Tag Archives: SRD Board

Community, Politics

Area C matters at the March 29 SRD Board Meeting

A number of Area C Initiatives were passed at the Wednesday March 29, 2023, Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board Meeting. 

The only audio clip I am using in this broadcast comes from a segment dealing with Grants in Aid. Chair Mark Baker is speaking throughout most of it. He brings a levity to the board that I do not remember witnessing in four years of observing SRD meetings. You can hear an example in the podcast. There is usually some laughter, even if only for a few moments, in most meetings. As none of the directors had anything they wished to say, this segment is almost like a drum roll: “Discussion: All in favour? Opposed? Seeing none the motion is carried.” 

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Politics

Cortes Island Fire Department instructed all communication with the SRD must come through CAO David Leitch

The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) Board passed a resolution to write a letter instructing Sadhu Johnston, President of the Cortes Island Fire Fighting Association (CIFFA), that his communications with them should come through Chief Administration Officer David Leitch. 

The SRD has not renewed the Cortes Fire Department’s 5 year contract, and instead has them on a month to month basis.

Johnston requested a meeting with Leitch last month but, as he explained to Cortes Currents earlier this week, still has not had the opportunity. 

“We’re not wedded to the way it is, but we don’t really want decisions to be made behind closed doors without the community being able to know about them and have a say. If governance is going to be taken away from Cortes and the decision making for firefighting service is going to be taken away from Cortes, it would be really nice to know that and to be able to be a part of that dialogue,” he said.

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Indigenous Nations, Politics

Why Tla’amin will not be in the SRD’s territorial acknowledgement (yet) 

The Strathcona Regional District recognizes ten First Nations as communities within their boundaries, but the Tla’amin are not one of them. This topic arose during last month’s First Nation’s Committee Meeting and again when the committee met on February 22.  Most of the Tla’amin lands are within qathet Regional District, but they have a shared history with the Klahoose in southern Cortes Island and were given a large parcel of Mansons Landing by treaty. However Klahoose is one of the nations recognized by the SRD and Cortes Island is within their traditional boundaries. Azalea Milwood, the First Nations Liaison, explained, “I don’t believe, at this point, we should add the Tla’amin Nation, due to not knowing how the Klahoose Nation feels about that.”

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Politics

SRD Board: How can electoral areas opt out of services?

Will the SRD set up a transit system from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island?

There has been friction between some of the Strathcona Regional Districts rural areas and municipalities in the past. This was thought to have ended with the new board, but there have been a couple of recent occasions when the electoral areas felt their wishes were being overridden. In both cases, this pertained to research rather than policy.  Electoral Areas A and D were not allowed to withdraw from the feasibility studies for a proposed transit system from Campbell River to the West Coast of Vancouver Island. None of the Electoral Areas were interested in having their Fire Departments come under the administration of a proposed Fire Chief for the SRD.  

Thus at the Board’s Feb 2 meeting, Regional Director Gerald Whalley of Area A announced, “The electoral areas have come to the unanimous conclusion that we are being unfairly treated by the Board. Therefore, I move that the Board convene an open mediated service review as soon as possible. And if I have a second for this motion, I will speak to it .”  

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Fire

SRD Board; Cortes Island Fire Department needs more money

Cortes Island residents will most likely be paying a great deal more for their fire department this year. The Cortes Island Fire Department (CIFFA) is asking the SRD for about $127,000 more in 2023. CIFFA hopes to obtain $381,000 from property taxes. 

Their request was received as correspondence at the Wednesday, Feb 22, meeting of the SRD Board.

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