TUESDAY DECEMBER 11, 2012
www.pqbnews.com
WHISTLE ON KEYCHAINS
Official newspaper of the Save-On-Foods Oceanside Generals
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PROVINCIAL ELECTION 2013
Cantelon won’t run Two-term B.C. Liberal looks to other pursuits JOHN HARDING
editor@pqbnews.com
If the B.C. Liberals are going to win the Parksville-Qualicum riding in the May 2013 provincial election, they will do it without their incumbent candidate. MLA Ron Cantelon said this week he will not seek a third term in the Legislature. “They don’t need me to win and they will win,” Cantleon told The NEWS on Monday. A year after a heart attack, Cantelon said he has regained his health and he said he is looking forward to engaging in other pursuits. “I’m not sure this (beRON CANTELON ing MLA) is the best thing I want to be doing for the next four years,” said Cantelon. “It’s time to move on. I love to do projects and I love to get involved and there are other ways to do it besides being MLA.” Cantelon said he has “no solid plans” at this time. “I’m going to look at the opportunities as they come,” he said. When asked what project stands out during his time as MLA, Cantelon spoke of the Oceanside Health Centre, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open in June, 2013. Cantelon said that project was essentially driven by community groups and residents. “I was really a semi-bystander in it all and that’s how it should be,” he said. “And (the health centre) is going to be more than what we hoped for.” See NO HINTS, page A8
NEIL HORNER PHOTO
Workers turn over drying seaweed that has been harvested off the beaches between Deep Bay and Qualicum Beach.
QUALICUM BEACH TO DEEP BAY
Seaweed creates jobs NEIL HORNER
news@pqbnews.com
Jonathan Biley knows there are people who are concerned about his seaweed harvesting operation between Deep Bay and Qualicum Beach. However, he says far from devastating the marine ecosystem of Baynes Sound, the harvesting of the invasive species Mazzaelia japonica could actually improve it, do a small bit to slow global warming and provide jobs in an industry that could one day rival both forestry and fishing as a job generator on Vancouver Island.
The key, he said, is to harvest the seaweed responsibly, something he said he takes great care to do. “We are against harvesting from live beds,” he said. “We only harvest what has been detached by the storms and which would otherwise rot. That’s the key to sustainable harvesting.” That sustainability is important, he said, as the seaweed is used to make carrageenan, a widely-used thickener that has a growing demand worldwide. “We have an untapped resource that may be one of Vancouver Island’s
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biggest industries and I want it to be there for my grandchildren,” he said. “The world demand for this stuff is at a record high — largely because of people’s insatiable demand for, among other things, ice cream.” Baynes Sound, he said, is a particularly rich in the seaweed, which was introduced to the area from Japan more than half a century ago. “After a big storm you can see windrows of this stuff that stretch for kilometres,” he said. See TRYING, page A4
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