Tag Archives: Surge Narrows Community Association

Politics

Why Mawhinney would set up an Advisory Council, rather than a Community Association, in Area C

Editors note: This debate over community Governance models is of interest to Cortes Island residents given our past discussions of a Community Association.

The two candidates running for Regional Director of Area C, in the October 15 election, appear to have very different visions of how to govern. Robyn Mawhinney explained:

“I’m very focused on creating a Community Advisory Council to support the Director’s decision making process, a community advisory council with a broad spectrum of community voices. The other candidate, Marc Doll, is really focused on using his directorship as an opportunity to build a Community Association from the ground up. I’d like to talk about the difference between a Community Association and an Advisory Council and why I think there is quite a big difference.” 

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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

Mawhinney: Centering decisions on Island Values

“One of the core messages and core reasons that I am running for Regional Director is because I want decisions to be centered on island values. To me, island values are respect for First Nations, long term sustainability, also the rural nature that we all love. That’s why we live here. Quadra Island has a rich history of volunteerism. The role of the director is really to be an advocate for the majority of the community at the Strathcona Regional District (SRD),” said Robyn Mawhinney who hopes to be elected Regional Director of Area C (Discovery Islands and Mainland Inlets) on October 15th, 2022.

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Housing, Politics

How Marc Doll wants to tackle the housing crisis in Area C

In the second of a series of articles outlining what he would like to bring to Area C if elected Regional Director, Marc Doll spoke about tackling the housing crisis.

He began by pointing out the solutions are not easy. 

“The principle that I’m standing on is that one person, me or anybody else holding the Regional Director position, isn’t in a place to be able to say, ‘okay, this is what we want to fight for.’ Whether it be a vacancy tax, some type of licensing for Airbnbs, or how we approach development, these decisions are more complicated than  any one person sitting on a small committee can come to any conclusion on. Every one of these examples has a downside,” explained Doll.

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Politics

Marc Doll explains what ‘empowering community’ would mean in Area C

Marc Doll was a high school social studies teacher, a community specialist realtor and the president of a community association back in Calgary. Doll, his wife Jen and two daughters left that life behind in 2016. Now he is a regenerative farmer and volunteer firefighter on Quadra Island. He hopes to be elected Regional Director for Area C on Saturday, October 15, 2022.  The tagline on his websites is ‘empower community’ and in the first of a series of articles exploring his positions, Cortes Currents asked what this means.  

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