Community

Folk U: Life on Read and Sonora Islands (Part 1)

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(Interview by Manda Aufochs Gillespie; written version by Roy L Hales)

On Friday, June 5, host Manda Aufochs Gillespie welcomed three women from neighbouring islands to Folk U Radio. Renate Harvey and Renée Desautels from Sonora Island and Sheila Hollanders from Read Island talked about their lives, families, communities and hopes for years to come. This is the first part of a highly edited and abridged version of that interview.

Manda (Host of Folk U):  Today, we’re getting closer in community with our neighbour islands—many who are even more remote than Cortes. What do we have to learn and share with our neighbours from across the waters?

Continue reading Folk U: Life on Read and Sonora Islands (Part 1) →
Disaster

Cortes Island’s greatest risk: wildfire

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 My assumption is that we will, at some point in time, see a fire on Cortes of a severity that will flabbergast the population. It may not happen this year, and it may not happen in 10 years, but the conditions are getting very, very bad.

That is what Mike Brown, volunteer fire fighter and long time Cortes resident, had to say at the May 3rd meeting on Emergency Preparedness in the Pioneer Room.

At that thinly-attended meeting, SRD emergency services staffer Sarah Rosen gave a presentation on emergency preparedness for individuals and households. As part of her presentation she reviewed potential emergencies in our local area.

Cortes Island is fortunate to be sheltered from tsunamis; earthquakes are rare in BC; the island has no rivers to flood or dams to burst (unlike Campbell River, where the hydro power dam is currently undergoing seismic safety renovations). The island has no hazardous chemical plants or huge fuel dumps. The one serious disaster-grade risk to the Cortes community is wildfire.

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Cost of Climate Change, Energy

Majority of Albertans don’t want taxpayer dollars used for pipeline; say province’s economy too dependent on oil and gas

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Despite the latest spike in oil prices and months-long push by oil and gas industry for the stripping back of environmental regulations, Albertans are concerned about overreliance on single sector.

By Janetta McKenzie , News release from the Pembina Institute

CALGARY — A majority (61 per cent) of Albertans say they do not want taxpayer money to be used for a new pipeline, with even more (67 per cent) saying they think the province’s economy is too dependent on the oil and gas sector. 

New polling commissioned by the Pembina Institute and conducted by Probe Research in late April and early May suggest Albertans’ views on energy policies are not aligned with priorities being brought forward by the Government of Alberta and oil and gas industry leaders. These have included a broad push for environmental deregulation, as well as a proposal for a new oil pipeline that has so far been funded exclusively with Alberta taxpayer dollars, and has still yet to attract a private sector proponent.

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Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

First Nation says federal government is absent after major spill settlement

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By Sonal Gupta, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Nearly a decade after a tug spilled diesel into the territorial waters of a BC First Nation and shut down key harvesting grounds, the Heiltsuk Nation says a new settlement is only one step toward recovery.

The Heiltsuk have reached a settlement with Kirby Corporation, the Texas-based marine transportation company that owns the Nathan E. Stewart tug. The tug hit a reef near Bella Bella, BC in 2016 and spilled 110,000 litres of diesel and lubricants, fouling more than 350 kilometres of shoreline and shutting down a key clam harvesting area. 

But Heiltsuk leaders say the federal government — and Canada’s compensation fund for ship spills — are still “nowhere to be found.” 

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Food

SRD Approves Funding For The Cortes Island Food Bank

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At their May 27 meeting, the Strathcona Regional District Board (SRD) approved a motion to provide the Cortes Island Food Bank with close to $24,000 for its new outlet in Manson’s Landing.

Mark Vonesh (Regional Director, Cortes Island): “I’d like to move that a financial contribution of up to $23,425 be approved from the Electoral Area B Community Works Fund to the Cortes Island Food Bank Association to support construction of a food security hub, subject to finalizing a funding agreement between the association and the regional district.”

The minutes state that Michael Lott of Gold River seconded the motion, but the voice in the audio sounds more like Robin Mawhinney, Regional Director for Area C. 

Mark Baker (Chair of the SRD): “Discussion? All in favor. Motion is passed.”

Continue reading SRD Approves Funding For The Cortes Island Food Bank →

Whats Current on Cortes and Beyond