Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) wants to set up its own housing service. They hope to raise up to $10,000,000 for applicable projects and non-profits. This is to be administered through loans, which developers must pay back, but would initially be funded through property taxes. The SRD will be seeking your approval through an Alternate Approval Process. If 10% of the electorate (i.e.- 3,456 people) notify the SRD that they are opposed to this new service before 12:00 noon on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, it will be considered defeated and the SRD will have to consider other ways of raising the money.

A recent report from the CMHC estimates that in order to restore affordability, Canada will have to build 3.5 million housing units by 2030.


Meanwhile in the SRD, 45% of the renters who responded to last year’s Housing Needs Report stated they were paying more than they could afford for shelter. They were said to be ‘at risk’ of homelessness. This was brought home by Campbell River’s recent Point In Time count, in which 33% of the city’s unhoused population reported they lost their homes because they did not have a sufficient income. 


Last August, Senior Manager Aniko Nelson told the Board that if they set up the proposed housing service, “We will  enable ourselves to champion housing related projects throughout the region, as opposed to being that local government which is unable to assist those that are working so hard to provide affordable housing and below market housing throughout the region.”

Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney, of Area C, subsequently told Cortes Currents, “The Regional Housing Service and borrowing bylaws would afford opportunities for the Strathcona Regional District to partner with local housing societies across the Regional District. The SRD can work to address specific challenges, such as workforce, housing and social housing issues. Each project would be individually examined and measured by the board.”

Aniko Nelson: “It would enable partnerships with First Nations, which are looking to provide housing throughout the region right now. There's First Nations that are currently purchasing land. It would enable us to work together with those First Nations to provide that housing. It would allow us to work with other not-for-profit agencies that are providing housing and working towards applications to support funding for those initiatives and it would also enable us to provide opportunities for provincial lobbying.”

Robyn Mawhinney: “In a Regional District, everything is siloed in services. If there isn't a service, there isn't a way for the regional district to approach a subject or work on a specific item. One of the benefits of having a Regional Housing Service would be that the Regional District is able to access Federal funds such as the Housing Accelerator Fund.

The SRD was able to apply for a Housing Accelerator grant because it could show it was working towards setting up a housing service.

That decision was made at the August 16, 2023 Board meeting.

Cortes Island Director Mark Vonesch said,  “I support the creation of a Regional Housing Service. Looking at our campaigns eight months ago, a lot of us ran on the fact there's a lot of need for housing in all of our communities, including Cortes.”


At that time, the proposed loan limit was $6 million. Director Vonesch suggested that be raised to $10 million:

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The next Conversation Cafe asks ‘what does quality and accessible education look like and how do we support it? Colin Funk, President of the Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA), will be the facilitator of this public meeting in the Pioneer Room of Mansons Hall from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Thursday, November 16.


Kate Maddigan, CCEDA’s Economic Development Officer, explained,  

“Colin is a skilled facilitator and what he usually starts with is, 'what is your idea of success for whatever it is that we're talking about?' In this case, it's education. 'Give us your visions for success.' And then we usually do a little bit of a review of previous efforts around the topic and the 2018 LEAP report.”


“Education wasn't a focus area in the 2018 LEAP report, but this time it will be.” 


“For every focus area, we have maybe four strategic directions. That could be opportunities for skilled work training,  continuing education for adults,  strong and varied educational options for children, and retention of families with school aged children. Things like that, but maybe some people will come up with much better ones.”


“Then we get into prioritized actions, like what do we need to do to advance those directions. A lot of people usually have really good ideas about what we need to do to get those things off the ground.” 


“Manda Aufochs Gillespie will be there as well. She's a really great educational advocate on the island.” 

“So that's it in a nutshell. It's only two hours and it's amazing what you can do . I was really impressed with how much we actually accomplished with the small business Conversation Cafe in September.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board held its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, November 8. Provincial legislation requires regional districts to annually elect a Chair and a Vice-Chair for a one-year term at the first meeting of the Board after November 1.

Campbell River is the biggest city in the SRD and elects 5 of the 14 Directors serving on the Board. One of the Campbell River Directors has served as Chairman or Vice Chair since 2016.

Prior to that Director Jim Abram of Quadra Island served as either Chair or Vice Chair from 2012 to 2015,as well as 2010. He is the only Director from the four rural areas to hold either of these offices since 2008.

Last term Mark Baker, Mayor of Campbell River, and Councillor Ron Kerr of Campbell River were elected.

Senior Manager Thomas Yates called the Novermber 8 meeting to order:

“Welcome directors. We'll call the November 8, 2023 inaugural meeting of the board to order. And we'll mention that Director Davis is participating remotely. And we do have a quorum. And moving into the agenda. We do see that the first item of business is the election of the chair. And in accordance with your procedure bylaw, we will take nominations from the floor for the position of Chair.”

Campbell River Director Doug Chapman, said, “I nominate Director Mark Baker for Chair.”

Campbell River Director Ron Kerr, responded, “Second.”

(One of the things that Chair Baker brought to the board was a strong sense of humor.)

Yates: “Director Baker, would you accept that nomination?”

Director Baker: “Pause for effect. Yes, please. Thank you.”

Yates: “Are there further nominations for the position of Chair?”

After a brief interval he added, “For the third and final time. are there nominations for the position of chair? Hearing none? I will declare that director Baker has been elected chair for 2024. Thank you.”

(Clapping)

Yates: “And before Director Baker assumes the chair's position …”

(It is difficult to make out what Baker said, but the board erupted in laughter.)

Yates: “ … We’ll ask for nominations for the position of Vice Chair for the board?”

Director Kerr: “I'd like to nominate Director Sinnott for Vice Chair.”

Director Chapman: “Second.”

Yates: “Director Sinnot, would you accept that nomination?”

Campbell River Director Susan Sinnot: “Yes, I will. Thank you very much.”

Yates: “ Are there further nominations for the position of Vice Chair?”

“For the third and last time, any nominations for vice chair position? Hearing none, I will declare Director Sennett elected as Vice Chair. (Clapping) Thank you very much. I will now relinquish the chair to your recently elected chair, Director Baker.”

Chair Baker: “Thank you very much. I want to say thank you very much to the board for giving me this second opportunity.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Food Bank needs more funding to meet a dramatic increase in the number of people it is serving. They had 5 clients at the end of October 2022. This October there were 70. Food Bank Treasurer Filipe Figueira said the need for food banks has been increaseing throughout Canada. He estimates the Cortes Island Food Bank will need $25,000 to meet the need.

“One of my worries is that we're publicizing that we're serving so many clients and some clients are actually very reluctant to use the food bank.

It's taken a while to convince people that we have enough food. The common comment I get, particularly from some seniors, ‘is I don't want to be taking this food from other people, and I'm not literally starving.’ We always say that you don't have to be literally starving. From our perspective, nobody should be going hungry for one or two days,” he explained.

“I want to reassure all those people out there that we really do have the resources to help that many people.”

According to Food Banks Canada, “In March 2023, there were over 1.9 million visits to food banks in Canada, far surpassing last year’s usage, which set a record at the time.” There was a 32% increase in one year.

Filipe Figuera: “it's actually nearly an 80% increase since March 2019. This is across the country. When you get to Cortes, you can multiply all those economic stressors by three or four because we have clients who have been suffering for years with precarious employment, precarious housing, and higher food costs than mainland food costs.”

He said the Food Bank used to serve about 5 clients a month.

“When we started really promoting the food bank in August, it jumped up to 12. In September, it jumped up to 39 and then in October, it jumped up to 70. Part of that huge jump for the 70 was that we're working with Better at Home. We have a really good alliance with them. They're helping and introducing the food back to some of those seniors, which has been fantastic. We hope to do more projects with them in the future.”

Cortes Currents: So you've gone from 5 to 70?

Filipe Figuera: ‘Yes, it's remarkable, but I'm not super surprised by it. We always knew that if we started scratching the surface, we'd get an idea of the real need on the island. I think the need that we've typically been serving over the last few years is an undercount.”

“When we compare it to Quadra Island, I think they're serving 30 to 40 a month and they've got a very established food bank with better resources than us and have had for a few years.”

“Now that we're actually up and running as a more effective food bank, I think those are the numbers we're going to be hitting - 30 to 40. It's seasonal because in the winter months, people are suffering more. They have energy bills. They don't have employment, but it's not as though we're unusual. We're just reflecting what's happening in the rest of the country.”

The Cortes Food Bank used to offer food pick-up once a month. Now it is every week, alternating between Mansons and Gorge Halls.

Filipe Figuera: “We’re doing a fundraiser right now, which is going very, very well. People can donate to that by going to our website, which is cortesfoodbank.ca.There's a link there to a portal run by Foodbanks BC. People can donate and then they'll get a tax receipt immediately.”

“We appreciate any donation. Actually, I feel bad that we're asking the community to support this because we understand that the vast majority of the community is also feeling the pinch financially. So their generosity, even if it's $20, is super welcome.”

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On September 29, host Manda Aufochs Gillespie was joined by Briony Penn and Hannah Carpendale for a live FolkU Friday discussion about forest carbon. Recorded live off-the-floor and edited for the radio, join us for a conversation on climate change, the ways misinformation shapes our policy and discourse, and carbon sequestration.

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 - The Klahoose Wilderness Resort’s second full season is over.


“We're only open from May to the middle of October,” explained Chris Tait, the Tourism Manager. 


As he reflected on this past season, one word that kept coming up is reconciliation. 


"It's 100 percent owned by the Klahoose First Nation. From the beginning, as we built the resort, that was front and center. We wanted all of our experiences at the Klahoose Wilderness Resort to  reflect the traditions, reflect the culture. Part of that is a reconciliation piece, bringing people into the Klahoose territory. Making sure we have Klahoose First Nation guides leading those guests, whether they're going on a boat tour  through Toba Inlet - which is my background - sharing their culture at the Klahoose Wilderness Resort."


"We have specific cultural sharing that we do in the evenings around a fire in the main lodge. That often starts getting into discussions about reconciliation, sometimes into subjects like residential schools and those kinds of things. We try to keep it light, but  it's part of sharing."


"When the guests arrive, there's drumming and singing reflecting the traditional protocol of arriving on shore and being welcomed into the land and the territory. It's not by me, it's  by our Klahoose cultural interpreters."


"This whole experience is part of what visitors are looking for. They're looking to have that really unique special experience with the people that live there. Of course, we're going to see whales and bears and they're going to enjoy an all inclusive kind of wilderness experience with all their meals included.  There's lots to do at the resort, but it's being led by an Indigenous person."


"We're working within a capitalist environment, but we're trying to do that in a way that we can not only make money as a business, but also help support the community. Which means hiring, training, and trying to do our best to make sure we're honouring those traditions and the culture of the people." 


"Within a tourism environment, It’s not easy. We've still got a lot of work to do. This is our second full season. The Klahoose First Nations doesn't currently have a cultural department, so we work with our culture ambassadors as a connection to their community.  They'll go back to their knowledge keepers, or elders or family, and work on what cultural sharing they can do and what they can't."


"In turn, they're actually learning about  their own culture which is really an exciting part of it. Then they come back to the resort.  We have the space there for them to do that sharing. That happens with the visitors in a very organic fun and meaningful way."


"Usually, when guests leave they know everyone's names, have seen their artwork and often have a bit of a tear in their eye as they head out."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - On Monday, November 6, Max Thaysen and Travis Powiak posted a notice on the Tideline. They would be hunting Canada geese at Smelt Bay and Hollyhock Beach, between 12 and 3 PM, on Thursday. 

"I like eating goose for a variety of reasons, including wanting to have the most ethical and environmentally responsible diet that I possibly can," Max explained.

However, there was a problem.  

Max Thaysen: "Geese like to spend time in many of the same places that humans like to spend time.  There can be some issues around getting access to the geese, and working around the humans."

"So, me and a friend of mine, Travis, have come up with a plan where we could let the community know that there's some hunting planned in a restricted time period. People can choose to go elsewhere if they don't want to see or hear that kind of thing, or if they have dogs who are sensitive to loud noises. We plan to put up some signs to also help people know what's going on."

"The world is a very complicated place  and probably anytime we operate by simple rules like ‘eating meat is bad for the environment,’  we might lose some nuance and some details. I think in this case, that's very much true."

"There is pretty much no way of eating that has zero impact."

"So to the extent that you can, make the best decisions based on where you are and what you have access to. I think that it quite often includes eating meat. In this case it's an invasive species. It's having an impact. So any amount of invasive species meat  consumption that offsets any other food, even vegetarian food, has actually, in my opinion, a much lower impact than the alternatives."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - It's been a month since hundreds of Campbell River residents were shocked to learn that their city council appeared to be punishing the local art gallery for not confronting the homeless people camped outside its doors.  As city councilor Ron Kerr put it, :We certainly don't need to give them tax deferrals if they're not working with us."

Local MP Rachel Blaney referred to the incident in the House of Commons when speaking about the housing and homelessness crisis:

"My region has seen the largest increase of unhoused people on record. There was a 106% jump in the Comox Valley and almost 70% percent in Campbell River. This is a catastrophe. The Prime Minister says housing is not a federal responsibility, as people and communities move beyond a crisis point. This while Conservative council members in Campbell River have begun targeting non-profits who provide essential services to the unhoused. When are the Liberals going to be an actual federal partner and build people homes? " 

 Peter Fragiskatos, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Housing, responded, "This federal government has been a partner to, namely, not for profit organizations that are doing outstanding work on the ground."

Rachel Blaney is my guest on Cortes Currents this morning.  

Her statistics on homelessness in her riding are correct. According to the most recent Point In Time count, the unhoused populations of the Comox Valley and Campbell River have grown to 272 and 197 respectively.  Even more alarming, a significant number of them appear to have had homes last year and said they can no longer afford to pay the rent.   

The homeless crisis is also found in rural areas. On Cortes Island for example, at least 46 people are known to have couch-surfed or found some other temporary shelter last year, and another 11 lived outdoors.  

Cortes Currents: "So Rachel, why are you holding the Liberal government responsible?"

Rachel Blaney: "If you think back before 1997, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) used to have a particular branch of that department that built between 15,000 to 20,000 units across the country every year. If we had seen that continue,  I think we would still be in a bit of a housing crisis, but it would not be anywhere to the extent that it is today."  

"Neither the Conservative or Liberal governments have really replaced that.  A lot of the money that's going out for so-called 'social housing' is based on the market value.  That means investors are getting money to build what they call 'social housing,' but right now we know the market is really high. I think at this point it's $2,500 to $3,000 a month, just for a one bedroom apartment. It's really not making sure that we're seeing housing that's affordable."

"We've also seen  a lot of corporations buying up what used to be social housing or low income housing. They're renovating it, evicting everyone and then renting out at a much higher rate. This has been happening since 1997 and I think the cumulative effect has really left us across this country in a significant housing crisis."

Kim Paulley/CKTZ News - This fall, Mansons Hall opened its doors to Sew Much More, a place to sew and learn, according to organizers.

The idea for Sew Much More had its beginnings at the Cortes Island Free Store, where Marnie Andrews offered up her sewing skills this past summer. The fair weather allowed her to set up in the area just outside the front doors. It was there that she repaired items for the store that were just too good to throw away. She also taught interested patrons DIY sewing skills.

The success of those activities set the stage for the Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA) board to approve the use of the sewing room at the Mansons Community Hall.

Sew Much More is run by a team of volunteers, including Andrews and SCCA Board Chair Cora Moret. Volunteers are on hand to guide sewers as much or as little as needed. It is an all ages offering with the proviso that children nine and under will generally need an adult to attend with them.

Participants are encouraged to bring their sewing projects, mending and repairs. Unwanted, revamped items are donated to the Mansons Hall thrift store.

“Why throw it away, if you don’t have to! The jump in skill needed to get that repair done is not huge,” Moret says.

Sew Much More runs on Tuesday afternoons from 2-5 pm at Mansons Hall. There is no cost to participants.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Klahoose Wilderness Resort  has partnered with the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada (ITAC) to support the newly launched Indigenous Tourism Destination Fund. 


“There's 800 new Indigenous tourism businesses that this strategy is going to support. Those are new ones. I think there's 300 now that are like Klahoose Wilderness Resort across the country.  Most of them are small businesses like ours,”  explained Chris Tait, Tourism manager for the Klahoose Wilderness Resort.

“We're part of the original accreditation program with the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, where they recognize Indigenous tourism businesses. There's three levels. You have to meet a whole bunch of criteria, like: have a business plan; a marketing plan; work with international visitors; be an Indigenous owned business; and have an Indigenous experience.”


“The other businesses in the program are much larger non-Indigenous businesses. WestJet, Rocky Mountaineer, Airbnb are three big examples. They're going to contribute quite a bit of money.” 


“Klahoose Wilderness Resort is going to contribute a small amount. We're a very little Indigenous resort, we only have seven rooms and cabins, but for us, supporting the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada is really important. The whole purpose of that fund is Indigenous reconciliation and making sure that it's Indigenous first as a business.” 

The immediate goal is to raise $2.6 billion for Indigenous tourism over the next seven years. They hope to build it into a $6 billion a year industry by 2030.


Chris Tait: “That fund will go back to help those  original tourism businesses, which are some of the best businesses across Canada.  It'll help support them in their marketing and their training, but it'll also help support bringing up a lot of those newer businesses,  or just businesses  that aren't 100 percent market ready.  Maybe they need more training,  whether it's Indigenous specific training or tourism and hospitality training.  Those are just examples, but it would help support business development.

“It’s an ‘opt in’, customers can choose to do it or not and it's only $10. So it's not a big fee.” 

“The Klahoose Wilderness Resort will collect the funds from our guests and then it will go towards this larger pot.”