Category Archives: Articles

Birthing of the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery

“I think that artists have a finger on the pulse of what’s going on. We need a place  to show work, and we need to gather and see what’s going on.” – Janet Turpin. 

“For me personally, it gives me a sense of connection to the deeper understanding of what’s behind art and it’s a mirror of what’s going on in the community. It’s a mirror of what’s going on in the world.  That’s what I think artists tap into.” – Lynne Barker 

“Art reflects life and then life reflects art again.  Personally, it helped me grow as an artist. If I look back in 1997 and I look back now,  I grew in this gallery. As artists, we come together. We talk about the shows. We talk about art, I have learned so much.” – Meinsje Vlaming. 

They were responding to the question, ‘why is the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery important?’

The Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery just celebrated its 26th anniversary. Some of its early posters and reproductions of artwork were put up on the walls for the society’s recent AGM. During conversation with some of the earlier members, Cortes Currents learned the gallery was in operation prior to the beginning of written records in 1997. 

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Alberta’s fossil fuels ‘war room’ singles out a local B.C. government for battle

Editor’s note: An alarming trend very close to us.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

When Nanaimo recently voted to ban FortisBC’s natural gas hookups from new buildings, Alberta’s infamous pro-oil and gas “war room” launched a cross-border political campaign to reverse the move. 

The Canadian Energy Centre (CEC) is a publically funded provincial corporation created by former Alberta premier Jason Kenney to protect and promote the fossil fuel industry. 

Continue reading Alberta’s fossil fuels ‘war room’ singles out a local B.C. government for battle

When climate’s on B.C. communities’ agenda, fossil fuels firms turn up the heat

Editor’s note: An alarming trend, observed in a body that funds the SRD.

Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Oil and gas companies are still major sponsors at an annual municipal leaders conference even as B.C. reels from a provincewide drought and a fire season driven by climate change.

It’s a contradiction that dismays many municipal and political leaders attending the Union of BC Municipalities (UBCM) annual convention this week in Vancouver. 

Climate change is one of the top issues at the gathering, with local leaders slated to attend a host of workshops and provincial policy sessions on managing the risks and health impacts of wildfires, emergency disaster response and creating climate-resilient communities. 

Continue reading When climate’s on B.C. communities’ agenda, fossil fuels firms turn up the heat

Marine heatwaves a threat to B.C.’s shellfish industry says expert

By Mick Sweetman,  CHLY 101.7 FM Nanaimo, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

This summer was hot, not only for us, but also for the life in our oceans as marine heatwaves swamped B.C’s coastal waters. According to researchers, sea temperatures off northeastern Vancouver Island reached 21 degrees Celsius in July, boiling kelp alive.

In the first week of August the average global sea surface temperature reached a record-breaking 30 degrees Celsius.

Continue reading Marine heatwaves a threat to B.C.’s shellfish industry says expert

The Quadra Project: “Damned Fools”

The mood in the U.S. Senate on June 23, 1988, was expectant and tense. A prominent scientist from NASA, Dr. James Hansen, was giving testimony about the condition of the world’s climate and the implications for both the United States and planet Earth as a consequence of continued global carbon dioxide emissions. His prognosis was serious and sobering. His evidence unequivocally supported the conclusion that the results would be a catastrophic rise in temperature, with a consequent melting of ice caps, an uncontrollable rise in sea levels, and widespread disruptions in normal weather as carbon dioxide levels rose. Other scientific evidence was equivocal, but Hansen argued that no other explanation but carbon dioxide emissions came “anywhere close” to explaining the existing weather anomalies.

Continue reading The Quadra Project: “Damned Fools”