Cortes Currents

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Episode 6 of Noba Anderson, the Exit Interview - Looking to the Future: Unfinished Business and What’s On The Way

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - In the fifth episode of her exit interview, former Cortes Island Regional Director Noba Anderson talks about the Community Conflict of 2018-19, litigation, and her hopes for resolution.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - When the rain finally started about 5 PM on Sunday, October 23, Cortes Island had received almost no precipitation for 97 days. The “Rain’ chart at Cortes Island School shows that 3.5 mm of rain fell overnight and I can hear the drizzle continuing to fall on my roof early Monday morning. Hopefully light rains will continue to soften up the soil before we receive a downpour.

“The 2022 drought is worse than people think, it's worse than scientists predicted, and its impacts up and down the coast are a lot worse than I had even feared when I started researching it,” said Forrest Berman-Hatch, author of FOCI Report: Climate Change and Drought.

Berman-Hatch prepared this study for the Friends of Cortes Island, but is also a member of the Simon Fraser University group RESET (Research for Equitable Ecosocial Transformation), which studies global health in relation to climate change.

The opening paragraph of his report states, “Cortes Island has been in a level 5 drought which weather forecasters predict will end soon. According to BC’s Drought and Water Scarcity Response Plan, level 5 droughts bring ‘adverse impacts to socio-economic or ecosystem values’ which are ‘almost certain’ (Ministry of LWRS, 2022, p.16). Impacts can include the drying of shallow wells and wetlands, increased risk of wildfires and drying of streams during salmon spawning season. The plan recommends local water restrictions be put in place at stage 5 and warns regulatory action and even emergency response to be possible.”

Berman-Hatch said scientists are fairly certain that climate change causes droughts. The IPCC report states that there will be more droughts as a result of climate change, and they will be more severe.

“We had a student at SFU do climate modelling for Cortes, and what really concerned me was that the 2022 drought is longer, hotter and drier than was predicted for the year 2025 under a climate model that uses the precautionary approach,” said Berman-Hatch.

“Scientists such as Simon Donner at the University of British Columbia talk about how climate modelling is really good for averages, were fairly accurate, but they fail to capture the extreme weather events. For instance, the heat dome last year was also quite a bit worse than scientists had predicted the effects of climate change would be within this decade. So when we talk about climate adaptation planning, we need to remember that the models are good guidelines, but the extreme weather events may actually be worse.”

Q/Is this the worst drought on record?

“It's certainly the longest, worst is hard to say. This is a level 5 drought, which is the highest level in BC's scale. It's only the second time since we have been recording drought data that we hit level 5 and the first time was last year. That is a pretty concerning trend. Last year during the heat dome, we experienced higher temperatures than we experienced in this drought. So it may have done more damage than this drought. Certainly, the human impacts were pretty high — over 600 people died,” he replied.

“This drought is longer and drier, but less hot. It's the longest since we have begun recording weather data. In some places we have over a hundred years of weather data on the West Coast and this is the longest drought in that time period. It's certainly the longest since we've had weather data for Cortes and Quadra Island.”

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - The fourth episode coming out of Noba Anderson's exit interview.

Photo credit: Hornby Island Community Hall – Courtesy HIRRA website

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Current - “I feel that the museum should reflect the community. It helps to strengthen our identity and strengthen our sense of not only ourselves, but what we can do for one another,” said Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Cortes Island Museum and Archives.

One of the mottos of the museum is ‘Reflect, Celebrate, Imagine.’

Boyle explained, “I’d like to think of it as reflect on the past, imagine the future and celebrate what we have today.”

“I look at the museum as a visitor's information booth and a museum, which automatically makes us a visitor's hub,” said Laura Balducci, the outgoing program and events coordinator.

Balducci does not want to leave, and the museum does not want to see her go. They have wanted to hire a program and events coordinator for a long time and a grant made it possible this year. They hope to secure funding to rehire her next Spring.

We were sitting around the lunch table in the back of the museum. Balducci seems like a pent up bundle of creative energy, ready to explode into action. Boyle appears to be more relaxed. She hopes that everything that happens in the museum looks effortless, as if it appeared magically — but it is really hard work.

Boyle attributes the museum’s accomplishments to funding, committed volunteers and community support.

Balducci added, “Come to our events. Have a good time and sign our guest book. The more signatures we get in the guest book, the better it is for our possible grants and stuff like that. We need people to come.”

Boyle expanded upon this, “We keep our programs free by donation, and there's a reason for that. We really want to make all our programming accessible. So that everybody can participate and enjoy. Please come and visit us. If you can make a donation, we really appreciate that. That helps us to keep the lights on, the doors open and be able to also offer more programming. It's just like a great cycle, isn't it?”

The Cortes Museum is always looking for new members, especially Board members.

“Check out our organization, and see if you would like to participate on any level,” said Boyle.

Balducci proceeded to list other areas where they need help, “We need more volunteers for setups, tear downs, baking, offering to put out posters for all of our events and programs and exhibitions. If you have any plants in your garden, you could offer some of your plants for our garden to keep things fresh. Volunteer online on social media. If you see us sharing a poster, feel free to share it. That's volunteering, that's helping spread the word. So there's many different directions for volunteer help. If we have events at the hall, we need help behind the concession. We need help doing dishes, cleanup.”

She also had a list of some of the smaller things that still needed to be funded, “We need art supplies, paper, toilet paper, paper towels, garbage bags, laundry supplies, treats to have at events. If we wanna have a liquor license, we need booze money to be able to serve. We need insurance money.

They also need funds to pay honorariums for the speakers, artists, and writers who participate in Museum events.

Boyle explained, “Minimal funding, you get a minimal museum. What we've been able to offer due to funding is new exhibitions and new exhibitions take a lot of work. They take a lot of material costs, labor time, all these factors, but at the same time, a new exhibition will generate a lot of new energy and around that new programming. The more support we have, the more we can offer in terms of new exhibitions.”

Without funding, the Cortes Island Museum would become another institution that does not change its exhibits for a decade.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - “Last week, the Minister Fisheries, Joyce Murray, went on the road and she traveled the length of Vancouver Island talking to people, First Nations environmental organizations, scientists, about the transition of salmon farms in British Columbia. This is incredible. I've never seen a minister go on the road before, and I have so much respect for her for doing this,” said independent biologist Alexandra Morton.

A BC Salmon Farmers Association spokesperson a list of facilities emailed that Murray visited:

Cermaq Canada’s Millar Channel farm and semi-closed containment site in Clayoquot Sound.

One of Creative Salmon’s Chinook farms and their processing plant in Tofino.

MOWI’s Shelter Pass farm in Port Hardy and their Big Tree Creek Hatchery in Sayward. 

Murray is said to have met with industry and expressed an interest in co-developing a Transition Plan.

According to the industry spokesperson, “The Minister is focused on a range of metrics driving the ongoing transition to reduce or eliminate risk to wild salmon rather than push a specific type of technology. Innovations achieved to meet specific metrics will depend on the preference of each Nation whose territories we operate in.” 

 

Ruth Salmon, Interim Executive Director of the BC Salmon Farmers Association, issued a press release stating, “Salmon farming is continuously evolving, improving, and innovating, which can come as a surprise to those outside of the farming community. It was a pleasure to meet with the Minister and her team to not only discuss these improvements but showcase them, as she visited several farm sites and a hatchery.”

Morton was concerned about the degree of industry influence:

“The meetings were run by the Director of Aquaculture Management, and this person was reprimanded twice this year by her superiors for failing to include the science that DFO is doing that is showing significant impact of salmon farms on Pacific Salmon.”

“She left this information out of a briefing to the Minister before she went in front of the standing committee on Fisheries and Oceans. She left it out of the report to the Committee of the Whole on DFOs 2022/2023 main estimates, basically the funding that DFO needs going forward. These are really high level government document that did not include important information about the salmon farming industry — that it is impacting, that it is harming, that it is spreading pathogens to wild salmon. One of these emails to this Director says, ‘This is a glaring omission that needs to be patched rapidly.’ Has it been patched? I don't know.”

“This person is now out on the road with the Minister. Is she filtering the information that is coming in from all of these people who are worried about the state of wild salmon and want these salmon farms removed from the ocean and put into tanks? We don't know.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A tiny education program on Cortes Island has been getting a lot of media attention lately

“We were featured on the National Observer with our local journalism initiative reporter, Rochelle Baker. She did a fabulous piece on This program that got picked up then by the Vancouver Sun and then was picked up by some Vancouver radio stations and by the CBC. So as nearby as Cortes Currents and as now far away as the reach of CBC,” explained Manda Aufochs Gillespie, one of the organizers of the Cortes Island Academy.

Q/So what are you doing that's getting so much attention?

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Episode Three: SRD, the Regional District System, how it works for us (or doesn’t)

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -In the Spring of 2022, Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness and the Urban Indigenous Housing and Wellness Coalition  commisioned a series of studies of the housing crisis in our area. One components was a survey called ‘Collecting Stories of Where We Live’ conducted by the Rural Development Network. 110 Cortes Island and 43 Area C residents participated (all but two of the latter were from Quadra Island).

“The purpose was to provide a comprehensive picture of housing instability and homelessness in the area to help inform service providers and municipal, provincial, and federal policies, practices, and funding decisions. And then to elevate and incorporate the voices of folks who are experiencing homelessness in solutions to end homelessness,” explained Emma Wallace, Project Manager of Community Development and Homelessness Estimations at the Rural Development Network.

Key findings on Cortes Island:

77 of the 110 survey respondents lived in unstable housing situations. When the reported dependents and adults living in the same household were added, the number of people living in unstable conditions rose to at least 159. A further breakdown of the 77 ‘unstable’ respondents revealed:

Only 51 of the 77 stated they were in unstable housing situations, 7 were ‘unsure’ and the remaining 19 were identified by criteria in the survey.

11 lived outside in the ‘unsheltered’ situations typically associated with ‘homelessness’ during this past year.

49 were couch surfed, stayed in an emergency shelter, or in an abandonned building at some point.

51 were ‘at risk’ of homelessness because they are paying more for their rent or mortgage than they could afford. (7% of housing ‘unstable’ respondents on Cortes own their homes and 22% are renters.)

The top five reasons for housing instability on Cortes

Low wages, 

Mental and physical health concerns, 

The inability to afford rent/mortgage, 

Housing in need of major repairs (i.e., no windows, no heat, water or mould damage, leaky roof), 

Their house is only available to them seasonally or they struggle to find parking for their mobile home. 

"Less frequently noted reasons for instability included rent increases, job loss, domestic/family violence and/or family rejection, lack of transportation, COVID-19, death of a family member/partner, and conflict with a landlord.” - the study

Key findings on Quadra Island (and Area C)

41 of the respondents were on Quadra Island, 1 on Maurelle Island and the last in an unidentifed Outer Island. 30 were ‘housing unstable’ and this number rose to 69 after adding the reported dependents and adults living in the same household. A further breakdown of the 30 ‘unstable’ respondents revealed:

Only 21 of the 30 stated they were in unstable housing situations, 4 were ‘unsure’ and the remaining 5 were identified by the survey.

12 lived in unsheltered situations this past year

13 were either ‘emergency sheltered’ or ‘provisionally accommodated’ at some point.

22 paid more for their rent or mortgage than they could afford. (14% of the ‘unstable’ respondents own their homes and 11% are renters. )

The top five reasons for housing instability of Quadra

Physical or mental health concerns; 

Inability to afford rent/mortgage; 

Low wages; 

Housing in need of major repairs (i.e., no windows, no heat, water or mould damage, leaky roof); 

Domestic/family violence, abuse, and/or rejection.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Noba Anderson was first elected as Regional Director for Strathcona Regional District Area B (Cortes Island) in 2008. She served 4 terms (two three-year and two four-year) for a total of 14 years in office, making her the longest-serving Regional Director in the island’s history.

Episode Two:    The Political Life: how did Noba get into it, and how does it feel to get out again?