The Electoral Areas Housing Needs Report identified an immediate demand for 75 rental and 40 retail units on Cortes Island.
In a previous interview, Mark Vonesch from the Cortes Community Housing Society, said, “I hear stories of people having to quit their jobs because they can’t find housing for the summer. I know people that are living under a tarp. I know seniors that are living in a tent.”
Continue reading Mark Vonesch 6: Housing, The number one issue in this election
qathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
After a year and a half of working with First Nations across Vancouver Island as harm reduction educator, Courtney Harrop has taken on a new position: Tla’amin Nation’s harm reduction coordinator.
“All lives have value,” says Courtney. “Harm reduction allows us to reduce harms or potential risks for all kinds of things, not just drugs and alcohol. Harm reduction also helps us to be more cautious and supportive around things like safer sex, blood-borne transmitted diseases and STI’s, as well as housing and food insecurity.”
Continue reading Tla’amin First Nation invests in survivalqathet Living, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
In 2020 Tla’amin Nation broke ground by starting the first building projects in over 15 years on Nation land. Five of these projects have just been completed.
Continue reading Building boom in a West Coast First NationMark Vonesch hopes to bring a new kind of politics to Cortes Island if he is elected Regional Director on October 15, 2022.
“One of the biggest things I want to do with this campaign is bring people together who think differently than each other,” he explained. “What I can do is initiate conversations and get people talking about them.”
He then went on to outline the same issues that our current Director has been wrestling with: housing, climate change, ecosystem protection, economic development, land use planning, parks and recreation, and truth and reconciliation.
Continue reading Mark Vonesch 5: Issues that divide usThe October 15 election is in a little less than two months. So far, Mark Vonesch is the only candidate for Cortes Island Regional Director.
In the fourth of a series arising from an interview with Vonesch, he was asked what he would bring to the office from his years of experience working in Cortes Island’s volunteer community.
Continue reading Mark Vonesch 4: Working with Cortes Island’s Volunteer Community
