Tag Archives: Shaun Koopman

Animals, Environment

Miranda Cross to manage Beaver Coexistence project for Cortes and Quadra Islands 

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  →
Community

SRD Plans to Recommence Wood Chipping Service “Next Year”

At the regular SRD board meeting on April 26th (minutes), a couple of issues of interest to Cortes residents were discussed.

There were new developments in the story of SRD’s proposal to centralise rural fire hall administration; this was covered by Roy Hales on Monday.

The Board also discussed the “Community Resiliency Investment Grant” and its uses, specifically the provision of wood chipping service for properties with road access, and the local use of those wood chips. 

Continue reading SRD Plans to Recommence Wood Chipping Service “Next Year” →
Arts, Disaster, Indigenous Nations History

Salvaging the sacred from climate disaster

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The floodwaters rose swiftly and silently inside Nicole Norris’s family home and other residences of the Halalt First Nation on Vancouver Island when a storm unleashed a furious deluge of rain in November 2021. 

Her brother, asleep in the home’s ground-floor suite, awoke when his leg, hanging off the side of the bed, became submerged by overflow from the Chemainus River, said Norris, an Indigenous planning officer for the B.C. Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness. 

“Our home took on four feet of water in the basement. There was no sound to it,” said Norris, also known as Alag̱a̱mił. 

“Instantly, he yelled for my daughter and they were able to start pulling things from the basement.” 

Not everything of value escaped unscathed, said Norris, a regalia maker, weaver and cultural knowledge holder. 

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Disaster

Challenges: The 2023 Cortes Island Firefighting Association AGM

An overwhelming majority of the 50 or so people that turned out (in person or via ZOOM) to the Cortes Island Firefighting Association (CIFFA) AGM on Thursday, Mar 30, were supportive of the fire department. 

CIFFA has a contract to provide fire fighting services, with the Strathcona Regional District (SRD).

A number of attendees questioned the Strathcona Regional District’s current idea of setting up of a regional system, with a Fire Chief in Campbell River.  

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Disaster, Politics

Cortes Island Fire Department: Two Opposing Risk Assessments

Two assessments of the Cortes Island Fire Department were released last week. 

Shaun Koopman, Protective Services Coordinator for the Strathcona Regional District (SRD), emailed,“While both reports covered operational aspects, the SRD’s audit was more focused on the governance model. The concerns expressed in the consultant’s report specifically pertained to the liability exposure that the Regional District incurs from the current governance model.”

Cortes Island’s Interim Fire Chief, Eli McKenty, describes them differently. 

Continue reading Cortes Island Fire Department: Two Opposing Risk Assessments →