Tag Archives: Chief Nicole Rempel

Indigenous Nations, Politics

Elected and Former Politicians Calling For Aaron Gunn To Step Down

A growing number of elected and former politicians in the North Island Powell River riding are calling upon the Conservative Party to withdraw their endorsement of Aaron Gunn, and demand he withdraw his candidacy. There were already 19 names in the joint letter when Cortes Currents contacted the two women spearheading this campaign and another 6 were added before this post was finished.

 “This has all happened within the last 48 hours. (Bob Chamberlain) a former Vice President of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs sent out the first call  for Gunn to be removed. After that many other chiefs supported the call for him to step down,” explained Arzeena Hamir,  a former Regional Director of Area B  in the Comox Valley Regional District.

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Water

Merville water fight heads to court

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Editor’s note: In addition to water security becoming an important issue on both Cortes and Quadra Islands, Cortes Currents may have FM radio listeners in Merville. There are reports of drivers listening to 89.5M while driving the Island Highway (19A) north of Courtenay. Cortes Radio’s coverage map shows some of the areas surrounding Merville (Black Creek, pockets of Comox and Cumberland) within its listening area.

By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A Merville man is asking the Supreme Court of B.C. to strike down the Comox Valley Regional District’s decision to classify bulk water sales as a permitted home business.

Bruce Gibbons, founder of Merville Water Guardians, filed the petition for judicial review in September. The review is scheduled to be heard in court in January 2024. 

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Indigenous Nations, Rivers & Oceans

The First Nations calling for a renewal of fish farm licenses

Editor’s note: The licenses for 79 fish farms will come up for renewal by the end of June, 2022. If the Department of Fisheries fails to reissue them, there will only be seven farms left in the province. These are all in the Broughton Archipelago and their licenses come up for renewal in 2023. 

On March 21, a group of what was supposedly 17 First Nations supporting the fish farming industry put out a press release. Cortes Currents is not on the First Nations for Finfish Stewardship email list, and at that point had not heard of the group. We subsequently asked Dallas Smith, spokesperson for this coalition, for an interview. When he did not reply, Cortes Currents published a write-up largely based on that original press release. Within hours of posting a link through social media, someone directed Cortes Currents to independent biologist Alexandra Morton’s Facebook page where there was evidence that this group of 17 was at best 12 and more likely 11 First Nations. Since then, the list has grown smaller. 

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