Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
This article is part of a series by Canada’s National Observer that will take a look at Vancouver Island’s “ridings to watch” in the upcoming election.
The North Island may well be a long held NDP stronghold but the recent spike in support for the BC Conservatives suggests a tight two-way race is in the making in the upcoming provincial election.
Continue reading North Island offers a case study for upcoming BC election
Nic Dedeluk, a marine biologist with over 24 years of experience, is the BC Green Party candidate for North Island.
This brings the number of candidates in our riding to three. Michele Babchuk, our incumbent MLA, is once again running for the NDP and Anna Kindy is running for the Conservative party of BC.
Continue reading Nic Dedeluk: Green Party Candidate For North Island
MLA Michele Babchuk was on Cortes Island for a few days last week. She spoke to Cortes Currents after meeting with some of the island’s non-profits in the Village Commons. This was the third time she’s visited the island since she was elected in 2020.
“I’m hearing that Cortes actually has a lot of capacity and we’ve known that for a long time. There’s a lot of not for profit groups here. A lot of them are feeling extremely underfunded,” she explained.
Continue reading MLA Michele Babchuk visits Cortes Island
British Columbia’s health care crisis has reached Cortes Island. A number of complex factors led to the resignation of all three doctors working out of the Cortes Island Medical Clinic. Their contract ends on Sunday, March 31, 2024.
“The physicians that we’ve had in our physicians group are moving on to do things in their own lives. They’re starting practices elsewhere and it no longer fits for them to come here,” explained Bernice McGowan, on behalf of the Cortes Community Health Association (CCHA) board.
“We will not be shutting the doors of the clinic on April 1st. That’s not in the foreseeable future. If our physicians leave, the worst case scenario is that we have a whole bunch of locums coming and we’ve been in this position before, where the only people that we had covering the practice were locums.”
Continue reading Changes Coming To The Cortes Medical Clinic
Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A remote Canadian island is breaking ground on a new way to buffer the negative effects short-term vacation rentals have on the housing crisis facing small, rural tourism-based communities.
B.C.’s Cortes Island is making housing history as the first community in the province to tax short-term holiday rentals and have all the funds directed to affordable housing projects, said Mark Vonesch, the area’s Strathcona Regional District director.
Continue reading A remote Canadian island makes history in fight for affordable housing
