Strange days in James Bay

By Doreen Marion Gee

There has always been something rather unusual about James Bay. It definitely attracts eccentric people who march to the beat of their own drummer. Could the balmy weather and ocean panoramas cause a smug complacence where anything goes and 'normal' is subject to interpretation? Many events from the past and present show a wonderful departure from the beaten path. But that is what defines this community – quirky, edgy and beautiful, a strangely magical combination.

The only real 'wild life' that I ever encountered growing up in James Bay were a few neighbours, rowdy neighbourhood parties and being chased by peacocks in Beacon Hill Park. Never any large big game animals as far as l know. So I was stunned at the news of a cougar sighting in our sedate community. Recently on October 5, 2015, the CHEK TV website screams “Cougar captured in James Bay! Dozens of sightings of a cougar this morning prompted a massive chase through the streets of James Bay by police and conservation officers.” I absolutely believe that this wily cougar chose James Bay to cast its menacing spell, knowing full well that locals are unique people and lack appropriate fears and trepidations. A community resident was quoted: “I woke up to this huge scared fluffy kitty in our backyard in James Bay, followed by a police officer with a tranquilizer gun. Poor thing was panting, even sat down for a bit. Our poor (much tinier) cat was petrified!” (And rightly so. The big fluffy kitty also has big fangs and a deadly bite). James Bay-ites bring 'casual and laid-back' to a whole new level!

The first principal of South Park School was a fascinating but controversial figure. In 1894, Agnes Deans Cameron became the first female principal of South Park School or any school in British Columbia for that matter. Her salary was $100 a month. Unconventional, different and way ahead of her time, Agnes was a staunch supporter of women's rights and proper pay for female teachers equal to their male counterparts. The feisty principal frequently came into conflict with school authorities, including a serious allegation of not following School Board policy. Her eventual dismissal in 1906 seems strangely out of proportion to the crime: South Park students had allegedly used rulers in their drawing exams for high school entrance. Miss Cameron was definitely out to shake up the status-quo and make her mark on history. Agnes and her niece were the first women to travel down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean. Theirs was a herculean achievement. The women journeyed 10,000 miles carrying a tent and mattress and two steamer trunks, running rapids and portaging their boat – all in floor length skirts, boned corsets and fitted bodices! During my research, I found it very peculiar that an obviously progressive and highly intelligent woman could be so backwards and mean-spirited in her treatment of small vulnerable children. It was very rare in those days for a woman to use a leather strap on school children but Agnes had no qualms about that at all. On one occasion, Agnes was investigated by the School Board for a particularly severe strapping of a student.

One of the weirdest developments in the history of this community were the grain elevators at Ogden Point. Usually a Prairie icon, what were they doing in James Bay on an Island a thousand miles away from Canada's bread basket? The fact is, back in the early 1900's Vancouver Island produced an abundance of wheat and a facility was needed to receive grain, store and export it. Hoping for a boom in global sales of Canadian wheat, the City of Victoria financed the construction of the elevators in 1928. The legacy of the grain elevators is a roller-coaster story of boom and bust. The project started out with great success but in 1938 the Panama Company pulled out, and the elevators stood still and hollow like gigantic wooden ghosts between 1942 and 1947. Strangely enough, it was only after the city abandoned its vision that the much-anticipated windfall materialized! When the grain elevators were sold to a private firm in 1952, they became a hub of activity – by 1966, the Ogden Point elevators were handling and moving 11.5 million bushels per year. But the glory was short-lived once again with the expansion of Vancouver's grain-handling capacity. The James Bay facility was finally closed in 1976 and bore the brunt of a wrecking ball in 1978. But didn't this fascinating piece of history pan out in typical James Bay style? Nothing makes sense or happens like it should here in our seaside oasis. And isn't that what we love about it?

My formative years growing up in James Bay were a virtual slide-show of unusual people that walked in and out of my life. I recall a neighbour on Dallas Road who decided to build a wooden ramp for ducks so they could walk down into Harrison Pond. Did the ducks really need a wooden walkway? Don't they naturally just sweep onto the pond with their wings? My two brothers were not happy since the ramp impeded the paths of their hand-made boats. Then there was the postal employee at the old Post Office on the corner of Simcoe and Menzies with a temper so foul that I finally refused to buy stamps for my mother. There were the hermits and the recluses on my street, those people who never came outside and I used to wonder about what they were doing inside those closed curtains.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. I hope that readers will take this article in the tongue-and-cheek spirit in which it is intended. And really, what did you expect? After all, I was born and raised in James Bay!

Sources: “South Park School – Memories Through the Decades” by Debbie Marchand and Linda Picciotto;

http://unknownvictoria.blogspot.ca/2007/12/against-grain.html (by Ross Crockford).