On Monday, September 15th, 2025, Anna Kindy, the MLA for our riding, visited Cortes and Quadra Islands. Cortes Currents met up with her at the Cortes Medical Clinic and then we took a quick tour of the downtown Mansons Landing area.
Cortes Currents:What’s it like coming to Cortes Island?
Anna Kindy: You forget how beautiful it is. Just taking the ferry over, my first thought was: it’s beautiful. So you guys are lucky.
Continue reading Anna Kindy Visits Cortes and Quadra IslandsThe Cortes Food Bank is trying to raise the $35,000 needed to relocate their base of operations to two sea-cans in the Village Commons at Manson’s Landing.
Operations Manager, Angelica Raaen, explained, “We have raised $14,000 so far, and we have a generous donor who’s offered to match donations up to $10,000. So we’re hoping that by the end of this month we can get $10,000 in community donations to match the $10,000 this donor has offered.”
Continue reading Cortes Food Bank Needs $35,000 For A More Perminent HomeA lot has happened in the five months since Tommaso Biasiolo became the Outreach and Admin Coordinator for ‘the Nook’ in Cortes Island’s Village Commons. The Grand Opening was on June 27, 2025, but there are still small projects to complete. Two special small rooms need to soundproofed; the Nook’s kitchen has not been installed. The original vision was to create a space where nonprofits can work and hold their meetings, but these spaces are now available for individuals as well.
Continue reading First Days At The Nook; Final TouchesAs a new welcome pole is raised on Klahoose, Homalco and Tla’amin territories, its maker describes how, through art, ‘I have recreated myself’
Editor’s note: The author of this profile sits on the board of the Cortes Community Foundation, which commissioned Puglas’s welcome pole. IndigiNews is honoured to share Puglas’s story.
By Forrest Berman-Hatch, IndigiNews,, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Standing before a crowd of roughly 50 people on “Cortes Island,” carver Kuma’inukw (Ernest) Puglas first acknowledges his Kwak’wala lineage.
Then, he thanks the Klahoose First Nation for hosting him and for the honour of carving on its territories (the island is the traditional lands of Klahoose, Homalco and Tla’amin Nations), before unveiling his newest cedar welcome pole in a public ceremony.
Continue reading Kwakwaka’wakw artist Ernest Puglas explains how carving saved his life: ‘This is powerful’
Jemma Hicken/Folk U – On June 20th, 2025 guest host Jemma Hicken was joined by the Awakeneers, a 6-person, mostly-sibling folk band, for a short live set and interview. Tune in to listen to some fiddle and folk, hear about the upcoming grand opening of the Village Commons on June 27th, and learn quite a lot about beans.
Continue reading Folk U: Awakeneers Live in Studio
