territorial Acknowledgement from Ben, introducing himself in the Indigenous way of also recognizing his parents. When asked what excites and delights us, Gayle responded that she was delighted to be happily home after an amazing trip that began in Brazil and ended in Rome. She spoke briefly about her satisfaction with small projects that are moving along toward completion, like the new bus shelter next to the Visitors’ Center, a proposed ICBC study of our Ganges crosswalks, the soon-to-be-released prioritization of our top road safety concerns, and the recent award of a grant to complete the Merchant Mews pathway. She expressed her determination not to focus upon the areas in which she sees herself failing, like moving swiftly toward soluti…

ASK Salt Spring – ALL ABOUT FOOD March 2024

ASK Salt Spring – ALL ABOUT FOOD March 2024 With over 20 participants, the ASK Salt Spring meeting on “All About Food” got underway at 11:00 AM at the SIMs Board Room. This week’s moderator was Sheila Dobie, Co-Chair of the Salt Spring Island’s Farmland Trust. Guest speakers included Jon Cooksey, a Board member of the SSI Farmland Trust, Pam Tarr, Advocacy Lead with Transition Salt Spring (TSS), and Jason Roy Allen, Co-owner of the Hen and Hound Brasserie and incoming President of the Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce. In addition to local producers, food security advocates and interested citizens, in attendance were CRD Director Gary Holman, Local Community Commission (LCC) member Brian Webster, Island Community Services Executive Director Rob Grant, Damian Inwood with CHiR FM, and Natasha Kong, TSS Communications Lead. After the introductions, Sheila gave the territorial acknowledgement based on a poem written by Victoria, BC, poet Zoe Dickinson. Jon Cooksey spo…

ASK Salt Spring meeting with Gary Holman, CRD Director & Brian Webster, LLC Commissioner

ASK SALT SPRING – MEETING MINUTES 8 MARCH 2024 On March 8 th , twelve joined the ASK Salt Spring gathering at SIMs to meet with Gary Holman,CRD Director and Local Community Commissioner, and Brian Webster, LCC Commissioner. The meeting was facilitated by Grant Fredrickson, the new Events Coordinator for ASK Salt Spring. Grant is a member of the Salt Spring Community Alliance and will be facilitating the gatherings until Gayle Baker returns next month. Brian gave the territorial acknowledgment and expressed on behalf of the group the long-term commitment toward reconciliation to repair past harms to First Nations and ensure these are not repeated in the future. Gary and Brian were then invited to introduce themselves and hopes for the LCC.Brian said that he is a newcomer to politics and that he has a long list of issues that he hopes to address before his time with the Commission is over in two and a half years. Gary clarified that while the terms for Commissioners are…