Linnaea Farm’s First Plant and Skill Share was on Saturday, April 18. It may be the first on Cortes Island.
Tamara McPhail, who has been at Linnaea farm the past quarter century explained, ”I don’t know if there’s ever been a plant share before on Cortes.”
Continue reading Possibly Cortes Island’s First Plant and Skill Share
Michael Manson started clearing the land for what is now Linnaea Farm in 1887. The Hansen family lived there during the early 1900s, and in 1997 the farm became a charitable land trust. In this morning’s interview, Adam Schick and his daughter, Nola McPhail, talk about their experiences and the next generation of Linnaea Farm.
Adam Schick: “One of the biggest challenges of the last few years is having people live here long term. Farming offers more of a lifestyle opportunity, but as our population ages, often the only thing left you have is to sell your property to ensure you can retire successfully. That’s a real problem. Because this farm is a trust, we don’t get to sell the property. We simply have the honour of looking after it. While I feel it is an honour, more and more, it seems that people see it as a burden; they want a job, or something that’s paying you money.”
Continue reading The next generation of Linnaea Farm
In 2015, the year Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister of Canada, more than 5 million Canadians were living in poverty. This number came down every year until 2020, when Canada reached its goal of cutting the number of people living below the poverty line by 50%. However, a new report from the Auditor General of Canada states this was ‘mainly due to the emergency benefits the government temporarily provided because of the COVID-19 pandemic.’ Thanks to inflation and the phasing out of these benefits, close to 4 million Canadians were once again living in poverty by 2023. According to the 2025 Hunger Count, put out by Food Banks Canada, the situation has deteriorated since then. In today’s story, Angelica Raaen from the Cortes Food Bank described what poverty looks like on a remote island.
Continue reading The Face of Poverty on Cortes Island
Around the time President Donald Trump started threatening to start a trade war, Cortes Currents reached out to Dr Kushank Bajaj from UBC’s Institute for Resource, Environment and Sustainability and Marc Doll, from Foot Forward Forest Farm on Quadra Island.
The topic was food security and Dr Bajaj is one of the developers of a website called Canada Food Flows, which traces the amount of fruits and vegetables coming into British Columbia from other provinces and nations.
Continue reading Food Nutrition, Prices And Security: Local And International Perspectives
By Bhagyashree Chatterjee, The Squamish Chief, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
What do Premier David Eby’s latest mandate letters for ministers mean for Indigenous peoples?
These letters, all dated Jan. 16, shape the government’s priorities, and this term, they focus on “reconciliation, economic growth, and community well-being.”
Continue reading What B.C. Premier Eby’s mandate letters mean for Indigenous peoples
