Part one of 10 in a series of columns about climate change and our community.
Kootenay people have been through some rough times in the last few years.
As we work to stay afloat through the affordability crisis and to heal social rifts that the pandemic brought to light, we’ve faced a string of unnatural disasters like heat waves, wildfires and unpredictable weather disrupting local food production such as the failed Creston cherry crop this year. Sometimes it can be hard to find the threads that hold our communities together.
So it’s worth asking – what does community mean in these crazy times we’re living through? What does it take to face the challenges together?
This is the first in a series of articles that look at what unnatural disasters and fossil fuel pollution mean to local communities in the Kootenays. We’ll cover a wide range of topics, from following the money to finding out how funding differs between climate research and industry-sponsored misinformation, through looking into the costs and benefits of electrification, to considering the impacts of fossil pollution on local forests and food systems.
Through it all, we’ll be asking what climate change means to our communities, with the diverse views and the very real mutual care and shared needs we have here in the Koots.
To find some insight into what community means for us and what makes a real difference in getting through shared challenges, I talked with a few people who have lived through the recent wildfires in Argenta and Slocan.
Jessica Ogden faced threats from both fires, as her homestead in Mulvey Creek was threatened by wildfire that burned her water source and fence line while she remained in Argenta, where she rents a small cabin and lives most of the year.
On that crazy Wednesday night when three fires merged upslope from Argenta and residents were knocking on doors to evacuate people at midnight as the fire roared down the Argenta face, Jessica chose to stay and protect the McIntyre farm. In her words, “I chose to stay behind the [evacuation] order to help on the McIntyre farm, to protect food security, because really we had no idea how long it would last, and so many rely on the harvest of that local food.”
Ogden was one of many residents of Argenta and neighbouring communities who pulled together to fight the fire and care for each other. The dedicated Argenta volunteer fire crew, led by Rik Valentine, worked alongside the hardworking BCWS folks to create fire guards and protect structures. People in Kaslo and elsewhere shared homes, food, information and healing services with evacuees who waited anxiously for news from a place where most houses are uninsurable and many people grow their own food.
Ultimately, no homes were lost, and those who remained took turns watering and tending evacuees’ gardens as well as fire-smarting their dwellings.
A key factor in the success of the firefighting effort was planning together as a community before the disaster occurred. As Ogden says, “The importance of the years of effort by the community put into planning for this foreseeable tragic event all became clear and very relevant.”
Another great example of pre-disaster planning bore fruit when the Slocan Integral Forestry Cooperative’s new Resiliency Centre – in development since 2021 – opened just four days after the wildfires started near Slocan. According to SIFCo manager Stephan Martineau, the new centre became “a place for people to meet each other in person, and go through the uncertainty, stress and trauma together. The centre offered a respite from smoke and heat. It provided company, food and art therapy. It became a warm, welcoming place, with dozens and dozens of people using it.”
When asked whether he thought most Slocan residents see climate change as a human-caused problem, Martineau responded, “I think it’s mixed. The Slocan Valley is a very interesting community. When you meet people face to face, there’s way more common ground than people realize if just connecting on social media, where strong opinions and reactivity can take over. That’s why resiliency centres are so important... we see the human behind the various perspectives and can learn to listen to each other and find mutual ground.”
As the communities of Argenta and Slocan found, there’s more to community than belief systems. While we may have different perspectives on carbon, we need each other more than ever in the face of increasing unnatural disasters. Community lies in our ability to plan ahead and take care of each other’s real needs before, during, and after crisis hits.
Tamara Schwartzentruber is a musician, teacher, editor and healer who lives in Kaslo with her partner and two kids. She volunteers with the West Kootenay Climate Hub.
