Tag Archives: Director Area B

Community, Politics

Cortes Foundation made up shortfall for 2026 Grants in Aid

The Cortes Community Foundation has once again shown how invaluable resource it is to the community. Regional Director Mark Vonesch has a budget of about $25,000 a year for Cortes Island’s Grants in Aid. When the time to disburse the funds arrives, he normally receives requests for far more money than is available. This year was no exception; however, thanks to the Cortes Island Community Foundation, nearly all these requests will be met.

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

The Battle Over DRIPA & Land Claims

(The first in a series of articles about Indigenous consent, property rights and the future of DRIPA)

British Columbia is currently navigating a widening divide. On one side, the courts are handing down historic decisions affirming Indigenous rights. On the other, a growing wave of anxiety over private property and economic certainty. Today, we look at the fallout from the Gitxaala and Cowichan Tribes decisions—and the political battleground forming around the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA). 

These are actually three separate topics: two court cases regarding the duty to consult before registering mining claims (Gitxaala versus British Columbia and the 2025 appeal); a court case regarding the Aboriginal title to an ancient village site that was sold out from beneath the Cowichan Tribes (Cowichan Tribes v. Canada); and DRIPA, the provincial legislative framework that formally adopts and implements the the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)

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Politics

Area B Directors Report: grant in aid, incorporation, taxes, ferries, Vice Chair, & zoning bylaw

By Regional Director Mark Vonesch

I hope this finds you well and excited for 2026. There is so much happening in Cortes local government and I want to give you an update on some of the issues I’ve been working on.

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Housing

SRD Looking into developing two Provincial lots on Quadra Island

Strathcona Regional District (SRD) staff will be asking the Ministry of Forests about the possibility of obtaining two provincial lots on Quadra Island for development. Three of the four Regional Directors at the Wednesday, January 14, 2026, Electoral Areas Services Committee meeting voted to proceed. 

Meredith Starkey, Manager of Planning for the SRD, brought a list of 13 Federal, Provincial and Regional properties to the meeting. She explained that the report provides an overview of public land available near Quathiaski Cove and Heriot Bay on Quadra Island which could be considered for future affordable housing.

 “There’s really only three sites that are currently undeveloped in a suitable size and some other conditions that make them more suitable than others. They all have constraints.”

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Politics

Regional Director Launches Petition to Investigate Incorporation Option for Cortes

Cortes residents may have noticed a petition available in paper form at our post offices and grocery stores, or received an email update from our Regional Director inviting them to consider signing the online version. The petition mentions governance and incorporation: what’s it all about? I interviewed Regional Director Mark Vonesch to get a better understanding of the issues and why he’s chosen this moment to launch a petition regarding our governance model.

[This article is a condensed version of our interview. The full version is available in podcast form in the links below. Inset quotes in this article are comments made by Cortes residents who have signed the online petition.]

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