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Welcoming MLA Adam Olsen to Discuss Food Security, BC Ferries, Drake Road, and So Much More. . . .
January 6, 2023: Seventeen came to this first ASK Salt Spring gathering of 2023 to welcome MLA Adam Olsen and his staff, William Kelley and his new Constituent Advocate Jerram Gawley. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, we asked Adam to tell us what excites and delights him as our new year begins. He is heartened that Premier Eby appears to be adhering to the scheduled election in October 2024 rather than pursuing an election this spring. With much work to do, Adam is pleased that he – and his colleagues – can focus on their important work rather than launching into yet another campaign period.…
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Will Salt Spring Finally Get its Long-Awaited HarbourWalk?
January 20, 2023: Twenty-one came to this ASK Salt Spring weekly gathering to welcome HarbourWalk enthusiasts Bruce Cameron, Darryl Martin, Kaeli Yarwood, and Robin Willians. They are also core members of the newly-formed Chamber HarbourWalk Committee. (Other members of this committee are Wayne Tepper and Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce President, Dayle Murray.) After our Territorial Acknowledgement, they began by offering us some history and foundational information about our long-awaited HarbourWalk. Darryl began by telling us briefly of his ten-year involvement, both as Chair of the Community Economic Development (now Sustainability) Commission and, more recently, as Chamber President. He spoke briefly about his…
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CRD’s Gary Holman Expresses High Hopes for Affordable Housing, Infrastructure, and Governance
January 13, 2023: After offering a Territorial Acknowledgement, Gary began by outlining a number of community projects in which CRD has played a role that will be coming to fruition in the coming term. Affordable Housing: Leading the list of promising news was affordable housing. Gary stated that he will be focusing his efforts on six properties already rezoned or designated for affordable housing that could be developed during this term. They are: Combined, these six properties have the potential of adding over 200 more affordable units to Salt Spring’s housing stock. Gary reminded us that since most of these projects will…
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Magic With Nejmah – on This Last ASK Salt Spring Gathering in 2022
December 16, 2022: Twenty-two (and pup, Princess) came to welcome Nejmah Guermoudi to this last ASK Salt Spring gathering in 2022. As a participant said near the end of our time together – It was magical. And this magic was largely due to the passion, enthusiasm, and determination of Nejmah and the community she is building. After her emotional Territorial Acknowledgement, Nejmah spoke of the momentum to create a place for all. A Green Ground Community society: (https://www.greenground.org/), Nejmah told us about this local community of artists and creative thinkers she is shepherding, a community that carries complex stories with it, ones often filled…
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CRD Releases Details About Our Soon-to-be-Established Local Community Commission
December 9, 2022: As almost no one came to this ASK Salt Spring gathering, the few who came spent the time together swapping stories about our most interesting Salt Spring dramas, none of which will be shared here :). Instead, here is a summary of the just-released Local Community Commission (LCC) Staff Report outlining implementation details. . . .The CRD Board will meet Wednesday, December 14 to discuss a variety of issues, including our soon-to-be-established LCC. For a complete agenda of this meeting and information about connecting virtually, see:https://www.crd.bc.ca/docs/default-source/crd-document-library/committeedocuments/capitalregionaldistrictboard/20221214/2022-12-14agendapkgrb.pdf?sfvrsn=9d196fce_2. On page 6 of this agenda, there are links to some LCC information including: Some information…
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BC Ferries Managers Come to Salt Spring to Listen and Share – Promising to Come Again Soon!
November 25, 2022: Twenty-five joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome Karen Johnson and Emma McWalter from BC Ferries. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, we learned a bit about Karen, Community Engagement Executive Director and Emma, Manager Terminal Strategic Planning, and what excites and delights them. They are both thrilled with the completion of the long-awaited Performance Term 6 (https://www.bcferrycommission.ca/commissioner-begins-price-cap-setting-process-upon-receipt-of-bc-ferries-submission-for-performance-term-6-april-1-2024-to-march-31-2028/). As this is the time for public input, both Karen and Emma encouraged us to add our feedback before March 30, 2023 to help guide those important decisions for Salt Spring’s ferry service. Many of us were not surprised to learn that Salt Spring has been identified as a hot spot,…
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CRD’s Gary Holman Offers LCC 101 – Answers About our Local Community Commission
November 18, 2022: Twenty Salt Springers joined us for all or part of this ASK Salt Spring conversation with CRD’s Gary Holman with a focus on our soon-to-be-established Local Community Commission (LCC). After our Territorial Acknowledgement, Gary spoke briefly about some news from the CRD Board. He noted that our recent local election had resulted in a great deal of turnover, resulting in many new faces around the CRD Board table. Concerning our proposed budget requisition, to be approved March 2023, in addition to those already announced, the CRD/Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) negotiations may result in additional requisition increases:https://cupe.ca/capital-regional-district-workers-bc-reach-tentative-agreement). Homeowner assessments…
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Anchored Freighters, Review of the Islands Trust Act, and Housing Woes – A Conversation with Adam
November 4, 2022: Fourteen gathered to welcome MLA Adam Olsen and his team, Constituent Advocate William Kelly, and BC Green Caucus team member Federico Cerani. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, Adam told us that the Legislature was closed for two weeks, allowing him to focus on his constituent activities. We learned that Adam was not surprised by the outcome of the BC NDP leadership race: (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/david-eby-bc-premier-first-100-days-1.6624944), but he was not pleased by the process, resulting, in his opinion, in a confused and chaotic legislative session. With a limited time before the Fall legislative session adjourns, the BC NDP House Leader, Hon. Mike…
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Whatever is the Salt Spring Active Transportation Network Plan and Why Should You Care?
October 28, 2022: Although it took a while for all to gather, 14 joined this ASK Salt Spring conversation welcoming CRD’s Transportation Manager, John Hicks. He came to tell us about the soon-to-be-released SSI Active Transportation Plan as well as listening to our concerns about cycling and pedestrian safety in our village. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, we began to learn about this plan. John is the perfect one to help us to better understand it for a variety of reasons: We learned that the goal of this plan is to offer clear, actionable recommendations to improve the safety for pedestrians and cyclists in…
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Election 2022 Behind Us. . . .Where to From Here?
October 21, 2022: A different gathering, we did not welcome any guests this week as our scheduled guest, Trustee Laura Patrick, was on a well-earned holiday. Despite missing Islands Trust input, this ASK Salt Spring gathering resulted in a rich conversation about the recent local election and our hopes for Salt Spring’s next four years. After our Territorial Acknowledgement, we began by discussing the Islands Trust. While some were surprised by the election of Jamie Harris, others reminded us that he represents a very important segment of our island population, a voice that may not have been previously adequately represented. Participants saw the…