Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There will be a special Taxidermy Showcase at Wild Cortes on Saturday, September 14.   

Cortes Currents interviewed Laurel Bohart and Donna Collins, the co-curators of Wild Cortes, in the exhibition area. The bird songs in the audio of this story are from a recording of local birds, which provides atmosphere for the displays but is unrelated to this story. Collins gave an overview of the plan for the evening, starting from the opening at 6 PM.

“Laurel is going to have a brief talk, and then we'll have lots of time to wander through all of the birds and see what's there. We're going to showcase Laurel's taxidermy from Africa and also some  local animals not necessarily from Cortes Island  that maybe nobody has ever seen before. There's also going to be some Nigerian artwork and interesting things like there's a Bird of Paradise under glass." 

"Mostly they're in very unique postures,  for example, our Snowy Owl with the wings completely up. This is the posture that they take just as they're going to step off the posts, or whatever they're on, and take flight.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - British Columbia is heading for the polls on October 19, a little more than a month from now.

So far only two candidates have registered in our electoral district, North Island.

Michele Babchuk has been our MLA since 2020 and prior to that she was a Campbell River City Councillor for six years, as well as Chair of the Strathcona Regional District Board.

Dr. Anna Kindy is running for the Conservative Party of BC. She is an addiction specialist, and physician. On her campaign website it states “Throughout her career, Anna has been a tireless advocate for the marginalized and stigmatized populations of the North Island.”

Neither she or her staff have acknowledged Cortes Currents’ request for an interview.

Cortes Currents has interviewed Michele Babchuk on numerous occasions through the years, the last time being when she visited Cortes in July.

 At that point, she said, “I do have some concerns, not just from my riding, but for rural BC and some of the comments that have come out of some of the opposition parties in regards to cutting the budget by 25%, which means they’re cutting public service and social funding, usually That’s where they have a tendency to go. We have an opposition leader that is talking about the fact that human caused climate change isn’t real.”

I know that’s something that is extremely important in this writing. As Islanders, we all have a very large environmental ethic. And we’re seeing that play out in everybody’s everyday life, whether it’s from fire smarting communities, like we talked about earlier with the fire department, to being able to grow our local food and have food security.

“I’m also really concerned about the fact that the opposition leader {John Rustad) has also talked about cancelling DRIPA, or rolling DRIPA back. One of the things that I’m most proud about with the government that I am in, Is the fact that we are giving our indigenous communities that level of self determination that they have not had in the past.”

Cortes Currents is hoping to secure another interview.

Going through Babchuk’s list of assertions, John Rustad is on record stating “We must also repeal the United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was established for conditions in other countries — not Canada.”

He is not advocating a return of all traditional lands, but claims the real issue is ‘returning land to First Nations, who do not currently have sufficient property rights needed to secure prosperity.’

Rustad states the provincial debt has to come down, “It is immoral (and financially hazardous) to continue living beyond our means and leaving our children with the bill. While not immediate, we will plan on balancing the budget.”

As regards global warming, when he spoke to the CBC a week ago, Rustad said there are many things that are far more important. “Climate change is an issue, there is no question it is an issue, but we have to put that in the context of making sure that people can afford to live in British Columbia.”

He wants to scrap the carbon tax, develop nuclear power and dramatically expand B.C.’s natural gas production and LNG export facilities.

Rustad calls himself a champion of resource development, and states ‘activists who impede the activity of resource development through illegal blockades, harassment and violence must be held legally, and financially responsible for their actions – as must the groups that support them.’

One of the ways he hopes to reduce health care costs is ‘unleashing the power of private-sector innovation.’

He is promising to spur economic growth through personal and corporate tax cuts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) has a new President, is getting prepared to launch out in new directions and is also trying to raise $30,000 by the end of the month. The first two of those announcements may be interrelated, the third definitely is not. It is a result of two large contracts coming to an end, more on that later. First, Mike Moore has been one of FOCI’s members for decades and is now taking on a more active leadership role.

Mike Moore: “I hadn’t really been that involved in FOCI before, except that FOCI and the Watershed Sentinel were at one time very closely aligned, and I’ve been a proofreading editor for Watershed Sentinel for quite a few years. I joined the FOCI board in December 2021, so I’m coming up now to three years. I joined because I was getting out of the Misty Isles and having more time to pursue naturalist activities. I was really excited about all the projects that FOCI does in the forest, on the ocean, and on the beaches. It’s a pretty cool thing that they’re doing.”

Cortes Currents: Now you’re the president of the board.

Mike More: “I’m the new president.”

“It’s not a big upset or anything like that. Our AGM was in December. At our board meeting in January, when we elected positions, the board said that because we were just embarking on a process with Andrea Fisher (of board development, education, and defining the structure of FOCI), we would keep that course under Max Thaysen until it was finished. We finished that process in early summer and are still working on the final touches, but Max was happy to step back and I was happy to step forward. Nobody has left the board. Everybody is really happy and energized with how things are going.”

Cortes Currents: Have there been any changes in direction?

Mike Moore: “This is an excellent question and that’s just something that we’re coming to grips with.”

“FOCI has done a really great job in monitoring the local environment, in enhancing the local environment, and in educating people about our local ecosystems. We work with parks, both at the regional and provincial level , to maintain Mansons lagoon and the regional parks all over the island. We’ve got the longest continuous data set for foreshore monitoring. We’ve embarked on some wonderful projects like the Dillon Creek Wetlands Project and the Western Screech Owl Project.”

“We have all this stuff going, but it feels like it’s all pretty local and the world is changing. There’s this feeling that we want to have a bigger voice, a bigger input. We’re just coming to grips with that. That’s what this five hour meeting was this weekend. We’re pretty excited about where we can go. We are just in that revisioning process and we can’t actually make those decisions ourselves as a board. We want to involve our Executive Director, Helen Hall. She’s away at the moment and she’ll be back mid month, but we’ve done some preliminary work on that. We’re really excited about where we can go and stay relevant and vibrant as an organization.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Wetlands are key resources to address climate change and help maintain surface water flow during dry periods. But they are also largely disappearing.  According to a recent study in Nature, since 1700 approximately 3.4 million square miles of wetlands have been lost in the United States, Europe and China. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources estimates that 70 % of the wetlands in southern Canada disappeared prior to 1990. In densely populated areas, that figure is close to 98%. Unfortunately wetlands are often found in the same areas where humans like to live and this problem has been amplified by the critical need for affordable housing. 

Both of the most populated Discovery Islands are attempting to assess their water budgets while they look at further development. Quadra Island is mapping its wetlands, as well as carrying out rainfall, streamflow and aquifer studies. On Cortes Island, the Community Housing Society is seeking funding to carry out a study of Cortes Island’s water resources. 

Meanwhile the opportunity to apply for a $30,000 grant for the proposed Caddisfly Creek restoration project may have been lost, or at least deferred, because of Campbell River’s concerns about the possible impact on their plans for development.  

$5,000 of the funding was for removing logs and vegetation from culvert exits to the Salish Sea, but the bulk of the application was to fund a feasibility study. 

At the SRD  Board meeting of August 21, Regional Director John Rice of Area D asked, “Caddisfly affects Area D, just like it affects the city of Campbell River, but this is only a feasibility study.  Why are we  potentially holding up their opportunity to get money to do a study that is going to include both Area D and the city of Campbell River?” 

Campbell River Director Ben Lanyon responded, “This feasibility study is one step towards making it even harder for Campbell River to meet its housing targets. We're choosing the environment versus housing in alot of cases, unfortunately. This isn't currently a salmon bearing stream, but changing its status will directly affect the city of Campbell River.” 

To which Director Doug Chapman, also from Campbell River, added that Mayor Dahl said they have almost 840 housing units ready to go.

“We're waiting for the Minister of Environment’s approval. If there's an open ditch that has a pollywog in it, that delays everything.”

There was a presentation in favour of the project earlier in the meeting.

Katie Lavoie, Executive Director of the Greenways Land Trust made the introduction, “We're coming to you today to present on a project that we're applying for funding through the SRD.” 

Shawn Koopman, Protective Services Co-ordinator for the SRD, made an application to the province’s Disaster Relief and Innovation Fund on behalf of the Caddisfly Creek Restoration Project.  

Katie Lavoie: “I  see a lot of familiar faces, you probably know what Greenways does. We are a Campbell River based environmental nonprofit. We've been around for 28 years. We do a lot of restoration, a lot of community work, a lot of partnering with First Nations and all levels of government and volunteer groups.” 

Caddisfly Streamkeeper Greg Roberts provided some of the details.

“I'm a resident of Area D. We moved beside Caddisfly Creek around 2021. I felt very fortunate to have this beautiful little ditch beside my house. I started to do some research and thought, well, I'd start by cleaning up some invasive plants and maybe doing some plantings because all that's there at this point are some deciduous trees. One thing leads to another, and I realized that Caddisfly, like many creeks on the east coast of Vancouver Island, was historically a very productive salmon habitat, particularly for Coho. That’s been dramatically changed over the years through logging, road development, and urban development.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Care 4 Cortes campaign officially ends today, but there is still a chance to donate this weekend.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie, Executive Director of the Cortes Island Community Foundation, explained “There's still a day or two where we'll leave up our Care for Cortes donation page on Cortes Foundation.ca.  you can  still see all the different projects that were highlighted. Give to them,   if you have the financial wherewithal.  It doesn't have to be a lot.  $20 to  something like MicroGrants for Neighbours or to the Cortes Death Caring Collective, makes a difference. If a lot of people do it, this makes a big difference.”

“One of our jobs as the Community Foundation, is to make it easier for organizations who are doing the work to get the funds that they need and to help those who have money to give do it in ways that they know will have an impact. I hope that some people will still be like, ’okay, this is how I'd like to say thank you back to this place that I visited or to this place that I call home.’”

Cortes Currents: What was the overall goal of Care for Cortes?  

Manda Aufochs Gillespie: “Our big goal was really to help people understand more of the projects and activities that are happening. The financial goal: We basically said to our partners this year that we were hoping to raise $500 into each fund.  Most of the funds raised that, but not all did. Some of them got a few thousand.  The ones that really did best through this campaign did their own awareness raising, that includes Cortes Radio and the Dr. Emily Ellingson Scholarship Fund.”

“I think we did a great job of having fun and ensuring that everybody who comes to Cortes in the summer begins to understand a little bit more of the often hidden work that goes into caring for this place that we call home.”

“We combined it with our Village Commons Music Series. We were like, ‘Okay, if we're going to be on the airwaves anyway, if people are going to be coming, could we actually just have fun with it? Could fundraising not be the kind of oppressive tons of work, big event hard thing that sometimes it can feel like I know to small nonprofits. Could it just be part of the fabric of the community?’ So we combined it with this beloved thing which is  the village commons music series, which we do with Folk University and the Radio Station anyway.

“There’s so many projects. We couldn't choose all of them. We knew we had  nine weeks  so we said, okay, we'll basically choose a fund a week during that time.”  

The Nine projects were:

The Cortes Academy Scholarship.  

Village Commons Music Series.  

Cortes Housing Society.

Dr. Emily Ellingson Scholarship Fund.

Climate Adaption Fund.

Social Profits Network,

Cortes Community Radio Society.

Cortes Death Caring Collective

And MicroGrants for Neighbors.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - After 14 years at the helm, Ester Strijbos is moving on from the Tideline. In one of the archived posts, from the fall of 2011, she wrote: 

“Last year June, after careful consideration, Richard Trueman decided to step down from cortesisland.com (Tideline). I took over from Richard in July 2010. Irene Blueth is still Assistant Editor, which means that she takes care of the Tideline when I am away, and also helps make editing decisions.” 

Cortes Currents: How did you become the editor of the tideline? 

Ester Strijbos: “Richard and I became friends when we met up at the TAC on a weekly basis. We got together with  a bunch of people that were into web stuff and photography. We became friends.  Then after a few years in  2010, he was just done with it. There was a lot of stuff going on, the hall tax , the rezoning of the fish farms and the community plan.” 

“So he called and said, 'I need to find someone within a few days because I don't want to do it anymore.’" 

“I thought I would do it for a little while and then someone else would take over. ' That was my initial idea because I thought, 'well, we can't not have it. So I'll do it for a while and then we'll figure something out.'  I guess that part never really happened until now.”  

 Cortes Currents: Has it been a good time?  

Ester Strijbos: “Yes. Most of it, yes.”  (Laughs)

Cortes Currents: Why? What was good about it? 

Ester Strijbos:"Well, it's the community. There's a lot of people that are part of the timeline,  it feels like the whole community.  I loved that about it!”

Cortes Currents: What have been the challenges and what have been the successes?  

Ester Strijbos: “I think the successes are what you see every day, people communicating with each other and  to our community.” 

“The challenges have been the not so nice notes or people just not wanting to understand the policies and the guidelines and staying within them. That's been a challenge. When things happen on the island, and when we lose people that you're really close to, that's hard.” 

Cortes Currents: What are you going to miss about it? 

Ester Strijbos: “Again, I'm going to miss the community. At this point there's lots of things I'm not going to miss about being editor, but I know I will miss the connections that I had on a daily basis with a lot of people. I won't have that anymore, and so I'll definitely miss that.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Cortes Island's most economically challenged residents appear to be facing another bleak winter this year. 

Filipe Figueira, Coordinator of the Cortes Island Food Bank, explained, “We’ve definitely seen a huge rise in general economic distress over the last couple of years. I think that covers two key areas. One is food insecurity,  the other one is housing insecurity, which feeds into economic insecurity as well.”  

“In terms of food insecurity, we all know  prices  have increased significantly over the last few years. I don’t think the reported cost of living index truly reflects what's going on. I think everybody's experiencing  higher food costs, and that has an impact obviously.”

“We are seen as a food insecure location. We don't have a lot of big stores which sell cheaper food. We don't have easy transport to places where food is a little cheaper. That puts us particularly at risk with food prices.” 

“I did some research recently, and  the official cumulative food price rise over 10 years is about 48.7%. I think that's conservative. I think the real food prices that everybody experiences are much, much higher than that and certainly wages haven't increased that much over 10 years. They've probably declined in real terms.”

“You can see evidence of this in the stores. There was recently a story about the dollar store in the US and I think in Canada as well. Their sales drop off in the last half of the month because low income people buy stuff from them, but by the end of the month they've run out of money.” 

Cortes Currents: Have you seen an increase in the number of clients coming to the food bank?  

Filipe Figueira: “Over the summer months we always see a bit of  a decline because people get seasonal work and they're able to grow their own food and that kind of thing.  We're expecting  this winter the numbers will rise again. We reached a peak of around 86 people per month in January of last year. We expect to go to those numbers again because the economic situation has increased and people don't really have the reserves to survive.”

“We're seeing a lot more people in housing that's precarious. A lot of people live on boats, in shelters and in trailers that don't have proper  kitchen facilities, refrigeration, freezers, that kind of thing. So that makes it really challenging.”

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On Friday, August 30, Louis Belcourt performed a live + live-broadcast FolkU concert in the big Village Commons tent. Hosted by Manda Aufochs Gillespie, this event marked the last concert of the season in the Village Commons Music Series.

The series is put on every Friday by a partnership between Cortes Island Community Foundation, FolkU, and CKTZ Cortes Community Radio. The series is generously sponsored by Decoda Literacy and Coastal Community Credit Union.

This year, the series is also raising funds for the Cortes Foundation’s fundraising campaign Care for Cortes. Every week, the donations raised in the big tent go towards a different community project the campaign is highlighting. This week, the series highlighted the Microgrants for Neighbours program which has supported community-led projects like the Skate Jam, song circles, community book exchange boxes, Ayajuthem language workshops, and many more.

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.

Louis Belcourt/CKTZ News - The Cortes Island Pickleball Society has recently established a Pickleball committee with the South Cortes Community Association to oversee the potential construction of Pickleball courts next to the skatepark.

Mary Jo Woolgar, long time resident to Cortes, introduced Cortes to Pickleball with her husband about two years ago and she says its often described as “a lifestyle.”

“We have capacity issues and we’re limited behind the school because obviously we can’t use the courts when school’s in. It’s totally the way it should be,” said Woolgar. “So we would like to have some courts that are dedicated to pick a ball ideally close by, probably behind the skate park.”

An architect was hired last week, as well as a surveyor to assess a potential site for the new courts, according to Woolgar.

Louis Belcourt/ Folk U - On Friday, August 23, Jemma & the Good Thing performed a live + live-broadcast FolkU concert in the big Village Commons tent. Hosted by Louis Belcourt, Cortes Island-based Jemma Hicken (Jemma & the Good Thing) weaves together tender lyrics, funny storytelling, and catchy sing-a-longs to create a feel-good Canadiana-folk show.

The Village Commons Music Series is put on every Friday by a partnership between Cortes Island Community Foundation, FolkU, and CKTZ Cortes Community Radio. The series is generously sponsored by Decoda Literacy and Coastal Community Credit Union.

This year, the series is also highlighting community organizations and funds part of the Cortes Foundation’s fundraising campaign Care for Cortes. This week, the series highlighted the Cortes Island DeathCaring Collective. This collective is working create a fund to assist families with limited resources and to support the training of volunteers.

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/care-for-cortes-deathcare/

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.