All posts by Melissa McKinney

Politics

Bylaw 643: What Your Vote Will Decide

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Originally published in the Bird’s Eye

On October 17, alongside the 2026 general local elections, voters in Campbell River, Electoral Area D, and Quadra Island will answer the same assent-voting question: whether Bylaw No. 643 should add Quadra to the Strathcona Gardens recreation service. The Strathcona Regional District (SRD) has set up one combined vote across all three areas, with one majority deciding the result. For Quadra, that means every ballot counts, but it does not mean there will be a separate Quadra decision.

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Uncategorized

Bylaw 643: The Letter, the Vote, and What Happens Next

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Originally published in the Bird’s Eye

Late-breaking information on Bylaw No. 643 reached the Bird’s Eye at 4:33 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15: the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs sent us the letter we have been trying to obtain since learning of its existence on September 1.

In our September 2 issue, we reported that Christine Boyle, Minister of Housing and Municipal Affairs, had made a decision on Bylaw No. 643 and communicated it to SRD Board Chair Mark Baker on August 31. At the time, neither the decision nor the letter had been made public. We asked both the Ministry and the Regional District for a copy.

Now we have it.

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Community

Celebrating Compassionate Community: How Care Moves Through Quadra

Originally published in the Bird’s Eye

Last week we promised to spill a few more beans about the Compassionate Community Fair. This week, we’re opening the
whole can. The Fair runs THIS Saturday, Sept. 12, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Community Centre, with a whole lot more happening than a mere poster can contain.

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Disaster, Fire

Small but Mighty: 20 Years of Quadra Island Emergency Support Services

Originally published in the Bird’s Eye

The pins are small but mighty. Emergency Management BC sends them out through its regional offices, recognizing five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and twenty-five years of service. On the afternoon of Saturday, August 29, Emergency Support Services Director Judy Hagen hosted the program’s 20th anniversary barbecue in her backyard on West Road. Thirteen volunteers were called up for twenty-year pins. A fourteenth, Joanne Hart of the Salvation Army, had earned twenty-five years and could not be there as she was just getting back from being on call with fires again. Those fourteen volunteers represented 285 years of service between them. And that was just the first round of presentations. Judy moved on to the fifteen-year pins next.

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Politics

Four Questions, Three Numbers: What Quadra Voters Need to Know

Originally published in the Bird’s Eye

Tomorrow, one of the items on the Strathcona Regional District board’s agenda is confirming the wording of four questions going to voters on October 17. Three of them state a maximum tax rate. The one that would add Quadra Island to the Strathcona Gardens recreation service does not.

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