Fonds consists of the records of the Cortes Island Ratepayers Association, an organization of the property owners and residents of Cortes Island from 1963 to 1984. They include administrative documents such as the constitution and membership lists, minutes of CIRA meetings, annual reports, newsletters to members, correspondence and materials related to the provision of services, land use planning and other issues of island concern.
The fonds is composed of the following series: Administrative Documents; Minutes; Financial; Newsletters and Notices; Correspondence; Subject; Community Planning and Land Use (Advisory Planning Commission); Clippings; and Maps and Plans.
The Cortes Island Ratepayers Association (CIRA) was an association of property owners and residents formed in 1963 to "further the development of the island and to have a representative body in dealing with the Provincial government."
The first activity initiated by CIRA was to lobby the provincial government for the provision of electricity and ferry service to Cortes Island. Their efforts met with success. Electricity was brought to the island in 1970 and ferry service from Quadra Island to Cortes Island began in 1969. CIRA also became an important forum for the discussion of other important services on Cortes Island, including roads, fire protection, garbage disposal, water quality, rural mail delivery and library facilities.
As a result of CIRA's efforts to bring electricity to Cortes Island, in 1967 the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Dan Campbell, designated Cortes Island a Local Improvement District. This made Cortes Island into a legal entity for the purpose of negotiating with the province for electrical power. In that same year, Minister Campbell invited CIRA to participate in discussions and committee work on the formation of a regional district level of government.
In 1968, Cortes Island was designated 'Electoral Area I' in the Regional District of Comox-Strathcona (RDCS) with an elected director. Under this system, a Regional Director is elected who in turn sits on the Board of the RDCS. Each Regional Director appoints an Advisory Planning Commission (APC), a committee of island residents who advise the Director on matters of island concern. In 1968, CIRA determined that the elected members of the executive of CIRA would form the APC for Cortes Island. This arrangement lasted until the dissolution of CIRA in 1984. The first zoning by-law was completed in 1970 and an Official Settlement Plan and zoning by-law in 1979.
In 1982, CIRA initiated a court case against Raven Lumber for non-compliance with the Cortes Island Official Settlement Plan and zoning by-law. CIRA won the case upon appeal, but in 1984 an Order in Council allowed Raven Lumber to proceed with their development. The court case had absorbed a great deal of CIRA energy and fund raising effort over a four year period. At the General Meeting in November, 1984 there were no candidates willing to stand for the executive. CIRA was declared inactive at that meeting and was never reactivated.
Custodial History
During the term of the last president of CIRA, the records were kept in the Gorge Harbour Community Hall on Cortes Island. After the dissolution of the CIRA in 1984, the records continued to be stored in the hall. The records were transferred to the Cortes Island Museum and Archives by the Whaletown Community Club (owner of the hall) in 2000.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of the records of the Cortes Island Ratepayers Association, an organization of the property owners and residents of Cortes Island from 1963 to 1984. They include administrative documents such as the constitution and membership lists, minutes of CIRA meetings, annual reports, newsletters to members, correspondence and materials related to the provision of services, land use planning and other issues of island concern.
The fonds is composed of the following series: Administrative Documents; Minutes; Financial; Newsletters and Notices; Correspondence; Subject; Community Planning and Land Use (Advisory Planning Commission); Clippings; and Maps and Plans.
Regional Director of Electoral Area I (Cortes Island) fonds
Gilean Douglas fonds
Finding Aid
File list available
Arrangement
Materials were received in their original file folders, however the files were not in any discernible order. In the absence of original order, materials were arranged by function and subject at the series level and chronologically within series.
Fonds comprises records of the Cortes Community Health Association (CCHA) including financial records, correspondence (including print-outs of emails), board governance documents and photographs. Subjects include CCHA initiatives to secure funding for a physician and to build a Health Centre.
The Cortes Community Health Association is a registered Charity, governed by a volunteer Board of Directors elected by the membership. The CCHA owns and operates the Cortes Health Centre (945 Beasley Road, Manson's Landing, BC); acts as liaison between the community, the Ministry of Health and other branches of health care delivery, health education and administration in British Columbia; and provides a variety of community programs.
The CCHA was formed in 1993 by a group of local residents who wished to secure quality health care for Cortes Island. At that point, the only medical services available on the island were provided by the ambulance service and the fortnightly visits of a physician. The first initiatives of the CCHA were to establish a medical clinic and pharmacy in Manson's Hall, and to secure funding for a full-time family physician. When the two-room clinic in the Hall proved inadequate, CCHA undertook to raise funds for and build a clinic on land leased from the Cortes Island Seniors Building Society. Site preparation began in 2003 and the clinic opened in 2005.
Custodial History
Documents were handed over to the Archives by Bernice McGowan, secretary of the CCHA.
Scope and Content
Fonds comprises records of the Cortes Community Health Association (CCHA) including financial records, correspondence (including print-outs of emails), board governance documents and photographs. Subjects include CCHA initiatives to secure funding for a physician and to build a Health Centre.
File comprises a binder containing material used for a display at Cortes Island Day: an information brochure about the Health Centre, an artist's drawing of the building, informational text, photographs of CCHA members and the building site, and posters for fund-raising events.
File comprises a binder containing material used for a display at Cortes Island Day: an information brochure about the Health Centre, an artist's drawing of the building, informational text, photographs of CCHA members and the building site, and posters for fund-raising events.
File includes correspondence with Telus about the loss of telephone service, and resultant loss of access to emergency services, during a power outage; and a petition to Telus to solve the problem, signed by 242 island residents.
File includes correspondence with Telus about the loss of telephone service, and resultant loss of access to emergency services, during a power outage; and a petition to Telus to solve the problem, signed by 242 island residents.
File contains CCHA Mission and Vision statements, reports on projects, photograph reprints of a broom bash at the Health Centre site (in a report cover), and a copy of the fund-raising calendar (2005).
File contains CCHA Mission and Vision statements, reports on projects, photograph reprints of a broom bash at the Health Centre site (in a report cover), and a copy of the fund-raising calendar (2005).
