In this edition of the Folk U Radio’s Reporters Roundtable, our journalists talk about environmental issues in some small Vancouver Island communities.
Continue reading Environmental issues in small Vancouver Island communitiesTag Archives: Saltspring Island
Responses To Cortes Island’s Algae Bloom Problem
By Roy L Hales
The global phenomenon of algae blooms has reached British Columbia. The BC Northern Health issued an advisory for Prince George area last summer. Severe outbreaks have been reported at St. Mary and Cusheon Lakes on Saltspring Island, and Village Bay Lake on Quadra Island. The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) recently published a monitoring report. I recently interviewed the author, Rex Weyler, about responses to Cortes Island’s algae bloom problem.
“Hague and Gunflint Lakes are typical lakes and the challenges we are having there are also typical when you have a human community that lives around a body of fresh water … The problem is human septic and livestock concentrating nutrients and then passing that into the water table, which then drains into the lake. Those nutrients are feeding the algae booms,” says Weyler.
Grace Islet’s Salvation Is In Sight
Grace Islet’s Salvation is in sight. Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource, announced the Province is partnering with local First Nations and the Nature Conservancy of Canada to preserve the First Nations burial site. Though negotiations with the owner have not concluded, many are are celebrating a victory.
Continue reading Grace Islet’s Salvation Is In Sight
From An Era When First Nation’s People Were Regarded As Savages
By Roy L Hales
The construction you see above occurred because the government refused to intervene after the owner took out the right permit. It was built on Grace Islet, a recognized First Nation’s burial site in Ganges Harbour, Salt Spring Island. This could not have happened in a white graveyard. It is only possible because British Columbia’s Cemetery Act descends from an era when First Nations were regarded as savages.
Barry Slawsky Drops Grace Islet Suit
By Roy L Hales
Barry Slawsky’s lawyer filed a notice of discontinuance from his legal suit against the defenders of Grace Islet. It is clear the brief occupation of the Islet cannot be dismissed as a simple case of trespass. First Nations leaders view this situation as blatant racism on the part of the BC Government, which has refused to protect one of their ancestral burial islets because Slawsky had a building permit.
Continue reading Barry Slawsky Drops Grace Islet Suit