Tag Archives: Cortes Island

Arts

Inspirations: An interview with Ruby Singh

Juno-nominated musician Ruby Singh recently returned to Cortes Island, both as a facilitator for the CASE Youth Leadership Conference at Hollyhock and to give a concert at Manson’s Hall. In this morning’s interview, he talks about his many forms of artistic expression, inspirations, and relationship with Cortes Island. 

Ruby Singh:  “I find inspiration in a lot of different ways. I feel like we are all just small tendrils of creation, so the act of creation and the act of creativity are among the most natural ways of being. Other artists really inspire me. I am deeply inspired by ancestry and futurity at the same time, so finding ourselves where we are in this timeline of inheritance from our ancestors, and what we are thinking about leaving here when we leave. Long timelines really inspire me, and deep time is a very inspirational thing. I get a lot of inspiration from my community, from the people around me, and from this more-than-human world that surrounds us.” 

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Environment, Industry

Friends of Cortes Island: Re the proposed Cortes Island Quarry Expansion

To: Ministry of Mining and Critical Infrastructure

Re: Cortes Island Quarry, Mine File 1610613

Friends of Cortes Island wishes to formally object to the proposed expansion of Cortes Island Quarry by the applicant 2385425 Alberta Ltd (operating locally under the business name of Island United).

We are deeply concerned that the proposal will cause significant harm to nearby sensitive ecosystems, namely riparian and wetland habitat and fish-bearing creeks. It will also result in the direct loss of a sizeable area of associated forest habitat.

In addition, we are very concerned that the application has been submitted without a comprehensive environmental impact assessment or any meaningful mitigation measures. As such, we respectfully ask the Ministry to reject the proposal in its current form. Please see our comments and recommendations below.

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Education

Coming Soon: The Library’s 90th Anniversary

We’re coming up to the 90th anniversary of the Vancouver Island Regional Library. In this morning’s interview Beatrix Baxter, the new Circulation Supervisor at the Cortes Island branch, talks about the library, her love of books and how they are going to celebrate on Saturday, May 30th.

Beatrix Baxter:  “The Vancouver Island Regional Library was established in 1936, and it started off with six library branches, 28 sub-branches, and seven van routes. Now we’re up to 39 library branches and our online branch, which we say is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because you can go online anytime.”

“All 39 branches share what we call a floating collection. We all each hold part of the collection. When a library customer goes online to put a book on hold, the call goes out to all the branches that might have a copy of that book. The first one to respond sends the book off, and it goes through our system and ends up here on Cortes, or wherever the person is requesting it from.

“I don’t know how many books we have, but more than five million items are circulated annually. That’s books, magazines, video games, DVDs, TV shows, audiobooks — it’s everything that we have, which is actually quite a lot.”

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Arts, Community, Food

Seafest 2026

By Savanna Young- Seafest coordinator 

Seafest once again drew strong attendance this year as residents and visitors gathered to celebrate the island’s aquaculture heritage and ongoing shellfish industry. For close to 30 years, the event has to served as both a cultural gathering and an opportunity to highlight the importance of our local shellfish industry. This year Seafest returned to the Gorge Harbour Marina, a venue that has historically hosted the event.

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Health

The Quadra Way: When It Matters, We Do It Together

Originally published in the Bird’s Eye

The Quadra Island Health Society (QIHS) and the Quadra Island Foundation (QIF) have joined forces to launch a community fundraising campaign aimed at securing a new physician for the Quadra Island Medical Clinic (QIMC).

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