Tag Archives: At Risk Pop on Cortes

Food, Food Security

The Face of Poverty on Cortes Island

In 2015, the year Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister of Canada, more than 5 million Canadians were living in poverty. This number came down every year until 2020, when Canada reached its goal of cutting the number of people living below the poverty line by 50%. However, a new report from the Auditor General of Canada states this was ‘mainly due to the emergency benefits the government temporarily provided because of the COVID-19 pandemic.’ Thanks to inflation and the phasing out of these benefits, close to 4 million Canadians were once again living in poverty by 2023. According to the 2025 Hunger Count, put out by Food Banks Canada, the situation has deteriorated since then. In today’s story, Angelica Raaen from the Cortes Food Bank described what poverty looks like on a remote island.  

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Housing

First Home Foundations Poured: Rainbow Ridge Housing Project Takes Shape on Cortes Island

The long-awaited Rainbow Ridge housing development has passed a milestone. The foundations of the first two homes are in place. Sadhu Johnston, Executive Director of the Cortes Housing Society, gave Cortes Currents a tour of the site and spoke about the vision, challenges, and progress to date.

Rainbow Ridge is rising in Mansons Landing, the most settled community on Cortes Island. 

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Housing, Poverty

Unhoused People Struggle with ‘Street Feet’ in Rainy Vancouver

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in the Tyee, which gives a warning about the photos you see above (and puts them in the text below). When people cannot dry their feet out for a prolonged period of time, they get what some of our WWI grandfathers and great grandfathers called ‘trench foot.’

This report is from Vancouver, but probably also applicable in our area. The 2023 ‘Point in Time counts‘ found 197 ‘house challenged’ people in Campbell River, 272 in the the Comox Valley, and 126 in Powell River. There is less data about rural areas, but 11 of the respondents to the 2022 ‘Collecting Stories Of Where You Live’ survey on Cortes Island reported they had been ‘unsheltered’ at some point during the year. There were fewer respondents in Area C (which includes Quadra, Read and other Discovery Islands), where the number was 12.

Even more alarming, the number of ‘homeless’ people appears to be growing. 32% of the respondents to the Campbell River ‘Point in Time’ count said they had been ‘unsheltered’ for less than a year. There were actually 81 more people on the streets than in the 2021 count. Similar increases were reported in the Comox Valley, Parksville/Qualicum, Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons. (This was the first ‘Point in Time’ count in Powell River, so there are no previous numbers for a comparison.) When people were asked why they were unsheltered, the #1 response in every one of these ‘Point in Time’ counts was they could not afford to pay for housing.

There are far larger numbers of people spending more of their than income than they can reasonably afford (i.e. +30%) for rent or mortgages. According to the 2021 census, 47% of the renters on Cortes Island and 38% of the renters in Campbell River and Electoral Area C are vulnerable. Roughly 15% of the home owners in these three communities are also considered to be ‘at risk.’

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In the winter and spring, unhoused people in Vancouver struggle with something known anecdotally as “street feet.”

It happens when the rain soaks your socks and shoes and you’re unable to clean and dry your feet regularly, sometimes leaving them damp for months on end.

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Housing, Poverty

What the Cortes Housing Survey Says: Problems And Possibilities

Two hundred and sixty-five people (265) filled out responses to the Cortes Island Housing survey which was carried out by the Cortes Community Housing Society and Regional Director Mark Vonesch. While this is only about 30% of the adult population, their answers provide a clear picture of the current housing situation, as well as specific areas where the majority of the population appear to support change.

“Other housing surveys they’ve done in the past have just broken over 100, so people are really engaged around this issue,” explained Vonesch. “40% of the people who responded to the survey have been here for over 20 years, which is significant.  The people that have been here for a long time and seen a lot of changes over the years and seen the way that Cortes is going and where it’s at now and where it has been.” 

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Housing, Politics, Poverty

Rachel Blaney on  the Housing Crisis, Homelessness and Campbell River’s treatment of the Art Gallery

“When you get to Cortes, you can multiply all those economic stressors by three or four because we have  clients who have been suffering for years with precarious employment, precarious housing, and higher food costs than mainland food costs.” – Cortes Island Food Bank

It’s been a month since hundreds of Campbell River residents were shocked to learn that their city council appeared to be punishing the local art gallery for not confronting the homeless people camped outside its doors.  As city councilor Ron Kerr put it, “We certainly don’t need to give them tax deferrals if they’re not working with us.”

Local MP Rachel Blaney referred to the incident in the House of Commons when speaking about the housing and homelessness crisis:

“My region has seen the largest increase of unhoused people on record. There was a 106% jump in the Comox Valley and almost 70% percent in Campbell River. This is a catastrophe. The Prime Minister says housing is not a federal responsibility, as people and communities move beyond a crisis point. This while Conservative council members in Campbell River have begun targeting non-profits who provide essential services to the unhoused. When are the Liberals going to be an actual federal partner and build people homes? ” 

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