In a highly emotionally charged Christmas Eve twitter message, Aaron Gunn, the MP for North Island-Powell River, announced that he will not be running for the leadership of the Conservative Party of BC. Instead, he will continue to serve as the Conservative representative for the North Island-Powell River riding. Gunn described this decision as the toughest of his life.
Continue reading Aaron Gunn Will Not Run For Leadership Of The BC Conservative PartyIt has been nine months since Katia Sol took over the helm as Hollyhock’s CEO. She has also had more than two decades of experience working with nonprofits, starting as a volunteer in a Bolivian Indigenous community and going on to co-direct the Ecology of Leadership at the Regenerative Design Institute, founding her own coaching and leadership development business, and teaching at Stanford University. In today’s interview she talks about this past year at Hollyhock and what lies ahead in 2026.
Continue reading Looking back on Hollyhock in 2025 and what lies ahead in 2026Forestry has been one of the three economic pillars of Campbell River. In the article that follows, Mayor Kermit Dahl states that ’70% of what the city does is resource-related, and their sales in the previous year were down by just over 20%.’ While many do not agree with the industry practise of cutting big tree old growth – the iconic subset which often comes to mind when hearing the words ‘old growth’ – there is much more to the story. The following article consists of select gleanings from statements made by Mayor Dahl and several MPs (including Aaron Gunn) at a recent meeting of the federal government’s Standing Committee on Natural Resources.
Continue reading The State of Campbell River’s Forestry SectorWith 2025 coming to a close, it seems like a good time to get an update from the Cortes Island Fire Department. Currently, there are about 38 people working out of the island’s two fire halls, with another 20 enrolled in the wildfire brigade.
Chief Eli McKenty noted, “I haven’t totalled this year’s call volume yet, but last year we had 105 calls. This year, we’re likely slightly higher at around 110.”
Continue reading 2025 at the Cortes Island Fire DepartmentScandinavia continues to dominate the Global Competitiveness Index, with Finland, Sweden, and Denmark placing first, second, and third out of 192 nations in 2025. The rest of Europe follows closely behind. Japan, ranked #19, is the only non-European country in the top 20. The United States has fallen from #3 in 2016, the last year of Barack Obama’s presidency, to #42 under President Donald Trump in 2025. During the same timeframe, Canada has dropped from #15 to #30.
Continue reading The United States and Canada continue to decline in terms of Global Competitiveness
