Indigenous Nations

‘Everybody will benefit’: What the K’omoks Treaty means for economic development in the Comox Valley

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By Dave Flawse, The Discourse,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

At the end of May, the B.C. government gave a third and final reading of the K’omoks Treaty Act, which will now go to the federal legislature to be ratified, a moment that has been over thirty years in the making. If passed, the treaty will give K’ómoks First Nation the ability to self-govern and bring economic development to newly acquired lands in the Comox Valley.

“The economic opportunities are huge,” says K’omoks First Nation Chief Nicole Rempel in an interview with The Discourse, adding that “it’s all about working together.”

Continue reading ‘Everybody will benefit’: What the K’omoks Treaty means for economic development in the Comox Valley →
Children

40 Years of the Quadra Children’s Centre: The Next Generation

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Originally published in the Bird’s Eye

This is our third article of the trilogy marking 40 years of the Quadra Children’s Centre (QCC). What follows is where it’s going, what it needs to get there — and what it has always had in abundance.

Forty years ago, a small group of women said yes to something hard because it needed doing and they loved their community. That hasn’t changed. The names have rotated. The work has evolved. But the Centre has been held, in every era, by warm, vibrant, deeply caring people — mostly women, many of them mothers themselves — who showed up because generations of children were counting on it. That thread of stewardship runs unbroken from 1985 to today.

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Housing

SRD Staff Looking Into Temporary Occupancy Permits for Tiny Homes

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At their June 11 meeting, the Electoral Areas Service Committee (EASC) heard a staff report on tiny home initiatives in the Regional District of Nanaimo. This followed an ongoing discussion that began with a motion from Regional Director Robyn Mawhinney, of Area C, last November.

Director Mawhinney:“I noticed that in other regional districts, temporary use permits are being used for a variety of purposes—potentially to permit tiny homes as long-term temporary accommodation, if you want to call it that.

Continue reading SRD Staff Looking Into Temporary Occupancy Permits for Tiny Homes →
Energy

Majority of Albertans back wind and solar, but investors continue to face hostile business environment

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By David Pickup and WIll Noel , News release from the Pembina Institute.

CALGARY — Two thirds of Albertans want to see more renewable energy projects built near where they live, and think the province should be doing more to encourage wind and solar development, according to new polling commissioned by the Pembina Institute. 

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History

At the Cortes Island Museum: Fossils Left by the Last Glacial Age

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The story of fossils left during the last glacial period is currently on display at the Cortes Island Museum. They are Buchia mussels, Belemnites, and Ammonites—creatures that lived in the Chilcotin region at the same time as the dinosaurs. The rocks containing their fossils were relatively undisturbed for nearly 130 million years. Then, during the last glaciation period, fragments broke off and were carried to Cortes, Read, Sonora, and other Discovery Islands.

In this morning’s interview, Christian Gronau, a retired geologist and Cortes Island resident, tells their story.

Continue reading At the Cortes Island Museum: Fossils Left by the Last Glacial Age →

Whats Current on Cortes and Beyond