Uh, is there anyone who would like to
make any changes to that? And I
understand there are two additional
unregistered delegations.
>> Um, I understood that correctly.
» Um, I understood that correctly.
>> Recording in progress.
» Recording in progress.
>> Recording in progress.
» Recording in progress.
>> Yes. Yes, chair. That's correct. We have
» Yes. Yes, chair. That's correct. We have
some unregistered delegations.
>> Okay, great. So, uh, would someone like
» Okay, great. So, uh, would someone like
to,
>> uh, move the agenda? Trying to
» uh, move the agenda? Trying to
>> Okay. Director Lennox, Director Brander,
» Okay. Director Lennox, Director Brander,
is there any discussion on that?
>> Director Brener, is there any discussion
» Director Brener, is there any discussion
on that?
>> Seeing none, I will call the question.
» Seeing none, I will call the question.
All those in favor,
none opposed. Motion carried. Okay. So,
our first uh delegation is Tom Reed, the
president, sorry, the president and
Senica Anthony Texa Agricultural Group.
Uh so the floor is yours uh Danica and
Tom and you have 10 minutes and then we
have uh then we'll have some opportunity
for questions.
>> I'm trying to
» can you can you get
>> Hold on. It's fighting me. Why is it
» Hold on. It's fighting me. Why is it
fighting me? It wasn't fighting me two
seconds ago.
>> We can hear you. We just can't see you.
» We can hear you. We just can't see you.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> Do you need to see us? Do you want to
» Do you need to see us? Do you want to
see us? Let me see.
Um
>> I don't know.
» I don't know.
>> There's not much to see.
» There's not much to see.
>> There's not much to see. We're not that
» There's not much to see. We're not that
beautiful.
>> I'll just jump in. We have 10 minutes
» I'll just jump in. We have 10 minutes
and let's get going. Um I'm I'm Tom Reed
and and Senica is going to we're going
to share this presentation. I'll start
and she'll finish. The um
the project uh that we're asking for
funding on is our um full pantry
initiative which is part of our food
security uh group that we're work that
we're doing. And to bring you up to
speed from last year, hello. Okay. From
last year, we we um we did get a federal
grant last um
I'm sorry. I'm Are you Can you hear me?
Okay.
>> Yeah. That was uh my internet
» Yeah. That was uh my internet
reconnecting. Sorry about that.
» All right. So, [clears throat]
the main point I wanted to make is um
we're trying to
leverage that federal grant to cover
expenses that were ineligible under that
grant. And this is all in the proposal
that you should have in front of you.
And um and what we're doing with our
presentation today is just highlighting
a few things. So we want to leverage
that. And then we also had some um
uh outreach expenses and operating
expenses as a result of this grant. So
that aren't covered by that. So the what
we're asking you for today will actually
accomplish everything and meet our goal
of beginning this um service with our
five new freeze dryers that we've
acquired. Um beginning that in
September. So um I'd like to just say um
that's kind of the the key message, but
I also want to mention something else
and that is just coming back to why food
security is so important. I I can't just
assume everybody knows that, but there's
three basic reasons that we see. The
first is a fairly obvious one that that
we are vulnerable in chat. We get
basically
um there's been a figure used over the
years of 97% of our food is imported.
That's come from a number of reports
going back 14 years.
I don't know how that to verify that
number, but we know it's a lot. And
anecdotally, almost all of that food
comes through um the barge terminal at
the city harbor. It's uh it's not on the
fairies. Those barges uh carry many
trucks worth of food. And if you put all
that on the fairies, it wouldn't be all
out of room for other people. So, it
comes in through the barge and gets
distributed around the region. Um some
of it, of course, comes in on trucks
from Vancouver Island, but um that's not
most of it. So we have we have some
vulnerability and we want to improve our
local food security by doing more food
preservation which is often overlooked
in favor of production. Secondly,
there's a matter of quality. Um what
[clears throat] you import might not be
the best quality but locally we're
capable of producing some very high
quality food here. And thirdly it's
affordability and I want to speak about
that next. Um the um
affordability is and when it comes to
food is looked at different ways.
There's a University of G experts on
food security advocate giving people
more money with which to buy food. Um
what food security problem? Just it's a
money problem. That's what they say. Um
another way to approach affordability is
that you see governments do is put price
caps on food. uh that's not likely to
happen. In fact, neither one of those
things are likely to happen. So what we
see is uh currently in the the the food
system, the industrial food system, the
middleman takes most of the money, takes
they get it. The farmers get much less.
So what we're trying to do here is um
kind of go around the middleman and go
get more households to be more
responsible for their own food supply.
And I know this, you know, going one
household at a time seems like it's not
to scale, but it does add up over time.
So, um, by focusing on food preservation
and freeze drying, which Senica is going
to tell you why we chose that, um, we
think that that will make a dent in food
security over time. Um, there's a couple
of other things, too. Once we take more
responsibility for our own food supply,
we achieve some price stabilization.
We're not subject to every global oil
price spike or anything like that. We
can um we can do get around that by by
sticking with what we can produce
locally using our own fertility program
here. Um and uh with that I'll turn it
over to Senica.
>> Okay. And you can go to the next slide
» Okay. And you can go to the next slide
for me.
Um so some other benefits that will come
from this project is that
>> you want additional benefits. This is
» you want additional benefits. This is
>> Yeah. I don't. Could you go to the next
» Yeah. I don't. Could you go to the next
slide for me? They can hear me.
Um the there's more um the food hub is
located in the school and our Oh, you
want to go up a bit? I do that up one
more. Oh, perfect. Um the youth from the
school actually school districtwide
could have um should have access will
have access to this for education. then
they can become more familiar with food
security, with storing their own, with
having a full pantry, rotating it, bring
that home to their families and bring
that um into their adult lives. Also, we
um have already had at the hub and we
will definitely have more with these
freeze dryers uh entrepreneurs, people
who want to do businesses. Um, we've had
some slightly interesting ideas come
forward that are like, "Oh, I wonder if
that'll work." Um, but people can try
them in uh an environment where they
don't have to cough up all that upfront
cost themselves and see what works and
then maybe they um can take that
technology and leverage that and buy
their own or it's it's a way for people
to experiment.
>> Isn't that how you got into freeze
» Isn't that how you got into freeze
drying?
>> That is exactly anyway. and um emergency
» That is exactly anyway. and um emergency
food supply which is I mean fairly
self-explanatory doesn't need to be
refrigerated doesn't need to be frozen
people can have their own stocks for
power outages for ferry outages all that
kind of stuff so if you want to go to
the next slide
um we my family tried freeze drying at
the hub because there was one freeze
dryer there it's no longer there but um
we tried it in I think it was about 2019
and we were like, "Okay, this we need to
do more of this because it solved so
many problems that we had because we
farm and you have excess of something
and then what do you do with it? You
freeze it, it gets lost in the freezer,
it gets freezer burned, yada yada like
it's it's solves all of those problems.
You can you can store something and it
stays just as nice as the day you picked
it and then in the depths of winter
you're like, "Oh, oh, I have I have I
have squash. I have beans. I have these
things that you can kind of bring the
summer into at into the time when you
don't have it. So, it's it's just it's
awesome technology. It's amazing and I
more people should have access to it.
Okay. So, you want to give us give me
the last slide there.
Um so, in conclusion, whenever you get
to the last slide, um our little
timeline, I'll start at the bottom. Our
little timeline is um we want to have
this project fully implemented by the
fall so people can take advantage of all
the stuff they harvest in the fall and
they can just like dive right into it.
So we want to have some people educated.
We want to have this program rolling by
the fall. Um our equipment is on the way
right now and we want to really like be
able to fully set it off and get it
going. So TAG's been around um doing the
food hub since 2012. So, we're very
stable and it's like we can deliver this
for a long term. We have dedicated
volunteers. We are like we know what
we're doing more or less. Um, and we're
going to we're going to learn along the
way anything we don't know. Um, and
we're here asking for the $12,491
to for those ineligible expenses from
that large grant that we got and we hope
to get from other industry partners as
well. um so that we can fully implement
this and breathe easily and we can
provide that to everyone equally like
with low income people aren't gonna
we're not going to be having to to try
to extract money from people and that we
can um have food security equally for
everyone. Thanks. I think that's all we
got.
>> Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh
» Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh
are there questions from the board? I
see Director McCormack. Go ahead.
>> Thank you, Chair. Um really interesting
» Thank you, Chair. Um really interesting
presentation. Thank you very much for
that. Um my questions are
>> can anything be prescribed?
» can anything be prescribed?
Um and what's the shelf life?
>> The shelf life is about 30 years and
» The shelf life is about 30 years and
what was your first part of your
question? Sorry you cut off cut out.
>> Yeah, sorry. Technology is not our
» Yeah, sorry. Technology is not our
friend today.
>> No, it's um u can anything be
» No, it's um u can anything be
freeze-dried? anything from meat to fish
to um cheese to mushrooms to whatever.
>> Yes,
» Yes,
>> pretty much anything. Um some things
» pretty much anything. Um some things
it's a little bit of a learning curve.
Some things are better than others. We
freeze-dried rhubarb juice and that was
terrible. That was the worst thing. It
tasted like some kind of extreme like
challenge sour candy. Do not recommend.
But most things freeze dry really well
and some thing they pretty much anything
can freeze dry except for like butter
like fat it doesn't because it doesn't
have any moisture in it. So then you
like it doesn't preserve like that but
meals fish yeah you can freeze dry
pretty much anything you can imagine.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
>> Thank you. Are there director Lennin?
» Thank you. Are there director Lennin?
>> Thanks chair. Uh thanks for your
» Thanks chair. Uh thanks for your
presentation. you know, we're u always
looking at different grants and I think
you explained it quite well that uh like
a lot of grants, there's a federal one
here, the LFIF grant and um that there's
a gap that uh isn't provided by those
grants. So, uh what is the LFIF grant,
please?
>> What program is that? Okay, that's
» What program is that? Okay, that's
[clears throat] that's from Agriculture
and Food Canada and it's a U it stands
for Local Food Infrastructure Fund,
LFIF. So, and this is the small projects
uh part of the LFIF. They have a larger
projects one. When they say small
projects, they mean um they would
entertain proposals up to 125,000
and our proposal was 117,000
and we were granted 88,000. Um they they
took off for um the sales tax on
equipment and an air conditioner, a
window mounted air conditioner. Um
>> and uh there was no um for like
» and uh there was no um for like
education and stuff like that. It's
infrastructure only. So to get people to
get the freeze dryers is one thing, but
then to get the people in the freeze
dryers to work together, we need like
you need a bit of funding for that.
>> Yeah. And LFIF has been around for
» Yeah. And LFIF has been around for
several years and has a a future. So
it's this is a well-known program.
>> Okay. Thanks for that.
» Okay. Thanks for that.
>> Great. Uh thank you. Are there any other
» Great. Uh thank you. Are there any other
questions? Well, with that, I will thank
you for your presentation and we will be
considering applications at a future
meeting, probably the next finance
committee meeting.
>> Thank you very much. Thank you.
» Thank you very much. Thank you.
>> Yeah, you're
» Yeah, you're
>> welcome. Our second delegation is from
» welcome. Our second delegation is from
Nikki Bernett, secretary of Fort Tides
Hospice Society. Um, Miss Bernett, I
believe you're in the audience, so uh
staff will help you come forward and
you'll have 10 minutes to present to us
and then questions
next to move through your slides.
Thank you.
Hi everyone,
sir.
Uh my name is Nikki Ba. I'm with the
Four Tides Hotsp society. Thank you very
much for having us here today and
considering our proposal. Um I'm on the
board of directors as secretary. Uh our
two staff members unfortunately couldn't
be here today. So I'm going to do my
best to present this instead.
So uh what we're seeking funding for is
help running some of the fantastic
programming that we do. for Heidi's
Hospice Society seeks to address grief
and bereavement in our community and to
support people who are in their end of
life journeys. Um I'm a registered nurse
working in paliotative care and so this
society is very close and near to my
heart and I know that it affects every
single member of our cath community from
Texa Island where we operate services
colama nation as well as all throughout
the rest of Kat as well. So it's
something that of course all of us go
through and um our programming does our
very best to look after everyone within
it. So um we're a registered society
powered by volunteers in our community.
We're also in growing at a really rapid
pace. So we've gone from uh 200 to over
300 referrals each year addressing
people who are at the end of their life
and their community members that are
supporting them including their family
and friends. Um, we received no actual
government funding for our services. So,
it's all based on fundraising and
grants. So, that's a lot to worry about.
We've hired uh some new staff to address
our growing needs and also as we start
to transition and build momentum towards
maybe eventually a hospice house in the
next couple of years. Um, so yeah, I
wanted to talk a little bit about some
of the programming that this grant would
help support over the next couple of
years.
Um,
so our philosophies were centered on
supporting the social, emotional,
spiritual being of those who are dying
and their families and their caregivers.
We recognize that dying is a normal part
of living and our supports supplement
medical care. So we we're focused more
on holistic care. Um, as a nurse, I see
that we do our very best along with our
physician colleagues and other uh allied
health colleagues to address the medical
aspects of dying. But it leaves a big
gap where it comes to the holistic
emotional sides of it. And that's where
the four tides hospice society uh does a
really good job filling those gaps with
people at the end of life as well as
people who are caregivers for them. Um
and it's confidential and it's free to
everyone in the kafka community.
So yeah, this year we've uh gone well
over 300 referrals and we continue to
increase um at a fairly rapid pace. We
offer 98 almost 100 group offerings
every year. So these look like one on
sorry group offerings. These look like
uh caregiver groups. The walking support
care
um group for complicated grief. Uh we
also support clients at the end of their
lives and we support caregivers and we
support the bereaveved. We receive
referrals from all over the community.
These can be from clients, caregivers,
um healthcare providers. of GPS,
specialists, home nurses, the emergency
department, and other places. And we
have over 50 volunteers that we go
through and train. And it's an extensive
um several week long process. Many many
hours go into it. And that's done um out
of the we have right now only two staff
members that put all of this on. We also
put on regional um advanced care
planning workshop several times a year
as well.
Um, so we're part of the community.
We're always out and about trying our
very best to um advocate advocate for
care of the people who are at end of
life and addressing grief in the
community.
Um, so some of our programming that
runs, we have the volunteer visiting
program. So people who are at end of
life can get a trained volunteer for
free that comes to their house and
speaks with them and talks about their
end of life journey, helps them to
create um and visualize what end of life
is going to be and offer personalized
support um in that emotional holistic
way. Um this can be done in people's
homes as well as over the phone. It
could be done via Zoom and it allows um
people a little bit of time to to
reflect on the end of their life and to
hopefully feel support in those times of
need. Um it also allows caregivers a bit
of a rest break. So if someone needs to
go out and maybe that caregiver wants to
just go for a walk, then we the
volunteer will sit with the loved one
who's at who's facing end of life and um
can go for a much needed just break to
have a breath and kind of reset because
it's a very exhausting emotional uh
journey to care for someone at the end
of life. Our caregiving support groups,
so we have individual onetoone in the
home over the phone. We have group
settings. So, we've got various group
settings for people who are bereaveved
as well as um a brief walking group at
the Seawwalk that runs. And then like I
mentioned the advanced care planning
workshops that we support in the
community up to four a year as well as
um some annual memorial events like the
celebrate a life Christmas tree event
that happens in the mall and the
memorial momento memory that happens in
the fall.
Um we continue to work towards building
a hospice house in Kit that it's
something that we've been making a lot
of progress on recently. Um our society
is growing and the more grants that we
can receive that help look after our
basic stability of our programming the
more focus that we can put on towards
moving forward with this hospice house.
Our board is really passionate about
moving that project ahead, but our core
thing is to keep our programming stable
um because it makes such a difference in
our community right now.
Um so yeah, our website's up there. It's
got lots of good information on it. Um I
think that and this some of our contact
information.
That is the majority of what I wanted to
say today. I think I finish a little bit
early and move on to questions if anyone
has any.
>> Thank you very much. Does anyone uh
» Thank you very much. Does anyone uh
around the committee have any questions
for our delegate?
Any
Oh, director. Go ahead.
>> Chair, thank you very much. Been
» Chair, thank you very much. Been
following hospice since uh kind of
before it really started here. And I was
amazed how early on in the his history
within two or three years of serving 25%
of of
people departing.
>> Uh so and your numbers have only
» Uh so and your numbers have only
increased since then. Obviously this is
something that is I really personally am
delighted to see our culture changing to
embrace what hospice does. My question
has to do with uh grief. Um personally
and having a background that has been
served very well by
utilizing grief as a tool.
I'm curious
in how is there training for are you
training people who are going through
the process of needing the service
um or is this specifically like how how
is grief is it evolving in in um what's
being offered through hospice.
>> Yeah, absolutely. Um we have an amazing
» Yeah, absolutely. Um we have an amazing
um employee Anna burn who is an expert
in um grief and has a lot of personal
relation to it as well. And so she runs
our volunteer um training program. I
believe it's a six-w weekek training
program and they're long days like eight
hour days. And so there's a big emphasis
on um on grief and about kind of that
like community sharing of grief because
grief is such an individual process. But
in these community groups that we
facilitate um you can usually relate to
other people and kind of share in grief
and understand it a little bit deeper.
So that's really embedded within a lot
of the um the programming. We're so
lucky to have Anna as a part of it as
well too. know her. Uh so it is group
work that you're that's a a large part
of the focus of the work that you're
doing.
>> Ah yeah, a lot of the programs are are
» Ah yeah, a lot of the programs are are
group um for some people they really do
care about an individual one. So we
offer both but we do run um group brief
programs throughout the year as well.
But for people where they maybe they
don't feel ready to to go on um to a
group they want to be more personal with
it. It can be individual as well um
based. And I know as my my day role as a
a nurse, I'm constantly referring to
Fort Tides Hospice Society because there
isn't anything in our like medical
system that really like addresses that
is one-off counseling, but it's um it's
not the same level that Fort Tides is
and it's just not um valued as much it
seems like in our in our uh medical
system. So, it's nice to have these
organizations that are communitydriven
for the community. Um, yeah, really
focused at like what this community
needs.
>> We're really cutting a vanguard edge in
» We're really cutting a vanguard edge in
more conventional more conventional
practices to follow.
That's just totally wonderful. Thank
you.
>> Thank you for that. Are there any other
» Thank you for that. Are there any other
uh questions from the committee?
>> Seeing no one with their hand up, I want
» Seeing no one with their hand up, I want
to thank you for your presentation. It
was very good and we'll consider your
application in an upcoming meeting.
Thank you all.
>> Thank you. Uh our third No, I maybe I
» Thank you. Uh our third No, I maybe I
don't didn't understand something about
the dragon boat. Maybe Rebecca can help
with this. Is it Is it Katie Souls
that's in the audience there?
Yes.
» Okay. So, next up,
» I'm gonna hang up my
>> Okay, Director Fall, I had just muted
» Okay, Director Fall, I had just muted
you, uh, Carl, so if you could unmute
yourself.
>> Yeah, thanks. Sorry, I I had my phone
» Yeah, thanks. Sorry, I I had my phone
on. My internet seems okay now, so I
will try that phone in if needed. So,
Miss Souls, Texada Island Dragon Boat
Club. Uh, you have 10 minutes to present
to us and then we'll have some
questions. Floor is yours.
>> Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and it's
» Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and it's
wonderful to be here on behalf of the
Texa Island Dragon Boat Club. We read
about uh the regional district all the
time and we hear about decisions. So, to
be actually here is a real privilege.
So, thank you very much. Uh we are here
today like all of all of the people on
the agenda to apply for something that
we think is essential and it sounds sort
of basic but it is essential for us and
that's a trailer for our 10p person
boat. We're seeking a grant of $1,800
which is a portion of the total cost of
a trailer and it's a single piece of
equipment that really determines whether
we can launch the boat or not. Our dock
configuration is such that we can't
leave our boat in the water. Uh so we
have to launch each and every time and
so no trailer means uh no no paddling.
And we'll get into this a little bit
more later.
Who we are uh we've been in uh in
operation for eight years. We're a
community group uh that's joined for
fitness, for friendship, for fun. We are
uh active eight years. We formed in
2018. And a shout out to uh the Powell
River uh Paddlers for Life. They were
instrumental in getting us up and
running. And as a regional district, I'm
sure you've heard about the regional
cooperation of the various dragon boat
communities. Uh they lend us boats, we
lend them paddles. Uh everything is is a
really good cooperation between uh
different groups. Uh there's about 35
active paddlers and we have two two
dragon boats. One dragon boat is for uh
up to 20, but being a smaller club, we
often don't get 20. Uh so we need a
smaller boat for those days when there's
10, 8 to 10. And so that's what uh
that's what we need and it makes it it
accessible for the whole community. We
really believe in inclusivity
and in giving back to the community. So
our group ranges from ages 20 to 80. We
have breast cancer survivors. We have
veterans who are working through PTSD.
We have uh intellectually disabled uh
people and newcomers to the island.
Everyone is welcome in the boat and we
really cherish the opportunity to share
that experience with them. And the bonds
that we create on the water in a
community of a thousand people certainly
then extend to throughout the community.
And we really do believe in uh in giving
back to the community. This is uh maybe
some of you have heard of the Sand
Castle weekend. This is the Sand Castle
parade that we're in. And we
we give back to the community in fun
ways, but we also ask from the community
through our fundraising. And we have
everything from uh community dinners to
basket draws to, you know, selling
selling items at uh Christmas craft
markets. So, uh, we we ask and we do we
do give back. Um, one of the ways we're
giving back this year is we're the
Dragon Club is hosting a Canada Day
celebration. That's uh that's going to
be a lot of fun and it's uh just an
example of how we like to uh to share
things with the uh the community.
>> Uh going back to why a trailer is
» Uh going back to why a trailer is
essential. I just got back from a dragon
boat camp in Salmon Arm and they get to
keep their boats in the water the whole
time. So all you do is you walk down to
the boat, you jump in and off you go.
Many of us have had to learn how to back
up with a trailer to launch this boat.
And so you can see that the boat which
is on the bottom is is is on a trailer
and we need to launch it every single
time. And so if we don't have a trailer,
we can't launch. and uh the community
loses its uh its opportunity to uh to
battle uh that uh that night. And we're
really serious. We took we took backing
up lessons all winter to learn how to
launch those uh those trailers.
So, this is this was us in the uh the uh
parade, but um our ask is $1,800
that goes towards a $7,200 trailer. Uh
it would give us full season access to
our boat, continued recreation for uh
all of us that are are participant, and
really help with the sustained community
uh programming on Texa Island.
So, thank you very much for considering
our application. Any any questions?
>> Thank you for the thank you for the
» Thank you for the thank you for the
presentation. Are there any questions
from around the Dr. Lennox? Go ahead.
>> Thanks, sir, and thanks for your
» Thanks, sir, and thanks for your
presentation. Um, uh, you answered some
of the questions I had, but I was
wondering like who makes a dragon boat
trailer. So, like where do you find such
a thing? Is it a custom thing or do you
just order one off of Amazon or hope
not? [laughter]
>> From the dragon boat trailer factory. Um
» From the dragon boat trailer factory. Um
it's uh because dragon boating is so uh
so popular. Uh there's there's uh places
that specialize in in boat hauling boat
trailers and those sorts of things. So
it would it would be from there. Uh this
would be a second or maybe thirdhand
trailer. So we're not buying we're not
buying new. Uh it's an interesting
culture in the dragon boat community
because say for example boats when
Powell River they the uh Paddles for
Life gave us their first boat so we
could start and then we bought better
boats and now we're giving one of our
boats to another club and the same will
probably
>> very much pay it forward and the same
» very much pay it forward and the same
will likely happen. Uh it unfortunately
it did not happen with the trailer. We
have to we have to buy that trailer.
We've got another trailer for our large
boat. Uh, and it needed repairs, but we
we got a significant portion of the
repairs for the large boat trailer
donated. And so we had a local welder
who they typically run when they see us
coming, but they uh they helped us
[laughter]
imagine. Yeah.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
>> Any other questions?
» Any other questions?
>> Great. So, is there anyone else who has
» Great. So, is there anyone else who has
a question? Director McCormack.
>> Yeah. Thank you. Um, and I really
» Yeah. Thank you. Um, and I really
enjoyed your presentation. So, thank you
for that. And so, as well as the um
season of good weather when you're out
there boating, uh, do you not have a
fitness program as well in the winter
time
or something like that?
>> Thanks, Director McCormack. We paddle uh
» Thanks, Director McCormack. We paddle uh
in the season which uh depending on
weather uh starts usually the 1st of May
and until race season uh which is the
end of end of September and we go to
various races with our trailers and um
in the winter we play pickle ball in the
school and have uh of course and have
exercise programs as well. Yeah.
>> Thank you. Thank you. Cool.
» Thank you. Thank you. Cool.
I don't see any other hands up, but I'll
thank you for the interesting
presentation and we'll consider your
application in a future meeting.
>> Well, thank you for the opportunity and
» Well, thank you for the opportunity and
I I looking at the agenda, you've got
several compelling requests and and uh I
wish you well in your deliberations.
Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. It's always a
» Thank you very much. It's always a
challenge and it's really good to hear
from organizations like like yours and
others.
Okay. So, our third our fourth
presentation is Melinda Hourback, a
committee chair from the Luski Community
Association. And I believe Ms.
Hourback's joining us remotely
when she gets going on that. There she
is. Uh, the floor is yours. Uh, Miss
Hourback. You have 10 minutes and then
we may have some questions for you.
>> Well, thank you. Well, good afternoon
» Well, thank you. Well, good afternoon
everyone and thanks so much for this
opportunity.
Um, the skiti community association was
established in 1971.
It's been ongoing all that time. And,
uh, one of the main reasons it was
established was to try to build a
community hall. And so, back in 1971,
they got a LIP grant, which some of you
may remember from way back when, to
build a community hall. And it uh, we
got the foundations were put together.
And then about 7 years later in 1977 or
78 we actually started building the hall
and that was totally a volunteer
donations uh materials money and we got
the hall up and running and it's been
running continuously since that time and
it's used a lot in this community. Uh we
some of you directors have actually had
come to
uh regional director meetings in that
hall.
and it is a well-used building and
therefore it does need some ongoing uh
major uh renovations
and over the last uh since 2022 the uh
the community association through the
hall building committee has had a
strategic plan and we've done some major
uh renovations in terms of making it a
much uh warmer space through insulating
the floor and the attic and through a u
joint effort with the uh fires smart
program through the regional district,
we got metal skirting around the the
hall to make it more fires safe.
And then uh just uh a little more than a
year and a half ago, we did a very major
kitchen renovation which was entirely uh
financed through uh donations and and of
course in all these endeavors there's uh
the main part of the uh labor work is
all volunteer.
And so, uh, today what I'm asking you
for is $5,000
to go towards the last item on that
strategic plan that we developed. We
have a small room that we call the
meeting room. And it's a place where
people can have some activities, small
group activities or meetings. And that
uh
room, the meeting room, it floor needs
some major attention in that it was an
add-on after the major part of the hall
was built. And now the foundations it it
is sitting on, they are slowly sinking
into the ground. And so we need to do
some very remedial work on those bottom
foundations. We need new peers and some
joists. And that's it's also going to uh
entail doing some residing on the
outside because there's been major rot
occurring now with that siding. And uh
we've looked into uh what it's going to
take to do this. and our uh request to
you for $5,000 will be matched by funds
from the skiti community associ
amount of $5,000
and uh our volunteer uh labor of course
will u match all those amounts as well.
We we're really lucky that way. And uh
just to let you know that we just have
uh
a minimum of 20 or 30 events that go on
throughout the year either weekly,
monthly, annually. It is a wellused and
uh cherished building. It's entirely
owned by the community association.
uh we come up with all everything that's
required to keep it running through our
rentals or and our
and our fundraising
and I would ask you to consider our
application kindly.
>> Great. Thank you very Thank you, Miss
» Great. Thank you very Thank you, Miss
Alber. Does anyone have any questions
besides myself? I'll ask a question but
uh if I see any else raise their hand.
So I'll ask a question just for
clarification. I assume this is the this
is the what's called the al cove. Maybe
for the benefit of the committee the
question is what other things happen? I
mean I know I've used it for meetings.
It's uh you know you can enter in you
can close it off a bit. There's a stove
there but is it used for it's called the
meeting room but is it you know what
else is it used for?
>> Uh well there are small groups uh who
» Uh well there are small groups uh who
may get together for uh yoga. It's a
nice small space for yoga. Um there's uh
a medit I believe there's some
meditation group that uses it. Um and
it's uh
the uh it's often uh often we have small
meetings there like the uh the hall
building committee meets in there fairly
often [laughter]
uh every other month to to six weeks and
and other small groups like that. you
know, groups of up to 10 people are
easily accommodated in there and use it,
especially in the winter because you can
heat it. The hall itself is a very large
building,
>> right? So, and I and my understanding, I
» right? So, and I and my understanding, I
mean, by use of the hall, it's the
easiest room to heat in the winter for
something short, right? If you can fit
it in there, you do if you can't fit it
in there, you have to get there earlier
and heat the whole building. So,
>> that's correct. Yes. Oh, and uh when we
» that's correct. Yes. Oh, and uh when we
have the elections, because it's also
used as the uh uh polling station, uh
oftent times it the meeting room can be
closed off because most elections tend
to be in uh colder times of the year and
so we can actually have the actual
polling booths right in the meeting room
and it's a warmer space.
>> That's great. Thank you very much for
» That's great. Thank you very much for
that. Is there are there any other
questions? Uh, Director Linux,
>> chair, just quickly, I'm not I think it
» chair, just quickly, I'm not I think it
might be more for you, but I'm wondering
how we get this kind of work done for 15
grand because uh that seems like a
pretty good deal to me. So,
>> yeah. Well, I'll let I mean, I'll I'll
» yeah. Well, I'll let I mean, I'll I'll
try to address it when it comes to our
meeting, but but we have Mazour back
here. I'll let her explain what the
whole how the whole committee figures
they can do anything for this amount of
money. So,
>> yeah, I believe it. Yeah.
» yeah, I believe it. Yeah.
Well, um it is a fairly small space.
What is it? It's uh it's something like
uh 20 by it's not 20 by 10. So, it's
it's probably 20 by8.
>> And as I say, the uh the volunteer labor
» And as I say, the uh the volunteer labor
compon component is always free. We
really get and uh if we ever need to use
uh a machine, that's usually the uh
machine operators are willing to help us
out. Uh and then uh we uh we have a
small amount of uh materials on site
right now because we did some tree
falling and and lumber milling on site.
So we have some materials such as for
making the girders and the uh the posts
and items like that.
>> I suspect it as much. Thank you.
» I suspect it as much. Thank you.
>> Great. Yeah. Thanks. lots of donation
» Great. Yeah. Thanks. lots of donation
donated time donated materials but uh
yeah it is amazing
you know a modest budget for a project
like that so I don't see any other hands
up so thank you miss hourback um we'll
consider the request at a future meeting
and uh that was very good to hear from
you
>> okay well thank you very much it's
» okay well thank you very much it's
pleasure to do this
>> okay our fifth delegation is Joyce
» okay our fifth delegation is Joyce
Carlson Cathette Festival of Performing
Arts And it looks like Miss Carlson's in
the audience. So the when you get to
your the delegation's table, the floor
is yours for 10 minutes and then we'll
ask some questions.
>> Thank you very much for this opportunity
» Thank you very much for this opportunity
to present to the regional district.
My name is Joyce Carlson as you've been
told and I'm here on behalf of our chair
Mel Monroe who's not available to
attend. And uh we just I have a short we
have a short video to show you. This is
a video that was prepared for a
presentation last year to the city of
Pal River um council. So there's like a
little bit of math that needs to be
done, but um it this gives some history
of the festival.
[music]
Dwight Hall was the venue for [music]
the first Paul River Music Festival in
1945. And this February, the 81st event
will [music] take place.
The festival is the oldest continuing
cultural event in the area.
Thousands of feet have crossed the
festival stages over the past decades
[music]
from kindergarten performers to seniors.
All of them sharing their love of
performing arts with appreciative
audiences.
In addition, so many teachers have
shared their passion with those
performers and parents have encouraged
and supported their youngsters.
After its beginnings, the festival
received [music] a name change from
music festival to festival of the
performing arts and another name change
occurred from Paul River to chat [music]
in the spirit of reconciliation.
It now takes place in three venues.
[music]
James Hall at Paul River Academy of
Music, Max Cameron Theater at Brooks
Secondary School, and Evergreen Theater
at the Paul Rivercreation Complex.
>> [music]
» [music]
>> Former mayor Stuart Algard as a young
» Former mayor Stuart Algard as a young
boy participated in piano at the first
[music] ever festival in 1945 and as a
teenager in subsequent years with his
[music] high school band.
Canadian astronaut Robert Thurk once
played piano in the festival as did
renowned pianist Don Thompson. While
there was one adjudicator for all
disciplines in 1945, there is now an
adjudicator for each. [music] A group of
community volunteers organized the
festival until the nights of Pythus and
the Python [music] sisters took over
that task.
When the Python organizations were not
able to continue, a group of festival
supporters carried on until 2003
when the women issued a call for
assistance [music] from the community.
That call was answered by the Rotary
Club of Paul River.
members took [music] on the task of
leading the organizing committee and
have been assisted ever since by
community volunteers who understood the
workings of the festival.
Organizing committee [music] members
include Rotarians and community
volunteers for the event that features
performers in piano, strings,
vocal and coral,
speech arts,
dance
as well as band and [music]
instrumental.
Not knowing much about music, Rotarians
applied the 4-way test which guides the
international organization of 133,000
clubs and more than 1.3 million [music]
members around the world. Service above
self is its motto and members undertake
a multitude of community and
international projects.
[music]
All regular sessions of the festival are
open to the public and free of charge
with donations gratefully accepted to
assist with expenses.
Each festival [music] concludes with a
grand concert that shows samples of all
of the disciplines. Some performers are
recommended to attend the annual
Performing Arts BC [music] Provincial
Festival, which this community hosted in
1997 and 2015.
[music] Many performers in the festival
have gone on to make a living performing
or teaching, continuing [music] to
follow their passion for performing
arts.
The committee is grateful to the Cath
Arts Council, the city of Pal River,
Cathet School District 47, and Cath
Regional District for their continuing
financial and inind support for this
impactful [music] festival.
[music]
>> That tells you a little bit about the
» That tells you a little bit about the
history. So it has been continuously
operating since 1945. Even through co we
held our grand concert on March 8th 2020
and the world shut down on March 12th.
So in 2021 we held it virtually. So all
of the competitions were videoed and
those videos were sent to adjudicators
from Toronto and all you know throughout
Canada and we were back fullon in in
2022. So, and even me and perhaps Rob,
we I performed at a festival of
performing arts when I was a student at
Cranberry Lake Elementary School. So um
it has it has a deep history in the
community and um as was mentioned uh the
women who were looking after it couldn't
do it anymore and they came to a number
of community organizations
and um they came to Rotary and we said
um we would consider it. I took it to
the club. I was president at the time.
Um it's not very democratic but the vote
was 2523 not to do it. But I said I
didn't care. We're doing it anyway. Uh
and I ended up chairing the committee
for 21 years. Um which was which was
joyful.
So as mentioned at one point most of the
organizing committee was made up of
Rotarians who knew nothing about
syllabuses or music or anything. We just
we just knew we can organize things. And
so now it's flipped again and um it's
we're bringing on new members and it's
changed now to majority community
members. And uh our festival is based on
the fundamental idea of providing all
participants with the best possible
support for their artistic development.
And we're strongly committed to the
philosophy that performance is a vital
opportunity to learn and pursue
excellence. In 2026, a total of 1,200
people from kindergarten to seniors were
registered. We had 120 volunteer spots
that were filled by members of the
community, committee members, and
Rotarians. They are greeters, ushers,
door, guardians, large school group
marshers, which we used to call
wranglers, but some people didn't like
that. But if you've ever been around by
>> the kids,
» the kids,
>> three or 400 kids descend on the uh
» three or 400 kids descend on the uh
Evergreen Theater, you understand. But
marshalls apparently, it's a better
term. Um they're also ticket takers and
sellers for the grand concert. And our
organizing committee has been extremely
grateful for the generous support of
Cassette Regional District for many
years. So, um, we're here asking for for
more money and I just want to explain
some things why, like we are asking for
$3,000 a year and um, for not this year
because we have 750. So, it would only
be only be 20250 2250. So we we had we
for our registration system it's if you
saw the syllabus that word that not
everybody knows the meaning of but um
there's a lot of different places where
people enter enter the festival in in
those six categories but within those
categories there are multiple categories
and registration needs to be taken and
money taken in and and the whole
schedule done and we contracted with a
company named select Paris who was very
good um for art for for several years
and then out of the blue
it it dissolved it went away. It had a
lot of festivals connected to it and it
couldn't continue and we tried to
extract our data and our data wasn't
available. So, so we had to we had to
like rebuild everything from nothing.
>> And um so that was that was quite the
» And um so that was that was quite the
chore.
And other things have happened too. Um
as in as in everything, our costs have
increased over the past three years. And
that whole Solaris thing really had an
impact on us because like a lot of
organizations we tried to keep um money
aside so that if something happened we
would still be able to um to continue
but so there's increases in venues um
adjudicators uh travel costs like
there's ever there's been an increase.
So um we and we have a we have a paid
person. We're very lucky to have this
paid person and we really the festival
organizing committee runs from like
September to March and then disappears
and so we pay somebody on an hourly rate
um to help and we're looking at becoming
a registered society so that um there
are more opportunities for us to bring
money in because basically now it's the
people that were up there support us and
also the fees that people pay to enter
it. So, uh the you have the full
application for you to pursue and um
once again we're very appreciative of
the uh support that we've had and we
want to tell you how happy we are um
with that support and I'm happy to
answer any questions. And there we go.
Three seconds.
>> Most excellent. Thank you very much with
» Most excellent. Thank you very much with
the video with the video and everything
>> public speaking contest and you had to
» public speaking contest and you had to
be within five or
>> right on the right on the bell. Uh so
» right on the right on the bell. Uh so
are there any questions for Miss Carlson
from around the table?
Uh I don't see any. I think it's a it's
a seems like a really great uh
organization and you know we've talked
about it. We funded it over the years.
So uh well thank you very much for
coming before us and presenting that.
We'll take it into consideration when uh
when this comes up at our upcoming
meetings.
>> Okay. Thank you very much.
» Okay. Thank you very much.
>> I know it's um it's always difficult to
» I know it's um it's always difficult to
make decisions. So, it's appreciated.
>> So, our item the representative or the
» So, our item the representative or the
delegate for item 3.6 uh isn't with us
if I understand correctly. So, we'll
move on to item 3.7 which is delegate
delegation 3.7 which is Mac. Fraser,
community coordinator. Everybody
deserves a smile. And I believe Mr.
Fraser is coming before us to the front.
The floor is yours, Mr. Fraser. You have
10 minutes and then we may very well
have some questions for you.
>> Thank you very much, Chair Falls. Nice
» Thank you very much, Chair Falls. Nice
to see everyone today. Thank you for
allowing this delegation. I've sat
before you for a number of times. We've
been doing this for seven years. Um, I
think it's fair to say the board knows
about everybody deserves a smile. But
today, I've brought something special. A
product.
Drew Boyd has been involved with
Everybody Deserves a Smile since she was
in grade two and now she's in grade
eight. And I'm going to give you just a
bit of mechanics and then Drew
[clears throat] is going to tell you
what she's learned because you deserve
to see what the outcome is of your
financial investment.
So start off with thanks for the seven
years you've allowed us to operate and
provided us financial assistance.
The purpose of Everybody Deserves a
Smile is a nonprofit organization and
community program that through education
instills a sense of empathy and
understanding to break down the barriers
faced by community members who are
vulnerable and experiencing economic
health and housing challenges.
How we teach our children is how society
will act.
The educational component. The program
achieves its objectives through an
extensive educational component for
elementary school students and an
associated assembly and distribution of
kindness bags with warm clothing,
cookies, and a handwritten note for the
students and the vulnerable community
members. It's very easy to look at what
we do and just see kindness bags come
up. But the educational component is
perhaps even more important because it
will instill a lifelong objective in
people.
Um the kindest bags get into the
mechanics. In 2025, 516 bags are
distributed through the cadet region
including Texa and the Kohama nation.
So I come to you with good news and bad
news. The bad news is we still need to
produce the bags. There's still a large
number of vulnerable people in the
community who need our help. But the
good news is it's not growing
exponentially as it did initially. We
did 100 bags the first year. We went
through 200, 300, 400. We're looking to
do 550 this year and that seems to be
still filling the need. The cost
[clears throat] per bag has changed. The
cost now is approximately $37 and the
total budget for 2025 with 19,775
with $7,800 of commute contributions in
kind from the community.
The 2026 budget is 20,100
and is enclosed in the application for
your information. So, we're not seeing a
big rise, but inflation is hitting
everybody. In 2026,
we are looking to produce 550 kindness
bags,
continue to develop a financially
sustainable framework through increased
community awareness of the project and
associated donations, and thereby reduce
dependency on charities or grants for
augmenting the budget. I've sat before
you previously and said we would like to
have some money now, but we're working
to asking you for less as the future
goes on. And we're going to account for
the impact of inflation.
So this year, we're asking for financial
assistance of $1,500, which is down from
the $2,500 we asked for previously and
gladly received from you. EDS Cassette
has moved towards greater financial
sustainability in the past two years by
adding to its reserve funds to improve
project cash flow. The EDAS Cassette
reserve fund is currently at $16,000
which is $4,000 more than 2025 and and
has resulted in a lower request for
funding.
So, as I said, the need is still there.
That's not good news, but we're getting
greater contributions directly from the
community.
We had a low. You've heard Joyce talk
about the impact of um pandemic. We had
a low in giving through the pandemic. It
appears to be close to back to previous
levels which we're quite excited about.
And the establishment of of a donated
articles reserve has also been
successful and be further developed in
the next few years. So, thank you very
much. Now, more excitingly, Drew is
going to tell you what she's learned in
being part of EAS.
I've been with EDIs for eight years,
seven years. Seven.
>> Um, when it first came, my mom and my
» Um, when it first came, my mom and my
family helped out and they continue to.
I've learned a lot through it. I feel
like you can't get a better feeling than
when you read one of the letters that we
get saying that this is the only
Christmas present some people get.
Uh this year I've taken on a bigger role
with it and I helped co-present the
kickoff assembly for all the schools
this year.
Um today I was telling one of my friends
that I was coming and she said I love
doing that in elementary
and she really wish she could still do
it. So it really shows how much the
people who are involved have felt and
how much they loved it.
Thank you very much, chair. Back to you.
>> Well, thank you. Thank you both for your
» Well, thank you. Thank you both for your
presentations. That was uh very
heartfelt to hear. I would like to ask
if anyone around the table has any
questions.
>> Um
» Um
Director Lennox, go ahead.
>> Thanks, J. Thank you sort of answered
» Thanks, J. Thank you sort of answered
it. I mean, I I was wondering like you
you seem to be getting a fair commitment
from probably retailers and others in
the community, but $1,500 for cookies or
is there any, you know, um is that been
escalating or you said it's plateaued
now and we're
>> we just have to keep kind of at that or
» we just have to keep kind of at that or
everybody thinks everything's
escalating, right?
>> Yeah,
» Yeah,
>> we probably peaked in what we would ask
» we probably peaked in what we would ask
you for. I think in the last two years
we asked for 2500. We're quite excited
that we're getting more direct in in
donations to reduce the cost.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> So, there are still some expenses, but
» So, there are still some expenses, but
we have a wonderful support from the
community. Um, EDAS defines what who
needs to get bags through 11 existing
support agencies, and we have about the
same number of commercial and nonprofit
supporters. Um, as an example, um, fire
departments help us distribute
um the bags to the support agencies. Um
we start with uh phone calls out to 11
support agencies in September and they
give us numbers and we go from there and
produce it. So it's very involved. It's
wonderfully getting to be old hat.
>> It's like oh it's that time of year. Of
» It's like oh it's that time of year. Of
course we're going to support.
>> Yeah. We have excellent support and I
» Yeah. We have excellent support and I
have to without it the number one
supporter it's not so obvious is school
district 47. They cover all the staff
expenses. The curriculum has been
changed and continues to evolve and they
do the educational component completely.
So they are
a huge partner to us.
» Great. Uh well I I have one question. I
don't see anyone else's hands up and and
I'll try to avoid uh pontificating
because that's not the point of this of
course very I'll just pre preface it by
saying you know I would it'd be nice to
have some such an uh event organization
on luski in areas that aren't served. So
question I have is as I understand EDAS
as a as a there's a cath edit of a a
parent organization or I shouldn't say a
bit of a there's a parent organization.
What role does that parent organization
have to help facilitate? I mean your
your organization seems pretty self
organized. So how much does that bigger
organization uh EDAS of Canada does it
help um you do what you do?
>> Um we are largely independent. Um we're
» Um we are largely independent. Um we're
the the second biggest chapter the Komox
Valley being the first. Um the the EDAS
mothership as we call it in the Kmox
Valley um distributes
um Campbell River, Naimo, Red Deer, uh
Vancouver, Lower East Side. Um so it it
it provides support to us, but I think
it's fair to say in seven years um we
we've grown to the part that we're not
really drawing very much from it. So,
um, we have had discussions in the past.
We need to advance them more about
reaching down to, but as I just said,
school district 47 is a big part of our
project. We need to um advance it in a
different school system on Mosquite,
>> right? Yes, of course, it's Qualcomm.
» right? Yes, of course, it's Qualcomm.
Um, okay. Thank Thank you for that. And
that's, you know, bigger discussions.
And I was just told I missed Director
Southcott had a question so I will pass
it to him.
>> Thank you chair. I'm really familiar
» Thank you chair. I'm really familiar
with the specifics of the program and I
I remember initially you know having
worked with in the past with
disadvantaged populations and
understanding how powerful kindness is.
Um but then I didn't I didn't initially
grasp how impactful it is for the
providers and especially younger people
but I really get that now and
um it's been important to me. I've
worked with youths for a long long time
in various venues. I'm just wondering if
uh is there any analogous or anything
that carries on through Brooks and like
older age groups
that is has anything like connected? I
know EDAS is very specific, but is there
anything happening at Brooks that sort
of might be?
>> Um in Brooks we have the Interact Club.
» Um in Brooks we have the Interact Club.
They volunteer and they help with
bagging day.
>> Oh, great.
» Oh, great.
>> And then also the culinary program at
» And then also the culinary program at
Brooks helps make the cookies. They make
all the cookies.
>> It's a very big project. They have the
» It's a very big project. They have the
entire kitchen filled with cookies by
the end of it.
>> A good day to be around.
» It's no small task. The culinary arts
department makes 2,000 cookies. Small
cookie. We have many people who decorate
them and I can tell you director Brander
decorates a good cookie.
» Thank you.
>> Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Is
» Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Is
there any other question? I don't see
any hands up. So, thank you for the
presentation, both of you, and uh we
look forward to discussing
>> your request.
» your request.
>> Okay. Our agenda uh says that we had a
» Okay. Our agenda uh says that we had a
scheduled break, but I'm going to
suggest that we carry on. We've had a
cancelled delegation. We carry on and
I've been told the food that I can't
participate in isn't there yet. So, um,
we'll carry on probably for another half
an hour unless someone is, uh, really
urgently needing a break. So, uh, for
time sensitivity. Okay.
>> Oh,
» Oh,
>> it's okay.
» it's okay.
>> Okay. So, we just had a uh, a quick uh,
» Okay. So, we just had a uh, a quick uh,
>> okay,
» okay,
>> break.
» break.
>> She's in the room.
» She's in the room.
>> She's still
» She's still
>> Oh, she's in the room. Okay. So, right.
» Oh, she's in the room. Okay. So, right.
So, we'll go on to the number uh,
delegate 3.8 eight, Nikki Listister,
president of the Pow River Therapeutic
Writing Association. Um, Miss Listister,
the floor is yours uh for presentation.
10 minutes and we'll then have some
questions.
» I was just told I'd come here maybe
answer some questions. A little more
formal than what I thought I was
getting.
>> You don't There's no requirement for a
» You don't There's no requirement for a
formal presentation. You don't even have
to say anything. But uh if you want to
tell [laughter] us something, you got 10
minute up to up to 10 minutes and you
know you
>> tell us whatever you feel we need to
» tell us whatever you feel we need to
know.
>> Yeah. So we're celebrating 35 years in
» Yeah. So we're celebrating 35 years in
the community this year. Um the
organization started as a
physiootherapist talking with a horse
versus sitting around a table having tea
say we need to get horses and people
together and make this happen. And the
community the horse community pulled
together and brought their horses up the
road and say here use my horse for a
lesson. And and that's kind of how it
started. Um, now we have we're at the
Radisa Exhibition Park. We have um a
barn. We have paddics. We have a track
system. If you want to get into horses
knowing what's happening, we've created
a natural movement for them. Um, we have
our big indoor arena and we are
servicing up to 70 students a year, but
everyone wants to touch a horse and
everyone wants to spend time with
horses. So, we need to expand.
Um,
doesn't matter if you go on Facebook,
someone's asking, "Where are the horse
lessons? Where can my kid touch a horse?
Where can my three-year-old touch a
horse?" They need to do that. And as
people that serve the community, people
that are horse people, we understand
that impact that horses have on um our
students and we want to just grow and
expand. So, we have done a lot of work.
We've been in the past really struggle
to find qualified instructors. They have
to be what's called Cantra certified.
So, we this year have hired three
instructors that we've been working
really hard at getting certified and
they're going for testing at the end of
June. So, that moves us from one
instructor to four, which means we can
expand our program. Now, our main
instructor is going maternity leave, but
that's okay because she'll be back. Um,
we're unique that we actually have an
in-house trainer as well.
um this work is hard on our horses. Um
more traditionally it was
physiootherapy, but now we're seeing a
lot of um students with ADHD and autism
that need the emotional regulation that
the horse gives them. Horses will match
your heartbeat. So if you get on a horse
and you're really excitable and you
can't settle, the horse will bring you
down. And that's what we're seeing
happening all the time. But that's hard
on the horse. I've watched horses back
out of the arena and say, "No, thank
you. Not today. That's too much for me."
So, we respect that in the horse, but we
also do things on their off time to give
them the opportunity to we call it
filling their bucket. So, they can go in
and do the class and not be depleted.
So, in turn, we have a herd that's
really happy and healthy. Our vet bills
are down. Um, our fer bills are down.
They just they're able to do a little
bit more. They only work two classes a
day because that's all that they can
handle. Having that horse trainer fill
their buckets back up and do the right
things with them and train our trainers
or sorry, our volunteer horse handlers
to speak the same language with the
horse all the time. This always means
go. This always means stop has also
helped them be healthier and in turn
they're safer for our students.
So we have a basic program that um what
you would think of therapeutic riding
the kids come or the adults come and
they get on they do some stretching they
u follow some direction moving their
body they go out for a trail ride stuff
like that but we've also extended into
this year having vaulting program so we
bought this big beautiful horse from
from Alberta for our program because um
larger people need a bigger horse and he
was expensive And we were very excited
to have him. He hates the program.
>> So to respect the horse, what can we do
» So to respect the horse, what can we do
with him? We're going to lose money. We
can't do that. And he's a beautiful
horse. So we created a vaulting program.
So our horse trainer and instructor got
certified as vaultting instructors. This
horse loves vaultting. So he he gets
ledged around in a circle and the kids
get put up. They basically do gymnastics
on the horse. It is
very good for their bodies. Um, if
you've ever heard of hypotherapy, if
physiootherapists and stuff do that,
hypo they have to be certified to do
that. We can't do that. But the moves
are all very similar. And again, the
kids get all this confidence, body
movement, they get to um express
themselves and they work in as a team.
So, it's an inclusive team and we have
six vultures this year and we're looking
to expand to a second day next year and
that horse is loving it. So, we found
the horse a good job and we put six more
kids together that we could pull off a
weight list. Um, all of our students
currently have to be um referred to us
through a doctor. That's our mandate
with our program. So, that's how that
works. We are also looking at expanding
um what's called EAL, so equin assisted
learning. So, it's um personal
development coaching leadership programs
using the horse. And again, some of that
can be done as a group and some of that
can be done individual. A lot of
facilities work with PE first
responders, anyone suffering with PTSD,
um
people going through addiction, stuff
like that. So, that's another area that
we're looking to expand upon. Um and it
gets more people touching horses.
Yeah. So, I don't know what else to tell
you. You have any question? I could go
forever, but
it's a passion for sure.
Thank you very much. That was uh was
very interesting information. Um is
there anyone who has questions? Director
Lennox, go ahead.
>> Sure. Thanks, Nikki um for your
» Sure. Thanks, Nikki um for your
presentation. I have a lot of sweat up
there at the grounds by my past. Uh
>> he looks close.
» he looks close.
>> Yeah. So, uh I'm just looking. So, good
» Yeah. So, uh I'm just looking. So, good
rundown here. It's really part of your
overall program to try to achieve the
goal. Um and you got a whole bunch of
ambitious goals.
>> Yeah. and a total budget of just under
» Yeah. and a total budget of just under
400,000, right? So, it's quite an
operation now. So, and you're asking for
17, I think. So, I just wanted to be
clear about that. And looks like you're
getting a lot of work done with that
money. So,
>> want to make sure.
» want to make sure.
>> Yeah, we're a nonprofit plus a charity.
» Yeah, we're a nonprofit plus a charity.
So, there are certain things we can do
things that can't do, but I think we're
seeing in the community that local
donations are down. Um, I know everyone
saved the kings as my personal business,
Saved the Kings. That was a a goal in
the community to do that. And this
spring we had um our family day on May
23rd and we do t-shirts for all our
riders. We put salt on the back and a
lot of people were tapped out this year.
We really felt that. And then a lot of
our out of town um foundations are now
um they have so many requests that
they're only helping you every other
year. So we're seeing that happening as
well. and we're trying to keep it all
affordable, right? We don't want to
price people out of the service that
they need. Autism funding has changed. I
think we're going to be okay because our
um coaches are certified, so they'll
still be able to access the autism
funding to be able to come to our
facility, but it's Yeah, it's expensive.
I We've had horses 10 years at Tanahe
was 425. Now it's a thousand. Even
buying local, it's still
>> Glad I'm not buying it now. I know
» Glad I'm not buying it now. I know
three. I have seven.
>> It's expensive. Um, we are very
» It's expensive. Um, we are very
fortunate in our community. We only own
three horses at therapeutic running. We
have eight. So, we have free leases. We
take advantage of that. There could be a
horse. There's a beautiful horse. She's
one of the best horses we have. She was
living in Wildwood, not doing a lot
because they're busy doing other things.
So, she comes and lives with us. Their
kids come and visit their horse or have
a lesson and she stays with us. Now, she
has a job. So she has purpose and she
she's we have most of our horses. That's
how we have them now. We used to own
them all. It doesn't make sense because
when they get tired of doing their job,
we have to sell them or move them along.
And this way we can just give them back
to their family and maybe they'll come
back in a couple years if they're
refreshed. I don't know. But I think the
training we're doing is helping them as
well so they don't get burnt out the job
that they do. And we are doing summer
camps. This will be our third year doing
summer camps. So, we're reaching more
kids that way. Eight kids a week for six
weeks this year.
>> Sure. It's full.
» Sure. It's full.
>> Well, registration started today.
» Well, registration started today.
There's some people in the room whose
grandson is on the list. I'm hoping I'm
hoping it's full. It should be full.
Usually our wait list is pretty long.
Yeah.
>> Yeah. Director South cut.
» Yeah. Director South cut.
>> Thank you. very exciting for me to hear
» Thank you. very exciting for me to hear
that you're thinking of moving into
trauma
therapeutic work. Um I heard a statistic
today that 25% of Canadians have some
form of what we call PTSD, but I prefer
to call stress related illness um
effects
because it's a have been very aware over
years of the
greatly increasing need in our society.
Uh
so I'm just wondering if you speak just
a little more on that like when is this
expected and might there be even the
possibility of relationships with other
um providing or organizations that
provide like referrals? One thing I'm
aware of is that different people
require different or or benefit from
different approaches
>> and it's really a vast range.
» and it's really a vast range.
>> Yeah. So I actually went away in
» Yeah. So I actually went away in
February for a week and did my EAL
training. I'm a certified EL personal um
development coach. Um
I made a promise to myself I wouldn't do
anything new for 6 months. People in the
room that might know me know I run a
business in town. It takes a lot of my
work. Therapeutic writing is a passion
for me. It takes a lot of work. Um I
told my husband I won't do anything new.
This course was literally on the island
and I had five people send it to me and
I'm like but I said I wouldn't do
anything new. I'll go in November. And
my husband said you just need to go. was
at a facility that I knew and I was
comfortable with and I went and thank
goodness I went changed my life really
and the direction of where I'm going in
my life by going through that. Um I have
a lot of empathy for people. I think I
consider myself a people person and the
ability to listen and understand and
[snorts] I was paired with um a young
girl who had lost her husband very
tragically. She's never spoken to anyone
really about it. Well, I'm gonna lose
time and tell you the story. Anyways,
I'll sneak in that. Yes, the we're going
to I'm going to start in the fall. I'm
going to offer to some of our kids a
leadership program proono just to get my
feet wet and then we're going to reach
out. The big thing that I want to do,
I was going to do it at home on my own,
but let's do it there. We have the We
have the horses that are ready to go and
we have the connections.
Yeah. And after 35 years, we have the
reputation. So I can do that. So yeah,
it's a huge part of my next part chapter
of my life.
>> No,
» No,
>> I didn't pass the test that
» I didn't pass the test that
>> pass. Sorry, [laughter]
» pass. Sorry, [laughter]
>> pretty close. No, no, don't don't don't
» pretty close. No, no, don't don't don't
worry at all. Thank you for presenting
to us. That was very good. And uh we
thank you for coming before the board
here.
>> Okay. Uh on to our next one. I don't
» Okay. Uh on to our next one. I don't
believe the food's arrived, so we'll
carry on. We have um delegate 3.9.
That's Kathy Brown, president of the
Texa Island Nonprofit Senior Housing
Society or affectionately known as
Tinches. Uh I
is Miss Brown attending virtually, I
believe.
>> I am.
» I am.
>> Yes. Okay. Uh so the floor is yours or
» Yes. Okay. Uh so the floor is yours or
the screen is yours for for 10 minutes
and then uh we may have some questions
for you. Um Miss Brown, go ahead.
>> Thank you kindly. Um I'm uh going to be
» Thank you kindly. Um I'm uh going to be
invisible today just because of a little
computer slowdown here and I have uh
sadly no awesome presentation visually.
So what I'll do is I'll just uh thank
everybody today um other delegates and
the board for listening. Um, I'm happy
to be able to share that the latest
progress on the Texas Island Nonprofit
Seniors Housing Society project. Uh, it
began as community vision uh back in
2019. It's rapidly transforming into a
reality. We have successfully navigated
several major uh regulatory milestones.
I'm here to present another step in our
road map for making a 3.2 hectare parcel
shovel ready for affordable seniors
housing.
uh with the help of uh the QRD's
dedicated staff um both the planning
department and the the staff within
finance and other office assistants. Um
we have overcome some significant
hurdles. The first was excluding the
land of the agricultural land reserve
from the agricultural land reserve and
very recently the fence and buffer plan
that was compiled by tinches and was
forwarded to the QRD planning department
for their review and subsequently having
it submitted to the agricultural land
commission. Um, we've been informed that
the conditions of the preliminary layout
review have been satisfied after
Vancouver Coastal Health has made a
critical concession for us. Their
concern in subdivision, as you're
probably well aware, is to ensure that
the wastewater is disposed of safely and
with larger developments, it becomes an
even more critical step for the
long-term viability of projects. Um
they've agreed to a blanket covenant
which is allowing us to defer uh
detailed wastewater engineering the
schematics until the building stage. It
means that we can establish the land
title and transfer the parcel sooner
than waiting on expensive premature
infrastructure designs.
Our timeline for the 2026 project is
strategic. Um, Sulkerk remains the owner
until the title transfer, but they are
willing to work with us um before it's
transferred. Um, we're moving into phase
two civil engineering design,
establishing the final schematics of the
footprint for the housing project. Uh,
that is this spring and early summer. Uh
this summer, roughly August, we have the
technical site evaluations that will
flag the footprint following immediately
by logging. Uh in the fall, which will
be September, November, we will move
into site grubbing, fence erection, and
a comprehensive fire evaluation to
guarantee long-term wildfire resilience.
By December, we anticipate the final
subdivision completion and the official
title transfer. Finally,
um, in the spring of 2027, we will
strategically plant the buffer for the
fence with appropriate fires smart and
native plants where it's lacking
adequate coverage. Our total budget
projected sits at $252,552.
We want to highlight the incredible
generosity of our partner Selkerk
Mountain Forest Limited who is providing
a massive incind inkind land donation of
$134,000
which represents 80% of the the land
value as well as this summer uh $5,000
in logging services.
Um the $25,000 QRD social planning grant
we're seeking is highly targeted. Um,
it'll directly fund the critical
technical work that matching funds won't
cover. Um, $10,000 to further the civil
engineering phase 2 that will take into
account the possibility for more units
on the site plan in the future. $5,000
for site grubbing and the remainder
across legal fees, professional tree
surveys, fire smart assessments, and
administration. Uh, every dollar is
being leveraged to maximize the asset
value. Ultimately uh this phase derisks
the site making us highly attractive to
major provincial and federal capital
partners when they come back and uh
hopefully this uh this whole project
will move smoothly forward in the coming
years. Thank you and I welcome any
questions and appreciate your listening.
>> Thank you Miss Brown. That was uh good
» Thank you Miss Brown. That was uh good
to hear from you. I see director
McCormack has your hand up.
>> Yes. Thank you, chair. Um, Miss Brown,
» Yes. Thank you, chair. Um, Miss Brown,
kudos to you and your group for taking
this from nowhere um to the very very
long distance that you've come. So, I'm
I'm really I'm just so amazed at the
wonderful work that you've done
>> so far and you're just really getting
» so far and you're just really getting
started. So my question is about the
plan um for the future and I think you
touched on this um that the initial plan
is for 40 units um but there is an
opportunity for growth down the road.
How would that work?
>> Actually our original hope of having 40
» Actually our original hope of having 40
units was um pulled back by the BC
housing when we were approaching them
for funding initially. Um, we were told
flat out that no one was going to fund
us for 40 units. So, they told us to
rescale 20 units and that this would be
something that they would most likely
look a little more um favorable upon.
Um, the expansion in the future would
bring it up to the 40 units. Um, and
it's been a benefit to actually draw
back to 20 because it's meant that we
can have um a regular septic field for
20 units and then add in a second septic
field for another 20 units rather than
having to have a wastewater treatment
plant um which would carry the whole 40
units.
>> That makes sense. No, thank you. Thank
» That makes sense. No, thank you. Thank
you.
>> Thank you very much. Is there any other
» Thank you very much. Is there any other
questions from the committee? I don't
see any. Well, thank you very much, Miss
Brown, for the presentation. We'll be uh
discussing the the request at a future
meeting.
>> Thank you for your consideration.
» Thank you for your consideration.
>> Okay. So, I unless I don't see that the
» Okay. So, I unless I don't see that the
our food's arrived, so I haven't got a
note yet. So, we'll go on to our uh
>> seated on food.
» seated on food.
[laughter]
>> Not that it benefits me whatsoever. Um,
» Not that it benefits me whatsoever. Um,
our our 10th delegation, well, our ninth
delegation, 3.10, 3.10, Joan Miller,
executive director, Island North Film
Commission. U go ahead, Miss Miller. You
have 10 minutes and then we'll have some
questions.
>> Great. Thanks. Well, I hope the food
» Great. Thanks. Well, I hope the food
doesn't come while I'm doing my
presentation.
>> Well, we we'll take a break in between
» Well, we we'll take a break in between
presentations, so no worries at all.
>> I know what it's like. Food comes first.
» I know what it's like. Food comes first.
Um, so thank you very much. I'd like to
thank you, Chair Fall, and your
committee, um, and all your great staff.
The staff has been awesome to work with.
They always have been and they continue
to be that way. I also want to recognize
all these great delegates. I've always
listening to them and so I don't know
gobsmacked by the great work they do. I
have six regional districts I have to do
this with and I'm always like wow. I
walk away and think we have the greatest
communities that we live in. Um I want
to spend my time and I want to ask if I
could have a little 31 second um
extension. We have a video that we
created for the province last year that
for uh profiling the work that we did
and a lot of it was in the cath area. So
if you have consideration of less
questions and listen to our video I
think a lot of them will be answered. So
please staff if you go ahead with the
video I'd appreciate it.
Rolling. rolling. [music]
» In 2022, the Island North Film
Commission received a $520,000
economic diversification grant. The
purpose of the grant was to help grow
BC's motion picture industry within the
region. The investment is already paying
off.
>> We're very proud of the successes of the
» We're very proud of the successes of the
funding that we've had. We've been able
to show real um impact and and real
effect coming from government funding.
>> Oh, this looks great.
» Oh, this looks great.
>> The commission's mandate is to assist
» The commission's mandate is to assist
producers in finding locations, offer
local crews, and help with the
appropriate permissions and permits. One
recent success story is Eden Express, a
domestic production which spent 6 weeks
filming in the Pow River area. We had
cast a pretty wide net on where we are
looking for a location and then we we
did eventually end up here in Powell
River and and the the Vancouver Island
North Film Commission were quite
instrumental in helping us find some
locations here.
>> Productions like this one have a large
» Productions like this one have a large
impact on local economies.
>> When a production comes to town and we
» When a production comes to town and we
see them begin to fill hotels, they go
out for dinner. They're they're using
restaurants. They're going out and using
coffee shops after. They'll rent all the
different things they require. it is a
direct economic impact to that
community. We try to hire as many locals
as we can definitely in you know
production assistance and obviously in
background performers. We even have some
like actors that we were able to hire
locally um construction scenic drivers
security. So yeah, we've been able to
hire a lot of folks locally which is
really amazing.
>> But the impacts are also cultural.
» But the impacts are also cultural.
>> There's nothing like seeing your town,
» There's nothing like seeing your town,
seeing your street on on the big screen.
It it it's just it's a source of pride
and I think we have wonderful
communities. We have caring people. If I
was a filmmaker, I'd want to film here.
>> The community has completely embraced
» The community has completely embraced
us, too. Um everywhere we go, we're
always like, "Do you need more BG or are
you the film people?" And I saw your
trucks and I saw your signs and yeah,
the community seems to have really
embraced us. So, we're very fortunate to
be here.
>> The film commission also received
» The film commission also received
funding through Island Coastal Economic
Trust. The trust's investment readiness
program allowed Infilm to greatly expand
an important resource within their
operation, their library of available
film locations.
>> To date, we have about 4,000 files
» To date, we have about 4,000 files
rising from the original 2,000 we had.
Uh, a lot of those 4,000 were also
updates of older files. We have
productions that are coming because of
our scouting, because of our location
kits.
>> 12 photographers in six regional
» 12 photographers in six regional
districts went far and wide to expand
the database.
>> It was awesome. Yeah, it was one of the
» It was awesome. Yeah, it was one of the
best jobs I've ever had. Um,
at first they said, "Oh, can you do
about 150 locations?" And I thought, "Oh
my gosh, how am I going to do 150
locations?" Location scouting on
Vancouver Island is ideal. We have
majestic mountain ranges, trails, old
growth forests. We have derelict old
buildings, warehouses. We have vintage
beautiful homes. We have it all on
Vancouver Island. It really is an
idealic spot to film at.
>> You know, the Vancouver Island North
» You know, the Vancouver Island North
Film Commission was really supportive of
us, you know, helping us find location
scouts, you know, taking us to some
locations, you know, providing a
locations package to us, which is, I
mean, it it's it's a huge cost savings
for us.
[music]
>> Equally as important was capturing the
» Equally as important was capturing the
island's diverse scenery from high
above.
The RedUp funding also allowed for the
purchase of a drone as well as hiring
drone operators to inventory more than
100 locations from the air. They're game
changers. We've heard from Creative DC,
the provincial film commission, how much
they love the files and how they're
getting getting into it now. Film is a
technology- based industry and like most
technology- based industries, there are
slow advances and big hops. The drone
videos will be a big hop and they really
allow producers to identify what they're
shooting and as drone use becomes more
and more prevalent in film making it
just [music] makes sense to augment the
scouting with it.
>> Showcasing Port Alurnie's MLAN mill in
» Showcasing Port Alurnie's MLAN mill in
this way tripled the amount of time the
producers of one mile and one more mile
spent there. and they were here for two
months um working um while they shot not
just one uh part of one but almost the
entirety of a sequel movie.
>> They had an aerial layout of the mill as
» They had an aerial layout of the mill as
well as inside the machinery and the
buildings. It allowed them almost a 360
of the location so they're better able
to to to block out their shooting in
their mind. Extra days obviously results
in extra revenue for the venue and the
community.
>> Now they're looking for other
» Now they're looking for other
opportunities within the environment and
within the community. And that was
pretty amazing.
>> Hi. [laughter]
» Hi. [laughter]
Don't mind me.
>> A byproduct of the location scout
» A byproduct of the location scout
funding is that a handful of
photographers secured temporary
opportunities with productions shooting
in the region.
>> The locations manager for the Eden
» The locations manager for the Eden
Express contacted me and asked me if I
could go scouting again. So, I did that
a couple of weekends.
>> Location scouting is a fun job. It does
» Location scouting is a fun job. It does
involve a lot of creativity, outside the
box, thinking, what can look like this
that could be paired with this? For
example,
>> a large portion of the funding also went
» a large portion of the funding also went
for the purchase of a three-tonon truck
and trailer, as well as two smaller
units, all filled with industry
essential equipment. The trailer close
to me is a 9 ft utility trailer, and
that'll be used to carry uh uh location
equipment, our bolt stack batteries, uh
just a general runaround kind of trailer
to augment our three-tonon truck that's
actually out on our production right
now. Our other trailer, the one farther
behind me, is a 14 ft multi-use trailer.
Uh we purchased it, kitted out as a
mobile first aid room and prep office.
Inside there's shelving, a pull down
Murphy bed, and it is running off deep
cycle marine batteries. It can be put
out into the woods to prep a film
location off-rid, and it could be kept
there for weeks.
>> The commission was also able to purchase
» The commission was also able to purchase
four battery operated volt stack
generators to be utilized by visiting
productions.
>> This handy little tool should be in
» This handy little tool should be in
almost anyone's arsenal. I think it's a
portable power bank called a Volt Stack.
You get 5 kW of energy, nice and silent
and uh environmentally friendly. There's
no emissions.
>> The quiet operation of the generators
» The quiet operation of the generators
allows them to be used close to the
filming, eliminating any undesirable
noise, which is a problem with
conventional generators.
>> Well, the drawbacks is when it comes to
» Well, the drawbacks is when it comes to
sound, I mean, they can hear a mosquito
fart, it seems like. So, the further
away you can be with anything that
doesn't sound like what they're talking
about on set, the better. So having
something close by without having to run
an abundance of cable is influential for
sure.
>> The truck, trailers, and generators are
» The truck, trailers, and generators are
being used to make it more affordable
for producers to travel to and shoot in
the region.
>> The idea behind these are an additional
» The idea behind these are an additional
soft incentive for local producers,
emerging productions, and independent.
They're to offset the cost of renting
equipment and then transporting it from
Vancouver over the ferry up to the uh to
the North Island. It's another truck
that has to come across on fairies and
and to service and the generators and
and like you know having electric
generators instead of gas is also a
savings. So no, it's I would highly
recommend it to every anyone anyone can
call me. [laughter] Any producer that
wants to do it can call me. I'm happy to
talk about it.
>> Having a locations kit for a series, you
» Having a locations kit for a series, you
know, that that could be a run of show
could be upwards of a $100,000 rental.
And so being able to provide that on
loan to productions, it's a very
powerful draw. Uh and the feedback we
have had is very very positive.
>> The location equipment will also be used
» The location equipment will also be used
for training local individuals hoping to
be future film workers.
>> The film industry always needs new
» The film industry always needs new
workers. Always needs to train new
people.
>> Hand up an inch and then pull it out.
» Hand up an inch and then pull it out.
>> Since we purchased our location kit and
» Since we purchased our location kit and
truck, uh we've been to Gibson's, Port
Al Bernie, uh training on site there.
Those are two examples.
Drone images, location files, loanable
equipment, and vehicle purchases were
all made possible thanks to the generous
contributions of the Rural Economic
Diversification and Infrastructure
Program. Together with the Vancouver
Island North Film Commission, they're
drawing future productions and
investment. [music] We have productions
that are coming because of our scouting,
because of our location kits. We're
finding and the productions are finding
the communities are outstanding. Uh we
have beautiful locations. We have
wonderful incentives, but our main
attraction is the people.
>> I would say that Vancouver Island is
» I would say that Vancouver Island is
like no other place on this planet. Um,
the opportunities here are immense and
the great thing about it for the most
part is that it's relatively
undiscovered and that means right now
that there are deals to be had.
>> This area has a lot of what looks like
» This area has a lot of what looks like
untouched um nature. You know, it's a
lot easier to film something when you
don't have like 2500 people sitting on
the beach. You literally have like 10
that might want to go there that day.
It's easier to close down a location.
And I believe the opportunities are here
because we have the space, we have the
views, we have the buildings, and we
have a lot more crew here now than we
ever did. That's been a hindrance in the
past, not having enough crew. We have a
lot more crew here now. and we have a
lot more opportunity in the future. I'm
very proud of our communities. I'm very
proud of the industry that has come here
and developed of how uh diversified we
are now that we've been able to bring
this sector into our communities and
really noticeably now. And it's with
pride that we look forward to what we
can do now that we've been putting all
our tools in place.
So there you go. I'm happy to answer
questions because I know we've taken up
a lot of time, but um we're really it
was a big thing to do for four years was
to do all of that and we have people
working in your community right now. In
fact, I was reaching out to to Astra who
you saw to do a couple projects today.
Our crews are working, people are moving
to our area that are skilled um because
our communities are fabulous. So, you
know, the regions of BC right now are
doing much better than the lower
mainland. People are going out to the
regions. Domestic industry is growing.
Uh so, things are looking bright for us.
So, thank you very much and I'm happy to
answer any questions. Okay,
>> great. Thank you, Miller. Is there any
» great. Thank you, Miller. Is there any
questions of Director Isacson?
>> Thank you, Chair. uh from the chair to
» Thank you, Chair. uh from the chair to
uh Miss Miller, I'm wondering about uh
local employment uh as it relates to um
some of your work and how you encourage
it. For example, I I'm trying to
remember which production that was shot
in the Kat region. Um but I think there
was someone from the island working as a
scout and I I suspect they would have
been working for the production and not
you, but I don't know for sure. Um and
the location scout was from the island
and seeking, you know, connections
locally and And I feel like there's so
uh so many people locally who do work in
film production that could have been an
asset directly. And so I'm wondering
about um how some of the the work that
you're doing and that that this small
piece of funding would be attributed
towards would also support um local
employment more directly when suitable.
>> Oh well thank you for the question.
» Oh well thank you for the question.
Well, Astra Bulock that you saw
interviewed there three times is from
Pal River. So, we trained her. She's
part of that we what we did with the
with the uh part of our funding was to
reach out to each one of the six
actually seven regional districts. We
hired local photographers. We put them
through training courses and then we put
them sent them out to photographs. So,
we shot 2,000 new images, new location
files, which may be 60 images per file
throughout our whole region. So when you
heard Astra go, "Oh god, they asked me
to do 150 locations." That was her in
Pal River covering you. So again, we do
we we've reached out to ensure that we
we have hired and trained people that
live in each one of the regional
juristics that that we're funded
through. Um and so instead of production
now having to send someone over from the
island, sometimes production will pay to
send a scout in. Um because we're a not
for-profit, we are now able to redirect
those productions to the local people to
be the ones they hire because we've they
know what they're doing now. They know
how to upload into our system, which is
a industry system that you have to have
permission and training to be able to
get into. Um so that's we did to ensure
that we aren't sending someone from
Vancouver Island over to the lower to
upper or lower Sunshine Coast. Um, we
also did training for crew that we
offered up through we advertised through
all of the employment centers. So, we
did have people from the Cadet Regional
District that took our grip lighting PA
courses of which we 100% funded. I wrote
I wrote over a million and a half
dollars worth of funding grants for
training over four years and we pro we
trained over 450 people fully trained
them to industry specs to get into the
unions and covered all their expenses.
So, we've been working really hard
trying to build the capacity locally so
they don't have to bring so many people
over. And when you heard one of the
scouts from Port El Bernie talking about
that, I mean, it's made a huge
difference. So, we're now seeing backto
backto backto back projects coming in
where they're hiring local crew or uh
not 100% local crew because we haven't
been able to get into camera and some of
those technical things. But when it
comes to production assistance, grips,
lighting, uh set construction,
carpentry, all of the types of trades
where people have skills in another
sector that we could upskill and and
train them in so that they can jump from
one industry to the other when work is
there. We're doing our best to provide
those kind of skills tuitionfree to help
them find work when work comes to their
to their area.
>> Thank you very much. Are there any other
» Thank you very much. Are there any other
questions from the committee? I don't
see any. So, thank you, Miss Miller, for
presenting and for showing us the film.
Relax. Thanks for coming.
>> Appreciate it. Appreciate and we
» Appreciate it. Appreciate and we
appreciate the support we've had from
you for the last few years.
>> Director South had a question. Oh,
» Director South had a question. Oh,
sorry.
>> Oh, oh, sorry. My apologies director
» Oh, oh, sorry. My apologies director
Southkot. I I think
>> I got to get more
» I got to get more
>> in the background. I don't see it
» in the background. I don't see it
always. So, we do have one question from
Director Southk.
>> I see it difficult. Yeah. Quick
» I see it difficult. Yeah. Quick
question. Having some in a previous
lifetime having contact with the uh
film industry in Vancouver when I worked
down there. Uh I became aware of what a
huge uh economic um impact the industry
had and also that it's very it's low
impact as far as environmentally etc. So
there's it's a high benefit industry.
That was my impression. U this region is
absolutely looking for economic
opportunity and the two just really fit
together in my mind. I you know your
grant um request is not very big. I'm
really uh
it this area knowing that we've had four
feature films filmed here already and we
don't have the millm making noise
anymore to uh camper that which was a
problem in the past. my understood from
um previously
uh your your video doesn't really you
hardly even mention uh economic benefit
to um regions that you're working in and
I'm just wondering if that is an
oversight or uh if there's a plan to
feature that more or what you're
thinking might be on that.
>> Well, thank you for that question. Well,
» Well, thank you for that question. Well,
it was difficult because that particular
video was made to report back to that
particular fund and they were looking at
how did we in did we invest the money in
what we applied for which was purchasing
equipment that we could loan in order to
attract production out. So that's a soft
incentive on top of the incentives the
government gives to film outside. Also,
the training that we did and to reshoot
all our locations, um,
what we do daytoday takes weeks and
weeks and weeks to report out on because
we get such little bits of funding from
so many different places. So, you're
always trying to target it to what that
funding was. So, a project like Eden
Express, their economic impact report
came back at about $2.5 million spent
directly in the uh in the cadet area.
But for that particular year 2025, I
think we did $28 million. So we're
talking Port Al Bernie had two lower Mid
Island had two feature films. Um the
Tofino had a feature two feature films
and a TV series. It's the difficult part
of what I do is that everybody that we
get a little piece of funding from wants
us to tell us what we did in their area
and then I have to go over top and do a
big one for the province. So, it's
sometime really hard to break it all
apart because some want to hear the big
picture, some want to know all the
economic, and then some want to know
what did their $3,000 get them for an
investment in their own area. So, it is
a something that we've struggled with,
not only our area, but the regions of
BC. And we're really we're really trying
to in a lot of meetings recently with
the provincial government to try and get
them to recognize there has to be more
communication be the provincial
government's investment in this as a
industry that can help diversify more
than just Vancouver but is really
helping diversify the regions and the
rural regions in areas where they said
this will never happen. Um, and they
need to talk. We need to get them. We're
trying to push the province to talk to
regional districts. So, it's not me in
front of a grant and aid program where I
feel really bad because there's these
amazing groups that need the money.
We're in the wrong we're sitting at the
wrong venue to talk about economic
development. Um, and so, yeah, we we
we've struggled. We've been left on our
own for like 28 years to kind of grow
it. And so, we've passionately been
growing it. and now they're recognizing
the impact is really huge, not only in
our area, but Okonagan, the island and
the Okonogan have really grown their
film industry. Um, but we're missing
we're missing that piece where we have
all of the different levels of
government sitting at one table to
understand what the what the importance
of this sector like forestry or like
mining or anything is tourism to their
area and not just leave it up to us to
try and continue to have to do these
three minute presentations or you've got
five minutes. You have five minutes to
tell this group what it is you do and
how good it is. So, um it's a it's been
a challenge and yes, um yes, it's it's
been a challenge and it's one we're
working on and one we're hoping the
province will help us work
collaboratively with so the messaging
can be flowing from local government to
regional government to provincial
government so they see the impact of it
as um an investment in an industry that
benefits all. Don't know if that makes
any sense but sorry
>> my major thank you very much for your
» my major thank you very much for your
answer. Um what it tells me is that this
is a far larger uh conversation
uh to
pursue what I am interested in seeing
happen in our region.
>> Well we would love
» Well we would love
>> sorry we'd love to have that
» sorry we'd love to have that
conversation with you at the right time.
Um but it's hard to do it when it's a
five minute give your overall and and
then ask answer a few questions. So yes
having people that are interested in
looking at how we can expand this and
collaboratively leverage all levels of
government to create you know this
industry as a viable industry in every
rural and regional area of the province
is really important to all of us that do
our job.
Thank you very much and thank you for uh
presenting to our committee.
>> Oh, thank you.
» Okay. Uh with that, I we'll take a
10-minute break and those in the room
can enjoy the fine food that has been
delivered and those who are not in the
room will go forge
and uh
>> 10 minutes. Is that what we what we
» 10 minutes. Is that what we what we
said? Uh corporate office,
>> how about we return at 3:00?
» how about we return at 3:00?
>> Sounds perfect.
» Sounds perfect.
Breathe in.
» For those who have presented already,
Recording in progress.
Okay,
>> welcome back everyone. That's 301 almost
» welcome back everyone. That's 301 almost
302 where we'll carry on with our
delegations and item 3.11
is a delegation by Russell Brewer, CET
Tourism Society. Uh Mr. Brewer, you have
10 minutes and you're attending
virtually, so the screen is yours and
then maybe we'll ask questions.
>> Great. Thank you very much. And just a
» Great. Thank you very much. And just a
quick check you can hear me. All right.
>> Excellent.
» Excellent.
>> Great. Well, thank you very much, chair
» Great. Well, thank you very much, chair
and committee for uh letting all these
nonprofits, ourselves included, have an
opportunity to present. It's much
appreciated. And I'll try and keep it a
little bit briefer than my time allotted
because I know you've got quite a few
here yet to get through. Uh so I'm
representing Cath Tourism Society. I'm
the president for the board and we've
been established in place about 33 years
now. First established in 1993
and just thought it'd be it'd be helpful
to walk through who's actually on our
board. Uh many of them have been serving
for a long time. We've got Christy
Mitchell, Annne Nelson, Jo Mclaclin,
Nina Misalum, Eagle Waltz, Keith Lton,
Peter Harvey, Jerry Childris, Melanie
Hansen, and Matt McDow. And of course,
we have three ex officials. Councelor
Almeida from the city, Director
McCormack from the QRD, and Kelly Keel
from the Chamber of Commerce is on our
board as well. And we've also got three
staff at present. Jenny Allen Taves,
Emily Fea, and Holly Brack, as well as
some volunteers that have been
supporting the tourism society for quite
a long time, including Mike Ley, who is
coming on 20 years now. He's been a
volunteer for for the society. He just
loves doing it. And many of our board
members have been there quite a long
time as well. They come from a variety
of backgrounds. They're all quite
committed to the tourism sector and
supporting tourism in the region.
And we also have Pat and Athella who are
also volunteers for us.
So a bit of a walk through what the
tourism society does. We we operate the
visitor center obviously and provide
visitor information services in
partnership with the city, the QRD,
destination BC as well as other
organizations throughout the region.
So we provide visitor information
services 12 months a year for the region
as a whole. We promote the region as a
tourism destination.
We support local businesses
upon request and and when appropriate
with local marketing programs created by
local businesses and collect stats for
research purposes.
We also collect stats on visitors to the
area. And that's something we share with
the city, the RD and Destination BC and
other partners
as as appropriate. We help coordinate
local events and training for local
businesses including destination BC
approved courses
and we work collaboratively as much as
we can with other tourism related know
regional boards, committees, businesses,
associations,
many quite a few of them actually that
are presenting here today as well to to
the committee.
And our request is pretty much outlined.
I'll I'll just read what's in there. I
know there's a lot of material on your
agenda, but I I'll read a little section
of it. The the funds, as in past years,
are intended to be used to support staff
at the visitor center, particularly
through the high season in the summer
here, but also into the shoulder
seasons, so later into the fall and then
all the way through to May. And that
that helps us support the busiest months
of the year, but also helps transition
into the shoulder season so that we've
got smooth operations at the visitor
center.
Throughout the off season, a significant
portion of the funds are dedicated to
staff and this includes covering
salaries of course and other operational
expenses essential for smooth operation
of our center.
Maintaining year-round operations allows
the center to consistently support both
visitors and locals alike while
promoting local attractions and
amenities
and arguably contributing to the the
overall economic health and cultural
vitality of of the region. It's always
surprising to me. I've heard the
argument made several times, well, in
this era of online presence and apps and
such, do we really need uh physical
spaces?
I'm always surprised anytime I stop in
there to sign checks or check in with
staff or or do things. How long a visit
it becomes just because there's so many
people actually coming through the door.
There's lots of folks that still like to
stop by visitor centers to get some
local information, local flavor that
that they may not get elsewhere or just
through online presence.
Additionally, funds will be used to help
support staff attending events
throughout the region, also covering
expenses such as mileage, promotional
materials, and any participation fees.
So that's it in a nutshell committee and
happy of course to take any questions
you may have for our about our
application.
>> Thank you very much Mr. Brewer. Uh are
» Thank you very much Mr. Brewer. Uh are
there questions from the committee?
Uh Director Lennox.
>> Yeah. Thanks chair and thanks for your
» Yeah. Thanks chair and thanks for your
presentation. Um I'm [clears throat]
trying to think back. uh every board
meeting we do a director's report and I
think it was director McCormack you
mentioned that she's uh involved and has
uh is following the ongoing um
activities of your group and um I think
I took a note there thinking about
[clears throat] it that uh you said
there was two students for eight weeks
uh focused on area events in the region
and other activities I'm sure and uh of
course up in area A we're looking for
those area activities around Savory and
other other places. Um, and so I'm just
wondering my question is if this
application were to be unsuccessful or a
reduced amount.
I is it fair to say that would impact
those abilities to get out in the
community? Um, I think you may I'm
assuming you'd be able to cover the
office because you got to cover the
office, but it would impact your
outreach. Is that fair to say?
>> Yeah, that through the chair. That's
» Yeah, that through the chair. That's
correct. Director Lennox, it would
impact
how often we would be able to get out
and impact the hours that we'd be able
to maintain the visitor center open. So,
there'd have to be a balance struck
between uh I think the priority would
still be because it's a focus of the
board to get more of the folks out to
those events throughout the region
throughout the year. That's been
something we've heard from different
organizations and representatives. So,
likely we would balance some of the
hours. We'd maintain the visitor center
open in order to allow students and
employees to get out to those events.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
[clears throat]
>> Are there any other questions from the
» Are there any other questions from the
committee? Uh I I have one question for
you, Mr. Burr, which is about the uh I
guess the off season and the shoulder
season. Is it the case that there's uh
been an increase enough to warrant
having more uh staff resources or is it
that the goal is to have that increase?
So, what's the balance between, you
know, has it already happened or is it
something that that uh that tourism is
trying to do?
>> That that's a great question. It's a bit
» That that's a great question. It's a bit
of both. So, uh, I think it's fair to
say, you know, the other partner in the
region, Sunshine Coast Tourism, they're
the destination marketing organization
for the upper and lower Sunshine Coast.
They've done a great job of marketing
the region as a whole. And in a recent
report, they shared that we're starting
to see a lift in those shoulder season
numbers and room stays and such. So,
we're seeing that, too, just with
visitors to the visitor center. So,
it's it's a bit of a function of the
good work they're doing. We're
definitely anecdotally and the numbers
show it, there's more people coming in
the shoulder season, hence the need for
more visitor information services and
the shoulder seasons as well, which is
great. I think we're starting to see
definitely more folks coming earlier and
coming later than perhaps we have over
the last, you know, decade or two for
sure.
>> Great. Thank you. Are there any other
» Great. Thank you. Are there any other
questions? Looking to see I don't miss
anyone in the room. Director McCormack,
>> thank you. Or not in the room is the
» thank you. Or not in the room is the
case.
>> Um, thank you for your presentation,
» Um, thank you for your presentation,
Russ. Um, I really enjoy being part of
the uh, Cath tourism discussion. Um,
because they're really forward thinking
and so my question is about kind of
waving the flag a little bit more. Will
this um these positions enable Katourism
to get the name out there and to
increase um the opportunities to promote
uh the local businesses in Lond or Texa
or Neil Sultry Bay as the case may be.
>> Yeah, very much so. Director McCormack,
» Yeah, very much so. Director McCormack,
I I think it'll it'll allow us to have,
you know, tourism, cultural ambassadors,
if you will, getting out to those events
more, sharing information, going where
the people are at, not necessarily being
in a brick and mortar building waiting
for the people to come come to the
visitor center. That's the intent very
much so.
>> Makes a lot of sense. Thank you.
» Makes a lot of sense. Thank you.
>> Thank you very much. I don't see any
» Thank you very much. I don't see any
other hands up. So, thank you for
presenting before us and we will
consider this at a future meeting.
>> Great. Thank you very much.
» Great. Thank you very much.
>> Okay. Uh our next item 3.12 is uh
» Okay. Uh our next item 3.12 is uh
delegate uh Dorene Fraser, community
coordinator, Powell River United Church.
And I believe Miss Fraser's in the room
coming to us before. So, thank you very
much for presenting to the committee.
You have 10 minutes and then we may ask
questions.
>> I'm Dope Fraser. I sit on the board of
» I'm Dope Fraser. I sit on the board of
the Paul River United Church as the
fishes and loaves ministry. I work
closely with our local outreach ministry
which is uh led by Cynthia Leighton. Um
the Palmer Reunited Church has served
pastor meals by donation in the chat
region for 25 years. But coming out of
COVID, we as a congregation looked
inside and said, "What can we do to meet
our mission of serving love and out of
that came local outreach. We just saw a
need inside our community and we thought
perhaps in some way we could bridge
uh things that were happening." Um so we
said, "Well, what is it we have to
offer?" So what we had to offer is a
building which we're privileged to have
reduction of costs and things and we
felt serving with love was opening that
building up
um we had a community kitchen. Um we
also had a program um pasta dinners
which um had not run since pandemic. So
we said what can we do to make that
work? Like everyone, our volunteers had
fallen off. Our contacts had changed,
but we started to rebuild. So over two
years, we came back with one meal a
month, down from our four meals a month.
And during that time, this magical thing
happened. Um, a group called Circle of
Friends. It's grassroot movement. It's
probably 60 to 70% non-members of the
congregation, but members of the
community who care, those who wanted to
help us reach out and give us depth of
ability to to move forward. So, at the
end [clears throat] of the second year,
our outreach on ministry came forward
and said, "We have an opportunity. The
United Church of Canada is providing
will provide a provision grant for up to
three years for us to do what we're we
want to do. And um you know, hit the
wall running if you're going to hit the
wall, they say. So we decided to jump in
and we put in a a proposal that we would
provide not one meal but two meals a
week. One for seniors and one for our
regular meetings um with no charge. As
well we wanted to offer an opportunity
for those who were struggling to get
back into the workforce for whatever
reason. those who are living with
intellectual disabilities to find a
place where they could come and work and
feel and grow community. Um there is a
small honorarium involved in this
program. Um we have helped people with
food safe. We've had people come
together and become a community. We have
one family that have taken it to the
point where they provide one meal a
month um through uh through press for
about 30 to 40 people all on their own.
And this young man when he got his first
honorarium from us said how pleased he
was because he'd always wanted to earn a
paycheck. So we thought okay there's
success in that program for us. So
that's was born the community provision
food program.
Um it's been exciting at times
challenging. Um this action of radical
love and acceptance when opening our
doors for all with no cost. It's built a
community. It has built this place where
people come and they say hi to people
they didn't know before. They um join
in. They look for people who who are
going to be there. And this other thing
that happened that we did not expect is
we have seen the bridging of
perspectives. We have seen people
sitting at tables who would never have
connected who had never been exposed to
each other and then talk about what they
had learned how they had their they had
changed not always but willing to talk
because you're breaking bread and
talking to each other. It was it was it
is really something to see this happen.
Um this year we've served approximately
7,000 meals.
Um we intentionally expanded our local
outreach. We developed a working
relationship with services uh who
delivered for us 40 meals a week um to
those living in an encampment or those
who are unable to come into the building
and take nourishment at our table. We
also delivered a minimum of 30 meals a
week to the meal train who was who
served with the support. Thankfully, of
that coalition to end homelessness,
um
we dug deep to make sure we weren't
duplicating because we wanted to ensure
that what we were providing was going to
be needed. So, we connected with the
Jerry Gay Center, the Cranberry Center,
the city of Powell River, um who offers
a monthly meal for seniors. So we
developed a senior program that meets on
Thursday and following that program
which started at 11 members and we
shared 58 last Thursday. Um we have
what's called projects half done or we
affectionately call it PhD
>> and they can stay and we have a cafe and
» and they can stay and we have a cafe and
they do and you know not always a lot
but those who stay have grown to connect
with uh with each other and you see
their loneliness lifting a little bit.
So it's been very rewarding. Um the
growing number of guests at our dinners
and lunchons indicate we are filling a
need in our community for not only
providing food but building a safe space
for all to be welcomed.
uh our volunteers
are
come in, they participate, but we're
always taught to and presented that this
is serving with love opportunity and
that this acceptance of where people
are, where they're at, how they're going
to be met so that they're not going to
be feel judged as they come through the
door is an important part of our
program.
Um we have partnered with we work with
work safe BC or work BC through press uh
immigration services. Um and last week I
was contacted by the brain injury
because they have people who would like
to come and work in our program for the
with the honorarium so they can build
this community. They've heard good
things about it. Um, so we do provide
meals. The volunteers, which is a circle
of friend community has grown and it's
almost renewed my faith in in what's
happening in town that there are people
who just genuinely don't know what to do
and they feel this is a place to put it.
and the inclusion and acceptance of this
our space um has been been something
that we have indicated and we grow from
that. We do often we do offer our
building at no charge for those who come
and seek it in an area that we we see as
supporting community outreach.
Um, the United Church of Canada seated
us with a grant at 202526
for $45,000
with a possibility of two more years if
we could demonstrate that there was
support support in our community moving
forward. So, we're reaching out
currently with a request for $3,000 to
demonstrate such an action in our
community.
» Thank you very much for your
presentation. Uh, I will see if anyone
around the table has a question
for you.
Don't see any hands up, but that was
very good information. That was nice
presentation. Thank you for coming for
us
>> and we'll be considering the request at
» and we'll be considering the request at
uh a finance committee meeting in in a
few weeks probably.
If we go dinner. [laughter]
» So, uh, item 3.13,
if I'm on track here. 3.13, Lesley
Southerntherland, Powell River Child,
Youth, and Family Services Society, the
Orca Bus. Welcome before us, Miss
Sutherland. I have 10 minutes and we may
ask questions or may not. It depends on
[laughter]
what the committee wants.
>> Thank you.
» Thank you.
>> Hi. Good to see you. All right. So, I'm
» Hi. Good to see you. All right. So, I'm
with the Orcab bus. My name is Lesie
Sutherland. I'm the coordinator of the
early years programs at Youth and Family
and the facilitator of the Orcabus.
So, the Orcabus stands for On the Road
with Children's Activities. As many of
you already know, the bus is a beautiful
2019 converted Bluebird school bus. and
we make stops throughout the QRD
providing early years outreach programs
for children uh ages 0 to 8 and their
families. So the primary goal of the
orca bus uh we reach families who may
not have access to early years
programming due to location and other
barriers. Uh we connect all the we try
to connect all cath families to health
and community services in a relaxed and
safe environment. Uh but above all if
anybody has been on the orca bus it's a
place for little ones to explore uh to
discover to play to have fun to make
friends and for their caregivers to take
a break and sit down and connect with
other parents. Um, anybody who has
parented 247 a baby or multiple children
under the age of six, we all know how
imperative and rejuvenating it is to
just talk and laugh with other
grown-ups.
Um, the Orca bus, we made 54 stops this
year. The Orca had 754 children, 325
parents, and 28 service providers visit
a total of 1,7
visitors.
Uh we visit the entire Cath Regional
District with stops at Northside
Community Center in Londipers
Playgroup and Shelter Point on Texa, uh
Clamama Nation, the CDRC as well as
Clammed Beach, Palm Beach, as well as
municipal parks, central locations such
as the library, the airport, the
hospital, as well as community events
such as the Frank Bone Festival and the
Santa Claus parade.
Uh I'm also a great believer in
collaboration.
We have so many early years resources
within this community and when we work
all together it simply means we can
reach more families. Uh this past year
the Orca has collaborated with the Pow
River Public Library with four visits
and participation in their story time.
Uh we have collaborated with strong
start go with the school district. We
have participated in the plan and
connect events um through the school
district.
And on the bus we host um a community of
professionals through coastal health
through inclusion and the chat child
care resource and referral. So, we have
people on board the bus who just kind of
casually end up coming on the bus and
talking to people. Uh, I also love a
good theme. Uh, this last April we had a
farm and garden tour month where I I
scheduled bus trips to all different
farms and garden centers. So, we went to
Blueberry Commons, we went to
Terranostra Farm and the garden centers.
And in each of those locations, uh, I
had a co-f facilitator outside potting
plants and working with the kids. So, we
had indoor and outdoor activities. It
was it was really lovely. And they also
got a tour of these local farms, which I
think is really important for little
people to see. So, our attendance has
been fantastic and growing. Many
families, especially during this last
garden and farm month, uh follow our
online calendar and attended every
location. They just would go online and
find out where we were going to be and
then show up. Um I'm very grateful for
our communications lead, Alice Ward
Cameron, who creates our ongoing
calendar. We have a calendar that's
online that you post and she posts on
Facebook all the time and we have these
lovely QR codes where people can just
automatically find our calendar and find
out where we're going to be. So that is
Alice and she's amazing. Um I'm also
very grateful for our we have three
regular volunteer bus drivers who make
the trips possible. Uh the orchid bus
drivers contributed 182.5 volunteer
hours. 75% of which were in the QRD. Uh
and we are looking for new drivers. So
if anybody has a a wild dream to drive a
bus, um we are looking for drivers.
Uh the Oraca bus provides a safe space
for children to play and discover and
for parents and caregivers to just take
a breath and connect with other parents
and connect with the services that they
may need.
Uh the first five years of a child's
life are a critical window of rapid
brain development, bonding and
foundational learning. It is such an
honor for me to facilitate the Orcabus
program with youth and family and
support these families with young
children during this time. So important.
So thank you very much. That's all I
have. Thank you for your support and
thank you for considering our
application.
>> Thank you for your presentation. Uh
» Thank you for your presentation. Uh
>> I will look around the room to see who
» I will look around the room to see who
may or may not have a question about the
Orcab bus which we're all well aware of.
We've seen uh you know talked about
Orcabus for quite a while many years. Uh
does anyone have a question for
Miss Sutherland? I don't see any hands
up, but we will be considering
everything you said and the application
at our upcoming finance committee
meeting next one.
>> So, thank you. That's really useful and
» So, thank you. That's really useful and
and thank thank you for coming before
the committee here.
>> Well, you're welcome. Thanks very much.
» Okay. 3.14
is Erica Rhymer, studio coordinator,
Texa Arts, Culture, and Tourism Society
regarding the Texa Pottery Studio
attending virtually. If Miss Rhyr is
online then uh
I
see yeah
there she is. Um Rhymer it's great. So
you have uh 10 minutes to present to us
and then we can ask questions.
>> Oh hi. Okay. Can you hear me?
» Oh hi. Okay. Can you hear me?
>> Yes we can. I can always.
» Yes we can. I can always.
>> Hi. Um thanks for inviting us to uh make
» Hi. Um thanks for inviting us to uh make
this presentation. So, I think you've
got our application in front of you. I
don't think I'll take your full 10
minutes because I wasn't really prepared
to make a presentation. I thought I was
just answering some questions, but I am
happy to um provide a little bit of
information on what we're requesting.
So, um I don't know if anybody's aware
of the Tuxeda Island um pottery studio.
So, it's located in the basement of the
school. Um we are a facility that runs
under the Tuxeda Arts and Culture and
Tourism um society on the island. So um
they are uh they are this the society
act under which we we operate. Um we
have I believe around 20 active members
at this point. We've had about 40 total
um users in the past year. Uh we've been
operating since uh 2019
um in different kind of capacities. Uh
so right now our project is that we're
trying to do is uh expand our wheels,
our pottery throwing wheels. Um so right
now we have three current wheels. We've
purchased one more for four and we're
looking to add another to our studio. Um
so we have recently done a fundraiser at
the Tuxedo Home and Gardens and we were
able to uh collect I think just over
$1,000 there. I'm not too sure if that's
gross or net yet. Um, so we're hoping
with this uh remaining contribution that
we'd be able to purchase the final wheel
and then offer some more in the way of
wheel throwing classes u for both
members and and maybe at some point
students of the school if they're if
they're at that capacity.
» Great. Thank you very much. Uh do we
have any questions from the committee
and I see Director McCormack?
>> Thank you. Um, and thank you Erica for
» Thank you. Um, and thank you Erica for
your presentation. Um, will you be open
more days a week? Um, with the
additional wheels and the capacity in
increases obviously each time you're
open, but um, with more people comes
more demand and it then it becomes a bit
of a snowball. So, are you intending to
open um, additional days?
>> We can. We have. We've had um, we've had
» We can. We have. We've had um, we've had
more openings per week previously, but
we just didn't find that we had enough
people coming. Um, so yeah, of course. I
mean, it could it could mean that we
have more of a rationale for opening u
more than we currently do. Right now,
we're Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
um for open studio time. But yeah, I
don't think that um we have the
volunteer base there that's interested
in opening the space. So yeah,
>> thank you.
» thank you.
>> There any other question? See, and I'll
» There any other question? See, and I'll
just mention, you know, and this is not
really a question, but the uh Luski
Island, the Luski Island Arts Council is
building a pottery studio on Luski. So,
maybe there's a future opportunity for
connections between the two guilds
>> or so. So, uh I don't know when it'll be
» or so. So, uh I don't know when it'll be
open, but it's coming up. Building's
getting finished, and they won't have
that many wheels, but they'll have, I
think, three or something.
>> Awesome.
» Awesome.
>> Okay. So, uh, I don't see any other
» Okay. So, uh, I don't see any other
hands up. So, I will thank you for
coming before us and presenting and
we'll consider the application when at
at a future meeting.
>> Okay. Wonderful. Thanks for having me
» Okay. Wonderful. Thanks for having me
here.
» So, uh, item 315, Gary Schilling,
executive director, Cath Film Society.
And if Mr. Schilling looks like he's in
the audience, so thank you for coming
before us. And the floor is yours for 10
minutes and then we'll have an
opportunity for questions. Thank you,
chair. Uh, thank you, directors. Um, I
figure digestion is just kind of
happening right now for those lunches
and everyone.
>> No one's doing any kind of snoozing, so
» No one's doing any kind of snoozing, so
we're we're all still good. Um, I always
appreciate opportunity to speak. I'm
more of a off-the- cuff speaker type
person than a writing it on paper.
You've got my paper in front of you.
And, uh, uh, I've been leading the film
society since, uh, 2014. We're a
charitable uh nonprofit with education
as our core mandate. Um as owners of the
Patricia Theater, we provide year-round
entertainment to the community. And as a
film society, we have four major events
that we do through the year. Uh the
International Film Festival that we do
in March, the three years indigenous
film festival that we do in September,
National Canadian Film Day which happens
in April, and our youth camp which is
coming up in August. than what I'm here
to talk to you about. Um it's our 14th
year of our film camp. Um each year we
take in 30 students and uh we believe
there's a actually it's been shown that
there is a strong connection between
media literacy and uh mental health,
self-confidence and good community
relations. And uh anyone who's paying
attention to what's going on in the
world, media literacy becomes more and
more important uh in the world. And uh
so the camp I think is a tremendous
opportunity for students to for campers
who are students mostly uh to learn uh
what it's like to collaborate, what it's
like to tell a story, what it's like to
work as a team and uh make make media.
So um
the camp not only provides a a place for
the youth to get together but it's also
an opportunity for our film
professionals to mentor youth uh stretch
their skills. Uh we have five mentors
local filmmakers who will work with us
this summer confirmed and they are
assisted by production assistants who
are often uh recent graduates from high
school. Some of them have attended our
film camp in the past and they move on
to uh develop uh their skills. The camp
culminates in a screening at the
Patricia where the kids get to see their
films on the big screen. Community comes
out to watch those films and uh they
also get a chance to present their films
and and get a sense of what that uh that
means. Um each year we uh we give a
theme to our film camp. Um, this year's
theme is uh this year's theme asks the
question, what's your idea of a perfect
world and uh they often have amaze us in
the things that they come up with. Um, I
hesitate to bring video to play here
because I've noticed video plays
terrible in this room. Um, so I
encourage you to go to our website
cadetfilm.ca
under the youth tab. Uh we've just
opened our applications for the film
camp for this year and we have sample
videos from uh the previous years. It's
it's really a joy to see them come alive
uh in this process. Um funding for the
film camp is already confirmed. We've
got the city of Pal River funding us
through uh the arts council and the PR
community foundation has supported us.
We're still waiting on our primary funer
BC Gaming. the film camp will go ahead
uh with or without funding and it will
continue to be free. Um we don't get
funding. It just stretches our our
resources the the amount of base funding
that we have my comfort zone you know
lessons and my grant writing which gets
uh increases but uh I hope that you will
consider [clears throat] us. Um, I
appreciate the funding that we've had in
the past and support that we've had for
our film festival and for our film camp.
And um, that's really about it for me.
I'm happy to answer any questions you
might have.
>> Thank you very much. Uh, I will look
» Thank you very much. Uh, I will look
around the room, see if anyone might
have a question. Director Southkot, I
saw you this time.
» Dramatic. um
working with young people uh
particularly encouraging critical
thinking. I would imagine that's an
interest of yours too personally. But
how does that come into the film camp in
terms of
their work?
Well, um the Billcap begins with uh
exercises where they get together and
figure out how to work what working
together means and what uh thinking
[clears throat] together means. And I
think by critical thinking um everyone's
a critic.
I think thinking in as as a group and
supporting each other in in the thought
process and if you've ever been involved
in brainstorming which is a good part of
the beginning there's a there's a
general rule that no ideas are bad and
that everything must be considered and
uh how to work together to uh come up
with something that they can all embrace
that's important for the the process and
I think it's also important for um just
existing in the world today. So it's not
quite critical thinking necessarily, but
uh it's critically important to uh the
uh process of dialogue, I think, which
is really what I think the film camp's
about.
>> Sounds like critical thinking to me.
» Sounds like critical thinking to me.
Thank you.
>> Okay.
» Okay.
>> Thank you. Are there any other questions
» Thank you. Are there any other questions
from around the table? I don't see any.
So, thank you for sticking it out to
near the end of the meeting and uh
presenting to us in person and uh we'll
take your application and comments into
consideration when it comes before us.
>> Thank you so much. Appreciate
» Okay, we have a a late delegation. We'll
call it 316, which is Rob Tisdoll,
Powell River Salmon Society. And I
understand Rob's in the room. So Rob, uh
you when when you're when you're ready,
yeah, you you can present for 10 minutes
and then uh we may have some questions
for you.
>> Thank you.
» Uh thank you for inviting us here today.
U I didn't know if I was going to make
it
here. So uh we've had another good year
with the Salmon Society. uh we were able
to uh make our collections eggs in the
fall and uh we got some extra eggs from
uh the island for spring salmon as well.
So we had a a good a good egg take and
good survival and I had a little
handout. I don't know if you got this or
not. Did you get
>> Yeah. So it explains how many salmon we
» Yeah. So it explains how many salmon we
let go this last uh this last last
month.
uh 349,000 spring salmon, 368,000 chum
salmon, and 229
thin clipped coal. Uh we're very proud
of that because uh for two years in a
row now, we've been clipping our cohole
and yeah, we're pretty happy with that.
Anyhow, um
uh what we're requesting this year are
funds to do
normal
uh replacements
uh for some of our equipment, our some
of our water uh uh measuring equipment
that we have. Uh we we're really
fortunate to have
uh information, scientific information
on our watershed going back to the
1990s. uh the
uh program that conducted
there's three of us involved. There's
the community forest and there's the
fisheries
with the salmon society. Uh and u
who else is involved in that? City.
[clears throat]
>> So anyways, we get we get all of our our
» So anyways, we get we get all of our our
water information every year. So we're
replacing some equipment there and uh
doing some work uh around uh Lang Bay,
an operation that we have in Lang Bay
where uh we have lots of school kids
coming out and so uh we're we're putting
in better walkways and getting rid of
some danger trees, things of that
nature. uh and just some normal
maintenance that we're doing uh at
length after uh two years. We've had uh
two years of uh construction work that
we have been going on uh uh this this
spring. Uh we've uh uh done some work
out at Duck Lake uh uh for fixing up uh
the roofs and and storage shed out
there. And uh the year before uh we did
uh a major $160,000
project of uh adding on
room at the end of the building and now
we have actually have a boardroom now
that we can sit down and talk about
this. Anyways, uh so with those things
out of the way, now we're looking at
just
doing some fiddling up
things ship shape.
So,
» we're [clears throat] here uh to ask for
some help. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you very much. And we and we do
» Thank you very much. And we and we do
have your application in the FYI section
was attached to the agenda. So, we we've
seen the application in fact of all
groups that have have applied including
those that weren't officially on the
registered delegation. So, thank you. I
will see I see director Gizbborne has a
question.
>> Uh thank you, chair. I have a question
» Uh thank you, chair. I have a question
and it's a little similar to one I think
I asked many years ago. I'm taking a
look at the um statement of revenues and
expenditures and under revenues it shows
government of Canada Department of
Fisheries and Oceans 2024 at 213,000 and
then 2025 244,000
and I oh I can't remember what year it
was but I asked about you know
increasing the funding um from DFO and I
had heard at the time that DFO had not
done any increase in funding in several
decades but seeing that it looks like
there is an increase in funding Is that
uh is that like a oneoff thing uh to to
go from 213 to 244? I don't have the
previous year budgets in front of me or
uh like is is DFO going to continue to
increase their support uh in finances
>> or or have I learned something here?
» or or have I learned something here?
>> Jumping back to uh 188 is it that they
» Jumping back to uh 188 is it that they
normally normally get every year from
but [clears throat] there was uh there
was some funds that they they kicked in.
Uh, I thought it was around $40,000 that
they had kicked in
>> extra and that's a one of and we're not
» extra and that's a one of and we're not
able to depend upon that anymore. We're
still expecting our $188,000
that we've been getting since 1982.
>> Yeah, that that seems to be the number I
» Yeah, that that seems to be the number I
um I recall. Uh, and it just it just
baffles my mind that the number is
essentially unchanged since, you know,
before I was born. uh that they they've
kind of kept it the same. So, uh I I
really wish the federal government would
take, you know, they say they take
fisheries seriously and then they kind
of freeze the funding for longer than
I've been alive. Thank you. That's my
question.
>> Yeah. Thank Thank you, Director Lennox.
» Yeah. Thank Thank you, Director Lennox.
>> Thanks for coming and seeing us. Uh
» Thanks for coming and seeing us. Uh
[clears throat] I I think I understand
the project and appreciate you
especially taking care of danger trees
and things like that with all of our
little ones. uh going to the salmon
races as we call it. Uh I guess my
question is more focused on I was able
to do some clipping this year which is
amazing at the Paul River hatchery and
I'm just wondering um is that you know
you mentioned that sort of we've been
doing better the last little while in
clipping and releasing last couple
years. you know, is there anything that
we can do to support that as well?
Because, you know, those fish are are
important to be clipped so we know what,
you know, heading out there and what's
returning.
>> Right. Right.
» Right. Right.
>> So, do we need to kind of support that
» So, do we need to kind of support that
in any way or push anybody?
>> Well, the machines are expensive if you
» Well, the machines are expensive if you
want to get a machine. So, you're
talking
>> like a counting machines, right?
» like a counting machines, right?
>> They they actually do the clipping
» They they actually do the clipping
machines that do the clip clipping. And
there are two machines
>> that the fisheries have. One is
» that the fisheries have. One is
portable. It's on a truck that they
drive it around, but they have a hard
time getting on the ferry.
And the other and the other one is is
stationary, but I don't know where
they're keeping that what they're doing
with that right now. Uh so uh unless
we're able to find ourselves a million
dollars somewhere or several million to
buy a machine, we're going to be doing
it by hand. Yeah. Yeah,
>> be there next year. Thanks.
» be there next year. Thanks.
[clears throat]
>> Well, thanks. We uh great great
» Well, thanks. We uh great great
community efforts to to help us out.
Yeah.
>> Thank you. Uh before I see if anyone
» Thank you. Uh before I see if anyone
else has questions, I see director
Gizborn has a second question, so I will
recognize Director Gizbborne. Go ahead.
>> Uh thank you, Chair. And I I forgot to
» Uh thank you, Chair. And I I forgot to
ask another question. Uh when I took a
look at your application, it says,
"Which area does your initiative
benefit?" And I only see a check mark
for area B. And um as I understood, your
organization and the grant kind of
benefits the greater region because of
course the fish do end up out in the
ocean where we all like to fish it. So
is your ask uh that the funding come
from just area B or is your ask to to
come from like a broader uh subset of
taxpayers because area B doesn't
typically have a lot of money.
>> Oh, don't know. [laughter] Yeah,
» Oh, don't know. [laughter] Yeah,
>> wherever the more wherever the most
» wherever the more wherever the most
amount of money is.
» I wish I had filled out the form so I
can answer your question.
>> Maybe I could rephrase the questions
» Maybe I could rephrase the questions
that be more constructive or be
constructive for our deliberations. The
the would would the the benefit from
this only benefit the people from area B
or would it benefit people from the
broader regional district?
» That should be an easy question, but
>> yeah. [laughter]
» yeah. [laughter]
area. You'll have to you'll have to uh
inform me about what is area B
>> exactly.
» exactly.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. So, right. So, area B is
» Oh, I'm sorry. So, right. So, area B is
is basically the area just south of the
city city boundary. Uh
>> to Whan Road, uh so it doesn't even get
» to Whan Road, uh so it doesn't even get
to the hatchery. It's Whan Road, Paris
Valley, Burr Rock to the city.
>> We're we're we're speaking to the the
» We're we're we're speaking to the the
broad regional district.
>> Yes.
» Yes.
>> Yeah. Yeah, that's what we all I think
» Yeah. Yeah, that's what we all I think
all expected. I think it doesn't
>> I mean even if this this the fish are
» I mean even if this this the fish are
coming from a river from a particular
area of the regional district, they they
go out in the ocean and
>> yeah, we try to catch them on their way
» yeah, we try to catch them on their way
past line. So [laughter]
>> yeah,
» yeah,
they don't get back there. So anyways,
um yes, I think that that just addresses
this. It's more of a technical thing
we'll be discri discussing when the
application comes to the uh board
because where director Gizborn's getting
at is if it was funding just from area B
we may not have the funding. Okay. So uh
>> we do know that is they're even asking
» we do know that is they're even asking
now about uh uh
putting up nets down that way. So, they
need be helped
by the by the uh fish the work that we
do because they're going there's going
to be a a fishery out of Lang Creek
somewhere along the line it sounds like.
So,
we'll have to keep raising
>> and that's an area C if you want to get
» and that's an area C if you want to get
the letters. Uh
so, um south of area B. But thank you.
Thank you for uh delegating to us. uh in
person. We have the application. We'll
be considering it uh at a future finance
committee meeting.
>> Thank you very much.
» Thank you very much.
>> Okay. Thanks everyone who's delegated to
» Okay. Thanks everyone who's delegated to
all delegates. Uh I think let's just get
to my agenda here. Uh I don't believe
are there any other late delegations? I
don't think so. So uh corporate officer.
>> No, I was just going to say we haven't
» No, I was just going to say we haven't
had any communications to that effect,
chair. So we're okay to
>> Okay. Excellent. So, uh, question
» Okay. Excellent. So, uh, question
period.
» Uh, hello chair Golinsky from the peak
here. Um, I am wondering, uh, through
you to the, uh, general manager of, uh,
financial administration what the total
budget for grants and aid is with the
QRD.
>> Okay. Is Miss Green on the call here?
» Okay. Is Miss Green on the call here?
She is. So, Miss Greenan, um, would you
be able to address that?
>> Yes. Thank you, chair. through the
» Yes. Thank you, chair. through the
share. Um the total budget is $264,000
for 2026
and there are some um allocations that
are have already been um approved
through agreements. So the balance
available is $155,719.
» I thank the general manager financial
administration uh for that response. Uh
that is for all of 2026 then the spring
and fall allocations.
>> That's correct.
» That's correct.
Uh those are my questions. Chair, thank
you very much.
>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Glinsky. And I
» Okay. Thank you, Mr. Glinsky. And I
unless there's anyone else in the room
who has a question, which I don't
believe the the the room the chairs now
seem quite empty. Uh we there's no in
camera agenda. We're adjourned.