All posts by Guest Post

Indigenous Nations

‘Listening to the land’: Totem pole raised in Naa’waya’sum gardens

Editor’s note: Another example of the rebirth of First Nations culture on the West Coast.

By Alexandra Mehl, Ha-Shilth-Sa, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Tofino, BC – On Tuesday, Aug. 1, Naa’was totem pole was raised at Naa’waya’sum garden in Tofino, depicting “responsibilities to future generations”.

“This here is like a legal document of our peoples,” said Joe Martin (Tutakwisnapšiƛ), Tla-o-qui-aht master carver.

The Naa’was totem pole was carved by Joe in collaboration with Gordon Dick, Robin Rorick, Patrick Amos, and Robinson Cook. 

Continue reading ‘Listening to the land’: Totem pole raised in Naa’waya’sum gardens →
Justice

Site C contractor fined $1.1 million for illegal dumping

Editor’s Note: An alarming story about a businesses actins and environmental protections.

By Tom Summer, Alaska Highway News, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Site C contractor Peace River Hydro Partners will pay a $1.1 million fine after pleading guilty in Fort St. John Provincial Court on July 31 to one charge of depositing a deleterious substance into water frequented by fish.

In direct contravention of the federal Fisheries Act, the charge stems from an investigation led by Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers into the discharge of 3,300 cubic metres of contaminated drainage water into the Peace River on September 9 and 10 in 2018.

Continue reading Site C contractor fined $1.1 million for illegal dumping →
Cost of Climate Change, Food Security

‘Sell them for nothing or watch them starve’: farmers face difficult decisions amid B.C. drought

By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

When Yoenne Ewald’s hay supply fell through this spring, she was devastated. Without hay, she can’t feed her cattle. Like most farmers, she’s tough and used to troubleshooting unexpected problems but the stress this year has been on another level.

“The options are to sell them for nothing or watch them starve,” she says on her farm just outside of New Hazelton, B.C. 

Continue reading ‘Sell them for nothing or watch them starve’: farmers face difficult decisions amid B.C. drought →
Community, Politics

Gibsons bylaw complaints nearly triple in second quarter

Editor’s note: Is this a more widespread trend?

By Jordan Copp, Coast Reporter, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Gibsons received 171 bylaw complaints in the second quarter of 2023, marking a steep rise from the 58 reported in the same period last year.

The statistics were part of the Gibsons Planning and Development Services’ report for April through June prepared for the July 25 Town of Gibsons committee of the whole.

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Health

BC’s Rural Emergency Room Crisis

An alarming trend to watch.

Editor’s note: During a protest over closures at North Island ERs, Adriane Gear VP of the BC Nurses Union told CHEK NEWS, “Our nurses are very worried. The Campbell River Hospital, I understand at any given time could be at 140%, 145% capacity, and at the same time there’s maybe only 60% to 70% of the nurses that would be normally scheduled to work.”  

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The province’s emergency rooms are in crisis.

ERs across the Lower Mainland have made the news for being at capacity and past their breaking points. This overcrowding led to the death of an infant in 2020 and a senior in 2022.

Doctors have even been urging people to stay away and seek help elsewhere. In the Lower Mainland one in 10 patients are leaving ERs without seeing a doctor, according to reporting by CTV. 

Continue reading BC’s Rural Emergency Room Crisis →