The Union Steamship Company served communities along the West Coast up until they were supplanted by airplanes and small motor boats in 1956. Few would have guessed that as little as a generation earlier, when they were still the main way of transporting people and supplies. In the conclusion of her segment about the Union Steamship company, Lynne Jordan talks about the company’s twilight years.
Continue reading Twilight of the Union SteamshipsWhen the Union Steamship company started operations, in 1889, there was a single ship servicing Burrard Inlet. Three years later they expanded their market to include the canneries, logging camps and small communities springing up along the coast. The first reference to a ship stopping in Whaletown is found in an 1899 edition of the VANCOUVER PROVINCE.
Continue reading The Union Steamships arrive in Whaletown
By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca
The Cortes Island Active Transportation Planning Project Study was recently conducted by the Strathcona Regional District (SRD), via a $20,000 grant from the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, and the results are in.
Continue reading Recent study shows concerns about road safety on Cortes Island
By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca
Summer is the busiest time of year for recreational boaters, and docks on Cortes Island are popular.
Harbour Authority of Cortes Island Manager Jenny Hartwick anticipates one of the busiest seasons on record. She advises vessel owners to secure valuable items on board in a locked area and encourages them to call the RCMP if anything goes missing and to advise the Harbour Authority as well.
Continue reading Cortes Island docks, local harbor authority recommend some easy steps to ensure security
National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Editor’s note: the last ferry from Cortes Island, a 45 minute ferry trip away from Quadra, leaves at 5:50 PM
Residents of Quadra Island are worried about being stranded ashore when medical emergencies occur at night because BC Ferries can’t guarantee a crew for sailings to get ambulances across to the hospital in Campbell River.
A petition with close to 1,000 signatures is circulating in the community of 2,700 full-time residents calling on B.C.’s Transportation Minister Rob Fleming to work with BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) and BC Ferries to reinstate off-hour ferry service so ambulances can get patients to hospital in a timely manner.
Continue reading Islanders worry they’ll be marooned if medical emergency strikes at night
