JULY
• The Hospital Employees’ Union – which represents around 200 workers at Shorncliffe and Totem Lodge – said a survey of Sunshine Coast residents showed strong support for keeping long-term care public.
• Robert Joe became the new Sechelt Indian Band councillor after winning a byelection on June 25. Joe joined councillors Chris August, Randy Joe and Garry Feschuk to lead the band with Chief Calvin Craigan until the current term ends on March 31, 2017.
• The Sunshine Coast Conservation Association was determined to stop the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s Chapman Lake expansion project – and it said defeating the alternative approval process on a loan to pay for it could be a turning point. More than 70 people came out to the conservation association’s AGM on June 27 to hear about the group’s position on the project and discuss how to convince the SCRD to change its plan.
• The second family of refugees from Syria arrived on the Sunshine Coast on July 26 – about a month after the first family, who arrived on June 22. Pastor Jaz Ghag of the Christian Life Assembly in Gibsons, pastor Joel Defries of Crossroads Community Church and the first refugee family greeted the newly arrived family of four when they finally made it onto Canadian soil at the Vancouver airport.
• MLA Nicholas Simons pledged to fight Vancouver Coastal Health’s (VCH) plan for the future of long-term care on the lower Sunshine Coast. Simons made the comments at the end of a June 29 town hall meeting on the proposal to close Shorncliffe and Totem Lodge and enter into a contract with a private company building a new facility in Sechelt. Simons, who organized the town hall, was joined by representatives from the BC Nurses Union, the Hospital Employees Union and the group Canadian Doctors for Medicare. Dozens of speakers expressed their opposition to the VCH long-term care plan at the Seniors Activity Centre in Sechelt on June 29.
• A 25-year-old man from Vancouver Island was in custody after allegedly going on a six-day, island-hopping crime spree. RCMP on Vancouver Island, Salt Spring Island, the Sunshine Coast and Bowen Island were kept busy investigating a string of thefts and property crime that occurred between June 29 and July 3.
• There were two active investigations tied to the devastating wildfire that tore through a section of forest just outside Sechelt, burning more than 400 hectares and claiming the life of 60-year-old tree faller John Phare of Roberts Creek. WorkSafe BC was probing the circumstances leading to the July 5, 2015 accident that claimed Phare’s life.
• B.C. Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon spent a big chunk of July 5 exploring the Gibsons Recycling Depot and its Resource Recovery Centre. Guichon took an interest in the work being done at the centre after meeting co-owner Buddy Boyd at an Earth Day event in Victoria in the spring.
• Canada turned 149 years old and the District of Sechelt turned 30 on July 1. Canada Day in Sechelt – hosted by the Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA) – was a big celebration. SDBA president Katharine Trueman estimated that more than 5,000 people went through Sechelt on Canada Day.
• A team using a crane and giant flatbed truck moved a 68-foot (21-metre) barge from upper Gibsons to the waterfront for launching. The barge, christened HiBaller IV, was built at the Payne Road yard of H L Enterprises for HiBaller Transportation of Halfmoon Bay.
• Emilie Shaw, the Sunshine Coast’s oldest resident, celebrated her 107th birthday on July 9 with her customary wit and wisdom. She received a new Toshiba TV set from her grandson Richard McGuckin on behalf of the Canadian branch of her family living on the Lower Mainland as well as “two lots” of flowers, a congratulatory card from the Queen – her eighth – and a three-page printout of birthday greetings from admirers on Facebook, among other gifts. The District of Sechelt had proclaimed the day Emilie Shaw Day in her honour. But the new screen seemed to be the biggest hit.
• MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones joined the festivities at the 50th annual Halfmoon Bay Country Fair. This year saw one of the biggest turnouts ever for the fair with at least 1,500 people in attendance over the course of the day on Sunday, July 10.
• BC Timber Sales awarded logging rights on a contentious cutblock on the slopes of Mt. Elphinstone, but the group Elphinstone Logging Focus (ELF) was calling on the winning bidder to ask for rights to log somewhere else and leave A87125 alone. ELF had demonstrators at a “Mt. Elphinstone Protection Camp” blocking access to A87125 for just over six weeks.
• The District of Sechelt suspended its Blue Bin recycling program after its contractor, Direct Disposal, dumped “six or seven truckloads” of recyclables at the district’s public works yard on July 4, Mayor Bruce Milne said. The temporary suspension came after months of unsuccessful contract negotiations between the district and Direct Disposal, whose one-year contract for processing recyclables lapsed March 1, 2015.
• Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) officials said they had a “high degree of confidence” when it came to provincial approval of the Chapman Lake expansion project. Work on new environmental impact studies took place this summer, with the goal of starting construction on the $5-million project in 2017. The SCRD was awaiting the outcome of an Alternative Approval Process (AAP) to authorize a 30-year loan to pay for the project. The Sunshine Coast Conservation Association waged a campaign to have the AAP defeated, believing a defeat would send a strong political message.
• A dedication ceremony for Regeneration, an artwork by Gordon Halloran, took place outdoors by the Sechelt Visitor Centre. The sculpture, two charred cedar trees, was dedicated to all those who protect the forest from wildfires and especially to tree faller John Phare, who lost his life fighting the Old Sechelt Mine fire.
• Sechelt Legion Branch 140 members met July 31 to vote on selling the Legion building and grounds at 5591 Wharf Ave. The move came after repeated public pleas for help since 2012 to keep the floundering Legion afloat.
• The shíshálh Nation signed three agreements with the province that would see them get about 288 hectares of Crown land, a share of provincial forestry revenue of up to $484,137 per year, and $100,000 in capacity funding – and that’s just the beginning, both parties agreed. The Nation signed a reconciliation agreement, an interim forestry agreement and a government to government agreement with the province that would grant them certain rights and territory now, while leaving the door open for more negotiations in the future. Chief Calvin Craigan made it clear that he did not want to see shíshálh Nation under any treaty agreement. He said the 8,300 hectares of land offered to the Tla’amin through their treaty represents only about 10 per cent of that Nation’s total territory, and that Sechelt would be seeking control of all of its territory through either future agreements with the province or through the courts.
• The Sunshine Coast Regional District declared Stage 2 outdoor water use restrictions for all regional water customers. Customers on the Pender Harbour systems remained at Stage 1.
• The way was cleared for the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) to borrow up to $5 million, over a 30-year term, for the Chapman Lake expansion project. The project involves creating a deeper outlet from the lake to allow the SCRD water system to draw the water level down by an extra five metres if the area is hit by a drought.
AUGUST
• A Hopkins Landing resident was shocked by the boldness of a cougar that snatched a cat from her back porch while she was just a few feet away.
• An “appalling disgrace” is how Kate Turner described the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s (SCRD) decision to stick with the status quo when it comes to dry floor and ice seasons at the Sechelt Arena and Gibsons and District Community Centre. The Sunshine Coast Spring Ice Committee approached the SCRD early this year asking that the ice season at the Sechelt Arena be extended to May 31 for at least three years starting in 2017. The committee argued that a longer season is vital for minor hockey players and competitive figure skaters, and it’s now practical because there are two arenas.
• Sunshine Coast Regional District directors said $416,000 is too much to pay to replace the hot tub at the Gibsons and District Aquatic Facility, and hoped the job could be done for the original $300,000 budget. Directors were taken aback earlier this year when the only response to a request for proposals to design and install a new hot tub came back with a minimum price tag of $416,000.
• Pink salmon were returning to the Chapman Creek Hatchery, but manager David Burnett said water conditions were far from ideal. Burnett said water flows in Chapman Creek were about 190 litres per second, and the temperature of the water had been reaching the high teens most days. He explained that a combination of low flow and warm temperatures can be especially harmful to the juvenile coho salmon and steelhead living in the creek.
• For sale signs went up at Sechelt Legion Branch 140 after members voted July 31 to sell the building and the lot it sits on. Members also voted in favour of taking a loan from B.C. Yukon Command to keep the doors open and taxes paid until the branch could be sold, according to executive committee member Paul Lith.
• Despite a diagnosis that he’d never walk again after a trampoline accident that resulted in swelling and bleeding on the brain, four-and-a-half-year-old Max Du Preez took his first steps. “We are so thrilled with Max’s recovery. Week by week we can see our Max returning to us,” said Max’s mom Danni Du Preez.
• The developers behind SSC Properties in Porpoise Bay said after months of planning, and reworking their project based on community feedback, they were eager to get it to a public hearing. Todd McGowan and Werner Hofstätter of SSC Properties appeared before Sechelt council Aug. 3, just a few days after the company held an open house that drew more than 300 people to the 170-hectare site near Porpoise Bay Provincial Park.
• An exhaustive search that covered the length of the lower Sunshine Coast for a beloved family dog named Cara included using a drone, trail cameras, animal search experts, a dog tracker, a Facebook page devoted to Cara’s return, the hanging of hundreds of posters and dozens of volunteers searching daily by land and by sea. Cara disappeared near Langdale on July 3.
• After 10 weeks in care at Orphaned Wildlife in Delta, the baby barred owl named Creeker that was found in Roberts Creek returned to the Sunshine Coast to fly free. A group of about a dozen people showed up for his release on Aug. 5.
• The Sunshine Coast real estate market eased off its record-setting pace, according to statistics from the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, but not enough to extinguish concerns about an over-heated market. After peaking in March, April and May, sales numbers saw a downward trend in June and July. But sales were still higher than 2015, as were prices.
• The 21st Annual Sleepy Hollow Rod Run was a huge success with over 450 street rods, hot rods, collector cars and some daily drivers who made the run from Hackett Park to Redrooffs Road in Halfmoon Bay to be cheered on by the largest group of spectators ever.
• Thanks to Habitat for Humanity Sunshine Coast, three young families moved into brand new homes in Habitat Village on the Sunshine Coast Highway in Wilson Creek. Two of the new families were at Habitat Village in early August as volunteers doing all of the last-minute tasks required to obtain occupancy permits.
• A new 70-kilometre hiking/biking trail from Port Mellon to Squamish was passable with some bushwhacking, as 43-year-old Vance Culbert discovered when he ran the route in 13 hours. The trail connecting the Sunshine Coast to Squamish has been a labour of love for a small group of people in both communities for a few years, headed by Geoff Breckner of Squamish.
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) closed Chapman Creek to recreational salmon fishing. DFO said the closure was necessary because of “extremely low water levels” and would stay in place until Oct. 15.
• A family of four watched their house burn to the ground in Port Mellon on Aug. 16 as they waited more than two hours for help that came too late. The family home on Dunham Road was outside the Gibsons fire protection district and it took about two and a half hours from the start of the blaze for firefighters from the private fire department at Howe Sound Pulp and Paper to arrive on scene and offer assistance, according to homeowner Brendan Ladwig. By that time there was nothing left of the house to save.
• The company behind the proposed Silverstone Care Centre filed zoning and other applications with the District of Sechelt. Trellis Seniors Services president Mary McDougall said the company was not involved in the decision to close the two older facilities.
• The second annual Sechelt Paddling Festival took place at the Sechelt Sustainable Community property in East Porpoise Bay. The event was a huge success with more than 1,500 people participating in a wide range of festivities.
• After about five years of fundraising, members of Gibsons’ Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCM-SAR) Station 14 began training on a new boat, and they thanked the community for helping make the purchase possible. The $385,000 boat, a Falkin Class Type 1 fast response vessel made by Titan specifically for the Coast Guard, is bigger, faster and much more comfortable to ride in, thanks to a shock-absorbent crew station.
• Some residents on Dunham Road in Port Mellon, where a fire destroyed a family home, disputed Howe Sound Pulp and Paper’s (HSPP) claim there was “no delay” in its response to the fire. And they feared what kind of fire protection they would have from the mill in the future. Dunham Road resident William Thompson said he hoped “to correct an outright misstatement and to point out the deception that caused us to be less prepared than we should have been.”
• Maciek Glowacki, a 22-year-old man from Halfmoon Bay involved in a single-vehicle accident on a logging road in Sechelt Aug. 12, succumbed to his injuries on the evening of Aug. 17 at Vancouver General Hospital.
• The Conservation Officer Service (COS) said an incident in Egmont was the first definitive proof they had of grizzly bears visiting the area. A property owner shot and killed a bear that was attacking pigs on Aug. 19, and when the carcass was recovered it was immediately clear the bear was a young, male grizzly.
• A mini-van jumped the curb and plowed through a large cement planter, metal chairs and a table before smashing into the front of Starbucks and Ricky’s All Day Grill in Tsain-Ko Mall in Sechelt on Aug. 28. No injuries were reported, although extensive damage occurred.
• Provincial NDP housing critic David Eby was one of the speakers invited by Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons to an Aug. 29 town hall on housing. There was general agreement that spikes in real estate sales and prices on the Sunshine Coast had brought the area to a point where owning a house was difficult even for people with good, steady incomes. The speakers also agreed renters were being hit hard because rental stock was being sold and landlords were getting into short-term rentals.
SEPTEMBER
• The 26th annual Labour Day Picnic on Sept. 5 – sponsored by the Sunshine Coast Labour Council – brought out more than 750 people who listened to local union leaders and politicians address labour issues concerning the Sunshine Coast community.
• RTC Properties Ltd. proposed building a 48-unit accessible development on Sechelt’s waterfront that would include buildings from two to six storeys in height, meant to suit seniors in their retirement. The three parcels at 5851 Sunshine Coast Highway total about 1.03 hectares and the area is designated in the official community plan as “Special Infill Area 2,” which demands detailed input from nearby residents.
• The Sorge family was happy to have Cara home after an exhaustive search for the dog that went missing on July 3. After a 69-day adventure that stretched from Langdale to Pender Harbour, Cara the dog was finally home with her owners in Kelowna. Mike Soper and Irene Orallo of Halfmoon Bay managed to contain Cara in their yard on Sept. 10.
• Officials with Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) admitted they could have done a better job of consulting with the community in the lead-up to the June 1 announcement VCH was closing Shorncliffe and Totem Lodge in 2018 and entering into a contract for long-term beds at a private facility. But there was no suggestion VCH was reconsidering the plan. Well over 200 people jammed the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre for the VCH-sponsored public meeting, as others gathered outside open doors and still more were turned away.
• Elphinstone Logging Focus members and supporters staged a highly visible protest after six people were arrested Sept. 9 for defying a court order against blockading a controversial cutblock on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone.
• Rotary Clubs on the Sunshine Coast celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Rotary Foundation – the charitable arm of Rotary – on Sept. 18 in Sechelt’s Rotary Friendship Park. The event featured a relay race to showcase the effectiveness of the hippo roller, a device that makes it easier to transport water over long distances.
• The annual Cops for Cancer Ladies’ Red Serge Gala on Sept. 15 raised another record amount for pediatric cancer research. Catherine Gadsby of the gala committee said the event exceeded last year’s record fundraising total of $45,000.
• The Sunshine Coast Regional District returned to Stage 2 watering restrictions for users on the Chapman system. The announcement Sept. 19 followed a weekend that saw nearly 30 mm of rain.
• Sechelt Sustainable Community (SSC) Properties was looking for expressions of interest to build “cost-efficient housing” on its 170-hectare property in East Porpoise Bay. The company issued a request for expressions of interest on Sept. 16, calling for “innovative concept plans for pocket neighbourhood designs that will be cost effective and highly livable.” Werner Hofstätter of SSC said the move was made after hearing from the community repeatedly about the need for affordable housing.
• Sunshine Coast RCMP confirmed at least three more people had been arrested since officers moved in on Sept. 9 to enforce a court injunction against interfering with logging on cutblock A87125 on the slopes of Mount Elphinstone. On Sept. 14, a 28-year-old Roberts Creek man was arrested after locking himself to some logging equipment. There was a similar incident four days later where two people were arrested.
• The resignation of shíshálh Nation councillor and former chief Garry Feschuk was announced via special notice on the Nation’s website Sept. 19. Feschuk suffered a stroke on May 12 and spent months on the Lower Mainland recovering. He was in Lions Gate Hospital for 80 days before being discharged as a day patient, needing regular physiotherapy.
• Entrepreneur and part-time Keats Island resident Charles Haynes began testing on the Neptune 3 power generator. The machine, developed over the last five years, uses wave motion to generate electricity. Neptune 3 was set up in the foreshore lease he holds in the area to the east of West Beach, and all the permits are in place. During the testing, which was expected to last around five months, Neptune 3 will supply power to the home and the BC Hydro grid under the utilities net metering program.
• Capilano University honoured residential school survivors during the university’s Truth and Reconciliation Week held Sept. 19 to 23, starting with an 11 a.m. moment of silence observed at both the Sunshine Coast and North Vancouver Capilano University campuses.
• A legal opinion drafted by West Coast Environmental Law said the Sunshine Coast Regional District’s plan to expand the water intake at Chapman Lake could be illegal. The opinion was prepared at the request of the Sunshine Coast Conservation Association, which opposed the $5-million project.
• Cops for Cancer Tour de Coast riders were on the Coast Sept. 22. The crew of police officers and first responders stopped at local schools to tell students how the ride benefits children dealing with cancer.
• Sunshine Coast RCMP Const. Karen Whitby was honoured with a Commanding Officer’s Letter of Appreciation at an awards ceremony at the B.C. RCMP Headquarters, in recognition of Whitby’s actions in saving the life of a Sechelt man last year.
• A grizzly bear was spotted eating apples in a yard in West Sechelt and was filmed by resident Eliza Yates on Sept. 25. The Conservation Officer Service became involved, trying to capture the animal and relocate it. Two traps were set at the end of Norwest Bay Road in West Sechelt where the grizzly had killed a black bear and partially buried it.
