All posts by Guest Post

Community, Health

Gorge Hall hosts first New Years event during pandemic, fundraises for hall maintenance

By Louis Belcourt, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

Locals on Cortes are hosting an all ages New Years Eve event with live music and food at the Gorge Hall for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

All proceeds from the event will be donated to the Whaletown Community Club (WCC) for the maintenance of the Gorge Hall. The organization owns and manages the Gorge Hall, the Whaletown Cemetery, the Louisa Tucker Library, the Old Schoolhouse Gallery building, and leases Avery Park from the government. The funds will be managed by the WCC board, the WCC President, and the WCC treasurer Izabelle Perry.

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Transportation

BC Ferries to start tandem ferry service between Campbell River and Quadra Island in January

By Greg Osoba, CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

BC Ferries has announced that January 18th marks the beginning of two vessel service between Campbell River on Vancouver Island and Quadra Island. The ships are part of the new hybrid diesel/electric Island Class series. They are replacing the 57 year old MV Powell River Queen currently operating on the route.

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Health

A Promising New Way to Prevent HIV Infections

By Moira Wyton, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

A British Columbia-led research group is paving the way for a landmark preventative HIV medication it hopes can reduce Canada’s stagnant rates of new HIV infections. 

Long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, is more than 99 per cent effective  at preventing the development of HIV when it is injected every two  months, according to clinical trial data reported by manufacturer ViiV  Healthcare. 

The injectable drug, cabotegravir, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last December but has not yet been submitted to Health Canada for approval. 

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Forests

Greenwashing complaint filed against Canada’s biggest certifier of sustainable forestry

By Natasha Bulowski, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Canadian environmental groups have levelled another greenwashing complaint — this time at the largest certification scheme for sustainable forestry in North America.

The Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) certifies 115 million hectares of forest within Canada’s borders for companies.

In a complaint filed to Competition Bureau Canada, environmental groups allege the SFI’s claims of sustainability are “false and misleading” because it has “no rules requiring that logging meet prescribed sustainability criteria nor any on-the-ground assessment to confirm sustainability.”

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Community

Tackling Barriers for LGBTQ2S+ Canadians in the Workplace

By Zak Vescera,  The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The job seekers that Nick Ebbadi-Cook works with have two things in common. The first is that they’re  LGBTQ2S+. And the second is that almost all of them have faced  discrimination in the workplace because of it.  

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