JUNE
• The Ruby Lake Lagoon Nature Reserve Society partnered with Simon Fraser University (SFU) to make the Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS) a reality. PODS is envisioned as a state-of-the-art marine and freshwater research and education centre in Irvines Landing. On June 3, the two organizations officially signed a memorandum of understanding that will see SFU join forces with the Lagoon Society to seek funding for PODS and perform research at the facility once it’s built. Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon was in attendance as part of her Stewards of the Future Conference, involving approximately 110 high school students from across the province. “It really is a huge thing for Pender Harbour. It’s tremendous,” said Michael Jackson, executive director of the Lagoon Society.
• The District of Sechelt placed undue stress on the organizers of a cross-country canoe journey planned in honour of Canada’s 150th anniversary that was set to start in Sechelt Inlet June 14. On May 15, organizers got word from the district that their fleet of a dozen canoes with over 100 paddlers weren’t allowed to camp overnight on the SSC Properties, despite nearly a year of planning to do so. The district said the overnight usage of the property wasn’t allowed under current bylaws and that a temporary use permit had not been obtained in time to make an exception to the rule.
• The Transportation Safety Board and RCMP were investigating an incident that saw a Pacific Ferries water taxi bound for Gibsons slam into the rocks off Bowen Island on May 25. The Coastal Runner, with its 39 passengers and three crew, ran into Hood Point en route from Horseshoe Bay to Gibsons.
• Powell River-Sunshine Coast New Democrat MLA Nicholas Simons was ready to take his place on the government side after a major upset for the B.C. Liberals. On May 29, Green Party leader Andrew Weaver and NDP leader John Horgan announced they had reached a power-sharing agreement that paves the way for a minority NDP government. Under the deal, the three Green MLAs elected May 9 would support the NDP’s 41 members on all confidence votes for a period of four years, giving the two parties a 44-43 margin over the Liberals. NDP leader John Horgan and Green Party leader Andrew Weaver joined forces to defeat the Liberals.
• The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver said there were 133 detached homes sold on the Sunshine Coast in May of last year, and 82 this May. There was also a 47 per cent drop in sales from March to May compared to the same period in 2016. Prices, however, weren’t going down, and first-time homebuyers were finding the Coast market impenetrable. The Real Estate Board put the median price of detached homes on the Sunshine Coast at $580,000 as of the end of May, up from $491,750 last year.
• Conservation officer Dean Miller said they were forced to kill a young, male, black bear that was breaking into homes in Selma Park. The bear had gotten into at least five homes in the Nestman and Snodgrass roads area. On local social media groups, one woman posted that the bear showed no fear of people or dogs and got into her house and starting eating dog food, before wandering into the living room. Another post included a picture of the bear amid the damage he’d caused trying to get at food in someone’s kitchen.
• Sechelt Sustainable Community (SSC) Properties cancelled several summer events in order to “focus resources on the unpredictable zoning amendment process with the District of Sechelt.” Calling it “a very sad day for us at SSC,” interim CEO Werner Hofstätter said SSC would cancel this year’s paddling festival, electric vehicle festival and development of its urban demonstration garden.
• Paddlers taking part in the Canadian Voyageur Brigade Society’s Canada 150 canoe journey arrived in Sechelt June 14. Russ Greaves of the Gibsons Paddle Club said the weather cooperated and the group was able to time the tide perfectly for going through the Skookumchuck, although RCM SAR was on hand to escort the canoes and assist if needed.
• The Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA) wasn’t pleased with the placement of the Sechelt Farmers’ Market and was asking the district for help to resolve a number of issues, including blocking of a roadway to downtown Sechelt, direct competition for downtown merchants, and the market’s unwillingness to move during SDBA community events like Canada Day. The Farmers’ Market was granted a three-year lease at its current location in March. SDBA administrator Matt McLean said the concerns of the SDBA were never brought before council; Mayor Bruce Milne said the concerns were passed on and considered.
• More than $1 million of business investment on Cowrie Street helped revitalize Sechelt’s downtown core – and one of those businesses, Trail Bay Source for Sports, celebrated what they’ve accomplished on June 24.
• Shíshálh Nation representatives, dignitaries and students gathered at Pender Harbour Secondary School June 20 for the raising of a new totem pole at the school’s entrance. Shíshálh master carver Arnold Jones had been working on the project since May 5, 2014, when two halves of a cedar log were brought to the school and blessed in a special ceremony.
• Sunshine Coast Community Foundation awarded more than $200,000 in grants in 2017, more than in any year in the past. At its annual granting ceremony in Sechelt on June 20, the Foundation handed out 32 cheques to support the community projects of 20 different organizations.
• A court action was still pending more than a year after members of Elphinstone Logging Focus established a camp on Mount Elphinstone in an effort to stop BC Timber Sales (BCTS) from auctioning the cutblock known as A87125. The protests escalated and the company that won the right to log the area, Peninsula Logging, filed a notice of civil claim in August 2016 and an application for an injunction against demonstrators interfering with the logging, which has now been completed. Several people were arrested for defying that court order.
• Chief Warren Paull said shíshálh Nation members are excited about a new museum exhibit featuring one of their ancient chiefs and his family. The exhibit, “kw’en-usitsht tems stutula (we are face-to-face with our ancestors),” opened at the Tems Swiya Museum on July 4. The exhibit centres on an incredible discovery by the shíshálh Archeological Research Project more than 10 years ago. The project team found the remains of five people, believed to have been buried some 4,000 years ago with hundreds of thousands of stone and shell beads, indicating they were a family of great wealth and power. It’s now acknowledged as one of the most significant finds of its kind in North America.
• Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) chair Garry Nohr was recovering in a Vancouver hospital after suffering a heart attack in mid-June. Nohr has served as SCRD director for Halfmoon Bay since 2005, and was first elected chair in 2010.
• A 25-year-old Sunshine Coast man faced more than a dozen charges after an incident at the Langdale ferry terminal June 24. Sunshine Coast RCMP had a call from BC Ferries to report an SUV had smashed through the locked gates and was speeding toward the loading ramp. Before police could get there, the driver of the Chevy Blazer rammed through a series of barriers and the truck went off the raised loading ramp onto the upper car deck of the Queen of Surrey, which was berthed for the night. The driver, apparently uninjured, got out of the truck and ran down to the main parking lot where he allegedly attempted to steal two parked vehicles before being arrested.
