Ask Candidates

Submit your questions for any or all candidates to answer. Email questions: questions@saltspring.org
To Gary Holman	Reviewing the cost estimates for the sewage upgrade, it appears most of the rough design work and equipment costing has been done. Why do you budget half a million dollars on "Engineering, project management, regulatory approvals and contingency."
To Ms. Torgrimson from Mark Fraser	To Ms. Torgrimson: Your Gulf Islands Alliance co-founder, in a Province-funded study on tourism, implied that the only tourism that we should embrace is "Virtual Tourism", in which "virtual visitors" can view our island from the comfort of their computer chairs, without setting foot here. Do you share this rather extreme view? It strikes me that it would have serious consequences for commercial businesses, local artisans, and frankly, for the availability of goods and services on which I and other islanders depend. Mark Fraser
To Gary Holman from Eric Booth	At the recent All Candidates Meeting, Allan Bruce asked the following question of the candidates: "I have clients that own Ganges Harbour Centre, probably known as Gasoline Alley. And, for the past three years they have been attempting to build a sidewalk that connects the front of their property (and would connect to) Centennial Park....just to build a sidewalk. And they have gone to CRD, to Islands Trust, and to Highways…around that circle twice, and no one is able to give them permission to do that. It seems we’re in a vacuum right now with any kind of authority to permit someone to do that kind of construction, to build a sidewalk. The question is “Can any of you come up with a solution for that kind of a problem that we have on Salt Spring where there’s no government official or organization which can grant permission?” Gary Holman responded that Bruce’s clients should have talked to him, because “In fact we do have an entity on Salt Spring created by counter petition, the Transportation Commission, which has precisely that authority.” Excuse me, but that is just not true. A property owner cannot “apply” to the Transportation Commission for a permit to build a sidewalk, since there is no “application form” to do so. A property owner also cannot “apply” to the Ministry of Transportation for a permit to build a sidewalk. All a property owner can do is to ask the Transportation Commission if the Commission will “itself” consider applying to MoT to build a sidewalk. And, what happens if the Transportation Commission decides they don’t have the time or money? Read the following reply to my request to have a pathway built (working “actively and co-operatively with the Commission to secure funding, both private and public, for this worthwhile project”) in front of our property – “We are not able to form a partnership with you at this time for the following reasons: A pathway through the Swansons’s Pond area is not on the Commission’s identified priority corridor so it would have a lower priority at this time. Currently all Commission funds are allocated and there are no remaining unallocated funds for community partnerships. Additionally, the Commission would like to clarify their role regarding private projects such as yours as compared to the roles of the Islands Trust and the Ministry of Transportation. These two agencies would both be involved in approving such a pathway.” This letter is dated September 10, 2008, less than two months ago. So, let’s be clear – 1. There is no application form in existence to build a sidewalk; 2. There is no “permitting” process for sidewalks on Salt Spring; 3. You cannot “apply” to the Transit Commission to build a sidewalk; 4. You cannot “apply” to the Ministry of Transportation to build a sidewalk; 5. You cannot “apply” to the Islands Trust to build a sidewalk; 6. As of September 10^th the Commission still did not know their role, the Islands Trust’s role, or the Ministry of Transportation’s role regarding “private (sidewalk) projects”. Bottom line, there is "precisely" no authority on Salt Spring which has the authority to permit a sidewalk. At this time, all you can do is ask the Transit Commission politely, as I have done, and hope for the best. Is this good enough governance? According to Holman, it’s all just great. I happen to have a different view. I believe its just one more reason to incorporate. Eric Booth
To Christine Torgrimson from Mark Fraser	The inclusion of the "Precautionary Principle" into Salt Spring's Official Community Plan is the ultimate stealth weapon to grind everything to a halt - at the whim of the Local Trust Committee and, in fact, of the entire Trust, should Salt Spring electors choose to elect what I'll call "moderate" Trustees. An excerpt from this website http://depletedcranium.com/?p=541 follows: ================= The precautionary principle IS poorly defined and this has allowed unscrupulous green groups to metaphorically get away with murder by invoking a bastardised version of the principle at every opportunity. Their propaganda is so good that this article and most of the comments believe the green propaganda instead of looking at the underlying issue. Third point: There are some key words and phrases in the most accepted form of the principle (Adopted at the UN Conference on the environment in Rio) This states that “Where there is a risk of significant and irreversible damage the lack of scientific certainty shall not be used to prevent cost effective action from being taken.” So there needs to be an “identifiable risk that damage will occur ” NOT some vague concern with no basis in fact. The damage must be both “significant” and “irreversible” if it isn’t both then the principle does not apply. The action taken must be “cost effective” and it is a lack of “scientific certainty” that cannot be used to prevent action not the absence of any scientific data. The principle was primarily established to justify action being taken in the face of those who would otherwise say - “But there is no absolute proof that this happens” For example there is no direct proof of what the causative agent in tobacco is that increases lung cancer risk in smokers, but it makes sense to restrict its sale to minors. The principle was seen to be valuable in order to try to avoid some of the difficult environmental contamination problems that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of these were caused by the widespread use of substances whose properties were not fully recognized until they had been applied in such widespread uses that the whole planet was contaminated - PCBs, chlorinated insecticides, freons etc. By the time it was realized that perhaps more stringent controls on diffuse uses might have been appropriate it was too late to put the stopper back in the bottle, and in most cases these substances have very long half lives thus leading to a contamination problem that would continue for at least several generations. Was it possible to manage these issues better? One way was to suggest that substances with the potential to be distributed across the global environment, and with very long half lives, should only be used cautiously until there was more certainty that they did not possess any unfortunate properties. Even in the absence of proof that they would cause problems, a higher degree of caution seemed to be sensible: and this led to the Precautionary Principle. ================== In other words, the wisdom inherent in the UN-endorsed version of the PP has been swept aside by the hysteria, terror and fear spread by power-hungry politicos riding on the coat-tails of the environmental movement, in favor of the ultimate "do nothing" tool. I see no reason to classify our local Trustees and CRD puppet as anything else. Norbert has it right. / Mark Fraser
To all Candidates:	I would like to know where you stand on the issue of Tourism. Reply from Kimberly Lineger: Tourism has become a “dirty” word in our community, yet so many livelihoods depend on it. We “can’t shut the door behind us” – within the Trust mandate we are responsible to “preserve and protect for the benefit of residents AND the province.” As Islanders we need to share a vision of Responsible Rural Tourism that emphasizes low-impact, “intentional” tourism – not just the standard shape of tourism of the past. Who do we want to visit and how do we want them to visit? To answer these questions, we need to think outside the box. Eco-tourism, agri-tourism and edu-tourism can be used to educate visitors about our home and our collective connection to the land and the need to preserve and protect the environment - not just here on Salt Spring. As Trustee I will work with Islanders to develop a tourism plan that encompasses respect for the natural environment of Salt Spring while providing opportunities for Islanders to earn a living. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To G. Holman from anonymous	To Mr. Holman During the past three years, many members of our community have verbalized their desire for a new look at governance. Why have you just this week brought forward some unknown idea called a community council?
To G. Ehring from anonymous	Mr. Ehring You are responsible for an annual increase of almost $2 million per year to the Trust budget. The cumulative increase over your three years in office is about $4 million, 40% of it paid by Salt Spring Islanders. You have stated that this was due to a need for increases in reserves and built-in unavoidable increases in union wages and increases in office rent and travel costs. What were the reserves when you took office? What are they now? How much was spent on these union wage increases in your three years? How much more have you spent on rent in three years?
To all candidates from ISG group http://www.islandgov.org/	What is the best form of government for Salt Spring Island and why?
To all candidates from ISG group	What is the greatest challenge facing local government on Salt Spring Island and how would you address it?
To all candidates from ISG group	What are the limitations and advantages of the present system of diverse government responsibilities on Salt Spring Island?
To all candidates from ISG group.	The two proposed additional Islands Trustees will not vote at Trust Council. How will this improve governance on Salt Spring Island?
To G. Ehring from (name withheld by request)	Mr. Ehring: How much money did the Islands Trust spend in the past 3 years enforcing bylaws (Specifically on legal fees and related costs) and how much was recovered through fines.
To Gary Holman from "a limited income senior".	Am I being selfish by wanting local elected representatives deciding how to spend my tax dollars. South Pender Island with 250 residents has 2 trustees with as much power as the 2 Salt Spring trustees when deciding how the trust spends money. I understand 4 local trustees would still give Salt Spring only 2 votes on Trust Council. If you think that is fair then I will be a proud member of the "Islanders for Self..ish Government". http://www.islandgov.org/
To G. Ehring from a small business owner.	Mr. Ehring Your advertising comments on concerns for housing for teachers, hospital workers and ferry employees. Are you aware of a much larger sector of the Salt Spring economy called small business and their struggles to attract and retain employees?