Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) is developing an Integrated Community Sustainability Plan (ICSP) for Area C. the Discovery Isalnds and Mainland Inlets.

Meredith Starkey, the Manager for Parks and Planning, described this as a broad level vision plan which can lead to more specific policies and regulations.

“For instance, building permits are currently not required on Quadra Island but they are in other areas of the SRD. Those are community level decisions, to say how far down do we want to take these ideas and codify them into legally binding and enforceable regulation,” she explained.

“The Outer Islands have a local area plan, but they don't have an official community plan and they don't have zoning bylaws.”

An ICSP could lead to the the creation of an official community plan for the Outer Islands.

Starkey said the SRD received a grant to create an ICPS for Area C in 2018.

“That project wasn't concluded, so we do have some remaining grant budget and a lot of consultation information from when that project started. We're relaunching now with a different approach. We are trying to piece together what we've heard and confirm and collaborate with community a little bit more, to make sure that the final plan actually reflects the will of the community.”

“We've initiated this with a sort of a targeted focus group, calling it a task force. We've been soliciting interest from residents in the Outer Islands and on Quadra to serve as our working group in order to provide the content and confirm the material.”

Ideally there will be about 16 members, half of which come from Quadra and the remainder from the Outer Islands. The SRD wants representation from across demographic groups: the business community, parents, seniors etc.

Starkey and Aniko Nelson, Senior Manager of Community Services, will represent the SRD.

Shannon Gordon, from the Whistler Centre for Sustainability, has been hired to facilitate the process.

The ICSP must be completed by the end of 2022.

“It's a very quick tight timeline for us. We are hoping to meet at least probably three or four times with task force over those over the next coming months,” explained Starkey.

“There will be an opportunity for the community more broadly to take a look. We're calling it a plan on a page, but the idea is that there would be something that we could share easily with a wide range of people to get some comments back that will probably be I want to say November early December.”

There is a lot going on at the SRD right now. They are looking into the housing crisis. The Connected Coast project is underway. Starkey, herself, is working on transportation plans. On top of all of that, there will be a regional election on Saturday, October 15, 2022.

“I would encourage anyone who's interested to check in with the SRD website and social media platforms from time to time,” said Starkey.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Orien Lee Johnston described her Cortes Island book launch, on August 4, in the Cortes Museum’s Heritage Garden, as a perfect fulfillment.

“There we are in the heritage garden of Cortez museum and archives. I counted afterwards probably more than 65 people were there and I'm standing there looking out at my friends and neighbours who are happily attentive and all smiling felt wonderful,” she said.

“Now I know what performers feel like. We were a bit of a performance because Paul Kahn played in mbira to begin, oo to bring in the ambience of Zimbabwe. Mbira is the musical instrument of Zimbabwe. Then Priya Huffman read an elephant poem related to a scene I read about elephants. Zach Sukuweh played his didgeridoo exactly like the elephant. It was fantastic! My son Devin told some stories from the time that he joined me over there to see what life was like.”

Johnston’s book, ‘The Geography of Belonging: A Love Story’ was published by Cortes Island’s own Salmonberry Arts and Publishing in July.

Ann Mortiffee wrote in the preface, “"Having been born in Southern Africa, I love The Geography of Belonging, travelling in my imagination with Oriane Lee Johnston on her amazing journey with Zimbabwe. She opens us to many questions about class, race, nature and the courage to follow love beyond our comfort level in order to discover the heart of another culture. The svikiro, a spiritual medium of the Shona people, said to her: 'To see our traditional ways kept alive with your interest and your writing. That is what you can give us.' Oriane Lee has indeed given that gift to all of us." 

The week before our interview, Johnston did a book reading at Nhemamusasa North, a Zimbabwean music festival on Vancouver Island.

“Everyone there was interested in Zimbabwe, so it was super fun!” she exclaimed.

In September Johnston will do a book launch at the Fortune Gallery in Victoria.

“My book is now available at Monroe bookstore, the iconic bookstore in Victoria that is around the corner from my grandfather’s apparel store, that he had there in the 1940s and 50s,” she explained.

“I'll be doing a podcast interview with Banyen Books founder/owner, Kolin Lymworth, Who's a dear friend in a share giver at Hollyhock. The publications in which I've published excerpts from the story, as it was in process, they will also do reviews or interviews.”

Johnston said she never imagined she would fall in love with Africa, in a country that had once been the breadbasket of the continent. She described the collapse of the agricultural economy as Robert Mugabe’s grip on power tightened - but that is not what her book is about.

During her second or third visit she asked, ‘What could I do as one foreign visitor?’

“To a person my Zimbabwean friends - whether they were Shona, White, Tonga or Ndebele - said, ‘Show the world what the news media does not. That our country is beautiful, our people are generous and happy. Our culture is rich and alive.’”

Johnston takes the reader beyond the typical stories of corruption, poverty and a devastated economy presented by the media.

Her story began during a three month volunteer experince with a ‘horseback riding safari. The Genesis of her book is a daily record of what happened.

“The last week I went on a wildlife safari on horseback in the wilderness of Zimbabwe. That week absolutely changed everything about me, about my life, falling in love with Africa, finding perhaps a person that would draw me back there. Being under those stars, sleeping on the ground, riding 30 kilometers a day does something to your body and your mind just falls open,” she said.

“Can you imagine being on a horse coming up close to giraffes and elephants? The horses are trained so well to override their instincts as prey and to listen to what their rider is asking. So there we are, standing there in the pulse of the wild.”

That is where she met Stephen Hambani.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District Board (SRD) expressed its frustrations with the Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) consultation process at the Aug 17 SRD Board meeting.

Although they were among the parties invited to a series of meetings about the transition of open net pen fish farms out of the ocean, there have been last minute scheduling changes.

Mayor Andy Adams of Campbell River said, “It's extremely disappointing that the dates for these important discussions are constantly changing at the last minute with no consultation. I can't help, but think that this is to limit the engagement for these sessions, which are extremely important.”

SRD Chair Brad Unger, the Mayor of Gold River, responded, “I agree, 100%.”

Mayor Mark Baker of Sayward added, “I found this process to be, almost as director Adams has pointed out, deliberate. The dates in the emails that were sent, especially to us north island mayors, the dates have been off and on and changed and a bit confusing. There were a couple of north island mayors waiting for the meeting today because of the confusion.”

Regional Director Jim Abram, of the Discovery Islands and Mainland Inlets, disagreed, “I think you're giving DFO too much credit in saying that they have purposefully changed these dates. I'm not defending them believe , I would say it's ineptness, rather than intentional and I've witnessed it over and over and over again, where all of the leads are set up. Everybody gets all lined up. And then nothing happens and we get a notice, oh, by the way, we changed it to another date. And then we get another notice and blah, blah, blah.”

Aquaculture is one of the principal industries within the SRD. While there are no fish farms in Campbell River, Cermaq Canada, Mowi Canada West and Grieg Seafood all have local headquarters in the city. A number of support industries are also in Campbell River. There are fish hatcheries in Gold River and Sayward. Fish farm sites are in the Okisollo Channel, which runs between Quadra and Sonora Islands, on Raza Island, off the northern tip of Cortes, and in numerous other locations throughout the Discovery Islands.

Campbell River Director Charlie Cornfield said, “This has a huge economic impact to our entire regional district to the entire north island and I appreciate the work that the chair has done in the past in conjunction with the other mayors from the North Island. I think we need to be there in person included with staff as well to make sure that we hear the presentations. We can question it, we can then it response back. I think what we've got as a pseudo attempted engaging, and I know director Abram and myself at various Marine planning. Processes on the coast have been pushing and including at the ocean's protection plan, we made it quite clear that there had been no consultation with local governments and it is unacceptable. We need to continue making and carrying that message forward.”

Director Abram registered for the August 19 meeting.

“This is going to be mostly information out. The minister will be there. I've been told along with all of these other dignitaries and then there will be some discussion,” he said.

In addition to the advertised sessions, there will also be opportunities to post whatever and however much they desire online.

Abram said there will be at 4 more opportunities for the SRD to make its views known.

The SRD Board passed a motion to ‘formally participate in the transitional planning process from open net pen salmon farming in British Columbia.’

Podcast Photo: Decommissioned fish farm in the Okisollo Channel - Photo by Roy L Hales

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Heather Wolf and Nicholas Moon of Wild Revival joined host Manda Aufochs Gillespie for wild music, tasting wild ferments, and an opportunity to ask the wild questions.

Everyone was welcome outdoors under the CCEDA tent in the Cortes Commons and simul-cast on Cortes Community Radio at 89.5FM CortesRadio.ca.

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 and Mondays at 6:30 p.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Changes are coming to curbside garbage pick-up on Cortes Island.

The charge to the island’s 692 units will be rising 50 cents from $97.75, currently, to $99.25 as of April 1, 2025.

There are also some changes to the contract.

Apparently the Strathcona Regional District was not aware that VEM Contracting has been picking up recyclables.

As a staff member explained, at the August 17 SRD Board meeting,“That's something that we just discovered that is being done, and we want to keep doing that as well.”

The SRD has noticed an increase in the number of eligible buildings over the past couple of years.

They are also concerned that VEM Contracting is sometimes dealing with volumes exceeding the 80 litre per unit specified in their contract. The SRD is developing a process to deal with excesses.

VEM Contracting has reviewed the new contract and agreed to the proposed changes.

Cortes Island’s Regional Director, Noba Anderson agrees with the proposed changes, but has some questions about billing. She has been receiving complaints from some constituents who claim they are being billed for buildings that are not residences.

“I expect in this kind of situation, where extra dwellings are being counted for these purposes, is inevitable. But I’m just wondering what the rectification process would be,” she said.

SRD staff replied they have had similar complaints. They have attempted to visit Cortes a couple of times, but the ferry line-ups were too long.

“We missed the ferry, and we're planning another trip once the busy season slows down. So we're planning a trip for the second week of September. We are responding to all these requests and we're letting residents know that if we find out that the dwellings that they have on Corte Island, don't meet the language of the bylaw we will remove those bills from our system,” explained staff.

The SRD Board passed a motion authorizing the Chair and Corporate Officer to execute the proposed modification agreement with VEM Contracting.

Waste containers - Photo by Donald Trung Quoc Don (Chữ Hán: 徵國單, own work) - via Wikimedia Commons - (CC BY-SA 4.0 International).

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Mosaic informed the SRD Board of its intentions to log Cortes and Quadra Islands in a presentation at the August 17 SRD Board meeting.

“Earlier this year, we were really happy to announce that Way Kay Ventures, a newly formed company owned in part by the We Wai Kai First Nation is providing us with our timber harvesting services on Quadra island. So great to see that nation, working with us on our crown tenures, to participate in the forest sector in their traditional territory,” explained Molly Hudson, Mosaic’s Director of Sustainability. “We've been talking a lot with the community on Cortes about upcoming harvest plans, which we intend to launch this fall.”

Hudson outlined some of the ways Mosaic has been providing Cortes Island with benefits:

They opened up the Gorge Harbor access terminal, which is now used by both the Kalhoose Forestry and Cortes Community Forest.

They have been working with the Forest Trust for the Children of Cortes island on a carbon project and the potential sale of the Children’s Forest

They provided the Cortes Island Fire Department with some new water tanks.

She also described some of the ways Mosaic is of value to Campbell River and the Strathcona Regional District:

They spend $80 million a year on local purchases

Mosaic pays about $13 million a year in property taxes to the various municipal and regional districts where it operates.

They have given funds to local organizations like Greenway's Land Trust and the Campbell River Salmon Foundation.

North Island College, in Campbell River, is one of the institutions to benefit from the $125,000 Mosaic provided First Nation scholarships and training programs.

“All of the wood that we produce is offered first to local Millers before it can be sold overseas. That surplus check ensures that local mills are offered our wood first,“ said Hudson.

“We were really proud last year to be recognized as one of BC's top employers and one of the things that was recognized by BC's top employer association is that we've embedded a comprehensive diversity and equity and inclusion strategy into our business now. So really supporting a diverse range of folks in our industry and encouraging others to join us in the forest sector on the community front.”

Mosaic partnered with the Pacific Salmon Foundation and has committed to be net zero by 2035.

Hudson reminded the SRD Board that Mosaic has deferred harvesting 40,000 hectares of its private timber lands for 25 years.

“80% of those lands are mature in old forests,” she said. “This is a voluntary market initiative so any other company globally who has net zero commitments could be reaching out to us to buy these carbon credits to support their own path to net zero.”

Some of the Directors had questions.

Forestry is one of Campbell River’s three economic pillars and Director Charlie Cornfield asked, “If you reduce that, then you reduce the harvesting. That's the employment of loggers road, builders, contractors, and everything else. So the company might make more, but what about the impact to the communities?”

Hudson replied that Mosaic’s holdings were so vast that she did not forsee any ‘negative economic impacts to our labor force or to the communities who support that labor force.’

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Lynne Jordan, former curator of the Cortes Island Museum, is writing a history of Whaletown. Her manuscript is already 300 pages long. In the first of a series of interviews about her research, Jordan describes the history behind Whaletown’s name.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - David Broadland recently wrote a devastating critique of the old growth logging at Hummingbird Lake on Quadra Island. As there are conditions when it is necessary to cut down an old growth tree, I wrote some of the people involved with the Cortes Community Forest to find out how often this occurs in their operation.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - An exquisite scene hangs outside of the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery for the 2022 Annual member’s Show. A hummingbird is depicted flying upward to sample the nectar from a cluster of flowers. Izabelle Perry’s piece is actually a gateway, which some members hope will become a permanent exhibit. The price is $2,500,

Kristen Schofield Sweet agreed the gate is remarkable, but the membership would have to agree for the gallery to make an investment like that.

“I'm pretty sure the gallery itself is not the only ones who are going, 'well, I wonder if we could afford to put that somewhere.' Certainly that gate is probably going somewhere,” she explained.

“I was visiting at the gallery with some friends yesterday and we were sitting out on the picnic table. Several people came to the show and without exception, each one stopped in front of that gate and said, ‘wow!’”

Gerri Davis spoke about the Member’s show, which opened on Friday, August 12.

“I was at the opening last night of the Cortes Island Art Gallery in the Old Schoolhouse. And it was well attended the variety of paintings and the quality is amazing. I was here from about six to seven. There was about 30 people here and there was snacks and stuff outside. It was lovely.”

Two of Davis’ pieces are in the show.

She believes all the members present, when Cortes Currents visited the gallery, are displaying their art.

Iyame Stryck was one of the four women who set up the show, “It's nice to have the praise that are people comfortable to bring your peace to open to the community.”

Schofield-Sweet said 23 artists exhibited.

“There's a number of new artists this year, and that of itself is wonderful and remarkable. It is like the whole show gets an uplift of energy when you see work that you haven’t seen before.”

She proceeded to list some of them: Brooke Anderson,Tanya Krahn, Filipe Figueira, Leona Jensen, Izobel Perry, and Madhurima Braaten.

There were also a number of artists who had been exhibiting with the gallery for a decade or more: Brigid Weyler, Donna Naven, Kathleen Pemberton, and Lisa Gibbons, etc.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Cortes Kayaks bioluminescence tours have been setting out from Mansons Lagoon every Friday and Saturday for the past month.

There were about a dozen people in our group, which was mostly composed of off islanders from Vancouver, Victoria or the Cowichan Valley. The only experienced kayakers were our guides, Jolaine Boucher and Maria Francis. However most of the group had some experience and the only rookie was me.

“How can you live on Cortes Island for twelve years and not go out in a kayak?” asked an astonished Boucher.

This is her fifth season as a guide and she has not lost her enthusiasm.

It was in her voice as she squealed with pleasure, paddling close to the phytoplankton covered marine vegetation along the west bank of Mansons Lagoon. A milk-like bioluminescent trail followed every stroke.

Or when her awestruck voice came through the darkness, “Did you see that shooting star?”

Boucher was our principal guide, who we followed.

Francis kept to the rear, where she could come to the aid of any stragglers. Not that there were many stragglers. Our trip from Mansons Landing to the mouth of Gorge Harbour was punctuated by periodic regrouping, as Boucher ensured all of her flock kept together. This is Francis’ first season as a guide, and I suspect she will soon be leading groups on her own.

Assembling at Mansons Lagoon about 8 PM on Aug 13, 2022 – Photo by Roy L Hales

Our session began with an introductory lesson of everything from a ‘bum drop,’ as you are entering the kayak’s cockpit, to how to hold a paddle.

“Never stand up in a kayak,” explained Boucher. “98% of all flips occur when you are entering or leaving the kayak.”

The only thing I found difficult was sitting in the kayak with my legs sticking out in front of me. I blamed this on my 71-year-old body’s loss of flexibility. While it is more efficient to paddle sitting erect, I could only do this for short distances. Googling this later, I read, “the muscles used to maintain erect posture are out of tone.” I slouched back in my seat throughout most of the trip.