Thirteen came to this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Local Community Commissioners Brian Webster and Gary Holman, also our Electoral Area Director. Beautifully facilitated by Grant Fredrickson with notes provided by Julie Thomson (thanks, team!, the conversation focused on healthcare, housing, and transportation. 

After Gary offered our Land Acknowledgement, our guests were asked what “excited and delighted” them. Brian, introducing himself as both a farmer and elected member of the Local Community Commission (LCC), began by expressing his delight that we are about a week away from the paving of a section of the Ganges Hill project.

Brian also mentioned the recent mechanical issues on the Fulford/Swartz Bay route. While one might question delight with this disruption, he expressed his appreciation of the all day/everyday service our ferry system provides, hoping that we might remember the quality of the ferry service we have rather than the oft expressed lament of being “held hostage” by this system. He expressed his appreciation that we have such good, reliable service.

Gary is also “excited and delighted’ with Ganges Hill, reminding us that it is a $23 million project requiring not a single cent of local taxes. Other expensive projects requiring no local taxes are the Lady Minto Foundation’s renovation of the former SeaBreeze Inne for 18 healthcare worker accommodations (a $9-10 million project) and the nearly-completed Drake Road supportive care facility accommodating 32 residents as well as providing four worker housing units, (estimated to be a $10 million project). Gary is appreciative of these major projects, costing over $40 million, that will enhance all of our lives without requiring any local taxation. He is hopeful that Salt Springers will also count their blessings about these important soon-to-be-completed projects.

And then there are the exciting projects supported by local taxes, including impending occupation of the newGanges Fire Hall and the resulting transfer of the old fire hall to the LCC(purchased for $1), the lease of the former Middle School as our community centre, the recent LCC leaseof the former Phoenix school property, and the additional housing potential of the neighbouringDrake Road property. And, on top of that, the Blue Jays are finally over 500! 

Later in the conversation, a participant noted that elections are less than a year and half away, expressing hope that a succession plan for the LCC and Electoral AreaDirector positions is being developed. Gary responded that he is willing to talk to anyone considering running for Electoral AreaDirector to offer his opinion about what is required of this elected position. 

Brian added that the significance of Gary retiring in a year and a half cannot be overstated. The loss of his multitude of contacts, breadth of knowledge, and credibility will leave serious gaps. Brian encouraged us all to be thinking about how we will continue what Gary has accomplished. He also noted that the creation of the LCC relieves some of the burden upon the Electoral AreaDirector but that we could easily slip backwards if we do not seriously plan this important succession. 

A large portion of our time together was focused on healthcare concerns, beginning with a participant’s concern that long-term care for seniors does not seem to be discussed as much as other housing needs. She stated that we have a very big and very sad problem here with an aging hospital (1957) forced to provide extended care to those who have nowhere else to go. Despite dedicated staff and volunteers who do their best, she questioned whether we are doing enough planning to allow our aging seniors to stay on the island they so love when they can no longer care for themselves.

Gary responded that, while the CRD Hospital District (CRHD) contributed $3.7 million to the new Emergency Room, Island Healthrecently dropped support for the 50-bed expansion of senior care on Salt Spring that was in the CRHD ten year Capital Plan. As a result of this decision, this project has now been removed from CRHD plans. A $50 million item in a $1.3 billion dollar Capital Plan, Gary is disappointed that this needed expansion, identified two decades ago, has been deleted. He will continue advocating for the reversal of this decision that has removed a project of such importance to Salt Spring seniors. 

Concerning the removal of this senior care project, Gary will meet again with Island Health and the Health Minister, Josie Osborne (https://news.gov.bc.ca/ministries/health/biography). Gary has also requested assistance from Rob Botterell about this important issue. (You may want to add your voice on the important issue when Rob next visits ASK Salt Spring June 6, 11-1, SIMS classroom)

When a participant asked why we as a community do not simply raise the needed money as we have done so successfully before, Gary responded that, in his opinion, we need to first continue attempts to get the funding back before asking locals to come to the rescue.

A participant asked what had happened to the planned seniors housing on the Kings Lane property. Gary replied that the Gulf Islands Senior Residence Association(GISRA), already managing Meadowbrook, had initially planned senior housing for the 50-unit Kings Lane project. Over the years, despite the creation of expensive shovel-ready plans, the project stalled. Now under new leadership, plans are to provide a wider range of housing to also include worker housing in this project. While still a long way to go, talks with BC Housing are already underway, and Gary believes that this large project is currently Salt Spring’s best bet for its next successful affordable housing project. 

Despite its promise, Brian reminded us that preliminary estimates of the Kings Lane housing indicates that it could be a $25 million project, penciling out at about a half million dollars for every unit. With this magnitude, our local role tends tobe limited to strong advocacy to the agencies with the funding needed to move a project of this size forward. Gary agreed, although experience shows that even affordable housing projects can afford a certain amount of borrowing. 

In addition to the lack of senior care, a participant mentioned that the lack of family doctors remains serious. While the BC average of those without doctor ranges from 10%-20%, this participant estimated that the number on Salt Spring is almost twice this.Reminding us that other local communities have been successful launching campaigns to recruit doctors, he suggested that Salt Spring local government should play a key role ina similar initiative. 

We learned that there is a physician recruitment committee on Salt Spring that is working hard to recruit doctors. Adding to this is the recent funding of Salt Spring’s Primary Care Network (https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/health/accessing-health-care/bcs-primary-care-system). This is very good news, offering 11 fully-funded, ongoing health care positions. 

An implementation team, of which Gary is a member, is working diligently to answer tough questions like the working space for this Primary Care Network and housing for these new healthcare workers. A participant asked Gary for details about this committee and its membership including how the community can dialogue with this group. Gary promised to get this information and agreed that better public communication about this initiative would be helpful. Stay tuned for more good news about Salt Spring’s Primary Care Network.

The conversation shifted to the challenge of recruiting healthcare workers to Salt Spring. It was noted that Greenwoods, doing the best possible, cannot always fill all of their 50 beds due to staffing issues. A participant noted that his doctor father was repeatedly offered huge amounts of money to relocate to other countries, further complicating our recruitment difficulties. 

Recognizing that fewer doctors are choosing family medicine as their speciality, it was suggested that addressing medicalstudent debt could help. Did you know that Salt Spring is not on the list of communities qualifying for debt forgiveness? It was also mentioned that there has never been a better time to launch focused initiatives to make it easier for healthcare professionals to immigrate from the US. 

While these are federal and provincial initiatives for which Salt Spring can only advocate, we were reminded that local government as well as our cadre of hard working volunteers could also step up to help recruit the healthcare professionals we so desperately need. 

Of course, recruitment cannot be fully discussed without diving into the housing issue. When Lady Minto Hospital Administrator Erin Price-Lindstrom was at ASK Salt Spring last fall (https://asksaltspring.com/2024/11/29/learning-lots-about-our-lady-minto-hospital-and-new-er/), we learned that a large percentage of recruiting efforts meet with failure due to our housing scarcity. How can local government help? It was suggested that the LCC buy houses as they come up for sale. While outside the current authority of the LCC, local businesses are doing just that for their employees.

Brian reminded us that the CRD has a wide range of capabilities, many of which have yet to be explored on Salt Spring. He encouraged us to seek “Yes” rather than retreating to that over-used response that we cannot do something because we are not incorporated. He encouraged us to identify the obstacles, ambitiously seek solutions, and be willing topay the price for the best solutions for our community. He encouraged us to embrace both the paths of least resistance as well as the big solutions. 

A participant asked about the temporary prefabs on the Kings Lane property. When the Drake Road supportive housing facility opens this summer, these units are expected to be shipped away. While these units are admittedly old and considered by most to be at the end of their life, this participant maintained that these housing units, potentially housing as many as 30, are far better than living rough or in tent. Can the LCC be creative and acquire them, possibly placing them onone of PARC’s multiple pieces of property? 

Brian responded that the LCC looked deeply into the potential of using some of the PARC-owned land for affordable housing. While the LCC is still considering ways to better use these currently-vacant properties, the initial results were discouraging. None of the properties had the potential for more than a single home as well as being subject to other challenges, like services and zoning.

As our time together was nearly over, a participant asked about the recently completed counter petition for a CRD Regional Transportation Service (https://www.timescolonist.com/local-news/crd-launches-alternative-approval-process-for-regional-transportation-service-10491103). As the required number of CRD voters did not submit a petition opposing this service, the counter petition failed, and the service is expected to beapproved. 

While not surprised, the Gary and the Salt Spring Local Commissioners are united in their disappointment. Not debating the value of such a service for other CRD communities, the LCC strongly opposed Salt Springbeing forced to support this service which appears to offer little local benefit. 

Brian cited this as an example of the benefits and disadvantages of being a small community in a large regional district, the second largest district in BC. While we reap benefits from many service resources as well as a large professional staff, as only 3% of the district, we are challenged to make sure that Salt Spring gets its fair share. 

Clear that the Galloping Goose Trail and other trails are a great benefit to Victoria-area residents, locals question whether Salt Spring should have to share the tens of millions dollar investments required. Already taxed through the CRD Regional Parks Service, this additional Transportation Service tax burden is a hard pill for Local Commissioners to swallow. “What about our still-imaginary trail from Vesuvius to Fulford?” asked Brian?

Our challenge will be to advocate effectively enough to get local benefit from this new regional Transportation Service. Aligning with the LCC is a determined group of Salish Sea Trailadvocates, aptly led by Island Pathways, working to make sure Salt Spring gets its fair share (or more!) of this tax money. On a positive note, for the first time, $300,000 has been allocated in the CRD Regional Trail Capital Plan in 2025 and 2026 for the design of the Vesuvius to Central segment of the Salish Sea Trail. Further potentially good news is that several million dollars has also allocated in the 2027-29 budget for its construction.

A participant asked whether this new Regional TransportationService could help expand our local bus system. The answer is “No.” Notonly does this CRD Transportation Service not initiallyinclude transit, our Salt Spring bus system is not part of the Greater VictoriaTransit system, working directly with BC Transit instead. 

This generated a final question for our gathering this week: “What is happening with our local bus service?” Although the LCC approved a 2026 expansion of the Fulford-Ganges route, already generating over 50% of our total ridership, this proposed expansion was not approved by BC Transit this year. There is a good possibility it will be approved in 2027.

This expansion, combined with increasing costs of operating the existing system, has already resulted in a significantincrease in our costs for this service, with the total cost to local taxpayers now in the area of $30-35 per year per household. Futureincreases will require a higher requisition for the Transit Service than currently allowed. The LCC will soon need to debate the best method of increasing this requisition level. Stay tuned. . . . The initial LCC conversation about the 2026 budget is scheduled for Thursday, June 5 in the SIMS Boardroom. A thoroughly enticing conversation, hopes are for a large crowd to listen to this initial budget conversation :). 

Brian reminded us that our bus service is not currently frequentenough to be a positive contributor to relievingour housing crisis, but the potential is there. Thinking aspirationally, what if our bus service was frequent enough to allow workers, families, and seniors to address all their transportation needs without the expense and negatives of drivinga car? Despite thesignificant cost of doing so, Brian believes that a robust bus system holds the potential of addressing at least one piece of our challenging affordable housing puzzle. 

As we were preparing to leave, a participant reminded us of the scourge of the invasive Shiny Geranium, currently blooming and spreading everywhere. We were reminded to deal with it immediately. When you see it, go online to I-Naturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/), and put a dot on the map. Also, while it is better to pull it in the winter, it can still pulled. . . just do it! 

Thanking Brian and Gary for a great conversation, appreciation was expressed for their honesty, knowledge, deep caring about the issues that matter most to us, and tenacity in the face of seemingly overwhelming challenges (Thanks Gary and Brian!)