BC Ferries and the BC Ferry Authority have launched a joint visioning initiative called ‘Charting the Course,’ which may help shape the future of this service for years to come. In today’s story, Deborah Marshall, Executive Director for Public Affairs and Marketing for BC Ferries, describes the survey and also answered some specific questions about the Cortes and Quadra Island routes.
Continue reading Envisioning The Future of BC Ferries on the Cortes and Quadra Ferry RoutesThe Strathcona Regional District (SRD) wants to set up its own housing service. They hope to raise up to $10,000,000 for applicable projects and non-profits. This is to be administered through loans, which projects must pay back, but would initially be funded through property taxes. The cost to individual homeowners is small, up to $25 a year for a house assessed at $500,000 until the service pays for itself. The SRD will be seeking your approval through an Alternate Approval Process. If 10% of the electorate (i.e.- 3,456 people) notify the SRD that they are opposed to this new service before 12:00 noon on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, it will be considered defeated and the SRD will have to consider other ways of raising the money.
Continue reading SRD Seeks Electoral Approval To Raise Up To $10 Million For A Housing ServiceEditors note: The 300 or so employees of Rogers Communications Inc currently on strike in Campbell River, belong to United Steel Workers, Local 1944.
According to statistics Canada, 29.7% of British Columbia’s workforce was unionized in 2022. While the word ‘union’ does not appear to be used often in our area, teachers working at the Cortes and Quadra Island schools are members of the Campbell River District Teacher’s Association. School District 72’s other employees belong to CUPE 723. CUPE 401 represents Vancouver Island Public Library employees on Cortes, Quadra and throughout Vancouver Island, as well as staff working for the city of Campbell River. United Steelworkers Local 1-1937 represents forestry workers and the 82 unionized workers at Strathcona Gardens Recreation Complex. There are undoubtedly more examples of unions in our remote corner of the globe.
In addition to the union aspect, this story is of local interest because it is about the struggle to obtain a liveable wage while prices continue to rise.
By Zak Vescera, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Raine Wright yells into his megaphone as men in neon yellow jackets circle around a chain-link gate outside an East Vancouver industrial yard.
They’re members of United Steelworkers Local 1944, some of the roughly 300 technicians who have been locked out by telecom giant Rogers after contract talks broke down and the union announced it would launch rotating strikes.
Continue reading Unions to Get More Power with Replacement Worker BanEditor’s note: This is a local issue. 33% of the respondents to the most recent Point In Time count of Campbell River’s unhoused population said they lost their homes because of insufficient income. In the Comox Valley, this statistic rose to 56%. According to the 2021 Census, 38% of the renters in those areas are paying more than they can afford for shelter. This is also true on Quadra Island and on Cortes Island the number of tenants paying unaffordable rents was 47%.
By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On Wednesday morning, representatives from the not-for-profit, private and public sectors gathered at the Living Wage Symposium at Victoria City Hall to discuss creative ways they can address the economic squeeze people are feeling in the CRD. The event was organized by the Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria (CSPC) in partnership with the United Way Southern Vancouver Island, Vancity, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Living wage Families for BC.
Continue reading Living Wage Symposium brought multiple sectors together to tackle the affordability crisis
The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board held its inaugural meeting on Wednesday, November 8. Provincial legislation requires regional districts to annually elect a Chair and a Vice-Chair for a one-year term at the first meeting of the Board after November 1.
Continue reading SRD Re-elects Baker Chair, Sinnott New Vice Chair
