Podcasts about Quadra

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 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.

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.

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Guilherme Giovannoni falam do que tem acontecido de mais quente nas trocas da offseason da NBA. Vem com a gente! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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 - 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.

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Guilherme Giovannoni falam tudo sobre a troca bombástica de Antetokounmpo para o Miami Heat, LaMelo Ball indo para Minnesota, destaques do draft e tudo de mais importante da offseason da NBA. Vem com a gente! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.”

 Idealizado pelos estagiários dos núcleos de podcast e jornalismo da TV Unifor, o programa nasce com a proposta de ir além dos debates esportivos tradicionais, muitas vezes limitados a opiniões superficiais e discussões repetitivas. A ideia é aprofundar a análise do desempenho de jogadores, equipes e modalidades, considerando não apenas os resultados, mas também o contexto das partidas, as decisões em campo e os fatores que influenciam cada jogo. O “Arquibancada” aposta em uma abordagem mais crítica e informada, explorando aspectos como tática, estratégia e a evolução dos atletas.No segundo episódio, recebemos a jogadora de futsal Kate Venancio!Ficha técnicaApresentadores: Isabela Fortaleza e Pedro PinheiroProdutores:Caio Nuto, Eduarda Girão, Eduardo Mendes, Isabela Fortaleza, Luana Gonzaga, Lucas Moreira, Matheus Marques, Millena Guedes, Pedro Pinheiro e Rafaela Barbosa.Imagens:Marcelo Falcão, Weffiston Brasil, Léo Dias, Leandro Pozo, Ermesson Ferreira, Ricardo Ventura, Priscilla Sousa e André SouzaOperações de Master e Suporte Técnico:Robson Barbosa, Lindemberg Narciso, Marcelo Gomes, Cícero Alexandre, Francisco Guedes, Guylherme Bezerra.Figurino:Lara Beatriz, Júlia Onório e Art NorteCoordenação Técnica:Hélio JohneCoordenação de Edição e Finalização:Gazzineu MarcusProfessoras Orientadoras:Ana Paula Farias (Jornalismo) ,  Marianna Fontenele (Jornalismo) e Silvia Capistrano (Fonoaudiologia)Direção de Imagem:Robson BarbosaCoordenação de Podcast:Ana Paula FariasCoordenação de Jornalismo:Luiza EsterSecretaria Executiva:Tamires AndradeDireção TVU:Max Eluard

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Sixty percent of the respondents to a recent Angus Reid poll said the province is on the wrong track. If there were an election today, they gave the Conservatives an 11-point lead. This is similar to what 338Canada's projections have been showing for the past month. Yet nearly 90% of the poll's respondents also said they know little or nothing about the new BC Conservative leader, Kerry-Lynne Findlay. In this morning's interview, we discuss these matters with Anna Kindy—MLA for North Island—and also play a clip from Kerry-Lynne Findlay's Twitter feed. Cortes Currents: Firstly, what do you think of the BC Conservative Party's recent surge in the polls?  Anna Kindy: "Well, it doesn't surprise me, to be honest, because we've been going in the wrong direction for a long time. When you're looking at the fiscal mess that we're in as a province right now, Premier Eby came in with a surplus, when he became premier, and here we are with $13.3 billion of deficit this year." Cortes Currents: She is referring to the province's operating deficits. According to the Vancouver Sun, “When Premier David Eby took over in 2022, B.C. was on track to post a $5.7 billion surplus for the 2022–23 fiscal year.” Instead, the government spent that money trying to address problems like the housing crisis, homelessness, and the opioid crisis. Since then, Eby's government has consistently prioritized issues like these over the budget. Aside from the two COVID years, B.C.'s previous premier, John Horgan, generally posted balanced budgets. Personally, I'm more concerned about total provincial debt, which is roughly five times larger today than it was in 2001. Under the BC Liberals, it almost doubled—going from about $34 billion in 2001 to around $65 billion by 2017. It has almost tripled under the BC NDP, moving from about $65 billion in 2017 to an anticipated $183 billion this year. Kindy correctly stated that most of the growth under the NDP occurred while David Eby has been premier. This year, the government expects to spend on interest charges. Apologists for government spending point out that provincial revenues have also grown— from $28 billion in 2001 to an anticipated $88 billion this year. Thus, as long as the economy remains strong, BC is in a better position to service a large debt. Comparing the government's expenses to those of a typical homeowner: operating surpluses and deficits are like monthly cash flow, while debt servicing is like a mortgage payment—and total provincial debt is comparable to a mortgage. Anna Kindy: “We're doubling our total deficit, and our interest payment this year alone is over six billion—and that would build a lot of care homes and hospitals and fund a lot of services that we need. That's just the interest. The interest is the third biggest portfolio. “That fiscal mess translates to having to cut back on a lot of things. So I mentioned about care homes being canceled, Burnaby Hospital expansion being canceled. I'm seeing things in the healthcare domain getting worse. The affordability crisis is continuing—in terms of being able to afford your groceries, your rent, getting ahead—especially for young people and seniors. “Even with this budget, seniors were hard hit. Not only with the cancellation of long-term care homes, but you know how seniors can borrow against their home to survive or to live. Now if they borrow against their home, they'll be paying 2% above prime, compounded interest. So that's a lot for seniors. And there are going to be taxes now on landlines—which who has landlines? Seniors do, and you do, and me. We've got a landline too. Yeah, old school - but we're seniors!" “Things are not going in the right direction in a lot of ways, and that's what's being reflected in the polls. There's a healthcare crisis getting worse, an affordability crisis, fiscal mismanagement, and still safety issues.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - There have been a lot more killer whales and Humpback whales in our waters lately. According to a new study from UBC, the inside waters off Vancouver Island are critical habitat for West Coast Transient, or Bigg's killer whales. The return of Humpback whales has been heralded as a success story, and there are now also reports of gray whale sightings. Last week, Cortes Currents interviewed two of the scientists involved in this research. Emma Shaparski from Straitwatch Emma Shaparski is a Quadra Island resident, coordinator for Straitwatch Quadra, and one of the organization's vessel operators. She holds a B.Sc. in Geography, with honours, from the University of Victoria, where she specialized in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to enhance understanding of cetacean habitat use. She was out on one of the boats when I found her, but agreed to an interview the following evening. “Our study area extends all the way down to Powell River and all the way north to Kelsey Bay. This is my sixth season on the water doing research in this area. We have a field season that runs from early June to the end of September, but I work year-round doing all the data analysis, report writing, and that kind of thing.” Taryn Scarff, Lead Author of the UBC Study Taryn Scarff is the lead author of the UBC study currently making headlines in the news. “As part of my Master's Degree at UBC, I looked at the abundance and distribution of transient killer whales in what I call the inside waters of Vancouver Island.”

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Guilherme Giovannoni falam sobre o título histórico dos Knicks em cima dos Spurs na NBA Finals, conquistando o troféu após 53 anos. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - At the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery: Meinsje's Uncanny Puppets and Sublime Paintings The “Uncanny and the Sublime” exhibition opens at the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June 19, and runs until July 5. In this morning's interview, exhibiting artist Meinsje Vlaming discusses her puppets and paintings. Meinsje: "I've been involved with the Academy of the Wooden Puppets. That's a two-year education online by Bernd Ogrodnik, a German teacher, master puppeteer, and carver who lives now in Iceland. That's one of the good things that happened with COVID: we have a lot of things online now, and we don't have to go there. “Bernd put together a program on carving puppets—from the beginning, very simple puppets, to a very, very complicated marionette. Of course, being a puppeteer, that had my interest. So I enrolled.” “Well, actually, I first applied for a grant. I got it, I enrolled, and I started carving. I got all these puppets that are not really related, and I haven't put them in a puppet show, but it would be nice to hang them on the walls in a gallery and display them.” “So we thought about that, and then it's like, well, I don't have enough to fill the gallery. And then I also enrolled with a wonderful painter teacher, Michael Orwick, whose style is really resonating with my own style—my own work. So I thought, ‘Why don't I put those two together?' - But how do you connect the wooden puppets with the paintings that are about light?" “If you look through my work, it's very diverse—there's a lot of different styles and trying out styles. But the thing they all have in common is the light. So I took two elements from two different disciplines and tried to connect them. What they have in common is painting and puppets—then I started to dive a little deeper into what they have in common, which is the sublime in the paintings.” “The Romantics, the Tonalists, the Luminists—they've all used that. I personally think light is the most sublime thing on this planet. It's in paintings, and it's connected to the spiritual.” “That's how I came to decide: ‘Let's put puppets and the paintings together into the show.' And that works—I think, I hope.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - At their June 11 meeting, the Electoral Areas Service Committee (EASC) heard a staff report on tiny home initiatives in the Regional District of Nanaimo. This followed an ongoing discussion that began with a motion from Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney of Area C last November. Director Mawhinney: “I noticed that in other regional districts, temporary use permits are being used for a variety of purposes—potentially to permit tiny homes as long-term temporary accommodation, if you want to call it that. “I couldn't find a policy, or even an application form, for a temporary use permit at the SRD. I'm wondering if we could have a report on our current policy on temporary use permits, and also how they're used in other regional districts.” John Rice (Regional Director of Area D):“I'm curious about the use of temporary use permits. My understanding is that the province is already moving toward new legislation for small-footprint homes. I believe that the Cowichan Valley is accepting them, so I'm not sure why we want to explore temporary use permits if the province is moving to make this more legal anyway. I could be wrong.” Director Mawhinney: “Well, I haven't heard that—that's great news. The reason I was interested in temporary use permits as a potential solution for housing is because I've witnessed in my community that someone is willing to offer a place for a tiny home to be used as a home temporarily, and then they have to tell the tiny home owner they can't live there because their home insurance won't permit it on their property. “I've been wondering whether a temporary use permit—typically available for up to three years, with the possibility of renewal—could provide more legal assurance for insurance companies. That, in turn, might expand the possibility of providing non-traditional housing options in our electoral areas.” Gerald Whalley (Regional Director of Area A): “So, just to confirm—are these smaller than a typical mobile home?” Director Mawhinney: “I think they often fall under the RV category because they're on wheels. They aren't always on wheels, but they often are. Mobile homes are on wheels—that's why they're mobile. But I think mobile homes are often moved and then the wheels are removed and the unit is anchored to the ground. It just seems like there are a lot of questions that staff could answer.”

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The story of fossils left during the last glacial period is currently on display at the Cortes Island Museum. They are Buchia mussels, Belemnites, and Ammonites—creatures that lived in the Chilcotin region at the same time as the dinosaurs. The rocks containing their fossils were relatively undisturbed for nearly 130 million years. Then, during the last glaciation period, fragments broke off and were carried to Cortes, Read, Sonora, and other Discovery Islands. In this morning's interview, Christian Gronau, a retired geologist and Cortes Island resident, tells their story.

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On Friday, June 5, Manda Aufochs Gillespie welcomed three women from neighbouring islands to Folk U Radio. In the interview that follows, Renate Harvey and Renée Desautel from Sonora Island and Sheila Hollanders from Read Island talk about their lives, families, communities and hopes for years to come.

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Leonardo Sasso projetam o Jogo 4 entre Spurs x Knicks na NBA Finals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

De Clarke / Cortes Currents - My assumption is that we will, at some point in time, see a fire on Cortes of a severity that will flabbergast the population. It may not happen this year, and it may not happen in 10 years, but the conditions are getting very, very bad. That is what Mike Brown, volunteer fire fighter and long time Cortes resident, had to say at the May 3rd meeting on Emergency Preparedness in the Pioneer Room. At that thinly-attended meeting, SRD emergency services staffer Sarah Rosen gave a presentation on emergency preparedness for individuals and households. As part of her presentation she reviewed potential emergencies in our local area. Cortes Island is fortunate to be sheltered from tsunamis; earthquakes are rare in BC; the island has no rivers to flood or dams to burst (unlike Campbell River, where the hydro power dam is currently undergoing seismic safety renovations). The island has no hazardous chemical plants or huge fuel dumps. The one serious disaster-grade risk to the Cortes community is wildfire.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Eric Denis grew up in Quebec and is the technical operator of machines at Island Sea Farms. Melissa Steblyk comes from Alberta, is a substitute teacher at the Cortes Island School, and also manages the Gorge Marina. Last May, they launched a moped rental business called Cortes Cruiser in the Gorge. It didn't start out that way. Melissa Steblyk: “Eric's got three kids, and his oldest is almost 16. We were thinking a scooter would be a great option for him when he gets his license.” Eric Denis: “In March, we bought that first bike. It was one of those Yamaha BWS—just a little bit of a beater. It was for my kids, so it was like, ‘We'll fix it up.'” The Vision for Cortes Cruiser Melissa Steblyk: “We bought one, and then we were like, ‘Why don't we buy another one? Maybe we could rent them out.' People are constantly asking, ‘How do we get around the island? We want to see Cortes. We want to experience this.' I was like, ‘I don't know what you can do. You can hitchhike, if you'd like.' Then the idea dawned on us. We're at the Gorge—we have a setup here. I work at the marina, I can promote it through word of mouth right there, and we can really see it going somewhere.” Cortes Currents: They approached Marco Bedetti, manager of The Gorge Harbour Marina, with the idea of renting out their mopeds at the resort. Eric Denis: “Marco's a good friend. I've known Marco since I moved here, when he was working under Bill Dougan and Tammy Allwork back in the day. I worked at Island Sea Farms as well. I'm a liveaboard—I've been living here at the Gorge for the winters. I'm out of the dock for the summer, but I come back for the winter.” Melissa Steblyk: “I've been working at the Gorge. I've been at the marina for the last two years—this is going to be my third year. I have a good working relationship and friendship with Marco, and I understand the need people have, especially coming in on a boat. “He said, ‘Okay, if you guys want to do this, you need to come up with a business plan. You have to sell me on this a little bit if we're going to bring you into it.'” Eric Denis: “For people who come by boat, it gives them a good opportunity to visit the rest of the island.” Melissa Steblyk: “Go to Squirrel Cove, check out the food truck there. Drive over to Manson's, enjoy the beach, check out the lake, and then go to the co-op—Bertha's—and have a snack. And maybe take that down to Smelt Bay. Those are the main things we recommend.” Eric Denis: “So we came up with a good plan, and he set me up really well at the Gorge.” Melissa Steblyk: “I'm not saying we're tied to the Gorge—we're still a separate entity—but we're located here.” Getting Started Cortes Currents: They decided to purchase five mopeds. Eric Denis: “We started researching, and we went for some 49cc automatic Honda Ruckus scooters. They've got Honda reliability.” Melissa Steblyk: “We wanted something that still looked great, ran well, and we knew it could handle the island.” Eric Denis: “We set up a trailer close by the Gorge staff area. I have the five bikes over there and a little bit of a shop so I can maintain them.” Cortes Currents: When did you rent the first moped out? Eric Denis: “The May long weekend during Seafest. A couple from Campbell River came by jet ski, wanted to do some house hunting. They just went, ‘Oh, this is easy.' Then they went on a cruise for a couple of hours.” Melissa Steblyk: “We hadn't even posted yet—we were still trying to figure out how they found us. They might have just been walking by. We didn't have everything fully organized, but we were close enough. They saw us, and that was our first rental.”

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - On May 3rd, Sarah Rosen from the Strathcona Regional District came to the Pioneer Room at Mansons Hall to talk about emergency preparedness… and there were about eight people in the room. As Sarah herself said, the biggest emergency preparedness risk on the island might just be that so few of us are thinking about it. [I'll admit that I've been procrastinating — not getting around to producing this story — and it might be because the subject is a little uncomfortable when you know that you yourself are not prepared. But avoidance and procrastination are exactly the problems that Sarah came to address, and she says being prepared might not be as daunting as you think.] Sarah Rosen speaks at the Pioneer Room, May 3rd 2026 — photo by Roy Hales With just three questions: should I stay, should I go, how do I know? I'm gonna walk you through how you could prepare for everything. Three Essential Questions In the first week of my job, I was given an amazing insight by one of my former coworkers, the basis of these three questions: Should I stay? Should I go? How do I know? And what I learned from her is that basically there's only two types of disaster and emergency in terms of how you actually wanna prepare for them: situations where you need to stay put or shelter in place, and then situations where you need to evacuate (and typically you need to evacuate fast). Sarah works for the Emergency Services section of the Strathcona Regional District. She travels to communities across the region to offer these workshops, and her job is to make emergency preparedness feel manageable rather than overwhelming. So she structures everything around those three core questions. My sense is that some people feel so overwhelmed by the scope of all the disasters that can happen that they choose consciously or subconsciously to just not even kind of open their minds up to the preparedness process, and I really understand that. Like if, if you have this sense of like, you know, a wall of fire bearing down on your home or a catastrophic earthquake, and that's what's in your mind when you're thinking of preparedness, it's pretty easy to feel powerless in the face of that.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -  At their May 27 meeting, the Strathcona Regional District Board approved a motion to provide the Cortes Island Food Bank with close to $24,000 for its new outlet in Manson's Landing. Mark Vonesh (Regional Director, Cortes Island): “I'd like to move that a financial contribution of up to $23,425 be approved from the Electoral Area B Community Works Fund to the Cortes Island Food Bank Association to support construction of a food security hub, subject to finalizing a funding agreement between the association and the regional district.” The minutes state that Michael Lott of Gold River seconded the motion, but the voice in the audio sounds more like Robin Mawhinney, Regional Director for Area C. Mark Baker (Chair of the SRD): “Discussion? All in favor. Motion is passed.” The money comes from federal gas tax revenues, which in BC are administered by the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM). A similar motion was turned down on October 2, 2025, because the funds would go to a third party. As Chief Administrative Officer David Leach explained at that time:
“The challenge is, again, these are UBCM resolutions. It's not an SRD asset. So is this a priority within the regional districts? Do you have any other regional deficiencies that you could use this money for yourself? That's the challenge. It qualifies, but it's to a third party.” Some directors were concerned that granting money to a third party could be interpreted as meaning the SRD did not have any applicable projects of its own. The Union of BC Municipalities later advised the SRD that funding for the Cortes Island Food Bank be eligible as cultural infrastructure if it was included in board-approved planning documents. This interpretation is based on the precedent set by communities using gas tax funds to enhance community centers that host programs such as emergency shelters and food services, thereby contributing to food security outcomes. SRD staff responded by incorporating the project into their 2026 to 2031 financial plan. Beatrix Baxter, president of the Cortes Island Food Bank, emailed, "We were thrilled to get the news that our funding request was approved. This was funding we were hoping to get last year as we faced the loss of our former food storage location and needed to make emergency renovations to the shipping containers at the Village Commons. Unfortunately, due to questions about whether a nonprofit can count as a beneficiary of that particular infrastructure funding, we weren't able to access that funding last year. We're so grateful to our regional director and to the SRD board, C-CAO and CFO for their work in negotiating an effective strategy so those funds are available to, so those funds are available to us this year." "We hope other nonprofits on the island will work with the regional director to use this strategy to fund future projects. We're continuing to work on the shipping containers, adding a roof between the structures and improving accessibility. We're excited to show the public everything that we've been working on at our open house later this summer. It's been a huge effort, and we couldn't have done it without the support of the SRD, our regional director, Food Banks Canada, and our amazing local donors who consistently show up to support our work. The need in our community is growing, and we're very glad to be working on eradicating hunger with the support of our local government."

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni projetam o Jogo 1 entre Spurs x Knicks na NBA Finals. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - After serving at the Quadra Island Medical Clinic for eight years, Dr Steve Hughes will soon be retiring. That puts the island in a difficult spot and inn this morning's interview Marc Doll, Chair of the Quadra Island Foundation, explains how his organization and the clinic have teamed and raised more than $50,000 towards finding Hughes replacement. Marc Doll: "Dr. Hughes, who I believe is the doctor for several people on Cortes as well, is retiring. He's stretched out his retirement as far as he can. Come September, he will be doing the official retirement, which puts that clinic, which is anchored by a doctor, in a stressful position." "The Quadra Island Health Society, which was formed last time a doctor left that clinic, has been searching for a doctor for some time now, and it's been a rough rough ride. It's hard to find doctors willing to come to specialized clinics in rural settings. So they decided, as a board, to reach out to a professional healthcare recruiter. That comes with a pretty hefty price tag, at least from my perspective, and the decision was to go to the community to find the funds to hire a recruiter to bring a doctor, to the island to keep that clinic open." "So about two weeks ago, they came to us to ask us if we would engage in a project for them to hire a recruiter. We sat down as a board, decided it was within our charitable purposes, set up the fund, and let it be known to the community that this was happening. We expected it would take a couple of months to find that amount of funds, and it was less than two weeks before we actually exceeded the target." "Now the recruiter is at work, and we keep bringing our fingers crossed that this process will work and bring a doctor to the island." Cortes Currents: Do you have any idea how long it would take through the process to find a doctor? Marc Doll: "Well, that's the $10,000 question, right? Can you find somebody?" "And if you find somebody, is it somebody that will be a fit for that particular office 'cause, as most people know, that office isn't just simply a doctor's office. It saves us from having to go to Campbell River for every blood test. There's a community health nurse running out of that office, and a lot of other things." "So it's probably not as simple as just finding any first-year doctor that's willing to go there." "We have to be optimistic. We know that we've had doctors leave this island, in the last few years. Every time, even though it, took six, seven, eight months longer than you would expect, we managed to always fill those gaps. It helps that both quadra is an amazing community, beautiful place to live, easy access to Campbell River." "So all those things are benefits, but there are dozens of communities and probably hundreds of offices across British Columbia that are short doctors at this point." Cortes Currents: Is there anything you would like to add? Marc Doll: "Just a big thank you to everybody on the islands that stepped up, put their money forward to make this make this program a success and hopefully the program itself will be a success. Then I think a word of appreciation to the hard work of the volunteer board of the Health Society and the volunteer board of the Quadra Island Foundation that put in a lot of hours to get to this point."

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - On Friday, May 29, 2026, Chief Kevin Peacey of the Klahoose First Nation came to the Cortes Radio station, where he was interviewed by Manda Aufochs Gillespie.

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - At the May 27 SRD Board Meeting, Mayor Kermit Dahl of Campbell River accused Regional Directors Mark Vonesch, Robyn Mawhinney and Gerald Whalley of bullying Regional Director John Rice:     “For example, when Director Rice was outvoted on a development in Area D by three electoral area Directors who wanted to show him, ‘Stay in line or else we'll show you.' They could stop him from succeeding in moving Area D forward.” This is not the first time Campbell River Directors have made this allegation. Directors Rice and Whalley also discussed the matter in the chatter from the opening of this Board Meeting's YouTube video. It is difficult to make out what Director Rice was saying, but Regional Director Whalley clearly states he was supporting Area D's Official Community Plan (OCP): Director Rice: "The point being that ... ( his words were lost in the surrounding noise)." Director Whalley: "Well, I don't agree with that and that's fine." Director Rices's reply is muffled. Director Whalley: “No, we were trying to support your community plan because it included 2 hectares and you had 1 hectare; that was wrong. Then the community plan was revised, and I said, ‘Okay, now it's right,' and now that's history.” It was relatively easy to find the application they were talking about. A search of SRD minutes found 16 applications since February 2023; 15 of these passed the first time through. In all but one of these15 cases, there were no opposing votes. The accusation of 'bullying' arises from the rezoning application associated with Bylaw No. 519, submitted by Peter Zaschke and seven other Area D residents, which was turned down at the October 11, 2023 Board meeting. As it was held in Kyuquot, there is no YouTube recording. This was an electoral-area-only decision and far from the situation Mayor Dahl described. Directors Rice and Vonesch voted for the application, while Mawhinney and Whalley opposed it. When the topic was reintroduced at the November 8, 2023 Board meeting, Director Whalley explained that his opposing vote was cast in support of Area D's Official Community Plan (OCP): "It says, new lots shall have an average minimum lot size of 2.0 hectares. Just that simple. Applicants wanted lot sizes of 1.0 to 1.3 hectares. In my view, that wasn't right."

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - Mark Vonesch was removed from his position as vice chair of the SRD through a non-confidence vote, and Campbell River director Susan Sinott elected in his place. The voting followed what is becoming a familiar pattern: with the five Campbell River directors and their allies voting to remove Vonesch, while the directors from Gold River, Tahsis, and electoral areas A, B, and C supported him. The Alleged Plot It was preceded by a roughly two-hour-long in-camera session, after which Campbell River Mayor Kermit Dahl addressed the meeting. Mayor Dahl: "I gotta say, Wow! I've watched the Strathcona Regional District meeting from April 29th and I think 'Wow' best describes the performances of the day. Some were Gemini Award worthy. From listening to directors talking about strategically quorum busting, Directors Whalley and Vice Chair Director Vonesh plotting a strategic walkout to collapse quorum at 3 hours and 4 minutes into the YouTube recording. I can listen to it, watch it and it's clear their intention. I encourage anyone from the public listening or watching this meeting to do the same."

Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni analisam tudo da reta final da NBA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

O entrevistado do Visões Populares da semana é o integrante da coordenação do Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra, Sílvio Netto. Nossa conversa foi sobre o momento político em Minas Gerais, os desafios para o campo progressista e as perspectivas para as eleições de outubro deste ano. Tratamos ainda sobre o fim da escala 6x1 e o 'Encontro das Esquerdas com Lula pelas Minas e pelos Gerais', que acontece no próximo dia 30, sábado, de 9h às 17h, na Quadra dos Metalúrgicos de Contagem.Ouça e compartilhe!

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Inspirations: An interview with Ruby Singh Juno-nominated musician Ruby Singh recently returned to Cortes Island, both as a facilitator for the CASE Youth Leadership Conference at Hollyhock and to give a concert at Manson's Hall. In this morning's interview, he talks about his many forms of artistic expression, inspirations, and relationship with Cortes Island. Ruby Singh: "I find inspiration in a lot of different ways. I feel like we are all just small tendrils of creation, so the act of creation and the act of creativity are among the most natural ways of being. Other artists really inspire me. I am deeply inspired by ancestry and futurity at the same time, so finding ourselves where we are in this timeline of inheritance from our ancestors, and what we are thinking about leaving here when we leave. Long timelines really inspire me, and deep time is a very inspirational thing. I get a lot of inspiration from my community, from the people around me, and from this more-than-human world that surrounds us." Cortes Currents: What brought you to Cortes? Ruby Singh: "Years and years and years ago, I think it was Mook and Monique who invited our band to come up and play. It might have been the late '90s, maybe even '98, and we played over at the Gorge. We had a band called Sapna. Who was the fantastic woman who ran that bakery there for a long time? Truda baked us a cake on our first arrival, and then after the gig we were shuffled off over to Channel Rock, spent some time there, and instantly felt the gorgeousness of this place. In the '90s and 2000s, a few of us went to Carrington Bay and camped out there for a while because it was so beautiful." "We're looking back over 25 years now. Every August I'm usually back, because that was when we were doing the youth camps. I love coming here in August and just being here, close to the water and the forest, and having a great summertime on Cortes." Cortes Currents: I was reading the bio the Cortes Island Academy provides for the CASE Youth Leadership Summit. Tell me how your work is at the intersection of social justice, the arts, capacity building, and systemic change. Ruby Singh: "I have worked in social and ecological organizing and education for over 20 years—working within education systems, within detention centers, and within universities and colleges, running workshops. There's really something powerful about being able to express our stories and have them listened to. That moves into an idea of agency and being able to move in the world. My artwork has those things at the basis of creation, but I am also just coming off working with all the young people today."

Roy L Hales / Cortes Currents - The Cortes Island Food Bank has a new Executive Director. Filipe Figueira retired last November, and Angelica Raaen has been at the helm since then. In this morning's interview, she responds to five myths about food banks and also talks a little about her new role. Angelica Raaen: “I think it's really important that the stigma around food banks and food assistance be addressed, and that everyone who needs to access the food bank—or could use help—feels comfortable doing so. We're here if anyone needs us.” The Myths #1: Is it true that everybody misuses the food bank? Angelica Raaen: “No, that's not true. People tend to underuse the food bank. They usually exhaust all of their other resources first before reaching out, and the stigma surrounding food bank use tends to make people wait even longer. They may feel they don't deserve it, think other people need it more than they do, or worry about what community members might think.” #2: Why don't they just go out and get jobs? Angelica Raaen: “A lot of people who use the food bank already have jobs, but minimum wage often isn't enough to cover the cost of living. Some people also face extra expenses that they can't manage with their income alone. For those who don't have jobs, there can be many barriers to employment, such as disability, intermittent work, seasonal work, or other challenges. You never know someone's full story or what they're going through.” #3: Can't they just learn how to budget their money? Angelica Raaen: “Telling people to budget their money assumes they have extra money left to budget. So much of people's income is taken up by rent, medical bills, clothing, and other essentials. For Canada's lowest-income earners, shelter alone now consumes two-thirds of their disposable income. That leaves only one-third for everything else: food, transportation, clothing, medicine, and so on. The total ends up being 123% of their income, which is obviously more than they have. No amount of budgeting can fix that deficit.” #4: Aren't food banks part of the problem? If you didn't have this crutch, people could take steps to leave food insecurity behind. Angelica Raaen: “Food banks have a very high turnover rate, which shows that people use them and then, in many cases, no longer need them. Having that extra time or financial relief can help people free up energy to address health issues, settle into a new living situation, or earn credentials for a job. Food banks allow people to take those steps and move out of whatever difficult situation they're in.” #5: If we didn't have food banks, wouldn't society have to address the problems that cause hunger in the first place? Angelica Raaen: “It's part of our mandate as a food bank to recognize that food banks aren't a long-term solution to hunger—we're just a band-aid for a much bigger problem. We know food banks aren't a permanent answer, but they are definitely a necessary emergency service. All the food banks I know of are working to address the underlying causes of food insecurity, mostly by advocating for government policy change.”

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni discutem tudo das finais de Conferência dos Playoffs da NBA, com a atuação surreal de Victor Wembanyama no Jogo 1 da final do Oeste entre San Antonio Spurs e Oklahoma City Thunder e também tudo sobre a série entre Detroit Pistons e New York Knicks, que começa nesta terça-feira (19) com transmissão do Plano Premium do Disney+! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni discutem tudo da reta final dos Playoffs da NBA! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni analisam tudo da semana da NBA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni recebem Vitor Galvani, brasileiro eleito o melhor técnico da G-League, para discutirem TUDO dos Playoffs da NBA! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Leonardo Sasso discutem tudo que está acontecendo nos Playoffs da NBA! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni prestam homenagens ao maior nome da história do basquete brasileiro, Oscar Schmidt, que faleceu nesta sexta-feira. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No episódio de Na Quadra desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni falam sobre os destaques da NBA. Lakers já pode pensar na próxima temporada? Denver mostrou que é o time que pode vencer OKC e Spurs? A defesa de Detroit pode ser suficiente para levar a equipe às finais da NBA? Vem com a gente! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No episódio desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni discutem se Victor Wembanyama, astro do San Antonio Spurs, é o MVP da temporada da NBA, além de que time pode surpreender mais nos Playoffs da Conferência Leste entre Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets e Atlanta Hawks, além de tudo que acontece no melhor basquete do mundo! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni analisam tudo da NBA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No episódio desta semana, Ari Aguiar e Guilherme Giovannoni falam sobre a sequência de vitórias do Los Angeles Lakers, os problemas do ataque do Houston Rockets, além do Minnesota Timberwolves sem Anthony Edwards e muito mais! Vem com a gente! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patreon Free Membership First released in December 2020 as part of SepulQuarta but recorded much earlier in the midst of lockdown I chat to Andreas all about Quadra. How did the album come together, the aborted world tour, family, mental health, music and more over the course of 90 minutes. This Is Flashback Bollocks.