Health

Campbell River expands overdose response services with $1.14M investment from feds

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By Nora O’Malley, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Campbell River, B.C. – More overdose response services are coming to Campbell River and the surrounding area.

For 2026–27, Health Canada approved roughly $1.14 million in funding for a new Mobile Outreach Program, which partners the City of Campbell River (the City) and Lookout Housing and Health Society. 

“The City remains deeply concerned about the tragic loss of life due to toxic drugs. These losses profoundly affect families, friends and colleagues across the community. This is why, when we noted the call for proposals for the Emergency Treatment Fund from Health Canada in the fall of 2025, we decided to submit an application under very tight timelines,” said Jeff Ford, the City’s director of community safety.

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Politics

Alberta MLAs make positions clear on separation question

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By Chris Zwick, 4 Town & Country News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Local United Conservative MLAs say they will follow the party line when they cast their votes in the Oct. 19 referendum.

At the June 8 regular council meeting, Grande Prairie MLA Nolan Dyck and Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Ron Wiebe gave City of Grande Prairie council a rundown of some of the significant legislation that was passed during the spring session.

With both MLAs in the room, Coun. Dylan Bressey took the opportunity to question the elected representatives about the upcoming Oct. 19 referendum, particularly on the question of Alberta’s place in Canada and asked what constituents can expect to see from them leading up to the day of the vote.

“We’ve got a referendum coming up, and I’m really concerned about the distraction it is from exploring actual real solutions to the very real problems we have in this province and this country. I’m really worried that it’s driving away capital investment in this province,” said Bressey. “Also, just frankly, as a proud Canadian, I find it offensive. My family’s not perfect, but I love it, and my country’s sure not perfect, but I love it.”

Bressey went on to say he was glad to see Premier Danielle Smith make her voting intentions clear and confirm the UCP stance on the separation issue but added he’s worried about low voter turnout.

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Rivers & Oceans

More Killer Whales and Humpback Whales in Our Waters

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There have been a lot more killer whales and Humpback whales in our waters lately. According to a new study from UBC, the inside waters off Vancouver Island are critical habitat for West Coast Transient, or Bigg’s killer whales. The return of Humpback whales has been heralded as a success story, and there are now also reports of gray whale sightings. Last week, Cortes Currents interviewed two of the scientists involved in this research.

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Health, Waste

The Quadra Project – Enoughness

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Our primordial history continues to haunt us. Try as we might, we can’t seem to escape the psychological dynamics that have so indelibly shaped us during our many millennia as primitive foragers and hunters eking out our precarious survival in an untamed nature. This vulnerability is so baked into our genetic memory that it subconsciously expresses itself in behaviours that are irrational and ultimately destructive. This subject is introduced by Jodi Wilson, an Australian health journalist and author, in an essay, Enough’s Enough: We Are Overwhelmed With Having Too Much Stuff (The Guardian Weekly, January 23, 2026).

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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 →

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