Fonds consists of materials created or collected by Directors of Cortes Electoral Area during their terms of office. Because outgoing Directors may turn their current files over to their successors, the papers of one Director may contain materials generated during a previous term.
Fonds includes minutes of Cortes Advisory Planning Commission meetings; minutes of Regional Board and committee meetings with related background material; records of public hearings; correspondence; community plans and by-laws with associated planning material; licenses for the use of foreshore and crown land; and materials relating to island issues such as parks, aquaculture, forestry, garbage disposal, recycling and water quality.
Fonds is arranged into sous-fonds based on accession of records and contains four sous-fonds: Linda Gagnon, Regional Director; Ralph Nursall, Regional Director; George Sirk, Regional Director; and Jeanette Hiebert, Regional Director.
The Regional Director of Electoral Area I (Cortes Island) was the elected representative to the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona (RDCS), one of 28 regional districts in British Columbia. The RDCS covered an area of North Vancouver Island and surrounding islands which included the municipalities of Campbell River, Comox, Courtenay, Cumberland, Gold River, Sayward, Tahsis and Zeballos, and 10 rural Electoral Areas. Initially enabled by the Municipal Act of 1965, Regional Districts act as a regional government over issues affecting their entire region. In the absence of incorporated municipalities, they function as the "local" government for rural areas by providing planning and land use regulations, and facilitating the delivery of services such as garbage disposal, fire protection and house numbering. Cortes Island was designated Electoral Area I when the RDCS was formed in 1968, and was the smallest electoral area in both population and size. In 2008 the RDCS was split, and Cortes Island became Area B in the newly-formed Strathcona Regional District.
Cortes was represented on the RDCS by one Director, elected for a three year term, who appointed an Alternate Director and an Advisory Planning Commission (APC). From 1968 until 1984, the Cortes Island APC was formed by the elected executive of the Cortes Island Ratepayers Association. The first Director of Area I was George Griffin (1968-1973), followed by Gilean Douglas (1973-1978), Irv Reedel (1978-1981), David Hansen (1981-1984), Bruce Ellingsen (1984-1987), Linda Gagnon (1987-1990), Ralph Nursall (1990-1996), George Sirk (1996-2005) and Jeanette (Jenny) Hiebert (2005-2008).
Custodial History
Material in the Linda Gagnon, Regional Director sous-fonds (Accession 2002.001) was passed on to her successor, Ralph Nursall, at the end of her term. It was donated to CIMAS in 2002 by Ralph Nursall. Material in the Ralph Nursall, Regional Director sous-fonds (Accession 2003.001) was donated to CIMAS by Nursall in 2003 and in 2008 (Accession 2008.001). Material in the George Sirk, Regional Director sous-fonds (Accession 2004.004) was donated to CIMAS by Sirk in 2004. Material in the Jeanette Hiebert Regional Director sous-fonds (Accession 2019.015) was donated to CIMAS by Hiebert in 2019.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of materials created or collected by Directors of Cortes Electoral Area during their terms of office. Because outgoing Directors may turn their current files over to their successors, the papers of one Director may contain materials generated during a previous term.
Fonds includes minutes of Cortes Advisory Planning Commission meetings; minutes of Regional Board and committee meetings with related background material; records of public hearings; correspondence; community plans and by-laws with associated planning material; licenses for the use of foreshore and crown land; and materials relating to island issues such as parks, aquaculture, forestry, garbage disposal, recycling and water quality.
Fonds is arranged into sous-fonds based on accession of records and contains four sous-fonds: Linda Gagnon, Regional Director; Ralph Nursall, Regional Director; George Sirk, Regional Director; and Jeanette Hiebert, Regional Director.
The Gilean Douglas fonds contains records from Douglas's term as Regional Director (1973 to 1978). The Cortes Island Ratepayers Association fonds contains material relating to Cortes' incorporation into the Regional District, and minutes, correspondence and other materials from the APC (1968-1984).
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "Chickens are a large source of entertainment, remakable pets with personalities, and they give us eggs. But when it came to dinner time, they were sadly the main guest of honour. George wanted to immortalize, and thus keep his chickens alive forever. This film does just that. On 16mm, shot at George and Lauren Hay's homestead on Seascape Rd."
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "Chickens are a large source of entertainment, remakable pets with personalities, and they give us eggs. But when it came to dinner time, they were sadly the main guest of honour. George wanted to immortalize, and thus keep his chickens alive forever. This film does just that. On 16mm, shot at George and Lauren Hay's homestead on Seascape Rd."
In the realm of "home movies", the film contains vignettes of Cortes island life including Aislinn Sirk and Mayan Wooley bathing a remarkably patient cat and Jim Palmer using an Alaska mill.
Digitized by Doug McCaffry, ScanLab, 2022
In the realm of "home movies", the film contains vignettes of Cortes island life including Aislinn Sirk and Mayan Wooley bathing a remarkably patient cat and Jim Palmer using an Alaska mill.
Digitized by Doug McCaffry, ScanLab, 2022
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "In the 70s many bathtubs were outside and heated by wood fires. This amusing (and smoky!), satisfying way of having a nice long bath, in the great outdoors, inspired making this short on 16mm film. There was a twist to the scenario of course. Why not make soup while having a bath? Shot at John and Anna Gregg's home on Beasley Road. Cast: George /Cinematography : Anna Sirk ??"
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "In the 70s many bathtubs were outside and heated by wood fires. This amusing (and smoky!), satisfying way of having a nice long bath, in the great outdoors, inspired making this short on 16mm film. There was a twist to the scenario of course. Why not make soup while having a bath? Shot at John and Anna Gregg's home on Beasley Road. Cast: George /Cinematography : Anna Sirk ??"
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "This extravaganza marked the peak of Cortes Cinema's (CC) exploits in madness. Inspired by Saturday being the day that Cortes's gravel roads were littered in paper garbage (it flew off the dump truck). The script was a collaboration of some of the most unstable minds at CC's arsenal. The plot is, like the scriptwriters' minds, simple, but the late Al Murray's acting as the Lone Ranger left eceryone in the dust. The film is a tribute to Al, the funniest man that stepped in front of the CC's lens. Shot on Super 8 on location at the Cortes Island Dump."
Cast: Al Murray, Pierre & Wendy deTrey, Jean Fontaine, Jim Palmer, Isolde Ruthenberg
Cameos: Gary Bergman, the Reverand Rollo Boas, Wlmer Ellingsen, Jo-Ann Green, Peggy (the Queen of Cortes) Newsham, George Sirk
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "This extravaganza marked the peak of Cortes Cinema's (CC) exploits in madness. Inspired by Saturday being the day that Cortes's gravel roads were littered in paper garbage (it flew off the dump truck). The script was a collaboration of some of the most unstable minds at CC's arsenal. The plot is, like the scriptwriters' minds, simple, but the late Al Murray's acting as the Lone Ranger left eceryone in the dust. The film is a tribute to Al, the funniest man that stepped in front of the CC's lens. Shot on Super 8 on location at the Cortes Island Dump."
Cast: Al Murray, Pierre & Wendy deTrey, Jean Fontaine, Jim Palmer, Isolde Ruthenberg
Cameos: Gary Bergman, the Reverand Rollo Boas, Wlmer Ellingsen, Jo-Ann Green, Peggy (the Queen of Cortes) Newsham, George Sirk
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "In this documentary a rag-tag team of Cortes wreckers demolish a giant warehouse in James Bay, Victoria. The remove 100-year old maple flooring, which is bound for Cortes, while the building falls down around them. They have to get the flooring out before the bulldozers arrive! Shot on 16 mm film."
Cast: Pierre deTrey, Stephen Foster, Al Murray, John Wasyliw
From the "Out of the Archives" program: "In this documentary a rag-tag team of Cortes wreckers demolish a giant warehouse in James Bay, Victoria. The remove 100-year old maple flooring, which is bound for Cortes, while the building falls down around them. They have to get the flooring out before the bulldozers arrive! Shot on 16 mm film."
Cast: Pierre deTrey, Stephen Foster, Al Murray, John Wasyliw
