Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In 2021, the Friends of Cortes Island received funding from the Habitat Stewardship Program to seek out the elusive Western Screech Owls. This research is being guided by the Pacific Megascops Research Alliance, and biologists from the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship are part of the team. The first season was spring 2022.

According to Cortes Island biologist Sabina Leader Mense:

“We know they're here, why aren't they talking to us? The research results we got: not a hoot, not a peep, not a call. Nothing but lots and lots of questions.”

“The autonomous recording units, the ARUs, are just being analyzed now. Whatever was picked up by them during February and March of this year, that information's coming to us within the next month.”

“FOCI's been very successful at getting funding, again from the Habitat Stewardship Program, for two more years. So we'll be going out in February and March 2023, and we will have the information from the autonomous recording units. It is really important to know if there were Western Screech Owls calling at times when they just simply weren't answering us.”

“People are seeing the birds in the Discovery Islands. While we were doing transects down here in February and March, there were Western Screech Owls up on Sonora Island calling in behind some greenhouses in the Diamond Bay area. There was a Western Screech Owl predation by Ravens observed at Port Maurelle on Maurelle Island.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - On Monday, Dec 12, Gorge Harbour Marina Resort announced that its

seasonal liveaboard program will come to an end next Spring.

Jason Johnson, General Manager of QXMC as well as the resort, wrote, “GHMR has never, to the best of my knowledge, offered year-round live aboard opportunities but has run a small seasonal program in previous years where under ten vessels were hosted. In 2022, the program has seven vessels, under short term live aboard contract ending the end of April 2023. In all cases, the stays were contingent on contracts being signed, liability insurance coverage for each vessel and one vessel per person. While these changes were difficult for guests, it allowed the 2022 program to continue.”

The Harbour Authority of Cortes Island also manages a dock in the Gorge, so Cortes Currents asked Harbourmaster Jenny Hartwick if they accept liveaboards.

“No, At this point in time, the Gorge dock is at capacity for commercial aquaculture vessels. We do have some dinghy use for boat-access-only individuals, and that would fall under recreational moorage, but we do not take long-term moorage requests for recreational vessels at the Gorge dock,” she replied.

Hartwick explained that the Harbour Authority leases the Gorge dock from Small Craft Harbours.

“The mandate of Small Craft Harbors is to support the commercial fishing industry. That includes the broader aquaculture, commercial vessels in general, as well as First Nation ceremonial and food fish uses. We are required by our lease agreement with Small Craft Harbours to meet that mandate. At the Gorge Dock in particular, that facility is at capacity with commercial users and we don't have room for any additional recreational moorage.”

Cortes Currents asked, “Is there room at any of the other docks that the Harbour Authority manages?”

“We do currently have some designated liveaboard positions at the docks. We have one liveaboard position at Manson's landing, one liveaboard space at Cortes Bay, and three designated liveaboard spaces at Squirrel Cove. All of those positions are currently filled with designated users. At this point in time, we have a wait list for liveaboard requests at the dock. If anyone is interested in obtaining liveaboard status at one of our facilities, they would need to reach out to the Harbor Authority and I'm happy to put them on the wait list, but we don't have any available spaces at this point in time.”

Prior to the Marina releasing its announcement, one of the guests at their dock posted the following comment on Facebook:

“I was very happy to be back on Cortes, having spent much of my childhood there. Guess it is not the Cortes I knew anymore. The disrespect toward those who chose to live on the water has been a shock, to say the least. I understand there are issues with some irresponsible boat owners, but I certainly am not one of them. Though I had moorage options elsewhere, I chose Gorge Harbour because of the connection I had to the island and its people. I have literally spent thousands of dollars in the community so far…”

Johnson explained the resort’s position:

“With the full understanding that there is a housing crisis in BC and Cortes is certainly no different, we need to ensure that guests have access to the amenities needed for their short term stay as minimum expectations. The marina does not have pump out or sewer access. While the expectation is that vessels will leave and seek facilities accordingly, our marina is not equipped to offer this service. Water lines are not insulated and subject to freezing so we have a scheduled program whereby water is shut off daily and then restarted to avoid damage. This month we experienced a power outage whereby back up power was also affected and two live aboard gusts dependent on electric heat found themselves without heat. We mitigated this by hosting them up in other accommodation on site at our expense.”

De Clarke/Cortes Currents - The second part of an interview with Cortes Island's new Regional Director, Mark Vonesch

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -“The best overview of the FOCI's Marine Stewardship Initiative (MSI), the absolute best overview in a nutshell, is an Arthur C Clark's quote. It's the mantra of the MSI. Arthur C. Clarke wrote 'How inappropriate to call this Planet Earth when it is quite clearly Ocean.' That is, in a nutshell, the Marine Stewardship Initiative,” explained Sabina Leader Mense, Program coordinator

Then she proceeded to give an overview of the five major programs currently underway.

De Clarke/ COrtes Currents - In mid-November, Currents ran an article on the novel Finnish approach to homelessness, “Housing First,” and three local communities where low-cost housing had been created for those in need. We invited the new Area B Regional Director (Mark Vonesch) to comment on the housing issue generally, and on “Housing First” as a concept. Mark wasn’t able to respond in November, but agreed to an interview in early December.

The interview will be broadcast on CKTZ in two parts. The first part (airing on Monday Dec 12 at 8am) is a more general check-in with Mark; we ask him about his first few weeks on office, the three percent short-term rental tax which he successfully proposed at SRD, and his perception of the atmosphere at SRD with regard to Cortes business. We also begin to discuss the housing crisis on Cortes. In the second part (Tuesday Dec 13 at 8am) we discuss the housing issue in greater depth.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) recently had its AGM. This is also Helen Hall’s seventh year as Executive Director. So Cortes Currents asked her for an overview of this past year and how the organization has changed during her tenure.

Helen Hall: “That’s a big question, FOCI has always been doing a lot of different projects. I act as the central point for FOCI, but there's a lot of work going on with volunteers and our contractors.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In the most recent of her interviews about Cortes History, Lynne Jordan, former President of the Cortes Island Museum, traces one of the Island’s foremost industries from its pre-contact beginnings up until recent times.

Lynne Jordan: “ The First Nations cultivated clam gardens on this coast for 3,000 to 5,000 years, maybe even longer. One on Quadra Island was recently dated at being around 3,500 years old.”

“In her book ‘Clam Gardens: Aboriginal Mariculture on Canada's West Coast,’ Judith Williams describes how natives would choose a small, bay/beach area and increase the amount of sand on that beach by collecting all the rocks off the beach and taking them down at low tide to the bottom of the beach and throwing them into the water. You do that for enough years and thousands of years, the rock wall builds up and gets bigger and bigger. As the rock wall grows, more sand gets trapped behind the rock wall, which increases the beach size, and that's how they cultivated and grew their clams on the beach.”

“Clams were very important because First Nations were mostly gatherers, and you could find them all year long. When other foods that they would normally gather weren't growing in the forest or the meadows, they would eat a lot of clams.”

“There are alot of those gardens around Howe Sound area, but also all around the Desolation Sound.”

“Gorge Harbour, on Cortes Island, has a number of old clam gardens around the outer edge of the beaches. If you go down to the wharf at the bottom of Robertson Road and you're on the dock, look to your left. There used to be a clam garden along the beach. It's identified mainly by what they call clam hash, broken little bits of shell that mixed with the sand. The beach is quite soft. If you look to your right, towards the Gorge Harbour Marina, you can actually see where the clam garden continued along that way too.”

“The marina has disrupted what was left of the clam garden. If you stand at the end of the wharf at a low tide and look down on that right side, you will see a rock wall there. The dock was built overtop of a clam garden.”

“That's the easiest one to pick out, but once you know what to look for, you start seeing clam gardens in many places around Cortes Island.”

Continuing on to after the settlers arrived, calms and oysters were cutivated in Squirrel Cove during the 1920s. Quadra Island’s Heriot Bay Inn had a lease.

In 1938 Harry and Teresa Daniels were cultivating oysters near the head of Von Donnop Inlet.

Lynne Jordan: “They started with seed from Japan, which is a larger oyster than the native variety.”

The Daniels “were the first to have a beach lease there, and they actually had it marked off on the beach with cement edging. It had a curb all around it. They don't do that nowadays.”

“In the 1940s Alf Layton also had a beach lease at the upper end of Von Donnop Inlet.”

“Shellfish sustained a lot of Cortes islanders for many years, particularly through the depression years. You could harvest oysters, clams, scallops, mussels, you name it. If you had a boat, you could also add in crabs, prawns, but you'd need the boat and traps to catch them, whereas the beach was open to anybody.”

More in the podcast

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Current - At their December 7 meeting, the Strathcona Regional District Board discussed modifications to a contract for 16 Earthquake early warning stations stretching from Chatham Point, north of Campbell River, up to Haida Gwaii.

The $1.8 million needed to fund this project was provided by a grant from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

As Chief Administration Officer (CAO) David Leitch explained,”NRCan would only provide the grant to local governments, so it had to be applied for through the SRD.”

Wolfang Parada, Senior Manager of Engineering Services, outlined some of the details:

Baylink Networks has been selected to design, supply and install 16 earthquake early warning stations or systems along the coast, all the way from north of Campbell River up to Haida Gwaii. It's being built and designed, in conjunction with the Connected Coast project.

“Back in August 17, we introduced the staff report recommendation that the board have the Chair and CAO sign the contract. That resolution was passed. However, when we submitted the contract to Baylink Networks, they expressed a few concerns about the language we had in the contract.”

“We've made revisions to the agreements. Some of the major changes that we made related to the construct price. We have reduced that, just to clarify what SRD will be responsible for buying when it comes to network equipment and what they're responsible for buying when it comes to the sensors.”

“We have been able to have clarification on the development of the operation plan, so they will support the operations plan. We also have a reduction in the warranty period from five years to one year, which I think is reasonable for these types of equipment.”

“We made revisions to schedule a DNF. The first thing we needed in the owner’s statements of requirements (was what everyone) is responsible for. We provide a detailed project budget, a breakdown of materials, labor, and equipment to build the project.”

“Our recommendation to the board today is to have the Chair and CAO execute the amended contract with Baylink Networks for the design, supply, and installation of 16 earthquake early warning sensors.”

Martin Davis (Mayor of Tahsis): “I noticed there's quite a cluster of sensor sites for earthquakes on the North end of Vancouver Island, but there's none on the West Coast. This is one of the most tectonically active areas in the Regional District and I'm curious as to why no sensors are planned for that area.”

Wolfang Parada: “So 16 stations: 4 on the North part of the Island; 12 along the BC coast. I have great news. We received a letter today. Resources Canada has approved our application and that will provide sensors to the West Coast as well. More details will be provided in upcoming meetings.”

Mark Vonesch (Regional Director of Cortes Island): “The $1.8 million, that was entirely covered by the grant?”

David Leitch: “Correct, yes, it's a hundred percent funded.”

That's simplified things.

Gerald Whalley (Regional Director of Area A): “I move the Chair and Corporate Officer be authorized to execute the amended contract with ‘Baylink Networks, Inc’ as a sole source contract of the earthquake early warning system extended network.

Martin Davis: “Second, Davis”

Mark Baker (Chair of the SRD Board): Discussion … All in favor … Opposed. Seeing none, the motion is carried.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -A fire broke out at Diamond Bay on Sonora Island, on Thursday, August 12, 2021. It began as a structure fire, but spread into the tinder dry forest. The fire travelled rapidly upslope, threatening 30 other homes in the vicinity. Neighbouring residents converged at Diamond Bay and organized an ad hoc fire control effort. BC Wildfire Service arrived to take command. Four helicopters, a fire response boat and 17 provincial firefighters fought alongside ‘the local Owens Bay Fire Brigade' and by the morning of Sunday, August 15 the fire was officially ‘under control.’

However the Diamond Bay fire prompted some of the surrounding residents to express a desire to see a volunteer fire brigade set up.

As Maurelle Island resident Rob Wood states, in a subsequent Strathcona Regional District (SRD) staff report, “The fire conditions over the past five years have been different than in previous years. With climate change the risk of fire has changed, and we need to consider what we are going to do differently in response.”

The SRD hired Tim Pley and associates to do a feasibility study for an Outer Discovery Islands fire brigade, equipped with pumps and hand tools. They would serve Read Island, Maurelle Island, North Rendezvous Island, and the southern portion of Sonora Island, including Diamond Bay and Owen Bay. The area’s full time population is estimated as 133.

Two of the proposed volunteer crews would be based at Surge Narrows and Evans Bay on Read Island. The third would come from southern Sonora Island, where the fire occurred in 2021.

Approximately $52,000 will be needed for administration, training, equipment another costs in 2023. The amount decreases every year after that, and by 2027 should be under $40,000.

Assuming that local ratepayers are supportive of the proposal, the SRD will hold meetings to discuss costs and cost-sharing options.

An update on this proposal was given at the Wednesday, December 7, SRD Board meeting.

The Outer Discovery Islands is in Area C, whose Regional Director is Robyn Mawhinney.

She asked,”I understand that the outer discovery islands community has been surveyed for feedback and interest following the study. And I'm curious if there's a timeline for receiving that report, or if there's anything to add about the survey.”

SRD Emergency Coordinator Shaun Koopman replied, “We're all ding to have that report back to the second meeting in January at the latest. The survey response deadline was this Friday, we've got about 80 responses, 30 that were physically mailed back 50 that were submitted online. So about a 45% community turnout rate.”

If approved, the Outer Discovery Islands Fire Brigade may become a reality as early as next year.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Three days after he was sworn in as Premier of British Columbia, David Eby unveiled a series of new laws designed to increase the pace of new construction, remove age restrictions in stratas (except for the +55 restriction that promotes seniors housing) and tap the supply of vacant dwellings for the rental market.

The BC Government press release did not mention vacant dwellings, such as the 253 empty homes on Cortes Island that were reported in the 2016 census.

It states, “Data from the Speculation and Vacancy Tax shows that in areas of BC covered by the tax, there were nearly 2,900 vacant units in strata buildings with rental restrictions in 2021 – the last year the exemption was available before it phased out. If passed, age and rental restrictions would be lifted immediately, and these empty units will be available to renters.”

One of the items of correspondence going before the Strathcona Regional District Board this afternoon, is the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) response.

While the UBCM share the provincial governments desire to address the housing crisis, they expressed a number of concerns.

How will housing targets be defined?

How will the targets reflect the long (often multi-year) time frame for delivery of housing following local government approvals?

Will the Minister hold a local government to a target if applications are refused because developers are not prepared to provide the amenities/services necessary for the development?

How will targets relate to current Official Community Plans, regional planning and growth management plans, including efforts to limit urban sprawl and address climate adaption and mitigation?

The UBCM pointed out, “This marks a significant shift away from the form of local democracy envisaged in the Community Charter in which municipal councils are seen as democratically elected, autonomous, responsible and accountable, established and continued by the will of the residents of their communities.”

The previous SRD Board expressed concerns out of the provincial governments failure to consult with them before making decisions about forestry policy, or in treaty negotiations such as that with the Klahoose First Nation. They also believed the Federal government should have consulted them before closing the Discovery Island fish farms.

The UBCM question whether the province will be able to deliver well-informed and timely decisions about housing.

“One of the factors that slow the approval of new housing is the lengthy timelines common for provincial environmental and other regulatory approvals.”

Two examples of what increased provincial government control could mean come from the Rainbow Ridge project on Cortes Island, which has been waiting for the Ministry of Transportation to approve its subdivision plan for over a year and has yet to receive a response on the water license they applied for 18 months ago.

The Union of BC Municipalities is calling for the province to have a meaningful discussion with municipalities and the UBCM to ensure the proposed legislation is both workable and effective.

The new SRD Board has not had time to consider these matters.

In the BC Government press release, it states that the first piece of Eby’s legislation, “The Housing Supply Act is scheduled to be brought into force in mid-2023. To support implementation, the Province will continue to help local governments speed up local approval processes through the continued implementation of the Development Approvals Process Review and work underway to accelerate provincial approvals.”