All posts by Roy Hales

Waste

Cortes Island Garbage Pick-up being reduced to $86

SRD staff are currently preparing a bylaw that will reduce the residential waste collection charge on Cortes Island from $112 to $86, effective this year. This change has been in development since last year, originating from a shift in the SRD’s administrative policy. 

Staff estimate that $121 per user is required to fully fund the service, so the shortfall this year will be approximately $25,000. However, the service currently possesses $103,000 in reserves to cover such gaps. 

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Arts, Rivers & Oceans

Bringing Campbell River’s Tyee Legacy to Vancouver’s DOXA film festival


A documentary about Campbell River’s historic Tyee fishing culture will be screened at Vancouver’s DOXA Film Festival on Thursday, May 7. In this morning’s interview filmmakers Jevan Crittenden and Nate Slaco talk a little about ‘In Tyee Country,’ and how it came into being. 

Jevan: “When we started this project we expected certain things and a lot of those assumptions were accurate, but there were some surprising things that came up. To me the community aspect is the surprising thing. Peter Wipper talks about having a greater sense of community and home in Campbell River than he does in his own hometown, and he credits that to the community that’s come up around the Tyee Club. It really is a tight-knit group.”

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Environment

Cortes Island 2026 Beach Clean-up

The 2026 Cortes Island Beach Clean-up is underway. Helen Hall, Executive Director of the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI), explained:

“The campaign will start on May 1st and run until the end of the month. We’re working in partnership with Comox Strathcona Waste Management and Klahoose Aquaculture. We will be placing large ‘super sacks’ at seven different locations around the island:

  • Hanks Beach Regional Park
  • The Recycling Centre
  • Hollyhock Beach
  • Mansons Landing Government Dock
  • Hayes Road Beach Access
  • Red Granite Beach
  • Plunger Pass Beach Access (Seavista Road)
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Politics

Quadra is one step closer to paying for Strathcona Gardens

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) voted 7-6* that Quadra Island taxpayers should also pay for the Strathcona Gardens Recreation facility. The proposed amount has been reduced to 80% of their property’s assessed value, and amounts to about $446 for the average property owner. This decision is to be ratified by a referendum of all Campbell River, Area D and Quadra residents at the next election.

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Housing

Saturday, May 2: Ecotrust Home Energy Workshop at Mansons Hall

Ecotrust Canada will be giving a home energy workshop at Mansons Hall on Saturday, May 2, at 1 PM. 

Max Thaysen, from the Cortes Climate Action Network, explained,  ”We’ve got some folks coming over from Ecotrust to talk about heat pumps and help people get some rebates going so they can potentially get 100% of heat pump install and purchase costs covered by some grants that are available. You can just contact them if you want, but if you want to learn about the program and see if it’s a good fit for you,  there’s an in-person meeting coming up.”

Michael Anthony Lutfy, Ecotrust’s program manager for our area, emailed that since last year, “We have worked with over 50 Cortes Island households, in large part thanks to our Cortes Island partnerships.”

Continue reading Saturday, May 2: Ecotrust Home Energy Workshop at Mansons Hall →