All posts by Guest Post

Community

First Cortes Community Meal sets stage for more weekly meals in 2024

By Kim Paulley, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Cortes Island’s first community meal took place at Mansons Hall on Dec. 7, an event which hopefully will be the first of many in the coming year.

Ester Strijbos, coordinator of Better at Home for Cortes, says the meal is not just about food. The community meals are envisioned as all ages events that bring people together, she told CKTZ. “We know that food in a social setting is a super big component of building connections.”

Continue reading First Cortes Community Meal sets stage for more weekly meals in 2024 →
Environment

No spill response can eliminate risk to marine life in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last week, Capital Daily reported that the new 74.5-metre (244-foot) Western Marine Response Corporation (WMRC) vessel named the K.J. Gardner will be docked in Beecher Bay early in the new year. The ship is purpose-built to patrol the BC coastline and respond in the event of an oil spill.

This additional response resource is being deployed in anticipation of the 34+ tankers per month (450 per year) that will soon come out of Burnaby’s Westridge Marine Terminal laden with oil from the TMX pipeline before making their way through the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

Continue reading No spill response can eliminate risk to marine life in the Strait of Juan de Fuca →
Weather

Experts expect mild winter conditions, concerns for drought season next year

Editor’s note: This story is of interest to Cortes, Read and Quadra Island readers because we are going through another El Niño phase, which calls for warmer temperatures and less precipitation. In addition, the BC Government’s model for Climate Change is: “Warmer temperatures in all seasons; smaller snowpacks and loss of glaciers; Stronger storm surges and rising sea levels.”

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

After a summer of extreme drought, experts are concerned for conditions next year as they predict mild winter weather, with a November precipitation deficit.

Armel Castellan, a warning preparedness meteorologist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, says the last several weeks have seen less precipitation than a typical fall.

Continue reading Experts expect mild winter conditions, concerns for drought season next year →
Spirituality

Nanaimo celebrates first night of ​​Chanukah

Editor’s note: According to the Jewish Independent, Canada is home to the fourth largest Jewish community in the world, (after Israel, the United States, and France). They do not all adhere to Judaism. 52,000 of the 282,015 of the ‘Jewish’ respondents to the 2021 census also stated they follow another religion. The article did not state the numbers of Jews who were agnostic or atheists, only that ‘more than 40% of Canadian Jews have attended Jewish day schools. ‘

Some religious statistics: 100 Campbell River residents stated their ethnic origin was Jewish in the 2021 census, and 50 people stated their religion was ‘Jewish.’ Christians are now officially a minority. Only 33.2% of the city’s population stated they were ‘Christians,’ which does not necessarily mean they attend church services. 63.7% of the the city’s respondents stated they have ‘no religion’ and ‘secular perspectives.’ The 2021 census listed 35 people of Jewish ethnicity on Cortes Island, but only 15 following Judaism. Of the remaining population: roughly 70% had no religion, 19% were Christians and 9% follow other faiths. The only place where the majority of Jews appear to follow their ancestral faith was Area C, where there were 25 Jews and 25 people following Judaism. Roughly 78% of the population stated their beliefs were secular, 20% were Christians and a little more than 2% followed other faiths.

By Mick Sweetman,  CHLY 101.7 FM Nanaimo, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Nanaimo’s Jewish community marked the first night of ​​Chanukah with the lighting of a giant Menorah at Maffeo Sutton Park.

Organized by Chabad of Nanaimo the event attracted hundreds of people to mark the start of the holiday celebrating the triumph of light over darkness.

Continue reading Nanaimo celebrates first night of ​​Chanukah →
Animals

Wild, Wild horses

Editor’s note: Pemberton is about 140 kms east of Cortes Island as the crow flies, or 382 km by car.

By Roisin Cullen, Pique Magazine, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

If you’re looking for a picture-perfect postcard of Pemberton, you could do far worse than the image of wild horses grazing in a field on a sunny summer’s day. For many, the sight of these magnificent creatures roaming free is a sign of the ways Pemberton, in spite of its rapid growth, has maintained its deep connections to the bucolic ways of life that have been so engrained here over generations as an agricultural hub.

As the years passed, Pemberton’s wild horses have become a potent symbol of that age-old clash between progress and nature. There have been countless Facebook posts of frustrated motorists crawling down Highway 99 on foggy evenings to make way for them, hoping for the best and calling for a collective solution. Cultural differences, multiple jurisdictional boundaries, drivers disobeying speed limits, an unwanted highway, and debates over where these majestic animals belong have divided the community.

Continue reading Wild, Wild horses →