FRIDAY JUNE 30, 2017 VOL. 42, NO. 24
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Canada Day Happy 150th!
Reading list
Try picking up books on reconciliation for your summer reads
Cocoa West
Bowen institution celebrates 15 years
Teen who lost ticket left in Horseshoe Bay BEN BENGTSON CONTRIBUTOR
“The point is to help non-First Nations Canadians understand the history, the lands and the treaties,” MacRaild said about her presentation. She started facilitating that understanding by dispelling myths, such as the number of First Nations that have historically been part of the Gulf Islands “People think that the Aboriginal population in this region was thin. It wasn’t,” MacRaild said. “Anywhere from 30 per cent to 50 per cent of all Aboriginals in Canada lived in this region.” On Bowen Island itself, MacRaild pointed out that several First Nation groups, including Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, Sechelt, Lillooet, and possibly more, have claimed a territorial connection to Bowen.
A Bowen resident is frustrated that his teenage son had to catch the last ferry back to the island after allegedly not being allowed to board an earlier ferry in Horseshoe Bay because he couldn’t find his ticket. James Glave said his 13-year-old son was visibly “emotionally upset” when he missed his 7:50 p.m. sailing out of Horseshoe Bay last Sunday. Ramp workers told him he was too late to board the ferry after asking him to search the terminal for his lost ticket. “He had been through ticketing and was waiting where he was supposed to be, alongside berth one, as the ferry unloaded. When cued by ramp workers to load before the cars, he couldn’t find his boarding pass,” Glave explained. BC Ferries workers then told his son to search for his ticket while the cars boarded. According to Glave, his son spotted his ticket on the opposite side of the loading traffic. It had fallen from his pocket. After retrieving the ticket, he raced back but ramp workers said he was too late. “The gates were down, but the ramp had not yet lifted off the car deck,” Glave added. “He was worried and wasn’t sure what he’d done wrong, and the reality is he didn’t do anything wrong. Since sharing details of the incident on Facebook, Glave said he’d been contacted by several Bowen parents who said their teenage kids had faced similar situations. The Facebook post also caught the attention of Bowen Coun. Melanie Mason. “If you’d asked any single passenger on that ferry, ‘Do you mind being late one or two minutes so that we can let a teenage boy on?’ Nobody would have had an issue with that,” Mason said. BC Ferries may have just been following protocol, but she said it was unfortunate because they should have been more flexible at a time when many Bowen residents are being forced to make adjustments. “We’ve been dealing with a ferry that’s been running late for months and months, and we’re expected as a community to be flexible around that and kind of get on with it, and we build
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Bernie, Sam and Lisa sell homegrown herbed sea salts at the summer’s first Farmer’s Market.
Meribeth Deen, photo
Presentation shows relationships between Gulf Islands, First Nations BEN BENGTSON CONTRIBUTOR
With various First Nation groups seeking an increased stake in various Gulf Islands due to historical territorial claims, Bowen is seeking input into how it can reasonably and thoughtfully contribute to the conversation. But before conversing, it might be best just to listen. That was the overall message of a presentation made to Bowen councillors and a handful of residents at a committee of the whole meeting Monday. For around an hour, Fiona MacRaild, an advisor on marine and First Nations issues from Islands Trust, gave an overview presentation that touched on the often unknown and overlooked roots of indigenous people and the Gulf Islands.