Around 30 people turned out to meet Green candidate Nic Dedeluk when she came to Mansons Hall on Monday, October 7. Cortes Currents recorded 145 minutes of the two hour meeting, which is far too much to fit into a half hour broadcast. So today’s program consists of a few highlights.
This event was put on by FOCI’s Climate Action Committee and there is a link to the unedited audio at the bottom of this page.
Continue reading Highlights from Green candidate Nic Dedeluk’s visit to Cortes IslandWhile the Green party has shown promise in the past, especially on Vancouver Island, this has yet to translate into votes on election day. So my biggest question for Nic Dedeluk, the candidate for North Island riding, is why should we vote Green?
Nick Dedeluk: “The Green Party is running candidates in 69 ridings, but we have six ridings that we are really hopeful will actually get elected. Getting six green MLAs voted in would be really positive for BC politics and holding the other parties accountable to moving forward in a way that’s better for our environment.”
Continue reading Nic for North Island, an Interview with The Green Party CandidateEditor’s note: According to the BC Treaty Commission’s Interactive Map, the waters of Von Donop Inlet and Carrington Bay, on Cortes Island, are within the traditional territory We Wai Kai and Wei Wai Kum Nations. They also claim Quadra, Read and Raza Islands, as well as Toba Inlet. These are all areas that are within the traditional territories of the Klahoose First Nation. whose principle village is on Cortes Island. The K’omoks and Klahoose First Nations have overlapping claims on Read, Quadra and Mitlenatch Islands.
By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A new notification system and app that alerts coastal B.C. First Nations about oil or hazardous chemical spills on their lands and waters was recently launched.
The initiative was developed collaboratively between 12 First Nations and the province’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. The process was coordinated by Coastal First Nations-Great Bear Initiative.
The system uses technology from Alertable, an emergency alert system that is used by various local governments to notify residents about critical alerts in their communities such as those related to floods or fires.
Continue reading New system alerts coastal First Nations about hazardous spills on land and water
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Fifteen First Nations are assuming stewardship of a vast network of marine protected areas in their traditional territories that span two-thirds of Canada’s West Coast.
The Great Bear Sea MPA Network, an unprecedented initiative co-developed with the B.C. and federal governments, is the result of two decades of work, said Christine Smith-Martin, executive director for Coastal First Nations.
The Indigenous-led initiative, also known as the BC Northern Shelf MPA Network, involves 100,000 square kilometres of ocean and stretches from Northern Vancouver Island to the border of Alaska. It was formally endorsed and celebrated on Sunday at IMPAC5, a global marine conservation summit underway in Vancouver.
Continue reading Milestone agreement to protect vast West Coast marine areas endorsed by First Nations, Ottawa and B.C.
National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The fate of a rare and splendid coral garden in a remote B.C. inlet is still on the line pending a decision by the federal government to establish interim protections before the fishing season launches this spring.
However, the First Nation and conservationists striving to protect the trove of large orange coral fans are more optimistic than they were last spring when Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) failed to put a fishing moratorium in place to protect the fragile ecosystem.
Continue reading The future of rare cold-water coral garden on B.C. coast is still on the line
