The new newsletter for October is out. You can find it here!

Transition Sooke and Awareness Film Night’s call for a non-binding “no more tankers” plebiscite question on the November ballot was approved last week by Sooke council. As the Dogwood Initiative’s regional organizer Terry Dance Bennink told us, “No other municipality has put this on the ballot. It’s a historic precedent right up there with the Kitimat plebiscite. Well done Sooke!”

The final wording of the question will be figured out at tonight’s council meeting. Staff has recommended our original proposal: “Should the District of Sooke join other municipalities in renewing and restating its opposition to the expansion of oil tanker traffic through coastal BC waters. YES or NO.” Sincere thanks to Amanda Johnston and her Dogwood Sooke team, local researcher Kandace Kerr and all those who wrote letters of support, filled council chambers and stepped up to the mic. 

Council will also respond tonight to an offer by Kerr to forward any issues or concerns it has with the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion to the National Energy Board. She and her husband Kelly are two of four local intervenors in the upcoming NEB hearings, the others being the T’Sou-ke Nation and another private citizen. 

On a related note, the United Nations Climate Summit is set for next week. The People’s Climate Change March is this weekend in New York City, and related events are occurring around the world. In this area, everyone’s invited to the family oriented One Wave Festival in Victoria. It begins at Noon on Saturday at Centennial Square and will feature children’s activities, interactive art, puppetry, dancing and more. The festival is produced by the Pacific Peoples’ Partnership, Canada’s only social justice organization dedicated to linking indigenous peoples throughout the Pacific Rim.

Many of you receive Avaaz updates, however in case you don’t, we urge you to sign and share this one … “100 percent clean energy is a realistic goal!”

If not now, when?
TS

Newly released to our email list and ready for viewing here.

Transition Sooke and Awareness Film Night will formally request a second question on November’s ballot at tomorrow night’s (Jul. 21) meeting of the District of Sooke council, 7 p.m. at 2225 Otter Pt. Rd. Please join us and let’s pack the room! The presentation’s set for shortly after 7 p.m. and it’ll be followed by a public comment period where audience members can join the dialogue.

The proposed question (subject to a rewrite by council) reads: “Should Sooke join other municipalities in renewing and restating its opposition to the expansion of oil tanker traffic in coastal B.C. waters?”

Mayor Milne expressed his concerns in a January, 2012 letter to Ottawa and received the unanimous backing of council in so doing. Here is a great opportunity to complete the election cycle with a question on our municipal ballot that allows local citizens to “renew and restate” those sentiments in light of the Northern Gateway and Trans Mountain pipeline projects.

Read more about it in a special newsletter produced by Transition Sooke core team member Sofie Hagens, which you can find online here.

Now read on for a bonus outtake from Sofie’s newsletter focusing on comments made by former federal Minister of the Environment David Anderson at our recent Enbridge Decision public forum. All the more reason to exclaim once more with feeling: NO MORE TANKERS!

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Time to Pull the Plug on the Enbridge-Northern Gateway Fiasco

During Transition’s public forum on June 26 in Sooke, former federal Environment Minister David Anderson highlighted three major problems in the Enbridge saga (not that there are only three, he said with a laugh, but his time at the podium that night was limited).

1. No Financial Benefits

About two tons of tar sands are required to produce one barrel of oil. Roughly 75% of the bitumen can be recovered from sand. The cost to produce one barrel of oil from the tar sands is $110. In comparison: Iraq can pump up a barrel of oil for $3 plus $2 royalties. Hmm, what’s wrong with this picture?

On top of this no one knows of any signed contracts where the oil will end up. There is no buyer of the bitumen yet and presuming that China will take whatever comes along is not realistic. China is only interested in the cheapest they can find on the world market. Since they have a big influence in Africa, oil is more likely to come from there than from the Canadian tar sands.

Since the cost to produce oil from tar sands is so high, the profits will be limited for Enbridge. According to Anderson Enbridge will soon demand tax cuts to stay in business.
http://ostseis.anl.gov/guide/tarsands/

2. No clarity in “the details”

The company fails to name the companies that Enbridge will contract to transport the bitumen from Alberta to Asia. No one seems to know who is going to deliver the actual pipeline. Will it be “Made in China”? And once it arrives in Asia, who is even going to buy the bitumen? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtoNTXP1pHU

3. Bad Corporate Culture

Accident after accident in industry after industry has shown that corporate culture is an extremely important factor in worker and environmental safety, noted Mr. Anderson.
After the Michigan spill caused by Enbridge, the National Transportation Safety Board held a detailed investigation focused on the causes, the immediate reactions and the clean-up of the bitumen. The outcome was not pretty: Enbridge was described as a “keystone kops” operation, a devastating comment made by board chairperson Ms. Deborah Hersmen. That opinion is based on Enbridge’s flagrant disregard for safety and for safety procedures prior to the spill as well as the extraordinary level of incompetence displayed during the incident that increased the amount of bitumen spilled by fivefold. Follow-up procedures after the spill were equally alarming. All this is outlined in the National Transportation Safety Board’s report, and the companion report of the responsible administrative agency overseeing pipelines, the US Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

But do you think the Canadian government even wants to take a look in this report? According to Harper’s team they cannot validate it as it was made by an organization outside of Canada. No further follow-up is required according to them.

Given the detailed exposure by the US agencies of the cowboy culture at Enbridge’s management, it is now clear that Enbridge is the last pipeline company on the continent that should be given the mandate to build and operate it.

The full report by NTSB:
http://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/reports/2012/par1201.pdf

A synopsis of the report (scroll down to bottom of page):
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/sustainability/enbridge-slammed-keystone-cop-response-michigan-oil-spill#comment-202848

* Please expect an RSVP e-vite to you and your family later this month for the TS “Celebrate Transition” Potluck Picnic at Inishoge Farm on Sunday, Aug. 3. The day begins at 11 a.m. with a pre-picnic learning party we’re calling “Keep Calm and Swale On Contour.” BYO shovel and learn how to dig and expand an earthworks irrigation system, a skill transferrable to any home garden. The picnic itself begins at 1 p.m. Parking is severely limited, so please bike or walk to the Helgeson Road acreage. We’ll have a drop-off point for car poolers, and a shuttle will be running from Evergreen Mall starting at 12:30. Our organizing team is lining up fun activities for kids and adults, Inishoge’s new farmhouse will be open for tours, and music will be in the air (please bring instruments and a song on your lips). Wander the grounds, visit with the farmyard critters, enjoy farm-made stone soup, kick back and relax in a truly beautiful setting. More details soon http://www.inishoge.ca/

* Cheers to the 75+ Sookies who turned out for The Enbridge Decision & Our Response public forum last week. Transition organized the night in association with the Dogwood Initiative’s whirlwind JDF organizer Terry Dance-Bennink, who in short order has assembled a local team of nearly four dozen volunteers for the Let B.C. Vote citizen’s initiative campaign (http://www.letbcvote.ca). We also invited Awareness Film Night to co-present given the key role Jo Phillips has played in social activism hereabouts for 19 years and counting. The crowd was buoyed by the optimism of Dogwood’s Kai Nagata and former federal Environment Minister David Anderson, both of whom are confident the Northern Gateway project is going nowhere for a variety of good reasons – declining energy prices, safety issues and widespread public dissent included.

As for alternatives, Transition’s Andrew Moore outlined the possibilities of a “net zero” future that will see homeowners capitalizing on retrofit incentives, installing solar and eventually covering their hydro bills by selling power back to the grid. Sooke councillor Maja Tait, a blue-and-black ribbon (i.e., water and oil don’t mix) pinned to her jacket, won a loud round of applause when she said she’d support a No Tankers/Pipelines referendum question on November’s ballot, as did Otter Point’s Bob Phillips when he said he’d lobby for the question on the Juan de Fuca ballot as well. Contact Terry at tmdance@shaw.ca or by phone, 250.222.6834 if you’d like take an active role in the campaign. And sincere thanks to pastor Mike Favero at St. Rose of Lima Church for making us so welcome.

* Like many in town, we at TS are disappointed Mayor Wendal Milne won’t be seeking a second term. He’s been a class act who believes in the public process yet has also made firm decisions as required and moved on when that process was complete. His legacy will likely be measured by the town’s ongoing corporate strategic plan, the first part of which (fiscal responsibility) has dominated the agenda over the last three years. The connector road project is underway. And the bones of a future town centre are slowly taking shape with Harbourside Cohousing as a foundation for what we trust will one day be a moderately dense, mixed-used town core built green on Smart Growth BC principles … a place where residents can genuinely live/play/shop/work (to quote the OCP) within a stone’s throw of a waterfront made accessible to all by coastal trails and the boardwalk.  That said, veteran council watchers could read between the lines of the Mayor’s diplomatic resignation note when he wrote, “the job is not without its frustrations and the challenge of continually trying to bring members of council together on issues is sometimes trying.” As one Sookie who’s been tracking council dynamics and voting patterns over the last three years noted on our FB page, “no kidding!”

 Nomination packages for mayor and council will be available starting Aug. 31 at the municipal office.http://sooke.ca/municipal-hall/local-government/elections/  (photo of the future Mayor at our first Sooke Slow Food Cycle in September, 2011 … and here’s what he had in mind for his years in office back then: http://wendalmilne.wordpress.com/why-am-i-running)

* Sooke Voice News’ Mary Brooke has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for her proposed Vancouver Island news website. As Mary notes: “Independent media is different than mainstream corporate media. We make room for lots of community input, and we are not silenced by bigger corporate or political agendas. A functioning democracy of free-thinking citizens needs independent media, as a channel for open thought and conversation.” https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vancouverislandvoice/vancouver-island-voice-news

* Great to see that the Sooke Slow Food Cycle & Transition Sooke’s initial $3.5k investment in the design blueprint for a bike skills park in Sooke continues to gain traction … albeit in a much different form and setting than first envisioned. Congrats to the Sooke Bike Club, Judd de Vall from Alpine Bike Parks, SEAPARC and all the parents, youth and elected officials who’ve weighed in with their support. Check out the plans at an open house this Thurs. July 3, 6:30 p.m. at SEAPARC.https://www.crd.bc.ca/seaparc/

* Jordan River’s Debbie Reid, Sooke coordinator for WildSafeBC, is recruiting volunteers to canvas homes in the Sunriver neighborhood and raise awareness about bear-human conflict. Reach her at debbielynnread@gmail.com. More info here: http://www.wildsafebc.com/species/black-bears.

* The third of three initial opportunities to pitch ideas about a potential senior, youth and “maker” (arts) centre in town is set for Wednesday, July 9 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Sooke Child, Youth & Family Centre, 2145 Townsend Rd. Sooke CHI’s Marlene Barry and the EMCS Society’s Ebony Logins are spearheading the “Getting It Built” study in advance of a referendum borrowing question on the subject slated for the November ballot. http://www.sookeregionresources.com/links

* Since TS doesn’t send CEMS (Commercial Electronic Messages) to our email list, we figure we’re in compliance with Canada’s new Anti-Spam Legislation. That said, if you know anyone who wants to receive our blurbs (or if you want to remove us from your inbox), please send a note to sooketransition@gmail.com.

July Calendar

* Tues., July 1 –Canada Day On the Flats presented by the Sooke Lions Club, 1 p.m. ‘til the end of the fireworks display at approx. 11 p.m., Sooke River Campground.

* Wed. July 2 – Non-Violent Communications: The Language of Goodwill and Responsibility with Rachelle Lamb, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Royal Roads University. http://cstudies.royalroads.ca/courses/PAPA3225-Y13.htm

* Thurs., July 3 – SEAPARC Bike Park and Multi-Use Connector Trail Open House, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the SEAPARC lobby, 2168 Phillips Rd. https://www.crd.bc.ca/seaparc/

– Summer market at the Sooke Region Museum, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights until Sept. 4. http://www.sookeregionmuseum.com/

* Sat., July 5 – Juan de Fuca Community Trails Society hike along the Secret Trail, meet at the Kaltasin Rd. park-and-ride at 9 a.m. for car pooling. All welcome. Contact Rosemary Jorna at 250.642.2767.

* Fri., July 11 – The Sacred Work of Grief: A Talk by Francis Weller, 7 p.m. at Royal Roads University. $20. http://cstudies.royalroads.ca/courses/VEVI3107-Y13.htm

* Sat., July 12 – JDF Electoral Area Parks & Recreation hike from Thetis Lake to Francis King, meet in the parking lot at the Sooke Business Park at 9 a.m. for car pooling. Phone Sid Jorna at 250.642.2767.

– Canning: A Workshop, 2 p.m. at the Compost Education Centre, 1216 North Park St., Victoria. $20 http://compost.bc.ca/ai1ec_event/canning/?instance_id=90

* Sun., July 13 – Sooke Philharmonic’s Annual Pop in the Parks Concert, gates 1 p.m. with concert beginning at 2:30 p.m., Ed Macgregor Park. Free admission. http://www.sookephil.ca/philharmonic-fling

* Mon., July 14 and July 28 – District of Sooke council meetings at the Municipal Hall, 7 p.m. http://sooke.ca/municipal-hall/agenda-minutes/

* Sat., July 25 – 28th Annual Sooke Fine Arts Show, SEAPARC until Aug. 4.http://sookefinearts.com/

* Sun., Aug. 3 – Celebrate Transition Potluck Picnic at Inishoge Farm http://www.inishoge.ca/

Subscribe to Guy Dauncey’s The Green Diary for monthly updates on Transition-spirited events in the Greater Victoria region … http://www.earthfuture.com/greendiary/

Selections from last month’s TS social media postings …

* Opinions wanted for the Victoria Foundation’s 2014 Vital Signs report – 10 minutes minimum and some careful thought required https://surveys3.praxis.ca/vitalsigns_victoria_2014/choose

* Join a pair of cycling/hiking/bushwhacking filmmakers in tracing the Northern Gateway pipeline’s route from tar sands to the west coast. (screened at Awareness Film Night in late 2012). http://vimeo.com/29854533

* Canada finishes 12th in the 2014 World Cup of Good (Ireland, Finland and Switzerland are the top three). http://www.goodcountry.org

* “The American Dream has run out of gas. It no longer supplies the world with its images, its dreams, its fantasies. No more. It supplies the world with its nightmares now.” – English novelist J. G. Ballard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF34N4gJAKE&index=11&list=RDqwnxypgED6s

* The Commons: Another variation on the Transition movement’s way of holistic, engaged, community oriented teamwork … http://onthecommons.org/magazine/commons-way-life-vs-market-way-life

* “Nine First Nations on the BC coast have banned the trophy hunt for bears in their territories. Please sign and share to respect this law.” http://www.bearsforever.ca/

* So this is how it’s done! Denmark changed direction 40 years ago. (thanks to Mark Ziegler for the share). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1HABtACKV0

* Rampant consumerism viewed through the lens of evolutionary psychology: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOKl04TWVsU

* Shopaholics anonymous: http://www.retale.com/info/retail-in-real-time/

* And in the end … “You gotta have a dream, if you don’t have a dream, how you gonna make a dream come true?” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoaP0e2tFrM&list=PL0t7o2OXl0kZHnALb717AL3c16a1eFtX_&index=3

If you’re receiving this bulletin, you’re one of the 240 or so individuals who’ve signed up for our email list. The core team – Darren Alexander, Blake Barton, Jeff Bateman, Yves Boudreau, Yvonne Court, Sofie Hagens, Lee Hindrichs, Stephen Hindrichs, Andrew Moore, Tony St. Pierre and Michael Tacon – welcomes new Transition-minded recruits with ideas, skills, expertise and energy who can attend monthly meetings and join or lead working groups. Please contact jbateman@shaw.ca or phone 250.642.2056 for a more detailed pitch. 

A public forum
presented by Dogwood Initiative, Transition Sooke & Awareness Film Night

Thursday, June 26th, 7 p.m.

St. Rose of Lima Church, 2191 Townsend Rd. in Sooke

Free admission.

The time is NOW for action. This special evening will feature addresses by …

* Kai Nagata, Energy & Democracy Director for the Dogwood Initiative

* Andrew Moore, co-founder of Transition Sooke and Program Manager for the T’Sou-ke First Nation’s internationally renowned solar power program.

* David Anderson, former Canadian Minister of Fisheries & Oceans and eloquent spokesman for the No Tankers/Pipelines movement in BC.

* Terry Dance-Bennink, JDF point person for Dogwood’s Let B.C. Vote initiative and its bold attempt to trigger an HST-style provincial referendum on crude oil pipeline and tanker proposals. http://www.letbcvote.ca/

Random Notes, June Calendar & Social Media Highlights

* Save the date: TS will host a summer potluck picnic for members, friends and families on the afternoon of Sunday, August 3 at Steve Unger and Mary Coll’s idyllic Inishoge Farm on Helgeson Road. It’s a truly breathtaking piece of countryside, locally famous as the 130-acre dairy, sheep and goat farm run by the late Tom and Jane Lunsen. Steve and Mary have settled in and worked wonders in the last few years, and we’re all invited to wander the land and tour their new farmhouse (http://rlwcf.blogspot.ca). Stay tuned for more details as the day approaches. BTW, the Coll/Unger gang (young Chloe and Finn included) are now selling their farm-raised pork and turkey sausages at the Sooke Country Market on Saturdays.

* Our Transition Cafe is now on hiatus until the fall (and it’s our fault a listing saying differently appeared in the Sooke News Mirror calendar last week). Sooke councillor Kevin Pearson joined us last month in concluding a third season of casual, small-group get-togethers launched by Transition’s Margaret Critchlow and John Boquist back in 2011. Thanks to those who turned out rain or shine, as well as Kathe and her team at the Reading Room and our special guests these last few months – Mr. Pearson, Maja Tait, Marlene Barry, Mary Alice Johnson and Mary Coll.

* The second of three opportunities to pitch your ideas about potential senior, youth and “maker” (arts) centres in town is set for Saturday, June 14 at EMCS, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sooke CHI’s Marlene Barry and the EMCS Society’s Ebony Logins are spearheading the “Getting It Built” study in advance of a referendum borrowing question on the subject slated for the November ballot. Keeners can do their homework ahead of time by reading the Sooke Senior Drop-In Centre and Youth Engagement Project documents at http://www.sookeregionresources.com/links. A third meeting will be held at the Sooke Child, Youth & Family Centre on July 9.

* Terry Dance-Bennink, regional organizer for the Dogwood Initiative’s No Tankers campaign, is assembling a street team in the Sooke area. With Ottawa expected to make a decision on the Enbridge pipeline by mid-June, the time is now if you’ve got some energy to spare. Terry can be reached at tmdance@shaw.ca or by phone, 250.222.6834.http://dogwoodinitiative.org/no-tankers/learn-more

* Our local hero of the month is Diane Bernard, who stepped forward at two recent council meetings to document how thoroughly the CRD has already rejected (through 2021 at least) any possibility of ATV access to the Sooke hills via Harbourview. Cheers also to Mayor Milne and Maja Tait for not backing Herb Haldane’s motion seeking further clarification on the subject from the Ministry of Forests. (And yes, that motion was passed in a 5 to 2 vote.) As Ms. Bernard noted, enough public time, energy and money has been spent on this subject already. Sid Jorna of the JDF Community Trails Society and former federal  Environment Minister David Anderson also spoke eloquently and persuasively against ATV access to our still pristine watershed.

* Following last month’s gripe, we’re pleased to report the District’s Climate Action Change Committee is scheduled to meet this coming Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at the Municipal Hall. TS past-president Michael Tacon has joined the committee, which also includes another of our core team members, Andrew Moore, as a representative of the T’Sou-ke First Nation. The public’s welcome to attend. Check out Sooke’s Community Energy and Emissions Plan here: http://www.sooke.ca/wp-content/uploads/plans/Community-Energy-and-Emissions-Plan.pdf. (On a related good-news subject, CAO Gord Howie and planner Tara Johnson are recommending tax breaks for downtown developers who follow Built Green building codes.http://www.builtgreencanada.ca/).

June Calendar

* Sunday, June 1 – Sooke Secret Garden Tour http://www.sookesecretgardens.com/

* Wed., June 4 – Juan de Fuca Community Land Trust AGM, 7:30 p.m. at the JDF area planning office in Sooke Business Park off Otter Pt. Road. http://www.jdflandtrust.ca/

* Thurs., June 5 – Debut of the summer market at the Sooke Region Museum, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday nights until Sept. 4. http://www.sookeregionmuseum.com/night_market_guidelines.pdf

* Sat., June 7 – Juan de Fuca Community Trails Society hike along the Harrison Trail, meet in the Charters River parking lot off Sooke River Road at 9 a.m. for car pooling. All welcome. Contact Rosemary Jorna at 250.642.2767 for more information.

 – The Kitchen Garden: How to Grow Your Own Food All Year, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Royal Roads University with Otter Point poet/cook/gardener Wendy Morton. http://cstudies.royalroads.ca/courses/GLHO3342-Y13.htm

* Mon., June 9 and June 23 – District of Sooke council meetings at the Municipal Hall, 7 p.m.

* Sat., June 14 – “Getting It Built” Community Centre Project, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Edward Milne Community School.

– JDF Electoral Area Parks & Recreation hike from Priest’s Cabin to the Matterhorn, meet in the parking lot at the Sooke Business Park at 9 a.m. for car pooling. Phone Sid Jorna at 250.642.2767 for details.

* Sat., June 28 – Tar Sands Healing Walk, 1 to 4 p.m., meet at the Delta Ocean Point Hotel in Victoria, arriving at First Metropolitan United at 3:30. A multi-faith initiative in solidarity with First Nations and the Keepers of the Athabasca’s Tar-Sands Healing Walk taking place the same day in Fort McMurray. http://www.keepersofthewater.ca/athabasca

Selections from last month’s TS social media postings …

* A technology that can power the future of the whole freaking planet (and so appealing that it has earned a record Crowdsourced investment, so not the least far-fetched) … http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/19/clean-energy-solar-roadways-video-viral/

* Excellent blog for those curious about the promise and potential of “the collaborative economy honeycomb” http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/category/collaborative-economy/

* “Emphasizing the importance of shellfish aquaculture, community fisheries, marine-based renewable energy and marine tourism – a $3 billion annual industry based on a healthy ocean.” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCjGVBohEjc&feature=youtu.be

* Hope Centre on course for an early August opening … http://homeforhope.ca/2013/01/02/hope-centre/

* We Heart Horgan – http://www.vancouversun.com/news/John+Horgan+acclaimed+leader/9797953/story.html

* Recommended ‘like’ – Vancouver Island Spine Trail Association – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vancouver-Island-Spine-Trail-Association-VISTA/143042789203    

Transition Sooke’s final cafe of the 2013/14 season will be a first-Pearson singular afternoon with the District of Sooke’s Land Use and Environment Committee chairman Kevin Pearson.

The fourth-generation Sookie is a life-long local who juggles his career as a senior manager at Canada Post with his responsibilities as a first-term District of Sooke councillor.

We’ve invited Mr. Pearson to join us following a spirited chat at Seedy Saturday during which he cited the importance of local food security in light of the drought that has devasted the California farm belt this winter.

We’re also curious about his thoughts on downtown development, the upcoming election campaign and the possibilities for small-lot forestry operations locally (he began his career as a millwright at the former Sooke Forest Products sawmill on Goodrich Point).

Please join us on Sunday afternoon at the Reading Room Café from 2 to 4 p.m. as usual. Add your voice to the conversation and stick around for as long as you like given the promise of a spectacular first weekend of warm weather.

PS Sincere thanks again to our earlier guests this year – the Sooke Volunteer Centre’s Marlene Barry; Mary Coll and Mary Alice Johnson from the Sooke Farmland Trust Society; and councillor Maja Tait.

Transition Café will return in the fall following the summer break.