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, Sinnot New Vice Chair
The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board awarded Rewilding Water & Earth Inc. the contract to manage a Beaver Coexistence Project on Cortes and Quadra Islands.
The first phase is purely informational.
“Beavers are the ultimate wetland managers, and they’re on it all the time. They’re checking their dams every day. For us humans to be able to not only co exist, but partner with wildlife like beaver will be a huge benefit to us as we see the climate changing and as we’re trying to adapt to and be more resilient to climate change,” explained Miranda Cross of Rewilding Water and Earth.
Continue reading Miranda Cross to manage Beaver Coexistence project for Cortes and Quadra Islands
The Directors of Cortes Island (Area B), Areas A and C are opposed to the idea that their ratepayers should help finance renovations to the Strathcona Gardens facility in Campbell River. The Strathcona Regional District’s portion of financing the new aquatic and wellness centre is expected to be around $73 million. Last April the SRD Board approved a bylaw allowing them to borrow $64,670.000. This debt is currently the responsibility of property owners in the City of Campbell River and Electoral Area D, where most of the facility’s users reside. At the June 28 SRD Board meeting, Directors John Rice of Area D and Susan Sinnot of Campbell River brought forward a motion that staff look into the option that ratepayers in Areas A, B, and C pick up part of the tab.
Continue reading Rural Directors opposed to their residents paying for Strathcona Garden renovations
The McKenty family’s first public performance was in the outdoor section of the Mansons Farmer’s Market in 2006. After leaving their rental home at Smelt Bay in 2018, they have lived in Vancouver, at Hollyhock and for the last year and a half in Willow Point.
“We can see Cortes across the water,” explained Immanuel.
To which his father, Robert added, “We’re looking straight across at a place where we lived for 10 years. When we go for a swim, are gardening, or anytime we look out of the window: we’re looking at Cortes. So we’re not actually gone, in our own perspective, we’re still displaced Cortesians.”
Continue reading The Awakeneers (P2): Lost in the Goat Trails
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Sayward, B.C., resident Shannon Briggs scrolls through family photos on her computer.
She pauses to contemplate a surreal image of her four-year-old son Stokely standing on a bluff, holding a half-eaten lollipop while a mountain ridge in the background behind him burns up.
“It’s crazy. Kids are so oblivious,” Briggs observes, shaking her head at the juxtaposition of her son’s apparent lack of concern and the gravity of the situation.
“But talk about a case of ‘this is how we live now,’” Briggs says.
The picture was taken on Day 4 of the Newcastle Creek wildfire. It was sparked May 29 less than six kilometres from the Village of Sayward on North Vancouver Island.
Continue reading ‘This is how we live now’: Families in the age of wildfires
