Cortes Ecoforestry Society (CES) newsletters, 1999-2000. Clippings with info on: CES sustainability initiatives; development of Cortes Community Forest Cooperative (CCFC) in partnership with Klahoose First Nation (KFN); Island Stance; and Island Timberlands, 2005-2012. Copy of "An Assessment of the Cortes Forestry General Partnership (CFGP) of BC, Canada, open case study from UBC, 2020. CES membership form, undated. CCFC membership form and subscription agreement, undated. CCFC pamphlets, undated. Additional keywords: Bartholomew; Hanks Beach; Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI)
Cortes Ecoforestry Society (CES) newsletters, 1999-2000. Clippings with info on: CES sustainability initiatives; development of Cortes Community Forest Cooperative (CCFC) in partnership with Klahoose First Nation (KFN); Island Stance; and Island Timberlands, 2005-2012. Copy of "An Assessment of the Cortes Forestry General Partnership (CFGP) of BC, Canada, open case study from UBC, 2020. CES membership form, undated. CCFC membership form and subscription agreement, undated. CCFC pamphlets, undated. Additional keywords: Bartholomew; Hanks Beach; Friends of Cortes Island (FOCI)
File contains text of the Memorandum of Understanding developed by Cortes Ecoforestry Society and Klahoose First Nation. Also includes twenty-nine (29) color photographic prints and eleven (11) color inkjet prints, which depict the signing of the MoU at Squirrel Cove and an Ecoforestry display at Smelt Bay. Photographs are stored in Photo Box #3.
File contains text of the Memorandum of Understanding developed by Cortes Ecoforestry Society and Klahoose First Nation. Also includes twenty-nine (29) color photographic prints and eleven (11) color inkjet prints, which depict the signing of the MoU at Squirrel Cove and an Ecoforestry display at Smelt Bay. Photographs are stored in Photo Box #3.
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.
File contains a cerlox-bound proposal to acquire MacMillan Bloedel lands on Cortes Island, with supporting documents from Klahoose First Nation and The Land Conservancy of BC.
File contains a cerlox-bound proposal to acquire MacMillan Bloedel lands on Cortes Island, with supporting documents from Klahoose First Nation and The Land Conservancy of BC.
Clippings with info on fundraisers, events, and BioBlitz, 2012-2018. Emails with info on grant application and the Forest Alphabet book, 2014. Letters from CIMAS voicing support for the FTCCIS, 2015. Forest Trust pamphlet, undated.
Clippings with info on fundraisers, events, and BioBlitz, 2012-2018. Emails with info on grant application and the Forest Alphabet book, 2014. Letters from CIMAS voicing support for the FTCCIS, 2015. Forest Trust pamphlet, undated.
Articles, newspaper clippings, posters, handouts, emails, and some brochures, post cards, and business cards relating to artists and musicians, as well as galleries, studios, and shops selling and showing artists' work on and near Cortes Island, 1972; 1987 (WNE); 2002-2016. Also a folder from Allan Todd with several prints from Cortes artists, 2009.
Articles, newspaper clippings, posters, handouts, emails, and some brochures, post cards, and business cards relating to artists and musicians, as well as galleries, studios, and shops selling and showing artists' work on and near Cortes Island, 1972; 1987 (WNE); 2002-2016. Also a folder from Allan Todd with several prints from Cortes artists, 2009.
Articles and newspaper clippings announcing book launches and reviewing books, event posters, emails, and advertisements relating to local authors or works written about Cortes, 1999-2018; Obituary for June Cameron 1929-2016; two clippings from WNE 1998, 1999; two copies of Islandwords, writing on Cortes, 2000.
Articles and newspaper clippings announcing book launches and reviewing books, event posters, emails, and advertisements relating to local authors or works written about Cortes, 1999-2018; Obituary for June Cameron 1929-2016; two clippings from WNE 1998, 1999; two copies of Islandwords, writing on Cortes, 2000.
Logger Elmer Ellingsen's cheque book, cheques to various recipients, and bank statements with The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), 1949-1951. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Manson's Landing Community Fund: deposit receipts, 1951; statement of account, 1951; letters, 1952; mail deposit receipts to H.J. Foster, 1952. CIBC and the Southern Cortez Community Association: bank acknowledgements, 1971; letter to Mrs. McDevitt, 1971; charge receipt, 1972. Blank CIBC personal chequing account receipts, undated; Article in WNE, opening of the Cortes Island Branch Office of the Quadra Credit Union, 1989; article "Coastal Community and Quadra Credit Unions Announce Merger Plans," 2008; article "Credit Union Members Appeal Branch Closures," 2014
Logger Elmer Ellingsen's cheque book, cheques to various recipients, and bank statements with The Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), 1949-1951. The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and Manson's Landing Community Fund: deposit receipts, 1951; statement of account, 1951; letters, 1952; mail deposit receipts to H.J. Foster, 1952. CIBC and the Southern Cortez Community Association: bank acknowledgements, 1971; letter to Mrs. McDevitt, 1971; charge receipt, 1972. Blank CIBC personal chequing account receipts, undated; Article in WNE, opening of the Cortes Island Branch Office of the Quadra Credit Union, 1989; article "Coastal Community and Quadra Credit Unions Announce Merger Plans," 2008; article "Credit Union Members Appeal Branch Closures," 2014
Photographs, postcard, emails, articles, and notes containing info on: Whaletown Church, Reverends Douglas Kendall and Alan Greene; Klahoose; Chief Billy Mitchell; Manson family; Squirrel Cove; Boas family; Marg Sullivan's stained glass windows; and St James Church of the Columbia Coast Mission. A school handout announcing construction of church ready for Sunday Mass (among other things), 1979; a letter from Imperial Casket Company Limited, 1969
Photographs, postcard, emails, articles, and notes containing info on: Whaletown Church, Reverends Douglas Kendall and Alan Greene; Klahoose; Chief Billy Mitchell; Manson family; Squirrel Cove; Boas family; Marg Sullivan's stained glass windows; and St James Church of the Columbia Coast Mission. A school handout announcing construction of church ready for Sunday Mass (among other things), 1979; a letter from Imperial Casket Company Limited, 1969
Writing, emails and excerpts with info on early homesteaders, early postmasters, the first post box in Cortes Bay, Frabjous Bay/Frabjous Day, The Columbia Coast Mission, and the Rendezvous. Map of lots with some names of early homesteaders near Cortes Bay. Old postcard of Cortes Bay
Writing, emails and excerpts with info on early homesteaders, early postmasters, the first post box in Cortes Bay, Frabjous Bay/Frabjous Day, The Columbia Coast Mission, and the Rendezvous. Map of lots with some names of early homesteaders near Cortes Bay. Old postcard of Cortes Bay
