Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - We're coming up to the 90th anniversary of the Vancouver Island Regional Library. In this morning's interview Beatrix Baxter, the new Circulation Supervisor at the Cortes Island branch, talks about the library, her love of books and how they are going to celebrate on Saturday, May 30th.

Beatrix Baxter:  “The Vancouver Island Regional Library was established in 1936, and it started off with six library branches, 28 sub-branches, and seven van routes. Now we’re up to 39 library branches and our online branch, which we say is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because you can go online anytime."

“All 39 branches share what we call a floating collection. We all each hold part of the collection. When a library customer goes online to put a book on hold, the call goes out to all the branches that might have a copy of that book. The first one to respond sends the book off, and it goes through our system and ends up here on Cortes, or wherever the person is requesting it from.

“I don’t know how many books we have, but more than five million items are circulated annually. That’s books, magazines, video games, DVDs, TV shows, audiobooks — it’s everything that we have, which is actually quite a lot.”

Origins of the Cortes Island Library

Narrator: The first Cortes Islands Library is actually one year older than the Vancouver Island Regional Library.

Beatrix Baxter: "The first library that Cortes had was started by the Whaletown Women's Institute in 1935. They were gifted or negotiated the use of the Farmers Institute building, which we now know as the Louise Tucker Library. That's our longest running library. The Whaletown School had a library at some point."

"When Manson's Hall underwent a major renovation in 1980, they expanded it to include the space for the post office and the play school and the library. So we were up in the top floor of Manson's Hall for many years."

Cortes Island Joins the Vancouver Island Regional Library System

"May Ellingsen ran things over there before the museum was established. She used to keep all of her famous photo albums at the library. I don't know when it became part of the Vancouver Island Regional Library, but she was instrumental in making that happen."

“In 2009–2010, a structural engineering assessment of the building found that it was no longer safe to house the weight of the books in that room. There were simply too many books. There was a lot of community engagement at the time. A lot of people were really concerned that we weren’t going to have a library.”"

The Move to Linnaea

“They were looking for a new location for at least a couple of years, and in 2012 they made a new arrangement with Linnaea to use the space that had been the former Linnaea school. The building was renovated, and by November 2013 the library had moved into the new space and was open to the public again.

“We added a self-checkout machine, which made lineups shorter — one of the concerns residents had about the old location. We’ve also gotten more hours over the years, which is great. We changed our hours in September, adding an extra evening and another daytime shift, so you’re more likely to be able to drop by and find that the library is open.”

Narrator: Jude Marentette was the circulation supervisor when the library moved from Manson’s Hall to its present location in the Linnaea Education Centre, but she retired last fall. Beatrix has been the librarian since December 2025.

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - There have been a lot of concerns that the MOU with Alberta represents a step backward when it comes to reducing climate-change-causing emissions from big industry and advancing clean energy. In this morning’s interview, Jennifer Lash, who was both a senior adviser at Environment and Climate Change Canada and a Liberal candidate in the last election, shares her perspective on these issues.

Jennifer Lash: “I went through a bit of an existential crisis when the MOU was announced. That was a hard moment for me. I’ve spent many years arguing against pipelines and arguing for carbon pricing, but I had to step out of the old way I was looking at climate. I had to step into a new way of looking at it, one that took more into consideration the current global crisis we’re in and the political situation.”

“We’ve labelled what climate success looks like in one way, and we’re shifting now. I really encourage people to take the time to try to understand what it is this Prime Minister is doing and to see the value in it before jumping to the conclusion that it’s bad — and not just in terms of direct emissions reductions, but in terms of the long-term ability to work together as a country to address this very serious problem.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A new UBC led study of 111 peer-reviewed papers found that forests and biodiversity are better, or at least equally, protected if they are managed by Indigenous Peoples. Between 2005 and 2012, vegetation loss in native areas of the Brazilian Amazon was 17 times lower. In Australia, 60% of the nation’s 1,574 threatened species were found on Indigenous lands. In the United States, Indigenous lands harbour more mature trees and higher tree volume. Close to two-thirds of the articles noted that Indigenous Peoples were themselves threatened, and some offered suggestions to either provide resources or strengthen their tenure over the land. While little of the material dealt with British Columbia, lead author William Nikolakis has worked with First Nations in the Interior and was prepared to comment.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The 2026 New Forest Act Roadshow will be coming to our area next month. The Sentinel Educational Foundation and Watershed Sentinel magazine are the sponsors of the Vancouver Island leg of its tour. Jennifer Houghton, Campaign Director of the New Forest Act Proposal, will be speaking at the Campbell River United Church at 7:00 on Thursday, June 11, and Quadra Island Community Centre at 7:00 on Saturday, June 13. 

Jennifer Houghton:  "Right now we're seeing a decline in timber supply, mill closures, degraded lands, degraded watersheds, rising disaster costs, and less stable communities. The current system isn't even protecting the future of forestry itself. Ecosystem decline is a serious problem across BC, and the whole structure of forestry needs to be replaced. That's why we've developed a legislative proposal to restructure all forestry in BC."

"It's a proposed replacement of BC's current forestry legislation, including the current Forest Act, the Forest and Range Practices Act and the Private Managed Forest Lands Act. Right now, BC's forestry laws are built around maximizing timber extraction. The New Forest Act framework is a citizen-developed proposal to shift forestry towards ecological limits, stable communities, and long-term ecosystem function, instead of short-term liquidation." 

"It's based on a simple framework. Protect what still functions, restore what's been damaged, and harvest carefully where the land can actually support it. Our goal is not to end forestry. The goal is to stop destroying the systems communities depend on: water, slope stability, biodiversity, and long-term timber supply itself."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The community orchard at the Rainbow Ridge affordable housing complex officially launched with a tree-planting ceremony on Earth Day. In this morning’s interview, permaculture designer Witney Vanderleest discusses her role in the project, the process of planting the first 35 trees, and what the community can expect to see as the site evolves.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Daniel Lapp is the headliner for this year's Lovefest, which returns to Linnaea Farm on Saturday, August 8, 2026. He has played on over 100 albums and performed across Canada, the United States, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Finland, and Germany. Daniel is also a winner of the BC Fiddler Championship and is the Artistic Director of the Victoria Conservatory of Music.

Benji Coey, who is organizing Lovefest, said, "This year I'm very excited to have booked Daniel Lapp, who is a nationally renowned folk and jazz musician. He's going to bring Adam Dobray—who the folks on the island are familiar with—a world-class guitar player, and Richard Moody, one of the country's best fiddle players. Those guys are going to do an extended set. When you get that sort of talent coming through, you have to give them room; you've got to give them time to play, and it's going to be a really mind-blowing set."

"We're also going to have the return of Pablo Cardenas with his 'Latin explosion,' so we're going to have some good, vigorous dancing to all kinds of great rhythms. I actually had him last year, but the reason I brought him back is because he only had a short set last year. It was a really energetic, exciting show; the crowd responded terrifically and I thought, 'That's a great taster, but let's get him back this time to really hammer it home.'"

"We have a really good lineup—a diverse mix of material—quite a bit of folk really going back to the roots of the festival."

"Amy and Rick Bockner will be doing a full set. They didn't play last year, and Rick is part of the heart of the island music scene and, of course, Lovefest. It's going to be a really special occasion to have him and Amy playing a set. I think the island will be very receptive to seeing that beautiful family playing together, celebrating their love, their family, and the music."

Cortes Currents: Any other acts that you wanted to mention?

Benji Coey: "I won't mention too many right now. There are one or two confirmations which are still coming through, so I shan't release too much more. Daniel Lapp is definitely the big-ticket item. If you haven't heard of Daniel Lapp before, I suggest you go online and check him out. He is a highly regarded musician, multi-award nominated, and a very nice bloke."

Cortes Currents: So when will this be happening?

Benji Coey: "That's on August 8th at Linnaea Farm. Tickets will go on sale in June and you can, of course, buy them from the Friday market. We hope for another great event and a really good turnout. It's going to be, as ever, a really friendly, enjoyable, laid-back event with some high-energy moments and some beautiful reflective moments. Just those moments when you sit back, feel the early evening roll in, listen to the music, and feel grateful that this talent is coming all this way to entertain us."

Recorded by Roy L Hales

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Around 100 people packed into Mansons Hall on May 7, 2026, for a community meeting on the proposed expansion of the Island United Quarry on Cortes Island. While most appeared to be opposed to the project in its current form, some added that Cortes Island needed a smaller quarry more in line with the island's needs

Neither Howard Nielsen, who owns Island United, nor his wife were present. Regional Director Mark Vonesch explained, " It's their 50th wedding anniversary and they're on a trip." 

Mike Moore, who MC'd the event,  added, "First of all this is a meeting that is for information. We'll have a question and answer period at the end of a few little presentations. It's not a protest by any means. No profanity (audience chuckles); no derogatory comments. We're here to look at the Island United Quarry expansion in Whaletown."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - As North America navigates the transition from traditional fossil fuel-based energy to renewable alternatives, various regions are exploring solutions like Distributed Energy Resources (DER). In this morning’s interview, Catherine Jefferey from Clean Energy Canada discusses a program designed to reduce costs for Ontario ratepayers by an estimated $1.8 billion to $3.5 billion annually. The discussion also covers progress in utility-scale battery storage, Canada's adoption of renewables, and the prospects for transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The radio version of this story opened with a clip from  the 'Inky Dinky' round of a recent Benji's Pub Quiz night in Mansons Hall, Cortes Island. An Inky Dinky is a two-word phrase. Both the words have two syllables, and they rhyme, like Inky Dinky. 

"So what?" asked show host Benji Coey. "Well, I'm going to give you a riddle and you're going to come up with an Inky Dinky as the answer. For example, if I said to you, Riddle me this: A church tower made out of human beings." What might I be looking for?"

A number of excited voices piped up: "People; steeple." 

Benji: "A people steeple. Good job. The people are the human beings, they normally are, and a steeple is a church tower. Good. Now, this is a creative thinking round, teams. If it's a good answer, write it down, and as ever, we will talk about all of the answers together, like normal people on Cortes island." 

What the audio does not show is that every table in the Hall is occupied. They are filled with beer, nachos and all the other treats associated with pubs, but more importantly each table belongs to a team. They aren't supposed to have more than 5 members, but some include children and have 7. The teams have given themselves names like A Brick in the Wall, The Troublemakers, and Maya. 

Someone asked, "Do you get higher marks for novel answers?" 

Benji: "If it's a novel answer, you'll be rewarded with laughter and  great admiration from your colleagues, which is better than points." 

All conversation ceased as Benji continued: "Right, here we go: here's your first Inky Dinky tonight. Riddle me this one, teams: Sweaty relaxation for all of the animals? Sweaty relaxation for all of the animals?"

That was just one of the many dozens of puzzlers participants sought to unravel. Benji's Pub Quiz has become quite the event here on Cortes and, it turns out, in a lot of other places as well. In today's interview we sat down with Benji Coey to find out why.