In October, 2019, Cortes Island’s Augmented Home Support (AHS) program was looking at the very real possibility that they may have to shut down. They had enough funding to continue until the end of the year, after which they could not pay their part-time employees. Some of you may have read their appeal in the Cortes Community Health Association (CCHA) Newsletter and made a donation. The immediate concern is over, but it prompted me to reach out to the Augmented Home Support program’s organizer, Ron Croda.
Continue reading Augmented Home SupportAll posts by Roy Hales
Where Are We When Our Youth Need A Helping Hand?
The number of British Columbian participants in the Friday, November 29, 2019, Climate March was down, everywhere. 100,000 marched through the streets of Vancouver two months ago; A thousand took part in the mock funeral that ended with six arrests. A similar number blocked traffic in front of BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources in Victoria for half an hour. Only 200 people rallied in Courtenay’s Simms Millennium Park, before marching downtown. There were only dozens in Kelowna. Fifteen people – all but two of them students – took part in a Cortes Island event. This prompted the organizer to ask, “Where are we when our youth need a helping hand to carry the big load?”
Continue reading Where Are We When Our Youth Need A Helping Hand?
The Crises In Our Forests
The story that follows contains perspectives not necessarily shared by the Cortes Radio Society, its board, staff, volunteers or membership.
On Monday, November 25, 2019, the forest management company Mosaic began shutting down its Vancouver Island harvesting operations because of “very challenging pricing and market conditions.” Approximately 2,000 people – contractors, union and non union workers, are being dismissed “ahead of the usual winter shutdown.” Mosaic plans to “resume harvesting when the market outlook improves,” but some see this as symptomatic of a much larger industry problem. Sierra Club BC and the Wilderness Committee had planned to hold an event in Campbell River’s downtown Community Centre that same day. Two hours before this was to begin, the city of Campbell River cancelled it because of “the number of people anticipated, the strong potential for highly-charged emotion, and lack of time to establish a security plan for this booking.” This morning’s program is about the crises in our forests.
Continue reading The Crises In Our Forests
What is going on within the SRD?
Cortes Island’s Regional Director, Noba Anderson, has been under attack throughout 2019. The first that many of us heard of this was probably in January, when one of the silliest lawsuits ever was filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. I almost felt sorry for the plaintiffs’ lawyer on June 10, as he sat in court listening while the random gossip that his clients brought forward as evidence was torn apart.
He did not dispute a single argument, and in fact filed a joint submission with the defendants’ lawyer admitting there was no basis for the allegations made in his clients’ legal petition. The only excuse he offered was that his clients “were put up to it.” He did not say who was the real instigator of the legal petition; but we know that something odd has been happening within the Strathcona Regional District Board for more than a year, in addition to partisan shenanigans on Cortes Island. Are the two somehow related? What is going on within the SRD Board?
Continue reading What is going on within the SRD?
Funding For Community Halls & First Responders Passes
The Strathcona Regional District passed the bylaws to provide funding for Community Halls & First Responders at their November 21, 2019 Board Meeting. This follows Cortes Island’s October 26 referendum, in which approximately 75% of votes cast favoured the halls and 83% were for first responders.
Continue reading Funding For Community Halls & First Responders Passes