Furtado’s favourite swimming hole becomes a park as B.C. election approaches 0
VICTORIA (CP) — A popular swimming hole of many Victoria-area residents, including pop singer Nelly Furtado, was named a park Thursday during an announcement that saw left-leaning environmentalists cheering on Premier Gordon Campbell’s government.
The 63.5-hectare Sooke Potholes Regional Park is the result of a $3 million land agreement between the B.C. government, local politicians and the Land Conservancy of British Columbia.
Environmentalists have consistently attacked Campbell’s Liberal government for its deep cuts to conservation programs, but the pothole park announcement drew nothing but applause.
B.C. voters will elect a new government on 17th May. The Liberals, who hold a massive majority, have been using the pre-election period to make funding announcements, especially for enhanced social and environmental programmes.
“Three or four years ago, B.C. was not in a position to expand our provincial parks,” said Bill Barisoff, minister of water, land and air protection. “The government simply didn’t have the kind of money that we have today.”
“Now with our economy really booming, and a surplus of almost $2 billion, we can do even more.”
A spokesman for the Land Conservancy of B.C. said the pothole deal had been in the works for the past year and the election timing has nothing to do with the final announcement.
“The land conservancy is absolutely not political,” executive director Bill Turner said. “We work with every government of every stripe. This is as soon as we could get it there.”
But he admitted Furtado’s endorsement of the park plan increased the profile of the park and the land conservancy’s fundraising efforts.
“Since Nelly became involved in the campaign for the potholes we’re actually getting donations from around the world,” Turner said.
Last month, Furtado said she was considering holding a celebrity auction in Victoria to raise funds to make the potholes area a park.
She said she fondly remembers swimming there during her teen years in Victoria.
“I was just there last summer, actually,” Furtado told the Victoria Times Colonist. “There was about 20 of us or so. It was just as fun as ever. There’s a beauty to it you don’t get at a lot of other beaches.”
Formerly known as Deertrails, the pothole area stretches for five kilometres along the Sooke River, about 20 kilometres west of Victoria.
The stretch of river contains unique geological formations that have formed deep polished rock pools and carved canyons. The pools, ideal for diving and swimming, are known as potholes.
The clear-green pools are linked by waterfalls and gorges and are accessible by a series of trails through the forests of the surrounding Sooke Hills.
The pothole area has always been a favourite summer spot for Victoria residents, especially teenage thrill seekers who dive from the cliffs.
A visit to the potholes is associated with a teenage rite of passage for many on Vancouver Island, Turner said.
“Everybody who’s lived here for a length of time has at some point or another visited there, swam in the potholes, had a party out there,” he said. “There’s a real nostalgic value to the potholes that goes over the whole communities.”
The park deal is part of a three-way purchase that included the province buying parkland on nearby Saltspring Island for $1.5 million from Victoria’s Capital Regional District.
The regional district will use the $1.5 million from the sale to make a $2.4 million contribution to Sooke Pothole Park. The land conservancy, through its public fundraising efforts, will contribute $900,000.
By Dirk Meissner, Canadian Press