The process behind a revision of Cortes Island’s Community Plan has been cited as an extreme example of how community decisions were made. According to the most recent (2012) version, “During the winter of 1983 and the spring of 1984, the APC (Advisory Planning Commission) and other community volunteers proceeded to assess the current community feelings concerning zoning regulations through an extensive questionnaire, including the tabulation and reporting of the results to the community, conducting seven question and answer evenings in homes throughout the island …”
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Updated: North Quadra Burning Forms Mailed
When the South Quadra Fire Protection District was set up, in 1960, everything north of Hyacinthe Bay was left out. According to North Quadra resident Dalyce Dogterom, that’s roughly three quarters of the island. BC Wildfires is contracted to fight forest fires north of the line, but “they will not come on to private property.” At their January 29, 2020, board meeting, the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board authorized a survey to determine if North Quadra residents want fire protection. Staff says the North Quadra Burning forms have been sent and are also available on the SRD Website.
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Local Governance Alternatives Discussed
About forty Cortes Islanders attended a public meeting on February 15th at Manson’s Hall, to discuss local governance models and alternatives. The meeting was announced in Regional Director Noba Anderson’s article “Seeding Community Council: Hornby and Cortes” which appeared in Tideline on February 2nd; it was co-hosted (with introductory remarks) by Director Anderson and moderator Kristen Scholfield-Sweet. Folk U co-sponsored the event. While some were disappointed in their expectations of a much larger turnout (“I thought the hall would be full!”) others pointed out that many people are still engaged in the ongoing search for missing island youth Miles Meester.
Continue reading Local Governance Alternatives DiscussedWe have a regional district system that, by its very nature, regardless of the people involved, leaves decisions off-island with a group of people that know little about our community.
— Regional Director for Cortes Island, Noba Anderson
Convincing A Stone To Be Something Else
Originally posted on Cortes Radio.ca
“Convincing a stone to be something else is no small task; it’s heavy, it’s dusty, it’s dirty and it’s my labor of love”, says stone sculptor Julie Glaspy from Quadra Island. Chosen to represent Canada at the 2020 International symposium in Nepal, Julie talks to CKTZ about her journey in shaping stone to be something else: a granite heart two feet tall, or a small rose quatrz necklace, or her beautiful bowls. “Often, art is about finding beauty in places where it is not always commonly seen; to me art is about making something out of nothing, which is one of my main attractions to working with stone.”
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Protect Our Hospital Services
According to Dr David Robertson of Island Health, transferring the consultation of clinical pathology samples from Campbell River to specialists in Nanaimo and Victoria was a significant improvement. He insists the turnaround time on lab results is consistent with, or better than, when those services were provided in Campbell River. Dr. Aref TabarsiI, senior general pathologist at the Campbell River hospital, 75 doctors, the Campbell River Hospital’s surgeons, lab technologists, assistants and board of directors all disagree. Campbell River’s City Council, the Regional Hospital Board and the laboratory staff demand that local pathology services be restored – but neither Island Health or the Ministry of Health are responding. Two hundred citizens came to hear more at the Citizens for Quality Health Care/Council of Canadians Town hall meeting ‘Protect Our Hospital Services’ held in the Campbell River Sportsplex on Sunday, Feb 9, 2020.
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