VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

great chance to form a watersports co-op to buy the waterfront chunk.

Has anyone ever tried getting a coop like this for sports to buy land I wonder?

Then an annual membership fee to pay for the mortgage on it. And install some big wind machines too.

Great if TLC can buy it but shouldnt the surfers pay to use it unless it becomes a provincial park ...

and kiters and windsurfers and picknickers and hikers........

It might be a good idea to lobby the prov. gov to make it a "marine park" such as FAthom 5 in Tobermory. This type of park wouldn't have to be purchased but the fact that the water is a park would include the shoreline to the high tide line, it would ensure good public access, and regualtions could be in place so that no activity could impact the natural marine environment. Especially since some of these big developments like to put in gabians and other shoreline features leading to adverse effects on longshore drift erosion and deposition. This way at least the desireable features in the water are protected. Just an idea.

can you or anybody list a name/address where a relevant message might be sent to? This might be better addressed once you have your community meeting.

sept 18 - i heard this land sale mentioned on cbc news radio this morning

I guess nobody on this site reads the Globe and Mail. Check page S1 today for story about WFP lands for sale and JR in particular. I have been invited to a meeting at the office of Keith Martin (federal MP for Juan de Fuca) Thursday Sept 27 at 10am. He would like others interested in seeing the porperty at JR made into park to attend. Could we have a few representives from the surfing/windsurfing/kayaking community please express their interest in attending?
I realize that in the final outcome it will be CRD regional parts or BC Parks that will operate any desginated park at JR. However, this is a great opportunity to tap into some political interest at the highest level.

what's required (ie. written notice of attendance? ) and what is the address of the meeting, venue?

I'd be interested to attend but will it be just Martin or what other parties will be there?

Meetings at Martins office in Langford. I am trying to get CRD and BC government reps to attend buy nothing confirmed yet. I have Ross Harrington confirmed, another surfer who works at JR for WFP and possibly another windsurfer interested in attending. I thinks thats enough people for now.

This is just the start of the process. Others should also act locally (Pastadude in JDF region), me in Sooke and others with CRD and/or Province. Hopefully, down the line it will all come together with a designated public park at JR.

Hi - I own Northern Wave kayak store in Sidney, windsurf at JR, and can bring this up to the VCKC at our meeting tonight, maybe get some representation of that group also with Martin?? Let me know.
Geoff

JR update: I have contacted MLA John Horgan and JDFEA Director Eric Lund regarding meeting at MP Martin's office. Lund did not show any interest and Horgan is supposed to by at BC Muni conference next week.

Also contacted JFDEA Parks Commission (located at swimming pool in Sooke). They are interested in response on current park plan which includes acquisition of JR campsite and other sites of interest to windsurfers (such as MOH right of way at we use to acces windsurfing site at Gordons Beach / Tugwell Creek). They have web site within CRD parks (www.crd.bc.ca/jdf/parks) or contact .

Victoria Canoe & Kayak Club showed strong support of creation of a park there, and will be prepared to canvass members, contact MLAs, etc. etc. Please express this to Keith Martin and others, we'll do a short write up and send out to members if you can post results of meeting today.
Geoff

Ohh - Did I mention that my business didn't do too well this year and I have a bit of a line of credit that I can't pay off. There is a piece of crown land forest just here in front of me so I thought that the government could give it to me so I can sell it and pay down my line of credit. I don't see any reason why this can't be done ??? This is what a business that is in trouble does I guess, eh?

Good one Pastadude. Thats exactly what has happened with WFP.

But its worse.

The logging companies obtained their "private lands" as crown grants between 1860-1880. They were actually granted ownership deeds to the land which they were expected to use for logging purposes. These lands have passed down from one company to the next.

Today WFP is the land owner. But did you know that WFP is actually owned by Brookfield Asset Management, a 20 billion dollar company listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges. Selling of the WFP lands will not make logging operations at JR more economical or sustainable. The opposite is the result.

It is a sad situation when local people are out on strike against WFP, and now have to worry about whether they will have a job to come back in the future. All of this so a billion dollar corporation with no interest in local communities can make another couple hundred million dollars from land that once belonged to the public of BC.

Geoff - thanks for the effort and response. I wll pass this endorsement along at the meeting at Keith Martin's office.

BTW the meeting is next Thursday Sept 27, not today.
I will provide an detailed update after the meeting.

Good news: John Horgan the local NDP MLA has just informed that he will be able to attend the meeting.

We obviously have interested user groups from Surfing, Windsurfing, Kayaking, Camping/Tourism areas. Does anyone have a draft or letter that we could post and members from these groups could use and start to email/mail their representatives at local, provincial, fed level? We should also fire in some letters to the editor(s) of various news papers to keep awareness and interest growing for this to be made into a public park.

Right on ULR. I will try to draft up a general letter in the next day and post here. I will also try to come up with a list of offices to send it to. I estimate at least five places need to be make aware: starting with provincial MLA, federal MP, CRD parks head office, CRD parks regional office, provincial parks head office. As I indicated previously, I have contacted various of these, but not provincial parks as yet.

Newspapers also need to be kept aware of the level of interest. Otherwise, this will quickly become yesterdays issue and we will be the one left holding the sign like the political cartoon in the TC today.