Letter to the Editor – Kris Christensen

April 24, 2025

Norway

1.738 Trillion plus change (US $) buys you a lot of groceries and independence.

As of March 2025 this is the assets of Norways government Pension Fund.

The worlds largest sovereign wealth fund.

Not bad for a population of only 5.5 million people, I say.

Oil and other resources carefully developed and exported to a world in need

of energy is largely the reasons for this massive fountain of wealth.

All developed with a keen eye on protecting the environment.

This gives the people of Norway a wide range of options to develop their country

and put in place a society that is the envy of many countries of the world.

Infrastructure cost.

Norway is right now a global leader regarding environmental issues.

Consider this :

In 2024 almost 90 % of all new cars sold are EV’s.

80 commuter ferries are run by electricity.(Drag queen anyone )

Higher education is free.

Unemployment in 2024 is calculated at 3.9%.

General income taxed at a flat rate of 22%.

Trains run on electricity.

Maybe it is time for Canada to take a hard look at what can be achieved by developing the abundant resources we are blessed with. And having the means to pay for it without constantly relying on our collective credit card leaving our grandkids to face the music when the chickens come home to roost.

Like sneaking off to the washroom when the bar bill hits the table.

We pay our leaders good money hoping that they will have the foresight and drive to prepare us for what we can expect in the future.If they are wrong we have the opportunity every few years to replace them with a different crew hoping they will get it right.

Like right now.

Along the way we also have an opportunity to help our allies around the world by giving them access to our resources, instead of arrogantly telling them to get lost because “there is no business case“ for this trade as stated by former Prime Minister Trudeau.

Hopefully this time we can get it right.

Voting for somebody just so this other person does not get elected is nonsense.

Why are we turning ourselves into pretzels trying to out smart the democratic process?

Vote by all means for whoever you think will be the best guide for the future and of course totally respect the outcome whatever that might be.

Btw

Last time I checked, the killer whales along Norways 2500 km coastline are doing just fine feeding heavily on (guess what) herring unlike our resident population which according to DFO are only interested in salmon. Starving in fact if they cannot find enough salmon (over 80 cm in size) to fill their bellies.

Maybe they did not get the memo from their Scandinavian family. Herring are good eating. In fact so good that it is about time the DFO abandon the reckless fishing of herring for roe as we witness year after year in our beautiful corner of the world.This year believe it or not DFO increases the total catch by 12%. Go figure.

So with the upcoming election in sight, get out and vote.

Maybe it is time to take a serious look at Norway and the way they capitalize on their rich resources.

No reason why Canada cannot become a superpower without bragging about it, and deal with all unfriendly adversaries from a position of strength.

Good cheers to all fellow islanders

Kris Christensen

Denman Island

Letter to the Editor – Helen Grond

April 24, 2025

The Culture of Fear

Is it politically correct in Canada to feel hopeful? Are we even allowed to want a future for our youth, free of the threat of a murderous drug culture and rampant crime? When did it stop being normal to expect a healthy, safe and prosperous future for our children and why exactly?

The boomers are often described as the “Golden Generation”. They were able to achieve considerable wealth without trying too hard. They had everything going in their favour. They inherited a strong, resilient country and they could look forward to a great future. Later, they benefited directly from the debt-based, inflationary fiscal policies that central bankers like Mark Carney created over decades, artificially boosting their assets and real estate to nose-bleed levels. How is everybody else doing, by the way? Mark Carney has made it very clear that he will double down on those same disastrous policies and his alarmist narratives will never end. He knows what sells.

Meanwhile, we have given our children a culture based on fear, hate and shame. If they are young men, they are told they are worthless and responsible for all the ills of the world. Our children have been told all of their lives that they are doomed and can never have a future of hope. They will never have their own home. They will never have a job good enough to support a family and many are deciding not to. That’s the legacy the boomers have left their young while they themselves are largely doing just fine. Meanwhile, their children and grandchildren will be paying off their boomer largesse for the rest of their lives while having nothing themselves. If you were young again, would you accept that?

A society that denies it’s young a future is a failed society. The youth know it and are turning to the only political option that gives a damn about them. They are choosing Conservatives in droves because Carney pays zero attention to their plight. Pollievre, who is an actual working, tax-paying Canadian living in Canada, makes it central to his platform. Carney’s focus is making sure that crisis, crisis, crisis are the only acceptable narratives. He’s based his entire career on crises while managing to turn them into an enormous financial fortune for himself.

Older folks are more vulnerable to fear. Fear literally interferes with the process of critical thinking and every politician knows that. The youth are tired of it. They have nothing left to lose and they are turning their backs on the culture of fear that has dominated their entire lives. They are starting to advocate for their own futures and we really should be listening.

Young people don’t really listen to the CBC, CTV, the Globe and Mail, etc. Most know that all of legacy media is funded by the government and is full of propaganda. The media pushes Liberal narratives day and night and the bias is undeniable to any critical thinkers. Younger generations, mainly get their news from the internet which offers them many different perspectives, often much more in-depth than typical soundbite-style reporting. They have a far better understanding of the issues as a result. A lot have figured out that most government narratives fall apart when any kind of rational analysis is applied.

The election we are in today is the first time in Canadian history that ALL of legacy media receive funding from the federal government. What do journalists do when required by their bosses to amplify Liberal government objectives and agendas above their opponents? They do what they’re told or are forced to leave. Those rejected journalists often join the growing citizen journalist movement that numbers in the hundreds? Thousands? They are allowed to practice actual investigative journalism. Here’s an interview between well known senior Canadian journalists discussing the biases of state-funded media. It’s very informative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlBMjDV4Kj0

As we keep hearing, we are at a pivotal point in Canadian history. I’m amazed at the skills and knowledge of many of the young people I know. I am also very disheartened at the burden we have placed on them. Even if our problems cannot be cured easily, I think we would be a much happier and more resilient society if our young people could have real hope for change and a chance. We can change our legacy to them if we allowed them some of the same opportunities that enriched us.

“Coastal Forest, LDNR”

April 24, 2025

https://printartphotography.ca

#1681

April 24, 2025

Ant Farmers

April 24, 2025

Denman’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt

April 17, 2025

Easter Sunday, April 20th.

Hunt begins at 11am sharp!

Face Painting Booth!

Hot dogs and lemonade after the hunt, 12 Noon at the Senior’s Hall.

Singer/Songwriter night at the Back Hall Wed. April 23rd

April 17, 2025

SINGER SONGWRITER NIGHT AT THE BACKHALL

Wed April 23, at 7 pm we are featuring a singer/songwriter performance, featuring four Denman musicians, teaming up to showcase their songwriting( and performing) skills. Throughout this fun filled evening in the Backhall we are bringing lyrics and music together to weave stories, and show the possibilities,the inspirations, and the stories behind the songs.

Richard Garvey is a guitar-strumming, banjo-plucking, and sing-along-starting performer and community organizer. His award winning songs explore the highs and lows of love, injustice, and the marbled mess of the human condition. Whether he’s playing to a living room or an amphitheatre, Richard brings clever songs and a sly sense of humour to inspire solidarity, hope, and change. Bee plays songs for the heart, sharing thoughtful and sometimes provocative lyrics to inspire a deeper connection to ourselves and each other. She brings her full self to the stage, and sings songs to the changing times that we are in, with their grief, joy, inspiration, all felt upon the backdrop of the steady deep heartbeat of the earth

Kevin Mitchell has released over 7 full albums and hundreds of songs,and has learned a thing or two about songwriting in the process ! In the vein of Alt Country Roots, Folk and Blues, his songs are honest and engaging and performed with a unique style that plays like the band. Strong rhythms and uniquely original lyrics combine for a refreshing and upbeat sound. Joining Kevin on bass and vocals is Steve Ireland, adding a multi layered depth that creates a unique musical chemistry! Steve, in addition to work and family, finds the time to contribute to many musical projects on Denman, and has been featured on many local stages in the past few years. Together all of this should add up to an enjoyable and inspiring evening of song, with concession provided.$10- $20 sliding scale is suggested! Hope to see you there

DAVID ROVICS: Songs of Decolonization & Resistance from Palestine to Canada A Benefit Concert, Saturday April 26 @ the Back Hall

April 17, 2025

“The war between the haves and have-nots continues to rage, as it has for the past several thousand years, as it will until there’s sanity in the world, or there’s no world left.”

David Rovics, Return

Contemporary troubadour, David Rovics, is a prolific, topical singer/songwriter with an astute analytical mind and compassionate spirit. One recurring theme throughout his extensive repertoire of inspiring stories about historical and current events is how people have built community through solidarity and courageous resistance to the widespread practices of state terrorism around the globe.

David is an engaging storyteller and political satirist in song and in person. On more than one occasion, his stories, combined with his passionate guitar style, have resonated so deep within me that I’ve teared up. Yet, I can assure you, I was not left wallowing in despair. To the contrary, his songs are an anarchic antidote to despair because they help to keep the inspiration flowing to resist all forms of domination. In his 2001 tune, ‘Behind the Barricades,’ he sings: As the movement grows there will be hills and bends—But at the center of the struggle are your lovers and your friends—The more we hold each other up the less we can be swayed—Here’s to love and solidarity and a kiss behind the barricades.

Since October 2023, David has produced numerous compelling songs “to bear witness to the genocide of Palestinians,” such as the poignant and deeply ironic, ‘Just Like the Nazis Did’: After so many decades of patronage by the world’s greatest empire—After so many potential agreements, were rejected by opening fire—After crushing so many uprisings, now they’re making their ultimate bid—Pursuing their Final Solution, Just Like the Nazis Did. Another recent tune, ‘Anti-Semite,’ challenges the all-too-frequent pejorative responses—and currently punitive assaults being implemented under the Trump regime—to those who advocate for Palestinian rights in the face of the Israeli government’s aggression: If you are a fan of democracy, if you have a problem with state theocracy—You don’t like invading armies bent on thievery, if you think it’s wrong to steal someone’s country, there’s only one explanation—Though it may be getting trite—You must be an anti-semite. David, who is a secular Jew, refuses to accept the idea that criticism of the Israeli state’s aggression is anti-semitic.

There are some parallels in those lyrics to Trump’s recently implemented tariff war—and his threat to make Canada the 51^st American state—which have caused many folks north of the 49^th parallel to defend this country’s sovereignty. Yet, if we shift the lens slightly, it is humbling to remember and acknowledge how this nation state—Oh Canada, our home ON Native land—was also established through the genocidal colonization of hundreds of Indigenous peoples.

Gleaned from his impressive archive of musical compositions—accessible for free at www.davidrovics.com and most platforms—it’s evident that David has been periodically documenting the plight of Palestinians, as well as similar struggles of colonized people on several continents—including Indigenous Land Defenders in North America—from at least the turn of the century. For example, in ‘Jenin’ (2002) he imagines what tragic circumstances might motivate someone to become a suicide bomber while ‘They’re Building a Wall’ (2004) lyrically deconstructs the Israeli government’s “circuitous monstrosity of apartheid that snakes throughout the West Bank” and offers a glimpse of how it could all be so different.

With regard to Indigenous solidarity, David has participated in (and written songs about) both the 2001 Dineh/Navajo action at ‘Big Mountain’ (aka Black Mesa) to block the proposed expansion of a coal mine on their traditional territories and, similarly, has stood with the Sioux at ‘Standing Rock’ in 2017 who were defending their source of drinking water from the construction of an oil pipeline. Several years later, he composed ‘When This Fertile Valley Was Stolen’ to acknowledge how the Willamette River Valley of Western Oregon, where Portland is situated and where David resides, was stolen from the Clackamas, Cowlitz and other Indigenous peoples.

Then, in 2020 he powerfully recalls in ‘Wet’su’wet’en’: This morning I heard the newscaster say, there are no trains running across Canada today. This song references the stunningly effective ‘Shut Down Canada’ direct actions of solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en land defenders in so-called British Columbia in their rejection of pipelines crossing their sovereign traditional territory. As David’s first stanza describes the situation: Way up north, on unceded land, lives a people called the Wet’suwet’en Band—They’ve been there forever, no plans to go elsewhere—After years in the courts, the courts said the land was theirs—But when billions of dollars of toxic gas, has to get to the coast with a pipeline to pass, through Wet’suwet’en land, then the wheels have been greased—Court rulings don’t matter, just send in armed police.

Closer to our home in the Comox Valley, one of his many labour-oriented tunes, ‘Song for Ginger Goodwin,’ tells the story of the miner and socialist labour organizer active in Cumberland and the BC interior during the early 1900s who also resisted conscription and refused to fight in World War One. For these subversively principled actions, Ginger Goodwin was eventually murdered—shot in the back—by a bounty hunter.

David Rovics’ concert here is part of his current Make the Planet Earth Great Again world tour. It is presented by Denman4Palestine to make the connection between the people of Palestine and the anti-colonial struggles of Indigenous peoples in our own backyard. To demonstrate that affinity, it is a fundraiser for the Sla-Dai-Aich Rest & Recovery Network. The latter community group supports Indigenous land and water defenders by providing them with healing retreats on the rock.

Beverages, and sweet and savory snacks for people of all dietary persuasions, will be available for purchase at the event Saturday, April 26, Doors 7 pm, $10 – $30 sliding scale.

Wildlife Wednesday, (April 30th) On V.I. Marmots

April 17, 2025

WILDLIFE WEDNESDAY April 30, 2025. On V.I. Marmots

Dear Nature Enthusiasts thank you for your attendance of the previous Wildlife Wednesday presentations and your support of the Purple Martin Project (PMPP). We expect the Purple Martins to return to our colony at the Community Dock by the end of April. Dr. McAdie had to cancel his talk originally scheduled for March 26th with short notice. I filled in and gave you a talk about the secrets of breeding Pekin Robins. Thank you for your understanding! We had planned to hear David Hancock’s story creating artificial nests for bald eagles for April but we are postponing his talk to the fall when we plan to reconvene the Wildlife Wednesday speaker series. We are rescheduling the presentation by Dr. Malcolm McAdie, DVM, MSc. Wildlife Veterinarian to April the 30th at 7:30 pm at the Community Back Hall. Malcom has been involved in conserving many wild species including wolves, snakes, bald eagles and the critically endangered Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis). The title of his talk will be “Ecology and Conservation of the Vancouver Island Marmot”. Malcolm works with the Marmot Recovery Foundation overseeing the captive breeding, rescue and release of the marmots in their natural range on Vancouver Island. In addition, he provides veterinary services to the North Island Wildlife Recovery Association to rehabilitate animals for release back to the wild. The V.I. marmots are endemic to Canada. It lives nowhere else in the world except in the Vancouver Island Mountain range. Fewer than 30 remained in the wild twenty years ago when conservationists banded together to give the marmots a helping hand by breeding them in human care (ex situ). Malcom will tell us how many there are in the wild today and what it takes to sustain a viable population. This is a most fascinating story that unfolded and unfolds right across Baines Sound in our very neighborhood. The Marmot Recovery Foundation was founded in 1999 it provides on-the-ground research, public awareness and funding for the breeding and release program. A worthy organization to support. We hope you can come and celebrate with us another wonderful event of species conservation.

Wildlife Wednesday is presented by the Purple Martin Preservation Project with funding support by Wildlife Preservation Canada. Entry is by donation.

Shucking Oysters: Three Dog Night

April 17, 2025

Shucking Oysters: Three Dog Night

By Alex Allen

In Hilliers, five of Amber Dawes’ sheep, including the family pet Shirley, were violently killed by a pack of vicious dogs. Three months before that attack, six of Dawes’ quail were killed by the same dogs. In Errington, Wendy Glover and her partner say they had no choice but to shoot two dogs as they violently mutilated a goat on their farm.

And in our community last week, another tragic story of aggressive dogs maiming and killing sheep on a local farm. One sheep was chased off a cliff. These three particular dogs act like a feral wolf pack. Deer have been chased to exhaustion and killed on our beaches. Goats on farms. Chickens in backyards. There’s nothing that they will stop at, unless perhaps a gun. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a dog owner, and have been around dogs all my life, yet I know the good guardians from the cerebral-challenged. There is no such thing as bad dogs, just bad owners.

Dogs chase prey for fun. Instead of killing and eating a single sheep, for instance, they pursue the entire flock at top speed, ripping off ears and faces, peeling off huge strips of hide, and generally mutilating but not outright killing their prey. Most will die later from injuries or exhaustion. These animals run wildly when dogs attack, which is exactly what feeds the predatory behaviour. Once a pack of dogs experiences the thrill of the kill, they are hard to rehabilitate. And before you feline lovers start gloating, it’s estimated that 100 to 350 million birds fall victim to cats each year in Canada alone.

We have an odd arrangement with the Regional District, who are not only in charge of unsightly premises and noise, but also misbehaving dogs. CVRD Bylaw No. 100 provides for dog control in the Vancouver Island portion of Electoral Area A only. On Denman and Hornby, because we don’t pay into this service, dog control is handled by the RCMP. It’s like calling a plumber to fix the water pump in your car, which is not the most ideal arrangement. I’ve lost count how many times I have made a complaint about these dogs and others, and then to be told that they have other priorities. And with unruly, aggressive dogs, often nothing gets done and the owner’s continue with their ignorant negligence.

An Australian review published in the journal Pacific Conservation Biology, highlighted the impacts of the world’s “commonest large carnivore” in killing and disturbing native wildlife as well. The researchers attributed the extent of the environmental impacts to the sheer number of dogs globally, as well as “the lax or uninformed behaviour of dog owners.”

The BC Livestock Act allows farmers to shoot dogs if they believe they are threatening their animals. Some farmers, like Dawes, however, feels that it should not be up to her to do. “I don’t want to be the one that has to shoot someone’s dog or hurt another animal,” says Dawes. “I think that the people that own those animals should be held accountable and that we need a stiffer base for the laws to be able to enforce that… because they’re not going to stop.”

On the other hand, Glover and her partner were bombarded with threats after they shot the two dogs attacking their goat. “[They were] pulling her from her legs like a wishbone, they were biting her neck and her guts,” Glover said “I screamed louder than I have ever screamed before in my life.” And yet, the two Husky dogs were described on social media as being extremely friendly, gentle, and easy to handle, which is not what Glover witnessed. In small communities, vigilantism is not uncommon.

In the UK, they use the term “livestock worrying” for when dogs attack or chase livestock on agricultural land. A dog can also be regarded as worrying livestock simply being “at large” in a field or enclosure in which there is livestock. As farmer’s are aware, even if a dog does not make contact, the mere presence of an uncontrolled dog in a field can cause significant distress. Pregnant ewes can miscarry when chased, and lambs can become separated from their mothers.

So what’s the answer? Studies have proven that if a dog’s physical and mental needs are not met, like regular exercise and mental stimulation, it can lead to aggressive and predatory behaviour. Have you ever seen those dogs on a walk with their owner? Huskies are intelligent and energetic dogs that need regular mental and physical stimulation to stay happy and healthy. They are bred for hunting and have a natural instinct to chase and capture prey. Without that lifestyle, Huskies need max two hours of exercise per day. Like every other dog, huskies are good pets, but only if you can meet their needs. Can you?

To the dog owners who thinks it’s OK to never take your dog out for a walk, get a life, or a cat or a stuffed animal. Lack of exercise can result in a bored and frustrated dog, leading to destructive behaviour. Or to those who take their dogs out, but won’t let them sniff anything, constantly dragging the poor things on the leash, you shouldn’t have a dog either. Just get a wagon and put a 5lb bag of sugar in it.

Dogs are energetic creatures and need regular activity to stay healthy, both mentally and physically. A daily walk isn’t just a physical workout; it’s a mental one too. It allows dogs to explore, sniff, and engage with the world. Imagine being cooped up indoors for days on end; you’d likely start to feel restless, too. Dogs are no different.