Thursday, July 4, 2019 ~ SOOKE
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
Today July 4 there was a symbolic statement of independence by T’Sou-ke Nation with the official opening of their Petro Canada and Tim Hortons outlet on their own land at 6080 Sooke Road (Highway 14) under sunny bright-blue skies.
The soft opening of the new commercial enterprise was a few weeks ago on June 13, when the first cars pulled in for gas and the first donuts and coffee were served at Tim Hortons.
Today’s mid-morning outdoor event featured the key players who activated and ushered through the project that will bring a new level of economic prosperity to the T’Sou-ke Nation (about 265 members) and surrounding community and region.
After the spiritual blessing and drums, a custom mural was celebrated in the sunshine, there was an official ribbon-cutting moment in front of the gas station doors, much mingling among about 100 invited guests, and great food including sockeye salmon, salads and fruit.
Named CEK SNANET (Big Mountain) the commercial enterprise of Petro Canada fuel station and convenience store and a Tim Horton’s restaurant and drive-thru sits with the tallest hillside in the Sooke region behind it within view. Many tall trees in a tightly packed long-standing grove had been felled to make the land available. Those gathered today heard that the faces of ancestors can be seen in the mountain.
Situated next door to (east of) SD62’s Edward Milne Community School (EMCS) high school, Big Mountain and EMCS benefited by some BC Ministry of Transportation & Infrastructure roadway and roadside infrastructure improvements which took place along with the improvements of the Highway 14 (Sooke Road) & Sooke River Road intersection as part of the journey.
Another improved intersection on Highway 14 is coming nearby (likely at Idlemore Road near Saseenos Elementary School), said Chief Gordon Planes.
The present building and services are on septic. Getting sewer service through the District of Sooke is the next step to expanding the activities that are planned for the six-acre site. It is perceived by the current project team that perhaps the new District of Sooke council (elected October 2018) will be able to make more progress with sewer expansion in the future.
Those at the gathering today were the T’Sou-ke Nation leadership including (Chief Gordon Planes, Elder Shirley Alphonse, Council member Rose Dumont, Council member Allan Planes) and T’Sou-ke members who worked on various aspects of the project (including office back-end, logo development and mural), the project development consultant Jeff Frank of Vancouver-based Pillarpoint Holdings, bank financing representative Kevin Golder of BMO Victoria’s main office, District of Sooke Mayor Maja Tait and a few councillors (Jeff Bateman, Al Beddows, and Tony St Pierre), Sooke historian Elida Peers, and local media.
There was no request for anyone from the District of Sooke to address the crowd, and there were no representatives from the BC or federal government specifically acknowledged.
“The building is complete. It’s doing some good work for us,” said Chief Planes during the formal portion of the gathering. “We are taking care of our territory,” he said. He offered that “it’s a good place to be” when you don’t know what’s coming yet, because it means the next step “is up to the community to decide together”.
Planes commended development advisor Jeff Frank for coordinating and developing a process, and who provided his services at a discounted rate. The next step is for transfer of ownership to the new T’Sou-ke Development Corporation over the next couple of weeks.
The new dual-enterprise will likely provide a significant economic boost to the T’Sou-ke Nation. Their hiring priority is members of their nation.
The vision for the project started around 2014 and picked up steam in 2015 and 2016, says Frank. Structural development got started in 2017, with completion taking about two years. Water and electricity needed to be brought to the site and roads.
The total project cost was $5.65 million, said Frank and Golder in an interview with West Shore Voice News. They outlined that funding from the BC government for the roadworks infrastructure component was $1.5 million, the T’Sou-ke Nation contributed $535,000 of their own funds, and $3.6 million was financed (with 25-year amortization starting 2018, at an undisclosed but “favourable” interest rate) through the Bank of Montreal (BMO) including for soft-costs such as engineering.
This gas station with three pump bays is the situated as the first fuel station upon arriving in the main Sooke area from Langford/Victoria. Within the town core itself is another smaller Petro-Canada station and a Chevron Station.
================== Previous article on this development:
Previous article: The long-awaited Tim Hortons that many in Sooke said they wanted is finally here. (June 28, 2019). Also featured on page 1 in the June 21, 2019 issue of West Shore Voice News.