Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Three years have passed since the BC government promised to implement the Old Growth Strategic Review, but many feel very little has been done. On September 28 concerned citizens will be protesting in front of constituency offices across the province.

The local protest will be in front of MLA Michele Babchuk’s office at 908 Island Highway, in Campbell River, from 11:30 to 12:30.

“The Council of Canadians, Campbell River chapter and Sierra Club, Quadra Island chapter, decided to participate in a day of action for old growth forest that's happening around the province on September 28th. We're asking people to come down and bring signs. Hopefully we'll get a chance to talk to Michelle if she's in the office, if not certainly, impress upon her the need for the government to fully implement all 18 points of the Old Growth Strategic Review,” explained Richard Hagensen, from the Campbell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians.

“We're hoping to bring this to the notice of the public and get public to also write letters and urge the provincial government to get on with it.”

Bonnie Brownstein of Sierra Quadra added:

“I'd like to invite everyone in the Discovery Islands - so that’s Quadra, Cortes, Read, Maurelle etc. - and also Campbell River to attend the Old Grove Rally at the office of our member of Local Assembly, Michelle Babchuk on September 28.”

“We are all impacted by the excessive logging in the Discovery Islands. They all share characteristics in common, in that there is very little in the way of 250 year old trees and more left.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There are 87 electoral district associations (EDAs) in BC, each one of which sends an MLA to the provincial Legislature. 

In July Max Thaysen was elected Vice President of the Executive Committee of the North Island NDP Electoral District Association.

“It's been interesting and inspiring to get involved in this stuff, and I've been delighted to work on society's great challenges with other people, and it's been going really well,” he said.

CC: How do you meet?

MT: “Mostly on Zoom, which is quite interesting to notice how society shifted a little bit during the pandemic. Even people who live away from city centres can now participate in democracy a lot more. This  technology  is changing how democracy works. I think that a lot of our democratic processes are stuck in the 19th century, when they were built.  I would not have been involved  if my participation could not be facilitated by electronic commuting to meetings. It's pretty cool.”

CC: How did you become involved?

MT: “I was initially inspired to join by a friend of mine  who had joined and was working within the party to achieve some of her goals that I also cared about. It just wasn't really on my radar as a way that I could be of service to the world.  I'm pretty concerned about a bunch of things,  but I spend most of my time thinking and worrying about climate change, and I think that the NDP has the best mix of values to address the climate crisis. I wanted to get involved and help other people think about  these issues and make some good decisions for the benefit of all humans.”

CC: What is the EDA’s relationship with Michelle Babchuk, our MLA?

MT:  “She comes to most of our meetings, participates  in the conversations and discussions.”  

“I haven't been on this team during an election, but my understanding is that  the executive committee, especially in the EDA In general,  is on Michelle's team because we are participating  in the campaign, doing door knocking, doing fundraising, doing outreach, holding events, getting signs put out into the world, those sorts of things. We are like the foot soldiers in a campaign.” 

CC: What else does an EDA do?

MT: “The constitution of the BC NDP says that the party will be controlled by the membership.  I don't know  what exactly that means, or how that all gets interpreted and I'm sure it's variable depending on who's involved and what they're willing to do. In theory and on paper, all the members basically get to decide everything  that the party does.” 

The EDA is currently gearing up for the BC NDP Convention in Victoria, November 17th to 19th.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Very little water is trickling through Basil Creek, where Cortes Island’s principal Chum run occurs in late October. There have been few days of rain on Cortes since May, and some of the area's shallow wells stopped producing in July. Only about 10 Chum were seen in Basil Creek during the 2022 drought. Unless water levels rise, this may be the second year in a row when there is not a creek for the Chum return. 

According to the Pacific Salmon Foundation, BC is going through ‘one of the most extreme periods of drought in recorded history.’ 

Jason Hwang explained, “Past droughts in B.C. were isolated to specific areas and watersheds. But this year, drought is an everywhere problem. Even the wettest areas in B.C. are seeing dry and hot conditions. We are seeing significant impacts on salmon-bearing rivers and streams. Salmon returning to their freshwater habitats are facing these extreme drought stressors. It’s the equivalent of trying to run a marathon in a sauna.”

DFO Communications Advisor Alexandra Coutts emailed Cortes Currents that  Area #13, which includes Cortes, Quadra and Sonora Islands as well as Campbell River, is one of the many areas still in the midst of a level 5 drought.  

Quadra based reporter Rochelle Baker observed this is the third year in a row.

Anecdotal evidence suggests this year’s Pink Salmon runs in the Campbell River and Quinsam River are strong, as they were in 2022, but this may not be true of outlying areas.

Coutts wrote, “It is too early to comment on returns at this time. However, early indications for systems where fish are able to get through are promising. Salmon runs will continue into the late fall. Data will be collected, validated and then published.”

 

“In recent years extreme environmental conditions experienced in southern and central British Columbia during the summer have negatively affected Pacific salmon.” 

 

“Prolonged periods of heat and lack of precipitation have resulted in droughts and associated dewatering of important fish habitats, reduced oxygen levels and delayed or impeded migration to salmon spawning areas in freshwater systems and have resulted in pre-spawn mortality.” 

 

“In a growing number of watersheds, in-river water temperatures have exceeded upper thermal tolerances for salmon resulting in pre-spawn mortality.”  

 

“Lower than average snowpack in southern British Columbia and long-range forecasts indicate salmon survival is likely to be impacted by prolonged periods of heat and drought (June through October).”  

 

“It is common for fish habitat to dry up/disconnect during the dry, warm summer months. This can cause adult salmon or salmon fry to be trapped in isolated pools, with the potential for mortality due to loss of water, lack of oxygen, warm water temperatures, lack of food, and increased exposure to predation.”   

 

“DFO has been actively engaged and working with Indigenous, Community and NGO partners on local interventions where possible to address drought related issues for salmon. This work includes hands-on work such as addressing extreme drought related strandings and migration blockages as well as providing advice to partners. The wide geographic extent of drought impacts will mean that direct intervention is not possible in every case. DFO is also working with the Province of B.C. as the lead jurisdiction for water management during times of drought.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Sixteen Cortes Island business people, plus board members from the  Cortes Community Economic Development Association (CCEDA), came out to the Conversation Cafe in Mansons Hall on Thursday September 14. They came from Whaletown, Cortes Bay and Mansons Landing. There were representatives from the construction sector, value added wood products, food production and cottage industries like cosmetics and jewelry. Some had been in business for years, and others were just starting out. 

Colin Funk, President of CCEDA, was the facilitator.


Kate Madigan, CCEDA’s Economic Development Officer (EDO), explained:

“I think that's an excellent turnout. It really shows that small businesses do need these opportunities and the LEAP report is really a way to help create momentum in the various focus areas that it tries to address such a small business.”


“The goal is to help us update our Local Economic Action Plan (LEAP) for Cortes Island, which is about six years out of date. This is also had an opportunity  for CCEDA to answer the question around what small businesses need to succeed on Cortes Island."


"It was a comfortable sit down place in the Pioneer Room. We were serving coffee, tea and cookies.You do get a lot more participation in online surveys as opposed to an in person meeting, but  with an online survey you really lose opportunities to discuss complex ideas or facilitate group discussions. You just can't really get to the heart of  things with an online survey." 


"Overwhelmingly, what came out was that people want the opportunity to get together and start a business network or a guild with quarterly meetings.” 


“The big shortcoming that would be addressed is that everyone is in the dark about what everyone is doing. Rather than competing with each other, they want to get together and support each other and find out how they can cooperate with each other so that everyone can succeed.”


“An example of how people can help each other:  one person said that they were the recipient of some grant money that helped  their business during COVID. That came at the complete surprise of another business person, who thought that all of the business supports and grants and things were for startups."


"We really want to start some kind of  a network for all of the businesses so that they can get together and talk, like a chamber of commerce."


CC: I understand there were also some Action Items from the old LEAP report.


KM: “Number two was work with the SRD to provide incentives to support small business. People thought that it should be expanded. It's not just the SRD,  there's a little bit of like,  'what does the SRD really do anyway?' If anything, we should restate that, but also expand it to  other agencies that could help.”


“Another action item from the old LEAP report was the need for a business directory for Cortes Island. If you look in the Cortes phone book, there's a business section, but it feels like it's been shrinking. That's not a really good source to find out how many businesses are operating on Cortes. I have accessed where you register your business with the province. They can't do geographic searches, so it's really hard to find out how many businesses are in operation on Cortes."


"I think I'm just going to have to do an advertisement on the Tideline and on Facebook saying, ‘Let's start a business directory. Let me know what business you have and what your website is.’ I'm going to get people to list their businesses with a CCEDA business directory." 


"Another one was the need for business marketing support. Someone wanted off-island exports to be supported a bit more and then the circular economy came up.  We don't want to just encourage people to shop locally, but  to support local services as well."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - At a time when the average Canadian spends more than $3,000 a year on clothing, many Cortes Island residents are satisying their personal needs and disposing of clothing through the local freestore. Similarly, Creative Deconstruction has suppiled materials used in ten new homes on Cortes Island. Mark Vonesch, the Regional Director for Cortes Island, suggests that centres like this may offer a model that needs to be promoted throughout the Comox and Strathcona Regional Districts.

“I'm just getting back from the Comox Strathcona Waste Management Board meeting. This is a board that I sit on as a director, and we provide guidance and leadership to the waste management services in the Comox Valley District and the Strathcona Regional Districts,” he explained. 


“One of the things on Cortes that I know a lot of people care about is the Free Store. It's great on a lot of levels. It's part of our culture and it's a way of sharing things. It's a way of reducing our waste and it's a way of reusing items that somebody doesn't want and is useful for somebody else.” 


“Thinking more regionally,  what are the opportunities for us as a region to divert waste things that are going into the landfill that have value. The Free Store on Cortes is an obvious example of that and there are other Free Stores across the district.” 


“I've asked for a staff report on where we're at with reuse, Free Stores and those sort of facilities. What can we do to expand and grow it?” 

“One of the things on Cortes, there's room to potentially expand the Free Store. Is there a better location for it?  Is there a way for us to bring in the reuse of building materials and some of the things that red tape is currently stopping us from being able to reuse.”


“I think this is something that  is regional. It's an issue because we have to deal with all our waste.  How can we deal with it in a way that's good for the environment, that supports local people and promotes the culture of reuse and reducing our footprint on the planet.”

“They're going to come back with a staff report and then I'm hoping that  as a board, we can come together  on moving forward  on some of the lower hanging fruit to start diverting more waste from landfills.”

Louis Belcourt/ CKTZ News - An anonymous donor has donated around $250,000 to create a one time, experimental grant program that gives directly to the Cortes community.

The Cortes Island Community Foundation (CICF) was chosen to create the program and distribute the funds in the form of one time, cash "gifts" to individuals. The gifts never have to be paid back, and the CICF do not need receipts of how the cash was spent.

"We want people to apply for money for their specific needs instead of trying to fit their needs into a box like most other grants," says Isabelle McKnight, executive administrator for the CICF. "What the Cortes Foundation wants to do is just have people apply for what they actually need, whether that's a car to get their kids to school or dental work that they need to get to town for, whatever it is."

The funds will be distributed in gifts ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 and aren't taxable. The program is looking to focus on families and individuals that are in acute financial need.

"It's a very generous, one time thing that the donor has offered and they wish to remain anonymous," says McKnight.

"And it's a pilot program, so if we can figure out how to run this and it's really successful, we're hoping to attract other donors to do projects like this, because this is the core of what we want the foundation to be, is to provide whatever people in the community actually need."

More information can be found at the CICF's website.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Regional Director Mark Vonesch brought two Cortes Island motions before the SRD Board on Wednesday, September 13. Both were passed with no opposing votes. The first was to draw up an Open Burning Bylaw in the parts of Cortes Island within the South Cortes Fire Protection Area. However the electorate needs to approve the second item, a proposed Dog Control Service. 


Vonesch was on the way home, waiting in the ferry line-up at Heriot Bay, when he spoke with Cortes Currents:

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Academy kicked off its second year with a ‘meet and greet’ barbeque on Tuesday, September 5. Students and homestay parents met with some of the people working behind the scenes. School started the following day.

“Right now, the students are just going back into the classroom after being in Carrington for the last four days on a camping trip that started on the weekend and went into the week.  They are still in the  outdoor education fundamentals getting to know each other part of the semester,” explained Manda Aufochs Gillespie, the Academy’s principal Board member.

“This semester we're trying a number of new things with the Cortes Island Academy. We learned a lot from last year, the successes and the things that we could improve upon. One of the things that we're doing this year is more consistent facilitation throughout the whole program.”

“We are so, so excited to be welcoming Michael Detora as the new principal at the Cortes Island School,and also our new lead school teacher. All the students who come to the Cortes Island Academy now are registered as students in the school.  It's his job to help keep us on track as far as getting the kids their high school credits and assessing the resources and skills available through School District 72. So, if they're getting an English new media credit, and they have to learn the skills of basic composition and being able to analyze text in a particular way, we have to figure out a way to do that, to prove that we've done it and he helps us make sure that we're doing that.” 

“He's a neat guy: young, vibrant, full of new ideas with a background in experiential education, particularly for rural and remote communities. He's written two books, and produced a hip hop album.”

“Let me tell you a couple of things that are super, super exciting. We still are doing the block method as part of the Cortes Island Academy and in the block method, you deep dive into a particular subject. These are long days, a lot of project oriented material. We are also weaving through this year, more of the outdoor education and physical education parts, the leadership and the careers and helping us make sure that there's continuity. We have Kai Harvey leading us,  coming in at least once  and sometimes many times a week.” 

“Kai and Tosh Harvey are leading this first block, which is a deep dive into science. Before the science block, they're leading what they're calling fundamentals, which is really about team building, getting to know deeply the local place around them before they start with all the science tools and principles.”

“After the science, they are doing a deep dive this year into a First People's block and they will be led by Michael Detora.  They'll also have in the classroom with them a number of different local knowledge holders, everyone from Kai to Odette Auger and Rex Weyler, et cetera.  Then Reel Youth will also be there as students learn the basics of documentary filmmaking and work with elders in the community to interview and bring out some of  their stories.” 

“The third block is the English new media block, which the students also participated in last year, where they learned the basics of truth telling,  or what we usually refer to as journalism, but how journalism has come about through time and our ideas of truth telling  and our tools for truth telling have changed over time.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - It has been nine years Transport Canada (TC) transferred administration of three wharves in Discovery Islands-Mainland Inlets (Area C) to the Strathcona Regional District (SRD). The SRD was also given $2.9 Million for maintenance and upgrades that were to be completed before November 2024. The work was not done and now the cost of upgrading the wharves Owen Bay on Sonora Island, Surge Narrows on Read Island, and Port Neville on the northern shore of the Johnstone Strait, has risen.  


The SRD hoped to recover the shortfall through the area’s property value taxes, ‘the annual requisition not to exceed the greater of $137,187 or $O.0935 per $1,000 of net taxable assessments.’  


On June 29, 2023, the SRD Board decided to gage the electorate’s support through an Alternative Approval Process. This would allow the District to proceed unless 10% of the voters state they are opposed. A minimum of 242 negative responses would suffice to defeat the motion. By the time the process ended, there were 418 elector responses, 385 of which were deemed to be valid. The motion was defeated.


Transport Canada informed the SRD they will not take either the wharves or the funds back. 


Staff drew up a number of possible options, including:

transferring the wharves to Area C’s parks service,

divest the wharves to First Nations, community groups or private entities,

or using the funds to demolish the wharves

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - The tenth and last concert in the Friday Live Music Series was an open mic afternoon. Welcoming in the fall on September 1st in the Village Commons tent, the event was a well-attended last hoorah. Performers featured were Louis Belcourt, Sun Rob, Tashi, and Jemma & the Good Thing. Manda Aufochs Gillespie hosted the concert live on Folk U Radio.

The series was sponsored by the Cortes Island Community Foundation.

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.