Aqua march april

Aqua Gulf Islands MARCH/APRIL 2018

COMFORT D FOO Jansen

Marcia n ustralia shares A ecipe story & r

Living

Volume 13, IssuE 2

Natural Wonders Forests of fairyslippers and other treasures of the Islands Trust Area

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8

TANTALIZERS! PAGE 6 COVER STORY

Islands Trust Fund does heavy lifting for conservation, PAGE 8

NATURE

Foraging in February? In the Gulf Islands, yes, it's possible, PAGE 15 Butchart Gardens ready for spring beauty, PAGE 35

anna herlitz photo

contents

MARCH/ APRIL 2018

31 24

ARTS

Bernard LeBlanc blends skill, passion and humour, PAGE 19

COMMUNITY

Southern Gulf Islands Emergency Services team on task 24/7, PAGE 31

COMFORT FOOD

Joan and Gillian McConnell and Australian Lemon Pudding, PAGE 36

Q&A

cherie thiessen photo

Galiano Inn owners retire after 17 years at the helm, PAGE 24

How St. John Point on Mayne Island was saved, PAGE 38

elizabeth nolan photo

19

Page 4 – AQUA – March/April 2018

michael murray photo

Editor’s Message

Fairyslipper footsteps

I

had lived on Salt Spring Island for about 10 years before I noticed something that popped my eyes open to the special nature of where we live. It was the proliferation of spring wildflowers.

In my little corner of the Coastal Douglas-fir Zone, spring gold arrives first, followed by blue-eyed Marys and monkey flowers, western starflowers, sea pink, fawn lilies, field chickweed, camas and others.

At one point I thought I had “catalogued” everything that bloomed on our property, when a midMay trek on a more remote trail introduced me to a new resident: Calypso orchids, also known as fairyslippers, quite appropriately. (They’re pictured on the cover.) It wasn’t surprising the orchids had eluded me for so long. Not only do they have a short blooming period in my forest but the Calypso name is derived from the sea nymph in Homer’s Odyssey, who was notoriously hard for Ulysses to find.

Like the Calypso orchid, the Islands Trust Fund,

which is the conservation arm of the Islands Trust local government body, sometimes flies below the radar. But it is absolutely critical to preserving wildflowers and much more in the Trust Area. My story in this issue celebrates the Trust Fund’s accomplishments over its 28-year history and one of its newest land acquisitions, the Fairyslipper Forest on Thetis Island. The high-profile purchase of St. John Point on Mayne Island completed in December makes for a complementary Q&A subject.

Other nature-related topics in this issue are local foraging, Butchart Gardens in the spring and the beautiful furniture created from wood by Bernard LeBlanc of Salt Spring Island.

We also have stories on Conny Nordin and Mel Gibb of Galiano Island, and the Southern Gulf Islands emergency services team, and Marcia Jansen’s Comfort Food column takes us to sunny Australia, reminding us that we will soon be basking in spring sunshine along with the wildflowers of the Gulf Islands.

— Gail Sjuberg

Aqua Gulf Islands

Living

This issue published March 7, 2018 Publisher: Amber Ogilvie Editor: Gail Sjuberg Art Director & Production: Lorraine Sullivan Advertising: Drew Underwood, Shirley Command Aqua Writers: Elizabeth Nolan, Marc Kitteringham, Gail Sjuberg, Cherie Thiessen, Anna Herlitz, Marcia Jansen Aqua Photographers: Marc Kitteringham, Anna Herlitz, Elizabeth Nolan, Cherie Thiessen, Marcia Jansen Cover photo of Calypso orchids (AKA fairyslippers) by Rob Underhill Aqua is published by Driftwood Publishing Ltd., 328 Lower Ganges Road, Salt Spring Island, B.C. V8K 2V3 Phone: 250-537-9933 / Email: news@driftwoodgimedia.com Websites: www.driftwoodgimedia.com; www.gulfislandstourism.com; www.gulfislandsdriftwood.com Publications Mail Reg. #08149 Printed in Canada

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most sought after costume and set designers for theatre, opera and ballet, at Stratford, Banff and the National Ballet, among others. An associated exhibit called Upstage Centre: Susan Benson - 50 years of Theatre Design will run at the same time. It will feature a beautiful collection of set Stained glass piece by South models, photographs, costumes, Pender Easter Art Walk participant Dana McConchie. sketches and books from many of Benson’s iconic productions.

• A Galiano tradition will continue stronger than ever with the Sale of Modern Antiques & Collectibles on Saturday, March 31 at the North Galiano Hall. The North Galiano Community Association fundraiser consists of a live auction from 11 a.m. to noon and inside sales taking place from noon to 1 p.m. Everything except footwear and clothing is accepted for donation at the sale, especially books, good condition household and garden items. For donation info, call Chuck Garland at 250-539-3387.

• Also on Easter weekend is the 19th annual South Pender Easter Art Walk. From 12 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 1, nine studios and galleries open their doors to visitors. Participating studios are marked this year with yellow painted umbrellas, and maps are available at each studio.

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• Activist musician Luke Wallace has several Gulf Islands stops on his upcoming tour in support of his new live album called Us, which includes a track recorded with Salt Spring’s Raging Grannies. Wallace is on Mayne Island on March 10, Saturna on March 11, Victoria March 14 and Salt Spring on March 16.

The following week, March 21, he visits Pender Island, and then Sidney on March 22 before heading further afield. The Saturna show is a fundraiser for community hall renovations on that island.

• The 12th annual Salt Spring Easter Art Show promises to be unforgettable. Artist Susan Benson’s Portrait of an Island exhibit, consisting of more than 150 portraits in oil of people who call Salt Spring Island home, runs at Mahon Hall from March 30 to April 8. Benson has a portrait in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery of Canada, and was a semi-finalist in the prestigious BP Portrait Award in London, England. She was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts in 1986.

Benson worked for many Susan Benson's portraits of islanders. years as one of Canada’s

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Cover Story

Special places protected through Islands Trust conservation work STORY BY GAIL SJUBERG Photos as credited

U

ntil recently, Thetis Island was the only major Trust Area island without a publicly accessible nature reserve.

That changed in January when the Fairyslipper Forest sale was officially completed, marking the end of a multi-year fundraising effort.

“The protection of Fairyslipper Forest is truly a story of community,” says Jennifer Eliason, manager of the Islands Trust Fund (ITF), the Islands Trust's land preservation arm. “Thetis Island is a small community, but when a team of dedicated volunteers turned their minds to protecting this special forest, which holds part of a popular hiking trail, there was really no stopping them.”

The Thetis Island Nature Conservancy (ThINC) was initiated in 2012, explains group chair Ann Erikkson. Just as the society was finding its legs, a 16-hectare (40-acre) property on Burchell Hill was put up for sale by a long-time island family.

“We launched into this really crazy fundraising campaign,” Erikkson recalls.

The aim was to raise $560,000, beginning with a base of only 350 year-round residents, and about 250 more who own property on the 10-square-kilometre island. The young nature conservancy embarked on a pledge drive, to which 140 island residents and property owners eventually donated. But because ThINC did not have charitable status, another body was needed to hold the donations.

The Cowichan Community Land Trust was happy to fill that role, and proved an invaluable partner.

“This type of collaboration and cooperation is really why I love conservation work,” says Eliason, who previously worked as executive director for the Habitat Aquisition Trust.

The final $210,000 needed came through an endowment fund created by Syd Watts and Barbara Dowd, who had recognized the Cowichan Community Land Trust in their will. Other major contributions came from the Sitka Foundation ($50,000), the Ministry Page 8 – AQUA – March/April 2018

of Transportation and Infrastructure’s Environmental Enhancement Fund ($5,000) and the Gosling Foundation ($2,500).

Erikkson said the land owners were generous in giving the parties the time to raise the funds, and that help from both the CCLT and the ITF was absolutely essential.

The Fairyslipper Forest, named for a beautiful Calypso orchid species that grows there, is part of the globally rare Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone, to which all of the Trust Area belongs, and includes provincially red-listed plant communities.

“It was a lot of work but also a real community-building project,” says Erikkson.

CONSERVATION RATIONALE

Anyone who lives in the Islands Trust Area should be familiar with the Trust's “preserve and protect” mandate. But in order to truly protect lands on a Trust Area island — ensuring no habitat is destroyed by logging activities or replaced by a home — they must be protected by a conservation covenant or be purchased and turned into a nature reserve. The use of development permit areas and other land-use regulations may guide development to be done in the most responsible manner possible, but if a property is zoned for residential use, a house, at least, can be built on that property, regardless of the rare species the land may be home to.

Enter the Islands Trust Fund, which is administered by the Trust Fund Board (TFB), consisting of Islands Trust trustees and members of the public appointed by the B.C. government.

While the Islands Trust was created by provincial legislation in 1974, the ITF and TFB came into being in 1990. Since then, 103 properties totalling 1,270 hectares (or 3,140 acres) have received some form of protection via the Trust’s land and covenant-holding arm.

kristine mayes photo

On the Ground

PARTNERS IN PROTECTION

Just as species and the ecosystems they inhabit are interdependent, so is the process of land preservation in the Islands Trust Area.

Local groups are usually the driving force behind fundraising while the ITF provides technical support, expertise, communications and sometimes grant writing.

“What these groups have managed to achieve in fundraising, considering small island populations, is amazing,” says Law. The ITF’s latest project is a partnership with the Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy to raise $250,000 to complete the purchase of an 11.6-hectare (28-acre) property known as Salish View. Located next to Squitty Bay Provincial Park, it is a species-rich property and described as providing “one of the best marine views on the West Coast.”

It also includes “shoreline to ridgetop” biodiversity, which Eliason says is particularly valuable.

“We now have 10 months to raise the funds necessary to protect the beautiful forest and rocky viewpoint,” says Eliason.

gordon scott photo

Twenty-eight of the properties covering 656 hectares (1,620 acres) are nature reserves owned by the Islands Trust Fund. A further 615 hectares (1,520 acres) are protected by conservation covenants.

“We are always thrilled to connect with residents and property owners who share the goal of preserving special places," says Tony Law, a longtime Hornby Island trustee and current TFB chair who has served on the board for some 15 years in two different stints. “Most of our nature reserves and covenanted areas are in place because individual property owners knew they had something special on their land that they wanted to see endure into the future.”

Above: 350-year-old Douglas fir tree gets a hug on Salish View property on Lasqueti Island.

Previous page: Pacific tree frog on Salt Spring.

Next page: Salish View property for which fundraising is now underway.

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Islands Trust Fund Year established:

1990 Hectares protected so far: 1,270

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Special places protected:

Page 10 – AQUA – March/April 2018

103

The story in numbers ...so far

Nature reserves:

28 (656 hectares) Covenants: 75 (615 hectares) NAPTEP covenants: 24 Islands with protected lands: 16

Law observes that partnering groups appreciate the high level of staff expertise and stability provided by the Islands Trust Fund.

“Very often, what we can offer helps the vision of conservation-minded property owners and island communities become a reality.”

Financial resources are critical, of course. Last year the Islands Trust allotted $737,000, or about 10 per cent of its total budget, to ITF and board operations.

“Having core funding for staffing and administration allows us to use every donated dollar directly on conservation,” says Eliason, which is not the case with many conservancies. “We are able to achieve a lot with a very modest budget because we are part of the Islands Trust and are supported by islanders.”

The ITF also relies on island conservancies to help with management planning and on-the-ground monitoring of nature reserves.

“We would be hard pressed to maintain some of our nature reserves at their present high standard without this dedicated local involvement,” says Law. “There are also a number of joint covenanting arrangements."

One area that has changed in recent years, and which is reflected not only in the ITF's new Regional Conservation Plan but in the Islands Trust as a whole,

is in strengthening relationships with First Nations.

“At the Islands Trust Fund we see potential alliances with First Nations who have lived for millennia in close relationship with the natural world. We look forward to learning about their knowledge, interests and visions for the future and developing partnerships,” says Law.

NAPTEP & ECOGIFTS

Twenty-four of the ITF’s covenants, covering 78 hectares (192 acres), came about through the Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Plan (NAPTEP), which gives property owners a 65 per cent break on property taxes that would have been applied to the covenanted area.

“There are some really special island landscapes protected through NAPTEP,” says Eliason. “At this point the program is unique to the Islands Trust and it represents a very cost-effective way of protecting ecosystems values on privately held land.”

Meanwhile, the federal government’s Ecological Gifts Program, which also provides tax benefits, has been helpful too.

“We have received a large number of Ecological Gifts and in some cases the benefits of the program have been critical to the project's success.”

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 11

About the Name Islands Trust Council has asked the provincial government to rename the Islands Trust Fund to the Islands Trust Conservancy to make the agency's purpose more clear. It’s hoped the change might happen in the near future.

“It is awkward to always have to explain what we are before we can start talking about what we do, when the right name, ‘Islands Trust Conservancy,’ could convey our function,” says current Trust Fund Board chair Tony Law.

kristine mayes photo

Connect with the Islands Trust Fund

Above: Pileated woodpecker on Salt Spring Island.

At right: Chocolate lily on Brooks Point, South Pender Island.

Page 12 – AQUA – March/April 2018

• Subscribe to the electronic newsletter called The Heron.

• Check out the www.islandstrustfund.bc.ca website. The How Do I? section answers questions islanders might have about conservation.

• Learn how to give financial support to the Islands Trust Fund for a specific acquisition, as a general tax-deductible gift or part of estate planning; • Learn about preserving special features on your property through the Islands Trust’s Natural Area Protection Tax Exemption Program and the federal government’s Ecological Gifts Program.

“It’s important to protect representative ecosystems so that we have a bit of everything preserved.”

islands trust staff photo

carrina maslovat photo

— JENNIFER ELIASON

From top: Biologist Jennifer Balke works in Morrison Marsh on Lasqueti Island; Kikuchi family in the Frog Song Forest they protected with a conservation covenant on North Pender Island; Islands Trust Fund manager Jennifer Eliason, and Trust Fund Board chair and Hornby Island trustee Tony Law.

Solid Science Guides Trust Fund Board Decisions Sensitive ecosystems account for 40 per cent of the Trust Area land base, but only 21 per cent of those ecosystems are in protected areas.

While many special island places have been protected in the past 28 years, there is still more work to do.

Two recently finalized documents help the Islands Trust Fund and Trust Fund Board determine where to focus its energy. One is the 10-year Regional Conservation Plan, which was finalized in January.

TFB chair Tony Law points to a couple of highlights in the plan. One is a goal to strengthen relationships with First Nations to identify and collaborate on shared conservation goals. Another is the information it contains about each island: "the sensitive ecosystems, protected land, converted land, species at risk and priorities for protection. This information can support conservation planning and decision-making at the local as well as the regional level.”

The other document is the Land Securement Strategy, spearheaded by ITF ecosystem protection specialist Kate Emmings. It contains a list of 114 priority lands the ITF has identified as having special features using a GIS-based tool that analyzes multiple layers of data.

“This data includes sensitive ecosystem mapping, species at risk data, threats in the form of roads and subdivision potential, and also looks at adjacency and connections to existing protected areas,” explains ITF manager Jennifer Eliason.

The Land Securement Strategy priority list is helpful for when a conservation proposal is presented by landowners or conservancies.

“At this time we are still a fairly reactive organization,” says Eliason. “Now with the list of priority lands, when we receive conservation proposals, we can put them up against the GIS modelling we’ve done and say ‘Yes, this is on the list.’”

“It’s important to protect representative ecosystems so that we have a bit of everything preserved,” she adds. “Hopefully there’s some refuge for representative species on the islands.”

The Land Securement Strategy and Regional Conservation Plan help the ITF and TFB determine if they should spend time and resources on a particular land purchase or covenant.

“We’ve done a lot of background work, so we can do a thorough job of giving the Trust Fund Board the information they need to make a decision.”

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 13

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Food

From Forest to Table Respectful Foraging in the Islands

Kristen Battle photo

Story by MARC KITTERINGHAM Photos as credited

The birds were singing happily in the trees when I got out of the car. It was

one of the first days without rain in a long time, and everyone seemed to be out enjoying it. A few steps away from the car was a trailhead that led somewhere to my dinner.

Foraging has grown in popularity over the last few years. Many of the world’s greatest chefs have been bringing a forest-to-table menu to their restaurants, turning foodies all over into foraging aficionados. Books have been written extolling the virtues of useful wild plants, and hyper-specific local food movements have sprouted up all over the world.

However, the traditional knowledge about how to forage has been lost.

Colonization and residential schools have taken this cultural information from First Nations peoples in Canada while supermarkets filled with the latest wonders of food scientists have people addicted to eating things that barely resemble food.

Earl Claxton Jr. is an elder of the Tsawout First Nation of the Saanich (WSANEC) tribe. He teaches young people about the traditional knowledge and practices when it comes to food.

He has seen the amount of quality wild foods drop drastically since he was a

child. Ocean pollution has made much of the seafood the Saanich peoples used to rely on become inedible. Claxton remembers gathering clams and shellfish when he was a kid and how they’ve changed over the years.

“There’s a blackness inside it when it used to have white flesh,” he says.

“The clams have become poisoned and are contaminated. I had to stop eating them.”

Claxton also believes that the amount of pollution in the oceans and in the traditional foods is an infringement on treaty rights. These rights allow him to gather fish and other seafood freely, but neglecting to provide environmental protections against pollution has indirectly hindered his ability to do so.

“I think that in regards to the clams the government has really let us down in regards to protecting our treaty rights,” says Claxton. “They haven’t taken care of the ocean. They need to clean up what they’re putting in there.”

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 15

While foraging is relatively easy and completely cost-free, it does take a toll on the natural environment. Removing something from nature has an impact. A sustainable practice for foraging is to only take what you need, leaving the rest for other people or animals who rely on wild foods to survive. After years of pollution, pesticides and monocultures, a forager’s responsibility is to have as little impact as possible on the land.

Kristen Battle photo

A WINTER OUTING

marc kitteringham photo

Preparing the stinging nettle meant awkwardly wearing gardening gloves in the kitchen.

My plan was pretty simple. I wanted to find something that was in season and easily identifiable so I wouldn’t accidentally poison myself. The main hurdle was the fact that my foraging experiment would occur in early February. Even though Salt Spring Island is famous for its mild climate and long growing season, winter is a hard time to find edible food in the woods. There were, however, a few plants that I could use. I was looking for stinging nettles, which have a nasty sting when they are raw, but that goes away after cooking. I also wanted to find chickweed, an edible grass and cedar, which would infuse whiskey for use in a cocktail.

I found the nettles easily. There was a patch of them growing a few metres from the trailhead that had just sprouted a few days before. I cut a few plants at the base and put them in a paper bag, careful to not touch the stinging hairs with my bare hands.

Turns out the rest of the expedition was a bit harder. The area I was searching was full of new green shoots. There were leaves of every size and shape I could think of, and none of them looked edible to me. I recognized holly, snowberries and buttercup sprouts, which are all inedible (snowberries can actually kill you), but nothing that looked edible.

One plant that did catch my eye looked a bit like chickweed, but I wasn’t sure. Thankfully I had cell service and was able to do a quick online search. An image comparison proved that it was the right plant.

Chickweed grows in clumps, a lot like clover would, often covering the forest floor. I only needed a little of this plant and it turns out that it was everywhere.

Things are a lot harder to see if you don’t know what you’re looking for.

I was able to fill up two bags of greens for my dinner, and harvest a few sprigs of fresh cedar growth.

Kristen Battle photo

HEALTHIER CHOICES

From top: Putting toppings on nettle flatbread; sauteeing the nettles and onion; into the oven.

Previous page, from top: Cedar, chickweed and nettles; Marc Kitteringham handling nettles in the kitchen.

Page 16 – AQUA – March/April 2018

Foraged foods tend to be healthier than harvested foods. Modern food production relies so much on processing to boost shelf life and flavour that most of the nutrients are removed. These nutrients lead to foods rotting faster because they also benefit the bacteria we compete with for the food. Eating seasonally and locally can lead to a diet that has more nutritional variety and is healthier in the long run.

Protecting the traditional knowledge around food is important to Claxton. He has seen how young people have become disinterested in traditional foods and how eating a western diet (one high in processed foods, sugar and fat) has brought about health problems for First Nations people. Studies reported in 2012 and 2014 found that returning to a traditional diet would alleviate these health problems almost overnight.

INTO THE KITCHEN

Prep time. I originally wanted to make a meal entirely out of foods that I’d foraged, but doing so in February would have meant nibbling on a few shoots. Summer really is the time of plenty here. Blackberries are so prolific they are kind of a nuisance, and almost everything else found in the woods can be used for some purpose.

Every year the First Nations people who lived in the area would preserve these summer foods by drying and compressing berries into cakes. They would store the cakes until times were difficult in the winter, when they would rehydrate the berries in water and eat

them. Salmon was also a major stable to their diet. Men would work the over 150 reef nets in the waters around Salt Spring Island to bring home sockeye salmon.

Since I had done no work to preserve foods from the summer, I was stuck with the few things I could forage from the winter woods.

To make it easier, I decided to add foraged foods to something I already knew how to cook. I made flatbread with sauteed stinging nettle, red onion and balsamic glaze. Preparing the stinging nettle meant awkwardly wearing gardening gloves in the kitchen. I tore off the leaves, rinsed them in cold water and added them to the already simmering onions. Cooking nettles neutralizes the stinging effect. When it had cooked down, I put the nettle-onion mix onto a flatbread crust I’d baked beforehand and put the entire thing into the oven on broil.

The cocktail — a cedar rye whiskey sour — was easy to make. When rye whiskey is infused with cedar for about a week, it takes on the smell and flavour of the wood. The citrus of the lemon paired beautifully with the cedar of the whiskey. It was definitely something I would make again.

courtesy www.flavourtrails.com

Claxton agrees with the findings, saying that “for First Nations, this kind of food was our diet in the past. When the WENITEM or white man introduced different foods they really made our people sick. We need to get back to our old diet of eating more salmon, fish and eating berries.

Our people ate lots of salmon in days past and regularly lived over 100 years because of that good diet . . . Our people are dying from their food.”

Tsawout First Nation elder Earl Claxton, Jr. shares traditional knowledge of local food.

By the time I finished the cocktail, the flatbread was finished. The nettles tasted a lot like kale, and also paired quite well with the drink.

Food is one of the natural wonders that can be found anywhere in the Gulf Islands.

Enjoying it requires respect for the lands and the local traditions, respect for the environment and having knowledge about how to do so safely. In return, there is a bounty of healthy and delicious food to be had.

Ask our residents:

Life is divine here.

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Artisans

Zeal for the Well Made Bernard LeBlanc’s custom woodwork shop on Salt Spring

courtesy bernard leblanc

STORY BY ELIZABETH NOLAN Photos as credited

A

deep appreciation for the well-crafted item and a willingness to take on any challenge have driven the work life of Bernard LeBlanc, a designer and maker of high-end wooden cabinetry and furniture who has called Salt Spring home since 2015.

LeBlanc and his wife Laura Paul will have lived on the island for three years in June. Having previously lived in the opposite extremes of tiny Saturna Island and busy Richmond, they know how to make ends meet in a community of 350 and also what it means to fade into the noise of Metro Vancouver. In either case, LeBlanc’s mastering of traditional joinery techniques and all the elements of a project from start to finish have led him to stand out among other craftspeople.

LeBlanc has a lifelong history of pushing through selfinflicted learning challenges. As an Acadian who spoke only French he enrolled at the English-speaking University of New Brunswick with a double major in fine arts and French literature. He claims he went from being a straight-A student to getting an average of 30 per cent at first, because he couldn’t understand what the professors were talking about, but in the end he both learned English and received his degree in good standing.

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 19

courtesy bernard leblanc

simon henson photo

Above: Bernard LeBlanc in his Salt Spring workshop.

At right: Detail of a carved door made from Honduras mahogany.

Below: Broadleaf maple bowls.

Previous page, from top: LeBlanc polishes just completed cabinets at a Salt Spring residence; dovetail corner of a platform bed frame made of eastern maple.

“That’s where I developed a love of things that are well made, and that’s stayed with me,” LeBlanc says over tea at his Sky Valley Road home.

LeBlanc started his professional career with New Brunswick’s Department of Historical Resources as museum curator at a historic French Acadian village, with a focus on traditional furniture.

He moved on to Ottawa before embarking on a path that would see him learn all the skills necessary to become a furniture designer and maker, cabinet maker, wood turner and carver.

In the course of this journey he would also become a builder of log homes and a yacht finisher. He attended workshops and lectures whenever he could but otherwise is self-taught. In the early years he would spend eight hours a day doing construction work Page 20 – AQUA – March/April 2018

and then come home to put another four to six hours of his own time into the studio.

“I spent quite a bit of time studying Japanese construction, quite a bit of time studying the Arts and Crafts movement in England, the Edward Barnsley group,” LeBlanc explains. “I’m very much influenced by American architects: Greene and Greene, Frank Lloyd Wright, and cabinet makers George Nakashima and Sam Maloof.

“Luckily for me I was never trained, so I can make a whole pile of mistakes and I don’t know any better,” he laughs. “I can try different ideas, and ignorance is bliss sometimes. So I was never constrained in the sense that many cabinet makers will not do finishing. Cabinet makers will not do carving because if you want something carved, you go to a carver; if you want something turned, you go to a wood-turner.”

LeBlanc meanwhile took on all those tasks and more, quite happily.

Making money as a woodworker is another challenge that LeBlanc has overcome. Over the first six or so years, he says, people were always asking if he could make them a chair for a better price than IKEA. “I can’t even buy material to make a chair for what you can buy at IKEA,” LeBlanc says. “And I think it’s been something that’s plagued crafts people — Edward Barnsley and all those guys. You really need a select clientele who can afford it. If you want to do high-quality work, you just have to put in the hours.”

While living on Saturna, where Paul was the public health nurse, LeBlanc was fortunate to meet clients from powerful and wealthy business families who lived in Vancouver but had homes on the island. Designing and making their pieces put LeBlanc on the map with other significant clients and produced some marvels for his portfolio, such as a double arbutus wood door carved with a design of the arbutus tree he made for a member of the Weyerhaeuser family. LeBlanc went on to create a custom library out of solid cherry and wainscoting for the same person.

A couple named Joe and Elizabeth Jarvis were frequent travellers to Japan and into Japanese style, so LeBlanc read a lot about the architecture and furniture to incorporate that influence in their home.

“Basically if it was made out of wood I said ‘I’ll never say no.’ And I was very lucky. I had some very wonderful clients, and they let me experiment,” LeBlanc says.

Most of the time it’s just LeBlanc, although occasionally he hires apprentices to work with him. Paul has become his de facto consultant, accountant and secretary since retiring from her professional career.

When starting a project he likes to go to people’s homes first to see what their taste is like — classic, modern, Scandinavian or French, for example — and create pieces to work with that. He starts with a drawing, then often does a full-sized mock-up in cardboard to see how it will fit the space. Then he starts building.

Although he enjoys all parts of the process, LeBlanc loves doing the design work the most.

“Once I’ve figured out the challenge, or the problem, it’s just a matter of doing it. People see woodwork as romantic. It’s not really in actuality. There’s a lot of stuff that just has to be done: it’s got to be sanded, it has to be fitted just right,” he explains.

At the beginning of the 1990s the family split their two decades on Saturna with two years in Hawaii. Dur-

“I was very lucky. I had some very wonderful clients, and they let me experiment.”

courtesy bernard leblanc

courtesy bernard leblanc

— BERNARD LEBLANC

Above: Sideboard made from Saturna Island broadleaf maple and door panels of quilted maple. At right: Door entrance made of Honduras mahogany.

ing that time LeBlanc worked for a “wonderful outfit” called Martin & MacArthur, where he had the opportunity to learn about traditional Hawaiian koa wood furniture and also more about Japanese styles.

These days he tries to stay with Canadian woods like oak, maple, cherry and especially wood from the West Coast like broad-leaf maple and alder. Since being on Salt Spring he prefers to never leave the island if possible. He sources wood locally from Callum Wright or if he’s in a hurry uses sustainable regional suppliers like West Wind Hardwood or a distributor in Vancouver that sells wood from trees that have come down in storms.

“I like to use wood that would be cut up for firewood anyway,” LeBlanc says.

Homeowners who get what LeBlanc does really get it; including the fact that their custom pieces could potentially stay with the family long after they are gone.

“People have chosen pieces for certain events that are memorable for them,” Paul says, describing a rocking chair that LeBlanc was commissioned to make for a 50th wedding anniversary. One half of the couple has since passed on, but their children know the story. “That’s really nice, when it goes to the next generation.”

Having officially retired two years ago, LeBlanc is now at the point where he can choose the projects he’s interested in. But he is quite impressed by his neighbours, a couple who are one year on either side of 90 and both active, healthy seniors. His heroes like Sam Maloof worked to a similar age.

“Boredom is one of my huge enemies, but I never get bored because I say ‘Oh, I’m going to try this’ or ‘I’m going to try that,’” LeBlanc says. “I’ve never lost my love of woodworking.”

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Islanders

Changing of the Guard Conny Nordin reflects on 17 years with the Galiano Inn & Spa

By CHERIE THIESSEN | Photos as credited

“I think what I’m most proud of is the creation of a space that has become the heart of the community for so many events,” Conny Nordin is telling me.

jason gibb photo

We’re sitting in the Galiano Inn’s spa, the only space we can find in the midst of the renovations going on in the lounge and restaurant areas. “It’s a space where local people get married, hold their special events, or just come and hang out on the patio. When you’re new to a small community, there’s a hesitancy, locals wonder: ‘Who are these people? Are they just going to come in here and make a bunch of changes and then leave?

Are they going to fit into the community or change things too much?’ It took a long time for Mel and I to find our place here and for people to recognize that what we built here wasn’t ours, it’s theirs. This belongs to Galiano.”

After 17 years, Conny Nordin and Mel Gibb have closed the door on their lives as owners and managers of the popular oceanfront southern Gulf Islands boutique hotel. Retirement takes many forms, however, and for this energetic couple, it will probably look much the same as before, with Gibb designing, building and dreaming up improvements on the island, and Nordin still involved in community events and businesses, only now solely as a volunteer.

“We’re definitely staying on the island and we’ve bought a house. It’s my ‘forever house.’ Mel’s ripping it apart, of course. You never see him without a hammer. From a very early age he got involved in construction and design and he built his first house. He loves the challenge of creating something.” She continues with a smile, “But not necessarily running it.”

We speak for a while about her amazing partner, who stays in the background and yet contributes so much to the island, the inn and its gardens.

“One of Mel’s early projects was taking on the restaurant, right down to working with the chef on the menu and style of presentation, blowtorching the floors to give them a weathered look and handling all the brick and stone details. Once that was done, then it was the challenge of creating a spa that didn’t heavily rely on water and coming up with things like mud, steam and flotation therapy, things that used water judiciously.

Then it was the villa suites. Then it was the gardens, then it was the patio and the wood-fired pizza oven and draft beers.”

Nothing says “approachable” better than beer and pizza, Gibb had pointed out, and then rolled up his sleeves.

Page 24 – AQUA – March/April 2018

Next, Nordin tells me, he went on to look at water catchment systems.

Then with the high increases in ferry fares, the next project was building a little fleet of Smart Cars available for guests. A subsequent project was the long elegant pier and dock, built to facilitate visits from boaters. For a while even a whale-watching boat was added to his partner’s ‘to-takecare-of-now’ list.

“Whenever Mel does something, it doesn’t get done halfway.”

Nordin herself was even busier. For 17 years she was the smiling, gracious and attractive face of the inn, greeting visitors and working alongside staff or alone but seemingly always present. In addition to the long hours she put in at the inn itself, there was also considerable community involvement. She was one of the organizing committee members of the annual Galiano Wine Festival, a fundraiser for the Health Care Centre.

For several years she was the Galiano chair of the BC Ferries Advisory Committee and altogether put in six years as vice president, president and now past-president of the Chamber of Commerce. One of the founding members of the southern Gulf Islands tourism committee, she has also been on Vancouver Island’s Board of Tourism Vancouver Island and Tourism Victoria.

She does all this because she feels community involvement is part of having a business in a small community. Huge supporters of the arts community, she and Gibb provided the venue and space for Art in the Garden.

And who can forget Kunamokst, Coastal Inspirations, an ambitious and time-consuming vision that materialized under the auspices of the newly formed mural society. Guess whose vision it was? Kunamokst, an 11’ x 21’ mural made up of 231 original paintings by 190 west coast artists combining to bring to life a new united image, made waves among the artistic community and general public and still continues to intrigue and fascinate, gracing an entire wall in the inn’s reception area.

In addition to the time invested in all the island groups, the couple has also provided free venues for yoga classes and other events, perhaps

the most notable being the Galiano Literary Festival.

“When we first approached Conny in 2010 to discuss holding our festival at the inn she did not hesitate for a moment to make us feel very welcome, and that welcome has not waned over the past nine years,” says Lee Trentadue, owner and operator of Galiano Books, together with James Schmidt. “I’ve known Conny and Mel as fellow islanders, fellow businesspeople and colleagues in many projects over the years. They’ve created a huge boost to the economy of the island and worked tirelessly to make the inn an integral part of Galiano and showcase all that our island has to offer to their guests. In that same spirit of communitymindedness, she has worked extremely hard at building relationships with other businesses, organizations and artists’ groups.”

Even on a personal level, Nordin is a familiar face at many island events and activities: local plays, music concerts, craft fairs, Saturday morning markets and myriad local events. It’s not so surprising, then, that this couple have had their names submitted to the selection committee of the British Columbia Achievement Foundation for 2018.

What made them take on such a huge commercial venture in the first place, I’m wondering?

“We felt sorry for it,” laughs Nordin. “We both had busy jobs in Vancouver, but when we saw the Galiano lodge I started to think what it could look like. I was originally thinking a B&B. Mel said at the time, ‘We’re going to wind up buying it, aren’t we?’ He was right.”

So how do they feel now that that dream has been realized and they have moved on?

“We have very mixed feelings about leaving. It has been such a personal expression of ourselves. Because we created every part of it, it’s hard to let go, but it has got to evolve, to grow and to become something else.”

“Conny and Mel did a wonderful job for 17 years,” the inn’s new general manager, Dikran Zabunyan, tells me. “And we want to take it to the next level as far as sales are concerned. We’re focusing on sales,

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Above: Conny Nordin symbolically hands over the keys to Galiano Inn & Spa to Dikran Zabunyan of Gnosis Hotel Management.

Above right: Construction scenes after Nordin and Mel Gibb bought the Galiano Lodge in 2000, transforming it into the Galiano Inn & Spa. Page 24, from top: Nordin and Gibb; former Galiano Lodge dining room; entrance-way under construction in 2000.

making the Galiano Inn more of a destination resort and hosting more weddings.”

The property was purchased by Gnosis Hotel Management on July 1 last year. Zabunyan arrived on Oct. 7 and then both previous owners spent six months helping him with the transition.

He comes with impressive credentials, having previously managed properties for the DASS Group, based in Toronto (Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites) and Rockwater Secret Cove Resort & Spa in Halfmoon Bay on the Sunshine Coast.

Zabunyan points out that although there will be work done this year in the public areas and inside the inn’s rooms and suites, and next year’s focus will be on the gardens, many things will remain unchanged, like the staff for example — “There’s a core staff that have been here for a long time and they are very good,” he says — and the community immersion that meant so much to its previous owners. “We want to keep our promise to

Conny and Mel that the Galiano Inn will stay involved in the community and provide as much assistance as possible. ” What is the couple going to do now? They tell me they’ll be spending more time with the grandchildren, who are seven and 10 and will be visiting this summer from Dubai, and they are also now listening more carefully to the siren song of travel.

My last question is inevitable. I want to know how their marriage survived 17 years of working together 24/7 in the often demanding and stressful environment of running and maintaining a luxury resort and spa.

“It put a lot of pressure on the marriage, but it helped that we were both stubborn and that we both had faith in each other. I had faith in him and he had faith that I could run a hotel and spa and handle all the pieces he would throw at me. What has made the inn so special to us both is that it’s personal. This place we’ve created will always be here and always be a part of the community.”

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March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 27

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the customer experience,” said Mark Collins, BC Ferries’ President and CEO. “We have added additional sailings, provided numerous fare discount opportunities and introduced efficient new vessels with modern customer amenities on-board.”

Net earnings for the three months ended June 30, 2017 (the first quarter of fiscal 2018) were $17.3 million, compared to net earnings of $27.0 million in the first quarter of the previous year. “Our net earnings have decreased compared to first quarter last year as BC Ferries invests in this improved customer experience. We have held ticket prices stable, absorbed increased operating costs due to higher traffic and delivered additionRooms, Victoria Airport Receives al capacity “Nice to customers.

In particular, Application for Sidney Crossing our targeted discountPeople” program has led Great to increased travel by some of our cusThe Victoria Airport Authority has re- tomers and shifted demand to previceived a development permit applica- ously underutilized sailings. In fact, on tion for the $35-million Sidney Crossing our major routes, there was a 7 per cent V iseven c t months oria i r preduction o r t /inSoverloads i d n eforypassenger veShopping Centre latera than hicles year-over-year despite the higher expected.

• Complimentary Shuttle to & from Airport & Swartz Bay Ferry Terminal Omicron is the lead developer on the traffic levels.”

Kitchenette • Pet Friendly Revenues increased by 3.1 per cent to project which will be• developed onRooms 10 $225.9 million primarily as a result of the acres at Beacon Avenue and Patricia Bay • Complimentary Continental Breakfast increased traffic volumes, while the averHighway.

Now that the application has been re- age tariff revenue per passenger remained ceived the Airport Authority will review unchanged and the average tariff revenue it and send it as a referral to the Town of per vehicle decreased on the major routes. r sk fo Aand Operating expenses increased by 8.8 per Sidney other agencies including Nav er d n Canada and the BC Ministry of Transpor- cent to $194.4 million, compared to the la Is tation The process first quarter of the previous fiscal year. unt iscoInfrastructure.

Dand is anticipated to take between three and This was mainly due to an increase in fuel consumption, labour and training related four months.

The project was approved by Sidney costs that resulted from higher traffic council for rezoning in 2016. When Sid- volumes, an increase in round trips proney council approved the project, con- vided and the introduction of new ships.

“We remain focused on prudent fiscal struction was anticipated to begin this spring as Omicron expected their ap- management while striking the right balplications – pending an infrastructure ance between earnings and operational report from the transportation minister costs. All earnings are reinvested in ser– to go to the Victoria Airport Authority vices and infrastructure for our custom656-1176 ers,”1-866 said Collins.

“During this quarter at the end of 2016. For reservations call toll free: or email: info@airporttravelodge.com www.travelodgevictoriaairport.ca we invested $91 million in new Omicron has already worked with the .alone, town and ministry extensively to resolve vessels, vessel upgrades and terminal issues such as moving the $3-million improvements.” pedestrian overpass from the south side of the Beacon Avenue intersection to the north side to better serve pedestrians and school children crossing highway traffic.

The overpass is part of the developer’s No Tuition for Adult Basic $5.5-million amenities package.

The 98,000-square-foot shopping cen- Education and English tre includes 10 buildings. It will feature Language Learning Programs a large grocery store and include a major appliance and electronics store, while The British Columbia government is there is also consideration for a daycare eliminating tuition fees on Adult Basic and a medical office affiliated with the Education (ABE) and English Language Saanich Peninsula Hospital.

Learning (ELL) programs, opening the door for tens of thousands of people to upgrade their education and skills every year.

The recent announcement at Camosun College reverses action taken by the previous government in 2015 to impose tuition fees for ABE and ELL learners.

BC Ferries Releases First Under that 2015 policy, Adult Basic EduQuarter Results cation and English Language Learning wereapply. set by each institution up to BC Ferries released its first quarter *Somefees restrictions a maximum results.

See in-store for details. of $1,600 per semester of Passenger traffic levels were the high- full-time studies, the equivalent of the est BC Ferries has experienced in the average cost of tuition for an arts and BOSLEY’S IN SIDNEY past 20 years and vehicle traffic levels science undergraduate program. En#4-2353 Avenue and in AdultBevan Basic Education were the highest the company has ever rolment r priced experienced asulacompared to the same English Language Learning programs on reg e andis merchyears. quarter in prior During this quar- subsequently dropped almost 35 per cent full-time equivalent spaces ter, passenger traffic increased 3.8 per from 10,244 www.bosleys.com cent and vehicle traffic increased 4.4 per in 2013-14 to 6,692 full-time equivalent @BosleysSidney cent compared to the same quarter in the spaces in 2016-17.

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Working Together A day in the life of Outer Islands emergency responders Story and photos by ANNA HERLITZ

I’m suddenly awoken by the insistent alarm of my ambulance pager; beep-beep-beep-beepbeep-beep, “Fourteen Kilo, Code 3 call coming in, contact dispatch.”

I’m now already out of bed, have grabbed my pager out of its charging base, and am speed-dialling the BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) 911 Ambulance Dispatch Centre in Langford as I quickly get into my paramedic uniform.

The BCAS dispatcher greets me with her calm voice and gives as much detail as she has received so far: “Code 3 fall and possible stroke on Pirates Road, 68-year-old female.” Most often we paramedics here on Pender Island are dispatched while the call is still coming in to 911 and we receive more details once we are in the ambulance.

I quickly put on my watch and note that it is 2:25 a.m. as I am heading out the door to drive the four minutes it takes me to get to the ambulance station. During the short drive I clear my head, mentally prepare for the call and remind myself whether there is a physician on-call on Pender today, or not, during clinic off-hours. If not, we must request off-island transport as soon as possible if we find that our patient needs further medical care, either by water taxi if the condition is stable or by helicopter if more critical.

I am glad to know that a number of first responder volunteers from Pender Island Fire Rescue (PIFR) are also responding, having been paged out from their homes by the Capital Regional District Fire Dispatch Centre (also in Langford), getting into their coveralls and hurrying to their closest fire hall to respond.

At least one fire rescue crew will likely get to the person in need before we arrive with the ambulance. I appreciate that the PIFR First Responders (FRs) will not only locate the address, which may be dark and unmarked, but will also assess for best access and egress for the ambulance, make contact with and comfort the patient, and may also perform basic critical interventions and give oxygen as needed.

Medic One ambulance boat leaves Thieves Bay on North Pender Island.

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 31

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“Code 3 fall and possible stroke on Pirates Road, 68-year-old female.”

I arrive at our dark ambulance station and say a quick hello to my partner for this night shift, who also just pulled up, as we do a brief safety check of the ambulance. Our computer screen in the ambulance provides us with further details, including the exact address. The bay door opens, we pull out and are on our way, with lights and sirens on, rushing through the night, watching for unpredictable deer that might appear without warning in the beams of our headlights.

From a distance we see the red Fire Rescue vehicle with lights flashing in front of the address. We are directed into a dark and narrow driveway by FRs who advise that it is long and steep, but there is just enough room for us to turn the ambulance around at the end, near the house. I am thankful there is no need to back up all that distance in the dark. The FRs also report that two responders are now in the house with the patient who is awake and complains of wrist pain. We drive up, head in the front door with our equipment, introduce ourselves and enquire what happened.

The FR kneeling by the patient and supporting her wrist tells us, “Hi, this is Marjorie, she fell down a couple of stairs and landed on her right wrist. She says she does not have neck pain and does not believe she lost consciousness. We found her sitting here on the floor.”

Another FR is gently but firmly holding her head until we do a further assessment for possible spinal injury and determine that full spinal immobilization is not required. Marjorie tells us that she had gotten out of bed just to use the washroom, but felt lightheaded before she stumbled and fell.

As my paramedic partner and I continue our more detailed assessment, we consider the need for a helicopter with a BCAS critical care paramedic crew from Vancouver, knowing that, when available, they can be at our Pender Island helipad just about 15 minutes after we request them. Remarkably, these BCAS flight crews bring with them the advanced skills, knowledge and equipment to treat any patient requiring critical emergency care, and can rapidly transport them to definitive care in a hospital.

We do a rapid but thorough assessment of our patient for any signs of a stroke, using the acronym “F.A.S.T.”; checking for Facial

From top: BCAS critical care paramedic crew helicopter at Pender Island helipad; four of the eight Pender Island resident paramedics, from left, Kathryn Eagleheart, Elise Dri, Jason Dryer, Daisy te Hennepe, returning to Pender after a multi-agency training day on mass casualty incident management on Salt Spring Island, travelling

by Gulf Islands Water Taxi; PIFR firefighters/first responders, from left, Lt. Jon Grelik, Firefighter Todd Bulled and Capt. Adrian Hanson.

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 33

Above: From left, Pender Island Fire Rescue Firefighter Blair Higgs and PIFR Fire Chief Charlie Boyte.

Below right: Paramedic Unit Chief Jason Dryer prepares a stretcher on the dock at Thieves Bay with the Medic One ambulance boat set to transport a patient.

droop, Arm weakness, Speech problems and Time of onset of any such symptoms. Marjorie does not display any of these symptoms but we find that her blood pressure is at the lower end of normal range, which could explain her feeling of lightheadedness when she got up from her bed. We also check her blood sugar level and temperature, which both turn out to be normal.

Unfortunately there is no doctor available on Pender tonight, as is the case about half of the time on weekends and nights here. We Pender residents are somewhat more fortunate in this regard than Galiano, Mayne and Saturna islands, where doctor availability can be more limited during off-hours.

Having determined that Marjorie’s condition is now stable, and having found through our physical exam that she has signs of a wrist fracture with significant pain, we decide that it is time to request the BCAS Medic One water taxi. It generally takes about 40 minutes for the dedicated Gulf Islands Water Taxi “ambulance boat” Medic One to arrive at Thieves Bay, Pender Island, with a paramedic crew from Sidney.

Now we get to turn our attention to Marjorie’s injured wrist again.

To avoid further injury and pain we apply a cold pack and a splint.

We also offer Entonox, a nitrous oxide and oxygen analgesic gas mix to help ease the pain, which Marjorie appreciatively accepts and gets to self-administer as needed. While we are getting ready to transport, Marjorie smiles at us, says she already feels better with us just being there and tells us, “We are so lucky to have people like you in an emergency. I am very grateful! Thank you!”

In 911 medical emergencies, the residents of Pender, Galiano and Mayne islands are served by BCAS paid-on-call paramedics, often in conjunction with firefighters/first responders from volunteer fire departments. Saturna Island, having a smaller population, relies on its two fully volunteer-operated fire rescue and emergency medical organizations to respond. All four islands have access to BCAS water taxi and helicopter service as well. Considering the dedication of the paramedic crews, Pender Islands’ BCAS paramedic unit chief Jason Dryer states that “Our skilled paramedics here on Pender maintain

Page 34 – AQUA – March/April 2018

their professional certifications through continuing education, yet most also hold other jobs to make a living. Many are also parents and have to be able to drop everything to respond the moment a 911 call comes in.”

Just like it takes a village to raise a child, here in the Southern Gulf Islands it takes a variety of dedicated community members coming together when someone calls 911. An accident can happen so quickly, and be unplanned and unexpected. The remarkable part is how all the pieces come together in our 911 response system, with many individuals near and far fulfilling a role to make a seamless effort at the drop of a hat, at any time of day or night, to assist those in need.

This coming together happens even here, or perhaps especially here, in the Outer Gulf Islands, where we are considered to be “remote” and often don’t have easy access to care and services. A diverse combination of trained, dedicated volunteers and part-time or full-time staff from various agencies as well as helpful family members, neighbours and bystanders join forces to make this response happen.

Reflecting on first responder volunteerism, Pender Islands Fire Rescue Chief Charlie Boyte comments: “My experience over the years has made me very cognizant of the broader value of our volunteer emergency response organizations and how they impact our citizens from our very youngest to our oldest residents. They contribute to the social capital in our community by bonding and bridging community members and open amazing opportunities to link socioeconomic groups through shared values. The social capital created enables our community members to trust each other and work together to achieve great things.”

At Thieves Bay we give a brief report to the arriving BCAS paramedic crew and hand over care of our patient. All together we lift the patient, now wrapped in blankets, onto the Medic One water taxi using a light stretcher. We see them off, and as we head back to the station, my partner expresses her sense of what a privilege it is to be able to help and give comfort to someone during their most difficult moments. I couldn’t agree more.

Anna Herlitz is a part-time paramedic with BC Ambulance Service on Pender Island and also a firefighter/first responder and a first responder instructor with Pender Islands Fire Rescue, as well as serving as the Pender Islands school trustee on the SD64 Gulf Islands Board of Education.

Full of Life Butchart Gardens springs into 2018 with annual bulb display STORY BY ELIZABETH NOLAN

T

he annual awakening of the earth is an especially happy experience when nature’s beauty is matched with artfully curated flower displays, and perhaps nowhere on Vancouver Island is the season celebrated so joyfully as The Butchart Gardens.

“March and April are probably the most exciting time to visit the gardens. There’s so much going on with the grounds coming alive and plants waking up from their dormancy. Every day there’s something new waking up and coming into bloom,” says Rick Los, Butchart’s director of horticulture for the past 20 years and a 31-year veteran of the institution.

The Butchart Gardens blossomed from the remains of a limestone quarry in the early 1900s, and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2004. The spring presentation moves through early bulbs like hyacinths to the magnificent tulip display that peaks from midApril to mid-May. Key areas are still kept as close as possible to what founding gardener Jennie Butchart planted in spring, but every year also offers something different. Aside from hundreds of thousands of “naturalized” bulbs that stay in the ground, around 300,000 new bulbs are planted every year. Garden staff are passionate abut their work and have input into the design planning as well as doing the hands-on care.

Los is of Dutch descent and therefore carries an obsession for the tulip in his genes. One of his favourite flowers currently is a variety that was developed for the gardens’ 100th anniversary: the Jennie Butchart is a lily-flowered tulip in velvety deep red.

“To me it’s special because of its connection to us, and it’s so unusual and vibrant,” Los says. “You can put it with anything and it just makes the display joyful.”

Almost a million people visit the gardens annually for spring’s flowering bulbs, but that’s just a portion of visitors that pass through during the summer months, producing a more intimate interaction that’s just right for the season. It’s also the time of year when flowering trees bloom and the garden is most full of fragrance, when greens are at their deepest and colours pop, and everything is so fresh and vital.

Garden hours extend with the daylight in spring, with the grounds open until 5 p.m. in March and 6 p.m. in April (access to gardens closes one hour earlier). The management team suggests guests take their time, and perhaps extend their visit with the lunch package or tea in the historic dining room.

“We want people to have a really full experience while they’re here,” says public relations manager Daphne Gardner.

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March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 35

Comfort Food

Joan and Gillian McConnells share warmth of Australia STORY & PHOTOS BY MARCIA JANSEN

You’d be surprised by how many different nationalities live on Salt Spring Island.

And each one of them has their own comfort food.

I Marcia Jansen is a Dutch journalist and writer who has lived on Salt Spring since 2012. www.ssicomfortfood.com

Page 36 – AQUA – March/April 2018

Fraser Hope at his Beddis Road home.

t’s a sunny winter day on Salt Spring Island and Joan Gillian, left, and Joan McConnell in their home, with a portrait of Joan McConnell’s house, overpainted by Susan Benson, whose Portrait of an Island exhibit runs looking Ganges Harbour, March 30 to April 8 at Mahon Hall on Salt Spring. is filled with light. And art and books. memories of my childhood. It goes back a long “I am so happy I can still time because I have been around for a while,” live here independently,” says 92-year old Joan. she smiles. “It is a very common dessert in Aus“There are three things in life — besides my tralia, like apple crumble in Canada. I made it children, grandchildren and great-grandchilwith lemon, but you can also use chocolate or dren — that make me very happy: art, books passion fruit. Passion fruit is my favourite. Back and music. If I had to move to an assisted-livin Australia, everyone had a passion fruit plant ing facility I would have to sacrifice that. There in the garden. Unfortunately, passion fruit is is no way I could take all of my stuff.” very expensive in Canada.”

On the table in the sunroom is a freshly Joan was born in Orange, New South Wales baked lemon delicious pudding.

Australia in 1926 and moved to Canada with “I thought about making an Australian meat her husband and three children in 1964. pie, but we use flaky pastry which you can’t “I’ve lived longer in Canada than in Ausbuy in Canada and it’s a lot of work to make it tralia, and I don’t miss a lot of things from from scratch. The lemon pudding brings back

Down Under, except for my family of course. It helps that I go back most years for a few months.”

Joan and her family lived in Cooma, New South Wales when they decided to move to Canada.

“My husband was a civil engineer. We moved to Cooma from Sydney in 1950 because my husband started work on the Snowy Mountains Hydro Project there. Once the designs for all the dams were complete, we decided to see where in the world he could find a similar challenge.”

Allen McConnell found employment in eastern Canada and the family moved to Niagara Falls when Gillian was six years old and her brothers were 13 and 15.

“As we had lived in the Snowy Mountains, we had experienced snow before, but we weren’t familiar with -30 temperatures,” says Joan. “I remember going outside for a walk on a sunny winter’s day wearing a chiffon scarf around my head. I was back in the house within 10 minutes.”

Gillian remembers her arrival in Canada well.

“We got here just before Christmas. My dad was already here because he took a plane, but we arrived by ship in Vancouver and took a train to Toronto. My dad had been busy with work, so there wasn’t much furniture in the house.

But we had a turkey, snow and a real tree, so that was our first real Christmas. Not a warm one like we were used to in Australia.”

They stayed in Niagara Falls for six months. “We moved a lot because of my dad’s work,” says Gillian. “We’ve lived in St. Catharines, Vancouver and Mon– JOAN treal. After my dad switched McCONNELL companies, and he travelled a lot overseas, we stayed in Montreal. He had jobs all over the world: Argentina, Korea, India, Vietnam, Rwanda.”

Gillian graduated from Queen’s University in Kingston in 1980 and decided to go back to Australia three years later.

She stayed for 24 years.

“I was just tired of the winters in Montreal,” she explains.

“I missed the colours — of the birds and the flowering trees — and the scents of Australia. When I land in Australia and smell the eucalyptus tree, I know I am back home.”

The Salt Spring artist travelled for a year and lived in Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.

“In 2006 my mum was on a holiday in Australia when she broke her leg. When she finally recuperated and was able to fly back, someone had to come with her to assist. I was just divorced and needed a break, so I decided to come with her. It turned out I never went back. After mum broke her leg, they found out that she has osteoporo-

"Back in Australia, everyone had a passion fruit plant in the garden."

sis and I decided to stay with her.”

Joan had moved to Salt Spring Island in 1988.

“My husband retired from his company. He started his own business as a consultant so he could work anywhere as long as there was an airport nearby. One son lived in Vancouver at that time, so that’s how we ended up on Salt Spring Island.”

At 92, Joan looks back at a very fulfilling life. She travelled the world with her husband, directed and acted in theatre, went to university to study political science when she was in her 50s and she’s still very active in the cultural scene on Salt Spring Island. She volunteers for the Artist in Residence committee, the Japanese Garden Society and is the major sponsor of the Salt Spring National Art Prize.

And if the weather is nice, you can find Joan twice a week at Portlock Park to walk on the track with the Salt Spring Sneakers. “I am way older than them, but it is nice to have younger friends because most of the friends that were my age have passed away.”

Lemon Delicious Pudding Ingredients 1 Tbsp. butter 1 c. (berry) sugar 2 Tbsp. self-rising flour* 1 c. milk 2 eggs, separated Grated rind and juice of 1 good-sized lemon *To make self-rising flour, whisk 1.5 Tbsp. baking powder and a half tsp. salt into a cup of flour.

Cream butter and sugar. Add flour, lemon juice and rind, egg yolks and milk and mix together. Beat egg whites stiffly and fold gently into the batter.

Bake in a greased glass casserole set in a dish of water for 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees F. Check if it’s ready by shaking it gently. You don’t want the pudding to be too “liquidy.”

March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 37

Q&A

photo by

saving a point A fervent multi-agency and international effort resulted in St. John Point on Mayne Island being protected in perpetuity, ultimately by a Capital Regional District purchase. The Mayne Island Conservancy’s Michael Dunn (executive director), Malcolm Inglis (president) and Helen O’Brian (Save St. John Point Campaign chair) share the story.

Photo courtesy Mayne Island Conservancy

View from St. John Point on Mayne Island, where 2.1 kilometres of shoreline and 26 hectares of land were preserved in December 2017.

Q. Why was it so important to secure St. John Point?

A.St. John Point is an amazing 26-hectare mainly undisturbed property with 2.1 kilometres of undeveloped shoreline, in an internationally imperiled ecological region.

It contains relatively intact at-risk ecosystems within the Coastal Douglas-fir Zone, representing less than one per cent of B.C. It was one of only seven privately owned properties within the Islands Trust Area greater than 20 hectares with more than a kilometre of undisturbed shoreline. Mayne Island has one of the Trust Area’s lowest levels of protected public space — around four per cent.

Q. What would the property’s fate have been otherwise?

A. One family had owned St. John Point since 1955. Three brothers had equal shares: two American and one Canadian. The property was listed for sale and was subdividable into five parcels.

Q. How did the purchase come together and how was the process different from other acquisitions?

A. In late 2015, one of the American brothers approached the American Friends of Canadian Land Trusts about selling St. John Point for conservation purposes. American Friends, a unique organization with both U.S. and Canadian charitable status, then approached the Mayne Island Conservancy as the logical partner. The owners offered to sell below fair market value, the difference being a conservation donation: an “Ecological Gift” for the Canadian owner and a “Bargain Page 38 – AQUA – March/April 2018

Sale” for the U.S. owners. This required satisfying both Canadian and U.S. tax rules for charitable gifts.

With the owners, we negotiated the sale price ($3.6 million) and the completion date (Dec. 15, 2017). With a plan in place, we launched the fundraising campaign on Mayne Island in December 2016, announcing our goal of raising $4.37 million to cover all project costs. Our community target was $2 million with the remainder to come from foundations and government sources. We had less than one year to do it.

Needless to say, 2017 was very intense.

During this time, we produced a baseline documentation report describing the property’s ecological values: the basis for certifying the property as an Ecological Gift.

The conservancy negotiated a conservation covenant on the property, required before its final transfer.

In October 2017 the Capital Regional District approved acquiring St. John Point as a regional park and contributed $2 million towards its purchase. By then, we had raised almost $2.3 million from the community and private foundations. With funds in place and purchase agreements signed, the deal could now close on Dec. 15.

Simultaneously, the American brothers sold their two-thirds ownership to American Friends, and the Canadian brother sold his one-third to the Conservancy. Then, both organizations transferred their interests to the CRD and registered the covenant. The CRD is now the single owner of St. John Point.

Q. How long has the Mayne Island Conservancy Society been active and what are some of its other projects?

A. The Mayne Island Conservancy has been operating since 2003. St. John Point is its first land acquisition. It is a multifaceted nonprofit organization providing natural history, conservation science and land trust services to Mayne Island and the region. We work to increase community awareness of our island’s ecological values. We do ecological restoration, operate a native plant nursery, work with private landowners to develop stewardship actions on their properties and provide a regular school program. We map and monitor eelgrass and kelp beds around Mayne Island.

Q. What did your group learn from the St. John experience that can be applied to future conservation efforts?

A. We had already established the organizational policies and procedures necessary for Ecological Gift recipient eligibility, and secured legal counsel and financial advice.

We learned to take time to understand the anticipated donor base, its demographics and financial capacity, and to continually and consistently identify and acknowledge each donor. We learned the importance of a positive attitude and an enthusiastic clear message about what the project would achieve for our community, our region and the province. We worked to build trust with the landowners to develop the conservation vision of which they are a part. And then we celebrated and thanked everyone involved no matter at what level.

Be Water Savvy Use Only What You Need

Water is one of Salt Spring Island’s most precious resources. Please join islanders as we work together to ensure that this summer, and every summer, we use this limited resource wisely, and that we respect and protect our island watersheds.

Try these handy water saving tips: Keep showers short. Use low-flow shower heads. If bathing, try a 1/4 tub only.

Run only full loads in dishwashers and washing machines.

Shut off the tap while brushing teeth, shaving, or washing up hands or dishes.

Use low-flush toilets. Flush less often.

Use a bucket to capture and reuse shower, bath and dishwater in your garden.

Inform guests about our islands’ limited water supply, and ask them to be please be aware of keeping consumption down.

Together EVERY water saver makes a difference.

North Salt Spring Waterworks District www.northsaltspringwaterworks.ca March/April 2018 – AQUA – Page 39

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