Author: Gayle Baker

• Interested in Envisioning an Even Better Ganges?

  January 21, 2022: A total of 15 joined for all or part of the conversation at this ASK Salt Spring Zoom gathering. Trustee Laura Patrick offered a moving Territorial Acknowledgement and spoke briefly about her hopes for the Ganges Village Local Area Plan. She noted that Ganges Village is the heart of Salt Spring, and it is important…

• Composter, SeaBreeze, Assessments, and a Local Community Commission – Learning Lots from Gary

  January 14, 2022: Thirteen gathered via Zoom to welcome CRD’s Gary Holman and to discuss those issues that matter most to us. After the Territorial Acknowledgement, we began with a brief discussion of Gary’s Looking Ahead article in the Driftwood. (Copy at the end of this report.) We learned more about progress with the long planned composting project. It…

• Welcoming Adam and Beginning the New Year with Optimism Amid Challenges

  January 7, 2022: Twenty gathered via Zoom to welcome our MLA, Adam Olsen. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, Adam took a few minutes to share his personal resolution to seek positive things, never forgetting how lucky we are to live in these islands of beautiful British Columbia. He also acknowledged ASK Salt Spring for the regular opportunity it offers…

• SeaBreeze Inne Solutions. . .Which One Will Work?

  December 10, 2021: Fourteen gathered at the Library Program Room to welcome CRD’s Gary Holman and participate in conversations about the issues that matter most to us. While these conversations touched upon North Salt Spring Waterworks District, Transition Salt Spring’s federal award of $100,000 for forest restoration, and the possibilities of a Local Community Commission on…

• A Dawning Recognition of our Vulnerability in Tense Times?

  December 3, 2021 After a Territorial Acknowledgement suggesting we read The Dawn of Everything (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/oct/18/the-dawn-of-everything-a-new-history-of-humanity-by-david-graeber-and-david-wengrow-review-have-we-got-our-ancestors-wrong) to better understand how Indigenous societal structures have impacted our democracy, 22 Salt Springers welcomed our MLA, Adam Olsen.  Adam began by briefly reviewing some of the bills from the recently-concluded legislative session. Among them were two concerning childcare – one to regulate…

• Decades of Deferred Road Maintenance?

  November 26, 2021: Eighteen Salt Springers came to discuss our recent flood and our roads with Salt Spring Island Emergency Coordinator, Charles Nash, and four of our Transportation Commissioners. After a meaningful Territorial Acknowledgment, we asked Charles to begin by giving us some guidance about preparing for emergencies. The messages were loud and clear – and…

• Are We Too Comfortable to Make Needed Changes

  ?November 19, 2021: Fifteen people came to welcome and ask questions of one of the Islands Trust’s Local Trustees, Laura Patrick, at this ASK Salt Spring gathering.  During her Territorial Acknowledgment, Laura described a concept that resulted from a dialogue about incorporating indigenous knowledge into integrated land use planning: We should be thinking in terms of land relationship planning…

• Anyone Interested in Salt Spring’s Proposed $7.1 Million CRD Budget????

  November 12, 2021 Ten Salt Springers gathered in ASK Salt Spring’s new winter location, the Library Program Room, to welcome CRD’s Gary Holman. After the Territorial Acknowledgment, we asked Gary to share what was on his mind. While he was focused on the CRD’s 2022 provisional budget, he also indicated that he is working with the Lady Minto Foundation,…

• 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…