Robert Fuller and James Darling are on the second day of a hunger strike. The 61-year-old former BC Forest service employee/ treeplanter/ sawmill worker and 35-year old musician had just returned from their Nanaimo MLA’s constituency office when I phoned them. Around ten people were with them, waving signs. Fuller remarked that if the response from people walking or driving by is any indication, as much as 98% of the public may want to see BC’s old growth forests preserved.
Continue reading Two Nanaimo Men On A Hunger Strike For BC’s Old Growth ForestsAll posts by Roy Hales
Citizens for Quality Health Care Call For independent Enquiry into Campbell River Hospital lab
(Editor’s note: The following article mentions matters of concern to residents of the entire Greater Campbell River Health Area, which includes Cortes, Quadra and other Discovery Islands.)
Island Health has long been ignoring North Island concerns about the manner in which consultations for clinical pathology samples were transferred to Nanaimo and Victoria. Seventy-five doctors and dozens of lab technologists and assistants in Campbell River made their opposition known. The Comox Strathcona Regional Hospital District Board has been seeking to opt out since November 2019 and at its last meeting before COVID struck requested the area’s original pathology services be reinstated. Two Comox Valley pathologists, Dr. Chris Bellamy and Dr. Wayne Donn, recently tended their resignations because of ‘differences with Island Health’. They will be leaving on August 23rd, 2020. Now Citizens for Quality Health Care (CFQHC) is calling for an independent enquiry into the changes at the Campbell River Hospital Lab, which also serves outlying areas like Cortes, Quadra and the rest of the Discovery Islands.
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SRD Livestreaming May Arrive In September
In accordance with Provincial Ministerial Order (M-192), the Strathcona Regional District considered letting members of the public attend the August 19th board meeting. As board members do not have to attend themselves, Chief Administrative Officer David Leith described this as letting the public come into the boardroom and watch television. The only advantage being that they could see the meeting live instead of waiting for the YouTube video comes out. He added that Livestreaming may arrive in September.
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A closer look at Sea Lice on 15 Salmon Farms
There has been a lot of talk about sea lice infestation of fish farms lately. According to a recent article from the North Island Gazette, there were more than the ‘acceptable’ number of parasites on fourteen sites this Spring. The President of Cermaq Canada just sent an industry perspective of this issue to the Strathcona Regional District Board. I decided to take a closer look at the sea lice on 15 salmon farms.
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Campbell River’s Bridge To Housing For The Homeless
When the last count was taken, two years ago, there were at least 81 homeless people in Campbell River. After COVID hit, the homeless population was identified as one of the most vulnerable sectors of the community in the province. On July 16, the Campbell River Coalition to End Homelessness hosted a ZOOM meeting to discuss the former Rose Bowl restaurant’s role as a Bridge to housing.
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