FRIDAY APRIL 7, 2017 VOL. 43, NO. 13
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Help wanted
The housing shortage and its impact on Bowen businesses
Affordable housing in sight?
Kid-approved
Mortgage columnist finds hope in the 2017 Federal Budget
BICS students try out new playground structures
Preparing for change in the Bay MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
The current MLA for the West Vancouver Sea to Sky riding Jordan Sturdy on causeway. Sturdy attended a meet and greet with Bowen Islanders at Evergreen Lodge last Sunday. Sharon Thompson, photo
With spring comes an election Bowen Islander named as NDP candidate for West-Vancouver Sea to Sky riding
MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
The BC election will be called, officially on April 11, but campaign season is already underway and all three candidates for the West Vancouver Sea to Sky riding have been announced. Liberal MLA Jordan Sturdy will run against Dana Taylor with the Green Party and Bowen Islander Michelle Livaja, running for the NDP, and Liberal Jordan Sturdy, the former mayor of Pemberton, will run for a second term. Last Sunday, Sturdy held his first official campaign event on Bowen Island. He noted that the West Vancouver Sea to Sky riding is large and very diverse, but there are a few key issues that unify it. “Transportation a critical piece, combined with housing,” he said in an interview following the event. “With all the development coming to the region, we need to be creating complete communities. The province plays a big role in that, just think of what Squamish would look like if not for the upgraded Sea to Sky highway?” Michelle Livaja, a Bowen resident of 17 years who commuted for years to her job with the BC Nurses Union says the
opportunity came up, and she decided it was time to fight for change. She says that while she definitely identifies with the rural communities in the riding, she has a strong relationship with labour movement and also has a relationship with the business world, siting previous employment with Electronic Arts and other companies. “I would say that Bowen, with similar diversity is a microcosm of the province as a whole,” says Livaja. “Right now, we are really only hearing the voice of the business community and that needs to change. It is getting harder and harder to live in BC and that’s bad for everyone, business included.” Dana Taylor sat on council in North Vancouver from 1983 to 1987 is currently the Executive Vice President of the Mechanical Contractors Association of BC. “This riding is big and diverse, incumbency always has the upper hand in those kind of situations. But there are a lot of people who are not very happy with the Liberal government,” says Taylor. “The one that stands out the most to me is the fact that campaign contributions seem to line up pretty tightly with the businesses the government seems to be serving. It’s politics for sale. I would never say it’s a slam dunk, but I entered this race to put an alternative in front of people and I get the feeling that they’ve been wanting it for a while.”
Over a five year period, Bowen’s municipal council has developed a strategy aimed at “revitalizing” Mannion Bay, located just north of Snug Cove. With the recent granting of a Licence of Occupation (LOO) the Municipality will soon have the power to enforce regulations in the Bay. The Manager of Parks and Environment, Bonny Brokenshire, says there’s a “sea-change” coming, and last Thursday she held a stakeholders meeting along with Bowen’s Helping Hands group and a Caring Circle representative to try and prepare and offer assistance to those people whose lives and use of the Bay will be affected by the change. “Letting people risk their lives on un-seaworthy boats is not supporting people,” said Brokenshire, addressing crux of the conflict on the Bay: people living on boats. Typically, the number of “live-aboards,” drops during the winter and spikes during the summer. However, Brokenshire told community members attending the meeting that recently, an individual returned to his boat and within a four-week period, emergency services were called to attend to him four times. Fortunately this individual entered a drug and treatment recovery program. Currently, no one is living in Mannion Bay. “There’s an elephant in the Bay so I’m just going to name it: addiction,” said Brokenshire. “I don’t want to see someone die.” She also pointed to the clean-up costs caused by boats washing ashore (approximately $60,000 over five years, paid for by the Municipality, an estimated $30,000 covered by Transport Canada) and environmental damage including toxic paint being scraped onto prime spawning beaches, oil spills that have infiltrated chum salmon spawning areas in the lagoon, and more than 5,000lbs of debris removed from the bottom of the Bay by volunteers with the Dive Against Debris initiative. “Usually, people seeking crown tenures are looking to change the environment. An example of this would be building a dock,” said Brokenshire, in reference to the LOO. “In this case, we are looking to restore the Bay’s socio-economic integrity.” With this tool, the Municipality will be able to charge an nominal annual fee (e.g. $240/year is being recommended) to individuals keeping a mooring buoy in the Bay, and also request contact information and proof of boat insurance from those individuals. The money collected for mooring buoys will be funneled into restorative efforts in the Bay. Non-compliance with these provisions may result in Trespass Act contraventions with fines being issued by the RCMP or Provincial Officers. Contravening vessels can be removed at the owner’s expense, and boaters will be allowed to live on their vessels in the Bay for no longer 48 hours. continued P3