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2 Wednesday, March 02, 2016 | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | www.lakecowichangazette.com
KISSINGER LAKE
Forty years since brush with death March 4 marks anniversary of incident in which three young children nearly drowned in icy waters JAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE
A
lthough 40 years have passed, Gail Flynn still can’t help but tremble at the thought of how close three children came to death and the danger she put herself in to rescue them. It was March 4, 1976, when winters were colder in the Cowichan Lake district. Flynn and her husband, Dennis, lived at a Crown Zellerbach Canada logging camp on the shore of Kissinger Lake near Nitinat. There was a thin layer of ice and snow over the lake that day, and while Dennis was at work in the camp office, Flynn was home with their seven-month-old son. She had just put the baby down for a nap when the first hint of trouble appeared. “I heard kids—little kids—playing and so I looked out and saw them there and sent them home because there was no adult with them,” she said. The children were Laurence Riggs, Loretta Eriks and Laine Thornington, and none was older than four. A small white dog with black ears and mottled patches on its back was with them, and belonged to the Eriks family. “The next thing I heard was a dog barking. And it was a very insistent bark. So I went and looked out and could see a hole in the ice.”
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ure enough about 15 feet from the raft, she could see the shape of a child under the ice. SFlynn dove in. She caught sight of Laine and
swam for her. “I mistakenly thought I was just at the edge of the ice, I didn’t realize I’d gone far enough out that I wasn’t at the edge anymore,” Flynn said. The ice there was too thick to be broken from underneath. “But yes, I managed to get her. The snowsuit, I think, kept her close to the surface.” Flynn pulled her up onto the raft and performed CPR and revived Laine. By now others from the camp had been alerted to the commotion at the water. “Once I got back, my concern was my son. Because he was sleeping when I went out,” said Flynn. “I knew I couldn’t lift him, I was too cold, I would have dropped him. There was a lady that came down and I asked her to get my son out of the crib and run me a bath because I couldn’t tell how warm it was and that was it. I knew that the kids were all okay by that point—they were all awake, breathing, chattering. My concern was getting warm and taking care of my son.” The logging company’s first aid attendant checked everyone out and deemed everyone okay, although the children were whisked to the doctor in Lake Cowichan to be safe. Just as quickly as it started, the excitement was over. Forty years later, Laurence, who was three at the time, can’t recall many details from that day but some memories remain. “I just remember we fell through. I remember the cold, being pulled out and there were a lot of people around us. But it was so long ago and I was so young, I’ve forgotten a lot of it,” he said.
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Instead of going home, the children had returned to the lakefront. There was a diving platform approximately 30 feet out in the water and three sets of tiny footprints led from the shore to the ice-locked platform. And the hole off to one side of it. Flynn bolted from her house and raced down, past the anxiously barking dog, to the lake. By the time she reached the raft, Laurence was pulling himself up out of the water. “He was conscious. That was terrific. I sat him on the dock and told him not to move,” she said. Loretta was floating face down in the water beside the raft, and Lynn managed to reach her and pull her in. “She wasn’t [conscious] but a good pat on the back and she started to cough and was fine.” That left one more child. That’s all Flynn can remember going through her mind since the moment she first saw Laurence at the diving platform. “I just knew there were three of them. I thought: ‘There’s three of them. There’s three of them here.’”
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Laurence Riggs was three years old when he and two of his playmates fell through the ice at Kissinger Lake. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE] His parents had been at some sort of gathering or function that day. “I can’t remember what it was. They were all hanging out at one of the houses. And we [kids] got it in our minds we were going to go do something. And that’s what we ended up doing,” he said, noting that his parents had warned him countless times to stay away from the lake. “You could tell a kid and tell a kid, but they’re never going to listen. I don’t think that’s changed even to this day.” the years since the incident, Laurence’s family moved from Nitinat to to Lake Cowichan. He kept in contact with Loretta on and off IovernYoubou the years, and still runs into her occasionally.
The Gazette was unable to reach Loretta or Laine for comment. Today, Laurence lives in Duncan and drives a logging truck for Wayne McGregor Limited. He passes Kissinger Lake on an almost daily basis driving his truck. His brush with death that day impacted him as a parent—he made sure his daughter took swimming lessons and he has always kept an especially close eye on her any time they’ve gone swimming at the lake. “It can happen so fast. It doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of summer. That stuff, when it comes to water, it happens fast.” Flynn echoed these sentiments. She made sure that her son, and later her daughter, both took lessons and became strong swimmers. She said that communities on the water like Lake Cowichan should offer swimming lessons. “Get lessons and get them in town. [People] won’t, in most cases, make the effort to go to another town to get lessons,” she said. “I think all kids should have Red Cross lessons. And learn safety around ice.” Flynn and her family were only at the camp for two years before moving on and she says the impact on her life was a positive one. “The community was wonderful. They rallied around the [children’s] families, they rallied around me,” she said. “As a small camp like that—we all knew each other, we were all close for whatever time you were there. It was a very close-knit community.” The memories of the near-drowning remain vivid, 40 years later. “It makes me shake even now,” she said. James.Goldie@lakecowichangazette.com
Correction The date of the second Cowichan Lake Arts Council public meeting at the Cowichan Lake Sports Arena is Wednesday, March. Incorrect information appeared in the Feb. 24 issue of the Gazette.
www.lakecowichangazette.com | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | Wednesday, March 02, 2016 3
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4 Wednesday, March 02, 2016 | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | www.lakecowichangazette.com
OPINION OUR VIEW
Old vehicles on the roadsides are an eyesore M
ore and more the Cowichan Lake area is working to make itself a destination attractive to tourists. One of the area’s main assets is the spectacular scenery. It’s a place where the wilderness meets civilization and people can have the best of both. But nothing spoils the view like aging, dilapidated cars slowly falling to pieces on the sides of the road. People want to see the soaring evergreens, the crystal clear waters and the majestic elk, not somebody’s derelict 1982 truck covered in blackberry brambles.
It makes a place look unkempt and somewhat down-at-heel. Youbou has a particular problem with this, according to area director Klaus Kuhn. We’re not talking about people who’ve parked a working vehicle in front of their house with the aim of selling it privately. That’s a totally different thing. You’ve likely seen what we’re talking about driving the roads around the lake. It’s basically illegal dumping, only somebody hasn’t even gone to the trouble to go out to the middle of the bush to discard their unwanted item.
For the record, we are not advocating that people drive out into the bush and abandon a vehicle there, instead. That’s an equally terrible idea, and our rural areas have enough trouble with that as it is. But simply moving your vehicle onto blocks off your property onto the roadside isn’t the answer. It’s one of those problems that’s falling between the cracks as it’s not a priority for the agency that could do something about it, the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
If the vehicles were making themselves decrepit on a person’s front lawn, the Cowichan Valley Regional District bylaw enforcement officer would have the authority to do something. But because they are technically on the road, the CVRD’s hands are tied. As long as the vehicles aren’t impeding traffic or posing a hazard, they’re not a priority for the aforementioned ministry that looks after the roadsides. It reminds us uncomfortably of the problem of derelict boats up and down the coastline. And in both cases, the boats
ABOUT US
Letters to the editor are welcome, but writers are requested to keep their submissions to 350 words or less. Keep it local — letters raised in response to issues raised in our pages get top priority. We reserve the right to edit all submissions for clarity, grammar, length — attack the issue, not the individual. All letters must contain the name, address and a phone number where writers may be reached during business hours. Publication is not guaranteed. Thank-you letters will not normally be considered. Submissions can be emailed to editor@lakecowichangazette.com, sent via fax to 250-7494385 or dropped off at our office at 170E Cowichan Lake Road.
Publisher Shirley Skolos, 250-748-2666, ext. 229 Editor Andrea Rondeau, 250-748-2666, ext. 235 Reporter James Goldie, 250-749-4383 Sales Lauri Meanley, 250-749-4383 Newsroom 250-749-4383 or 250-748-2666 editor@lakecowichangazette.com
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Copyright information This newspaper’s contents are protected by copyright and may be used only for personal, non-commercial purposes. All other rights are reserved. Commercial use is prohibited. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the newspaper. Complaint resolution The Lake Cowichan Gazette is a member of the National Newsmedia Council, which is an independent organization established to deal with acceptable journalistic practices and ethical behaviour. If you have concerns about editorial content, contact: editor@lakecowichangazette.com or 250-748-2666. If you are not satisfied with the response and wish to file a formal complaint, visit the mediacouncil. ca or call toll-free 1-844-877-1163 for additional information.
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LETTERS POLICY
The Lake Cowichan Gazette is a division of Black Press Limited, located at 170E-Cowichan Lake Rd. Mailing address: Box 10, Lake Cowichan, BC, V0R 2G0 Phone: 250-749-4383 Fax: 250-748-1552
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and the cars, there is someone else that is ultimately responsible: the people to whom the vehicles belong. Perhaps you thought you’d one day fix it up, but haven’t gotten around to it. It’s time to consider how many years it’s been. So call one of the places that will haul away your car for free. The whole community will thank you.
Lake Cowichan
Gazette YOUR LETTERS Small planes shouldn’t fly over communities Re: “Plane comes down on Highway 18” Yet another small plane has come down, this one in the valley, and both the pilot and anyone travelling on that highway are lucky no one was killed. Transport Canada allows them to fly in our area, so what happens if another engine quits and there is no highway or field to land on. These planes fly over Chemainus and directly over our house on every nice day, sometimes every 20 minutes or so. They are extremely noisy, often flying round and round over town, sometimes cutting their engines as they dive and back-
SUBSCRIBE TODAY firing as the engine is started again. I am not saying these people shouldn’t fly, but they should not be flying over any community, let alone ours. Bernice Ramsdin Chemainus
Battle on to get the scraps of pot revenue Now the battle is on for what “orts” that the governments are likely to have left over, after they have found a way to squeeze as much as they can from good old pot. After years of squandering million upon millions of taxpayers’ money — narc squads with all the paraphernalia, police
forces doing mass burnings of the weed when found, etc. — we now see a government concocting ways to reap money off the growers and retailers. What a bunch of hypocrites, protecting the public from itself in case we do harm to ourselves? More likely did we leave any loopholes? As for the cities getting even a nickel, do not hold you breath. What have you lot done to expect such largesse? Will any clothing manufactured from the stems be taxed? Editor, you have not seen anything like this. Think of that movie entitled Greed; this subject is like a re-run on the television. George Manners Cowichan Bay
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www.lakecowichangazette.com | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | Wednesday, March 02, 2016 5
Street Beat
With Malcolm Chalmers
The Gazette asked: If there’s grant money, are facelifts for Lake Cowichan’s downtown building facades a good idea?
Gary Fales “Yes. It makes the town more attractive, then hopefully someone will open up a business, or tear some of them down.”
Mike Breeze “Yes. It would give them some curb appeal to help improve the look of the community.”
Letters to the editor No pilot practises over built-up areas Re: the letter from Bernice Ramsdin of Chemainus (page 4): As a pilot of more than 35 years, presently holding a Commercial licence and owner of one of the small planes that Ms. Ramsdin is so critical of, I can assure her that no pilot purposely practises aeronautical manoeuvres over any built-up area. That said, the Canadian Aeronautical Regulations state that, in an emergency, a pilot may land an aircraft anywhere. The pilot who safely landed on Highway 18 the other day has my personal congratulations for carrying out an engine-out landing so successfully. What would Ms. Ramsdin have had the pilot do? Crash into a field full of holes or animals? Ms. Ramsdin should also know that pilots regularly practise emergencies of all sorts, from loss of electrical power to loss of engine power. They are tested on their emergency knowledge and the manner in which they carry out an emergency. Such practices are carried out AWAY from built-up areas. Knowledge of emergencies is a requirement of aircraft owners’ insurance. Furthermore, Nanaimo Regional Airport is located just northwest of Chemainus. Aircraft large and small use the only available runway for both landing and take-off. We are required to avoid noise-sensitive areas in the vicinity of the airport; in fact, virtually all airports in Canada and the United States have such avoidance procedures. Pilots are not allowed to perform the types of manoeuvres mentioned by Ms. Ramsdin — “flying round and round over town, cutting their engine [and] starting up again,” diving and backfiring. Any aircraft doing that sort of thing, large or small, should be reported to the nearest air traffic control facility
which, in Ms. Ramsdin’s case, is the Nanaimo Regional Airport. A commission operates the airport; she may call 250-245-2157 to complain.
Hydro is asking for another four per cent increase in our rates. They spend thousands to advertise on how to reduce your energy consumption such as turn down the thermostat, put on a sweater, unplug unnecessary equipment and so forth. Now that we have done this, they turn around and put our rates up to equal the savings we may have made. This is very hypocritical of them. Of course, they have gone to the Utilities Commission to make their case and will most likely get what they want because they are just following the directive put out by the Clark government to increase rates by 25 per cent. Is the intent to show that Hydro is no longer a functioning body and is going deeper into debt so that it can be privatized? The Liberal coffers will be overflowing with all the millions of donations from those who would come to Hydro’s rescue. If you thought that your rates are going to skyrocket because of the cost of Site C, then wait for where they will be if Hydro is privatized. We need an election now in order to save what is left in the public’s hands. The legislative buildings could be sold and turned into a tourist destination showcasing the cardboard cutouts of politicians of the past who have sold out the province to the highest bidder. Ed Aiken Cobble Hill
Roger Grosskleg
William Stone
“Yes. It brings people into town. People would appreciate their own community and that builds community pride.”
“Yes, sure it is. The town looks very dated. We have all these new roads and sidewalks but all the facades are looking old.”
“Absolutely, we need all we can get around here, build it up a little more. It’s such a beautiful town. I think we could use a facelift on quite a few different places around here.”
Bowing to the power of judges Tom Fletcher
BC Views
Manuel Erickson Mill Bay
Is this the precursor to privatization?
Pat Foster
O
ne of the enduring legacies of Pierre Trudeau’s time as prime minister is the legal supremacy of the individual, as articulated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. We are seeing this played out with greater force than ever today, by an activist high court that swatted aside Stephen Harper’s attempts to restrain it, and now orders a meek, politically correct Justin Trudeau government to do its bidding. The federal court decreed last week that people have the right to grow their own “medical” marijuana. This ruling is unlikely to be appealed, given that Trudeau the Younger is committed to legalizing marijuana for everyone. There are conditions that show measurable relief from marijuana products, such as glaucoma or the nausea and loss of appetite associated with cancer treatments. But much of the so-called medical marijuana industry is based on unsubstantiated claims about an inconsistent herbal remedy that hasn’t been studied much because it’s been illegal. The federal court case involves four people from B.C., which boasts more than half of the contested medical marijuana growing licences issued
Free, public bike fix-it station a good move Article re: CVRD bike fix-it station: Kudos to the staff of the CVRD who installed the bike
across the country. One of the petitioners suffers from a vaguely defined condition known as “chronic fatigue syndrome,” which led to a disability pension from a federal civil service job at age 45. The judge cited no research to support the claim that sitting around smoking dope all day relieves this condition. Indeed it defies common sense that a set of symptoms with no identified cause, which might be confused with what we used to call laziness, would be alleviated by chronic consumption of a drug that promotes eating chips and watching TV. But we peasants aren’t supposed to question our monarchs, especially those in ermine-trimmed red robes at the Supreme Court of Canada. That court has decreed that our charter, which in Section 7 protects the “right to life, liberty and security of the person,” includes a right to have a doctor’s help to commit suicide. Euthanasia has been re-branded as “assisted dying” by all the most “progressive” countries, and Canada has been given a firm deadline to join the club. (Meanwhile, the term “right to life” is all but banned from university campuses, to minimize the risk of a coarse literal interpretation that it means, you know, a right to life.) A Liberal-dominated committee of MPs and senators has recommended full-throttle implementation, not restricted to terminal illness and including mental conditions such as depression and dementia.
fix-it station. The location is well suited for the volume of cyclists who use the community centre. Sandra McPherson Duncan
The majority suggested even “mature minors” should have this new right. The politicians support allowing doctors to opt out of cases they won’t condone, as long as they provide a referral to another doctor. In Belgium, one of the pioneers of this brave new world, most of the growing number of euthanasia patients have had cancer. But as The New Yorker magazine reported in a ground-breaking article last summer, others have been euthanized because of autism, anorexia, partial paralysis, blindness with deafness, manic-depression and yes, chronic fatigue syndrome. B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake expressed the hope that Canada ends up with a consistent policy on doctor-assisted suicide, rather than a provincial patchwork. The closest Lake came to politically incorrect criticism was to caution that “deep discussion” is needed around the court’s notion of a “competent minor,” someone not yet entrusted with the vote or access to a liquor store. Three dissenting Conservative MPs went so far as to say the recommendations don’t adequately protect seniors who might be coerced into checking out and passing on their estates. How old-fashioned. Tom Fletcher is B.C. legislature reporter and columnist for Black Press. Email: tfletcher@blackpress.ca Twitter: @tomfletcherbc
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6 Wednesday, March 02, 2016 | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | www.lakecowichangazette.com
ANTI-BULLYING
Pink Shirt Day at school, beyond
JAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE
A wave of pink took over much of Lake Cowichan last week during Pink Shirt Day, an anti-bullying campaign that’s been embraced across Canada by schools, businesses and private citizens. At the local branch of the Vancouver Island Regional Library, staff members participate every year by wearing pink shirts but this year decided to pull together book displays of related materials. “We pulled lots of books about bullying and inter-personal conflict,” said library manager Kristen Rumohr. “We’ve got lots of stuff in our kids books about what is bullying, cyber bullying, that sort of thing. And some in our adult literature, sort of adult interactions and how adults can support kids in dealing with bullying and that sort of thing.” Rumohr recommended parents check out bullying expert Barbara Coloroso’s The Bully, the Bullied, and the Bystander, which the library carries. “She actually talks about different kids’ roles in bullying. So kids who are doing bullying, kids that are being bullied and the bystanders and how those three groups interact,” said Rumohr. “So it’s a lot about how you can support all the kids who are involved in a bullying interaction.” Pink Shirt Day was first organized in 2007 by two students in Berwick, Nova Scotia, after a male classmate was bullied for wearing a pink shirt.
It was a rosy afternoon at Lake Cowichan School where students participated in Pink Shirt Day, a national anti-bullying campaign that got its start at a school in Nova Scotia in 2007 after a male student was bullied for wearing a pink shirt. The campaign has since spread across the country.
Diana Hutton, left, and Kristen Rumohr at the library have a selection of anti-bullying books.
2016 COWICHAN LAKE
VISITOR’S GUIDE Points of interest • Content about Lake Cowichan area • 10,000 + Circulation • Island Visitor Centres • Full colour guide • In Time for Sunfest which attracts over, 22,000 visitors • Limited space • Handy book size To advertise in this visitors guide, please call one of our reps.
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Heather Boehmer Heather.boehmer@cowichanvalleycitizen.com Vi Moffatt Violet.moffatt@cowichanvalleycitizen.com Darin Lashman Darin.lashman@cowichanvalleycitizen.com Lauri Meanley Lauri.meanley@cowichanvalleycitizen.com Shirley Skolos Publisher/Sales Director Shirley.skolos@cowichanvalleycitizen.com
Businesses like Lake Cowichan Country Grocer also participate in Pink Shirt Day with almost the entire staff donning pink to send an anti-bullying message. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE PHOTOS]
COMMUNITY
Kinette Club of Lake Cowichan aims to serve the district’s greatest needs JAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE
The Kinette Club of Lake Cowichan has officially been installed following its charter dinner on Saturday. Kinette Clubs exist across Canada and are all-women versions of the Kinsmen clubs, which aspire to serve a community’s greatest needs through volunteerism and fundraising. “There was a bunch of us women who wanted to be able to get together socially and decided it would be an excellent idea to give back to the community at the same time. So we meet once a month and we agreed that Kinettes was perfect for what we were looking to do,” said club president Kristal Mayo. The Kinette Club of Lake Cowichan currently has eight members most of whom were born and raised in the area. This is not the first Kinette Club in the lake district, but the previous one dissolved in the 1980s. “We just wanted to re-charter the club back into the community again,” said Mayo. The group’s charter plans began last summer. Like the Kinsmen, they will work to support the community in a variety of ways whether fundraising for larger projects (similar to the Kinsmen’s current initiative to raise money for the
Members of the new Kinette Club of Lake Cowichan at the group’s charter dinner on Saturday. [PHOTO SUBMITTED] playground at the Duck Pond) or simply providing an extra set of hands for a local charity or non-profit organization. A number of dignitaries from Kin Canada were present at the dinner including national director Andy Leitch, lower island deputy governor Steve Nahirnick and Lake Cowichan Kinsmen president Troy Douglas. “The Kinettes is new to us too,” said club secretary Sarah DeBodt. “We’re all still in the learning process of what it means to be part of the Kin Canada organization and be a Kinette.” DeBodt encouraged community members with questions to reach out to the group, which has a Facebook page. “If they see us out in town and they’re curious, don’t be afraid to ask,” she said.
www.lakecowichangazette.com | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | Wednesday, March 02, 2016 7
YOUBOU
Roadside vehicles low priority for province JAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE
Vehicles left more or less decaying along the roadsides of Youbou are proving a persistent problem for community members intent on cleaning up the area’s image, one with no clear KLAUS KUHN solution in sight. The topic was raised at an Area I town hall meeting last month, with some residents voicing frustration that no action has been taken to compel owners to move their derelict vehicles off of the roadside. Area I director Klaus Kuhn said he shares this frustration. “It makes the town look awful,” he said, noting he has identified between 10 and 15 derelict vehicles around the streets of Youbou. “If somebody has an old jalopy of a car sitting in the backyard somewhere and it’s not visible from the road, it’s not that big of an issue. But if you see the cars and they’re sitting on the side of the road — some of them haven’t been used in years — it’s not a pretty sight. And anybody who drives through there would say ‘Couldn’t they do anything about that?’” And while Kuhn said he has received many complaints over the years, at present there is nothing he, as a director at the Cowichan Valley Regional District, can do about it. Kuhn said that years ago he asked the CVRD to investigate the problem because he believed the vehicles were on private property and thus subject to the district’s bylaws prohibiting unused vehicles to be stored in that manner. It turned out that was not the case. “Most of these cars are sitting on the department of highways’ right-of-way,” said Kuhn. Because Youbou is not a municipality, its roadways and road allowance on either side belong to the province and therefore are not subject to CVRD rules and regulations. Ross Blackwell, district general manager of planning and development, described the situation as an example of “administration dysfunction” with the province’s Local Government Act, which he said does not provide regional district governments enough power to resolve such issues. “Folks have to then prevail upon the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure to resolve the issues,” said Blackwell. “I’m sure they would love to address the issues of vehicles and road rights but, again I’m not speaking for them, but my assessment of it is unless it poses a risk to safety, it’s probably going to take the position of a low-priority issue.” Blackwell said for now his advice to frustrated residents is to contact the province with their concerns if they would like to see vehicles removed from the roadsides. “It’s that inadequacy of the [Local Government Act] that gives us tools within that context,” he said. “It just doesn’t give us the ability to deal with that.” The RCMP does have the authority under the Motor Vehicle Act to remove abandoned and unregistered vehicles from the roadway, but according to Wes Olsen, RCMP detachment commander in Lake Cowichan, he and his officers tend not to interfere if a vehicle isn’t obstructing the flow of traffic. “Unless it’s been abandoned, say we’re driving between [Lake Cowichan] and Duncan and a vehicle’s been somewhat abandoned on the shoulder of the roadway and it’s been there for a certain period of time,” he said. “But if we’re talking like in around a residential area, say Youbou or Honeymoon Bay or even Lake Cowichan, if the vehicle’s not obstructing the drivability of the roadway we would normally not get involved.” Olsen said the line between the buffer on either
side of a street or roadway and a person’s front yard or private property isn’t always apparent. “What happens is a lot of times people will use that buffer zone as their own thinking it’s theirs so they can do with it as they please, and that’s where you find some problems with parking of RVs, unregistered vehicles, boats, those kinds of things,” he said. “Normally it’s not a big issue for us. We don’t get involved with proactive policing of those things because we don’t really consider it a police matter,” he said. According to Olsen, the RCMP is more often called in to keep the peace while
a solution is mediated because property owners are frequently unhappy about intervention from local or provincial governments. In an email to the Gazette, Sonia Lowe, public affairs officer with MOTI, acknowledged that the ministry has the authority to remove abandoned vehicles on highways and the right-of-way. “Ministry staff recently visited the area and did not identify any vehicles causing safety or maintenance concerns,” she said, responding to inquiries about the situation in Youbou. “The ministry works collaboratively with local government and the RCMP to address concerns about abandoned vehi-
cles when they arise and we look forward to any future discussions with them on this issue.” For now, Kuhn said he plans to bring his concerns to the ministry again. Kuhn has not tried speaking with property owners that have unused vehicles on the roadway because of a reaction he received when confronting a property owner directly during his first term as area director. “One of the owners simply said, ‘Look this is my s---, leave me alone.’ It’s an attitude problem by some people,” he said. “If we want to make this town a little more attractive, we’re going to have to do something.”
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8 Wednesday, March 02, 2016 | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | www.lakecowichangazette.com
LAKETOWN RANCH
Group aims to take the LEAD on Sunfest JAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE
Buskers, street vendors and even performances by some of the Sunfest acts — these are just some of the ideas being floated for the lead-up to the country musical festival outside Lake Cowichan. On Feb. 16, the Lake Economic Activity Development group held its first meeting of 2016. LEAD, a collection of local business owners and members of the public, was formed last year to capitalize on the development of Laketown Ranch
as an event location, most notably for the Sunfest Country Music Festival. The meeting was open to the public. “The leadership team has been very busy,” said LEAD chairperson Glenda Osborne-Burg, sharing the group’s mission statement, longterm goals and a list of partners or stakeholder groups (such as the Cowichan Lake Chamber of Commerce and Community Futures) that have expressed a desire to support LEAD’s activities. According to promotional material
handed out at the meeting, LEAD seeks to create “a long-term economic plan to develop the Cowichan Lake District into a vibrant centre that will include tourism, business and recreation,” with Sunfest serving as a “spark” to initiate bigger change for the community. Osborne-Burg and Coun. Bob Day, who is a liaison between LEAD and Lake Cowichan town council, have met with Sunfest owner Greg Adams and told the audience that there is the possibility of daytime concerts in Lake Cowichan
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during the festival. “Maybe we could imagine on Friday, Saturday and possibly Sunday country and western performers — not the headliners or the opening acts, but the next level down, so [still] pretty high up there on the ranking — playing at Saywell Park, the library stage and at central park and maybe over by the liquor store or the grocery store,” said Day. “Let’s imagine that.” Day said ideas like the local music events, sidewalk buskers and a farmer’s market that extends throughout the long weekend are all possibilities but can only happen if there is will from the community. “It’s going to be up to the community and the community economic [group] to pick the pieces that they think they can handle and build on them,” he said. LEAD estimates between 300 and 400 volunteers will be needed in the lead-up to and during Sunfest weekend in order to maximize the benefits for the lake area communities. In an email to the Gazette, Emmalee Brunt, Sunfest’s marketing and public relations manager, said the company has not confirmed additional programming such as mini concerts in town during the day. “Currently our primary focus is getting our new property at Laketown Ranch ready to go for Sunfest in July,” she said. “Our team is planning on being involved in a variety of community initiatives and events throughout the year, however our involvement right at this moment is ‘TBA’ since we are still very much focused on our move.” Cathy Robertson, general manager of Community Futures and a member of LEAD’s leadership team, is working on the group’s long-term economic plan for the community. She and Les Bowde, whose background is in business management and consulting, will use their expertise to engage with the community during Sunfest and learn more about what area residents envision for the lake’s future. “Local residents, the people who are the boots on the ground, who have the storefronts, who are involved in the community groups and already know how to make Lake Cowichan rock,” said Robertson. “We’re allowing them to take hold of that.” Robertson said it’s important for the community to begin laying the groundwork now for what they want to look like in five or 10 years. She said unless the lake wants to be solely known as the place where Sunfest happens, planning has to begin now.
www.lakecowichangazette.com | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | Wednesday, March 02, 2016 9
HEALTH TEAM
Heather Strong is a behavioural health clinician with the Cowichan Lake Primary Healthcare team. [JAMES GOLDIE/GAZETTE]
Fight your crooked thinking with Strong JAMES GOLDIE GAZETTE
Do you suffer from crooked thinking? Do you even know what crooked thinking is? If not, you aren’t alone and Heather Strong, behavioural health clinician with the Cowichan Lake Primary Healthcare team, is someone who can make sense of it for you. “It’s helping people understand how we tend to have some automatic thoughts in our lives that aren’t always helpful,” said Strong, using the example of a person assuming he’s done something wrong just because he passed someone in the street who didn’t say hello. Or getting internally angry or resentful towards that person for not sharing a greeting. “If we step back and think, ‘Hey that’s a bit crooked thinking because I don’t actually know what’s going on in their mind,’” said Strong. Cognitive distortion is the technical term for crooked thinking. Helping clients to identify and address problematic thought patterns is a big part of Strong’s job with the primary healthcare team. “ B e h av i o u r c h a n g e h a s
Meet the team: Following the loss of Lake Cowichan’s only doctor, a primary healthcare team was set up to help fill the gap. The Lake Cowichan Gazette is featuring profiles on each of the team members. always been a big part of my philosophy,” she said. “Things that we can do to increase quality of life through understanding how [our thinking] can get in the way of living our best.” Strong has been part of the team for two years and has many more years experience working in the field of child and youth mental health. One of the reasons she was attracted to the lake’s primary healthcare team, where each team member provides a different perspective on a client’s health and wellbeing, is because of the group’s proactive and preventative approach to health. “My goal is to work with people to get in and make changes before things get worse, or to help people live as best they can despite whatever it is they’re living with,” she said.
Strong provides counselling services, helps people navigate the healthcare system (linking them to relevant services, helping them with paperwork) and leads workshops on a variety of topics from stress-management to insomnia to smoking cessation. While the healthcare team’s services are free of charge, they are only available to adults living with at least one chronic condition, whether it’s something physical like arthritis or high blood pressure or something mental, like depression or anxiety. And according to Strong, such conditions can happen at any age. “Prevention is everybody’s message,” she said. “Often the people, when they’re here, are saying, ‘I wish I’d known about this in my 20s and 30s. I wish I had had this information about how to manage my stress better. I wish I had had this information years ago on how to manage my sleep issues better.’ Anything that might get in the way of somebody living as healthy as they can, we can help them take a look at and, potentially, address it.”
Appointment Andrew Franklin, Director of Digital Development is pleased to announce the appointment of Laura Baziuk as B.C. Digital Editor. Laura graduated from Carleton University’s journalism program in 2007. She worked in various newsrooms, including the Peace Arch News, the Province, the Canadian Press, and most recently, CKNW Radio. She spent four and a half years there, as a reporter and anchor, and was sent to Tofino to cover the whalewatching boat capsizing in 2015. Laura grew up in south Surrey and lives in Vancouver. She enjoys reading crime novels, baking and eating cookies! Please join us in congratulating Laura on her appointment as B.C. Digital Editor.
Laura Baziuk Black Press Digital
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10 Wednesday, March 02, 2016 | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | www.lakecowichangazette.com
www.lakecowichangazette.com | THE LAKE COWICHAN GAZETTE | Wednesday, March 02, 2016 11
COWICHAN LAKE
— With Malcolm Chalmers
SMILE FILE Name: Krysten Thomas Occupation: RCA Hometown: Youbou I’ve always wanted to: Travel the world Most people don’t know that I: Am really an open book Favourite food: Pasta Best thing about living here: The wildlife Favourite activity: Knitting Proudest moment: Wedding day How do you define down time: Fire outside and a glass of wine I wish I was better at: Driving If I was stuck on a desert island I would definitely need: My husband Favourite time of day is: Relaxing after dinner My guiltiest pleasure is: White wine My go-to wardrobe staple: Comfy sweaters In my car I listen to: Rock and country In my fridge you’ll find: Ranch dressing If I had a $1,000,000: Share it with family
Mary Lowther’s compost is almost ready to go onto the soil. [MARY LOWTHER PHOTO]
Outnumbered: slug season here Mary Lowther
Dig In
S
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lug season, referred to by the optimistic as spring, has finally arrived. I hope the gardening pundits are right when they say healthy plants withstand predation, because I plan on growing the best crops ever this year. For this I can thank Dr. William Albrecht, head of the Department of Agriculture of Missouri, who determined that to grow nutrient-dense plants one must balance the minerals in the soil. Solomon’s Complete Organic
Fertilizer contains minerals that West Coast soils generally need. If you’d like the recipe email me at mary_lowther@yahoo. ca. He also suggests that soft rock phosphate is best added to the compost heap instead of the mixture. The best time to add it is when you’re building the heap because it will bond with the compost over time as fermentation occurs and worms digest it with the clay and nutrients. The next best time is when the damp compost is nearly finished. Fermenting the rock phosphate for a month in the heap may more than triple the level of available phosphorus. Two weeks ago when we had a break in the weather, I tore apart my nearly-finished heap and added back in layers of clay, soft rock phosphate
and potassium, since the soil analysis showed a deficiency of potassium. Soft rock phosphate is preferred over hard rock phosphate since the latter does not release phosphorus nearly as well. How much rock phosphate should you add? Well, the recipe ideally calls for one quart per 100 square feet and I have 1,000 square feet of garden, so I need 10 quarts. Bone meal can serve as a less substantial substitute, so given how expensive soft rock phosphate is, I’m just using four quarts plus six quarts of bonemeal. The phosphate goes in the heap and the bonemeal goes into the rest of the COF mixture. That still leaves me with the slugs. It’s war to the death, and they have me outnumbered.
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