Bowen Island Undercurrent, March 14, 2014

MERIBETH DEENE D I T O R

“Maybe you’ve heard about it, but BC Ferries is messing with our lives,” Richard Goth told members of Bowen’s municipal council this week. “I’m kind of getting hit a second time, when I turned 21 they lowered the drinking age to 19, and now that I’m almost old enough to get a senior’s discount, they’re messing with my perk!”

Goth asked council for an official acknowledg-

ment of support for the people who will gather this coming Saturday at the ferry terminal in Horseshoe Bay to protest cuts to the ferry service and the rais-ing of fares.

Mayor Jack Adelaar told Goth that he believed the planned protest was a good idea, but reassured him that MLA Jordan Sturdy is on Bowen Island’s side. Adelaar also justified council’s relative silence on the ferries issue.

No need for a master plan


Following a brief presentation about the achievements of Bowen Island’s Economic Development Committee (EDC) in the past year by committee chair Gordon Ganong, council debated the idea of creating an “economic develop-ment master plan.” The purpose of such a document, it was decided, would be to enshrine the prin-ciples of economic development into the community fabric, and hold future councils accountable to those principles. However, Ganong told council that this action was unnecessary as the committee’s work aimed to learn about economic development and put the building blocks in, bit by bit, so that the foundation for growth would be firmly in place no matter what.

At a more extensive presenta-tion by the EDC on Tuesday to members of the public, Ganong explained that success in the realm of economic development on Bowen requires both a sense of urgency and patience, and that uncertainty needs to be removed among business community, and be replaced by a sense of optimism.

Committee member Jacqueline Massey went on to describe their work as, “scheming to build a vibrant economic community that will reflect the unique nature of our home.”

EDC member Murray Atherton pointed to concrete achievements made in the past year.

“First of all, improvements to Snug Cove. Members of our com-mittee have walked the Cove indi-vidually and made note of doable improvements that can be made in the short term. One big part of that is the ‘Welcome’ sign at the ferry dock that was just sitting in some-one’s yard for months because they didn’t have the money to finish it or the means to put it up.”

Atherton said one of the first major issues for the EDC to deal with, after forming last year, was to work out issues regarding vaca-tion rentals.

Following the meeting, Atherton explained that complaints about the behaviour of people staying in a high-end bed and breakfast on the west side of Bowen led to con-flict over the existence of short-term rentals all over the island.

“There is a portion of the OCP that says you’re not allowed to have vacation rentals outside of the Cove,” says Atherton. “But there are a plethora of vacation rentals all over the island. When the com-plaint was brought to council, the idea of enforcing this regulation came up. The EDC acted as some-thing of a liaison between council and the Bowen Accommodations Association.”

The Economic Development Committee presents its achievements

Screening saves livesTV ad featuring locals reflects on the proven importance of mammograms

Accident in the CoveEye-witness accounts describe a major traffic accident in Snug Cove last week

The new chiefThe Municipality names Bowen’s new fire chief

FRIDAY MAR 14 2014V O L . 4 1 , N O . 1 0

Watch for more online at: WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

75¢ including GST

Pippa and Emily Surtees stood on Norma’s dock with protest signs and their mom, Melanie, last Wednesday as cars boarded and departed on the 3:30pm ferry. The Surtees clan is planning on catching the 11:30 ferry this Saturday, to participate in a locally organized protest against BC Ferries.Meribeth Deen, photo

Council supports public protest against changes proposed by BC Ferries

continued, PAGE 9 continued, PAGE 8

Maureen Sawasy604.947.2442

Fax: 604.947.0148 | [email protected]

Keep growing advertising in theUndercurrent and growing your business!

Call Maureen to start planning your 2014 advertising campaign today!

MERIBETH DEEN

E D I T O R

The BC Ambulance Service Station 225 was

unusually busy in the lead up to New Year’s eve

this year. Paramedic Brendan Donohue says that

during his shift between midnight on December 29th

and midnight on December 30th, he responded to four

calls, which, he says, is unusual during the typically

slow winter season. Donohue drove to those calls in the

station’s new ambulance, which is equipped with a com-

puter-aided dispatch (CAD) system. This device relays

all the information collected through the telephone dis-

patcher, such as the address, the type of emergency, and

the age of the patient directly to the paramedics in the

driver and passenger seats of the ambulance.

“When we get paged for an emergency, we call the

dispatcher to confirm that we’ve received the message,”

says Donohue. “When we get into the ambulance, we

get the information collected by the dispatcher as it

comes in.”What the new system does not offer is updated soft-

ware for the GPS system that ensures the ambulance

drivers take the most direct route emergency locations.

For Caring Circle coordinator Colleen O’Neil, this is

a major concern.

From pulp and

paper to liquid

natural gas

MERIBETH DEEN

E D I T O R

A former pulp mill near Squamish

on the North West shores of Howe

Sound may get a chance at a sec-

ond life as a Liquefied Natural Gas

(LNG) processing and export facility,

now that the National Energy Board

has approved the company’s applica-

tion to export LNG. The Canadian

Environmental Assessment Agency

is now asking for public comment

on whether a federal environmen-

tal assessment is required, and

whether the request by the Province

of British Columbia to conduct the

environmental assessment, should be

approved.If the project goes forward,

approximately 3-4 tankers – each

roughly one and a half times the

size of a BC Ferries Coastal Class

Ferry (such as the ferries that

travel between Horseshoe bay and

Nanaimo) - will pass by Bowen

Island every month. Propelled by

natural gas and using diesel as a

back-up fuel, the double-hulled

tankers will carry 2.1 million tonnes

of liquefied natural gas to China

every year.Marion Ngo, the manager of com-

munications with Woodfibre Natural

Gas Ltd., says the project is still in

the early phases of planning, so ele-

ments regarding technology, engi-

neering and impacts of the projects

are yet to be determined. Many of

those details will be revealed through

the environmental assessment pro-

cess, whether it is conducted by the

Federal government, Provincial gov-

ernment or both.

However, Ngo says Woodfibre

is expecting BC Hydro to provide

the power needed to compress the

natural gas into liquid form (the gas

needs to be cooled to approximately

-160 degrees Celcius).

Peter Frinton, Bowen’s represen-

tative to the Sea to Sky Clean Air

Society, says while the Society is con-

cerned about the re-industrialization

of Howe Sound in general, the use

of hydro as a source of power largely

alleviates concerns about localized

air pollution.“We really need to know the spe-

cifics,” says Frinton, “but I think if

they were burning natural gas to

power their plant they would likely

face a lot more opposition. From

my personal perspective, I am a lot

more concerned about the big pic-

ture when it comes to air quality, and

questions about say, greenhouse gas

emissions created through the natu-

ral gas industry as a whole.”

Merran Smith, the Bowen-based

director of Clean Energy with

Tides Canada, says that the thing to

remember about LNG is that it is a

fossil fuel.

Woodfibre Pulp and Paper shut down in 2006.

A pending proposal could turn it into an LNG

export facility, sending 3 to 4 tankers past

Bowen every month

It’s a wrapA year in review for a few Bowen

community organizations

Ring in the New Year

With upcoming concerts

Look what we found!

Another look at great stuff people got

at the Nook in 2013

FRIDAY

JAN 03, 2014V O L . 4 1 , N O . 0 1

Watch for more online at:

WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

75¢ including

GST

Baby it’s cold inside (the water)! Swimmers brave the chilly waters of Howe Sound for the annual

Polar Bear dip. Kami Kanetsuka, photo

Bowen’s new ambulance comes with

new computer, but lacks GPS updates

continued, PAGE 2

continued, PAGE 2

DED is now Detectable and Treatable

“Dry Eye Disease (DED) is one of the most under-diagnosed ocular diseases, and yet it is the

most common reason why patients go see their Eye Doctor” Dr. Bowden says. Dry eye occurs

when eyes do not produce the correct quantity or quality of tears. Many people mistake the

dry eye symptoms for allergies, climatic conditions or just “eyestrain”. Your eyes need a constant

layer of tears—called the “tear fi lm”— to maintain and protect the ocular surface. In Dry Eye,

underlying changes to the health of the tear glands can result in a change in the quantity and

quality of the tears you make. This results in a tear fi lm that can no longer provide enough

nourishment or protection to the surface of your eye. This can lead to damage of your eye’s

surface, which, in turn, can lead to the symptoms of Dry Eye such as; stinging, burning, scratchy

sensation, sensitivity to light, tearing, tired eyes, and diffi culty wearing contact lenses. DED

causes blurred vision, often worsening at the end of the day or after focusing for a prolonged

i d on a nearby task like a computer screen. Optomeyes Eye Doctors now have a diagnostic

d rly detection of Dry Eye Disease. “We can quantitatively monitor

rocess This helps us custom prescribe

t lk us aboutMarine Drive

Clyde Ave

Marine Drive

ShoppersDrugMart

Parkade

SavaryIslandPie Co.

et

e age of the patient directly to the paramedics in the

iver and passenger seats of the ambulance.

“When we get paged for an emergency, we call the

ispatcher to confirm that we’ve received the message,”

ays Donohue. “When we get into the ambulance, we

get the information collected by the dispatcher as it

comes in.”What the new system does not offer is updated soft-

ware for the GPS system that ensures the ambulance

drivers take the most direct route emergency locations.

For Caring Circle coordinator Colleen O’Neil, this is

a major concern.

From pulp and

paper to liquid

natural gas

MERIBETH DEEN

E D I T O R

A former pulp mill near Squamish

on the North West shores of Howe

Sound may get a chance at a sec-

ond life as a Liquefied Natural Gas

(LNG) processing and export facility,

now that the National Energy Board

has approved the company’s applica-

tion to export LNG. The Canadian

Environmental Assessment Agency

is now asking for public comment

on whether a federal environmen-

tal assessment is required, and

whether the request by the Province

of British Columbia to conduct the

environmental assessment, should be

approved.If the project goes forward,

approximately 3-4 tankers – each

roughly one and a half times the

size of a BC Ferries Coastal Class

Ferry (such as the ferries that

travel between Horseshoe bay and

Nanaimo) - will pass by Bowen

Island every month. Propelled by

natural gas and using diesel as a

back-up fuel, the double-hulled

tankers will carry 2.1 million tonnes

of liquefied natural gas to China

every year.Marion Ngo, the manager of com-

munications with Woodfibre Natural

Gas Ltd., says the project is still in

the early phases of planning, so ele-

ments regarding technology, engi-

neering and impacts of the projects

are yet to be determined. Many of

those details will be revealed through

the environmental assessment pro-

cess, whether it is conducted by the

Federal government, Provincial gov-

ernment or both.

However, Ngo says Woodfibre

is expecting BC Hydro to provide

the power needed to compress the

natural gas into liquid form (the gas

needs to be cooled to approximately

-160 degrees Celcius).

Peter Frinton, Bowen’s represen-

tative to the Sea to Sky Clean Air

Society, says while the Society is con-

cerned about the re-industrialization

of Howe Sound in general, the use

of hydro as a source of power largely

alleviates concerns about localized

air pollution.“We really need to know the spe-

cifics,” says Frinton, “but I think if

they were burning natural gas to

power their plant they would likely

face a lot more opposition. From

my personal perspective, I am a lot

more concerned about the big pic-

ture when it comes to air quality, and

questions about say, greenhouse gas

emissions created through the natu-

ral gas industry as a whole.”

Merran Smith, the Bowen-based

director of Clean Energy with

Tides Canada, says that the thing to

remember about LNG is that it is a

fossil fuel.

Woodfibre Pulp and Paper shut down in 2006.

A pending proposal could turn it into an LNG

export facility, sending 3 to 4 tankers past

Bowen every month

Ring in the New Year

With upcoming concerts

Look what we found!

Another look at great stuff people got

at the Nook in 2013

FRIDAY

JAN 03, 2014V O L . 4 1 , N O . 0 1

Watch for more online at:

WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

75¢ including

GST

illy waters of Howe Sound for the annual

ance comes with

acks GPS updates

continued, PAGE 2

continued, PAGE 2

DED is now Detectable and Treatable

“Dry Eye Disease (DED) is one of the most under-diagnosed ocular diseases, and yet it is the

most common reason why patients go see their Eye Doctor” Dr. Bowden says. Dry eye occurs

when eyes do not produce the correct quantity or quality of tears. Many people mistake the

dry eye symptoms for allergies, climatic conditions or just “eyestrain”. Your eyes need a constant

layer of tears—called the “tear fi lm”— to maintain and protect the ocular surface. In Dry Eye,

underlying changes to the health of the tear glands can result in a change in the quantity and

quality of the tears you make. This results in a tear fi lm that can no longer provide enough

nourishment or protection to the surface of your eye. This can lead to damage of your eye’s

surface, which, in turn, can lead to the symptoms of Dry Eye such as; stinging, burning, scratchy

sensation, sensitivity to light, tearing, tired eyes, and difficulty wearing contact lenses. DED

fifi

causes blurred vision, often worsening at the end of the day or after focusing for a prolonged

i d on a nearby task like a computer screen. Optomeyes Eye Doctors now have a diagnostic

d rly detection of Dry Eye Disease. “We can quantitatively monitor

rocess This helps us custom prescribe

t lk us aboutine Drive

Clyde Ave

Marine Drive

ShoppersShoppersDrugMart

Parkade

SavarySavaryIslandIslandPie Co.Pie Co

et


On the last day of school before Christmas, Karen

Hughes said goodbye to her ‘homies.’ Her homies are the kids she gets to school and back

every day, and when she told them she was leaving

some broke down and cried. “Then I cried too, and cried the whole way driving

back from the school,” says Hughes.She says she loves the kids and she loves the job, but

her circumstances have changed. When she started the

job three years ago, a part-time gig with a summer holi-

days was perfect. Now, the steadier employment and

higher pay that goes with driving Bowen’s transit bus is

what she needs.She’ll keep driving the school bus two afternoons and

one full day a week until a replacement is found, but

she’s leaving big shoes to fill.“You need to be a good driver, of course, but also you

need to know that when you get that bus full of k d

a whole other story.”Hughes said she learned quickly that, for her at least,

threats were not the answer.“I remember one rainy afternoon early-on when the

homies were particularly wild. I pulled the bus over to

the side of the road, turned around and looked at them

and said, ‘Who wants to walk!’ They all shut-up, and

calmed down. Then this one little kindergarten getting

off the bus at his stop and asked me when he was going

to get to walk. I had to explain to him that actually he’s

not allowed to walk… when you make a threat, you’ve

got to be willing to follow through on it.”Hughes says knowing the kids according to their ages

and stages helps, but knowing them all as individuals is

even better.“I know if they’ve got siblings and if so who they are.

Sometimes I even know if they’ve got cousins around.”

Planning for the future of the Sound

MERIBETH DEENE D I T O RHowe Sound is a place where watersheds and boundaries converge.

Bowen is one of five governing municipalities on Howe Sound. Also gov-

erning this region are the Islands Trusts, three regional districts, three for-

estry districts, First Nations, as well as provincial and federal governments.

Elected officials from the communities whose watersheds feed into the

Sound have been meeting for a decade to discuss issues of common inter-

est, they come together under the banner of the Howe Sound Community

Forum. At their last meeting, the eleven signees (which include munici-

palities, regional governments and the Squamish Nation) agreed to work

together to urge the federal and provincial governments to help build a

coordinated strategy for the Sound. At their next meeting, on January

14th, they are hoping to hear what higher levels of government are willing

to give to the process.Bowen municipal councillor Wolfgang Duntz will be attending this

meeting as a representative of Bowen but also as a trustee from the Islands

Trust.“Part of the reason I ran as a trustee with the Islands Trust is because I

wanted to change the fact that the organization was so inward looking, so

focused on the issues just affecting the specific Gulf Islands,” says Duntz.

“And I can tell you that that has changed drastically in the past year as now

the region is seeing an avalanche of threats.”The “threats” Duntz points to include shellfish farming, whose impact

he says people in the Southern Gulf Islands were relatively naive about five

years ago.“After a number of these projects have gone through, people see what it

does to the landscape and they don’t like it,” he says. “And they see all the

debris and damage that gets left behind when they close down.”

Duntz says new proposals for similar projects (including the farming of

geoducks, which is entirely new to the region), plus industrial plans that

will mean tankers shipping, coal, oil and liquid natural gas will be going

through the area have raised the alarm.“Before we make judgements on these things, we need more informa-

tion,” says Duntz.The islands in Howe Sound face a whole other set of projects proposals

that could drastically change the region’s landscape:- a large hotel-marina complex in Gibson’s landing- a gravel mine in McNab Creek- the Woodfibre LNG proposal- a massive waterfront re-development in the city of Squamish

- the Sea-to-Sky Gondola- a proposed ski resort at Garibaldi-a massive housing development in South Brittania

-the addition of 25 percent of Gambier’s lands to active logging (on top

of the 15 percent that are already being actively logged)

-a run of river power project that will impact three creeks that run into

McNab Creek.“We need to make decisions about the region as a whole, moving for-

ward,” says Duntz. “We need to decide what we want to be industrial areas,

recreational areas, residential areas, and you don’t just let those things hap-

pen by accident.”Geologist and former mayor Bob Turner says that historically Bo

has had the privilege of being somewhat removed f

Sound.“In th 19

‘Revolution’Award-winning film showing through the Green Film Series

Pedalling for PapuaThe end of the road Shhh...Hondro hits the library

FRIDAY JAN 10 2014V O L . 4 1 , N O . 0 2

Watch for more online at: WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

75¢ including GST

Karen Hughes and a few of her “homies” at the end of the school day at BICS.

Meribeth Deen photo

School bus driver says “goodbye”

The 11 governing bodies that make up the Howe Sound Community Forum, including Bowen, are committed to co-operation

Newspapers deliver...reach out to your customers through the Undercurrent

2 • FRIDAY MARCH 14 2014 WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM

NIALL SHANNON N O R T H S H O R E N E W S

North Vancouver native Sonja Gaudet has been named the official flagbearer for Team Canada in the Sochi Paralympics.

Gaudet is “the world’s most decorated wheelchair curler” according to her biography on the Canadian Paralympic Committee’s website, taking home gold medals from the 2006 Paralympics in Turin, Italy and the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

The veteran curler is to lead 54 fellow Canadian ath-letes into the Fisht Olympic Stadium tonight for the opening ceremony of the 2014 Paralympics.

“It carries a lot of purpose for me,” said Gaudet in a press release announcing the nomination on Wednesday.

Gaudet expressed on her personal Twitter account how honoured she felt to be chosen and proud to rep-resent Canada.

“(The Paralympics) sends a big global message as well about looking past the wheelchair, looking past the visual impairment, looking past the missing limb and really focusing on the person and focusing on what’s there.”

Gaudet may not stay for the entire opening ceremo-nies, however, due to an early start for the first game on Saturday against Great Britain.

“We do have some strategies,” said Gaudet in a press

release. “Our priority is to be ready for Game 1. It’s a big game for us and we’re certainly going to make sure that we are (ready). (Carrying the flag is) just going to give us a little more purpose and create a really posi-tive atmosphere to compete in.”

Gaudet earned her nickname “The Brain” for her invention of the “balance post,” a lightweight alumini-um stick that is attached to her wheelchair and clamps directly to the stone to allow for greater accuracy.

John Sims, the Canadian Paralympic media attaché for wheelchair curling praised Gaudet in her roles as an athlete and as a role model.

“She is a true leader and loved greatly by athletes in all of the paralympic sports as witnessed by the hugs and smiles she got yesterday when we travelled to the athletes village,” said Sims.

The 47-year-old, who now resides in Vernon with her husband and two children, sustained a spinal cord injury in her late 20s after falling off a horse. She was inspired to get into adaptive sports after talking to fel-low Paralympian Rick Hansen about his own experi-ences overcoming injury.

Gaudet serves as an ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation as well as the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

North Vancouver wheelchair athlete flag-bearer at Sochi

Sonja Gaudet, Canada's flag-bearer at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games, serves as an ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation. CNW Group/Canadian Paralympic Committee

BOWEN ISLAND MUNIC IPAL ITY

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL 604-947-4255

BOWEN ISLAND MUNICIPALITY2014 – 2018 FINANCIAL PLAN

BUDGET CONSULTATION MEETINGPlease be advised that there is a special Council meeting

scheduled to review the proposed

2014 – 2018 Five Year Financial Plan on:

Monday, March 17, 2014 at 6:15 pmLocation: Council Chambers

981 Artisan LaneBowen Island, BC

This meeting will provide an overview of the 2014‐2018 Five Year Financial Plan and will allow members of the public to make comments or ask questions.

For more information please contact:Kristen Watson, Manager of FinanceBowen Island Municipality981 Artisan LaneBowen Island, BC V0N 1G0FAX: 604‐947‐0193e‐mail: [email protected]


PUBLIC NOTICE — PROCEDURE BYLAWOn March 10, 2014, Bowen Island Municipal Council gave fi rst reading to “Bowen Island Municipal Council Procedure Bylaw No. 355, 2014”.

The purpose of this bylaw is to amend Bowen Island Municipal Procedure Bylaw to refl ect that Council shall establish by resolution in December of each year, the annual schedule of dates and times of Council meetings for the subsequent year.

Per the Community Charter Council must not amend, repeal or replace its Procedure bylaw without fi rst giving public notice. A copy of the “Bowen Island Municipal Council Procedure Bylaw No. 111, 2004 Amendment Bylaw No. 355, 2014” is available at Municipal Hall or on the municipal website at www.bimbc.ca

Please direct any comments regarding this proposed bylaw in writing via mail, e-mail or fax by Monday, March 24, 2014 by 1:00 p.m. to:

Casey Grundy, Legislative ClerkBowen Island Municipality981 Artisan LaneBowen Island, BC V0N 1G0FAX: 604-947-0193e-mail: [email protected]




BOWEN ISLAND MUNICIPALITYPARCEL TAX REVIEW PANEL HEARING 2014

Please be advised that the Parcel Tax Review Panel is scheduled to sit on:

THURSDAY, MARCH 27 AT 2:00PMLOCATION: COUNCIL CHAMBERS

981 ARTISAN LANE BOWEN ISLAND, BCThe Parcel Tax Review Panel is a statutory municipal body that sits once a year to hear complaints from taxpayers regarding the validity of the parcel tax roll.Per Section 205 of the Community Charter, a person may make a complaint to the parcel tax review panel on one or more of the following grounds:a) there is an error or omission respecting a name or address on the parcel tax roll;b) there is an error or omission respecting the inclusion of a parcel;c) there is an error or omission respecting the taxable area or the taxable frontage of a parcel;d) an exemption has been improperly allowed or disallowed.Persons wishing to be heard are required to submit notice in writing at least 48 hours before the scheduled sitting of the panel. If no such written notice is received, the panel will not meet.

Written submissions should be directed to:Kristen Watson

Manager of FinanceBowen Island Municipality

604-947-4255



REMINDERDRIVEWAY ACCESS MAINTENANCE

It is the responsibility of ALL property owners to ensure driveways and driveway ditches are maintained to avoid putting water, gravel or debris onto the road.

Driveway culverts must be kept free of debris and cannot block the fl ow of ditch water.

These conditions can cause dangerous situations on the roads during heavy rainfall or in freezing weather.

For news, For news,

sports,sports,

entertainment,entertainment,

lifestyles,lifestyles,

community community

links links

& more,& more,

log onlog on

www.

bowenisland

undercurrent

.com


When the BC Cancer agency approached Colleen O’Neil to get her friends together to film a commercial about mammograms, she responded positively, and invited her friends to meet her at Diane’s Lingerie shop in Vancouver. The premise was a party to support women who’d lived through breast cancer and surgery, the camera crew was an add-on, and supposed to be a surprise.

“I wasn’t entirely on-board with surprising my friends about such a serious topic,” says O’Neil. “But I think it’s important to emphasize the importance of mammograms.”

Islanders who saw the commercial on television may have recognized O’Neil, as well as Shari Ulrich and Jane Kellett. However, O’Neil said she wanted to shelter her friends, especially those who had personally experience breast cancer, and another group of women provided the focus for the commercial. Still she says the topic needs to be broached because mammograms save lives, and a rou-tine mammogram at age 53 saved hers.

“When it came to breast cancer I felt bullet proof, I had no family history. It’s recommended that women over 50 get mammograms every two years, so that’s what I did. When they found cancer in my breast, there were already three lumps and I had to have the whole breast removed. I often wonder, if I had not skipped a year between mam-

mograms, maybe I could’ve gotten away with a lumpecto-my instead of a mastectomy.”

O’Neil says what did appear in her mammogram looked like grains of sand, and would never have been detected through a breast exam.

O’Neil is just one of a handful of women on Bowen who have survived breast cancer, and who were diagnosed because of mammograms. O’Neil and three others gath-ered at Caring Circle to talk about their experiences.

Mary Letson says that because she had a family history of breast cancer she was diligent about getting mammo-grams every year after the age of 45.

“For my first three mammograms, I wasn’t afraid. But I’d heard about a number of friends who had been diagnosed recently and when I went last year to the mobile screening clinic set up in Dr. Zandy’s office, I felt something very dif-ferent.”

Letson, who was diagnosed last August at age fourty-nine.

“The cancer might have been in my breast when I’d had the previous year’s mammogram, but it wasn’t detected. By the time it did appear, it was already in my lymph nodes which is why I needed to go through chemotherapy.”

Despite the fact that the cancer had advanced beyond her breast, Mary says there’s no way she could’ve felt any kind of lump.

Sam Knowles was 43 when a routine mammography

showed a few “areas of concern.” Further tests, an ultrasound and a biopsy, revealed pre-can-cerous cells in her breast. The removal of those areas of Sam’s breast, and the pathology that fol-lowed, revealed ductal carcinoma in situ, the most common and most treatable form of breast can-cer. While this form of cancer is usually treated by lumpectomies and radiation, Sam ultimately required a full mastectomy.

“I would never say to someone that you have to go get a mammogram, but if you do have breast cancer and get a mammogram, you might not have to go through treatment that’s as invasive, and I’m living proof of that,” says Knowles, adding that while the cancer had spread to her whole breast it did not spread to her lymph nodes so she did not have to endure chemotherapy.

Cathryn Robertson had already lived through the diagnosis and treatment of cancer in her right breast when, eight years later, a routine mammogram highlighted an area of concern in her left breast. Robertson’s doctor sent her for an ultrasound to follow up the mammogram, which did not turn up anything.

“The doctor’s said, don’t worry about it, and then, six months later I could feel a small lump, and that progressed to a burning sensation in my arm. The doctor sent me for an ultrasound which revealed a tumor they said was one centimeter, but when they went in to remove it they found out that it was actu-ally five centimeters!”

After two lumpectomies, there was still cancer in Robertson’s left breast and she was told that she would need a mastectomy. That surgery revealed that the cancer had spread into her lymph nodes, and led to the diagnosis of “stage three cancer” treat-ed with chemotherapy.

Robertson says that if she were to go back in time, she would’ve demanded a biopsy following her “false positive” mammogram.

“It’s important to trust your caregivers,” she says, “but you also have to be your own advocate. There are people who say you shouldn’t get a mammogram because they turn up false positives are not looking at things the right way. Take the false positive as a gift, someone is looking at your breast and is concerned. It’s an opportunity for you to take care of yourself, and if the result is in fact false, then it is a very good thing.”

The anxiety caused by mammogram results considered to be “false positives” is one of the reasons for revisions to mammography guidelines in British Columbia that rec-ommend women under 40 who have an “average” risk of breast cancer only need to be screened every two years. While experts are split over whether or not this change is for the better (O’Neil points to two of Vancouver radiolo-gists who treated her, and have differing opinions on the matter) what is not disputed, and what hasn’t changed, is that mammograms have cut death rates from breast can-cer by about one-third. Colleen O’Neil, Mary Letson, Sam Knowles and Cathryn Robertson all insist, that the benefits delivered by mammograms outweigh the risks and fears that go with them.

“Mamography is how we are not dead” Local women stand as proof of effectiveness of breast cancer screening tool

WWW.BOWENISLANDUNDERCURRENT.COM FRIDAY MARCH 14 2014 • 3

From left: Sam Knowles, Mary Letson, Cathryn Robertson and Colleen O’NeilMeribeth Deen, photo

continued, PAGE 8

Distance:3 NAUTICAL MILESCrossing Time:20 MINUTES

BOWENISLAND

Snug Cove▼ VANCOUVERHorseshoe

Bay

Leav

e Sn

ug C

ove Leave Horseshoe Bay

THE WEDNESDAY SAILINGS WILL BE REPLACED

BY DANGEROUS CARGO SAILINGS.

NO OTHER PASSENGERS PERMITTED.

#

*

**

†

5:30 am # 6:30 am** 7:30 am**8:30 am9:30 am10:30 am11:30 am12:30 pm3:00 pm4:00 pm †5:00 pm6:00 pm7:00 pm *8:00 pm9:00 pm10:00 pm

6:00 am** 7:00 am**8:00 am9:00 am †10:00 am11:00 am12:00 pm2:25 pm3:30 pm4:30 pm5:30 pm6:30 pm7:30 pm *8:30 pm9:35 pm

REGULAR SCHEDULEIn Effect December 30, 2013-March 31, 2014

DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAYS AND STATUTORY HOLIDAYS

DAILY EXCEPT SATURDAYS

DAILY

EXCEPT JAN 1

TTIDESIDES

H: 10H: 10L: 8L: 8

HIGH FEET LOW FEETFri. 0548 14.1 1151 8.2 1720 12.5 2342 5.2Sat. 0614 14.1 1222 7.5 1803 13.1 Sun. 0638 14.1 0016 5.6 1845 13.5 1254 6.6Mon. 0701 14.1 0050 5.9 1928 13.5 1327 5.9Tue. 0726 14.1 0124 6.6 2021 13.8 1402 5.2Wed. 0753 14.1 0159 7.5 2101 13.8 1438 4.6 Thurs. 0822 14.1 0238 8.2 2155 13.5 1518 3.9

CATES HILL CHAPEL www.cateshillchapel.com 604-947-4260

Dr. James B. Krohn

(661 Carter Rd.)

ST. GERARD’S ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHMass: 10:30 a.m. Priest: Father James Comey

604-988-6304

BOWEN ISLAND UNITED CHURCHRev. Shelagh MacKinnon

Service and Sunday School: 10:30 a.m. Collins Hall Bookings: Helen Wallwork

Minister of Music: Lynn Williams

FOODBANK DROP-OFF

BOWEN ISLAND COMMUNITY CHURCHPastor Clinton Neal

1070 Miller Road 604-947-0384Service 10:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:30 a.m.

Places of Worship Welcome You


The Write Stuff.The Undercurrent encourages

reader participation in your community newspaper. You must include your full name

and a daytime phone number (for verification only). The

editor reserves the right to edit for clarity, legality, brevity and

taste.

Here’s how.To submit a letter to the editor, fax 604-947-0148 or mail it to

#102, 495 Government Rd., PO Box 130, Bowen Island,

BC V0N 1G0 or email [email protected].

B.C. Press Council.The Undercurrent is a member

of the British Columbia Press Council, a self-regulatory

body governing the province’s newspaper industry. The

council considers complaints from the public about

the conduct of member newspapers. Directors oversee

the mediation of complaints, with input from both the

newspaper and the complaint holder. If talking with the

editor or publisher does not resolve your complaint about coverage or story treatment,

you may contact the B.C. Press Council. Your written concern,

with documentation, should be sent to B.C. Press Council, 201 Selby St., Nanaimo, B.C.

V9R 2R2. For information, phone 1-888-687-2213 or go

to www.bcpresscouncil.org.

viewpoint

Published & Printed by Black Press Ltd. at #102, 495 Government Road, Bowen Island, BC V0N 1GO

Dear Editor

Although I respect those who are inflamed about the CRC docks I think we have bigger fish to fry here on Bowen. Perhaps I am wrong about this, but after living on Bowen for many years, I can feel the effects of wood smoke for the first time. Perhaps our good friends might review their priorities and focus on issues that affect us all.

Even though humans have burned wood for thousands of years, scientists have only recently discovered just how hazardous wood smoke pollu-tion is to our health.

Hundreds of studies have now documented the harmful health effects of wood smoke pollution. Yet many people remain unaware of the facts or refuse to accept them.

The current situation is similar to the way we used to treat second-hand tobacco smoke. By the time the public finally accepted just how hazardous sec-ond-hand smoke was, there had already been incal-culable damage to human life.

There’s good reason to be even more concerned about wood smoke pollution than about sec-ond-hand tobacco smoke, since it is more hazardous: according to the US EPA, the lifetime cancer risk from wood smoke is estimated to be 12 times greater than from a similar amount of cigarette smoke.

The time has come for all of us to acknowledge the real dangers of burning wood.

Lary Waldman

Which fish to fry?

Dear Editor,

I appreciate Anton van Walraven’s thought-ful piece in a recent edition of The Undercurrent (March 6th, 2014). He raises issues that have challenged me since before I was an MP, a chal-lenge that became even more focused when I took my seat on the House of Commons Fisheries Committee. Is aquaculture safe for the environ-ment? How does it affect wild salmon? How can we produce the protein we need? How valuable are the aquaculture industry jobs in challenging economic times? How valuable are the revenues to the Government that arise from aquaculture?

No one has all the answers to these questions but I would like to share this with you; accord-ing to BCSalmonFacts.ca, It actually takes about 1.2 pounds of forage fish to grow one pound of farmed salmon. This is very efficient, more so than growing beef, pork and chicken, which also use fishmeal and fish oil made from forage fish as a protein source in feed.

Buoyed by the encouragement and interest of people like Mr. Van Walraven, I have taken steps as part of a Government that has to wrestle with these issues, not just on a local level, but on a nationwide one.

A group of volunteers, ardent fisheries advo-cates, have at my invitation formed around me in a group called the Sea to Sky Fisheries Roundtable. This group, which included Bowen Islanders, has both contributed intelligent com-mentary and challenged the Government on poli-cies and laws. Like the discussion of aquaculture, the conversation involving this group will not likely ever end; I hope it will remain as a useful, independent mechanism to make our fisheries policies continually responsive to the questions raised above, and others.

As one of nine Fisheries Committee members, I have pushed successfully for a study of aquaculture, and, with direct input from constituents and oth-ers, got the Committee unanimously to agree on a report, published last June. It’s available on our

website. Among its six recommendations is one that has real promise for Mr. Van Walraven and others – it calls for the creation of a centre of excel-lence for closed-containment salmon aquaculture. I continue to press for the creation of such a centre of excellence, and am pleased to report consider-able interest has arisen to achieve such a centre, in our riding. Who knows where the results could take us if Canada became the international leader in closed-containment aquaculture?

In sum, we should avoid absolutist answers to the complex questions of the day, all the while maintaining interest and focus on the key ques-tion. My approach won’t satisfy everyone, but, working with people who are open-minded and caring about our environment and economy, I’m confident we may improve both continuously.

John Weston, M.P.West Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky

Country

What it takes to grow farmed salmon

Mini Gala a big success

All Advertising and news copy content are copyright of the Undercurrent Newspaper.

All editorial content submitted to the Undercurrent becomes the property of the

publication. The undercurrent is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, art work and

photographs. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the

Canada Periodical Fund of the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Contributor

Marcus Hondro

Publisher

DougFoot

Advertising

Maureen Sawasy

2011CCNA

C A N A D I A NCOMMUNITYNEWSPAPERAWARD 2011

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

#102–495 Bowen Trunk Road, PO Box 130, Bowen Island BC, V0N 1G0

Phone: 604.947.2442 Fax: 604.947.0148

Deadline for all advertising and editorial: Monday, 4:00p.m.

www.bowenislandundercurrent.com

Bowen Island UndercurrentSubscription Rates:

Mailed1 year Subscription (With in Canada)$65.00, including GST

Newsstand (Single Copy)75 cents per copy, including GST

Editor

MeribethDeen

Dear Editor,

The Gallery @ Artisan Square’s 2014 Mini Gala was a roaring success. Over 100 guests braved the torrential rain and wind to attend the sold out event. Over $6,500 was raised for the Gallery thanks to the incredible contribution of our artists, volunteers, sponsors and guests. You have our grateful appreciation and thanks.

Thanks!Janet Esseiva

Dear Editor & Community,

On March 11th, I joined more than 2,000 other people from Island and Coastal Communities on the steps of our Provincial Legislature to protest increasing fares and changes to our ferry service. The crowd and speakers were firm, vigilant and respectful. Islands Trust Chair Sheila Malcolmson was among the speakers, as was Greg Moore, Chair of Metro Vancouver, who spoke directly on behalf of Bowen Islanders.

Their message was clear: the economic impact of ferry schedule reductions is going to have a significant impact on our communities and BC’s tourism industry in general.

Standing in the crowd, the feeling of pride among islanders was palpable. None of us are going to take this lying down. I’m glad I could attend and I am sure the other Boweners who were there feel the same way.

Hopefully, the Province is now listening with more empathy and a better understanding of larger impact to the Coastal Region of BC.

Sincerely,

Andrew Stone, Councillor

The people’s message to The Province

MARCUS HONDROT H E S L O W L A N E

Had I my druthers, if such a thing came to pass, and I got to say who the BC Ferries president would be, and name the two main vice-presidents (they have numerous vice-presidents) I sincerely believe I could come up with people who’d do a great job at a lower rate of pay than those current-ly doing the gig.

I think our current councillors, Cro Lucas, Alison Morse, Wolfgang Duntz, Andrew Stone, all of them, would do well at it. So would former councillors like Doug Hooper and Peter Frinton. Peter’s a real detail man, a minutia guy, and he’d be great at looking at charts and such. If you are able to handle handling Bowen’s affairs, by com-parison a ferry service would be easy.

Consider this declarative statement: the remu-neration our ferry guys get is too great. Here is a quote from my story on Digital Journal on Ferry Corp. exec. salaries in 2012: “CEO Michael Corrigan...wound up the year at $563,000. Two vice-presidents, Robert Clarke and Glen Schwartz, made $492,207 and $491,643 respectively.” With easily achieved bonuses they actually made more (Canadian Press reported that Corrigan wound up getting $915,000 for 2012).

Doesn’t that seem a trifle excessive? Adding the proverbial insult to our real injury,

you may have heard that the guy who heads the ferry service in Washington State makes $170,000 per annum (no bonuses). The difference between the ferry bosses, at least in 2012 ($915,000 to $170,000) was $745,000, or $475,000 over and above the $270,000 figure they seek to save with the cuts planned for our route.

You likely know that when the B.C. government created the Coastal Ferry Act in 2003 they turned BC Ferries into a hybrid public/private corpora-tion, accent on private. This gives the Liberals the excuse to stand back and claim there’s nothing they can do to alter the decisions made by B.C. Ferries because, thanks to their own legislation, it is no longer under their, under our, bailiwick.

That was clever. Only it has them abrogating the very job they’re supposed to be doing, leav-ing it up to guys who, well, would pay themselves $915,000 a year. And still muck it up! Were there

hordes and hordes of us living on islands the gov-ernment might listen to us, but there ain’t, so they don’t. What they lack in integrity they make up for in gall.

But that’s politics, no?At any rate, I could list someone else who

would do a good job and work for less. Me. I’d concentrate as hard as I could, even for just $170,000. I’d listen to my department heads and make informed decisions based on their reports, most of which I’d read, most of. And I could han-dle all the meetings required, after all as a reporter I’ve sat through many council meetings and, save one or perhaps two times, stayed awake the entire time. Did my concentration slip? Yes, it did, but, again, I wouldn’t be asking for the $915,000 salary.

The $170,000 salary would do.Here’s this though: it’s hard to imagine the peo-

ple of BC care much about our plight (“Hey, Bub, you’re the one decided to move to an island”) and they don’t consider that the cuts cause less passen-gers and ultimately less revenue, nor would they note that our taxes pay for their highways and bridges whether we use them or not. So while I admire those protesting ferry cuts it’s hard to imagine that mainland citizens, or Todd Stone, the minister for transportation and infrastructure, give much of a hoot about it all.

Indeed, here’s what Todd said about ferry cuts after Tuesday’s protest rally in Victoria: “These are tough decisions, very tough decisions, but at the end of the day we have said consistently, actu-ally before the election, during the election and ever since, certainly in the eight months I’ve been minister, that we’re going to do everything in our power to get ferries to a place of affordability and sustainability. That means making some tough decisions on service levels.”

There is another protest, this on Saturday, March 15, the Coastal Communities protest. It will be citizens from areas whose economies, and day to day life, will be impacted by the cuts, protesting in their own communities. My under-standing is Bowen protestors will get on the 11:30 ferry and peacefully protest and hand out hand-bills in Horseshoe Bay from noon until 1pm. Root around Facebook for more information.

Had I my druthers, Todd Stone would listen to them but, well, I ain’t so sure he will. Are you?

Had I my druthers, I’d be running B.C. Ferries


MAUREEN SAWASYU N D E R C U R R E N T H I S T O R I A N

20 years ago in The Undercurrent• The Orchard Cottage tenants faced a steep rent increase of around

25 percent. The increase in revenue would be used to repair the 10 remaining cottages (four of which had at the time been uninhab-ited for 4 years). The current rental agreement saw tenants paying low rents, with the understanding that they were responsible for all repairs and maintenance of the cottages. Worry was the tenants, some of whom had invested thousands of dollars in the cottages would be evicted to make way for the cottages to be used as something other than long-term rentals (weekend rentals, interpretive cabins etc). The GVRD insisted that this wouldn’t happen for a few years. Bowen Island Heritage Preservation Association said an agreement was being worked out by the district, the Association and B.C. Heritage Trust to restore the cottages.

• Hunting on Bowen Island was a topic of discussion at the last GVRD meeting. Director Ross Carter said that almost everyone at the meet-ing wanted present bow and arrow hunting stopped. They raised concerns about human safety and animal cruelty. Other people at the meeting expressed concern over how the deer population would be controlled if hunting was banned altogether.

15 years ago in The Undercurrent• The Undercurrent announced that mini-buses would be rolling through

Snug Cove by June 1. The winning bid to run the service on Bowen was Bowen Island Community Transit, operated by Peter King.

• Tunstall Bay resident, Rebecca Bing-Tunnacliffe was selected as the first executive director for the University Women’s Club in Vancouver.

10 years ago in The Undercurrent• The Undercurrent reported that Bowen Island could reach it’s build-

out capacity in 12 years. The report described a scenario where in 2016, the Cove’s population was more than 1,000 and people lived in high density row-houses, duplexes or single family homes sharing land with commercial industries while the south side remained the forest backdrop. A Snug Cove planning meeting was held to discuss everything in the Cove from parking and housing to power and water. Facilitors suggested that the “time to get it right was now.”

• Bowen’s Abbeyfield house announced that it had received the title to the property on Miller’s Road by Bowen Court. Abbeyfield house is to be an on-island residence dedicated to housing Bowen seniors.

5 years ago in The Undercurrent• A special Committee of the Whole meeting was held to provide

an update on the Official Community Plan Steering Committee’s actions. The first of five phases was underway,“Getting Started”. This was to involved selection eight islanders to be a part of the Steering Committee. The second phase was to take place in the summer and fall. Called the, “Community Input” phase it would centre around public engagement. No timeline had been set for the subsequent phases, “Analysis”, “Draft Scenarios” and “Draft Update”.

Dear Editor,

On Thursday March 6, the Bowen Island Municipality Transportation Committee (BIMTAC) met with BC Ferries (BCF) staff about the proposed changes in the number of Route 8 (Bowen Island) weekend sailings and the conse-quent schedule changes.

The change in the number of sailings was mandated by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI). After an expensive and flawed consultation process conducted by the province, BCF is meeting with each individu-al Ferry Advisory Committee from the affected routes to review the schedules. BCF prepared an alternative schedule, based on the MOTI require-ment to reduce the number of sailings, and posted it and the MOTI schedule on their website, while they ran an on-line questionnaire. The survey period ended February 21st and the posting is no longer on the BCF website.

Respondents to the on-line questionnaire, a con-current random phone survey of Bowen Islanders and a similar survey of a panel of non-Bowen respondents revealed overwhelming support for the BCF version. The respondents also submit-ted comments that offered suggestions for ways to improve the BCF schedule. BCF reviewed the responses to the survey and prepared a revised schedule which they presented to the meeting

on March 6th. The new BCF version appears to be workable and provides for an early morning (6:30am) sailing from Bowen and a late evening (9:30pm) sailing from Horseshoe Bay.

While the final schedule will not be released until March 31st the BCF draft schedule reflects the following:

• The schedule changes affect only the week-end runs

• The weekend schedule changes will most likely be the same all year;

• There will be some fine tuning to avoid congestion at Horseshoe Bay

• The early morning and last late night runs are protected

• There will be fewer sailings Sat and Sun mornings, thus a longer time between the earlier sailings

• The midday break will be a little longer and one less evening sailing

BCF expects these changes will achieve the $135,000 per year cost savings demanded by the province but was unable to give BIMTAC any details as to how the labour and fuel savings were calculated as the province considers this confidential information.

And, no this is no April Fool’s joke: everyone’s fares will rise by 4% on April 1st.

Adam Holbrook, BIMTAC

BIMTAC meeting with BC Ferries, March 6, 2014

Bowen Islander Alfred Rahn at this week’s protest against BC Ferries in Victoria.Andrew Stone, photo

This week in Undercurrent history



NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGNOTICE is hereby given that Bowen Island Municipal Council will hold a public hearing for the purpose of allowing the public to make representations on the following proposed bylaw:• Bylaw No. 345, 2013 cited as “Bowen Island Municipality Land Use Bylaw No. 57, 2002 Amendment

Bylaw No. 345, 2013”The Public Hearing will be held on:

Monday, March 24, 2014 at 11:00 a.m.at Municipal Hall, 981 Artisan Lane, Bowen Island, BC.

At the public hearing, all persons who believe that their interest in property is affected by the proposed bylaw shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to be heard or to present written submissions respecting matters contained in the proposed bylaw.Subject Property:

Purpose:The purpose of Bylaw No. 345, 2013 is to amend Land Use Bylaw No. 57, 2002 by changing the zoning for the lands shown outlined in a solid black line on Schedule A of this Bylaw from Rural Residential (RR1) to Industrial Commercial (a) – IC (a). Use exception (a) would prohibit the sale of propane under the IC zone on this site.A copy of the proposed bylaw and any background material that may be considered by Bowen Island Municipal Council in respect of the proposed bylaw, may be inspected at Bowen Island Municipal Hall, 981 Artisan Lane, Bowen Island, BC between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday to Friday, inclusive, excluding statutory holidays, or on the BIM website at www.bimbc.ca commencing Friday, March 7, 2014.

Written submissions may be delivered to:• Bowen Island Municipal Hall in person or by mail to 981

Artisan Lane, Bowen Island, BC, V0N 1G2 or by fax: 604-947-0193 prior to 11:00 a.m. , Monday, March 24, 2014; or

• to Bowen Island Municipal Council at the Public Hearing at 11:00 a.m., Monday, March 24, 2014.

Inquiries regarding the proposed bylaw may be directed to Judy McLeod, Planning Consultant at 604-947-4255 or by email at [email protected].

NO REPRESENTATIONS WILL BE RECEIVED BY THE BOWEN ISLAND MUNICIPAL COUNCIL AFTER THE CONCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC HEARING.

Irish dinner entrees Irish cocktails

green beerdecorations

and Irish music Luck of the Irish prizes

Celebrate St. Paddy’s Day with us!March 17th

604-947-0808 www.docmorgans.comwww.facebook.com/docmorgans

Twitter & Instagram: @[email protected]

MUST BE LEGAL DRINKING AGE

Daily specials not applicable during holidays/events.

DOC MORGAN’SDOC MORGAN’S PUB & RESTAURANT PUB & RESTAURANT



There are so many people on Bowen who not only love to eat, but love to cook. While some our foodie friends kindly offer us the opportunity to taste their food by opening up restaurants, there are so many others whose food-lives are unknown to us. This column is an attempt to pry open the kitchen windows of our local friends and neigh-

bours who have a passion for cooking. Some of them are trained chefs, some of them make a living from cooking, and others are self-taught, excellent, passionate home-cooks.

If you have a foodie friend who might make a great feature, please contact:

[email protected]

Through the kitchen window: Amrita Sondhi

Amrita Sondhi is the owner of Movement Global Fashions...

1. What’s your favourite kitchen utensil? A very sharp knife.

2. What’s your comfort food? Kitchari with vegetables

3. If you could only have one cook book… My own cookbooks! The Tastes of Ayurveda (2012) and The Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook (2006)

4. Who’s your biggest culinary influence, and what did they teach you?

My mother, how to be creative and use the 5 senses and to be excited by international food and ingredients.

5. When did you realize you loved to cook? When I was a child and had been given a chil-dren’s cookbook. Probably age 9 or 10.

6. Tell me about a culinary challenge, and how you overcame it. (ie: when you had to adapt to a particular diet or allergy. Or learn-ing a totally new cooking style.)

When I had trouble with my health I really began following Ayurveda and eating for my body type, the season and the time of day.

7. How has living on Bowen influenced your cooking?

Bowen puts us in touch with Nature and our senses. It is a very artistic and creative community so it inspires me to continously use my creativity in the kitchen. Here I can cre-ate more healthy healing recipes that I love to share and test out on well travelled, appre-ciative community and friends.

8. What are you cooking/eating lately?Today I made a delicious bok choy, mixed

vegetable, tofu stir fry with soy bean sprouts and basmati rice for lunch that I shared with Vicky, the owner of the Juniper Gallery.

Amrita’s comfort food, Kitchari

¼ cup split mung dal½ cup basmati rice2 cups waterSalt to taste2 tsp Flax or hemp oil (or ghee or butter)

In a medium pot on high heat, combine all ingredients, except oil, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, cover with lid and cook for 25-30 minutes. Drizzle with oil before serving.

Makes 2 -3 servings.

CONTINUED, PAGE 7


KAMI KANETSUKAS P E C I A L T O T H E U N D E R C U R R E N T

Hello from San Miguel, the heart of Mexico and land of winter sun. This heritage town has so many things happening that one can be occupied every minute of the day and much of the night too – and so I have. It is also a place one can become completely part of on arrival and if you have ever visited before you already have a set of friends living here.

For the third time I volunteered at the San Miguel Writers Conf. & Festival, where there always is at least one Canadian keynote speaker. This year it was Yann Martel of Life of Pi fame. He gave a wonderful talk on his book, What is Prime Minister Stephen Harper Reading. For two years Martell sent the PM a book and a long letter giving reasons for reading the book. The books and the letters were never acknowledged. Martell says Harper is not a well read or well traveled man, both things that create an open mind. I heard that his talk upset some Canadians in the audience but I thought it rather good that an audience of 900 should hear this fact.

During the six days of the conference when I had some free time I took great pleasure watching Martell, whose family came with him, frolicking with his three little kids in the pool or playing with them in the gar-den of the hotel where the conference was held. His wife, British-born Alice Kuipers, gave a workshop on writing for children.

Mexican Laura Esqivel, known for her magical real-ism book and film Like Water for Chocolate was also a keynote speaker who was rather political as well as spiritual. A beautiful and deeply passionate woman, she talked about the transformative capacity of human beings and her deep faith in love.

Unfortunately for me, this is not the best place to be working on a memoir, as there are far too many

distractions. On Saturdays there is Zumba, a dance exer-cise, in lovely little Juarez Park where for three weeks in February there is a great spring festival, where flowers, exotic plants and seeds are sold. After Zumba I go to the Saturday organic market and pick up my veggies for the week. Everyone lingers for hours, for as well as food one can buy jewelry, clothing, cards. Small kitchens are set up and we all eat at long communal tables. I walk in the botanical gardens once a week, surrounded by many cactuses of all shapes and sizes. Here I get away from the masses in this inspirational place. On Tuesday there is a large market a little way out of town, where one can find anything. There are tables and tables of clothing, ten-fold the amount of Bowen’s spring sale, where one can even find designer clothes for several dollars.

There is live theatre, music, dancing in the street and fireworks. In the Jardine, the main square, people linger, kids breakdance, couples kiss and there are always several Mariachi bands around for the sound effects. Now con-sidered one of the best cities in the world it does feel like at some point everyone visits, and I have run into several Bowen Island couples and people from Vancouver.

And oh yes! This is the place for catching up on mov-ies. There are two small intimate theatres, both at the back of bars, where the latest movies are shown. One, run by a Frenchman Daniel, also shows old classics. Here I recently saw a hilarious vintage British comedy with Maggie Smith and Michael Palin, A Public Function. The nominal entry price includes one alcoholic drink and a bag of popcorn. All the Oscar winning films will be played over the next few weeks. Here in the evenings with Margarita in hand, I ponder if this could ever happen on Bowen.

I apologize if I have made you envious but this hedonis-tic life does seem a little too good to be true. Pretty soon even I will come back down to earth and deal with my own unruly backyard and probably rain, glorious rain.

from page 6

Amrita’s healing teaThis tea is great for busting a sore throat or cold before it settles in. Turmeric is a natural anti-in-

flammatory and a natural antibiotic.

1/4 tsp turmeric 1/8th tsp cayenne (optional) 1/2 a lemon1 stick cinammon1 slice of fresh ginger root (if you have it) 1 tsp unpasteurized or raw honey (optional) 1 and 1/2 cups boiling water

Amrita Sondhi holds tumeric root for her healing tea.Meribeth Deen, photo

Kami Kanetsuka buying paper flowers at the time of carnival in the main square of San Miguel de Allende. When Kami went to the square to look for someone to photograph her, she found Edye Hanon, the former editor of the Undercurrent.Edythe Hanon, photo

Postcard from San Miguel de Allende



Last Wednesday afternoon, as he waited for the 3:30 ferry to unload so he could turn onto Cardena Road, Steve Bayley says he was startled by a loud banging noise.

“And then I saw this Mercedes come flying off the ferry toward me at what looked like 100 miles an hour. For a second I thought the car was going to hit my truck but then it zipped past. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw him swerve to the left into the ferry marshalling lane and hit the Bowen Freight truck.”

Ryan McCormick turned from the marina parking lot onto Bowen Island Trunk Road just before the Mercedes sped off the ferry.

“I heard what sounded like a scooter acceler-ating and then I saw the Mercedes come behind me, on my right, and veer left into what would be oncoming traffic.”

McCormick says he was shocked by what he saw.“If the Bowen Freight Truck hadn’t been

there, we definitely would’ve seen some high school kids get injured.”

Just as the Mercedes veered, Bowen Freight employee Peter Garcia was helping a passenger out of the Bowen Freight truck. The Mercedes crashed, at high speeds into the truck and might have crushed Garcia and the passenger he was assisting, but the open truck door jammed against the parked car in the right-hand lane.

Alan Mills, owner of Bowen Freight, says that Garcia is fine, but took the next day off to recover.

“I think in this accident we got off lucky,” says Mills. “The way the Mercedes flew off the ferry, we’re just lucky none of the high school kids unloading got hurt, and Peter Garcia is lucky for the door that saved his life, not to mention that dangerous cargo was about to load onto the ferry. This definitely highlights the need to improve safety in the Cove.”

The Undercurrent contacted the RCMP for fur-ther details on the accident, but did not receive a response.

from PAGE 3“Mammography is how we are not dead,” says Colleen O’Neil. “There is

one study from 30 years ago, that was flawed to start with, that keeps getting resurrected and publicized, diminishing the importance of mammography. But the fact is simple: early detection leads to cures.”

While Knowles says she would never tell someone that they have to get a mammogram, when she hears that mammograms are risky, or don’t work, it makes her angry.

“We’ve lost too many women to breast cancer on this island already,” she says.

All the women agree, that the journey through diagnosis and treatment is terrifying. The women also agree that, iving on Bowen, they were able to find the support and resources they needed to help get them through, and they say they hope other women facing breast cancer will reach out and find them.

from PAGE 1The solution that seemed most reasonable involved the development of

a contract to explain to people renting vacation accommodations that they are in residential neighbourhoods, and certain behaviours are not appropri-ate. The Bowen Island Accommodations Association implemented this and other measures in order to resolve the conflict.

“There are a lot of people who have the opportunity to make money through this sort of set-up, and some who derive a significant portion of their income from it. We would not want to see that disappear,” says Atherton.

Another achievement that came up involved improvements to connectivi-ty and wireless access on Bowen.

“The EDC has learned that inconsistent service throughout the island can be a major hindrance to people working from home, and home-based busi-nesses,” says Gordon Ganong. “And improvements to it are critical for the development of our tourist sector as well.”

The EDC drafted a letter explaining the problems to be sent by Mayor Adelaar to the presidents of the major telecommunications companies.

“We saw movement on this issue from Telus, Shaw and Rogers,” says Ganong.In recent weeks Telus has put relay stations on every second hydro pole in

the Cove to improve service, Shaw has guaranteed wireless service anywhere in the Cove, and Rogers has started working on plans to bring 4G LTE ser-vice to Bowen.

Ganong told the audience gathered to hear about the EDC’s achievements this past year that branding Bowen is likely to be the committee’s biggest job in 2014, but also that success in executing strategies for economic growth will only be successful with support from both the community and council.

Lives saved by mammograms

Foundations of economic development

Last Wednesday’s accident, as viewed from the Bowen Island Tech Shop.Alan Mills, photo

Accident highlights ferry marshalling concerns

Dr. Gloria Chao Family Dentist

Artisan Square • 604-947-0734 Alternate Fridays 10am-4:30pm

Horseshoe Bay • 604-921-8522www.bowenislanddental.com

Dr. Dana BartonNaturopathic Physician

596 B. Artisan Square

604-730-1174Natural Family Medicine

BLOOD TESTS, URINE TESTS OR ECGS6:45 - 9:00 A.M.

EVERY THURSDAYDR. ZANDY'S OFFICE

Dr. Utah Zandy604-947-9830

CALL FOR APPOINTMENTOPEN TUESDAYS &

THURSDAYS

Diana Romer MEd, RCC

COUNSELLING THERAPIST

Bowen and West Van [email protected]

www.clearhorizon.ca

BOWEN ISLAND WELLNESS CENTRE604-947-9755

CATHERINE SHAWDr. Traditional Chinese

Medicine/Acupuncturist

MARY MCDONAGHRegistered Massage Therapist

(Available Mondays through Fridays)

SANDY LOGANRegistered Physiotherapist

ROBYN IZARD RMT Registered Massage Therapist

(Available Thursdays through Sundays)

Dr. Susanne Schloegl M.D.

Open Mon. Wed. Thurs. Fri.Call for an appointment

Artisan Square604-947-9986

ChiropractorDr. Tracy Leach, D.C.

595B Artisan LaneTuesdays

Call for an appointment(778) 828-5681

www.leachchiro.com

REIKIRegistered PractitionerCheryl Ackerman604-947-2057

To advertise on the Health Page

call 604-947-2442

K a r o l i n aMassage | Energy Healing

—— T H U R S D A Y S ——

778.927.9098Spiricahealing.com

HEALTH &WELLNESS

Brannon Brothersroofi ng & sheet metal

Call Mike at 604-338-2516

FIREPLACE & CHIMNEY PROBLEMS?

F.D. Fireplace Doctorhelp@fi replacedoctor.com

604-596-6790 2 4 H O U R S | O V E R 3 0 Y E A R S

• Fireplace & Chimney Leaks

• Smoking Problems• Draft Problems • Odors

• Damper Replacements

• Odd Jobs?• Inspections

We help solve Fireplace problemsWood and Inserts

To Advertise on theBulletin Board, Call 604-947-2442

BBBBBBBBB

BOWEN BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARDBOWEN BUSINESS BULLETIN BOARD


from PAGE 1“If we’ve been silent, it’s because we’re negotiat-

ing, and you can’t negotiate out in public.”Councillor Wolfgang Duntz said that as a repre-

sentative to the Islands Trust, he found the silence of Bowen’s Council difficult to justify.

“In my laymen’s understanding, I explained that as we are in a Liberal riding we are better off using quiet diplomacy to deal with the issue. Only time will tell if that’s the correct way or not.”

Richard Goth’s request to council was fol-lowed up by a similar plea by Gordon Ganong, chair of Bowen Island’s Economic Development Committee.

“I would like to see you councillors join in with Bowen Islanders at the protest on Saturday,” said Ganong. “And I would like to see you pass a reso-lution reinforcing the letters that council has sent supporting home-porting and the exchange of the Queen of Capilano with the Island Sky. ”

Later in the meeting, when the issues of ferries came up again, Councillor Tim Rhodes brought up the idea of designating an official liaison to the Coastal-Mainland Coalition. This led to fur-ther discussion about making support for Bowen Islanders protesting against BC Ferries official.

Led by Alison Morse, council crafted, moved and seconded the following statement of support:

Council strongly supports the work of the Bowen community in respectful protest of the service cuts, fare increases and diminishing discounts for seniors; and that Council wishes to express its extreme disap-pointment with the Province’s disregard for the social and economic impact to Bowen Island and other fer-ry-dependent communities as a result of their actions with BC Ferries’ service and fare levels.

Richard Goth says that he is pleased with this resolution.

“It’s a good statement,” he said following coun-cil.

Goth also elaborated on a story he told to coun-cil, of a very successful protest by Bowen Islanders against BC Ferries in 1997.

“BC Ferries raised the rates, literally, overnight,” says Goth. “At the time we were buying books of tickets at the General Store, and BC Ferries called the General Store with the new rate so we couldn’t even buy those books at the old price over the weekend, before the official date when the change was to take place. Well, a few of us were sitting at the Snug and said, ‘We have to do something!’ Word of our plans, to protest on Friday afternoon in Horseshoe Bay, spread like wildfire. We believe there were close to 600 Bowen Islanders in atten-dance. Our protest was followed, one week later, by a similar one by users of the Langdale ferry. That was November, by December, the govern-ment had rolled back the ferry rates 33 percent, to their previous price.”

Goth says that he is particularly upset about the changes to seniors’ fares, but would be more than happy to see BC’s ferries become a bare-bones service, as it once was.

“The whole system is bloated,” he says. “They need to focus on vessels and crew, navigation and safety equipment and that’s it. Back when we had the Howe Sound Queen, there were hard benches on the upper level and barely even a washroom, but it was functional. But to jack up the rates so people question whether or not to even take the ferry, and cut back the service? They’re going about this all wrong.”

Goth says that he and his wife have made a conscious decision to ride the ferry less in order to save money, and now go to town once per month to do their shopping, instead of every two weeks.

As of Wednesday, March 12, the group Bowen Islanders for Ferry Fairness had 50 confirmed participants for the upcoming protest, as well as support from businesses in Horseshoe Bay. Their hope is that 100 protesters from Bowen will join them to walk on the ferry this Saturday at 11:30 and rally outside the Horseshoe Bay Terminal.

Ferry protest

Fire department welcomes new chief


On Tuesday, the Bowen Island Municipality announced its decision to hire Ian Thompson as the new chief of the island’s volunteer fire department. Former chief Brian Biddlecombe announced plans for his retirement last year.

Thompson says his new position comes as something of a surprise to him.“I’ve been working as a volunteer with the Fire Department for eight years

now, and for the past four years I’ve been the Department’s training officer. So that has put me in more of a leadership role,” says Thompson. “I am very comfortable working in a hands-on capacity, but I look forward to the new challenges that come with this job.”

Ian Thompson, Bowen Island’s new Fire Chief.Debra Stringfellow, photo

BRUCE RUSSELLS U B M I S S I O N

As the name implies, the Vancouver Outdoor Adventure Show, held under the sails at the Convention Centre, provided an opportunity for show patrons (some 20,000+) to obtain informa-tion on the A to Z of places to go and things to do with their travel/tourist, recreation and out-door entertainment dollars. Not to be outdone, a group of spirited and caring Bowen Islanders made a first-class effort to dazzle and inform the show patrons as to how they need not go any farther than just beyond their own backyards for great outdoor value. They were either daz-zled by one of our Bowen Boosters, entertained by our video or took literature for a number of businesses.

The 2014 Experience Bowen Island booklet was a particular hit including the Layar App, which many suggested “helped keep our island clean, green and beautiful”!

While our defunct Chamber of Commerce sponsored and organized our community booth in the past, with its recent demise the Bowen business community had two choices; pass up on the show or come together to repre-sent the island, the latter of which they did in spades thanks to the leadership of many of the Steamship Days “movers and shakers”. My letter last week acknowledged that effort.

Last year our Steamship Days volunteers, dressed up in period costumes, did such an outstanding job in representing our communi-

ty our booth was dubbed as the most enthusi-astic one in the show! I suspect this year was no different. Kudos to all those businesses who donated money for the booth rental and those who donated items for not one, but six raffle prize baskets and a special thanks to the dozen volunteers who worked the eight-hour shifts last Saturday and Sunday promoting everything our island has to offer. It never ceases to amaze our Bowen ambassadors as to how many lower mainlanders have never been to our island. Many of us incorrectly assume because they are so close they must have crossed the pond to see what we are all about. Not! By the same token, it was reassuring to hear that most of those who had visited, enjoyed it.

While our community is blessed with so much natural beauty and is in close proximity to the Lower Mainland, that unto itself will not attract tourists that we love and need so much. Nothing can be taken for granted in this highly compet-itive industry in which there is an abundance of choices for the consumer’s dollar, hence the importance of this great team effort. As space does not permit me to list all of the supporters please go to the Bowen Island Golf Club website (www.bowengolf.com) and click on Team Effort Promotes Bowen Island. Again, kudos to every-one who made it all possible.

Bowen team dazzles at the Outdoor Adventure Show

Now OpenWinter Hours:

Wed – Sun 12pm – 4pmArtisan Square

Coast ModernFurnishings




DEBRA STRINGFELLOWC O N T R I B U T O R

Wondering what to do with the kids over Spring Break? Whether you need child care because of work or just want your kids enter-tained for a day or two, the Bowen Community Recreation office is offering a fantastic line-up of day camps for the week of March 17th.

For youngsters ages 5-7 yrs, Mini Club provides well balanced days on-island making crafts and playing games with experienced and caring lead-ers. On-island day trips will be arranged allowing these kids to enjoy all that Bowen has to offer.

Camps for kids ages 8-11 offer activities both on and off island. Each day brings something a little different and exciting for this age group.

On Monday, March 17th instructor Carrie Thiel will demonstrate safe techniques of stage combat. Kids will be able to role-play, and act out their favorite fight scenes in a controlled environ-ment. They’ll also have the opportunity to make their own weapons to take home.

Tuesday’s camp offers the kids a guided tour and scavenger hunt at the BC Sports Hall of Fame and Museum located at BC Place Stadium. A per-fect day for any young sports enthusiast.

On Wednesday March 19, instructor Sarah Bristow will lead a day of roller-hockey in the BICS gymnasium. Kids will enjoy fun and games, fitness and ball handling techniques. Without a doubt one of the most popular day camps, hockey

fills up fast so don’t wait to register, all levels are welcome.

On Thursday the kids are scheduled to go off-island for a more interactive play at Laserdome Plus. Playing laser tag and rock climbing will challenge the kids in a fun and active way.

Lastly, Friday caters to the creative people: kids can go off island to discover new and fun ways to express themselves through art classes with the 4Cats Art Studio.

Available to older kids ages 10 to 13 yrs, is 3D Basketball. On Friday March 21st 3D Basketball will provide top notch coaching on the game using these three principles - discipline, dedica-tion and determination. An excellent introduc-tion to the sport for those who wish to improve their skills and a great way to encourage team participation - all levels are welcome.

The second week of Spring Break is all about biking with the famed Dan Cowan! The 2 hour camps will be held on March 24, 26, and 28th. Little Rippers (6-8 year olds) will be in the morn-ing from 9:30-11:30 and the Biking Barbarians (9-11 year olds) will be in the afternoon from 1:00pm-3:00pm.

Spaces are still available on certain days how-ever these camps fill up fast so don’t miss out and register today at www.bowencommunityrecre-ation.com or call the office at 604-947- 2216.

An action-packed Spring Break on Bowen

Debra Stringfellow, photo

BOWEN ISLAND CHILDREN’S CENTRES U B M I S S I O N

Yes, this is the big one! An extravaganza that’s practical, environmentally friendly, supports two island charities, and is a fun

opportunity to find some great treasures. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, May 10th at Cates Chapel. Proceeds from the sale will benefit Bowen Children’s Centre, the non-profit Society that is home to Bowen Island Preschool, the Community Daycare, and the Afterschool Club. Admittance to the Sale will be by donation of cash or non-perishable food items to the Bowen Island Food Bank.

We are accepting gently used adult and teen clothing and accessories. So get a jump on your spring-cleaning, and purge those closets! All donations can be dropped at the Children’s Centre (650 Carter Road) between Monday and Friday.

Bowen Island, mark your calendars for May 10th and let’s go shopping!

The Count Down has started for the Bowen Children’s Centre 13th Annual Clothing Sale

Children’s VisionVision and LearningIt is estimated that 80% of learning comes from vision. Many children struggle in school and vision-related learning diffi -culties often go undetected even when eyesight is found to be 20/20. In fact, one out of six children diagnosed with a learning disability actually has a correctable vision problem! A routine eye assessment by an eye doctor can detect these conditions and correct them, usually through corrective lenese or vision therapy.“I can’t remember what I read.”

Your Child’s Eye ExamAn eye exam by a doctor of Optometry does more than just de-termine the ability to see - it’s a vital part of overall health and development. Since children may not know how they should see or be able to tell you about their vision, it’s important to have their eyes examined well before they enter school.

Children’s Eye Exams• Exams for children are fully covered by MSP• Exams are about 20 minutes• A Child doesn’t have to read to have an eye exam• Eye exams are fun

After the eye exam, the parent will know:• If your child’s eyes are working together and are healthy• If your child has good depth and colour perception• If your child’s eyes can see and focus well• If your child requires optical correction (glasses or contact

lenses) or vision therapy

Welcoming children from Bowen Island.

For more information on this or other topics,please visit our websiteL www.optomeyes.ca

Find us on Facebook: Optomeyes EyecareSquamish and West Vancouver

WEST VANCOUVER OFFICE LOCATION210-1555 Marine Dr. West Vancouver BC V7V 1H9

Phone: (604) 922-0413 Fax: (604) 922-7065

Documents

Bowen Island Undercurrent, March 14, 2014