Board Wrestles with Short Term Rentals
On February 13, the thorny issue of short term rentals (STRs) came back to the SCRD Planning Committee for decisions. The rural directors voted 4-1 not to proceed with Temporary Use Permits (TUPs) as a …
AVICC Resolutions
The SCRD board drafted the following resolutions which will be submitted to the next conference of the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities (April 17-19, 2020 in Nanaimo). If passed, these resolutions will be …
Province Releases Marine Debris Report
Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, Sheila Malcolmson, has just published a report summarizing the feedback from stakeholders on marine debris. The consultations took place through the summer and early fall of 2019. While this is a good summary …
About Rural Director Pay
On Jan. 23 the board voted to have our CAO strike an independent task force to review the way that SCRD directors are paid. I’ve been agitating about this since before I was elected, and …
Electrification is the future of home heating
Thanks to CBC for this interesting and informative article that describes all the options for heating your home and their environmental costs. If your home relies on its own individual heating system, as most do, …
Should Youth Travel for Free?
It was great to see high school students presenting to the SCRD board on the subject of transit fares for students on Dec. 3. It’s important for youth to get involved and learn how local …
Reservoirs vs. Aquifers
Following some coverage in the local papers about a manmade reservoir proposal, a few people took me to task for “voting against water.” Hell, no, I am NOT voting against water. But I am voting against a …
Climate Leaders Institute
I attended a UBCM Climate Leaders Institute conference in Richmond on November 7 and 8. It’s certainly interesting talking climate change in a hotel that’s likely to be underwater by the end of the century …
SAR Rescues Elphinstone Clean-Up
A huge thanks to Search and Rescue volunteers who stepped in to help with the Elphinstone Beach Clean-Up. This project was organized early this spring by volunteers from the Elphinstone Community Association (ECA) in response …
The Week That Was
Union of BC Municipalities – Sept. 23-27 Two thousand politicians and lobbyists in a giant conference centre makes for a strange petri dish with lots of street theatre, including the logging truck driveby and the …