Cortes Currents

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - On this Folk U, the students of the Cortes Island Academy took over the radio waves to answer this question: If you were to send a message in a bottle that drifts through time and space to another “time being”: another person, species, or world, what would it sound like? These short 3 minute podcasts were the result of a week-long intensive with guest artist Ruby Singh and each captures reflections on time, place, and more-than-human life. Working with field recordings, biosonification tools, and their own creative voices, these short audio message that carries meaning beyond words. Learn more and listen to these and other podcasts at CortesIslandAcademy.ca

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -The Forest Trust for the Children of Cortes Island Society has raised just over 70% of the $7.5 million it needs to purchase 261 acres of forest along Carrington Lagoon from Mosaic Forest Management. Society Chair Chris Dragseth says this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the community: “We're protecting some valuable properties from an ecological point of view and from a societal point of view. The youth of the community, both residents and from afar, have benefited immensely from the protection this land has had to date. It's got huge opportunities in the future from a continued educational perspective with the youth, but also from a research perspective.” So far, most of the campaign has taken place behind the scenes. Dragseth says they'll soon be reaching out to the wider Cortes community: “We have a little more than 70% of the target campaign number. There are a few balls in the air, but we're confident that we will be able to close this deal.” The society still needs to raise about $2 million in the next few weeks. “We have a deadline of November the 19th for the funding conditions to be removed, and then the final closing date is December the 19th.” If the full $7.5 million isn't raised by then, Dragseth says there may be some flexibility. Part of the total is meant to build an endowment, which could be finalized after purchase. Discussions with Mosaic would be needed if the purchade price is not raised. In the meantime, supporters can follow updates and make pledges online at corteschildrensforesttrust.org.

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents -On Tuesday, October 14th the Cortes Island Foundation invited island nonprofit and public service organisations to attend a Social Profit Forum hosted at Hollyhock. This all-day event was well attended and featured presentations by two representatives from “local economy” projects with successful track records: Tara Janzen from the Shorefast Institute for Place-Based Economics and Andrew Greer from Purppl, a consulting group that advises clients who wish to establish “regenerative enterprises.” Ms Janzen gave a slide presentation describing the successful economic re-invigoration of a small Newfoundland island called Fogo. Mr Greer offered some tools for turning social profit goals into specific business plans and strategies, using examples from the Okanagan area. Attendees were invited to come up with ideas and concepts for place-specific economic development on Cortes Island, with the goal of providing living-wage jobs that would allow — among other things — local kids to grow up and remain in their home community instead of having to leave in search of gainful employment. The theme of the day was how to create a local economy that provides employment, investment, and income to benefit the community, rather than importing labour and goods and benefiting distant shareholders. The full event title was From Edge to Opportunity: Collective Pathways for Social Impact. It attracted representatives from almost all the islands's non profit societies and projects, including CCEDA, the Fire Department, FOCI, the Housing Society, the Cortes Food Coop, the Women's Centre, the Food Bank, and more. The crowd filled most of Olatunji Hall, one of Hollyhock's larger venues.

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents -The long-awaited Rainbow Ridge housing development has passed a milestone. The foundations of the first two homes are in place. Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Housing Society, gave Cortes Currents a tour of the site and spoke about the vision, challenges, and progress to date. Rainbow Ridge is rising in Mansons Landing, the most settled community on Cortes Island. The audio version of this story meanders more than usual. It begins inside the community building and ends at the freshly poured foundation of the first duplex. Along the way, the track is filled with construction noises: hammering, lumber being stacked, the warning beep of a backing vehicle, and occasional voices in the background. At times our own voices echo through the empty community building, while outside the steady crunch of footsteps on earth runs through segments. The recording also includes a series of questions and answers that are not repeated in this summary

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -The Cortes Forestry General Partnership held its public meeting on October 9th, 2025. In today's interview, Operations Manager Mark Lombard talks about leadership transitions, plans for selective logging, the Forest Stewardship Plan review, and other topics from the meeting. He also shares his personal opinion about how climate change is affecting our forest. “We try to have a public meeting every year and we cover whatever topics are relevant at that point. There's always the year in review, so what have we done in the last year since the last public meeting and what are we planning in the coming year,” explained Lombard. “In this case, we had the Forest Stewardship Plan Review, which the Forest and Range Practices Act states must be updated every five years. We had a draft to present to the public and there was a 60 day public comment period, and we wanted to have the public meeting during that time. While the document is really thorough and detailed, and it wasn't something that you could just put up in a PowerPoint slide, we had our registered professional Forester, Kate Roth there to answer questions and discuss the objectives and how it relates to how we operate in the community forest. That was the first and foremost part of the meeting.” Cortes Currents: What were the most significant events this past year?  Mark Lombard: “There's been some change in the leadership of the Community Forest Partnership.” “The Klahoose have had chief council elections and they came out of a period of uncertainty with the change in chiefs midterm. Kevin Peacey, who has been the chief in the past, is now on the board of the Community Forest again.” “We did an interview with Kevin. Bill Weaver is doing a mini documentary about the community forest for us.” “There were some changes on the co-op side. David Shipway has stepped in to replace Aaron Ellingson.” Cortes Currents: The United States slapped a new 10% tariff on top of the existing duties, which brings the combined total to 45%. Mark Lombard: “So the outlook isn't great for log markets. That's probably one of the bigger challenges as it relates to the upcoming year.” “We would like to do some logging. Our partners would really like to see some logging, and generate some opportunity for economic reconciliation and doing what we set out to do.” “We have to set up the log dump. A storm had broken maybe one or two of the anchor chains, so there will need to be some divers that go and set new anchor chains and bring in some boom sticks, set up a dumping ground and then bring a machine in to push logs off the truck.” “So there's a pretty big upfront overall cost that needs to be amortized over a reasonable amount of volume. We've never had to pay to set up the log boom fully. It isn't viable at today's below-average prices, though it might work once prices return to normal. We probably can't make it work for under 4,000-4,500 meters, and the goal is to log around 6,000 meters. It's going to be challenging to do that if prices don't come up.”

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U -Tune in on October 10th for a special episode of FolkU radio, where we listen to an episode of another talk show, Chatter That Matters, by Tony Chapman. This episode features a conversation with Zita Cobb about the story arch of her home in Newfoundland, Fogo Island. This is a discussion about tourism, circular economies, community, and rurality. Introduction by Manda Aufochs-Gillespie. 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 -Shane Berg, BC's Chief Forester, has a message he is taking to trading partners around the world. On Thursday, October 2, 2025, he made a presentation to the Strathcona Regional District's Natural Resources Committee. In today's broadcast there are select clips from that presentation, including reactions from the committee. Also Bruce Ellingsen, one of the founding directors of the Cortes Community Forest Cooperative and a local thought leader on forestry matters, gave his opinion about the presentation and what he believes it lacks. Berg claims that the amount of old growth forests is increasing. According to Ellingsen what is not clear is that he is talking about the 80% of relatively small old growth trees growing in less productive areas, not the ‘big tree old growth' that the environmental community is concerned about.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U -On October 3 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Kate Maddigan, Bruen Black, Amy Robertson, and Genevieve Cruz, for a special group discussion on revenue diversification for rural non-profits. Tune in for talk of circular economies, transportation, a brainstorm on creative revenue solutions, and updates from the Cortes Natural Food Co-op, CCEDA, and the Cortes Housing Society. 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 - Campbell River wants to take control of the Strathcona Regional District's Electoral Areas Planning Service away from rural directors. They are thinking of joining the service, which would cost Campbell River tax payers close to $500,000 a year for their resulting share of the assessments, and have asked other municipalities to do the same. This morning's story consists of interviews with the Regional Directors of Areas A, Cortes Island and C, who issued a joint press release against this on Wednesday, October 1. Mark Vonesch, Regional Director of Cortes Island, began,  “For folks that are learning about this, for the first time, I'll give some background information. The four electoral areas at the Strathcona Regional District. That's Cortes Island, that's Quadra and the Discovery Islands, the Seaward Valley area, which is area A and then area D south of Campbell River. We currently have a planning service that we all pay into. That's where all our land use decisions happen and currently the four of us are the votes on those decisions. Campbell River has the right to be able to join this planning service, but it means they have to pay for it.” “So right now, Campbell River is considering joining the electoral area planning service that would cost them $500,000 a year. That's $5 million over the next 10 years to be able to control land use planning decisions in the rural areas of the Strathcona Regional District.”  Gerald Whalley, Regional Director for Area A explained, “My concern is based on the fact that if Campbell River joined the electoral area planning service, they would have total control over all land use issues within the rural areas, within the electoral areas. That is because Campbell River has five votes, the other electoral areas only have four votes, so they could potentially outvote us on every issue.” Robyn Mawhinney, Regional director for Area C added, “This could mean that an application which has not received community support could be pushed through despite community feedback. It could potentially mean a building service could be implemented, costing residents not only increase tech, do tax dollars annually, but more and more fees for every stage of construction. It could really mean that the wishes of rural residents are not considered in land use planning decisions, and to me, that's unacceptable and why I am really so concerned with this proposal.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - As of September 30th, 2025, Raincoast Networks serves the 347 remaining customers in what was once the Twincomm service area on Cortes Island. Mascon by Telus acquired Twincomm in 2022. “I come from Savary Island. We provide internet to those who have decided to live off grid and in remote communities and cannot be served well by other telecom providers, majors and things from space, explained Oliver Linsley, owner of Raincoast Networks “We've been doing this for eight years and we service areas from Howe Sound all the way to Cortes. It has been a wonderful adventure, mainly because I get to meet some fantastic people in places I didn't even know existed. We've helped communities up and down the coast, and that's where we got our pride from. It's not from a paycheck (laughs), I can tell you that, but it definitely is from the fact that I can go to someone's house and they have baked cookies for me. They're just super happy that we came in a boat and we've driven across a whole bunch of crazy oceans and we're at their house and we're going to fix it.” Cortes Currents: How did you get into Cortes Island? Oliver Linsley: “Into Cortes was a interesting situation. I have been dealing with major telecom companies since we started. In the beginning, it was a very positive situation where they were very interested in working with people like me as last mile providers, so they did not have to extend their networks out at a cost they did not like. Telecom likes density because it maximizes their investment. So they partnered up with me and we began working at these remote places. As COVID hit, the demand skyrocketed and the government came around and gave them monies, and we began competing with Major Telecom (Mascon by Telus).” “Major Telecom decided that they had gotten too far. They had purchased Twincommm from Mark Torrance on Twin Islands. After two years of owning that, it had served its purpose to them, and they no longer wanted the asset and the customers here on Cortes. They approached me and asked me if I wanted to take over the network. Over the course of about a year and, for various me reasons me saying 'no I don't think so,' in the end, I decided that Cortes was a wonderfully remote community with demand that I wanted to be a part of. So after a long, long period of negotiations, we ended up picking up Cortes, about 350 customers on the island and we just acquiring it as of today, I believe.” Cortes Currents: What are you offering? Oliver Linsley: “We basically offer the same service that Twincommm did. We are very community based. We are looking to pick up a tech here on island. We like to keep customer service, which is something very rare in rural places, as fast as possible. So if your system goes awry one day, perhaps we can actually get to you in one day or the next day as opposed to some of the situations where you get with other providers where they just don't have a presence in the community. We really pride ourselves. in being there to keep people online, because most of the time it's quite an easy fix.” “So we are offering fixed to wireless services that most people are already hooked up to are already operating. They're operating the same way as TwinComm built them the same way as Mascon was running them. We are going to optimize the network. Essentially it's very similar to what Twincomm was, but we'll be upgrading. Pricing should be the same. The speed should be faster.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -There have been speculations about Cortes Island becoming a municipality and at the September 17 SRD Board meeting staff was instructed to prepare a report about the process. In the unedited audio that follows Cortes Director Mark Vonesch makes the motion. Mayor Julie Colborne of Zeballos seconds it twice, to some laughter, and Campbell River Director Doug Chapman points out that Municipal Affairs will not consider applications from communities with a population under 500. (The population of Cortes Island is 1,100.) The audio begins with Chair Mark Baker speaking The motion was passed with no opposing votes.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - SRD staff will prepare a staff report identifying public lands on Quadra Island that may be available for affordable housing development. This is the second time that Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney of Area C brought forward a motion asking for a report and in both cases she was opposed by Directors from Campbell River and Area D. They successfully blocked it at the August 20th SRD Board meeting, but an amended motion passed on September 17 In the unedited audio of the meeting that follows, Campbell River Director Robert Kerr stated the Director of Area C should have filed a notice of motion, rather than making a motion from the floor. Campbell River Director Susan Sinnott claimed the report will not accomplish what Quadra wants and said they do things differently in Campbell River. Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney of Area C described her relationship with the  Discovery Islands Affordable Housing Society, a volunteer organization on Quadra Island. She is not being familiar with the way  Campbell River does housing projects, but the SRD has a regional housing service and it would be great if they could support an affordable housing project on Quadra Island. Cortes Island Director Mark Vonesch supported the motion, reminding the board that we are in a housing crisis and there is more than one way to get housing projects done. The motion passed despite opposing votes from Campbell River DIrectors Chapman, Kerr and Sinnott, as well as Alternate Director Browne for Area D. SRD staff will be looking for public lands within a reasonable distance from the Village Centres of Heriot Bay and Quathiaski Cove.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -The Cortes Island School Wetland Project is transforming part of the school field into a living classroom that blends ecology, culture, and community effort. In today's interview, we speak to Miranda Cross from Rewilding Water and Earth, the wetland restoration specialist, and biologist on the project Miranda Cross: “The Cortes Island School Wetland Project is a wetland restoration project funded through the ministry of Environment and Climate Readiness through the union of BC municipalities and a fund called Disaster Risk Reduction -Climate Adaptation Funding. This is a partnership project between the Strathcona Regional District, school district 72 and the Cortes Island School.” “My role is to design, build, and manage the project through all the phases. We built two wetlands in the back of the school field in July, and we've been working with the Friends of Cortes Island Society (FOCI), Klahoose First Nation, True Foundation's contract team (which is Laurier Mathieu heavy equipment operation) and the Strathcona Regional District have been involved in all phases of the project, as has obviously the school.” “What we're looking towards now is planting the wetlands with native plants and working with Klahoose First Nation.” 

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents =People from 93 nations will be calling upon their governments to Draw the Line - For People, for Peace, for the Planet - on Saturday, September 20. Demonstrations are planned in major cities across Europe, Asia, Latin America, the United States and Canada. More than 200 organizations, including 350Canada, the Council of Canadians and the Migrant Rights Network are participating. On Vancouver Island, there will be demonstrations in Victoria, Nanaimo, Campbell River, Courtenay and Duncan as well as the neighbouring communities of Denman Island, Salt Spring Island and Powell River. Former North Island-Powell River MP Rachel Blaney will be among the Speakers for the event starting at 2 PM in Campbell River's Spirit Square. Some Quadra Islanders have stated they are participating. On Cortes Island, the Climate Action Network is urging people to catch the 11:55 AM ferry so they can ‘go join the folks in Campbell River.' Cortes Currents interviewed Murray Etty and Manda Vaughan, two members of the Campbell River Chapter of the Council of Canadians, who are organizing the Campbell River demonstration. Murray Etty: “We're uniting behind five main demands of the Federal Government, but also the provinces: put people over profits, fund our families and communities; refuse ongoing colonialism, uphold Indigenous sovereignty; stop blaming migrants, demand full immigration status for all; end the war machine, stand for justice and peace; and, for Mandy and me, the most important one of all is end the era of Fossil fuels Protect Mother Earth. ” Cortes Currents: What do you hope this demonstration will achieve?

Murray Etty: “ Thousands of people across this country are involved and I think it's going to really make an impression not only the Carney government, but provincial governments too. We've got to get into action here. The time for dithering and making excuses is over, but the people of Canada have got to step up and communicate to their governments.” We've gotta have a way more sending of emails, letters, phone calls, protest movements, and so on to let the governments know we mean business. It's time for a conversion to renewable energy.” Cortes Currents: What conversations have you had locally?

Murray Etty: “We've sent out a whole bunch of emails to organizations and individuals. Sue Moen just this morning said she sent more than 80 messages to people she knows. We've also put a notice in the Campbell River Mirror.”

Manda Vaughan: “We put out a request to Aaron Gunn (MP Noth Island-Powell River), he's otherwise engaged. The message went out to Anna Kindy (MLA, North Island) also, but we haven't heard of a positive reply from her yet.” “Earlier this year Elder College hosted a class on climate change (at North Island College in Campbell River). Surveys by the Guardian and other groups show that well over 60% of people globally are concerned but the majority don't feel they can broach the subject with their friends or neighbours.” “The fact is, people are concerned. We need to come out of our silos and realize others care too. What we are hoping with this rally is to encourage people to come out because climate affects all of us.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -What does the Comox Strathcona Waste Management Service update mean to Cortes residents? Rates will go up. You may be paying more if you have a project that requires a bin to remove a lot of waste, like from a construction site or a rennovation. There may be some money for the free store. There are actually 33 proposed actions, but at this point it is not clear how many will apply to us. Sarah Willie, Manager of Solid Waste Planning and Policy Development will be at this Friday's Mansons Public Market, September 19, to talk about it. Sarah Willie: “We're a service of the Regional District and our main goal is in waste diversion and also the management of that garbage and that recycling further along. We're managing the landfills, transfer stations, the depots across the service area. We operate the Cortes Depot and recycling and transfer station and we're also a big part of the Quadra upgrades that are coming up. We've got bins there right now and we've procured some land in order to build a recycling depot.” “We're in the middle of a 10-year update of our solid waste management plan. This plan is really big-picture thinking. How are we gonna achieve that diversion increase over the next 10 years? Are we gonna preserve our landfill space? And providing opportunities for people to have input into that process. “We're in step three now of a four-step process. We've been out to community a couple times over the past few years, getting from folks the goals of this process, introducing them to what we do for their community. Sometimes it's a little bit behind the curtain. Now we're at the point where we've got some strategies and some actions that have been informed by our public and technical advisory committee, as well as our board of directors. “So we've got 33 actions and eight strategies that we've grouped together and we're bringing them to the public. We'd like to hear their input and thoughts on whether we've hit the mark. So we've got a number of events across the whole region coming up. One specifically, we wanna make sure folks are aware of, and that's on Friday, September 19th. We'll be joining the Cortes Island Farmer's Market from noon till three. We'll have a tent set up there. Myself and my colleague Lindsay will be there to introduce the concepts to folks and to answer any questions. “We've also got a lot of online opportunities for engagement. Up until October 16th, you can go to www.cssw.ca/swmp — that stands for Solid Waste Management Plan — and complete our online survey for a chance to win a hundred dollars in groceries.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - On Monday, September 15th, 2025, Anna Kindy, the MLA for our riding, visited Cortes and Quadra Islands. Cortes Currents met up with her at the Cortes Medical Clinic and then we took a quick tour of the downtown Mansons Landing area. Cortes Currents: What's it like coming to Cortes Island? Anna Kindy: You forget how beautiful it is. Just taking the ferry over, my first thought was: it's beautiful. So you guys are lucky. Cortes Currents: You've been here before? Anna Kindy: Many years ago, when my husband had a small boat. I remember docking somewhere on Cortes. Cortes Currents: What brings you to Cortes? Anna Kindy: I'm taking my job seriously, and I'm trying to find out what communities need. We've done quite a bit of traveling over the summer—we just came back from Tahsis, went to Gold River, Port Hardy, Port McNeill, different areas. This was one of the areas I hadn't come to yet. Second, with my medical background, I wanted to find out how the services were on the two islands—or all the islands around. Cortes Currents: What did you find out about the medical service? Anna Kindy: It reaffirms my thinking: the community knows best what they need. Sometimes you drive ideas from communities. The health authorities need to listen because they already have a good product that can be made better. I'm seeing a lot of dedication—staff who've been there for years and love what they do. There's a real connection between staff. Like somebody mentioned, it's a multidisciplinary approach. There are no boundaries—they all help each other, which is fantastic. I also appreciate the welcome feeling. People picked me up from the ferry. They fed us. They're excited that we're here. Cortes Currents: Tell me about your visit to Quadra Anna Kindy:  We went to the clinic. Their facility is fantastic. They're wanting to plan for the future. All of BC has a lack of primary care access and they want to make sure that they have proper primary care access for long-term. They also have a multidisciplinary team. There's a nurse practitioner and they sometimes get other parts of medical services. Long-term, they're looking at an even better model where all of the islands are serviced by one community health centre with potential outreach. I think that's a sustainable way of doing things. Cortes Currents: Our tour of Mansons Landing happened more or less spontaneously. It began at the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing project, beside the Medical Clinic, where construction on the first duplex starts today. From there, it seemed only natural to walk over to the Village Commons. We looked at the stage, the food bank sea cans, the Nook, FOCI and Cortes Radio. Standing in the parking lot at Mansons Hall, I pointed out some of the surrounding businesses. When I came to the Cortes Natural Food Co-op, Ms. Kindy asked, “How is it a Co-op?” I suggested, “Why don't you ask them?” So we went inside. After that we walked up Beasley Road, past the Cortes Market, Skate Park, Fire Department and Museum to the Cortes Elementary School. When the tour was finished, I asked Ms. Kindy for her impressions.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -One of the speakers at the September 8 zoning bylaw meeting at Mansons Hall was Maureen Williams of Cortes Island's Climate Action Network. While she welcomed the decision to increase the number of lots at Rainbow Ridge up to a maximum of 35, Williams said the proposed zoning update does little to address affordability, environmental protection, or increase Cortes Island's sense of community. The three-minute speaking limit at the meeting left little room for her to expand on these points, so Cortes Currents spoke with her afterward.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -Book #4 of Gumboots series, 'Gumboots In The Straights' is coming to Gorge Hall on Cortes Island on Saturday September 20. Six of this volume's authors are Cortes residents, who will be reading excerpts between 1:00-3:00. That's free. You can purchase food and drinks between 5:00 and 7:00 followed by dancing to Cortes Island's own ‘He Said; She Said.' Tickets for that are $25 and available at Marnie's bookstore and the Cortes Island Museum. In this morning's interview, we'll be talking to Jane Wilde, who came up with the idea for the Gumboots in the Straights series and she will also be giving us some short readings from the Cortes writers in this volume.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -In the past, Rural Directors have not always appreciated Campbell River ‘interference' in their affairs. An initiative coming out of the Strathcona Regional District's (SRD) Municipal Services Committee could result in a lot more interference from Campbell River and other municipalities. Planning is one of the most fundamental and strategic activities within the SRD. They would like to take control of the Electoral Areas Planning Service. Some of the municipal directors were already discussing the idea of joining the service for months, prior to it surfacing at the August SRD Board meeting. At that point Cortes Island Director Mark Vonesch asked, “ I just have a question for folks that brought this forward. My understanding is municipalities already have a planning function. I'm just confused as to why you might want to join when you already have your own planning service. Looking at this report, it's looking at Campbell River paying half a million dollars for something that they already have and given tight budgets everywhere and being conservative with our tax dollars and responsible. I'm just curious as to the sort of reasoning behind it.” Campbell River Director Susan Sinnott replied,  “The region is important to Campbell River and we are an unfortunate region where we are so dominant that what happens in the region does impact us because we're paying a good amount of money for it. So it's a consideration we have to look at, but no determination at this point.” The matter was referred to the Municipal Services Committee. The following program consists of gleanings from the Municipal Services Committee Meeting of September 3, 2025.

This is the unedited audio from the September 8, 2025 Public Meeting about Cortes Island's zoning bylaw chaired by Regional Director Mark Vonesch. Annie Girdler, from the SRD's panning department gave an overiew of the proposed bylaw changes Cortes Island residents commented about: regulations preventing people from doing what they want on their property we need regulations to protect the community we need more Advisory Planing Committee meetings (There recently was one for zoning) people should get jobs and buy houses with their own money, not get hand-outs regulations & penalties pertaining to liveaboards support for the proposed zoning bylaws the need for more housing the need for more houses on large lots how the proposed bylaws do not help Cortes Island's climate resilience the need to protect landlords from abusive tenants Can Cortes Island's aquifers support more housing Cortes Island's Aquifer study (which was published last week) the water pollution problem in Hague Lake & how it was resolved by the Dillon Creek Restoration Project

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -Cortes Island's aquifer health study has been released and in this morning's interviews we are speaking with Sylvia Barroso, of GW Solutions, the Senior Hydrologist who participated in this project, Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Island Housing Society and Mark Vonesch, Regional Director of Cortes Island.  First, there are two key questions at the top of many people's minds. Is there enough water in Cortes Island's aquifers to support further development? And why were some of the island's shallow wells not recharging during the recent drought?  Barroso's answers to both questions were complex. Aside from her reference to climate change and the fact conditions are going to get worse, you'll have to wait for her full answer to the question about our shallow wells. However one of her statements about the state of Cortes Island's aquifers is very illuminating:  “Our study showed that in general Cortes has abundant water sources and that at the current usage levels, we have not found that there's overuse. When we look at it from a water management approach, we did not find that any of the water management areas had greater than 5% of the available water being used. That suggests that there is room for growth, and it gives us an opportunity to strategically develop water sources and develop those in protected areas.”  Cortes Currents: The issue is much more complex and there are steps we should take to ensure the health of Cortes Island's water supply, but for that you have to listen to the long version.  

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -Cortes Island will have a public meeting on its proposed Bylaw changes on Monday, Sept 8th, 5pm at Manson's Hall.  “This is a chance for folks to weigh in on the proposed draft. We're really looking at a ‘yes' or ‘no' decision on this zoning bylaw. There's almost two years of community consultation and input, and this is what staff have produced and the best, happy medium for what folks are asking for,” explained Mark Vonesch, Regional Director for Cortes Island. “The public hearing will be a chance for people to express their opinions and their thoughts. Those will get recorded and added to the public record. It's important that folks show up whether you're opposed to or in support of this new zoning bylaw. People who show up make the decisions, and this is an opportunity to have your voice heard. If you can't make the meeting, you can email planning@srd.ca and that will also be included in the public record.” Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Housing Society, added,  “The Housing Society took a number of positions that we were advocating for with the Regional District.” “The first thing we were advocating for is larger cottages and additional dwelling units on existing properties. There are lots of people on Cortes have a second or third cabin on their land, and they're out of compliance with the current zoning. That makes people uncertain in their living environments. If you're renting a cabin from somebody and that cabin is technically illegal, that creates insecurity. Many people on Cortes rely on that type of housing. “The Housing Society was encouraging what used to be called cottages in the zoning bylaw. They were only 60 square meters — about 500 square feet and really too small for a family to live in - as a second house on a property. We were encouraging for that to be bigger and the SRD has made that change. Now that secondary unit, the accessory dwelling unit (ADU), can be 110 square meters.” “The new density rules allow for multiple dwelling units on a single lot. Depending on the zoning type, more than one ADU is now permitted. That can provide passive income for island property owners, and also create additional rental units. These can't be subdivided or sold, so by nature they provide important rental housing. This proposed bylaw really addressed our concern about larger cottages and additional dwelling units on existing land. “I think the best opportunity for us to get more housing on Cortes is not to build up in the northern part if the island or to develop new sites, but to use properties that already have houses, driveways, electricity, septic, and wells — and enable them to add one or more additional homes. “The previous bylaw had a maximum of three dwellings per lot in the RR1 (Rural Residential 1) and R1 (Residential 1) zones, and they've removed that maximum. There's a new tiered system that allows up to five dwellings in R1 and RR1, and up to six dwellings in RU1 (Residential Urban 1), depending on lot size. Basically, this allows one or two additional houses on existing lots. “They didn't go as far as the Housing Society was thinking would be helpful, but they did go quite far in allowing additional houses on existing lots.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - From August 29 to September 14, the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery will host ‘How Do You Like the Underworld?—Kristen Scofield-Sweet's final large-scale exhibition.  “This is my retirement party swan song on the wall,” she began. “This is a body of work that's complete. One of the remarkable things about that is the artist doesn't usually get to see their work all hung together, obviously, unless they have a show. You're used to seeing a piece over the couch with the pillows or the throw at the back. To actually see them having a conversation with each other is really special.” “Every picture tells a story, so you can get all tangled up with how it got painted and why, how I work and yada, yada. In an exhibition like this, the work gets to speak for itself, and that's really profound.” Cortes Currents: How did you come up with the title? Kristen Scofield-Sweet: “It's just an image from walking down the road in my neighborhood, looking for something significant, clicking along, taking pictures. When I got back home and looked at them, it was like, ‘whoa!' The notion ‘How do you like the underworld?' just popped into my head, and so there it is.” Cortes Currents: I have to ask, how do you like the Underworld? Kristen Scofield-Sweet: “I think we live there.” Cortes Currents: What is the Underworld?

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Food Bank was one of the nation's first food banks to receive Standards of Excellence accreditation from Food Banks Canada. The Associations President Beatrix Baxter, explained, “Filipe Figueira, our Executive represented us at the Food Banks Canada Conference in Montreal. During the event, Food Banks Canada honoured food banks across the country that have met their rigorous Standards of Excellence. We are proud to share that Filipe was among a handful of leaders recognized. Achieving this standard takes a tremendous amount of work—especially since so many food banks, like ours, are largely volunteer-run. Few organizations have the capacity to dedicate the hundreds of hours required, which makes this recognition even more meaningful.” Over the years, Food Banks Canada has found that food banks have been pretty uneven in the types of services they offer, and their values. Baxter stressed the fact that the number of Canadians struggling with hunger is increasing. “ It's a bad situation for many Canadians who are struggling to make the decision of whether they are going to afford rent, or food? Are they going to be able to offer their children one meal a day, or no meals?” There is no government program to address this. The Standard of Excellence Program has three main goals: Raising everyone's service quality, so food banks across Canada have the same ethics, transparency and level of financial accountability. Improving transportation systems so that, for example, locally grown food can be shipped from the east, where it is plentiful, to areas like BC, which is really behind the rest of the nation agriculturally. ( “We are producing a shockingly low amount of food for the amount of farmland that's been cleared.”) Submitting all of the data into one system, so that Food Banks, Canada can go to government officials every month and say, ‘look, our numbers are going up. We don't have enough food. We don't have enough money. We need the support. We are offering frontline emergency support to Canadians. You need to deal with this.' Operations Manager Angelica Raaen said that in October, Food Banks Canada will be sending two inspectors to inspect the Cortes Island facility, ensuring they continue to meet and maintain these high standards. “ Locally we've seen donations have been going down so much, while need has been rising,” said Baxter. “We don't understand why this is happening because there's such wealth in this community. It is heartbreaking, honestly, to see this happening. We really want to understand why people are feeling less generous. Ultimately we're really hoping that if we prove ourselves to be of a high ethical standard, providing a high client care service, people will entrust us with their donations and their support”

Manda Aufochs Gillespie /Folk U - Psychologist and scientist, Wendy D'Andrea does research that looks at the impacts of acute trauma (such as a car crash) versus chronic trauma (such as abuse) and what happens with each in the brain and body. D'Andrea is a Professor at the New School and Chief Science Officer at the Trauma Research Foundation  This episode isn't always easy to listen to as topics such as abuse, rape, etc., are mentioned but this is a fascinating and empowering look at the new frontier of trauma research and practice.  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 -On August 25, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Esther Shalev-Gerz, a renowned artist who has exhibited all around the world. Tune in for insights from her work, reflections on art, Cortes living, and what it's like to be a well-known artist in the world today. 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 -Thanks for joining us on August 22, 2025 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. Guest host Immanuel McKenty was joined by Johnny Hanuse, Josie Simpson, and Mary Beth Cysewski, 3 local musicians who sat together on stage for an in-the-round style performance, swapping songs, stories, and jokes. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Aaron Ellingsen, and Sean Coyote. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and the Community Radio Fund of Canada. 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 hundred people turned out for Cortes Island's Sandcastle Day on Saturday, August 23rd, 2025. “It was a blast because all the families are so involved and all the kids are so involved. The day is absolutely beautiful. What's amazing is to see all the cooperation that the children have with each other and the creativity and the enjoyment that comes from this,” explained Nancy Silver, one of the judges. “It is an another community building activity and what could be better and healthier then families creating together or children alone doing it and feeling so empowered.” “Every person received some kind of award and that makes the little ones feel so great about themselves. They go on with their day, but something has changed in their lives and that is the beauty of this event.” Cortes Currents also interviewed two of the participants and a spectator. Monk and three of his friends were among the contestants: “It was a very fun experience and we did our own thing on each part of the castle. We based it off of a book called ‘Percy Jackson.' It's the Percy Jackson Palace, or Palace of Percy Jackson. We just rolled from there and built this really awesome different themed castle. We didn't really have a specific part that everybody worked on. We just did whatever we wanted.” Zyla Schmidt was in a team that included her mother, grandmother, a lady named Heather and two other kids: “It was really fun, It's kind of about the Children's Forest, like Enchanted Dragon Children's Forest, and I chose to do that because the Children's Forest is trying to get bought. I love it so much that I thought I'd make something based on that. I did a dragon. I didn't do wings, so it looked more like a dinosaur. There was going to be a city, then I turned it into a volcano because there wasn't enough time. We made paths and then raked out the rest. So you could go inside but not wreck the sculpture.” Bruce Hayden brought a professional architect's eye to the event. “One of the ones that I don't know who made it that is very beautiful is the two mountain, one of which looks like a volcano and village on the edge of the sea. The thing that I really like about it is that it's a beautiful integration of landscape and a sense of village. So it's humans meeting landscape in a really beautiful way. We had a good debate about whether it was a fortified village or not. My friend Heidi thought passionately it was a fortified village. I said, well, maybe it's a welcome spot that this is the place where you richly cleanse before you enter the sacred city on the edge of the ocean.” Cortes Currents: Are there any highlights you can think of? Nancy Silver: “For me it was with one group of kids who were so excited about what they did. They kept wanting to go deeper into the details, to take me through it and each part of it was like going into wonderland with them.” “I felt like the children were really in their fantasy world and no one was putting any boundaries on it. When children can go into that experience so fully and grab the adult and try to share with them that world, that to me, was the best experience.” A quick perusal of the Cortes Island Museum website showed there's been sandcastle days at Smelt Bay as far back as the summer of 1991, possibly earlier.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -The Cortes Food Bank is trying to raise the $35,000 needed to relocate their base of operations to two sea-cans in the Village Commons at Manson's Landing. Operations Manager, Angelica Raan, explained, “We have raised $14,000 so far, and we have a generous donor who's offered to match donations up to $10,000. So we're hoping that by the end of this month we can get $10,000 in community donations to match the $10,000 this donor has offered.” Cortes Currents: Why is it necessary for the food bank to expand? Beatrix Baxter, president of the food bank, replied, “We really scaled up our operations after realizing that there was a community need not being met. In 2022, we started offering regular pickup days. We joined Food Banks BC so we could access more regional resources, including food from partners. We also received grants, which allowed us to provide more food at regular intervals. But because of the extreme need, we were just doing way too much work for the system we had.” “We have to go to our warehouse, pack all the boxes, bring them to the pickup location. It's a lot of driving for staff and volunteers. At this point, we either need our own delivery vehicle or a headquarters. On top of that, our current storage won't be available much longer.” “Our clients have also asked for a more shopping-style model, which many food banks use. Instead of volunteers pre-packing boxes, people come in and choose their own food. That provides more choice, more flexibility, and overall a better system for everyone.” “We partnered with the Community Foundation to use their sea cans at the Village Commons. One will be storage, the other will be set up as a shopping space where people can pick up food. Angelica will also be able to work out of that space.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Harbour Authority Cortes Island (HACI) received the necessary funding to carry out needed upgrades to the 111-year-old dock in Whaletown. In today's article Harbour Master Jenny Hartwick gives the details, and also talks about the upcoming August 30 dock swap.

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Cortes Island is close to raising the funds for a wildfire detection system that identifies fires within minutes of their inception. In today's interview Claudia van der Vorm explains what SenseNet is and Cortes Island Fire Chief Eli McKenty says why he thinks we need it.  Claudia van der Vorm: “SenseNet is a Canadian company based out of Vancouver. They work on very early wildfire detection, in most cases under the minute, they can detect a fire when it's still in soldering stages. So when we don't smell it, we don't see it, in areas hard to access. They have a combination of sensors, camera, satellite, and a platform that all together really allows that early detection, prevention and mitigation.” “Sensors basically are really placed in the areas that are at most risk or difficult to access. A camera can basically oversee the whole island and monitor 24 7 for any smoke. The satellite is really for if it is getting bigger.” “The moment some activity is happening, the sensors will detect, they will start to analyze. The camera zooms in, a camera that oversees over 75 kilometers, but it also zooms into the areas. It can detect if it's a campfire. The fire department gets a notification and it also gets the cause. What is the spread location, spread and that incorporates the vegetation, the weather, the wind patterns, and things like that.” “It also allows a little bit of prevention, so it's dry, or the weather combination is such that it's already high risk.” Cortes Currents: Where is SenseNet in use right now?  Claudia van der Vorm: “It's on the Sunshine Coast. The city of Vernon actually has it already for three years, and even the recent Vernon fire they knew exactly where they knew the direction, they knew the fire spread, and they managed the fire very quickly. In the three years that Vernon has the system, they haven't had a fire outbreak, but they averted over 200 fires.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Mark Lombard from the Cortes Housing Society recently gave an update on progress at the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Housing Project. “At this point we're well along the way of building a community building with an office for the housing society. It'll have: - a utility space that has controls for the water systems and filtration to send water to all the homes. - the controls for the battery and solar system that will provide backup power for the water and sewer for the buildings. - a laundry room that'll serve the women's shelter and other people on the south end who need it. a guest bedroom that people who live in the seniors village or at Rainbow Ridge will be able to rent for a modest price per night. a lounge area with a kitchenette that people can have a little birthday dinner or a card game, or if the Housing Society board wants to meet, there'll be a big table that can be used for that.”

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - A lot has happened in the five months since Tomaaso Biasiolo became the Outreach and Admin Coordinator for ‘the Nook' in Cortes Island's Village Commons. The Grand Opening was on June 27, 2025, but there are still small projects to complete. Two special small rooms need to soundproofed; the Nook's kitchen has not been installed. The original vision was to create a space where nonprofits can work and hold their meetings, but these spaces are now available for individuals as well.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - On August 11, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Nawel Izard, a Campbell River lawyer who cares deeply about community. Tune in for insights from her work, and clear, engaging explanations of legal issues that affect the Cortes community. Full of practical advice and personal reflections, Nawel makes complex topics accessible and relevant for all listeners. 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 -Live and Local is more than a Tideline page, although the Tideline page advertises all of the shows on Cortes Island from Gorge Harbour Marina, Manson's Hall, Gorge Hall and the Village Commons Music Series to pop-up independent shows. It is also more than the radio program, which is broadcast over CKTZ 89.5, FM shortly after 8:00 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. According to Jemma Hicken, one of the best known personalities behind it: "Live and Local is an umbrella program, run by Cortes Radio, that encompasses  the Live and Local page on Tideline, the Live and Local radio interviews that I've been mostly doing, also all of the promotion that we've been doing through Cortes Radio, social media, Tideline, all of the rest in terms of posters and the Village Commons Music Series as well." She explained that Live and local came about through a collaboration with Bryan McKinnon, the President of Cortes Community Radio. 

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - Lovefest 2025 was at Linnaea Farm on Saturday August 9th. Cortes Currents wandered through the crowd asking people about Lovefest and why they kept coming back. In the process, I also recorded a few short clips of the music and asked one of the principal organizers, Benji Coey about this year's program. Howie Roman - “It started with 50 Summers of Love, which was our great hippie festival. People really dug out their old clothes. Women in long skirts; guys in bell bottoms. There was an exhibit up in the school of what you looked like in '67, and it was very cool. The demand was that they keep it going. So I believe this is the sixth year.” Toni Smorodin - “I've been coming since the very beginning. I think it was 2017. So the idea of a Lovefest, reincarnation, music and people coming together: It really excited me, especially in a beautiful location like Linnaea.” Adam Schick from Linnaea Farm - “It's great having Lovefest here on the farm. It's a great way to spend an afternoon in August, showcasing what a beautiful place I get to live in all the time.” Cortes Currents - Tell me about this year's lineup, and what's changed? Benji Coey - “This year we've got quite a few new bands who haven't been here before. One or two classics, who people on the island will know of. For example, Louis Belcourt is a classic, but if you're talking big differences, we've got a different end of the evening this year. For the last couple of years we finished with the Cuban Act, this year ending with the Righteous Rainbows of Togetherness.” “So imagine if you can time traveling Egyptian space lords playing improvised electronica to a visual track of lasers and smoke machines. That's what's gonna culminate the evening tonight. We have Canada's best tribute to the Great Divide, which includes Rex Weyler's son Jack Weyler, a wonderful Hammond organ player and Dylan Stone, who's another island favorite. We've got Lily Fawn, who has been on the BC music scene for about 15-20 years. We're doing the music of David Lynch. As you know, David Lynch is a directing legend in Canadian film history. Twin Peaks obviously is one of his most famous pieces, so the band are going to play a selection of music from Twin Peaks and from some of David Lynch's other works. It'll be a theatrical element. We're gonna do that at sunset.” Ann Mortifee - “I love to feast on love and there are so many great people here, from our community, and from afar. I love this day because it is a Lovefest where people of talent and all different kinds of things can come and dance, enjoy and visit.” Amy Harding from the Linnaea Farm food booth - “It's very exciting and vibrant and beautiful and I love feeling that energy.” Cortes Currents -  It seems like there's always the McKenty element to Lovefest, whether it's onstage or as support. Francis McKenty - “Yep, and sometimes both, but it's a fun chance to get together and work backstage, with all of my brothers, helping make Cortes' most amazing music festival as amazing as it can be.” Greg Osoba -  “This is my first year volunteering, but I've had the great pleasure to play at Lovefest. I was with Six Foot Johnson on, gosh, at least four occasions. I'm very happy with that. It's a great opportunity for some less experienced players to get their feet wet, as well as some very seasoned professionals. I just thought this is a great way to give back and it's wonderful to greet all the happy attendees who are looking forward to what Lovefest has to offer.” Aland from Victoria - “I've been here since the beginning, I was five, maybe. It's a really fun experience and there's always music, and it's a really nice time to just connect to everyone.” Her sister Nim - “We used to live here full time and we still come here because it's an awesome community and great music.” Anastasia Avvakumova - “It feels like home.”

Manda AUfochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On August 4, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Sadhu Johnston, who gave an update on the developments happening at Rainbow Ridge, on behalf of the Cortes Housing Society. Tune in for a discussion about community housing, the island's housing crisis, and construction challenges and joys! 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 - UBC researchers found a new virus in farmed Pacific Oysters that perished during a mass die-off in 2023. During the die-off, researchers collected 33 dead oysters as well as 26 wild oysters from neighbouring sites. Pacific Oyster Nidovirus 1 (PONV1) was only found in 20 of the dead or dying farmed oysters. Dr Kevin Xu Zhong, a research associate in the UBC department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS), explained this does not mean the virus was the cause of death. “We found this new virus. There is no indication it is causing the mortality mentioned in the database, the study, or the reporting.” Cortes Currents:  What does the virus do to oysters? Dr Zhong:  “We don't know how this virus is working, or how it causes disease. What we can know right now is that we found this virus associated with the mass mortality for the oysters in the farm. That's what we know. There are many unknowns; many questions to address in the future.” Dr Zhong said there have recently been mass die-offs of Pacific Oysters in BC and other parts of the world, but the cause is often unknown. Pacific Oysters are the primary shellfish species grown in B.C. and brought in revenues of  $16 million in 2023.  Cortes Currents:  Where have you found Pacific Oyster Nidovirus in BC? Dr Zhong: “Fanny Bay and Deep Cove.”   Cortes Currents: I guess it's too early to ask whether Pacific Oyster Nidovirus 1 spreading? Dr Zhong: “Yes, we only analyzed the samples from two farms. As you said, it is very early to say. We found this virus in the BC area, but based on the genetic data available in the database, it can also be found in France and in China. You can trace it back about one decade.” Cortes Currents:  Have there been any indications that it would be harmful to human consumers of oysters? Dr Zhong: “Oh, no, no, no. Don't worry about that. This virus can only infect the Pacific Oyster and never humans or other animal species. There's no worry about that because viral infection is mostly host specific.”  Cortes Currents: Can you definitively say that it doesn't cause any harm to humans? Dr Zhong: “We also eat oysters, raw too. I don't think this will be a problem.”

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - July 25, 2025 was the fourth 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 local electronic music star, Aspen King. Aspen plays techno and house influenced music and came home to play this daytime set, and one evening set at the Gorge Marina, between travelling to and from many large festivals over the course of the summer. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Aaron Ellingsen, and Sean Coyote. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and the Community Radio Fund of Canada. 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.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - On July 21, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by Dr. Eric Posen to discuss naturopathy, health, and healing. This conversation unpacks what naturopathic doctors do, illness and alternative medicine, and the future of mental and physical health. 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.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - July 11, 2025 was the second 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 Kaia Bryce (piano, melodica, vocals) and Adrian Esau (guitar, harmonica, vocals) - Lasqueti islanders with big hearts and a big sound! They played a lively genre-bending show full of creative time-feel changes and rural island sentiments. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Aaron Ellingsen, and Sean Coyote. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and the Community Radio Fund of Canada. 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.

Manda Aufochs Goillespie/ Folk U - July 18, 2025 was the third 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 local legend Rick Bockner. Tune in for Rick's unique fingerpicking style, lots of jokes, and some beautiful songs by a favourite Cortesian songwriter. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Aaron Ellingsen, and Sean Coyote. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and the Community Radio Fund of Canada. 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.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U - July 4, 2025 saw the launch 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 Denise Wolda, Owyn Pengelly, and Thomas Aerie, 3 local musicians who sat together on stage for an intergenerational in-the-round style performance, swapping songs, stories, and jokes. The Village Commons Music Series is produced by Jemma Hicken, Aaron Ellingsen, and Sean Coyote. It is made possible by the Cortes Island Community Foundation, Cortes Community Radio, and the Community Radio Fund of Canada. 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.

Jemma Hicken/Folk U - On June 20th, 2025 guest host Jemma Hicken was joined by the Awakeneers, a 6-person, mostly-sibling folk band, for a short live set and interview. Tune in to listen to some fiddle and folk, hear about the upcoming grand opening of the Village Commons on June 27th, and learn quite a lot about beans. Performance Highlights: Vancouver Island MusicFest (2023), Shaw Spotlight (2022 & 2024), Duncan Showroom (2024), CBC Radio One. "One of the most talented and professional groups of musicians I've ever worked with" — Karen Seaboyer, Best Roots & Traditional Album JUNO juror, Campbell River Arts Council "wonderfully entertaining show ... left us all with a smile on our faces and a song in our hearts!" — Patty Castle, Artistic Director, Victoria Folk Music Society.

On June 13, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by community leaders and organizers, Duane Hanson, Mark Vonesch, Jemma Hicken, Sadhu Johnston, Cora Moret, and Immanuel McKenty, to chat about summer 2025. There's a lot happening on our small island! Tune in for community updates, developments, programming, and more! 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.

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.