Tag Archives: Director Area C

Politics

SRD Board: How can electoral areas opt out of services?

There has been friction between some of the Strathcona Regional Districts rural areas and municipalities in the past. This was thought to have ended with the new board, but there have been a couple of recent occasions when the electoral areas felt their wishes were being overridden. In both cases, this pertained to research rather than policy.  Electoral Areas A and D were not allowed to withdraw from the feasibility studies for a proposed transit system from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island. None of the Electoral Areas were interested in having their Fire Departments come under the administration of a proposed Fire Chief for the SRD.  

Thus at the Board’s Feb 2 meeting, Regional Director Gerald Whalley of Area A announced, “The electoral areas have come to the unanimous conclusion that we are being unfairly treated by the Board. Therefore, I move that the Board convene an open mediated service review as soon as possible. And if I have a second for this motion, I will speak to it .”  

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Politics, Rivers & Oceans

Robyn Mawhinney: A Wharf Service for Area C

More than eight years have passed since Transport Canada (TC) transferred administration of three wharves to the Strathcona Regional District (SRD). Owen Bay on Sonora Island, Surge Narrows on Read Island, and Port Neville on the northern shore of the Johnstone Strait are all within Area C. The SRD was provided with $2.9 million for maintenance and upgrades that were to be completed sometime during the next decade. These upgrades have not yet occurred. Nor has a service to carry out operations and maintenance been established for Area C. Robyn Mawhinney, the new Regional Director, hopes to have this work well underway before the November 2024 deadline. 

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Transportation

SRD Board: Proposed Campbell River to West Vancouver Island Transit Service

At their February 8th meeting, the SRD Board voted to continue examining the feasibility of a transit service from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island. 

It has been a year since staff was first instructed to pursue the matter.

Senior Manager Thomas Yates explained, “We’ve got two alternatives recommended for the board’s consideration. Option A is to look at one or more of the service levels that we’ve identified in the report, and they range from everything from twice a day to once a month in terms of the frequency of service. Option B would be, of course, that we drop this whole matter and not look into it further.”

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Transportation

Changes coming to the BC Ferries for Quadra and Cortes Islands

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The two much anticipated Island Class hybrid e-ferries are now in operation on the Campbell River to Quadra Island route. The new ferries will be sailing between Campbell River and Quadra Island approximately every half hour between 7:30 AM and 5:50 PM. A single vessel will serve this route in the early morning and evenings. 

“This was a long time coming for all of us, but we’re pleased to have the vessels going and seeing the throughput at the both ends of the terminals. There has been some bumps along the road for sure. We’ve had to make some minor adjustments with the way we stage traffic at the terminals. We’re exploring different options, trying to keep the on-time performance and the traffic moving as fast as we can” said Megan Caldwell, the Terminal Manager for BC Ferries.

Mark Vonesh, the Regional Director for Cortes Island had a different perspective, “We live on Cortes because we like to  have that isolation and sense of distance from the urban centers. That’s something that makes Cortes special, but we rely on the ferry. It’s an essential service for us. We require it for groceries, for medical, for appointments. It’s something that we rely on, and it’s a bottleneck for us. The new ferries that are coming on board obviously created some issues for Cortes.” 

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

SRD territorial acknowledgements; Should Tla’amin be included? 

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) officially recognizes 10 First Nations within their boundaries, but the Tla’amin are not among them. 

While Mansons Landing and Marina Island are both within their traditional area, the Tla’amin First Nation ceded their claim to most of this area when they signed a treaty in 2014. They retain a small parcel on Cortes Island, and thus still possess land within the SRD.

This question was part of a larger discussion at the inaugural meeting of the SRD’s First Nations committee, on Wednesday Jan 25. 

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