Cortes Currents

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - The second party of an interview with Regional Director Mark Vonesch about whether Cortes Island should incorporate. As Mark says, “The worst that can happen really, if we bring this to the Province and it’s approved and we start this process, the worst that can happen is that we’d learn a lot about local governance. We’d have opportunities to have conversations and sp...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - Cortes residents may have noticed a petition available in paper form at our post offices and grocery stores, or received an email update from our Regional Director inviting them to consider signing the online version. The petition mentions governance and incorporation: what’s it all about? I interviewed Regional Director Mark Vonesch to get a better understanding of th...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - With 2025 coming to a close, it seems like a good time to get an update from the Cortes Island Fire Department. Currently, there are about 38 people working out of the island’s two fire halls, with another 20 enrolled in the wildfire brigade. Chief Eli McKenty noted, "I haven’t totalled this year’s call volume yet, but last year we had 105 calls. This year, we’re lik...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A new study found that Northern Resident Killer Whales and Pacific white-sided dolphins have formed a cooperative hunting relationship to catch Chinook salmon in the Johnson Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. The dolphins utilize echolocation to locate fish at depth, but their small teeth are designed primarily to grip prey, and they cannot swallow large species like...

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Tune in on December 12, 2025, for a pre-recorded episode of FolkU with author Ruth Ozeki, who sits down with the Cortes Island Academy for a deep, generous conversation about her book A Tale for the Time Being. Ruth shares how the novel emerged from Zen teachings, natural disasters, and we chat about the mysterious voices that spark creative work.   Folk U Radio i...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -In yesterday’s broadcast, Jennifer Lash, a former senior advisor from Environment and Climate Change Canada, explained that  the Prime Minister had to make an MOU with Alberta in order to bring that province on board to initiate further climate initiatives. The potential cost was building a pipeline across BC, but she believes the opposition in BC is too strong for th...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of Justin Trudeau’s environmental policy is often either purchasing the Trans Mountain Pipeline (TMX) or expanding Canada’s LNG sector. Yet Jennifer Lash, a former senior advisor with Environment and Climate Change Canada, speaks of his accomplishments in the fight against climate change. In this morning’s interview, s...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - On Saturday, December 6, more than three dozen people gathered for the grand opening of ithe Cortes Wood Makerspace, in Mansons Landing. Shopmaster Hannu Huuskonen explained,   “A lot of people need to do stuff in a woodworking shop and not everyone needs to build themselves a shop, especially big enough to do certain things with it properly equipped. It's a big outl...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -Work on the Heriot Bay and Whaletown ferry terminals is proceeding faster than expected, and the much-anticipated shutdown of service on the Cortes to Quadra run has been shortened to three weeks. Cortes Island’s new hydroelectric ferry could arrive as early as late spring or summer of 2026. The Cortes and Campbell River ferries could both be fully electric earlier th...

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) needs to raise $15,000 for core operations, and is also inviting the community to their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, December 9, at 5 PM, at Manson’s Hall.  FOCI’s Executive Director, Helen Hall, explained, “We all live on this beautiful island which has rich forests, a stunning coastline and a host of endangered species, and  ...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In the conclusion of a series about Canada’s MOU with Alberta, four local leaders delve deeper into specific issues: the pipeline itself; whether Canada needs British Columbia’s support; the proposed lifting of BC’s tanker moratorium; and an Angus Reid poll suggesting a slim majority of British Columbians may be in favour of the MOU. 

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Canada’s MOU with Alberta, a proposed new pipeline in British Columbia, and the possible lifting of the tanker ban have been hot news items over the past few days. Steven Guilbeault resigned from cabinet over his opposition to the way Prime Minister Mark Carney is handling these issues. In the first episode of a two part series about the MOU, Cortes Currents asked tw...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Cortes Community Mapping Project recently launched its Cortes Island Map Series in Linnaea’s Lakeview Room. This morning’s program consists of gleanings from the three speakers: Sabina Leader Mense, David Shipway and Eve Flager.  Sabina Leader Mense: “I want to give you a little bit of background on how we got this project started. In a nutshell, the project is b...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - A growing number of countries are experimenting with ways to integrate electric vehicle batteries and rooftop solar systems into their energy grids to enhance stability. While BC Hydro is conducting trials with EV batteries in the Lower Mainland, the utility’s current emphasis is on rewarding customers who reduce their energy consumption during evening peak periods....

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -In 2015, the year Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister of Canada, more than 5 million Canadians were living in poverty. This number came down every year until 2020, when Canada reached its goal of cutting the number of people living below the poverty line by 50%. However, a new report from the Auditor General of Canada states this was ‘mainly due to the emergency...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The recent Investigative Journalism Foundation exposé on lobbying, prior to Mark Carney’s first budget, fits a familiar pattern. Industry logged hundreds of hours of consultation with government officials. By way of contrast, the environmental sector has little representation. They are not even mentioned in this report! What does this mean? Cortes Currents asked Jenn...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents -The Strathcona Regional District Board passed the Cortes Island Zoning Bylaw. Regional Director Mark Vonesch gave an overview of the process: “We're at the last stage of potentially passing the Cortes Island zoning bylaw. It's been almost a two year process of community consultation, both online and in person. It's gone to the advisory Planning Commission on Cortes, a...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Mark Baker is once again acclaimed Chair and Mark Vonesch was selected as the new Vice Chair of the Strathcona Regional District Board. These offices are yearly appointments and were made at the board’s inaugural meeting on Wednesday November 19, 2025.   This will be the fourth consecutive year that Mark Baker has been chosen Chair.   Campbell River Director Susan Si...

De Clarke/ Cortes Currents - On October 31st, the Cortes Climate Action Network (CCAN) hosted an EV forum at Manson’s Hall, attracting over a dozen people. The event began with a prepared presentation about the carbon/energy profile of EVs vs internal combustion engine (ICE) cars, followed by general Q&A in which local owners of EVs answered questions about their cars, usage patterns, and overall...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - Five years have passed since the provincial government’s Old Growth Review panel published its report on BC’s old growth forest management. Sierra Club BC recently commissioned two of the panel's three scientists to do a study on how their recommendations were carried out. In today's interview, Karen Price talks about their report ‘Closer to the Brink.’ “We need to s...

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents -Monday November 17, 2025 - Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is expected to face another non-confidence motion today. This will be the third non-confidence motion this month, which the opposition parties have made in regard to the 2025 budget. In this morning's interview, Jennifer Lash, the liberal candidate for this riding during the last election, explains why...

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/ Folk U - Tune in on November 14th, 2025, for a conversation that explores how queer and trans zine-making can become an act of joyful resistance and connection. Addye Susnick joins host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie to chat about their PhD dissertation and their deep dive into zine culture, uncovering radical histories, underground networks, and continuing power as a tool for co...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - In 2025, the Province of British Columbia funded homeless counts in 20 communities. To virtually everyone’s surprise, the numbers were down in eight communities. Campbell River, Powell River, Comox and Parksville/Qualicum were among them. Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons were not. In this morning’s broadcast, Cortes Currents looks into the reasons why, as well as som...

Manda Aufochs Gillespie / Folk U -Tune in on November 7th, 2025 for a special collaborative FolkU episode, featuring Howie Roman telling stories of his life and how he got to Cortes. This is a live recording from the Cortes Island Museum and Archives Society’s latest Finding Home event, recorded in October 2025. Folk U Radio is taking old school viral every Friday at 1 p.m. and Mondays at 6:30 p.m...

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Strathcona Regional District will not use $28,000 of its gas tax funds to help the Cortes Island Food Bank. At their October 22, 2025 meeting, 7 of the 14 district directors voted against a motion to fund the food bank. Directors opposed to the motion were concerned about the potential impact that supporting a third party organization could have on future SRD app...