Category Archives: politics

Five Reasons Why I Am Voting for Ben Maartman for Area H Director

politics,

By Guy Dauncey, local resident

It’s election time, and in Area H of the CVRD (Yellow Point, North Oyster, and the Diamond) we get to choose who we want to represent us and sit on the Board of the Cowichan Valley Regional District.

Two people have put their names forward – Ben Maartman, who has been our Regional Director for the last six years, and Jessica Barnet. They both live locally. 

I will be voting to re-elect Ben and encouraging others to do so too, for these reasons:

  1. He is a good listener. He does not seek to promote his personal opinions, but rather to listen to what people in the community are thinking, and then to represent our views, mixed as they may be, at the CVRD. Ben has held at least 20 Open House meetings in Yellow Point and the Diamond, to which everyone has been invited. To the best of my knowledge, no other Regional Director in the CVRD has been doing this. 
  1. He believes in community. Ben believes we are stronger when we support each other in our neighbourhoods, which includes listening to each other, and helping each other – lending a tractor, sharing surplus produce, checking in on each other. Kindness is the all-important glue that holds us together as a community. Ben doesn’t attack, or spread misinformation. He will always be there for you if you have something that concerns the CVRD and our area.
  1. He loves the land. Ben is a farmer. He knows the land, and the changes of the seasons. Like many other local farms, his farm on Michael Lake Road strengthens the rural character and ambience of this area that we love so much. It’s the reason why we live here.
  1. He is calm and competent. Ben has acquired the down-to-earth skills of practical competence throughout his career, including over thirty years in the paramedic profession, helping people in every kind of emergency. At a time when the world is so politically charged, and some people are quick to attack and criticize, it is refreshing to have a calm and competent hand on the wheel. 
  1. He understands how the CVRD works, and can be trusted to represent us. When Ben was first elected in 2020, the learning curve was huge. It’s not just all the programs that the CVRD manages and delivers. It’s also the legal aspects, and knowing what the CVRD can and can’t do. 

He is an experienced Regional Director with the skills to get things done when they need doing, and to know when more time is needed to discuss or understand something better. 

He understands the nature of the Official Community Plan (OCP), Local Area Plans, and Zoning Bylaws, and their different functions. 

When a concern comes up, such as the health of the Yellow Point aquifer, or the arguments for or against tiny homes, Ben does his homework, so that he is properly informed when it comes up at the CVRD Board or at an Electoral Area Meeting. 

He does not seek to represent one set of people over another. He seeks to represent all of us, which means listening when people disagree, and working to find the middle ground, the common ground. 

I’m voting for Ben on Saturday October 17th. I hope you will too.

What’s Next for Cable Bay?

Democracy, Economy, first nations, Nature, politics, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Policy Options and Reflections on the Future of 950 Phoenix Way

by Guy Dauncey

  1. Heavy Industry
  2. Protecting Nature
  3. Agricultural Operations
  4. Financial Considerations
  5. Next Steps

So, what happens now? A huge majority of people – 97% of participants – have said a clear and commanding “NO” to heavy industry anywhere near the Cable Bay Trail. 

Continue reading What’s Next for Cable Bay? →

Here’s Why, as a Green, I am Endorsing Stephanie Higginson, NDP, for Ladysmith-Oceanside

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In BC’s October election, as a member of the Green Party, I am endorsing the NDP candidate for Ladysmith-Oceanside, Stephanie Higginson, hoping she will win. 

This needs some explaining! 

I met Stephanie when she came to my home to  pick my brain about local environmental concerns, and I found her to be smart, alert, and committed. I think she’ll make a great MLA. She lives locally on a small farm in Cedar, and she has served our community on the Nanaimo-Ladysmith Board of Education, and as past president of the BC School Trustees’ Association.

Our Green Party candidate Laura Ferreira, on the other hand, appears to be a paper candidate. I’m sure she is great, but she does not live here, does not appear to be campaigning, and has not been attending election meetings. On October 9th, the website Canada 388 suggested that in our Electoral District the BC Conservatives are leading at 43%, with the NDP at 40% and the Greens at 12%. 

This tells me that a vote for Laura is a wasted vote that could help the Conservative candidate get elected. If they win a majority and form the new government, the next four years willl be dire for everything I believe in:

  • They will be worse for climate action, since they have promised to scrap all of the government’s climate action plans and initiatives. 
  • They will be worse for affordable housing, just leaving it to the market.
  • They will be worse for healthcare, allowing private care for wealthy people, which will siphon off doctors and nurses and make health care harder for everyone else.
  • They will be worse for BC’s forests.
  • They will be worse for building respectful relations with BC’s First Nations.

My primary loyalty is to the Earth, not to any one party. I am a Green Party member because that is where my heart is, and I support their approach on almost everything. They are the only party that promises to stop permitting new LNG projects, and to phase out fracking for fossil gas, both of which pour fuel onto the raging climate fire. As someone who has been working to slow the climate crisis for more than 20 years, I find the NDP’s careless attitude to fracking and LNG appalling.

I know the NDP has been split over this, with some NDP MLAs disliking their approach to LNG and fracking, but lacking a majority in caucus to be able to change things. This is why we need more green New Democrats to be elected. I perceive Stephanie to be a strong environmental advocate, which is why I am endorsing her.

I hope you will too!

Guy Dauncey, Yellow Point, Ladysmith

About me

Clean LNG – A Conjuror’s Climate Trick

Climate, Economy, politics, , ,

There is a craziness afoot in British Columbia, and I’m not referring to the legions of homeless people who are camped out on our streets. I’m referring to the $3 billion of public money that is about to be spent on a transmission line to carry electricity from the Site C Dam to Prince Rupert. Are the good folks of Rupert planning to mine cryptocurrencies? Build a nuclear power plant? No. It’s a cryptocarbon-busting innovation they want to build, using a digital deception to transform fracked fossil gas into “the world’s cleanest LNG”. 

Continue reading Clean LNG – A Conjuror’s Climate Trick →

Hawai’i Kōnea: A Story from the Future  

business, Climate, Democracy, Economy, Education, energy, Nature, politics, Spirituality and Science, , , , ,

Honolulu, January 16th, 2193

Click here to download this as a printable PDF:

hawaii-ko.nea_Download

It’s sunset, at the end of another beautiful day in Honolulu. The high tide is arguing with the seawall, which was raised another metre last year to protect the Capitol Building – but what’s new? They’re still not on good terms with each other.

My name is Ben Danner-Pualani, and tomorrow I will give the biggest speech of my life in front of all my peers. They say it will be broadcast to every schoolchild. I’m 87, and for my sins I have been granted the pomposity of being a Senator, so I’ve seen a bit, but this has the butterflies crawling all over my poor weak heart, under my great grandfather’s ancient robe.

Continue reading Hawai’i Kōnea: A Story from the Future   →

Climate Action in BC: The November Offensive

Climate, Democracy, energy, politics,

Climate Action

Will you join me? I need lots of people to join the November Offensive, so that together, we can make a difference.

This summer’s forest fires and smoke-filled skies have left many of us asking, “What will it take to end the climate dithering and start DOING something to tackle the growing emergency?”

The IPCC has just reminded us of the urgency of the crisis, and the need to reduce emissions globally by 45% by 2030 if we are to limit the warming to 1.5C.

The BC NDP government is getting ready to launch its climate plan at the end of November, somehow combining climate action sufficient to meet its stated goal of a 40% reduction in emissions by 2030 with its recent climate-disastrous decision to approve the big LNG Canada project.

The timing is critical to impress our New Democrat and Green MLAs of the need for urgent action to speed the transition to 100% renewable energy and protect the forests.

When the government floated its ‘Intention Papers’ in August, my response was that they were really timid, far from what was needed. Our government must, must do better. Continue reading Climate Action in BC: The November Offensive →

Our 2018 Local Elections on Southern Vancouver Island: The Winners

Democracy, politics

 

Winnersby Guy Dauncey

Saturday October 20th was Election Day, and we had such great results! Of the 55 candidates who I recommended for your support, 38 were elected and 17 were not. In Courtenay and Comox progressive candidates were also elected, pushing out old-school conservatives.

This was my pitch for these candidates: I want Vancouver Island to become a place where people are really committed to living in harmony with nature.

I want our towns and cities to be full of safe bike lanes, wonderful green spaces, urban farms, affordable housing for all, great public transit, wonderful pedestrian environments, and to have permanently ended homelessness. Continue reading Our 2018 Local Elections on Southern Vancouver Island: The Winners →

Brett Kavanaugh’s Better Angels

politics

Halos

Like so many, I watched the Senate hearing on Brett Kavanaugh, transfixed. A lot of us do things in our teenage years that we later cringe at and regret. It’s how we handle our regrets later that matters, once the stupidities are done. What struck me first was how belligerent and defensive he was, and, how whiney.

What struck me next  is how he could if he had wished have adopted a much easier approach, and won the hearts of all Americans, of whatever political stripe. Since he seems unwilling to do that, I am willing to do it for him: Continue reading Brett Kavanaugh’s Better Angels →