Cortes Currents

Spring Gardening Tips & Museum Hours by Cortes Currents (https://cortescurrents.ca/)

Manda AUfochs Gillespie - Folk U - On May 2, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Ashley Zarbatany to to unpack the outcomes of the recent federal election, explore the roots of confusion around strategic voting, and consider what these results might mean for the future of Canada and Cortes! Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. 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 - What does it mean to be a neighbour on Cortes Island? This question is at the heart of the new Cortes Island Museum exhibition 'Won't You Be My Neighbour?' curated by Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the museum and Monica Hoffman. Opening Sunday May 4th the exhibit invites visitors on a visual and narrative journey through both the historical and contemporary communities that shaped life on the island. “The  idea of focusing on neighbourhoods came from the prior exhibition, ‘From the Ground Up,” explained Hoffman. Boyle added, “We did touch on how people work together to build structures, in terms of collaboration.  It was also about repurposing material and sharing of resources and, in a way, this is also what this new exhibition is about. Collective land arrangements are a way for people to live affordably on Cortes, to share  the land, but also to share the material, resources and work collaboratively. So there's a lot of overlap.”  Monica Hoffman: “This is about those very focused areas on the island, such as Tiber Bay, Blue Jay Lake, or Siskin Lane - that sort of community, and what it means to be a neighbour is all about.”  Cortes Currents: It is also about the definition of ‘community,' in all its manifestations from the pioneer era to modern times, from ‘communal groupings' to individual dwellings. Monica Hoffman: “A focal point for this exhibition is this north facing wall where we have a map of Cortes Island. We focus on various communities and give a little bit of commentary and interviews  with  the shareholders and the landholders. Some of these we did look at briefly in the prior exhibition, but this allows there to be a bit more space and more opportunity to explore them more.”  Melanie Boyle: “Monica's right, this wall is a little microcosm of the community itself. It's a reference to all the voices that make this exhibition happen. This exhibition stemmed  from an interview we did during the last exhibition with Amy Robertson, who is one of the co-founders of Treedom. Jill Milton and Bernice McGowan interviewed Paul Kirmmse, who is one of the co-founders of Redlands.  We spoke with Ron Bazaar. Jim Murphy came into the museum and spoke about Tiber Bay.  We also interviewed Ron Wolda, more to do with the mill itself. I know Ron from selling the spoons  as a craftsperson and I didn't know his ties to Vancouver, the business community and now Tiber Bay.”  Monica Hoffman: “I didn't know where that Tiber Bay connection started.”   Melanie Boyle: “It was serendipity and people looking at that particular time for options to live on Cortes or just live on the coast.  Land comes available  and  they organize a bunch of people to get together to purchase the land. Everwoods came out of discussions that were happening at Hollyhock at the time.” “We respect the fact that these are the co-ops and collaborative living arrangements on Cortes, of people who are willing to actually share their story.  We only can profile a small handful. There are people who choose to remain private and we respect that, of course, but these would be ones that are publicly known.” 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - It was Earth Day at Wild Cortes, Cortes Island's centre for natural history, community science and collaborative conservation. “It is a very exciting place to be, with new displays coming in every year, always on Earth Day. That's probably the most important thing to say. It's Earth Day, so let's celebrate,” explained Sabina leader Mense, a professional advisor to Wild Cortes. The centrepiece of this year's displays is the ‘Humpback Comeback' section highlighting the stunning recovery of Humpback Whales in our local waters. Sabina Leader Mense: “They used to be everywhere, then the Douglas Whaling Station was set up in Whaletown Bay. Its history is in the little display here, ‘the Dawson Whaling Company, 1869.' It only lasted a year. They realized it was not the most optimum site, so moved it down to Hornby Island the next year. So we only had the legacy of bonking Humpback Whales on the head and flensing them for a year, but the name stuck. That's how ‘Whaletown' got its name. The Humpbacks completely disappeared. We eliminated them from the Strait of Georgia, not a Humpback to be seen.” Cortes Currents: When did they start coming back? Sabina Leader Mense: “Some of the first Humpbacks that we saw were in the early eighties. I was working out at the Bamfield Marine Station,running research programs, but I put myself through university fishing off the West Coast and would interact with the fishermen. They started telling me that they were seeing Humpback Whales out on the finger bank in the early eighties and sure enough, the Humpbacks were coming slowly back to the coast of BC.” “Then we have this brilliant work by the Marine Education Research Society (MERS) whose work Donna Collins is featuring in this display.” “The Marine Education and Research Society has been documenting them and identifying them individually,” said Collins, who is also one of Cortes Wild's co-curators. “Donna has done a fantastic job. There's lots of pictures and all kinds of interesting things, including two sea lion skulls, both of which were found on local beaches,” added Laurel Bohart, Cortes Wild's other co-curator. Sabina Leader Mense: “We can reliably identify Humpback Whales from the underside of their tail flukes, as well as the little nubbin that we call the dorsal fin but the underside of the tail flues is very characteristic. They have these colorations, black and white splotches, big chunks taken out of them, very readily identified by the underside of the tail flukes.” Donna Collins: “As of 2024, 776 Humpback Whales have been identified.” Sabina Leader Mense: “That's in their entire catalog for BC.” “We brought Jackie Hildering, from MERS, in six years ago. 86 individual Humpback Whales were identified in 2019. This figure of 86, why it's so impressive is it's from here. There were 86 individua Humpbacks found in the area from the northern end of Cortes to Powell River, across to Heriot Bay on Quadra Island.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - I volunteered for the NDP Party during the 1968 election. Aside from that, the only campaign headquarters I've stepped inside was Elizabeth May's Salt Spring Island office in 2019. So when in the midst of doing errands in Campbell River, I found myself with more than an hour to spare, it seemed like a fun idea to visit a campaign headquarters. Somebody told me the ‘red guys' are behind Save On Foods, which is how I ended up at Jennifer Lash's headquarters. After returning home, I learned that yet another poll has been conducted in our riding. The first two were not connected to any political party, but the LIberals comissioned #3. Like poll #2 which was not their's, it shows the Liberals having taken over the second place slot. After contacting 318 voters in North Island Powell River between April 20 and 21, Spadina Strategies reported that 37% intended to vote for the Conservatives, 30% for the Liberals, 25% for the NDP, 5% Green and 2% were undecided. The projection website Poliwave is also reporting a shift in voter intention. On April 18, they stated the #2 party in our riding was the NDP. Their latest projection, published on Wednesday April 23, showed the Conservatives at 45%, the Liberals trailing at 29%, the NDP at 20% and the Green's at 5%. This is not what I intended to report, when I dropped in at the Liberal Party's Campbell River office on Friday. Jennifer Lash was away, knocking on doors, but there were five people gathered in the entrance when I arrived. A young woman immediately detached herself from their conversation. She was one of the four staffers from Ottawa who are working on the Liberal campaign. Sarah Manney gave me permission  to walk around the office taking pictures and interviewing people. I started with her.  Sarah Manney: “Well, I'm Sarah, I'm the campaign manager. I was working in Ottawa, but grew up in Comox. My family's in Nanaimo. When I found out that Jen was running, I knew her in Ottawa and I said, ‘this is the candidate I've always dreamed of for my hometown.' What better person could I ask for to represent the people I grew up with.' So it was just a dream to be able to come work for her and try to make that a reality here in North Island Powell River.” “My whole family's been knocking on doors. We have Jen's family. We have at least five times the number of volunteers that we've ever had in this riding. It's amazing just to see the energy. The other day someone remarked, ‘I've never seen so many Liberals in one place.' It was just this magical feeling like we've all waited for this moment to have someone like Jen to rally around.” The next person I interviewed looked a lot like Jennifer Lash, for good reason. “My name is Wendy Lash. I am Jennifer's sister.”  Cortes Currents: How did you end up working for her in a campaign office?  Wendy had not been expecting that question, but after a few hesitant seconds she suddenly sounded like an old pro. “Well, how can you not support somebody when they're living their purpose? Jen has had a fabulous career of doing good for many people and many things in Canada, but right now -  this is an important time for us! She's bravely taken this on and she's doing a fabulous job. When we heard that she was going to be doing this,  as a family, we knew we needed to support her. So we booked our tickets and we've come from Ontario. We are thrilled to be here and in action.” Cortes Currents: Whereabouts in Ontario are you from?  Wendy Lash: “My husband and I are from Barrie.  Our sister Catherine is coming from Toronto. Jen's kids  are coming back from Ontario and they're also here with us.”

Manada AUfochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On April 4, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Dayna Davis and Christina Macwilliam to chat about education, the importance of play, attachment, and children's development. This is a fascinating conversation with two incredible Cortesian educators. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. 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 - NDP candidate Tanille Johnson will coming to Gorge Hall on Cortes Island. This is the last in a series of Meet and Greets organized by the Cortes Island Climate Action Network that has also included meetings with Green Party candidate Jessica Wegg and Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash. Conservative candiate Aaron Gunn was also invited, but has not taken advantage of this. As I am going to be off island when Tanille is here, we had an interview ahead of time. Cortes Currents: What's the big question on voters' minds during this election? Tanille Johnson:  “Oh man, there's a lot of big questions right now!Honestly, what I spend most of my day talking about is people are terrified at the possibiloity of having Conservative representation in the federal government, and like ‘what's the strategic vote for North Island Power River?'” “I really end up being in a lot of these conversations, breaking down strategic voting, what it means and apologizing for it. We're in this situation because our Liberal government did not follow through with its promise of proportional representation, which would've allowed people to vote for the person that they felt was going to do the best job for them. We are now essentially getting shoved into a two party system that nobody wants. We don't want to mimic our United States relations to the south, but here we are. That's a big discussion right now across the board. Every riding is talking about it.” “It doesn't discount the real threat of all the ongoing tariffs from Trump. It doesn't discount the threat of annexation that Trump is bringing. It doesn't diminish our healthcare crisis, our housing crisis, or our opioid crisis, but right now it feels like people are most fearful of a Conservative government.” Cortes Currents: Two polls have just come out,—one by Research co suggests you're best placed to stop a Conservative win, the other by Mainstreet Research says it's the Liberals. What do you make of this? Tanille Johnson: “I t honestly doesn't make sense because there is such a stark contrast, there shouldn't be a stark contrast at all. I think it's fairly well known that Mainstreet is operated by Conservative pollsters.” Cortes Currents:   I wasn't aware of that, so I did a quick fact check. There's a list of national polls on the 338Canada website. The vast majority of the 94 polls taken between April 1st and April 21nd, reported that the Liberals were leading in this race, but there are 6 polls that stated the Conservatives were either leading or tied with the Liberals. 5 of those 6 ‘outlying' polls were taken by Mainstream Research. Tanille Johnson: “I think it was 571 people out of like a hundred thousand voters. Like, if you had a hundred thousand people and you only asked 500 of them a question, are you really going to solidly depend on that answer for whatever your decision making is moving forward? I would hope not, because that is a tiny sample size.” Cortes Currents: Tell me some highlights of the campaign for you. Tanille Johnson: “Here's a super funny one. We were door knocking in Campbell River just the other week. I knocked on a door and this gal opened and she was so excited to see me. She kissed both of her hands and then put her hands on either sides of my face. She's like, 'keep doing what you're doing.' It was just so cute and awesome.” “It's been a highlight watching people get creative with their support. There's been some really cool like self-made bumper stickers that say, 'Go Tanille' or 'Vote NDP, Vote Tanille.'" “It was a huge honor to have Megan Hildebrandt donate a vote Tanille Design, to be able to screen print 'Vote Tanille' t-shirts by hand in Powell River. That was super, super cool and amazing.” “It's been really just an honor to travel the whole riding and get to meet people from all over the place and have the time to sit and listen to their concerns.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - With only five days of campaigning left until the election, Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash says the energy on the ground in North Island–Powell River is palpable.  “We've been door knocking, doing ‘meet and greets' and town halls and phone banking. I am  hearing just an amazing amount of support. So I'm loving it,” she said.  “This poll to me reflects  what people are telling us. So I am optimistic that the undecided will come over and join us and that we can send a Liberal to Ottawa.”  She was referring to the poll that Mainstreet Research released on Monday, April 21, which is one of the reasons I wanted to speak with her. You can access it on the Mainstreet website, but need to pay. I also wanted to ask about last night's all candidates meeting in Campbell River, which was cancelled at the last minute. Cortes Currents: So tell me about this poll. Jennifer Lash: “ We did not commission this poll, that's why it's behind a paywall. If we commissioned it, we would own it and we could share it. What it shows is that while the Conservatives are still in the lead, the Liberals are second and within the Conservative's margin of error, while the NDP are in third, quite considerably.” Cortes Currents: Jennifer sent that data, which shows the Conservatives at 35%, the Liberals at 27% and the NDP at 18%. As this is the property of Mainstreet Research, I cannot post the chart but the Liberal campaign staff have drawn up a chart of their own.  Jennifer Lash:  “The margin of error is plus or minus 4.1%, with a 95% confidence level.”  Given that they are only 8% apart, this poll indicates that it is possible, though unlikely, that Liberals are actually tied with the Conservatives In another poll, released on Sunday and commissioned by the David Suzuki Foundation, it was the NDP who came in second and the Liberals trailing considerably behind.   Jennifer Lash:  “What this tells me is that there's going to be a lot of different polls and projections that say different things. I know there's a lot of angst out there amongst people who particularly are worried about the Conservatives winning and really looking for some direction on how they should cast their vote so that they can unite as much as possible to keep the Conservatives out. But right now there's no data that says exactly what you should do, and I don't think there ever will.”   “Some people are going to choose to believe some polls and not others, and that's totally fine. People can do that, but I think what it comes right down to is there is no definitive poll that's going to tell people exactly what to do.  People need to vote for either the Prime Minister, the party, or the MP that they want.”  “What we're hearing is overwhelmingly, people want to have Mark Carney as the Prime Minister,  which means you have to vote Liberal.  I know  that people say that Carney's just going to win no matter what, but that's not necessarily true.” “If we really want Mark Carney as Prime Minister, people need to vote for the Liberal party. If people want a member of Parliament who is part of Mark Carney's government and can help deliver programs, then people need to vote for the Liberal party and that means voting for me.” Cortes Currents: I also wanted to ask about the all candidates meeting that was cancelled last night. 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - With just six days remaining until election day, a new poll reveals the Conservatives hold a strong lead in the North Island—Powell River riding. Among the 402 eligible voters surveyed between April 17 and April 19, 45% said they intend to vote for Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn. NDP candidate Tanille Johnston trails in second with 23%, followed by Liberal contender Jennifer Lash at 13%. Both Jessica Wegg of the Green Party and Paul Macknight of the People's Party received 2% support, while independent candidate Glen Staples sits at 1%. Meanwhile, 15% of voters remain undecided.There is some good news for retiring MP Rachjel Blaney whose performance was approved by 51% of the respondents. 40% disapproved. Pierre Poilievre of the Conservative Party is the top-rated federal leader among voters in this constituency, with 53% support. He is followed by Liberal leader Mark Carney at 42%, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh at 41%, Green Party co-leaders Elizabeth May and Jonathan Pedneault at 27%, and People's Party leader Maxime Bernier at 19%. Poilievre draws strong backing from men (53%), as well as from voters aged 35 to 54 (48%) and those 55 and older (49%). In contrast, Carney leads among younger voters aged 18 to 34, with 45% support, and the two men have an almost equal following among female votres. (Carney 35%, Poilievre 34%). The poll was sponsored by the David Suzuki Foundation and conducted by Vancouver-based Research Co, led by Mario Canseco, a veteran public opinion researcher since 2003. Canseco is a regular political commentator and columnist for Glacier Media, with work published in the Vancouver Sun, Globe and Mail, and National Observer. In related news, Research co also carried out a National survey which found that 43% of decided voters would vote Liberal as opposed to 38% for the Conservatives. This fits a pattern that all but one Canadian pollster has been reporting this week. The exception being Mainstreet Research, which reported a Conservative victory in 2 out of 3 surveys. If the election were to take place today CBC Polltracker, which draws upon the data from all polls, states the odds of a Liberal victory 96%. 338Canada states the odds are 90%. Both companies state the most likely scenario is the LIberals will form a majority government. On Vancouver Island, 338Canada's projection is that the four northern ridings will turn Conservative, but the only ‘CPC Safe seat' (which means victory is almost certain) is North Island Powell River. The three south Vancouver Island ridings are all ‘toss-ups', but Elizabeth May now has a slim lead in Saanich-Gulf Islands, the Liberals are ahead by a nose in Victoria and the Conservatives in Esquimalt, Saanich - Sooke.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The federal election in North Island–Powell River (NIPR) may be far closer than recent projections suggest, but the ‘progressive' vote is split between three parties (Green. Liberal and NDP). Some people are urging voters to rally behind a single alternative to Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn. The Votewell and Smart Voting websites both declared the strategic vote in our riding is the NDP candidate Tanille Johnson. As of Thursday, April 17, Johnson became the 18th Canadian candidate officially endorsed by Lead Now. So did the participants in a recent virtual townhall meeting on Cortes Island.

Folk U -Tune in on April 18th for a special collaborative FolkU episode, featuring Emily Bootle, a funeral director and founder of DeathCare BC. This is a live recording featuring Emily's presentation at the Cortes DeathCare Collective's AGM, and it covers body-care, green burials, and the importance of planning ahead. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. 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 - Jennifer Pickford will be showing her documentary ECO Warriors at Mansons Hall on Tuesday April 22.   “This film is telling the story of several environmental activists who have faced imprisonment for their actions, as well as the actual and real threat of being labeled terrorists for protecting the land and the forest that they love,” she explained.   “Eco Warriors is about 12 years old. It's one of my earlier works, but following on the footsteps of last year's Earth Day screening of 'Sacred India, A Plastic Revolution,' I wanted to show another film because I felt that not only is it still a relevant topic, but also it's just nice to have that continuity of having an Earth Day screening here on Cortes Island.”

Unedited audio from Green candidate Jessica Wegg's meeting on Cortes Island by Cortes Currents (https://cortescurrents.ca/)

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Green Party candidate Jessica Wegg came to Gorge Hall, on Wednesday, April 16th, 2025. She won't be the next Member of Parliament for North Island Powell River. “We commissioned a poll at our riding level. I think they made the phone calls March 20th to 24th, and it matched what 338Canada is saying. The Conservatives will likely win and the progressive vote will be split pretty evenly by the NDP and the Liberals. As long as the NDP and the Liberals are both running, neither party will get in,” she explained. “My numbers were less than 10%. If you added me to either one, it wasn't going to cross the threshold of the number of votes the Conservatives were expected to get. We are actually saying this is a great time to feel like you can vote Green because it's not a wasted vote.  We need 2% nationally to maintain official party status, which means we get resources in Ottawa, we get to participate in the question period, we get to be on committees, that kind of thing. Without that 2% national level, we lose official party status and we lose the ability to really participate in government in an effective way.  It really, really matters to us and if you want to be able to have a Green party in the future, when we do get proportional representation, we need to keep as many votes as possible.”  Cortes Currents: How important is it to have a Green presence in the election?  Jessica Wegg: “So, so important.  Shakespeare said, ‘Though she be but little she is fierce' (A MIdsummer's Nights Dream). Greens are little, but we use that little power that we have to come up with big, wild ideas that the big parties aren't going to have.” “They don't want to make people think they're thinking too far outside the box. People are happy with the status quo, generally speaking. They don't want to waiver. That's how the big parties feed, is ‘how do I keep the people who we already have in this box.' But we are thinking of big ideas that nobody else is thinking of and we bring them to the table, we bring them to the big parties that have the power in parliament and we say,' have you even thought about doing something like this?' Or, ‘where is that in your planning?'"   “We do what we can to hold them to account. All of  the Green candidates across the country  are showing up and they're showing that there are people who care. There are people who acknowledge the climate crisis that we're in and we're going to keep showing up.”  “I think it's also important because  Canada  is getting awfully close right now to  a two party system, which is not healthy for a democracy. It's dangerous to have just two parties and we're all falling into one camp or the other. We cannot let that happen. We need to keep showing up as these small parties. We need to keep fighting for presence so that we can have these creative big ideas that nobody else is going to say out loud because they don't want to step on anybody's toes or make anybody uncomfortable with the idea of something new or different or big. We cannot progress as a country without doing new and different and big things. So we need the Green party to show up and keep bringing our creative ideas across the country.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - A sense of momentum is building—quite literally—in Manson's Landing, where work is underway on a new pavilion designed to bring community members together for music, events, and gatherings. This is the latest in a series of structures erected in the Village Commons. The pavilion's frame was raised on Friday, April 11, 2025 “ We hope to have all the details done by the end of May. It'll be in service this summer,” explained Richard Andrews, Project Manager of the Village Commons. He and his three crew members had just finished erected the rear frame, or bent, and were breaking for lunch. There was one more bent to go. “ You see these two forward footings. They will be taking yet another set of another pair of posts and braces and one more large beam. That's the big, long black package lying right there. It's about 39 feet long. They are are big glulam beams and the frame was made by Island Timber Frame out of Cumberland.” “T here will be a stage built about 12 feet deep and 16 to 18 feet wide. Not a very high stage, but 8 inches up.  Behind it will be a wall so that we don't disturb the neighbors with noise.”   “On the sides there'll be a pony wall, and above the pony wall on both sides. It'll be clear polycarbonate probably. That'll provide a wind barrier, so people who are using the stage won't have to deal with wind on their mics.”  “There'll also be a big clear panel on barn tracks, that'll go forward to stop windblown rain” Cortes Currents:  What are they going to do with the audience area? Richard Andrews: “I'm not too sure yet. We'll probably spread out the soil and throw some grass seed down on it. There's no plan to do any kind of surface under the covered area. We don't have the budget, just getting this up is going to eat up the rest of our funding.” Cortes Currents: Did you want to mention anything else that's happening around here? Richard Andrews:   “We have the Nook, which is the shared office space and shared meeting space. The Cortes Housing Society is making good use of it today, and they're the main people who've been using it so far.” A block to the west of us, preparations for construction were taking place on the Cortes Housing Society's premiere project. A four acre block had been carved out of the forest for the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing Project. Construction on the first building will soon commence. As we spoke, two carpenters were erecting a wooden fence on the project's border with the Cortes Island Senior's Village. There was undoubtedly some mention of this in the meeting that was underway in the Nook. Cortes Currents: What's happening to the Village Common's old shared meeting place, the Pod? Richard Andrews: “T he little trailer, that's going to be repossessed by CCEDA and used as an information booth somewhere. I'm not sure what their plan is with it. What the Pod has been offering, the Nook will be offering more of the same, just bigger space.” He pointed to some long containers, close to the stage. “We have four C cans here and the two to the north of the site, closer to Manson's Hall are going to be used by the food bank. Their intention is to use them for food storage in Mansons because their facility attached to the radio station is too small for the amount of food that they're distributing. We don't have a plan for the middle one, yet. The other one that's furthest to the south will be used as the storage can for anything related to the pavilion. So for the lights, sound system, chairs, audio and what have you.” Cortes Currents left before the final bent was put up for the pavilion, but they sent pictures later that day. The new stage this summer will undoubtedly be well used this summer.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The Blue Hat Memorial Project opens at 10 AM this morning, Tuesday, April 14, 2025. Campbell River artist and city councillor Ron Kerr has installed 50,000 flags at Tyee Spit (ʔUxstalis), representing the number of people who have lost their lives through Canada's ongoing opioid crisis.   “What I really want to do is to stimulate conversation about the gaps in men and boy's healthcare. These deaths are generally fentanyl drug deaths. If you look at the other results of addiction, alcohol addiction, and other kinds of addiction, the numbers are far higher. I don't think the men's health system is doing an adequate job of addressing that,” he explained.” “ We're trying to do a ‘one size fits all' and I understand that from a financial economic point of view, but I think we need a lot more recovery facilities, better access, and second stage housing. We need ‘dry' housing where they can get their lives together without the daily influence of addictive substances. Unfortunately, supportive housing right now is completely full of people still in their addiction. So if not onto the street, they're right back into that same kind of environment they left. That is a really important part of the picture.”   “I think we need male specific facilities, so they're not going to go back into a situation where they're not being supported. We've only got one dedicated men's center in the province, where men can actually go and find services, find support, and find programs. It's just not supported.”  “There's a reluctance to have something that is specifically male orientated, but I think we need men's health clinics where men and boys know that they're going to find people that understand them. Peer supportive groups are probably a lot less expensive, and I think it's more powerful for supportive recovery than all the psychiatrists in the world.”  Cortes Currents: How did this become the Blue Hat project?  Ron Kerr: “The problem for me, as an artist, was how to actually convey that number into something that people could feel.  Initially I had the concept  of having  a huge number  of blue hard hats,  because the number of men in trades and throughout a blue collar workforce  have been right from the start overrepresented in the numbers.” “I thought of using the blue hard hat itself as a symbol, but the problem was that any kind of an installation, or art project, using blue hard hats was very expensive and just logistically hard to do. So it was a challenge and  I had been thinking about that for a year or two.” “Last summer when I was sitting in my garden recovering from knee surgery, I looked at a project that I'd started in the yard before my operation. I had a number of sprinkler flags marking spots around the garden. I was sitting there watching them blow in the wind, and it just came to me that that was a way of  really signifying the immensity of death.” 

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On April 11, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Yasmina Cartland and Emma Tius to discuss their work with the DeathCare Collective and recent learnings from visiting guest presenter Emily Bootle. This conversation re-imagines end-of-life care through community-driven death education, advocacy, and support. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. 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 - There are some Cortes Island elements to the story of a boat stolen from Campbell River on Tuesday, April 8, 2025. Someone living in the Potlatch Road area of southern Cortes Island observed ‘big military type planes' and some helicopters flying around the ocean that morning and thought it might be a Sea-Air Rescue excerise. He did not think about it again until reading about the incident on CHEK News. At 8 AM the Powell River RCMP received a request from the Quadra detachment to help intercept the stolen boat. GPS tracked it to the vincinty of Mitlenatch Island. An RCMP vessel from Powell River responded and was en route to Mitlenatch when it was notified that the Quadra detachment had already located the stolen vessel. The stolen boat was escourting it to the Mansons Landing dock, on Cortes Island, where it was secured and two ‘suspects' were arrested for Possession of Property Obtained by Crime over $5,000. They were transported back to Campbell River and turned over to the Campbell River RCMP. Mansons Landing dock is maintained by Harbour Authority Cortes Island (HACI), but as it was a straighforward matter police did not think it necessary to inform them. Consequently HACI did not learn of the incident for another five days. The Quadra Island detachment used to issue weekly reports of their activities on Quadra, Cortes and other Discovery Islands, but have discontinued that service. The RCMP press release for this incident comes from the Powell River detachment.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - More than 400 Cortes Island residents responded to the recent survey about limiting the size of new houses. They were given a number of possible limitations, ranging from 2,500 to 4,300 square feet. While the vote was close, 52% of the respondents said ‘no' and so there will be no size limits in Cortes Island's draft Zoning Bylaw.  Regional Director Mark Vonesch explained, “ I just want to start by thanking everybody for participating in the survey. We had 415 people respond and it was very divided.  For that reason, I'm not moving forward with the maximum house size.  There's clearly no consensus and that's okay. The reason  we do these surveys  is to be able to talk about an issue and express ourselves around what we want our island to look like. So I really appreciate everybody who filled it out  and lots of passion on both sides of the issue.”

Unedited recording of Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash's Wednesday April 9 meeting in the Pioneer room at Mansons Hall. The event was co-sponsored by the Cortes Island Seniors Society and Cortes Island Climate Action Committee.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - More island residents turned out to hear Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash than could fit into the Pioneer Room at Mansons Hall. Half a dozen were looking on from the hallway. The Wednesday April 9 event was co-sponsored by the Cortes Island Seniors Society and Cortes Island Climate Action Committee. Karen Mahon, the MC, began, “I met Jen 25 years ago.”  To which Lash responded, “I don't remember life before Karen.”  Karen Mahon: Yeah, it was a long, long time ago. I was working at Greenpeace on forests and Jen wanted to really take on marine conservation in Canada in a big way. So she started an organization called Living Ocean Society, which became Canada's leading marine conservation organization.She led that and really spearheaded the notion of marine conservation in Canada. So we worked alongside each other. I was the forest and she was the fish, for some decades.” Lash was living in the little island community of Sointula throughout that period and still does. She raised her two children there.  More recently she became a Senior Advisor in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. It says something about her effectiveness in that role that four other government staffers have become the backbone currently of her campaign staff in North Island Powell River. One of them, Deputy Campaign Manager Holly Johnson, recently told Cortes Currents that 150 people had come forward as volunteers. A critic suggested some of these were probably just people who set up lawn signs,' which is probably equally true of the ‘well over 50, maybe more' volunteers that the NDP campaign manager recently said were helping them. Jennifer Lash: “I have voted NDP for my entire life, but in 2021 I voted NDP and I really struggled with it. The reason for me was that they had no climate plan. I feel like if we don't deal with that issue, all the marine protection areas in the world are in vain.  This was a really important issue.” “The NDP had no plan and the Liberal government did. They had a plan that was mapped out and it was backed by economists and scientists. I'm not gonna stand here and tell you that the Liberal plan fund is perfect, that is a conversation that I'm sure can go on forever. But it was something, and it was designed to reach a specific target.” “So I started to kick the tires of the Liberal party, see what it was and I liked what I saw. Again, I am not going to defend everything. Yes, you can bring up electoral reform, I'm just as disappointed as probably everybody in this room that that was dropped. I'm happy to also criticize 'em for the things that didn't work. What I liked about them was that they understood that advancing on things like climate change, like social programs, like biodiversity conservation also requires building an economy and shifting an economy towards one of the future. That doesn't happen overnight and that it's hard to do and they really try to put together thoughtful policies that would drive that change.” “About a year ago, I started thinking about running. It was a really big decision for me to do this. It's kind of like being in a popularity contest in high school, but the results are printed all across national news in the whole country. I'm feeling very vulnerable right now, but I just really felt like it was important to have a conversation in this riding because this writing has been an NDP/Conservative split forever. To me, this riding has so much more to offer than just getting caught up in that tension.” She submitted her application to become a Liberal candidate last October:

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Michael Keith and his wife Iris Gildea are leaving Cortes Island.   “This was a decision we made a while ago.  My wife teaches at the University of Toronto. When we moved to Cortes, we thought she was going to be leaving there, but in the last couple years some things changed and she's decided to stay. It's quite the commute between semesters and we started investigating the possibility of moving somewhere a bit closer to her work.  We found the ideal situation in the Maritimes. The commute is about a fraction of the time and we can get the place that really suited us. So we made that decision. It was tough, but  it's time for the next part of the journey,”  he explained.  Cortes Currents: I heard you found a place in the Annapolis Valley  Michael Keith: “That is correct. We have a friend down there help us arrange  to check it out and it's kind of like our dream place. Where we have been here on Cortes has been wonderful and very dreamy. This is a lot more suited to our needs, about six acres of land and right on the ocean. We're so excited,  but it's bittersweet.”  “I will firstly miss just the beauty of this island, which I feel so blessed to have experienced for the last almost eight years. I'm sitting here right now looking over Hague Lake. I've recorded so much music, played and created so much right from here. I'll miss that greatly.” “I also felt like I made some really lifelong connections with some people but  I really plan on maintaining a relationship with the island. It's important to me and of course  I felt very supported by just random people  who would come out and see me play and always have kind things to say.” “I've done some awesome gigs with my friend Zach Sukuweh  who's just a great percussionist and fun guy.  Him and I have such a lovely rapport. We just played about a week and a half ago at the Gorge Hall  with Rick Bockner and Jerome. We each did a set and it was really, really fun.”  Scotty Martin added, “Michael Keith and his wife Iris were a huge part of this community. It's going to be a giant loss that they are gone. People around here don't always realize how lucky we are to have such talented people. Michael and I have both been professional players. I could just call out a song, tell 'em what key and off we would play. My wife Shelly enjoyed playing with Michael.”  “We had a great get together at Rex Weyler's. He's got a nice little jam space there, and it was a going away party for Michael Keith, one of the legendary guitarist entertainers of Cortes Island.”  Rex Weyler explained “I got a call from Scotty, about a month ago and he said, ‘would you host a party for Michael and Iris who are going to leave the island?' First of all, Michael and Iris leaving the island is a very sad thing 'cause they've been such a wonderful addition to the island and they're just two beautiful people. Michael is funny, talented. He's really brought the music quality up on the island a notch. His guitar playing and his creativity are wonderful and we will miss him. So anyway, I said to Scotty, ‘yes, we'll have a party here for Michael' and we did.   “Lots of Michael's friends showed up. We just had an afternoon in the studio here. We played music, we had a little jam, and sang some songs. We had some food, wine and beer.  It was a really nice day and it was people out on the lawn and people in the studio. Some people stayed over for dinner and so it was a really nice day.” “We're going to really miss Michael. he can't come to LoveFest this year, but I'm going to invite him to LoveFest for 2026.”  Michael Keith: “I love the idea. I would love  to do that. I know I'd have no problem finding a place to stay.” 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Harbour Authority Cortes Island started taking applications for summer moorage spots at 9 AM on April 1st. Harbour Master Jenny Hartwick explained, “This is our way of helping to manage the number of boats using. What's happened over the last few years on Cortes especially after Covid, is we've seen a steady increase in summer visitors and local residents getting out on the water. That's put additional pressure on the available mortgage that we have at the docks.” “The one point that I want to make really clear is we have ample space available for anyone who is looking for mortgage at the docks. What we do not necessarily have is available mortgage at your first choice dock. We have some areas of higher population density and the docks that are in those areas tend to be the most popular. For safety reasons, we cannot accommodate every single boat that puts in a request for mortgage at those docks. If we tried, there would be too many security issues, be it vessels getting damaged, the, the possibility of people getting hurt and literally the facilities themselves wouldn't be able to support the weight of all of the boats that we have asking to stay there.” “Again, just making it clear for the community, absolutely we have the space and we will accommodate you. We just need your understanding in working with us to make sure that our docks are both accessible and safe to everybody.” Cortes Currents: Do you have any docks that are already fully booked for the summer? Jenny Hartwick: “I'm still working my way through numbers and applications. people give us the dates that they'd like to be there and we really try our best to fit everybody in. We say, okay, this person only wants three weeks, we can partner them with this person.” “Typically the Cortes Bay and the Whaletown docks are full. That's been the pattern for the last number of years. Those two tend to be the most popular, again, simply because of their geographical location.” “I have mockups of every single dock down to the exact footage. We plot out whose boat and then who we can raft together. We try to get everybody their first choice, but I would suspect this year, like last year and the previous years that Cortes Bay and Whale Town will be full.” Cortes Currents: My next question was going to be about waiting times, but you mean there's just no chance of getting to those two? Jenny Hartwick: “Most likely but, again, that's not always true.” “We encourage everybody to reach out and communicate with us because stuff happens. Your boat breaks down. You go on an extended three week sailing trip. If people communicate that and they let us know, we're down on the docks every single day. We monitor and we watch.” “If we notice that something's going on, we keep a wait list. If we can move somebody into their first choice doc, we'll do that.” “One of the important things to remember in this, our Small Craft Harbours docks give priority to commercial and CFB mortgage. That is the mandate that we're given from the federal government, we are to support those users first.” “The Gorge Dock for example, is primarily commercial users only. We actually don't solicit recreational mortgage at that dock because we really don't have room just with the number of commercial users that we have.” “So there's multiple factors in play, but it's an ongoing process for us and we keep wait lists. We'll get you in if we can.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - This broadcast opened with the Klahoose Singers chanting a blessing to the forest and the land in general,  at the Forest Trust For The Children of Cortes Island Society AGM on Saturday, April 5, 2025.    As many of you are aware, the Society was set up to try and obtain 624 acres of forest adjacent to Carrington Bay Regional Park on Cortes Island, that are currently managed by Mosaic. Around 40 people were present when Chair Chris Dragseth announced they were making progress in the negotiations for 261 acres.   “The society's been in place for 15 years and we've been in serious discussions with Mosaic since 2019, about the operational issues around negotiating a fair market value for the properties. We've done some work jointly with Mosaic over this period of time. We've hired timber valuation companies and land valuation companies to come to a point where we've had what we feel is a fair market value for the property. The big step is coming up. We are probably going to be in a position in the very near future to actually make an offer. This will really be the key point for 2025,” he began. “Once that agreement is reached, the clock will start ticking because it will have a built in provision to allow us to do serious and significant fundraising over the coming months.” “We can't and are unable at this point to give the value yet because we haven't finalized the price with Mosaic, but it's my expectation and my hope that in the very near future we're going to be able to give you some very positive news. Then we'll start moving forward.”  The Society intends to purchase another 363 acres that are not included in this initial purchase.    Chris Dragseth: “There's still three properties that are not in the package right now. Those three parcels were put into the carbon capture by Mosaic, through the Big Coast Program, and  they have another 20 years to unfold before those properties will come up for discussion. Those parcels will eventually become part of  a longer term discussion.  Once we take possession, probably in a year's time is what we're hoping for, then a longer term vision will be required.”  Christine Robinson gave a slideshow of the property, what had taken place during the year, and an outline of the society's history.  She asked, “I'm just curious, if you've been anywhere in the Children's Forest, just raise your hand.”   It seemed like the whole room responded. Christine Robinson: “Lovely. We have a very familiar audience right now, all of you pretty much long term on Cortes, but it is  a gem in the heart of Cortes.” As the audio quality was poor, here is a quick summary of her talk as written in the slideshow:  The Children's Forest Trust was created in 2010 and would not have been possible without the expressed support of the Klahoose First Nation.  These lands are ecologically significant and support 14 species at risk and the rare occurrences of 11 ecological communities. Cortes Island is part of the Discovery Islands Archipelago that forms a ‘bridge' between Mainland British Columbia and Vancouver Island and may provide important information on genetic diversity in species. The geographic location of the 50th parallel north marks the transition between the Coastal Douglas-fir and Coastal Western Hemlock bio geoclimatic zones. Important wildlife corridors are provided by landscape level ecological networks through the Children's Forest. In the last 12 years the Forest Trust For The Children of Cortes Island Society has delivered a strong youth nature based program that has become an important part of the youth culture on Cortes Island.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Depending on which election poll you are looking at, the Liberals are leading by anywhere from 5 to 10 points nationally. The last poll to suggest the Conservatives were tied with them was taken by Abacus on February 4, 2025. An Angus Reid poll taken on April 7, 2025 found that in British Columbia the Liberal Party leads by 11 points. It's more difficult to get a breakdown riding by riding. While 338Canada's projections are generally fairly accurate, they are calculated using a mostly proportional swing model adjusted with provincial and regional polls. In North Island Powell River there are currently at least three factors which this approach does not take into account. Firstly there is the widespread reaction to a series of tweets Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn made between 2019 and 2021. Many people feel his comments about residential schools are demeaning to First Nations and at this point 57 elected and former politicians, as well as Frst Nation leaders, have signed a joint letter calling for his resignation. So has every other candidate in North Island Powell River. There is also a little group of 9 politicians, primarily based in Campbell River, who have come out in support of Gunn. However with this kind of controversy going on, it is difficult to believe that 48% of the electorate would vote for Aaron Gunn if there were an election today. There is also NDP candidate Tanille Johnson's popularity with some of the electorate, and the fact Bob Chamberlain, former Vice President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs, endorses her. Lastly, Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash, her Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign Manager are all government staffers with an intimate understanding of how elections are run. When I interviewed Deputy Campaign Manager Holly Johnson last week, they had recruited 150 volunteers. Those are three good reasons to ignore 338Canada's projections for North Island Powell River. The only poll that could tell us what is going on in North Island Powell River must be taken here.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - In a series of tweets between 2019 and 2021, the Conservative candidate for North Island Powell River, Aaron Gunn, argued against the the idea that residential schools were a form of genocide.  In the first of these he agreed that they were ‘truly horrific events,' but added that people should not refer to them with a loaded word like ‘genocide' that does not remotely reflect the reality of what happened.” He was wrong, residential schools are a perfect example of genocide. Mr Gunn's understanding of the term appears to be limited to ‘killing of a large number of people,' but when Raphael Lemkin coined the term he stated it wasn't necessary to kill people. There were also genocides of political and social institutions, culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups. Lemkin was a Jewish lawyer who fled from his native Poland after the Germans overran it in 1939. He was deeply concerned about NAZI Germany's extermination policy. In his book Axis Rule in Occupied Europe (1944), Lemkin wrote:  “By ‘genocide' we mean the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group. This new word, coined by the author to denote an old practice in its modern development, is made from the ancient Greek word genos (race, tribe) and the Latin cide (killing), thus corresponding in its formation to such words as tyrannicide, homocide, infanticide, etc. Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups.” He added that. “Genocide has two phases: one, destruction of the national pattern of the oppressed group; the other, the imposition of the national pattern of the oppressor. This imposition, in turn, may be made upon the oppressed population which is allowed to remain upon the territory …” Lemkin also coined the term cultural genocide, which is the systematic destruction of traditions, values, language, and other elements that make one group of people distinct from another.  How does this relate to Aaron Gunn's Tweets? These three appear to be misguided:  “There was no genocide. Stop lying to people and read a book …”;  “I understand that people have a misinformed view of history which they have reached following a steady and persistent attempt to discredit Canada's past in order to undermine its institutions and future.”  “Residential schools were asked for by Indigenous bands in Eastern Ontario when John A MacDonald was still a teenager.” This last remark refers to residential schools in eastern Ontario sometime between 1828 and 1835, when John A MacDonald was a teenager, but according to the Canadian Encyclopedia, the purpose of residential schools changed during the 1870s. “With the passage of the British North America Act in 1867, and the implementation of the Indian Act (1876), the government was required to provide Indigenous youth with an education and to assimilate them into Canadian society.” 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The following statement was taken from Aaron Gunn's Twitter feed - I am firmly opposed to Putin's heinous and illegal actions in Ukraine, and his oppression of the Russian people within Russia. I have held and articulated these views publicly for years. In early 2014, when I was still in my early 20s, I made foolish comments about Putin and Ukraine. I stopped holding those views a long time ago. Canada must support Ukraine in their defence against Russia's illegal invasion, including by building pipelines to tidewater to displace Russian oil and gas and stop the funding of Putin's war machine. A point I have made consistently in documentaries and viral videos since their second illegal invasion in 2022. Conservatives have a proud history of supporting Ukraine. It was under a Conservative government (Brian Mulroney) that on December 2, 1991, Canada became the first Western country to recognize Ukraine's independence from the Soviet Union. Conservatives were the ones who successfully negotiated the Canada-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement. Stephen Harper led the charge to kick Russia out of the G7 following their invasion of Crimea. I'm proud to continue this legacy of support for Ukraine as they continue their fight against Russia's illegal invasion.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Aaron Gunn, the Conservative candidate for North Island Powell River, has responded to some of the allegations made about his position on residential schools. I am reading this out from his Twitter feed. I'd like to clear up what has been said today. I have always been firm in recognizing the truly horrific events that transpired in residential schools, and any attempt to suggest otherwise is simply false. I have never wavered in condemning these institutions of abuse, where countless First Nations suffered at the hands of a patronizing federal government. I have never wavered in condemning the theft of children from their families, or the forced destruction of Indigenous language, culture and traditions. Not only have I repeatedly denounced what happened at residential schools, through my documentaries I have also interviewed more than two dozen Indigenous leaders on the importance of economic reconciliation with First Nations while also highlighting the disproportionate impact the addictions crisis has had on their communities. Leader Pierre Poilievre explained it well at the AFN Assembly last July: I know that the relationship between First Nations and the federal government has been painful and destructive because of the federal government's terrible decisions. For decades, the residential school system removed children from the love and care of their families. It was a monstrous abuse of excessive governmental power that cut your children off from their cultures, languages, and traditions. In many cases, students were neglected and abused tragically. Too many young children never came home. Those were terrible crimes by a big and imposing government against each victim and against your communities. In 2008, the federal government under then Prime Minister Harper issued an apology and launched the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but there is more work to be done. I know that Canada has no future without a strong future for the First Nations people. We must acknowledge the terrible mistakes of our past and learn from our history while celebrating Canada as the greatest country on earth. I look forward to working with great candidates such as former Haisla Chief Ellis Ross, to repeal the Liberals' radical anti-resource laws to quickly green-light good projects so First Nations and all Canadians bring home more powerful paycheques.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - A growing number of elected and former politicians in the North Island Powell River riding are calling upon the Conservative Party to withdraw their endorsement of Aaron Gunn, and demand he withdraw his candidacy. There were already 19 names on this jpoint letter when Cortes Currents spoke to the two women spearheaded this campaign.  “This has all happened within the last 48 hours. I believe (Bob Chamberlain) a former Vice President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs who sent out the first call for Gunn to be removed. After that many other chiefs supported the call for him to step down,” explained Arzeena Hamir, a former Regional Director of Area B in the Comox Valley Regional District.  Wendy Morin, a City Councillor from Courtney, added. “When I saw the repeated posts of comments that Aaron Gunn has made, particularly that the experience of residential schools etc was not genocide, that's what really struck me as really harmful to First Nations communities in our region. Especially since the House of Commons unanimously stated that residential schools were genocide and, that was from all parties, including the onservatives. I thought, wow, this is someone who's a candidate who's not even aligned with the previous MPs in the House of Commons. I just felt that it was really important to show solidarity with the First Nations communities in our region, in the region where Aaron Gun is running.” Arzeena Hamir:  “As elected and former elected officials, we just wanted to support First Nations leaders in really emphasizing that call because it's just an unacceptable viewpoint.” Wendy Morin: “We felt that it was important to show leadership on this and to show that local leaders across all different backgrounds, we don't all agree with each other. We don't all vote the same way, but on this issue we were very united.” Arzeena Hamir: “She and I sat down and crafted the letter and then sent it out for everybody else to sign.” Robyn Mawhinney, from Area C was one of the recipients,   “I, as a director in the Stratcona Regional District know that within the administrative boundaries of the Strathcona Regional District, there are 11 First Nations and there are many more First Nations when you look at the entirety of the North Island Powell River riding. I believe that reconciliation is multifaceted and much more than only economic reconciliation. I have grave concerns with our riding being represented by someone who doesn't appear to take this full spectrum of reconciliation seriously. First Nations Leadership Council and many other First Nations leaders have expressed concerns with Aaron Gunn and I support them.” Arzeena Hamir:  “We're not asking for the conservatives to not put up a candidate because everyone has a right to representation, but that candidate obviously was not vetted properly. Apart from his very awful views on First Nations, there's just a long list of very disturbing comments that this person has made. We don't believe that people like that should take the platform of a candidate.” “I think many people who just vote Conservative normally, don't even realize what he stands for. So this part of this letter is to raise that awareness in people so that they know, and hopefully choose otherwise.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -First Nations leaders are calling upon the Conservative Party of Canada to drop Aaron Gunn, candidate for North Island-Powell River, due to a series of tweets he made between 2019 and 2021. More than 150,000 First Nation, Métis and Inuit children were taken out of their homes and forced to attend residential schools between the 1870s and 1997. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called the residential school system "cultural genocide" in its final report released in 2015. Gunn tweeted: “Why are the report authors (and now Trudeau) sensationalizing truly horrific events, that need to be examined honestly, with a loaded word like ‘genocide' that does not remotely reflect the reality of what happened.”   More tweets followed: “There was no genocide. Stop lying to people and read a book. The Holocaust was a genocide. Get off Twitter and learn more about the world” “I understand that people have a misinformed view of history which they have reached following a steady and persistent attempt to discredit Canada's past in order to undermine its institutions and future.” “Residential schools were asked for by Indigenous bands in Eastern Ontario when John A MacDonald was still a teenager, but hey, why let the truth get in the way of a good headline.”   “ I think Mr. Gunn's comments about Canadian Indian residential schools are absolutely appalling and utterly unacceptable for someone that is seeking public office. It shows me that he is completely untethered from the reality that First Nations have experienced in this country and completely absent from knowledge of what the government has done and spoken of. I believe it was in 2022 when the House of Commons spoke about what happened to First Nations people as genocide, and when the Pope of the Catholic church also spoke of it as genocide. For Mr. Gunn to just disregard these statements based upon reality of this country, it's absolutely appalling.  There's no way that I can envision anyone should be able to sit in public office with such blatant, racist perspectives,” explained Bob Chamberlain, a Powell River resident who served as the Union of BC Indian Chief's Vice-President for 10 years and elected chief of the Kwikwasut'inuxw Haxwa'mis [quick-wa-sut-uh-nook / hakwuh-meesh] First Nation for 14 years.  The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) echoed this opinion in a press release issued on April 3: “the FNLC is joining calls for the Conservative Party of Canada to drop Aaron Gunn, the candidate for North Island-Powell River, due to his horrific and offensive posts on X between 2019 and 2021 refuting that Indigenous people faced a genocide in Canada and that ‘residential schools were asked for by Indigenous bands.' Such attitudes are extremely harmful and divisive and should not be held by those in public office.” Terry Teegee, BC Regional Chief for the Assembly of First Nations, added "It's really concerning that perhaps the Conservatives can't work with First Nations peoples across this country, especially with a party that supports an individual of this type of view."  Gunn has not responded to Cortes Currents requests for comment.   When he was rejected as a potential candidate of the BC Liberal party in 2021, because of his views, Gunn claimed he had been blindsided: “At worst, it could be argued that one of the tweets was more terse than necessary. But it is difficult to see how any of these tweets expressed extreme or factually dubious opinions that fall outside mainstream Canadian political thought. Especially considering “genocide” is most commonly defined as “the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group” – a rather serious accusation which, I believe, should only be used in those rare, extreme circumstances (such as the Holocaust, for example).” 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Bob Chamberlain, former Vice President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs  and former elected chief of the Kwikwasut'inuxw Haxwa'mis First Nation is endorsing NDP candidate Tanille Johnson in North Island Powell River.  “I just hope that your listeners are understanding and supportive of justice for First Nations people.”  “I hope they'll vote for the NDP. I say that because I've been NDP my whole life. Back here I've got a sign when I ran for the NDP in Nanaimo." "I hope that they will recognize that only the Liberals and the Conservatives have ever formed government in Canada federally. The situation we're trying to deal with and correct today is a result of red and blue. I have no faith that they'll do what's right,  from Prime Minister Trudeau's tearful acceptance of  the missing murdered indigenous women's report and the Truth and Reconciliation report - which he then did nothing with.” “That's why I would encourage people to support Tanille. She's from here. She's got the lived experience of the North island, she understands .She's  very articulate, and has high concerns for the environment and employment. To me, she's an ideal candidate because she's First Nations, but she's not limited to that focus. Looking at what economy would make good sense, what does the environment need given the current global warming crisis, and what we need to do in our little area of the world to look after our environment.” 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - All of the recent polls report the Liberals ahead in this election. If the election were held today, 338Canada and CBC's Poll tracker are projecting a landslide victory, with between 193 and 202 seats going to Mark Carney's Liberal Party. It's a bit more difficult when it comes to calculating the outcome in individual ridings. According to 338Canada's projections, North Island-Powell River is the bluest of the four northern Vancouver Island ridings. Aaron Gunn is expected to receive about 47% of the popular vote, but projections rely on algorithms and past voting history, and there are some things that can sneak under the radar.  For example, does 338Canada know about NDP candidate Tanille Johnson's following, as the only non-Conservative councillor in the city of Campbell River? Or that Liberal candidate Jennifer Lash, her Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign manager are all government staffers who have amassed an army of 150 volunteers to knock on doors, man the phones and put up lawn signs? Or of the small successes of a Green Party movie and conversation night?  The following stories came out of interviews with an NDP Campaign manager, a Liberal Deputy Campaign manager and two of the leading Green Party campaigns workers. The Conservatives were to have replied by an email which, should it arrive later, will be published separately. 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Museum had their AGM on March 30th. “We had  52 people come out despite a really nice gardening day. You could see people having conversations and lots of hugs.  Nice to see everybody out after the winter. Coffee and treats were available, a nice wide selection of home baked goods. So it's like the social atmosphere was really positive,” explained Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Cortes Island Museum. “The museum AGM business meeting takes maybe half an hour and then Iris Steigemann gave a really wonderful visual presentation of her travels in Greenland. Donations are up and membership is up, so we're very pleased about  those facts.”  Cortes Currents: How many members do you have now? Melanie Boyle: “When  our fiscal year report came out 310, but I know between the time we printed the documents and the meeting we had more than that. So it's well over 300 this year.” Cortes Currents: Which is impressive on an island whose adult population was just over 900 in the last census. What about your donations?  Melanie Boyle: “The donations were good and we have to just do our final tallies. With the museum, it's a donation of time or money. We don't set a minimum donation and we do find that works really well. Some people contribute their efforts in other ways.”   Cortes Currents: What's coming up this year? 

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - While she recognizes DRIPA as a valuable document, MLA Anna Kindy recently informed the SRD Board that she does not support ‘article 26.' The topic came up when she took part in the May 26 Board meeting.  Kindy began by stating, “ Part of the reason I'm here is to actually learn how things are run.  I'm not going to pretend I know everything, far from it.  It's a steep learning curve, but my motivation is to truly represent my constituents. I ran for a party, but I'm apolitical now that I am an MLA,  I just look at issues separately and try to bring people's voices to the legislature, to whoever it needs to be brought to.  I'm not a public speaker by nature, but I do answer questions very readily, so I'm just going to pass it over to you guys if you have any questions." Regional Director Mark Vonesch, of Cortes Island, responded,  “My question is about Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People's Act (DRIPA). During the election, your leader spoke about dropping it and since then, members of your party have denied the graves that have been found in some residential schools. That's raised a lot of concern and I'm just wondering if you could comment on that.” Anna Kindy:  “Okay, first of all, let's go back to the first question, DRIPA. You have to look at unintended consequences of every bill that passes. UNDRIP is from the United Nation and we are the only, and I will repeat the only jurisdiction worldwide that has adopted it word per word (as DRIPA).” “Most of DRIPA is fine, I'm a hundred percent for economic reconciliation. What we've done is terrible and we need to reconcile what we've done. It's about treaties, it's about economic reconciliation. What DRIPA does, if you look at section 26,  there's a question of what will be the private property rights of every British Columbian.” Article 26 1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired. 2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop and control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use, as well as those which they have otherwise acquired. 3. States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands, territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the Indigenous peoples concerned. Anna KIndy:  “The entire aspect of crown land will be under the jurisdiction of 4% of the population potentially to make decisions and I am of the opinion that we all have equal rights. We are all Canadian.”  “Economic reconciliation means that we need to make sure that we lift First Nations out of poverty.  In this region, what that means is to support industries that are lifting them out of poverty. I'm an addiction doctor. If you look at the GNN nation (Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw Nations), they had 10 or 11 overdoses and suicides in a two month period in 2024. So this is urgent, I don't talk about semantics.” “The issue is section 26. This is in a democracy and we're an equal society, we all should have the same rights.” 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - On March 21, Environment and Climate Change Canada issued a press release stating that in 2023 Canada's greenhouse gas emissions dropped to their lowest level in 27 years (excluding the pandemic years). The exception in this otherwise positive picture was the oil and gas sector, where emissions continue to rise. However there is good news within that sector as well, ‘fugitive greenhouse gas emissions from oil and natural gas have decreased by 33% between 2013–2023, driven in part by Canada's 2020 oil and gas methane regulations, which have reduced methane venting and leaks.'   “The two main messages from the National Inventory report last week, which I feel are really important, is that climate policy works. Over the last 10 years, Canada's greenhouse gas emissions have gone down. Our methane emissions have gone down. Our electricity has become less emissions intensive, and all of that has happened while our economy has grown. This is a significant point to make. And this is something that environmental groups, activists, researchers, community leaders, all of them have been saying for decades,” responded Aly Hyder Ali, from Environmental Defence.  “The other aspect of the report was that the oil and gas industry is holding us back. The oil and gas industry has failed to do its part when it comes to emissions reductions and if it was able to or willing to do that, Canadians would be in a much better place.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) has been helping maintain Mansons Landing Provincial Park since 2016. They've been putting up railings to prevent further erosion of banks, putting up interpretive signage and maintain the trails. FOCI also holds a Broom Bash every year. 15 volunteers and staff showed up to remove this invasive species on Saturday, March 21, 2025. Cortes Currents asked Helen Hall, FOCI's executive director, “Is this a good turnout?” Helen Hall: “We've got a lovely turnout of people this morning, all ages and we're anticipating more people will turn out throughout the morning. We've also got BC Parks rangers coming out to help us as well, which is great news.” “ The reason we started clearing broom on the Spit originally was because of the coastal sand ecosystem. This grassy looking habitat doesn't look like very much, but it's actually an ecosystem that's quite rare up and down the coast. When we started, about six years ago, it was covered in broom and it was getting shaded out. So we decided to remove broom from there. Then we realized it was also all over the Spit. So partly to stop it growing back onto the beach, we decided to clear it on the Spit. Then we realized that the broom was out competing native shrubs like huckleberry.” “We've now been doing this for six years and we are begining to see a difference. The coastal sand ecosystem is starting to thrive and we've noticed a lot more native shrubs coming in. It's a good news story, but we have to keep on it because broom just keeps growing back. So it's great to have volunteers coming out today to help do this.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The election writ was dropped Sunday and the following day Cortes Currents published responses from the candidates in our riding. As they were either emails or excerpts from press releases, it is only on the web. However NDP candidate Tanille Johnston just sent in an audio clip as well. She's referring to a meeting the Cortes Island Climate Action Network put on in Mansons Hall. “Hey everybody, just doing a little shout out. Thanks so much for having me a few weeks back. I really heard loud and clear your priorities of investing locally, especially in food sovereignty, climate mitigation, and how much investing locally really gets your best results for doing that kind of work on the ground.” “So really excited that the writ has dropped and the campaign is launched. On my way to qathet, and will be over in Powell River today. I have a full packed schedule and look forward to seeing you guys again soon, bye.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There hasn't been a major wildfire on Cortes Island for decades, but this could change as our summer's grow hotter and drier. The Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing project is being designed with this in mind. “The main idea is to try to have more of a FireSmart community and get rid of the conifers that are much more prone to embers catching fire and then catching the neighbor's houses and vehicles on fire, like we saw in the California fires this winter,” explained Mark Lombard, speaking on behalf of the Cortes Housing Society. “We're also going to try to incorporate deciduous trees into the landscape of the 24 units, so that in the summer time you'll have nice leafy, shady zones around the houses in key spots. So that you don't get, for example, overheating in the summer midday and afternoon sun from the south and west, while still allowing our buildings to have good access for passive solar design and solar photovoltaics on the roofs of the buildings.”  “Fire smart principles in general are to not have conifers - firs, cedars and hemlock trees - within 10 to 20 meters of your house. So when there are embers that fly ahead of a fire, they won't land in those trees, catch them on fire and then ignite the buildings around them. Using siding that's not going to be flammable like cedar; using metal or plaster as siding; designing your soffits so that the embers can't get trapped and then catch the roof on fire. We're going to use metal roofing which is very fire resistant.” “The way you do your landscaping is really important. If you put in a lot of hedges, for example, that is a real problem because embers can catch those on fire and then it's really hard to protect the structures. So trying to do a fire smart architeure site plan as well as the specific landscaping is the general idea.” “One of the big things for Cortes Island, if we have a major emergency our current plan is that we'll evacuate the island and that is expected to take about 40 - 48 hours - primarily using BC ferries. However, we know that if there's a major wildfire that starts, for example in Carrington, with a big northwesterly in five hours we could have serious fire conditions throughout the island. “So we need to create places where we can do what's called ‘shelter-in-place,' which is have a cleared area that has no trees for four times the height of the nearest trees nearby. We don't really have very much of that on Cortes, as everybody knows. There aren't a lot of big cleared areas. One of the areas that was the most likely place that we want to shelter in place and use as an anchor point in a major wildfire would be the training grounds at the fire departments.” “In the case of Manson's Landing, we had trees that were really tall directly adjacent to the helipad, and we did not have anywhere near the necessary four tree lengths. So now we've cleared the area to expand the training yard and directly behind that. We're not going to have any tall conifers. So we've created a much more defensible place to ‘shelter-in-place' on the south end of Cortes, right by the fire hall, which we think of as a bit of a multi-solving approach.” You have been listening to an interview with Mark Lombard about the Fire Smarting aspects of Rainbow Ridge.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - A four acre clearing was carved out of the forest in downtown Mansons Landing to make way for the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing Development. A crew was busy piling the last of the logs when Cortes Currents arrived on site, and the ground was covered with branches, wood debris and stumps. Construction on the first building is expected to start in a month, which means a lot of wood is going to have to disappear. What is the Cortes Housing Society going to do with it?  Mark Lombard answered on behalf of the Cortes Housing Society:  “That's a great question.”  “We have two loads of saw logs going to the Klahoose Sawmill, and there are four loads of saw logs going to the Blue Jay Lake Sawmill. One of those loads is going to be for the use of the Housing Society for construction in the future. Over time, as we need lumber for various projects, we'll be able to pull them out of the inventory of logs that went to the Blue Jay Sawmill. There's also a load of saw logs going to a small mill in Mansons and another load of saw logs going to a small mill in Cortes Bay.”   “In terms of the firewood logs, any of the logs that were a little bit smaller than the local mills can use or a little bit lower grade, we have two loads of firewood going to Klahoose and then multiple groups of residents who are getting two or three neighbors together are buying the rest of the loads of firewood logs.” They started delivering logs across the island on Saturday and were expected to finish Monday, March 24.  Mark Lombard: “ The next step for the project is all the branches and tops. It's a bit of a challenge to decide what to do with them sometimes..”  “We've decided not to burn for a few reasons. One is the smoke, right in Mansons. Another is, there's a new requirement to have your piles piled for three months before they're burned, and that would put us right into fire season. So what we've decided is we're going to chip up the branches and tops too. That'll help keep the biomass on the site.” “Once we pull the stumps and level up the site, then we can spread the wood chips out so that it builds topsoil and slows down erosion. So we don't have a lot of exposed soil.” “The school is building a wetland this summer at the back of the school yard, and they are going to take about 125 stumps from the housing society projects. On the north end, directly behind the fire hall and where the first community building is going to be built, we are going to pile up those stumps so that they can be moved over to the school wetland project in July. Then the stumps further south on the project are going to be moved to the very south end of the clearing, where there was a little bit of a natural opening.” “Once the site is levelled out, we're going to start building the first community building, the laundromat and housing society office. We are hoping that in about a month from now we'll be starting construction on that building.”  “There are lots of small cedar logs that we're not making into firewood logs. So if people are looking for posts for garden fences or any kind of posts, we have lots available. We also have quite a few longer cedar poles that would make a really good barn pole or timber frame outdoor shed that will be for sale.” “We also have lots of pieces of curved fir and cedar. Some of them are longer, some of them are shorter, but can make some nice curved beams for things. We're also thinking that some of the really curved pieces of cedar, we'll Alaska mill them and make them into slabs. So if people want any cedar slabs, we're going to have some of those available.”  Cortes Currents: Any last thoughts? Mark Lombard: "We are fortunate to have a crew of professionals doing the work and everything has been done carefully and in the most tidy way possible.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - There were a couple of changes in the plan for the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing Development as the site was cleared. A small parcel of land along the northern border of the property was given to the Cortes Island Fire Department, to enable it to expand. Plans for a hedge of trees between Rainbow Ridge and the Cortes Island Senior's Village were drastically altered after root rot was discovered.   Mark Lombard spoke on behalf of the Cortes Island Housing Society, “ In the first phase, we have cut down the trees in the area where the housing society will be building 24 units of affordable housing over the next few years, as well as a community building that'll house a laundromat and washrooms and an office for the housing society.” “We've cleared about four acres of land right behind the Manson's Fire Hall. We've also cleared about 50 feet of forest that is now going to be part of the training yard for the fire department. There's more space for the helicopters to land and more room for training. The ambulance is also bringing in a housing unit for the paramedics into the training yard.” Unfortunately they also cut down a great many more trees than the Cortes Island Seniors Village wanted.  Mark Lombard: “We didn't communicate as clearly as we could have. We met with some of the seniors this week, and we had a really constructive, positive conversation. I feel like their concerns were addressed and we were able to answer their questions, but it's a really hard thing and we really empathize and understand the fact that it's never easy to see the trees cut down in the neighborhood where you live” One of the seniors, who did not wish to be identified, expressed support for Rainbow Ridge as a project and agreed that Cortes Island needs more housing, but she had loved that forest. Cortes Currents spoke to three seniors and they were all devastated, but Naomi Hayter was the only one who agreed to an interview. “I've only just moved here. My concern is for the village here and the impact it's had on the people who have lived here much longer than I have. This has been a shock to everyone.”  “This village was created by the elders who came before us, and I find that to be a very special living situation for people of the age group from seventies up into nineties. It's been a safe place for people and I think it's a model for other communities to come and look at. People have come and looked at it as future possibilities for other places, but it has been compromised, I think.”  Up until now the Senior's Village had been sheltered in the trees, now it sits on the edge of a four acre clearcut.  This does not appear to be what the Cortes Housing Society intended.   Two months ago, at a public meeting in Mansons Hall on January 29, Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Housing Society,  said, “We heard loud and clear from them that they support the project, but they don't want to lose all the trees. There are some nicer cedars. So we're moving the project south. There's a natural land clearing down here that we'll be taking advantage of this way.” Cortes Currents: The first aerial photos of the logging operation showed a fringe of trees separating the Senior's Village from Rainbow Ridge. Most of these have since been removed. Mark Lombard: “ In the northwest corner, which is directly adjacent to the senior's cottages, we cleared the area where the training yard for the fire department's going to expand.  Then we cleared out a little patch of trees that were unhealthy that had a lot of root rot in them, and some of them had already started to fall over. We were particularly worried about having them blow onto the seniors' homes.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - mmanuel McKenty is the new face of the Cortes Island Microgrants 4 Neighbours Program.  When this ZOOM interview began, he was sitting in a room that looked very similar to where  I interviewed him along with the rest of the Awakeneers on previous occasions. Cortes Currents: Give me your spiel and then I'll ask some questions. Immanuel McKenty: “  The 2025 round of the Cortes Island MicroGrants is now open for applications between March 10th and April 7th. We're accepting applications for cool projects in on in theCortes community and giving out grants between $50 and $500. The application process is super simple. The link is on the Cortes Foundation website under their Grants section. And there's also posts on Tideline and the various different Cortes Island Facebook pages. One interesting new thing we're trying this year for the first time is we're planning to put all of the applications out for input to the whole community once we receive them. So anyone who lives on Cortes can log in and view all the applications and submit their votes on which are their favourites.” “I'm looking forward to seeing all the creative projects that get submitted and there's a few that are coming in already.”  Cortes Currents: Actually, the first question that popped in my mind is how did Immanuel McKenty end up as the person doing the MicroGrants?   Immanuel McKenty: “Manda Aufochs Gillespie recruited me shortly after the program launched. She initiated the program based on her literacy outreach coordinator position in 2020, I think that was the first year she organized it,  and  she recruited me as a jury member in 2021. The jury is basically a collection of people who review the different applications and rate them based on the rating matrix of different attributes.  I  was on the jury for a few years after that, and  Co-adjudicator last year. This year I'm coordinating the program for the first time.”  Cortes Currents: When exactly did you say ‘yes,' you'll be the guy in charge?  Immanuel McKenty: “Manda asked me, I believe it was in December  of 2024, just after Isabella McKnight retired from  working for the foundation. She had been the previous coordinator, and I had been a co-judicator with her last year.” Cortes Currents: Are you going to be doing more than MicroGrants?   Immanuel McKenty: “I've just been contracted to run the MicroGrants program this year.  It's roughly a three month engagement during the time period that the grants are being accepted and reviewed.” Cortes Currents: What's special about the MicroGrants?   Immanuel McKenty: “I find them very special and inspiring because they're so easy to apply for. Obviously applying for it doesn't mean you'll get the money, but the nice thing about the MicroGrants is that you don't need to have a registered non profit or a registered charity and go through all of these hoops of submitting financial statements, forms and hours and hours of details. They're small grants and it's super easy to apply for them.” “They're a great fit for some types of community projects. For example, in the past, they funded things like the Cortes Island Skate Jam, or songwriter circles that happened on the island, or several years in a row they've funded some youth kayaking trips, or little library boxes, or language classes. Basically, they're great for  projects that somebody is excited about doing on Cortes and needs a little bit of encouragement and support  to get the project to happen.”  

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Mascon by TELUS informed at least 10 Cortes Island residents that their internet service will be terminated on June 2, 2025. A dozen people were chatting about it on the Cortes Island Is Home Facebook page, where one typed a message to Regional Director Mark Vonesch, “The SRD was part of the whole CityWest to insure all communities were connected? Most of us do not have access to CityWest yet and now we are losing access to our only other option.” Nancy Kendel posted a comment on the Tideline, “A LOT OF GOVERNMENT MONEY was given to the Connected Coast Partnership of CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District, but THE JOB IS NOT FINISHED! When will Cortes Island be connected?” She also emailed Cortes Currents, which is what led to this story.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the oil and gas sector is a major contributor to Canada's economy, employing 182,000 people and generating $209 billion in GDP during 2023, yet it is also the source of 31% of Canada''s Greenhouse gas emissions.  “Demand for oil and gas is not going to go to zero tomorrow.  It is a transition that takes decades  to undergo.  There will be a role for oil and gas as we move forward along that transition, but it is likely to be a  cleaner oil and gas sector as the rest of the world stops buying  the oil and gas products that Canada and other countries produce. Which , I think, really underlines the importance of investing in decarbonization now while we're still using oil and gas  to 2050 and a little bit beyond  if we get on a net zero trajectory,” explained Janetta McKenzie  from the Pembina Institute, a Canadian think tank and non-profit focused on energy.  She was responding to a new report from the Federal Parliamentary Budget Office.  Janetta McKenzie:  “They were assuming that very little action was taken by oil sands firms in particular, to reduce emissions on site, and therefore they would be choosing to stop producing. Across the sector, there's been a lot of commitments to slashing emissions by 2030. There's billions of dollars on offer through federal and provincial tax incentive and grant programs.  We think there is a path towards choosing to decarbonize, choosing to reduce emissions and not just choosing to shut in production. We think it's a pretty narrow analysis that's based on a very specific set of assumptions that doesn't necessarily reflect the suite of options available to the sector.” The oil sector has been promoting the idea of carbon capture for years. A group of oil companies put forward a $16.5-billion plan for a massive carbon capture and storage (CCS) network in northern Alberta, but has not implemented it.  Janetta McKenzie: “We have not seen a lot of movement from the oil sands Pathways Alliance carbon capture project. This was announced several years ago. We simply haven't seen it  move ahead. In the absence of news on that, it's difficult to make the call on whether those big emissions reduction projects  will be implemented anytime soon.” According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, “New regulations to be finalized later this fall will ensure that the sector continues to cut methane emissions by at least 75% from 2012 levels by 2030. Carbon capture is also going to play an increasingly important role  in reducing the emissions from oil and gas production and Canada is well placed to cement its position as a global leader in this critical technology. According to both the IPCC and the International Energy Agency, there's no credible plan to carbon neutrality without carbon management technologies such as carbon capture and storage and their deployment must be rapid and immense, scaling up by nearly 200 times by 2050.” Janetta McKenzie: “It's difficult to say what is on the docket  for these firms right now. I will say, with the combination of policy, like industrial carbon pricing,  incentives, tax incentives like the carbon capture incentive tax credit from the federal government and provincial grants in particular for carbon capture, but also other emissions reductions technologies plus the possibility of doing a deal with the Canada Growth Fund, the conditions for the last couple of years have been quite good to get a pretty package  to incentivize and encourage the industry  to move forward with these things.”

Sadhu Johnston/Cortes Housing Society - Tune in on March 14th for another collaborative monthly housing forum presented by the Cortes Housing Society, and supported by Folk University. Themed “Land Sharing”, this forum featured 5 local Cortesian guest speakers chatting about different land-sharing formats (Tiber Bay, Siskin Lane, land partnerships, living estates, and more!), what has worked for them, and what hasn't. This hybrid-style forum took place on March 8, 2025, in-person at Manson's Hall and over Zoom. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. 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 - Wave and Range Cortes Island has decided it's time to go public. “This year we're going to be putting on the Cortes adventure challenge, essentially a Cortes triathlon: It's a kayak or a canoe, a swim and a trek. We've got a short course, and a long course. That'll be on the 12th and the 21st of July, tentaively. I'll need to confirm those dates with you, but we'll advertise that. We'll do a little bit of lead up training for that,” explained Kay Hope. “There's an opportunity with where we live to have not so much a love affair, but like a marriage with the physical place that we live in. I think a majority of us are really disconnected from our biophysical reality. All sorts of things have unfortunately corrupted a lot of people away from a connection with their body and the environment. I'm just trying to foray back into that. I think there's a big opportunity for all of us to just keep doubling down on hiking up Easter Bluff, going to Mansons Lagoon, getting a sweat on, but then exploring in, around and up Desolation Sound. The beauty we have around us, it's really underutilized by us as a community together. I don't want to go out and just be exploring by myself. I'd love to go out on the weekend and see more kayaks than I see power boaters. That's my wish, and my wish for my baby boy.” “I've traveled to so many different places and the stuff that's just in our backyard here, it's world class. The longer term plan is just to connect more Cortesians to get outside together, and to get away from these damn screens and all the internet fights.” “I've been interacting with Cortes for over 15 years now. We're living in Vancouver for the most part and coming here in the summers. My partner Tiana grew up here and we moved here a bit over two years ago.” “I'm pretty busy. I've got a young son, the business to run and that sort of thing, but I'm really passionate about this sort of stuff. I've been getting people outdoors for a long time. I run a business in Vancouver helping people do that.” “Essentially we looked at what Quadra Island was doing. They have the Quadra Island Outdoor Club. It's essentially a member led club. They do trips outdoors, hiking, skiing, kayaking, all that sort of stuff. “We incorporated Wave and Range in April 2024. We get insurance through the BC Federation of Mountain Clubs as a nonprofit. There's myself, Jordan Best and Tiana on the Board right now. We're looking for more board members and more people to get involved. We are a bit over 20 members.” “We've done maybe 32 plus trips. We've been canoeing and hiking. I've been putting on strength and mobility classes at the hall for our members as well, for people to build up the strength and mobility they need to go adventuring.” “Josh Bannister does some of the hiking stuff. Aaron Ellingsen is going to be there and Sanchez is going to be there. Trevor Bass , Kenny and Evie have been coming to the strength and mobility classes. Kate Madigan and Mike Moore are coming out on the canoe. It's just cool to interact with those people, and listen to the sea lions carrying on down at Mary's Point and getting to know the different places.” “I've got a big 22 foot, eight person canoe. I've done a bunch of canoeing and adventure trips, as much as I can with running a business. We canoed up from Vancouver to Cortes. I brought some of my coaches a few years back. Just a couple of years back, we canoed from Cortes and climbed up Mount Denman, which was really cool. Last season, Jordan Best, one of the board members and I kayaked around the Redondas in two days. We're both busy fathers, and we crammed that in.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - As Canada prepares for an election, which may be called sometime before parliament is recalled on March 24, polls show the Conservatives and Liberals in a statistical tie. But 6 out of 8 recent polls also show the Liberals rising quickly and now narrowly ahead. On Sunday 338Canada projected the odds of a Conservative forming a majority government has fallen from 99% on January 19 to a mere 13%. About 8 AM Tuesday - an hour after Cortes Currents sent in its daily radio broadcast! - 338Canada revised its projections to suggest Mark Carney's Liberals may be on it's way to forming a majority government. That may have been because the first of this week's polls. The Angus Reid Institute suggests the Liberals may be on their way to a majority. Mark Carney is believed to be better equipped to: handle the trade war with the United States (55%-30%), develop or expand new trade relationships outside the US (54%-28%) handle Trump's threats of annexing Canada (53%-31%) protect Canada's economy (53%-33%) deal with the provinces (47%-31%) protect health care (44%-26%) and reduce the cost of living (41%-35%) That said, Angus Reid only found the Liberals leading by 5% in the popular vote. Leger gave them a 3% lead and also identified a ‘wild card.' 28% of their respondents said they did not know enough about Carney to have an opinion, compared to just 12% who said that about Poilievre. 338Canada's latest projection, from this morning, suggests the Liberals could be elected in 177 seats, which is 5 more than what is needed for a majority. The Liberals are now projected as leading in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario the Yukon and Northwest Territories. They are tied with the Conservatives in Manitoba. The Conservative Party currently only leads in BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Angus Reid and Leger suggest the NDP's support is now down to a single digit (9%). In British Columbia, where 338Canada projected the Conservatives may be elected in many as 22 seats, a dozen former NDP seats may be going Conservative or LIberal. Six of them are on Vancouver Island, where there is not a single NDP candidate leading in the race. North Island Powell River (NIPR) has been an NDP riding since Rachel Blaney was elected in 2015, but Blaney stepped down and the new NDP candidate, Tanille Johnson, is 25 points behind Conservative candidate Aaron Gunn. The big story in this riding may be the Liberal's jump from 12% to 20% since Jennifer Lash announced her candidacy last week. While the NDP are currently second in this riding, they just lost 6 points and the Liberals picked up 5. 338Canada suggests the progressive vote in North Island Powell River is split between three parties: with the NDP falling to 23%, the Liberals rising to 20% and the Greens unchanged at 6%. Sometime in the next two weeks, Prime Minister Carney will dissolve parliament and an election will be declared. Once the writ is dropped, there will be a campaign of at least 37 days and no more than 51 days.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - One of the 2025 RIEP Virtual Forum presentations was a panel discussion of how the affordable housing societies were faring on eight rural islands. There were a lot of common themes running throughout their stories: difficulties obtaining funding through BC Housing, CMHC and other organizations whose requirements are drawn up for urban rather than rural areas; the cost of builing on remote islands; relationships with regional districts and Island Trust; and water issues. The moderator was Mike Hoebel from the Galiano Island Affordable Housing Society. Mike Hoebel: “The lack of affordable housing is truly a crisis in our communities and housing policy was a major item for discussion back at RIEP's 2023 In-Person Porum Gabriola. Today we're going to hear from a number of people about housing related initiatives underway in their communities.” “First we'll be hearing from Elizabeth FitzZaland from Salt Spring Solutions, then Adam, to talk about the Housing Now program, Bruin Black is going to share some information about the Cortes Housing Society's Initiatives. April Lewis from Hornby, Simon Palmer from Denman, Deb Goldman from Mayne, Avi Bryant here on Galiano and I'll share a bit of update about the Galiano Affordable Living Initiative Society's project on Galiano. Following the panel presentations we'll touch briefly on some advocacy issues to the province.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - One of the most popular presentations at RIEP's 2025 Virtual forum was Former Green Party MLA Adam Olsen's identification of ways to further support the success of BC's Indigenous economy. Francine Carlin, Chair of the Rural Island Economic Partnership (RIEP) introduced Olsen, “ Adam is a proud member of the Tsartlip Nation. He currently serves as the lead negotiator for the Tsartlip, representing the nation's interests on land and resource management, governance and the treaty land entitlement process. His leadership and negotiation plays a crucial role and advancing the nation's rights and self determination, Adam's expertise of bridging gaps between environmental concerns, indigenous rights and sustainable development makes him a true champion of the greater good.” Adam Olsen: “ÍY ȻEĆIL. SȾHENEP TŦE NE SNÁ. ĆSE LÁ,E SEN ET W̱SÁNEC LÁ,E ET W̱JOȽEȽP ÁLEṈ. ZȺWIZUT TŦE NE MÁN. ZIȻOT E TELX̱ILEM TŦE NE SILE.”  “My name is SȾHENEP (Adam Olsen) I am W̱SÁNEĆ from the Tsartlip village. My father is ZȺWIZUT (Carl Olsen) and my late grandparents are ZIȻOT (Laura Olsen) and TELX̱ILEM (Ernie Olsen).”  “It's an honour to be here working from my home. I want to acknowledge the territories of my relatives throughout the straights from south of the San Juan islands through Southern Gulf islands, through to the islands in the Northern straights. These spaces have been stewarded by my relatives and our ancestors since time immemorial. I raise my hands to the organizers, the brains and muscles of the Rural Islands Economic Partnership (RIEP).” “I've always appreciated how you've kept the economic well being of the rural islands centered in your work. At this moment, we're all facing extraordinary economic times. We're confused by the actions of our neighbour, concerned about the future of this territory, and because it is unprecedented, it's difficult to visualize and plan for what may be next.” “Whatever may unfold in the next few weeks and months, I believe our short, medium, and long term success is contingent on the resilience of our relationships with each other. While some celebrate this term economic reconciliation, I argue that this catchy little phrase remains incomplete to our collective responsibility to First Nations and to our own Canadian identity.” “Reconciliation cannot be selective. It must be comprehensive addressing land governance and economic sovereignty together. It is important to ground our discussion today in the fact that for the state niche, the rural islands that we know as the Gulf islands today. The San Juan Islands are our relatives.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Around 100 people signed up for the Rural Islands Economic Partnership 2025 Virtual Forum. At least 10 were from Cortes Island and there were others from Quadra, Texada, Hornby, Denman, Cormorant, Malcolm and the Gulf Islands, as well as the Broughton Archipelago. Several of the topics were of great importance to islanders. One of the foremost was Aaron Cruikshank's analysis of the impact US tariffs will have on island economies and what we can do about it. Cruikshank is the founder of CTRS, a Market intelligence company from the Lower Mainland that has worked with hundreds of organizations and governments over the past 20 years. He began his analysis of President Trump's actions by stating,  “People are really focused on the tariffs, but the message I want to leave with everybody is it's actually trade policy uncertainty disrupting economic patterns. It creates volatility in global markets. It leads to reduced investment, supply chain disruptions, and a contraction in economic activity which hurts everybody. I don't care where you are in Canada, all of that is bad news, but I wanted to make clear that tariffs are just one example of something that contributes to trade policy uncertainty.  We're seeing others, and we'll continue to see others that are going to make these numbers rise.”   He put up a chart showing the relative uncertainty that Trump and some of the previous U. S. presidents have created in international trade markets. Aaron Cruikshank: “This chart goes back to 1960 and the index is based on the impact of policies. You see the baseline jumping up from 25 points to 100 points under Nixon and Ford, that was considered a very big deal in the 60s and 70s. Then in the 80s and 90s you had some spikes with Reagan and Bush. I believe the one with Reagan, or maybe it was Bush Sr., was to do with NAFTA.”  “If you look at these spikes that are happening  during the first Trump presidency, where we're getting into the 250 range. Very, very, very significant trade uncertainty policy. Then the most recent hockey stick growth there is just in the last couple of months where we're getting up into the 450, 500 range.  We're talking  more than an order of magnitude above baseline for trade policy uncertainty.  We also are hearing talk of President Trump or as I call him, ‘the orange turd,' wanting to renegotiate the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, what some people refer to as NAFTA 2.0. That uncertainty makes people freak out. Threatening to withdraw from certain trade agreements makes the chart do this. Putting export controls on specific technologies or goods, that makes the chart do this, saying the US is only going to allow X amount of this good.” “That affects countries like Canada a lot because we end up exporting a lot of raw materials into the US: lumber, oil, metals, minerals, things like that. We supply 80 percent of the US potash, which is used for fertilizer to grow their food. So, they might be putting import caps on things like that. That makes markets go “woo.'” 

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On March 7, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by a group of Cortesians as they swapped stories of unexpected detours, chance encounters, and the adventures that changed them. Are we talking international travel or trips to town gone wrong? Tune in to find out! Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. 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 - CityWest's internet service for Cortes Island was cut off again, sometime after 10:44 on Saturday, March 8, and not restored until after 9:00 on Monday, March 10. This is the third or fourth time in the last 12 months. The outage did not affect CKTZ, which relies upon Mascon de TELUS, but did shut down numerous CityWest customers (including Cortes Currents). ‘Rumour' has it that the fibre cable was cut somewhere on the underwater stretch between Denman Island and Williams Beach.  “They require a special "marine team" to take care of it and it will be weather dependent. Hopefully the break will be near shore, but they may have to pull up the entire length of cable to find the break and fix it.” One of CityWest's public relations people confirmed there was a break in the cable, but could not say where. However the recorded announcement on their phone in line stated:  “We are seeing services affected in Williams Beach, Stories Beach, Manson's Landing, Bold Point, Heriot Bay, Whaletown, Open Bay, Granite Bay, Chatham Point, Blink Channel, Bliss Landing, Seaford, Klahoose, and Gillies Bay.” So the rumour was true, at least in regard to where the break occured. There are some questions about CityWest's recorded announcement. For starters, it says services are affected in Bold Point, Open Bay, Granite Bay and Heriot Bay - which are all Quadra Island locations. Only Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney, who lives on Quadra, has yet to hear of ANYONE being connected on Quadra Island and, up until this point, there has been no mention of Heriot Bay being served. A number of Cortes Island residents have been connected for over a year, but a lot of people have not. It is not clear which group is in the majority. In a previous post, Cortes Currents mentioned that numerous households in Squirrel Cove, Whaletown and Mansons Landing have yet to be connected. Since then, a source who wishes to remain anonyomous, claims that service has yet to be brought to Seaford Road. Don Hall, from Tiber Bay, recently stated there is no service in his area either. “We expressed interest early on to get hooked up. They used to phone us and they used to try to sell us things. They ran a line from our local road to our house, but they never ran the line from the main fiber optic network into where we live at Tiber Bay. They never hooked up our house either. The last time I ever heard anything from them was three years ago when they scheduled an appointment to hook up the internal to our house. They never showed up for that and we never heard from them again.” The Strathcona Regional District has not been talking about the connected coast project very much lately, but according to the press release on their website, this is “a joint venture between the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) and CityWest" which “will be managed and implemented by CityWest and the Strathcona Regional District.”