Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A recent study suggests that incorrect reporting may be responsible for Southern Quadra Island, Tahsis, Gold River and Sayward not qualifying for funding under the Connected Coast High Speed internet program. As a result of this failure, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) had to arrange for loans of up to $12.5 million. BC’s Ministry of Citizens' Services, the Union of BC Municipalities and the Northern Development Initiative Trust hired TANEx Engineering to study reports that the amount of broad service available in rural communities is less than what servers like TELUS, Mascon Cable Services (a TELUS company) and Bell are reporting on the National Broadband Internet Service Availability Map.

According to a summary of the findings, released by the Ministry, ‘there was medium to high evidence of possible discrepancies in 106’ of the 940 localities studied.

The SRD Board appears to have discussed this matter in the closed session of their Feb 23 Board meeting. A link to the summary of findings was in the minutes of that meeting. The SRD declined Cortes Currents subsequent request for an interview.

However some of the Directors have discussed the reporting problem at previous Board meetings.

According to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), “Canadian residential and business fixed broadband Internet access service subscribers should be able to access speeds of at least 50 megabits per second (Mbps) download and 10 Mbps upload.”

The services in Southern Quadra Island, Tahsis, Gold River and Sayward were all reported to have met that standard.

However Tahsis is also one of the six communities that TANEx chose for case studies:

“Tahsis reports poor internet, does not appear to have 50/10 service available for purchase, and there are no CIRA tests within the municipality that reflect service at 50/10. This provides further evidence of a difference in what the Map shows and what the community is experiencing.“

At the March 24, 2021, Board meeting, Mayor Martin Davis of Tahsis remarked, “I find it really disingenuous that they're throwing these numbers around about 50 down and 10 up for Tahsis because, well, I just did a test on mine and it's 6 down and 3 up. I've talked to many people in the community around these tests and that's typical. So I really don't know where the data's coming from and I believe it's incorrect. So I'm glad to see that they're looking into it.”

Mayor Brad Unger of Gold River agreed, “Same thing happening in Gold River.”

Regional Director Jim Abram reported the results of Quadra Island’s speed tests at the April 28th Board meeting, “200 or some odd people had to do speed tests and screenshots of what kind of service they were getting from TELUS, because TELUS had given the government information that was not quite correct, that we were covered to a degree of 50 megabits down, 10 megabits up on our internet speeds that is untrue and we proved it with our screenshots. The highest one we had was 38! Most of them were down in the 10s. So that in itself cut out a huge amount of our funding for the Connected Coast, which we're all involved and we just passed a huge motion to borrow a bunch of money!”

TANEx found that 50/10 can mean very different things for customers logging on to their hosting network and a service provider who is only accessing the Canadian Internet Exchange. Connection speeds can degrade as information passes through more parties. So what the provider experiences as 50/10, can be much slower for customers.

In theory, providers should deliver the connection speeds they advertise, but there is also a wide range of factors that are regarded as outside the control of the network provider.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - According to Campbell River’s Sustainable Official Community Plan, 12% all trips to work within the city were to consist of walking, cycling or transit by 2020. They hope to increase this number to a third by 2060. In today’s interview the city’s transportation specialist, Melissa Heidema, talks about Campbell River’s shift to alternate forms of transportation.

Her most recent data comes from the 2006 census, at which point 10% of the population used alternate modes of transportation: 3% public transit, 6% are walking and 1% cycling.

“The goal in the master transportation plan is to get that 10% up to 20%, which would be 10% walking, 5% cycling and 5% transit. Now, 5% biking doesn't sound like a lot, but our current mode share is 1%. So we're aiming to go from 1% to 5%, which is quite a big jump,” explained Heidema.

She admitted that more recent data will soon be available, and this could alter their perception of the situation.

In addition, Campbell River’s current master transportation plan was drawn up in 2012. The city is awarding the contract for a 2022 plan to the WATT Consulting Group out of Victoria.

“This will give our community a lot of opportunity to comment on how they feel traffic is going in Campbell river and what improvements they'd like to see over the next 25 years,” said Heidema.

Up until recently the city had a list of 37 potential projects that could improve the cycling environment, but only a $15,000 budget!

Heidema said that was ‘not enough money to really do anything.’

Thanks to the River City Cycle Club, the budget for 2022 is now $200,000.

“They really very respectfully asked council for more money and made them see that, ‘hey, there's a desire. There's a need for this in Campbell river.’ Cycling has a whole host of benefits. It's makes for healthier individuals, healthier communities, less reliance on fossil fuels, less pollution, less congestion, less collisions. It's just better all around in a community if you have more cyclists.”

Heidema is in the midst of trying to figure which projects are most beneficial fo rthe community.

“Hopefully we pick a project that will bring cyclists off of a major street and into a more local pedestrian cyclist friendly street that brings them downtown and into Willow point,” she said.

She described two projects:

slowing down traffic on Birch street and making it safer for cyclists.

Taking parking away from one side of Hilchey and adding a buffered bike lane

The city is also putting sidewalks onto more streets, to make them pedestrian friendly. Their next sidewalk installation project is Cheviot road, a narrow street that leads up to Ripple Rock Elementary School.

Heidema said Campbell River has an excellent transit system, with major ibus lines along Dogwood street, Alder and Highway 19 A.

“We are getting ready to implement the next ride system,” she said.

People will soon be able use their smartphones to find out what bus stop they are at and when the next bus is arriving.

“I'm thrilled that this is coming to Campbell river.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The licenses for all 19 salmon farms in the Discovery expire in June. There will be only 7 farms left in the Broughton Archipelago by 2023, at which point their tenure ends unless they can obtain First Nation approval and Department of Fisheries licences. That leaves an estimated 79 salmon farms throughout the province and all of their licenses come up for renewal on June 30, 2022.

A new ‘independent’ report, prepared for the BC Salmon Farmers Association by the consulting firm Rias Inc states, “The licence renewal process in BC will determine the fate of the remaining 4,700 workers and $1.2 billion in economic activity generated by our sector in BC, as well as the additional $200 million in economic activity and 900 jobs across the country.”

In a recent press release, Joyce Murray, Minister for Fisheries and Oceans, said, “We remain committed to responsibly transitioning from open-net pen salmon farming in all coastal British Columbia waters and introducing Canada’s first-ever Aquaculture Act, which will respect jurisdictions, and provide more transparency and certainty within the industry.”

Critics like independent biologist Alexandra Morton said the “handful of low paying corporate jobs” this industry provides as insignificant compared to the damage it causes to wild fishery stocks, communities dependent of fishing, and wilderness tourism.

The Wilderness Tourism Association calls the continued existence of salmon farms a threat to their industry, which is dependent on a healthy wild salmon economy.

The Rias’ report calls for:

-“Immediate engagement on 2022 site licence renewals, and the 2025 transition plan, by senior government officials with industry leaders and Indigenous partners, with a clear timetable to address these issues.”

- “Increased transparency in decision-making for the future — for example, obtaining a licence re-issuance is complex and closed. All three governments should consider a dashboard type platform that allows the public to see what information/data companies provide as part of the process.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - How can CKTZ best support its listeners during an emergency?

Cortes Radio is conducting an emergency communications survey, which you will find on their website.

“We're trying to find out what the community wants in terms of emergency communication, and what CKTZ can provide. I think that it's a really important project, so I hope that people will take the 30 seconds that it takes to fill out a survey and consider honestly what it is that they feel our community radio can offer them in a emergency event,” said CLIO FM, who's in charge of this project.

There are paper copies of the survey at the Co-op, as well stores across the island. There is also an online version at Cortes Radio.ca.

The survey includes questions like:

Do you have a battery or hand crank radio as part of your home emergency kit?

How do you think Cortes Community Radio could best support local residents during an emergency or extreme weather situation?

What information is most important to you in an emergency broadcast?

The Cortes Community Radio Society was established in 2004 and Article 2.g of its' constitution  states that one of the station’s purposes is “to establish an ongoing community radio station that can broadcast important information to the community in cooperation with emergency services.”

On August 29, 2017 the station signed a  Memorandum of understanding with Strathcona Regional District, stating its willingness to provide temporary usage of the station during emergencies.

As SRD Protective services co-ordinator Shaun Koopman explained,”the Strathcona Regional District has signed a memorandum of understanding with the awesome folks at CKTZ at 89.5 FM to serve as the Strathcona Regional District’s direct emergency operation center public broadcasting system. Information is aid. Messaging saves lives. So to have a method for our local government to send you and a message that will be broadcasted exactly as it is, exactly as we ask them to send it out at a community level, is an exponential aid to the residents that we intend to serve after a major emergency.”

One of the questions in the survey is ‘would you like to learn more about volunteering with Cortes Community Radio's Emergency Communications team?’

Clio FM spoke about the possibility that the stations DJs could step forward, but everyone is welcome.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.” — Honoré de Balzac

On the 21st of January 2022, a notice appeared in Cortes Tideline, from Mosaic (a “forest management corporation” which handles logistics for TimberWest and Island Timberlands). The gist of it was captured in one sentence: “As we have now been able to spend some time becoming familiar with our private managed forest lands on Cortes Island, we would like to share details of our draft three-year plan with those interested from communities on Cortes Island.”

Mosaic was careful to include the important word “private” in their announcement — a reminder that some 9 percent of Cortes forest land is still owned by private timber companies (not Crown land), and that (since 2003 at least) “privately managed forest lands” are a different kettle of fish.

Most coastal residents are aware, on some level, that vast tracts of BC are privately owned by timber companies, whereas other tracts of land are “Crown land” where logging takes place under licence. Few, however, are aware of how that situation — and the inconsistent policies and rules governing the two different land types — came about.

Back in 1871, BC joined the Canadian Confederation. At the time, rail was the dominant mode of land transport and essential to the prosperity of the resource extraction zone which comprised the entire coastal region. Mining and forestry in particular relied on rail transport to get goods to market. Clause II of the Terms of Union gave the federal government a huge swath of provincial land along proposed BC rail lines — locally, about 20 percent of Vancouver island.

A goodly chunk of these acres shortly afterwards became the infamous Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) land grant (known to many as the Great Land Grab). This history should not be forgotten: it underlies today’s conflicts over land rights as well as forestry impacts and practise. Coincidentally or not, the land grant region coincides with the best Douglas Fir habitat on the island. How did a railway company get hold of such an enormous landbase full of the most valuable timber?

In order to “connect the seaboard of BC with the railway system of Canada,” the federal government agreed in the 1870’s to contribute $100,000 annually towards the construction of a railway. BC then agreed to grant about 800,000 acres of land, plus $750,000, to any company that would construct a railroad on Vancouver Island. Needless to say, this enormous carrot mostly benefited the wealthiest in the land: the man who scooped up the extraordinary sweetheart deal was none other than Robert Dunsmuir, the coal baron. (see End Notes)

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Whiskey Point Resort overlooks the ferry terminal at Quathiaski Cove, on Quadra Island. It’s driveway comes off a road that is often choked with Quadra and Cortes Island residents, as well as tourists, waiting to board the ferry. Never-the-less plans to add a 90 seat meeting room appeared to be moving forward, before it was brought before the Electoral Areas Services Committee (EASC) last June.

That SRD report staff states, “the planned development is being carried out in accordance with existing zoning regulations, including parking and signage, there are no zoning bylaw amendments being sought.”

They recommended that the Quadra Island development’s permit be approved upon the receipt of a performance bond of a little over $12,000.

That was last Spring.

At the most recent EASC meeting, on February 9th, the resort’s proposal was sent back to the Strathcona Regional District Board board with a recommendation that this application be referred back to the owner, Mr. Doo Yun Park, with the request that he thoroughly and comprehensively meet the Land Application Plan (LAP) policies and then bring it back to EASC for consideration.

That was the third time EASC has sent Mr Park’s proposal back.

Regional Director Jim Abram explained:

“A 90 seat Convention center is a new development. It should have been considered to be a rezoning to something like public assembly or one of our other zones that we have and change the zone rather than try and squeak it into a development permit situation.”

“This is not a small matter. This is a huge matter in the development of the mixed use, waterfront, whatever you said, the title was for that particular area. This area is the cornerstone that gateway to Quadra island, and it is extremely deficient in providing for the growth and the use of Quadra Island by members of Quadra and Cortes.”

“They have to use that ferry too. And you know, they have to deal with those traffics snarls at that intersection. So those kinds of things are definitely pertinent for both directors, myself and Noba, and definitely pertinent to the majority of Quadra Islanders. That I actually do go down there. Everybody uses that intersection at some point some every day, some once in a while, but it's not something we can just gloss over and say it doesn't count.”

SRD senior manager Aniko Nelson said,” What we're doing today is we are considering a development permit for a use that is already permitted within the Cove. We are looking to approve the form and character of the approved development, the policies that are outlined within.”

Chief administrative officer David Leitch added, “Staff have already acknowledged in reports and to the applicant that it meets all DP guidelines and policies. So we will not be responding to the applicant that it does not meet.”

He never-the-less did agree to faithfully pass on EASC’s recommendation to the Board.

The three other three regional directors, Noba Anderson, Brenda Leigh and Gerald Whalley, all supported Abram.

So Whiskey Point’s application will now pass to the SRD Board where, as only EASC directors vote on electoral area matters, the same four directors will decide whether to follow their recommendation

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The final numbers for Cortes Island’s Christmas Bird Count, which took place on January 5th, 2022, are in.

One of the key organizers, George Sirk, described his personal high point as watching the birds at Christian Gronau and Aileen Douglas’ bird feeder.

“I didn't count those birds because Christian handed those in. He has a variety of birds, several that weren't seen anywhere else on the island. Like House Finch's for instance. He's got them cornered there and then he has Chickadees and Red Breasted Nut Hatches. They're right outside the window. So there I was with a cup of coffee, nice and warm, watching about 12 different species of birds come and go,” he said.

The Bird Count numbers were average this year: 70 species. There were 82 one year and that number dipped as low as 57.

“When you start thinking about it, why do we have so many species? The reason is the diversity of our habitats here on Cortes!” explained Sirk. “We're quite unique at the top end of the Salish Sea compared to other islands. We're similar to Quadra, but not to the Redonda Islands, just to the east of us or to Hernando or Marina island.”

The southern part of Cortes, from Hague and Gunflint Lakes to the tip of Suitl point, bears the imprint of a mile thick pack of ice that rested there 10,000 years ago. It carved out the lakes and the shallow waters that stretch for a nautical mile out from the shore.

“Those shoals are full of clams as well other marine life, and you get huge concentrations of wintering ducks coming here off the shoals,” said Sirk.

There were close to 1,100 Surf Scoters.

“That's a lot of scoters! There's probably more than that because if we took a boat out to Marina, which we used to do in years gone by. Our numbers would probably double as far as the seabirds,” said Sirk.

“The ducks appear here in September, October, November. They come from the inland of Canada, even from the Arctic, because the Arctic freezes up. The lakes freeze up in the Prairies, in British Columbia and the Yukon. So all these ducks that nest way up there, come here and they feed all winter long. Then when spring comes, they're nice and fat and they can return in their long migration back up north and immediately start nesting as soon as the lakes and marshes and Tundra melts.”

There were close to 2,000 seabirds and 1,000 land birds this year.

Photo credit: a Marbled Murrelet - Photo by George Sirk

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - What's the dirt on dirt? Caleb Summers joins host Manda Aufochs Gillespie this Friday at 1 p.m. on CKTZ 89.5FM or livestream on cortesradio.ca. to talk about the hidden and magnificent world that lives just below the surface.

And calling all gardeners! What are you doing right now in your garden? How do you make soil in your garden? Call in and share your tips with me (and your neighbours) or ask questions and let's get them answered at 250-935-0200.

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

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Telus’ new 73-meter cell phone tower in Drew Harbour, Quadra Island, is now operational.

Heriot Bay residents reported intermittent service when the system was being tested, close to two weeks ago.

“The new site brings dramatically increased cellular service throughout the Heriot Bay area, the ferry route between Quadra and Cortes Islands, and surrounding waterways to Read Island,” a spokesperson for Telus told the Bird’s Eye. “Residents and visitors are able to use their wireless devices (such as cell phones and tablets) to make phone calls, send and receive emails and text messages, easily stream videos, and use social media apps. Most critically, these improvements also enhance safety and access to emergency services throughout the area, as more than 70% of phone calls to 911 come from a cell phone.”

As the site is land owned by the We Wai Kai Nation, it is outside of the Strathcona Regional District’s (SRD) jurisdiction.

Never-the-less, on April 20, 2021, Brian Gregg of SitePath Consulting emailed the SRD Board, “As you know, the land use authority in this instance is the First Nation however we wanted to send your team a copy of the upcoming newspaper notice as a courtesy to keep the SRD aware of TELUS’ plans in the area. We have full support of the We Wai Kai Nation Chief and Council and wanted to ensure that your team is in receipt of this notification as a courtesy.”

The first of two notices about this project appeared in the Bird’s Eye the following day. Residents were given until the close of business on June 4th to comment.

Looking out into Drew Harbour from Rebecca Spit on Quadra Island - Photo by Dale Simonson via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - It has been more than a week since the Southern Cortes Community Association, or SCCA, put out a survey to find out what kinds of spaces, opportunities and events the community wants to see in Mansons Hall.

In today’s interview Cora Moret, secretary of the SCCA, describes what sounds like the society’s rebirth after a two-year-long COVID hibernation.

“The survey results are pouring in. Some people are like - ‘is the hall even open? I miss the good old days when we could watch movies!’ Others have imagined great creations like four tiered memberships, every night programming and office hours every day. We're like, okay, let's see what we can make,” she said.

Though the hall was open, it did not offer much in terms of programming and the recently elected Board feels like they are starting from ground zero.

“It is a time of transition. The board is genuinely interested in hearing what people have to say about what they want to see. Just come ask us. Everything we do is out in the open and we are welcoming comments and inquiries of any sort,” said Moret.

The new SCCA board consists of:

Tammy Collingwood (President) - who put out the job posting for a new manager at the hall.

Tony Toledo (Treasurer)

Rebecca Thacker

Joy Shipway - who is in charge of Friday markets

Myrna Kerr, former President of the SCCA who brings a lot of experience to the Board

Cora Moret (Secretary)

The SCCA has also formed a number of new committees

a governance committee, which will compile information about policies, the SCCA’s charter, constitution and bylaws

a fundraising committee

an ad hoc hiring committee for the new manager

a market committee.

A liaison committee to communicate with CCEDA’s ‘Village Commons’ project.

“It's natural that SCCA would facilitate the transition into using that area more effectively, to create a real community feel to the downtown. So that's an exciting part of being on the board particularly now,” said Moret.

They also want to revamp the website so that members can use it to access the minutes and other documents.

Moret and her family moved to Cortes in 2014, and have enjoyed events like the African drummers, Cortes Day and Friday Markets.

“It's been an important part of my family's life, having access to events at the hall and things that are going on,” she said.

Moret mentioned three ways that people can fill out to the SCCA’s public survey. There are forms at Mansons Hall and each of the three Cortes Island Post Offices, or you can fill out the electronic survey which you will find through the link posted on the Tideline or in the written version of this article at Cortes currents.ca.