Norm Gibbon’s novel ‘Sea Without Shores’ is set in the tiny village of Refuge Cove, on West Redonda Island, during some of the years he was a member of the community. Refuge Cove’s story goes back several decades before that, but in today’s broadcast Norm outlines some of the history surrounding the beginnings of the Refuge Cove Land and Housing Co-op.
Continue reading Beginnings of the Co-op at Refuge Cove
SRD staff is preparinig an open Burning Bylaw for Cortes Island.
This is in response to Coastal Fire Centre’s decision to allow campfires, on June 20: ‘due to cooler conditions and rainfall, which has reduced the fire danger rating in these areas.’ However appropriate this may have been in other areas under the Centre’s control, it was not on Cortes Island. As Nancy Kendel wrote in the Tideline, “We have had basically NO RAIN since beginning of May, and our forests are tinder dry!”
Continue reading An Open Burning Bylaw for Cortes Island
Editors note: This debate over community Governance models is of interest to Cortes Island residents given our past discussions of a Community Association.
The two candidates running for Regional Director of Area C, in the October 15 election, appear to have very different visions of how to govern. Robyn Mawhinney explained:
“I’m very focused on creating a Community Advisory Council to support the Director’s decision making process, a community advisory council with a broad spectrum of community voices. The other candidate, Marc Doll, is really focused on using his directorship as an opportunity to build a Community Association from the ground up. I’d like to talk about the difference between a Community Association and an Advisory Council and why I think there is quite a big difference.”
Continue reading Why Mawhinney would set up an Advisory Council, rather than a Community Association, in Area C
Recently the Harbour Authority of Cortes Island (HACI) decided to stop offering garbage disposal services on our docks. This news sparked a flurry of discussion on Cortes Island Facebook groups. Some people were upset at the HACI decision, while others supported it. Most people agreed that there is a “garbage problem” on our docks, but opinions varied about who is to blame and what should be done.
On Saturday, May 21st I visited the Gorge Harbour Government Dock to interview Billie Fleming, who has worked for HACI as a garbage collector. Billie is now offering her own garbage pickup service at the Gorge Harbour public dock from 10:30 AM to 4:00 PM, Wednesday through Saturday.
Continue reading Garbage is an Issue on Cortes Island DocksThe licenses for all 19 salmon farms in the Discovery Islands expire in June. There will only be 7 farms left in the Broughton Archipelago by 2023, at which point their tenure ends unless they can obtain First Nations approval and Department of Fisheries licences. That leaves an estimated 79 salmon farms throughout the province, and all of their licenses come up for renewal on June 30, 2022.
Continue reading Potential elimination of open-net salmon farm sector in sight
