In the last days of last winter, long-time Saanich councillor, Vic Derman died. Derman championed the conservation of the municipality’s dwindling farm lands and agricultural heritage, and one of those he supported was Madrona Farm in the Blenkinsop Valley.
Nathalie Chambers farms at Madrona, and was the first to declare her intentions to run in the by-election to fill Vic’s seat; an election scheduled for Saturday, September 23rd.
Chambers is an organic farmer, business owner, progressive community leader, fundraiser, project manager, public speaker on biodiversity and local food security, and author of the book, ‘Saving Farmland: The Fight for Real Food,‘. She earned a diploma in Restoration Ecology at UVic, and has years of experience in community planning, and issues management.
Nathalie Chambers in the first half.
And; the recent change of government in BC has opened the books on the Site-C project, the 9-plus billion dollar mega-project in the province’s Peace Country. It’s been highly contentious from the start, and the exclusion of the BC Utilities Commission from the assessment process was just one of the project’s many bones of contention. Now, the BCUC is back in the picture, and has announced 11 community input sessions to be held across the province as part of its review process, starting Sept. 23, three days after the release of its preliminary report on the proposed dam.
Ken Boon is a Peace River Valley farmer whose family farm was expropriated by BC Hydro for a Site-C connecting highway scheme. He’s also president of the Peace Valley Landowners Association, and has fought the dam from the beginning.
Ken Boon and the fighting the last dam on the Peace River in the second half.
And; Victoria gardening guru and green entrepreneur, Christina Nikolic will join us at the bottom of the hour with Left Coast Events highlights for the coming week. But first, Nathalie Chambers and a Saanich election at the crossroads.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Wednesday, 1-2pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/