Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The trip that 10 Cortes Island resident took with Wild Waters Adventures

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Cst. Rebekah Draht of the Quadra RCMP released a report of 10 incidents that occurred between May 17 and 22nd, 2022. Seven of these reports either mention a boat, or a ferry terminal.

Photo of ramp at Campbell River Ferry Terminal by Roy L Hales

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Believe in the power of stories to bring community together? So do we!

How would you like to have thousands of books for free at your fingertips? Come together to choose and discuss books? Folk U & Cortes Literacy has partnered with Kobo Rakuten to bring up to 20 loanable e-readers to Cortes Island.

How it works: You join our Folk U (Kobo E-reader) book club by sending an email to [email protected]

You get: to borrow a Kobo Rakuten waterproof e-reader with access to the entire Kobo-Rakuten book catalogue as well as the Vancouver Island (or other library card) catalogue. All for free!

The book club: meets monthly in person. Attendance is optional. Try it out for a few months. No commitment. If it's not for you, return your e-reader and someone else gets a turn.

The Kobo Rakuten e-readers: stay in our community and will continue to be lent out through Folk U/Cortes Lit. These little e-readers are designed for heavy duty use, come with training to get you started, and have different lighting options, font sizes, and other ways to help with visual barriers.

Hate electronics? No worries, we will pick books in advance and then you can order through Marnie & Juli’s book store!

Sign Up NOW! The first 20 get priority on the first e-readers.

(Borrow for the summer even and then it can pass on to someone else for the fall. Traveling for the summer? Great! Take it with you and read while you are away.)

Let's get the books in our community and start reading. Ready? Ask questions or sign-up by June 4th to reserve your spot, get updates, etc. at [email protected]

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Recently the Harbour Authority of Cortes Island (HACI) decided to stop offering garbage disposal services on our docks. This news sparked a flurry of discussion on Cortes Island Facebook groups. Some people were upset at the HACI decision, while others supported it. Most people agreed that there is a “garbage problem” on our docks, but opinions varied about who is to blame and what should be done.

On Saturday, May 21st I visited the Whaletown Government Dock to interview Billie Fleming, who has worked for HACI as a garbage collector. Billie is now offering her own garbage pickup service at Whaletown dock from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM, Wednesday through Saturday.

Real Dufresne wasn’t simply emptying bins, he cleaned up the whole area around the docks – Photo by Ben Bailey via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - One of the questions raised at Mosaic’s Cortes Island ZOOM meeting, last January, revolved around the environmental impact that reactivating the log dump will have in Gorge Harbour. While they were not permitted to speak, community members could use the chat box. Local diver Mike Moore typed that he had observed a thick layer of wood debris and sediments, covered by ‘bacterial mats.’ He suggested that any disturbance of the sediments could pollute nearby shellfish operations.

The question arose again last week. In a post to the Cortes Tideline, Dr Brian Hayden cited scientific studies from 1977 and 2011 to substantiate his concerns about the log dump.

“This is a recipe for disaster for the marine environment – the benthic environment, the sea, the seabed floor – for Gorge Harbour, and it’s had a bad impact from the time they started dumping logs here until the present,” he said.

Cortes Currents forwarded Dr Hayden’s objections on to Mosaic.

A company spokesperson replied that the log dump site has been in use for 40 years and their operations will only be a fraction of the size that occurred historically at this location.

“The rate of use of a site like this is an important factor. We’re planning a few truckloads a day when active, which is only a portion of the year,” she emailed.

“Over the last few decades, various science and standards, including environmental standards, legislation, Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Best Management Practices (BMP) and professional requirements, have evolved to improve and to ensure environment values are managed appropriately. Today’s standards ensure environmental values are considered, and Mosaic Forest Management follows or exceeds all legislation. Our team of independent professional biologists, qualified marine biological professionals, engineers and forest professionals have assessed the site to ensure all our activities comply with or exceed federal and provincial legislation. We have completed an environmental assessment (including an underwater SCUBA assessment) that meets or exceeds the DFO requirements.”

“We have positive working relationships with our neighbours that hold aquaculture tenures directly adjacent to our Gorge Harbour facility.

The was essentially what Colin Koszman, Mosaics’ Land Use Forester said last January, except in more detail.

So Cortes Currents asked Mike Moore for a diver's perspective

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A total of 92 species were listed in Cortes Island's Spring 2022 Bird count. More than 20 birders participated, including local naturalist George Sirk who started the day off as a guide on board the Misty Isles.

So this year’s count was expanded to include Mitlenatch island, where Sirk served as a naturalist in 1969 and 71. He remembers when there were about 450 pairs of Pelagic Cormorants, no Double Crested Cormorants and no Eagles nesting there. Since then, the Pelagic population has dropped to about 250, 25 Double Crested Cormorants have arrived and a pair of eagles has taken up residence.

“The Pelagics nest on the sheer cliffs on the Western side of the island. They find any kind of small shelf that will just hold them. And then they make their nests out of eel grass. It primarily is what I've seen up there and guano, and they glue these things together. The nest must be about 18 inches across or so and they build them up over years. Some of them are two feet high. It all withstands the Southeast winds in the winter time. I guess all that guano was just like cement holds them together,” explained Sirk.

He added, “we used to have 3000 pairs of Glaucous-winged Gulls and I bet the population is down to about a thousand pairs. I believe it is primarily going down because of the garbage dumps. Back then, we used to just make gigantic garbage dumps: Delta, Campbell River, Nanaimo, Victoria, even on Cortez right? All the garbage was jumbled together, including all the foods and composts and everything. So the gulls could survive the winter when fishing is very hard cause the low tide is at night. They survived on the dumps, but then we cleaned up the dumps. All that wonderful recycling and then covering it up as soon as possible with soil. Then scaring the goals away too! And because they take four years to mature, the gulls really suffered when we cleaned up. That's my theory behind that, and I think it's a pretty sound theory.”

When Sirk first arrived on Mitlenatch, eagles used to fly over from Cortes and some to the surrounding islands to pick off the young gulls. That ended when a pair of eagles took up residence. While they eat some of the gulls, more survive because they keep the other eagles away.

Returning to Cortes Island, Sirk spotted some Western Grebes.

“Fishermen used to call them hell divers, because they are the largest of the Grebes and they can dive the deepest. They're the furthest off shore. You can see them two or three miles off the coast of Cortes and that's their habitat. They can go hundreds of feet deep and hunt their fish,” he said.

He lists five different types of Grebes and a number of other species in the podcast.

Some of this year’s highlights on Cortes:

Autumn Barret Morgan and Cory Dow spotted a Sandpiper at Linnaea Farm

John's and Sherry Sprungman observed a Golden Plover at Sprungman's pond. right there off of Bartholomew. And that's a super bird.

“This cold snap that's gripping north America really seems to have affected birds. They're holding off a little bit in coming north. They somehow sense that the Arctic is still frozen. It's still cold up there. All their ponds and lakes are still frozen and so they're a little bit delayed. I've noticed that on Cortes too. Birds seem to be like maybe a week late or so,” said Sirk.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There are 62 community forests in British Columbia, but only one of them is a general partnership. This can be traced back 23 years, to a MOU in which the Klahoose First Nation and the Cortes Ecoforestry Society agreed to work towards a community forest. Then, in September 2013 the Ministry of Forests issued a Community Forest Agreement to the Cortes Forestry General Partnership.

In the third of a series of articles coming out of their 2022 AGM, Mark Lombard talks about the General Partnership.

He was a member of the Co-op Board, and one of the three appointed representatives to the partnership, from late 2011/early 2012 until Christmas 2017. Since then, Lombard has been the partnership’s general manager.

“The community forest on Cortes is a general partnership, 50/50 between the Klahoose First Nation and the Community Forest Cooperative, which was formed to be a partner in the partnership,” he explained.

“Now I know the co-op doesn't represent every individual on Cortes Island, but about a quarter of the full-time population are members of the organization, which is fairly representative, almost enough to get first past the post election Canada.”

There are 6 directors on the partnership’s board: 3 from the Klahoose and 3 the Community Forest Co-op. They are the policy and governance setting body and decide big picture items like:

profit disbursement,

policies for staff interactions with government.

Harvest levels,

harvest intensity

“Operational decisions are made by the staff on a day-to-day basis. The big picture operations and financial analysis and information are compiled by the staff presented to the board. Once the board approves or modifies operations, then the staff carry out the operation,” said Lombard.

“The board is pretty hands off on a day-to-day basis, but they take care of the big picture.”

He added that decisions are made by a consensus.

“My hats off to the board of directors at how constructive, focused and positive that everybody has been over the years. We've had directors come and go but everyone who's been a member of that board has really maintained a high level of professionalism and constructive decision-making.”

The current chair is Aaron Ellingson, who was co-chair with Chief Kevin Peacey, who recently retired as chief and from his forestry duties.

“It was a real pleasure working with Kevin and the Klahoose as we were working adjacent to the Klahoose First Nation, and we use the road through their reserve to get to the community forest,” .

“It's a great team, the community forest board and it's not easy. A lot of people on Cortes would like us to log more or less, or differently or something, definitely something. The board manages to keep a level keel throughout all of the challenges of the industry that we're in. So it's a good board. I'm very grateful to the board and in particular to the Klahoose First Nation who's made this possible in to do this as a partnership.”

For further information go to:

- the Cortes Forestry General Partnership website

- the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative website

- articles about, or mentioning, the Cortes Community forest on Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -102 British Columbian First Nations are calling for fish farms to move onto land. The Klahoose, Tla’amin, Homalco and K’omox First Nations are among them. On May 12, Chief Bob Chamberlain, Chair of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, addressed Parliament’s Standing Committee on Fisheries and Oceans. 

He began by addressing them in his native tongue.

This is a recording of the rest of his opening presentation.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District will be inviting all First Nations in the district to Board meetings. Within the Cortes Currents broadcast area, this should include the Klahoose, Homalco, Tla’amin, We wai Kai, Wei wai Kum and Lay kwa First Nations.

The motion was brought forward at the May 11 Board meeting, where the debate centred around the extent of their involvement

”What is the difference between sitting at the board table as an observer and, sitting in the gallery and the audience as an observer? I don't understand the significance of the difference,” asked Regional Director Gerald Whalley.

Chief Administrative Officer David Leitch explained that someone sitting at the table could participate in the discussion, while someone in the audience was not allowed to comment.

“What about in-camera (i.e.- meetings that are not in public), would they be absent from that or present?” asked Whalley.

“Absent,” said Leitch.

Regional Director Jim Abram objected, “The intent was that they could come to the meetings to observe the proceeding and if there was a need to speak, they could put their hand up and come to the table and speak. But to have them at the table is just almost like having them as directors.”

Leitch said, “In my mind, it is participation. That's an action verb. It's not to sit at the table, but it's to participate in discussions, but, again, happy to make modifications as per the board's direction.”

At this point the only First Nations member of the Board, Kevin Jules of the  Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/ Che:k’tles7et’h (Kyuquot/Checlesaht) added, “I sat at the table as an observer for quite a lengthy time and, you know I was a part of the discussions as well. I needed to be a part of and that. That's how I see it. That's how it was. That's how it was for me as an observer. I came and sat at the table.”

Whalley responded, “I had understood in the past that the participation at the board and observer was for those First Nations that were in the treaty process and we're nearing near completion of that treaty and that would shortly be full members of the board. That was the whole purpose of it. But for those who aren't, or aren't even considering it a treaty process, I think it's inappropriate.”

There were only two director opposed when the motion to invite First Nations in the Regional District to participate as observers at Board meetings was moved, Abram and Whalley.

The motion carried.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Cst. Rebekah Draht of the Quadra RCMP released a report of seven incidents that occurred between May 2 and 15th. While most were minor incidents, there was a car crash on Read Island which resulted in two people being hospitalized and someone lost a large sum through a computer scam.

On May 2nd the Quadra RCMP received a 911 call from a woman who was not getting any response when she called her brother. This was very unusual as carried his he always had his phone on him. After a few minutes the complainant phoned back to say her brother returned her call and all was well.

On May 3rd, the police were informed that someone had trespassed on a construction site. There were multiple “doughnut hole tire marks all over the freshly packed gravel.” Officers investigated, but were unable to locate the culprit.

That same day, the RCMP were advised of a possible shooting. This turned out to be fireworks which the homeowner set off for his daughter’s birthday.

On May 4th, Quadra RCMP received multiple reports of an impaired driver travelling south on West Road toward that plaza at Quathiaksi Cove. The intoxicated driver was issued a 90 Day Immediate Roadside Prohibition. This was changed to lousing their license for 90 days and the vehicle was impounded for 30 days. Roadblock

On May 6th, Quadra members conducted a late evening road block. All of the drivers were sober, but two warning notices issued for other infractions.

On May 7th, a respite worker in Campbell River called the Quadra RCMP stating that a youth in her care had gone to Quadra Island with his girlfriend and refused to come back. Officers located the couple at the local school. The youth were very cooperative and apologized for their actions. RCMP transported the missing youth to the ferry, where he were met by the respite worker. The girl was driven to her residence on Quadra.


On May 10th, a woman informed the Quadra RCMP that she lost a sum exceeding $5,000 through a computer scam. The complainant was advised that her computer was hacked and advised to call “Microsoft” at a provided phone number, which she did. The fraudsters persuaded her to withdraw money from her bank account and deposit into a bitcoin machine. After the money was deposited, she realized it was a scam. She had never been talking with the Microsoft support team. The victim was advised to contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre at 1-888-495-8501 or through its website at https://www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca/index-eng.htm.

Shortly after midnight on May 15th, officers responded to a motor vehicle crash on Read Island. The two occupants received head injuries and were were airlifted to Comox hospital via CFV Comox Cormorant Helicopter. They are now in stable condition.

You have been listening to the synopsis of a press release from the Quadra RCMP, which serves Quadra, Read, Cortes the neighbouring Discovery Islands.