FRIDAY SEPT 16, 2016 VOL. 42, NO. 82
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The barber’s bike
Active commuting made easy
Bumper crops
Woodfibre spill
Tailgate updates and more
News from Squamish
Good news and bright ideas Bowen Islanders talk climate change with MP Pamela Goldsmith-Jones
MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
Young cyclists gather in front of the piece of land they hope will soon be a bike park. Meribeth Deen, photo
Bike park plans move forward MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
On Monday evening, Bowen’s council chamber hummed with the sound of children doing their best to sit still and stay quiet. The packed audience, alongside council, heard from Jennifer Henrichsen about the vision for a bike park on Bowen. The Bowen Island Bike Park group envisions a “pump track” and an intermediate level trail to be built in the portion of community lands behind the BICS outdoor classroom. This plan envisions all structures to be made of earth, while keeping the forest intact aside from the removal of alders.
The proposed site is currently designated as part of a land bank for development at some point, but the municipality has no plans currently under consideration. The motion to council, put forward by Councilor Melanie Mason asked that council approve the site “in principle.” However, councilors Alison Morse and Maureen Nicholson were not happy moving ahead with that for procedural reasons, they said. In the end council voted in favor of a motion giving staff the go ahead to investigate the suitability of the site and work with the Bike Park group on a preliminary design. Council will decide whether to go ahead with the site and the park following the creation of a report by municipal staff.
Stop subsidizing fossil fuels and create major incentives for electrification in all its guises. Stop looking at the economy as something that needs to be perpetually growing and focus instead, on the quality of life of Canadians. Look at global best practices on cutting carbon emissions, copy, paste and implement in Canada. These are just a few of the ideas put forward on Friday night by the roughly fifty Bowen Islanders that showed up to Cates Hill Chapel to participate in a “Democracy Talk” on climate change with West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast and Sea-to-Sky Country Member of Parliament Pamela Goldsmith-Jones. The event kicked off with Goldsmith-Jones giving a rundown of Canada’s current climate commitments and targets. The climate change agreement signed in Paris in 2015 aims to limit global warming to 1.5 – 2 degrees Celsius, and the Canadian contribution to reaching that goal means a pledge to cut emissions by 30 percent from 2005 levels. The North American Climate, Clean Energy and Environment Partnership Action Plan signed in June of this year aims to make North America a global leader in the creation of a low carbon economy. Goldsmith-Jones told the audience that our riding tends to take a progressive stance on policy issues, and in doing so plays an important leadership role. Bowen Islanders Merran Smith and David Hocking followed with presentations on their work. Smith co-founded the think tank Clean Energy Canada with fellow Bowen Islander James Glave in order to help accelerate the growth of the clean energy economy in Canada. She told the audience that the transition to off fossil fuels is too often portrayed as a part of a sacrifice, but it is actually something that Canada is very well positioned to do. “Our grid is already one of the cleanest in the world, with more than 60 percent of our energy coming from clean sources such as hydro,” said Smith. “And in BC that is more than 90 percent.” Smith said that new technologies can help us to shift to “electrification” in our homes, buildings, transportation and industry, and pointed to electric vehicles as an example.
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