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Your Local Community Commissioners Learn About Community Works Funds, and Roosters
February 9, 2024: Thirty joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome our Local Community Commissioners (LCC) Ben Corno (bcorno@crd.bc.ca), Brian Webster (bwebster@crd.bc.ca), Earl Rook (erook@crd.bc.ca, Gayle Baker (gbaker@crd.bc.ca) and Gary Holman, also our Electoral Director, (directorssi@crd.bc.ca). After our Territorial Acknowledgment, facilitator Grant Fredrickson began by asking each of our guests what excited and delighted them about being Salt Spring’s first Local Commissioners. Ben began by expressing his pleasure that the months of discussion about the 2024 budget had concluded, allowing the Local Commissioners to turn their full attention to creative solutions to Salt Spring issues. Earl agreed with Ben’s sentiment, adding that he was looking forward to…
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Welcoming MLA Adam Olsen to Discuss That Classic Battle Between Centralised and Local Decisions
February 2, 2024: Twenty came to welcome MLA Adam Olsen and Jerram Gawley, his Constituency Advocate, to this ASK Salt Spring gathering. Adam added to our Territorial Acknowledgement by reminding us that his people had a tradition of overlapping spaces, a homeland to different groups sharing linguistic and cultural roots but still very different. He reminded us that these overlapping boundaries accommodating multiple groups were extremely difficult for crown governments far more comfortable with maps identifying discrete ownership. When asked what excited and delighted him, Adam immediately responded that being on Salt Spring did just that. He is glad that he spends a lot of…
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A Meander Down Memory Lane with Tom Toynbee
January 26, 2024: Nineteen joined us to welcome longtime Salt Spring leader, Tom Toynbee. He took us on a meander down Memory Lane, and did we ever learn a lot about Ganges’ fascinating history! For many of us, it was a welcome break from concern about today’s issues to immerse ourselves in a time past and enjoy Tom’s amazing memory and passion for all things Ganges. Tom was born at Lady Minto Hospital (at the location of today’s Community Services) on May 8, 1934. Yes, he has a big birthday approaching :). We all shared a laugh when we learned that his…
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BC Ferries’ Nicholas Offers Some Opportunities to Local NonProfits
January 19, 2024: Unfortunately, snow forced a cancellation of this gathering. Anticipated as a rich conversation about funding options for local initiatives, Funding a healthy and resilient Salt Spring, our team of experts, Shannon Cowan, Salt Spring Island Foundation; Nora Layard, Transition Salt Spring Economic Co-Op (TSSEC); Robert Steinbach, Country Grocer Community Outreach; and Julie Kemble, Chair of the Arts Council, have promised to join us Friday, February 16, 11-1, in the SIMS classroom next to the Boardroom. But, even though we had no ASK Salt Spring gathering this week, we do have some news: On October 20, BC Ferries President and Chief Executive Officer,…
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Welcoming our “Delighted to be Alive!” MP Elizabeth May
January 12, 2024: Due to freezing temperatures and icy roads, only 11 came to welcome our MP Elizabeth May and Ned Taylor, Constituency Coordinator. While the numbers were disappointing but understandable, those who braved the weather all contributed to an amazing and rich conversation with Elizabeth. After our Territorial Acknowledgment, we asked Elizabeth what excited and delighted her. Her answer was immediate and heartfelt: I am delighted to be alive! We then learned more about her recent stroke. While the most common strokes are ischemic, caused by a blocked artery in the brain, Elizabeth’s was a hemorrhagic stroke, caused by the bursting of a blood vessel in her brain…
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Beginning 2024 with MLA Adam Olsen
January 5, 2024: Nineteen came to the first 2024 gathering to welcome MLA Adam Olsen and his Constituency Advocate, Jerram Gawley. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, Adam began by reflecting on his break over the holiday season, savouring a time to relax and prepare for a very busy 2024. Concerning pace, he has observed that, while politics move quickly, democracy needs to proceed slowly. Reflecting on the quick passage of time since he first ran as MLA in 2013 and was elected in 2017, he noted the difference in the pace of politics and governance; a functioning democracy requires a much more…
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Local Community Commission Examines Challenges and Progress
December 8, 2023: Ten gathered to welcome Local Community Commissioners (LCC) Chair Earl Rook, Brian Webster, Gayle Baker, and Commissioner, as well as Electoral Director, Gary Holman. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, Darryl Martin, doing the honours as our facilitator, began by asking all what they hoped to gain from this CRD/LCC-focused gathering. While responses varied, the clear message was that participants wanted Commissioners to tell them about the major issues before the LCC and what they thought the LCC had accomplished in its first six months. Much our time together focused upon some key LCC issues of discussion, including the 2024…
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Will 2024 Bring a Relaxation of the Nine-Year NSSWD Moratorium on New Water Hookups?
December 1, 2023:Ten joined this ASK Salt Spring conversation with North Salt Spring Waterworks District (NSSWD) Chief Administrative Officer, Mark Boysen, and Board Chair, Brian Pyper. The first time representatives of this important water district have joined us as our special guests, questions flew, creating a rich conversation. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, Mark and Brian began by telling us a bit about themselves. Brian is an environmental statistician bringing his 25 years of analytical experience to NSSWD’s important decisions. Planning to run for another term in the upcoming Trustee election before its AGM on Thursday, May 2, 2024, he hopes to continue…
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Our MLA Adam Olsen: “I am bloody honoured to represent Salt Spring!”
December 1, 2023: Twenty-nine joined us for this ASK Salt Spring gathering welcoming MLA Adam Olsen and Constituent Advocate Jerram Gawley. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, we began a lively, philosophical, complicated, and quite wonderful conversation about housing in the context of just-passed Bill 44 (https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/bills/billsprevious/3rd42nd:gov44-3). After acknowledging ASK Salt Spring, beginning its fifth year of convening rich weekly conversations, Adam began by speaking briefly of the fascinating, frustrating just finished legislative session, calling it one of the most challenging in his 15 years of government service. While happy to have a break, he is also saddened that he must wait until the Legislature reconvenes…
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Prepare and “Keep It Boring!”. . . . Lots to Learn About Emergency Management
November 24, 2023: While only 10 joined this ASK Salt Spring conversation about our preparedness for emergencies, we learned so much! Led by John Wakefield, Emergency Management Lead, Salt Spring Island, he was joined by Jolette Schenk, CRD Electoral Area Emergency Services Coordinator and Corey Anderson, Manager, Emergency Programs, both of whom had come from Victoria to join us. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, John spoke briefly about accelerating challenges from climate-related weather emergencies. While things may seem to be much the same, it is John’s observation that on Salt Spring, much like the rest of the world, record heat domes, drought, and storms are…