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Coordinates: 49°23′N 123°23′W / 49.383°N 123.383°W / 49.383; -123.383
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There are regular Buddhist meditation sittings in both the Zen and Vipassana traditions. Bowen's Jewish community celebrates Shabbat and high holidays, and acquired a Torah in 2006.
There are regular Buddhist meditation sittings in both the Zen and Vipassana traditions. Bowen's Jewish community celebrates Shabbat and high holidays, and acquired a Torah in 2006.

===Politics===
===Politics===

Bowen Island had for years voted federally and provincially for the New Democratic Party. In the last decade property values have soared which has attracted a wealthier population who vote Conservative federally and Liberal provincially. High prices have created a number of homeless people on the island who make do with inadequate trailers, boats, and shacks. A non-profit affordable housing group, [http://bowenhousing.org The Bowen Island Community Housing Association] was formed in 2005 at the suggestion of Bowen Island Municipal Council, but to date Council has only called upon further studies and no affordable units have been built.

Island politics have long been divisive between those who want small, managed growth, and those who care for larger developments. Since it's inception as a municipality, Bowen Island has had many an on-going battle between the two factions. The latest (2009) has been over the West Vancouver School Board offering to pay part of the costs to build a practice soccer field made from artificial turf if the [http://www.bimbc.ca/current_topics.php?nnid=269 Bowen municipality would pick up the rest of the cost]. Proponents say it will give the children year round access to a field, while opponents say artificial grass is bad for health and the environment and an existing field could have proper drainage added for a fraction of the cost. Bowen council has voted to also include the [http://www.bimbc.ca/files/embedded/P3prequaladMARCH09.pdf cost of lights] so the practice field can be utilized at night, which puts further strain on the already over-budgeted project.


The Bowen Island Football Club was a driving force to have the field and lights installed. The three year old Soccer Club did not list it's Board of Directors or contact information on it's website until July 7th, 2009 after critisism for the omission. It is of interest to note the soccer club's [http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/bowenislandundercurrent/sports/49035501.html registration] is handled by the Bowen Island Parks and Recreation Commission, an arm of the Municipality. While the club's website pdf file says it has been looking for ways to not have to take the ferry to go into West Vancouver to play soccer, the club has joined with the <ref>http://www.northshoredistrictsoccer.com/</ref>[[North Shore Youth Soccer Association]] which will involve more games in town.

A recent (July 2nd, 2009) letter to the editor in the island local newspaper <ref>http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/bowenislandundercurrent/</ref>[[The Undercurrent]] reflects one faction's side over the debate of the planned go ahead artificial turf soccer practice field. [http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/bowenislandundercurrent/opinion/letters/49770472.html The letter] was written by a professor at Simon Fraser University, Mr. Neil Boyd and he compares opponents of the artificial grass to those who oppose gay marriage. The [http://bowen-island-bc.com/forum/read.php?1,1205604 hilarity of this analogy] can be seen in comments on Bowen's popular<ref>http://bowen-island-bc.com/forum/list.php?1</ref>[[ internet forum]]. Mr. Boyd said in his letter that he is not a soccer player, while on his blog [http://neilboyd.net/commentary/?p=46 he said he plays soccer]. Boyd's blog post has since been deleted but screenshots of it can be found [http://www.flickr.com/photos/islandspirit here.]

One comment to Mr. Boyd's letter is as follows:
"As amusing as this is, the analogy falls apart when you imply that being gay is a choice, as choosing AT is a choice. Actually, being gay is kind of natural, as a certain part of population always seems to skew that way. No amount of advertising by any gay rights group is going to increase their numbers. You're either born gay, or you're not. Period. Artificial turf, on the other hand, is entirely about choice. Unlike homosexuality, artificial turf IS a crime against nature, and should not be tolerated in any way, shape, or form."

Council still has more process to deal with before the final passage of this motion, but already 13 large coniferous trees have been felled and the 'practice' field area has been dug up.

Councillors who support the artificial turf and lights are Alison Morse, Cro Lucas, Doug Hooper and David Wrinch.
--[[User:Wednesday vagabond|Wednesday vagabond]] ([[User talk:Wednesday vagabond|talk]]) 01:03, 14 July 2009 (UTC)






== Bowen Island on Film ==
== Bowen Island on Film ==

Revision as of 01:03, 14 July 2009

For the island in Jervis Bay Territory on the southeast coast of Australia, see Bowen Island (Australia).
Bowen Island
Island Municipality
Bowen Island and BC Ferry, viewed looking southwest from the Cypress Mountain ski area.
Bowen Island and BC Ferry, viewed looking southwest from the Cypress Mountain ski area.
Location of Bowen Island in Greater Vancouver
Location of Bowen Island in Greater Vancouver
CountryCanada
ProvinceBritish Columbia
Regional DistrictMetro Vancouver
Incorporated1999
Government
 • MayorBob Turner
 • Councillors
(list)[1]
  • Peter Frinton
  • Doug Hooper
  • Cro Lucas
  • Alison Morse
  • Nerys Poole
  • David Wrinch
 • MPJohn Weston (Conservative)
 • MLAJoan McIntyre (BC Liberal Party)
Area
 • Land49.94 km2 (19.28 sq mi)
Population
 (2007)
 • Total3,551
 • Density71.1/km2 (184/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−8 (PST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−7 (PDT)
Postal Code
V0N 1G0
WebsiteMunicipal Website

Bowen Island, British Columbia, is an island municipality in Howe Sound, and within Metro Vancouver. Approximately 6 kilometres wide by 12 km long, the island sits about 6 km west of the mainland, with regular ferry service from Horseshoe Bay. There were 3,551 permanent residents as of the 2007 BC Stats Estimate, a number that is supplemented in the summer by roughly 1,500 visitors, as Bowen Island is a popular vacation home location for British Columbians. About 500 workers and over 200 students commute to offices and schools on the mainland each day. The island has a land area of 49.94 km² (19.28 sq mi).

Indigenous people

The indigenous people of this land are known as Sḵwxwú7mesh. Their territory covers Howe Sound, including Bowen Island. They are part of the Coast Salish cultural and linguistic group. Their language is separate and distinct from their Halkomelem-speaking relatives to the south, but more closely connected to their Shishalh kinship from Sechelt.

Areas such as Snug Cove and a few other parts of the island were used as camp sites for hunting and gathering trips. In their Sḵwxwú7mesh language, the name for Snug Cove is Xwilil Xhwm, which means "Cove". Historically they would use the warmer spring and summer months to travel to resource gathering sites and move from their permanent winter villages. The strip of land between Bowen and Finisterre Islands has a name that translates to "Fast Drumming Ground". The tide rushing in and out is reminiscent of the sound of drums beating quickly. The name "kwemshem" is used for Hood Point. Bowen is still used by people from Sḵwxwú7mesh and Musqueam for deer hunting.

Into the 20th century Bowen Island was actively used by Sḵwxwú7mesh people for deer and duck hunting, fishing and, later, wage jobs. In conversations with Vancouver archivist Major Matthews in the 1950s, August Jack Khatsahlano recalls knowing several Sḵwxwú7mesh who worked for whalers on the island at the turn of the 20th century. In a conversation with City of Vancouver archivist JA Matthews, Khatsahlano himself recalls deer hunting on Bowen, saying that at one time he took the biggest deer in British Columbia from the island, weighing in at 195 pounds.

Post-colonization

When Spanish explorers arrived on the west coast of Canada, they named many of the features of what is now the Strait of Georgia. Bowen Island was called Isla de Apodaca by the Spanish Captain José María Narváez in July, 1791.[2] In 1860 Cpt. George Henry Richards renamed the island after Rear Admiral James Bowen master of the HMS Queen Charlotte.[3]: 58 

Bowen remained a wilderness until 1871 when homesteaders built houses and started a brickworks, which supplied bricks to the expanding city of Vancouver. Over the years, local industry has included an explosives factory, logging, mining, and milling, although there is no heavy industry on the island at present.

In the first half of the 20th century, life on Bowen was dominated by the Union Steamship Company that operated a very busy resort at Snug Cove. The resort closed in the 1960s and the island returned to a quiet period of slow growth. In the 1980s, real estate pressures in Vancouver accelerated growth on Bowen and currently the local economy is largely dependent on commuters who work on the mainland in Greater Vancouver. Prior to becoming a municipality, Bowen Island was part of the Sunshine Coast Regional District, made up of small communities and municipalities. However, in the 1980s the island transferred to the Greater Vancouver Regional District after a campaign organized by developers and realtors. It soon became apparent that it was not a good fit as Bowen was an "unorganized area" with small community issues and the larger cities resented having to use their valuable time at GVRD meetings to deal with those matters. Eventually the Island's representatives became "frustrated" with the GVRD and the push for autonomy was successful after two referendum attempts.The referendum campaigns were divisive within the community and resulted in a rift which continues today,between the pro municipal "developers" and the the "small community" activists.

In 1999 the Bowen Island Municipality was incorporated, becoming the second 'island municipality' in BC. The first was Saltspring Island which was incorporated in 1873 and dissolved by the BC legislature 10 years later.

The Island today

Commerce

The Island has several small businesses including marinas, cafes, gift shops, grocery stores, a pharmacy, restaurants, garden and flower shops, a building supply shop and a Chamber of Commerce.[4] In June 2007, First Credit Union, a full-service bank, opened its doors in Snug Cove. There is also a North Shore Credit Union automated banking machine. Groceries are available at a the Snug Cove General Store and the Ruddy Potato Whole Foods Market.[5] Shops are concentrated around Snug Cove and, further into the island, Artisan Square. There are also several good restaurants, including Blue Eyed Marys, Mik.sa, and Tuscany. Bowen Island has a high proportion of artists and artisans, and the Bowen Island Pub on Trunk Road regularly features live music.[6] There is also a 2,746 metre (3,003 yard) 130 Slope rated 9-hole golf course.[7]

Transportation

Marine

Bowen Island is served by four scheduled water-transportation operators:

  • B.C. Ferries, a de-facto Provincial Crown corporation, serves the island with the Queen of Capilano car ferry, which travels between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Snug Cove on Bowen Island.
  • Cormorant Marine[8] runs a late-night passenger-only water taxi between the government docks in Horseshoe Bay and in Snug Cove.
  • Coastal Link Ferries runs a passenger-only water taxi between downtown Vancouver's Coal Harbour and Snug Cove, making five trips in each direction both weekdays and weekends.

Road

Bowen Island is served by two Translink bus routes:[10]

  • Route C10 - Bluewater/Snug Cove
  • Route C11 - EagleCliff/Snug Cove

Education

The Island is in the West Vancouver School district and has an award winning public elementary school Bowen Island Community School. High school students living in Bowen Island (grades 8 to 12) travel to West Vancouver to attend West Vancouver Secondary School, Sentinel Secondary School, or Rockridge. Other education options are a private Montessori daycare / preschool / Kindergarten[11] and the Island Pacific School, a private middle school. Some students also travel to West Vancouver to attend French Immersion at Ecole Pauline Johnson. There is a public supported homelearning program and a small number of families also unschool.

Culture

Particularly for a small community, Bowen Island has an extensive cultural life. Notably, Bowen Island boasts four different choral ensembles; an extensive Theatre School for children; and a public Gallery which showcases local artists. The Bowen Island Historians run the small museum, which features regularly changing exhibits documenting Bowen Island's history, as well as a restored logger's cabin from 1948.

Recreation

Bowen has a long history as a day-trip destination from Vancouver. Today, the island offers a number of popular swimming beaches, including Sandy Beach, Tunstall Bay, and Bowen Bay. There is a kayak rental operation in Snug Cove. A popular hike leads from the ferry dock to Killarney Lake, and from there up Mount Gardner, the island's highest point. The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) has also run a summer camp on the island since the 1960s.

Churches and other religious communities

Bowen Island United Church, c. 1971

There are four permanent churches on the Island. St Gerard's Catholic Church is located on Miller Road.[12] The United Church is situated in a timber building erected in 1932 a little further along on the same road.[13] Further still along Miller Road, nearer to Snug Cove, and meeting in Bowen Court, is Bowen Island Community Church,[14] an affiliate of the Congregational Christian Churches in Canada. Lastly, Cates Hill Chapel is a Christian Brethren church founded in 1991. Its present building was opened in 1999.[15] There are also regular meetings held by Unitarians and Quakers. Bowen Island is home to the Canadian branch of L'Abri, a communal Christian retreat centre where visitors come for self-directed study. Finally, Camp Bow-Isle is a summer camp for Christian Scientists.

There are regular Buddhist meditation sittings in both the Zen and Vipassana traditions. Bowen's Jewish community celebrates Shabbat and high holidays, and acquired a Torah in 2006.

Politics

Politics

Bowen Island had for years voted federally and provincially for the New Democratic Party. In the last decade property values have soared which has attracted a wealthier population who vote Conservative federally and Liberal provincially. High prices have created a number of homeless people on the island who make do with inadequate trailers, boats, and shacks. A non-profit affordable housing group, The Bowen Island Community Housing Association was formed in 2005 at the suggestion of Bowen Island Municipal Council, but to date Council has only called upon further studies and no affordable units have been built.

Island politics have long been divisive between those who want small, managed growth, and those who care for larger developments. Since it's inception as a municipality, Bowen Island has had many an on-going battle between the two factions. The latest (2009) has been over the West Vancouver School Board offering to pay part of the costs to build a practice soccer field made from artificial turf if the Bowen municipality would pick up the rest of the cost. Proponents say it will give the children year round access to a field, while opponents say artificial grass is bad for health and the environment and an existing field could have proper drainage added for a fraction of the cost. Bowen council has voted to also include the cost of lights so the practice field can be utilized at night, which puts further strain on the already over-budgeted project.


The Bowen Island Football Club was a driving force to have the field and lights installed. The three year old Soccer Club did not list it's Board of Directors or contact information on it's website until July 7th, 2009 after critisism for the omission. It is of interest to note the soccer club's registration is handled by the Bowen Island Parks and Recreation Commission, an arm of the Municipality. While the club's website pdf file says it has been looking for ways to not have to take the ferry to go into West Vancouver to play soccer, the club has joined with the [16]North Shore Youth Soccer Association which will involve more games in town.

A recent (July 2nd, 2009) letter to the editor in the island local newspaper [17]The Undercurrent reflects one faction's side over the debate of the planned go ahead artificial turf soccer practice field. The letter was written by a professor at Simon Fraser University, Mr. Neil Boyd and he compares opponents of the artificial grass to those who oppose gay marriage. The hilarity of this analogy can be seen in comments on Bowen's popular[18]internet forum. Mr. Boyd said in his letter that he is not a soccer player, while on his blog he said he plays soccer. Boyd's blog post has since been deleted but screenshots of it can be found here.

One comment to Mr. Boyd's letter is as follows: "As amusing as this is, the analogy falls apart when you imply that being gay is a choice, as choosing AT is a choice. Actually, being gay is kind of natural, as a certain part of population always seems to skew that way. No amount of advertising by any gay rights group is going to increase their numbers. You're either born gay, or you're not. Period. Artificial turf, on the other hand, is entirely about choice. Unlike homosexuality, artificial turf IS a crime against nature, and should not be tolerated in any way, shape, or form."

Council still has more process to deal with before the final passage of this motion, but already 13 large coniferous trees have been felled and the 'practice' field area has been dug up.

Councillors who support the artificial turf and lights are Alison Morse, Cro Lucas, Doug Hooper and David Wrinch. --Wednesday vagabond (talk) 01:03, 14 July 2009 (UTC)



Bowen Island on Film

References

  1. ^ "Council Members". Bowen Island Municipal Website. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
  2. ^ "Bowen Island". BC Geographical Names.
  3. ^ Walbran, Captain John T. (1971), British Columbia Place Names, Their Origin and History (Facsimile reprint of 1909 edition ed.), Vancouver/Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, ISBN 0-88894-143-9 {{citation}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
  4. ^ http://www.bowenisland.org/
  5. ^ http://www.ruddypotato.com/
  6. ^ Hill Strategies Research. "Artists in Small and Rural Municipalities in Canada" (PDF).
  7. ^ "Bowen Island Golf Course". Retrieved 2008-03-08.
  8. ^ http://www.cormorantwatertaxi.com/
  9. ^ http://www.giwt.ca/Bowen_Island_Express.html
  10. ^ http://tripplanning.translink.bc.ca/hiwire?.a=iScheduleLookup
  11. ^ http://www.bowenmontessori.ca/
  12. ^ http://stgerards.rcav.org/
  13. ^ http://www.bowen-island-bc.com/info/garden.html
  14. ^ http://www.bowencommunitychurch.org/
  15. ^ http://www.cateshillchapel.com/
  16. ^ http://www.northshoredistrictsoccer.com/
  17. ^ http://www.bclocalnews.com/greater_vancouver/bowenislandundercurrent/
  18. ^ http://bowen-island-bc.com/forum/list.php?1
  19. ^ Weblink to some great photos of the village on the Rita Tushingham homepage: http://members.cox.net/rjd0309/tush/1964.htm#trap
  20. ^ http://www.stomptokyo.com/movies/f/food-of-the-gods.html
  21. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094642/locations
  22. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100530/locations
  23. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106292/locations
  24. ^ http://www.katieholmespictures.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=292&pos=38
  25. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150377/locations
  26. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432291/locations
  27. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450345/locations
  28. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815245/locations
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bowen Island.

Surrounding Municipalities

49°23′N 123°23′W / 49.383°N 123.383°W / 49.383; -123.383

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