Erstellt am: 19. 4. 2013 - 21:00 Uhr

Denman Island: It's a very special place

An island-community comprised of activists, artists and organic farmers: Ten years ago, my mother became one of them. On Saturday's Reality Check, we'll find out why she chose to stay.

Some years ago, when I had just started working for FM4, a friend of mine darkly warned me that if I wasn't careful, it would take over my life. "One day", he told me, "your brain will refuse to turn off 'work mode', whether you are on vacation or merely trying to take some time off to chill."

Johnny Bliss, 2013

This picture is sorta like my Stewart Island Kiwi Sign, but with a tractor.

Last year, as I stood in the bow of the ferry from Buckley Bay to Denman Island. En route to visit with my mother, who lives on Denman, I beheld the very large wooden sign in big white letters ("NO COAL") that greeted us upon entry into port. This could be a good story, I thought.

Johnny Bliss, 2013

Then I thought: but I'm on vacation! Furthermore, I'm here to visit with my mother. But on the other hand, Denman Island is both relatively unknown and very unique. How much would FM4 be interested? "How much would you like to shut up?", I responded to myself.

Fun Facts About Denman Island

• It has a year-round community of 1.022 residents (I just pulled that number from Wikipedia, but my mother told me something similar).
• One requires something like six hours and up to 90 $CAD to bring a car with two adults there or back from the mainland (one way).
• Some local farmers on Denman Island produce their own organic fair trade chocolate, "Denman Island Chocolate". It's really delicious.

Johnny Bliss, 2013

Johnny Bliss, 2013

roland on flickr, 2006

(This last picture: Copyright "Roland" on Flickr)

• Downtown Denman Island, although small, still has between 15-20 shops, offices, cafés, and two community halls. There is also a Free Store where clothes, tools, toys and household appliances are given away for absolutely free.
• The weather is very moderate; in the winter, temperatures seldom fall below zero. Yes, you read me right: although it's in Canada, it's still way warmer than Austria, all winter long. (It does, however, get very windy.)
• The locals of Denman Island, by and large (if not unanimously), vehemently oppose plans to build a coal mine across the river and five kilometres away, on Vancouver Island.

Yes, I interviewed my mother. Yes, I'm married to my job.

See, normally when I go to a place, I look for a resident expert who has lived in the place for a while, but - and this is important - is not originally from there. That way, they know what it is like not to live in that place and can thus relate to the perspective of outsiders.

I didn't grow up on Denman Island. My mother moved there ten years ago, from the mainland. I, meanwhile, was living in California. So the first time I went to Denman Island would have been in 2006, and then only briefly.

In short, what I'm trying to say is that, as much as I prefer to interview strangers, so as to maintain some sort of boundary between work and life, in this case, it really did seem to make sense to break that rule.

Johnny Bliss, 2013

Besides, my mother's a cute interview partner.

Johnny Bliss, 2013

Is that enough self-justification?

Johnny Bliss, 2013

Can we begin? All right then.

Fun Facts About my Mother

• She lives with her partner on a coastal property that they purchased before real estate in British Columbia got so §)$(§"*! expensive.
• They have a big garden to grow their own fruits, vegetables, nuts, and herbs; that said, they do go downtown sometimes, to rent DVDs and video tapes. Why yes, I did just say video tapes.
• She belongs to a number of different community groups, including Arts Denman and Denman Opposes Coal, as well as the local church choir.

Johnny Bliss, 2013

• The church she belongs to, Denman Island Church, is the oldest in the region, and also the funkiest. With many different travelling ministers including a raging activist and a freestyle poet, a congregation that has at times included Sikhs and members of the LGBTQ community, and hymns that include a lot of singing and dancing, it is a very different experience to the so-called 'traditional' Church experience.
• As part of a protest action against the company in charge of the coal mine project (Compliance Energy Corporation), she secretly infiltrated a shareholder meeting, and faced off against thirteen burly men in suits, so as to make her case against the mine.

Johnny Bliss, 2013