Tag Archives: SRD

Politics

The Legitimacy of Jim Abram’s Expenses

The legitimacy of Regional Director Jim Abrams expenses was once again discussed at the last meeting of the SRD board prior to the election.

When the auditor submitted his report to the SRD Board at their May 11, 2022 meeting, Campbell River Director Claire Moglove, pointed out that there was a significant difference in what Directors were being paid.

“I think for the sake of transparency in particular to the public, that we have more of an explanation as to how that comes to be. So in particular, on the remuneration side, at some point I would love to see a breakdown of what is the regular stipend for Directors and what are the meeting fees that have been incurred,” she said. 

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Parks

FOCI: Maintaining Cortes Island’s Regional parks

“A lot of the places people want to go and visit are either down a beach access or they are a park. We’ve got large areas of unfragmented forest in Ha’thayim or Von Donop Park. Mansons Landing Provincial Park is a really bio-diverse lagoon full of marine life. Those parks together make up quite a big parcel of land that’s set aside for conservation and for nature to thrive.  There’s no development pressure, that’s really important. We have those permanent resources protected, and obviously there’s a lot of really interesting ecosystems in them too,” explained Helen Hall, Executive Director of the Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI).

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Housing, Poverty

Potentially More than 1200 ‘housing unstable’ in the SRD

There may be more than 1,200 ‘housing unstable’ people in the Strathcona Regional District. 

This figure arises from a statement Emma Wallace, of the Rural Development Network, made when she released the comments from the ‘Collecting Stories of Where you Live’ data collection project.

Wallace’s organization was commissioned by the Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness (CRDCEH) and the Urban Indigenous Housing and Wellness Coalition (UIHWC) to conduct the housing and service needs estimation in the Strathcona Regional District earlier this year. The ‘stories’ her organization collected were written responses to the housing needs survey.

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Forests

Taxes waived for Lot 302 on Read Island; a brief respite for Cortes Island

Both the Campbell River Mirror and National Observer reported how the tiny Surge Narrows Community Association (SNCA) purchased 20 acres on Read Island in 2019. 

“We just couldn’t bear to see yet another clearcut,” explained Read Island resident Lannie Keller. “It was a beautiful piece of treed land along the main road where people travel to get mail, to the school or the dock.”

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Politics, Transportation

With the 2024 deadline approaching, SRD defers the CT wharves problem to the next administration

In 2014, Transport Canada (CT) transferred administration of three wharves to the Strathcona Regional District (SRD). Owen Bay on Sonora Island, Surge Narrows on Read Island, and Port Neville on the northern shore of the Johnstone Strait are all within Area C. The SRD was also provided with $2.9 million for maintenance and upgrades that were to be completed by 2024. These upgrades have not yet occurred. Nor has a service to carry out operations and maintenance been established for Area C. In the face of local opposition, the SRD deferred discussion of this issue until next January.

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