Cortes Currents

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Fire Department successfully passed the tests needed for Superior Tanker Shuttle Service accreditation. Some Cortes Island residents in Whaletown and the south of the island will probably see their home insurance bills reduced by hundreds of dollars. Where and how much is up to the individual insurance companies, and it will be months before we see the final numbers. Some parts of the island like Squirrel Cove, Mary Point and the Olmstead Road area that will not see any change, at least not yet. While monetary savings is an important topic, achieving Superior Tanker Shuttle Service (STSS) accreditation is also a significant milestone in the Cortes Island Fire Department's development. Fire Chief Eli McKenty was on the ferry when Cortes Currents caught up to him for further details.

Roy L Hales /Cortes Currents - Filipe Figueira felt the urge to paint for decades before bursting onto the local art scene with a solo exhibition at the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery. That was two years and many paintings ago. Since then, Filipe has exhibited in Sooke, and was one of the contributors to a show organized by the Federation of Canadian Artists on Granville Island. In March, he had a residency in Portugal and his exhibition 'In Positive Space' is currently on display at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing Project will soon be connected to the electrical grid. Traffic on Beasley Road was reduced to a single lane last week while underground electrical service was installed beneath the road. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was also held recently, so Cortes Currents spoke with Sadhu Johnston, executive director of the Cortes Housing Society, for an update. Sadhu Johnston: "We're sitting here at Rainbow Ridge in the community building, which is now complete. That really feels like a great accomplishment for this community." "We held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building just a couple of weeks ago. It was a really fun event, with about 150 or 200 people attending. One of the children who will be living in that building over there cut the ribbon, along with our founder, Sandra Wood, Chief Kevin Peacey from the Klahoose Nation and Mark Vonesch, our Regional Director." "It was a really nice opportunity to stop and say, “Wow, we've got a community building here. We now have laundry facilities, offices, water and a guest bedroom. That feels like a real step forward." "We also have three residential buildings that are now out of the ground. One has been occupied since July 1, with two families living in it. It's really great to have people living on the property after so many years of the community talking about using this land for housing." "Our second duplex is nearing completion, and the residents will be moving in on October 1. It will be our second occupied building and will also house two families. Each of these families has children, so in about three weeks, we'll have five kids living on the property." "We're across the street from the school, and the skate park, new multi-use courts and trail are all right here. It's a great location for families and children." "The next building will open on January 1, 2027. There is a two-bedroom unit where a mother and her child will be living. We also have a one-bedroom unit that we are currently in the process of leasing." "There has been a lot of progress in getting these buildings up and occupied. For the most part, we've been operating on solar power and batteries because we haven't had a BC Hydro connection." "We're very enthusiastic about getting BC Hydro connected to the property before winter because the solar panels produce less power when it's rainy and cloudy. We really want to go into the winter with BC Hydro connections to each of the homes." "As you can see from all the trenches around here, we're very much in the middle of getting everything ready. We've just cut through Beasley Road and installed all the connections beneath it." "In the next few days, all the metering and connections should be completed. We'll then be ready for BC Hydro to run the wires through the conduits and connect us to the grid."

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - UBC partnered with Hornby Island to run Seaweed School, a program that allowed high-school-aged students to remain in their community for an additional year instead of attending high school in Courtenay. Through fieldwork with UBC instructors and biology undergraduates, students learned to identify, study and monitor local seaweed species. This is more than an academic excersize. According to Dr. Bridgette Clarkston, “Seaweeds are the forests of our oceans—the primary producers of ecosystems, providing oxygen, food, carbon sequestration, and more.” Yet these vital underwater forests are under threat: “Most of the big canopy-forming kelps have perished over the last few decades, likely due to rising temperatures.” The research conducted by Seaweed school is adding to our knowledge of local seaweeds. In today's program, we speak with Dr. Clarkston, a co-creator of Seaweed School and an associate professor of teaching in UBC's Department of Botany, and Seaweed School alumna Ava Zielinski.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents: It has been a year since Rob Everson and his daughter Keisha mailed political leaders in North Island copies of their booklet 'Cultural Erasure: The Impact of Colonization - Past, Present and Future. Everson is the Hereditary Chief of the Gigalgam Walas Kwagut around Port Hardy and the Pentlatch people from the Cowichan area. On Wednesday, August 26, Chief Everson gave the SRD Board a brief explanation of the political and legal challenges facing Indigenous peoples in British Columbia today. This is a highly edited and abridged version of that talk. 

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Local family folk band, the Awakeneers, joined host Manda Aufochs Gillespie on Friday, September 4, 2026 to listen to their new album, Live at the Duncan Showroom, which was released in summer 2026. Tune into 89.5fm CKTZ to hear the album, song by song, and listen to the band give background and tell stories about each tune! 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. @ CKTZ 89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - At its August 26 meeting, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board approved the wording of four measures to be put before voters during the October 17, 2026, local election. The most controversial, originating from Campbell River and its allies, was for residents of Campbell River, Electoral Area D, and Quadra Island to say whether they thought Quadra Island residents should help pay for Campbell River's Strathcona Gardens recreation complex. The other questions pertaining to wood-chipping services on Cortes Island and in Electoral Area C, as well as services supporting seniors and youth on Cortes Island. The wording of all four measures was approved.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The new Canada's Changing Climate Report, from Environment and Climate Change Canada, states the global average temperature rise since the pre-industrial era is currently on course for  2.7°C. Even if the world were to adopt net zero policies it will not be possible to limit the rise to less than 1.8°C.   The situation is worse in Northern latutudes. "Since Since 1970, Canada has warmed nearly twice as fast as the global average, and the Canadian Arctic has warmed three times as fast as the global average." Canada's average temperature has warmed by 2.0°C and is on course to reach 5.0°C. The situation will be worse in northern Canada, where the rise could reach 10.0°C. Even if Canada were to stop expanding oil and LNG production, stop building pipelines, and reduce its emissions to net zero, it no longer appears possible to limit the increase in the country's average temperature to less than 3.5°C.

Immanuel McKenty / Folk U - Thanks for joining us on August 21st, 2026 for the 8th and final week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. Stand-in host Immanuel McKenty was joined by Paul Wolda, Cory, Cyrus, and Sean Coyote who played an in-the-round show and swapped songs and stories. Thanks to Francis McKenty for the live sound this week! The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U Radio - On July 20th 2026, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by climate activist Max Thaysen and Fire Department chief Eli McKenty to talk about wildfires and what we're doing on Cortes to prevent and prepare. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 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 - Twenty-five-year old Emily Lowan was declared leader of the BC Greens on September 24. 2025. She is believed to be the first member of generation Z elected to office. Lowan was one of the three speakers in a session Activate 2026 dedicated to 'Winning Campaigns: Stories & Tactics of Victories.' She credited her success to the aggressive recruitment of youthful members, which close to doubled the size of the party. When the votes were counted, close to 61% went to Lowan on the first ballot. Despite her youth, the press release announcing her election states that Lowan had already "spent over a decade building campaigns for climate justice, Indigenous solidarity, and democratic reform. She has led high-impact campaigns at Climate Action Network Canada, published critical climate research, worked at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives' Corporate Mapping Project, and successfully fought for fossil fuel divestment as a student union leader." I approached Lowan during the break that followed her presentation at Hollyhock's Olatunji Hall. The next session was about to begin, but she graciously agreed to an interview.  

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Harvey McKinnon has been one of North America's leading fund raisers for the past four decades. He's the author of six books and the producer of a wide variety of award-winning documentary films that have been aired on the BBC, CBC, ABC and PBS. He's also been a keynote speaker at conferences from Australia to Norway. Given the familiarity that he was received at Hollyhock,  I suspect this was not the first time he was there. Never-the-less, I know him from two presentations he made at Activate 2026: the 'Save the CBC' campaign and a workshop on 'How to Use Words and Language to Win Campaigns and Raise More Money.' For this morning's broadcast I asked Harvey two questions:  Why was his 'Save the CBC' campaign so successful?, and How should we approach a government who sees extreme weather events increasing in number and size, but still maintains Canada should ramp up oil production as quickly as possible?    

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The audio version of this story opened with Sixfoot Johnson playing 'Action is Expensive.' This is a band whose local roots are so deep they could be called a Cortes Island Institution. Dana Trueman, Garden Stein and Greg Osoba have been playing together for 24 years. Their final concert for this year will be the Gorge Harbour Marina from 7 to 9, on Friday August 21. Greg Osoba:  “Our music is super diverse because all three of us are songwriters, and we all have our own styles. My stuff tends to be somewhat rocky and poppy. Dana's is a bit more folk-rock, with a bit of country. Garden's can sometimes be almost swampy, like Louisiana soul." “When people ask us to describe what we do, first of all, 90% of our music is original. We're always introducing new material, but we like to describe ourselves as swinging, original, psychedelic, surf, alt-country rock. That covers all the different fields, because people who come to our shows understand that it's all danceable — every single song. But it often contrasts from one song to another: the feeling, the tempo, the mood, the style. It really varies, which I feel very happy about.” Cortes Currents: What gives you a passion to play? Greg Osoba: "When I recited that poem at Love Fest, there was a line in there about ‘being present, sensing mood, need, the inexplicable.' It's very difficult to put into words what the visceral and emotional feelings are when you are playing music with other people and you sense that something very, very special is occurring." “It's such a cliché to say ‘magical,' but it truly is. With our music, since we leave quite a bit of room for improvised solos, the songs aren't just rote. They're never precisely the same way twice, and I just love that. It's really a form of jazz when you get to improvise, intuit the moment, and see how that comes through you. “You hit the nail on the head for me. It is my passion. Playing music is certainly what drives me.” Cortes Currents: What brought you together? Greg Osoba: It wasn't my idea. I got invited to join the band. I think it was our drummer Garden Stein's idea, but there were other people involved early on. “The idea was to form a band to get ready for something he was staging at the Gorge Hall, many years ago, called the Battle of the Bands. We just started working on five or six tunes together for that.” Cortes Currents: How did you get the name Six Foot Johnson? Greg Osoba: “Our rhythm guitarist, harmonica player, songwriter, and singer, Dana Trueman, has a stage name he's been using for decades: Dannfver Johnson. He's over six feet tall. That's how it was explained to me when I was away one winter, and the other three band members at the time said, ‘Oh, we're changing our name from Mixed Greens to Sixfoot Johnson.' They said it was sort of a play on Dana's stage name. “Now it's kind of funny, because at the Gorge Marina show, this past July, people asked, ‘How come you call yourselves Sixfoot Johnson?' As we were just getting the show underway, Dana pointed to Garden, the drummer, and said, ‘See him? He's got two feet.' Then he pointed to me: ‘Greg, bass player, he's got two feet. I've got two feet. That makes six feet — Sixfoot Johnson.'

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Saru Jayaraman, the President of One Fair Wage, is one of those people who it is easy to overlook, until she starts talking. Suddeny this outwardly quiet little woman is transformed into a torrential stream of passion. Everyone in the recent Activate program, at Hollyhock, was transfixed when she screamed 'F_____ Democrats!' on behalf of the 14 million restaurant workers in the United States. The Democrats have made promises, but have failed to deliver ANYTHING to increase wages for the poorest working sector in America. That was the moment I realized her message was applicable to Canada. Why are so many poor Canadians voting for parties whose policies are causing extreme weather events, like this year's wildfires, while essentially enriching American shareholders? Yes, I'm talking about the oil sands — which not only increase our emissions, in turn contributing to extreme weather events like wildfires, but  over 70% of the profit goes outside the country and mostly to the USA. I wish I had recorded Saru's address, but my audio from meetings is usually mediocre. She agreed to be interviewed in the lawnchairs outside the lodge.

Jemma Hicken/Folk U - Thanks for joining us on August 14th, 2026 for the 7th week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. Stand-in host Jemma Hicken was joined by Katie Welch & Jodi Peters, Dude Lenon, and Louis Belcourt, who played an in-the-round show and swapped songs and stories. Listen in for 4 musicians talking about their creative process, their breakfast routines, how they made Cortes home, and a few singalongs. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 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 - A little over two weeks ago, Laurel Dault, Director of Impact at Hollyhock, invited Cortes Island non-profits to take part in the Activate program as her guests. A number of us wanted to go, but in the end, I believe only three local residents actually made it. We joined more than 60 activists, non-profit leaders, digital media workers, and progressives for an incredible five-day experience that went beyond a smorgasbord of ideas to include everything a Hollyhock experience has to offer. Normally, I would cover this event in a single broadcast, but there were simply too many interviews that need a space of their own. So I decided to write a series of stories, starting with one about the Activate program. Laurel Dault explained:,“Activate is about bringing together people who are working every single day toward human rights, justice, climate, more-than-human rights, and giving them a space to learn from one another, to share their challenges, to develop their skills, to rest, and most importantly, to develop a network of people who support each other day to day and year-round.” “The wins that these participants are having in their day-to-day lives, and the losses that they're having, impact every single human in this country and potentially even the world. They're working in politics. They're working in policy. They're working in how people show up. At this time of wildfires, we have, I think, 20 climate organizers here this year. what better thing could we be doing with this place, these facilities, and our skills in convening than serving those folks who are trying to solve problems that impact not only every Canadian, but every single person on the planet?”

Jemma Hicken/ Folk U - Thanks for joining us on August 7th, 2026 for the 6th week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. Stand-in host Jemma Hicken was joined by Amos Mercier, Good Enough Dave, and Mike Desj, who played an in-the-round show and swapped songs and stories. Listen in for 3 songwriters sharing about their process, their favourite grandparents, and even a few dinosaur facts. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Unedited audio of Rick & Amy Bockner song

Unedited audio of Daniela Carmona & Pablo Cardenas' Cuban Soul Explosion

UNedited audio of Owyn Pengelly, Denise Wolda & Basil Aerie Thomas, unnamed song

Unedited audio of the Awakeneers singing Clicking

UNedited audio of Rick & Amy Bockner and friends singing Love one Another

Unedited audio of Denise Wolda singing 'Feel the Island' at Lovefest 2026

Unedited audio of Greg Osoba reciting the Well

Unedited audio of Daniel Lapp, Adam Dovray and Adrian Dolan's performance at Lovefest 2026

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - I believe I've covered every Love Fest to date, but I invariably bake out between four and five o'clock, which means I've never been there for the big-name acts. So this year, I decided to do things a little differently. I was there at the opening as usual, but left early and returned at five o'clock. In terms of interviews, Benji Coey, Amy Robertson, and Andrea Block provided some insight into the Cortes Island Love Fests, past and present. Speaking of someone who spends a great deal of time in front of a computer, I wanted to hear the story behind The Awakener's song, "Clicking," and I simply had to interview Daniel Lapp.

Jemma Hicken/ Folk U Radio - Thanks for joining us on July 31st, 2026 for the 5th week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. Stand-in host Jemma Hicken was joined by Rue McDonald, Heather Wolf, and Elizabeth Hodgins, who played an in-the-round show and swapped songs and stories. Listen in for 3 beautiful voices, a dulcimer, a looper pedal, and conversations about the Scottish Gaelic language, starting to play music as an adult, and tour/adventure stories. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There's a new gallery in Mansons Landing every weekend this summer. Lee Gass and his wife, Lucretia “Lu” Schanfarber, are Quadra Island residents who are well known on Cortes. They have owned the house where the Lee Gass Gallery is located for decades. The sculptures inside are made of bronze, stone, and wood, but they also tell the story of Gass's life. A series of five female busts enshrines his feelings for Lu. A Love Story Lee Gass: “They are all called Listening to the Wind. That harks back to a day in the Shulaps Range, high up, with glaciers and crags above us and steep slopes below us. Lu and I were sitting under a whitebark pine, listening to the wind. “It was just a wonderful, magical afternoon that changed my life in a lot of ways. We named the sculpture Listening to the Wind to remind us of that day and what it meant to us.” Cortes Currents: “Why is the sculpture's face so pushed in and her shoulders are so pronounced.” Lee: “I don't have any explanation for this other than she's got way more brain than will fit in one skull. “I needed this concavity for design purposes. It started out as a flat, slightly convex face, and it was boring. So I just pushed it in. It gives shadows and accentuates the three-dimensionality of it. “The shoulders: Lu is strong. She helped me unload that 600-pound red marble piece there, the one you can see through the rhododendrons, this morning. I'd rather have her work with me than most men I've worked with.” Cortes Currents: His wife Lu added another layer to the story. Lu: “For almost the last 25 years, it's been a love letter. Lee has created something specifically for me, and as part of our history and our future, it's very grounding. I listen to that voice that says, ‘You're loved.'” Lee: “You make me cry, Babe.” Lu: “That's not hard to do, as I recall.” Cortes Currents: “How did the two of you meet?” Lu: “I happened to move in across the street from him in Vancouver in 1993. I would see him out my bedroom window while I was working in my office. He was carving rocks in his garden, and Listening to the Wind was the piece he was working on that I noticed the most. So I got to watch that piece unfold before I ever even met him.” Cortes Currents: “He said he made this for you.” Lu: “He didn't know that until he met me.” Lee: “I was fully employed, so it took years for me to make one sculpture. The feelings associated with it developed, and the relationship we were beginning developed at the same time.” Lu: “We actually started to hang out together in 1996. Then it took six years for us to decide to put our lives together. The same year we got married was when we bought our place on Quadra." “Two years later, we also discovered we loved Cortes. I came to visit my son Justice and his partner Kirsten. They were stewards at Linnaea, and they had just had a baby, Emmett, who's 26 now." “I thought, ‘Oh, I'd actually like to have a closer relationship with my family, and especially my grandson.'” How Lee Gass Became a Sculptor A bar of soap and the soap shavings beside it are reminders of how Gass became a sculptor. Lee: “When I was five, my mom and I would sit on the back porch with a newspaper between us. This was 1947, and what Mom was doing was making soap flakes for the washing machine and entertaining this little kid who needed something to do. “She could make giraffes and snakes and all kinds of stuff. She said, ‘Just shave the soap like this, Lee,' and a big curl would come off. “I'd try to cut a bear. I'd slip and cut myself. She'd say, ‘Oh, I see you cut your finger again today, Lee. Are you going to use a Band-Aid, or do you just want to suck on it like you did yesterday?' “And I said, ‘Mm, tastes pretty good. I think I'll just suck on it.' “That's how I started.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Despite the fact polls consistently show roughly two thirds of the Albertan electorate want to remain in Canada, Premier Danielle Smith - a former fossil fuel lobbyist whose government not too long ago imposed an outright ban on new renewable energy projects for 7 months - is concerned about her province's separatist movement. She and Prime Minister Mark Carney agree that the best way to preserve national unity is to build more pipelines so that Alberta's oil sector can further ramp up production. As the oil sector is not willing to put up the necessary funding, they also agreed that Canadian and Albertan taxpayers can carry up to 90% of the cost of the proposed West Coast Pipeline. Canada is not the only nation racing to sell its fossil fuel resources while there is still time. The 2025 Production Gap report states that their combined increases are "more than 120% above the median 1.5ºC pathway and 77% above the median 2ºC pathway." According to the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, "Current fossil fuel expansion plans would take the world past 3 degrees of warming ..." In this morning's interview, Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, talks about the proposed West Coast Pipeline.

Jemma Hicken/ Folk U Radio - Thanks for joining us on July 24th, 2026 for the 4th week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. Stand-in host Jemma Hicken was joined by the Awakeneers, who delivered a folk-forward set filled with stunning harmonies, jokes, and existential questions. They chatted about their new album, the challenges and delights of being in a family band, told a few tour stories, and discussed diplomacy, decision-making, and songwriting. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The first tenants have been living at Rainbow Ridge for a month, and Cortes Island's affordable housing complex is now offering tours of the site. There were fifteen of us on Saturday, July 24. Most were curious neighbours, but a couple of people asked about rental rates, and there were also a couple of tourists. One summer resident, who does not have a washer or dryer, was very interested in the laundry club that will operate out of the community building. Mark Lombard, the construction manager, gave Cortes Currents an interview after the tour. Work was in progress in a nearby building and construction noises periodically enter the audio.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Tzeporah Berman: The Problem With Ramping Up Fossil Fuel Production & Expanding Energy Consumption According to the Stockholm Resilience Centre, "Human activities have pushed Earth beyond its Safe Operating Space. The planet's natural resilience is weakening: Global warming is accelerating, (and) ecosystems are showing clear signs of degradation." In the second of four programs arising from an interview with Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, she explains that the problem is multifaceted, but two critical areas must be addressed: fossil fuel use and our rapidly expanding energy consumption. The Greatest Cause of Premature Death Tzeporah Berman: “My research makes it very clear to me that fossil fuel use and production is the greatest cause of premature death on the planet and the greatest threat to the majority of the world's ecosystems.” Cortes Currents: “Prove it to me.” Tzeporah Berman: “Approximately eight million people die every year due to air pollution. Fossil fuels are the majority of that air pollution. Last year, the Lancet Countdown report said that, on average, five million people are dying every year from air pollution due to fossil fuels alone. “When you start adding climate impacts and deaths, the numbers skyrocket. We know now that one person is dying every minute on this planet due to lethal heat, and the primary cause of the dramatic increase in lethal heat is climate change. “Eighty-six percent of the carbon emissions currently trapped in our atmosphere — creating almost like a sweltering blanket around the Earth and causing climate change — come from three things: oil, gas, and coal.” Why Aren't Renewables Reducing Global Emissions Faster? Cortes Currents: “Given that renewables are the fastest-growing energy sector, why aren't we seeing more of an impact in terms of global emissions?” Tzeporah Berman: “We're not seeing more of an impact in terms of global emissions even though investment in renewable energy today is double the investment in fossil fuels. Last year, there was $2 trillion invested in renewables and $1 trillion invested in fossil fuels. “We're seeing dramatic growth in renewable energy, but we are also seeing continued growth in carbon pollution, emissions, and fossil fuel infrastructure. We can't solve this just by building the good stuff. We have to stop building the bad stuff too. “What we often see is, for example, Mark Carney, our prime minister, saying, ‘We're still going to move toward electrification. We're going to eventually have a low-carbon economy by building more renewable energy and electrification.' “You hear that a lot. That's good — we need that infrastructure — but no one ever phased something out by building more of it, and that's what we're doing today. “Our country has committed internationally. In Dubai, at the climate change negotiations, 190 countries said, ‘Yes, we know we need to phase out fossil fuels, and that's a priority.' Now we're saying we're going to build more of them.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - More than thirty years have passed since Tzeporah Berman catapulted into public view as an organizer of the Clayoquot Sound logging blockade. She is the Co-founder and International Program Director at Stand.earth, the Founder and Steering Committee Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, and serves as a member of the Advisory Group for InfluenceMap. She is also an author, former adjunct professor, and has sat on committees advising the governments of B.C. and Alberta. When she's not away speaking at conferences, or in the midst of negotiations, Tzeporah Berman is back in her home overlooking Gunflint Lake on Cortes Island. In the first of a series of broadcasts recorded there, she talks about then - and now.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - The last of 4 interviews with Fire Chief Eli McKenty

De Clarke / Cortes Currents - the third interview with Fire Chief Eli McKenty

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - the second of four broadcasts taken from an interview with f=Fire Chief Eli McKenty

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Thanks for joining us on July 17, 2026 for the third week of our Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. This week it poured with rain! The SCCA generously lent the Manson's Hall deck so we could all stay dry and cozy. Host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Owyn Pengelly, Denise Wolda, and Basil Aerie Thomas - 3 amazing local musicians in-the-round! The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 p.m./Wednesday at 6 a.m. @CKTZ89.5FM or livestreamed at cortesradio.ca. Find repeats anytime at www.folku.ca/podcasts.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - A couple of weeks ago, Cortes Currents ran a story about an emergency preparedness workshop offered on Cortes Island by SRD staffer Sarah Rosen. In the course of that workshop, volunteer firefighter Mike Brown and Fire Chief Eli McKenty made some comments about wildfire risk on the island, which they saw as the biggest potential emergency islanders face. In early July, I conducted an in-depth interview with Eli, in which we discussed wildfire risk in greater detail. I had a lot of questions: Why and how has this risk intensified over the last 20 years? How is our fire department responding to the growing hazard? What can Cortes Islanders do to protect themselves and their homes?

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Thanks for joining us on July 10, 2026 for another week of the Village Commons Music Series, a simultaneously live and live-broadcast show, happening on Fridays from 1 - 2:30pm on the new Pavilion stage. Host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Ann Vriend (AV) from Edmonton. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Sean Coyote, and Bryan McKinnon. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and FolkU. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 3 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 a lot of would-be customers who were not connected to CityWest for various reasons. In Tiber Bay and Red Granite Road, for example, the problem was allegedly that the route was across solid rock. I do not know why some of the customers in the southern tip of Cortes (like Siskin Lane and South Point Road) were not connected, only that there were a large number of them. I'm also aware that CityWest customers in the Whaletown area have recently been connected. Are there parts of Cortes that, for one reason or another, you will not be able to service? The Cortes fibre project is being built in phases, so not every eligible property is connected at the same time. As each phase of construction is completed, additional homes become eligible for service. While some areas present more complex engineering or construction challenges than others, our goal is to make fibre internet available to as many residents as possible. This is an aerial fibre build, which allows us to reach the vast majority of homes on Cortes Island. There may be a small number of properties in particularly remote or difficult-to-access locations that won't have service. Residents may notice that one neighbourhood is connected while another is still waiting. That's a normal part of a phased infrastructure project. We appreciate the community's patience as construction continues. Q: I heard rumours of a grant to enable you to finish the job. Is there any truth to this rumour and, if so, will it be enough to connect all of Cortes Island? Or are parts of the island too difficult to connect? Yes. In 2021, CityWest entered into a funding agreement to bring fibre internet to households on Cortes Island. In January 2026, that agreement was amended to provide funding for an additional 186 households that were not included in the original scope. The additional funding allows us to expand the network and reach significantly more residents than originally planned. Construction will continue in phases as engineering, permitting and build work progresses.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - And the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery is currently hosting an exhibition by three local artists: Melanie Boyle, Karen McDarmid, and Jane Newman. They have just opened a joint show called The Shape of Solace. It opened a few days ago, drawing a crowd of over 100 people, and will continue through July twenty-sixth. Gallery hours are Fridays from six to nine PM and Saturdays and Sundays from two to six PM. The exhibition also involves some related events:  an Artists' Talk on July 17th from seven to eight-thirty PM, a Collage Writing Workshop on July 19th from noon to two PM, and a Solace Show-and-Tell on July 24th from seven to eight-thirty PM. The three artists arrived on Cortes by quite different routes. Karen and Jane's friendship goes back decades, to years when both lived in Banff. Karen says that "a series of misadventures" landed her on Cortes in early 2020. At that point in her career as a counselor, thanks to COVID, a job contract fell through -- and a month-long stay with her friend Jane on Cortes turned into staying for good. Jane had made her own move to the island a few years earlier, in 2017. After four decades of a life shaped by the Rockies she found a new relationship with wilderness, trading the inland mountains for the coastal ranges. She made a good landing on Cortes, and eventually became the museum director. Melanie's path was a bit more circuitous. Raised in Vancouver and Prince George, she spent twenty years in Michigan raising her own family before circling back to the BC coast -- literally, by means of a BC Ferry circle ticket. The island drew her in, and she settled on Cortes a little earlier than her fellow artists, in 2014. One day she met Jane walking her dog on the beach, started volunteering at the Cortes Island Museum, and later became its managing director herself when Jane moved on from that job. The artists are three friends who took three different paths to the same small island. But this is the first time all three have shown their work together. Until now, each had only exhibited solo or -- in the case of Karen and Jane — together, but a while back, in Banff

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - I was the only male among eighteen female writers at a retreat called Tapping the Stream. One of the things that set this program apart was the relaxed atmosphere in which widely recognized writers mixed with would-be authors. Personally, I might have totally frozen up had I known more about the company I was with. (That came as a series of surprises, which continues as I google their names.) Instead, we got to know each other as people as we all worked to improve our craft. This was only one of three programs during the week I was at Hollyhock.  Coming To Hollyhock As preparation, I interviewed Chief Executive Director Katia Sol, who has just finished the 18 month transition from her old life in California. The trips back and forth are largely over. "We just arrived back on the island a few weeks ago, and I'm really excited to be here now for the indefinite future." 

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - While lineups appear to have virtually disappeared since Island Nagalis took over the BC Ferries Cortes–Quadra run, there are often three-ferry waits at midday for people sailing between Quadra Island and Campbell River.

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - The new West Coast Pipeline will closely follow the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX) route. BC has been promised billions of dollars through a new prosperity agreement, and Prime Minister Mark Carney has stepped back from Canada's emissions targets because they are too divisive. In this morning's broadcast, two experts provide their insights into these matters. Jennifer Lash is a former senior analyst with Environment and Climate Change Canada and ran as a Liberal candidate in the 2025 election. She endorses the Prime Minister's actions. Ian Sanderson, a senior analyst in the oil and gas division at the Pembina Institute, explains his reservations.

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) is set to run a busy, engaging summer calendar in 2026, beginning with sold-out programming launched Monday, June 28. Early highlights included “Misty Isles” and “The Secret Shelf Exploration,” a guided intertidal snorkel-style visit where participants explore a rich marine environment while learning about local ecosystems. Although that first event is already fully booked, it reflects the organization's strong community interest in hands-on nature learning. Looking ahead, FOCI's summer events continue to blend local expertise with conservation-focused education. A “Moss Magic” session on July 4, led by Dan Tucker, introduces the hidden world of mosses, liverworts, and lichens. Later in July, “Gumbooting the Lagoon” returns as a low-tide walk at Manson's Lagoon, done in partnership with the museum and featuring local history insights from Melanie Boyle. They also aim to try new experiences, including “Moths by Moonlight” (August 15), a moth-trapping event that attracts moths with light traps and allows participants to observe and learn before releasing them unharmed. Beyond events, FOCI's work in 2026 is equally active on the ground. They recently completed their third annual Big Beach Clean-Up, collecting 2,570 kilograms of garbage through community participation, partnerships with Klahoose Aquaculture and waste management, and sponsorship support. The organization is also collaborating with Cortes Island School on renewable, creative land-based education projects—like willow-based pollinator fencing and the living green willow dragon sculpture. Meanwhile, they maintain and improve regional parks and access points, support habitat restoration with BC Parks (including broom removal on the spit), conduct eelgrass surveys, prepare European green crab trapping with DFO to protect eelgrass and native species, and invite ongoing volunteer and donation support to sustain this breadth of impact.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - tTanya is also committed to the Women's Centre's participation in Truth and Reconciliation on Cortes Island.   The two priorities that we've put forward since becoming a nonprofit are creating kind of a mental emotional wellness team agenda, and reconciliation. And that's a spot where volunteers of any gender could participate and help out. We want to find opportunities to show that we're devoted to reconciliation, and figure out how can we do that in accessible ways, in ways that involve community more I'm hoping that we can do some indigenous film nights in the fall.  Last January we did a reading challenge, and this is something that we intend to do every winter now — and the challenge is to read a book by an indigenous author. And, you know, that could expand in ways to come in the future. Maybe we'll make it actually like a book club. Tanya said that the Centre does have some indigenous Access Members and she feels there's some potential for it to serve as a bridge between the settler and first-nations communities.  Not all of our members arenecessarily here because they're going through trauma! Women are a lot of the time here because they want the warm space, and their trailer's not that warm in the winter. Or because we've got internet or they can print up colored posters for their, events or offerings that they're putting out in community, you know? But yeah, we definitely have indigenous members. And I feel that Cortes as a community could do more on the level of reconciliation.  I just think that it could be something that's more of a working part of our community and something that we do on a more regular basis, and that the settler community should be putting together. Centre

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - This is the second of three broadcasts about the COrtes Island Woomen's Centre

De Clarke? Cortes Currents - Some seven or eight years ago, longtime Cortes residentTanya Henck perceived a need for more support for women on the island struggling with various issues — domestic violence, sexual harassment, housing insecurity, poverty, mental health, social isolation — and launched the idea of a Women's Resource Centre. Joined by a few other island women, she rented a space in the Mansons Hall building and formed a partnership with North Island Transition Society. In 2019, the Centre opened — just in time for the Covid pandemic. Since then, the Cortes Island Women's Resource Centre has served island women in many capacities. In an interview with Tanya in late May, we discuss recent organisational changes (the Centre is now a BC Non-Profit Society in its own right), current programming and services, the level of need on the island for those services, the ongoing relationship with North Island Transition, and Tanya's plans for expanded services and projects in the coming year.

Roy L Hales /Cortes Currents - The radio version of this story opens with a short clip from the documentary NameSake in which Dr Evan Adams welcomes viewers to Tla-amin territory. Then he adds,  "A lot of people who live here now don't know us. They forget that all of this used to be ours, and that this city is still in our territory."  NameSake will be playing in the House of the Klahoose People, on Cortes Island, at 2 PM on Monday, June 29. It is about the Tla'amin People's connection to the ancestral village site that was taken away from them and renamed Powell River. Then they asked the city to change its name back to  Tiskʷat. The film was screened at Hot Docs in Toronto, the DOXA Festival in Vancouver and will be shown at the Victoria Film Festival this coming July. In this morning's interview we talk to Dr Evan Adams, who just welcomed you to Tla'amin territory, and Executive Producer Claudia Medina.  Claudia joined us during the second half of the interview. She is a qathat based filmmaker and editor, who works through her production company EnMedia. She has directed and edited for APTN and has been involved in this project from the onset.   Dr Evan Adams is a physician, currently serving with the First Nations  Health Authority and National Circle for Indigenous Medical. He's also an actor and one of the two Directors of NameSake. In the film, he guides viewers through history, memory and present conversation.   Cortes Currents: Tell me how NameSake came into being?  Dr Evan Adams: “The conversation between the city of Powell River and the Tla'amin Nation has been growing for a few decades. In fact, we thought we had quite an exemplary relationship. But then, when we started talking about our objections to the name Powell—would the city consider changing their name?—that started a series of meetings that were quite acrimonious.” “We were not ready for that kind of reaction, and we were not ready for that kind of negativity. People were yelling at us. We thought we were talking about a name change, but they were saying things like: ‘There's no such thing as Indigenous knowledge. Those residential school graves are empty. Survivors are exaggerating.' And lots of other really racist generalizations—racist rhetoric—that we didn't know were going to be part of every single meeting. So we just started recording it.”

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - The SRD Board unanimously passed a resolution that Cortes residents will vote on whether to fund the island's youth and senior organizations at the upcoming October 17, 2026 election. Regional Director Mark Vonesh explained, “There was a little bit of a rush because I realized that, in order to get this onto the referendum—which I think is the fairest way to consult with the community—it needs to go through a process. It goes to the board, a draft bylaw is created, the draft bylaw is reviewed, and then it goes to the Inspector of Municipalities for approval. That comes back to the referendum at the election. The time period for this one was tight. It basically had to happen in the month that I introduced it, but the beauty of it is that we've got four months to talk about it.” “I'm going to be holding a public meeting in the Fall, before the election, so we can come together and talk about it, and so I can share information that I have about the services. We'll also make it available online, so it's really accessible for people.” “The two new services that passed the board today, unanimously, are about providing funding for programming on Cortes.” “We know that youth and older people on Cortes are important to the future—and the past—of our community. By supporting them, it's going to make Cortes a better place to be. As a youth worker and someone who's worked with seniors all over Canada doing nonprofit work, I know the impact that the organizations on Cortes are already having.” “We're looking at $35,000 for each of the services, which really isn't a lot of money, but I think it could go a long way toward filling some gaps and strengthening what we're already doing on Cortes for younger people and older people.”