Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Statistics released by the BC Centre for Disease Control show that our area is relatively COVID free.

These are found on a series of maps, and a weekly report, released on Thursday, October 8th.

One of the maps shows the number of new COVID cases in the previous fourteen days. While there were 19 reported on Vancouver Island, only three were in the region stretching north from Courtenay.

Another map gives the total number of cases, since the outbreak began, in Northern, Central and Southern Vancouver Island. There have been 71 in North Island, only two more than last week.

Local Health Areas

The BC Centre for Disease Control releases the cumulative data for every Local Health Area in British Columbia every month. The most recent, which shows the number of cases reported as of September 30th, was updated yesterday.

It breaks Northern Vancouver Island into four areas. Comparing the data with previous maps, we find:

There were 4 new cases in the Comox Valley during September

Another case was reported in Vancouver Island North, which includes the communities of Port McNeill, Port Hardy and Coal Harbour.

There were no new cases in Kyuquot, Zeballos and Tahsis, and the rest of Vancouver Island West, since August. A single case has been reported in that region.

There have been no new reports in the Campbell River area, which includes Cortes, Quadra and the rest of the Discovery Islands, since July. At that point there had been a total of 12 cases since the pandemic entered our area.

This detailed breakdown ends on September 30th and, as mentioned earlier, there have been at least two more cases reported somewhere in northern Vancouver Island.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - One of the reasons that Alexandra Morton is running for the Green Party in this election is that “over the last twenty years, I’ve seen the politics and policies that are killing off the wild salmon of this coast are also destroying our communities.” However fish farms are overseen by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada, not the provincial legislature. So I asked Alexandra what can an MLA do about fish farms?

How is the province involved?

“The licensing for salmon farms is federal, but it is the province that is the landlord. So they’re giving the tenures for the foreshore leases. I noted in the announcement that DFO made on the 28th of September, where they were talking about taking out the Discovery Island farms due to the Cohen Commission recommendation, they said they would be going forward in discussions with First Nations and also the province of British Columbia. So, the province is deeply involved in this,” she explained.

“They are also involved in the effluent that comes out of fish farm processing plants. For example at Brown’s Bay, where we found piscine reovirus (PRV). It is multi-jurisdictional but it is definitely in provincial hands as well.”

When does the lease come up?

“The leases are variable. Unfortunately, most of the tenures in the Discovery Islands are in the +2030 - which is a bit disappointing because twelve years ago the province of British Columbia came out and said that after 2023 the First Nations would have final say on whether these tenures would be renewed. But all the tenures are extended to the point where I believe the Fraser sockeye will simply go extinct. 2:00

What can the province do about effluence?

“They are also involved in the effluent that comes out of fish farm processing plants. For example at Brown’s Bay, where we found piscine reovirus (PRV). It is multi-jurisdictional but it is definitely in provincial hands as well.”

“In terms of the effluent and pouring the blood water from these industrial aquaculture operations into the Discovery Channel, which is where one third of Canada’s wild salmon are migrating - it’s such a bad idea. I believe that pipe just has to stop. It has to go into some kind of recycling facility. It has to be loaded into trucks, dewatered, dried out, turned into fertilizer - something other than just pouring it into the ocean.”

“I’ve been involved in this debate for quite awhile, with several processing plants. They deny that they are releasing live sea lice eggs or pathogens. Yet when divers go down and put plankton nets over these and bring them up to me, they are indeed loaded with pathogens and live hatching sea lice eggs. So, eyewitnesses to that.”

What’s the provinces role with the pipes?

“The provinces role with the effluent pipes is they are in control of what comes out of these fish farm processing plants. Plain and simple. It goes into the ocean, which is a federal environment, but the pipes themselves and the act of pouring effluent out of the plants and directly into the ocean, is a provincial jurisdiction.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - One of the reasons that Alexandra Morton is running for the Green Party in this election is that “over the last twenty years, I’ve seen the politics and policies that are killing off the wild salmon of this coast are also destroying our communities.” However fish farms are overseen by the Fisheries and Oceans Canada, not the provincial legislature. So I asked Alexandra what can an MLA do about fish farms?

How is the province involved?

“The licensing for salmon farms is federal, but it is the province that is the landlord. So they’re giving the tenures for the foreshore leases. I noted in the announcement that DFO made on the 28th of September, where they were talking about taking out the Discovery Island farms due to the Cohen Commission recommendation, they said they would be going forward in discussions with First Nations and also the province of British Columbia. So, the province is deeply involved in this,” she explained.

“They are also involved in the effluent that comes out of fish farm processing plants. For example at Brown’s Bay, where we found piscine reovirus (PRV). It is multi-jurisdictional but it is definitely in provincial hands as well.”

When does the lease come up?

“The leases are variable. Unfortunately, most of the tenures in the Discovery Islands are in the +2030 - which is a bit disappointing because twelve years ago the province of British Columbia came out and said that after 2023 the First Nations would have final say on whether these tenures would be renewed. But all the tenures are extended to the point where I believe the Fraser sockeye will simply go extinct. 2:00

What can the province do about effluence?

“They are also involved in the effluent that comes out of fish farm processing plants. For example at Brown’s Bay, where we found piscine reovirus (PRV). It is multi-jurisdictional but it is definitely in provincial hands as well.”

“In terms of the effluent and pouring the blood water from these industrial aquaculture operations into the Discovery Channel, which is where one third of Canada’s wild salmon are migrating - it’s such a bad idea. I believe that pipe just has to stop. It has to go into some kind of recycling facility. It has to be loaded into trucks, dewatered, dried out, turned into fertilizer - something other than just pouring it into the ocean.”

“I’ve been involved in this debate for quite awhile, with several processing plants. They deny that they are releasing live sea lice eggs or pathogens. Yet when divers go down and put plankton nets over these and bring them up to me, they are indeed loaded with pathogens and live hatching sea lice eggs. So, eyewitnesses to that.”

What’s the provinces role with the pipes?

“The provinces role with the effluent pipes is they are in control of what comes out of these fish farm processing plants. Plain and simple. It goes into the ocean, which is a federal environment, but the pipes themselves and the act of pouring effluent out of the plants and directly into the ocean, is a provincial jurisdiction.”

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - Archaeology: the science of once and future things and I am joined in the studio by our neighbour Dr. Brian Hayden, archeologist extraordinaire. Brian got his doctoral degree from the University of Toronto and taught  archaeology at Simon Fraser University for 40 years and is now a Research Associate at the University of British Columbia, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada: and, of course, a professor here at the esteemed Folk University.  His archeological and ethnoarchaeological research has taken him to Australia, Southeast Asia, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Ontario, and here to British Columbia. 

In Archaeology: The Science of Once and Future Things, Dr. Hayden discussed what archaeology is and what it isn’t and the important distinctions of context that separate it from antiquarianism. Archaeology as the study of trash and archeologists are able to decode this trash to understand the level of income inequality, education, and many other things about a culture.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - Archaeology: the science of once and future things and I am joined in the studio by our neighbour Dr. Brian Hayden, archeologist extraordinaire. Brian got his doctoral degree from the University of Toronto and taught  archaeology at Simon Fraser University for 40 years and is now a Research Associate at the University of British Columbia, fellow of the Royal Society of Canada: and, of course, a professor here at the esteemed Folk University.  His archeological and ethnoarchaeological research has taken him to Australia, Southeast Asia, France, Guatemala, Mexico, Ontario, and here to British Columbia. 

In Archaeology: The Science of Once and Future Things, Dr. Hayden discussed what archaeology is and what it isn’t and the important distinctions of context that separate it from antiquarianism. Archaeology as the study of trash and archeologists are able to decode this trash to understand the level of income inequality, education, and many other things about a culture.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The giant trees that most of us associate with the term old growth now only make up 3% of the forests, but they are still being logged on Vancouver Island. The market is being flooded with young second and third growth timber that possesses a large percentage of sapwood. A Cortes builder (and Vice President of the of the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative) explains why you do not want to use this wood on the outside of your home. The BC Liberal candidate, Norm Facey, declines to comment. His party frames this issue in terms of jobs. Green candidate Alexandra Morton says we are running out of resources - houses, salmon, timber, but "it doesn't need to be that way if we plan for these things and work together on it." NDP candidate Michele Babchuk talks about government policy.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The giant trees that most of us associate with the term old growth now only make up 3% of the forests, but they are still being logged on Vancouver Island. The market is being flooded with young second and third growth timber that possesses a large percentage of sapwood. A Cortes builder (and Vice President of the of the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative) explains why you do not want to use this wood on the outside of your home. The BC Liberal candidate, Norm Facey, declines to comment. His party frames this issue in terms of jobs. Green candidate Alexandra Morton says we are running out of resources - houses, salmon, timber, but "it doesn't need to be that way if we plan for these things and work together on it." NDP candidate Michele Babchuk talks about government policy.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - A quarter of a million British Columbians pay more than 30% of their income for rent. The statistics are worse on Cortes Island, where it applies to almost half of the tenants, and improves the closer you get to Campbell River. In response to the COVID crisis, the NDP Government provided a rental supplement of between $300 and $500 a month, but that ended on August 31st. The Green party just announced they would earmark $500 million for rental relief, and prioritize funding people who pay more than 30% of their income - but it is extremely unlikely the Greens will form the next government. So what do the candidates in our riding have to say about the affordable rental crisis?

BC Liberal candidate Norm Facey did not comment.

NDP candidate Michele Babchuk said, “It is an important issue in our riding Roy, and both the Liberals and the Greens opposed previous rental rebates. Andrew Wilkinson has opposed every major action we have taken to support renters: our COVID eviction plan; capping rent increases to inflation to save the average renter in BC about $333 a year; the speculation tax that turned about a thousand empty condos into homes for people. He thinks renting is just a whacky time and he would get rid of those caps on rent increases and the speculation tax. That’s just going to cost people more money.”

She added, “A John Horgan government will continue supporting people, Roy, and we’ll have more say about that, especially about renters, in our plan coming up this week.”

Green candidate Alexandra Morton took a less partisan approach, ”If I am elected, my goal is to talk with people because I don’t have all the answers, but I know there are wise people in every community. We need to discuss these things because there is a human migration headed our way - both from COVID, families who are trying to get out of the city and were locked down because of COVID and would like to have a yard, and of course we are both looking at and breathing the smoke from fires in California. So there are people moving our way. I think it is very important that communities have this discussion and come up with plans and solutions that work - so we are not simply overwhelmed.”

Photo credit: Vincent Van Gogh's bedroom in Arles (1889)- courtesy Art Gallery ErgsArt via Flickr (Public Domain)

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - A quarter of a million British Columbians pay more than 30% of their income for rent. The statistics are worse on Cortes Island, where it applies to almost half of the tenants, and improves the closer you get to Campbell River. In response to the COVID crisis, the NDP Government provided a rental supplement of between $300 and $500 a month, but that ended on August 31st. The Green party just announced they would earmark $500 million for rental relief, and prioritize funding people who pay more than 30% of their income - but it is extremely unlikely the Greens will form the next government. So what do the candidates in our riding have to say about the affordable rental crisis?

BC Liberal candidate Norm Facey did not comment.

NDP candidate Michele Babchuk said, “It is an important issue in our riding Roy, and both the Liberals and the Greens opposed previous rental rebates. Andrew Wilkinson has opposed every major action we have taken to support renters: our COVID eviction plan; capping rent increases to inflation to save the average renter in BC about $333 a year; the speculation tax that turned about a thousand empty condos into homes for people. He thinks renting is just a whacky time and he would get rid of those caps on rent increases and the speculation tax. That’s just going to cost people more money.”

She added, “A John Horgan government will continue supporting people, Roy, and we’ll have more say about that, especially about renters, in our plan coming up this week.”

Green candidate Alexandra Morton took a less partisan approach, ”If I am elected, my goal is to talk with people because I don’t have all the answers, but I know there are wise people in every community. We need to discuss these things because there is a human migration headed our way - both from COVID, families who are trying to get out of the city and were locked down because of COVID and would like to have a yard, and of course we are both looking at and breathing the smoke from fires in California. So there are people moving our way. I think it is very important that communities have this discussion and come up with plans and solutions that work - so we are not simply overwhelmed.”

Photo credit: Vincent Van Gogh's bedroom in Arles (1889)- courtesy Art Gallery ErgsArt via Flickr (Public Domain)

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The BC Liberals are calling for an immediate end to the tent cities that have sprung up in Campbell River as well as larger cities like Vancouver and Victoria.

BC Liberal press release

In a press release, Roxanne Helme, the BC Liberal candidate for Oak Bay-Gordon Head, said, “This is a matter of public safety. Each unsupervised 24/7 tent encampment is an extremely dangerous place to be.  We know people are smoking drugs in nylon tents; criminal elements have infiltrated the camps to prey on the vulnerable people within them; there is violent crime, in addition to drug and property crime, hiding within their walls; they are unsanitary; there is no compliance with public health directions in response to COVID 19 and so the list goes on. This not to mention that the 24/7 tent encampments are preventing the use of our parks as they were intended and that they are damaging their delicate ecosystems in the process.”

Ms Helme added, “the only ‘solution’ that John Horgan and the NDP have come up with is to warehouse some of the homeless population in derelict hotels without sufficient supports.”

Aside from the suggestion “they must be appropriately housed,” she did not explain where the people in these camps would go.

The BC Liberal candidate for North Island, Norm Facey, is not available for comment.

Homelessness in Campbell River

Campbell River’s homeless population is now probably closer to 100 than the 81 listed in 2018.

The city was thinking of setting up a better run camp, using protocols to protect them from COVID, last Spring.

Enter BC Housing

A provincial agency, BC Housing, came forward with a more permanent solution.

BC Housing, the City of Campbell River and the Vancouver Island Mental Health Society are partnering to build 50 new homes with support services for people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness at 580 Dogwood Street. 

The province is also funding two other Campbell River building projects that target specific needs. The Fir street residence will have 49 units for women and children fleeing violence. Linda’s Place will have 27 units for people with low to moderate incomes, including those with brain injuries.

In addition, BC Housing purchased the former Rose Bowl restaurant, in Campbell River, as a transition house with beds for 20 houseless people until more permanent accommodation can be found.

At a meeting last summer, Kristi Schwanicke, Coordinator of the Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness, “All of these projects, coming online so quickly, will have a tremendous impact over the course of the next six months.”

BC Housing Projects on Quadra and Cortes

The projects BC Housing is currently funding on Quadra and Cortes Islands are for seniors rather than homeless people.

However a 20 unit project in Mansons Landing is, at least in part, a response to Cortes Island’s seasonal homelessness problem. Every year, tenants are evicted from their homes during the warmer months, to make way for the more lucrative tourist trade, are forced to set up tents, couch surf of find some other accommodation until the season is over. If their property is rezoned, the Rainbow Ridge project will be seeking founding from BC Housing.