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January 22, 2014

4643 Gertrude Street, Port Alberni 250-724-1291

INSIDE THIS W INSIDETHIS WEEK: WEEK WEE K

The dogs are going to the beaches, but are the beaches going to

The Dogs?

ANDREW BAILEY

Download the free LAYAR app then scan this photo with your SmartPhone to view related video!

An estimated 70,000 dogs visit Paciﬁc Rim National Park Reserve each year; of those, only half are leashed.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of “Human/Nature,” a series of Westerly News articles about what happens when the needs of people and the needs of nature come in conflict with each other.

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WATCH THAT LAST STEP Combers Beach erosion leaves intrepid hikers hanging PAGE 12

See related editorial “Dirty Job,” Page 4

ANDREW BAILEY

Westerly News Dogs may soon be banned from sections of Long Beach during shorebird migration seasons because dog owners can’t be counted on to leash their pets. The recently published results of a three-year study and visitor survey at Pacific Rim National Park show an estimated 70,000 dogs visit the park with their owners

CONVERSATION STARTER Tofino’s George Patterson speaks of evolution and gardens PAGE 10

Top: Molly and Hali enjoy a walk at Wickininnish Beach with their person, Shane Greer (not shown). (Photo by Shelly Fader). Below, a dog strolls with his people on the beach in front of the Wickaninnish Inn.

in a year; of those, over half the dog owners at Long Beach are not leashing their pets, according to Yuri Zharikov a terrestrial biologist with the Park. He said despite increased enforcement and park staff explaining to dog owners why their dogs must be kept on a leash

the Park has only managed to reduce the rate of non-compliance from about 70 per cent to 60 per cent. “I am not in the position to say that our attempts to control dogs on the beach have been very succ-

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Ukee council displeased by BC ministers’ responses

See UCLUELET page 19

Wednesday

Serving Tofino and Ucluelet

GOVERNMENT

Westerly News Ucluelet’s council is not satisfied with the responses coming in from the ministers they met with during the Union of BC Municipalities Convention in September. BC’s Minister of Agriculture Pat Pimm and Minister of Transportation Todd Stone swung and missed particularly hard, and Ucluelet officials will head to Victoria to throw another pitch to each of them within the next two months. During Ucluelet’s Jan. 13 regular council meeting, Coun. Dario Corlazzoli said Pimm’s response letter not only missed Ucluelet’s point but contained factual inaccuracies. “Some of the facts are very generic and I’m not quite sure how much information and background he has on this,” Corlazzoli said. “It really doesn’t address the real issue that we presented.” Ucluelet officials keyed in on Pimm during the UBCM convention to outline their concern over Canadian owned factory vessels taking business from Ucluelet’s onshore fish plants. “Although the federal government has discouraged foreign factory vessels, Canadian processing factory vessels have come in to fill the gap and they are potentially impacting the onshore plants,” Irving told the Westerly News after the meeting. He said Canadian-owned fac-

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HELPING BABY ELIJAH Fundraiser for tiny West Coast preemie, family PAGE 16

Page 2 | The Westerly News

The Westerly News (1987) Ltd. is a division of VI Newspaper Group Limited Partnership The Westerly News publishes weekly on Wednesday and regularly posts online at www.westerlynews.ca. WHO WE ARE

Hugh Nicholson, publisher hnicholson@glaciermedia.ca Jackie Carmichael, editor editor@westerlynews.ca Andrew Bailey, reporter reporter@westerlynews.ca Paul Schroeder, advertising advertising@westerlynews.ca CONTACT US P.O. Box 317, Ucluelet B.C. V0R 3A0 [1–1920 Lyche Rd., Ucluelet] Phone: 250-726-7029 Fax: 250-726-4282 E-mail: office@westerlynews.ca DEADLINES Display ads Monday at noon Call 250-266-0557 office@westerlynews.ca Classified ads Tuesday at 10 a.m. Call 1-866-415-9169 classifieds@westerlynews.ca Online ads Start anytime Call 250-266-0557 office@westerlynews.ca Letters to the editor Monday at noon office@westerlynews.ca SUBSCRIPTIONS Local area: $75.18 Seniors (local): $63.91 Canada: $84.56 U.S.: $155.18 To subscribe call: 1-888-311-7713 or 250-729-4266

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Community Events 22 WEDNESDAY The Wild Pacific Trail will be unveiling the first two interpretive signs along the new Big Beach Children’s Interpretive Walk at 11am. The unveiling is for Phase 1 - two interpretive signs. Phase 2 is in development and includes 4 more interactive/interpretive signs designed for children. Grant writing workshop. 12-1 pm, Clayoquot Biosphere Trust office, 316 Main St., Tofino. Join staff from the CBT for tips on grant writing. Recycling Day in Tofino. Wednesday 11:15 a.m-11:45 a.m. Story time for preschool children ages 3-5 . Ucluelet library at the Ucluelet Community Centre Strong Start, Ucluelet Elementary School, 8:35-11:35 a.m. Holy Family Church, 9:30am, 1664 Peninsula Rd. Ucluelet. Adults/Seniors Chi Gong, 10:30– 11:30am, UCC fitness studio. Preschool Play Group, 10am–noon, Tofino Community Hall. Youth Health Clinic Ucluelet, 10–11:30am, youth room, Ucluelet Community Centre (library entrance). Access to the health nurse 250-720-5471. Youth Health Clinic Tofino, 1–2:30pm, Coastal Family Place, 265 First St. Access to the health nurse 250-720-5471. Ucluelet Sunshine Club, 1pm, Forest Glen. Seniors Social Afternoons, 1:30-4pm, Tofino Legion. Free admission & refreshments. Dominos, crib, board games, pool, snooker & darts. Ucluelet library, open 1–6pm.

23 THURSDAY Noon Workshop tips on grant writing from the Clayoquot Biosphere

Trust. Thursday 12 pm at the Ucluelet Community Centre. Bring your lunch and meet Rebecca Hurwitz, Managing Director, to discuss projects and ways to create a solid application. St. Columba Church Bible Study 10:30 am, Ucluelet Community Center, Healthy Babies Program/Family Ties, 10:30am. Drop-in for expectant, new parents, Coastal Family Place, Tofino. Wickaninnish Community School’s StrongStart program. Monday and Fridays 8:45-11:45 Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday 10:30-1:30 Free community lunch, noon–2pm, Coastal Community Services Hub, Ucluelet. Info 250-726-2343. The Edge Youth Room, 3–6pm, Ucluelet Community Centre & Youth Nite at the Edge (cooking, movies, art projects & more), 6–8pm, $2. Tofino library, 331 Main St., 3–7pm. Pacific Rim Toastmasters, 7:30pm, Rm 1, UCC. Info: 250-726-2766. Drop-in Bingo, doors 7pm, early-bird 7:30–8pm, full games 8–10pm, Tofino Legion. Badminton, 8–10pm, USS gym. $2 AA meeting, 8pm, Holy Family Ch., 1663 Peninsula Rd., Ucluelet. 250-726-2712/4220.

24 FRIDAY Big Beach Cinema, movies at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Ucluelet Community Centre. See What’s On listing, on Page 13. Strong Start, Ucluelet Elementary School, 8:35-11:35 a.m. Tofino Library Storytime 11:30 a.m.12 noon. 331 Main St. Preschool children with adult welcome. The Edge Youth Room, 2–6pm, Ucluelet Community Centre & Youth Sports Day, 3–5pm. Free. Holy Family Church, 7pm, 1664 Penin-

To list your West Coast event, call 250 726-7029 or e-mail ofﬁce@westerlynews.ca

sula Rd. Ucluelet.

25 SATURDAY The Art of the Trio. Clayoquot Sound Theatre, 7:30 pm. West Coast Winter Music presents swinging jazz with Kelby MacNayr, Chuck Deardorf and Ron Johnston. Limited tickets at the door - $20. Big Beach Cinema, movie matinee at Ucluelet Community Centre. See What’s On listing, on Page 13. Ucluelet library, Ucluelet Community Centre, open 10am–2pm. Tofino library, 331 Main St., open 10am–noon & 1–5pm. St. Francis of Assisi Church, mass 5:30pm, 441 Main St. Tofino. AA meeting, 7:30pm, St. Francis Church, 441 Main, Tofino. Open. Call 250-725-3446.

26 SUNDAY Christ Community Church, 10:30am, 1419 Peninsula Rd. Ucluelet. Grace Bible Church, 10:30am, Ucluelet Community Ctr., 500 Matterson Dr. Holy Family Church, 9:30am, 1664 Peninsula Rd. Ucluelet. St. Columba Church, 10:30am, 110 Second St. Tofino. Tofino Bible Fellowship meets at the Tofino Legion Hall, 331 Main Street at 10:30

27 MONDAY Monday Night Movies, Tofino, Clayoquot Community Theatre, see What’s On column on Page 14 for details Strong Start, Ucluelet Elementary School, 8:35-11:35 a.m. Floor hockey, 7–9pm, Ucluelet Seaplane Base Rec Hall. $2 drop-in. Indoor Soccer, 8–10pm, USS gym, $2 Competitive & drop-in darts, doors 7pm, play 8pm, Tofino Legion.

28 TUESDAY Free Arthritis Information Session at Ucluelet Community Centre, 7-9 p.m. Tofino General Hospital Physiotherapist Carley Grigg will discuss common types of arthritis, various self- management strategies for pain, stiffness and fatigue & provide resources for those living with arthritis. Review of simple exercise programs. Anyone with arthritis, or their families are welcome to attend. Those in the early stages of arthritis will really benefit as intervention early on can prevent the disease from progressing to more severe forms. Strong Start, Ucluelet Elementary School, 5-8pm Healthy Babies Program/Family Ties, 10:30am. Drop-in for expectant parents & new parents, Coastal Community Services Hub, Ucluelet Community Centre. 250-726-2224. Ucluelet library, Ucluelet Community Centre, open 1–6pm. The Edge Youth Room, 3–6pm, Ucluelet Community Centre & Girl’s Roller Derby, ages 13–18, 3pm, Seaplane Base Rec Hall. Youth night, 7-9pm, Tofino Legion. Free admission, snacks & drinks. Pool, snooker, foosball, hockey table, darts & board games. Supervision provided, parents welcome. St. Francis of Assisi Church, mass 5pm, 441 Main St. Tofino. Food Bank on the Edge, pick up 1–3pm, Seaplane Base Rd. AA meeting, 7:30pm, St. Francis Church, 441 Main, Tofino. Roller Derby Practice, 7-9pm, Seaplane Base Rec Hall. Basketball, 7–10pm, USS gym. Send events listings to office@westerlynews.ca

EVENT

Wild Paciﬁc Trail event Wed., Jan 22 at 11 a.m. ANDREW BAILEY

Westerly News Locals are celebrating the unveiling of new children’s interpretive signage along the Wild Pacific Trail today. The event kicked off at the Big Beach Gazebo at 11 a.m. on Jan. 22. Coun. Dario Corlozzoli suggested the district meet with the Wild Pacific Trail society prior to budget discussions to determine the type of investment the trail would need to maintain its global attraction. He noted the trail is bringing

a lot of positive attention to Ucluelet especially since being named Vancouver Island’s top attraction by Trip Advisor. The society hopes to develop a training program for interpreters to guide users through the trail and suggested local youth interested in outdoor education could use the program as a springboard. “It’s handy, I think, for Ucluelet to be able to train our youth to know as much as they can about our area,” he said. The society will soon hire a part time administrator. reporter@westerlynews.ca

Ucluelet visitors Samir Khadka of Washington D.C. and Christine Cumming from Port Alberni check out new children’s signage along the Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet. Kick off is at Big Beach Gazebo at 11 a.m. on Wed., Jan. 22.

The Westerly News | Page 3

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

TOFINO RCMP REPORT

Woman found swimming in ocean, admitted to psychiatric ward ANDREW BAILEY

Westerly News

A woman has been admitted to the Nanaimo Psychiatric Ward after being found swimming in Tofino’s cold winter ocean on Jan. 15. Tofino RCMP were called to the Credit Union on Jan. 14 around 2 p.m. where a woman had reportedly gone in with someone else’s financial paperwork. The caller advised police the woman was acting strangely and it appeared something other than having the wrong person’s papers was going on, according to Sgt. James Anderson. Police arrived at the scene and discovered the woman was the same person they had been dealing with “repeatedly for about a month,” Anderson said. Police were still investigating the incident the following day when they received a report about a possible boater in distress around the Tofino access waterway. Coast Guard officials were called in and spoke with the boater who was wearing a life jacket and seemed to be OK, Anderson said. A short time later, an RCMP patrol boat from Ahousaht spotted the same boater swimming in the ocean. As police approached, the female boater took off her life jacket and began swimming around, according to Anderson. He said the woman was identified as the same woman police had dealt with at the Credit Union the day prior. She was arrested under the Mental Health Act and taken to Tofino General Hospital for a prelimary examination where she was determined to be a danger to herself and

As police approached, the female boater took off her life jacket and began swimming around. admitted to the Nanaimo Psychiatric Ward, Anderson said. Police have contacted the woman’s family members in Quebec. The woman has been identified as Marie-Eve Caron. “Her name has been released to the public because if she ends up in the Tofino area again, RCMP would like to know in order to try and prevent bad things from happening to a probably good person,” Anderson said.

Wanted man on the lam Police are asking for the public’s assistance in locating 23-year-old Cameron Sidney Sam. Sam is wanted for breaching his probation by failing to attend mandated counseling directed by his probation supervisor. He is known to reside in Port Alberni and Ahousaht and anyone with information on his whereabouts is encouraged to contact the Tofino RCMP at 250-725-3242.

Woman arrested after attempt to free partner from police cruiser

Tofino pizza scam The owner of Tony’s Pizza has alerted RCMP to an ongoing scam where a person is calling Tofino residents pretending to be from Tony’s and asking for a credit card number. The caller reportedly claims to need the credit card num-

Jan. 29 *Ucluelet RECYCLES

ber for a pizza that was ordered, according to Sgt. Anderson. Anderson said it does not appear any locals have fallen for the scam and police do not believe any credit card numbers have been given out. Some locals who received scam calls alerted Tony’s Pizza of the situation and said the scammer had somehow managed to have Tony’s Pizza’s show up on the call displays of potential victims, according to Anderson. The callers voice is described as an older man with a thick New York accent. Anyone who has received such a call should contact the Tofino RCMP at 250-725-3242.

Tofino RCMP responded to a domestic disturbance on Jan. 18 around 2 p.m. Police arrived and intervened between a man and a woman who had reportedly been arguing over a bankcard, according to Sgt. Anderson. He said the woman told police the man had pushed her during the argument. The man was arrested for assault and placed in the back of a police vehicle but the woman, who was believed to be intoxicated, became upset over the arrest and opened the vehicle’s door to

let the man out. Police then arrested the woman for obstructing a peace officer and for being intoxicated in public. Both parties were released from custody the following day. The woman was issued a ciolation ticket for being intoxicated in public and the RCMP is investigating the assault charge against the man.

Man spends day sobering up in cell

Intoxicated man collapses in restaurant

Ahousaht break-in

Ahousaht RCMP responded to the T-Bird Hall where a man was reportedly passed out and bleeding from his face on Jan. 13 around 5 a.m. Police determined he was not injured, according to Sgt. Anderson. The man was arrested for public intoxication and spent the day sobering up in a cell.

Ahousaht RCMP responded to a break and enter around 2 p.m. on Jan. 13. Police arrived and were met by a resident of the home who said she had left the residence about an hour prior to the break in and returned to find things stolen. The front door had not been locked at the time of the break in. Whoever broke into the home damaged a microwave, punched a hole in a living room wall and another hole in a hallway, tossed clothes around throughout the house and took $40 from a nightstand. Anyone with information about this should call 250 725 3242. reporter@westerlynews.ca

An intoxicated man collapsed inside Vincentes Restaurant in Tofino on Jan. 13 around 2:40 p.m. While en route to the scene RCMP spotted the man “staggering” towards Tofino’s Village Green, according to Sgt. Anderson. Police determined the man was intoxicated but he showed no signs of injuries. He was detained for being intoxicated in public and was issued a violation ticket upon his release the following morning.

ADVENTURE SHOPPING

Vaccine and Appointment Clinic

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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

THRIFT

Ucluelet’s UAC Hall

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9:30 am – noon &

Tofino’s Royal Canadian Legion

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1:30 – 4 pm

Alberni Vet Clinic

MAIN ST. UCLUELET (across from CIBC)

ph 250-723-7341

Supporting local charities Donation items welcome

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Visit our website

T H U R S DAY 2 3

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Local tides brought to you by:

TIDES Thursday 23 metres

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Friday 24 feet

3.3 10.8 1.4 4.6 2.7 8.9 1.5 4.9

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Saturda y 25 feet

3.4 11.2 1.3 4.3 2.6 8.5

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Sunday 26 feet

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Monday 27 feet

1.8 5.9 3.5 11.5 0.9 3.0 2.8 9.2

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Tuesday 28 feet

1.8 5.9 3.6 11.8 0.7 2.3 3 9.8

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Wednesday 29 feet

1.7 5.6 3.8 12.5 0.5 1.6 3.2 10.5

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04:50 10:53 17:46

feet

1.6 5.2 3.9 12.8 0.3 1.0

Ucluelet / Toﬁno www.coastrealty.com 250-726-7474

Page 4 | The Westerly News

COMMENT

Opinion

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Killed in the name of science Arthur Black Basic Black The world’s oldest living animal is dead. Was murdered, actually, but I’ll get to that. Geezer organisms aren’t that rare, really. We’ve known lots of venerable critters who achieved a ripe vintage. A house cat in Texas made it to the age of 38; a horse named Ol’ Billy in London popped off at 62; a tortoise in India still waddles along at 255 years of age. But that’s just a short recess compared to the record established by our lately departed. Ming was 507 years old. Not bad. For a clam. An Icelandic clam to be precise. It was dredged up by scientists on a research vessel from the Bangor School of Ocean Science off the northern coast of Iceland. Scientists could tell the clam was pretty old, but they couldn’t tell exactly how old. So they killed it and carbon dated the corpse. Turned out he was just a little over five centuries old. The scientists named him Ming because he dated from the same period as the Ming Dynasty in China. As the song says, we always hurt the ones we love. Ask the dodo, the passenger pigeon, the east coast cod or the horizon-tohorizon herds of bison that used to populate the plains. Those extirpations were caused by simple, stupid, human greed but we’re not above species slaughter in the name of science. Take John James Audubon. Now there was an environmentalist, right? The 19th century ornithologist-cum-painter took it upon himself to document, on

canvas, every North American bird he could find. Did a fine job too. His magnificent Birds of America contains full-colour illustrations from more than 435 paintings of more than 700 bird species. Audubon even discovered 25 species of birds never before documented. He made extensive notes and meticulous paintings of each and every bird. Right after he shot them. Audubon shot and killed every bird he ever painted – and more. Sometimes he blew dozens out of the sky or off a branch before he found what he considered to be a perfect specimen. The man loved his work. On one outing he recorded that he shot 30 partridges, 27 gray squirrels, a woodcock, a barn owl, a turkey buzzard and one yellow warbler. Lucky for Ming and his clammy compatriots that Audubon wasn’t into molluscs. Oscar Wilde dismissed fox hunting as the unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible. Call me pussified, but the charm of tracking down unthreatening critters to put bullets in them continues to elude me. Still love a good hunting story, though. Like the one about two hunters – let’s call them Larry and Moe – who are crossing a pasture when a pheasant explodes into flight right between them. Larry fires and misses; Moe fires and hits Larry. Moe frantically dials 911 on his cell phone. “Help!” he squawks, “I’ve shot my pal Larry! I think I might have killed him!” “Calm down,” says the emergency response dispatcher, “First, we need to find out if he’s dead.” The dispatcher hears a moment of silence followed by the sound of a gunshot. Moe comes back on the line. “Okay, he’s dead. Now what?”

LETTERS POLICY: The Westerly News welcomes letters to the editor. We reserve the right to edit letters for clarity, taste, legality and length. We require your hometown and a daytime phone number for verification purposes. Letters must include your first name (or two initials) and last name. Unsigned letters and letters of more than 300 words will not be accepted. Email submissions to office@westerlynews.ca

COMMENT

After Fukushima, fearmongering’s everywhere; radiation, not so much The Internet is a powerful tool for educating yourself. It’s millions of web pages contain nearly every piece of information (and misinformation) out there. Through social media we all have the ability to distribute that information instantly. Social media has been proven to have the power to topple governments and create celebrities. Lately I’ve witnessed

GEOFF JOHNSON/ WEST COAST SOUNDS

waves of Facebook posts with headlines like; “28 Signs That The West Coast Is Being Absolutely Fried With Nuclear Radiation From Fukushima” and “Your Days Of Eating

Pacific Ocean Fish Are Over.” Many times these articles are shared by people with no personal insight into the Fukushima disaster, biology, radiation, fisheries, medicine, nuclear physics or even life on the coast. So I thought to myself; Since I’m on the West Coast while it’s being “absolutely fried” and the Pacific Ocean Fish are now murderously radioactive,

I’ll bet I can find a local person with first-hand evidence of it. After a week or so of asking nearly every local I saw in person, posting online and contacting local medical and science professionals I came to a shocking realization.... Not one person I talked to had a personal experience that could corroborate these See RADIATION, Page 12

OPINION POLL

What do YOU think? about dogs on the beach

Go online to www.westerlynews.ca to answer this week’s poll question: How do you feel about dogs on the beach? a) Love dogs on the beach. Nothing like enjoying West Coast beauty with my dog by my side. Feel sorry for people who don’t have one to walk with. b) Dogs at the beach are okay, as long as their owners clean up after them. c) Okay, but on a leash, and only if their owners clean up after them. d) Dogs are a menace to shore life and there seems to be no way to control how much they poop on the beach, so no to dogs on the beach. Last week’s results: 56% happy Walter the Sea Otter found a home. 35% think sea otters make a mess of beaches and shellfish. 10% had no opinion on him.

Opinion II The Westerly News | Page 5

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

VOLUNTEER COAST

One tough year for WISAR As most of you know it has been a difficult year for West Coast Inland Search and Rescue (WISAR). On August 12, 2013 a fire destroyed a large portion of our equipment including our truck and boat, and all of our rope and swift water rescue gear. The insurance process has not been easy but things are starting to look up. Because of the efforts and generosity of our communities WISAR has remained operational through these trying times and in fact was able to respond to LOCAL VOICE: all 5 call-outs since CRYSTAL BOLDUC the fire, including the Air Nootka W.I.S.A.R. float plane crash in August, a mutual aid search for a missing hiker on Mount Arrowsmith, and the most recent plane crash on Vargas Island. WISAR would like to extend their gratitude to all those that have supported us financially and in kind. Once again the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet have been outstanding in their support of this vital service to the coast. We have seen donations from numerous individuals, businesses and government agencies including: Art Geverding, BC Hydro ,BC Parks, Carolyn Parcher, Cermaq, Craig Pencer , Creative Salmon , District of Tofino and District of Ucluelet , Parks Canada , Raymond Haipee , Royal Canadian Legion – Tofino Branch, Sonbird Refuse and Recycling, Tofino Coop, Whiskey Landing Lodge. Over the past few months the British Columbia Search and Rescue community pulled together for us and groups from Arrowsmith, Nanaimo, Comox Valley, Campbell River, Alberni Valley and Coquitlam put together rescue gear for us, and Kimberly Search and Rescue arranged to lend us a rescue vehicle until we are able to replace our own Westcoast Inland Search and Rescue Society P.O. Box 978, 620 Industrial Way Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0 Meanwhile the BC Search and Rescue Association worked with us and with BC Gaming to get a new truck specified and a grant proposal submitted - which we just learned, was successful. We should be getting full replacement value on our critical equipment. What remains of the WISAR Hall belongs to the District of Tofino and they have been working through all of the insurance issues on their end. Construction and refinishing of the interior should start before the end of January and we are hoping it will be ready to occupy by the spring. It will be a lot of work replacing all of our gear and getting organized again but we are hoping to be most of the way there by the middle of 2014. There are going to be additional uninsured costs but with fund raising and continued community support we are confident See WISAR, Page 12

OUR VIEW

Canine clean-up do’s and don’ts: Dirty job, but (you know the drill) Lucky the dog whose Person takes her to the beach. Happy the hound who gallops, the wind flopping his ears about, his tail a-waggin’ at every pawprint. Blissed out, the Labrador retriever who plunges into the surf with his favourite surfer. But there’s a sandy underbelly to the whole dogs-andbeaches love affair, and I’m not talking about seaweed in the Sheltie’s tresses. It’s the feces underfoot, the stinky slippery sandal, the gummed-up gumboot. That’s right, I’m writing about dog poo. I promise not to do it often. I think I’m barking up the right tree here. (See today’s story, Page 1, “Our dogs are going to the beaches, but are our beaches going to the dogs?”) According to numbers from Pacific Rim National Park

Jackie Carmichael Editor

Reserve, 10% of the estimated 700,000 visitors the park gets each year bring their dogs. Thatt’s almost 6,000 dog visits a month. Over half of those owners don’t leash their dogs, PRNPR says. Entire threads on Facebook are dedicated to West Coast dog defecation because not everyone is okay with dogs going … wherever … and owners not showing up to shovel. Fed up with dogs going where people fear to tread, Betty Wilson filled a handful of collection bags in a stroll between the North Chesterman parking lot and the point. “Several bags have feces

from more than one dog. We don’t ‘go looking’ for this, but have resolved to pick up what we see while we walk the beach,” Wilson said. One poster sided with nature, finding fault with wasting a bunch of plastic bags to clean up something that’s biodegradeable and “beneficial to the soil” just because it’s icky. “If you’re going to upset about waste, be upset about the waste that isn’t organic matter. Just saying,” Ana Teresa said. “It’s the lesser of two evils by far.” Another poster noted that the ocean is full of waste from all its creatures. Where do sea lions go? Sea otters? Whales? Good luck cleaning up after THEM. And I’m rethinking swimming. To my shame, I admit I watched fascinated and repelled also as a deer

dropped some pellets on a neighbour’s lawn. First thought? What a delicate process, with those gangly legs. Nothing graceful or deerlike about it. My second thought was, “Oh dear, why can’t you at least do that in the bushes?” My third thought was “Better their yard than mine.” And we haven’t even gotten to the waste humans produce and where THAT goes. We love our dogs. I think it’s fair to them and to everyone to get their scat off the mat people walk on, so to speak. If someone can patent a technique to get canines to clean up after themselves, they’ll be rich. Until then, carry a bucket and a pooper scooper, or maybe biodegradable bags. It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s gotta do it. editor@westerlynews.ca

Page 6 | The Westerly News

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

UCLUELET COUNCIL

Unorthodox water show prompts mayor to promise action ANDREW BAILEY

Westerly News Water, water, everywhere but in this case itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pretty gross. A group of Marine Drive residents brought council a particularly putrid show and tell display when they presented jars of what looked like black coffee but turned out to be samples of their tap water. The group, which represented three residences and one accommodation provider, said their water has not been clear since the Black Rock Resort came onto the system in 2008. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have been dealing with crap water constantly,â&#x20AC;? said one of the residents who then pointed at the jars placed in front of council and said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;That looks like third world country material to me.â&#x20AC;? One member of the group operates an Inn and said the water is yellowish at the best of times and has brought complaints from guests. She presented a oncewhite pillowcase turned yellow by the water spouting into her washing machine and said this costly phenomenon is happening to all her linens. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is hundreds and thousands of dollars; you

canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t repair it, you have to throw it out so from a business standpoint itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s driving me crazy,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s embarrassing and when somebody says to me â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;is your water drinkableâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; I have to bite my tongue and say â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;yeah it isâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; but would you drink that stuff?â&#x20AC;? Another resident said she has taken black clothes out of her washing machine that went in white. The group alleged the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public works department has been lacking in its response and that calls to the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emergency line have been fruitless. Mayor Bill Irving said the district must ensure water is safe throughout Ucluelet. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do want to resolve this,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are going to take this matter very seriously.â&#x20AC;? On Friday, Irving told the Westerly News the district is working to fix the situation. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one specific area and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s somewhat random so (staff has) developed a bit of a strategy on how to work with the neighbours to collect some data and then do some investigation on certain pipes,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We really do want to get a handle on why itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s this area specifically and what triggered it because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certainly not common and we

receive very few consistent complaints at all about our water so thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s something there that we should be able to find.â&#x20AC;? He said the question of who pays for the work will be answered by what the problem turns out to be. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It depends on what we find but we provide quality water at the cost of all the taxpayers. Predominantly if itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a district issue it would come out of district funds,â&#x20AC;? he said â&#x20AC;&#x153;It appears that itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be a bit of a combination in the sense that in that area a number of residences are having a problem that may be coming from either direction in our line so if we can figure that out then we know how to remedy it on our side of things.â&#x20AC;? He said district staff would also pass along information to the residents regarding what types of bleach to use and how often they should be flushing their own hot water tanks. Hot water tanks should be flushed every year, according to Irving who said people often need to be reminded of this, including himself, and â&#x20AC;&#x153;sometimes it builds up with an inch or two of that garbage on the bottom.â&#x20AC;? He pointed to the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s location along Marine Drive

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do want to resolve this. We are going to take this matter very seriously.â&#x20AC;? Mayor Bill Irving as a possible cause because of the surrounding resorts. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If all those big resorts have 200-300 people showering in the evenings then it creates quite a turbulent water flow through the system and dislodges stuff,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s very fine stuff thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in every pipe, it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t matter what city youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in, but when you change the dynamic of the flow it tends to somewhat loosen (and) for some reason in that area itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s become more and more of an issue.â&#x20AC;? Irving said the district would work with the residents to get a consistent cycle of testing going in order to have a solid handle on problemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s root within 30 days. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hopefully weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll find something sooner but weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to be at it until itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fixed,â&#x20AC;? he said. In regards to the residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; allegations that the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s public works crew has been lacking in its response, Irving believes these allegations are misguided. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We double checked with our staff and the staff keep

a fairly scrupulous record of calls and concerns and complaints and I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see any evidence of willful disregard. I think thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been quite a bit of communication back and forth trying to understand the issue,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We did double check immediately on what our staff responses were and some of this stuff people may not want to hear and so they may put a little different spin on it then our staff does but, regardless, there was communication going on.â&#x20AC;? He added that council appreciated the residents coming forward with the issue.

High winds raise issue of dangerous trees Coun. Dario Corlazzoli noted the windstorm that rocked Ucluelet from Jan. 11-13 and asked staff if the district was planning a danger tree assessment. He said he noticed several potentially hazardous trees and cited a specific pine tree located on district land near the Ucluelet Co-op grocery store that he said is â&#x20AC;&#x153;completely deadâ&#x20AC;? and lost several limbs during the storm. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to see that removed if we can before someone gets pummeled with a big limb,â&#x20AC;? he said. District CAO Andrew Yeates said an assessment

was not currently scheduled but suggested Corlazzoli could tour Ucluelet with the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contractors to determine which trees need to be removed. On Monday, Corlazzoli told the Westerly News that he met with the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s staff on Friday and identified several trees near the Co-op and some near Terrace Beach that will be addressed immediately. He said the district will continue to seek and destroy hazardous trees.

UFN elder Barb Touchie gives blessing for 2014 Tuesdayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s council meeting started off with a blessing from Ucluelet First Nation elder Barbara Touchie. Mayor Bill Irving called Touchie â&#x20AC;&#x153;a very important role model for us in the sense of leadership,â&#x20AC;? and said the annual blessing â&#x20AC;&#x153;reminds us how important our responsibility is and how much care we need to take in our responsibility.â&#x20AC;? The blessing is an annual tradition and Ucluelet keeps a paper copy of each blessing it receives. Touchieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s blessing will be added to a diary that is kept in the district office and is open to perusal from interested locals. reporter@westerlynews.ca

The Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) invites Area-C (Long Beach) residents to express interest in a four-year volunteer term as Director and Alternate Director on the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust (CBT) Board of Directors. As a director you will: â&#x20AC;˘ Bring vision, commitment and energy to making a difference in our region through the CBTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work as a community foundation. â&#x20AC;˘ Demonstrate eagerness to work in a consensus and team oriented environment with a committed board, volunteers and staff. â&#x20AC;˘ Reflect, listen and communicate with the individuals, groups and community you serve. â&#x20AC;˘ Abide by the CBT Constitution, Bylaws, approved policies and guidelines. â&#x20AC;˘ Bring knowledge, skills and interest in one or more areas of governance and management (planning, policy development, finance, fund development, investment, grant making, communications, marketing, web design, etc.). â&#x20AC;˘ Work closely with the alternate director to attend board meetings throughout the region and volunteer on subcommittees depending on your interest. The board operates as a policy board, governing by making policy and providing strategic direction to staff. Upto-date governing documents can be found on the CBTâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website under the heading Who We Are, subheading documents. Interested individuals are strongly encouraged to contact Rebecca Hurwitz, Managing Director to learn more about the role and responsibilities (725-2219; rebecca@clayoquotbiosphere.org). Interested individuals are asked to submit a letter outlining their related experience no later than Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at 4:00 pm to the attention of Wendy Thomson, Manager of Administrative Services, ACRD, 3008 Fifth Avenue, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 2E3 or email wendy.thomson@acrd.bc.ca.

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The Westerly News | Page 7

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

UCLUELET GOVERNMENT

Coast Guard battle over, Ukee seeks Amphitrite options ANDREW BAILEY

Westerly News The West Coast’s fight to keep its Coast Guard station appears to be over and talks have turned to what should be done with the Amphitrite Point site that has housed a Marine Communications and Traffic Services (MCTS) centre since 1978. “(Fisheries and Oceans Minister Gail Shea) has written and said the closure is pretty much done but they are considering other uses for the property,” said Mayor Bill Irving during Jan. 13’s regular council meeting. “It’s not really our

style to sit outside of these kind of discussions.” Shea’s letter said she heard from Nanaimo-Alberni MP Dr. James Lunney that Ucluelet leaders have ideas for the property and she encouraged council to keep her updated. Council agreed to write a letter to Shea expressing their willingness to be involved in discussions around the site’s potential future while also reemphasizing the district’s continued dissatisfaction with the federal government’s decision to close the centre. In early 2012 the federal govern-

ment announced its plan to consolidate Canada’s 22 Coast Guard stations into 12 modernized centres by 2014. Amphitrite was put on the cut list and about 25 jobs were ripped from the West Coast. Irving told the Westerly News that while keeping the Coast Guard centre would be ideal, the district would like the site to be a research and operations centre to mitigate issues arising from regional tanker traffic. “It could become sort of the front line if there was any incident... or if I dare say there was a spill of some sort this would be the

coordinating marshalling centre for the West Coast,” he said. He suggested it could also become a research and education centre taking advantage of the amount of work being done locally to track ocean flows and tsunami debris and he noted the University of Victoria has buoys floating in local waters to track wave energy. “There’s lots of bits and pieces for an ecosystem management centre that looks at all the issues related to a healthy marine environment,” he said. Ucluelet officials continue their now years-long efforts to secure

Online: www.westerlynews.ca

Walk-friendly downtown underway ANDREW BAILEY

committee is hashing out strategies to increase foot-traffic and decrease vehicle traffic around the village square. “It was always envisioned to be a pedestrian friendly minimum traffic area,” Irving said. “So the conversation is about changing Main Street into a one-lane road coming down that hill and making more green space and parking potentially in that area.” He said the district is considering opening up the grounds in front of the district office to provide opportunities for “small unique businesses,” and is look-

ing into potential tax deferrals for developments in certain areas. Irving said several local business owners approached the district in late 2013 to talk about Ucluelet’s downtown potential and the district will meet with the business community again in the spring. “We’re going to try to engage them in an informal sit down and strategy session about what they think would benefit them the most and then, since we do have limited tax money to do these kind of things, how do we spend it in a progressive manner,” he said. reporter@westerlynews.ca

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Westerly News Ucluelet’s village square is in line for a pedestrian friendly face-lift and Main Street may soon become a single-lane road. Ucluelet Mayor Bill Irving said the district is excited to see local enthusiasm for development on the rise. “We’re certainly appreciative and encouraged to see development activity starting to sprout with the spring flowers in the community,” he said. In order to promote downtown’s walkability, Ucluelet’s planning

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ANDREW BAILEY

Westerly News Walking through a winter wonderland may be a beautiful sight but driving through one can be a nightmare. Sutton Pass was nearly impassable in heavy snows at times on January 9 and 10, leaving even a tow truck stranded in a roadside ditch, as observed by a Westerly News staffer. Ucluelet Mayor Bill Irving and municipal councillor Geoff Lyons both traveled over Highway 4 recently and were frustrated by what they perceived to be a lack of snow plowing being done. During Jan. 13’s regular council meeting, Irving said these frustrations turned into a back and forth with Emcon—contracted by the BC Ministry of Transportation to maintain the highway—with Irving and Lyons saying plowing was not being done and Emcon saying plowing was being done. This issue has been added to two highway concern mainstays: mes-

saging on overhead signs located on each side of Sutton Pass, and missing or damaged reflectors commonly referred to as cat’s eyes. “The overhead signs don’t make any sense,” Irving said. “I’ve asked a million times that they be appropriately changed; the road can be blocked with snow and the (sign) at this end will say ‘water ponding.’” Ucluelet’s council agreed to send a letter to both the Ministry of Transportation and Emcon expressing these concerns. On Wednesday, Irving attended a meeting in Nanaimo with Transportation Parliamentary Secretary Jordan Sturdy who is working on a Vancouver Island Transportation Study. Irving told the Westerly News the meeting went well and the district will continue pushing for improvements. “It’s just an unsafe road all the way through,” he said. Irving attended the meeting as part of the Alberni-Clayoquot

Regional District’s transportation commitee, which he said is lobbying for a second route into Port Alberni that would come out of Horn Lake onto the freeway. The Ucluelet mayor was keen to ensure the West Coast’s highway was not swept under Port Alberni’s rug. “I was there to make sure that they understood there was two issues on the table,” he said. “Highway 4 out of Port Alberni is just not meeting the demands of the economy in this region and that’s a million visitors to the West Coast, fishing trucks and residents.” Ucluelet’s council plans to meet with BC Minister of Transportation Stone in Victoria to continue pushing for improvements. “Within the next month or two were going to head back down to Victoria to see the minister specifically about our stretch of the highway and what’s going to happen next,” Irving said. reporter@westerlynews.ca

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an old Coast Guard house for the Ucluelet and Area Historical Society to use as a museum. “We have proposed to the government that they turn that whole block of property over to the district of Ucluelet and they have agreed to that but the focus of that would be remaining a recreational green area,” he said. “We have the aquarium, we have the Wild Pacific Trail, we need another highlighted area that visitors can come and really explore what the interaction between the ocean and the land is.” reporter@westerlynews.ca

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Page 8 | The Westerly News

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Dogs, continued from Page 1 -cessful to date,” he said. “We’ve had two years of relatively intense law enforcement and public education and it was a massive investment in human resources and time.” About 10 per cent of the Park’s visitors bring dogs with them so if the Park receives 700,000 visitors that’s about 70,000 dogs, according to Zharikov. “It turns out that almost everybody who brings their dog to the park are aware of regulations they know full well that in a protected area on the beach you should have your dog on a leash it is plainly clear in signage and explanation,” he said. “The majority of people, for reasons known only to themselves, still refuse to accept the fact that it is a responsible thing to do to put their dog on a leash.” The survey asked people what should be done to control the issue of off leash dogs and almost everybody responded increased education and awareness despite the survey’s numbers suggesting visitors are already aware, according to Zharikov. He said a temporary closure that would keep dogs off a section of

Disturbances as infrequent as once per hour will reduce a bird’s fitness and ability to survive and reproduce.

the beach for a few weeks would be a huge benefit to the shorebirds who migrate through the Park but would be the least accepted option for visitors. Shorebirds are a group of long distance migrants that have been in a state of decline for the past 30

LAND ACT:

years, according to Zharikov. They migrate from the Arctic to Central and South America and “are amongst the longest distance migrants that science and human knowledge knows,” he said. In order to make the trip, they need to rest and re-fuel at staging sites like Long Beach. “Staging sites are the sites where birds will stop for long periods of time sometimes three to four weeks in

order to rebuild their body before the next stage of flight,” Zharikov said. “The more time a bird has and the richer the food source it has the freer it is to stay in a safe position. If it is food stressed or time stressed then it is likely to take more riskier decisions in order to continue migration.” Disturbances as infrequent as once per hour will reduce a bird’s fitness and ability to survive and reproduce, according to Zharikov. “The thing with disturbance is that it has a cumulative effect that is carried over,” he said. “It is

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something that will accumulate gradually over sometimes several breeding seasons...When you see that happen it’s like seeing glass already falling on the ground, it’s too late.” During the shorebirds’ spring migration in May there are relatively few visitors at the Park so disturbance is low but when the birds return in late July the beach is packed and shorebirds find themselves with little room to manuevre. They tend to gather in areas of the beach farthest away from large groups of people but that tends to be where the unleashed dogs are because people let their dogs run in areas where there are the fewest people, according to Zhakirov. He said humans create a roughly 25-metre radius for disturbance meaning as long as you stay at least 25 metres from a shorebird it will not be disturbed but your unleashed dog will create a disturbance radius of about 150 metres. Many protected sites in the world deal with the dog issue by banning dogs altogether. “Sometimes dogs are allowed on leash in a specified area but in the context of protected areas there’s simply no such thing as a dog off leash in a protected area of the beach,” he said. The Park’s manager of resource conservation Renee Wissink said the Park does have legislative tools to temporarily close off sections of the beach to dogs but public consultation would need to be done. “We would be looking for both public acceptance and management acceptance,” he said. He noted that visitors used to drive vehicles along Long Beach and said the issue of unleashed dogs may realize a similar extinction. “I think we just have to get to that tipping point and keep working at it both through public education and regulation and keep moving in that direction and I think we will get there.” reporter@westerlynews.ca

The Westerly News | Page 9

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Former Ukee minister named Bishop of BC He is currently the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral. He has also served on many committees and boards, on the local, provincial and national levels of the church. He is married to Marcia, and they have seven children and six grandchildren. Although the St. Aidan

WILLIAM FERREY

Special to the Westerly News On December 7, 2013, Anglicans on Vancouver Island elected a former Ucluelet resident as Bishop of the Diocese of British Columbia. The Very Reverend Dr. Logan McMenamie, who served as the minister of St. Aidan-on-the-Hill Ucluelet and St. Columba Tofino in 1982 and 1983 will become the spiritual leader of Vancouver Island’s 43 parishes and 8000 parishioners. Dr. McMenamie spent a year ministering to the churches on the West Coast before he began his formal schooling to be ordained as an Anglican priest. Although he went on to more schooling and training, his first experience of full time ministry was on the West Coast. He is still fondly remembered by many in the community of St. Columba in Tofino. “He’s a man who walked the talk,” said Whitey Ber-

building was closed in 2010, active ministry continues for people belonging to the Anglican and United churches on the West Coast. The congregations of St. Aidan’s and St. Columba’s have combined, and worship together in the St. Columba building in Tofino on Sunday mornings. More details

of this ongoing ministry can be found at stcolumbatofino.com. Dr. McMenamie will be consecrated and installed as the thirteenth Bishop of British Columbia on March 2, 2014 at 4 pm in Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria. Rev. Will Ferrey has the Long Beach Pastoral Charge

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nard, long time member of St. Columba. “He’s gone from a blue collar background to being the Dean of the Cathedral, and now Bishop of the diocese. In all that time he has remained a friend to those who supported and helped him in his first ministry on the West Coast,” Bernard said. Pam McIntosh of Ucluelet agreed. “He was always very down to earth, with a good

sense of humour, friendly, and easy to relate to. That hasn’t changed. You always felt very connected to him, and when I still see him now, he’s still the same old guy,” McIntosh said. After a year ministering to the parishes in Ucluelet and Tofino, Dr. McMenamie completed his seminary training at the Vancouver School of Theology. He then went on to serve parishes in Victoria and Duncan.

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Page 10 | The Westerly News

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Conversation starter: Patterson on gardens, evolution ERIN LINN McMULLAN

Special to Westerly News George Patterson sparks conversation whether he’s hosting Philosopher’s Café at Tofino Botanical Gardens or sharing a spontaneous meal with former Beach Boy Al Jardine at the bakery in Big Sur, California. His big thrill during a recent coastal trip with wife, Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne, was to visit cafés and take photos to bring inspiration home. “It’s always an adventure because I’m not a restauranteur and I like a certain kind of café,” he said. Darwin’s Café has evolved as organically as Patterson’s gardens and “personal art project” and its French doors often open to include that outdoor space for festivals, community dinners and to enjoy classical music in summer resonating through the rainforest. With Darwin’s, Patterson is creating, or perhaps recreating, a space where community and visitors can rub shoulders, exchanging conversation and ideas – much like his own experience when he lived and volunteered in Costa Rica at the Wilson Botanical Gardens within a biosphere reserve. “You’d start talking and all of sudden you realize you’re at the same dining table as E.O. Wilson or Ann Ehrlich - talking with really bright people, who, some of them turned out to be internationally renowned scientists,” he said. Upon arriving in Tofino in 1988, Patterson’s experience would serve not only as the model for the gardens but kickstart the Clayoquot Biosphere Project – a precursor to CBT.

“My background for having had the effrontery to try and start a botanical garden is that since high school I’ve been involved in landscaping, and during university I was a tree surgeon,” he said. Discovering the botanical gardens in Costa Rica while on a construction project, with his Boston-based landscaping design and construction business, he stayed on. His own garden is less academic and more artistic than originally intended. “As the garden evolves, so does the person’s idea about what the garden is,” he said. “It’s like painting, you want people to see the paintings, and you want to hear what they think about them.” Science and environmental protection remain integral to the gardens’ ethos, with the Field Station home to Raincoast Education Society, and providing space for international conferences such as last fall’s Tla-o-qui-aht hosted Indigen366 CAMPBELL ST. (BOX 381), TOFINO, B.C., V0R 2Z0. E: art@markhobson.com P: 1 800 668 2208 ous People’s W: markhobson.com F: 1 250 725 3120 and Communities Conserved Consortium. Providing you “A unifying with the idea is that the business solution garden is like you need an interface between culture when you and nature,” need them. says Patterson. “We’re going to learn how to live in the future, not by going into the wilder1566 Peninsula Rd. Ucluelet ness to see how that operates,

726-7445

Left, George Patterson enjoys a food-swap event at Tofino Botanical Gardens. Above, Patterson with dog Petey (sitting) and a visiting pup. Below, Darwin’s Cafe amidst lush gardens in a tranquil setting.

but how we can operate in a garden – using natural elements – sun and rain, wind, soil and seaweed, but there’s this whole cultural input. Within seven to eight years Tofino Botanical Gardens would disappear if there weren’t people in it.” Patterson treats visiting school groups to his interpretive “Walk in the garden with Darwin.” He renamed the café when he took back over its operations in 2009 on the bicentennial of scientist Charles Darwin’s birth. “A lot of discussion focuses on his theory of evolution, but all that aside, he could still be a considered a great man based on his writing and the way he treated his family,” said Patterson, noting that

“I believe in evolution. A garden should be a stable place. I hope the garden will be there a hundred years from now.” - George Patterson, Tofino Botanical Gardens Darwin wrote The Origin of Species to be a “popular” book and his writing is considered “every bit as good as Jane Austen.” “Reading Darwin is very instructive about how to have a conversation,” Patterson said. At 70, Patterson speculates how Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation may carry on his legacy, possibly along with a partner-

ship between Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations and the town. “I thought it was important to put an institution in place and carry on the conversation,” he said. “I believe in evolution. A garden should be a stable place. I hope the garden will be there a hundred years from now.” Erin Linn McMullan is a writer living in Tofino.

The Westerly News | Page 11

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Lone Cone Mountain: Not volcanic, but iconic Summit view gives sense of peninsula’s geography JACKIE CARMICHAEL

Westerly News Kinda conical, iconic Lone Cone is not a cinder cone. Nothing like the eyes of a newcomer to find the puzzles that make others go “hmmm.” Rebecca Loades got the conversation started on Facebook when she asked the origin of the name of Lone Cone Mountain. The conical mountain on Meares Island is something of an icon, with some firmly rooted regional mythology. “It is NOT an extinct volcano. It is unclear, however, who first called it Lone Cone,” said Adrienne Mason, the author of Long Beach Wild: A Celebration of People and Place on Canada’s Rugged Western Shore ,and a raft of other books with West Coast connections. Mason adds that it may have been Dorothy Abraham, a World War 1 war bride who came to the coast in its pioneer heyday and who wrote a book called Above: The view from the top of Lone Cone Mountain. “Lone Cone”, who really got the lore cooking that Lone Cone is an Below, Lone Cone Mountain recedes in the distance. Right, “extinct volcano” or cinder cone. Simon Senecal, far left, and Rebecca Loades explore Lone “On page 17 she refers to Lone Cone Mountain. PHOTOS/ REBECCA LOADES Cone, ‘an extinct volcano.’ So, sorry, Dorothy and others who want to o-qui-aht territory ,” Frank said. believe. Lone Cone is not a volcano, extinct A mountain by any other name might be or otherwise,” Mason blogs in Heartoftojust as sweet a climb, Loades reported. fino.com. “The hike is hard as you go up up up but Kyle Frank said his grandmother Nelso worth it. Took us two hours up, same lie Joseph told him the traditional name, down,” she said. Wannajus, and its meaning, “base of the The peak gives “Beautiful views back over mountains.” Tofino … It gives you a real sense of the “My interpretation on how this mountain geography of the peninsula,” she said. received its name is that it’s the base mouneditor@westerlynews.ca tain of all the mountains in Traditional Tla-

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Page 12 | The Westerly News

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Combers’ Beach: Watch that last step - it’s a doozy ANDREW BAILEY

While the West Coast’s winter weather routinely hammers away at the Park’s entire shoreline, Combers Beach is particularly prone to erosion.

Westerly News Accessing Combers Beach in the winter is often an activity reserved for the brave but even the brave may want to find alternative sand to play in. Heavy winds slammed against the Coast from Jan. 11-13 causing significant erosion to Comber’s shoreline that left a two-metre cliff between the access trail and the beach. The Pacific Rim National Park issued a cautionary notice—still in effect at press time— urging anyone who chooses to put their beach time in at Combers to use extra caution. “The access is always tricky in the winter and we do put up warning signs but this particular storm eroded quite a bit...so it’s even more of a caution,” said the Park’s acting promotions officer Crystal Bolduc. The Park’s cautionary notice suggests visitors choose easy to access beaches like Long Beach or Wickaninnish Beach. While the West Coast’s winter weather routinely hammers away at the Park’s entire shoreline Combers Beach is particularly prone to erosion, according to Park visitor safety program supervisor Peter Clarkson. Clarkson has been with the Pacific Rim National Park for 15 years and said Combers annually receives the brunt of the winter

David Redpath, a visitor safety technician for Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, shows the scale of wind erosion at the steps to Combers Beach.

weather abuse within the Park. “Winter erosion is quite common

on the shoreline here but at that spot it seems to be more dynamic

than others,” he said. “The erosion there definitely seems to be significant and the big concern is a combination of the bank instability and the challenge of providing safe access to the beach.” Clarkson said building a staircase down to the beach is not a solution because it “would constantly get washed away so we’d just be wasting a lot of time, energy, and money trying to keep fixing it.” He points to nearby Sandhill Creek as a primary culprit for Combers’ erosion and suggests invasive beach grass growing throughout the Park’s dunes could also be a factor. “One theory is the invasive beach grass has pushed the wave energy down that peninsula over time,” he said. “It’s stabilized all those dunes and consequently increased the wave energy down that shoreline...That’s a theory and it’s very possible.” Though it is now reserved for those physically fit enough to negotiate eroded cliffs, Combers Beach once served as a drive-in theatre of sorts where West Coasters could drive to the shoreline and watch whatever feature nature was playing.

“You used to be able to drive down right to the water’s edge and it was a beautiful place to watch the sunset and a beautiful place for folks that weren’t as mobile to go and watch the water,” Clarkson said. He said vehicle access was closed off in 2004 and the drivedown was rerouted into the current Combers parking lot. The parking lot is closed every winter to discourage people from visiting the beach when weather conditions are often hazardous and hard to predict, according to Clarkson. Despite this, or maybe because of it, Combers remains a frequent playground for a healthy contingent of hardcores. “Lots of people love going in at Combers, it’s very popular even with those challenges of getting down there in the winter,” Clarkson said. “It’s a beautiful beach it’s not as busy as the other beaches and it’s got great birding and great beachcombing.” Clarkson assured the Westerly News the Park has no plans to close off the beach.

from the Tofino, Ucluelet, Tla-oqui-aht, and Yuu-thlu-ilth-aht communities and last year alone were sent out on over 20 call-outs in the Clayoquot region. WISAR is gratefully accepting donations which can be made by

mail to West Coast Inland Search and Rescue at P.O. Box 978, Tofino, BC, VOR 2Z0 and through our website at www.westcoastsar.org

reporter@westerlynews.ca

WISAR recovering from tough year, continued from Page 5 we can become fully operational again with all of our technical rescue capabilities. WISAR is based in the communities of Tofino and Ucluelet and provides Ground and Inland Water Search and Rescue services

to local police authorities (RCMP and National Park) for Clayoquot Sound, and parts of Barkley Sound. In addition, the Society responds to mutual aid requests from other parts of the Province of British Columbia.

Reg’s Roots Landscaping Reg Payne Cell: 250-726-3751 Ph: 250-726-2047 regpayne@hotmail.com Don’t let Winter hold up your landscaping projects Reg’s Roots Landscaping is working year round. Creativity, Ingenuity, Honesty More than just gardening, endless possibilities!

Specializing in trail building Organic gardening Garden creations Garden paths Tilling Brush & bush clearing & removal Breaking new ground

WISAR is a completely volunteer based organization and is funded through donations and grants from local and provincial governments, local individuals, and businesses. The WISAR Team currently has 26 active volunteer members

Crystal Bolduc is the WISAR Media Representative.

Radiation not in evidence - but fearmongering, we got real lots posts others in the community would share so easily. I asked a local pharmacist and a nurse at Tofino General Hospital if there had been any prescriptions for anti-radiation medication or anyone hospitalized for health reasons that could be linked to radiation exposure... No, there hadn’t been. In fact, a nurse in Haida Gwaii, doing her own research with a geiger counter had found no measurable change in radiation levels in her area. I asked people who worked for local aquaculure companies if there was any reason to believe that the

local salmon and oysters were having their health threatened in a manner that could be linked to radiation... No, they weren’t. I asked local fisherman and surfers if they had witnessed any of the dramatic scenes of sick wildlife referred to in the posts... None that I talked with had seen anything like that. Happily I can say you don’t need to trust your neighbours in order to calm your nerves regarding Fukushima radiation. There are plenty of other posts on the Internet that provide in-depth scientific analysis of the situation. In the end however, how you feel

about it is up to you and it’s unlikely this article or any others will have a great impact on your perception and I’ll tell you why. Radiation (nuclear and otherwise) is a mysterious thing; it’s invisible, incorporeal, omnipresent, powerful yet subtle and there are a lot of opinions about it. Some see evidence of radiation’s influence in everything, others don’t see it at all. Since mankind first started trying to understand nuclear radiation we’ve been told that it was both mankind’s salvation and our doom. Sound like another topic that tends to ruin a nice dinner?

Thanks for reading the Westerly News! Have you weighed in on this week’s opinion poll? Find it online at www.westerlynews.ca. And like us on Facebook! FREE CONSULTATION O O

The Westerly News | Page 13

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

EAT / PLAY / LIVE: REVIEW TACOFINO CANTINA 1184 Pacific Rim Highway Tofino ******6 out of 6 asterisks Tucked in the back of a commercial cul-de-sac on the outskirts of Tofino, the Tacofino Cantina truck is in a prime spot to dispense fresh, tasty tacos to beachbound folks. Worth seeking out, we thought, savouring a sampling of chicken, beef, fish and tuna tacos. We decided to stick with chipotle mayo instead of the wasabi variety. We were unprepared for just how fond we’d be of the seaweed salad on the tuna taco. Quite delish as were the other choices. For the pure of menu, there are also vegan and vegetarian items on the menu. Now we are curious about the pork & kimchi taco, happy to see kimchi as well as guacamole as “adds.” We also wonder now about the “liquados” in flavours like mango-coconut and “Freshies” and we wish we would have tried the watermelon-basil.

COMMENT

Something for everyone: Parks & Recs on the West Coast JACKIE CARMICHAEL

Westerly News There’s a cure for the winter blues as close as your local parks and recreation program. The new parks-and-rec guides are out for Ucluelet and Tofino, with a full range of leisure program offerings for pretty much everybody. Far too many to list here and now, but really, something for everyone. “We’ve got programs for all ages, tots up until seniors,” said Kyla Emery, recreation assistant for the

District of Tofino, who describes the program as “awesome.” She cites a new dinosaur camp that will run over spring break and will include a real fossil dig in Courtenay, as well as two planned February ski trips for the youth. A monthly movie night just for youth will be held on a Thursday evening at 7 p.m., Emergy said. In Ucluelet, this is Free Fitness Week, and director of parks and recreation Abby Fortune said for a small community, Ukee has amazing offerings including swimming

classes for adult swim and swimming stroke improvement. A new toddler program will focus on healthy active living with lots of movement, an after school program will be funded by the Children’s Health Foundation, and a Monday class of yoga for men will be taught by (female) Chris Martin. In Ucluelet, Lorna Watson is teaching a class on Hawaiian Healing. Trained as a physiotherapist, Watson originally came to the West Coast to work at the spa at the Wickaninnish Inn.

Trained in Lomi Lomi, the nowretired Watson will train participants in Kahi Loa, done with light touch and clothes on. She stopped by the Westerly News and gave a demonstration. “The belief is if you can relax, your body can heal anything, which is pretty powerful medicine if you can get to that relaxed state,” she said. “In order to do this, you have to be really self aware .. you

Showing Monday, January 27th - 8 pm

EVENTS

At the Clayoquot Sound Community Theatre, Tofino

CAPTAIN PHILLIPS (Bio/Adv, US, 2013)

What’s On! Wed. Jan. 22 - The Wild Pacific Trail will be unveiling the first two interpretive signs along the new Big Beach Children’s Interpretive Walk at 11am. Free fitness classes this week with Ucluelet Parks & Recreation. Fri, Jan. 24, Big Beach Cinema, Ucluelet Community Centre, 6 pm. “Ender’s Game” Young Ender Wiggin is recruited by the International Military to lead the fight against the Formics, a genocidal alien race which nearly annihilated the human race in a previous invasion. PG-13, 114 min. Action/adventure/sci fi. Director: Gavin Hood; Writers: Gavin Hood (screenplay), Orson Scott Card (based on the book Ender’s Game by); Stars: Harrison Ford, Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld 8 p.m. “Enough Said” A divorced woman who decides to pursue the man she’s interested in learns he’s her new friend’s ex-husband. Director: Nicole Holofcener Stars: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini. PG-13, 93 minutes, comedy/drama/ romance.

have to heal yourself at the same time you’re working with other people. Kahi Loa means one with everything … It’s basically a deep relaxation for the healer as well as the person being healed,” she said. It can be done anywhere or in any position. Like a newsdesk. Ahhh.

A pulse-pounding thriller that relates the true story of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. Stars Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. Won 4 Golden Globes; 6 Oscar nom’s!

Doors open 7:15, Tix $8. Draw Prizes!

Sat. Jan. 25, Big Beach Cinema, Ucluelet Enders Game, 3 p.m. Sat., Jan. 25 - The Art of the Trio. Clayoquot Sound Theatre, 7:30 pm. West Coast Winter Music presents swinging jazz with Kelby MacNayr, Chuck Deardorf and Ron Johnston. Limited tickets at the door - $20. Mon., Jan. 27, Monday Night at the Movies, Clayoquot Community Theatre, 8 p.m. Captain Phillips (Adventure, US, 2013, 134 min, Rated PG) True story of the 2009 hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. It is simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization.

Theatre production of Blackbeard The Pirate will be held @ 4.00pm at Wickaninnish Community School in Tofino. Roles for students Kinder- Grade 12. Approximately 50-60 local students will be cast to appear in show with MCT Tour Actor/Director. Students wishing to audition must arrive by the scheduled starting time and stay for the entire two-hour session. The first rehearsal begins approximately 15-30 minutes after the audition. Tofino Family Fun Run on Family Day (Monday Feb. 10)! 12 p.m. registration at North Chesterman, 1K, 5K

flo Design buildings interiors

Feb. 1 The Ucluelet Raincoast ReSkilling Festival: February 1st at the UCC. Mon. Feb. 3 - The audition for the Missoula Children’s

250 266 2576 desk@flodesign.ca

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Visit www.tofinomovies.blogspot.ca

2013- 2014

Season The Art of the Trio: Swinging Jazz

Kelby MacNayr, drums Ron Johnston, piano Chuck Deardorf, bass

Saturday January 25 - 7:30 pm Clayoquot Sound Theatre $20 tickets at door

Page 14 | The Westerly News

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

WEEKLY CROSSWORD

EAT / PLAY / LIVE

Crossing attempt a tale of bliss, terror ANDREW BAILEY

Westerly News

8. Tooth caregiver 9. Spellbind 10. Solo opera piece 11. Audible exhales 12. Siddhartha author 14. Coach’s game area 17. Gross revenue 20. Toff 21. 1896 Italian defeat (alt. sp.) 23. Auto fuel 25. A woven structure 26. Reveal a secret 27. Hawaiian geese 29. Brings into being 30. Displaced liquid 32. Frigid Zone 34. Newsman Rather 35. Prefix for inside 37. Short-billed rails 40. Sensory receptor 42. Egyptian temple ___-Ombo 43. Challenges 47. Photograph (slang) 49. Declined gradually 50. Tilapia nilotica 52. One-edge sword 53. Wets 55. Small coins (French) 56. Twine together 57. The middle point 58. Sea eagle 59. Activist Parks 61. Humbug 65. Atomic #79

1. Correct code 6. Foundation 9. A pulpy condition 13. Venezuelan river 14. Orange-red chalcedony 15. The shallowest Great 16. Floating ice mountain 17. Japanese cervids 18. Special Interest Groups 19. Divertimentos 21. Indian wet nurses 22. Flatfishes 23. Haitian currency (abbr.) 24. Southeast 25. One point N of due W 28. 10 decibels 29. Wild oxes of SE Asia 31. Ancient Greek City of SW Italy 33. A passing glancing blow 36. Marriage announcement 38. Tandoor bread 39. Mag_____: Time 41. Portended 44. Alicante’s 7th city 45. Gulf of, in the Aegean 46. Strike 48. Hill (Celtic) 49. Stuart Little’s author White 51. Male sheep 52. Indian dresses 54. Pears 56. Tardy arriver 60. Smudge of ink 61. Youngsters 62. About aviation 63. Small ornamental ladies’ bag THIS WEEKS ANSWER 64. Unreturnable serves 65. Fante and Twi peoples 66. Round shape 67. Of she 68. Beard lichen genus

CLUES DOWN 1. Strikes lightly 2. Fencing sword 3. Hooked pericarp 4. Entreats 5. Edison’s Corp. 6. Cooks in an oven 7. Amounts of time

adventures.” Pukonen kicked off his presentation with a somber explanation of his own motivation generator. “It goes back about five years or so when I found out that my dad was only given a couple weeks to live, he had gotten sick and if he didn’t take serious chemo he might die in two weeks, pretty heavy,” he said. “I was at a point in my life where I was living a pretty good life but there was something more, I felt like I could give back more, I felt like I could do more, live up more to my potential.” He hatched the idea to travel human powered around the world

SUDOKU

CLUES ACROSS

The West Coast packed into Darwin’s Cafe last week to hear Markus Pukonen talk about his attempt to travel 6,700 kilometres across the Atlantic in an ocean rowboat. The event was part of the Raincoast Education Society’s speaker series. “We think a lot of local people want to come and learn stuff and meet some of the local heroes,” Harrison said during his introduction of Pukonen. These words rung true as Pukonen’s talk sold out early leaving a large enough crowd outside that Pukonen will be brought back for an encore presentation this Thursday, Jan. 23. Pukonen was thrilled to double down on the opportunity to share his experience with so many interested West Coasters. “It was wonderful, I was stoked on the turnout and I’m looking forward to next week for sure,” Pukonen told the Westerly News after the event. “Sharing the experience is what really makes the trip worth it...I think the more I can share the better and it’s also just really fun to share stories and get people stoked on their own

Fun By The Numbers Like puzzles? Then you’ll love sudoku. This mind-bending puzzle will have you hooked from the moment you square off, so sharpen your pencil and put your sudoku savvy to the test!

Here’s How It Works: Sudoku puzzles are formatted as a 9x9 grid, broken down into nine 3x3 boxes. To solve a sudoku, the numbers 1 through 9 must fill each row, column and box. Each number can appear only once in each row, column and box. You can figure out the order in which the numbers will appear by using the numeric clues already provided in the boxes. The more numbers you name, the easier it gets to solve the puzzle!

THIS WEEKS SUDOKU ANSWER

and to document his adventure to raise support for grassroots environmental organizations. “Combine all my passions to help the people who I think are doing great work on the planet,” he said. He became interested in ocean rowing so he emailed OAR Northwest in pursuit of a vessel to rent and while no vessels were available he managed to stumble into the experience of a lifetime. Pukonen was surprised to learn that his email to OAR had put his name on a list of people willing to row around Vancouver Island and the next thing he knew was in Victoria being welcomed onto an ocean rowing team. “To tell you the truth I thought the second I shook (team captain Jordan Hanssen’s) hand it was done it was over I wasn’t going to be part of the team because his hand encompassed my whole arm,” he told the laughing audience. “Next thing I knew I was rowing out of Vancouver with them and we rowed around Vancouver Island in about 20 days.” Four members of the team had spent the past four years planning to row across the Atlantic Ocean but a few weeks after the Vancouver Island trip two of the team dropped out, according to Pukonen who explained one had fallen in love while the other had fallen prey to second thoughts. Pukonen was asked to be part of the crew and found himself in Africa in late November training. The crew’s oars hit the water on Jan 23, 2013, en route to cross about 6,700 km of ocean from West Africa to North America collecting scientific data and promoting marine habitat, education, and healthy lifestyles along the way. The expedition was a combined effort by the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF) and OAR Northwest. “It was tough but I was stoked I See PUKONEN continued on 19

The Westerly News | Page 15

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Mieke (meeka) Dusseldorp Cell 250-726-3888

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• Court-ordered sale • 4 bdrm, 2 bath • Suite over garage

129,000 MLS#364963

1350 HELEN ROAD, UCLUELET

• 2 bdrm, 1 bath • Tasteful upgrades • Harbour views

• 4 bdrm & 3 bath • Inlet views • Rental revenues

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• 3 acres with services to the lot • Across from Cox Bay beach • 1 acre cleared

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newest vacation rental/residential development, has a fabulous central location looking out over the inner boat basin. Phase 2 offers 7 new commercial units and 4 residential units. The commercial units are in a “shell” condition with roughed in plumbing and ready for drywall. Front and centre exposure between Peninsula Road and the Boat Basin and within walking distance of all that Ucluelet has to offer. Commercial units are being offered for lease, the zoning allowing for a variety of use. Residential units take in fabulous views of the harbour and mountains, and may be used as vacation rental. The kitchens have granite counters, custom cabinetry with under cabinet lighting, a breakfast bar on the island , and stainless steel appliances. Wood ¾oors and an electric ½replace in the living room lead out to a glassed in balcony to take in the sunsets & marina views. Great value and a must see for both investors and local residents.

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101-1917 Peninsula

#5 -1920 Lyche Rd MLS# 359332 .........................................$107,500

2 bdrm & 2 bath MLS#367630

203-1917 Peninsula

1 bath & 1 bdrm + bonus MLS#367629

289,000

259,000

#5-1920 Lyche Rd - 570 sq ft #6-1920 Lyche Rd - 827 sq ft #7-1920 Lyche Rd - 701 sq ft #105-1917 Peninsula Rd - 722 sq ft #106-1917 Peninsula Rd - 768 sq ft #107-1917 Peninsula Rd - 1009 sq ft #108-1917 Peninsula Rd - 728 sq ft

#7 - 1920 Lyche Rd MLS# 359336 .........................................$139,500 #105 - 1971 Peninsula Rd MLS# 359344...........................$139,500 #106 - 1971 Peninsula Rd MLS# 359342 .........................$166,500 #108 - 1971 Peninsula Rd MLS# 359340...........................$152,880

COMMERCIAL SPACE FOR LEASE NEW PRICE NEW PRICE NEW PRICE NEW PRICE NEW PRICE NEW PRICE

#6 - 1920 Lyche Rd MLS# 359334 .........................................$162,500

#107 - 1971 Peninsula Rd MLS# 359338 .........................$185,500

PHASE 2, UCLUELET

12/sq ft annually 12/sq ft annually $ 12/sq ft annually $ 12/sq ft annually $ 12/sq ft annually $ 12/sq ft annually $ 12/sq ft annually

102,000 154,500 $ 132,500 $ 132,500 $ 158,000 $ 176,000 $ 145,000

• Beachfront at Chesterman • 2 bdrm & 1 bath cottage • 0.67 of an acre; private

1,350,000 MLS # 332769

1064 PAC RIM HWY, UCLUELET • 5 acres, 885 ft of waterfront • 5,000 sq ft, 6 bdrm & 5 baths • 1 bdrm, 1 bath cottage • Private with old growth trees

1,799,000 MLS # 318690

439,000 MLS#358296

179,000 MLS#366427

UNITS OFFERED FURNISHED:

1315 LYNN RD, TOFINO

369,000 MLS#346242

NEW PRICE 1432 PAC RIM HWY, TOFINO

PHASE 1,

1,200.000 MLS #351021

• 4 bdrm & 2 bath • needs some upgrade • could be suited $

• 2 tenanted commercial units • 3 residential units • Seller will consider ½nancing

• Waterfront condo • Private boat slip • Interior & exterior upgrades

159,000 MLS#357214

RESIDENTIAL UNITS FOR SALE

#205 - 1917 Peninsula Rd SOLD $225,000 1 bdrm & 2 bath MLS#359288 ................................................ #206 - 1917 Peninsula Rd NEW PRICE $259,000 2 bdrm & 2 bath MLS#359286 ................................................ #207 - 1917 Peninsula Rd NEW $ 405,000 3 bdrm & 2 bath MLS#359285 ................................................ PRICE #208 - 1917 Peninsula Rd NEW $ PRICE 395,000 3 bdrm & 2 bath MLS#359289 ...............................................

900,000 MLS#322078

421 MAIN ST, TOFINO

349,000

#2-624 CAMPBELL ST, TOFINO

• Lease prepaid to Aug.14/14 • 3 bdrm, 1 bath • at Strawberry Island

1610 HOLLY CRES, UCLUELET

• 1/3 of an acre • 5 bdrm & 3 bath • Separate suite

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• Open ocean waterfront acre • 4 bdrm, 4 bath custom home • Incredible workmanship

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•1 bdrm & 1 bath • Waterfront • Vacation rental

MLS#354214

1179 CORAL WAY, UCLUELET

329,000 MLS #35111

303-250 HEMLOCK RD, UCLUELET

153,500

839,000

• Renovated • 4 bdrm & 2 bath • Central locatin

149,000 MLS#343718

• 3 residential units • 2 commercial units • Inlet ocean views

240 CAMPBELL ST, TOFINO

• GST has been paid • 0.20 of an acre • Best value in town

NEW PRICE 451 MAIN ST, TOFINO

329,000 MLS#357710

LOT 20 YEW WOOD, TOFINO

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RAINFOREST ESTATES Residential Home Sites, Ucluelet Large, well-treed homesites close to the Wild Pacific Trail, & Big Beach A neighbourhood for those who wish to enjoy the West Coast in a natural setting. Underground services to the lot line, paved sidewalks join trail system through development and connecting to Wild Pacific Trail & Big Beach. Well-thought-out building scheme to maintain atmosphere of a secluded setting. Large setbacks of natural vegetation, ‘S’ driveways to keep a forest feel, and regulations on the introduction of plant life. COURT ORDERED SALES.

Lot 20 Lot 27 Lot 28 Lot 29

.47 acres

$149,000

SOLD!

.52 acres

$159,000

SOLD!

.53 acres

$159,000

1.66 acres $469,900

119,000 $ 109,000 $ 89,000 $ 249,000 $

(commercial)

Lot 32 Lot 39 Lot 43 Lot 49

77,000 $ 119,000 $ 119,000 $ 99,000 $

.70 acres

$ 99,000

.55 acres

$179,000

SOLD!

.54 acres

$179,000

SOLD!

.57 acres

$199,000

Page 16 | The Westerly News

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Fundraiser to help baby Elijah Mickey’s family weight is nearly 4 pounds. “Early on, Elijah was diagnosed with Down Syndrome, and he is being monitored in terms of upcoming heart surgery. This surgery will need to be done at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. The family has had a very stressful time, and the road ahead is a long one,” said Jessica Woollard, spokesperson for Jeneece Place, where the family has stayed in Victoria. Ten families from the Pacific Rim (Ahousaht, Tofino, Ucluelet) have stayed at Jeneece Place since it opened in January, 2012. “It has been a big change to be so far from family and friends in Long Beach, but it speaks to the family strength and caring that grandparents are here supporting parents and little Elijah,” said Woollard. “Being at Jeneece Place

JACKIE CARMICHAEL

Westerly News Born 11 weeks early in December in Tofino, little Elijah Mickey is coming along with some help from his friends. Efforts are underway to help his parents, Gaylene Mickey and Nathan George, cope with the stresses of being away from home while attending to the needs of their preemie son, who will need an operation in Vancouver soon. “The family’s doing good. They’re having a bit of a hard time being away from family,” said Laura Manson, who is helping with fundraising efforts. “I just can’t even begin to imaging what they’re going through, being away from their family and friends and support system. If we can help them financially,

Gaylene Mickey and her son, Elijah, born 11 weeks early.

that will relieve some of the burden of worry and stress,” Manson said. After his early birth, Elijah was immediately taken by ambulance from Tofino to

Nanaimo, and then flown by air ambulance to Victoria General Hospital. He has been in the neo-natal ICU since then. His family, including

grandparents Cecelia and Donald, followed. Elijah’s weight has fluctuated down from his birth weight but things are improving and his current

has been important for our family,” said grandmother Cecelia. “I need to be with my daughter and close to my grandson. This house has allowed us all to be together. The volunteers at Jeneece Place take time to make us feel cared for by cooking delicious foods and taking time to talk with us. Even a simple hug from them is exactly what we need.” Kim Williams has done bake sales for the family, and Manson is selling items to contribute. “We as a nation (Tla-o-quiaht First Nation) are doing our best to help,” said Manson, who is offering items for sale. Laura Manson is helping organize funds for the family and can be reached on Facebook or at hbrws135@gmail.com

SPORTS

USS Warriors fall to Duncan Christian, but handily beat Chemainus with a match against Chemanius Secondary School. From the get go, Ucluelet was able to score at will, putting in 24 points in the first quarter alone. The final score was Warriors 78, Chemanius 47. High scorers for USS included William Tom with 23 points, Torres-Clark with 13 points and Botting with 11. First year player Reid Appenheimer added 7 as well as Jordan Fraser with 6 points. Saturday saw the USS Warriors up against Campbell River Christian. The first quarter saw USS drain 24 points. In addition to scoring, USS’s tough defence held the Cougars to only 6 points. Botting had 10 points in the first quarter. Throughout the game, the Warriors were able to use their speed and ball handling abilities to out play Campbell River. The final score was USS 76, Campbell River Christian 35. Riley finished with game with 14 points having only played two quarters. Mitch “Larry” Saunderson coastrealty.com nailed down 12 points, with TorresClark and Tom adding 18 points Toﬁno & Ucluelet each. Edwin Touchie also assisted 250-726-8113 sold@telus.net Dave Christensen the team with 8 points. Ucluelet’s fourth and final game saw them up against Dwight International School. As in the previous two games, the Warriors started 2008 Mercedes Benz B-Class quickly putting 26 points up on the Hatchback, 2.0L, 4 cyl., low kms board in the first quarter. The team had many impressive hoops set-up by some spectacular passing mainly on the part of Leo Torres-Clark and Stock# 124729C BRENT LANGE William Tom. USS dominated the blange@albernichrysler.com game from start to finish, handing KEVIN NIXON

DISTRICT OF TOFINO rd

IST

Box 9, 121 3 Street Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0

SCHEDULE OF 2014 COUNCIL MEETINGS In accordance with sections 94 and 127 of the Community Charter, notice is hereby given of the 2014 regular Council and Committee of the Whole meeting schedules. Council and Committee of the Whole meetings are held in the Council Chamber, District of Tofino Municipal Office, 380 Campbell Street, Tofino BC. 2014 REGULAR COUNCIL meeting schedule: Regular meetings of Council are held at 10:00 AM every third Tuesday, except as noted below. January 21 February 11 March 4 March 25 April 15

May 6 May 27 June 17 July 8 July 29

August 19 September 9 September 30 October 21 November 12*

December 1* December 9*

* Wednesday, November 12th at 10:00 AM to accommodate Remembrance Day th * Tuesday, December 9 at 10:00 AM to accommodate the inaugural Council meeting to be held Monday, st December 1 at 6:00 PM. The inaugural meeting is the first meeting of Council following the 2014 General Local Election.

2014 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE meeting schedule: th

Committee of the Whole meetings are held at 6:00PM every 6 Monday, except as noted below. February 10 March 24

May 5 June 16

July 28 September 8

October 20

The regular Council and Committee of the Whole meeting schedules are subject to change with notice. This schedule is also available on the District’s website at www.tofino.ca. For more information about Council meetings or to request to be delegation please contact: Jane Armstrong Manager of Corporate Services (T): 250-725-3229 (F): 250-725-3775 (E): jarmstrong@tofino.ca

Special to the Westerly News Ucluelet Secondary School’s Senior Boys’ Basketball team continued their season travelling to both Duncan and Campbell River this past weekend. The first game saw a rematch between Duncan Christian and USS. A tough battle ensued for much of the first half with the game going back and forth. In the second half, however, Duncan Christian’s size got the best of the Warrior’s and the team fell 88-59. Top scorers for Ucluelet included Riley Botting with 22 points. William Tom dropped in 14 points and Leo Torres-Clark finished with 13. After a short break, the team continued

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See WARRIORS Page 19

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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Ucluelet, continued from Page 1 -tory vessels began popping up about two years ago and while the district was assured only one or two would operate in local waters, as many as six factory ships are catching and processing West Coast fish. “There was actually support for one or two that would come in and add a new dimension to the industry but as it steadily grows bigger and bigger it has a detrimental effect now,” Irving said.

The federal government licenses and manages fishing quota but the Province has a role in lobbying for support of economic development and Ucluelet believes the Province has not advocated strongly enough for onshore versus offshore operations, according to Irving. He added onshore plants pay property taxes and provide longterm employment to locals and said the Province should “be fair if not significantly favour people

who actually build assets on shore and pay taxes on shore. “I know that makes us somewhat unpopular with the factory ships and from the district’s perspective we do certainly appreciate their investment in BC and would like them to be successfull but we want to make sure it’s not at the expense of other people who’ve put even more money into the West Coast.” Coun. Corlozzoli suggested Ucluelet arrange a face-to-face meeting with Pimm in Victoria rather than engage in a letter

based argument. Irving agreed and added Minister of Transportation Todd Stone’s response to the district’s plea for upgrades along Highway 4 was also disappointing. Coun. Randy Oliwa said both letters struck a nerve with him because Ucluelet’s council is experienced enough to recognize recycled rhetoric when they see it. “It’s the same pitch every time,” he said. “I’m really getting tired of these generic letters that we keep getting back with half truths.” He suggested the district could

have more success by focusing on ministry staff because while ministers come and go, staff members often remain cemented within their ministries. “Ministers themselves change far too often in my opinion,” he said. Council agreed to arrange meetings with both ministers within the next 60 days and to direct district staff to follow up with ministry staff. reporter@westerlynews.ca

Markus Pukonen and his intrepid crew. Another retelling of the voyage, its moments of bliss and terror is set for Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Darwin’s Cafe in Tofino.

Pukonen, continued from Page 14 was on a high because I was living my dream and I also felt so empowered because I got so much love and support from my family and my community before I went,”

he said. “I felt really loved and it was great and it kept a smile on my face.” He said whenever things were at their worst nature would put

Warriors, continued from Page 16 Dwight a 97-45 loss. Captain Riley Botting had his first quadrupledouble of the year. He finished the game with 31 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists and 10 blocked shots. Tom had 24 points and TorresClark added 12 points as well as 12 assists. Fraser and Touchie each contributed 8 points while veteran Wesley Frank put down 2 free-throws after having his head

stepped on. The weekend of February 1 sees the Warriors back at Duncan Christian for the Pacers Invitational Tournament. Thank you to the Long Beach Pro-Am for their continued support of USS Athletics. Important trips like this past weekend would not be possible without their assistance.

a positive message in the crew’s sightlines. “We’d get stampeded by dolphins and they wouldn’t just swim by they’d come and they’d do flips for us and it really relieved the stress on the boat and upped our spirits,” he said. He peppered his presentation with photos and videos of the things he was wowed by like the squid like creatures Portuguese Man-of-War, rowing through a lighting storm at night, and seeing a moonbow for the first time. Pukonen said he was relieving himself when the journey came to an abrupt and early end on April 6. He saw the wave about 20 metres away but it did not look particularly large. “Right before it came to us it sort of jacked up like it was going to break and it picked our boat up

and we corkscrewed and, boom, trips over,” he said. The vessel flipped over and while it was designed to correct itself if it flipped, it did not because the cabin’s door was open and quickly filled with water. Pukonen recalls a moment of terror when he realized the boat had flipped with two crewmembers inside the cabin followed by relief when everyone checked in at the bottoms-upped vessel. The team had spent 73 days rowing and was about 1,300 kilometres from their destination. They spent about 12 hours in the ocean before being rescued by a massive car-transportation vessel. “It’s 100 ft tall, 300 ft wide and we’re in this little life raft and it would have actually hit us if not for the bow wave throwing us off,” Pukonen said.

Despite the near death experience, Pukonen beamed as he recalled his travels and tried to motivate his audience to head out on their own adventures. “If you guys have anything that you’re hesitant to do, if you have a dream and you’re not doing it for one reason or another, stop making excuses and send that email to start making your dream happen because really that’s all it took for this to all come together for me,” he said. “I sent an email I put myself out there a little bit and next thing I knew I was rowing across the ocean and living my dream and it was unreal.” He still plans to travel human powered across the world. A second presentation will be held Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Darwin’s Café in Tofino. reporter@westerlynews.ca

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