Tag Archives: Connected Coast

Communications, Disaster

Loss of Electricity and CityWest Internet During Recent Storm

Close to 400,000 BC Hydro customers, primarily on Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland, lost power during the recent windstorms. Gusts of up to 159 km/h were reported on November 19, the first night of the storm.  By 4 PM on Friday, November 22, all but about 5,000 customers on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands were back online. Parts of Cortes and Quadra Islands were among the last areas to be restored. 

BC Hydro identifies extreme storms like this with climate change and, in their 2023 Climate Change Accountability Report, states:

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Politics

Area C Directors Report: WildSafe application, wood-chipping, Refuge Cove visit + more

From the desk of Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney

Hello,This report shares news on a WildSafe program application for Areas C & B, the next steps of a potential wood-chipping service, and my visit to Refuge Cove.

Continue reading Area C Directors Report: WildSafe application, wood-chipping, Refuge Cove visit + more →
Communications

CityWest finally delivers: some Cortes Island homes already receiving service 

CityWest finally delivered on its promise to bring high speed fibre-optic internet to Cortes Island. 

It has been five years since Victoria Smith, then the  Strathcona Regional District’s Special Projects and Sustainability Manager, confirmed that Cortes Island was a proposed recipient for the Connected Coast Project.

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Business, Community, Indigenous Nations

2023 ‘Keeping It Rural’ Conference

While young families have been migrating to urban centres for decades, in recent years there has been a trend in the opposite direction. The BC Rural Centre asks ‘’What does it take to entice young people away from big cities to small towns?’ Every two years they host a major international conference to profile successful and innovative rural development initiatives. This year’s conference was held on June 1 and 2 at the Hampton Inn, in Kelowna. 

Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney of Area C gave the Strathcona Regional District Board a brief report at their June 14 meeting. 

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Communications

Coming this Spring: Cortesians choose their Internet provider

Sometime this spring, possibly as early as March, Cortes Island residents will get to choose their internet provider.

After building Twincomm up to the company islanders recognize today, on June 28, 2021, former General Manager Dino Tsakonas left to join CityWest. 

In an interview at that time, he told Cortes Currents that this came about as a result of the Connected Coast project, which will bring reliable high speed internet to Cortes Island. CityWest partnered with the Strathcona Regional District (SRD) to become the local provider.

Continue reading Coming this Spring: Cortesians choose their Internet provider →