Cortes Currents

Sadhu Johnston/ Folk U - On January 12th, FolkU Friday was guest-hosted by Sadhu Johnston, who facilitated a discussion about rural resilience and emergency response. Joined in the station by Kate Maddigan, Eli McKenty, and Rex Weyler, this is a fascinating conversation about the confluence of emergency management and ecological protection, natural disasters and climate change, and the ways government, community, neighbourhood, and individual all play significant roles in rural resilience.

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.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Conservation Officer Jillian Bjarnason came to Cortes on Saturday, January 13, 2024. 


“I was invited over by the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) to do some public outreach, mostly pertaining to human wildlife conflict. There's a population of wolves on the island  and sometimes there's some encounters with people. I'm just really excited to be able to get to meet folks that live here, chat with them and provide education and how to co-exist,” she explained. 


Cortes Currents sat down with her shortly before a meeting in the Lakeside Room at the Linnaea Education Centre.


CC: Tell us a little about yourself, where do you come from? 


Jillian Bjarnason: "I grew up in Creston, in the Kootenays, and  I moved to Vancouver Island for school.  Then I worked in Squamish and Whistler. I’m back on the island now since 2021. I love it over here." 


CC: Where was your first posting on the island?  


Jillian Bjarnason: "It was in Campbell River for a year, and now I work primarily out of Port McNeil."  


CC: How did you end up there?


Jillian Bjarnason: "They put out a certain number of spots where there's vacancies, and sometimes we get a choice.  In my case, I had four different spots that I could go to and Port McNeil was the top of my list anyway. It was an easy choice." 


CC: Why was it at the top of your list?  


Jillian Bjarnason: "One of my brothers worked out of the North Island for a number of years. My family got to visit the North Island quite a few times to see him, and I just fell in love with the communities up there. The people are wonderful, it's a wild place, and just the right choice for me personally." 

CC: What's special about working for the Conservation Office?


Jillian Bjarnason: "Our primary mandate is to ensure that the public is safe.  A lot of that pertains to human wildlife conflict, but we're also out on the land base doing proactive work, and ensuring that our resources are being respected. So checking folks that are hunting and fishing and making sure that they're doing that activity within laws and regulations. That's why I love my job. I get to be out on the land base chatting with people and providing a service." 


"We deal with all kinds of human wildlife conflict. It will range from anything from bears accessing garbage to  cougars,  bears or wolves accessing livestock or killing livestock.  We often get calls of deer that are stuck in fences, or there was one time we had a deer that was swimming in a manure pit. Anytime we were able to rescue wildlife from a situation like that is very rewarding.”

“We very rarely have reports  of predator attacks on people." 


"We do investigations into hunting issues as well. Anytime where we are able to successfully charge somebody, it goes through the courts and there's a very good outcome can also be a really good feeling, because there's lots of work that goes into those investigations. We're able to hold people accountable for their actions." 


"My other favourite part of the job is being able to interact with people, and provide education to try and make a difference, especially with the human wildlife conflict side."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Museum has been sponsoring two birding events every year for the past two decades.* 2,873 birds were seen during the 2023 Christmas Bird Count, but this number would have been much higher if there were more participants. 


“With only 6 people, you miss things. We can only go to a certain number of places where we know there will be birds, and that's mostly along the coastline,” explained Laurel Bohart, a keen birder as well as co-curator of Wild Cortes.


“There were children as well looking around the school, so they would have added their count. I think Gina Trzesickia (from the Museum) may have been involved in the bird count too, down at her place. We rely on people phoning in if they have bird feeders. They phone in and we gather that data. It's just easier than going to everybody's bird feeder and counting, because they keep changing every few minutes. So it wasn't just six people, there were a few others.” 


Most of the counting was done by six people between 9:00 AM and sometime after 3:00 PM on Sunday, December 13th.  


CC: How can so few people count close to 3,000 birds in a little over six hours?


Laurel Bohart: “I don't know how I managed to count that many birds, we just ran. That's the only way we could do it. I was very, very aware of the time and so you move  fast.  We were going around Blue Jay Lake, here, here, here, very quickly, scanning to see if there was anything out there. You develop a technique. You scan the tops of trees, is anything moving? If it's moving, stop and identify it. If it's not, on to the next tree. It's the same with the water. If you see little things bobbing around out there, you get your binoculars on them. You identify as fast as you can. If you're not sure, mark it as that and on to the next bird because you don't have time. You're trying to get to too many places.”

 

CC: Which was the most numerous of the 70 species of birds counted? 


Laurel Bohart: “1,411  Surf scoters.”   

The Surf scoter is a sea duck, which was given the nickname ‘old skunk-head.’ The Cortes Island Museum keeps records of the Christmas counts going back to 2001,* and Surf scoters are often the most numerous species. Last year there were only 395, so they dropped to #2. 


CC: What about Juncos, which were the #1 bird in last year’s count?


Laurel Bohart: “Dark Eyed Juncos, 129, which is a stark contrast to last year where there were 717 Juncos.”

The second most most numerous species in this count were the small sea duck called Buffleheads (133), which winter in bays, estuaries and lakes.


One of Bohart's personal highlights occurred just as the count was coming to an end.


Laurel Bohart: “Tom and I counted at Squirrel Cove, Blue Jay Lake, the Klahoose Area, Seaford, and then Linnaea. We finished around 3:30. The others weren't at the museum yet, so we went down to Smelt Bay to see if there was anything interesting. I spotted the blackbirds right away. I didn't know they were Brewer's Blackbirds until they landed on the ground and were walking instead of hopping.  Blackbird species all walk. The last time I saw Brewers Blackbirds was in Nanaimo a number of years ago at one of the malls in the parking lot, picking up scraps. I had never seen them on Cortes before,  but to see them here at Linnaea and then another, I think, 7 down at Smelt Bay was quite extraordinary.`` 


“It was also extraordinary, only 1 Canada Goose was counted down in Smelt Bay. Normally there's dozens."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Food security is a major concern in the Discovery Islands. 98.4% of the 245 respondents to a ‘Quadra Island Eating and Growing Local survery’ stated they wanted more access to locally grown food. Most participants at the recent Conversation Cafe, on Cortes Island, shared a rough consensus that the existing food system (industrial farming, long-haul transport, and large scale grocery chains) was likely to falter or fail under the pressures of climate change and rising energy costs. The Cortes Community Economic Development Association [CCEDA] will soon be releasing a report of the findings at that event. A Garden Club/ICAN Food Security Team project is increasing that island’s protien supply.

229 blight resistant nut trees were most likely planted on Quadra Island during the past 12 months, and that number should soon increase. There are Hazelnuts, Sweet Chestnuts, Black Walnuts, Persian/English Walnuts and a Heartnut. Most of these trees have been sold to private residents, but the Quadra Nut Tree Project’s third planting was on January 4, 2024.  


“We really wanted a source of plant protein as well as oil, and so nut trees that are going to do well on our island as the climate changes was something that we thought would be a good idea, in terms of our overall food security strategy,” explained Jen Banks-Doll, one of the principal organizers.

“So far we've planted 76 nut trees  and we're hoping to get to 85, in terms of commercial or government owned land.  In addition, we sold trees to help fund the project and also to meet our goal of getting as many nut trees planted on Quadra as possible. So we ended up selling 153 trees. Overall by the end of this month, we hope to have added 238 nut trees to Quadra Island. ” 

“These are all the new varieties. There are a lot of hazelnuts on Quadra already, but they're the older varieties that are not blight resistant. All of our trees are eastern blight resistant varieties, so they hopefully will last for a very long,”

“It started with a conversation with a few members of ICANN, the Island Climate Action Network. Food security was one of the very hot topics in terms of preparing for climate change and increasing the resiliency of our island. We've had many different projects on the go. We were looking at the United Way food security grants and thinking of a project we could use, apply for a grant. My partner, Mark Doll, came up with the idea for the nut tree project. His idea was to plant as many nut trees as possible on Quadra Island. I've been involved since then.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Mark Vonesch is very passionate about Cortes Island and his activities as Regional Director. If this were a video, rather than a radio broadcast, you would see it in his facial expressions. There is a hint of this passion in the words he chose and the tone of his voice. 

Cortes Currents asked him for a recap of this past year and what to expect going forward into 2024.  

"It's been a big year. It's been my first year in office and obviously a lot of learning. I  managed to get quite a few things done. One of the things with the government is that they usually don't move as fast  as people would like, certainly not as fast as I would like, so lots of things are in progress as well," he replied.

"I've been really proud to represent this community."

"There's a lot of people in Cortes that make this island work and I'm a small part of it. Everything from: the healthcare providers; the fire department; educators; people leading and working and volunteering and nonprofits;  all the different businesses that employ people and provide economic activity on Cortes, waste management collection and the waste management center."

"Being the Regional Director for Cortes, I was assigned to the Comox Strathcona regional Hospital Board, the Comox Strathcona Waste Management Board, the First Nations Relations Committee, the School District 72 Liaison Committee, Electoral Area Services Committee, which is a committee of all the rural electoral areas and of course the Strathcona Regional District Board. So sitting  on five committees and boards, and each of those committees has  a slightly different mandate,  focus and powers."

"Some people think that being the regional director of Cortes, I get to decide what happens on Cortes.  That's a misconception because the reality is I'm one of 14 people on the Strathcona Regional District Board. So if there's something that we want to see happen on Cortes, my job is to convince at least seven other people, so there's eight of us voting in favor of moving that forward. No matter how good the idea is, if I can't convince eight of us  to vote for it, then it doesn't happen.  I think that's one of the biggest learnings and realizations. My job isn't just to come up with good ideas, listen to the community and try to move things forward."

"It's really about bringing things to the board in a way that gets them passed, having those conversations with fellow directors, aligning myself  with fellow directors and working as a team because my job is to represent Cortes, is also to represent the Strathcona Regional District as a whole and make  good decisions for the Strathcona Regional District."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Robyn Mawhinney has learned a lot since she was elected Regional Director almost 14 months ago. As we enter into yet another new year, she gave her reflections 2023 and what is ahead for Area C in the coming months.

“I’m really pleased that there are new avenues for having community voices heard and included in decision making,” she began.

“Area C now has an Advisory Planning Commission, with nine members. They represent diverse geographies across Area C, from Read Island to Granite Bay and across Quadra Island, and demographics, and as well different business interests. I really appreciate that folks were willing to step up and volunteer for a role like this.”  

“There is an Outer Islands Fire Brigade steering committee, with three members each from Sonora Island and Read Island.”

“The Surge Narrows Revitalization Project Committee had a meeting with SRD staff and myself.”

“Having local residents directly involved in providing input on these projects and communicating with SRD staff will support better outcomes, outcomes which will benefit the residents. So I'm really pleased that there are new and improved avenues for community consultation and inclusion.”  

“One of my goals has been relationship building through clear communication. Every two weeks, I write a director's report which is published locally and also shared with email subscribers. I've had a fair amount of positive feedback on it, and I feel like my consistent reporting could go in the achievement column if you're making columns for these kinds of things.”

CC: What have been the challenges this past year?

Robyn Mawhinney: “Something I have definitely learned, and been learning in the last year is what some staff have referred to as the speed of government. Many of the projects that I've been working on are still in progress.”

“You asked me about the challenges, and I think sometimes that challenges are opportunities in disguise. There's been a lot of learning, stepping into the role of director, learning the details of how all the processes work, and building relationships with colleagues, staff, other electeds, and constituents.”

“I think it's interesting when I talk to staff who have been in their roles for decades and they say they are still consistently learning because there are so many situations that are unique and require novel considerations.”

“There's lots of things in progress.”

“I'm not sure 2024 is going to resolve housing, but it's definitely a key issue for Area C, the regional district and our country.”

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On Friday, January 5, Linda Solomon Wood joined Manda Aufochs Gillespie on Folk U Radio to talk about the state of the media today.

Solomon has been a professional journalist since the 1970s and founded the Vancouver Observer in 2009. As the bio on her website explains, this grew into a national publication:

“Linda Solomon Wood founded Canada’s National Observer in 2015 with the mission of putting climate change front and centre in Canada. CNO’s team of climate experts and journalists have done just that, highlighting the economic, human rights and public health impacts of global warming. With an audience of more than 7 million people over the last year, CNO covers issues and challenges associated with climate such as public health, disinformation, corporate overreach and environmental justice. Our podcast, Race Against Climate Change, was a finalist for the Canadian Journalism Foundation’s ‘Best Climate Solution Reporting’ award. In earlier years, our reporting has received more than 50 honours and awards, primarily for investigative work. Our subscribers include The Government of Canada, universities, libraries and civil society organizations as well as thousands of individuals and foundations who make our journalism possible. In 2020, Linda kicked off CNO’s podcasts with “Conversations”, interviews with leaders tackling global warming Linda served for seven years as editor-in-chief of Canada’s National Observer, before stepping into the role of publisher in the fall of 2022.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates, “heat pumps globally have the potential to reduce global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 500 million tonnes in 2030 – equal to the annual CO2 emissions of all cars in Europe today.”

However the coolants used in many heat pumps available in our area may not be as environmentally friendly as believed. 


This problem was brought to Cortes Currents' attention by Cortes Island resident Ralph Garrison, who explained, “We actually own a house in Victoria because  we took our daughter to high school there,  bought a ‘junk house,’ fixed it up and put in a heat pump. A year or so later, all the refrigerant disappeared for reasons unknown. The people that installed it came back to put more refrigerant in it and now it has worked for a few years, just fine.’ 


“I don't know many people with heat pumps, but I have two friends that have lost all the refrigerant from Daikin heat pumps.”


Cortes Currents reached out to a company distributing Daikin heat pumps on Cortes and Quadra Islands, as well as Campbell River, but this is the weekend and the call was merely forwarded by their answering service.


Most of the of heat pumps, refrigerators and air conditioners sold locally use R-410A, a refrigerant whose global warming potentrial (GWP) is 2,088 times worse than C02.


“It sounds like they maintain their refrigerant for many years. So that's great as long as this refrigerant doesn't leak, but my guess, and this is just my guess, is that at some point in the life of the equipment, there'll be a failure,” said Garrrison.

According to the Green Building Advisor, “If the 3 to 4 pounds of R-410A in a small ductless heat pump system were to escape into the atmosphere, it would cause as much warming as a gasoline car’s annual emissions.”


After studying 528 heat pump installations made by 6 different companies, the British firm Eunomia concluded that about 10% of domestic heat pumps leak every year. For the most part these are minor leaks, but they did find 34 ‘catastrophic leaks’ in which 46-50% of the fluid was lost. There were either no problems, or only relatively minor leaks, with roughly 93.5% of the units they examined. Eunomia’s report was published close to a decade ago, but they were aware that R-410A has a GWP of 2,088 and advised the UK to adopt this technology. 


“The levels of emissions from leakage, however, are small relative to the total emissions reductions which might be delivered by heat pump technologies via the displacement of fossil fuelled heating alternatives.” 

One home service company listed the possible causes of leaks and ways to fix them:

a faulty installation

a clogged drain line (which needs to be cleaned).

the evaporator coil may be dirty and unable to handle the condensation (which could have been prevented by scheduling routine HVAC maintenance).

a crack in the overflow pan (buy a new one a.s.a.p.)

a frozen evaporator coil (needs immediate repair).


On January 1, 2020, the European Union baned its use of R-410A in new heat pumps. Further restrictions are coming in 2025. This includes a prohibition of all refrigerant gasses with a global warming potential (GWP) higher than 750.    


In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency states that no residential and commercial air conditioning equipment using R-410A can be built after January 1, 2025 or sold after January 1, 2026.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - CityWest has finally delivered on its promise to bring high speed fibre-optic internet to Cortes Island.

It has been five years since Victoria Smith, then the Strathcona Regional District’s Special Projects and Sustainability Manager, confirmed that Cortes Island is a proposed recipient for the Connected Coast Project.

The SRD was teaming up with CityWest, a telecommunications company owned by the city of Prince Rupert, to bring this service.

On December 19, 2023, CityWest and the SRD sent out a joint press release stating, “A few weeks ago, we began testing services on island with a select group of beta testers. This was done using the fibre-optic network we constructed on Cortes Island and the Connected Coast subsea backbone.”

Around that time, a CityWest employee informed Cortes Currents they would soon go live in Mansons Landing.

Internet service is being delivered house by house, as CityWest employees make their final service call.

The written version of this story includes a screenshot from a Squirrel Cove resident who is now enjoying connection speeds of between 106 to 107 mbps down and over 99.5 mbps up.

Prior to this, they were receiving 16 mbps down and 6 mbps up from Twincomm - with periodic dropouts during the day.

CityWest is offering Cortes Island customers plans for 100, 500 and 1,000 mbps packages for pices starting at $88 a month. They are also advertising stream TV and home phones, for $27.00 and $26.01 respectively, and bundles of two or more services at lower prices

The SRD’s press release states that residential customers who signed up proir to December 31st, 2023, are receiving 50% off their first 3 months of Internet services!”

Cortes residents who wish to remain with their current internet provider are free to do so.

Twincomm was founded in 2001 and currently serves over 800 customers on Cortes Island, Quadra Island, Lund and Texada Island.

At one point it looked like CityWest was going to purchase Twincomm, but the deal fell apart in July 2021. Dino Tsakonas, who had been Twincomm’s manager up until that point, became a manager for CityWest.

On June 30, 2022, TELUS acquired Twincomm as part of its Mascon by TELUS brand.

On December 6, Twincomm informed customers using their email service that it will be inaccessible after February 15, 2024.

The transition to Mascon by TELUS will be completed on March 1, 2024. at which point Mascon by TELUS will be offering Cortes residents internet for as little as $44 for 8 mbps down, 3 mbps up. The fastest connection advertised is 20 mbps down, 5 mbps up for $129,00 a month.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, the National Debt is now close to $1.21 trillion dollars, which amounts to $30,602 per Canadian. The government expects to pay more than $46.5 billion to service the debt for 2023/24. This exceeds 10% of the federal revenue threshold, recommended by David Dodge, former Bank of Canada Governor. A report from the Fraser Institute states: “In 2021, the average Canadian family (in which two partners are working) earned an income of $99,030 and paid total taxes equaling $42,547 (43.0%).” What does this mean on Cortes Island?

According to the 2021 census, only 255 residents reported a personal income of more than $50,000. (30 people earned $100,000 or more.) That’s a little more than a quarter of the population for whom high taxes are a reality.

The median individual income was $29,400, of which approximately $1,600 went to income tax. There were also 250 residents whose income was less than $20,000, which means they probably did not pay any income tax.

This does not mean that Cortesians aren’t working. We had a workforce of 490, of which 220 were ‘full time employees’ and most of the others were ‘self employed.’ (Many are allegedly juggling two or more jobs.) 65 people reported they had seasonal employment and 70 collected employment insurance.

Another 375 residents were over the age of 65 and presumably collecting pensions.

For most Cortesians, the real concern is the government’s financial stability rather than increased taxes. (I.E.- are we heading for a financial collapse?)