THURSDAY JANUARY 3, 2019 VOL. 45, NO. 01
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HAPPY NEW YEAR
The Undercurrent team wishes you and your family the very best for the year ahead.
Boweners selected for Metro Vancouver committees
BRONWYN BEAIRSTO EDITOR
Bowen now has representatives on three of fourteen Metro Vancouver committees. This is up from two last term. Bowen’s Metro board director, councillor David Hocking, was selected to be vice-chair of Electoral Area A, which acts as the local government for the unincorporated parts of the regional district. These include some of the lands along Howe Sound including Ocean Point, Strachan Point and Montizambert Wynd; Boyer and Passage Islands; part of Indian Arm and UBC. “Ive been around, so I think my role is to be a resource for [the newly-elected chair,]”said Hocking. “I’m certainly pleased to have been selected. Hocking is also on the Climate Action Committee. Hocking worked on Metro Vancouver’s Climate 2050 paper that came out last year. He was also at the 1992 Kyoto Protocol negotiations representing the Suzuki Foundation. Councillor, and former board director, Maureen Nicholson is on the Metro Parks Committee for a second term. “The design phase of the Davies Orchard Revitalization Project begins in 2019. It’s important that a Bowen resident serve on the Metro Parks Committee to help ensure that phase includes community consultation and input,” said Nicholson in an email. “It’s also important because Parks will be undertaking acquisitions this term and Bowen is a potential site for park expansion.”
Mother Nature treated islanders to a seasonal sprinkle of snow Dec. 28. It quickly melted to slush, but for a moment, Bowen was a winter wonderland. Photo: Tracey Wait
Bowen e-ferry: maybe not today, but someday BRONWYN BEAIRSTO EDITOR
While the Queen of Capilano will likely be diesel-powered for the rest of its operating life, Bowen’s next ferry, in just over 20 years, could be all electric. After the Undercurrent published the story “Electrifying ideas: advocates say the timing is ripe for a Bowen e-ferry” in the December 13 edition, B.C. Ferries contacted the
newspaper to weigh in on the e-ferry debate. In the Undercurrent article, advocates argued that Bowen is a prime candidate for an e-ferry. Its ferry run makes up 25 per cent of Bowen’s total greenhouse gas emissions and e-ferries have been successful in runs similar to the Queen of Capilano’s, notably the Norwegian Ampere. Mark Collins, president and CEO
of BC Ferries, says that while the company is monitoring clean technologies closely, there are several hurdles standing between now and Bowen getting an e-ferry.
Not just charging ahead
“We provide lifeline service to Bowen Island and we don’t want to be experimenting on you,” says Collins. “We want to be going with stuff we know we can rely on.”
At a local level, Collins is concerned with the infrastructure needed to charge ferries. “There is no standard way of connecting the ship to the grid,” says Collins. “Everybody is coming up with their own solution. “You’re talking a lot of electricity and you’re around saltwater which is conductive. So you’ve got to be very careful.” Continued on page 9