Tag Archives: Cortes Island

Housing

Should there be a Maximum Size for Houses on Cortes Island?   

A quick question just came up in regard to Cortes Island’s ongoing Zoning Bylaw Review. Cortes Island residents have up until noon on Friday, March 7, to make their thoughts known on possible limits to house sizes known. 

 “Do we want to put a limit on the maximum house size on Cortes?  It’s a basic yes or no question.” asked Regional Director Mark Vonesch.   

“If you do agree, what is the maximum size you would like to see happen? Everything from 2,500 square feet to 4,300 square feet. I’ve certainly heard from a lot of people that this is something that’s important to consider.  Basically do we want to have folks buy land here and build mega mansions?  Do we want to have Cortes be a place where the ultra wealthy can buy a piece of land and build a summer mansion?”

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

Behind the Campbell River Premiere of Yintah

21 people attended the premier of the feature documentary Yintah at the Campbell River Community Center on February 20th, 2025. This screening is sponsored by the North Island Powell River (NIPR) Federal Green Party Riding Association and follows the Wet’suwet’en land defender’s 10 year struggle to keep gas companies  from building a pipeline through their territory. Cortes Currents interviewed two of the event organizers about the film and some of the deeper issues within the local community. 

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Communications, Community, Finances, Politics

De Clark: A Deep Dive into Neoliberalism

Manda Aufochs Gillespie/Folk U – On February 21, 2025, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by De Clarke for a deep dive into neoliberalism—its history, impact, and the debates surrounding its influence on economics, politics, and society. How do current trends in US and Canadian politics affect us on Cortes?

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Politics

Possible SRD Breakdown? Campbell River Vows To Cut Payments

While most of the Strathcona Regional District’s costs can be directly allocated to specific areas, others are labelled administration costs and need to be shared among the 10 communities. At their February 19 meeting the SRD Board discussed ways to make a more fair allocation of this expense. 

Chief Administrative Officer David Leitch explained, “ To put this in perspective, let’s say the SRD’s total budget is $20 million or whatever it may be this year, we’re talking about the $2.8 million for admin costs.”

Campbell River has close to three quarters of the SRD’s population, but only contributes $1.6 million towards the $2.8 million administration bill. That’s just under 56%. Some Campbell River Directors dispute that number and most appear to think they are paying too much for a service they derive very little benefit from. Mayor Kermit Dahl served notice that at the next SRD Board meeting he will move to slash Campbell River’s contribution by 82%.

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