JULY
• Sunshine Coast RCMP reopened their front counters to the public in both Gibsons and Sechelt. “Like every reopening of businesses on the Sunshine Coast, we have implemented measures to ensure the safety of our employees and the public,” Staff Sgt. Poppy Hallam said.
• Chatelech Secondary student Abby Grunenberg was selected as student trustee on the School District No. 46 board for the school year.
• Local governments on the Sunshine Coast were working through the possibilities for a safe drug consumption site on the Coast after an ad hoc site was set up in Sechelt. Geoff McKee of Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) encouraged local governments to keep working with the Sunshine Coast Community Action Team “to develop a localized approach” to the issue.
• Sechelt celebrated Canada Day with three drive-by parades across the district. Festivities met provincial health guidelines for events taking place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• SD46 was one of seven districts in the province to receive the Industry Training Authority Youth Work in Trades Performance Award for having the highest number of student apprentices enrolled in trades training.
• A group of Coast doctors launched the Overdose Prevention Task Force to address the deadly opioid overdose epidemic.
• Two new restaurants moved ahead in downtown Sechelt as the economy restarted: El Segundo restaurant and 22 Taps bar and eatery. Sechelt Downtown Business Association president Paul Legge said he was impressed with the business owners’ ability to adapt and persevere during the pandemic.
• Sexual assault forensic exams were finally available 24/7 at the Sechelt Hospital, with two nurses trained and available to perform the tests. Several physicians also expressed interest in similar training.
• The Sunshine Coast received a total of $3.1 million in funding under a joint provincial-federal grant program. Just over $2 million went toward the Coopers Green Hall replacement project in Halfmoon Bay, $955,000 to the Town of Gibsons for the White Tower stormwater pond project, and $185,524 to the District of Sechelt for an accessible performance space in Hackett Park.
• VCH medical health officer Geoff McKee announced that since the beginning of the pandemic, only six lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified on the Sunshine Coast, and there hadn’t been positive tests in the region in more than two months.
• RCMP investigated defaced highway signs featuring the shíshálh Nation name for Madeira Park (salalus) and a threatening banner at Pender Harbour school, condemning the “racist anti-Indigenous vandalism.”
• Debate continued on the commercial use of the boat launch at Coopers Green. Business owners and island residents claimed it’s a vital link.
• Sunshine Coast RCMP and BC Coroners Service were investigating human remains discovered by two teens on a beach in Roberts Creek.
• Department of Fisheries and Oceans officers made a couple of significant seizures in waters off the Sunshine Coast after alleged violations of fishing regulations, one involving a commercial fishing operation and another involving recreational anglers.
• The NEOWISE comet, named after the NASA Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer telescope that initially spotted it in March, was photographed on the Coast July 13.
• Sechelt councillors supported the proposed Wilson Creek name change to ts’ukw’um, but wanted to hold consultations before sending a formal letter of support to the province’s Geographical Names Office. Ministry of Transportation signs on Highway 101 already displayed the shíshálh name.
• A groundbreaking on July 17 marked the “imminent” start of construction on the $10.7 million expansion of West Sechelt Elementary School. Six classrooms and a childcare facility would be added.
• Overloads were commonplace on the Langdale-Horseshoe Bay run, and Sunshine Coast residents were becoming increasingly frustrated with the inefficient resident priority system.
• The lower Sunshine Coast’s “first public safe consumption space” for people who use drugs was set up in Sechelt, funded through VCH and RainCity Housing.
• Wilma Sim of West Howe Sound celebrated her 100th year, and about 70 people drove past her home to wish her well.
• Gibsons council passed zoning amendments that would allow a cannabis production facility on Venture Way. It would be the first production facility to get zoning under the town’s new cannabis policy.
• SCRD directors announced July 16 that the share shed at the Sechelt landfill would remain closed indefinitely after a series of sinkholes and depressions appeared.
• SCRD directors wrestled with restart options for Sunshine Coast recreation facilities at a July 23 committee meeting. Facilities had been closed since March 17.
• Cam Brewer joined the B.C. Green Party leadership race on July 25, making it a three-way contest with candidates Kim Darwin and Sonia Furstenau.
• Seven Sechelt Hospital nurses and doctors shaved their heads on July 29 to raise money to support youth on the Sunshine Coast.
• The Town of Gibsons expected to have watermain connections finished and a new pump station commissioned by July 31 as it moved forward with taking Zone 3 water service off the SCRD system.
AUGUST
• Paul George of Gibsons was named to the Order of British Columbia. George co-founded the Western Canada Wilderness Committee in 1980 and helped found the Green Party of B.C.
• The family of Myles Gray’s marked the fifth anniversary of his death, and there was still no decision on whether the Vancouver police officers involved would face criminal charges.
• The Sechelt Hospital Foundation reimbursed the cost of tuition and other fees for students in Capilano University’s 2020-21 Heath Care Assistant class, in exchange for a commitment to work at least a year in home support on the Sunshine Coast.
• The province responded to a lawsuit from Michelle and Doug Sikora, owners of the S&M Medicinal Sweet Shoppe in Gibsons, over a February raid of the store by Community Safety Unit, claiming the store was selling “non-medical cannabis.”
• A beagle named Penny was found after spending 11 days alone on Nelson Island and was back at home in North Delta with her owners.
• Brittany Bingham of the shíshálh Nation completed her PhD at SFU’s faculty of health sciences and was awarded a grant to lead a research project on the response to COVID for Vancouver’s urban Indigenous population.
• A storm system swept through the south coast on Aug. 16 creating spectacular lightning displays but bringing little rain.
• In financial statements released Aug. 20, BC Ferries claimed the dramatic drop in traffic because of the pandemic led to a net loss of $62-million for the first quarter of the fiscal year, April 1 to June 30.
• James Pawley’s solar legacy was celebrated Aug. 21 at the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre. The array generates about 17 per cent of the centre’s power.
• Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Mike Farnworth announced Aug. 21 that police officers and other provincial law enforcement officials in B.C. would be allowed to issue fines to people and businesses violating public health orders related to COVID-19.
• Five new living glass sponge reefs were identified and confirmed by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in the Howe Sound area, including a large reef just off the Langdale ferry terminal.
• Face masks became mandatory on BC Transit buses as of Aug. 24, as well as for passengers travelling on BC Ferries and in terminal buildings.
• Forest protection group Elphinstone Logging Focus was vindicated after an almost 10-year struggle to see yellow cedars in Dakota Bowl recognized as culturally modified trees, and BC Timber Sales subsequently altered logging plans for the area.
• The Sunshine Coast COVID Physician Task Force reported that provincial COVID-19 numbers doubled in early August, with an average of over 80 new cases per day, and urged Coasters to keep their COVID bubble as small as possible.
• The Bella Beach Inn in Davis Bay was the subject of a foreclosure proceeding launched in Vancouver Supreme Court on Aug. 19 involving the owner at that time, Jin Guang Holdings Ltd., and the previous owners.
• Sechelt experienced intense downpours on Aug. 20 and 21, effecting a return to Stage 1 water restrictions.
• SD46 superintendent Patrick Bocking spoke with principals and staff on Aug. 26 at Chatelech Secondary in preparation for the school year. School districts were expected to comply with guidelines laid out by the Ministry of Education and BC Centre for Disease Control. The district outlined options for parents to consider, including home-schooling and distance-learning.
• Contractors installed a new accessible playground at Roberts Creek Elementary School in late August.
• In Sechelt, the number of overdose calls reached 46 as of Aug. 31, surpassing 2019’s total of 41 calls.
• Technical Safety BC wrapped up its investigation into a fatal incident at a Ruby Lake cabin, where a propane refrigerator caused elevated carbon monoxide levels and a man died.
• Leanne and Bobby Bruce started a grocery supply chain to get sundries to Gambier Island. The volunteers were honoured for their efforts with the Phil Richardson Citizen of the Year award from the Gambier Island Community Association.
