Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Local filmmaker Jennifer Pickford found more than the spiritual paradise of her expectations, when she first visited India in 2008. She subsequently embarked upon the personal pilgrimage, 2,500 kilometres down the Ganges River, chronicled in the documentary ‘Sacred India: Plastic Revolution,’ which comes to Mansons Hall on Monday, April 22nd, 2024.  


Jennifer Pickford: “I was involved in yoga studies and meditation, and I really had a longing in my heart to go there. It's not quite the spiritual paradise that my idealistic mind imagined it to be. I was particularly troubled to see a group of people who were burning plastic in a bonfire and actually standing around it to keep warm. I just felt they could have no real clear awareness of what plastic is,  neither its toxic composition nor the fact that plastic is not biodegradable. I found myself wondering how this country, which for centuries sustained itself with its grassroots cottage industry style commerce, became such a mass consumer of commercial plastic? What, if any, recycling programs were in place? Particularly, as a Westerner, I started wondering what is my involvement in this?  How did the colonization of India contribute to this plastic nightmare?”

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - It has now been four and a half years since the 2019 referendum in which a solid majority of Cortes Islanders voted in favour of bylaw 341. This bylaw established a property tax service that would provide basic operational support for the islands two community halls

Part 3: What’s Been Fixed? — what maintenance and improvement has been made possible by the hall tax funding?

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Community Foundation is running a second round of the Giving Well program that provides one-time tax free cash “gifts” of between $5,000 to $10,000 to individuals.

Isabella McKnight, Executive Administrator of the Cortes Foundation explained, “The first round was extremely successful. We were able to give over $180,000 to 30 different individuals and families in need. So far, the feedback from that has been really great,  it was just the right amount at just the right time. The money went out right before Christmas, so that felt extra good as well.”

“We've got about $25,000 (each) for five categories to give out to families and individuals who are in acute financial need.”

“We've noticed through the granting cycles that we've run,  that there's a lot of people that fall between the cracks.  They're not quite 65, so they don't fall into that senior category or they own property, so people think of them as wealthy.”

Cortes Currents: What specific groups are you targeting?  

Isabella McKnight: it’s really open for anybody, but we've selected five groups just to simplify it a bit:

Youth/single-parent

Elderly/seniors

Indigenous

Individuals or families adversely impacted by a health crisis

Enterprising potential that can seed larger impact for the individual and/or community

Cortes Currents: How do you apply?  

Isabella McKNight: Visit our website and fill out an application. It's not too long,  just giving us the information that we need from you, how much you're looking for, or what you're hoping to use it for. Then we'll put you in. Applications are open until May 5th.

It doesn't matter if you've applied before and even if you receive funds before. please apply again because we know that we might not necessarily have given you what you asked for. We're happy to keep supporting anybody who's applied or who hasn't applied and we really encourage people to apply because it's essentially free money. So why not apply?

 The application should only take you about 10 minutes.  We're happy to help you through. That's why we also have community cultivators. It's because they can help people through the applications. If you don't have access to a computer, you can do it over the phone with not only your community cultivator, but you can do it with me as well. I can send you an email version, I can talk to you over the phone, I can give you a paper version, whatever you need to make it as accessible as possible.

Cortes Currents: Applicants must have an ‘acute financial need.’

Don't get tripped up too much over that language because that's a really broad spectrum, ‘acute financial need.’ I was talking to one of the community cultivators and she works in a specific field and was talking to somebody and they said, 'well, I'm not literally starving. So  I don't need to use the food bank.' Like, they do go to bed hungry some nights and  just because they have rice and beans, they're not starving. That's not what we mean. If you aren't feeling like you can get access to everything because of where you stand financially you have the right to apply.

 This is a trust based philanthropy. When we give you this money, there is nothing in return that we need. We don't need receipts on how you spent it.

We don't even need you to tell us your story, but the best way to support this program is for you to give us feedback, especially since this is a pilot program. This is only the second time we've run it and we're not 100 percent educated on all these topics.

Sadhu Johnston/ Folk U - On April 12th, guest host Sadhu Johnston was joined by the folk band Awakeneers for a full-length live concert. Kicking off an April tour on Cortes, the Awakeneers delighted listeners with their fiddle and harmony-centric tunes and sweet stories to boot! The live-streamed radio concert on Friday afternoon was a teaser for the community contra dance they led on Saturday night at Manson’s Hall.

 

Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 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.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - It has now been four and a half years since the 2019 referendum in which a solid majority of Cortes Islanders voted in favour of bylaw 341. This bylaw established a property tax service that would provide basic operational support for the islands two community halls.

Part 2: What Changed? -- why were the halls in such dire financial straits by about 2015? why could Gorge Hall not just go on as it had since it was founded?

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Noah Davidson traces his gardening itch back to the family plot in Ontario  but prior to his arrival on Cortes Island, he worked in restaurants. He started out behind the cash register of his father's restaurant in Toronto and went on to work in a number of fast food establishments. This continued after his move to British Columbia. Noah worked at the Floathouse Restaurant, in Gorge Harbour Marina, during his first two years on Cortes Island.  


“A couple of seasons after working with them, I decided to experiment with the possibility of starting a business on my own property. I remember asking the Gorge, ‘if this doesn't work out, would you mind hiring me back, because I don't know whether this is going to be a grand success or a grand failure.’  They said, 'you know, you've given us two good years and we'd certainly take you back,” he explained.  


Cortes Currents: have you ever gone back to work for the Float House?


Noah Davidson:”No, that was the beginning of entrepreneurship for me. I really haven't had to branch out too far from there since then.”


Cortes Currents: One of the first things you notice upon entering the Whaletown Garden Center, is two garden chairs with the sign ‘registered psychiatrist’ slung between them. 


Noah Davidson: “The Garden Centre can be a place of helping people find garden supplies, but sometimes maybe turns into some deep conversations.  A friend delivered me a sign that says ‘registered psychologist,’ even though I'm definitely not a registered psychologist. I proudly display it  on my Adirondack chairs where two people can  pull up a seat and have a chat. It brought in a lot of good laughs.”
  

He emailed, “My passion comes from helping people find success in their garden, whether they're growing one pot on the deck or they have five acres of land. If someone's issue can be solved with a 20 minute conversation, with or without making a sale, my aim is that people will leave Whaletown Garden Centre happy and informed. Customers have told me it's one of the many things that  keep them coming back  to Whaletown Garden Centre.”
“I established Whaletown Garden Centre in 2008 with the goal of bringing a comprehensive garden supply centre to Cortes Island. Over the last 15 years of operation, I've tried to hone in on the items that gardeners on Cortes are looking for. As of today, Whaletown Garden Centre has over 500 different products available. Even with our small island population, Cortes has a great community of passionate gardeners, and it was my hope that Whaletown Garden Centre would meet their needs and save them a trip off island. Competitive pricing is something I take very seriously. I am constantly looking for the best products I can source at fair and affordable prices for my customers.”


Noah Davidson: “I carry everything from different fertilizer products, to help with funguses, pathogens and issues with bugs. I have lots of tools, everything from forks and rakes and shovels, axes,  pruning tools,  Reemay,  hoses, even some obscure tools like the old dutch hoe, or pick mattock. The list goes on and on. I've tried to put out various different advertisements that  cover a lot of the products that I carry, but I don't think people can really get the idea unless they actually come in and see what's available.”


“I also bring in manure from a poultry farm in Black Creek. I carry peat moss, coco coir, potting soil, worm castings, perlite, vermiculite, mushroom manure and plenty of other  soil products. One of the other things that I focus on is a decent West Coast seed selection. Every year I bring in this year's fresh seeds and try to cover all the bases as far as what people would need for their veggie garden, a little bit of a mix of flowers and that kind of thing.”

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - It has now been four and a half years since the 2019 referendum in which a solid majority of Cortes Islanders voted in favour of bylaw 341. This bylaw established a property tax service that would provide basic operational support for the islands two community halls. An interview with WCC President Izabelle Perry.

Part I of 4 - Before & After — the Hall’s financial situation pre-2019 vs today

Image credit: A Christmas Market In Gorge Hall - Roy L Hales photo

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents: The Cortes Housing Society’s Virtual Forum will be returning to the airwaves at 10 AM on Saturday, April 20, with a program on water Quality and Quantity. Host Sadhu Johnstone will be joined by three expert panelists: Darren Bond from Hornby Water Stewardship, Nick Sargent from the Quadra Island Climate Action Network and David Bethune of Groundwater Solutions. There will also be breakout sessions to discuss how these issues apply to Cortes Island.


 “In December 2023, we hosted a housing forum to talk about housing challenges in the community and concerns that people had. In environmental systems in particular, water systems really came up loud and clear as something that we needed to really be thinking about as a community. It was a very, very important discussion for me, as the new executive director of the housing society. (I now) recognize that we are really quite behind some of our neighboring islands in our work as a community, looking at our water supplies,” explained Sadhu Johnstone. 


“We haven't really mapped our aquifers on the island and don't really have a sense of the aquifer health.  With climate change,  we're likely to face more droughts and more demand for water from aquifers as a community.  If we're going to add additional housing to support people that are here and needing housing, that could cause a strain on systems. So this is critically important for the folks living on Cortes and for future people that are looking to live on Cortes.”


“I've spoken to folks on Quadra, Hornby, Pender and other islands. They've done a lot of this work already.  This forum is a chance to have them in the room with us, on Zoom, and to learn what they've done, and what they would recommend we do or don't do. We're also going to have an expert from Groundwater Solutions, which has supported a number of rural communities and island communities in their work to map their aquifers and assess the aquifer health." 


"There are things that we can do to recharge our aquifers.  If there are aquifers that are  overused or aren't being recharged, there are ways that you can do that.  It's just very interesting to understand what those are and how we can utilize those approaches."


“I'm very interested to make the connection to ways that we can develop using less water. How do we  do more with composting toilets and low water solutions? Capturing rainwater and utilizing that instead of needing to pull all of the water that we need from out of the ground.” 


“We're hearing more and more that people with surface wells are seeing lower water levels in the summers. There's obviously a tie in  with climate change.” 


“This form is the first step for us, as the housing society, to really be thinking about this island wide and to be learning from other places and charting a course forward.” 

“We have applied for a grant from the Real Estate Foundation of BC to help to commission a study to assess the aquifer health, map the aquifers and assess the aquifer health, and to be thinking about things that we could be doing in the future. This forum is a way to learn from what other places have done that are ahead of us, but also to help shape our work.”

Podcast View from Hornby Island office window by Glissmedia via Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0 Deed)

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery is trying out some new initiatives this year. Their season is starting earlier, there are more classes and special events than ever, and some of them will be in new locations. The gallery has reversed the order of its exhibitions, expanded its social media reach and now has a website at schoolhouseertgallery.ca


“The website is big news, and we really hope people will check it out. David Ellingson has helped put it together. There's a lot of different aspects to it. You can look at old shows, and see what's coming up. There'll be a place where current events are being announced, which is very important because there's more current events this year than there have been. We're trying to expand the borders of the art gallery, push out the walls and make it accessible and approachable  for everybody in the community,” explained Gerri Davis, who joined the board this year.


Christann Kennedy, another new Director and also the gallery's education coordinator, added, “Classes will run from the end of April and through May, and the exhibition season will run June, July, August into the beginning of September.  Then we'll have another six week session of classes from mid September until probably the end of October, at which point the building gets a little bit too chilly.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - On April 1, BC Emergency Health Services improved the staffing models for 60 rural and remote ambulance stations. Cortes and Quadra Islands are among the 6 communities within the Strathcona Regional District that will benefit.

“We recognize that one staffing model doesn’t work for all parts of the province, and these three models will help us improve our services to better meet the needs of the community and patients and enable more of our paramedics to live and work in their home communities,” explained Leanne Heppell, BCEHS’ Chief Ambulance Officer, in a press release.

The Quadra Island and Gold River ambulances are among the 21 rural stations upgraded to a 24/7 full-time “Alpha” model. Whereas under the previous Scheduled On-Call (SOC) model paramedics were at the station 8 hours a day, there will now be 8 full-time positions, with paramedics in the station 24 hours a day.

Cortes Island previously had 4 SOC positions filled, and 3 on call staff.  SOC shifts are 24-hour shifts, in which paramedics are at the station from 8am to 4pm, and carry a pager outside those hours

Under the new ‘Mix Shift’ system Cortes Island, Sayward and Tahsis are among the 25 stations that will have a total of 8 regular part time positions providing 24 hours coverage. Paramedics will serve in the station for 16 hours and be on-call for 8 hours.  This means staff on-duty in the station twice as often as they were in the past.

An unconfirmed source stated the Cortes Island station is now recruiting. Unit Chief KIm Robertson declined to comment, stating Cortes Currents would have to contact EHS media. They have yet to reply.

The on-call rate has also been increased from $2 per hour to $12 per hour.

The last of the SRD stations to benefit under the new system is Zeballos, whih Zeballos is among the 14 ‘Kilo’ stations that will have a full time unit chief supported by on call staff.