January
•The Artificial Reef Society of B.C. had the OK from the province and a permit from Environment Canada to sink the HMCS Annapolis in Halkett Bay in 2015. A sink date for the vessel was set for Jan. 17, but one final court action may interfere with the plan.
•The changing of the guard is complete. On the heels of Staff Sgt. Vishal Mathura’s arrival as new detachment commander in November, the Sunshine Coast RCMP appointed a new operations NCO (non-commissioned officer). Sgt. Steve Chubey was appointed to the position late December after serving as operations support NCO and media spokesman.
•Youth sports teams on the southern Sunshine Coast can now travel for free on the Route 3 ferry between Horseshoe Bay and Langdale. The discount took effect in mid-January with the introduction of a new voucher program.
•About 73 per cent of household garbage going to the Sechelt landfill could be diverted, according to a study undertaken by the Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD).
•In a rousing address to more than 100 Pender Harbour area residents Sechelt (shíshálh) First Nation Chief Calvin Craigan proclaimed a “whole new era” of joint resource management and co-existence with communities on the Sunshine Coast. Speaking at the launch of the Egmont/Pender Harbour official community plan (OCP) review, Craigan introduced his council members and some key unelected officials from the band, touched on the pending dock management plan and reconciliation agreement with the province, explained why Sechelt was constructing longhouses on public parkland, and announced Feb. 28 as the date for a day-long cultural event to be held in the same venue, the community hall at Madeira Park.
•Chris Mantel and Keith Miller from Roberts Creek were B.C.’s latest millionaires after winning a $1 million prize.
•The largest building contractor on the Sunshine Coast, Sechelt-based Wakefield Construction Inc., was deemed bankrupt on Jan. 20, leaving about 40 projects unfinished and some 450 creditors who are owed almost $10 million in unverified claims. Many of the company’s approximately 100 employees had already been laid off after it filed a notice of intention (NOI) under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act on Jan. 9.
February
•The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure turned down a request from Sunshine Coast RCMP to install a pedestrian-activated flashing light to improve the safety of the crosswalk on Highway 101 at Shorncliffe Road in Sechelt.
•Vancouver Coastal Health put out a call for proponents who could provide between 15 and 25 new residential care beds on the Sunshine Coast and have the flexibility to expand that number to 125 beds “in the short to medium term, should circumstances allow.”
•Klaus Fuerniss Enterprises and Gibsons Marina & Hotel Partnership announced that it had secured arrangements to purchase the assets of Gibsons Marina. The announcement came following a closed door meeting just prior to a committee of the whole meeting.
•Weeds Glass and Gifts, Vancouver’s largest chain of medical marijuana dispensaries, was poised to open a store in downtown Sechelt – even though Sunshine Coast RCMP were “strongly encouraging” the company to reconsider its decision. “Ideally we’d like to save them all the hassle and money and tell them that this isn’t something we would stand by and allow to happen in our community,” detachment spokesman Const. Harrison Mohr said.
•Although the province would not confirm it, Sechelt (shíshálh) First Nation announced that St. Mary’s Hospital would be renamed shíshálh or Sechelt Hospital. The band’s cultural director, Candace Campo, announced the change while appearing on Chief Calvin Craigan’s Coast TV show, Voices of shíshálh.
•A Roberts Creek couple was elated about winning a Supreme Court case that will allow Canadians to choose medical assistance in dying if they so desire. Lee Carter and her partner Hollis Johnson were lead plaintiffs in the death with dignity case taken to the Supreme Court of Canada in an effort to have the court recognize that Canadians have a constitutional right to choose medical assistance to end their lives.
•A Roberts Creek mother touched off a political firestorm over BC Ferries, saying her son was stranded twice at Horseshoe Bay after missing the last ferry to Langdale because of rigid policies around cut-off times.
•A Sechelt martial arts coach was one of four B.C. men charged in an alleged anabolic steroid smuggling and distribution ring that operated across Canada. William Joe Baturin, 39, was charged with possession of unlawfully imported goods under the Customs Act and trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking and production under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. The sting was a two-year investigation dubbed Project Juice.
•Third-party sponsors in the District of Sechelt spent more money to unseat incumbent mayor John Henderson than successful challenger Bruce Milne spent on his entire campaign, disclosure statements released by Elections BC revealed.
•Incumbent Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe spent four times as much as challenger Suzanne Senger in last November’s municipal election, according to campaign finance disclosure statements released.
•Sechelt council decided to pull the plug on the District’s business development corporation, Sechelt Innovations Limited (SIL). Deputy Mayor Alice Lutes announced the decision, saying council had directed the SIL board to wind up operations within a month.
March
•Sechelt (shíshálh) Nation brought out its chiefs and council, staff, elders and band members of all ages to host a community gathering in Pender Harbour drawing an estimated 200 people. Their purpose was to share their culture, history and hospitality and explain their deep connection to the Pender Harbour area, known as kalpilin in shíshálh.
•After a 12-year moratorium on new dock construction in Pender Harbour, a tentative agreement was reached with the province for a dock management plan.
•Target Marine Hatcheries, crafters of Northern Divine caviar, took home the Best International Trade award at the 12th annual Small Business BC Awards gala in Vancouver.
•Medma Cannabis Pharms Inc. was one step closer to becoming the first medical marijuana production facility in the District of Sechelt to operate under Health Canada’s new regulations. Although not yet licensed by Health Canada, the company trucked 18 steel containers to its site on Sechelt Crescent in East Porpoise Bay.
•Jennifer (Jenny) Craigan, shíshálh Nation matriarch, spirit dancer and wife of Chief Calvin Craigan, passed away in Totem Lodge in Sechelt. She was 66.
•Three years of work on the Progress Plan ended in celebration at the Sechelt Indian Band Hall where the plan was presented and wins to date were highlighted. The plan was funded to the tune of about $294,000 by the Status of Women Canada with the aim to improve the economic health of women on the Coast.
•District of Sechelt council voted to refund $562,000 in overcharged parcel taxes to property owners on Cowrie Street and in West Sechelt and West Porpoise Bay. The overcharges – discovered by the District’s finance department and blamed on administrative error – were the result of frontage parcel taxes being charged to property owners after the tax bylaws had expired.
•The Town of Gibsons official community plan (OCP) update was met with scorn from most of the 200-plus community members in attendance at a public hearing. Most concerns focused specifically on the Harbour area plan building height and floor plan restrictions contained in the OCP.
•Tens of thousands of Canadians participated in dozens of protests across the country against the controversial Bill C-51. More than 200 residents from the Sunshine Coast convened outside Conservative member of Parliament John Weston’s office in Sechelt to oppose the proposed anti-terrorism act.
•In a 4-1 vote, Gibsons council passed third and final reading for the revised official community plan in front of a gallery of roughly 60 residents. Only Coun. Silas White voted against the motions.
•St. Mary’s Hospital will officially be renamed Sechelt Hospital. Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed that it is renaming the 83-year old hospital to build stronger ties with the community and support concerns by the Sechelt Nation about the existing name.
•B.C. ferry commissioner Gordon Macatee’s proposed annual fare caps of 1.9 per cent over four years will not be a silver bullet to reverse declining passenger volumes, Route 3 ferry advisory committee chair Barry Cavens said.
•Half-hour highway bus service on the Coast would remain a dream for at least three more years as BC Transit ordered a stop to local expansion plans due to a lack of funding by the province.
•About 50 area residents were given an opportunity to voice their concerns and ask questions about the Woodfibre LNG project at a round table discussion on Gambier Island.
