Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Our local MP, Aaron Gunn, is holding a series of town hall meetings in the North-Island Powell River riding. He will be in Courtenay tonight (Feb 17), Campbell River on February 21, Port McNeil on March 16 and Powell River on March 19.  Gunn may also come to Cortes Island, but the dates have not been set. 

Aaron Gunn: " We want to come to Cortes, but if I just come to Cortes with no plan - I haven't really accomplished anything other than a photo op. So we always try to set up some kind of coffee or meeting where people that live there know that I'm coming and if they want to come and engage, they have an opportunity to do so."

Cortes Currents: We will promote it on the radio. We will promote it over our bulletin board. It's called the Tideline. The size of the crowd's hard to tell, could be as few as 20, or as many as 100. The hundred would be surprising, but who knows? We haven't had a Conservative candidate or politician on the island for years.

Aaron Gunn: It's always better to have more people show up, but the most important thing from my perspective is you give everyone an opportunity to come out and voice their opinions and ask their questions. Different communities certainly have different amounts of political engagement. Power River has an incredible amount of engagement for the size of its community.We'll see how the Comox Valley goes tomorrow, but of course only half of the valley's in my riding. So a bunch of people who I'm not representing might show up at the door, but that's okay."

While the Conservative party saw increased support on Cortes during the last election, Gunn will face a variety of perspectives. 

Max Thaysen, the alternate director for Cortes Island and co-leader of the Cortes Climate Action Network, responded, "I welcome him to come and I will be happy to ask him some questions, find out more about what he thinks about some really important stuff. I think having open and public dialogue with people who've been elected to the House of Commons is very important. There were some early concerns that Aaron Gunn was not interested in hearing from constituents. That was something that I heard in a few different places from people who were trying to get hold of him to share their concerns with him. I think he's become more open to hearing from people and sharing with them. That's a good thing."

"I also want to say that, as a very climate concerned person, I am very concerned about the public position that the Conservative party has taken. It borders on climate denial and that is very dangerous. I think we'll have some pretty serious conversations to have. I hope we get lots of people out. It should be fun. Come bring your own questions."

Cortes Currents asked Gunn what he hoped to achieve through his town hall meetings.

Aaron Gunn: "The primary vision is to give constituents an opportunity to hear directly from me and ask any questions that might be on their mind. We get hundreds of emails every week and try to meet with as many constituents as possible, but this is a very efficient and transparent way to engage with the people that you're representing and give them a chance to hold you accountable."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Cortes Island's second housing survey was launched on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. Like the first housing survey conducted a little more than two years ago, this was a joint endeavour between Regional Director Mark Vonesch and the Cortes Housing Society, who together provided a look at the first responses to the 2026 survey. There had already been 70 respondents when Cortes Currents interviewed Sadhu Johnston a day after the release.

Sadhu Johnston: "The first survey was really, really helpful for us in guiding the work of the Cortes Housing Society. We wanted to do another housing survey to gauge where people are at and how they're feeling about the housing challenges on Cortes. Also, for us, as we're building out Rainbow Ridge, it helps to get clarity on what people are looking for in terms of their housing needs. We want to make sure we're building the right size units, the right number of bedrooms, and things of that nature," he explained.

Cortes Currents: By the time Mark Vonesch was available to comment on Sunday, the number of respondents had grown to 170.

Mark Vonesch: "Having data helps us make good decisions. We did a housing survey two years ago and we just released a new housing survey earlier this week. We asked similar questions to understand people's lived experience with housing, both as owners and renters. Then we added a few more questions drilling down into some of the challenges that people are having, and we asked some opinion questions on policy decisions."

"We've had 170 people fill out the survey so far, which is about 15% of the island. I would like to see at least another hundred people. So, if you're listening to this and you haven't filled out the housing survey, it just takes a few minutes. The link is on the Tideline. If you subscribe to my newsletter list, it's been released there, and through the Housing Society's social media and newsletter as well. I'm also putting it up on Tideline and we've mailed it out to all the mailboxes that receive drop mail on Cortes. We're hoping to increase the number of people that fill it out this year. Last time, we had almost 25% of the island fill it out, which is huge for a survey, but obviously the more people that fill it out, the better."

Cortes Currents: How long do people have to fill it out?

Mark Vonesch: "We are running the survey until March 6th. We're running it for a similar time as last time—roughly three weeks—so there's lots of time for people to fill it out, but the earlier the better. We've made a few changes this year."

Teen Takeover/Folk U -This episode of FolkU features an exploration of sovereignty by CIA student Tristan. What it is to be sovereign in relation to our fellow humans, and in relation to the land? How can we teach ourselves and others how to self-govern? Featuring two interviews, this podcast challenges us to think about our society a little differently, even if it’s just for an hour.

This show is the fourth instalment in the culmination of the 2025/26 podcasting course at the Cortes Island Academy, an intense deep dive into the techniques and art of podcasting in which each student picks a topic, then researches & produces a full feature-length show on it from start to finish, including interviews, scripting, recording, and editing their show. To learn more about the Cortes Island Academy, visit www.cortesislandacademy.ca

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

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Community Foundation has once again shown how invaluable resource it is to the community. Regional Director Mark Vonesch has a budget of about $25,000 a year for Grants-in-Aid. When the time to disburse the funds arrives, he normally receives requests for far more money than is available. This year was no exception; however, thanks to the Cortes Island Community Foundation, nearly all these requests will be met.

As Director Vonesch explained at the January 28 Board Meeting:

"Similar to previous years, we received a lot more applications than we had funding for. I had roughly $25,000 to spend and we had over $50,000 in applications. I worked with the Cortes Island Community Foundation to put together a community jury of members who were not on non-profit boards or staff, and were not connected to those non-profits in a way that would create a conflict of interest. They held a series of meetings and went through the applications."

"I'm delighted to say that the Cortes Island Community Foundation privately raised an extra $25,000 for these applications this year. So, almost all of the funding requests will be met—assuming these are passed by the board today—both through the SRD Grant-in-Aid program and through the Cortes Island Community Foundation. I'm happy to take any questions."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In this morning’s interview we hear from Sara Stewart of Wildflower Produce and Cidery, near the southern tip of Cortes Island.

Sara Stewart: “I’m not a religious person, but when you depend on the natural world you become deeply ingrained in it. I used to think I was building connections with the natural world when I lit a fire on Imbolc (Ancient Celtic beginning of Spring) and celebrated Samhain (end of the harvest season). I now find that rituals or ceremonies can disconnect you from nature. So I try to cultivate the spirituality of a squirrel. I don’t see wildlife celebrating Imbolc—you just notice what’s happening in your body and respond accordingly.”

Cortes Currents: Where do you come from and what inspired you to get into agriculture?

Sara Stewart: “I grew up in a subdivision in Southern Ontario, so I didn’t have farming in my family. I gardened for a long time and I was vegan because, once you learn about the food industry, it’s pretty appalling. I worked for nonprofits before farming because I’ve tried to align my work with my values, not with the goal of a higher income. Nonprofits aren’t profitable, and farming is very, very difficult to make ends meet financially and to turn a profit. The most I’ve made farming for myself is about $5 an hour, so it’s definitely a challenging lifestyle.”

“I first got into it as a farm hand when I was 33, but I’m a little bossy, so I became the boss the next year. I became the field manager. I’m pretty good with spreadsheets. I have a very logical mind, and I often say that farming is like playing Sudoku in your mind, but with plants.”

“So if I plant this here, then this has to go here; if I time it like this, this has to go over here. So it’s a lot of planning in the winter. So I do spreadsheets showing where everything is. I have a calendar for when I seed things, when I transplant them, and when I harvest them, and that’s very left-brain.”

“Then in the summertime it’s very right-brained and creative to apply that plan to what’s actually happening, because it rarely lines up with what I intend.”

“This is my 11th season being a market gardener, and season number seven on Cortes. That part has become a lot more established and less challenging. The first year here was a carpet of weeds and very poor soil quality. I test every year. It’s been nice watching the nitrogen and organic matter increase.”

“I grow about $50,000 worth of produce a year, mostly on my own. I do have volunteers who contribute about 15 hours a week in the summer, which is nice. I sell mostly at my farm stand here and at the Cortes Natural Food Co‑op as well.”

Cortes Currents: Tell me about coming to Cortes. Why did you come here and when?

Sara Stewart: “I was working on farms for a few years as a farm manager and then decided I wanted to lease land for myself. I toured the Gulf Islands and down in Saanich. When I finished, someone recommended Cortes. I came here on a visit and I crashed a funeral and realized there were people my age here; elsewhere it had been mostly seniors. Someone told me about Reef Point Farm and that this might be a place to lease land. I contacted them, they were paying caretakers, and I had the idea of paying them to farm here. That was in 2019.”

“I started my first year farming here in 2020 with the goal of being a market gardener—growing vegetables. It just kept growing from there. The next year I got chickens, the year after that I got sheep, and in 2022 I did the business plan for the cidery.” 

Cortes Currents: How many years in total have you been making cider?

Sara Stewart: “This is number three.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -The Quadra Island Recreation Society is asking the community for their input into what the island’s Community Centre and a new pavilion at Blenkin Park should be used for.

Marc Doll, Vice Chair of the Society, explained: “We started by looking at one desperate need for the community centre, which was the lack of a proper kitchen facility. We came up with some solutions, but the price tag came in higher than what we wanted for a very small improvement. So, conversations continued, and we decided that we really had to look at the bigger picture. The Quadra Island Community Centre has been serving the community since 1985, and we felt it was time to go back to the public and ask: what do we need this building to do for the next 20 years?”

“At the same time, we've been working with the SRD for the last number of years to get an outdoor pavilion in Blenkin Park. The funding is in place, and we're looking to start building as early as 2026.”

“So, we're going to the community to ask: does this community centre suit the needs of the community for the next 20 years? Or are there things that we need to start preparing for now? At the same time, now that we have money in place for a pavilion, we want to make sure we reach out to all the groups that currently use the facility—the concert groups, Quadra Palooza, the theatre groups, etc.—to say, 'Is this something that you would want?' And if so, what form would it need to take to best suit your use? How does the community imagine using it? Where should it be placed? What elements need to be incorporated to ensure it is well-used?”

Cortes Currents: Have you received any new ideas coming out of this so far?

Marc Doll: “The press release just went out. We have put a postcard into every mailbox on Quadra, which directs people toward a questionnaire [email protected]. I think the postcards only hit mailboxes yesterday. I'm not going to look into the responses until everything is in. The survey closes on March 1st, and then there is a committee meeting to synthesize the responses and plan the next step, which will likely be a public open house.”

Cortes Currents: Can people mail in their responses instead of going online?

Marc Doll: “Yes. The idea is that there are also forms available at the community centre for those who don't want to do it online. They can stop by the centre or grab a form from Jane for a written response.”

Cortes Currents: How integral are these projects to the community?

Marc Doll: “The community centre is the only piece of public infrastructure that Quadra Island has. When we look forward to the challenges that the future is going to place on us, having strong communities and places for people to gather, organize, and learn is what's going to hold us together.”

Cortes Currents: Why does Quadra need a new pavilion at Blenkin Park?

Marc Doll: “The summer months offer so much opportunity. The park is large but generally not well-used in the summer. We want to bring people together; currently, we have no place for a theatre group to put on 'Shakespeare in the Park,' or even for the public to gather under cover for a family picnic on a rainy day. The community centre is a wedding venue in many ways, but it doesn't have that outdoor capacity to allow a young couple to get married without the fear of being rained upon. All these things are important community offerings that we're currently just not able to do.”

Teen Takerover/Folk U -In the first half of this episode, Cortes Island Academy students Elsie, Lacey, and Elias discuss the housing situation on Cortes, from three different angles. This includes tiny homes, Rainbow Ridge, the Seniors Village, and interviews with five different locals, as well as their own stories and observations on the topic. Travel with them as they learn about the challenges of finding housing on Cortes, and the creative solutions that are emerging to try and solve the issue.

In part two, Nathaniel Maki interviews Margaret Verschuur and Fawn Baron from the Death Care Collective, and discusses the importance of having a healthy culture and communication around the topic of death and dying.

This show is the third instalment in the culmination of the 2025/26 podcasting course at the Cortes Island Academy, an intense deep dive into the techniques and art of podcasting in which each student picks a topic, then researches & produces a full feature-length show on it from start to finish, including interviews, scripting, recording, and editing their show. To learn more about the Cortes Island Academy, visit www.cortesislandacademy.ca

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

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -The Cortes Island Academy offers an accredited 20 week experimental, project-based education for students in grades 10 through 12. They just wrapped up their fourth year and, on February 9, are about to start taking applications for 2026-2027. In this morning’s interview Executive Director Manda Aufochs Gillespie talks about the school and their recent annual showcase in Mansons hall.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In addition to being a former candidate in our area, Jennifer Lash is a former senior advisor to Canada’s Minister of Environment with a lot of insight into what motivates the Liberal government.

So Cortes Currents recently asked her,  “Tell us a little bit about the tightrope that Mark Carney's been walking with separatism rising in Alberta and Quebec; environmentalists saying that we should be adapting faster; the rising cost of living, needs for more housing, more jobs; Trump's economic tantrums, the need to just diversify Canada's economy and the threat of recession.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -With all the current hype about the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA), Cortes Currents reached out to two rural politicians to ask how they see this legislation working at the local level. Mark Vonesch is the Regional Director for Area B (Cortes Island) and Robyn Mawhinney is the Regional Director for Area C, which includes Quadra and most of the other Discovery Islands. They both sit on the board of the Strathcona Regional District (SRD).