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Seasonal Transit Changes on Salt Spring Island

SALT SPRING ISLAND – BC Transit and the Capital Regional District are announcing seasonal changes to the transit system, effective May 3, 2025. This spring service change includes an increase in Saturday service on route 2 Fulford Harbour to meet the first ferry of the day and re-introduce seasonal southbound service along Cusheon Lake Road and Stewart Road on select trips. Changes are being made to Route 3 Vesuvius and Route 4 Long Harbour to better align with ferry schedules. Check with the most recent Rider’s Guide for updated schedules. We encourage our customers to use the Transit App, Google Transit or any other app of their choice for real-time bus tracking and planning your next transit journey. For more information on trip planning, fares and to sign up for customer alerts, please visit bctransit.com/salt-spring-island.
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Liberal Candidate - David Beckham Offers Full Support for the $6Mil Federal Grant Submission for the Lake Maxwell - Water Treatment Plant

April 20, 2025 Seeking Referendum Support on May 8th to Approve Maxwell Lake WTP Loan The District is seeking ratepayer support to fund the proposed Maxwell Lake water treatment plant (WTP). The WTP cost preliminary estimate is $12.7M plus contingency costs and an $11.7M loan authorization is required from ratepayers. District staff have developed a financial strategy to minimize the costs to ratepayers and have pursued a federal grant that would reduce the cost by $6M. "Disclaimer - These opinions are that of the Author and do not represent those of the Board of Trustees or Employees of the NSSWD - North Salt Spring Water District." Liberal Candidate - David Beckham has offered his full support for the $6Mil Grant from the Federal Government. (See letter below) David Courtney, Trustee Salt Spring Island Water and Fire Improvement Districts Dear David, Thank you for reaching out to me and providing me with background information on the recent…
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Linda's List for April 20: Planting Onions, Buying Seedlings, Free Webinars

With the recent warm up, the cool tolerant vegetables can be seeded or set out any time: cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, salad greens, radishes, peas, potatoes. But if you haven’t planted those yet, not to worry—there is plenty of time for them to produce in our growing season so planting in April or May works fine. For warmth loving plants (tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons, corn, beans), however, don’t be in a rush. Their cells simply do not function in cool temperatures so wait until May to plant these. Gardeners in the rest of Canada will be planting tomatoes on the May long weekend and that date works well for coastal gardeners too. In more protected or warmer gardens, tomatoes and zucchini, which are the most robust of the heat lovers, may go out earlier, especially if covered with cloches, temporary tunnels or floating row cover. The more delicate plants (cucumbers, melons and sweet basil) need consistently warm weather. I often can’t set…
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Updates to Electoral Area Water Conservation Bylaw 4492

The Capital Regional District (CRD) Board has approved an amendment to CRD Electoral Area Water Conservation Bylaw No. 4492, which regulates water use for local services providing drinking water in the Southern Gulf Islands, Salt Spring Island, and Juan de Fuca Electoral Areas. The changes to Bylaw No. 4492 will come into effect May 1, 2025. Over the past several years, seasonal droughts have increasingly stressed source water supplies in our smaller local services, making water conservation measures for local services more critical. Bylaw No. 4492, adopted in 2023, has been amended to include a fourth water conservation stage intended to restrict outdoor and residential indoor water use as much as possible at times of severe water shortage. Water use restrictions in any stage do not apply to nurseries, farms, turf farms or tree farms. Water Restrictions under Stage 4 are as follows: - All outdoor use of Water is prohibited; and - Residential indoor use of Water is re…
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Water Preservation Society hosts SSI Garden Club on Sunday April 6

According to the rain gauge in our garden upwards of 16 mm of rain fell over 24 hours on April 6, which seems fitting for a Rainwater Catchment tour. The rains didn't stop 20 SSI Garden Club members from attending the event that we hosted in our garden, sponsored by the Water Preservation Society. As one tour participant pointed out " there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices." Providing education about Rainwater Catchment systems ties in to the WPS mandate of promoting awareness of the value of water resources and sharing information about ways to conserve water. Gardeners have the opportunity to mitigate some of the impacts of climate change on our limited water resources by storing water collected during the rainy season and using it during the dry growing season. Creating systems for outdoor use doesn't have to be complicated or expensive if you work with gravity, Do It Yourself and use some recycled materials. Time was spent showing and explaini…
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Full Length Video of the Salt Spring Federal Election Candidates Debate and Q&A

Thank you to the Salt Spring Forum and Gulf Islands Driftwood for co-sponsoring the Federal Election Candidates Debate held at Fulford Hall. The debate featured Green Party candidate Elizabeth May, NDP candidate Colin Plant, and Liberal candidate David Beckham, who engaged in a lively and informative discussion. Notably absent was Conservative candidate Cathie Ounsted, whose decision not to attend elicited audible groans and a few boos from community members present at Fulford Hall. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK2UK8w2E0I Election Day : Monday, April 28, 2025 You may vote from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at: Community Gospel Chapel 147 Vesuvius Bay Road Salt Spring Island Advance Voting Days On the following days: Friday, April 18, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Saturday, April 19, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Sunday, April 20, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Monday, April 21, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. At the following address: Gulf …
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Restorative Justice: The Power of Gratitude in Challenging Times

April 11 Eleven joined this Restorative Justice conversation to explore the benefits of gratitude when facing conflict in our lives. Leading us in this conversation were Program Coordinator, Jessica Terezakis, longtime volunteer and Restorative Justice Salt Spring Island Board member, Laura Dafoe, and new volunteer, Fig, bringing her rich experiences with nonviolent communication and community activism. After a Land Acknowledgement, during which we were reminded that Restorative Justice principles are grounded in Indigenous circle practices throughout the world, we began our exploration of the power of gratitude in challenging times. We began, as we do each second Friday of the month when we welcome our Restorative Justice volunteers, by reviewing the Five Agreements: 1) Honour each individual’s opportunity to speak when holding the talking piece. 2) Speak and listen with care 3) Speak and listen from the heart. 4) Take the time you need while also being mindful of…
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Premier Directs Government to Cancel American Contracts Wherever Viable

The B.C. government has updated its direction to ministries, health authorities and core Crown corporations to critically review all contracts with United States companies to decrease the Province’s dependence on goods and services from U.S. suppliers. “As people are choosing to buy B.C. and buy Canadian, British Columbians expect their government to join them in choosing to avoid U.S. purchases wherever possible,” said Premier David Eby. “That’s why we’ve directed our government to use its purchasing power to exclude American suppliers and support Canadian companies and trusted and reliable trading partners instead. Today, we’re expanding that directive to include looking for every opportunity to move existing contracts away from U.S. suppliers and cancelling non-essential government travel to the United States.” The new directives order government, where viable, to: - exclude goods and services from U.S. suppliers under existing contracts with U.S. suppliers; - excl…
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Welcoming MLA Rob Botterell

April 4 Twenty-two joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome MLA Rob Botterell and Julie Luna. He began his time with us this month acknowledging his appreciation for being able to live and work on this beautiful land, the unceded territory of 14 Indigenous groups. He spoke of his dismay with the recent display of prejudice by MLA Dallas Brodie. While he recognizes importance of freedom of speech, he believes so strongly that we should stand up and confront racist rhetoric that he will be bringing a motion to the legislature to censor MLA Brodie. While he understands that it may not pass, he is clear that it is his responsibility to challenge her belittling comments concerning Reconciliation. When asked what “excited and delighted” him, he spoke with awe of the amazing sunrise that morning. While many of us may have enjoyed this sunrise, he had a particularly pleasing perspective: True to his Green commitment, had arrived from his home on Pender Island on his sailboa…
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Brewing Up Community: How Ometepe Coffee Connects Islanders Across Continents

There’s something magical about the moment the blossoms begin to burst open in Ganges Village, signalling not only the beginning of spring but the start of another Saturday Market season. For Ometepe Coffee volunteers, those blooms are a signal: time to spring into action! Thousands of visitors enjoy the delicious, fair trade & fair wage, organic coffee served by Ometepe volunteers every Saturday, but few know the story of what goes into every cup. 34 years ago, Gulf Islanders visiting Ometepe, a little island in Lake Nicaragua in Central America, were struck by the islands’ beauty, but also its deprivations. People formed connections to the tiny island who shared an interest in community development and intercultural exchange banded together with BOSIA in the US (Bainbridge-Ometepe Sister Islands Organization) to found OGIFA:The Ometepe-Gulf Islands Friendship Association. In the three decades since, Gulf Islanders have fostered and expanded a remarkable islander…
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