Cortes Currents

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Daily News - Cortes Island staff and students will return to school for full-time classes on Monday September 14th and orientation will be on September 10th and 11th.

There are a lot of questions as to what school will look like this Fall. Cortes Island school is figuring out how to provide required schooling and ensure there are safe options for those with additional health concerns or that have caregivers that are vulnerable or work with vulnerable populations. Cortes Islanders with children planning to enrol at the school for in class instruction, those planning to be enrolled but more homebound, and those planning to homeschool or pursue primarily computer based learning are being asked to let the school district know by Tuesday September 1 their enrolment plans. Later today there should be furthered detail communications from Cortes Island School.

Principal Brent Wilken welcomes parents and students back to school on behalf of Cortes Island School and invites those with enrolment questions to reach out directly at [email protected]

If you haven’t received anything from the school district make sure you reach out to your local school so they know your intentions to enrol your child. If you are a Cortes parent and have concerns or questions, you can reach principal Brent Wilkin on his email or by calling the school directly at 250-935-6313.

Roy L Hales/News Update - The internationally recognized novelist Shaena Lambert recently visited Marnie's Books, on Cortes Island. Four of works have been chosen for Best Canadian stories and the Globe and Mail recognised three of her previous novels as books of the year. Lambert is also a dedicated environmentalist, who was arrested twice during the Burnaby Mountain protests, and continues to actively oppose oil pipelines and logging of old growth. In the most recent

Folk U Friday radio program,  the Vancouver novelist explained why she chose to to launch her new novel on Cortes Island.

Roy L Hales/News Update - The internationally recognized novelist Shaena Lambert recently visited Marnie's Books, on Cortes Island. Four of works have been chosen for Best Canadian stories and the Globe and Mail recognised three of her previous novels as books of the year. Lambert is also a dedicated environmentalist, who was arrested twice during the Burnaby Mountain protests, and continues to actively oppose oil pipelines and logging of old growth. In the most recent

Folk U Friday radio program,  the Vancouver novelist explained why she chose to to launch her new novel on Cortes Island.

Roy L Hales/Daily News -The grocery delivery program’s origins go back to October 2019. A Rendezvous Island resident, Judith Wright, organized a group run for four or five families every two weeks. After COVID hit, close to half of the permanent residents of Rendezvous, Read, Maurelle, and Sonora Islands took advantage of the SRD Delivers program to have their groceries delivered every week for three months. While the funding ended in mid July, the Surge Narrows grocery delivery program proved to be so effective that it continues today

The transition began after Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman advised a Read Island based accountant about SRD Delivers.

Ginny Vassal explained, “I started thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, what an opportunity.’ We don’t want people going to town, but they need to get supplies. Our population is pretty close to 50% seniors, actually 47%. All of a sudden, SRD was making made it possible for people not to go to town. The maximum grant was $5,500. We applied and we're very grateful to get the full amount.”

Vassal applied for the grant.

The delivery system coordinator, Judith Wright, added that SRD Delivers “helped cover the shipping costs for seniors and has been a useful buffer as we work the bugs out of the system. Because of the aid, we have been able to establish a reliable food delivery system that can be ongoing.”

Around thirty families continue to place their orders on Fridays and later converge on the tiny community of Surge Narrows, on Read Island, to pick up their food.

Roy L Hales/Daily News -The grocery delivery program’s origins go back to October 2019. A Rendezvous Island resident, Judith Wright, organized a group run for four or five families every two weeks. After COVID hit, close to half of the permanent residents of Rendezvous, Read, Maurelle, and Sonora Islands took advantage of the SRD Delivers program to have their groceries delivered every week for three months. While the funding ended in mid July, the Surge Narrows grocery delivery program proved to be so effective that it continues today

The transition began after Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Protective Services Coordinator Shaun Koopman advised a Read Island based accountant about SRD Delivers.

Ginny Vassal explained, “I started thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, what an opportunity.’ We don’t want people going to town, but they need to get supplies. Our population is pretty close to 50% seniors, actually 47%. All of a sudden, SRD was making made it possible for people not to go to town. The maximum grant was $5,500. We applied and we're very grateful to get the full amount.”

Vassal applied for the grant.

The delivery system coordinator, Judith Wright, added that SRD Delivers “helped cover the shipping costs for seniors and has been a useful buffer as we work the bugs out of the system. Because of the aid, we have been able to establish a reliable food delivery system that can be ongoing.”

Around thirty families continue to place their orders on Fridays and later converge on the tiny community of Surge Narrows, on Read Island, to pick up their food.

Some Canadians of European descent find the fact three Indigenous nations claim Cortes Island as their traditional territory confusing, but a member of the Klahoose Nation explained this in a recent interview. Norm Harry's ("Tal-wa-ska") father was originally xʷɛmaɬkʷu (Homalco) but became ƛohos (Klahoose). Some of Norm’s uncles and aunts are ɬəʔamɛn (Tla'amin) and his family also has close relatives among the K’omox. As Norm Harry understands it, these nations were all one people before the Canadian government put them onto reservations.

Some Canadians of European descent find the fact three Indigenous nations claim Cortes Island as their traditional territory confusing, but a member of the Klahoose Nation explained this in a recent interview. Norm Harry's ("Tal-wa-ska") father was originally xʷɛmaɬkʷu (Homalco) but became ƛohos (Klahoose). Some of Norm’s uncles and aunts are ɬəʔamɛn (Tla'amin) and his family also has close relatives among the K’omox. As Norm Harry understands it, these nations were all one people before the Canadian government put them onto reservations.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The Old Schoolhouse Gallery will only have one show this year. While they cancelled their summer season because of COVID, the artists group has been mulling over some ideas for almost a year now. On September 10th, 2020, they bring the discussion to the public in a show called “What matters most?”

>>> A Time of Pause

“I think the community, the province and the planet is in a time of pause right now,” said Kristen Schofield Sweet, one of the gallery’s directors.

“We had a spectacular season last year. The gallery has grown from an artist’s collective creatively run space, which Oriane Lee [Johnston] called ‘creative chaos’ … No one was in charge … People showed what they wanted, when they wanted … Over the last twenty years, the gallery has become more professional in that larger context: in terms of exhibitions, a selection committee, a set of procedures and protocols.”

She added, “In a way, this show is a return to a community based ‘just for us’ kind of exhibition. The whole COVID-19 situation has created this pause, where we could say as board members, and community members involved in the arts, ‘What matters to us? What do we look like as artists? Who is emerging? What are some young people up to?’ It is an opportunity to get outside the box. We hope it will change things: not just for September, but for sometime to come.”

>>> Returning the Gallery to its Members

Another director, Oriane Lee Johnston, said this has been brewing for some time:

“Last September, we went through a comprehensive review of the last twenty years since the founding of the gallery. That’s where the title of this show came from.We are returning the gallery to the members in a way. We purposely chose to wait until September … after the tourist season, to make it clear this is for the community, the artists and our own pleasure.”

“It’s always fun to see the people who submit a piece, or several pieces, every year for a members show - either their consistency or evolution as artists. I am particularly interested in emerging artists …”

>>> In the Podcast

In the podcast above, they discuss:

Why there will be no reception or opening night for this show

protocols for this show: everyone must wear masks; only six people will be allowed in the gallery at a time etc.

As they do not know how many pieces will be submitted, the gallery can promises that everyone who enters will have one piece in the show. If space permits, they may have atwo.

A four step process to enrich your experience while viewing artwork.

Much more

>>> Artists statements


Schofield -Sweet explained, “The best description of an artist statement I have ever heard is that it is like having the artist stand next to the work, helping you look at it. The artist isn’t standing in front of the work with their words, trying to explain it to you. Art should not need to be explained. Each person who looks at a piece will have their own engagement, their own stories, their own memories and emotional wisdom that emerges from it. That is how it should be. But if I take a few sentences to say: ‘here’s what I was experiencing’; or ‘here’s where this came from’; “or this is a real diversion from the work I usually do and this is how come …” - it helps the viewer get a context of the work.”

“What Matters Most” will be on display at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery from 2:00 to 6:00 PM, Thursdays to Sundays, September 10th to 20th.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The Old Schoolhouse Gallery will only have one show this year. While they cancelled their summer season because of COVID, the artists group has been mulling over some ideas for almost a year now. On September 10th, 2020, they bring the discussion to the public in a show called “What matters most?”

>>> A Time of Pause

“I think the community, the province and the planet is in a time of pause right now,” said Kristen Schofield Sweet, one of the gallery’s directors.

“We had a spectacular season last year. The gallery has grown from an artist’s collective creatively run space, which Oriane Lee [Johnston] called ‘creative chaos’ … No one was in charge … People showed what they wanted, when they wanted … Over the last twenty years, the gallery has become more professional in that larger context: in terms of exhibitions, a selection committee, a set of procedures and protocols.”

She added, “In a way, this show is a return to a community based ‘just for us’ kind of exhibition. The whole COVID-19 situation has created this pause, where we could say as board members, and community members involved in the arts, ‘What matters to us? What do we look like as artists? Who is emerging? What are some young people up to?’ It is an opportunity to get outside the box. We hope it will change things: not just for September, but for sometime to come.”

>>> Returning the Gallery to its Members

Another director, Oriane Lee Johnston, said this has been brewing for some time:

“Last September, we went through a comprehensive review of the last twenty years since the founding of the gallery. That’s where the title of this show came from.We are returning the gallery to the members in a way. We purposely chose to wait until September … after the tourist season, to make it clear this is for the community, the artists and our own pleasure.”

“It’s always fun to see the people who submit a piece, or several pieces, every year for a members show - either their consistency or evolution as artists. I am particularly interested in emerging artists …”

>>> In the Podcast

In the podcast above, they discuss:

Why there will be no reception or opening night for this show

protocols for this show: everyone must wear masks; only six people will be allowed in the gallery at a time etc.

As they do not know how many pieces will be submitted, the gallery can promises that everyone who enters will have one piece in the show. If space permits, they may have atwo.

A four step process to enrich your experience while viewing artwork.

Much more

>>> Artists statements


Schofield -Sweet explained, “The best description of an artist statement I have ever heard is that it is like having the artist stand next to the work, helping you look at it. The artist isn’t standing in front of the work with their words, trying to explain it to you. Art should not need to be explained. Each person who looks at a piece will have their own engagement, their own stories, their own memories and emotional wisdom that emerges from it. That is how it should be. But if I take a few sentences to say: ‘here’s what I was experiencing’; or ‘here’s where this came from’; “or this is a real diversion from the work I usually do and this is how come …” - it helps the viewer get a context of the work.”

“What Matters Most” will be on display at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery from 2:00 to 6:00 PM, Thursdays to Sundays, September 10th to 20th.

Roy L Hales/Cortes News - The Cortes museum lists 28 independent fishing boats based at one of island's docks during the 1970s. Twenty years ago, 5 were still returning to Mansons Landing. By 2016 this number had shrunk to 2 boats and neither of them fished Cortes waters. While this decline may partially reflect the shift towards large corporate fishing fleets, a new UBC study states a quarter of Canada’s fish stocks are in decline and the industry would benefit from a complete closure of fishing for some species.

The authors point to the rebound of Norway’s herring stocks, which came close to the point of extinction in the 1980s but are now flourishing, as an example of what can be accomplished.

After the stocks are replenished, fishermen will be able to take a larger harvest.

The authors also suggest the federal government implement economic and social assistance programs to help the estimated 5,000 fishermen, who would lose their jobs, find alternative sources of income.

To learn more, go to Cortes Currents.ca