comox valley echo - july 15, 2014

The temperature in the Comox Valley has been truly warm leading people to find ways to cool down like swimming and tubing down the Puntledge River.

Hot spell increases risk of wildfires on IslandBy Michael BrionesEcho Staff

The heat is on.Temperatures are rising into the 30s and the Coastal

Fire Centre is warning the public about the increasing fire danger on Vancouver Island including the Comox Valley.

On Sunday, the temperature recorded at the Comox Airport peaked at 32.5 C and broke the record of 31.1 C that was set in 1961. In Campbell River, it hit 33.8 C to snap the record of 32.8 set in 1961.

Yesterday, at press time the valley's temperature topped 29 C and was inching close to resetting the previ-ous high of 29.4 C from 1958. Today it's expected to climb up to 31 C and may break the old high of 31.7 C that was set in 1958.

According to Environment Canada meteorologist, Allan Coldwells, the heat spell is expected to cool off starting on Wednesday and return to normal trends.

Meanwhile, Donna MacPherson, fire information offi-cer for the Coastal Fire Centre, said conditions are still being evaluated and they are expected to make a decision in the next two days whether a campfire prohibition will be introduced.

"We want to tell the public to keep an eye on our web-site (bcwildfire.ca) for current information," said MacPherson. "The Comox Valley area right now is in high fire danger rating. We're looking at the hot-dry to continue for predominantly most of this week but on Thursday we're going to be having a wind event come through as well, which is also a concern for us. So we're cautioning people to be very careful."

If by Thursday, no campfire ban is implemented, MacPherson advises people to take extra caution while in the forest.

The Coastal Fire Centre covers the whole of Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. So far it has already dealt with 53 forest fires.

"Normally we have 64. That's our ten year average," said MacPherson. "It's indicative of how wet it was last spring. We're quickly catching up. We had nine per-son-caused fires over the weekend. Unfortunately, people aren't being careful."

The biggest fire incident to date took place on north Vancouver Island, near Gold River, just outside Campbell River.

"That grew very quickly," said MacPherson. "That's worth noting that the fire danger is there. It was a fire that started in the fire department's jurisdiction on a landfill area that they had. But the sparks blew into the forest and it got to about a hectare in size pretty quickly."

Open backyard burning is banned in the City of Courtenay, Town of Comox, Merville and Tsolum, while in the Village of Cumberland permits are required at no charge to the applicant. For information regarding the Comox Valley Regional District, you can check out its website.

Vancouver Island MusicFest attendees this past weekend used everything imaginable to protect themselves from the blazing sun and and keep their cool. The sold-out event was another huge success.

With the heat wave, people are being advised to be prepared as well when they go out to the park, rivers, forest and the beach.

David Wray, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said temperatures will likely break records in the province this week. He said it is important to wear sun-screen because it will only take about 15 minutes for skin to burn.

The BC SPCA is also advising pet owners

not to leave their dogs in hot cars, not even for a few minutes.

Spokeswoman Lorie Chortyk says despite all the warnings about the dangers of leaving animals in cars in the summer, the agency is "being inundated with calls this summer to rescue pets left in parked vehicles."

Last month, the BC SPCA responded to 228 calls to rescue dogs in distress, who had been left in hot cars by their guardians.

"In just minutes, the temperature in a parked car can climb to well over 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). Dogs have no sweat glands, so they can only cool them-selves by panting and by releasing heat through their paws," she said.

Dogs can withstand high temperatures for only a very short time - in some cases just minutes - before suffering irreparable brain damage or death, she added.

Price: 57 cents plus GST Tuesday July 15, 2014 Volume 20, No. 56

WHAT’S INSIDEWeather A2Community A7What’s On N.IslanderLetters A8Classifieds A10Sports A5

www.comoxvalleyecho.com

Superstore757 Ryan Road, Courtenay

Walmart 3199 Cliffe Avenue, Courtenay

www.sussexinsurance.com

Inside

THE COMOX VALLEY’SLARGEST LOCAL SHOPPING SPREE OF THE CENTURY!

D E TA I L S O N P A G E A 4

A2 Comox Valley Echo Tuesday, July 15, 2014

News

For the latest Comox Valley Weather visit: www.comoxvalleyecho.com

Comox Valley Weather

Tuesday, 15 July

Sunny. Windy near the ocean late in the afternoon.

High 31°C.

Wednesday, 16 July

Sunny. Low 15°C. High 28°C.

Thursday, 17 July

Sunny.Low 15°C. High 26°C.

Friday, 18 July

Sunny.Low 15°C. High 25°C.

Saturday, 19 July

A mix of sun and cloud.Low 15°C. High 25°C.

Need help with an Estate?

We can help.

www.ivesburgerlaw.com

A drop-in open house on ideas for sewer services in the Royston and Union Bay areas is being held this Thursday (July 17) at the Fallen Alders Hall on Royston Road between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.

Comox Valley Regional District has launched a liquid waste management plan to determine the best option for wastewater management and water resource recovery in the south region.

The two-year process was launched in May and this week’s event is the first of three planned open houses.

The CVRD says the event is an opportunity to hear from the community about their opinions on the service needs for the area and for the public to learn more about the planning process. There are no scheduled speakers or for-mal presentations, but project staff and consulting engi-neers will be available to answer questions.

Open house for sewer project this Thursday

Work is starting on the renewal and extension of a majorsewer pipeline along Headquarters Road and Vanier Drivein Courtenay, and as a result drivers are being warned toexpect delays between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. along the route onweekdays for almost three months.

Because of the extensive trenching required, there will besections of single-lane traffic between Glacier Drive onHeadquarters and the entrance to the Comox Valley SportsCentre on Vanier as work progressively moves forward.

As reported in the Echo last week, the $1 million projectis by far Courtenay’s largest sewer upgrade in 2014.Around 400 metres of old sewer pipe are being replacedand about 1,200 metres of new pipe are being installed toclose a gap in the sewer network and improve capacity.

Traffic warning over big sewer project

The pilot of a glider was injured when his craft failed to lift off successfully from the private airstrip on Forbidden Plateau Road shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday morning.

Courtenay Fire-Rescue Department said the middle-aged man sustained lower leg injuries in the accident, which also resulted in very significant damage to the glider as it ended up in bushes. The man, who has not been named, was transported by a friend to St Joseph’s Hospital in Comox for treatment.

The RCMP also attended, but noted jurisdiction over aircraft and airstrip operations was a matter for Transport Canada.

GLIDER PILOT INJURED IN FAILED LIFT-OFF

By Michael Briones Echo Staff

The resonant tunes that echoed in the Comox Valley over the weekend will keep on playing in the minds of the 10,000 people that came out to enjoy the sold-out Vancouver Island Music Festival.

It was the 20th anniversary of the three-day extravaganza, which fea-tured an array of musical genres that include folk, blues, jazz, country, R&B, fiddling, yodeling and many more.

Doug Cox, artistic and executive producer, describes this year’s event as “the easiest and most successful one yet.”

“We have such an amazing team of people that put it on. It just ran like clockwork this year.”

The popular festival, which has hit maximum overload in the last three years with tickets sold out weeks ahead, was blessed with sunny and warm weather, highlighted by amaz-ing acts that included ten-time gram-my award winner Bonnie Raitt, Juno award winner Helen Austin, Birds of Chicago, Angelique Kidjo and the

Mavericks, just to name a few.“It was our 20th anniversary and

there was a lot of special feeling about it,” said Cox, who has been organizing the festival for 17 years. “What is memorable about this event is not so much the music. It’s about the people.”

Cox commended the many volun-teers, groups and performers that help make the festival one of the region’s major events annually.

“The spirit that bounces back and forth between the musicians, the vol-unteers and the audience is what creates the magic of Musicfest,” said Cox. “The fact that we are a non-prof-it organization and running this for the community, and we’re trying hard to keep that spirit there, is really what makes it magical.”

The event was not completely without incidents. Cox said when you have 10,000 people, there will be some people who do foolish things and get rowdy. But he said there were only a few.

Comox Valley RCMP media rela-tions officer Don Sinclair said they arrested only one person for being intoxicated.

20th MusicFest continues to be magical

Musical entertainment in ‘The Barn’ on Friday night

A recent increase in the number of young to middle aged dogs being affected by an acute onset of kidney failure has led to testing for lepto-spirosis by the veterinarians at the Van Isle Veterinary Hospital.

Four positive cases have been identified to date, and two addition-al cases are pending.

Leptospirosis is a bacterial infec-tion of domestic and wild animals, and can potentially affect humans.

Raccoons and other wildlife may be affected by the disease when drinking surface groundwater, and can spread the disease to other ani-mals through the contamination of additional areas of water and grass through urination.

Domestic animals may become affected by drinking the surface water. Humans may become affect-ed similarly when camping and

consuming or swimming in those water bod-ies, or may become infected when cleaning up after their pets if there are any accidents at home.

Leptospirosis has not been a commonly diagnosed disease in pets in the Comox Valley, and the recent positive cases have caused some concern among local veterinarians.

“Because of the significant risk of long term injury or death for some pets and potential risk to humans, we felt it was important to advise the general public as soon as possible so that they may review the vaccine history of their pets with their regular attending veterinarians. We also wanted people to educate themselves about the disease “said Dr. Bruce Renooy at the Van Isle Veterinary Hospital.

Leptospirosis is not a common disease in people. Dog owners should be aware of it, not alarmed by it.

The condition can be prevented through vaccination, however many veterinarians and owners have previously chosen not to vacci-nate their pets for a number of reasons. The most common reason not to vaccinate was the very infrequent occurrence of leptospirosis in our area, including most of Vancouver Island. The vaccine itself can also lead to short term fevers and illness in pets that have been vacci-nated.

The recent occurrence of leptospirosis in our area warrants a review of the activities and vaccine status of our outdoor animals. We should all enjoy the great outdoors with our families but be aware of this recently re-emerg-ing disease. Many sources of information are available on-line; an excellent source of infor-mation can be found at leptoinfo.ca or call your local veterinarian. Links to more informa-tion can also be found at www.vanislevet.com

LEPTOSPIROSIS APPEARING IN COMOX VALLEY PETS

With the very hot weather we are experiencing it is very important that we all work together to ensure a fire safe summer. A small fire can very quickly grow into a very large uncon-trollable fire.

Comox Fire Chief Gord Schreiner would like to remind area residents of some very important summer fire safely tips.

Most outdoor fires are currently banned. Please check with your local fire department before you light an out-door fire. This includes the use of out-door fireplaces.

· Outdoor fire can quickly spread in this dry weather. Please do not light ANY outdoor fires. This includes the use of outdoor fireplaces or stoves. A small campfire or party fire can easily spread into a huge forest fire. Persons

found responsible for lighting such fires can be charged and held responsible for the huge costs associated with extin-guishing such fires. You could also be found liable for any injuries or deaths resulting from the fire.

· Be extremely careful when using hot items near dry grass or brush. A barbecue, hot motor or other hot item can easily ignite the dry fuels. With a little breeze the fire can spread very quickly.

· Ensure you have a garden hose and hand tools readily available to protect your property from wildfires. Always call 911 to report any fires as they can quickly spread beyond your control.

· Ensure your roof and gutters are clear of dry leaves, needles and other dries. A spark from a nearby fire can easily ignite this dry material on your

roof.· Create a wildfire safety zone

around your home. Reduce unmanaged vegetation from within ten meters of your home. Unmanaged vegetation can easily lead a fire right to your house.

· Do not extinguish cigarettes on the ground. They can easily ignite dry fuels causing a very large fire.

· Use water to extinguish hot bri-quettes when finished with them.

· Do not hesitate to report (911) any open fires that you see. This time of year there should be no backyard fires in the area.

Chief Schreiner states: “We are becoming very concerned about the hot dry weather. We do not want to be fighting a major forest fire in our area. We need the public’s help to keep our area safe from fires”.

Hot, hot, hot fire safety tips

NewsComox Valley Echo Tuesday, July 15, 2014 A3

By Philip RoundEcho Staff

The 2% additional room tax levied on visi-tors staying in Courtenay hotels is expected to boost the region’s marketing budget by $217,000 in 2014, according to figures present-ed to City councillors on Monday night.

Annual income from the extra tax is refund-ed by the provincial government to the munic-ipality, which in turn transfers it to the Comox Valley Economic Development Society to intensify promotional efforts.

A condition of that transfer is that the coun-cil approves CVEDS’ proposals for spending the money each year, and gets reports on how effective the previous year’s efforts have been.

The aim is to create a ‘virtuous circle,’ with more visitors producing more business for the Valley, so securing jobs as well as providing more hotel tax income to use for more promo-tion in the future.

This week the council approved the break-down of the budget and tactical plan for 2014 after Coun. Bill Anglin explained the details had been considered by a destination market-

ing advisory committee, which he chairs and which includes representatives of hotels and tourist attractions in the area.

He told council the 2% tax only came in to force just over a year ago, but the use of the funds was already paying dividends to the community. Among initiatives that were new to the city since its inception were the Winter Bites festival and support for the Mini World Cup soccer tournament, which had proved extremely successful if generating more over-night stays at local hotels.

In all, just over $700,000 will be spent by CVEDS on marketing the Valley in 2014, including $158,000 in staff and administrative support.

That total figure will be covered by $281,000 taken from the $1 million annual budget pro-vided to CVEDS by the Comox Valley Regional District; $205,000 from external revenue such as advertising support and sponsorships; and $217,000 from the extra hotel room tax - although none of the hotel tax will be allocat-ed to administration.

Much of the hotel tax will be channeled in to supporting existing and new events, includ-

ing sports, arts and cultural festivals, with the specific aim of getting more people to stay for one or more nights in the area, so boosting the economic benefit of their visits.

Significant sums will also be allocated to boost the amount of print and television adver-tising that can be bought to promote the area, especially in BC and Alberta, usually in partner-ship with bodies such Tourism Vancouver Island and Destination BC.

Staff said they hoped future CVEDS budget

proposals and reports on past progress could be realigned for 2015 so they could be considered as part of the City’s own budget process much earlier in the year.

Anglin said that was the intention, but in the meantime both staff and elected officials could feel reassured that there was monitoring of the effectiveness of the initiatives being taken, including by the hotels generating the extra tax income in the first place.

[email protected]

Hotel tax to boost marketing budget by $217,000


A major search continued yester-day to try to find a Comox Valley woman who failed to return from a multi-day mountain trek.

The woman, 69-year-old Sylvia Apps, started her long hike at 11 a.m. last Tuesday (July 8) from the Paradise Meadows area on Mount Washington.

Apps, who lives in north Courtenay, is an experienced hiker who had pre-viously undertaken extensive treks - and police say she was equipped with essential navigation and safety equip-ment.

However, she was due to return to her starting point on Sunday, five days after she set out, but as the Echo went to press she had still not shown up and concerns were mounting about her whereabouts.

Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue team members were alerted as fears grew about whether she might be stranded somewhere in scorching heat with supplies running out.

The local team was joined by SAR volunteers from Port Alberni, Parksville, Nanaimo and Lake Cowichan, several of whom were deployed by helicopter to different search areas.

For Comox Valley RCMP, Const. Don Sinclair requested anyone in the area who had come across or spoken to Apps over the past several days to call them at 250-338-1321.

Sylvia Apps’ late husband, Don Apps, shared her passion for hiking and also built several trails in the area - one in Seal Bay Park not far from their home is named after him.

[email protected]

-

Sylvia Apps

Search launched as experienced hiker fails to return from long trek


For soccer fans, the flag waving is all over for another four years - but the excitement of the World Cup final on Sunday certainly helped boost the popularity of the game in Canada.

Here in the Comox Valley, where the amateur game is already very strong, people gathered around tele-vision sets, watched online, or lis-tened to the radio as Germany scored the wining goal against Argentina in extra time to lift the golden trophy in Brazil.

Plenty of fans also gathered in local pubs, clubs, sports bars and restaurants to heighten the atmo-sphere and get the adrenalin racing.

And even if their home countries had long since been knocked out of the tournament, many got behind one or the other of the last two - like Adam Amlani, sporting Argentina’s colours, facing the Echo’s own Artur Ciastkowski backing the Germans, who were among the 50 or so fans who watched the action unfold at the Prime Chophouse and Wine Bar in Courtenay.

By the end of the match, the

Germans weren’t the only winners, for Adam and his brother Adil Amlani, who together run SURE Copy on Cliffe Avenue, had orga-nized a soccer pool that encouraged World Cup picks for a shot at $4,500 worth of donated prizes - while at the same time raising money and goods for the Comox Valley Food Bank.

Top prize of a $1,000 Uniglobe

Travel gift certificate went to Tim Turay of Courtenay. Full details of many other prizewinners - including three Whitecaps packages with a night’s accommodation in Vancouver for two and match tickets; and eight ball and jersey packages - will be posted online shortly at the World Cup pool website - http://worldcup.surecourtenay.ca/

[email protected]

Sporting Argentina’s colours, Adam Amlani (left) jests with Artur Ciastkowski, supporting the Germans, while watching the World Cup final at the Prime Chophouse on Sunday.

Tim Turay was the other big winner on the day - he took top prize in the SURE Copy World Cup pool, receiving a $1,000 Uniglobe Travel gift certificate.

Goal! Courtenay man scores big as World Cup ends

By Drew A. PennerEcho Staff

On his first day at the office he was swamped with phone calls to make and emails to write. It may sound like a typical start to a new job, but in this case Tim Walton - Inspector Tim Walton that is - has taken up the post of Comox Valley RCMP detachment commander.

Walton will be responsible for mak-ing sure crime is investigated thor-oughly and properly and will set the new course of the largest police force north of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island with its 65 police officers and 20 civilian staff.

July 14 Insp. Walton started his tenure in the Valley, and is excited to integrate into the community with his wife Wendy and their two daughters.

Becoming acquainted with the local area might be the easy part.

After all, local officers respond to around 15,000 calls a year with a mis-sion to protect the 70,000 residents in the communities of Courtenay, Comox, Cumberland, and beyond.

“He’s responsible for a lot of things,” explained Courtenay mayor Larry Jangula, who spent 27 years in the RCMP himself. “The buck stops with him.”

As part of a selection committee that also included Courtenay CAO David Allen, Comox councilor Patti Fletcher, Comox Valley Regional District CAO Debra Oakman and two RCMP representatives from Ottawa, Jangula got to help pick the top cop from a pool of four candidates.

“He’s very community minded,” he said. “He’s going to grow into the community and become involved in it.”

The preferred applicants were asked to write an essay on policing matters that was specific to their expe-rience. Then interviewers fired ques-tions at the applicants in order to get a better sense of how they would do at the helm.

Walton has a lot to draw upon.He joined the RCMP in 1985 and

has served in seven of Canada’s prov-inces and territories right from Montreal, Que. to Harbour Grace, Nfld.

Walton also worked at the RCMP’s

Depot Training Academy and most recently was employed at the RCMP’s National Headquarters in Ottawa, working in Contract and Aboriginal Policing Services.

He’s commanded RCMP Detachments in Baker Lake, Nunavut and Whitehorse, Yukon.

Even though the detachment com-mander won’t necessarily be walking the beat, it doesn’t mean having strong interpersonal skills isn’t important - and in fact, it’s particular-ly significant since he will serve to a certain extent as a figurehead, Jangula said.

“He’s a very approachable man,” he said. “The atmosphere in any office is often dictated by the people at the top.”

Before signing up with the RCMP he was an RCMP Auxiliary Constable, a University of Victoria graduate, and worked for Corrections Canada.

Another one of the people short-list-ed for the position, Sgt. Jeff Preston, was named Campbell River’s new detachment commander.

Preston had been a detachment commander in Tofino for 3 years, and had been serving in the Island District General Investigation Section in the Comox Valley.

“They were all excellent candi-dates,” Jangula said, adding he thinks Walton has what it takes to get the job done. “It’s a fair amount of responsi-bility.”

New top cop takes command of local force

Inspector Tim Walton

RULES• Contest closes August 20th at Noon • All entries will be collected from

participating merchants and winner chosen • Draw will take place 4 pm August 22nd • To win you must answer your phone when

the Echo calls • Call backs are not allowed • Entry forms

will be drawn until there is a winner • Shopping spree will be held on Saturday

August 30th at 10:30 AM

• A maximum of $200 can be spent at any given participating merchant

• Winner will be driven from Echo offi ce to participating merchants of the winner’s choice by ambassador shuttle

• As the winner has only 2014 seconds ( 33.56 Minutes) to spend $2014 it is recommended you visit participating merchants prior to shopping spree to pre-plan

• Winner must be at least 19 years of age.

THE COMOX VALLEY’SLARGEST LOCALSHOPPING SPREEOF THE CENTURY!One very lucky person will be REWARDED FOR SHOPPING LOCALLY and WIN a $2,014 shopping spree where they will have a total of 2014 seconds (33.56 minutes) to spend $2,014 at any or all participating merchants.

PROMOTION RUNS FOR 6 WEEKS:JULY 15 - AUGUST 19, 2014SHOPPING SPREE IS ON SATURDAY,AUGUST 30 @ 10:30 AM

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“My practice is about more than just tax. It’s about building your business, understanding the difficulties that you’re facing and finding real solutions. Solutions that lead to growth. I’ve been part of the management team of a growing business for the last decade, and I’ve seen the challenges that busi-ness owners run into every day. If you own a business and find yourself think-ing that there has to be a better way, we should talk.And of course, I do taxes too.”

Understanding. Business. Accounting. Tax.

2040 A Guthrie Rd., Comox • 250.941.3444 • [email protected]

Accepting New Clients

Sports and RecreationComox Valley Echo Tuesday, July 15, 2014 A5

GOLF NEWS

29 ladies enjoyed a beautiful sunny day at the Comox Golf Club Ladies Day. The game of the day was “throw out your four worst holes”.

There was a tie for Low Gross with Amber Dufour and Grace Coulter for first with a 63. Third was Suzy Venuta-64 and fourth was Nancy Newton-66.

Low net was won by Marg Walker- 36 and tied for second was Mary Suchla and Pat Belanger with 37. Fourth was Edith Albrecht-41.

Closest to the bucket- Edith Albrecht. KPs were won by Amber Dufour on #4/#13, Grace Coulter -#5/#14, Pat Schmidt- #7/#16, Pat Belanger-#9/#18 and the longest putt was won by Marg Kelly.

Another beautiful evening on Thursday was attended by 32 ladies. Low gross with 39 was Jan Dafoe. Karen Vanetta won Low net with 30. There was a tie for second low gross with Judy McMartin and Suzy Venuta with a 42. Second low net was won by Marg Siddall with 31.

Karen Vanetta won low putts with 13. Long putts were won by Joan Lord and Patti Harris.

Sponsored prizes were won by: Longest drive 0-23 Sandi Tufnail; Longest drive 24+ Marg Siddall; KP 0-23- Karen Vanetta; second shot KP on #18-Norma Leakey; third shot KP on #13- Jan Dafoe; Draw for Trees hit- Norma Leakey(8) and honorable mention to Mary Buchanan(7); Sand draw was won by Joan Baudais. The draw for our guests, a free round of golf on Thursday night was Judy McMartin.

We especially would like to thank our hole Sponsors for Tuesday and Thursday. It is important to shop locally and tell these people how much we appreciate their involve-ment in our community: Thrifty’s, Arizona Gifts, Kathy Branch Hairstyling, Gibby’s Pro Shop, The Tee Box Restaurant, Chinook Forest Products, Bulk Barn, Panago Pizza, Playtime Gaming, Mid Island Gifts and Looneyrama(Comox Mall).

- Submitted by Nancy Riva

Congratulations to Nick Usher for a superb gross 61 shot on our Sunday Men’s morning at Comox.

Five birdies and a deuce flowed as part of his round, achieved in beau-tiful sunshine.

Tom Shaw shoots his best gross score, 78 and Ken Tait hits a net 60.

A great course awaits everyone.After an enjoyable Mr/Mrs and

His/Hers competition on Saturday, 47 players participated with the fol-lowing results.

0-16 Low Gross Nick Usher 61, Bill Wheeldon 74.

17+ low Gross Tom Shaw 78, Brian Slater 80

Low Nets Ken Tait 60, Don Ellis 65, Ken Loga 65, Burt Meek 65, Art Karpus 65, Pat Riva 66

KP Prizes: 10 2nd shot 0-16 Pat Riva Bowlzy

Brkfst Comox Pacific Express11 3rd shot 0-16 Nick Usher

BlackFin Pub12 Long Drive 17+ Ken Tait

Westview Ford Sales13 2nd shot All Nick Usher

Men’s Club5 All Nick Usher Men’s Club14 All Brian Slater Men’s Club15 2nd shot 17 + Ron Pratt

Bowlzy Brkfst Comox Pacific Express

16 Long Drive 0-16 Mark (Skinny) Vandervoort Westview Ford Sales

17 2nd shot 17+ Kevin Loga Boston Pizza

9 All Hank (V12) Verdenhalven Men’s Club

18 All Jim Eremko Men’s ClubThanks to Ian Smith for assisting

today, and our match. To Gibby and staff: We have the best.

Computer is down so enter scores at home.

See you all on July 20th.- Submitted by Vic Crisp

Tuesday, July 8th was a T and F day for the Sunnydale Ladies Club. It was a fun round, using the best score on the holes that start with a T and F ... figure that one out (some of us had problems).

The overall winner was Becky Kenner with a 29.5, 2nd Sharon Littler 30.5, Betty Lund and Mo Ross with 31, Lucille Campbell with 32, Maylene Friesen with 32.5, Lorna Fowler with 33.5, Susie Currie with 34, Norman Rankin with 34.5, Fran Shaw and Teri Sleigh with 34.5

Becky Kenner was the winner of the day with the lowest number of putts 28 and longest putt on #9. We also would like to congratulate her on breaking 90 for the very first time. She shot an 88 today. Way to go Becky.

KP on #10 sponsored by Rob Speer Pro Shop was Marg Poje and she received a sleeve of balls

KP on #5, 2nd shot 0-24 Hdcp was Lynda Lee Root and the 25 and over hdcp was won by Mo Ross, they each received a gift certificate for the pro shop

We had 4 birdies today, Sharon Littler and Chris Annand on #10, Lynda Lee Root on 4 &6, Mo Ross on #5

Please remember the Ladies Tillicum 2 Ball is on Saturday, August 9th. Find a partner and come and join us. You may sign up at Sunnydale. See you next week.

- Submitted by Pat Costello

Sunnydale Thursday Night Ladies July 10th we had a warm evening and a good turn out. Welcome back to the new ladies!

Prizes were given out for: Hole 2 for shots out of the sandtrap

to Judy Hughes Hole 3 for closest to the pin 2nd

shot to Lynda BakerHole 4 for closet to the big rock to

Erma DerksonHole 5 for closet to the pin 3rd

shot to Maylene FriesenHole 6 for longest drive to Pearl

MaddenJune Fuller had the longest putt

on #9Mary Lynn Doubinin had lowest

puttsMost Honest Golfer was Pearl

Madden.Draw Prizes were from:Rob’s Pro Shop to Mary LynnBooster Juice to Lynda BakerBoston Pizza to Jean WheatonFluids Bar & Grill to Judy HughesInvestors Group/Locals Restaurant

to Louise SmileyJo Klassen’s to Diane Bowley &

June FullerMichaels Off Main to Monique

WalkerPanago Pizza to Erma DerksonQuality Foods-Comox to Pearl

MaddenRoyston Roasting Co. to Andrea

McInnesThursday Night Ladies sign up at

5:00 pm, tee off at 5:30 pm

Everyone welcome!- Submitted by Mary Lynn Doubinin

After a long weekend’s golf in the North Island Tournament only 36 golfers played Stableford on a beau-tifull sunny Wednesday night with the following results:

1st Jim Eremko 22 pts, Brian Hegg 22, Kyle Mudge 21, Pete Wittick 21, Ken Loga 20, Rick (Chachi) McCaughan 20 pts.

KP Prizes: 10 2nd shot all Rod Nichol

Men’s Club11 3rd shot 0-16 Kyle Mudge

Thrifty’s12 Long Drive 0-16 Kyle Mudge

Men’s Club13 2nd shot 0-16 Pat Riva

Chads14 All Rick (Chachi) McCaughan

Men’s Club15 2nd Shot 17+ Net Champion

Keith (Horton) Welch BlackFin Pub 16 Long Drive 17+ Brian Hegg

Scott Fraser Royal Lepage17 2nd shot 17+ Dan Buss

Boston Pizza18 All Rick Adams Shilo

Painting/ Glacier GuttersBirdies Kyle Mudge, Jim Eremko,

Marc (skinny) V11 Keith (Horton) Welch, Brian Hegg,, Andy Dean, Deuce Jim Eremko well done.

DON”T FORGET to record your nine hole scores.

See you July 16th 5.30 for 6 pm.

- Submitted by Vic Crisp

On an amazing day, July 12th, the Comox Golf Club crowned Ian and Sue Leakey as the new winners of the Mr. and Mrs. Trophy. Second was Marc and Carmen deWin-ter, third Pat and Nancy Riva, fourth Tracy and Kathy Branch and fifth Al and Brenda Good. The Odds and Ends section was won by Vic Crisp and Laurie Appleyard, second Don Gates and Nancy Newton, third Dan Bailey and Jan Dafoe and fourth was Art Carpenter and Louise Luster. The KPs were won by Vic Crisp #5, #18 Marty Petersen, #9 Louise Luster and #14 was Marg Walker. The Tee Box provided a great dinner. Gibby Gibson (course manager) was there to help organizer, Phyllis Taylor, hand out the prizes

Mr. and Mrs. winners at Comox Golf Club

The BC Summer Games will be taking place this week (17-20 July) in Nanaimo and involving a number of Comox Valley and area athletes.

Anton Cecic, a 14-year-old Isfeld student, will be competing in Triathlon.

Anton has been participating in Triathlon events, including the Comox Valley Shoreline Orthodontics Tri-K and the Victoria Youth Triathlon since 2006.

A member of the Comox Valley Triathlon Club, Anton works with the Sharks swim club and the Blue Devils in the Spring and Summer and plays hockey and soccer and skis in the remainder of the year.

“I started doing triathlon to keep up my swimming skills and to maintain some fitness activity in the Summer

after the hockey and soccer seasons. After a few races, I found that I really enjoyed the competition and the chal-lenge of beating my personal best times”.

Following a couple of very success-ful races in 2013, Anton decided to take his game to a new level this year.

Joining forces with Lynda Magor, a highly experienced triathlete and coach, he increased the intensity and focus of his training program and landed a spot on the Zone 6 (Vancouver Island) triathlon team for the BC Summer Games.

With the generous support of spon-sors Frontrunners and Oak Bay Bikes, Anton and his seven teammates will be showcasing their skills in the Sprint, Duathlon and Aquathon events against other BC teams.

Youth athlete takeshis triathlon game to the BC Summer Games

Triathlete Anton Cecic will be competing this week at the BC Summer Games

GREAT SCORES AT COMOX JULY 8TH

NICK USHER ‘THE CRUSHER’

T AND F DAY FOR SUNNYDALE LADIES

WARM NIGHT AT SUNNYDALE

EREMKO, MUDGE SHINE AT COMOX

Two local health-care providers, Dr. Derek Vinge and Dr. Clay Ward, are set to represent the Comox Valley at the XTERRA World Championships in Maui, Hawaii on October 26, 2014.

The annual XTERRA Victoria took place July 6th, 2014 at Durrance Lake and Mount Work Regional Park. Both Vinge and Ward placed in the top spot in their age category, each earning a coveted qualification spot at the XTERRA World Championships in Maui. The Victoria event is part of the Xterra World Tour and challenges athletes with a combination of open water swimming, cross country mountain biking, and technical trail running. Rain on race day resulted in wet and difficult conditions however the local chiropractors managed to represent the Comox Valley in perfect form.

In addition to top placement in their respective age categories, Dr. Derek Vinge and Dr. Clay Ward both finished in the top three overall. Vinge finished 2nd behind Elite Olympian Brent McMahon in a time of 2:09:37 followed by Ward in 2:14:42.

“I have trained for months aiming for this race, and it all came together on the day” Vinge said after the race. Dr. Derek Vinge is the owner/chiro-practor at Fit Chiropractic in Downtown Courtenay, and said he recently moved to the Comox Valley for the lifestyle and endless options of activities.

Dr. Clay Ward is the owner/chiro-practor at Dynamic Spine, Sport and Wellness in Courtenay and is also a recent transplant. “The Comox Valley is a thriving community that pro-vides all the training and recreational opportunities to prepare for this level of racing” Ward says.

The chiropractors will face tough competition in Maui - both profes-sional and amateur athletes will be competing in the three stage race.

Athletes will have to be in peak con-dition to master the difficult course, which has been described as a tropi-cal roller coaster. The race begins with a 1.5 kilometer rough water swim near D.T. Flemmings Beach in Kapalua, is followed by a 32 kilome-ter mountain bike ride up and down the slopes of the West Maui Mountains, and concludes with a 10 kilometer run along steep dirt trails through oleander fields and around mountain lakes.

Vinge and Ward both have their sights set on the world champion-ship title for their respective catego-ries, but also recognize that it is a major accomplishment just to have qualified for the prestigious event. “It is a fantastic opportunity to be able to represent Canada and the Comox Valley at this level of competition,” Ward says.

Both chiropractors are living by example on a daily basis by keeping an active and healthy way of life. In addition, both Vinge and Ward have been selected for the Active Release Technique (ART) Therapy Team for the upcoming IRONMAN Canada in Whistler July 27th, 2014. ART is a state of the art soft tissue system/movement based massage technique that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves and is widely utilized by Olympians and high level ath-letes. When asked about what keeps him active, Dr. Vinge said “Utilizing ART is the gold standard in soft tissue injuries and keeps me going for high performance competitions”.


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Three of Vanier School’s provin-cial championship-winning rugby team are going from strength to strength.

Not only have they just helped lift another BC trophy, but provincial selectors have picked them to take part in the upcoming National Championships.

The trio - Madi Gold, Georgia Bellamy and Lauren Sargent - were on the Vancouver Island North U18 Tsunami Rugby Academy team that has just been crowned Provincial

Champions.They went undefeated in this

month’s tournament and only con-ceded one try. Such an achievement by any team has been a long time coming, as Fraser Valley has held the title for the past five years.

Following the tournament, all three Vanier students received calls informing them they had been selected to be part of the U18 British Columbia Women’s Rugby Team.

Gold, Bellamy and Sargent all say they are very excited to be represent-ing the province at Rugby Canada’s National Championship Festival to be held in Calgary, Alberta, from

August 4-10. To keep them in shape, and prior

to competing at the Nationals, the three will also be part of a rugby 7’s team representing Vancouver Island at the BC Summer Games in Nanaimo this coming weekend

With success comes the expense of competing at a higher level, including travel, so the three are hoping to attract a number of $100 sponsorships to help defray the cost. Any company or individual interest-ed in offering support is asked to email Lauren’s mom for more details - [email protected]

[email protected]

Picked to play for National honours - from the left, Madi Gold, Georgia Bellamy and Lauren Sargent.

Vanier rugby trio selected to play for BC in National Championships

The summer swim season on Vancouver Island is underway, and the Comox Valley Blue Devils are achieving many personal bests and podium finishes.

Under the guidance of coaches Drew Kuhnert, Kyle Brush, Tristan Steven and Megan Rousseau, Blue Devils swimmers have participated in four meets thus far - Cowichan Valley, Oak Bay, Courtenay and Nanaimo - and are looking forward to the annual campout and airband competition at Campbell River.

With over 35 Blue Devils swim-mers participating in the June 21-22 swim meet, hosted by the club at the Lewis Park outdoor pool, the team posted impressive results.

Special mention must be made of novice swimmers - Alexa Pauletto, Callie Blasco, Jasmine Ho-Gillis, Pepper Hedquist, Ethan Olson, Jack Olson, Fin Hedquist, and Liam Fath - most of whom competed in their very first 25 metre races. Also swim-ming personal bests were:

Div 1 girls - Ella Prager, Leela Muir, Shadia Zuccato and Neve McDonald

Div 1 boys - Jace McDowell, Stephen Henly, Spencer Webb and

Liam FathDiv 2 girls - Ava Webb, Naomi

Swift, Chloe Pritchard, Aislen Ferguson, Elise Ferguson, and Chloe McDonald

Div 2 boys - Eli Blasco, Sebastien Morin, Alex Paul, Jordan Raume, and Peter Shaver

Div 3 girls - Abby McDowell, Isabella Anderson, Lauren Blasco and Natasha Muir

Div 3 boys - Cole BarkerOCat 1 boys - Jaden Fath and

Delwyn MarcouxO Cat 2 girls - Avry BowersDiv 4 girls - Zoe McDougall, Myia

Dunn and Jaida BlascoDiv 4 boys - Douglas LightfootDiv 6 girls - Megan Rousseau,

Emma Rudolph, Amelia Helpard, Sydney Kuhnert, and Kyla deWitt

Div 6 boys - Caleb ClarkeDiv 7 girls - Beverly JolleyWith 17 swimmers competing at

the Nanaimo Invitational from June 27-29, the Blue Devils once again swam impressively.

Facing tough competition from the mainland and Island, many achieved personal bests: Callie Blasco, Jace McDowell, Spencer Webb, Stephen Henly, Eli Blasco, Sebastien Morin,

Ava Webb, Shadia Zuccato, Abby McDowell, Isabella Anderson, Lauren Blasco, Myia Dunn, Jaida Blasco, Emma Rudolph, Douglas Lightfoot and Caleb Clark.

Dominating their respective divi-sions, Zoe McDougall (Div 4) and Megan Rousseau (Div 6), brought home a combined 8 medals (5 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze).

New to the club, Megan Wilson (OCat 2), also had an outstanding meet, earning one gold and two sil-ver medals.

With the Vancouver Island Championships scheduled for August 2-4 at Saanich’s Commonwealth Pool, the Blue Devils will continue to train and compete hard over the next weeks.

One of BC’s oldest swim clubs, the Blue Devils Swim Club has provided thousands of Comox Valley youth with fitness, friendship, competition and enjoyment since 1948. The Blue Devils caters to all swimmers, pro-viding excellent coaching and enabling every swimmer to develop to the full potential of their individu-al interest.

For more information, visit www.bluedevilsswimclub.com.

Blue Devils’ Abby McDowell racing the 50 Fly at the Nanaimo Invitational Swim Meet.

BLUE DEVILS POST PERSONAL BESTS

Dr. Clay Ward, right, and Dr. Derek Vinge

Local chiropractors living by example as they qualify for XTERRA World Championships in Maui

On June 4th, the four Comox Valley Tim Horton's locations raised $15,000. to send kids to camp in

Kanaskis Alberta. The deserving participants have been selected from local schools and will partici-pate in a 1st class experience at a top grade camp

facility. They will go horseback riding, an overnight excursion, white water rafting, archery, zip line and

many more fun and safe activities to challenge them and uplift their self-esteem while showing

them what the world has to offer

CommunityComox Valley Echo Tuesday, July 15, 2014 A7

Seven RBC staff came out to lend a hand June 12, to Mountainaire Avian Rescue Society (MARS) and presented cheques totaling $6,000 to both MARS and the Comox Valley Conservation Strategy (CVCS) Community Partnership.

The CVCS received $5,000 from the RBC Blue Water Project. The funds will be used to support educa-tion activities for improved protec-tion and restoration measures for streams and stream side habitat (riparian areas) and continued work towards protection of the Comox Lake Watershed.

“A recent assessment of 2,329 hectares of riparian ecosystems in the Comox Valley between 1992 and 2012 shows that land use has nega-tively impacted half of the ecosys-tems. Of the total area impacted

about 450 hectares was through development activities.

“This affects fish and many other species that rely on healthy riparian ecosystems for their habitat. It also affects our water quality and quanti-ty in local streams,” reveals CVCS Program Manager David Stapley.

The CVCS Community Partnership has proposed a number of measures to protect the health of the Comox Lake Watershed, the drinking water source for 45,000 Comox Valley resi-dents.

These include working with the many stakeholder agencies, recre-ation groups, land owners and the general public to implement better protection measures.

“The RBC Blue Water Project is a wide-ranging program dedicated to protecting the world’s most precious

natural resource: fresh water. The Blue Water Project supports initia-tives that help protect water in grow-ing towns and cities,” explains Colleen Sawyer, RBC Ryan Road branch manager.

MARS received $1,000 to help in their ongoing efforts to rehabilitate wildlife and release them back into the wild.

MARS volunteers also assist the Regional District maintain the Headquarters Town Site park. The seven RBC staff spent the morning helping MARS with trail mainte-nance at the park.

“Not only did the RBC staff come out to give us a hand but they brought us a cheque as well! We really appreciate the funds needed to support our avian rescue program,” exclaims Maj Birch of MARS.

RBC supports two local environmentalgroups with cheques for projects

RBC branch manager Colleen Sawyer presents cheque to David Stapley, program manage,r Comox Valley Conservation Strategy (centre of photo).

Vancouver Island Regional Library is excited to announce the Name the Whale Contest! In celebration of the Library’s newest staff member, an orca mascot who starts full-time this month, VIRL is inviting kids to get creative and send in their suggested names.

The contest runs from the begin-ning of July to August 16th and is open to children ages 6-12 years old.

Kids can enter the contest by filling out a contest entry form and handing it in at any local Vancouver Island Regional Library branch. Contest forms are available at any VIRL branch. Multiple entries are wel-comed!

The winner will receive a special prize and certificate, announced in September.

For more information about the Name the Whale Contest, or for a downloadable entry form, visit us at virl.bc.ca/contests!

Vancouver Island Regional Library (VIRL) is the fourth largest library system in British Columbia. We serve over 430,000 people on Vancouver

Island, Haida Gwaii, and Bella Coola on the Central Coast through 39 branch libraries, a virtual branch, and a books-by-mail service. VIRL’s hold-ings number one-million and include books, magazines, CD’s and DVD’s.

Library launches name the whale contest for kids

Fuel up before you shop till you drop at the 44th Annual Market Day Sale Saturday July 19th.

The Evergreen Club is inviting everyone out to their pancake breakfast from 7:30 am- 11:00 am.

This yummy meal is fully served right to you at your table at the Conference Hall of Courtenay Recreation’s Filberg Centre.

“It really is the biggest and best pancake breakfast you’ll find this summer,” says Evergreen Club volunteer, Bea Tomkinson.

For only $5.00 a person you will get your

choice of beverage and choice of buckwheat or buttermilk pancakes.

You also get delicious Hertels bacon or local sausages from Tannadice Farms.

Event convenor, Evergreen Club volunteer Sally Say laughs, “Just bring your money and your mouth!”

Gather your friends and family and share in this all ages feast and feel good about sup-porting the Evergreen Club. Mark Saturday, July 19th down in your calendar. For more info call 250-338-1000 or www.evergreense-niorsclub.org.

Evergreen Club volunteers in their pancake themed aprons. Left to right: Dennis & Gail Flynn, Bea & Joe Tomkinson and Peter Vincent

Fuel up at pancake breakfast before shopping

Special Needs Recreation is looking for volunteers to help in its summer programs for adults with developmental disabilities.

“We aim to make our pro-grams fun and successful,” says Heather Crites, co-ordinator for Special Needs Recreation. “In the summer it’s all about fun, and we do a range of relaxed short term activities from bingo to clay, to picnics and horseshoes. We like to have volunteers in each program so each partici-pant gets the support he or she needs, and so we can all have fun.”

Special Needs Recreation is looking in particular for volun-teers for the Monday & Wednesday morning Music In the Park in July, and also for Clay, and Bingo on various days.

If you are able to donate a few hours a week to work with a great group of people, call Heather at the Lewis Centre 250-338-5371 or email [email protected]. And check out the summer Special Needs Rec newsletter online http://www.courtenay.ca/recreation/spe-cial-needs.aspxMary says join us for fun times.

Special NeedsRecreation callfor volunteers

OpinionsECHO

THE COMOX VALLEY ECHOAn independently owned and operated

newspaper published by Echo Publications at

407-D Fifth Street, Courtenay, B.C. V9N 1J7

All material herein is protected by copyright. Reproduction in whole or in part is not permitted without written

authorization from the publisher.

Publisher Dave MacDonaldEditor Debra MartinAdvertising Manager Keith CurrieOffice Administrator Deb FowlerCirculation Manager Hedi MacDonaldProduction Manager Ryan GetzPhone 250-334-4722 Fax 250-334-3172Classifieds 250- 334-4215 Circulation 250-334-4734E-mail: [email protected]

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Letters to the Editor

Food is going to be major issue


While I was volunteering as a driver/schlepper at the Vancouver Island Music Festival, taking performers to wherever they wanted to go, one fellow and I ended up talking about the heat.

This particular musician with guitar in hand, travels quite a bit, having done so for over 30 years as a performer, and he openly volunteered to me that cli-mate change was so obvious wherever he went.

Why I found this so interesting was that I don’t normally think of country music stars with a bit of a twang in their voice, telling me about our nation’s leadership when it comes to environ-mental policies that are “denying the science”.

I listened to him telling me just what he was witnessing in changes from places he’s visited over the years, and how bad things are going to get in the future. Speaking to me, he was talking to an already converted biologist as I keep abreast of many reports and com-ments from other scientists on my vari-ous discussion forums via the internet, and yes, he was spot on!

I do not talk to many folks about this issue on a daily basis as we seem to be in a collective denial “shield” about this pressing and most serious of looming situations facing us and the generations to come - It’s just too... I don’t know, scary?

We hear about climate change but sort of push it back when we have entertainment to take in, and recreating to indulge ourselves with, but it’s there all the time like a creeping mould com-ing on to our favourite cheeses stored in the fridge.

However, when I give public presen-tations on native bees and pollination, pesticide use and looming food-security are always included in my talks.

If one looks at what’s going on in the U.S. and especially California, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Palmer Drought Index), shows that drought now covers 34.3% - Yes, California, remember that state where a lot of our produce comes from we see in our gro-cery stores?

Drought for California, means more

local consumption of their reducing fruit and vegetable production, leaving less for us to purchase.

If one looks at the almond industry alone, it consumes 10% of the water they have. I don’t see too many folks around here growing almonds. This gives even more credence for us to pro-tect our agricultural growing parts of Canada, especially here in B.C. when some would like to see even more lands taken out of the A.L.R. for development.

Talking to my fellow tubers that fre-quent the Comox and Cowichan Valley rivers, we collectively notice the low levels in our rivers, the pathways clogged with protruding boulders, and the need to be concerned about our struggling salmon fry.

While we might have a decent return this year on the Puntledge, Cowichan is looking at once again shipping salmon fry past low areas in the river. Our rivers are at September levels in July so most of us feel it in our “fun” bone, but we stop short of bringing it further into the public discussion.

I am encouraged by the increasing numbers of people who are switching to growing their own food and have start-ed to realise that we can’t always rely on outside sources for all our food requirements.

Like many of my biologist, food-secu-rity and environmentally-connected friends and colleagues state, local food production is going to be the major issue hitting us in mere decades if we don’t get a grip on the combined links between local agriculture lands, access to ample water supplies, and the reduc-tion of available imported produce. Like fuel prices, I predict our food prices will soar much higher.

Gord HutchingsCobble Hill, BC

In response to Bob Mortimer’s letter of July 11 in which he says that I sug-gest a vote without the facts. It seems that he has failed to completely read or misunderstood what I wrote. Either that or he is misunderstanding the difference

between a plebiscite and a referendum. I said no such thing, as a matter of fact just the opposite. So I will repeat here for clarification.

The last paragraph in my letter said “Amalgamation will only be democratic if they first hold a Plebiscite to see if the community is even interested.

“If they are, only then, should a study be commissioned and with full knowl-edge to go by, hold a Referendum. That way the electorate have been involved at all levels.

“Determine the numbers, decide if the outcome is beneficial to your individual community and cast your ballot accord-ingly. “

So it can be clearly seen that I did mention a study and voting, by referen-dum, with full knowledge of the facts. My concern over the recent proposal is that a petition is not an adequate way of gauging public desire for a study.

I contend that the only valid method of getting public consent is by putting a question on a ballot.

With an election coming up this fall we are presented with an opportunity to do just that. Which is how the process took place in the 1990s. That way, everyone who votes has the opportunity to express an opinion.

With petition it is quite possible that only those who are in favour of the question, or who get badgered to sign by a canvasser, express opinion. Let’s get back to true democracy and encour-age more people to participate in our political process.

DW (Don) DavisComox

A higher speed limit combined with high temperatures will inevitably lead to more accidents such as loss of control due to blown tires.

Have you checked your wheel align-ment lately?

I would strongly suggest every vehi-cle be equipped with a fire extinguisher within easy reach.

Dave Matthews Courtenay

Editorial

The owners of three Victoria coffee shops will be stamping messages on their coffee cups that encourage customers to vote in November’s municipal election.

In addition to finding pro-voting messages on their cups, customers at 2% Jazz, Habit and Shatterbox coffee shops will also be directed to votepledge2014.ca, a website launched in March by Victoria Coun. Lisa Helps to encour-age people to get out and vote.

Go for it, we say. Anything that might help increase the region’s low voter turnout is wel-come.

In the 2011 municipal election, voter turnout in the region averaged about 30 per cent, with Metchosin highest with 49 per cent and Langford at the bottom of the list with 14 per cent.

A dismal rate of participation in the demo-cratic process, to say the least.

Since the 1960s, voter participation has declined among the world’s established democ-racies. Low voter turnout usually sparks a lot of hand-wringing about the state of democracy.

However, several studies by political scien-tists show data that indicate there’s no need for alarm, that the extent of voter turnout has little effect on election outcomes.

Dutch political scientist Martin Rosema, in a paper published on an electoral studies web-site, takes the argument further and suggests low turnout might be a good thing.

Which would be preferable, he asks, a high turnout election in which voters make their choice by flipping a coin or based on the looks of the candidates, or a low-turnout election in which voters weigh the worth of the perfor-mance and platforms of candidates?

“Arguably, the latter situation would be pref-erable,” he writes.

There are a couple of problems with the stud-ies that dismiss concerns about low voter turn-out. Generally, they are based on polls taken after an election. And we have learned from the recent Alberta, B.C. and Ontario elections just how wrong polls can be. They show that how people say they will vote is not a guarantee of how they will actually cast their ballots. And asking non-voters how they would have voted has even less meaning. The only way you can truly know how someone would have voted is if they actually vote.

Also, these surveys usually focus on national elections, where the votes of a small minority are not likely to substantially affect the overall outcome. Researchers Zoltan Hajnal of the University of California San Diego and Jessica Trounstine of Princeton University in New Jersey say that when the studies focus on local elections, the results are different. They suggest that in municipal elections, the lower the voter turnout, the higher the possibility that the results can be skewed by one segment of the population or special interests.

Regardless of studies, voter participation does matter. While the public has many opportuni-ties for input in civic government, it’s only at the polling place that politicians’ feet are truly held to the fire.

While it’s best that voters be informed before they vote, even the mere act of casting a ballot makes a person more aware of the candidates and issues involved in local government.

The voting rate is lowest among younger people. Only a third of young people vote when they first become eligible, half the rate of a gen-eration ago. Apathy and a sense of helplessness are significant factors, but those can only be cured by getting involved. It was encouraging, then, to see high school students in the region stage walkouts in June to protest the impasse between teachers and government. Whatever their motives, those students got involved.

Messages on coffee cups alone are not likely to reverse the downward trend in voter turnout, but perhaps they can help make the voting habit contagious.

- Victoria Times Colonist

Raising vote ratea worthy effort

By Jordan Bateman

Earlier this year, two brides-to-be from Prince George - to protect their identities, we’ll call them “Thelma and Louise” - made a run for the Alberta border and cheaper liquor.

Thelma and Louise are each get-ting married this summer, and both weddings are set to be huge bashes, with hundreds of guests coming from across Canada. To save money, the brides borrowed a van and drove east. Nine hours later, they were in an Edmonton Costco, pur-chasing dozens of cases of beer, wine, and spirits.

The pair loaded the van all the way to the roof. It was so heavy, the vehicle sagged on its suspen-sion as the women drove back to

Prince George, past the unsuspect-ing wildlife in Jasper National Park. Careful not to speed, the brides managed to avoid any atten-tion from the RCMP. “Not sure what they would have thought if they had caught us,” laughed Thelma.

Even with the cost of gas and a day off work, the total estimated savings for each bride: close to $1,500. “Or a good start on a pretty nice honeymoon,” joked Louise.

Thelma and Louise aren’t the only British Columbians looking east for cheaper alcohol, where Alberta’s lower liquor taxes help keep prices down.

Take a $15 bottle of wine, for example. In B.C., we pay $7.11 for the Liquor Distribution Branch (LDB) markup tax, 60 cents in

other LDB fees, and 94 cents in Provincial Sales Tax - a total of $8.65 in taxes. That means British Columbians, when they buy a bot-tle of wine, actually pay more in taxes and markup than for the actual drink itself.

In Alberta, a $15 bottle of wine faces only $3.45 in provincial taxes and government markup, meaning you get a lot better wine for your $15 in Edmonton and Calgary than in Enderby and Coquitlam.

WineMarketing.ca offers a B.C. tax calculator where British Columbians can put in the B.C. Liquor Store cost of a bottle of wine and see how much we’re paying in taxes. A nice, $50 bottle of wine, for example, is 68 per cent taxes and markup.

Despite the higher taxes and

prices, the B.C. government’s recent announcement of 73 poten-tial liquor reforms fails to offer a single nickel of tax relief to con-sumers.

Worse, it entrenches policies like minimum prices, a favorite ham-mer of the B.C. government. Minimum prices schemes have made the province’s much-bally-hooed happy hour rollout a failure by artificially forcing beer and wine prices up again.

Things could get even worse. Wildly exceeding its legislated responsibilities and taxing abilities, the City of Victoria is now trying to add their own nickel-per-drink tax.

This would set a frightening precedent: imagine every city across B.C. slapping local taxes on your beer and wine. And if you

think that tax would hold steady at a nickel per drink, ask yourself this: how often do local govern-ments cut taxes? How often do they raise them? We all know which way this would trend.

So British Columbians keep pay-ing more than we should be at the liquor store, more at the pub, more during happy hour.

As the movie version of Thelma and Louise famously said, “You get what you settle for.” If British Columbians want to quit overpay-ing for a drink, we have to quit settling for government treating us like children and over-taxing our drinks.

Jordan Bateman is British Columbia Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

B.C. liquor taxes still costing consumers dearly

EXPECT MORE ACCIDENTS

TRUE DEMOCRACY

CommunityComox Valley Echo Tuesday, July 15, 2014 A9

Moving Ahead Together

Thursday, July 17, 2014 | 5-8 pm

Fallen Alders Hall, 3595 Royston Road Open House Style

Join the project team and engineering

consultants at an open house to learn more

and provide feedback on the south region

liquid waste management plan.

Drop in and speak to project staff and

consultants about the planning process

now underway to determine the best options

for wastewater management and water

resource recovery in the south region. This

is the first in a series of public consultation

events scheduled to occur throughout the

planning process.

Learn more about the south region LWMP, visit: www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/southregionLWMP

Contact: CVRD Engineering Services

[email protected] | 250-871-6100

Open House

South Region Liquid Waste Management Plan

ECHOetc.Courtenay Legion Br. #17 is

holding a dance on Friday, July 18th in the upper hall.

Come dance to the music of the 50’s & 60’s with Nite Life. Dance starts at 7:30 and runs till 10:30 Everyone welcome.

This coming Monday July 21st at 5:30 pm Wenjie’s Restaurant at 1496 Ryan Rd. East in Comox will host this month’s Earthsave Vegan dine out.

The restaurant formerly known as Vera’s is open 6 days a week for lunch and 7 days a week for din-ner. Hostess Wenjie has come up with the following buffet menu:

Spring Roll, Vegetable Fried Rice, Mixed Vegetables with Rice Noodles, Vegetable Chop Suey, Kung Po Tofu and Mixed Fruits for dessert.

The cost for the evening includ-ing coffee, tea, taxes and tips is $20 for adults and $15 for kids to age 12.

The evening is by reservation only. To reserve call Bob at Earthsave; ph. 250-338-0751.

Comox Valley Family Services Association (CVFSA) is holding its Annual General Meeting (AGM) Monday July 21st at 3:00 p.m.

The meeting will be held at Comox Valley Family Services Association, 1415 Cliffe Avenue, Courtenay.

A giant garage and book sale is being held Saturday, July 19, 9:00 am - 2:00 pm at the Union Bay Community Hall.

A large selection of items will be for sale with all proceeds to the Tour de Rock.

For more information call Donna McKay at 250-335-2147.

The Comox Valley’s Writers Society and Courtenay Library invite local poets and the public to a free noon hour session of poetry readings to take place in the Courtenay Library Events Room, Thursday, July 31 and Thursday, August 28 from 12:00 to 1:00 PM.

Local poets who wish to read can sign up at 250-334-3369 and FMI at 250-339-5391. There is no charge to participate.

Admission to everyone is free so come, read, listen, and relax over the noon hour with our talented local poets.

Shamrock Farm is inviting the public to its 3rd annual Lavender Harvest Open Farm Event, July 17th through to the 20th between noon and 5:00 p.m.

Stop by and enjoy an afternoon at the farm surrounded by the sights and scents of lavender including lav-ender harvesting and lavender essen-tial oil distillation demonstrations, ask questions, see the barn where hundreds of lavender bundles are hung to dry, pick-your-own laven-der, and wand making.

A variety of lavender snacks and refreshments will be available including sweet lavender lemonade

and Benino Gelato’s lavender lemon gelato. Bring a chair or blanket, have a picnic lunch if you wish. Sit and relax among the aromatic lavender in the field a the symphony of bees float over you.

A variety of the farm’s lavender products and lavender plants will be available for sale.

Admission is free and the farm accepts cash or cheques for any pur-chases.

Shamrock Farm is located in Comox at 2276 Anderton Road. For more information, visit the farm online at www.shamrockfarm.ca or call (250) 339-1671.

Annual Lavender HarvestOpen Farm event this week

Lyric was harvesting Shamrock Farm’s beautiful English Lavender last week. Everyone’s invited to visit at the farm’s open house July 17-20.

Photo by Brad Darling

CA$HREWARD$

1-800-222-TIPSwww.comoxvalleycrimestoppers.bc.ca

Dance to Nite Life atthe Courtenay Legion

Vegan dine-out atWenjie’s Restaurant

Family Services AGMcoming up July 21

Giant garage, book salefor the Tour de Rock

Call out for poets toread at lunch hours

Comox Valley Echo Tuesday, July 15, 2014 A11

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A “Jamie Sproule is Found” cele-bration will take place at the Cultural Centre in Cumberland on Saturday July 26 at 5 pm.

It will be an opportunity to share stories, songs and poems about the search. There will also be a pot-luck supper.

Proceeds from donations at the bar will go to the Cumberland Community Forest Society (cumber-landforest.com) which is seeking to buy forest land around Cumberland

to protect as parkland.Jamie survived six days in the

bush near his home in Cumberland before being found alive on May 27th.

He is recovering well in hospital and is expected to be home soon.

The successful search involved a huge amount of community support, from volunteer searchers and meal providers to those who prayed and sent well wishes for Jamie and his family.

The volunteer team of eight that found him were using the tight grid pattern learned from Search and Rescue and were working in a con-fined area of old logging slash cov-ered in low bush.

It was 5pm in the evening and the group planned to keep working till they had covered all the area.

It was a moment of surprise and great joy. People are hailing it as “a miracle”.

Please come and wish Jamie well.

A ‘Jamie Sproule is Found’ party planned July 26Jamie Sproule is recovering well in hospital and is expected home soon after his ordeal lost in the woods

Strathcona Wilderness Institute invites the public to celebrate BC Parks Day on Saturday July 19th.

This event will run from 10am - 3pm at the Strathcona Wilderness Center at the Paradise Meadows trail-head in Strathcona Park. The Center is located adjacent to Mt. Washington’s Raven Lodge.

Parks Day is about celebrating and supporting parks and nature, re-en-gaging with our natural heritage and ensuring that parks are protected for future generations to enjoy.

Strathcona Park has a special sig-nificance as BC’s first Provincial Park and the largest on Vancouver Island.

On Saturday July 19th you can browse information and displays from local organizations and participate in educational activities that will be fun for the whole family.

There will also be a guided hike to Croteau Lake leaving at 9:00am. This

6 hour, 13 km outing may include an extension to a ridge lookout, or a swim in the lake, depending on con-ditions.

Pre-register at [email protected]

BC Parks Day is an everyone wel-come event! Please dress for the weather; wear proper footwear, bring lunch or snacks, water, bug spray and sun protection.

The Strathcona Wilderness Institute runs ongoing programs and is always thankful for the public’s support.

BC Parks Day is a free event; how-ever, any donations to help with the Institute’s ongoing activities are always much appreciated.

For more information please visit http://strathconapark.org or

https://www.facebook.com/pages/S t r a t h c o n a - W i l d e r n e s s -Institute/138071356263649

CELEBRATE BC PARKS DAY JULY 19

comox valley echo - july 15, 2014

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