We are often told that politics on Bowen is highly polarized but I’m beginning to think that we’re actually a pretty cohesive group. It’s true that we have a small group that would make us get permits to cut down a tree in our yard and another small group that would love to see a couple of hundred housing units in Snug Cove. We have the usual Continue reading ›
Tagged Island Life, Municipal Politics, National ParkAs we approach another Municipal election season it may be timely to look back at the last three-year term and make some predictions about what the electorate will be looking for in our next mayor and council.
The last term started in December of 2008 with a bang. Continue reading ›
Tagged Island Life, Municipal Hall, Municipal Politics, OCP“Soon after I moved to the island I received brochures in the mail from the Improvement Association and the Eco Alliance. I thought that both groups had some good ideas and decided to join both of them. Before long it became apparent that it was like joining both the American Republican Party and the Communist Party.” That isn’t an exact quote but you get the idea. It’s from Continue reading ›
Tagged Island Life, Municipal Politics, OCPOur Municipal Council is about to pass three new environmental bylaws. Two of them seem to me to make sense but the third is a disaster.
The first proposed bylaw seeks to control disturbance of steep slopes. Remember when that yard in North Vancouver slipped down the hill and killed a woman in her home below? That was a wake-up call to municipalities Continue reading ›
Tagged Cape Roger Curtis, Municipal Hall, OCPSo, are you in favour of the HST or against it? On the face of it this is a pretty silly question. The vast majority of people are against anything that takes money out of their pockets, especially when it is the hand of the government. But this time you have to vote “no”. That is a no to repealing the HST and going back to the old system. Before I tell you why, let’s get you mad all over again by going over how we got into this sorry mess. Continue reading ›
Tagged HSTWhenever we’ve been off the island for any length of time I read through the accumulated Undercurrents to catch up. The last few have been quite enlightening.
First there was the great council debate about when we should have a community vote on the proposed National Park. Of course Parks Canada (PC) hasn’t actually put forward a proposal to vote on but that isn’t stopping the arguments. One faction wants Continue reading ›
Tagged Municipal Hall, Municipal Politics, National Park, Snug Cove, waterShortly after the current council took office they outlined certain tasks that they hoped to complete during their term. Ferry marshalling was one of them. So now two and a half years later we get to once again enjoy one of our perennial debates. This time the consultant, along with our new senior planner, waded through all the previous reports and synthesised four options, containing fifteen variables. In other words, they realize that all they can do is rehash the best of the myriad of proposals that have been floated over the years.
Several things struck me Continue reading ›
Tagged Ferry, Island Life, Snug CoveI really don’t mean to sound like an alarmist but, our ferry service will soon be an intolerable disaster and we’ll have nobody to blame but ourselves. B.C. Ferries has no plans to upgrade our ferry service. Their plan is simply to keep increasing ferry fares to reduce demand. However we have reached a point where both overloads and fares are reaching the breaking point. Continue reading ›
Tagged Ferry, Island Life, Snug CoveThere may one day be a National Park on Bowen but right now I doubt that any betting man would place the odds at better than 100 to 1. In the last few weeks the Park plan has taken some pretty serious hits. It started with the unveiling of the Parks Canada Preliminary Concept Plan that was quite decidedly not the community’s concept of what the Park should look like. This led to a petition that almost instantly recorded the disenchantment of over 1,000 local residents. So just when Continue reading ›
Tagged National ParkNo matter what happens from here on in, nobody can accuse the citizens of Bowen of not doing their job. Most of the heavy lifting was done by the National Park Community Advisory Committee, which consisted of 31 islanders who applied to Municipal Council to serve on the committee. Unlike so many task forces and working groups these people came from every special interest group and political stripe. They set out to inform us of what was being offered and to advise council of our concerns and suggestions. At the end of the day they produced an excellent report that really captured all of the positions held by the community. They deserve our thanks.
Tagged Island Life, National Park