Cortes Currents

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - [00:00:00] DE: And this is the fourth and final installment of our special feature on the recent decision of the appellate court of BC in the matter of Anderson versus SRD. That court vindicated Noba Anderson in her five-year struggle with Strathcona regional district over two issues: the right of elected representatives to independent legal counsel, and the obligation to indemnify board members for their legal expenses.

[00:01:02] DE: Previously in this series, we've talked a little bit about how this finding by the panel of judges at the appellate court is… is wonderful. And at the same time, it's not really perfect closure. It feels a little bit unsatisfying. There's still so much secrecy at SRD; we’ll probably never know the details. We'll never really understand the process that led to this epic struggle in the courts… all of these impacts on our community… this very large amount of taxpayer money that's been wasted as a result. And regional districts remain largely unaccountable to their constituents, as Cortes Islanders discovered.

[00:01:42] DE: So. Noba to what extent did this whole experience

affect your opinion of the regional district system? How good a fit is it really, for a rural island, such as ours?

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - : In this third episode of our special feature we're talking to Noba Anderson about the decision recently handed down by the appellate court of BC. The panel of three judges ruled decisively in Anderson's favour in her dispute with the Strathcona regional district. The district had refused to honour their indemnity bylaw and cover her defence costs during a very poorly founded litigation to remove her from office — and subsequently, had censured her for revealing in-camera information to her legal counsel.

[00:01:05] DE: So Noba, we were talking last time about how SRD

may have to blow a lot of taxpayer money on paying the legal costs of this… attempt to get rid of you, back in 2018, 2019. But apart from those costs, there are a few consequences for them — and absolutely none for the anonymous instigators of this entire drama. So I have this sense that while, as you said so eloquently, kindness and truth may have triumphed in the end… justice hasn't exactly triumphed here. There's no requirement for SRD even to apologize. And you can hardly be reinstated — because you've already left office.

[00:01:52] Noba: Yeah, I was censured and removed from my ability to sit on external committees, and well, okay, so that censure is repealed. Well, I'm not going to go sit on a bunch of committees now. [laughs] I'm done with that. So, no, materially, there isn't much difference, now that I'm not in office anymore.

[00:02:10] DE: So this decision, you know, satisfying though it may

be, doesn't deliver much benefit to you personally.

[00:02:18] DE: Do you think that this judgment is beneficial to the

Cortes community?

[00:02:23] Noba: Well, I hope that it will relieve some of the rightly-induced fear of running for elected office. I mean, I would not have run for elected office if this was still hanging! Why, why would I put myself in such a vulnerable position without the backing of the organization that I've been elected to serve? So I think just at that fundamental level of… making sure that potentially elected politicians on Cortes are supported financially, legally. But beyond that, no — there's no sweetness in this justice. It's a… it's a very bitter pill.

[00:03:14] DE: I guess, as we were saying earlier… it might bring

more closure, it might be more beneficial to the community, if the

secrecy of it all could somehow be overcome. If we even knew for

sure how all of this craziness came about.

[00:03:30] Noba: I can't go so far as to speak publicly about who

said what and what really happened and in camera and out of

camera — and not because I'm not legally in the right to at this point, but because that would bring about defamation suits against me probably, from people who are litigiously minded.

[00:03:51] Noba: But what I will say generally is that the spirit at the Regional District Board in those days was absolutely toxic. And they wanted me gone. And that speaks to, you know, a number of things. It speaks to a regional district system that is so far from understanding the constituents in various portions of the district; just by its very nature, the people at that board don't understand the constituents on Cortes.

[00:04:27] Noba: And I don't understand the constituents in Sayward, and don't know the nuances. So it speaks to a fundamental flaw in the governance system that we have. And it also speaks to the ability of a small group of people to — over time, with concerted effort — really poison the pot. And it speaks to a young, female, progressive, non-simpering person in a very patriarchal, Jurassic environment — being a hard row to hoe.

[00:05:05] Noba: And it wasn't fun. I was there for 14 years and a lot of it was really, really Not Fun.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - And today we continue with part two of our four-part special feature — on a decision rendered last week by the appellate court of BC, which amounted to a vindication of one time Area B regional director Noba Anderson after five years of conflict and litigation with the Strathcona regional district.

[00:00:53] DE: In this episode, we'll go into a little more detail about this whole question of the censure, and the right to informed counsel, and why this is so important. Why was it so outrageous that SRD voted to censure a sitting board member for talking to her lawyer about in-camera information?

[00:01:16] Noba: I didn't think that sharing information with my lawyer was a breach of confidence. And in fact, I thought that it was absolutely foundational to the whole legal system.

[00:01:27] Noba: It's quasi-constitutional. One needs to be able to

share everything with one's lawyer. The privilege — the client/solicitor privilege — that an individual has with their lawyer, is far stronger than any in camera confidence that the board has.

[00:01:46] DE: Well, yeah. As, as I understand it, Attorney/client,

client/solicitor confidenti

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - QXMC, the Klahoose First Nation Management Corporation, is currently on track to open a combined grocery store and gas station in Squirrel Cove later this year. 

 

“If all goes well, fingers crossed, we will be doing test runs in late 2024 and then a grand opening towards the end of 2024,” explained Marco Bedetti, General Manager of QXMC.  

 

He expressed the fact these are not firm dates, “We want to make sure that operationally everything is running right.  We have to hire staff, we have to make sure that all our services in the store and outside of the store run smoothly.  I don't know if we'll open for the public right away, or just try a couple of days or weeks operationally without opening to the public before we say, 'Hey, let's cut the ribbons.”

 

This is part of a much larger development that will also include more than 30 camp sites, or RV sites, and some cabins along the beach.

 

Marco Bedetti: “The priority is to build a grocery store/gas station for the Klahoose First Nation. The location that was decided is where we did the clear cuts, at the curve before the government dock. Obviously we had to do some work as far as digging wells, which now have been done. We're working through the GARP assessment to make sure that any water treatment that we have to do is up to code with Island Health, or in this case the First Nation Health Authority.” 

 

“The First Nation Health Authority is  involved, furthermore we have Vision Quest creating the project for us.” 

 

“We're talking about the architectural design of the store, but before we get into any building,  we need to make sure that the water that is flowing on the side of the road has the right flow, that the culverts are installed.”

 

“We need to grade the property because it's on a slope and it would be hard to build that way.  It has a lot to do with creating the right environment to put up the building and the services that we want.”  

 

CC: You’ve doubled the size of the clearing. 

 

Marco Bedetti: “Yes, in the summer there are a lot of vehicles parked next to the road. We're augmenting traffic on one hand, with the store, but  also with the RV sites. We want to make sure that it's safe. So the decision was  that on the lower part of the property we will create a parking lot so that we can safely have people park their vehicles in the right spots.”  

 

CC: Do you have any updates regarding the next phase of this project? 

 

Marco Bedetti: “The plan is definitely to go towards tourism in the form of RV sites, tent sites, possibly cabins. It's not a priority yet.We want to make sure there is a store available, there is gas service available, there is electrical vehicle charging available. Once that is complete, we'll go over to really defining how many RV sites we want. Or do we want to try geodesic domes? Or how many cabins are we building? It will be definitely in the direction of tourism, or camping.” 

You have been listening to an interview about QXMC’s Squirrel Cove site, with with General Manager Marco Bedetti,

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There have been a number of Cortes Island matters at the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) this month. 

Mark Vonesch, the Regional Director for Cortes Island, is now the Vice Chair of the Electoral Areas Services Committee (EASC). Cortes Island’s Dog Control Service Bylaw is on its way to the Inspector of Municipalities for approval. Linnaea Education Centre and Mansons Hall have both applied for Federal Gas Tax funding to purchase a heat pump and were denied. Director Vonsech is looking for ways to support them.

DE Clarke/ Cortes Currents - On January 24th the BC Court of Appeal made known its decision in docket CA47620, the case of Anderson vs SRD. The three-judge panel found unanimously against SRD and in favour of Anderson. They found that SRD was wrong in refusing to indemnify Anderson’s defence costs during a litigation against her in 2019, and wrong also in voting to censure her in that same year.

In this four-part special radio feature we’ll be revisiting the five-year history of this legal decision, and interviewing Noba Anderson about its significance — not just for Cortes island, but for all of BC.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The audio version version of this story begins with a solitary male voice raised in a seemingly ageless First Nations chant. Then Doug Neasloss, elected chief counselor of the Kittisoo Xia Xias First Nation, states, “We’ve always had the responsibility to steward, that’s what we are doing.” The clip was taken from Deirdre Leowinata and Tavish Campbell’s documentary ‘Keepers of the Land.’ They spent two years working with the Kitasoo Xai Xais in Klemtu, more than 350 miles north of Cortes and Quadra Islands.

Deidre explained, “It’s one of these really magical places where they still  have some resources that they have historically used for a lot of their cultural practices and  for the food that sustains their community. They're a remote community  of 350 people right now, and they're  pretty isolated from the rest of the world. They really heavily rely on the natural resources around them to survive and to continue their cultural traditions.” 

In another clip, Vern Brown, a Kitasoo Xia Xias youth leader, stated,  “We really have to start advancing everything that we do. We need to do it better. We need to manage salmon better. We need to manage fisheries better. We need to manage the forest better. This is my home and this is my backyard. And we have a community full of KItasoo and Xia Xias people. Every one of those families within the community have particular chiefs and title all throughout the territory.” 

“There's a lot of things in the past that my grandparents couldn't have imagined today.  There's a lot of steps that we've taken as far as being a small little First Nations community in Canada. There's a lot of things that we've achieved by working together. That's one great thing about this community is that we can work together.”  

‘Keepers of the Land’ was a finalist at the Jackson Wild Media Awards and was given a Special Jury Mention at the 2023 Banff Mountain Film Festival.  

The Cortes Island Academy hosted a virtual screening on January 19, after which Manda Aufochs Gillespie emailed Cortes Currents:

“‘Keepers of the Land’ was incredible. The videography was beautiful and prescient and seemed so close that it felt as if I could reach out and touch the Spirit Bear, or the salmon swimming upstream. To think that these incredible film makers are in our very own backyard makes the story of their triumph even more spectacular.”

Deirdre Leowinata:  “I've lived on Sonora Island since 2020, but my partner, Tavish, who is our cinematographer, has lived on Sonora almost his whole life. That's why I ended up here. “

Manda Aufochs Gilespie email: “They also shared how each of them got their start in film making.  Tavish, like many small islanders, found his way into it very nontraditionally by starting as a commercial boat driver who got to know these lands and waters and people by living in and among them. Deirdre studied film/communications and ecology in university and it instilled in her a passion for story-telling. It was meaningful for the students to see different pathways into the career and to see the very skills they are learning put to work in such a powerful documentary.”

This film is one of Sierra Quadra’s winter 2023/2024 offerings and will be shown at the Quadra Community Centre at 7:20 PM on Saturday, February 3, 2024. Deirdre Leowinata and Tavish Campbell will be there to talk about their experience working with the Kitasoo Xia Xias First Nation and answer questions.

Cortes Currents: How did this film come into being?

Roy L Hales/ COrtes Currents - In June 1999, James and Dianne Hansen built an air strip in the southern tip of Cortes Island. According to the deposition that John Woolley later made to the Supreme Court of British Columbia, “the majority of the neighbouring property owners, including himself, have strongly objected to the development and operation of the airstrip.” They were concerned about ‘excessive noise,’ potential accidents, ‘environmental hazards resulting from the storage of fuel and the impact of the operation of the airstrip on water quality and bird habitats.’ The most serious opposition came from the Comox-Strathcona Regional District, which stated the airstrip contravened its zoning laws. However Transport Canada approved the strip and after a long legal battle, in 2005 the courts decided that the Hansens ‘shall be entitled to maintain and operate their airport.’

That was 18 years ago, but a number of Cortes residents are concerned about the work currently underway on the airstrip.

Mike Manson emailed Cortes Currents several pictures of a Deere excavator, a freshly plowed earth track and a pile of gravel.

There are rumours that Vancouver real estate developer Mo Yeung (Michael) Ching, who acquired the property in 2013, intends to pave the airstrip so that it can service jets and/or helicopters.  

A Facebook post claims that emissions free electric jets are coming to Cortes Island. “They won’t need to pave the airstrip but they will put in a landing pad and an airplane hanger.”

Neither of these stories has been confirmed.

Cortes Currents attempted to reach Judy Kemchand, who allegedly manages the property, but she has not returned phone calls.

The ‘Cortes Airport’ (CC19) is lot #1 of Strata 1269. There are 21 other properties.

When John Woolley and  David Geoffrey Nikleva deposed against the Hansen’s airport in 2003, they were acting on behalf of Strata 1269.

On January 19. 2024, Carl Simpson, the current Chair of Strata 1269, told Cortes Currents that he is aware of the rumours that work is being done on the airport, but could not confirm or deny them. He stated the Board had granted Lot #1 permission to build a new access road, adding they had no reason to deny the request.

Some of the pilots who previously used the ‘Cortes Airport’ left posts on the OurAirports website. One, dating back to the Hansen era, states:

“I recently completed a water improvement contract for BC Parks at Smelt Bay adjacent to Hansen airfield, bought gravel from Jim and Diane, got to know them a bit, very nice folks, real salt-of-the-earth people. Watch out, 4 hours will pass and you'll still be drinking coffee, hearing great stories from Jim and Diane. The guy has a nice new little Hitachi excavator and an old Cat dozer, that airstrip is getting better and better. Have fun flying here.”

When Michael Ching attempted to subdivide his 160 acre lot in 2015, it consisted of an airstrip, a gravel pit, a small lavender farm.

An article in the Campbell River Mirror states, “Judy Khemchand, manager of Acre Lavender Farms, said Ching has planted 9,000 plus lavender trees, put in 30 fruit trees, a well, an automated irrigation system, has a lavender processing building under construction, and employs up to 14 workers during peak season. He wants to expand the operation, which could mean five to eight more jobs, but Khemchand said Ching needs the subdivision of the parcel property.”

Carl Simpson informed the SRD that Strata 1269 was concerned about  the use of a strata lot for exclusively non-residential purposes.

"On March 10th (2015), the Strata Corporation presented the owner of Lot #1 a list of questions to which it seeks answers, so that the owner-members have a clear understanding of the impacts of the proposed subdivision. To date, the owner of Lot # 1 has not responded to our enquiry," he wrote.

That was 8 years ago, Mr Ching has not informed his neighbours about his current plans for Lot #1 either.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Island - The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) received the go-ahead to establish a regional housing service and authorize loans of up to $10 million on an ‘as needed’ basis. While the SRD can raise funding for projects through property taxes, this money must be repaid once the projects start receiving rents.  

This matter was brought before the board at their January 24, 2024 meeting. 


At their November 8, 2023 Board Meeting, the SRD Board approved using the alternate approval process to seek the electorate's approval. If a minimum of 10% of the electorate - i.e. 3,456 people - had advised the SRD they were opposed, the motion would have been considered defeated, but the ‘no’ vote was only 392. 

When asked, Senior Manager Thomas Yates advised the board where the opposing votes came from: 


- there were 111 approximately from Campbell River, 

- 81 from Cortes Island, 

- 66 from Quadra Island, 

- and 133 from the Sayward area. 

Director Doug Chapman of Campbell River moved that No. 515, being Regional Housing Loan Authorization Bylaw 2023, be now reconsidered, finally passed and adopted.

Regional Director John RIce, of Area D, provided the

Sayward is in Area A, whose Regional Director, Gerald Whalley, cast the only opposing vote.


“I, just fot the record, I’m going to vote against this. It’s the will of my constituents. The vast majority of them opposed it. So it's appropriate that I would oppose,” he explained. 

Chair Mark Baker called the vote, “ All in favour? Opposed?  One opposed, Director Wally.  The motion is carried.”

Roy L Hales. Cortes Currents - On the surface, one might ask how relevant an article about immigration is to people living in the Discovery Islands. The vast majority of us either came from more urban parts of British Columbia, and/or are the descendants of an earlier wave of immigrants. Many non-Indigenous Cortesians trace their roots back to the era when most immigrants were ‘British,’ European or from the United States. There are undoubtedly many reasons why this predominantly ‘white’ population is now found in more rural areas. Some of us are the descendants of the first settlers in this area, others sought a more rural lifestyle and many moved here because of real estate values.

According to Statistics Canada, a new wave of immigration has become the principal driver of our nation’s population growth.

“Over the past 50 years, the share of new immigrants from Europe has declined, with the share of new immigrants who were born in Asia (including the Middle East) increasing. Over time, Asia has become the top source region of new immigrants, and this trend continued in 2021. The share of new immigrants from Africa also increased.”

23% of the people listed in the 2021 census were born outside of Canada and more than half of them came here for economic reasons. A significant number ‘were selected through skilled worker programs.’ Only 15% of the immigrants who arrived between 1980 and 2021 were refugees. (This number may change as the climate crisis and global political tensions worsen.)

British Columbia’s transformation to a more international population is largely occuring in the Lower Mainland. According to the 2021 census, 60.27% of the inhabitants of Richmond, 51.26% of Vancouver and 48.97% of Surrey are immigrants. A large proportion of them came from Asia, (as did the parents or grandparents of much of the Canadian born population). The next largest ethnic block of immigrants was Europeans, followed by people from the Americas (North, Central or South) and a significantly smaller number of Africans.

The latest wave of immigration has reached Vancouver Island, but in much smaller numbers. According to the 2021 census, immigrants made up 26.02% of the population in Victoria and 16.2% in Nanaimo. As was the case in the Lower Mainland, the biggest ethnic group was Asian.

There was a decided ethnic shift further north on the island. Only 13.64% of Courtenay, 12.65% in the Comox Valley and 10.49% of Campbell River residents were born outside Canada. More than half of them came from Europe. This is also true of Powell River, where 12.79% of the population are immigrants. There were smaller numbers of people from Asia, America (North, Central and South) and Africa in all of these cities.

The percentage of people born in the United States increased in the Discovery Islands.

19.22% of the population of Area C (Quadra, Read and most of the other Discovery Islands) were immigrants. 175 came from the United States, 155 from the UK and 125 from other parts of Europe. There were also 20 Latin Americans, 20 Asians and 10 Africans.

The majority of immigrants on Cortes Island came from the United States (100 out of 195). Other significant ethnic blocks were 40 from the UK, 30 other Europeans, 15 from Asia and 10 from South Africa. (These numbers are slightly out of sync because Statistics Canada rounds numbers off to the closest multiple of 5.) Overall, the 2021 census found that 18.48% of Cortes Island’s population was born outside of Canada.

While the percentage of immigrants in the Discovery Islands is higher than the surrounding cities of Campbell River, Courtenay and Powell River, more of them come from the United States and the percentage of immigrants is still significantly lower than the Canadian average of 23%.