Here are some of the quotable highlights from 2015: “We were very well received by the community. We met people for the first time and they were very, very friendly. That made all the difference.” - Mohinder Singh, co-owner of Little Hut Curry (on celebrating Canada Day and settling in Powell River)
“I think a realistic, sustainable goal for this community is in the three to four per cent population increase, year over year.” - Scott Randolph, City of Powell River manager of economic development (on a newly launched resident-attraction campaign)
“The Regals have been around since the beginning of time and it’s great to see the legacy keep going. That’s the great thing about doing this, it’s trying to keep the local interest as high as we can.” - Rick McLaren, Powell River Regals (on injecting youth into the hockey team)
“The existential view of the Lasquetians is they are an off-the-grid community. The irony is they are all on the World Wide Web, which pinpoints their whereabouts immediately.” - Merrick Anderson, Powell River Regional District Electoral Area E director (on Lasqueti residents’ concerns being put on an emergency service grid)
“I realize there are a lot of people who say they want to see fares reduced or held constant, but in our world where we are investing $3 billion in new ships, terminals and new [information technology] infrastructure, we don’t think that’s realistic." - Mike Corrigan, BC Ferries president and CEO (on the demand for lower BC Ferries fares in our area)
“I still feel there are a lot of unanswered questions and risks involved with co-treatment.” - Karen Skadsheim, City of Powell River councillor (on liquid waste management options)
“All the people here, they’ve supported me and they gave me the one thing I guess I never had, and that was they believed in me.” - Tommy Carew, Powell River Brain Injury Society client (on the services he has received from the society)
“The conflict with Island Timberlands in Powell River shows the serious problems caused by lack of meaningful regulation for logging on private land.” - Jens Wieting, Sierra Club BC forest and climate campaigner (on local activists efforts to stop logging in Lot 450)
“Even if you’ve never been to a hippy birth, a hippie wedding, or peed in an outhouse, you are going to want to see this film.” - Tai Uhlmann, filmmaker (on the making of documentary film The End of the Road)
“The story for this totem pole is now complete. Now it’s time to share it with the international choral community.” - Paul Cummings, International Choral Kathaumixw artistic director (on the delivery of a totem to a winning choir in Slovenia)
“With resorts, most visitors come for one or two weeks at a time and 15 per cent tax is a big ouch.” - Elaine Thoma, Seabreeze Resort owner (on a proposed room tax for visitor accommodations)
“Very few people are going to say that annihilating species at risk is an environmentally sustainable thing to do.” - Ken Wu, Ancient Forest Alliance director (speaking to local environmentalists on wildlife species in Lot 450)
“That is the worst building in this town. It sits right behind the tourism office and that is how people are received here. It’s an old building that’s boarded up and looks like hell.” - Maggie Hathaway, City of Powell River councillor (on options for the old Inn at Westview building)
“I know people want to see Sea Fair, but it’s a real big challenge.” - Jenny Garden, Powell River Sea Fair Society President (on struggles the longtime summer event is facing)
“We need to respond to the [refugee] crisis for our own humanity. It’s an issue of vital importance, not just for the refugees, but for us here in Powell River.” - Ron Berezan, Anglican Church representative (on the Syrian refugee crisis and what Powell River could do to help)
“We’re not taking in people with extreme vulnerabilities. We want this to work. We’re housing people who need support and a step up.” - Kathleen O’Neil, Housing Hope program administrator (on creating rooms for low-income tenants at Olive Devaud Residence)
“When you did something wrong, it was a sin. When you were abused they said you were bad and you say, ‘I guess I’m going to hell.’ That’s the mindset you have.” - John Louie, Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation elder (on recommendations released by Truth and Reconciliation Commission)
“It was circulating out there that [Island Timberlands] were pulling out of Powell River and never coming back but I’m presuming that’s not the case unless someone’s heard something we haven’t.” - Russell Brewer, City of Powell River councillor (on the logging company’s harvesting plan for Lot 450)
