Tag Archives: Cortes Island

Business

Assured Loading For Commercial Vehicles

2 Comments

By Roy L Hales

Twenty or more years ago, BC Ferries gave preference to trucks delivering food to Cortes Island. The volume of traffic has increased since then, especially during the summer months, but this service is no longer available. The truck servicing Gorge Harbour Marina Resort missed 17 out of 19 ferries this summer, while watching cars that arrived more than a half an hour later drive onto the ferry. At the October 25, 2019 Quadra/Cortes FAC Meeting, Bill Dougan, General Manager of Gorge Harbour asked BC Ferries to provide assured loading for commercial vehicles coming to Cortes Island.

Continue reading Assured Loading For Commercial Vehicles →
Indigenous Nations, Transportation

Returning the Quadra-Cortes FAC To Normality

2 Comments

If the posts in the Tideline are an indication, the October 25 Quadra-Cortes Ferry Advisory Commission (FAC) meeting dealt with a potentially explosive situation. Our Regional Director, Chief Kevin Peacey and former FAC President Paul Ryan were among those who published their views. When the meeting was finally convened in Gorge Hall, one of the BC ferry executives stated the previous meeting (June 7, 2019) had gone off the rails. Committee members subsequently exchanged something like 130 emails. A significant portion of the October 25 meeting was devoted to discussing ways of returning the Quadra-Cortes FAC to normality. 

Continue reading Returning the Quadra-Cortes FAC To Normality →
Environment

The Big Spill

3 Comments

(The second in a series of articles from the 2019 Campbell River Emergency Preparedness Trade Show.)

I was immediately drawn to Western Canada Marine Spill Response Corporation (WCMRC) booth. This company founded in 1976 and cleans about 20 spills a year. Most of these are relatively small, like the incident in Gorge Harbour, Cortes Island. I was more interested in the fact they cleaned up the big spill in Burnaby, during 2007 – which gives us some insight into what a major bitumen spill on the West Coast of British Columbia might look like.

Continue reading The Big Spill →
Community, Finances

Why Should We Support Mansons Hall?

By Roy L Hales

On October 26 Cortes Islanders will be having a referendum to decide two important tax issues. While there is little doubt that the proposal to fund first responders will pass, the debate about public funding of Cortes Island’s community halls has been going on for the past decade. For a house like mine, sitting on a one acre lot in Squirrel Cove, this will cost about $60 a year. Yet while a large number of Cortesians regard their halls as the heart of the community, where you go for public meetings, entertainment and a variety of ongoing services, another segment of the community does not believe they are worth the extra money. My guest this morning, Julian Ayres, President of the Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA), explains why we should support Mansons Hall. 

Continue reading Why Should We Support Mansons Hall? →