Cortes Currents

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...

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. Althou...

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 opportunitie...

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 th...

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,...

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...

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 Conser...

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, Corte...

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...

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...

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 pe...

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.

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 Prepar...

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...

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...

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 ge...

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. H...

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 coul...

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,...

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 b...

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...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Lately, Cortes Islanders have been frustrated by the number of large trucks appearing in the ferry lineups in both directions on the Quadra/Cortes run. In particular, the number of gravel-hauling truck/trailer rigs has been the subject of comment and complaint. These oversize vehicles take up as many as five regular car spaces, and when combined with the usual number o...