From the desk of Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney
Hello and happy summer!
This report has news for you: the Hospital Board is exploring ‘front-loading’ long-term care project costs, an Evans Bay aquaculture report was made public, plus a refresher on Siting Permits for construction on Quadra Island. Many thanks to all who’ve reached out since I declared my intent to run for re-election, I appreciate the positive encouragement.
By Maddi Dellplain, Vancity Lookout, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The heat dome that has caused an estimated 20,000 deaths in Europe and North America over the past few weeks has served as a stark reminder of the 619 lives claimed across B.C. during the province’s heat wave five years ago.
“It all happened so fast that it wasn’t until afterwards that we were trying to catch up … [and able to understand] who was most impacted by it,” said Jeannie Furmanek of B.C.’s deadliest weather event. Furmanek is the director of the adult day centres at the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House, but was a part of the organization’s Seniors Team at the time.
Continue reading Five years after the heat dome, Vancouver’s hardest hit neighbourhoods are still vulnerable
The SRD Board unanimously passed a resolution that Cortes residents will vote on whether to fund the island’s youth and senior organizations at the upcoming October 17, 2026 election.
Regional Director Mark Vonesh explained, “There was a little bit of a rush because I realized that, in order to get this onto the referendum—which I think is the fairest way to consult with the community—it needs to go through a process. It goes to the board, a draft bylaw is created, the draft bylaw is reviewed, and then it goes to the Inspector of Municipalities for approval. That comes back to the referendum at the election. The time period for this one was tight. It basically had to happen in the month that I introduced it, but the beauty of it is that we’ve got four months to talk about it.”
“I’m going to be holding a public meeting in the Fall, before the election, so we can come together and talk about it, and so I can share information that I have about the services. We’ll also make it available online, so it’s really accessible for people.”
Continue reading Cortes Island: Coming Referendum On Funding Youth and Senior ServicesBy Regional Director Mark Vonesch
After 3.5 years in this position I have seen youth and seniors organizations on Cortes struggle to find the funding to support the needs of Cortes Island’s youngest and oldest residents.
In the last SRD board meeting I proposed two new services for Cortes Island residents to consider. If the services are approved by the board and the Inspector of Municipalities there will be a referendum question on the ballot in the October election, which means you all get to choose as a community whether we want to create these new services.
Continue reading Area B Director’s Report: New Services To Support Youth And Seniors?
The BC Seniors Advocate is calling upon the province to address a critical shortfall in long term care beds. There were 7,212 people on the waiting list during 2025 and the average wait time was 290 days. The number of seniors is increasing and the need for long term beds is expected to grow 49% by 2035. “We are in trouble,” warns Anna Kindy, MLA for North Island and Health Critic for the Conservative Party, “This is why I am pushing for ‘aging in place.’
Continue reading BC Needs to Prioritize Seniors Aging in Place
