Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Vancouver Foundation, in partnership with the Government of BC, Community Foundations of Canada and over 50 local community foundations, is distributing $25 million to programs that advance poverty reduction and social inclusion. $105,000 of that will be channeled through the Cortes Island Community Foundation and another $110,000 the Quadra Island Foundation. The deadline for organizations to apply for funding is June 24th. 

“This fund is part of BC's Poverty Reduction Initiative. They're really hoping that communities are  the best  people to determine what the needs are in that particular community in terms of poverty reduction and social inclusion,” explained Jennifer Banks-Doll, coordinator of this program for the Quadra Island Foundation.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie, Executive Director of the Cortes Foundation added, “We have quite a bit of flexibility in how organizations plan on using those funds. They can be for projects or for core operating support that could go over up to three years. We wish that it was significantly more than $105,000, but we are also very, very grateful to have access to these funds.”

Photo credit:Photo by Michelle Spollen on Unsplash

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - About 125 people turned up for the town hall meeting in Mansons Hall, on Monday June 3, 2024. Noticeably absent were the air strip’s owner, Michael Ching, his manager,  Judy Kemchand, or Martene Rothblatt, who is financing the air strip’s renovations.

This did not come as a surprise.

One of the three speakers at the meeting read out an email he sent Rothblatt in February: 

“I am writing to see if there is a chance I (we) can persuade you from paving the airstrip.”

“If left as a gravelled surface we have a better chance of preserving our wonderful island and community. As they say, 'If you build it, they will come.’"

“Change is inevitable, a fact you are familiar with being a pioneer in so many fields. But I will guess it is this very change that has drawn you to Cortes, a safe sleepy little island, away from the busy mad world, and its constant change.”

“A paved runway will bring even more people to Cortes, and with that, comes more change. The biggest threat from this change is the slow but steady replacement of our local population. It is the locals that have created the sanctuary you seek, the community created though countless volunteer hours and persevering through the long winters and isolation.”

“I know that work is underway, so improve the runway, just don't pave it. Let's not make it any easier for change to advance here.”

“My name is Mike Manson. We live about 2kms from your place and are on the beach down from Hollyhock. I am the grandson of pioneer John Manson ( Mansons Landing). My family has been farming this same piece of land since 1888, now in our 136th year. We have seen change.”

Rothblatt did not reply.

One of the speakers, Sadhu Johnston, mentioned numerous attempts to communicate with the air strip or Rothblatt - all of which were met by silence. 

Half way through the meeting, the assembly broke into small groups for further discussion. 

After listening to reports from the small groups, Johnston pointed out, “The primary and first concern was (Ching’s and Rothblatt’s) lack of community mindedness to show up here, to a community meeting, and (at the same time) be making changes that could be really significant for the island.”

Judyth Weaver added, “A lot of this started because of non-communication, and it's gotten much bigger because of non-communication. This meeting was about communication, and I am so relieved.  The difference is quite stark to me.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Ben Coey is co-producing this year’s Lovefest, which returns to Linnaea Farm on Saturday August 19th.

“Rex, Amy and Rick have been running and producing the festival for a number of years. They've decided that they need to have a bit of a break from doing it. I've worked with Rex on a number of projects previously. He asked me if I liked to get involved and help out with co-producing and I said, ‘yeah, sure,’” Coey explained.

“I'm good friends with Rex I've toured for many years as a drummer in a band with a Rex's son, Jack. I've always loved coming to Lovefest. I played it a couple of times and I'm spending more time up in Cortes. I'm gradually moving up here and this is a nice way to just get involved with the community.”

Cortes Currents: Tell us about this year’s Lovefest

“It's going to be the same vibe as previous years. It's just going to be about nice folks having a good time: good tunes, good crafts, lots of blankets, good food, hanging out all day and into the evening. It's very much about just having fun and just enjoying each other.”

While a number of acts have yet to be confirmed, Coey was able to release a partial list of performers.

“We have a few special feature acts who are going to be coming through, quite a lot locals also:

“Johny Hanuse is going to be playing a set this year,

and the McKentys (the Awakeneers).

Nicole Demers,

Six Foot Johnson, who’ve been promising to get to the frestival for a number of years. They’re a really great on-island band led by Greg Osoba.

Heather Wolf,

Michael Keith,

Rick Scott is going to be doing a kid’s set, as well as an adult set.

Doc Fingers, who is a wonderful blues pianist.

We’re going to have a very special set from Ann Mortifee, who's going to be playing a catalog of some of her greatest hits.

If you were there at the lasy Lovefest, we had a terrific Cuban band playing. Adonis Puentes are returning to Cortes and will finish the night off.

“Early bird tickets for the festival are on sale now. You can pick those up at the Friday market. Myself and Rex we'll usually be there and we're taking cash.”

They are also for sale at the Co-op, Cortes Market, Squirrel Cove General, and the Gorge Store.

Adult - $40

Family - $80

Under 18 - $30

Sadhu Johnston/ Folk U - Tune in on May 31st for the third collaborative monthly housing forum presented by the Cortes Housing Society and Folk University. Themed “Community Land Trusts”, this forum featured guest panelists John Davis, Sandy Bishop, and Lisa Byers and a following community discussion. This is a recording of the third monthly housing forum in mid-May, hosted over Zoom, with 28 people in attendance. Hear us chat about community land trust initiatives on islands in the US, Canada, and internationally, and about how these ideas could be applicable to Cortes.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On Friday May 24, host Manda Aufochs Gillespie was joined by  songwriter Jemma Hicken and founder of the DeathCaring Collective, Margaret Verschuur, in a program about grief.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In 2021 Sheila Harrington embarked upon a three-year journey to explore the creation of local nature conservancies on 17 islands. Cortes and Quadra Islands were among them. She conducted more than 50 interviews, and wove together a chronicle of land conservancies and the people behind them since the 1990s. The resulting book, ‘Voices for the Islands, 30 Years Of Nature Conservation On The Salish Sea’ is just being released by Heritage House.

There is a chapter dedicated to each of the 17 islands.

The subject is very close to Harrington, who was the founding Executive Director of the Land Trust Alliance of BC from 1997 to 2011. She was also a director of the Lasqueti Island Nature Conservancy for more than 12 years.

Cortes Currents: Why should we care about land conservancies?

Harrington: “We should care because it works! These conservancies are protecting land and protecting nature. We’re in the midst of a species extinction that is unheard of all over the planet. The only way to save species is to save habitat, and land conservancies are an excellent way to save land. They’re local, they know what’s important, and they’re on the ground in order to ensure that it gets protected over time. They often work with regional districts. The Strathcona Regional District has worked with Land Trusts on Cortes, Quadra, and the province. On Salt Spring Island we protected 10 percent of the island by various land trusts working with the province and this whole Burgoyne Bay Park was protected through local people working with those other agencies.”

“I took a sailing journey to meet with the dedicated founders of land trusts, which are also known as conservancies, and current activists from 17 of the islands in the Salish Sea, who have protected hundreds of nature reserves, parks, and protected places for people and the wildlife we share these precious islands with. The book chronicles this legacy of passionate Salish Sea Island residents who have dedicated much of their lives to protecting nature in determined, creative ways.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Given the amount of neighbourhood concern about the renovations underway at the Cortes Island airstrip, Cortes Currents asked Transport Canada:

Do the owners of private airstrips have a duty to consult with their communities before undertaking extensive expansions?  

What will Transport Canada do when, as appears to be the case on Cortes Island, this does not occur? 

Sau Sau Liu, Senior Communications Advisor at Transport Canada, replied,

“All aerodromes on private property are required to meet the Canadian Aviation Regulations (CARs), regardless of their registration status. Aerodromes that are building a new runway, or increasing the length of a runway by more than 100m or 10%, are required to consult communities, as per Canadian Aviation Regulations 307 and the related Advisory Circular 307.01." 

Note that she did not mention hangers and this also implies that there is no requirement to consult if increases to the length of the runway are less than 100m or 10%.

Liu continued, “This is a regulatory requirement that compels the aerodrome developer, in advance of construction, to proactively consult with interested parties, with the intent of hearing their comments or objections to the proposed aerodrome’s work and to propose actions to mitigate any concerns. Aerodrome operators may be subject to monetary penalties if they do not properly consult with communities. Concerns can be reported to Transport Canada at:[email protected]."

“It is also important to note that the Aeronautics Act and CARs do not absolve an aerodrome proponent from complying with valid provincial or municipal laws of general application. Other federal laws may also be applicable.”

“For more information about consultation construction at the Cortes Aerodrome, we recommend you reach out to the aerodrome directly.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - At the May 22 meeting, Director Mawhinney informed the board, “the Area C Advisory Planning Commission met and discussed this Kanish Bay application and the following Upshur Road application. They also heard a delegation from one of the applicants. The Advisory Planning Commission did not support either covenant discharge application. The Advisory Planning Commission provided an additional motion, which supports maintaining the covenants for 520 Upshur Road and 1731 Kanishbu Drive as legal agreements freely entered into by the Regional District and landowners, recognizing that maintaining these covenants causes less land to be available for housing than would otherwise be the case.”

The minutes of the Area C Planning Comission show that, in both cases, 7 out of 9 comissioners voted against removing the covenants.

Director Mawhinney moved, and Director Whalley seconded, motions that the application to remove both covenants be denied. These carried with no opposing votes.

Rick Schellinck has been trying to obtain approval to develop his property in Gowland Harbour since 2011. There has been a great deal of opposition from the surrounding community. The most recent application was to create 51 residential lots, a campground, marina and two waterfront parks. After 11 years of delays, the proposed Gowland Harbour Views development was finally allowed to have a public meeting on April 20, 2022. 

The Regional Director at that time, Jim Abram, reported all but 8 of the 546 submissions made at that meeting were in opposition. All four Regional Directors subsequently voted against the project, effectively killing that version of it.

Now Schellinck is back with a proposal to rezone 64-hectares so that he can create a subdivision of twenty-two 2 hectare rural residential lots, a 5 hectare Agricultural Land Reserve parcel, and two small Regional District Parks.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - British Columbia is feeling the strain of a rapidly expanding EV market.

On January 11, 2024, BC Hydro stated there are more than 150,000 EVs on the province’’s roads. While It is more difficult to access local data, ICBC figures show that in 2022 there were 11 EVS registered on Cortes Island, 19 in Quathiaski Cove, 172 in Powell River, 190 in Campbell River, 228 in Comox, and 370 in Courtenay.

In addition to being hailed as a partial solution to the climate crisis, an increasing number of drivers find they prefer EVs to gas cars. 96% of the EV owners who responded to a BCAA survey last year stated they found EVs to be more affordable and intend to purchase another in the future.

There are currently about 5,000 EV chargers in the province and Clean BC set a goal of 10,000 chargers by 2030.

A report by Energy Futures suggests that four times this number may be needed.

There will also be a need for more electrical generation to service the new electric vehicles.

BC Hydro states, “We're predicting there will be around 330,000 EVs on B.C. roads by 2030. This is estimated to add an additional 1,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity load per year.”

To which the Energy Futures report responds, “Meeting the minimum new vehicle sales targets will require approximately 2,700 GWh of added electricity by 2030, about half the annual production of the Site C Dam. By 2040, this requirement will grow to 9,700 GWh or equivalent to two Site C Dams.” 

Image credit: Screenshot from CleanBC website

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Dave Blinzinger has toured Canada, the United States and Europe but, by choice, primarily plays his saxophone at local venues.


“I'm from St. Louis, Missouri. My father had moved up to Cortes Island in the 70s. I lived there from 88 to 1990. At that time, well, there wasn't very much happening on Cortes. You could go up to the Cortes Cafe on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, hang out with the fishermen and that was about it. So I moved to Quadra in 1990, basically to get a job,” he explained.

He has lived on Quadra ever since. 

“I love both islands, but Cortes is special for me because it's the place I went to as an eight year old boy. I lived across from what's now Linnaea Farm in 1976. It was my first visit and it was magic. I just fell in love with the place! I think this place has its grip on me.” 

“The summer of ’76 was my first summer on Cortes, when I was a kid, so I did a composition called ’76.’”

  

Cortes Currents: How and why did you become a musician?

Dave Blinzinger: “I started when I was a teenager, because my father was a saxophone player and so was my uncle. I really admired them. That's what got me into playing the saxophone and into music, really.” 

“My father was a Choir Director and I spent many years in choir. I did vocal jazz. I play a few other instruments. I play hand drums. I play the flute. I play a bit of piano and then I have several different saxophones to choose from, depending  on the situation.”

Cortes Currents: When did you turn professional? 


“I really started in about 1991, with a band called ‘the Valiants.’ They were a large 11 piece rhythm and blues band based out of the Comox Valley.  I stuck with them for about 9 years and played probably two to three times a month, sometimes once a week.” 

“My unspoken goal is to be a working musician. I didn't want to be a pro to try to ‘one up’ anybody. I really just wanted to  play music professionally, eight days a week.”

“My father came from that breed of people. He played in dance bands in the 60s in the United States. In those times, the 40s, 50s, and 60s, you could work as a musician, get picked up by big bands and you could gig for a living, almost like a job. That's what I wanted, to be involved in my music full time.” 


Cortes Currents: What will your second song be? 

Dave Blinzinger: “One that had airplay on Cortes Radio and is on the Quadra Compilation CD. ‘Smoke From A Distant Fire’ is one of my original compositions.” 

“The idea of this song is that you're laying out at night on Cortes Island under the stars, looking up at the stars, looking up at the universe, contemplating the cosmos, which we've all done a lot of. The distant fire is not the forest fires that we have. It's the fire in the sky, meaning the fire from distant galaxies, the light that we see.”