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Up Close and Personal – Climate Actions for Everyone
August 28, 2022: Fifteen attended this ASK Salt Spring gathering on a perfect summer Friday to welcome Darryl Martin and Elisa Rathje, hard-working authors of our soon-to-be-released Climate Action Plan 2.0. Darryl, the chair of this audacious effort, began by acknowledging the many others (about 25) who have spent countless hours writing this plan of the action needed on Salt Spring to mitigate and adapt to the devastating effects of climate change. This plan has already been reviewed by most organizations to get their feedback, so the focus of the conversation at this ASK Salt Spring gathering was not upon governmental responsibility but upon what…
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Trustee Laura Patrick Envisions Crafting a Healthy Housing Balance for Salt Spring
August 21, 2022: Nine Salt Springers came to welcome Trustee Laura Patrick on a rainy August Friday. While this was an usually-low turnout, the rains and the winds whipping through the Portlock Picnic Pavilion go a long way towards explaining the smaller-than-usual group of participants. Did they ever miss a great discussion! Much of this discussion centred on housing and the imperative for our community to do the work necessary to guide us toward the future we need and deserve. Without that vision, according to Laura, we will be hard-pressed to maximize the benefits and minimize the harms of housing on…
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Gary Holman is Asked: What Happened to our Safe Community and How Can We Get it Back?
August 14, 2022: A total of 23 came to welcome Gary Holman and ask him questions about the issues on their minds. When folks began gathering in the United Church Meadow, there was pleasure in the clear, sunny day. Soon after noon, some had started to wilt in the unaccustomed beating sun while others huddled (too closely) to participate from the shade of the apple trees. Questions began with the recent unfortunate incident in which a bylaw enforcement officer was hurt in Centennial Park. Some expressed feeling that things felt out of control and that the Park no longer felt safe.…
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Logging, Legislation, and Racism: Adam Shares his Vision and Wisdom
August 7, 2022: Last Friday, a total of 37 Salt Springers gathered at the United Church Meadow on a practically-perfect summer Friday to welcome our MLA, Adam Olsen. While some did stand just outside the circumference of the circle (too close to one another for my comfort), everyone who wanted to participate was able to join the gathering. While many stayed the entire time, some did come and go, so that total numbers at any time were in the high twenties. As Salt Springers initially seemed uncharacteristically-shy, Adam began with a recap of some of his legislative load – heavier than expected…
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Salt Springers Enthusiastically Welcome Our Elizabeth May
July 31, 2022: Forty-four gathered to welcome Elizabeth May to this ASK Salt Spring gathering in the United Meadow. While we had feared a larger crowd (strictly adhering to social distancing as well as the BC limit of 50 for all gatherings), we were relieved to be able to welcome everyone who wanted to participate. Elizabeth began by expressing her delight and enthusiasm to be able to chat with us in the lovely setting rather than being confined to yet another one of her many daily Zoom meetings. She announced the good news that the Vista Coal Mine would now have to go…
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A Preview of our Soon-to-be-Released Climate Action Plan
July 24, 2022: Fifteen gathered in the United Church Meadow on a comfortably-cool summer day last Friday. While all questions were welcomed, the conversation was focused on our soon-to-be-released Climate Action Plan 2.0 (CAP). Darryl Martin, the chair of the huge volunteer-driven effort, led the conversation. He had able back-up from Bryan Young, lead writer and member of the CAP steering committee, and Anne Parkinson, Chair of Transition Salt Spring. Major goals of this CAP were to: Darryl began the conversation with some history. We learned that there had been a plan in 2011 that had some successes, most notably the…
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The Tricky Issue of Bylaw Enforcement: Trustee Laura Patrick Shares her Perspective
July 17, 2022: Last Friday, 13 attended the ASK Salt Spring gathering under the apple tree in the United Church Meadow, welcoming Islands Trustee Laura Patrick. Laura’s comments were her own and not representing the Local Trust Committee. The discussion began with a question about regulating Short-Term Vacation Rentals (STVRs). Laura believes that chairing the Local Trust Committees on Saturna and Pender Islands has given her the opportunity to see other models of addressing the issues of vacation rentals. While she did not propose any solutions, she did offer some observations. For example, if STVRs were “registered” or “licensed” in some way, there would be the…
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Roads, Cycling Lanes, and our Market: Gary Holman Helps Us Navigate Complex Issues
July 10, 2022: A total of 18 participants joined us in the United Church Meadow for this week’s ASK Salt Spring gathering on a lovely summer Friday. While one guest had to leave almost immediately after learning that our special guest, Gary Holman, would be late arriving due to a conflict, others seemed content to begin with an update of some outstanding issues while waiting for him. Happily, Gary arrived far earlier than expected – by about 11:15 – so these updates where somewhat truncated. A) Friday, July 31 is the fifth Friday of July and, as a result of this extra Friday, we have…
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Cyclists Brave the Rain to Ask Adam for Safe Cycling Lanes
July 3, 2022: Thirty folks braved the cool, breezy summer rains to gather at Portlock Picnic Pavilion to welcome our special guest, MLA Adam Olsen. Nine of them were avid cyclists who had just ridden from Fulford, an annual ride celebrating Kip Nash’s birthday, a former Salt Spring coach who was well supported by our community when challenged by a brain tumor. He, his family, and his friends make this celebratory fundraising ride every year to thank Salt Spring for its support during his difficult times. While many rode from Fulford to Ganges, this hearty nine continued on to Portlock Park…
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Learning Lots from Emcon, our Roads Maintenance Managers
June 26, 2022: Fifteen came to the United Church Meadow on a lovely summer day to welcome our Chamber’s Jessica Harkema as well as Emcon managers Andrew Gaetz and Lisa Herschmiller as our guests. We began with a brief summary of Emcon’s responsibilities as well as those roads-related services for which they have no responsibility. Some of their areas of responsibility include: potholes, small paving jobs, sweeping/plowing, brush cutting on Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MoTI ) rights of way, and other actions needed to maintain our roads to a safe rural standard. (Painting does not fall into their area of…