Author: Gayle Baker

• Celebrating Community Policing at its Best

  November 5. 2021: Only nine gathered in the Dome at Rainbow Road Elementary School to engage in fascinating discussions with our special guest, RCMP’s Sergeant Clive Seabrook, for this week’s ASK Salt Spring. (Come on, Salt Spring. . . We need your voices too!) That said, the small numbers allowed a fruitful conversation in which all participated, leaving…

• So, “What is this Coach Program?

  “October 22, 2021: A small ASK Salt Spring gathering of eleven tuned into Zoom to learn about Transition Salt Spring’s (TSS) new Climate Action Coach Program and welcome Bryan Young, TCC Chair and Coach inspiration, and Rob Lowrie, a Coach Navigator. Bryan began with a moving Territorial Acknowledgement, urging us to learn more about the W̱SÁNEĆ Leadership Council, (a unified, legal governing…

• And, Our Favourite Topics. . . . The Islands Trust Policy Statement and Housing

  October 15, 2021: After our Territorial Acknowledgement, a group of seven people welcomed one of our Islands Trust’s Local Trustees, Laura Patrick, and launched into our discussion on Zoom. While the conversation revolved around a number of questions, key topics were the federation-wide draft Trust Policy Statement and the ever-present local concerns about housing.  The first…

• A Year of ASK Salt Spring in Retrospect (AGM Report)

  October 8, 2021: Why:  ASK Salt Spring was born just over two year ago from the clear frustrations experienced by too many when seeking answers to even simple questions. Our complex governance has resulted in confusion about who does what as well as too many areas of either gaps, overlap, or duplication. ASK Salt Spring is an attempt…

• Would Salt Springers be Unstoppable if Listened to Each Other and Worked Together?

  October 1. 2021: Ten gathered to welcome David Norget and Sherman Sherwood to discuss mental health trials and triumphs on Salt Spring. This ASK Salt Spring gathering was in our wonderful Meadow on a lovely fall day, likely the last one before the weather gods chase us away for the season.  After offering the Territorial Acknowledgement, David asked us…

• Could (Should) Islands Trust Take a Lead in Inter-Agency Coordination? 

  September 17, 2021: Eight hardy Salt Springers gathered in the cold rain and wind at the Portlock Picnic Pavilion to welcome Laura Patrick, one of our two Local Trustees for the Islands Trust, to ASK Salt Spring. During her Territorial Acknowledgement, Laura spoke with deep appreciation of a Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Convention workshop that…

• Our Roads, Village, and Buses. . . and Whatever is an LCC?

  September 10, 2021: For the second week in a row, the number of participants was lower than usual (eight this week as well), but, given pandemic concerns, the small number provided the perfect intimate – but socially distanced – gathering in the idyllic Foxglove Nursery Greenhouse. Nestled among the ferns on a clear, cold day with…

• Seeking a Green Recovery with Adam Olsen

   June 5, 2022: Only eight attended this Zoom meeting with Adam Olsen. Although one could wonder if Salt Springers have had every one of their questions answered already, it may be only that folks are tired of sitting in front of their screens. A gathering next week with Gary Holman in the United Church Meadow (weather…

• Economic Recovery – A Better Normal?

   May 22, 2022: Twelve folks participated in this Zoom session, with special guests Jessica Harkema, Executive Director of our Chamber, and Francine Carlin, Chair of the Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC). Predictably, much of the conversation focused on business recovery and thoughts about achieving a recovery to a better normal. We began with a question for Jessica about the Southern…

• Gary Holman Discusses Mental Health and Emergency Preparations During the Spring of Isolation

   May 8, 2022: This was our most sparsely-attended meeting since ASK Salt Spring’s earliest days, possibly due to the sunny, summery weather and a weariness of sitting in front of screens. Despite the low number (totaling only nine including guests and volunteers) our three special guests, Gary Holman; Charles Nash, Emergency Operations Coordinator; and David Norget, co-chair…