Duchess' Bannock & Desserts in Alert Bay ~ fantastic!

Along the main drag, down from the ferry terminal, is a little spot that can't be missed on any trip to Alert Bay.

It's the Duchess' Bannock & Desserts place and it is amazing.


The Duchess is a real person and that's her name. Warm and friendly and creator of some of the finest bannock we've ever tasted.

Open everyday, except when Duchess decides to close of course, which happens in Alert Bay from time to time.






This place is a delight: homemade soups, amazing bannock dishes and .... a hot dog, with the necessary toppings, cooked within the bannock. While we didn't get to try this wonderful creation, all reports from the locals, would suggest this is something not to be missed. We did get to try the bannock and berries!

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2017 by Jim Murray.

Totem Poles of Alert Bay

During our brief stay in Alert Bay we walked through the town, and around Cormorant Island. It's an easy walk and highly enjoyable. People are friendly and happy to share their stories and the stories of their community, and one of those stories is that of the totem poles of Alert Bay.









Totem poles are visual representations about the people who erect them, their ceremonial privileges and identity. The erection of a totem pole is usually celebrated with a potlatch.

In Alert Bay some totem poles are fairly new and others are very old. The Kwakwaka'wakw people believe that nothing lasts forever. When a totem pole is damaged, or falls to earth, it has served its purpose and it is time to let it go. Totem poles are not maintained nor re-painted. Often, recorded information about the totem pole is scant and only the pole's owner, and its carver, can truly describe the significance of the symbols.



The totem pole located near the traditional Big House is considered the world's tallest. Carved during the 1960s, it was raised in 1973. At the time it was an impressive 53 metres in height, but in November of 2007 the top of the totem pole fell to the ground during a Nimpkish wind. Apart from its height, it is unique in that unlike most totem poles, which are specific to a particular family, its figures represent some of of the tribes of the Kwakwaka'wakw.

The traditional burial grounds, and the current 'Namgis burial grounds, where many of the totem poles are located, are not open for tromping about. There's nothing to prevent people from wandering in, but respectfully, we are all asked to honour both the totem poles and the land. The totem poles are easily viewed from the roadside at both locations.

                                                                                                                                                               
In the village cemetery, the combination of Christian and Indigenous symbols is, at first, confusing, and then... captivating.    

Photos by Jeem. Copyright 2017 by Jim Murray.

The NDP Federal Leadership Debate in Vancouver

Early this Sunday morning, we attended the Vancouver meeting of the NDP Socialist Caucus. It was a first for your faithful scribe. It proved to be an interesting meeting of fellow travellers, though G. G. Blynn, our publicist and crisis management consultant, expressed disappointment that we didn't address each other as comrades.




At the close of the meeting we marched down to the York Theatre on Commercial Drive for the final Leadership Debate for the national New Democratic Party. Well, it wasn't quite a march. Blynn wheeled themselves of course, and for the rest of us, if not a march, it was most decidedly: a brisk walk.





A few years ago The York was rescued from demolition and fully restored. Now this 100 year-old artifact from history is part of the The Cultch's group of venues. The York seats 370 and every seat was taken, and the nearby Wise Hall was commissioned and took another 250! The NDP isn't about to become an artifact from history.

An over-flow crowd of over 600.

Leadership hopeful Charlie Angus arrived early to do some hobnobbing with the crowd, though we didn't see him as he had advanced further down the line, a queue that went down the block and around the corner.

We did meet and greet Guy Caron and managed to impress him in both official languages.

Guy Caron & Libby Davies

Finally we entered the grand hall, and the show began.

Niki Ashton, your correspondent's first choice for leader, attended in a digital kind of fashion, on a screen. Niki is pregnant, expecting twins, and unable to travel by air,and the millisecond delay in the satellite transmission caused, to Jeem, an eerie Max Headroom kind of flashback.

In the lead-up to the actual debate, Charlie Angus entertained the assembled with several songs and a personable kind of humour that he wears extremely well, and while Jagmeet Singh, the most fashionably attired politician in Canada, might be funny, he was all-seriousness today.

























Guy Caron was calm, comfortable and looking every bit the Quebecer he is, unlike Justin Trudeau who only pretends-to-be when it suits him.

In his closing remarks he said that when he began his leadership campaign the common remark was "Who is that guy?" but now it's more likely to be, "I like that Guy." 







After 90 minutes, the debate ended. Not boring. No, not boring. Last one left on-stage was Niki Ashton, which coincides with your reporter's unchanged ranking preference: Niki,then Guy.

Photos by Jeem. 

Copyright 2017 by Jim Murray.