Category: ASK Salt Spring Report

• Are Our Salt Spring Youth Engaged?

  While the group of participants welcoming Janine Fernandes Hayden, Executive Director of The Circle Education, to this ASK Salt Spring gathering was small, it included a rich array of individuals with decades of experience managing youth programs as well as a 13-year-old participant. The session began with an overview of The Circle Education before moving…

• What Would it Take for Salt Springers to be a Happy as Findlaners? Lively Discussions with MLA Rob Botterell

  Twenty-four joined this ASK Salt Spring conversation to welcome MLA Rob Botterell. He offered our Land Acknowledgement, noting how moved he was that acknowledgements had become the beginning of so many meetings throughout the province. He expressed his privilege that we are able to live, eat, and work on these lands, benefitting from thousands of…

• Roads 101: All you Ever Wanted to Know About Our Roads

  Twenty-one joined this ASK Salt Spring conversation with our transportation experts, Ministry of Transportation and Transit’s (MoTT) Area Roads Manager Owen Page and Emcon’s Operations Manager Andrew Gaetz and Road Area Superintendent Craig Jantzi. After our Land Acknowledgement and a chance for each of us to introduce ourselves, we began to learn about the roles…

• Emergency Preparedness 101 Made Fun

  Thirteen(and one very well-behaved dog) joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome our Emergency Planning folks, Jennifer Carvill, Electoral Area Emergency Services Coordinator, and John Wakefield, our Salt Spring Emergency Management Lead. John offered our Territorial Acknowledgement, reminding us of the First Nations’ reverence for connection, that same interconnectedness that will support us as we…

• Hope from MP Elizaberth May in Troubling Times

  Eighteen came to this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome MP Elizabeth May. After her Territorial Acknowledgement, a chance for each of us to introduce ourselves, and some kind words about ASK Salt Spring, Elizabeth told us about her delight with her baby granddaughter, Lily, born October 2024. Already a loving grandmother to 11 step-grandchildren,…

• When Will We Get Our Salish Sea Trail?

  Fifteen joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Island Pathways’ Robin Jenkinson to talk about Salt Spring’s proposed Salish Sea Trail. During her Land Acknowledgement, she reminded us that our trails today often follow age-old First Nations routes. We also learned that many of our roadbeds are artifact-rich as they were first constructed using…

• Conversations About Widespread Land Title Fears with MLA Rob Botterell

  Fifteen joined this afternoon’s 2:30 pm ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome MLA Rob Botterell. After his Acknowledgement during which he emphasized the critical importance of First Nations collaboration followed by a chance for each of us to introduce ourselves, Rob shared what “excited and delighted” him. Top on his mind at that moment was…

• Learning All About Our Farmland Trust from Andrea and Jenn

  Twelve joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome the Salt Spring Island Farmland Trust’s (https://www.ssifarmlandtrust.org/) Executive Director Andrea Palframan and Board Chair Jenn LeBlanc. While not a large group, after our gathering, Andrea noted that each one of our participants brought a unique and valuable perspective, creating a quite wonderful conversation.  After an Acknowledgement…

• Finding Solutions for our Canada Goose Conundrum

  Thirteen joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Samantha Hammond, CRD Goose Management Coordinator and Penelakut First Nations Ken Thomas of Fisheries, Wildlife, and Natural Resources to discuss our conundrum around the damage these intelligent, majestic, and family-focused Canada Geese are doing to our environment.  After all had a chance to introduce themselves, revealing a…

• Welcoming Royal Roads University President to Talk About RRU Salt Spring

  Fifteen came to this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Royal Roads University’s President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Philip Steenkamp. In his Territorial Acknowledgement, he spoke of the natural order of seasons in indigenous cultures with spring a time of reuniting, shellfish and greens gathering, and preparation for the coming season of salmon fishing. Reminding us…