Editor’s note: Coast Reporter contacted our Coast political leaders and asked them to share a New Year’s message with our readers.
SD46 board chair Betty Baxter
2015 will be a busy year for School District No. 46.
The new Board of Education will tour all Sunshine Coast schools and review school plans in January. February will see the community invited to the grand opening of the new Gibsons Elementary School. In March we will be finishing up the budget consultations and asking for community input to the district’s new four-year strategic plan.
Our district is supporting Sunshine Coast Community schools in hosting an ACEbc provincial conference, The Heart of the Matter, in early April. Delegates from across the province will come to the Coast to learn about social and emotional learning.
In May, trustees head to School District No. 48 (Sea to Sky) based in Squamish, to observe their innovative practices and share ideas with fellow boards.
June is packed with graduation ceremonies, staff appreciation and finalizing the 2015-19 strategic plan. August, of course, is auditors’ month. September to December will see the beginning of our new priorities from the strategic plan. Those decisions will depend on you, the educational staff and the families and students in our communities. We look forward to hearing your thoughts on what is most important for learners on the Sunshine Coast.
Whether we stay the course with current directions or enhance offerings in specific areas, we will do so effectively with the guidance and support of our partners in local government, business and community organizations. The oft-quoted slogan “It takes a village to raise a child” couldn’t be truer for quality public education.
As we enter this year with great energy and anticipation, all of us at SD46 wish everyone in our communities up and down the Coast the very best for a year of health, happiness and engaging learning!
shíshálh Nation Chief Calvin Craigan
Today after representing my Nation for three-quarters of a year for the second time in my life, I can say without reservation (pardon the pun) that I am filled with hope, optimism, humour and goodwill towards humankind.
What happened last summer in the historic Ts’ilquot’in decision from the Supreme Court gave First Nations the impetus and motivation to step up and finally state our long-held understanding of our rights and title within the framework of a new negotiation stance with Canada.
I appreciate the already changing attitudes of elected officials like SCRD chair Garry Nohr who appeared on my new television show Voices of shíshálh on Coast Cable and YouTube to offer his word to focus on collaboration between our Nation and the regional district on matters that impact us both and the citizens of the Sunshine Coast.
At his recent inauguration, our new Sechelt mayor spoke of a new relationship of reconciliation between shíshálh First Nation and this community.
In part Mayor Bruce Milne said on Dec. 3 in front of 300 people including myself, “Recognizing Sechelt Nation’s unceded Aboriginal title to its traditional territory was important for one simple reason. Sechelt’s traditional territory, and the Aboriginal title embedded in that territory, is the foundation on which everything else rests: Crown title, fee simple ownership, our economy — everything.”
Milne concluded with, “Once we recognize Sechelt as Sechelt we must take the next step and find a genuine reconciliation of who they are and who we are. That is our future.”
I don’t think I could have said it better myself and even if I could, things only happen positively in these types of circumstances when the healing words are spoken truthfully by those who caused the original pain.
Sechelt Mayor Bruce Milne
The beginning of a new year and a new council term is a symbolic time of transition.
It is a time to recognize and commit to building on the strengths and positive attributes of our community. It is also a time to look at what may need to be repaired, at challenges that need to be addressed and at new goals we want to achieve.
Your newly elected council will start 2015 with a focus on developing a strategic plan for our four-year term. To assist us with this, Bill Beamish will be joining the District as our interim chief administrative officer.
Council’s strategic plan will be one that helps move the District towards the future that our community imagines. One element of that future will be strong and vigorous community and citizen engagement. To be able to work towards delivering what the community imagines — the hopes and dreams of the community — the District needs to actively seek input on what those dreams may be.
Another element of our future will be a full and genuine reconciliation with shíshálh Nation. In the past there has been a deep boundary between the first inhabitants of this land and the second wave of inhabitants, the settler society. This boundary or line of distrust and separation has been kept in place, for many reasons, by people on both sides. It will now take great efforts by many reaching across the divide to erase it.
To build the future we imagine, the District will need to facilitate constructive community dialogue and decision making. We must welcome and listen to the full range of views that come forward, consider the merits of the ideas and options presented, and then reach those decisions that best serve our community.
SCRD board chair Garry Nohr
As the year comes to a close, it is a great opportunity to look back at 2014.
The first three months were budget, and despite real pressures for a huge tax increase, the staff and board kept it to 8.9 per cent overall. The staff were able to accomplish streamlining of the three-session full-week budget process to three days each session. Their goal is to reduce the process to two three-day sessions for 2015.
In 2014 staff and directors worked on issues that are important to constituents, including BC Ferries concerns, coal carrying barges in the Strait, LNG tankers in Howe Sound, and land and water protection in Howe Sound. The staff and board work to further good relations with the Sechelt First Nation and Squamish First Nation, as we feel they will be the backbone of economic development on the Sunshine Coast.
SCRD water crews have had great success bringing clean water to the Pender Harbour and Egmont areas this year; and this fall, staff had an official opening of the water filtration plant at McNeill Lake.
Four newly elected directors have come to the SCRD board after the 2014 election. I would like to welcome Bruce Milne, Chris August, Ian Winn and Silas White, who will all bring new perspectives. We also say goodbye to two long-time directors: Lee Turnbull, who served for 12 years, and Donna Shugar, for 10 years, and thank them for their time in office and wish them the best in the future.
Best wishes for the season and a wonderful 2015 from SCRD staff and directors.
Gibsons Mayor Wayne Rowe
The beginning of a new year provides an opportunity for each of us to pause for a moment, to step back from our daily routines and to reflect on what is truly important in our lives. Some will have reconnected with family and friends during this holiday season while others will hopefully have found comfort in memories of loved ones who are no longer present.
This can be a time to leave behind any negativity and difficulties of the past year. It is a time to start afresh, to embrace new opportunities and to accept new challenges. Be willing to expand your boundaries. I sincerely hope that each of us will achieve success in whatever endeavour we pursue.
Make the most of your time in this new year. The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius likened time to a flowing river. The water in the river passes by only once, and much like the river, the moments we have never pass by again. We need to make the most of those moments and value them.
MLA Nicholas Simons
My hope during the holiday season and New Year has been for good wishes to be fulfilled.
Thank you to Kim Tournat, Maggie Hathaway and Elizabeth Parkinson in Victoria for fielding constituents’ requests and concerns, managing the numerous advocacy and scheduling requests, researching government policies, and making sure I get where I’m supposed to go.
As many celebrate the New Year, we Sunshine Coasters also remember those who are going through difficult times.
For those experiencing challenges in their lives, this season is not always a happy one. For those hospitalized or incarcerated or otherwise separated from their place of comfort, we have a community that cares. That caring is evident in the donations to charitable causes for children and seniors, for the homeless and for those who are not well.
This past year has been an eventful one for many people in the constituency.
We’ve had a lot of contentious issues to discuss, to argue over, to befriend and unfriend each other, hotels, sewage plants, grow-ops, libraries, parks, resources, rights and ferries. I’m always reminded of the wise words of the clerk of the House upon being first elected, that we use our words to work through our differences because it’s always better than the alternative. Let’s hope the New Year in politics is one of intelligent dialogue and conciliation.
MP John Weston
My New Year’s wish for our community is that we usher in 2015 with a renewed sense of vigour, matched by a heightened sense of gratitude for our community and the great country in which we live.
I’m grateful for what we accomplished in the year past. Good communication and close collaboration among various levels of government helped produce results for our local economy but this is a priority on which we need continued focus.
Together, First Nations representatives, MLAs, local elected leaders, NGOs, other leaders and I continued to work together to promote a robust future for Howe Sound. Inspired by the knowledge that the environment ‘is’ the economy, I worked hard with fisheries advocates to promote the vision of a Centre of Excellence in Pacific Salmon Fisheries right here in our riding.
I will continue to work to make the future of our seniors even brighter by trying to improve the regulation of RRSPs and RRIFs and other programs relevant to our seniors.
Meanwhile, building on work we’ve done on crystal meth and prescription drug abuse, I’ll continue to work on substance abuse issues, especially to support people facing the arduous journey to recovery.
2015 gives us the opportunity to continue doing great things together. Thanks to the efforts of hundreds of constituents, mayors, health advocates and other leaders, we now have National Health and Fitness Day, proclaimed by more than 150 cities in Canada. On Dec. 16, the Day was formalized in our laws and traditions when Bill S-211, crafted by Sen. Nancy Greene Raine and me, was signed into law by Canada’s Governor General. A concept born here in our riding, this is our New Year’s gift to the rest of Canada — the resolution to live healthier lifestyles.
