www.theotherpress.ca NEws. Vancouver Island as Canadas 11th province? Island residents seek selF-determination within Canadian Confederation By Patrick Vaillancourt, News Editor group of Vancouver Island esidents have come together to petition the Province of British Columbia and the federal government to make Vancouver Island Canada’s 11th province. The group, calling itself Vancouver Island Province, says that their heritage is one of self- determination within Canadian Confederation. The group has a number of projects, the most notable being a petition to both the provincial and federal governments to recognize Vancouver Island as a new Canadian province. Their desire for provincial status dates back to 1856, before Canadian Confederation, “when the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver Island represented voters as the first elected parliamentary system West of Upper Canada,” which is present-day Ontario. The group is looking to gather support quickly as it mulls over the possibility Sumit Rathore oversaw Surrey high school students develop plan for moon colonization By Patrick Vaillancourt, News Editor na press release from Simon Fraser University (SFU), third-year SFU student Sumit Rathore was “over the moon with joy” when he learned that a NASA-affiliated group was considering his team’s design for humankind’s first space colony. Rathore, who co-led a team of high school students from Princess Margaret Secondary School in Surrey alongside physics teacher Joe Sihota, is part of the first Canadian team to make it to an invitation-only final in the International Space of submitting a referendum question to the provincial government in time for the next provincial election in 2017. Vancouver Island Province is also pursuing other projects to get their message out, including lobbying the province and the federal government to design a postage stamp that commemorates Vancouver Island as Canada’s first democratic government west of Ontario. “On September 2, 1863 the Third House of Assembly of Vancouver Island began,” said Scott Akenhead, co-organizer of the group. “The 15 elected Island members sat until August 31, 1866 representing and governing the independent colony of Vancouver Island until unification with the colony of British Columbia.” Vancouver Island’s traditions of democratic governance came at a pivotal time in history, when Canada’s future as a country was still tentative and undecided. Many argue that the entry of British Columbia into Canadian Confederation could not have occurred as quickly as it did without uniting with Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island is home to approximately 765,000 residents, which the group notes Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC). ISSDC organizers are allied with NASA, Boeing, and other players in the aerospace industry, and aim to create a habitable, self-sustainable human settlement on the surface of the moon capable of is “greater than the populations of six Canadian provinces and territories,” and they further note that Vancouver Island has “all of the attributes and prerequisites for becoming a province.” Laurie Gourlay, another co- organizer of Vancouver Island Province, notes that the next Pacific Ocean VANCOUVER ISLAND Vi for the grand prize, which includes medals and a list of lucrative employment references consisting of NASA astronauts and leading engineers. The Canadian team’s company name is Grumbo Aerospace. BRITISH COLUMBIA few years will see important milestones for Vancouver Island, including the 150th anniversary of Canadian Confederation in 2017 and the 150th anniversary of BC joining Canadian Confederation in 2021. “We'd like to see Vancouver Island’s important role as a cornerstone in Canada’s Edmonton * Vancouver ALBERTA development, and a building block for BC, receive the recognition it deserves,” Gourlay said. For more information on the petitions, interested persons are encouraged to visit the group’s website at www.viprovince.ca/ petitions a Lake Athabasca SASKATCHEWAN Mé . Saskatoon & Lak as Vinnipe egina ig Winnip Canadés 11th province... Vancouver Island? | Photo illustration courtesy of Joel McCarthy SFU space buff co-leads team to notable win in space contest in making a group of high school students the potential designers of what could be the beginnings of a full-time colony on the moon. “I was fortunate enough to have some of the old members returning from my last year’s team,” Rathore notes. “They Rathore, who co-led a team of high school students trom Princess Margaret Secondary School in Surrey alongside physics teacher Joe Sihota, is part of the first Canadian team to make it to an invitation-only tinal in the International Space Settlement Design Competition (ISSDC).” accommodating at least 10,000 residents. The semi-finalists’ designs were reviewed by astronauts and engineers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The winning teams were invited to create company names to compete The students from Princess Margaret were the competition’s only Canadian entrants and their winning design came after only two previous design attempts. Rathore credits his passion for the moon as well as key life skills and a bit of luck were very familiar with the stresses and unexpected challenges... They were more mentally prepared for the time management required to make on-the-fly creative decisions about the final settlement’s design.” The ISSDC judges, consisting of nine aerospace engineers and retired astronauts, praised the Grumbo Aerospace design for “including elements such as hiking and wedding opportunities and self- repairing exterior structures.” The design also included a tourism centre and a manufacturing and mining wing. The ISSDC does not publish the name of the winning finalists, citing that the competition is more about the learning experience rather than the competitive element. Their website says that “differences between the winning and other proposals are often insignificant and subjective” and therefore there is no need to publicly disclose the winner. The competition began in 1994 and will mark its 20th anniversary next year.