Salt Spring Islanders expressed sparkling community spirit in recent weeks by stepping up to clean up the island they love.

Activity culminated on Earth Day weekend, with a small army of volunteers toiling to remove a few years’ worth of dirt and weeds from Ganges village streets, and others hitting the shoreline of Ganges Harbour to clear up garbage of all kinds.

Generous contributions from local businesses and the Salt Spring Chamber of Commerce facilitated all aspects of the activities, and volunteer labour was of course the essential cog in the whole operation. Despite the potentially odious nature of the task, participants were smiling and clearly having fun while hard at work. With so many people enjoying the exercise, the outcome and the community building that resulted, it’s tempting to make it an annual event.

Meanwhile, the Driftwood’s Greening Salt Spring campaign had mobilized individuals and community and school groups to remove garbage from roadsides and ditches across the island in the past three weeks. Two schools also included beach areas in their efforts: Fernwood Elementary School tackled Fernwood Beach, and Salt Spring Elementary joined the Ganges Harbour clean-up effort.

Plastic in various states of decay appeared to be the material most in evidence everywhere, which illustrates that the push to reduce single-use plastic bags and containers is being made with good reason.

We send hearty kudos to everyone who participated in our campaign, those who already clean up island byways and beaches, and everyone who has committed to continuing to look after their corner of the rock.

One area of island cleaning that cannot realistically be done by volunteers on a regular basis is the sweeping of our roads and streets. While it’s always difficult to pinpoint who might be responsible for making such an activity happen, it’s a service our roads contractor should be providing at least once a year. Perhaps we could task the Salt Spring Island Transportation Commission with being the watchdog on the road-sweeping file.

The island cleanup campaigns proved that volunteer effort can definitely get things done, but a bit of help from government doesn’t hurt sometimes.

What is/was your mother’s maiden name? Name of your first pet? Your favourite subject in school? If these questions seem vaguely familiar to you, then you’ve probably had to go through the annoying and usually frustrating experience of retrieving or resetting your computer password.

Why would anyone want to inflict this kind of mental cruelty on themselves? Let’s face it; going through the often futile exercise of getting back a lost or forgotten secret identification code ranks high in favourite activities (NOT) (somewhere between pushing bamboo slivers under your fingernails and soaking your feet in hydrochloric acid).

The only reason you even contemplate the process of password reset is because, if you didn’t, your life as you know it would lose all meaning and your very existence would come to a complete standstill. It’s painful to admit it, but we have become so dependent on our digital devices that the loss of a tried and true password pretty much slams the portal gate shut on 99 per cent of the activities that give us organization, livelihood or satisfy our entertainment cravings.

Usually, in the process of replacing a forgotten password, there are a number of bizarre hoops through which you must jump. The one that really gets to me is when you are asked to click a checkmark into the dialogue box declaring “I am not a robot.” What are you supposed to do if you indeed are a robot? Leave it blank and go on to the next question?

Another weird method used to authenticate your identity and make your password request more secure is the appearance of a few squiggly numerals and letters of the alphabet that look as if they are reflections in those warped mirrors you find in the House of Horrors at the circus. You’re supposed to recognize these mutated symbols for the numbers and letters they are and retype them using your keyboard. Half the time I’m wrong, mistaking a “7” for a “W” and leaving myself wondering if perhaps I truly am a robot. 

Another trick in the bag for securing password resets is coming up with one or more questions to which only you will know the answer. When it comes to choosing quality questions in order to authenticate that you are actually you, there are five principles you need to guide your choice. Your questions must have answers that are safe, stable, memorable, simple and have many possible answers with which to confuse a potential hacker.

How can your question be unsafe? Consider your mother’s maiden name. You may correctly assume that there are very few people (outside of your immediate family) who would be party to this information, but what you are forgetting (besides your password which got you into this predicament in the first place) is the fact that the answer is almost certainly on public record and can easily be researched by any hacker worthy of his criminal stripes. You might as well ask “Who is buried in Grant’s tomb?” for all the difficulty it would take to research the correct answer.

The second guideline on which to judge the merits of a retrieval question is stability. Will the answer to your question stay the same over time or is it likely to change from year to year or moment to moment. You can see why “Who won the Stanley Cup last year?” would not pass the stability test because the answer could change with each successive hockey season. On the other hand, “Will the Vancouver Canucks ever win the Stanley Cup?” would pass with flying colours since we all know that some things never change.

Is the correct response to your question memorable or will you forget it as quickly as you’ve forgotten the password itself? Using the name of your first dog as a question will not be much use to you if you can’t really remember whether it was a dog or a pet chinchilla you had as a child (or was it just a potted philodendron because your mother didn’t want any animals shedding all over the upholstery).

Another criteria for a good question is that the answer must be simple, precise and consistent. The value of pi to 23 decimal places is precise and consistent, but not exactly simple. On the other hand, Trudeau’s policy on fossil fuels and climate change can be viewed as low on the consistency scale (although it scores high in simplism).

A question such as “When did you get married?” would also fail because of the variety of ways you can write a date. Nov. 30, 1957 can be written 30/11/57 or 11/30/57 or 1957-11-30 and dozens of other permutations of the same letters and digits. It also doesn’t take into account the fact that you may have had multiple marriages over the years.

In order for an authentication question to be useful and powerful, there have to be many answers possible but only one can be correct. This makes it extremely difficult and virtually impossible to guess the right response. “What year was your father born?” may seem, at first blush, to be a good question, but closer inspection reveals there are a limited number of possibilities and the answer could be guessed in less than 20 attempts. If you want to use a query involving birthdates, try “What number do you get if you multiply the year of your father’s birth by the year of your mother’s birth and then subtract your own year of birth?” Any depraved hacker who is willing to spend the time and energy guessing the correct solution probably deserves to break into your account and watch Netflix movies on your nickel.

Nobody asked me, but there must be a better system for maintaining security in this digital universe we have created. How many more times am I destined to waste precious hours of my life resetting passwords I already know I will forget the next time I need to use them?

And why is it that when I finally do get my reset password and type the characters into the proper dialogue box, I inevitably get a return message telling me that although I have now entered my correct password, I no longer can supply them with the proper User ID and therefore am banned from the login procedure. When it comes to choosing the best authentication security question to help me retrieve my password, maybe mine ought to be “What is your favourite lost password?”

SUBMITTED BY MUSIC MAKERS

One of the many charms of Salt Spring Island is the creative energy that emerges in sometimes surprising ways.

This is true of the featured classical guitar duo, Aki and Pierre, slated for Wednesday, May 2, in this season’s monthly Tea à Tempo recital series in All Saints By-the-Sea. Akihisa Otsu and Pierre Boies first met at the Saturday market nine years ago, where they found themselves as neighbouring vendors, Otsu with his tasty traditional Japanese Roly Poly Rice Balls and Boies with delicious home-made pies.

They had both learned to read music as teenagers and started playing guitar during those years. Otsu was soon playing an electric guitar with various bands, which continued as a hobby for 20 years, and included his role as drummer and bass guitar player. He learned to play classical guitar in Vancouver after moving to Canada from Japan, though he still enjoys listening to pop, rock, and jazz as well as classical music.

Boies leaned more towards the finger-picking style and was quickly learning to play classical pieces. Although he neglected to play for long periods of time during a career in carpentry and construction, the guitar has remained a good friend. Following further classical guitar lessons on Salt Spring, he was a member of a guitar trio for a time, which performed several years ago at Music and Munch under the leadership of Peter Taschuk.

Side by side at the market, the two musicians soon discovered their shared musical interests, were excited to learn of their backgrounds in classical guitar and mused on playing together for a long time. It was not until a year later that they both appeared at the market with their guitars. Boies brought along sheet music for a classical guitar duet. Despite their very busy lives they made a point of practising as much as possible and have acquired a repertoire that holds appeal for such venues as restaurants and small fairs. 

Wednesday’s program is perfect for the intimate ambiance of All Saints where music lovers will be treated to music from South America, as well as a savouring of pieces by J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel and Jean-Philippe Rameau.

Music begins at 2:10 p.m. 

By Miles Drew

The Salt Spring Island Local Trust Committee (SSILTC) has requested that bylaw enforcement officers take action on unlawful short-term vacation rentals (STVR) operating on Salt Spring.

A short-term vacation rental is a dwelling unit that is occupied — other than by the owner — for less than a 30-day period. The SSILTC considers this form of rental to be “Commercial Guest Accommodation,” which is not permitted as a home-based business.

Approximately 140 STVRs currently operate on Salt Spring. The LTC requested proactive enforcement; not just because STVRs are unlawful in most residential areas, but because of a real concern that they are a major contributing factor to the affordable housing shortage on Salt Spring.

The housing situation on Salt Spring has recently been described — in the Driftwood and elsewhere — as a crisis. The Salt Spring Island Affordable Housing Needs Assessment (December 2015) outlines how the impact of the housing shortage is felt across the island. Renters have trouble securing long-term accommodation, often being forced to move numerous times over short period of time, while employers have trouble recruiting staff because there are no viable housing options for them. In addition, the reduced rental housing stock drives up rents and takes money out of the local economy.

It is worth stressing that STVRs are unlawful. Bed and breakfasts and other lawful home-based businesses have a series of requirements that must be met to remain compliant with zoning bylaws. Many of these regulations are designed to minimize impacts to neighbours, including parking, noise and signage. Local business owners go to great lengths to comply with relevant bylaws, and reasonably expect that competing tourist accommodations should also comply with bylaws and other regulations. 

This week, the Islands Trust bylaw enforcement team will begin proactive enforcement on Salt Spring property owners that operate unlawful STVRs that meet criteria set out by the local trust committee’s enforcement policy for STVRs. These include any STVRs that advertise on any platform or site, including Airbnb, VRBO and HomeAway.

Unlawful STVR property owners must cease their STVR operation. Some STVR operators might consider the possibility of applying to rezone the property to permit commercial guest accommodation or to apply for a temporary use permit; although there is no guarantee of success. 

The Islands Trust bylaw enforcement team will encourage STVR operators to comply with the land use bylaw. As a last resort, unlawful STVR operators and persons renting unlawful STVRs may face enforcement actions, which include bylaw violation notices up to $450 per day. 

The writer is the Islands Trust’s bylaw enforcement manager.

SUBMITTED BY SS SNEAKERS

With the Sneakers having finished the winter road race season on April 8, Khai Foo inaugurated the Spring racing season with his 11th-place, 13-hour, 48-minute completion of the Diez-Vista 100K on April 14.

This was quickly followed on April 16 with Lise Fraser’s completion of the Boston Marathon.

The 122nd Boston Marathon was run in the worst weather in 35 years. At race time, the temperature was +4 C or -2 with the wind chill, winds were NE 43 gusting to 65 and the course was positioned to run into that wind. Twenty-three of the elite runners financially supported to run the race dropped out before the end, and 2,300 of those who ran ended up in the course’s first-aid centres.

Fraser described the conditions after the race: “I wore four layers of clothes, three were Merino wool, a waterproof jacket and cap, and I was still chilled throughout. Soaking wet from the waist down. A lot of runners didn’t dress warmly enough, and they were literally staggering and blue, still wrapped in their flimsy plastic garbage bags, near the finish. I was completely soaked to the skin and chilled at the end, but not hypothermic. Oh, and did I mention the fierce persistent headwind?”

With 26,948 runners who started the race, it took Fraser 20 minutes from the start gun to reach the start line where her race timing started. She persevered to the finish while 1,200 runners did not, finishing in four hours, 20 minutes and 22 seconds in 93rd place of the 368 women in her age group, 8,090th woman of 12,063 women who started and 11,604 women who finished; 19,254th place overall of 26,948 who started the race and 25,746 who finished. Needless to say, it was not her personal best time for the marathon distance.

On April 21, 16 Salt Spring Sneakers turned out on Saturday morning to participate in the Driftwood’s Greening Salt Spring campaign. They “plogged” instead of jogged their way along seven kilometres of roadway, collecting litter and recyclables from both sides of the road along Upper Ganges Road (from Robinson to Central), Vesuvius Bay Road (from Central past Portlock Park), Tripp Road and Lower Ganges Road (from Central to past the Golf Club), collecting two extra-large-sized garbage bags of trash and one extra-large bag of recycling.

Meanwhile, two honorary Sneakers, Hannah and Fiona Munro, graduates of GISS working and studying in England, were completing the Fox 60-km Ultra, a large circumnavigation around Guildford, England, in a time of 10 hours and 31 minutes.

On Sunday, April 22, Sneakers coach Susan Gordon entered the 34th running of the Vancouver Sun Run 10K race, which bills itself as the largest race in North America. With 39,798 runners bearing down on her, Gordon completed the 10 kms in 42 minutes, 37 seconds in second place, two minutes behind her long-term nemesis, Lynn Kanuka, but also almost three minutes ahead of the third-place finisher. Gordon was second of 1,103 women in her age group, 84th of 20,517 women overall and 447th of 39,798 runners who started the race.

Coming up in the next few weeks, small groups of Sneakers will be running the Mount Tzouhalem 13-km and 750-metre vertical climb trail race on Saturday, May 5, and the BMO half marathon in Vancouver on May 6.

BC SPCA officials are recommending erring on the side of caution for rabbit owners concerned about the spread of a deadly virus to their pets.

A vaccine for the virus that causes Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease became available in B.C. on April 16, after being ordered in from the manufacturer in France.

Emilia Gordon, the senior manager of animal health at BC SPCA, said that the vaccine was “brought in on a special permit. It is not licensed for use in Canada at this time. The vaccine has been distributed to the 50 veterinary hospitals who ordered it on the first round. There’s another round of ordering that is going on right now. Even vets who don’t have it yet can order it so they have it by May.”

Though Salt Spring Island has not had a case of RHD reported, rabbit owners should exercise common sense when it comes to securing their home from the virus. The virus is transmitted either through direct or indirect contact and only affects European breeds of rabbits. It does not affect native North American rabbit species, but can affect feral populations.

“We don’t really know how it’s spreading between the island and the mainland, but because we know that it can spread indirectly, it can spread on humans and vehicles, shoes and clothing, that sort of thing,” said Gordon. “There is a risk just based on the fact that it has spread between the island and the Lower Mainland so far. Unfortunately, if a rabbit does get exposed, there’s a very high risk of that rabbit becoming infected and dying.”

The SPCA recommends that rabbit owners talk to their veterinarians about vaccinating their pets.

For more on this story, see the April 25, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

More than 30 volunteers answered the call for help to give Ganges village and the beach areas a serious cleaning on Earth Day weekend.

An ad hoc committee of the Chamber of Commerce formed to take on the massive task of sprucing up Ganges streets — removing weeds, sweeping and shovelling up dirt, and more — while a beach cleanup effort was spearheaded by Yvonne Poirier. A street sweeping machine was also brought to the island.

Donations of tools, supplies, services, food and beverages from local businesses made it all possible.

Jeremy Milsom, one of the main organizers, gave a big “bravo” to everyone involved.

“For me at the [Salt Spring] Inn, today was so satisfying as the compliments rolled in with our guests who have recognized how much of our island was cleaned, freshened, tidied and brightened by so many dedicated community members.”

Lions Hall was filled to capacity Thursday as a standing-room-only crowd turned out to the Salt Spring Local Trust Committee meeting to share thoughts on the island’s dire lack of housing.

The unusually large turnout for the town hall portion of the meeting came as a result of a call from a group called Islanders for Housing Action. Regular trustee reports, delegations and the town hall format itself were set aside to allow those attending to speak.

“We really appreciate you taking the time to be here to share your thoughts with us, because as a community we can make things better,” Salt Spring trustee Peter Grove said in an opening statement.

Participants were given two minutes each to speak, and testimony filled an hour of time. 

Noting the hall had reached its maximum crowd of 110 participants, LTC chair Peter Luckham suggested that some might leave after speaking in order to allow more people to participate.

Rhonan Heitzmann, one of the key organizers of the housing action group, laid out the basics of the situation as the first to take the microphone.

“The housing crisis is extremely severe and is affecting not just low-income workers but middle-income workers, seniors and farmers and businesses as well,” Heitzmann said.  “The situation has been building for years, documented by the LTC’s own reports going back at least to 2003, yet few of the recommendations of those reports have been acted upon … There is no sustenance of island character, or healthy community, if working people filling essential services are living in cars, shacks with no running water, and seniors that were born here, been living here for 40 years, are forced to leave the only place they call home.”

Heitzmann concluded the crisis requires strong leadership and emergency action “beyond the status quo.”

Many participants spoke to their personal difficulties finding and keeping rental housing, and asked the LTC to shape its land-use policies in a way to facilitate more legal dwellings, such as by increasing density and pulling back from the enforcement of illegal but long-term living arrangements, and conversely to step up enforcement of short-term vacation rental situations.

For more on this story, see the April 25, 2018 issue of the Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper, or subscribe online.

The Driftwood would like to thank everyone in the community for giving such tremendous support to DW Salty’s Greening Salt Spring litter campaign.

We haven’t heard from all of our participants yet, so we don’t know the total amount collected, but we can report that Rosamund and Patrick Dupuy with Caroline Hickman and friends brought in an amazing 10 bags or equivalent from the Fulford Harbour/Fulford Hall area alone. They were treated well for their effort: Salt Spring Garbage staff at the Blackburn transfer station refused to charge them when they heard the garbage was being dropped off for the campaign.

Salt Spring Sneakers running club also felt the community love while picking litter during their regular run this week.

An email from Janice Dickie sent Saturday afternoon explains: “One of the best parts of the morning was experiencing the reactions of drivers as they passed our group of runners . . . Drivers aren’t always patient with runners, cyclists and pedestrians on Salt Spring’s narrow roads. Today, however, many drivers slowed down and gave us friendly waves and thumbs up. A few even stopped and offered to take our trash bags to the garbage facility. Some neighbours in the area also welcomed us to leave bags at their homes, and a BC Transit bus driver paused the bus to thank us.”

Many people in the community were inspired to take a bag out with them even if they didn’t officially sign onto the campaign. GISS dance teacher Sonia Langer makes it a habit to pick up five pieces of litter every time she takes a walk; she arrived in Ganges on Saturday with a full bag attached to the back of her baby stroller. Meghan Howcroft and her kids Fern and Finn took a similar approach to a wagon ride along Beddis Road last week.

Others are just quietly cleaning up all the time, like our reader Norman Stanfield, and Island Pathways must be thanked for their continuous litter pickup on the Ganges Pathway Network, taking pride in their work long after the construction is complete.

Perhaps most excitingly, many of the people who participated in the campaign have said they intend to continue with their adopted sections indefinitely. The work is certainly ongoing — new beer cans appear daily — but many hands might light work and the island is looking noticeably better already. 

Final thanks are to the Salt Spring Lions for keeping the island litter-free with the help of youth sports teams for so many years.

The full list of people who signed on is as follows:

• Viv Nielsen and son Noel: Vesuvius Bay Road from ferry terminal to Chu An Drive, plus side roads to beach.

• Salt Spring Sneakers: Upper Ganges Road from Central to Robinson Road.

• Tour Salt Spring: Upper Ganges Road from intersection with Lower Ganges Road to intersection to Mansell Road, continuing on Mansell.

• Patrick and Rosamund Dupuy, Caroline Hickman and friends: Fulford Hall to Fulford-Ganges Road/Isabella Point Road intersection, and from the bridge over Fulford Creek to Drummond Park plus the beach.

• Nick Hunt and Celia Duthie: Churchill Road and part of Long Harbour Road.

• Lucy Austin and daughter Bronwyn: Booth Canal Road (entire).

• Driftwood editor Gail Sjuberg: Cranberry Road from intersection with Fulford-Ganges to Blackburn Road.

• Driftwood publisher Amber Ogilvie: Channel Ridge Drive and trails.

• Bishop Green residents: Fulford-Ganges Road from SAR building to town.

• Lloyd-Jones Family: Park Drive, Lakeside and Kanaka loop.

• Bill Goddu: North End Road from Central to Stark.

• Peter Grove: North End Road from Stark to St. Mary Lake.

• Brook Holdack: Charlesworth from Fulford-Ganges to Reid, and both wings of Reid Road.

• Gretta Hildebrandt and Adina Hildebrandt: Long Harbour Road between Eagle Ridge Drive and Quebec Drive.

• Norgard Family and the Hikebabes: Cusheon Lake Road/Stewart Road area.

• Jim Beck and Rosalind Wallace: Lower Ganges Road between Blain and Brinkworthy.

• Kit Lewis: Atkins Road.

• Patricia Calvert and Brinkworthy residents: Lower Ganges Road from Brinkworthy to Central.

• Salt Spring Elementary: Ganges Harbour beach cleanup with SS Adventure Co., plus ongoing green initiatives on school grounds.

• Fernwood Elementary School: Fernwood Beach cleanup, school grounds cleanup and roadside on the way to the beach.

• Salt Spring Middle School: Annual Earth Week activity clean-up of Ganges Village/Rainbow Road.

The Gulf Islands Driftwood earned three awards at the annual Ma Murray Awards event of the B.C. and Yukon Community Newspapers Association on Saturday night.

Staff writer Elizabeth Nolan won a first-place award in the feature series category of the competition for a three-part series on dying with dignity.

The Driftwood also earned second place for general excellence in its circulation category of 11 papers, close behind the Squamish Chief, and editor Gail Sjuberg won a third-place award for an editorial on the incorporation referendum in an open circulation category.

Top-three nominees were released in late February, with the first, second and third-place awards announced at the gala held at the River Rock resort in Richmond.

Kevin Lim and Sonia Sidhu, hosts of the morning show on KiSS Radio in Vancouver, emceed the evening. Coast Capital Savings is the event’s main sponsor.

National community newspaper awards for 2018 will not be announced until June.

Grace Lorna Scott
November 11, 1916 – April 16, 2018

Grace passed away on April 16, with family by her side. Everyone who knew her can only agree she left us too soon at 101 and a half years old. When she turned 100 she received her congratulatory letter from the Queen, which she took pride in and hung framed on the wall behind her bed.

Grace and her husband, Jack, moved to Salt Spring Island from Vancouver in 1952. Jack wrote a column for the Vancouver Sun often celebrating the pleasures of rural island life which Grace also embraced. Many of his stories were about Grace who he affectionately called Brown Eyes. She was often the inspiration for his humorous musings on family and married life. Later her husband’s international journalism career took the family around the world.  Foreign travel and lifestyle was not always easy for a dedicated wife and mother of three, but Grace had the unique gift of being able to create a home for her family everywhere they went.

Grace lived up to her name. She truly was gracious. She had an unpretentious and direct nature. She had opinions and wasn’t afraid to share them.  She had a refined sense of fashion and style and was known for also being quite a lot of fun.   She could always see the humour in life and loved to laugh. She was a good sport.

In 1982 her husband passed away and Grace lived out the rest of her life peacefully at her seaside home.

She is survived by her daughters Judy (Leon), Jill, Jenny (Andy), grandchildren, Cory (Rodney), David (Shauna), Mary, Jeff (Jen), great grandchildren, Jodee (Kevin), Natalie, Grace, Gemma, Jack and Trevor and great great granddaughters Taylor and Zoe. All her grandchildren agree that she gave the best back rubs.

We wish to thank Grace’s amazing homecare team.  Your support and friendship made it possible for Grace to live in the home she loved, and we will be forever grateful for your skill and compassion. And to Dr. Bobby Crichton, we can’t thank you enough for the years of wonderful care and especially for your home visits, which Grace always looked forward to. Even on her low days you could always make her smile.

You will be deeply missed, but we have so many great memories. And we promise to keep feeding Sally the Seagull.

No service, by request.

Helen Tara (nee Devine)

Helen passed away on April 19, 2018 at 3:30 PM after a hard battle with cancer. After many challenging months in hospital, Helen got her wish to come home, the place she loved so much. Her passing was peaceful in the presence of her favourite nieces and a trusted friend.

The youngest of five girls, Helen was born in 1932 in Vancouver General Hospital and spent her first 5 years in Burnaby, starting Grade 1 in Kingsway West School. The family moved to a farm in West Langley where she attended a 2 room school for the next 7 years. The family then relocated to Milner where she attended Langley High School for the next 4 years. She loved spending her high school summers in Oliver picking fruit and working in packing houses.

Following high school graduation, Helen did nursing training at Royal Columbia Hospital from January 1951 to February 1954. She married her sweet heart Robert (Bob) Tara on December 21, 1954 and lived in Ladner for the next 13 years where sons Ken and David were born. She helped design, build and decorate several of the family homes including the one called Waters Edge where she lived for the last 28 years.

The family moved to Salt Spring Island in 1968 where they settled in Fulford Harbour. After trying out careers ranging from nursing to Avon Lady to bartender, Helen went back to school and completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1983. Helen gave nursing another go but settled on running a B&B for 12 years where she could meet travellers from near and far.

She travelled around BC and the west coast of North America via camper when the boys were young and, after 40, travelled to many countries, something she dreamed of since her teenage years.

Helen loved animals be they dogs, cows or sheep, and loved watching birds and boats. On the creative side, she loved sewing, knitting, wood carving and painting. She also loved gardening, walking, Yoga and learning.

Helen has gone on to meet Bob “Just Beyond the Moon”. She will be missed by her family leaving behind her oldest son Ken, wife Shannon and their children Cole, Kaden, Jada and Tia, Ken’s grown daughter Jessica. Her youngest son David, wife Joanie and their son Kalen.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Wednesday, June 6 from 1:00 to 3:00 PM at the Royal Canadian Legion at 120 Blain Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C. In lieu of flowers, Helen asked that memorial donations be made to the Fulford Hall on Salt Spring (www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/fulford-community-hall-association

Herbert John Burnett
January 3, 1950 – April 11, 2018

After a lengthy illness, Herb passed away peacefully at Lady Minto Hospital.

He is survived by his loving wife Pat, sisters Jane and Barb and brother Ian.

A Celebration of Herb’s Life will be held on Sunday, June 3, 2018, 1pm – 4pm at the Salt Spring Lion’s Club.

With paddling gear assembled, course plotted and meals for four months in steady rotation through the food dehydrator, two Salt Spring women are nearly ready for a kayak trip of 1,300 nautical miles that will take them to Glacier Bay, Alaska.

Leonie Mahlke, a biologist and conservationist, and Rebecca Grim, an adventurer and outdoors advocate, will launch their Paddling North expedition through the Inside Passage on May 19. Most of their preparations are now complete, but a final step is raising the funds to purchase the recording gear necessary to document the trip.

While their own adventure will be part of that story, another important aspect is hearing from people who are working to protect the Inside Passage ecosystem. The eventual film will raise awareness of environmental injustices affecting ecosystems, wildlife and coastal communities through the eyes of those at the forefront.

When Mahlke and Grim first started intensive planning for the trip last November, they had a broader documentary approach in mind. Since then they have decided to focus in on inspiring women.

“These are conservationists, scientists, activists and fisherwomen. We are going to meet and interview them along our route, talk about their tremendously important work and the environmental injustices that are currently taking place along the coast of B.C. and Southeast Alaska,” Mahlke explained.

Some examples of the interviews they have lined up include Jackie Hildering of Marine Education and Research Society in Port McNeill and Heather Forbes from Salmon Coast Field Station in the Broughton Archipelago.

The Paddling North project has been fortunate to secure sponsorship and donations for things like dry suits, hammocks, dry bags, tarps and a solar charger, while the women have purchased personal safety equipment and a satellite communicator. Another interesting piece of gear comes through a company called Go Girl, which makes “female urination products” such as a funnel that can be used in the boat or in a tent, for example.

“They were really excited about our trip and we’ve become an ambassador for them,” Grim said.

“It takes some practice. I think it will come in handy, though,” Mahlke added.

Unlike some paddlers who take advantage of their low profile to go where they please, Grim and Mahlke will be contacting all the First Nations groups whose territory they will pass through to make sure it’s okay to camp there. The last months of preparation have also included lots of training, improving kayaking strokes and perfecting rescue drills.

“We made sure we knew how to put a dislocated shoulder back in place and also how to put a person who’s unconscious back into a kayak,” Grim said, hinting at some of the potential dangers of such a trip.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the project can do so via the GoFundMe page.

Mahlke and Grim are also inviting paddlers and anyone else in the community to send them off on Saturday, May 19. Their plan is to be at Southey Point at the end of Arbutus Road at 9 a.m. and to leave at 10.

“It would be cool to go out with a big group with whoever wants to come with us,” Mahlke said.

Smooth sailing can’t always be guaranteed with the world’s largest ferry system.

But the chaos that has reigned for Gulf Islands ferry travellers for the past two weeks has made for an unduly choppy voyage for many. It’s hard to believe that temporarily replacing one vessel with a 112-car capacity from its route has been so difficult to manage.

Since the Queen of Cumberland was taken out of service after an April 18 training exercise incident led to the vessel needing repairs, BC Ferries has cobbled together a replacement service that has used the Skeena Queen, Bowen Queen and Salish Eagle. As of this week, the augmenting vessels will be Mayne and Skeena queens and the Salish Eagle and Raven.

Some schedule changes have also been required. Pender resident Andrew Cameron is one of the travellers questioning the plan BC Ferries put in place, as outlined in a letter to the Driftwood and BC Ferries. His observations on how some of the sailings could be improved make sense.

But the most troubling aspect of the situation has been garbled communications. Trusting the posted online schedule has been difficult, with some travellers reporting sailings taking place that were not scheduled, while other expected sailings did not occur. This situation underscores how a website redesign for BC Ferries is long overdue, as altered schedules and service notices are difficult to locate and decipher in an already confusing mix.

It seems as if the best one can do these days is arrive at a terminal and hope a ferry will eventually reach the desired destination. That is not, however, good enough for a world-class transportation service.

We have sympathy for those at BC Ferries trying to make the most of a bad situation, but feel worse for islanders and visitors trying to get to where they need to go. 

One thing’s for certain: Until the Queen of Cumberland is back in service, ferry travellers should be wary and wise. Check the online schedule and service notices, or better yet, phone BC Ferries to get the most up-to-date sailing information. 

By RALPH GRIERSON

While in the process of writing this letter, I learned that the Gulf Islands would be exempt from the B.C. government’s proposed “speculation tax.”

This means I will not be affected by the tax at this time. However, it doesn’t change the fact that I could be affected if I choose to buy a home in Vancouver or Victoria at some future time. So, I will finish my letter on behalf of others, like me.

My wife and I are both Canadian citizens. I was born in New Westminster, B.C. and she in Saskatoon. We grew up in Burnaby and met at Burnaby South High School. Following high school, I worked as a musician at The Cave Supper Club and played many CBC radio and television shows in order to raise money to study music at the University of Southern California.

My wife, Caroline, received her nursing degree from Vancouver General Hospital and went on to get her nursing administration degree from the University of Western Ontario.

After receiving our bachelors degrees, we married and began our life together in Los Angeles where I continued my studies and began to realize my dream of playing on movie soundtracks, with a small concert career on the side.

At the time, the U.S. would not recognize dual citizenship, and we refused to renounce our Canadian citizenship solely for the right to vote. We stayed on green cards for some 35 years until the U.S. recognized dual citizenship, at which time we became dual citizens.

Our dream was always to be able to return to Canada someday, and as a result we purchased a home on Salt Spring Island in the ‘80s. Eight years ago, we knocked down the existing structure and built a very green, rammed-earth home in its place.

Our goal is to spend five months a year there, and seven months in Los Angeles. We spend three months in the summer, and then make other two-week trips throughout the year. This is our Canadian home and it is not possible to rent it out and still come and go as we desire.

We’re already being penalized for not spending more than six months a year there, by having to pay higher property taxes and not qualifying for medical care. We can’t even ride the ferries as seniors.

All of our income was made in the U.S. and we are spending close to half of that income in Canada on our mortgage, homeowners insurance, property taxes, car insurance on two cars, utilities and living expenses.

Some years ago, I suffered a career-ending injury to my wrist. We are now on a fixed income consisting of a pension, social security and an ever-dwindling royalty stream. Our Canadian income consists of a combined monthly Canada pension of $161.33. Therefore, as you might imagine, we are already struggling to maintain this dream of being able to spend half of our time in our homeland. If we were to become subject to this tax, we would no longer be able to live in Canada, which seems counterproductive.

I understand that there is a need to stop foreign speculators from inflating the price of housing and limiting the supply. But, there must be a way to adjudicate cases like ours. I’m sure we’re not the only Canadians who want to be able to retain their roots and support their home country.

The writer lives part-time on Salt Spring Island.

By ANDREW CAMERON

On Wednesday, April 25, I needed to make a day trip from Pender Island into Victoria. Several days earlier a mishap during a training exercise resulted in the Queen of Cumberland being removed from service until at least April 30. The replacement vessel for the trip from Otter Bay to Swartz Bay in the morning was a direct, non-stop voyage, and I appreciated the extra menu options the Salish Eagle offered for breakfast, so no complaints there (though I’m sure people trying to travel between the Gulf Islands and the mainland these days are not very happy).

My return home in the evening, however, has me stunned with disbelief at how poorly thought-out the alternate schedule is. I arrived at the Swartz Bay terminal ticket booth at 6:55 p.m. and was told that they would try to get me onto the 7 p.m. sailing. Sure enough, a few minutes later, after all the Salt Spring Island-bound vehicles were loaded onto the Skeena Queen, all the Pender Island-bound vehicles were also directed aboard, and we departed only a few minutes late. At Fulford Harbour, Salt Spring Island vehicles disembarked and one lane of traffic bound for Swartz Bay was loaded. We then set off for Otter Bay. According to the temporary schedule posted on the BC Ferries website, we were supposed to arrive at Otter Bay at 8:30 p.m. 

In the meantime, the Bowen Queen departed Swartz Bay on its scheduled 7:55 p.m. sailing direct to Pender Island, where it was due to arrive at 8:35 p.m. That the two ferries were scheduled to arrive at the same port five minutes apart is bewildering.  Anyone seeing this would give their head a shake at how BC Ferries thought this was remotely possible given that the Otter Bay terminal only has a single berth. 

Since the Skeena Queen was scheduled to arrive earliest, I expected that we would dock there on schedule and quickly unload so that the berth could be opened up for the Bowen Queen as quickly as possible. I was shocked, therefore, when I saw that the Bowen Queen was instead allowed to berth at Otter Bay first.

While the fortunate passengers on the Bowen Queen unloaded after their 40-minute direct sailing from Swartz Bay, we on the Skeena Queen watched with incredulity while hovering in the vicinity waiting for our chance to go ashore. Not only did the Bowen Queen unload, but judging from the nearly empty waiting area at the terminal, they also took the time to load Swartz Bay-bound traffic, even though that vessel would be going to Galiano Island first, whereas the Skeena Queen, with lots of empty space, would be heading directly to Swartz Bay after we disembarked. 

When the Bowen Queen got out of the way we finally docked at 8:50 p.m., 20 minutes late, and fully an hour and 50 minutes after our scheduled departure from Swartz Bay. 

Those passengers travelling from Salt Spring Island to Swartz Bay were not only delayed by the added detour to Otter Bay, but also by an additional 20 minutes wasted waiting for the Bowen Queen to get out of the way. How is it that BC Ferries thinks anything about this arrangement is in any way practical or fair to their customers? The lack of common sense governing this operation makes one wonder if anyone there bothers to actually think things through.

As I see it, there are two simple options for making this alternative scheduling arrangement better.

1) Ensure that the Skeena Queen gets priority at the Otter Bay terminal for its scheduled 8:30 p.m. arrival time so that the passengers that left Swartz Bay earliest at least arrive at their destination before their later-departing cohorts, and so that passengers travelling from Fulford Harbour to Swartz Bay are not needlessly delayed any longer than necessary. As a bonus, travellers heading from Pender Island to Swartz Bay at that time would take the direct sailing on the Skeena Queen instead of being forced to go via Sturdies Bay on the Bowen Queen. The time taken to load those few vehicles onto the Skeena Queen would be recouped by the Bowen Queen subsequently having a quicker turn-around because it would only be unloading at Otter Bay.

Or, 2) Change the routing of the Skeena Queen’s 7 p.m. sailing from Swartz Bay so that it proceeds to Otter Bay first, arriving at a time when there is no competition for the berth by other vessels. After quickly unloading, it can then proceed to Fulford Harbour where the Salt Spring Island-bound passengers will arrive a little later than usual, but because the turn-around time at Otter Bay would be faster without loading new traffic, that delay would be minimized. The final sailing from Fulford Harbour would likewise depart a bit later than it currently does, but because of the greater efficiency overall, those passengers would arrive at Swartz Bay considerably earlier than the poor sods who were on tonight’s voyage.

I have been baffled by many decisions that BC Ferries has made over the decades that I have been using the services. So, I must admit that while dismayed, I am not altogether surprised at this latest display of incompetence. I hope that my suggestions will be taken into consideration so that travellers on the remaining days of this current service disruption will be less inconvenienced.

The writer is a Pender Island resident.

The Salt Spring Island Emergency Program (SSIEP) is anchoring an Emergency Fair at the Farmers’ Institute this Saturday, May 5 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with representation from Salt Spring’s emergency responder groups, plus several non-profit organizations and businesses. The event includes door prizes, booths, demonstrations, info and much more.

Other SSIEP news from recent months includes:

EOC and ESS

Salt Spring’s Emergency Operations Centre is currently located in the basement of the Service BC building on Lower Ganges Road, but Zook points out that the venue is not seismically safe and a new location is needed.

Interestingly, during the multi-agency Salish Sea Exercise led by the Coast Guard and BC Ferries last October, the EOC was able to “go mobile” as it was set up at Ganges Fire Hall. The Emergency Social Services team was also mobile at the Salt Spring Farmers’ Institute site during Salish Sea Ex.

Sea Can Project

With receipt of a grant from the Union of B.C. Municipalities, the SSIEP was able to buy group-lodging supplies of food, water, cots, etc., to support more than 60 individuals in the event of a large-scale disaster. 

But the SSIEP still needs approximately $6,000 to purchase a Sea Can to hold the supplies. 

The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 92 has generously offered space on its Blain Road property for the Sea Can once it is acquired. Its location near Greenwoods, Braehaven and Lady Minto Hospital makes it an ideal spot.

Salt Spring’s emergency program receives approximately $100,000 in local taxpayer funding through the Capital Regional District, but must fundraise for purchase of some items.

Neighbourhood POD program

Salt Spring’s POD program currently has 350 leaders. More people are always welcome to help out. Specific positions needing to be filled are POD relayers, who are trained to use the GMRS radios, and people with first aid and other caregiving skills.

“I can’t say thank you enough to the volunteers we have now,” said Hanley. “Without them this program would not exist.”

Communications

A new SSIEP sub-group that has recently begun to meet will focus on improving communications between all the agencies during a large-scale disaster.

“In the past when we were involved in Level 1 and Level 2 disasters we would all gather at a certain area and the area would be under the incident command system,” explains deputy coordinator Laurel Hanley. “It works really well and we all follow it and so we know how to connect. But when there is a large-scale disaster there is more than one incident, so you could have various sites where you have commanders to send information to, so we have to make sure people can communicate properly through whatever device we choose at the time.”

A few more volunteers are welcome to join the communications team.

Public Alert Notification System

People are urged to sign up for the emergency alert system through www.crd.bc.ca/pans so they can be notified in the event of a tsunami or other disasters that may not be immediately obvious like an earthquake.

The Salt Spring Singers choir and director Don Conley are ready to take their audiences to some favourite places with a concert that celebrates music from well-loved movies.

Hooray for Hollywood: Songs from the Movies runs at ArtSpring this Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sunday, May 6 at 2 p.m.

The program includes classics such as Moon River, The Windmills of Your Mind, Somewhere My Love and Thanks for the Memory, (made famous by Bob Hope and Shirley Ross in The Big Broadcast movie of 1938).

“Movies tell stories, evoke memories, amuse and inform. Whether a film is a tear-jerking drama, an action-packed thriller or a side-splitting comedy, the right song at the right moment will always elevate the impact of a scene,” explains promotional material for the concert. “Songs from favourite films can sweep us back to treasured times and some have become huge hits, standing the test of time in popularity. Salt Spring Singers are pleased to present a glamorous evening of song from some beloved movies.”

Tickets are available through ArtSpring.

Local swimmers Joan Gunn-Allard and Jane MacKenzie had podium finishes at the masters swimmers’ provincial championships over the weekend in Richmond.

Gunn-Allard, who competes in the 60-64 age category, placed second in the 200m backstroke with a time of 3.36:72 and third in the 50m butterfly with a time of 40.56.  She also competed in the 100m IM, placing 4th; 50m freestyle, placing 4th; 50m backstroke, placing 6th; and 100m freestyle, placing 7th. 

In the 55-59 age category, MacKenzie had podium finishes in the following events: 100m breaststroke, where she came second with a time of 1.48:78, and the 50m breaststroke, placing third with a time of 45.45. She also competed in the 50m freestyle, placing 6th; 100m freestyle, placing 7th; 100m IM, placing 7th; and 200m IM, placing 10th.    

Some 235 swimmers from all over B.C., plus Alberta, Ontario and the U.S., competed in the swim meet.   

Gunn-Allard and MacKenzie are now training for the Canadian Masters Swimming Championships in Calgary, running from May 17 to 19.

For more information on masters swimming on Salt Spring, contact Don Clifford at dadeo357@gmail.com.