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Beside a picturesque sandy cove on Chatham Islands stands a sign warning boaters they are entering a First Nation reserve and trespassers are not welcome.
But, like many before them, two young boaters, oblivious to the signs and to Songhees First Nation and RCMP patrol boats, pulled up on the beach Wednesday.
"These are private la...See MoreBeside a picturesque sandy cove on Chatham Islands stands a sign warning boaters they are entering a First Nation reserve and trespassers are not welcome.
But, like many before them, two young boaters, oblivious to the signs and to Songhees First Nation and RCMP patrol boats, pulled up on the beach Wednesday.
"These are private lands," shouted Songhees law enforcement officer Trevor Absolon.
"Push off, guys." The two got off easily. Violators could face a $1,000 fine and 30 days in jail, said Absolon, who will be aggressively patrolling Chatham and Discovery islands to stop trespassers.
"That was a pretty good example of the blatant abuse," Absolon said, as the two made a hurried exit.
"The signage was right in front of them and they still came ashore."
Strict enforcement is necessary because of fires, campsites and dumped garbage - including an abandoned wheelchair, Absolon said.
"They are abusing this beautiful place, and that's what we can't tolerate," he said, pointing to a firepit beside the beach, metres away from summer-dry grass.
One errant gust of wind and the entire ecosystem would be destroyed, said Songhees band councillor Ron Sam.
Fires are extinguished by volunteers almost every month. In April, a large fire burned out of control for almost an hour, Sam said.
Empty wine bottles and burnt plastic surrounded the firepit and someone had constructed a massive picnic table nearby.
A toilet area is concealed in the bush and garbage included shotgun shells and firecrackers.
"People even come out looking for artifacts and digging up the ground.
That's really disgraceful," Absolon said.
The islands are private in the same way other local islands are privately owned and people have to learn respect, Sam said.
Chatham Islands and part of Discovery Island - excluding the section that is a provincial park - were included in Songhees reserve lands in the 1990s but, until Songhees acquired a new Zodiac patrol boat this month, enforcement had been minimal.
An annual rave held on the islands, which leaves piles of litter and smouldering campfires, will not be happening this year, Absolon warned.
"We're going to have a big presence," he said.
"I will be here a lot. Far more than people think."
As Joan Morris looks across the windblown island at the site of her former home, memories come flooding back.
"There's a yew tree and an orchard and that's where the house used to be," said Morris, who is also known as Sellemah, her traditional name.
Morris, an elder with Songhees First Nation, lived on Chatham Island with her family from 1947 until 1957, when the well dried up.
Today, only fragments of her old life remain.
"Someone got stuck out here in the 1960s and, instead of making a bonfire on the beach here, he set fire to the house. There is no common respect," she said.
Now Morris works with professors and students from the University of Victoria to help identify plants and ensure the Songhees history, stretching back thousands of years, is not forgotten.
That work and her example of traditional values were recognized Wednesday when RCMP Const. Chris Dovell presented Morris with a blanket, a symbol of the shared aims "of developing safe communities on your traditional lands," Dovell said.
Morris, whose greatgrandfather was a shaman, said the First Nation moved to Chatham and Discovery islands in the 1920s when aboriginal ceremonies, songs and dances were banned by government authorities.
"They came out and performed their dances and music without disturbance," she said.
A bonus was that the isolation kept many of the children out of residential school.
As Songhees underline their ownership of the islands, with a new Zodiac boat to help keep trespassers out, Morris hopes more aboriginal young people will use the islands.
"When I lived here, there were never less than 20 people. The house was never empty," she said.
In time, members of the First Nation might also set up commercial tours so other people can experience the islands in a controlled way, said band councillor Ron Sam.
"It is a beautiful place and a mystical place," he said.
While most non-aboriginal visitors are not welcome on the islands, three Greater Victoria residents who have performed volunteer work on the islands for decades will be honoured guests.
Phil Teece, who has spent 52 years putting out fires on the islands, brushed away tears as he was presented with a card giving him authorized access.
"Almost half a century of my life has been spent sailing around [Chatham and Discovery Islands]," he said.
"To me, they are an almost impossible Garden of Eden.
They are empty and pristine and there's a poignancy because, being so close to the city, they are so vulnerable," he said.
Teece, 72, shudders when he thinks of fires he has put out and the damage they could have caused.
"It would take just one fire with an onshore wind to wipe out the islands," he said.
James Mantle has spent countless hours clearing every small estuary and gully of the Styrofoam and plastic debris that prevent wildlife from flourishing.
"I clean up the seaborne debris and refuse left by inconsiderate people," he said. "I thank Songhees for allowing me to go to the islands. These are mystic, mystic places."
The third pass was granted to Andrew Madding, who could not be at the ceremony.
In its time, it has been called everything from a getaway motel and vacation stop to a shooting gallery and a last stop on a desperate trip for society's disenfranchised.
But on Monday, the Holiday Court Motel will be razed to the ground, if not erased from memory, as what remains of the 23-unit building is demolished to make way for a six...See MoreIn its time, it has been called everything from a getaway motel and vacation stop to a shooting gallery and a last stop on a desperate trip for society's disenfranchised.
But on Monday, the Holiday Court Motel will be razed to the ground, if not erased from memory, as what remains of the 23-unit building is demolished to make way for a six-storey commercial building that will house plumbing and heating giant Andrew Sheret Ltd.
The wrecking ball has been primed for the site for some time as Andrew Sheret Ltd. bought the motel in 2005 with an eye to relocating from its current location at the corner of Bay and Kings streets.
Recently, the company completed asbestos removal from the building in preparation for demolition.
"It's been a long, timeconsuming process," said Brian Findlay, president of Andrew Sheret Ltd. "We never really heard any opposition to it. Everyone wanted the site cleaned up, but it takes time to work its way through the city."
And Monday they get to work on removing one of the most notorious addresses in the city, a site that over the past two decades has become better known for drugs and prostitution than commerce and a good night's sleep.
Findlay said the hope is that the new Andrew Sheret building at 740 Hillside Ave. will finish off a block where music store Long and McQuade and Jim Pattison Volvo have recently put up new buildings on either side of SG Power, and will help establish a business district.
"We hope it helps establish midtown. We're just on the fringe of downtown, it's a great convenient location with access via all the major roads within one block," he said.
The wrecking ball starts thumping at 7: 30 a.m. and Findlay expects the demolition to take about a week.
Construction of the $18.5-million, six-storey building is expected to take just over two years.
The new building, which is being built to silver leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) standards, will feature commercial and retail space at grade fronting onto Hillside Avenue.
In that space will be Sheret's Splashes Bath and Kitchen Centre as well as other tenants. There will also be five floors of Class A office space.
Andrew Sheret Ltd., which has 23 locations in B.C., will take one of those floors for its headquarters and computer department.
At the rear of the building, facing Market Street, will be Sheret's trades service and retail showroom. All service trucks will have access via Market Street.
The building will feature a 22-space subsidized daycare, a shared boardroom, underground parking off Market Street, electric car plug-ins, bike storage with showers and changerooms and dedicated parking spots for carpool vans.
"We're trying to make it as environmentally friendly as possible, and we felt it was important to have some kind of LEED designation - we are building to LEED silver, we may achieve gold," Findlay said.
At this point, Findlay said they have not sourced tenants for the additional commercial space or the office space, preferring to get construction started and a more firm timeline in place first.
Findlay expects when Andrew Sheret moves its operations from two adjoining buildings at the corner of Bay and Kings streets, that space will be leased out. One of the buildings is owned by members of the Sheret family, while the other is owned by Andrew Sheret Ltd.
The Holiday Court Motel was not always considered a flophouse. In fact, when it was built in 1952, it was considered quaint tourist accommodation.
The site facing Hillside Avenue, which had housed a single family home in the 1920s, was vacant between 1933 and 1952. The Market Street side of the property was also single- family housing between 1920 and 1987 before being vacated.
According to the City of Victoria, there is only one building/renovation permit on file for the location, meaning the Holiday Court has not changed - nine units on the ground floor and 14 on the second floor - since it started coming out of the ground in 1952.
According to Times Colonist archives, Victoria real-estate speculator Gunter Yost bought the motel in 1988, when it was still a tourist stop.
Yost started looking for a buyer in 1993, but had trouble offloading the space, which was falling into disrepair.
The motel went into foreclosure and was bought by Leszek Kubica in 1993.
When he died, it fell to Roman Kubica and his mother, Eugienia, who in turn listed it for sale a number of times.
Findlay said it has been a long trip, but the new building ought to be worth.
by Richie Samb
Sep 11, 2012
Educators, learn grant writing online free. Take back control of your financial security. Purchasing the training manual is the only fee and that cost is 25% less for educators. Certificates are awarded after completion along with employment opportunities.
by Kristina Holzweiss
Oct 25, 2012
For easy access to free resources to address the Common Core Standards, feel free to check out my website.
by Guilty white?
Nov 9, 2012
So... I went to a conference today that I thought was going to be helpful in how to help my "indigenous" students (Native American/Hmong). I thought I was going to be given helpful tips for what specifically I can do to help these students.
But the entire day was about white privilege (which I totally "get") and how my ancestors are respo...See MoreSo... I went to a conference today that I thought was going to be helpful in how to help my "indigenous" students (Native American/Hmong). I thought I was going to be given helpful tips for what specifically I can do to help these students.
But the entire day was about white privilege (which I totally "get") and how my ancestors are responsible for the hardships of today's minorities.
Now, first of all, I am extremely ashamed and embarrassed to say that my ancestors did absolutely horrid things to anyone. No one should be treated the way "we" have treated so many groups of people on so many occasions. I am as opposite as proud of these things as one can get.
And I do understand that as a white person, there are countless privileges I have. Our school has done 2 different inservices that shared lists of the privileges, and I wholeheartedly agree that the privileges are there.
Here is the thing that I struggle with, and I am just wondering if you guys can help me to understand it better, particularly if you are a person of color who lives in the United States.
I am really struggling with the anger that is placed at me due to the fact that I am white. I understand the anger, but I don't understand why it is at me, today. I don't understand how I should be criticized for something that I wasn't even alive for. To put things in perspective... I was assaulted by a black man when I was 9 years old. I do not hate all black men because of this situation, and I have known and trusted black people since/despite this experience. Should I make all black men, or all men even, make amends for what this one person did? I realize that this was only one situation with one person and that these groups of people have been oppressed since the beginning of immigration to this country. But it's the same mentality. I did not oppress people. I accept and reach out to all people. I want all people to succeed.
I get that there are racist and very hateful white people out there, but is it truly the norm? I get that there are a small percentage of teachers out there who are still not teaching the truths of history. But the majority of the ones I know are very honest when dealing with historical facts. My school's 8th graders write a persuasive essay on whether or not Columbus Day should be celebrated, for example. The history teachers go through the facts of how Columbus treated Indigenous peoples and everything else that he did/didn't do based on primary sources and other studies. The majority of my colleagues make sure to go to Hmong New Year and MLK sing-outs. I really feel like we celebrate everybody.
I just feel like by "shouting at" and placing anger at all of the whites a population that there are insinuations made about me because of my race as well. I understand that it is my responsibility, as a person whose race comprises most of the powerful positions, to be sure to tell these individual groups' stories. But I don't understand how I can be held accountable. It doesn't make sense to me.
And I feel like I really work hard to fight for justice when I see injustice. I "call out" racism where and when I see it. (I'm not talking to half of my family due to this.) I spend hours and hours planning interesting, diverse lessons that incorporate media and literature from all perspectives.
So when I heard over and over again today that white teachers do not do enough to connect with our minority students, I just wanted to cry. And when I raised my hand and asked for strategies, and I was spoken to in a condescending voice, it really upset me.
Anyway, if you can help me understand this better, that would be great. And if you can give me specific strategies for what I can do in the classroom, I would be very appreciative.
by Margaret Smith
Nov 25, 2012
The IICE is an international refereed conference dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in education. The IICE promotes collaborative excellence between academicians and professionals from Education. The aim of IICE is to provide an opportunity for academicians and professionals from various educational fields with cross-disciplin...See MoreThe IICE is an international refereed conference dedicated to the advancement of the theory and practices in education. The IICE promotes collaborative excellence between academicians and professionals from Education. The aim of IICE is to provide an opportunity for academicians and professionals from various educational fields with cross-disciplinary interests to bridge the knowledge gap, promote research esteem and the evolution of pedagogy. The IICE 2012 invites research papers that encompass conceptual analysis, design implementation and performance evaluation. All the accepted papers will appear in the proceedings and modified version of selected papers will be published in special issues peer reviewed journals.
The topics in IICE-2013 include but are not confined to the following areas:
*Academic Advising and Counselling *Art Education *Adult Education *APD/Listening and Acoustics in Education Environment *Business Education *Counsellor Education *Curriculum, Research and Development *Competitive Skills *Continuing Education *Distance Education *Early Childhood Education *Educational Administration *Educational Foundations *Educational Psychology *Educational Technology *Education Policy and Leadership *Elementary Education *E-Learning *E-Manufacturing *ESL/TESL *E-Society *Geographical Education *Geographic information systems *Health Education *Higher Education *History *Home Education *Human Computer Interaction *Human Resource Development *Indigenous Education *ICT Education *Internet technologies *Imaginative Education *Kinesiology & Leisure Science *K12 *Language Education *Mathematics Education *Mobile Applications *Multi-Virtual Environment *Music Education *Pedagogy *Physical Education (PE) *Reading Education *Writing Education *Religion and Education Studies *Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) *Rural Education *Science Education *Secondary Education *Second life Educators *Social Studies Education *Special Education *Student Affairs *Teacher Education *Cross-disciplinary areas of Education *Ubiquitous Computing *Virtual Reality *Wireless applications *Other Areas of Education
Important Dates:
*Research Paper, Student Paper, Case Study, Report Submission Date: January 30, 2013 *Extended Abstract (Work in Progress) Submission Date: January 25, 2013 *Proposal for Workshops Submission Date: January 20, 2013 *Notification of Workshop Acceptance/Rejection: Janaury 31, 2013 *Posters Proposal Submission Date January: 25, 2013 *Notification of Posters Acceptance/Rejection: January 30, 2013 *Notification of Extended Abstract (Work in Progress) Acceptance/Rejection: February 01, 2013 *Notification of Research Paper, Student Paper, Case Study, Report Acceptance/Rejection: February 10, 2013 *Camera Ready Paper Due: February 28, 2013 *Early Bird Registration (Authors and Participants): November 30, 2012 - February 10, 2013 *Late Bird Registration Deadline (Authors and Participants): February 10, 2013 - March 15, 2013 *Conference Dates: April 15-17, 2013
For further information please visit IICE-2013 at [link removed]
by Teachers.Net Gazette
Dec 4, 2012
Click below to access the article in Teachers.Net Gazette.
by Teachers.Net Gazette
Jan 3, 2013
Excerpt: On the outside looking in, the leaders of tomorrow have more tattoos, more piercings, play more violent video games, dress differently, and listen to music you and I don’t understand. This generation spends more time on Twitter and Facebook than it does interacting with family at dinner. It is because of this that many doubt our future. ...See MoreExcerpt: On the outside looking in, the leaders of tomorrow have more tattoos, more piercings, play more violent video games, dress differently, and listen to music you and I don’t understand. This generation spends more time on Twitter and Facebook than it does interacting with family at dinner. It is because of this that many doubt our future. But I beg to differ and want to share why.
by L. cammuse
Jan 3, 2013
I need to know what SWAG means
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