Tune in on Dec 12, 2025, for a pre-recorded episode of FolkU with author Ruth Ozeki, who sits down with the Cortes Island Academy for a deep, generous conversation about her book A Tale for the Time Being. Ruth shares how the novel emerged from Zen teachings, natural disasters, and we chat about the mysterious voices that spark creative work.
Continue reading Folk U: Ruth Ozeki Talks About ‘A Tale for the Time Being’
On Saturday, December 6, more than three dozen people gathered for the grand opening of the Cortes Wood Makerspace, in Mansons Landing.
Shopmaster Hannu Huuskonen explained, “A lot of people need to do stuff in a woodworking shop and not everyone needs to build themselves a shop, especially big enough to do certain things with it properly equipped. It’s a big outlay of money. So it makes total sense to have people be able to come to a common space.
Continue reading Grand Opening of the Cortes Wood MakerspaceWork on the Heriot Bay and Whaletown ferry terminals is proceeding faster than expected, and the much-anticipated shutdown of service on the Cortes to Quadra run has been shortened to three weeks. Cortes Island’s new hydroelectric ferry could arrive as early as late spring or summer of 2026. The Cortes and Campbell River ferries could both be fully electric earlier than previously expected. The key word for both of those last items is ‘could’ because they are possibilities, not promises. In this morning’s interview, Sheila Reynolds from BC Ferries gave Cortes Currents an update on the scheduling for our area.
Continue reading BC Ferries: Shutdown of Cortes Ferry reduced to 3 weeks; Hydro Electric Ferry coming soonerBy Regional Director Mark Vonesch
Currently all of Cortes Island’s local government services and decision making comes from the Strathcona Regional District (SRD). As your Regional Director, I share the decision making for most of our services with thirteen other Directors on the SRD Board.
Local government decisions impacting Cortes Island are currently decided by people who do not live on our island and a lot of you have approached me with the idea of having more local governance control.
In September I asked the SRD Board to support a motion to have staff create a report on the process for communities wanting to consider incorporation. That report can be found here:
https://agenda.strathconard.ca/SRDAttachments/SRDBoard/Open/BRD/22-Oct-25/20251009-Community-Incorporation-Overview.pdf
The Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI) needs to raise $15,000 for core operations, and is also inviting the community to their Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, December 9, at 5 PM, at Manson’s Hall.
FOCI’s Executive Director, Helen Hall, explained, “We all live on this beautiful island which has rich forests, a stunning coastline and a host of endangered species, and I think that’s a big reason why people choose to live here -the natural beauty of the island. FOCI has a really important remit to protect and nurture that natural beauty for future generations.”
Continue reading FOCI: Upcoming AGM & Need to Raise $15,000 for Core Operating Expences
