Bowen Island Undercurrent, September 20, 2013

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FRIDAY SEPT. 20, 2013 VOL. 40, NO. 17

75¢

including GST

Watch for more online at: WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

Run, swing, dance

Truth and reconciliation

On par with the New Yorker

Community recreation offers range of choices for fall fitness

Bowen Islanders participate in Vancouver event this weekend

Undercurrent cartoonist had a longstanding desire to live by the sea

Gas tax funds bypass Bowen

Gains of local groups at risk

SUSANNE MARTIN

SUSANNE MARTIN

EDITOR

EDITOR

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M

mall rural municipalities in British Columbia that are similar to Bowen Island in size benefit from gas tax funds, says Kristen Watson, manager of finance for the Bowen Island Municipality (BIM). Yet BIM is unable to access these funding sources because it has been categorized as a tier 3 community under the Gas Tax Agreement, Watson stated at the council meeting on September 9. “I was gathering background information on the current Gas Tax Agreement that is signed and administered by the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM),” Watson said. “I was also looking at other municipalities’ financial statements and was amazed how much money they receive from tax grants.” Watson explained that federal Gas Tax Funds are allocated to B.C. communities according to the Gas Tax Agreement, under which communities are assigned to one of tier 1, 2 or 3, in accordance with their membership in a specific regional district. As a member of the GVRD, Bowen has been assigned to the tier 3 category. The text of the UBCM Federal Gas Tax Agreement says that these tiers have been established in order to categorize communities “based on differing community characteristics including population density, degree of urbanization, adjacency wto urbanized areas and the need for intraregional infrastructure.” “In most cases, tier assignment based on membership within a specific regional district makes continued, PAGE 2

What’s Eddie Weismiller’s beard worth? Come to the Bowen Island Pub on September 20 to find out. Weismiller offers to be shaved by the highest bidder – the funds will support Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Story on page 6. Debra Stringfellow photo

any locals celebrate the return of orcas and herring to Howe Sound and advocacy groups work hard to improve salmon stocks, says Dave Brown, vice chair of the Squamish to Lillooet Sportfish Advisory Committee, but he believes that the government’s lack of response to recommendations of the Cohen Commission can put those gains in jeopardy. Brown recently participated in a Sea to Sky Fisheries Roundtable together with John Weston, M.P. West Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky Country, and Tim Pardee and Mike von Zuben of the Bowen Island Fish and Wildlife Club (BIFWC). Tim Pardee, president of the BIFWC, said that the consensus around the table was that the report of the Cohen Commission should be taken seriously. Brown explained that he originally approached Weston several years ago to share concerns. “The idea was that John [Weston] would listen and take the message back to Ottawa,” Brown said, adding that the Sea to Sky Roundtable had a high level of success in certain areas, for instance with habitat rehabilitation projects as well as having opportunities to testify at the Fisheries Standing Committee. “We are now asking the M.P. to enquire why the government hasn’t acted on the Cohen Commission’s recommendations,” Brown said. In an open letter to Weston, Brown states, “The Sea to Sky Fisheries Roundtable greatly continued, PAGE 6


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